Body: I have recently purchased a new Fitbit which is helping me to set goals, monitor my eating and stay active. I have been to Crossfit 5 days this week. I'm trying to put in effort.
But the fat is a stubborn adversary. I want the fat to GO AWAY!! Yet it remains. Doggoned codependent fat, I detest you.
One thing I believe I have heard my coaches say about Crossfit is, you don't gauge your fitness by numbers on the scale. This is because you are gaining muscle, and muscle is heavy. Instead, you judge by how your clothes fit and how you feel about your body.
In Fitbit land, I set a goal to lose 15 pounds over a reasonable period of time. This week, I have been excruciatingly careful about my calorie and water intakes... yet I gained 3 pounds. Kind of discouraging, but may I refer you to the paragraph just above this one... so anyway, this morning I am doing a little research and am about to copy and paste random lines from random websites that I find interesting/inspiring/potentially helpful.
Here goes:
Keep carbs low-ish much of the day, but use carbs before and during workouts.
You can increase the amount of brown (good) fat you have by working your butt off. Similarly, you can activate brown fat by eating spicy foods and getting some sun.
Lifting heavy and lifting often is a given if muscle building is your goal, but if you're a fatty you need to take a slightly different approach than the 150-pound scrawny kid. High-volume training that keeps your heart rate elevated is perfect for guys (and girls) who lean more toward the endomorph somatotype.
(Okay, for all our benefits, let us now define endomorph somatotype, because that, at present, resides outside my realm of knowledge...)
- Endomorphs, on the other hand, have lots of body fat, lots of muscle, and gain weight easily. "Football lineman tend to be endomorphs -- they're heavier and rounder individuals," says Colby. "And they don't have to necessarily be overweight. Both Oprah Winfrey and Marilyn Monroe are classic examples of endomorphs."
Marilyn Monroe? Cool- I can dig it. Okay, continuing...
The absolute immutable truth about meaningful weight loss…as demonstrated by thousands of controlled weight loss trials conducted over the last 100 years…is this: you must burn more energy than you consume.
Ok... the Fitbit app has me on a program to burn more calories than I eat... which is surprisingly easy to stick to, once you're motivated.
Every day your body moves in and out of postprandial and postabsorptive states, storing and burning fat.
This is why meaningful fat loss requires that you burn more energy than you eat.
Okay, got that. A peek inside my world, here is my Fitbit heart rate
This says to me, my fat-burning heart rate starts at 89 bpm. So I need to get (and stay) "there" as much as possible.
Continuing...
When you’re restricting your calories to lose fat, you must ensure you’re eating enough protein.
Some form of cardio should be done 3-6 days per week, and alternated between longer, slow-duration cardio and HIIT cardio. Walking on a slight incline for 45 minutes is an ideal form of the longer-duration cardio which should be performed on weight-training days (up to 3 times per week). Sprinting outdoors and cycling are ideal forms of HIIT cardio which should be done on weight-training off-days (2-3 times per week).
(So... maybe I need to alternate cardio days with Crossfit days? Something I need to talk to Amber about. Mental note...)
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Next... MIND... my mind is wack, jacked and cracked a lot of the time, lately. I have trouble with my attention span lasting as long as I need it to, like for my job, and I forget things if I don't write them down. Also, I often find myself standing frozen with my mind off in daydream land. Like, standing in at the bathroom sink... for not too long of a time, but then I "come back" to myself and spend a moment wondering why I am standing there in the first place... oh yeah, I was going to grab the toothpaste... I do that pretty often.
Y'all know I am a aware of my heightened predisposition toward developing Alzheimer's one day. Yeah, kinda freaked/scared about that. But seriously... I am FORTY-ONE years old. Jiminy Christmas. I hope I don't psych myself into that state because (admittedly) I do obsess over it somewhat. Meh...
Honesty, y'all. Maybe I share it too much sometimes, but this is just me.
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SPIRIT:
My spirit is learning and, hopefully growing. In my quest to read through the whole Bible, I have made it to II Kings chapter 13. So, I feel I am learning from reading about the lives of others, and how God was active in their lives.
I have been feeling a desire to worship more. I have incorporated a little more worship into my days. However, I still feel like I need to set aside some focused, mindful worship.
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So, that's me lately! Hope all of you are learning, growing, and not shrinking away from challenges but facing them and chipping away at obstacles with tenacity!
Take care and God bless you - deeply and enormously 💞
Continuing...
When you’re restricting your calories to lose fat, you must ensure you’re eating enough protein.
Some form of cardio should be done 3-6 days per week, and alternated between longer, slow-duration cardio and HIIT cardio. Walking on a slight incline for 45 minutes is an ideal form of the longer-duration cardio which should be performed on weight-training days (up to 3 times per week). Sprinting outdoors and cycling are ideal forms of HIIT cardio which should be done on weight-training off-days (2-3 times per week).
(So... maybe I need to alternate cardio days with Crossfit days? Something I need to talk to Amber about. Mental note...)
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Next... MIND... my mind is wack, jacked and cracked a lot of the time, lately. I have trouble with my attention span lasting as long as I need it to, like for my job, and I forget things if I don't write them down. Also, I often find myself standing frozen with my mind off in daydream land. Like, standing in at the bathroom sink... for not too long of a time, but then I "come back" to myself and spend a moment wondering why I am standing there in the first place... oh yeah, I was going to grab the toothpaste... I do that pretty often.
Y'all know I am a aware of my heightened predisposition toward developing Alzheimer's one day. Yeah, kinda freaked/scared about that. But seriously... I am FORTY-ONE years old. Jiminy Christmas. I hope I don't psych myself into that state because (admittedly) I do obsess over it somewhat. Meh...
Honesty, y'all. Maybe I share it too much sometimes, but this is just me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPIRIT:
My spirit is learning and, hopefully growing. In my quest to read through the whole Bible, I have made it to II Kings chapter 13. So, I feel I am learning from reading about the lives of others, and how God was active in their lives.
I have been feeling a desire to worship more. I have incorporated a little more worship into my days. However, I still feel like I need to set aside some focused, mindful worship.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, that's me lately! Hope all of you are learning, growing, and not shrinking away from challenges but facing them and chipping away at obstacles with tenacity!
Take care and God bless you - deeply and enormously 💞
