Diet vs. Exercise: More on the Subject
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I wanted to follow up on my Diet or Exercise post from Monday since it got a lot excellent feedback. What I am following up with is a true story about a conversation I had with my youngest stepdaughter, Jennifer, this morning. For those that have been here before, you will recall that Jennifer is the one that is taking the boot camp class and loving it! She tells me how she is building muscles & firming up everywhere. She loves that her glutes (butt, booty or behind among other names) are tightening & lifting!!! She also loves that her hips are getting smaller & that area we love to call the "muffin top" is going away! All great stuff! BUT, she did move over to the small mini meals all day long (a good thing) when before she was not eating except in the morning & at night & missed food during the day due to being a busy esthetician. Also, she was trying to follow EXACTLY the rules laid out to her by the trainers at her boot camp.
So, this morn, Jennifer called me & was upset that her weight was going up. She said she was up 5 pounds and her clothes were fitting tighter. THEN, she said that she had gone away the past weekend & had eaten a bit too much. SO, what were my questions ... how much is a bit too much this past weekend & what did you eat????? Well, she told me that in general, they had healthy food but lots more than she normally eats. Also, they did have treats AND ALCOHOL! Based on what she told me, I could tell that not only did she eat AND drink too much, BUT, there was also a lot of sodium in some of the foods from that weekend. In addition, I asked her how "up" she was before the weekend ..... her answer, ONE pound! So, with one weekend, she added 4 additional pounds to the scale. She also told me that she was already down 2 of those pounds as of yesterday. I told her not to get too upset or frustrated.... she obviously had gone a bit too far this past weekend and to let me know in a couple days if she was back where she started before the weekend fun. It sure is easy to put it on BUT MAN IS IT HARD TO GET OFF! Check out my post, Special Occasions Diet Help, to read more about how "special occasions can sidetrack all your hard work.
Now back to the diet or exercise or both part. Jennifer was still concerned that even though she was making progress with gaining muscle & losing fat in certain areas, that her clothes were not fitting tremendously different & the scale weight was still the same. I asked about the foods she was eating & whether she had been logging them. I know many of you hate that logging stuff BUT it does clarify a lot when things are just not working. Even though the trainers wanted her to eat a specific way, we are all different and our bodies do not all work the same even with the same foods. So here is where diet is very important. AND YES, as many of you wrote, diet is a huge part of the equation. FJ and I feel about 65% in general & others feel it is more & may be for some people. Jennifer "knows" what she is eating but had not been logging it online so that we could see exactly what the protein/carb/fat ratio was for her. I could tell that she was eating pretty good but I thought the protein/carb/fat ratio may be off. SO, she will be logging her food for the next few days so we can evaluate exactly what is going on.
My point in all this is to say that I really do feel both "diet" & exercise are crucial to weight loss and maintenance AND definitely food is a big factor ..... BUT you need to know what you are putting in your mouth. If things are not working for you, stop, evaluate & LOG no matter how much you dislike it so you can get a clear and REAL view of what is going on food wise!!!! Don't hide from it. Jen's story is one when FOOD is the sticking point right now. But again, everyone is different so we need to see what food program will work for her. OH, that is Jen and her boyfriend in the picture (before boot camp). Beautiful, isn't she!!! The boyfriend ain't bad either!!!!
I just happened to read a post today from Diet Tired that linked to this very great article on logging your food. Read it here: Have You Ever Tracked Your Meals? Here's Why You Should. As you read it, all the information is great but points 2 & 4 should hit home:
It is reactive: By reviewing your food records you can pin point ‘trouble spots’ and adjust your strategies accordingly
Evidence: Phantom pounds that show up on the scale due to fluid shifts can be challenged with your food records and prevent ‘scale related’ breakdowns. As one of my clients stated, “The scale shows that I’m up a pound but that can’t be right. I’ve tracked my foods all week and there is no way I gained. It must be hormonal!'”
So, there you have it.. a true story about how important food is but also how exercise helps as well. As you read the tracking your food article, there are suggestions for how to track your food. One not there is for those with camera phones, you can take pictures of everything you are eating at any moment. That should be an eye opener!!!! HA!
As always, send me all your comments, suggestions, thoughts & anything else you have to say!
I wanted to follow up on my Diet or Exercise post from Monday since it got a lot excellent feedback. What I am following up with is a true story about a conversation I had with my youngest stepdaughter, Jennifer, this morning. For those that have been here before, you will recall that Jennifer is the one that is taking the boot camp class and loving it! She tells me how she is building muscles & firming up everywhere. She loves that her glutes (butt, booty or behind among other names) are tightening & lifting!!! She also loves that her hips are getting smaller & that area we love to call the "muffin top" is going away! All great stuff! BUT, she did move over to the small mini meals all day long (a good thing) when before she was not eating except in the morning & at night & missed food during the day due to being a busy esthetician. Also, she was trying to follow EXACTLY the rules laid out to her by the trainers at her boot camp.So, this morn, Jennifer called me & was upset that her weight was going up. She said she was up 5 pounds and her clothes were fitting tighter. THEN, she said that she had gone away the past weekend & had eaten a bit too much. SO, what were my questions ... how much is a bit too much this past weekend & what did you eat????? Well, she told me that in general, they had healthy food but lots more than she normally eats. Also, they did have treats AND ALCOHOL! Based on what she told me, I could tell that not only did she eat AND drink too much, BUT, there was also a lot of sodium in some of the foods from that weekend. In addition, I asked her how "up" she was before the weekend ..... her answer, ONE pound! So, with one weekend, she added 4 additional pounds to the scale. She also told me that she was already down 2 of those pounds as of yesterday. I told her not to get too upset or frustrated.... she obviously had gone a bit too far this past weekend and to let me know in a couple days if she was back where she started before the weekend fun. It sure is easy to put it on BUT MAN IS IT HARD TO GET OFF! Check out my post, Special Occasions Diet Help, to read more about how "special occasions can sidetrack all your hard work.
Now back to the diet or exercise or both part. Jennifer was still concerned that even though she was making progress with gaining muscle & losing fat in certain areas, that her clothes were not fitting tremendously different & the scale weight was still the same. I asked about the foods she was eating & whether she had been logging them. I know many of you hate that logging stuff BUT it does clarify a lot when things are just not working. Even though the trainers wanted her to eat a specific way, we are all different and our bodies do not all work the same even with the same foods. So here is where diet is very important. AND YES, as many of you wrote, diet is a huge part of the equation. FJ and I feel about 65% in general & others feel it is more & may be for some people. Jennifer "knows" what she is eating but had not been logging it online so that we could see exactly what the protein/carb/fat ratio was for her. I could tell that she was eating pretty good but I thought the protein/carb/fat ratio may be off. SO, she will be logging her food for the next few days so we can evaluate exactly what is going on.
My point in all this is to say that I really do feel both "diet" & exercise are crucial to weight loss and maintenance AND definitely food is a big factor ..... BUT you need to know what you are putting in your mouth. If things are not working for you, stop, evaluate & LOG no matter how much you dislike it so you can get a clear and REAL view of what is going on food wise!!!! Don't hide from it. Jen's story is one when FOOD is the sticking point right now. But again, everyone is different so we need to see what food program will work for her. OH, that is Jen and her boyfriend in the picture (before boot camp). Beautiful, isn't she!!! The boyfriend ain't bad either!!!!
I just happened to read a post today from Diet Tired that linked to this very great article on logging your food. Read it here: Have You Ever Tracked Your Meals? Here's Why You Should. As you read it, all the information is great but points 2 & 4 should hit home:
It is reactive: By reviewing your food records you can pin point ‘trouble spots’ and adjust your strategies accordingly
Evidence: Phantom pounds that show up on the scale due to fluid shifts can be challenged with your food records and prevent ‘scale related’ breakdowns. As one of my clients stated, “The scale shows that I’m up a pound but that can’t be right. I’ve tracked my foods all week and there is no way I gained. It must be hormonal!'”
So, there you have it.. a true story about how important food is but also how exercise helps as well. As you read the tracking your food article, there are suggestions for how to track your food. One not there is for those with camera phones, you can take pictures of everything you are eating at any moment. That should be an eye opener!!!! HA!
As always, send me all your comments, suggestions, thoughts & anything else you have to say!
Your step daughter is so cute. I can imagine her frustration. Boot camp is tough. I took one at 5:30 in the mrning outdoor and it kicked my butt. But you are right diet is more than half the battle especially when it comes to wanting to lose weight. But she needs to have so fun too. She will get back on track after talking to you
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Oh your step-daughter is adorable!!! I wish her the best of luck with her fitness goals!
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What a beautiful girl! Way to go Jennifer on working towards your goal! I know keeping a detailed log can seem like a bit of a pain in the rear end, but it does make such a huge difference! So often we forget that we had a 'taste' of cheese, or a 'sip' of soda. It's surprising how fast those little things add up!
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First of all, thank you Jody for all your guidance during my extreme bootcamp experience. I did not eat as much, as late last night. To my surprise, I was able to perform better at bootcamp today. We ran a lot and I felt much more athletic today! The trainers have now moved me to the "other side" (group of previous bootcampers) to get a more intense workout. Thank you Jody for all you help. I log my food on myfooddiary.com and it's amazing what you find out. Essential vitamins that are lacking, or too many fat calories consumed etc...EYE OPENING.
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Hey, congrats on moving to the big lead! You can do it! Also, for those that did not understand Jen's comment on the food at night, she gets home late a lot & tends to eat her full dinner close to bed time. I told her that I am one that sees nothing wrong with eating a small healthy snack, 200-250 calories closer to bed (contrary to some that say stop at least 2 hours prior to bed) but I did tell her that I do not recommend the whole dinner close to bed & for her to try to break that up so she is eating less closer to bed time.
Jen & I will follow up for you all in the future!
Good job Jen!!!!!!
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Thx ladies.
Kristi, yup, she is in the 5:30am class & really likes it so that is half the battle. We will get the food right & that will help it all fall into place.
Charlotte, thx! Yes, like you said in the previous post, food is very important & for jen, that is the part we will fix & get the scale moving down.
Shauna: So true on logging! We tend to "forget" those little tastes all day long OR we just don't realize the exact content of the food.
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Way to go for you step-daughter for already getting those extra lbs lost. It can be so frustrating and disheartening but she seems to have persevered! I am with you on the whole diet + exercise = steady weight loss. I believe the two go hand in hand. It will help you reach your goals better by integrating some type of exercise into your dieting.
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A crucial aspect here is the MIRROR. The scale isn't everything. After all that boot camp training, it could be that after some rest, she put one some muscle mass, and we all know that muscle weighs more than FAT.
I've had few people who netted a few lbs HEAVIER when i was done with them, but they looked ripped. So Jody, make sure she keeps that in mind.
As for food tracking. CRUCIAL. You guys can use this awesome piece of software developed by a good friend of mine, Kellie. It has a free trail... go here: http://www.my-weight-software.com/
As for me, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.
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Yup, FJ, you know me. I know that muscle weighs more than fat so we keep in eye on how certain clothes are fitting her & that is what is not changing right now. We know she has put on muscle & she even said that but after this many weeks, her clothes should have started to fit a bit better... so we are keeping an eye on both for sure! AND, like you said, I have told her to keep that in mind because I have been there, done that!
As for the weight gain of 4 pounds, I was right on that. She has already taken those 4 pounds off. Too much fun last weekend for her! I told her she needs to make "choices" on the weekend so she does not constantly put on the weight she has worked so hard to get off during the week!
Will check out that software.. THX.. and thx for the input
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