Temple's Road from Lard Ass to Bad Ass...

[Temple]

God I hate being accountable.....let's get that clear right out the gate...
Also don't dig doing this naturally as I remember how much better it was enhanced...
But at some point there will be a new girl on here bitching and fussing and not believing what I am telling her to do so.....here it goes.....
the brutal truth of what it takes to drop 50 pounds of fat (ugh) and pack on some muscle in the process.

Well, I thought I had the diet cleaned up.....so I logged what I really ate yesterday....

2 protein pancakes with smart balance light
bowl of leafy greans with a can of water packed tuna on top and some regular ranch dressing
a hand full of raisins
a cup of pasta with a drizzle of olive oil on it
a cup of wheaties with skim milk

Question one - Where is the freaking protein?????
Question two - And you expect to drop fat eating carbs and fat even good fats???
And I forgot to take my multi vitamin

To make it even worse by late afternoon I had some sort of flu bug and spent the evening in the bathroom rather than going to the gym.

I forgot how good protein pancakes are and I forgot what it was like to really focus on my body and what was going in it.

Today is a new day -
promise to do better.....

[WonderWoman]

DAY AT A TIME

In... good luck

[Temple]

The upside to that is that I got food in me 5 different times. Here is a question for those of you with a bunch of experience. Where I have so far to go, and we all know how good the body is at adjusting, how perfect do I want to be with diet in the beginning? Do I want to make small changes - just enough to get results so I don't have to get so drastic when I hit the plateaus? Does that make sense?

I guess what I am asking is does anyone know what the fastest way from point a to point b is with this kind of weight to lose and will my body remember how it was when it was in shape and go back there easier?

[Ulter]

That's more a mental than physical thing. Others will be along during the day to give you more indepth help, but you can start with as drastic of a change in foods as you can handle. You're going to back off those carbs and shift your diet to more protein. Fats are good.

[trivial]

You know how this works...the further you get into it, the easier and more routine it becomes. Each day you are a day closer to your goal. I've been fat then fit, then fat again, and fit again. I tend to be a balls to the walls kind of person, so I make huge changes all at once. You have to do what will work for you though, it's mental like Ulter said.

[Temple]

Trivial - yeah, this is the second time I have had this much to lose. You are right, it is a totally mental thing and like you, I am an all or nothing kind of girl.

One more thing that probably needs to go into this record. For the past 4 years I have been smoking about 4 packs of cigarettes a day (yes, you read that right). I quit the first of March because, well, I was going to die and I knew it. Amazing how much easier things are when you can breathe.

[slimm26]

Good luck! I'm sure you will do great! Just keep logging and get your diet entact. I'm still working on mine! lol It's a process and it does get easier with time.

[T-Cake]

Originally Posted by Temple

The upside to that is that I got food in me 5 different times. Here is a question for those of you with a bunch of experience. Where I have so far to go, and we all know how good the body is at adjusting, how perfect do I want to be with diet in the beginning? Do I want to make small changes - just enough to get results so I don't have to get so drastic when I hit the plateaus? Does that make sense?

It'll transition over time, naturally

Though you're bein' tough on yourself for yesterday's food, you still did far better with your choices than the average "novice". You are obviously not a novice; we can see that just based on your choices. I mean, seriously, what common person knows what the hell a protein pancake even IS, let alone made one?!

I had 120 lbs to lose. I spent the first 5-7 years losing it with WeightWatchers, only focussed on cutting calories. Once I hit a weight-loss wall in '05, I had to pay closer attention to the types of carbs I was eating, how much processed food I was eating and how much protine my body actually needed.

I spent a year focussed on that... and slowly worked my way to 40/30/30... and then 50/25/25... and now I'm conditioned enough so that I can fall somewhere in there and maintain or even lose more fat, depending on my goals.

Your body WILL adjust to what you knew former. You're cleanin' up the food already and you'll notice huge differences in energy levels... and sooner than later your cravings will change too. Whether you start "all or nothing" or focus on one thing at a time, the transition will be fast for an experienced person like yourself -- enhanced or not.

[Temple]

Damn...120....Go Girl.....
I have a question for you - my mom does the WW thing - I don't mean to sound disrespectful but are they all like a cult? The WW people we have around here are borderline anorexic...like chest bones sticking out eating salad with fat free dressing skinny.....

I love me some protein pancakes, I used to use them as tortillas for chicken and with splenda and cinnamon on them.....they are like a food group unto themselves.

[T-Cake]

Originally Posted by Temple

Damn...120....Go Girl.....
I have a question for you - my mom does the WW thing - I don't mean to sound disrespectful but are they all like a cult? The WW people we have around here are borderline anorexic...like chest bones sticking out eating salad with fat free dressing skinny.....

I love me some protein pancakes, I used to use them as tortillas for chicken and with splenda and cinnamon on them.....they are like a food group unto themselves.

Ooh, good idea with those pancakes! If I make mine thinner, I could totally do that.

As for the WWer people -- well I know what you mean by the cult-ish sentiments. They CAN be -- but I think a lot of it is in the leadership of the meeting and how well-rounded the leader's nutritional and exercise education is.

For example, there is a leader here in my town who is VERY negative as a person. She got to goal and put it back on but takes Spinning classes religiously. But she bitches about every instructor we have or about other people in class or about life in general... I cannot IMAGINE learning positive thinking tips from her in a WWer meeting. Plus she's overweight, so that shows me she's not living this as a lifestyle -- she's settled into this routine and is hoping for new results with the same choices.

But back home, when I went to WWers, I was in Detroit and my teachers were AMAZING women. One lost 100+ lbs and had kept it off over 10 years; the other had lost 60 lbs and had kept it off about 6-7 years. Both women were POSITIVE and REAL, loved exercise. One was vegan and one ate whatever she wanted. Both women encouraged new ideas, encouraged learning, brought in studies -- they were WWer POINTS-whores. So I was blessed.

So I guess that's my long answer to a short question. WWer people can be VERY VERY stubborn to learn anything outside of their meetings, for sure. I was like that but I finally opened up and WHOA LOOK, the weight dropped off.

[Temple]

I think maybe the reason I had problems relating to the WW thing was that my goal was never to be thin and they looked at me like a freak. My goal has always been to be lean but also be able to scare the college boys in the gym training with me - they get so nerved up when a chick old enough to be their mom is pressing the 60# dumbells...
Yeah...I wanna be her again...

[T-Cake]

^^^ I can understand this. I didn't lift weights at all the first 6 years with WWers and at the mere mention of it, most WWers say, "Well I want to lose my fat first and then put on muscle" because we were all scared of the muscle gain weighing more... or the water retention with it... it was all about the coveted scale loss, so it was easy to write-off weights.

When I started lifting, they thought I was a freak. I couldn't relate to people anymore once I moved to FL and tried meetings here. That's when I stopped. I finally realized I wasn't a fattie... I wasn't a WWer... I was finally an athlete and at a whole new level of fitness.

I understand what you're saying!

[sassy69]

Any controlled & consistent diet approach has its place. My experience w/ WW was back in the late 80s when I worked at a hyuge Motorola plant in Phoenix. One of our employee bens was free WW meetings (or some incentive). So I went to a few of the meetings, but they were all like 10% 'meetingy stuff' and 90% fat chicks bitching about eating..... that sort of stuff that is just hard to sit thru... and then I finally realized, in the same hour that I can barely sit thru, I could be at the gym next door....

Joined World Gym Scottsdale the next day....

Anyway .. just wanted to share....


Temple - you're doing great - sounds like you did what it took to get that biz of yours up & rockin. Now its your turn. If the protein pancakes are rockin' your world, its an easy step on to how great a clean grilled steak or hunka chicken tastes. But from your list of foods, is it fair to say you tend to eat what's available? Time to start the food prep the night before -- then its just there when you need it. Or just generally - whatever you eat, throw 4 oz of chicken on top.

[jenscats5]

New log...yes!

Fastest method?? Well, heck I could tell you that but would you like it & would you stick with it? Ummm, no! Being a lot of it is mental, which method are you likely to folllow & stick with? Some like a LOT of food for little cals (me) or like to graze on mini meals, or like scheduled regimented meals.....find what will work with your mentality then adjust from there.....

[Temple]

Sass - you are absolutely right - I eat what is available and I have fewer excuses than anyone considering I have a full staff of cooks at my disposal. Today I went in and sat them down and we had a talk about food prep for me - love those guys, they will fix me anything I want - they just have to understand what the goal is.

So far today
3 eggs
1 chicken breast
3 slices tomato
2 protein pancakes

chest day
dumbell bench and flyes with a bit of ab work on the side
bench - 30's x 10 x 4
flyes - 25's x 10 x 4
basically half of where I was 4 years ago so not as bad as I thought.

will expand this in weeks to come - just focusing on correct form and putting up some pounds for 10 reps 4 working sets

The good news is the training still feels right - I still have that brain muscle connection Yeah!

Post workout
Bacon Cheeseburger salad
should have had a protein shake but was ill prepared - will make that in advance tomorrow as I go straight from the gym to work

I brought home just a dab of pasta with a couple of grilled chicken breasts and a touch of olive oil on it.

I am also going to have my cooks whip up a couple of bags of chicken and tenderloin tips for me to keep in the fridge at work and at home so when I am starving they are available.

Sleep - am getting a solid 8 hours
Lots of water and tea with a couple of diet dr peppers thrown in - oh and coffee.

Next week have an am cardio partner lined up - she is a runner but I will go walk through the park and watch her skinny butt run a few miles. She is going to lift with me in the afternoons. She was my training partner way back so she will push me and hold me accountable.