Oh, sorry for the doofus lecture. I felt weird when I was typing it, like everyone's heard of this already what am I doing, but I just got carried away!

not at all!!

It was your patient explanation that helped me understand my own doofusness

Fran: Congratulations on your bodycomp change!
KittyCat: Glad you are beginning to heal a little bit. My quads are finally ready for some work tomorrow too. I'll have to remember to take it a little slower when I go in

So. About my pullup dilemma. Turns out that I can't raise the bar high enough for me to get up off the ground. Fortunately, the rack does have attachments at the top for pullups. I stood there a moment and sized up the distance between the attachments and me on the ground. I might be able to jump up to it but it would be doubtful if I could catch with a good grip. So. I dragged a bench over so I could climb up and then do my pull ups from there. An awful lot of setup work just to crank out five chin ups. ~sigh~ Second and third sets were even worse. Two each and really, the first one shouldn't even count. Hopefully I'll be able to report on more progress with this as time goes on. I have to tell you though it was kind of cool to have the bird's eye view of the gym from up there. Oh. yes. Very cool.

So, here is my update. Retest at the gym today. I am happy to report that since the end of August I lost 5 pounds and I dropped 1.6% fat (from 25.5% to 23.9%).
The 5 pounds weight loss is nothing to write home about (although when I consider that in September I had almost 4 wks off and actually gained 2 lbs, it looks a bit better) but I am happy about the fat loss % .

But, I also lost 1 pound of muscle. I really don't understand how this be that I am losing, instead of gaining, muscle? I work so hard at the gym. What am I doing wrong? I know I am still at the weight losing stage but it's frustrating. Did this happen to you as well (that is before you became such Iron Gals)?

Anyway, I lusting after body fat % of 20%, and I WILL get there!

Lydia, good job on the chin ups - you rock!

Alena

Good work, Alena!

You lost a pound of lean body mass, not necessarily muscle. LBM is composed of a lot more than muscle: it's water (60% of your body weight is water), blood, plasma, skin, hair, bone -- in fact, anything in your body that isn't fat. So the pound of LBM you lost could be any one of those things.

In my experience, it's impossible to lose 100% fat, especially as you get close to your goal. It's inevitable that some LBM and yes, some muscle will be lost. Our goal is to minimize the amount of LBM loss and maximize the fat loss. But it's never going to be 100% pure fat.

As our bodies get smaller, they don't need the amount of LBM that a large size body needs to support its function. We don't need all the water, blood, and even muscle to move around a smaller size version of us. So some LBM loss is to be expected as we get closer to our goals.

It sounds like 80% of your weight loss was fat and I think that's outstanding!

Sportmom, great job on the body fat drop!

Nelie, congrats on your long run! The step to 20 minutes is a big one psychologically, but very doable. Hope you are feeling less hobbly soon.

kittycat, nice job on the abs. Everyone is making great progress now!

Lydia, I aspire to chin ups!

Alena, I think your body comp numbers look great.

One word for me today. OWWWWIE!!! And tomorrow is the day after the day after. Yikes.

Anne

Meg,
Thanks so much for your explanation - I was relieved to hear that!

I had a splitting headache last night and even though I hoped to go to bed early, it didn't happen until 10 pm so I gave up on getting up early and hitting the gym at 5:30 am. I will do it tonight instead.

Anne, I know what you mean by tomorrow being the day after the day after (nicely put, BTW) - I suffer from the same syndrome.

Wow, I had my first foray into old fashioned oats today (vs quick 1 min oats) - yikes - what a shock! I felt like i was eating chewing gum, there was so much chewing required! And the milk I used with them, ..., well let's just say after cooking it looked like an Elmer's concoction! Maybe this is where you guys will tell me it's better done on the stovetop instead of the micro in this style of oat - or even better yet, the crocker. Or maybe the crockpot is just for steel cut. I'm not brave enough to try them yet - I'm going to run back to my quick oats! But, it's a big step for this unadventurous eater - I mean, all last year I was still eating my instant oatmeal! I guess I would get used to my old fashioned just like I got used to the quick oats, but there doesn't really seem to me a nutritional advantage, does there? Does it just come down to personal preference?

Hey Fran: I don't think that there is a difference in the nutritional value between quick and old fashioned. It's just a difference in how finely they are cut. Anyone correct me if I am ill informed. If you prefer the one minute kind then that's fine. I eat old fashioned oats nuked in the microwave. I use .25 cup of oats cooked with enough water to cover about 3/4 of the oats and microwave for one minute and twenty seconds. After that I add my special ingredients: FF cottage cheese, splenda, cinnamon. Nuke that for another 20 seconds to warm up the cottage cheese, stir, add protein powder, L-glutamine, and a dollop of FF plain yogurt. Stir and smile. Honestly, my sons and DH are not clammering for this in the morning so it must be something that is an acquired taste/texture. It's proof to me that our food preferences can change because my day just isn't right without this glue. I've given up pancakes for this stuff.

Alena: I have no doubt you will reach the goals you set for yourself. You are doing such a great job. And yes, your numbers look great. How awesome to have such a good result this time of year.

Meg: I love your explanation with regard to not needing the same about of LBM as a smaller version of ourselves. That was something that just didn't occur to me. Thank you for sharing that!

Anne: I really hope you are feeling less sore tomorrow. That was my problem late last week as well. Learned my lesson for today and only incorporated one new exercise into my program today instead of the three from last week. There's no rush right?

Nelie: You are so busy! I can't wait to hear about your twenty minute run. How are your knees doing with this too? Have you been doing a specific exercise that you think may be helping your knees with the addition of running to your routine?

Decent workout in this morning. I had some nice intervals during my cardio. It must have been a little more than I'm used to because I was starving 90 minutes after breakfast. That rarely happens. I also found a yoga podcast for my iPod. That was kind of a cool/weird thing to do this morning at the gym. Kind of like having a yoga studio in your own head going through the asanas while everyone else around you is counting out crunches. Felt great though.

I agree. But I like the old-fashioned. If you want a quicker/less ingredient bowl (sorry, Lydia ) try this. I use 1/3 or 1/2 cup of oats, a dash of salt, and twice the amount of water as oats. I nuke for 2 min 20 sec (but I have an old microwave). Let sit for a little bit (like long enough to get out the spoon, pour the etc. ) Then I stir in a few raisins, a few smashed up walnuts, add a little 1% milke and eat. You can cook it on the stove, and it will get a little creamier, but the micro is faster, and no pan to wash. I've been doing larger batches of steel-cut on weekends, then nuking a portion during the week. Though, Nelie, I was in our new Target yesterday, eying rice cookers......

I've been slacking on exercise latly, having a few issues with some, um, private body parts. Grrrr. Getting better slowly, but still too tender to sit or walk much, so maybe later in the week. I was supposed to have a CT scan of my liver yesterday (some abnormal results from blood work and ultrasound) but after 5 tries the tech gave up on the IV, and I have to go back on Thurs more hydrated. Hey, they told me not to eat or drink for 8 hours priror, and I didn't! THe guy did ultrasound my arm and confirmed that yes indeed I actually DO have veins.... They're just very deep. Meanwhile I have a large bruise on my right hand. Sigh. And likely there's not much wrong with me anyway. Wait, that came out wrong There's likely not much wrong with my liver anyway. DH will tell you there's plenty wrong with me.

Lydia - I have osteoarthritis of the knee and was told 'no running' by my doctor last year. Of course I saw him a couple weeks ago and told him I was running, he didn't seem to see a problem. Go figure. Anyway, I'm going to a physical therapist that specializes in sports medicine to help prevent any issues as well as work through the ones I encounter. He helps a lot and kicks my butt.

Pat - I highly recommend a rice cooker. I cook rice, beans, oatmeal, everything in it!

I'm making mine with 1/2 cup oats, 1 c milk and micro it for 2 mins. That comes out just great and doesn't create a messy overflowing volcano like my old fashioneds did today. I can't add alot of typical flavorings - dd is allergic to tree nuts, so we don't keep them in the house, plus I need to avoid them with stones, and I'm allergic to apples. I could use bananas, but instead I've been using a few small pinches of organic brown. Seems to work well enough. Whole milk would make it even better, but as I found out at a business meeting once when I had them, all that whole milk will KILL my stomach (perhaps they put something else in like cream, but it was bad).

So, because I'm a number crunching geek, I did a little scale math today......

Since Oct 1, my lbm has increased from 118 to 119 lbs. My bf in lbs has gone from 123 to 113. Does this seem realistic/accurate? This is over about a 9 lb weight loss.

Oh gee, I think I just answered my own question!!!! wow!

I guess typical or legit might be the better question then. This certainly seems more valid that when I was thinking I had put on 5 lbs of muscle earlier today. The disconnect was actually because I was using a bf% taken in the afternoon with a weight taken in the morning. Apples to oranges, so to speak. Need to do the %s against the same weight that was recorded at the time of the bf measurement.

What do you think? Is that good progress? I'm doing a fbwo 2x/wk and 30 mins of hiit treadmilling (or the closest I can get to it at my fitness level) 6x/week.

Megl, I will have to go check those charts you shared with me. I am not a fanatic about food - if dh wants to go out to eat, we will, but i won't order an iceburg salad in a mexican restaurant, for example. I'll order a chicken breast meal if I can, but if in mexico, I will partake in some chips & salsa.

Hey everyone!

I've been lurking more than posting lately but I'm still around. I'm still struggling with my food and workouts (not a good combination) but I'm holding my own mostly with my weight.

Work has been busy and I've been hungry and "snacky" lately so it's a struggle. I'm just trying to keep it together. My gym visits have slacked a bit but I'm trying to just go when I can...anything is better than nothing right? I pulled out my NROLW and started with some of those workouts again, to keep me interested. I miss my outdoor running too so it's time to hit the treadmill or get back to my spinning for some cardio. Maybe it's just the time of year but I need to stay strong because before I know it, it will be time for me to start my holiday baking!

Fran - I'm jealous of your fancy scale! I love my digital scale...it's quite a few years old and very reliable but it doesn't do any of fat/lbm calculations that yours does. I think that might have helped me over the past year, to see some progress when the total weight number doesn't really change.

Lydia - I still haven't tried your "breakfast gloop" but I copied it at home so maybe one day! As always, I need to work more protein into my diet!

I have a big meeting at work today but I'm going to do my best to get to my power class and then yoga tomorrow. I'll keep you posted and have a great day!

Hi Elisa, well, it's not tooo fancy. I got it from drugstore.com. And it only does bf%, I do the rest of the calculations myself. Not too high end at all! Didn't want anyone to think I had some huge academic scale or something!