My Weight Loss Journey... Or Lack Thereof

I've been passively trying to lose weight since late 2012.  By passively I mean working out sporadically, making some progress, and then losing it.  Working full time and going to school full time makes weight loss even more difficult than it already is.

But this summer I committed myself to active weight loss.  I read up on some different workout methods, decided on one, researched nutrition, and developed a meal plan.  I've been tracking my meals using MyFitnessPal along with my exercise.  I've been focusing on balancing macronutrients while strength training and doing cardio.  I've been doing some form of this for 3 months.

I joined a local gym the first week in May.  Since then, I've been going 3-5 days/week doing strength training and cardio.  I'm going to breakdown the last 3 months of workouts by weeks, mainly so I can see it in black and white.  I really don't care if anyone reads this as it's really just for me to make sense of what I've done up to now.  If you do go through and read all of it, great.  If you read it and you have suggestions or an opinion you'd like to throw out there, feel free to leave me a comment! 
Here's the breakdown:

Tues May 6th: joined local gym.

Week 1 (starting Wed May 7th): 3 days strength training using machines (the Line), 3 days cardio (10-15 minutes walking at 3.5 mph on the treadmill)

Week 2: 3 days strength training on the Line, 3 days cardio 10-15 minutes walking at 3.5 mph on the treadmill

Week 3: 3 days strength on the Line, 4 days cardio (2 days - 45 minutes on the recumbent bike, 2 days 10-15 minutes on the row machine)

Week 4: 3 days strength training on the Line, 5 days cardio (2 days - 45 minutes on recumbent bike, 3 days 15-30 minutes on the row machine), also took measurements for the first time

Week 5: 3 days strength training on Line, 5 days cardio (2 days/45 minutes on recumbent bike, 3 days/15-30 minutes row machine)

Week 6: 3 days strength training on Line, 4 days cardio (2 days/45 minutes recumbent bike, 2 days 10 minutes row machine)

Week 7: 3 days strength training on Line -- switched to higher reps (20+) and lower weights, added leg press, adductor, abductor, ab machines, 3 days cardio (2000m on row machine)

Week 8 (last week in June): 3 days strength training/high rep low weight, 3 days cardio 2000m on row machine -- this is about the time I started exploring meal plan ideas and building my diet

Week 9: REST WEEK -- bought protein powder and quest protein bars from GNC, and started trying to include more protein in my diet

Week 10: 1 day strength training/high rep low weight, changed workout: strength training back up to high weight lower rep (2 days), 3 days cardio 45 minutes elliptical trainer -- really tried to begin following my meal plan... LOTS OF CHICKEN!

Week 11: 3 days low rep/high weight, 3 days cardio switching between recumbent bike and row machine

Week 12 (we're going to call this a short week because I'm cutting it off on a Saturday instead of Wednesday):  2 days low/rep/high weight, 2 sets per machine, slacked a bit on cardio

Week 13 (THIS WEEK): New workout routine breaking into free weights, doing HIIT cardio on the row machine for 20 minutes, working a main section of the body + a secondary muscle group per day, 4 days: chest & tris, back & bis, shoulders & abs, legs.  Leg day is tomorrow (Saturday).


Not to get too personal on the internet, but my menstrual cycle was off for June and July.  Aunt Flo finally decided to show up today after I finally made a doctor's appointment for yesterday.  Go figure.  That's not the only reason I made the doctor's appointment, though, and writing out my workout routine for the past 3 months is not the only reason I began writing this blog post.

You see, in the last 3 months, I haven't lost any weight.  None.  Not 1 measly pound.  Yes, I've lost inches, yes, I've made some gains, especially in strength (I am much stronger now than when I first started), but there has been no progress in weight loss, my primary goal, and little progress in the overall shape of my body.

I took before pictures at 4 weeks.  I've taken progress pictures every few weeks with no change.  I took progress pictures last night, 8-9 weeks after the before pictures were taken, in the same bathing suit, and I look exactly the same when compared to the first set of pictures.  Needless to say, I am FRUSTRATED.  I get that muscle is more dense than fat and therefore seems to "weigh more", and I understand that progress takes time, but it's been 3 months.  Shouldn't I have seen SOMETHING move on the scale?  Shouldn't I see my body tightening up more than it has?

When I was sporadically exercising, I started an exercise program called TapouT XT (home videos using MMA and resistance bands).  I lost 10 lbs in about 2 weeks; it was awesome.  That was over a year ago.  I gained all 10 pounds back and have been unable to lose them again.

The longer I go without noticeable results, the more discouraged I get.  I don't want to give up.  I've told myself time and again that I won't.  I plan to just keep trucking until something snaps and I start making progress because I really don't know what else to do and quitting isn't an option. 

Even if I have some sort of health issue keeping me from losing weight, I refuse to stay weak, flabby, and full of self-loathing.  My doctor ordered blood work after determining (with a 4th pee test) that I am not pregnant.  If that doesn't pan out with some answers I plan to go see my chiropractor, maybe an acupuncturist or an ayurvedic specialist.  There's something not right and I am going to find out what it is and attempt to fix it so I can get on track and get healthy.

If you read all the way down to this part you're either really bored or really interested in my life problems.  Either way, thanks for trudging through my long-winded yammering.  If you have any encouragement, advice, input, etc. to share, please feel free to leave a comment.  And again, thanks.

What Does 2000 Calories Look Like?

It's easier than you might think to rack up 2000 calories, especially when you eat out, and especially when you eat fast food.  Eating healthier, home-cooked, wholesome meals can cut your calorie intake by half, easily!  It also helps if you eat some green stuff... just sayin'.

TapouT XT -- Week 3

I've made it to week 3 of 12 in my TapouT XT videos. Today I have Cross Core Combat to do and I'm looking forward to it. I just wanted to give a little update to those who may be curious and kind of check in with updates relating to how I feel and what's going on with my "transformation."

Let me start by saying Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday of their choice. I personally celebrate Yule, or the Winter Solstice. My extended family, however, celebrates Christmas and so I end up celebrating that holiday with them. Anyway, for Christmas I received some very nice gifts. My mom got me a Keurig Vue coffee-maker. Of course, I don't drink coffee but it also brews tea and hot chocolate and I drink both of those! I also ended up receiving a healthy sum of money (in my opinion anyway) from my in-laws and I bought a juicer and a body analysis scale.

So! Updates! I put together the scale last night and Hubby and I played around with it some. I set up my Keurig and brewed a cup of sleepytime tea as well. I haven't had a chance to put together or set up the juicer yet but I bought a Breville juicer that I am really excited to try after watching all those documentaries on juicing and plant-based diets.

Onto TapouT XT updates. When I get home today I will be starting my 3rd week in the Tapout program and I must say I'm excited. I tried doing TapouT XT earlier this year (when I first bought the program), and I quit after feeling defeated by not enough time every day and going back to school at the same time. Well, this time I'm determined not to let school become an excuse not to exercise! While I do work full time, and I am in college full time, exercise needs to be a regular and routine part of my every day life --like eating or sleeping. I made straight A's this past semester while working full time, so I know I can exercise regularly and keep my grades up.

Anyway, doing Tapout this time around, I've noticed some differences. First, doing Tapout for just 2.5 weeks last time improved my strength tremendously; I can tell because this time around it actually seems easier. Tapout is still challenging and I can't keep up, but I've improved over the last time I tried it for sure. Mountain Biking is also helping and so is using the elliptical when I don't feel like doing an exceptionally hard Tapout video. Overall, I have been feeling healthier and I can tell when my bad habits surface because I tend to feel like crap.

Speaking of feeling like crap... I feel like crap! Because of the holidays, I've slacked on my healthy eating habits and I've let myself eat too much junk food (mostly chocolate but there's definitely some Pez candy in there too). I'm feeling sluggish and I even had the inkling of an anxiety attack around mid-morning today. I need to get back on the healthy eating because I can tell just how much it helps me feel better and healthier. I'm planning on getting out my juicer this evening and trying it out. Wish me luck!

Body Fat Percentage: Why Do I Care?

First, what is a body fat percentage?  Your body fat percentage is literally the percentage of your body that is fat.

Why should you care about your body fat percentage?  Well, first it can be eye-opening to know how much fat you are actually carrying around with you.  Second, it can help you decipher other important numbers like your lean body mass and your ideal body weight. (For more information on LBM and how to find your ideal body weight, click here or here.)

So body fat percentage is important, but how do you figure out what yours is?

You can buy a scale that measures certain statistics about your body on top of measuring your current weight.  These scales can measure things like your body fat percentage, your body water percentage, your muscle mass, your bone mass, and more.  These kinds of scales can be costly, and you may also be able to find someone (a doctor, a nutritionist, a personal trainer, etc.) who may have a scale like this and can keep track of these numbers for you.

Another way to measure body fat percentage is by using a body fat caliper.  These devices measure your body fat percentage by pinching areas of your skin and measuring the fat in that pinch of skin.  This method can be very accurate, especially if the test is administered by a fitness professional who knows what he or she is doing, but it can also be limited to people whose BF% is below a certain level.

The last way I know of that is also affordable is to use a body fat monitor.  The body fat monitors use the same method as the scales by running a small electric current through your body to measure the amount of fat, but they only measure body fat and they are much more affordable than a special scale.  They look like this:

So how do you know what an ideal body fat percentage is?  Well I've found a hand dandy chart for you!

Here's another way to look at it:

 

Women need more fat because our physical makeup is different than men.  i.e. We have boobs and pop out children.  So keep that in mind when figuring out your ideal body fat percentage.

Juicing and Healthy Eating

Let's talk about juicing.

I very recently watched the following documentaries that are all related:

Forks Over Knives

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Food Matters

Hungry for Change

Many of the people, facts, ideas, and theories presented in these documentaries overlap between the 4 different shows.  The first point all of these documentaries have in common is that people today as a whole are not eating enough plant-based whole foods.  We're not eating enough vegetables!

The documentary I watched first, "Forks Over Knives," is very scientific in its approach.  The 2 main people presented in the film are scientists who are also doctors.  They separately came to the same conclusions using different research that complemented the other person's work independently.  Both men in "Forks Over Knives" came to the conclusion that cancer and heart disease can be arrested and even reversed by eating a primarily plant-based diet and they have the scientific proof to show for it.

"Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" talks mostly about juicing as a way of detoxifying and cleansing a body that is "a cheeseburger away from a heart attack."  At first glance, I thought this was a bit extreme, and it is.  But what I really liked about this documentary is that both men who used juicing as an extreme detox method did it under the supervision of a physician, and the director of the film, Joe Cross, stresses the need to consult your doctor if you want to do a detox like the one he did and like the one the other guy did.  The moral of the story?  Don't just decide that you can do on your own what Joe Cross did under the supervision of a doctor.  

I also want to mention here that the doctor Joe was supervised by is mentioned in relation to one of the doctors from "Forks Over Knives."  Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.'s son, Rip Esselstyn, has his own campaign for the plant-based diet in his book The Engine 2 Diet.  In The Engine 2 Diet, Rip Esselstyn mentions Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who supervised Joe Cross' 60-day juicing detoxification diet, as a source for research into the plant-based diet.  It's also interesting to note that Rip Esselstyn also gives a mention to Dr. Dean Ornish in his book, and Dr. Ornish is mentioned in "Food Matters."

Both "Food Matters" and "Hungry for Change" mention juicing as well as the importance of an abundance of vegetables in a healthy diet.  They also give mention to the anti-cancer benefits of eating clean and eating plant-based.  The guy that directed "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" makes an appearance in "Hungry for Change."  One of the guys from "Food Matters" also appears in "Hungry for Change."

So what does all of this mean for me?  Well it means that I want to change my overall diet and I want to begin to eat healthier.  I am overweight by about 20 lbs.  For my height, my doctor has informed me that a healthy weight is between 125 and 155 lbs.  I currently weigh right around 175 lbs.

I love google and I love doing my own research, so I've been googling like crazy to get so much more information on how to tackle my health and weight loss goals.  I've found a lot of helpful information, and I plan to share it here on my blog through a series of posts that I'm going to tag "healthy weight loss."  Tune back in for more information as I do the research for you!

FitBit

Today I bought a FitBit Force.  I'm excited to start tracking my fitness and sleep, so we'll see how this goes.

Hubby and I got a $250 giftcard to Sports Authority via #giftofsport and that's how I bought the FitBit.  I'm still learning how to use it, but I figured out how to link it to MyFitnessPal.  Now I just have to figure out how to get the 2 apps to share information.

I'm back doing TapouT XT and I think I might buy Insanity once I'm done with TapouT.  I saw a 15 minute Insanity-style workout on YouTube with Dr. Oz and it looks interesting!

Anyone who is interested in friending me on FitBit, here is my public profile: http://www.fitbit.com/user/28SSJT


Interested in friending me on MyFitnessPal?  Here's my profile for that site: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ktherinerussell



--UPDATE-- December 21, 2013

Herbalife Update

It's been 5 days since I posted my initial post on Herbalife.  It's been a week since I started the program.  I have gained 4.4 lbs during the past week on Herbalife which has basically put me right back where I started.  Needless to say, I'm not too happy with the program at the moment.

It doesn't help that the shakes aren't very appetizing.  I mean, they're not disgusting but they're not amazing either.  When I first tried an Herbalife shake I thought it wasn't too bad and actually tasted pretty good.  The problem I'm having is repetition: it tasted alright the first couple of times but now I'm waking up dreading my breakfast and dinner routine.  I've found that if I add greek yogurt it tastes a little better, and my Herbalife coach likes that because greek yogurt is a good source of protein.  But even that is getting old really quick.


Anyway, I think I'm going to try and head in a different direction.  My father-in-law told me I should watch this documentary called Forks Over Knives.  It's really good.  The focus is on nutrition, and how the right nutrition can change everything about your health.  My in-laws have started trying to eat healthier, less animal-based products and more plant-based products.  I think I might try and do this as well.

If you are concerned about your health and about your diet, I highly recommend Forks Over Knives.  It's on Netflix.  Watch it.

Rather than spend $150/month on shakes that don't taste all that amazing, I'm planning on focusing on whole foods and plant-based foods.  I'd like to cut down on processed foods, start eating more vegetables, and just become more healthy in general.  I'm tired of being tired and exhausted after doing nothing.

Herbalife

I just started Herbalife.  What is Herbalife, you ask?  It's a nutrition system based primarily on "Healthy Meal" shakes.

So here's the breakdown of what I'm doing:

Breakfast: Formula 1 shake powder with 8 oz of skim milk + Formula 2 multivitamin + Formula 3 Cell Activator

Morning snack (around 9:30 or 10am): fruit usually

Lunch: some kind of homemade meal with lean protein and veggies + Formula 2 multivitamin

Afternoon snack: (around 2:30 or 3pm): protein snack bar or fig newtons

Dinner: Formula 1 shake powder with 8 oz skim milk + Formula 2 multivitamin + Formula 3 Cell Activator



Weight as of beginning Herbalife: 174 lbs.  We'll see how fast this comes off.  I'm giving this nutrition system a try for 1 month at least.

Exercise Routine

I just ordered TapouT XT.  Why?  The short answer is because I'm out of shape.  There's a more in depth answer, of course.

I currently weigh 176 lbs.  I'm 5'6" and I am overweight.  My goal is to get in shape and obviously lose the weight in the process, but my goal weight is 140 lbs.  That's 36 lbs to lose.  I know I can realistically reach 135 lbs because I've done it before, and I'd ideally like to reach 130 lbs, but I don't want to set my sites too high (or too low, rather, hee hee) and then give up too easily.

I think I can reach 140-145 lbs relatively quickly with a workout program like TapouT XT.  Those last 10-15 lbs to get down to 130-135 lbs, though, will be the hardest part, so I'll cross that road when I get there.

Muscle weighs more than fat, and I know this.  I'm looking to shed the fat, get in shape, gain muscle, and then tone it.  For the past week and a half, I've been waking up an hour early to go to the gym and use the elliptical.  I know this will help, but it's not going to get me there by itself.

I've also been trying to eat healthier.  I've been bringing my lunch with me to work, making it in the morning at home, and the majority of it is fruit.  I make a turkey and cheese or chicken and cheese pita sandwich, and I have some cut up strawberries, an apple, and some grapes.  I've been eating a granola bar for breakfast with a coffee drink to wake me up.

I want to be in shape.  I want to be healthy.  I want to feel better, both about myself and in general.