You Are What You Don't Eat!

I want to start this post of with the following showcased pictures. The first photo was of me in October 2011 when I was running 35 miles a week. I was still about 145lbs in the first photo. I was NOT eating much. I would say I was averaging 1300 calories a day. The second photo was in February when I slowed down my cardio to 30 minutes a day to zero cardio a day and ate 1500-1600 calories per day. I was about 165lbs!!! I was not thrilled when I got on the scale, but I was pleased with what I saw after I showered!!! ;) All I did was strength training and circuit training for 5-6 days a week. But what photo looks better?? Which one is more visually pleasing?

Alright, I will add a third one, excuse the hair...it was before bed. In the last two photos I felt more fabulous. I look healthier don't I?? I felt energized AND I was eating to the point that my body was getting just enough food to rebuild muscle tissue. In the first photo, I was still doing my strength training while I was running at least an hour a day = 6 miles.  I was more skinny fat in my first photo. My skin was more loose and my muscles were NOT popping. Even then, I wasn't sure what I was doing. I had taken too much different advice and was overworking myself while enjoying running perhaps a little too much. Notice how much fuller I am?? The goal should NOT be to get uber skinny but to be lean.  BMI will throw you off the most as it oftentimes does NOT correctly take into account the make up of what's in your weight. Many articles, fitness experts and my former PT Instructor advise being the most concerned with your bodyfat!

Female Health Range for Bodyfat:
20-23% is normal
16% -19% is normal lean range
12-15% is very lean

Try not to go lower than 12% unless you are an athlete that is competing for a period of time. I would like to challenge the ladies to drop the fat to the lean range!!! Its not the pounds, its whats in your pounds!!
I've seen size 4 women be over 30% bodyfat. And I was seriously concerned at what her heart looked like and I told her!! :)

Men Healthy Range for Bodyfat:
10-13% is normal,
6-9% is lean
5% and below is very lean.

Men, I challenge you to get into the lean range!!


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You ARE What You Don't Eat! Skinny Fat!!

Lately, I have noticed my clients, my gym buddies/acquaintances and close friends being more frustrated than usual about their weight. They want to lose that last 10lbs!! They work out daily, they've asked other trainers at our gym what to do, and they log their food on online apps such as livestrong or myfitnesspal.com. But most noted of all, they swear they eat healthy and enough. They admit to me, they eat even less than they did before, thinking that it would reduce their weight. Its not as simple as output and input if you're body is already starving. Sorry.  Another thing they have in common is that they eat over 60% carbs daily. If you have a seated job for 7-9 hours a day, you need to add more protein to taper your carbs down as carbs are used mainly for energy and protein is always utilized in repairing your muscles. Protein will make you tighter. If I were any one of these people, I would focus on reducing my bodyfat, then lower my calories and reduce my weight if I'm still not satisfied.

What to Do?
 My advice is to log everything you are eating for a week and also log how many calories you are burning per workout session to figure out if you are starving.  If you are eating too much, you will gain weight, if you are eating too little you will gain weight.  You must log your food to figure out which one you are!! Better yet,  as a general range, try setting a goal to eat 5-6 small meals of anywhere from 200 - 350. If you work out like a beast like myself you know you want to veer closer to 300 cals per meal. (For exact customized meals, contact me for an affordable plan-- kristenjtucker@yahoo.com) Bottom line is, if you eat even less protein than you do fat or carbs you WILL remain skinny fat and those 10 - 30 lbs you are trying to lose will continue to jiggle!! Just sayin!!

Secondly, stay consistent!! Make sure you are getting your carbs, fat and protein per meal!! Do not starve completely off of one macronutrient! Look up the recommended daily intake for each of your nutrients; carbs, protein and fat. Protein is the building block of life! With that said, eating enough of it will prevent me from being "skinny fat" ever again!! And, as my new coach schooled me, it will prevent me from becoming more of an endomorphic type that attracts fat easily.

Third read your labels!!!! Know what you are eating. Know how many grams of fat, protein and carbs are in each item you eat so you can log it effectively. Bananas have a little bit of protein, so does oatmeal. Log it!

Count your fat!! I jot down my fat daily as it is the macronutrient that can make me gain weight the quickest! I want to be lean, but I also want to be healthy so that means I must have a balance of good fats in my diet to BURN the bad fat. You do need fat in your diet as it helps you burn fat off your abs :).

Invest in a food scale, THEN weigh your food in GRAMS not ounces. That means, you must follow the third point, read your labels.  It really is as different as eating like a king to eating more like a prince when you change that one thing. Every food does NOT weigh the same. I also learned this the hard way.

Don't eat carbs up to 3 hours before bed. If you do, stick with green veggies like spinach or green beans. Something light.

Take your vitamins! Vitamin D WITH calcium (to initiate the absorption of D) is recommended for all those who are weight-stagnant as Vitamin D is noted to promote fat loss/weight loss. So the opposite could possibly inhibit weight loss.

Drink water!! I've heard stories of people who bragged about not drinking more than a glass of water a day. The body is made up of 70% water. WTF!!! Try drinking a half gallon a day, then up it to a gallon and see what happens to your weight. Certainly, when those who were not accustomed to drinking this much started, they lost 15lbs in a month. To flush water out of your system, you MUST drink more water.


Weekly challenge: I think its time to challenge my faithful readers with a little exercise. Log your food for a week and calculate your calories per session if you can. Weigh yourself at the end of the week in the morning, naked. Be consistent with your meal portions and your meal timing. Eat 5 small meals with veggies and other varieties of food that keep you satiated. Keep protein in each of your meals and see what happens after a week. Drink half a gallon of water daily. I'd love to hear from some of you in the comments section as the week ends. Good luck!!