Me Vs. The Bulge – A Weight Loss Blog!

Source: findmefrugal.blogspot.com

I have spent a lot of time thinking over the past week or so about what comp I want to enter next year.  Originally I was going to go for the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) comp in March but after talking to a few people (Nat, Charlotte and my ever-supportive husband, Justin) I realised that it probably wasn’t the right comp for me.

You see, the IFBB comps are untested which means that the girls could be using all types of supplements and drugs from speed-like fat burning substances to pro-hormones.  This is something I would NEVER consider doing.  I take too much pride in my natural and holistic approach to weight loss and health so I would prefer to be amongst equals and enter a natural comp.  Obviously,  I want to give myself the BEST possible chance of winning!

BUT the natural comps aren’t until mid next year.  So therein lies the dilemma! DUN, DUN, DUNNNNNNN!

I’ve spent about 8 weeks in a muscle-building stage.  I’ve been eating LOADS and lifting heavy in an effort to increase my lean muscle mass.  I think I’ve done a pretty good job at this but the fact remains that my body fat percentage is still too high.  So, I have ditched the muscle-building plan (for now) and have entered into a fat loss plan to get my body fat percentage down.  I’ll go have another dexa scan in a couple of months to assess and then I’ll decide if I need to add more muscle mass (most likely) and go from there.

So!  The new plan!  DUN, DUN, DUNNNNNNN! (that probably wasn’t even needed there, but I like to build suspense)

Workout-wise I will be placing more emphasis on cardio as previously I was only doing 2 cardio sessions a week and 6 weight sessions.  Now the plan will be to do 4 cardio sessions and 4 weight sessions.

My week will now look a little something like this:

Monday: upper body + cardio

Tuesday: lower body + cardio

Wednesday: cardio

Thursday: upper body

Friday: cardio

Saturday: lower body

Sunday: off

Food-wsie I will be following the, uh, following principles:

• High protein
• Low fat (no more oils, nuts or avocado so will be now taking 3 fish oil caps, daily)
• An obscene amount of fresh and steamed vegetables
• No grains or starchy carbs after lunch
• Low dairy

It’s not EXTREMELY low-calorie but it’s low enough for me considering I was just eating about 2000 calories! The focus is just being as clean as possible and hitting my macro-nutrient needs.  I will have one “cheat” meal per week as well.  I’m already dreaming of my first one!

Now, usually I would lay out my meal plan for you guys now but unfortunately I can not do that this time!  I consulted a professional to help me with my cutting diet so therefore the diet is not mine to share.  I have posted my meal plans before and I can say that this is very similar, so do a search of the My Progress category and check them out!

I’ve just completed 2 days on this diet and it’s like I have forgotten what it’s like to be on a weight loss plan!  Oh, the hunger pangs!  Oh, the irritability! Argh!  But I’ve done it before for MONTHS on end (and on much lower calories!) so I can do it now.  Just need to take a big cup of concrete.  Oh, wait, that’s not on the plan…

I manage the hunger by consuming copious amounts of herbal tea as the warm liquid is soothing and filling.  And of course I drink lots of water too.  Last night I was so hungry about 20 minutes after eating (and my dinner was not small by any means) that I just had to go to sleep.  Apparently this is a good sign as it means by metabolism is firing on all cylinders!  Excellent.

Well, that is about it from me.  I’ll take some progress pics in a couple of weeks to let you know how I’m going.

Also – have an awesomely inspiring interview coming up with a weight loss sensation turned sports model so don’t miss that one!

This is how many supplements you will need. NOT.

I often get asked what supplements I take and to be honest I don’t take a whole lot but there are 3 supplements that I am currently taking on a daily basis and that I swear by.  I think that if you have a rich and varied diet that you should get all the nutrients you need but when you put your body through strenuous exercise regularly, you sometimes need a little assistance.

Whey Protein Isolate

I have written a little about whey protein in another post which you can read here.

I usually mix my WPI with a little skim milk, vanilla extract and cacao powder.  It’s great to have any time of day as a snack but is particularly beneficial immediately after exercise as it quickly provides protein to the muscles.

BCAAs

I’ve only recently starting taking BCAAs and I am now converted.  The brand I use currently is Xtend but I think I will change to something else when I’m done as it contains artificial sweeteners and is really REALLY sweet.  You get used to it but, yeah, wow, it’s sweet!

Since using them I have found that I recover easier and have less muscles soreness, which is exactly what I need when I have been smashing 5-6 weight sessions a week and a few cardio sessions too!

Glutamine

I take glutamine for its immune and digestive system benefits but it is also another supplement that aids recovery post exercise.

I also take, as required, but not every day:

Fish Oil

For the anti-inflammatory and omega-3 benefits.

Bio Magnesium

To help with muscular cramps and ease premenstrual symptoms.

I would recommend talking to your GP before commencing any supplement usage to ensure that they are safe for you to use!

What supplements do you swear by?

Knock knock! 

Who’s there?

It’s me!

Me who?

Me Vs The Bulge telling you all about why you are failing in the gym again!

The last 2 parts of this series addressed goal setting and strength training.  This post is all about diet.  And I don’t mean Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, I mean diet in the true definition of the word – “The usual food and drink of a person or animal.”

Source: fashionhealthy.tumblr.com/

It took me a long time to finally get my head around diet and what I should be eating.  I spent far too long trapped in “diet land” and was suckered in to all types of quick fix “solutions” to my weight woes.  I’ve tried shake diets, soup diets, diet pills, meal delivery services, Atkins, extremely low-calorie diets… you name it, I’ve most likely tried it.

If I had to only ever have one piece of advice to give to others it would be to DITCH THE DIETS.  They do not work, they are unsustainable, they mess with your metabolism, they do not provide you with enough energy to fuel you through exercise and the generally make you feel lousy and miserable.  It’s really not worth it.

So finally I got to the point of realising that diets don’t work and with the help of Nat I started changing my evil diet ways.  The first thing I did was I got rid of the majority of the processed foods I was eating – diet yoghurts, diet soft drinks, diet sauces and marinades… basically anything labelled DIET had to go and most things that come in a box, packet or bottle too.  Why?  Because these foods are usually full of nasty preservatives and hidden fats and sugars.  Just because something is labelled “low-fat” doesn’t mean it’s not full of sugar which will eventually store as fat in your body.  DO NOT WANT.

The next thing I did was start eating foods which were as close to their natural state as possible. My daily diet became full to the brim of fresh produce.  I’d never SEEN so much fresh fruit and vegetables in my fridge!  It got to the point that when we go grocery shopping we hardly enter the aisles at all except to buy tins of legumes and tomatoes and to buy practically the entire spice section. Spices and herbs are now my best friends!

I finally started to feel free from the constraints of diet hell.  I was training hard and seeing results.  But there was something else I needed to address that was holding me back from reaching my full potential… the weekends.

All week I would eat really well but then the weekend would hit and I would have a cheat meal.  That’s all well and good and perfectly normal, but that cheat meal would turn into another cheat meal, and then a cheat DAY and then I would go out and have a few drinks (hello empty calories!) and think, “Stuff it – I’ll go back to healthy eating on Monday”.  So before I knew it, the entire weekend was full of cheats. Which is to say, I was cheating myself out of reaching my goals.  Self-sabotage at it’s finest!

What people don’t realise is that whilst you may be eating at a calorie deficit during the week, falling off the wagon weekend can put you over your weekly calorie limit and therefore you find that you have eaten at maintenance calories for the week or even WORSE a calorie surplus!  This could basically cancel out all that hard work you did in the gym that week.  All that sweat and pain for NOTHING.

So if you are going to be spending all this time working out then you MUST address your diet as well.  They go hand in hand.

Source: cutandjacked.com

So my tips -

Consume fresh and unprocessed foods that are as close to their natural state as possible

Ditch the diets

Eat to fuel your body – steer clear of empty calories

Eat small meals and often to keep your metabolism humming smoothly

Limit sugar and starchy foods

Use fresh and dried herbs, chilli, garlic, ginger, lemon and lime to flavour your food

Make sure you get plenty of healthy fats – avocado, flaxseed oil, olive oil and unsalted nuts

Stick to low GI carbohydrates for slow release energy and to maintain healthy blood sugar levels

I could probably go on and on and on when it comes to diet but I’ll let you guys have a say too – what are your healthy eating tips?

As I got out of the shower today and was searching for something to wear, I spied my wedding dress hanging in my wardrobe, untouched since the day I wore it when I married the man I love nearly 4 years ago.

I’m not much of a “wedding person”. I didn’t care too much for minor details, all I wanted was a big party with our closest friends and relatives – a good food, drinks flowing and raucous dancing kind of affair. And that’s what I got and I loved every minute of it.

So being the non-wedding person that I am I clearly wasn’t too fussed with what I was going to wear on the day. I knew 3 things – it had to be under $1k as I’m a terrible tight arse, it had to be flowy to hide my chubby tummy and thighs and it had to be fairly understated and simple.

About 4 weeks away from the wedding date I walked into a dress store (yep, 4 weeks and it wasn’t even a bridal store) that sold all these beautiful silk dresses, tried on 3 dresses and settled on my dress.

$700 later, thank you very much, I was pretty impressed with myself. I loved my dress and on the day I felt beautiful in it (until I saw the wedding photos that is!).

So, there it was, hanging there in my closet and I couldn’t help but wonder how it would look now. The only way to find out was to try it on!

It was hanging off my frame! I remember on the day I had to suck everything in to zip it up and my boobs were spilling gloriously out of the top (ah boobs, how I miss thee).

I could always get it taken in and it would look quite nice:

I guess I regret not knowing what I know now about weight loss… I regret not fully committing myself to weight loss prior to the wedding.

But at the same time I don’t think that would have changed the day that I had. I remember not feeling 100% satisfied with my weight but I allowed myself to let those feelings go for the day and just enjoy the moment. And that’s all that mattered.

To the married gals – were you happy with your size on your wedding day? Did you place pressure on yourself to get to a certain size for “the big day”? How do you feel now when you look back on your wedding photos?

Welcome back readers and I hope you are all ready for another thrilling instalment of “This is Why You Fail in the Gym”.

Today we are going to talk about weight training.  The most common mistakes that many people make in the gym (and especially WOMEN) is that they either do not weight train, do not weight train effectively OR have no idea what they are doing when it comes to weights but will pick them up anyway.  Example – 1kg weights for a bicep curl is probably going to be too light for you, unless you are Mr Burns. 

A lot of women shy away from lifting weights as they are worried they will become too muscular.  Let’s clear this up now – women do not have the amount of testosterone required to pack on as much muscle as what men can.  It just won’t happen.  Okay?  So take those visions out of your head of you as some sort of half woman, half Arnold Schwarzenegger hybrid and get over your fear of lifting weights!

Lifting weights (in conjunction with eating a clean, healthy diet and adding a healthy dose of cardio) will help you create lean, sexy muscle.  When you create this muscle it will help you burn fat even when your body is at rest.  Cardio, on the other hand, burns the majority of your calorie intake only whilst you are performing it.   So it’s really beneficial for you to have those muscle stores as it will help transform your body into a fat-melting machine!

Weight training will also increase bone density, will lower your injury risk and will improve balance, flexibility, mobility and stability.

And one more thing – muscle weighs exactly the same as fat except that it takes up less room.  So even though the number on the scales may remain the same, you will be a smaller and leaner version of yourself.  Who doesn’t want that, am I right?

Okay, so now you know the benefits of weight training, the question is how exactly do you go about doing it?

If you’re a total newbie to weight training then I suggest you consult with a qualified and experienced trainer to show you the ropes as we do NOT want you to hurt yourself!  When it comes to weight training it’s all about TECHNIQUE.  It doesn’t matter how quickly you do it, that will mean nothing if you do not perform the movement correctly.

If you have a fair idea on what you are doing when it comes to weights then I suggest a program that is similar to the below (this program can be for men or women):

• Choose a weight that you can perform no more than 8 – 12 reps with, with perfect form
• Select one compound and one isolation exercise per body part – for example, for the chest you could choose a bench press followed by a chest fly
• Perform 3 sets of the 8 – 12 reps of each exercise
• Follow the above program 3 – 4 days per week focusing on either the lower or upper body each session (this is what is known as a split program)
• Once you get to the stage where you feel you can perform more than the 8 or 12 reps, increase your weight slightly

Have a look at Natalie Carter’s Spring Shred program or BodyBuilding.com if you are stuck on what kind of exercises you should be performing but if you’ve got a pretty good knowledge on weight training exercises then go nuts!  The world is your oyster!

Important note: YES this will feel hard, YES you may feel overwhelmed and weak, YES you will want to quit, YES this will challenge you mentally and physcially, YES you will be sore the next day (or possibly for days after!) but it will all be worth it. 

When I first started training I remember my eyes would well with tears of frustration at how hard it was.  I remember feeling helpless and inadequate and most of all weak and that made me want to give up.  But every week I got stronger and stronger and now I feel like there is NOTHING I can’t do if I put my mind to it.  Do not let your mind win over your body!  Stay mentally strong and focused and the body will follow.

Now get to it!  I want to see all my readers with glorious glutes, amazing abs, lean legs and smouldering shoulders – all of which you will get if you just pick up those weights!

I was apprehensive about taking these photos. I guess now that I am at the stage where I am not actively seeking to lose weight I didn’t want to know what the photos would look like. Would I look stocky and thick? Would I look chubby? Would I, gasp, not have made any changes at all?

Well, it was time to take a big swig of concrete because clearly, I needed to just harden the hell up. And harden up I did! Literally! I think I have made some good gains over the last 6 weeks. My legs, arms, abs and especially my back have all taken on some nice lean muscle mass. It’s not a HUGE difference but I feel stronger so I think that’s very important at this stage.

I’m okay with not looking “smaller”, as long as I am gaining that all important muscle, because in a couple of months that muscle mass is going to be really important as I strip away the remainder of fat to reveal a new tight, taut, sports model comp ready body!

I’m clearly still uncomfortable with “posing” – I am fully aware on how awkward and creepy I look. Thank GOD I don’t have to actually flex on stage because I think it would take me forever to learn how to master the art! I’m going to WNBF competition tomorrow to see Charlotte compete so I will check out the sports model comp whilst I’m there to get an idea of what I am in for.

I haven’t placed these photos side by side because I simply don’t have good enough software to do so and paint just makes the image quality too poor considering that I take these pics with my iPhone!

6 weeks ago - front

Today - front

6 weeks ago - back

Today - back

6 weeks ago - front flex

Today - front flex

6 weeks ago - back flex

Today - back flex

6 weeks ago - awkward front pose in heels

Today - still awkward front pose in heels

6 weeks ago - bootay shot in heels

Today - bootay shot in heels

6 weeks ago - side sleazy shot in heels

Today - even sleazier side shot in heels

Today - close up of thighs and abs

Hoping the lumps and bumps diminish before comp time! Also, pay no mind to my dumb left shoulder… I have had some issues with it over the last couple of days and it won’t sit straight.

Hope everyone is working hard! Until next time, lift heavy, eat clean and BELIEVE in yourself!

Source: http://globaltrendtraders.com

Since I’ve been back training in a commercial gym (*shudder*) I’ve been looking around at the type of people who go there.  You can really tell the people who are training with purpose apart from those who are just going through the motions.

People who train with purpose look focused and determined, they’re sweating, possibly grunting (I’m a huge grunter!), they’re red in the face, they get in the gym and they make full use of their time there and their appearance visibly changes week after week.

People who go through the motions are reading magazines on the treadmill, looking around the gym aimlessly whilst pumping out a million bicep curls with 1kg weights, they’re on their phone “checking-in” at the gym on Facebook to make it seem like they’re actually working hard and they never make any visible changes.  And they are all probably wondering why.

Well, this has been done a million times by a million different people and here’s my little contribution to why people fail in the gym.  This will be a 5 part series and this post is the first of that series.

Why am I doing this?  Because I’ve been one of those people who went through the motions and I don’t want you to be one too because you will not get the results you want!

Prior to training with Nat I spent countless dollars and time on personal trainers, gym classes, gym memberships and home exercise equipment.  But none of it ever worked because I did not set goals.  I just had and idea in my head that if I exercise I will look and feel better about myself.  But what does that mean?  What does looking better look like to ME?  What do I need to do to achieve this?  Well, this is my take on how to properly set goals.

HOW TO PROPERLY SET A GOAL

Before you start a fitness/diet regime you really need to assess your desire for change.  Why are you making this change?  What will make you stick to this change?  How IMPORTANT is making this change to you?  Are you committed to making this change for the long haul?  Once you have an understanding of why you want to change then you can start setting goals.  Because if you do not have a burning desire to change you will not be successful in achieving your goal.  End of story.

So, you’ve now come to the conclusion that the change is very important to you because you feel uncomfortable in your skin / are out of breath too often / want to set a healthy example for your kids / want to compete better in sports / want to look hot and feel confident / [insert reason here].  This is your “bigger picture” goal.  But it’s pretty broad and unspecific.  So you have to drill it down further to make it achievable.

Okay, let’s pick “want to look hot and feel confident”.  What does looking hot and feeling confident mean to you?  Describe it to yourself.  Write it down.  Cut out images of people who you think look hot and confident.  Paste them in a book or stick them on an inspiration board.  Then think to yourself, “What would I look like when I get to the stage of looking hot and feeling confident?”.  Is it 10kg less than what you are now?  Is it fitting into size 10 skinny jeans?  It must be specific and tangible i.e. it can’t be “look good in a bikini” (what is “good”?  I think a bulldog looks pretty good in a bikini!) and it can’t be “have Miranda Kerr’s legs” (you can’t – they’re her legs, not yours!).

Let’s say it’s to lose 10kg.  That’s a fairly large sum.  It’s not something you can just drop in a matter of weeks.  Well you COULD but let’s face it, you will not be hot and confident because you will mostly likely have lost precious muscle mass and have droopy skin.  NOT HOT.  CONFIDENCE LEVEL = ZERO.

You need to break that goal down into smaller goals and you need to set a time frame to do it in.  If you do not set a time frame you will most likely fail.  So, break the 10kg goal into smaller goals of maybe 2kg losses by the end of every 4 weeks and that would bring your end goal time frame to 5 months.

So now you know that you want to lose 10kg in 5 months and you’re going to set a milestone (or mini goal) of 2kg every 4 weeks.  BOOM.  So do-able.  But HOW are you going to do it?

Well, you’ll need to modify your diet and you’ll need to include exercise (obviously you’ll need other factors like motivation and support etc but that’s not tangible and we want only tangible things to be included in our goal).

You will need to consult with a professional and do some research to find out how much exercise you will need and what your diet will need to include but once you have all that information you will be able to set your goal and it will look something like this:

“I will lose 10kg by 1st of February 2012.  I will measure my progress by weekly weigh-ins and my milestones will be set by a loss of 2kg every 4 weeks.  I will achieve this goal by exercising 4 days a week and following a diet based on 1400 calories a day”.

Well now! THAT’S a goal you can set your watch to! Notice the language as well.  I WILL lose, I WILL achieve.  Get used to using this language in your head because this will give you a sense of ownership of your goal and will make it feel very important to you.

Now that I have shown you how to set a proper goal, how about you share your goal with me below?  Spring has sprung people!  It’s the perfect time to set a goal to be a new, improved version of you!