banshee
11-30-2006, 04:35 PM
Well, it's time for my yearly review/update. I started Protein Power on December 1st, 2002.
To give the statistics, when I started:
Weight: 182 pounds
Body Fat (BF): 69% (125.5 pounds)
Lean Body Mass (LBM): 56.5 pounds
Waist Measurement: 39 inches
Hip Measurement: 49 inches
Thigh Measurement: 33 inches
Bloodwork: Total Cholesterol 190, Triglycerides 219Now:
Weight: 145 pounds
BF: 37% (57 pounds)
LBM: 89 pounds
Waist: 27 inches
Hips: 35 inches
Thigh: 19.25 inches
Bloodwork: Total Cholesterol 170, HDL 60, LDL 85, Triglycerides 127As you can see from last year's stats (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125), I'm maintaining pretty well. My goals this year were to work on keeping my health, and to try and finally make exercise a habit. I started out trying to just "move more", taking the stairs at work, etc., and to more consistently use my TotalGym at home, but that didn't seem to do much. Then I bought a cheap summer membership at a gym and tried to workout on my own. Again, I didn't see a lot of results, either because I didn't really know enough to create an effective program, or because I kept overdoing it and having to take long breaks between sessions. I also had some health problems over the summer that resulted in surgery, which led to more breaks from the gym.
Starting in September, though, I switched to a new gym, and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the services of a personal trainer. The difference in my progress has been phenomenal. My measurements have been decreasing steadily and surely in the last three months, and I'm actually starting to reach the point of needing to shop for smaller pants! I thought that was rather interesting considering the scale only shows a 1 pound loss from last year.
Things I've learned:
Use many different methods to measure your progress. I chart my weight daily, my measurements every 2-3 weeks, and keep an eye on how my clothes fit. I've found that the scale is the least reliable, but I still like to track it. Measurement are good, until you reach the point where you are losing fat from an area you haven't measured. For example, my last two sets of measurements were identical, but my pants are fitting much looser now than they were 2 weeks ago. Clearly there is some loss occurring that isn't showing up on the tape measure.
Consistency is key. My on-again, off-again method of exercising was getting me nowhere. It wasn't until I started going to the gym 3-5 times a week, every week, that I started to see progress.
Adding in exercise really does make a difference. I wanted to experiment to see if I could show a loss (in size) without cutting back from my maintenance level of carbs. While I knew the progress probably wouldn't be as fast, I wanted to still be able to enjoy a more relaxed approach to eating. I've actually found myself occasionally eating some real carby foods without causing any setbacks in my progress. In fact, there have been at least two weekends where I indulged several times in full-sugar desserts, something that in the past would have led to a temporary weight gain. Now that I'm exercising, I'm coming away from those weekends without anything showing on the scale. In fact, over Thanksgiving, I actually lost a pound despite eating over 1 full pie (low-carb), 2 slices of full-sugar pie, and a full glass of super-sweet ice wine (a dessert wine made from grapes picked after they've frozen on the vine, so that the water has frozen out and the sugar content is super concentrated.)
You can still savor the joys of victory during maintenance. One of the hardest things about maintaining is that you no longer have the large weight losses to celebrate. However, I've found several new ways to measure my progress and increasing health that have nothing to do with weight loss (or even size loss.) The strength gains I'm enjoying from my weight lifting are almost more of a joy than the scale losses, because they contribute to an overall feeling of health that makes daily activities a joy. I'll find myself literally giggling to myself when I find myself lifting something that 6 months ago I would have asked my husband to lift for me. I look forward to getting my blood work every year, because I know that I'll either keep the same good profile, or see even more improvements. (This year I'm hoping that 6 months of consistent weight lifting before the test will show up as a nice big jump in HDL and another drop in Triglycerides!)In all, even with its ups and downs, it's been a good year for me. I've maintained my weight, and I've lost some inches. I've finally found a type of exercise I enjoy and can stick with, and except for the one week I couldn't exercise due to pneumonia, I've had 3 months of consistent work with a minimum of 3 days each week at the gym. This should go a long way to making exercise a habit instead of an afterthought.
My goals for my 5th year on plan are to continue enjoying a maintenance level of carbs, to continue to exercise consistently, and to work toward my long term goals, as follows:
continue upper body strength gains, working toward the goals of an unassisted pullup, unassisted dip, and a full set of men's pushups from the floor (currently doing these with my upper body elevated about 2 feet off the floor.)
Work toward a final body fat percentage goal of 25%. Then re-evaluate and decide whether to try for 20%.
In conjunction with the body fat loss, definitely drop at least 1 (hopefully 2) pant size(s) before next Christmas.
Work with trainer and therapist to try and regain more range of motion and general mobility/strength in the ankle I shattered 20 years ago. Being able to improve this ankle should result in fewer ankle/knee joint problems in that leg.
To give the statistics, when I started:
Weight: 182 pounds
Body Fat (BF): 69% (125.5 pounds)
Lean Body Mass (LBM): 56.5 pounds
Waist Measurement: 39 inches
Hip Measurement: 49 inches
Thigh Measurement: 33 inches
Bloodwork: Total Cholesterol 190, Triglycerides 219Now:
Weight: 145 pounds
BF: 37% (57 pounds)
LBM: 89 pounds
Waist: 27 inches
Hips: 35 inches
Thigh: 19.25 inches
Bloodwork: Total Cholesterol 170, HDL 60, LDL 85, Triglycerides 127As you can see from last year's stats (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125), I'm maintaining pretty well. My goals this year were to work on keeping my health, and to try and finally make exercise a habit. I started out trying to just "move more", taking the stairs at work, etc., and to more consistently use my TotalGym at home, but that didn't seem to do much. Then I bought a cheap summer membership at a gym and tried to workout on my own. Again, I didn't see a lot of results, either because I didn't really know enough to create an effective program, or because I kept overdoing it and having to take long breaks between sessions. I also had some health problems over the summer that resulted in surgery, which led to more breaks from the gym.
Starting in September, though, I switched to a new gym, and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the services of a personal trainer. The difference in my progress has been phenomenal. My measurements have been decreasing steadily and surely in the last three months, and I'm actually starting to reach the point of needing to shop for smaller pants! I thought that was rather interesting considering the scale only shows a 1 pound loss from last year.
Things I've learned:
Use many different methods to measure your progress. I chart my weight daily, my measurements every 2-3 weeks, and keep an eye on how my clothes fit. I've found that the scale is the least reliable, but I still like to track it. Measurement are good, until you reach the point where you are losing fat from an area you haven't measured. For example, my last two sets of measurements were identical, but my pants are fitting much looser now than they were 2 weeks ago. Clearly there is some loss occurring that isn't showing up on the tape measure.
Consistency is key. My on-again, off-again method of exercising was getting me nowhere. It wasn't until I started going to the gym 3-5 times a week, every week, that I started to see progress.
Adding in exercise really does make a difference. I wanted to experiment to see if I could show a loss (in size) without cutting back from my maintenance level of carbs. While I knew the progress probably wouldn't be as fast, I wanted to still be able to enjoy a more relaxed approach to eating. I've actually found myself occasionally eating some real carby foods without causing any setbacks in my progress. In fact, there have been at least two weekends where I indulged several times in full-sugar desserts, something that in the past would have led to a temporary weight gain. Now that I'm exercising, I'm coming away from those weekends without anything showing on the scale. In fact, over Thanksgiving, I actually lost a pound despite eating over 1 full pie (low-carb), 2 slices of full-sugar pie, and a full glass of super-sweet ice wine (a dessert wine made from grapes picked after they've frozen on the vine, so that the water has frozen out and the sugar content is super concentrated.)
You can still savor the joys of victory during maintenance. One of the hardest things about maintaining is that you no longer have the large weight losses to celebrate. However, I've found several new ways to measure my progress and increasing health that have nothing to do with weight loss (or even size loss.) The strength gains I'm enjoying from my weight lifting are almost more of a joy than the scale losses, because they contribute to an overall feeling of health that makes daily activities a joy. I'll find myself literally giggling to myself when I find myself lifting something that 6 months ago I would have asked my husband to lift for me. I look forward to getting my blood work every year, because I know that I'll either keep the same good profile, or see even more improvements. (This year I'm hoping that 6 months of consistent weight lifting before the test will show up as a nice big jump in HDL and another drop in Triglycerides!)In all, even with its ups and downs, it's been a good year for me. I've maintained my weight, and I've lost some inches. I've finally found a type of exercise I enjoy and can stick with, and except for the one week I couldn't exercise due to pneumonia, I've had 3 months of consistent work with a minimum of 3 days each week at the gym. This should go a long way to making exercise a habit instead of an afterthought.
My goals for my 5th year on plan are to continue enjoying a maintenance level of carbs, to continue to exercise consistently, and to work toward my long term goals, as follows:
continue upper body strength gains, working toward the goals of an unassisted pullup, unassisted dip, and a full set of men's pushups from the floor (currently doing these with my upper body elevated about 2 feet off the floor.)
Work toward a final body fat percentage goal of 25%. Then re-evaluate and decide whether to try for 20%.
In conjunction with the body fat loss, definitely drop at least 1 (hopefully 2) pant size(s) before next Christmas.
Work with trainer and therapist to try and regain more range of motion and general mobility/strength in the ankle I shattered 20 years ago. Being able to improve this ankle should result in fewer ankle/knee joint problems in that leg.