Body Learning; New Picture; Book Giveaway Winner
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A few of you have noticed my new Gravatar picture out there in the comments. Thank you very much! I was surprised that people took notice! So, here is the full picture. This is also my new hair do. The cut was a bit shorter then I wanted but my hair grows fast along with the regrowth of gray! OH NO!
My hubby took some more pics but since we had a really bad background, it takes time for him to crop that out so he did just one for this post. I will be replacing the existing pictures I took when I turned 52 with new ones including this one. We have done nothing to change anything but the background. We may soften up some of my face in the pics to come but we did not retouch the bod in this pic. My face is being attacked by hormone issues (has been for at least a year now) for those that wonder why I said that. I cover it up with some make-up & that helps some!
Jeez, I thought the early years with acne & such were bad.. HOLY COW, this aging & hormone stuff really effects my face & the bod! I know the pics don't show it but hey, they are not supposed to show it!
The reason I wanted to post & talk about this picture today was because it goes hand in hand with this hormone book giveaway. Many of you have heard me talk endlessly about perimenopause & all the struggles to keep my body in check. All of our bodies change through time as we age from teens to 20's to 30's to 40's & up. Many people that never had weight issues when they were young (damn you! ) start to notice the pounds creep up in their 30's & 40's. This now becomes a time when they have to start really working on keeping the weight off. Of course, many of us have already had to do this for years so although that stunk, we at least know how to do it!
For me, I have worked hard at this weight & exercise stuff for too many years to count. I have had to learn to listen to my body & make changes through the decades & years based on age, lifestyle, jobs & hormone issues. I have become a master at playing with both my food & exercise program to find what works right for me at that point in my life & when it stops working, I start changing things a little at a time to make my body respond. For example, in these perimenopause years, I have had to cut back calories bit by bit but not to an extreme as well as changing my protein/carb ratio for food. I have also made changes to my exercise program multiple times thru the years & definitely perimenopause years!
My late 40's to now have actually been my most challenging years as the hormones change more & more each year. I would actually say that 51-52 has been the most challenging & that makes sense because the hormones that regulate a woman's body are really in overdrive & we are losing some we need & gaining others we don't need! Through all of this I have kept making changes both food & exercise wise to keep my body in shape the best I can & have even made some progress in some areas.
When I took those 52 pics at my bday last year, that was the first experience I had when the body would just not budge no matter what I did. I was trying different things 2-3 months prior to those 52 pics because my body was really attacking me hormone wise. I did a lot, short of eating a contest prep diet & there was no way I was going to do that. It really was not worth it to me to eat that tight just to stay leaner. Now, I know I already was lean BUT those pics really did not show some of the other stuff going on. I know, laugh at me, but honestly, the bod was not looking like what I had actually worked for & normally expected of my body. If you look closely at this pic & those revolving pics, you will see a difference. It was much more in real life & on the scale.
Flash forward from November to now. For some reason, the hormones made a change a couple weeks or so before the picture here & I thought, hey, I better get a pic now while my body is being nice to me!!!! So for this pic, I did not even do my normal "eat super clean" for 5-7 days before the picture. This was taken on a normal eating week which is pretty clean anyway but not perfect by any means. Hey, I will take it because who knows when it will change again! Could be tomorrow. I never know when it is going to happen!
I guess I am rambling on BUT the point I am getting to is that our bodies change, we change & we have to be aware & ready to make changes to work through that. In addition, sometimes our bodies just are not going to budge for a while & we have to work through that & BE PATIENT. DO NOT LET THIS DETER YOU! WE NEED BODY LEARNING!
OR maybe it is at a set point ... meaning this is the weight our body likes. "Just as your body temperature is programmed to stay around 98.6 degrees, your body weight is naturally regulated to stay within a range of 10%-20%, says Thomas Wadden, PhD, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at University of Pennsylvania Medical School. This weight range is known as the "set point." A complex set of hormones, chemicals, and hunger signals help your body naturally maintain your weight within this range, says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD. It is not just a matter of genetics, though. Your eating and exercise habits can also help to determine your set point"
Many people are fine to stay at that set point because their body is telling them this is good & you probably look good there too! For me, my set point probably is closer to 122-124 pounds BUT I work really hard at staying lower than that because I want to be leaner. That is just me. I usually range in the 116-119 range depending on the body & what the hormones are doing. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! Remember , don't compare yourself to others. Do what is right for you!
BUT the lesson I learned is that if my body goes back to what it was doing back in the November 2009 pictures, yes, I am going to work hard to make sure it does not get worse but I am not going to kill myself over it by trying to eat so clean that I do not enjoy my "food life". The hormone issues that we all go through are workable but it takes strength & dedication to get through it & at some point, knowing that you have done everything you could do & accept that. I am not saying it does not make me mad, but I just keep plugging along & doing the best I can do right then.
OK, so sorry for this long winded post!
THE WINNER OF THE BOOK, FEMALE BRAIN GONE INSANE IS: Sian!!! Sian, please email me your name & address to jody@truth2beingfit.com & I will pass that on to the book representative to ship out to you! Congrats!
A few of you have noticed my new Gravatar picture out there in the comments. Thank you very much! I was surprised that people took notice! So, here is the full picture. This is also my new hair do. The cut was a bit shorter then I wanted but my hair grows fast along with the regrowth of gray! OH NO!My hubby took some more pics but since we had a really bad background, it takes time for him to crop that out so he did just one for this post. I will be replacing the existing pictures I took when I turned 52 with new ones including this one. We have done nothing to change anything but the background. We may soften up some of my face in the pics to come but we did not retouch the bod in this pic. My face is being attacked by hormone issues (has been for at least a year now) for those that wonder why I said that. I cover it up with some make-up & that helps some!
Jeez, I thought the early years with acne & such were bad.. HOLY COW, this aging & hormone stuff really effects my face & the bod! I know the pics don't show it but hey, they are not supposed to show it!The reason I wanted to post & talk about this picture today was because it goes hand in hand with this hormone book giveaway. Many of you have heard me talk endlessly about perimenopause & all the struggles to keep my body in check. All of our bodies change through time as we age from teens to 20's to 30's to 40's & up. Many people that never had weight issues when they were young (damn you!
) start to notice the pounds creep up in their 30's & 40's. This now becomes a time when they have to start really working on keeping the weight off. Of course, many of us have already had to do this for years so although that stunk, we at least know how to do it!For me, I have worked hard at this weight & exercise stuff for too many years to count. I have had to learn to listen to my body & make changes through the decades & years based on age, lifestyle, jobs & hormone issues. I have become a master at playing with both my food & exercise program to find what works right for me at that point in my life & when it stops working, I start changing things a little at a time to make my body respond. For example, in these perimenopause years, I have had to cut back calories bit by bit but not to an extreme as well as changing my protein/carb ratio for food. I have also made changes to my exercise program multiple times thru the years & definitely perimenopause years!
My late 40's to now have actually been my most challenging years as the hormones change more & more each year. I would actually say that 51-52 has been the most challenging & that makes sense because the hormones that regulate a woman's body are really in overdrive & we are losing some we need & gaining others we don't need! Through all of this I have kept making changes both food & exercise wise to keep my body in shape the best I can & have even made some progress in some areas.
When I took those 52 pics at my bday last year, that was the first experience I had when the body would just not budge no matter what I did. I was trying different things 2-3 months prior to those 52 pics because my body was really attacking me hormone wise. I did a lot, short of eating a contest prep diet & there was no way I was going to do that. It really was not worth it to me to eat that tight just to stay leaner. Now, I know I already was lean BUT those pics really did not show some of the other stuff going on. I know, laugh at me, but honestly, the bod was not looking like what I had actually worked for & normally expected of my body. If you look closely at this pic & those revolving pics, you will see a difference. It was much more in real life & on the scale.
Flash forward from November to now. For some reason, the hormones made a change a couple weeks or so before the picture here & I thought, hey, I better get a pic now while my body is being nice to me!!!! So for this pic, I did not even do my normal "eat super clean" for 5-7 days before the picture. This was taken on a normal eating week which is pretty clean anyway but not perfect by any means. Hey, I will take it because who knows when it will change again! Could be tomorrow. I never know when it is going to happen!
I guess I am rambling on BUT the point I am getting to is that our bodies change, we change & we have to be aware & ready to make changes to work through that. In addition, sometimes our bodies just are not going to budge for a while & we have to work through that & BE PATIENT. DO NOT LET THIS DETER YOU! WE NEED BODY LEARNING!
OR maybe it is at a set point ... meaning this is the weight our body likes. "Just as your body temperature is programmed to stay around 98.6 degrees, your body weight is naturally regulated to stay within a range of 10%-20%, says Thomas Wadden, PhD, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at University of Pennsylvania Medical School. This weight range is known as the "set point." A complex set of hormones, chemicals, and hunger signals help your body naturally maintain your weight within this range, says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD. It is not just a matter of genetics, though. Your eating and exercise habits can also help to determine your set point"
Many people are fine to stay at that set point because their body is telling them this is good & you probably look good there too! For me, my set point probably is closer to 122-124 pounds BUT I work really hard at staying lower than that because I want to be leaner. That is just me. I usually range in the 116-119 range depending on the body & what the hormones are doing. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! Remember , don't compare yourself to others. Do what is right for you!
BUT the lesson I learned is that if my body goes back to what it was doing back in the November 2009 pictures, yes, I am going to work hard to make sure it does not get worse but I am not going to kill myself over it by trying to eat so clean that I do not enjoy my "food life". The hormone issues that we all go through are workable but it takes strength & dedication to get through it & at some point, knowing that you have done everything you could do & accept that. I am not saying it does not make me mad, but I just keep plugging along & doing the best I can do right then.
OK, so sorry for this long winded post!
THE WINNER OF THE BOOK, FEMALE BRAIN GONE INSANE IS: Sian!!! Sian, please email me your name & address to jody@truth2beingfit.com & I will pass that on to the book representative to ship out to you! Congrats!
How do you feel about the set point theory? Have you had to work thru hormone issues or just "the body is fighting you" issues?
Also, THANK YOU TO ALL FOR YOUR VERY KIND COMMENTS ON MY BOXING PICS YESTERDAY!!!! Don't forget you can enter the giveaway for a 30 day trial membership to LA Boxing through Sunday!
Posted by truth2beingfit at 1/21/2010 12:01 AM 
Categories: Giveaway, Challenges, Tips, Exercise, Women Issues, Weight Loss
Tags: perimenopause challenges Nutrition Tips Women Issues hormones Weight Loss
Categories: Giveaway, Challenges, Tips, Exercise, Women Issues, Weight Loss
Tags: perimenopause challenges Nutrition Tips Women Issues hormones Weight Loss
Great photo Jody! I am so inspired by you!
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Kat, thank you! BUT, I am inspired & in awe of all you out there doing to well with your programs!
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I said it before but Im saying it again.
WHAT KAT SAID
You work your arse off and it shows, Woman.
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Miz, thank you! I do work hard but my arse is staying put!
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This is EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning. Today, I am 49. I have been at this plateau for several months now and a lot of it has to do with hormones. Patience is not a virtue for me yet, but I am learning. That is a key for me right now...Learning and not reverting to old patterns. There is a lot more for me to change but I have to be patient with myself. Learning about my body has NEVER been a priority. Thank you for sharing
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Jules, glad you came & this helped! Those friggin hormones can really play mind games on us but just stick to it & be patient. Sometimes you can work thru them with very hard work & other times, they just will not budge... hang in there!
PS: Saying that, I have worked thru some of the hormones at times with changing up my protein/carb ratio & I did add in HIIT & plyometrics along with upping the intensity of my workouts. It helped BUT I also have times like this last one when nothing helped!
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I don't think the set point theory is widely believed. That said, I feel it has validity, but than I've always hacked my own trail
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Dr. J, keep hacking your own trail!
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PS: I meant to add that I feel one's set point can be changed by staying at a consistent weight over time.
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Wow, great pic. A lean, mean muscle machine--looking G O O D!!
I actually think the set point theory makes sense, as long as one doesn't abuse one's body via self-destructive behaviors (both over eating and under eating for long periods, like Dr. J said above). I think many people don't pay attention to their bodies, like you've said so many times, and they artificially alter their set points, usually in the 'overweight' direction. Also, some people have to be more diligent (like us) than others due to our metabolism. It's all about paying attention and doing the work that's needed to accomplish our goals.
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Thx Bethe! I like the what you worded the set point theory & I should have spent more time on that so I am in my post tomorrow! THX!
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Jodie you are so inspiring to me!! I only hope I can look like you when I'm your age! You give me motivation to kick butt at the gym! haha. I'm dying to get those shoulder cuts and those abs.. give me tips lady!! haha.
And your so right about adjusting our needs! I used to eat tons and tons of carbs and I always had a stomach ache and didn't look the way I wanted to. When I started to limit the amount of bread and replace my carbs with fruits and veggies, I started to look more lean and I felt great! And my body will probably change sometime and tell me it wants a different ratio of nutrients. But that's the whole fun of it.. we get to experiment with diet and exercise!
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April, thank you BUT man, reading your workouts, WOW!!!! Quite inspiring yourself! SHoulder cuts & such, lower body fat. I eat pretty clean most of the time & work out hard!
YES, always good to experiment & see what works best for you. As for your tummy & bread products, I wonder if you have a wheat/gluten sensitivity. It is not that uncommon & many people live their life misdiagnosed with IBS instead.
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Love the new pic, Jody. You look kickass! Talk about rocking your fifties! You can certainly tell that you work as hard as you do. And I know I said this before, but you are a total inspiration to me and I'm sure countless others.
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Josie.. thank you! Like I wrote in another post, all you people going thru your weight loss programs are an inspiration to us all!
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Hot damn Jody! You look amazing!
I am not sold on the setpoint thing. Otherwise, I would never have been 250 pounds. Of course, I do seem to have settled in an area now that I can't seem to get out of, so maybe it is true.
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Lori, I hear you on the setpoint theory. I did not explain myself well so talking about it again tomorrow!
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WOw you look fantastic!!! Great post. I'm saving it because my head hurts and I want to read it again. As for your question about working through body issues - this is very timely because I am learning a lot about my body - but my last kid, #4, is now three and I had to quickly realize that getting in tip-top shape was much harder now than when my first or second was born (over 15 years ago). I have had to make more adjustments with what I eat and still working on my fitness routines until I find that which makes the changes I'm looking for, one step at a time.
Thanks for this great message. Love your blog!!
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SpinDiva, thx for commenting! YES, our bodies change with age, after kid s& more. We just have to keep plugging away at it & find what works.. and yes, it will change many times thru the years!
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