Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Day 1~ Carrie

Hi girls!

 I loved reading about your day 1 experiences!  I did the workout in the morning and it was really hard.  I've done that one before and really like it but it IS a challenge.  I had a headache all day.  Like, a SPLITTING headache.  I don't think it has anything to do with the diet because I could feel it coming on on Sunday night, before I had started, but hopefully it will get better soon.

I did good on the food but went too long before lunch.  We took P to dance from 11-12 and then I suggested going to the mall to see the new H&M (even though I should have been eating lunch) so we did a little shopping and didn't leave until 2!  Completely lost track of time.  So my headache was out of control and I was starving.  I gobbled the tuna down when I got home, which helped a bit.

I had some tea samples at the mall.  We like Teavana so we went in and tried all of the samples.  Sometimes I beat myself up about any cheating but I was fine with that.  As long as I don't get out of control.  There were a few times I wanted some snacks from the pantry or what my family was eating for dinner (Costa Vida), but I resisted, so I'll focus on the success rather than the 'cheating'.  I had another snack a couple hours before dinner and then had my chicken and spinach and onion.  Kind of bland.  I wish I had seasoned the chicken better.

  We grilled a big batch so I cut it all into (what I think is) 5oz portions and put them in the fridge for easy access.  I also already prepared the chicken salad last night and had a bite.  It's really good so I'm looking forward to lunch!

 I MAY add a harder workout in on some days (if I have time) just because I'm used to doing more.  If I do, I'll eat an extra lunch (ie, another chicken salad wrap, OR a protein shake with spinach and avocado).

I took before pictures, measurements, a before video (flexing and resting my abs.  Basically at this point you can't tell I'm doing anything but I'm hoping after 30 days you'll be able to see the flexion) and I took my bodyfat %.

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I have a bodyfat caliper and I think it's a great tool when you're doing a challenge like this.  With the caliper, you can find out how much fat you have vs how much lean mass.  So imagine I weigh 150lbs and, after taking my bodyfat %, I find out I have 50lbs of fat on my body.  This means the remaining 100lbs is lean mass.  Say I lose 20 lbs.  YEA!!  I now weigh 130lbs.  But wait.  I don't feel like I see the change as much as I should.  I take my bodyfat% again and realize that I only lost 10lbs of fat.  That means that only HALF of the 20 lbs I lost was made up of fat.  The other half must have been muscle.  That's not good.  We want to lose fat and gain or maintain muscle.

 So, on the other hand, I may weigh 150 lbs., lose NO weight, but look and feel better.  When I take my bodyfat% I learn that I've lost 10 lbs of fat.  Since my weight didn't change, I know I gained that back in muscle.

So I think it's a great tool to have, rather than only using a scale because the scale doesn't tell the whole story.  As you lose weight, you can tell if you're losing muscle instead of fat, which tells you there needs to be a change (eat more protein, or less carbs, or lift more weights).  You can get one here. I have the slim guide with the booklet.

2 comments:

  1. Your explanation about loosing fat instead of muscle makes me really want a caliper. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  2. ha ha! yeah, i know, that's why i bought one too. : ) i bought it when i did a 6pack in 6weeks challenge on facebook last year. of course i didn't stick with that one because the meals made me sick after 3 weeks of eating the same thing, but i'm excited to put it to use here. i just think people give up when they don't see a difference on the scale, but they might not realize they've lost fat and would see amazing results if they would continue.

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