health mode v1 - week 4

---

Hi all, this is the beginning of the final week, the last week I have left to achieve my goals.
The past 2 weeks have been a bit off track with the whole vacation and all...but result wise it isn't as bad I thought it would be after all those drinks and late dinners. Luckily I remained pretty active during the day with kayaking and paragliding.

.: starting data week 4 :.

Female (yup, still female)
Age: 26
Height: 158.5 cm
Weight:50.55 kg (+0.10 kg)
Estimated BMR: 1300 cal

Measure points are taken with my body relaxed.
Problem areas are my waist under my bellybutton and lower back.

bodypart
chest:
upper arms:
waist:
under bellybutton:
buttocks:
thighs:
calfs:

two weeks ago
84.5 cm (+ 0.5 cm)
26.1/26.3 cm (+0.1/0 cm)
67 cm (-1 cm, yay! )
72.8 cm (-1.9, cm yay!)
88 cm (- 0.5)
49.5/49.5 cm (-0.5/-0.5 cm)
33.3/33.3 cm (+0.3/+0.3 cm)

now
83 cm (- 1.5 cm)
26.2/26.2 cm (+0.1/-0.1 cm)
66.6 cm (-0.4 cm, yay! )
71.8 cm (-1 cm yay!)
87.5 cm (- 0.5 cm)
49.5/49.5 cm (+-0 cm)
33.3/33.3 cm (+-0 cm)

GOAL:
bellybutton = 72 cm
weight = 50 kg
in one week from now.

Analyze of the results:
As you can see I've achieved one of my goals already, my bellybutton waist is down to 71.8 cm and my goal was 72 so that's all good. I'm not quite sure what conclusion I should make about the weight...but 0.1 kg is probably just a bit of fluctuation because of the water level in my body. I'm suspecting I've added some muscles too after a couple of gym sessions, kayaking and paragliding and since muscles weigh more than fat it could be another reason to why I've gained weight.
It will be interesting to see if I can make it to 50 kg this week :)
I will continue doing some gym sessions where I mostly target my abdominal area and with a bit of cardio at the end and I will also try and do a bit more low impact training like walking and swimming when I don't go the gym.

This is what I look like now. I'm not sure if there is much of a change:


This is what i looked like two weeks ago:


This is what i looked like three weeks ago:

health mode v1 - week 2

---

So a week has passed since I first started and if you look at the numbers it's all good but they don't really match up to what I've been doing.
I have been a bit slack though, mostly on the exercising part and to be honest I haven't been eating enough so I suspect that I've lost mostly water and a bit of muscle mass instead of what I really wanted to target, fat.

So what have I been doing the past week?
I had my mind set on walking for about an hour every morning...i did 3 mornings...I have a tendency to go to bed after 2 am and that makes it really hard to get up by 6:40...I will have to work on this a bit more, make sure I go to sleep earlier.
I've done 3 gym sessions where I've mostly used my own body as resistance working my entire body but focusing on tightening up the abdominal area and about 30 minutes of cardio after the workouts.
When I start out in the gym I always get sore, it's just part of the process!
Diet wise, I'm very anti most of the diets out there, so I eat what every I want but SWAP out the bad things for not so bad things. I'm not going for the miss fitness title 2007...if i did then I would have to be more strict.
One big change is eating regularly and at least 5 times per day.
I'm drinking a whole lot more water than I usually do. I just never get thirsty so this is sort of a problem for me, but I now have glasses and cups every where to remind myself to drink. I have at least three or four protein shakes to make sure I get enough proteins through out the day, I usually take these before and after a workout but also in between the bigger meals.
I've replaced bad fats with good fats. The way I do that is by cutting out fat in my cooking and supplement with good fats in the form of omega 3 and CLA capsules. I'm also eating additional calcium, this is good for your metabolic process but I also need it because I don't eat/drink any milk products because I'm a bit sensitive to lactose.
I also try to cut carbs after 3 pm, except after a workout when I eat a fruit or two.
Before workouts, if I remember, I also take the recommended dose of Lean System 7 capsules for a bit of an extra boost of energy and fat burning effect. I would only recommend this if you're reached a plateau or if you trying to lose more weight than what your body think is healthy for you e.g bodybuilders and what ever else you have where you need to get rid of fat to show your muscles. They are quite expensive and it would suck to use them when you don't really need them...you'll just end up with very expensive pee and a lighter wallet.

I will write more about all of these topics later.

.: starting data week 2 :.

Female (yup, still female)
Age: 26
Height: 158.5 cm
Weight:50.45 kg (- 1.15kg)
Estimated BMR: 1300 cal

Measure points are taken with my body relaxed.
Problem areas are my waist under my bellybutton and lower back.

bodypart
chest:
upper arms:
waist:
under bellybutton:
buttocks:
thighs:
calfs:

one week ago
84 cm
26/26.3 cm
68 cm
74.7 cm
88.5 cm
50/50 cm
33/33 cm

now
84.5 cm (+ 0.5 cm)
26.1/26.3 cm (+0.1/0 cm)
67 cm (-1 cm, yay! )
72.8 cm (-1.9, cm yay!)
88 cm (- 0.5)
49.5/49.5 cm (-0.5/-0.5 cm)
33.3/33.3 cm (+0.3/+0.3 cm)

GOAL:
bellybutton = 72 cm
weight = 50 kg
in about 3 weeks from now.

Analyze of the results:
The changes for the first week are usually always pretty dramatic no matter where you start. For me I think I had retained a bit of water because of this: For all the ladies
My body is probably retaining more water than I first thought when I first weighed in and measured myself.
As you can see I've added some to my chest...but to be honest...I really don't mind adding to that area, if only I could add some to my butt as well ;)
My calfs grow like weed...I blame my soccer playing days as a kid...they are a bit unproportional and I don't like that at all.
I might change my goal but will stick to the current goal for the next period and see what happens first.

This is what I look like now. A small change, I know my muscles are under there somewhere :) and yes I did get bitten by something on the side...it's bigger now than last week :/



This is what i looked like last week:

My plans for the coming week will be a changing it from a one week period to two weeks because I'm going on a mini vacation to finally get my pg 1 in paragliding :) I'm pretty sure my plan will be a bit tampered with but I will stay active running around with my glide and also do a bit of kayaking. Traveling and eating healthy is something I've had problems with before but I will do my best and I will make sure to eat a bit more :)
I will also work on my upper body to gain some strength for the kayaking, which I will be doing for two whole days.

Till next time, be safe, be happy

simplified fitness - part 1 - have a plan

---

This is part 1 out of a series of about ten parts (I haven't quite decided yet), bringing out the basics of what you can do and things that are good to know when you try to reach your goal.

But first you need a goal, make a plan and write it down. Answer the questions, why? what? how? when?

• 
  Figure out the reasons why you want to do this change. Is it to lose weight, lose fat, get stronger, build muscles, get definition, get fit etc
  


• 
  Get yourself measurable goals, like 10 cm off the waist or be able to run 1.5 km in 10 minutes. Set short term goals (weekly) and long term goals. Last time I had a run for it my goal was to match RFL G1 level of fitness required for all serving soldiers and officers in the New Zealand army in two months. Your long term goal should be hard to get to but not impossible.
  


• 
  Look over your lifestyle, to get quicker results you probably will have to look over both your diet (more about diets later) and exercise more including a bit of weightlifting (more about this later).
  


• 
  Try to find exercises you enjoy, there is no point running if you don’t like it…find a few different exercises that you like and alternate to keep yourself motivated. Don't start too hard out, start slowly and let your body adapt and then gradually increase the workouts and tighten up your diet.
  


• 
  When you start, be prepared that it might take a bit of time to see the results of your hard work, you might see results for a while and then it stops (more about plateaus later).
  If your plan doesn’t work as expected, tweak your plan and give it some more time. Fitness is a bit of a science and you have to figure out what works for you and your body by trial and error. Fitness doesn’t happen over night so don’t give up, just keep on going and you'll get there!
  

Ok I have a plan, now what?
Before we move on there is one thing which very important for your motivation and over all success. And that is to measure your progress because otherwise, how will you know you've reached your goal or is going in the right direction? There is another thing to it as well. When you see something everyday you tend to get used to what you see and don't really see if something has changed. By measuring you will get to see that things are actually changing.

Start of by taking measurements and write them down and then along the way you take new measurements and you will see the progress of your diet and training.
I would say that once per week is good to track your progress and I don't see any point of doing it more often than that.

The results of your measurements can be very motivating in two ways. If the results are good, that's fine and if the results aren't as good as you thought you can look over your routine and try out different things to make the results go in the right direction.

There are several different ways to do this.
When measuring your weight and changes in your body frame try to stick to certain routines and try to keep the same conditions for each measuring. Me for example: I pick Monday mornings and I use the same kind or similar clothing every time.

• 
  Use a measuring tape
  
  
  I reckon this is the best way to measure change of your body. Choose which parts you want to measure and then decide if you want to measure those parts while being relaxed or while putting tension to the part. It doesn't really matter which just remember to be consistent. I measure my chest, upper arms, waist, under belly button, buttocks, thighs and calves. You can of course do less or more.
  


• 
  Photograph yourself
  Taking photos on a regular basis is a good way of visualizing the change. You can do your whole body or pick a body part you want to work extra on.
  As you can see in this blog I took photos of my tummy, I could not see the change by looking at myself, but when seeing the first and last photo, I could definitely see the change.
  


• 
  Bioimpedance scale
  This scale or ha hand held gadget which with a very low electrical current measures not only your weight (not hand held) but also calculates amount of fat, fat free mass and water. Don't rely on it too much as the result can vary depending on how much water you have in your body at the time you use it. It is completely painless.
  


• 
  Fat Caliper
  
  
  This is probably the way you can get the most accurate body fat percentage read out in your own home. You take skinfold measurements from selected body parts and then based on the results from that you can calculate the body fat percentage.
  This requires a bit of training to get right but when you do it is every accurate. I think this would probably only be useful for people who compete within bodybuilding and fitness. The rest of us doesn't need it and I would get one for myself i would do it only out of curiosity.
  


• 
  Regular scale
  If I could I would ban this one. A regular scale does nothing good, instead it causes many people to be discourage and sometimes even depressed. The results from the scales varies too much, for example...I can step up on a scales now, get a value...then go to the toilet, step up on the scales again 5 minutes later be over 0.5kgs lighter! I think you get my point.
  

When it comes to stamina, it's about how long you can go for, how hard you can go for but also how fast you recover when you're done. You can check you pulse (manually or buy a heart rate monitor) before, during and after the exercise. After a couple of weeks of exercising you should notice that your resting pulse is lower than before and that you recover faster after the exercise. To check this, measure your pulse every 2 minutes three times directly after exercising and record the values.

health mode v1 - week 1

---

when I left Sweden back in September 2005 I was fairly fit after spending some time in the gym prior to my journey half around the world to New Zealand. When I at a later point got to weigh myself I had gained 2kgs! I have a theory that the gravity is different over here hence adding 2kgs...

what do you guys think? Anyone else have any scientific test results that can prove my theory to be right? If so, let me know :)

with no real proof supporting my theory I started to go the gym and improved my diet just in case my theory was wrong. My goal was to get stronger and lose fat and I did really well. I was information hungry and I learned a lot and took a real interest in fitness and everything around it.

now it's time again after a long break due to injuries, sickness and of course Christmas. I am now 3.5 kgs above my desired weight...

.: starting data week 1 :.

Female
Age: 26
Height: 158.5 cm
Weight:51.6 kg
Estimated BMR: 1300 cal

Measure points are taken with my body relaxed.
Problem areas are my waist under my bellybutton and lower back.

chest:
upper arms:
waist:
under bellybutton:
buttocks:
thighs:
calfs:

84 cm
26/26.3 cm
68 cm
74.7 cm
88.5 cm
50/50 cm
33/33 cm

GOAL:
bellybutton = 72 cm
weight = 50 kg
in a month from now.

This is what I look like now. I will hopefully by the end of this I'll have a more defined tummy.




I know some of you might think 'what the hell is she complaining about?' why does she want to do this when she doesn't really have a problem.
I get great satisfaction knowing that I can control my body and make it do what I want it to. I have days when I see myself in the mirror and think, I can do better than this and if I have the motivation, time and knowledge, why not?

my goal this time is to lose fat and keep my muscles which is not the easiest thing to do. I will let you in on my progress over the next month.
I hope you guys will drop by to see how I'm doing.