Best way to get in shape?

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by habernac

yep. Had a guy on our pool team a few years ago, he dropped a ton of weight on whatever fad diet he was on (basically starved himself). A year later, he gains it all back and more.

Peanut, one thing I'll tack on if you're nursing your baby: when you stop, you're going to have to change your food intake again as you won't have someone else helping you erase those calories, too.

I read in my (many, many) baby books that nursing requires about 500 extra calories a day... which I definitely notice because I`m quite hungry. It`s a tricky balance though since decreasing calories too much can negatively impact the nursing. Ugh. That`s why I was thinking maybe Weight Watcher`s (or something similar) would be helpful with keeping the right balance of intake vs expenditure. Maybe a nutritionist is the way to go, now that I think about it some more.

As an aside - I lost 20 lbs in about 4 weeks doing Dr. Bernstien before my wedding. Basically all I ate was chicken and broccoli. I was soooooo crabby and really hungry all.the.time. I think I read somewhere afterwards that the diet is like 900 calories per day. Definitely not recommended!!

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I read in my (many, many) baby books that nursing requires about 500 extra calories a day... which I definitely notice because I`m quite hungry. It`s a tricky balance though since decreasing calories too much can negatively impact the nursing. Ugh. That`s why I was thinking maybe Weight Watcher`s (or something similar) would be helpful with keeping the right balance of intake vs expenditure. Maybe a nutritionist is the way to go, now that I think about it some more.

As an aside - I lost 20 lbs in about 4 weeks doing Dr. Bernstien before my wedding. Basically all I ate was chicken and broccoli. I was soooooo crabby and really hungry all.the.time. I think I read somewhere afterwards that the diet is like 900 calories per day. Definitely not recommended!!

Sorry I didn't realize you were nursing,

For the health of your baby, I would consult a doctor concerning your diet. I have no idea how you dieting will affect your baby.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by blankall

Sorry I didn't realize you were nursing,

For the health of your baby, I would consult a doctor concerning your diet. I have no idea how you dieting will affect your baby.

No problem. As far as I've read you basically just can't limit your calories too much in order to not impact the nursing. So they recommend just eating as you need to for 6 weeks after birth to establish the nursing (she's 6 weeks today!), and then no more than 1-2lbs per week weight loss after that. Which seems like a reasonable pace to lose weight at the best of times.

Anywho... maybe a nutritionist is the best bet then. The weight watchers people probably wouldn't be as qualified given the circumstances.

[Azure]

If you're nursing....I second ignoring our advice for now and seeing a doctor or even better a nutritionist.

Because I seriously have no idea what a mother should eat when she's nursing.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Azure

If you're nursing....I second ignoring our advice for now and seeing a doctor or even better a nutritionist.

Because I seriously have no idea what a mother should eat when she's nursing.

Okay.

But really, it's not that scary. I take multi-vitamins and Omega vitamins. Drink a ton of water. And the biggies are pretty obvious - limit intake of toxins like alcohol, high mercury fish, caffiene, etc. If my diet isn't nutritionally "complete", as I understand it, basically all the nutrients will preferentially go to the milk and it's the Mom who becomes deprived, not the baby. A good example is Iron and Calcium - this gets "stolen" from the Mom to provide for the baby.

And they recommend restricting weight loss to 1-2 lbs/week to limit the release of "environmental toxins" from the fat stores into your system.

Anywho... I'm not totally in the dark about what's safe for me and my daughter, nutrition-wise. It's more how to actually acheive the 1-2lbs/week of weight loss that I'm struggling with!!

[Azure]

Well you certainly know more than I do.

How important is having adequate Iron and Calcium in your diet, especially for a mother who had a tough birth to begin with and is still very weak 2 weeks afterwards? The person I'm talking to refuses to take any kind of vitamin....and I suspect she's still feeling so weak partly because she's not getting enough nutrients. On top of that, she's nursing 2 kids.

And trying to convince her to take a multi-vitamin and some Omega 3s is like trying to convince a brick wall to move so you don't have to go around it.

*shrug*

[Peanut]

Yikes. Pretty important. A lot of the weakness is probably directly related to low iron!

Osteoporosis also... so much more prevalent in women because of childbirth and not having enough calcium. So... yeah. She should probably keep taking whatever pre-natal vitamin she was taking (assuming she WAS taking a pre-natal with folic acid?!) and add in Omega vitamins too.

But that's just my opinion I guess. But my opinion is regurgitated from my family doctor and daughter's pediatrician... for whatever that's worth.

[Azure]

I don't disagree, and I doubt her doctor would either.

I just know she is very weak after a very tough childbirth. Baby was 9lbs 9oz.....and there were some complications. And she refuses to take any kind of vitamin. Hell, I don't even know if she was taking anything prior to giving birth.

I just read somewhere that low iron is a direct link to mothers being weak for extended periods of time after giving birth.

But hell, if she's not listening to her doctor, who I'm SURE told her to take a multi, or some kind of vitamin that helps with the low iron/calcium.....she won't listen to me at all.

This is what happens when people refuse to educate themselves and learn something new. Choosing to do things your OWN way isn't a very good idea, especially if its not working, and she has a baby to nurse.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

With entering the military I have discovered many truths about Physical Fitness in preperation for my BMQ. Below is a link that is a fantastic read that touches on everything from daily intake of Protein (how much your body actually does absorb daily) calorie intake, times to eat and what to eat. There are a few things that are common knowledge but many of us chose to ignore and also some things that many of us never realized.

*These are all notes and facts brought to you down the COC from the Surgeon General of Canada.

Its a bit of a read as it covers everything, but to anyone whos serious about getting into shape, I strongly recommend it.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.p...c,48433.0.html

Sorry, he lost me right when he said that carbs were as important to building muscle as protein was.

I don't care if he ran the article by 15 nutritionists and 40 doctors, all of them would be wrong.

As for getting energy.....sure, you can get it from carbs...you can also get energy from fat, and gasp...even protein.

Problem is that not everyone is the same, so generically saying that its impossible to keep your energy levels up while eating a low-carb diet is ridiculous.

I can do heavy lifting sessions on 30g of carbs per day, but the next guy might need 100g.

[missdpuck]

Anemia is more dangerous than commonly realized. I went for a check up once and the doctor told me my iron was so low he was shocked that I was still walking around. It can lead to (temporary) mental impairment because the brain is being deprived of oxygen, also you could just pass out. Of course there are other consequences but these are some I've dealt with myself.

[NoWorries]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Ok, so given it's 80% diet, 20% exercise (or thereabouts)... what are your opinions about weight watchers, or a similiar structured diet "plan", for weight loss? Has anyone had success with it personally? I want to get rid of some baby weight.

My activity level is:
running 2-3 times/week (30 min)
yoga 1-2 times/week (90 min)
bootcamp style class 2-3 times/week (60 min)

Any advice from the experts in here is appreciated!!

First - Congrats on the baby!

I don't know anything about weight watchers so I can't comment on it.

The first thing I would do is get a ball park number on how many calories you burn using the formulas below. I personally think the running on top of the other stuff is not necessary, but I don't like running and maybe you do! If you are running because you enjoy it then have at 'er - but keep in mind your body needs rest and recovery too and it seems like you are doing quite a bit in a week there. If you do not give your body enough time to recover you will under recover/over train and that will make losing fat harder/slower (elevated cortisol levels due to too much stress). I would personally recommend lifting heavy 1 day a week instead of the running. The bootcamp would take care of the metabolic conditioning part of your fitness.

Once you know the calories you burn you know how much to eat 'cause you are breast feeding which I have heard/read uses ~500 cals/day. This would put you at about a ~500 cal a day deficit which should be 1-2 lbs per week fat loss which is a good rate. Keep track of weight and measurements 'cause 1 lb of muscle takes up much less volume than 1 lb of fat and your weight might stay the same, but your waist may be shrinking as you gain muscle/loss fat. If you notice no progress after a week, adjust your intake by a few hundred calories. You can track your intake in something like Fitday.

As far as diet goes, I would recommend something like a paleo/primal approach (the guy on this site - Mark - is in his mid 50s):
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/defin...mal-blueprint/

I also found these links you may be interested in:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/pregnant-diet/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-d...primal-babies/

Make small changes one at a time until you are comfortable with it and then make another change etc. Allow yourself to 'cheat' ~3 meals a week. You need to pick something you can stick with. Like Azure mentioned it is a lifestyle change to eat healthy.

I've posted this before, but I think this is a good link to explain how your body works:

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/univ...et-secrets.htm

As far as the heavy weights go - its great for bone density as well as stimulating muscle growth and fat loss. A good program/book is Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. This would help you learn the lifts correctly as well. This is not just for men! My wife is 5'1" (actually a little under) and weighs less than 100 lbs and she deadlifts and squats regularly (weekly) and she wears 00 size pants or whatever the smallest size you can get is and that is sometimes too big (and she's had 2 kids!). She has been doing this for a couple years now. As a woman, you won't get big that easily. Most women just don't have the hormones to get big.

Anyway, I guess I've rambled enough! I hope some of this helps.

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Note: 1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.
Example:
You are female
You are 30 yrs old
You are 5' 6 " tall (167.6 cm)
You weigh 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 - 141 = 1339 calories/day

Now that you know your BMR, you can calculate TDEE by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier from the chart below:
Activity Multiplier

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Example:
Your BMR is 1339 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories/day

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by Azure

Sorry, he lost me right when he said that carbs were as important to building muscle as protein was.

I don't care if he ran the article by 15 nutritionists and 40 doctors, all of them would be wrong.

As for getting energy.....sure, you can get it from carbs...you can also get energy from fat, and gasp...even protein.

Problem is that not everyone is the same, so generically saying that its impossible to keep your energy levels up while eating a low-carb diet is ridiculous.

I can do heavy lifting sessions on 30g of carbs per day, but the next guy might need 100g.

Well... this guy is pretty much the leader in nutritional information in the military and furthermore, most of his information is directly from the again, the Surgeon General of Canada who has access to the best studies in the country and in the world.

As for my personal experience, carbs ARE as important as protein and natural fats as a source of energy, as this guy explains, its all about when you intake said carbs, fats and proteins to get the best results in various activities. All activities may require tweaking of the intake amounts and time periods.

So... pretty much your credit went right out the window with

"Sorry, he lost me right when he said that carbs were as important to building muscle as protein was."

and

"I don't care if he ran the article by 15 nutritionists and 40 doctors, all of them would be wrong."

wow, thats pretty arrogant.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by NoWorries

... tons of awesome info...

Thanks!!!!

[NoWorries]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Thanks!!!!

You are very welcome!

One thing I forgot to mention - sleep is very important as well. Try for at least 8 hrs...I know with a new baby though, this is very difficult!

[Azure]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Well... this guy is pretty much the leader in nutritional information in the military and furthermore, most of his information is directly from the again, the Surgeon General of Canada who has access to the best studies in the country and in the world.

As for my personal experience, carbs ARE as important as protein and natural fats as a source of energy, as this guy explains, its all about when you intake said carbs, fats and proteins to get the best results in various activities. All activities may require tweaking of the intake amounts and time periods.

So... pretty much your credit went right out the window with

"Sorry, he lost me right when he said that carbs were as important to building muscle as protein was."

and

"I don't care if he ran the article by 15 nutritionists and 40 doctors, all of them would be wrong."

wow, thats pretty arrogant.

Doesn't matter if it sounds arrogant or not, the guy is simply wrong.

Carbs are a primary energy source....not a 'repair muscle tissue' source.....so to say that carbs are AS vital to repairing muscle tissue, when they're not.....is WRONG.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Azure

Doesn't matter if it sounds arrogant or not, the guy is simply wrong.

Carbs are a primary energy source....not a 'repair muscle tissue' source.....so to say that carbs are AS vital to repairing muscle tissue, when they're not.....is WRONG.

Agreed.

There is nothing particularly bad about carbs. Losing weight, however, requires a calorie deficit. This means you have to burn more calories than you take in so your body will turn to its fat reserves for energy.

Since both fats and protein are essential to your diet and most people should probably consume more protein, the best way to go into a calorie deficit is to lower the amount of carbs you are eating.

If your body has fat reserves, you don't need the extra carbs. They may help before a specific activity, but you shouldn't be consuming excess amounts on a day to day basis.

[NoWorries]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

With entering the military I have discovered many truths about Physical Fitness in preperation for my BMQ. Below is a link that is a fantastic read that touches on everything from daily intake of Protein (how much your body actually does absorb daily) calorie intake, times to eat and what to eat. There are a few things that are common knowledge but many of us chose to ignore and also some things that many of us never realized.

*These are all notes and facts brought to you down the COC from the Surgeon General of Canada.

Its a bit of a read as it covers everything, but to anyone whos serious about getting into shape, I strongly recommend it.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.p...c,48433.0.html

I know there is a lot of information out there and to someone just getting into fitness/nutrition how do you know what is right...? Try it your self for a 3 week period and see if you get the results you want. You should start seeing something after that period of time.

I definitely don't agree with everything he says though I did not have time to read everything he wrote.

From personal experience and reading about the experience of others, if you are getting into the military I would highly recommend Crossfit. Don't take my word for it...read the forums there and check out the personal stories of all the people doing Crossfit that are LEO, MIL, Emergency responders etc.

http://www.board.crossfit.com/

Even the every day average joe will benefit. You don't need to even go hard core at it - 3 days a week for ~1 hr/day including warmup for the average Joe is great - you need to make it fit your lifestyle so you can stick with it...dial in the nutrition and you will see results.

Every body is different...some people do better with more carbs and most often with less...the source of the carbs will make a big difference as well.

You diet should depend on goals as well. Most people will lean out better on less carbs/higher fat protein. It will usually take people about 3 weeks to adjust to this diet though as your body transistions from carbs as a primary source of fuel to fat.

Educate yourself and make informed decsions. Once you know how the bodys works (specifically your body), you can adjust things to reach your goals...but it does not happen overnight.


http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://robbwolf.com/
http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/

[metallicat]

Crossfit is really the only workout program that I've seen which is centered around making everyones every day life easier. Coupled with the fact that they basically hold your hand onthe website, and have an obscene amount of info on their website, it is the best thing out there.

NW: So using your formula my TDEE is 2343 calories...is this what I require in a day to maintain my weight? Like Peanut, I am nursing as well...I'm confused That seems high.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

NW: So using your formula my TDEE is 2343 calories...is this what I require in a day to maintain my weight? Like Peanut, I am nursing as well...I'm confused That seems high.

I used the 1.375 activity factor and mine was 2240... so maybe it's okay?

And theoretically we'd need 400-500 more calories per day to maintain (because of the nursing). So approaching 2800 calories per day... THAT seems high?!