Re: Week 7 and need some help!

December 31, 2007

Overall, what you're doing looks good. It's mainly just a matter of keeping

it up and finishing strong. If you want to dissect your meals a little bit,

cheese isn't the greatest protein source. Having a protein shake in that

meal might be a better idea. Things like yogurt and cottage cheese are quite

processed and some brands are pretty high in sodium. There's nothing wrong

with eating them, but they don't have the same metabolic effect as something

that's a whole food with lots of protein and fiber, for example a chicken

breast, an apple, and a spinach salad will take longer to digest and have a

bigger thermic effect than the soft and salty cottage cheese / yogurt combo.

In general, going toward more whole foods (meat, fish, egg, fruit,

vegetable) and less processed stuff (low fat cheese, pita bread, yogurt)

should speed things up a bit. See the Lean Out or Swell Up menu:

http://www.skwigg.com/id55.html

Replacing a couple of meals with protein shakes may or may not make a

difference. Maybe try it for a week, or do it every other day. If you're

starving and your results are no better, put back the real food. If it makes

an amazing difference, keep it up.

If you want to rock your abs for the last few weeks, check out the Ab Boot

Camp workout in the club Files section:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/bodyforlifewomensclub2/files/

It's meant to be done three times a week after your cardio.

Switching to free weight leg exercises will make a big difference in the

final weeks. Anything you're not used to will challenge you in new ways and

improve your results. Instead of lunges and step-ups, I would try things

like stationary lunges (split squats), squats, and deadlifts, none of which

involve stepping forward onto a tricky knee. Your feet stay in the same

place. Visit the Exercise and Muscle Directory:

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html and click on Hips and Thighs to find

some new dumbbell and barbell moves with video demos.

Same goes for cardio. If you always ride a bike or always use an elliptical,

changing it up regularly will speed your results. People tend to do what

they're good at and like, but doing something you're bad at and hate will

burn more calories. :-D

> I am trying to the " tweak " my program this last 5 weeks to see better

> results than I have been seeing so far. I have been told that women

> don't start seeing big changes until the 7th or 8th week anyways!

> I need some suggestions for new lower body exercises. I have been

> using the machines for all the exercises but I would like to start

> using barbells more. I'm a bit scared to do lunges and step-ups due

> to a unstable right knee (from years of running in the military). I

> will try them though if they are the most effective!

> Also, I have been doing all my ab exercises on the exercise ball

> because I can really feel the burn! I also do more reps than

> recommended by the program. For example, I start with 50 reps and

> then work down to 40, 30, 20 and 10 reps. Is it necessary to do extra

> exercises to isolate the obliques and lower abs? If so, how many reps?

> Does anyone recommend substituting 2 of my meals with protein shakes

> instead of " real " food? Will this help me see results faster? This is

> typically what I eat on a daily basis: (if anyone sees something that

> I'm doing wrong...please let me know!)

>

> Meal 1: 1/2 c. dry oatmeal, water, cinnamon, 2 packets splenda; 1

> egg, 3 egg whites, 1 tbsp. salsa, pepper

> *take 2 active women's multi-vitamin, 2 EAS thermodynamics, 2 pills

> GNC Alphalean (has CLA in it)

>

> Meal 2: 1/2 c 1% cottage cheese, 6 oz. fat-free (no sugar added)

> yogurt

>

> Meal 3: 2 chicken breast tenderloins (approximately a total of 4

> oz.), low-sodium seasoning, 1 c. frozen onion and pepper stir-fried

> with fat-free cooking spray, 1/2 whole pita pocket, 1 tbsp. salsa, 2

> tsp. fat-free sour cream, pepper

>

> Meal 4: 2 oz. reduced-fat cheddar cheese, small-medium size apple

>

> Meal 5: 2 chicken breast tenderloins, 1-2 c. frozen veggies, small

> potato with salsa and fat-free sour cream

>

> Meal 6: same as meal 2 or 4 OR 1 can tuna in water, apple OR 1 packet

> vanilla myoplex lite, frozen strawberries, 1 banana, blended

>

> Thanks!

>

> Kirstin

>

December 31, 2007

Leg exercises are not just squats and lunges, but here's a few site

for some variations and more:

http://www.e-weightloss-fitness.com/leg_exercises_map.shtml

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/all_exercises.asp

Altho cottage cheese does have alot of sodium(salt) in it, I wouldnt

be so ready to stop eating the lowfat dairy foods. I was watching the

new series (excellant! btw)on Discovery Health called The Truth About

Food (with Dr Oz as narrator!) and one of its experiments was quite

interesting about how calcium in dairy products collects fats. Altho

it was a small Danish study with only a few people involved, they had

them eat a high amount(but lowfat) dairy products one week and

another week of no dairy products (same amt calories & ratios tho,

like they had a piece of chicken instead etc). They collected their

bathroom remains (if you know what I mean) and tested them for fat

content. The dairy week had twice as much fat in it as the nondairy

week - not just fat from the diet itself but from (they assume)

bodyfat. So the results stated that eating lowfat dairy because of

the calcium and probably other enzymes helps to collect any fat

drifting around in the digestion system. So I wouldnt ditch the

dairy, but maybe switch up the choices/brands for less salt or sugar

if you can.

joni

January 2, 2008

So Joni, did that only work if you ate low-fat, what about no-fat dairy? Thanks!

>>> jgrrl2 <no_reply > 12/31/2007 11:24 AM >>>