good news n- bootcamp / bad news - body composition

pinksultana

My good news is that I received a phone call from Fenix gym yesterday saying I won a 5 week bootcamp which normally costs $450 aud and consists of 3 group / personal training sessions and one nutrition session per week for 5 weeks so that will be great!!!

The bad news is they take tests to work out your body composition before and after the 5 weeks and I had my test today...results not good!!!

123kg currentley weigh
approx 72kilos of fat or 59% fat :noway:
22kg lean muscle or 18% muscle
and my bodys age is around 22 older than my current age

It will be interesting to see how these results differ after the 5 weeks...and if | love the bootcamp ill prob do another one and have more tests...well at least this is the begginning of the improvment of those numbers right?!!!!

xx Pink

kimberly428

WOW! What a great way to kick off your weight loss! FREE boot-camp! Wow
I would be interested to see the results at the 5 weeks too, I will add you as a friend to watch your progress (if that is ok). I am excited for you!

SHBoss1673

ok pinkie, don't think of it as good news and bad news, think of it as a perfect opportunity to really change yourself! While 59% is probably not what you wanted to hear, it just means that you can now be more sure than ever that you have a solid goal to shoot for. Did they give you a reasonable goal? I would say that 5 weeks....maybe a 5% reduction would be reasonable to shoot for, maybe even 6 or 7 if you really dedicate yourself.

anyway, if you need any extended advice or help, you know you can always ask.

pinksultana

Boss - They didnt give me a goal, which im of too minds about as sometimes its better to not be held back by a number if you know what i mean, but ill try not to get too wrapped up in the numbers and just shoot for overall health improvement at this stage...given im very new at all this bootcampy stuff and personal training ect ...but I will work hard for the next 5 weeks and we will then see where we are at!!
After just saying a speil about not being wrapped up in the numbers I do have a question though haha...as far as the numbers go I obviously want the fat percentage lower and the muscle percentage higher - theres guidelines in terms of fat percentages everywhere I read but not on muscle percentages, is there a number I should be aiming for here? or is it more imporatant to just focus on the fat percentage and the rest will follow??
theyre going to talk to us about nutrition on tuesday, but today the lady who was doing the tests said I should focus on eating more protein to build muscle....how much protein should I aim for daily do ya reckon? and how does it work with protein and excercise, should I be eating protein like a bit before excercise, or after excercise? and are we talking like lean meats ect or protein enriched shakes? or should i not worry about the protein side of things for now?

I really want to start off on the right footing and get max results out of this oppurtunity, but I dont have nearly enough knowledge to know where to start regarding these numbers - so once again Boss I pick your brains for any advice, and apologise in advance for the naivety of my questions

xxPink

ndnlou

Pink, you can change your protien intake percentage under the tools. Select to manually set the weight loss plan and then increase your percentage of protien. I increased my percentage of protien and have found a very good way to get lots of protien without alot of calories is 3 boiled egg whites and one boiled egg mixed together. If you increase your protien intake do not go to extreme, and drink lots of water. You need to drink more than the 8 oz per day recommended. Good Luck, ndnlou

SHBoss1673

I don't know why everyone gets so hung up on protein. It's the latest "thing" out there for fitness pros (nutrition professionals don't get nearly so hung up on it, which should probably tell you something).

Here's my take on protein, unless you're using it to replace carbohydrates, then there's NO reason for the average person looking to count calories go above say 20 or 25%, why? Because your body won't use any more than that anyway for muscle building, it'll just become a secondary fuel source at that point. If you are doing something different (some specific diet, or maybe training for body building or something) that's different but...

Here's the thing, I like that they have you focusing on nutrition over exercise, because (yes, I say this even though I'm a PT and believe wholeheartedly in the power of exercise) when it's all said and done, your going to win the war on weight by eating healthy, eating correct serving sizes, and eating proper micro nutrients. Exercise will help you reach that goal, but unless you're going biggest loser style and working out 4 to 6 hours a day, your exercise isn't going to give you the consistent flow of calorie burn that will change you, not like eating correctly will.

But the protein thing? Not a good way to focus (IMHO, considering where you are in this journey). Go into your goals, customize them to give you 25% protein, 20% fat, and 55 % carbs, then tweak a few months down the road if it's not going perfectly. But I doubt you'll need to. I'll be honest, someone with 50 plus percent fat will lose fat quickly if they eat a decent calorie deficit, exercise regularly, and don't eat huge meals. There's really no way NOT to. If you don't then 1 of 3 things happened, you either have a medical condition, you are lying to yourself and MFP about what you are eating/exercising, or someone gave you some bad information about your body fat/lean tissue.

Oh and yeah, for an adult female, you don't need to calculate lean tissue as once you know your body fat %, Fat Free Mass (lean tissue plus blood, plus bone) is all that's left, so for a woman an ULTIMATE goal would be about 15% or so body fat, but a more realistic goal would probably be between 18% and 25%, which is a good healthy percentage for most people.

pinksultana

Hey thanks bossy-banks.... well your not bossy but it just sounded good or something
thanks for the info it is good! it will be interesting to see what theyre stance on nutrition is!!
on a side note im marginally sub to clinical hypothyroid ...on just on the cusp of what aussie doctors would consider a stage for treatment but at present theyre not treating, Im going t go down the path of naturopathic medicine to see if they can imporve thyroid functioning, but as far as fattloss ect is concerned any thoughts on how my results may be impacted??
hmm maybe you and your wife can just more over here to australia and you can be my PT??

xxPink

SHBoss1673

Hey thanks bossy-banks.... well your not bossy but it just sounded good or something
thanks for the info it is good! it will be interesting to see what theyre stance on nutrition is!!
on a side note im marginally sub to clinical hypothyroid ...on just on the cusp of what aussie doctors would consider a stage for treatment but at present theyre not treating, Im going t go down the path of naturopathic medicine to see if they can imporve thyroid functioning, but as far as fattloss ect is concerned any thoughts on how my results may be impacted??
hmm maybe you and your wife can just more over here to australia and you can be my PT??

xxPink

LOL, Australia is on my list of places to go, but considering the 20 plus hour flight time and very expensive airfare, I don't see it happening any time soon. As to borderline hypothyroidism, that's a tough nut to crack, gotta watch your iodine intake and soy intake on that because they all significantly impact your thyroid, and you probably would have to go slightly lower on your calories than most of us (not sure how much lower as that would depend on what impact any treatments have and how serious the condition is...etc.) The only way to know for sure is to have a direct metabolic test done in a lab and have them truly tell you how many calories you burn during a normal day. In your case an HRM probably won't work (or not accurately at least).

Other than a slower metabolism though, I don't think hypothyroidism will affect your fat loss much, if you account for the slower thyroid function and make corrections to your eating because of it, then you should still be able to successfully reduce your fat levels. The benefit of that is, the less extra fat you have around, the better the rest of your body should work, which would (hopefully) include your metabolic rate. I'm no doctor so take this for what it's worth, but keep up your spirit, you'll get there!

best luck pink!