No matter the plan... we all Blog to Lose!
The Secrets To My Success.....
Well....after I posted my Hawaii swim suit pictures, I have had a lot of questions from you guys about my workout routine and about how I eat...... so I told everyone that I would post about those two topics when I got back from vacation. So here I go..... I want to share with you all..... the secrets to my success.
First off.....I started doing WW a year ago last January. I had done the program before, so I just did it on my own with the support of my sister and Mom. It had always worked for me...but I never maintained my weight. Soon after I lost the weight...I got pregant and gained the weight back...twice. So.... I decided to do it again and this time lost 40 pounds. It took me about 10 months. I lost about 4 pounds a month. I hit my goal weight of 125 back in November...but I still wasnt happy. I was flabby and I wasnt very toned. I was thin, but I knew I could look better. In January...I started doing Body Pump with my marathon training. Running initially helped me lose weight until I started training for a marathon.At this point I joined blog to lose to get the support I needed. I then decided to start counting calories because tracking points wasnt working for me anymore. I started to gain weight and was worried that maybe I wasnt eating enough. I tried eating more...and that didnt work. I tried eating less...and that didnt work. I just kept gaining and was going crazy! Here I was..... running 40 miles a week and I was gaining weight. After the marathon, I knew I had to get the weight off. I knew that something just wasnt right and that I needed to understand what was going on with my body. I started reading about good carbs, bad carbs and was learning about blood sugar levels and how certain foods can affect your weight. I learned that by eating too many bad carbs, your body can start to store them as fat. What happens is..... after you eat these bad carbs, your blood sugar levels rise and if they are not used....your body starts to store them. AND...because you body has such a steady supply...it never has to use your fat as fuel. So...by watching your carb intake and by eating better carbs, your body will have to rely on your fat as fuel. I then realized that my carb choices werent that great. I WAS eating whole grains, beans and all the good ones but..... I wasnt really watching the bad ones. I realized that even though I never went over my calorie limit and that I always had a deficit..... that I still was eating way too many baked chips, 100 calorie snack packs and diet ice cream. After reading about good carbs, bad carbs..... it all started to make sense. So...for two weeks I did the South Beach diet and ate low carb with lots of lean meats, veges, nuts and so on. I was pretty much eating out of the fridge and not out of the pantry. I have to admit that phase 1 is hard..... but once you get past day 5.... your good and your cravings stop. I didnt have sugar and I was eating lots of good fats. I never use to eat many good fats. WW made me afraid of fat and so I always ate low, or no fat. I always ate things with lots of sugar and didnt realize that it was just getting stored as fat anyway. I learned that good fat is better to eat than sugar. Then...soon after.... I started hearing about clean eating. Its pretty much like phase two of south beach, when you add in all the whole grains and fruit back into your diet. The woman who wrote the book is named Tosca Reno. She use to be over 200 pounds and she started to eat this way. It changed her life. It is the way body builders eat so that they can burn the fat off there bodies and show the mucsle underneath. She now does figure competitions and she writes for Oxygen Magazine.I read her book and LOVED it! I knew this was something I could do and I knew it would work for me. Eating is number one for me. It is KEY! I could exercise all I want..but it would never keep me thin. If my eating is off...I gain...thats it! No question there. So...I do my best to keep on track with my food. Every week I hit the grocery store and I pretty much shop on the outer isles. I eat lots of lean meats, TONS of veges, fresh herbs, low fat cheeses and nuts. I have learned to be creative in the kitchen and am making very YUMMY meals. When I get home..I chop up all my veges and put them in ziploc conatiners so they are always ready to use. Eating this way taste great and its not something I dont enjoy. I dont feel deprieved and if I want something here and there..I eat it. .and then Im back on track. I feel great, my hair feels great, my skin looks great and my body is changing. All my hard work lifting weights is now finally starting to show. I LOVE eating clean!
Ok...so now about my work out routine. First of all..... Im a runner. I run 4 days a week. I just started back a few weeks ago because of the mararthon so Im not running huge distances. I usually run Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat. My long run is on Saturday. I never run more than 4 days a week. Its good to have a rest day inbetween. My knees cant handle more than that. For cross training I spin. I spin Tues, Thurs, and sometimes Saturday. If I Spin on Saturday....I run to the gym and its 3.5 miles round trip. I take a spin and sculpt class that day....so it also involves weights. It s a big day working out....but I love it! I also lift weights and this is the BIG ONE! Back in January I started doing Body Pump twice a week. I could see some changes, but I knew I needed to step it up. In April I decided to go 3-4 times a week and THAT was the best thing I couldve ever done for my body. I weight train Mon, Wed, Fri and sometimes Saturday. I atleast go 3 times a week for an hour. I also bumped up my protein intake and I make sure to get in atleast 125 grams. One gram per pound you weigh. It is totally working. I eat my protein with some good carbs and I eat about 5-6 times a day. I also eat more of my carbs during the day and then I dont eat them at night.The eat clean diet also says that its good to eat your protein with a carb. Your body has to work harder to digest it and it slows the digestion process down, hence lower blood sugar levels. Eating fat also does this.
Anyways...as you can see I exercise 6 days a week. Every day but Sunday. These two things...clean/low carb eating and weight training are the keys to my success. If you want to see physical changes and you want to tone up...start weight training. It WILL give you the results you want. I have gotten back down to 125 pounds but I look better than I did in November. I look thinner and I have more muscle. People are now comenting on how I look and often tell me how toned I am. It is definitly worth all the hard work. I am reaping the rewards.......I am happy, fit, healthy and thin and I feel incredible!
I hope this helps and if any of you have any other questions let me know....I wish I wouldve figured all this out sooner and that someone wouldve shared this with me. It will definilty get you out of a plateau and get your body burning that fat. I have good recommendations for protein shakes and bars too if you want to know.
Have a great week everyone! Now go take a weight training class!
First off.....I started doing WW a year ago last January. I had done the program before, so I just did it on my own with the support of my sister and Mom. It had always worked for me...but I never maintained my weight. Soon after I lost the weight...I got pregant and gained the weight back...twice. So.... I decided to do it again and this time lost 40 pounds. It took me about 10 months. I lost about 4 pounds a month. I hit my goal weight of 125 back in November...but I still wasnt happy. I was flabby and I wasnt very toned. I was thin, but I knew I could look better. In January...I started doing Body Pump with my marathon training. Running initially helped me lose weight until I started training for a marathon.At this point I joined blog to lose to get the support I needed. I then decided to start counting calories because tracking points wasnt working for me anymore. I started to gain weight and was worried that maybe I wasnt eating enough. I tried eating more...and that didnt work. I tried eating less...and that didnt work. I just kept gaining and was going crazy! Here I was..... running 40 miles a week and I was gaining weight. After the marathon, I knew I had to get the weight off. I knew that something just wasnt right and that I needed to understand what was going on with my body. I started reading about good carbs, bad carbs and was learning about blood sugar levels and how certain foods can affect your weight. I learned that by eating too many bad carbs, your body can start to store them as fat. What happens is..... after you eat these bad carbs, your blood sugar levels rise and if they are not used....your body starts to store them. AND...because you body has such a steady supply...it never has to use your fat as fuel. So...by watching your carb intake and by eating better carbs, your body will have to rely on your fat as fuel. I then realized that my carb choices werent that great. I WAS eating whole grains, beans and all the good ones but..... I wasnt really watching the bad ones. I realized that even though I never went over my calorie limit and that I always had a deficit..... that I still was eating way too many baked chips, 100 calorie snack packs and diet ice cream. After reading about good carbs, bad carbs..... it all started to make sense. So...for two weeks I did the South Beach diet and ate low carb with lots of lean meats, veges, nuts and so on. I was pretty much eating out of the fridge and not out of the pantry. I have to admit that phase 1 is hard..... but once you get past day 5.... your good and your cravings stop. I didnt have sugar and I was eating lots of good fats. I never use to eat many good fats. WW made me afraid of fat and so I always ate low, or no fat. I always ate things with lots of sugar and didnt realize that it was just getting stored as fat anyway. I learned that good fat is better to eat than sugar. Then...soon after.... I started hearing about clean eating. Its pretty much like phase two of south beach, when you add in all the whole grains and fruit back into your diet. The woman who wrote the book is named Tosca Reno. She use to be over 200 pounds and she started to eat this way. It changed her life. It is the way body builders eat so that they can burn the fat off there bodies and show the mucsle underneath. She now does figure competitions and she writes for Oxygen Magazine.I read her book and LOVED it! I knew this was something I could do and I knew it would work for me. Eating is number one for me. It is KEY! I could exercise all I want..but it would never keep me thin. If my eating is off...I gain...thats it! No question there. So...I do my best to keep on track with my food. Every week I hit the grocery store and I pretty much shop on the outer isles. I eat lots of lean meats, TONS of veges, fresh herbs, low fat cheeses and nuts. I have learned to be creative in the kitchen and am making very YUMMY meals. When I get home..I chop up all my veges and put them in ziploc conatiners so they are always ready to use. Eating this way taste great and its not something I dont enjoy. I dont feel deprieved and if I want something here and there..I eat it. .and then Im back on track. I feel great, my hair feels great, my skin looks great and my body is changing. All my hard work lifting weights is now finally starting to show. I LOVE eating clean!
Ok...so now about my work out routine. First of all..... Im a runner. I run 4 days a week. I just started back a few weeks ago because of the mararthon so Im not running huge distances. I usually run Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat. My long run is on Saturday. I never run more than 4 days a week. Its good to have a rest day inbetween. My knees cant handle more than that. For cross training I spin. I spin Tues, Thurs, and sometimes Saturday. If I Spin on Saturday....I run to the gym and its 3.5 miles round trip. I take a spin and sculpt class that day....so it also involves weights. It s a big day working out....but I love it! I also lift weights and this is the BIG ONE! Back in January I started doing Body Pump twice a week. I could see some changes, but I knew I needed to step it up. In April I decided to go 3-4 times a week and THAT was the best thing I couldve ever done for my body. I weight train Mon, Wed, Fri and sometimes Saturday. I atleast go 3 times a week for an hour. I also bumped up my protein intake and I make sure to get in atleast 125 grams. One gram per pound you weigh. It is totally working. I eat my protein with some good carbs and I eat about 5-6 times a day. I also eat more of my carbs during the day and then I dont eat them at night.The eat clean diet also says that its good to eat your protein with a carb. Your body has to work harder to digest it and it slows the digestion process down, hence lower blood sugar levels. Eating fat also does this.
Anyways...as you can see I exercise 6 days a week. Every day but Sunday. These two things...clean/low carb eating and weight training are the keys to my success. If you want to see physical changes and you want to tone up...start weight training. It WILL give you the results you want. I have gotten back down to 125 pounds but I look better than I did in November. I look thinner and I have more muscle. People are now comenting on how I look and often tell me how toned I am. It is definitly worth all the hard work. I am reaping the rewards.......I am happy, fit, healthy and thin and I feel incredible!
I hope this helps and if any of you have any other questions let me know....I wish I wouldve figured all this out sooner and that someone wouldve shared this with me. It will definilty get you out of a plateau and get your body burning that fat. I have good recommendations for protein shakes and bars too if you want to know.
Have a great week everyone! Now go take a weight training class!
Comment
-
Comment by Maren on June 19, 2009 at 4:00pm -
Working out is a priority for me. I have two kids and a husband that works full time and who also needs to workout so I go in the morning. I get up at 5:15 to get my workout in my daily routine. When I run, I usually run at night after my husband has worked out. I just find the time. We dont have alot of time to do things during the week but we are Ok with that. The weekends are family time and Im home during the day so I go do fun things with my kids. Life is good. Its the way I like it. We dont have alot of time to get wrapped up in other things. I hardly watch TV anymore and I usually just get online when my kids sleep. Its perfect.
Mary..if its too hard to get to the gym, buy a bench and some weights. Im sure people on here could recommend a good DVD. Do it when your kids sleep. The thing that has helped me is really challenging myself. After you start feeling comfortable add some more weight. I see the same people use the same weight every workout. I have added weight to mine and am using more than when I started. Keep going when you feel like you cant. Struggle to finish your last reps.
I can totally relate to the kid, food thing. Its so hard to not take bites. You have to recommit everyday that you wont do it. If I really want a bite...I count it or I eat a serving and count it. That use to be really hard for me so I make myself accountable. I feel great everyday that I can say I didnt take bites, licks or tastes. Know that you do have control and that it is something you can stop. They say you can quickly change a bad habit. Its true. It does get easier. Consiously think about it before it hits your mouth. Dont give yourself the option to do it.
Emily...I will post some recipes here and there. Maybe you should start a recipe group. I dont think the one that is there is really used. Maybe you can get one going again. We all love new recipes!
-
Comment by Emily Lieser on June 19, 2009 at 2:41pm -
Thank so much for sharing that! I was really excited to see that clean eating is exactly what I thought it was, and that I am already doing it! I heard of it from somewhere else, a book called "Releasing Fat", but it's exactly the same concept. I love how much better I feel! And I have learned so much in the past couple of weeks about food and how to consume it so that it's healthier for you. Protiens along with carbs, etc. I am still in phase one, obviously, but I feel great now that the first 5 days are done! As for the working out, how do you find time? I have a gym membership and would love to try a Body Pump class on top of my running I am starting to do now, but I never know when to go. I suppose I could bring the kids to the daycare there....
Oh, and you said you have some yummy recipes? Care to share? I am always looking for really good recipes to add to my collection!
-
Comment by Mary on June 19, 2009 at 12:28pm - so yeah, i could definitely use some pointers and suggestions. i run three times a week, usually around three miles. i kickbox twice per week....and that is half cardio (and abs..i guess more like stationary stuff like leg lifts etc) and then the rest of the class is bag or partner work, punching/kicking with gloves on....it's pretty intense. oh, and we do a lot of jumping rope (which bites...my calves are still very tender even tho you'd think i would be used to it at six months in). anyway, i've plateaued. it sucks. i'm frustrated. i have been thinking i need to incorporate some weight lifting into my work outs...and i don't want to join a gym so that means a weight bench in my room (my small apt room) with some free weights.... i think i eat ok...i know it could be better, but sometimes that bite of mac and cheese just sneaks its way into my mouth! i nkow you have kids...so some guidance would be super!! thanks for sharing maren!
-
Comment by Maren on June 19, 2009 at 9:43am
-
Body Pump is a weight lifting class. They play good music and they have different routines you do. You work every part of your body and they try to get your heart rate up. There are not alot of breaks inbetween sets. They try to keep you moving. The hour flies by because its really fun! The class adds in ab work. Its only about 5 minutes long. However during the class....they encourage you to encage your abs so I feel like I use them through out class.
I have a Bodybugg so I enter my food intake online. It shows me how many calories, fat, protein and carbs I eat so thats how I know. I know there are sites online that are free that you can use to enter your food. Joni recommended some a while ago. I dont remeber what they were. It definilty helps you stay on track and to know your daily percentages.
Good luck!
Hope that helped!
-
Comment by Erica on June 19, 2009 at 8:43am - Thank you so much for sharing Maren! Is body pump a weight lifting class, with no cardio? Do you do abs? So that and spinning and running, got it. I feel like I have the clean eating thing down, but I'm going to check out this book & see if I might be missing something, I'll also bump up my protein a little. How do you know how many grams of protein your foods have? Is there a book or website that you use? I'm so excited to continue on my journey & get toned! My shoulders & arms look pretty good compared to what they were, but my mid section is still needing work. I wouldn't mind being more defined everywhere. Thanks again!
-
Comment by Sarah on June 18, 2009 at 11:46pm - Thanks for posting this! Especially after coming back from vacation and taking the time! This was really insightful. I am the type of person who doesn't lose large quantities, never have. I eat alot of fruit but also alot of the wrong carbs and I think that is definitely my downfall, the white bread. I don't eat alot of chips or frozen processed food but I do eat alot of white bread, white rolls,etc. I know how to balance the %'s, no more than 30% calories should come from fat, etc but I know nothing about carbs except the white stuff is bad for you, I just don't stay away from it. Now that you mention all of this, I used to have a size 32-33 waist and now it's 39-40 and that is not healthy to have stomach fat. I am very curvy and the weight I have gained has been distributed but the last 10 lbs or so is in that area I feel like. So thanks for this! I am definitely going to read up on the books mentioned.
-
Comment by Ana on June 18, 2009 at 7:01pm - This is amazing! I love your journey! Sounds so interesting.I need to rev my metabolism and besides weight training I always admired how the body builders ate. They have carb up days and carb down days and eat all that protein. I always wanted a more defined outline of how to eat like that so thanks for the info on that book. I already make sure to eat one serving of carb with a serving of protein or healthy fat to slow digestion. Also because fat burns in the fire of carbohydrates. Protein slows insulin levels and allows a more steady flow of metabolism to keep hunger at bay....so does fiber. And you can't burn fat without carbs--or carbs without fat. They each have components that supplement the burning of the other. The only problem for me is I know all this info, i just don't know how to implement it. Like I have a hard time figuring out how to balance the servings of each. Once I put 1 cup of fiber cereal and 1/2 cup of 1% milk instead of the other way around lol. So I'm glad you posted this, I'll be sure to check out that book :)
© 2010 Created by Roni.
You need to be a member of Blog to Lose to add comments!
Join Blog to Lose