When Losing Weight is Actually a Bad Thing......

Gosh Darn it! I've lost weight but gained jiggle!

I now am at a BMI of 22. Down nearly 21 pounds since I started this blog, and nearly 31 pounds since the birth of my second daughter. Woot! Woot! (........I guess? See my post on whether any more weight loss is a good thing).

I figured for sure that this past week, I would have gained weight. I've been judiciously AVOIDING the scale, because I just assumed my weight change wouldn't be pretty.

And it wasn't. But not because it went up.  It was because it went DOWN while my belly jiggl-ability was decidedly up (and down, and sideways, and undulating....).That means.....I must have lost some hard earned muscle.

Sob! Sob!

See, though you'd think that given how I've solidified my routine over the past few months enough to absorb changes here and there,  I would have been able to handle a big change like this.
But.....
Week 2 of ankle injury, and I can already feel myself slipping! I haven't been exercising nearly as much as I would have liked. I've only been able to get in token amounts (less than 30 minutes) of cardio twice.  I did do weights (snore!), though I'm not sure of what good that would have done me since I didn't really know what I was doing since I dislike weights enough to not do them at all.

And also......,I'm not a person who can deny herself food.  EVER.  And so, I rely on the gym to both stay in shape and keep myself out of the refrigerator (literally...if I wasn't in the gym for the hour, I'd be eating second breakfast like a hobbit!). 

I kept telling myself to try and not eat badly, and for the most part, I succeeded--I managed to keep my eating routine (which was probably too many calories for a non-excersizer), and tried to load up on veggies. But then, inevitably, the weekend hit (that too, a long weekend!) and I ended up with more than my share of high-fat meals...... And now, I can already find more of a jiggle belly... :S.

And Yet.......I'm eager to let my ankle heal, bc one week of rest now will save me six weeks of rest later if my ankle doesn't mend properly.

And no, that's not my belly in the picture.  It's a random picture off the internet.  I have WAY more pinchable inches! 

Weight maintenance through injury

As my kids would saw, I've got an ouchy. On my ankle. And it's probably going to keep me off my feet for a week at least. So, no workouts, Which is a real bummer since I've come to view my workouts as my lifeline both physically for weight maintenance and mentally (it's nice to go make friends at the gym when so much of my life involves staring at a computer screen!)

So, what can be done about this? I've been given numerous fitness ideas to try instead of my regular classes. Here's a laundry list:

1) swimming

2) Aqua fit

3) seated free weights

4) mat Pilates 

5) core work

That's a lot of choice-- let's see how it goes. 

Beating Belly Fat (part 2)

Well, it's been a week since I decided to tackle my belly fat, and my waist-to-hip ratio has dropped to 0.84. For most meals, I've been trying to have 3 bites of vegetables for every 2 bites of protein and 2 bites of carbohydrate. I'll admit (blush!) that I haven't done my homework and officially found out which category fruit and dairy go into, so I've just been adding them to my diet anyway. It's been a challenge trying to fit this 3:2:2 ratio into different cuisines. Here's how I've managed with different foods:

Sandwiches: remove one side of the sandwich and have an open face sandwich

Salads: this was the easiest--just fix the salad by adding elements or taking them away

Italian: have a starter garden salad or vegetable soup and split two entrees (one pasta entree and one meat entree)

Indian: have an American style garden salad along with the meal, which in my case is usually skewed toward a greater ratio of carbs

Middle eastern: have an American style garden salad along with the meal, which in my case is usually skewed toward a greater ratio of proteins

Mexican: choose fillings for tacos and burritos to reflect the 3:2:2 ratio. 

You can see that there's a common theme here--add a salad to your meal. It's a great way to get in the vegetables (plus, you won't be starving to the point of overeating when the entrees arrive). So far, judging by the decrease in my waist-to-hip ratio, the eating plan seems to have worked. Now, to check with an analysis of my body composition. Stay tuned....

Beating Belly Fat?

Well, I've done it. For the past three weeks, my weight has been stable at a BMI of 22.7, which most would consider healthy. However, a big problem remains: belly fat.

Everyone loses weight differently, and everyone has a unique body fat storage pattern, with many having the belly fat depot being the most stubborn area when it comes to fat reduction.

In my case, it's a little more sinister because a) my waist to hip ratio is pretty high--about 0.87--and my percentage of body fat is still also pretty high--near 30%.  According to some present research, this puts me at greater risk than the general population for a multitude of heart-related health issues. 

So, what's to be done about this? Recently, I learned of the science of belly fat, and specifically, that the hormones relating to increased belly fat production, might be controllable through a specific combination of diet and exercise.  For people like me, who try to exercise at least 5 times a week, we get to have 3 meals, 2 snacks, where for each of the meals and snacks,  I would aim to eat 3 bites of vegetables for every 2 bites of protein and 2 bites of carbohydrates. 

Today is day one of trying this out, and I'm already confused--what about dairy and fruit? How many bites of those do I get? And what about the extras? I try to have at least 1 piece of dark chocolate every day (hey--it's chock full of stuff that is good for you!)--does that count as a bite of carb (because of the sugar?).  Well, questions and fear of the new has never stopped me before--I'll just have to find out.  Stay tuned to see how this goes!