Chillicat's journal

[VampireChick]

Well done on the fat loss CC! I'll have to get some tips off you when I start cutting

[Chillicat]

Well done on the fat loss CC! I'll have to get some tips off you when I start cutting

Thanks. Not sure I'm any kind of guru, but happy to help if I can.

...up a wee bit - but only half a kg, which may easily disappear by official weigh in day on Saturday.

Jumped on scales again today and weight down by .3kg on yesterday - even after a double helping of sludge last night, supplemented by some chocolate buttons and smarties (left over from SPCA animal cupcake decorating) that I felt like eating but which definitely aren't on the diet plan!

So if I stick strictly to the proper eating plan today I should manage to at least be the same as last week, if not marginally lower (only need a .1kg loss for the week to be on target, which on today's weight is another .3kg) - then I can pig out over the weekend in the knowledge that it will level out again by weigh in day - smart move making weigh in day a Friday or Saturday before the fun eating tends to start!

[rimma]

Congrats on the 85 dead!

Your cut sounds like its progressing really well ma'am, pics please ! :grin:

[VampireChick]

What sort of scales do you use? They seem pretty trust worthy to me (compared to my crappy bathroom scales, and the gym scales).

[Chillicat]

Congrats on the 85 dead!

Your cut sounds like its progressing really well ma'am, pics please ! :grin:

I'm probably due to do some pics - I think it was around Sept last year when I last took some, so I should do an update. But not right after a weekend away eating a ton of carbs :pfft:

What sort of scales do you use? They seem pretty trust worthy to me (compared to my crappy bathroom scales, and the gym scales).

Just Tanita body fat scales. I know they're not as reliable as calipers and blah blah etc blah, but for someone not competing they're good enough for a good estimate of things.

[VampireChick]

I hear that. I might invest in some. I do get my trainer to do callipers but I don't trust his method. Last time we tested I came out as 18% bodyfat, and I know damn well that I'm not that low! (More like, 24/25ish).

[Chillicat]

I like the sound of your trainer's method - I'd like to fool myself that I was 18% :pfft:

[bitch alert]

Having said that, and despite feeling like a giant pig after a weekend away boarding, I saw some pics on FB today of some of my hubby's UK friends at a baby shower this weekend, and almost all the girls have got very fat since I last saw them almost 5 years ago - which means that I'll look even more amazing comparatively speaking when I finish my cut and we go and visit at Xmas. Pig out weekend aside, I'm feeling pretty bloody good right now, and I've just finished my 8th week of slow cutting, with another 15 to go before we leave. If I feel good now, I'm going to feel amazing in 15 week's time, and will feel even better next to all those pommie fatties

[/bitch alert]

[morattigirl]

I like the sound of your trainer's method - I'd like to fool myself that I was 18% :pfft:

[bitch alert]

Having said that, and despite feeling like a giant pig after a weekend away boarding, I saw some pics on FB today of some of my hubby's UK friends at a baby shower this weekend, and almost all the girls have got very fat since I last saw them almost 5 years ago - which means that I'll look even more amazing comparatively speaking when I finish my cut and we go and visit at Xmas. Pig out weekend aside, I'm feeling pretty bloody good right now, and I've just finished my 8th week of slow cutting, with another 15 to go before we leave. If I feel good now, I'm going to feel amazing in 15 week's time, and will feel even better next to all those pommie fatties

[/bitch alert]

LOL love it CC :pfft:

[teamfatboy]

Congrats on the 85 dead!

Your cut sounds like its progressing really well ma'am, pics please ! :grin:

I caught up with CC last week, the improvements were clear as day! She's doing really well.

What sort of scales do you use? They seem pretty trust worthy to me (compared to my crappy bathroom scales, and the gym scales).

The important thing about having your own scales, my 2c worth, is that the error will be the same... so you can track trends quite easily, whereas if you're not using the same scales all the time, you don't know how inaccurate they are.

[bitch alert]

UK friends have got very fat since I last saw them almost 5 years ago [/bitch alert]

This is true... I've been amazed at the increase in number of fat English folks I see when I get to London.... but CC, if you want to feel svelte, go to the US. ZOMG even I feel slim over there!

[Chillicat]

Congrats on the 85 dead!

Your cut sounds like its progressing really well ma'am, pics please ! :grin:

I caught up with CC last week, the improvements were clear as day! She's doing really well.

Aaww thanks!

but CC, if you want to feel svelte, go to the US. ZOMG even I feel slim over there!

I should have a hunt about my hubby's photos on FB and find one of his brother - seriously, I'll feel positively anorexic as soon as I see him again - he'd give the yanks a run for their money!

[Chillicat]

Tried to take a few pics yesterday,with varying degress of success :? I'll try to find time on the weekend to get them up, but I remember last time I had problems with them being all huge, and I'm a bit technologically challenged, so we'll see. A quick eyeball of them and I can see improvements in my legs (which I kind of avoided photographing last year due to no muscle whatsoever, now you can see a wee bit), and stomach looks better (though I don't really have any problems in that area). But I haven't lined them up side by side for a good comparison yet.

Had a hell of a time trying to get pics of my triceps. Did that in bathroom as suggested by TFB if I recall correctly. I can definitely see them more than last year - last year there were no triceps to speak of, but now there is definitely something there - but trying to angle the camera so that you can see some definition is a bit of a challenge. I've mentioned it before, but I carry a hell of a lot of fat around the arms, to the extent that they look a lot like elephants legs - so it's quite hard to get a picture that is remotely flattering. So you might not get to see any triceps action from me :pfft:

[Chillicat]

Friends over tonight, and I was wearing shortish sleeves (kind of like a t-shirt but flappier so that the arm muscles can be seen if you're looking at the right angle) and at one point my friend noticed my arms and said 'wow, look at your muscles!' and asked me to flex and was impressed with 'the bottom bit' and how it doesn't wobble - I did that thing where you flex your biceps and then kinda punch the triceps to show how solid that bit is - she was all 'ooooh' and very impressed - made me show her husband, then flex again for the kids, then made my hubby flex which showed even more how great my arms are looking

So even if I think my arms look like elephants legs, at least they look good to the uninitiated, and let's face it, if I'm not competing they are the only ones (other than myself of course) who I'm trying to impress - so I'd say that despite another no weight loss week, things are coming along nicely \:D/

[VampireChick]

Well done CC! Comments from others make it all worth it doesn't it? Sometimes it's hard to know exactly how good you look but sounds like you're totally on the right track! :clap:

[MILF]

Friends over tonight, and I was wearing shortish sleeves (kind of like a t-shirt but flappier so that the arm muscles can be seen if you're looking at the right angle) and at one point my friend noticed my arms and said 'wow, look at your muscles!' and asked me to flex and was impressed with 'the bottom bit' and how it doesn't wobble - I did that thing where you flex your biceps and then kinda punch the triceps to show how solid that bit is - she was all 'ooooh' and very impressed - made me show her husband, then flex again for the kids, then made my hubby flex which showed even more how great my arms are looking :lol:

So even if I think my arms look like elephants legs, at least they look good to the uninitiated, and let's face it, if I'm not competing they are the only ones (other than myself of course) who I'm trying to impress - so I'd say that despite another no weight loss week, things are coming along nicely \:D/

Excellent! Love it. :grin:

[Chillicat]

My poor journal is getting a bit neglected at the moment, but my real life paper version is still getting used, so I'm still going hard at it.

Not a great deal to update at the moment. Am avoiding scales for another week after a couple of weekends of excess - just don't want to know right now what effect that has had, so would rather stick head in sand and just carry on.

On the plus side, prior to blow out, weight was down by 2.5kg and BF by 5.5, and given that my original start date for this cut was this week (as I knew hubby's birthday and snowboarding would happen and was originally going to wait til after those events) I'm all good with things.

Workouts are trucking along nicely, 2 days on weights and one day off, on a 4 day cycle with one main lift on each of the 4 days and lots of accessory work. Weights are lower than before, but also starting to amp up the cardio, so not as much energy for weights.

Cardio in first half of the cut so far was pretty minimal, around 6.5-9 hours per week, mostly around the 7-7.5hour mark (bear in mind that this includes 2 x 20 mins to and from work each day weather permitting, so it's not hard core HIIT type cardio, just fairly gentle stuff). Have now raised that to 10-11 hours per week where possible.

Now that all of the main events (birthdays and trips away) are over with for a while, I'm going to start taking it more seriously and make a huge effort to get back on track and make up for the few weeks of indulgence.

I've just booked a flight to visit the whanau in Chch in 8 weeks time, so that is a perfect goal to work towards. Conveniently enough the target weight in my 'cut 2010' spreadsheet is exactly the weight I was at Xmas - so with 11 months of extra work which I hope equates to a wee bit more muscle, if I get to that weight by my Chch trip, I should look better than I did at Xmas.

It's a double edged sword aiming to look almost cut by Chch trip - on the one hand there's my mother who hates all this BB malarky, but on the other hand there's my brother who competed many years ago, and who I'd love to impress!

[VampireChick]

Wow 11 hours per week! That's amazing! I'm barely getting in 3 hours but looking to increase this to 6-8 in a months time.

[Chillicat]

It's amazing how the 20 minute chunks add up. There was also 2 hours of snowboarding in there last week (2 actual hours, timed on my HRM which I only turned on when I was actually boarding!)

[VampireChick]

True that, I forgot about snowboarding. Well, well done anyway. Your hard work is certainly paying off.

[drizzt]

Cardio in first half of the cut so far was pretty minimal, around 6.5-9 hours per week, mostly around the 7-7.5hour mark (bear in mind that this includes 2 x 20 mins to and from work each day weather permitting, so it's not hard core HIIT type cardio, just fairly gentle stuff). Have now raised that to 10-11 hours per week where possible.

Pheeeew, I dunno how you do it! Well done! It definitely doesn't seem minimal to me :clap:

At the height of my cut last year, I was maybe eeking out 4 hours TOPS each week. I suppose a lot of the time it was HIIT though... But still, I'm gobsmacked at the amount you're doing... awesome 8)

[Chillicat]

Well, it's only been a few times that I've done a real TON of 'cardio' (around the 10 hour mark) - and like I say it's mostly just low key walking. I've always been a walker - never learnt to drive, and have always chosen legs as my preferred mode of transport, so I walk to the station every day (20 mins) then back again - before you know it that's an easy 3 hours without even trying - I don't even really consider it exercise, but since I've decided to count every 20 minute chunk of movement, I'm also a bit amazed at what it adds up to.

Now when I walk to the gym, instead of just a 10 min walk I go a round about way and add another 10 mins on so that I have a good 20 min chunk, then do the same going back to work, plus 20 mins on the bike - so that's an hour again with barely any extra effort. Makes for a long lunch, but my work is very flexible as long as I put in the hours somehow and get the work done. I can't always do that, but I do it when I can.

Then there's the walk to uke class once a week (though term just finished) - only takes 40 mins, but again I take a round about route to add an extra 20 mins.

It's all just little bits here and there with the odd longer session, including a couple of nice long walks in the weekends.

But I HATE cardio with a passion and love walking, so since I don't have kids and therefore have plenty of me time, I can afford the luxury of taking my time to burn off those extra calories. Also keeps me up to date with all my podcasts that would never otherwise get listened to

[Chillicat]

Hmmm, just looked back at my cardio journal a bit more closely and it really is the snowboarding that's brought me up to a higher total of cardio hours - and with that being on weekends, the times have been spread over different weeks instead of just one week for each boarding trip (I start my new exercise week on a Sunday), so it seems like I'm doing more on a weekly basis over quite a few weeks, when in fact it's just a couple of concentrated weekends.

So given that I won't be boarding again this season, I guess an aim of 10 hours per week is unlikely. Maybe 7-8 is more realistic.

But if you could see my arms, you'd see the amount of work I have to do to shift that chunk of fat, so I need to do something drastic. Probably lipo is the only thing that will work for my chunky monkey arms, but I'm determined to make the best effort I can to shift it and reveal the triceps that I know are hiding in there :nod:

[Chillicat]

Well, so much for doing lots more cardio. Did tons last week, but just around the 7 hour mark this week, unless I do something more tomorrow, but weather looks crap so I probably won't.

Weight/bf is at a bit of a standstill right now, after I had a few weeks of eating crap. Taking a while to get back on track, and I think I might have tried a bit too hard and tried dropping my calories just a wee bit too much to my detriment. So I'm still at the 'no further loss' stage, which makes me almost a whole kg behind after a few weeks. But I've revised my calories up by 100 a day and that seems to have made a difference on the scales (mainly beause I'm not ridiculously starving and tempted by naughty things, and instead am able to stick with it and thus lose). So another week and I should start showing losses again.

Have also changed around my workouts. Decided I felt like a change from the kinds of workouts I was doing and that I fancied doing the old training like a bodybuilder style of workouts. I figure I just don't have the strength right now to go heavy with 5x5s and to instead do 3x12 bodypart splits for a while and see how that goes.

Did chest and tris yesterday and my god do my abs hurt like hell - funny that! Haven't done abs in ages and didn't do them yesterday either, but somewhere along the line they got a good seeing to

Also decided not to put up any new pics - I did a comparison of the pics I took the other week with the pics I took last Sept and Nov and really there isn't a great deal of difference between then and now so not much point in sticking up anything new. That's mildly disappointing on the one hand - I'd hoped to see a bit more evidence of improvement after a year of hard work.

But on the other hand, the November pics from last year were a month til the end of my mini cut, while I still have almost 3 months left on this one, and I do think my tum looks marginally better now (despite taking the latest pics right after lunch :pfft: ). Also last time I didn't keep any pics of my thighs, as there wasn't anything to see, but I see a couple of interesting lines that weren't there before. And triceps are definitely getting there. So it's not all bad. Hopefully there will be a decent level of change in a couple of months and I'll feel more confident about sticking up some pics.

[Chillicat]

Finally some movement on the scales in the right direction. That snowboarding/hubby's birthday blowout fortnight sure did lead to some major stagnation, with slight rises in weight/BF to begin with, then pretty much nothing positive on the scales to report for 4 whole weeks.

But my BF was finally down today to 20.9 (previously 21.3, so am stoked with that). Weight is finally back to my previous low of 61.3 rather than hovering around half a kg higher, and with official weigh in day not til Sunday I've got plenty of time for that to drop a couple of points of a kg so that it finally shows a loss for the first time in 3 weeks.

I won't make it down to 60.4 this week, which was where I should have been if I'd kept steady at .2kg per week - but if I manage to get to 60-point-something I'll be pleased - that 61 is starting to annoy me now! Even 60.9 would be good enough, just to get me over that hump.

[VampireChick]

Awesome work chick! :clap: :clap:

[Chillicat]

Thanks!

Ironically the weight has started to move downwards after I upped the calories a bit, and even had a delicious triple choc Kapiti ice cream at WoW on Tuesday and a slice of the most divine ginger crunch that I made yesterday. Go figure!