Anna x4 Journal.

[Anna x4]

Well I am on day 5 of my diet and exercise turnaround.

I am struggling today and wondering if i am not eating enough carbs???

Breakkie 2 vogels with butter , 2 eggs, 1 coffee with milk.

Lunch About a cup of chicken. protein shake made with half milk half water and ice cubes.

pm tea 1 apple , 1 coffee with soy milk and half a teaspoon of sugar as I had the shakes.

exercise so far gardening for 30 mins, lifting and shoveling concrete peices into the trailer. Going to do free weights for 30 mins when kids in bed.

Haven't had dinner yet but having chicken patties, beans, and broccoli.

[teamfatboy]

Hi Annax4,

yep, if you cut back too much on carbs, anyone will struggle. If, as a start, you were to get 50% of yr carbs fm carbs, then even after your toast you've room for some more.

Aldo, check the gaps between meals, often a little snack, part of the overall diet, can help keep u going.

[Anna x4]

Had 1 egg on 1 piece if burgen toast with butter.

1 coffee with soy milk no sugar. {breakfast}

3 coffees, small portion of smoked marlin, 1 pickled onion, cucumber and cheese.{lunch}

And the bad part of the day, a small piece of iced banana cake. Naughty me!!!

Afternoon tea protein shake made with 50ml soy milk, 100 ml water,30 ml of peach juice plus 2 segments of canned peach. 15 almonds.

Dinner will be fried rice with bacon and vegies.

20 mins of taebo with resistance bands so far. Pathetic I know.

By the way my tummy is definitley flatter, and I have lost about .5 of a kilo which I'm happy about!!!!! \:D/

[steak]

smoked marlin 8)

[VampireChick]

Do you plan on having a nutrition plan made up at all? Or are you making your own plan up as you go?

[mike27]

you going keto??

good luck and god speed with your training and goals! go hard!

[Anna x4]

I think a nutrition plan and a workout plan with free weights would be ideal for me. I don't think the gym is going to work, my husband isn't keen on the cost or time involved. :roll:

Is is possible to get similar results at home with a home workout??? Realistically for me, I still have lots of family commitments and home workouts would be easier.

Are free weights any good for building decent muscle???

Thanks all.

[Anna x4]

Also I am abit nervous of going into Keto, i have done Atkins before and felt like rubbish. Probably all the fat and bacon i was consuming!!!!!

I think I have been borderline keto all week as I have pretty much limited my carbs to under 80grams a day. Except for today I have had more and funnily enough I actually feel abit sick now when I eat too much carb. Is that pretty standard when you start restricting them?

[frantic]

Hey there,

Check out Trade Me for free weight kits, they some times have cheap deals, or you could invest in some resistant stretchy bands..some may even come with exercise ideas for you

[Anna x4]

Breakfast 2 toast butter and can of smoked tuna. 1 coffee.

Lunch 2 rashers of fried bacon and 1 egg.

pm tea, 15 almonds, 1 coffee and a protein shake with water and milk. plus had 2 potatoe chips. Not sure why but I feel a carb blowout maybe coming upon me soon. :shifty: Think tonight once kids in bed I may have to have the muesli with milk and yoghurt I have been thinking about all week. Weirdly though I am not excatly "craving" these foods, just thinking they may be quite nice for a change!

20 mins of taebo so far.

[teamfatboy]

Is is possible to get similar results at home with a home workout??? Realistically for me, I still have lots of family commitments and home workouts would be easier.

Are free weights any good for building decent muscle???

Thanks all.

Yes, and yes... it's perfectly possible to get great results at home... no matter what the goals are. Have a loot at Gasp's journal, he's training at home and getting the results :nod:

The free-weight kits on TradeMe would be a great start, a kilogramme's a kilogramme

You "might" benefit from having someone experienced show you good form for weights work at a gym, but a a lot of gyms would sell you a day pass for $25 or so, which beats signing up for three years!.

[becbec]

Keep an eye out for home weight kits on http://www.1-day.co.nz

I saw a set up there for really cheap the other day

[Anna x4]

Yeah I saw them too becbec!!! I wasn't sure if they were a good price or not so I didn't get them! Will if i see them next time. Will I actually get good muscles by lifting 5 to 10 kilos??? I am not sure if i will be lifting heavy enough weights!

[Anna x4]

Well i still haven't started really weight training yet. Only doing stuff at home with dumbells and taebo. Starting to get quite sick of all this protein, fat and buggar all carbs. Had toast with nutella for lunch as i couldn't face another can of tuna!!!

Does this get easier??? I think I have tried to restrict my carbs too much and because I'm not training properly yet I feel like I'm not seeing any progress. However I do have an appt with a personal trainer at Ocean Blue on Monday so hopefuly that will sort me out!

I don't know how you guys can be so committed. It must take alot of mental strength.

[teamfatboy]

Hi Annax4,

yep, if you cut back too much on carbs, anyone will struggle. If, as a start, you were to get 50% of yr carbs fm carbs, then even after your toast you've room for some more.

I have pretty much limited my carbs to under 80grams a day.

Starting to get quite sick of all this protein, fat and buggar all carbs.

Hi Anna,

I really think you've probably cut your carbs too far - at a rough guess from what you've said about age/ activity levels, you "might" need maintenance calories of around 2000/ day, of which 50% could come from carbs, 40% from protein and 10% from fat. Just roughly, that would probably be closer to 200g of net carbs per day than 80.

You might also want to make sure you're taking a good multi-vitamin, that can help with things like low levels of Magnesium, Zinc and Vitamin B6, low levels of which can make you feel like crud.

Your body will adapt - and with time it will feel easier, honest!

[Anna x4]

Thanks tfm!!! Yeah I think you are right. Will increase them and get to this appt.

[Anna x4]

Can't wait, got my appt tommorow with a pt at Ocean Blue. I'm really looking forward to her setting me up with a proper programme and nutrition plan. Wish me luck guys.

[Anna x4]

Very disappointed to find I am 34% bodyfat. I am really gutted and wonder if this will be too hard to achieve. My pt wants me to train for a comp in August and to try to get down to 12% bodyfat! Seriously??? I just don't think I have the balls to do this and stay with it. She said the hardest part is the diet as it's 80% diet and 20% training that gets the results. I just feel abit overwhelmed today. Did some good sets at the gym though and felt pleased to sign up for a year. So even if I don't bodybuild I will still be healthy and fit.

[HarryB]

Just take it one step at a time... going from nothing to a comp is pretty daunting but one step at a time it's definitely achievable. Even the bf of 34% just stick to clean eating plan and traing consistently and bring that down 1% at a time. Don't think of it as 22% you need to drop and I bet you will suprise yourself!

You are taking the right steps towards you goal and your motivation has to be much much more than competing.

[frantic]

Darn beat me to it...what HarryB said I would aim to tackle the diet(one day at a time) and focus on building technique with your training.."then hey presto" before you know it good habits are form'd and your bodyfat% will sort it's self out without the pressure..

[teamfatboy]

:ditto: what they said

Seriously, with the right advice, and the courage to take things one day at a time, you may surprise yourself.

Sure, the % numbers make things look daunting, but....

a daily calorie expenditure just 500 cals less than you take in (made up in part from exercise, in part from a dietary deficit) will burn 500g of bodyfat per week.

Losing 500g of bf per week, you could well get there by August, it's 26 weeks (or 13 kilos) away

You mentioned the PT - build a good relationship with her, and then just take it one day at a time.

[Anna x4]

Thanks all. I do appreciate all your advice. I just felt quite startled to know how much fat was on my supposedly "slim" body. I'm in my healthy weight range and thought I was quite slim. Most of the fat is on my back, she was very surprized to see so much there. I guess my torso is where I carry it. I seem to be craving carbs this week, in fact toasted muesli and yogurt with cashews and almonds on top is all I can think about!!! probably because the monthly is due. Sorry guys!!! TMI. Anyway once I start my diet properly, shes writing one up for me now, I will know what I am allowed to eat and what I'm not. :wink:

[frantic]

TFB you must work with numbers for a living...buggar me..500g,500cals..26 weeks..13kgs..

Your totally on the right track gal, suss the diet(one of my big weakness's toasted muesli..anytime of day) I had a thought after reading TFB's post..Ive read somewhere that the average 60kg female burns around 500cals as they sleep..so maybe have a look at what you eat after dinner time..be a bit strick'd with snacks(no toasted muesli :wink:)

[teamfatboy]

Good point Frantic... carbs last thing at night will generally kill weight loss.... [which is why my last meal's either chicken or a shake, but no carbs]

A slow-releasing protein, like cottage cheese, is ideal, or a casein shake. That way, the body has something other than carbs to metabolise thru the night.

Timing's critical - since you're likely going to end up with less carbs than usual, fitting them where they can do the best good is important. So, breakfast, good time for some carbs, post workout another good time, but tapering off after dark.

Of course, your PT may say completely the opposite

[Anna x4]

My personal trainer thinks carbs are the devils spawn!!! lol. She said they were pretty useless to be eating alot of but honestly, I think I will be just weightlifting for a healthy body and mind, not to compete. I am not going to get obsessed with this thats for sure. And I need carbs otherwise I feel braindead!!! Plus since I've gone lowcarb I am having alot of insomnia. I used to be the best sleeper, but I can't go back to sleep once the kids have woke me up several times a night. This is weird and I can only put it down to the diet because thats the only thing I have changed lately. Does that happen usually?