New Body Fat Scale

So our scale is pretty much possessed. I bought it at Save On a few years ago. It was cheap and I wanted a digital scale. The bottom line is, it's crappy.

I usually weigh myself three times and take 2 out of 3 as the correct weight. But there are days it jumps all over the place. I need a new one.

So I just bought one.

But not just ANY scale. It's a body fat analyzer and scale!

YES!

Here is HCGchica explaining what it does and why this is pretty good bang for your buck!
Skip ahead to 2:10.

 The reason it's a good idea to have this, is it helps you determine if you're doing something right/wrong on the diet. There may be days where you don't lose any weight at all, but the analyzer says you have lost a pound of fat! That probably means the scale didn't go down because of water retention. For me, that would be an encouragement to know what is going on. It's also quite fun to track all your stats. It kinda becomes a game :)

 If it really is as good as the expensive medical body fat analyzers, then my money is well spent.


I researched it a little and it is at least $20-50 more on Amazon.ca, so I got mine on Amazon.com. And as usual, I ship it to the parcel pick-up place right across the border. If you live in southern BC, or anywhere in the Fraser Valley, the cheapest place is PIC-IT-UP. 

How I Recently Lost 23 Pounds

Maybe one day if I'm brave I will post before and after pics. But I think for now I will just spare everyone. For now I'm happy sharing my story so far and my stats.

Feeling chunky at an Epica concert just after starting hCG in November.

 For a whole year I worked out consistently, ate chicken and salad and protein shakes. At the end of that year, I had not lost any weight or fat! I actually weighed MORE. I did gain some muscle but there was nothing to show for it. All my clothes were tight and I was pretty depressed and embarrassed. For whatever reason my body was not ready to let go of the fat. I did feel healthier in general, but all my hard work amounted to nothing in terms of size and fat loss. I tried counting calories, specialty meal-replacement shakes, eating gluten free, weight watchers, the "primal" type diets, and a range of other things. I did that in addition to working out faithfully 5-6 days every week. I did high intensity interval training (cardio) and weight lifting. I am glad I did all that, but in the end, I still weighed more because I didn't lose the fat. In fact I was at my postpartum weight. As in.... just had a baby and came home from the hospital.

Not cool.

Then my mom started this crazy diet last October. I was skeptical. I did research on it before, and though I was intrigued I did not really believe that it would work or was healthy. And then she lost 10 lbs in 14 days. And magically I was curious again! I did some more research and decided to do it too.

And thus began my journey on the HCG diet!

Picking my outfit for my concert.

I started at the beginning of November. I had a serious goal because I had my debut CD release concert on Dec. 12. That gave me about 6 weeks leeway. I did reach my goal! I lost a good 18+ pounds! And I felt pretty fantastic on stage :)

I maintained my weight over Christmas. I gained about 2 lbs in total. I also did my weight lifting for four weeks after I was off HCG. So some of that weight was probably water and muscle. I think that's pretty good!

I have just started a new round, which began on Saturday the 5th. That gave me a good four week break, which is recommended at the very least. The more rounds you do, the longer break you need in between.

About the hCG diet

 

Many people who hear about the HCG diet are pretty skeptical at first, and I think that's a good thing. It's always a good idea to do your due diligence and research the heck out of any diet.

The first time I try telling someone what I'm doing, they usually have a bunch of questions.

Well, here is a quick summary by one girl I've been following on YouTube. She's very informed and she's a researcher. I have been watching her videos from the beginning since I started my first round because I found her quite inspiring.

Part 1 & 2:

The important thing to remember is that you are NOT living off of the 500 calories that you eat every day. You are living off of the calories in your fat which are being released for fuel.

1 pound of fat = 3500 calories.

If you lost one pound every day, that means the HCG is telling your body to use 3500 calories of abnormal fat storage for energy!

And this is the coolest thing.

Your body doesn't know or care if you ate those calories or if it pulled them from your fat stores. It just wants energy so you can live.

That is the very basic concept of the HCG diet. There is so much more to cover, including the maintenance and long term results. But I am so happy I did this. It was the jolt my body needed to lose the fat.

I have just started my second round. I have lost over 7 pounds in 9 days. Woot! Great start! Clothes are getting loose again :-)

More later...

Okay, Moving On.

This last week was a roller coaster for me. Not feeling like I'm making progress. The scale heard a few choice words from me. I'm putting that thing away for a while. And my measuring tape is my new best friend. It doesn't lie to me. So even when the scale says "You fat cow, you just gained 5 lbs even though you're busting your ass," I just pull out my handy measuring tape and realize I did in fact lose half an inch in my the waist, so "Scale: you can put that in your pipe and smoke it."

Also, I've been reading way too much on diets. My mind was more like scrambled eggs by the end of the week. I've read up on all the fad diets, which include taking entire food groups out of your life and replacing them with nothing. And then I've read a lot more saying "don't do that."

I've looked at before and afters of all of them and they are all impressive. I've looked at the science and the principles behind the different theories as well.

The good news is: there is a common denominator.

Cut out junk food and most processed foods. Eat more whole foods.

There. That's it. You are guaranteed to lose weight and feel healthier. It seems you can do slow carb, low-carb, no-carb or high-carb, low-fat and still achieve fantastic results. I think it does involve some experimentation to see what your body responds to. Try it. If you feel terrible, change it.

For most of the week I was reading up on this popular paleo diet and while the science sounds convincing and the before and after photos are impressive, I have some problems with it. For one, the premises and the science is based on evolutionary theory. That pretty much discounts most of the science. They start with the premise that man was originally a hunter-gatherer and base the workouts on that premise as well. Well, no, man was originally a vegetarian in the Garden of Eden. I'm sure plants had much more protein content before the Fall. And man's system operated at a different level. We may not have needed as much protein either because man's muscles probably recovered at a different rate. After the Fall and even more so after the flood, man's bodies deteriorated at a much faster rate and needed meat and carbohydrates to survive, besides the plants they already ate.

I personally think the Maker's Diet is the best one I've seen. He actually bases the diet from the Bible and looks at the guidelines God gave in both the Old Testament and New. I like his approach. While we are allowed to eat "unclean" meats in the New Covenant, that doesn't mean it went from bad for you to good for you. For example, pork still comes from scavenger animals. Not everything that is permissible is beneficial.

What about this whole grain-free fad? I think most processed grains like enriched wheat is acceptable to cut out of your diet. You don't need to eat that much wheat. Gluten in general is over the top in most American diets. Gluten is pretty much glue. How much glue do we need to eat? I'm skeptical of cutting out all grains entirely. I think some are very nutritious. I ate Ezekiel 4:9 bread this morning. Hey, if God gave the recipe, is it really that bad for you??

Anyway, that, and after I took a look again at the BodyForLife before and afters I realized there is not one way to get lean and fit. I've always liked Bill Phillips' program. He balances protein, carbs, fats at every meal if possible. You eat 6x a day. You workout hard most days of the week in short spurts. It works. Look at the results. No paleo person can say it doesn't work or that these people aren't healthy.

Anyway, I'm ready to move on to this new week with some new motivation. Mostly, because I got some Powerblocks!!

Just when I was feeling fat and defeated, Steve went and got me a serious upgrade from my little dumbbells that you don't have to spin the ends off to change the plates. Those are crazy-annoying when you're changing them between every exercise and you're trying to keep your heart rate up. Well, now in 10 seconds, I can change the weights and go HEAVIER! I can actually make some progress now!

They will take some getting used to.

They are big blocks. I'm used to small, round dumbbells.

They are color coded!

That white block is 5lbs all by itself. There is a pin that you slide over the colored plates to choose what weight you want. No more racks of dumbbells taking up space. Safer for having kids around too (or babies - wondering what the heck mom is doing?).

And my favorite feature: half pounds!

Just take out one of the adder weights (2.5 lbs) and you can do 7.5 lbs instead of 5 or 10.

That is a NICE feature.

So this will reignite my fire this week.

Hey, I'm six weeks in! Feeling good, even though I'm not seeing that progress I'm wanting. I think my body is freaking out a little right now. But I'm going to push until it realizes it's not hanging on to this fat anymore. I'm the boss.

I'll try to get a picture of me using them so you can see how big they are, LOL.



Moving on...

Week Four

I just did my first workout of week four this morning. Feeling like I have a little momentum now. I'm still loving it, even when I hate it. Sometimes I don't want to. I would much rather read a book in my special chair with my coffee and chill. But then I find myself pushing back the coffee table and rolling up the living room rug and pulling out the weights. I'm like, "what am I doing?..... Ok.... I guess I'm working out." It's almost involuntary. I think my body secretly likes this. Or I'm slowly becoming an endorphin junkie. Either way, I'm all for it, especially when I get the results I want.

Okay, so this woman is my HERO. I can't make that word big enough. Her name is Toni Cook and she's in the ChaLEAN Extreme videos and appears in some otherBeachbody workouts as well.

The kicker? She's had SEVEN babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So apparently, she's had a single, then twins, then quadruplets! Holy freakin crap. I know tons of women who have never had babies and don't look this good. Even if she had surgery to remove excess skin, there's no way anyone can look like this if they don't workout like she does. It's all a matter of building your body. You can design the body you want, however you want to look. It's all a matter of which habits you adopt. In the past, my habits were a) somewhat watching what I was eating, and b) half-assing my workouts. I wasn't working out at a level 10. I was giving it a 6 maybe.

Well, this lady is my thin-spiration. Big time....seven babies.... and she looks like.... just, wow. Anyway, I keep looking at these pictures and knowing that she can do it, I know that I can definitely do it too.

I decided I'll wait until Monday to share my stats since Mondays are the days I weigh myself and take all my measurements. Right now inches are key over what the scale says. The scale is a big liar, I've realized. It does not differentiate between muscle gained, fat lost, water retention, etc. And I have a feeling I've gained quite a bit of muscle already. So at first, it looks like my weight is going up. That's actually a good thing, but it's hard not to freak out. Muscle is dense and is what makes women smaller, tighter, and leaner. We want muscle. Men have much more testosterone, so that is why their muscles make them bigger. God just designed our bodies to respond differently.

As for my diet, I'm still doing two RVL shakes a day, plus a couple snacks and dinner. My biggest crutch is that I get super hungry in the evening. Like 9 or 10 comes around and I am starving. At that point I'd really just like to munch on something crunchy. So the other night, instead of popcorn I had baby carrots. Wasn't filling. And I ate the whole rest of the bag, what was left of it. I was still really hungry. So I had something after that, I think it was a piece of toast. That helped. I'm sure my metabolism is starting to kick up a notch and that might be why I have such raging hunger all the sudden. I'd like to eventually cut out those evening snacks entirely and not eat after 7pm. That's the goal.

Starting from today, I'm going to start filling my tummy with a cup or two of green tea in the evenings and see if that helps. And if I'm still starving, I'll just munch on some veggies or fat-free popcorn perhaps. I just love my salt.

My abs are still sore from my 11 minute ab workout 2 days ago. That feels nice. I finally worked them hard enough. It's hard to do that since we use our abs everyday for everything.

Now.... waiting for my clothes to start getting looser!

The Ugly Truth

I`m over three weeks into my new workout regime. I started a couple weeks before Christmas. I thought about waiting until the new year like everyone usually does. But why would I? I figured if I started before the new year--and especially through Christmas--I'd really be on a roll, not just a new year's resolution whim. I figured if I really want this, I'll do it now, I'll do it today. It might help me bypass the Christmas baking and goodies. It worked. I did have a taste this and that, but I can't say I indulged at all, except for a few drinks.

The ugly truth is enough to make me start here and now. All I know is I can't
stand the way my clothes fit, I can't stand being in my own skin and I hate not feeling like myself. I haven't felt like myself in years. Over 6 years to be exact. That's when we started having babies. We have four now. Our oldest is still five. Let's just say my body is not what it was.

When I was six months pregnant with our first, I remember being completely horrified with the changes to my body. Suddenly I put on a lot of weight and things did NOT look the same! That's me sparing you the details. The weight did not come off easily afterwards, even though I nursed and watched my diet. We had three more babies after that. In a row. I have about 10 lbs per kid that is hanging on to my body for dear life. That is my ugly starting point. Everyone has one. I don't think we are having any more for a while, unless God intervenes. But God knows how much my body needs to recover and He knows my plate is currently full of blessings that I am still learning to manage and steward. I think God wants me to be in shape. My kids need a mama with energy. My kids need a happy, joyful mom. My husband needs a happy, joyful wife (who is less shy and ashamed!).

I'm feeling more driven now than I ever have. I don't want my old body back. I want to redesign a new body and actually get ripped. The stretchmarks will still be there, but they'll only be faint battle scars when I've got a smokin' pack of abs. I can already visualize my end goal. That will keep me going.

My Workout:

ChaLEAN Extreme. Holy. Crap. This is the best workout EVER. I love that it has three phases. Each phase is 4 weeks long. First is the "burn" phase. Next is the "push" phase, and finally the "lean" phase. Each phase has a series of weight training circuits. There are also short ab workouts and 2 cardio workouts plus a flexibility/stretching workout. It's a balanced, complete package.

I'm not easily motivated by home workout videos. Trust me. But this one is different. Chalean is seriously motivating. The gals (and guys) are motivating to look at and see how hard they push themselves. The stuff Chalean says really makes sense. Like, for example, the reason you're getting fatter even though you're not eating more, is because you're losing muscle. Muscle burns fat. Muscle feeds on calories, even when you are sleeping and sitting on the couch. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn 24/7. Of course! Well, that solved my mystery. Pregnancy hormones seriously softened me up and I lost so much muscle. That explains why even when I watch my diet, nothing happens. I'm changing that now.

Supplements I'm taking:

MonaVie RVL. Amazing stuff. I've got the protein shakes, the fat-burning supplement and the mini protein bars. I have dinner with my family plus one or two extra snacks during the day if I'm still hungry. This stuff alone is supposed to help the average person lose 30 lbs in 12 weeks. So I'm on that plus I'm doing my muscle-building workouts. Should be a win-win scenario. More on this stuff later.

I started this blog to keep myself accountable. If you read this, please keep me accountable. I will post my progress regularly. I my next post, I'll share how much I've lost or gained and actual figures.
I have too much at stake here. I need to do this. I am doing this. I will succeed.