Bring IT! Part III: Team No Excuses in March

Sounds like a few of us had a down day. I get those occasionally, and usually when you get started, you're fine about 10 minutes in. But then there are THOSE days that you just count down the minutes 'til it's over. Yep, that was me a few days ago...

Phoenix, the one thing that I've heard of is feeling a bit flabby when your intramuscular fat starts to diminish. Basically, the subcutaneous fat goes after intramuscular, so when the muscles get deflated, the layers on top are more obvious, therefore a jiggly feeling. Don't talk yourself down like that. Everyone has those days when you just can't seem to get your *kitten* in gear. :noway: It happens to everyone. And hey, it's life. It's allowed to happen a few times. Just as long as it doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy, you know? When you're feeling like that is the time you just really have to dig deep to pull yourself out of it before you throw in the towel. There are usually some good choices when you eat out, and maybe you can just let your dad know what you're up to if he questions something healthy that you order. Sometimes we're afraid of what our loved ones will think and say, but oftentimes, we're pleasantly surprised. Actually, when I first started taking my workouts and eating more seriously, my mom would make snide comments and give me dirty looks when I refused to eat what she made. However, I just stuck to my guns and let her know I wasn't going to end up like her or dad, and I would buy and prepare my own food if what she made wasn't appropriate for my plan. She's finally getting it. She still rarely makes anything that I'm willing to eat, but she doesn't make comments anymore. Sometimes I just want to scream, you are KILLING yourselves with all that crap you eat! But that ship has sailed so I selfishly just do what I have to for myself now (and more recently, my brother). It never ceases to amaze/disgust me how my mom doesn't give a hoot at all about what she eats, how much she weighs, or how she's probably only ever exercised twice in her life...:noway:

Anyway, do your best and forget the rest with the eating out. Don't lose sight of your long-term goals for short-term satisfaction at the restaurant. You'll taste that food again someday, but perhaps today is just not that day...

Core Synergistics X done!

M

Good Morning!

I understand what you mean Georg. However, I really couldn't give a crap what people around me eat. I mean, I just don't care at all. It's not my job to be the food police, but when people b*tch and moan about not being able to lose weight, but don't do research or take the steps to educate themselves, I just want to say, "Please, just quit it. You're boring me with your stupidity." Anything that you want to become good at takes trial and error, practice, and continued learning and improvement. As for my mom, she REALLY just doesn't care. I even try to tell her about what changes we've been making with my brother, and I swear to god she only hears 1/20 words I'm saying. It's like, maybe you don't care, but give your kids a chance at a healthy and fulfilling life, ya know? She seems to have accepted being overweight and unhealthy, and she's accepted that for my siblings as well, blaming it on genetics rather than lifestyle. Please, give me a break! Oh well...I don't judge what she eats, as she just has no clue about calories, portion sizes, etc. and she honestly has no interest in any of it. I'm quite the opposite, but health is of utmost importance to me, whereas she always acts old and tired even though she's only 51. I'd shoot myself in the foot before I acted consistently old and tired at age 51. She's a decent mom, but I do remember that time when I was about 13 and realized that parents don't know everything and they are just as vulnerable and not invincible like the rest of us. An eye-opening moment to say the least.

However, I'm forever the skeptic and take everything everyone ever says with a grain of salt. For every study there is an equal and opposite study, right? I do my best to read, research, and research some more. For the studies I read, I make an effort to find the counterclaims and also take a look at the premises of the study. I just have a curious mind I guess, and I'm always on the search for acquiring more knowledge in all aspects of life.

I'd never say she's a bad mom, but we are just not that involved in each others' lives that much anymore and probably won't be as our interests are far different. I've given up on trying to teach my parents and have instead tried to turn my attention to my siblings. As most of us know, kids are like sponges, and they are more willing to learn and less set in their ways. My little sister always wants to work out with me, but weightlifting is not advised for someone under 14, so I will do Hip Hop Abs with her occasionally. Will work on her eating day by day...

I'm a strong believer in the saying, "You can't outtrain a lousy diet" and I firmly believe that at least 80% of your results come from nutrition. That's why people who eat healthfully but don't work out can normally stay slim, though maybe not fit, whereas people who work out frequently but eat like crap can continue to be fat, although perhaps more fit. It depends what your goals are. Americans especially have a focus on not only being slim but incredibly fit as well, and that's a departure from many other countries. We have gyms everywhere, workout videos, machines, etc. and in France, it's really just unheard of to go to the gym 6x per week.

Well, that was a long rant, but I hope I clarified some points about my feelings...

Bringing it today with KenpoX!

Hello everyone!

Sweet, basically, I cook quick, easy meals for myself. Sometimes I cook a few days meals at a time. I eat eggs, cheese, and a lean meat for breakfast. For snacks, I eat almonds, vegetables, hardboiled eggs, or cheese to go such as string cheese or the land o lakes to go portions. Lunch is usually a medium sized salad with grilled chicken breast or steak (rarely, because it's expensive) with olive oil as a dressing. Dinner is another meat and veggies or salad meal. I keep it quick and simple. I always try to keep a few hardboiled eggs on hand, as well as fresh-sliced deli meat (watch that salt!), grilled chicken, and salad mix. I don't eat bread, pasta, or sugar, and very rarely do I have artificial sweeteners, in the form of Splenda. I limit the sweeteners to 2 or 3 packs per day, as they can trigger cravings for more sweets. I will occasionally have a cup of coffee in the morning, but again, I think caffeine makes me hungrier so I cut it out recently. I only drink water. It sounds like I don't have a big variety, but there are lots of different meat and veggies to choose from, so I don't get bored. Also, seasonings are Mrs. Dash (salt-free) or my favorites, rosemary and thyme. I use olive oil liberally, I'm not and have never been afraid of dietary fat, and I have recently been upping my calories to around 1800. Oh yeah, I also avoid soy products, as they contain estrogen, which encourages fat storage. I would rather eat meat than tofu also.

I've lost 7 pounds since I started logging, which I think was February 11, so not really fast, but on track. I definitely cut the carbs way back, and I don't feel as hungry, but I'm paying attention to my body cues and eating if I'm hungry, and stopping when I'm satisfied. It's pretty simple, but it's doing it that's the challenge. I'm a big believer in a lower-carb lifestyle; as in, we just don't need as many carbs as the average american eats, no matter where they come from. Under 100 grams is really sufficient for most people. If your body doesn't use the glucose, it gets stored as, guess what, fat. Especially those trying to drop body fat (umm, all of us). As we get closer to our goals, like within 5-10 pounds, I think it's ok to move towards more carbs because at that point you're supposed to be slowing down your weight loss and moving towards maintenance. I have a long time before I get to that point. I think people just eat too many and try to justify it by staying under their calories. Also, sweets trigger cravings for more sweets. It's a bad cycle. You can definitely lose weight by counting calories alone, but there is a difference in 1200 calories from 10 of those 100 calorie packs and 1200 calories of quality, clean foods with protein and fat combos. I love food too, but keeping it simple does the trick for me. Georg's menu that she posted is quite similar to what I eat. Simple, easy, fast, nutritious.

P.S. The only thing processed that I eat is whey protein powder, as needed for recovery. I haven't been taking them lately, but I do on occasion when I think I'll be sore from heavy lifting.

How is everyone doing today?

Hmm, I think the deli meat might be pressed; even fresh meat has been treated in some salt-preservative. You can't necessarily get completely away from it unless you're butchering your own meat, ya know? As far as the cheese, of course it is processed to some extent, because cheese doesn't occur in nature. I think American cheese is the most processed (those sandwich slices) and velveeta, which isn't even cheese but cheese product.

As far as the soy, some people love it because it's low-calorie, but others find that it stalls their weight loss. I was given soy milk as an infant because dairy isn't a big industry in Asia. However, soy products aren't my favorite so it's not a problem for me...as far as the women being smaller, I think it's a combination of things, and the soy may or may not be correlated with lower body weights. I don't drink any milk at all so it's hard to say how it effects me. Overweight tendencies are becoming a problem in places like Japan and Korea with the prevalence of "Western" food chains though...