Staying Lean
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mom23mangos wrote: »JeepHair77 wrote: »Since no-one has dropped this yet I'll put this here. One of the best realistic articles on the sacrifices it takes to get and stay lean.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean
and TLDR, the info graphic is here:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean-infographic
I fluctuate up and down between lean-ish and lean depending on my life, social life, training schedule and current level of commitment to nutrition. It will be very rarely healthy for anyone, particularly females, to stay lean (15 +/- 3% for females) year round IMHO. I'd say that most people who do that, do it because it's their jobs or superior genetics allows it. For most people I'd say mentally and physically it's better to hold a little more fat and enjoy life.
This article was really, really eye-opening for me. Like, really. I identify with "Bill" so much - I'm so close to "awesome", and I'm frustrated that what I'm doing isn't getting me there. I needed someone to break it down for me like this.
Doesn't mean I don't still want it, but recognizing that it's a whole separate step, and that I have to be willing to make other "tradeoffs" is an important realization in deciding how "badly" I want it. The "hard" transition is something I don't think I appreciated.
Yes, thank you for sharing this. I keep thinking it shouldn't be so hard to get to the next level of fitness, but some of my goals may not be realistic if I want to keep a full-time job and at least a bit of a social life! I really need like 9-10 hours of sleep to maintain the routine I'd like to do.
My body demands 8-10hrs of sleep now. I HAVE to get it. I have friends desperately trying to lose weight on 4-5hrs sleep and they refuse to see it's holding them back. But then again, when you have 6 kids, a husband that travels and a writing career (one example) I'm not sure how you do it all either.
Omg I wish I could get at least 7.. instead it's 5-6h of broken up sleep if I'm lucky. I always wonder what kind of progress I would have with more sleep ...
Getting more sleep is currently the big change I'm really trying to implement. I think only managing max 6 hours is really effecting my training & recovery and making getting lean so much harder. That and stress. Must be less anxious. Must stop being so stressed about making myself less anxious...0 -
I am not yet in the maintenance, so maybe I shouldn't comment, but here is what I think..
A decade or two ago it was very popular to be very skinny (like on the edge of anorexia). Then last decade came this trend "Strong is the new skinny"..and it looked promising, like women took their health in their hands, they are being fit and strong..but then it again went into IMO too much extreme which is also not healthy at many levels.
For me, the ideal looking female body is a body that is fit and you can see some muscles, but you can also see some fat, i.e. there is a bit of softness..And I don't know why would puffiness be a bad thing? IMO, it gives a person that radiant, healthy, youngish look.
Sometimes we get too used to go in one direction that we don't notice that we passed by our destination.
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anna_glassshoes wrote: »mom23mangos wrote: »JeepHair77 wrote: »Since no-one has dropped this yet I'll put this here. One of the best realistic articles on the sacrifices it takes to get and stay lean.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean
and TLDR, the info graphic is here:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean-infographic
I fluctuate up and down between lean-ish and lean depending on my life, social life, training schedule and current level of commitment to nutrition. It will be very rarely healthy for anyone, particularly females, to stay lean (15 +/- 3% for females) year round IMHO. I'd say that most people who do that, do it because it's their jobs or superior genetics allows it. For most people I'd say mentally and physically it's better to hold a little more fat and enjoy life.
This article was really, really eye-opening for me. Like, really. I identify with "Bill" so much - I'm so close to "awesome", and I'm frustrated that what I'm doing isn't getting me there. I needed someone to break it down for me like this.
Doesn't mean I don't still want it, but recognizing that it's a whole separate step, and that I have to be willing to make other "tradeoffs" is an important realization in deciding how "badly" I want it. The "hard" transition is something I don't think I appreciated.
Yes, thank you for sharing this. I keep thinking it shouldn't be so hard to get to the next level of fitness, but some of my goals may not be realistic if I want to keep a full-time job and at least a bit of a social life! I really need like 9-10 hours of sleep to maintain the routine I'd like to do.
My body demands 8-10hrs of sleep now. I HAVE to get it. I have friends desperately trying to lose weight on 4-5hrs sleep and they refuse to see it's holding them back. But then again, when you have 6 kids, a husband that travels and a writing career (one example) I'm not sure how you do it all either.
Omg I wish I could get at least 7.. instead it's 5-6h of broken up sleep if I'm lucky. I always wonder what kind of progress I would have with more sleep ...
Getting more sleep is currently the big change I'm really trying to implement. I think only managing max 6 hours is really effecting my training & recovery and making getting lean so much harder. That and stress. Must be less anxious. Must stop being so stressed about making myself less anxious...
I've started doing Yin Yoga before bed. It is awesome at destressing, bringing down cortisol levels, putting you in a meditative state and activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Not to mention helping muscle recovery and range of motion. I tend to halfway fall asleep in the stretches as you hold them for so long and then I'm completely ready for bed by the time I'm done.3 -
I am not yet in the maintenance, so maybe I shouldn't comment, but here is what I think..
A decade or two ago it was very popular to be very skinny (like on the edge of anorexia). Then last decade came this trend "Strong is the new skinny"..and it looked promising, like women took their health in their hands, they are being fit and strong..but then it again went into IMO too much extreme which is also not healthy at many levels.
For me, the ideal looking female body is a body that is fit and you can see some muscles, but you can also see some fat, i.e. there is a bit of softness..And I don't know why would puffiness be a bad thing? IMO, it gives a person that radiant, healthy, youngish look.
Sometimes we get too used to go in one direction that we don't notice that we passed by our destination.
I don't know, this is probably true for lots of people, but everyone's "ideal" is so individual. I don't put on that layer of fat in a way that looks radiant and proportionate. It goes in my face and my belly, leaving a super-skinny upper body and very muscular legs. MY ideal is to have tight muscle all over and very little fat, because it's the only way I look proportionate from top to bottom. It may not be an ideal that I can maintain all the time, but it's still my ideal.1 -
mom23mangos wrote: »anna_glassshoes wrote: »mom23mangos wrote: »JeepHair77 wrote: »Since no-one has dropped this yet I'll put this here. One of the best realistic articles on the sacrifices it takes to get and stay lean.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean
and TLDR, the info graphic is here:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean-infographic
I fluctuate up and down between lean-ish and lean depending on my life, social life, training schedule and current level of commitment to nutrition. It will be very rarely healthy for anyone, particularly females, to stay lean (15 +/- 3% for females) year round IMHO. I'd say that most people who do that, do it because it's their jobs or superior genetics allows it. For most people I'd say mentally and physically it's better to hold a little more fat and enjoy life.
This article was really, really eye-opening for me. Like, really. I identify with "Bill" so much - I'm so close to "awesome", and I'm frustrated that what I'm doing isn't getting me there. I needed someone to break it down for me like this.
Doesn't mean I don't still want it, but recognizing that it's a whole separate step, and that I have to be willing to make other "tradeoffs" is an important realization in deciding how "badly" I want it. The "hard" transition is something I don't think I appreciated.
Yes, thank you for sharing this. I keep thinking it shouldn't be so hard to get to the next level of fitness, but some of my goals may not be realistic if I want to keep a full-time job and at least a bit of a social life! I really need like 9-10 hours of sleep to maintain the routine I'd like to do.
My body demands 8-10hrs of sleep now. I HAVE to get it. I have friends desperately trying to lose weight on 4-5hrs sleep and they refuse to see it's holding them back. But then again, when you have 6 kids, a husband that travels and a writing career (one example) I'm not sure how you do it all either.
Omg I wish I could get at least 7.. instead it's 5-6h of broken up sleep if I'm lucky. I always wonder what kind of progress I would have with more sleep ...
Getting more sleep is currently the big change I'm really trying to implement. I think only managing max 6 hours is really effecting my training & recovery and making getting lean so much harder. That and stress. Must be less anxious. Must stop being so stressed about making myself less anxious...
I've started doing Yin Yoga before bed. It is awesome at destressing, bringing down cortisol levels, putting you in a meditative state and activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Not to mention helping muscle recovery and range of motion. I tend to halfway fall asleep in the stretches as you hold them for so long and then I'm completely ready for bed by the time I'm done.
Ooh, I'm going to look into this. Thank you!0 -
I guess we need to have a break when it comes to our everyday diet. I call it "cheat time" and its what makes me happy for a moment. I usually have food cravings at times even if I'm on a strict diet. But I always try to dicipline myself and stick to my diet plan. I usually have at least twice a month cheat time. I guess when you want to eat more than your usual diet, you need to keep up with your exercise. You really dont need to starve or deprive yourself from the foods you want just to maintain your weight. For me, sometimes we need to break-free from our daily routine maybe once or twice in order to satisfy ourselves. If you want to achieve you previous shape then stick to your previous diet plan and do some proper workout routine.1
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