Body Composition Challenge (Page 8)

It always amazes me when I see that- especially with kids who are learning to eat crapola. You know you are treating yourself well when it makes you feel yucky to see such choices.

My 4-yr old nephew loves cereal bas, granola bars, power bars...etc....of course all full of sugar and garbage.  A few months ago he and were at the grocery store and of course he starts "Aunt Abbie I want a bar."  So I made a deal with him, if the bar had "good stuff in it we can buy it, but if it has bad stuff in it, you have to pick another one".  I explained to him that I would read the first 3 ingredients and if it was something he had heard of it was "good stuff" and if he didn't know what I was saying  it was "bad stuff of chemicals".

He grabbed a bar and I would read the label, "maltodextrin" and he would look at me baffled and say "bad stuff!" and grab another bar.  I would say "Almond butter" and he would say "good stuff!"

He had a blast, spents about 30 minutes in the asle!  Wound up picking up some Lara bars and some type of Vegan bar.  When we got home he said to my brother "this bar has good stuff in it, no chemicals!"

Proper nutrition is not rocket science, 4-yr old can understand it

THAT doesn't sound good...

I'm down slightly to 145... but that doesn't mean a whole lot.  I've been bouncing around between 144-146 for months now.

But - this week starts the change. And plus, it'll help that in another day or so I'll be hormonally back to "normal" (whatever that might be).

I spent about 2-3 hours this weekend just prepping food so I'd have everything set for this week.  I know that if I make it easy for myself, I will succeed.

In the mornings I don't really have time/motivation to measure (I struggle to make it to work by my 6am starting time), but I'll do that later.  I also have pictures to upload, but need to make them smaller first (just lazy).

In my true weight-loss get fit challenge fashion - I gained the first week. Up .8 to 148 from 147.2. Major project that forced 10-12 hour days each day last week is now finished so hopefully this number will shrink as the exercise and nutrition is paid more attention.

Stacie

Down 3 lbs and nearly 3% bodyfat for week one!  I ate mostly healthy natural foods.  Had a few meals that weren't clean, but overall, I'm really happy with the way the week turned out.  I mostly backed off on the sweets and starches and focused on eatin lean protein, veggies, fruits, and low fat dairy.  I did well getting my cardio sessions in - only missed one, but not so good on the strength sessions.  I'll do better this week!

Week 2 goals:
Up the cardio to burn more calories than I did last week.  
Eat mostly lean protein, fruits, veggies, and low fat dairy.  
Eat more calories earlier in the day and fewer later in the day. 
LOVE strength training!

A couple of favorite Gordo quotes that keep me focused:  

"Constantly remind yourself that your goal is to bring out your ideal self.  Visualize the person within that you are helping to strengthen and bring forward.  It changes your mindset from “denying yourself a candy bar” to “feeding your ideal self an apple”."

"It is important for you to take total responsibility for your food choices.  Our body composition is completely dictated by a huge number of tiny decisions that we make on a daily basis.  In order to change ourselves, we need to take responsibility for ourselves.  

What we look like today…    Is based on decisions that we have made in the past

What we will look like tomorrow…  Is based on decisions that we make today, right now.

Its a classic conflict between short term pleasure and long term gain."

Good for you! What a great reward for starting the challenge. Also good for you for doing the prep and making it easier on yourself this week.

I am up 1.5 pounds! Part to to biological reasons and part due to eating a little more ca-ca than usual. Had "funeral food" this week and some additional stress. I missed out on some workouts that were needed to help alleviate the effects of the above. The house has been ridded of the dreaded "funeral food" so that will make this week easier all around.

Measurements to be posted to blog later. I am still avoiding the picture. I really should just buck up and do it.

Goal for the week is to NOT miss my workouts and to eat less in the evening.

Hey everyone!  No real change here - up .8 but might be due to water retention after a high volume weekend. 

I'm having troubles getting a baseline.  I can't use the scale because it never budges in spite of my changing body.  I feel pretty good but really want to strengthen my core and get rid of the excess body fat on my lower abdomen.  I thought the caliper test would be a really good way to monitor but I'm struggling with getting accurate readings.  Using the instructions on the website and taking from my thigh/tricep seem a waste because that's not where I store fat so according to the website measurements I'm 10% ??!!  I wouldn't even wish for that low!  I found a site where you do a 9 point test and in some areas I have 0 but in other areas it's workable   The final calculation was 17% so while it seems low - I'll use that as my starting point and basically if it goes up > "yikes!" and if it goes down "yeah!"

Congrats to those that managed to lose - even if just a little - it's a starting point.  Tnickerson - great progress!  Are you calculating %weight loss or %body fat?  If the latter - be careful - we don't want you losing too much too quickly.  Apparently a healthy %BF loss is only 1% per month - slow but safe.  If it's the former - AWESOME progress!!

Another week begins - good luck everyone!!

How did you just stick with the shakes?  I would have downed three sandwiches each meal.  I am just glad the Chick-Fil-A is nowhere near me here in Denver.  My neighbor was the proprietor of a CFA when I was in Georgia---trouble!

riorio - 2011-08-08 8:11 AM I hesitated to post here because I don't get on BT as much as I'd like these days, But I am definitely doing a Body Composition challenge just now. I also hesitated because I am trying something a bit different from y'all. I read through the thread and notice that many of you are cutting carbs and emphasizing protein. I am trying something a bit different, I'm going with the more traditional high carb lower fat type way of eating to see if it works. 
I got into a sports nutrition study at a local college. I had my RMR tested last week and met with a nutritionist on friday. My RMR is 1365 which is really good for a female of my age. She suggests a breakdown of 60-65% carb/20% fat/15-20% protein. I had kept a week long food log prior to starting the study and after analyzing it, my average breakdown was 63% carb/25% fat/ 12% protein. So I will be adding more protein while keeping the carbs quite high. I am a vegetarian, putting in around 10 hours of S/B/R per week, that might go up to around 12 hours. I am also starting to do some ST 3 times per week at the gym. I am about 8-10 lbs over my normal weight (will check it at the gym today)  due to poor eating/less exercise and some medication I was on (not any more). More importantly, I carry most of the extra weight around the middle like most of the women in my family so I am curious to see if I can lower my BF too. The extra weight hasn't really made any difference to the way I can train and race, it's purely vanity, LOL, and not being able to afford the expense of buying new clothes, got to get back into the size 6!
I have never been on a "diet" in my life, so this is something new. I'm looking at it as a different way to eat. I love those quotes by Gordo! 
Sally  

Welcome Sally!

You're not alone -- my macro breakdown works out to be about the same.  I've tried the high protein diet and, frankly, was always left feeling hungry despite the claims that it was supposed to not do that.  So, I shifted back to my normal 60-20-20 (ish).

What I am implementing is trying to stay away from the crap food:  chips, snacks, candy, sugar, processed stuff.  Substitute with lots of vegetables, fruits (yes, high carb/high sugar...but natural), meals I make on my own.  

Please update your logs or send me a PM with your weight and BF% (tracking only not accurate) today.  I am getting the spreadsheet updated and will post when I have everyone's data (if available today).  Here is the list of participants.  Did I miss anyone?

My Sunday paper (Richmond Times Dispatch) had several interesting articles related to weight loss and health this weekend.

Here are a couple of quotes I found.

Pablo Monsivias, a University of Washington professor says this about the privilege of eating healthy :   "We know nore than ever about the science of nutrition, and yet we have not been able tto move the needle on healthful eating."

Another article was about the trend in hotels to be healthier....listed several things hotels do for their guests to be healthier in their stays such as in room exercise equiptment, spart phone apps or laminated cards with running routes,  healthy breakout sessions for meetings, allergy free rooms, paraben free amenities and local organic produce.

Last article was by a local doctor on healthy eating may mean eating more rather than less....his last quote may be particularly true....."Remember, our goals are to eat well and in such a way that we can avoid hunger, fuel our activities, and manage our weight.  If you are feeling hungry, fat, irritable and sleepy, try eating more, not less.

And.....a quote from Martha AStewart of all people fits this theme....."My new motto is, when you're done changing, you're through."

Have you thought about setting up a Google Doc spreadsheet so that everyone could just update their own stats so you don't have to do all the grunt work?

This is a good one and one I'm trying to get better at.  Some days I'm uber-organized and have a great lunch and snacks packed and feel well fueled and good.  Other days I'm in search of healthy options as I race through my day, don't eat enough and then I get that weak shaky feeling and you know you waited too long.  It was recently suggested to me that I'm not eating enough to carry myself through and I think they were right.  I'm going to try to up my caloric intake - mostly through fruits and veggies and lean protein.  We'll see what happens.  Thanks for sharing!