So onto the workout and general diet. A bit of a rut in the previously smooth road of weight training has appeared. Let me tell why... about 6 weeks ago I discovered a website and book called 'Metabolic Effect', which instantly sucked me into their way of thinking, it all seemed so logical and obviously correct. Basically their idea about what you eat is that we are all different, so everyone needs their own eating plan. Fair enough. They ask you a series of 18 questions and based on your answers you are then put into a 'category' of so-called burner types. There's the Sugar Burners, the Muscle Burners and the in-betweeners (like me), the Mixed Burners. I was only just above the Muscle Burner end of the scale, this type of person had been described in the text as someone who is naturally thin (ok, I've never been more than maybe 10 lbs overweight), who thrives on stress (I wouldn't say I thrive on it but I do have a lot of self-imposed deadlines and am always on the go) and who sometimes forgets to eat and it doesn't bother them (I had to disagree with this part, I'm always thinking of the next meal and always make sure I get it!). Oh and lastly the Muscle Burner, if they do put weight on, tend to put it on in a particular place (which again I kind of disagreed with myself as I just tend to go a little bigger all over). The Sugar Burner in contrast always thinks about food, puts weight on all over and is prone to being overweight. So maybe Mixed was right for me, a little bit of both apply. So their Mixed Burner diet was basically lots of lean protein, lots of vegetables, some fruit and '8-10 bites' of carbohydrate (per meal if you do have carbs with that meal), trying to get the fruit and the carbs earlier in the day rather than later. This '8-10 bites' clicked with me instantly, I realised a whole lot about the importance of portion size when they suggested this amount, I will expand later when I set out my personal eating plans.
The Metabolic Effect workout plan is what they call a 'Rest Based' workout, where you do intense dumbbell/barbell/body weight based exercises constantly for 20 minutes, usually 1 minute of each of 4 or 5 exercises, in a circuit, repeating 4 or 5 times to make 20 minutes. The idea of 'Rest Based' training is that you push while you can, until it becomes too hard to do even one more rep, then you put the equipment down and rest until you've recovered sufficiently to continue. You might end up taking 10 short rests in the 20 minute workout. So this all sounded great and I downloaded a few of these 20 minute workouts off their website, put them on the iPad and away I went to get me the best body I could in the shortest time. I loved it! It was fast moving, definitely not boring, and you really felt like you'd exhausted your muscles.
So why am I talking about this in the past tense? Well, after only a few sessions of this type of workout, I awoke one night to find the middle finger of my left hand all gnarled up and 'jerky'. The joint was damaged and I knew it was caused by this method of constantly holding dumbbells for 20 minutes at a time. This was not the workout for me. I went back to my traditional method of lifting weights (do a set of 10-15 then set the weight down), but the finger was damaged and each time I lifted weights it just made it a little worse.
So about 4 weeks ago I took advice from the company physiotherapist, who said it was probably ligament damage, and decided to take a week off completely from lifting dumbbells/barbells. I tried not to grip ANYTHING at all. A week went by with me just going leg work or cardio and some ab work, and the finger had got to the stage when it wasn't 'jerking' past the joint so I thought I'd try again. But even now my traditional weight lifting was aggrevating the problem. It obviously hadn't healed and I was just re-awakening the problem each time I picked up a dumbbell.
In the last couple of months, since I did the first 8 weeks of the Jamie Eason Livefit Trainer, I'd also noticed that my belly had felt less slim, had more of a muffin top appearing, and I didn't know why really. I'd not radically changed my diet, ok I was still eating a couple of squares of dark chocolate per day, but my weight was the same (give or take a pound) so what was happening? Well obviously my belly was getting fat! No two ways about it. I tried making up reasons like, "well I'm pulling in the muscle inside so what's left on the outside is showing up more and making me look fatter", but no matter how much I tried to kid myself the evidence was there in the mirror.
Earlier this week a friend of mine in Canada, Shan, who also blogs her fitness journey (see www.masteringthemethod.blogspot.com), and who was also dismayed at having put weight on despite sticking quite well to her regime of Tracy Anderson Method workouts and the accompanying Dynamic Eating Plan, said she was wondering if this is what being over 40 was like now. She wondered whether now we'd reached this age that if it was inevitable that we now had to watch our diets all the more and workout like crazy to just maintain the previously slim body we'd never had to work very hard for. This got me thinking about similar things and I am fortunate she said this at the exact time I was ready for a real hard examination and a change for myself.
Since Easter went by almost 2 weeks ago I'd not stopped snacking on the various chocolate delights we had in the house, not only Easter eggs, but any bar of chocolate I took a fancy to. At first it was just a couple of squares here and there but I was rapidly descending into my old ways of just having a whole row of chocolate at a time, two or three times a day. It had to stop, I was feeling out of control!
Another friend told me she had also had a bad week, food-wise, and that she really wanted to sort out her diet too, as she desperately wants to lose a few pounds so she'll feel more comfortable going to the pool in just over a month's time. We love to talk about the latest programs, which diet advice to follow, what we're doing that's working, what's clearly not etc. So when she also said this it was clear I wasn't the only unhappy one and for this I was kind of thankful (not glad she was unhappy you understand!!!). I was not a freak who couldn't stick to healthy eating, I was just a human being after all.
I reflected back to last August, when I challenged a few friends to come with me on a 21 day Eating Clean journey, and how I'd lost 4 lbs within 10 days just by giving up the daily chocolate and moving towards whole, natural foods rather than sugar-loaded, refined and processed foods. This worked for me the first time round when I was sticking to it, and I remembered I loved the feeling of not only knowing I was getting all natural and healthy foods into my body, but also the feeling of seeing the numbers on the scales reduce, it was win-win, easy-peasy. So I knew this was what i had to do again. The chocolate was no longer an everyday option but maybe a once in a while treat, and I knew that once in a while couldn't come too soon or it may derail me. So I devised a plan, based on all the information I'd collected and the experiences I'd had over the last few months. I thought about the reasons for putting every single thing into my mouth and what benefit I would get from each, and this is what I came up with:
I will follow all the principles of 'Eating Clean' - i.e. eating whole, natural foods, with no added sugar or salt, eating 5-6 small meals per day, with protein at each meal, consisting of:
Breakfast:
Steel cut oats (cooked with 2/3 water and 1/3 skimmed milk) - the slowest digesting of all oats, giving my body more work to do and hence burn up more calories
1 tbsp gound flax seed - to keep me 'regular' and scrub out my insides of all the crap I don't want hanging around
Small handful of raspberries in the porridge - I used to always add a good tablespoon of raisins and cranberries but after consulting my fitness guru, Nancy (www.nancyreinhardt.com), I have cut these out as dried fruit is high in sugar). So now real fruit only, raspberries or blueberries
Protein shake made with just 100 ml skimmed milk or coconut milk (about 25 cals each milky option) - to ensure I get my 20g+ of protein at all my main meals, to fill me up for longer and feed my muscles.
Source of Life multi-vitamin and mineral liquid, one capful - contains all the essential daily vitamins & minerals to keep my energy levels up and my mind alert
Work days
1 cup of hazelnut flavoured coffee, made with skimmed milk powder and Stevia sweetener - I was getting sleepy in the mornings at work so I decided to have one cup of real (but instant) coffee as I get to work, and this has worked so this stays. The rest of the day I drink either hot water, cold water or sometimes have one more cup of coffee but this is always decaffeinated.
Also on workdays:
Small tub of fruit from a selection of melon, raspberries & strawberries, to nibble on all morning, must be finished by 2pm latest - if I have more fruit after this point I probably won't burn it off and risk storing fat because of it.
Mid-morning snack:
1 small banana - good for energy but only a small one as high in sugar, and1 protein-rich snack - either one of my home-made nut, coconut & date bars (although if following Nancy's advice I will not use dates too often as they are higher in sugar than is best for fat loss),
or 1 or 2 Ryvitas with Cottage Cheese,
or a 1 scoop protein shake.
Lunch:
Salad leaves with chopped bell peppers, artichokes & small amount olive oil/balsamic dressing - my theory is that salad takes as long to eat as vegetables but there is a lot less calories in it, it's like a negative calorie amount once your body has spent time processing it.
Lean protein - either chicken breast, salmon, tuna (canned, in water), egg, cottage cheese or a combo - important to keep full for longer
8 'bites' of brown rice or quinoa or small sweet potato - I'm not cutting out carbs, I don't think you need to unless you're stuck on a plateau, and I know I need them for energy to get through the workouts.
Few bits of fruit ouf my tub - something sweet to finish my meal with, otherwise I may have cravings for other sweet things like chocolate, and I don't want to be in that position!
Mid-afternoon snack:
Protein shake made with 250 ml coconut milk, 1 scoop strawberry whey, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 2 tbsp Greek yogurt (Fage 0%), handful fresh or frozen raspberries - protein and easy carbs are recommended for pre-workout meal, to feed the muscle and give energy, plus this is quite filling too so stops me wanting to snack on the way home or as soon as I get home.
Evening meal:
1 scoop shake if I've done a very hard workout and my meal is over half an hour away, or if not, just main meal as follows:
Lean protein, e.g. baked salmon, chicken or white fish, with either just vegetables (stir fried or steamed) or a mix of vegetables & 8 bites of brown rice (e.g. peas & rice go well together).
Pre-bed:
No snack planned but if hungry can have 1 seed thin (cracker) with cottage cheese, or a small protein shake.
If not hungry (much) I will have a half cup of mocha - made with 1/4 spoon decaff coffee, 1/4 spoon unsweetened cocoa powder, stevia - it has been proven that cocoa powder is very effective in stopping cravings, and the warm drink I think helps control any slight hunger and also helps me sleep.
So that's my plan! I have added up the calories in the various meals and I think I'm shooting between 1300 and 1500, depending on exactly what meals I choose. I haven't analysed the macros in terms of protein/carbs/fat, but I feel I will be getting enough protein and that is important when wanting to not only lose fat but to tone muscle too. I'm not skimping on carbs, just having small quantities throughout the day. Healthy fats will come from salmon, olive oil for cooking or as salad dressing, ground flax and occasionally some nuts. I'm 'feeling' this plan, I think it's right for me. To help myself I've already cooked 8 portions of brown rice and put them in 8-bite portions into plastic tubs in the freezer, and the same with the steel cut oats. I always make sure I've got freshly cut fruit in the fridge and some frozen white fish in case of emergency (i.e. when I forgot to get the chicken or salmon out of the freezer!). Oh and frozen peas are essential when you can't be bothered slicing & cooking fresh veggies too.
Since I devised my plan just 2 days ago and got rid of the evening chocolate munchies, I have already lost 1.4 lbs. Ok, I know it's the SAME 1.4 lbs that I keep gaining and losing but previously it was pure luck that this happened, now it's a planned result. And result it is! I am so determined to stick with my plan, I want anyone to join me in using the theories behind it and even try out the plan for themselves too. It is already working for me, I'm sure it can for you too.
I also have to credit Nancy Reinhardt in helping create my personalised plan, although she didn't directly write my plan or say 'stop having chocolate so much' (I know she would if I told her though, lol), the fact that I work on writing and maintaining her website (www.nancyreinhardt.com) and have access to her wonderful client group means that I am constantly reminded of the theories behind eating well, for fuelling my muscles and for gaining muscle whilst losing fat.The workouts are again temporarily on hold in terms of picking up dumbbells, my doctor advised me to rest my finger for a couple of week to see if it would improve, so I am sticking to that this time, not going back to the weights until I've had a few days of no problem with my finger at all. It's been over a week already and the joint it still 'jerking' and is still a little sore, so I imagine another week would be required, if not more. To fill the gaps in the workouts I have been improvising by doing leg workouts wearing my 10 Kg vest for lunges, using my Smith machine for squats and calf raises, and using our leg press machine to improve my glutes & quads too. I set a new record on the leg press the other night, I lifted 145 Kg, that's 319 lbs, so I am still improving despite not being able to work upper body quite as much. I have also been able to do push ups, tricep dips and ab work so most of my muscles are still be challenged.
So that's my challenge now, stick to my eating plan, see where it takes me. I don't feel like it's a "diet", this is just what i will be having now, it's not so radically different from what I've been having the past few months really, but I've just honed it down to quality meals that fuel my body and have cut out the chocolate snacks.
On a last note, I want to share some good news, or at least a good picture - of my bum! I thought it was about time I took some new pictures of myself last week, seeing as I've been lifting weights for about 4 months now, and was pleased to see the improvements in my rear view! From frumpy to (almost) fabulous I think!
So it does show that doing lunges, heavy squats, deadlifts and all the other weight training and bits of cardio I have been doing have been worthwhile. Now to try to improve this picture again by making my diet what it should be rather than what I've been letting myself get away with :-)
Who's in with me?
Janice
