Selfish?

Someone had made a comment on one of my posts alluding to the fact that taking care of oneself was selfish. I actually hear this a lot from my female clients, especially the ones who are wives or mothers. Everyone else gets their energy (effort, time, etc.) first, and if there is nothing left over for them, then that's ok because everyone else is taken care of. It's like that old commercial says, "If Mom is not happy, then no one is happy." It's really a mindset shift that needs to happen. First of all, it's not selfish to take care of yourself, it's self-interested; which is a very good thing. Selfish is, "I'm taking care of me and screw the rest of you!" Self-interested is more like, "I'm taking good care of myself so that I can take care of you in the best way possible." The son of one of my clients asked his mom if she had been to the gym lately. When she said no, he responded, "You should go. I like you better when you are going to the gym." When she told me this, I just about died laughing. And it was a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Here was a mom who had given her all to her family and let her health decline as a result. When she decided to focus on herself and take back her health and fitness, she found that she was a better mom to her kids. The trap that exists when we make caring for ourselves to be "selfish," is that we get to feel guilty about doing so. Then when we stop, we feel so much better about not being "selfish" anymore and we get to justify how we eat, don't workout, etc. I'm not saying it's this extreme in everyone or every situation, but it is a bit of a roller coaster ride. If you change your opinion of caring for yourself from selfish to self interested, then the guilt factor goes away...and so does the self-sabotage.

Mini-Plateau… and what to do about it

Ok, second full week into the competition and things are going great (or so I think). I’m working out (five times this week) and eating pretty close to exactly on menu (minor variations here and there, but nothing drastic), so imagine my surprise when I check my weight and see that my weight loss is slowing down. Hmmm…ok, cue analysis mode.

Well, 1 of 3 possible things is happening:
1) I screwed my nutrition up enough to slow my fat loss. Not likely. With the amount of body fat I currently have, minor deviations are not enough to slow things up to this degree (when your body fat gets low enough, your body REALLY wants to hang on to fat because you need some of it, so you have to be super exact in your nutrition, think pre-competition body builders trying to lose a pound or 2, it’s really hard).
2) I am putting on about as much muscle as I am taking off fat. I doubt it. I know how to avoid this and the type of training that I’m doing right now does not send big “grow” signals to muscles. Ok, so that leaves…
3) My body has adjusted to my new menu and reset my metabolism appropriately. BINGO! Let me explain what that means and why it happens.

When you decrease your caloric intake (eat less food), you begin to lose weight. But the rate of weight loss doesn’t stay the same forever. Your metabolism gradually lowers until it matches your new, lower level of calories consumed. So now, you’re back to being balanced: calories consumed = calories burned = weight maintenance (i.e. no change). At this point, you have a choice. You can eat even less and lower your metabolism even further (I’ll get into why this is REALLY bad in a minute). Or you can raise your metabolism by increasing your caloric intake. I know, you’re thinking, “But I’m trying to LOSE weight. Why would I want to eat MORE food?!?!?” Because by eating more for a short period of time, you kick your metabolism back up to where it was when you started. Then, when you go back to eating less, there is a big gap between calories consumed and calories burned. And you’ll go back to losing weight again. If you keep eating less and less food in an effort to keep losing weight, your body will start to cannibalize muscle tissue to meet your energy requirements, which will slow your metabolism even more. That’s the bad news. The REALLY bad news is when you go back to eating “normally” there will be a huge gap between your calories burned (metabolism) and your calories consumed (the food you’re eating) and you will put on lots of fat. By following 5 or 6 days of eating less with 1 or 2 days of eating more, you will keep your metabolism healthy and in good shape to continue losing weight. Now “eating up” does NOT mean free for all, eat a bunch of junk food, or camp out at the all you can eat Chinese buffet (“You been here 4 hour! Why you here 4 hour?!? Go home! No come back!!!”). It means that you eat the same way you do when you are eating less: eat in your pre-determined ratio, eat high-quality, nutrient dense food, and eat on a schedule. Also, all of this needs to done while exercising. Specifically resistance training, otherwise you will lose muscle, and compromise your metabolism. A healthy metabolism means a properly functioning immune system, the ability to maintain comfortable body temperature, as well as the ability to burn fat and KEEP IT OFF. We all acknowledge that losing weight is important, but for those of us who have seen the vicious cycle, we know that keeping fat off is critical to long-term health.

So, I spent the weekend eating “up.” And man, did it work! I was eating about 800 calories more per day, eating every 2½ hours, and I was STARVING!!! Like an hour after eating, I’d be hungry again. Which I know means my metabolism is firing back up. This is good and means that this week should be back to normal. I’m excited, two full weeks to go. Let’s do this! Have a great week, everyone!

One Week Down...

OK, so I just finished my first complete week and I’m feeling really good. I put myself on a menu and have been exact about following it. I worked out 5 days this week. I combined resistance training and cardio for maximum fat burning and a whole lot of sweating.

I was reading Michelle’s blog today. In it she said that she feels like all she wants after working out is carbs. The scientist in me can not resist the temptation to comment. This desire for carbs after your workout is absolutely normal and a correct interpretation of signals your body sends and I’ll tell you why. When you workout, your muscles use something called glycogen as fuel. Glycogen is nothing more than stored glucose, or blood sugar, which is gotten from carbohydrates. After a really intense workout, you have depleted your glycogen stores, which need to be built back up. But, what you want to eat immediately after you’ve finished your workout is protein. Eating protein (like a protein shake) within 15 minutes of ending your workout will prevent your body from breaking down your muscle, or other proteins in your body (like internal organs) to rebuild itself. Once you’ve had that, then you have about 2 hours, on average, to eat a full meal (protein, carbs, and fat) to build back up the glycogen stores. This will fuel you up for your next workout. I usually have my post-workout meal about an hour after I drink my shake, which I have immediately after I finish stretching out. I'd recommend that to anyone who is working out with the intention of burning fat.

Who is Jack?

Hello everyone! Since this is my first time in a competition, I thought I'd share a little about myself. My name is Jack, I'm Mindy's (Not Just Talking Anymore) husband, and I'm joining to support her and lean out.

I'm a personal trainer who specializes in nutrition and has a degree in Biochemistry. I recently hung up my trainer’s hat in exchange for a 9-5 job with the government to support my family. You know the deal, 40 hours a week, set and steady income, benefits, retirement package, etc. It was a glorious desk job and I HATED every second of it. During this season, in addition to being bummed out about my lazy desk job, I stressed myself out, participated in all the "treat days," and found about a thousand excuses not to work out.

I am a perfect example of how knowledge is useless unless you're putting it to use. We all have moments that we let life get in the way of our health and fitness. Poor choices and inactivity, when combined with stress, are hard on the body and unavoidably increase fat storage. But I plan to be a perfect example of how making a change, taking back control of your life, and improving your choices, will lead to ultimate success.

The great thing about where I am now is that this is the most amount of lean muscle mass that I’ve ever had on my body. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolism is, and the easier it is to lose fat. But on top of that muscle, I'm carrying about 38 lbs. of fat. My goal is to lose 22 lbs. of that fat while maintaining my current muscle mass. And I plan to do most of it this first month.

Thanks for letting me join in the fun. It will be great to work side by side with my wife to accomplish our weight loss/fitness goals.