Tess' week 3/3- P90, M3Fitness & WW revelation

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

This week's been pretty good. I've been keeping up with the P90

rotation with only one minor bobble. Yesterday I was feeling awful

(the pollen count's been hugely off the scale this week) so I dropped

from the 3/4 cardio disc back down to the 1/2.

Even so, I got halfway through, and I bonked. I've heard of the

phenomenon, but I'd never had it happen. I literally could not lift

my legs another time, my heart was racing and I felt like someone had

opened a valve in my ankle and all the energy was running out.

Figured that was enough for the day and shut it down. Took some

Benadryl, took a nap (sorta a given, considering the Benadryl) and

shrugged it off.

Feeling much better today, I did P90 Strength 1/2 and felt normal.

I've decided to switch my ab work to strength day, as I'm usually so

wiped out after cardio that I know I'm not giving the ab work at the

end my best effort.

Since I hadn't gotten to try the Lethal Abs tape (put out by

BodyVision in 1994) yet, I put it in today instead of P90's Ab Ripper

200.

Wow. I'm going to do this from now on. I got through the Beginner's

Abs and the Lower Back work, and my abs are already feeling more than

I ever did with AR. And I'd rather look at any day rather

than Tony. Michaeal reminds me strongly of my little brother at that

age, and since Heath now lives in Australia, the resemblance makes me

all warm and fuzzy-- and any good feelings I can get during a tough ab

workout, I'll take!

I also appreciate the lower back work in this, for balanced muscle

development, and the form pointers. Tony's not one big on form

instruction, at least in P90.

Weight Watchers was interesting this week. I'd gained .4 of a lbs,

which is par for the course lately-- one step forward, one step back.

My leader noticed just how *long* I've been plateaued, took me aside

and questioned me about it.

To make a long conversation short, she was shocked to hear how much I

work out, and told me quickly that I wasn't eating *enough.* (I

rarely eat all my discretionary points, and never used my points

earned for activity.) She also confided that WW is really set up for

the average overweight to obese person, who does not exercise, or does

30 mins of very light exercise, 3x a week.

In one of these odd coincidences, someone on another list mentioned

the group m3fitness, which has been started by a personal

trainer to basically give one-on-one advice on fitness issues. (As far

as I can see, so far, he's got no ulterior motive)

, the trainer, had replied to my intial post with an eight-page

analysis of bodyfat, body composition, and nutritional needs. Turns

out I need 1610 calories a day or so to support my exercise while

still allowing for fat loss.

I figured up my average day, considering that one WW point is about 60

calories. I've been getting by on 1010 to 1250 calories a day... as

they say on Mythbusters: " Well *there's* your problem! "

My calorie needs will have to be dialed in, of course, but finally I'm

not feeling the constant, gnawing urge to cruise the kitchen and

nibble. I wasn't really *hungry* in the stomach-growling sense all

the time, but I've been relentlessly driven by something that felt

like subliminal hunger since I started exercising in earnest.

It's such a relief to not feel that anymore!

Don't get me wrong, I'm *NOT* knocking WW in any way, and was

careful to praise it as well. It has helped thousands upon thousands,

and it's excellent in teaching portion control, nutrition, mental

changes, healthy lifestyle, ect. It helped (and is helping) ME even

now-- I don't want to give up that accountability and support-- and

it's doing wonders for my son as well.

It is what it is, though-- and I've just flat outgrown the nutritional

side of it, in progressing from sedentary to " near athletic " in my

fitness endeavors-- and that's an amazing revelation to me!

I want to praise you *all* for your dedication to fitness and your

persistance in keeping it up. I took for granted how rare that is,

until this week I keep running across references to how utterly

UNcommon it is for anyone to exercise at all regularly, much less

stick to more than a 3x a week routine.

KUDOS TO US, ONE AND ALL!!

Tess

--

" ...I am too many this morning... "

Lessa

~Dragonflight~

[Guest guest]

Hi Tess,

Just got a chance to read this note. Regarding the WW revelation about points... YES!!!! If you're on flex you MUST eat all your points regardless of whether you are exercising or not. At your level of exertion you should also be eating all or most of your flex AND activity points. A less active person might not need to eat that many "extra" points but for you they are not extra. The body goes into starvation mode, that is protecting itself from starvation, by slowing waaaaaay down when you don't eat enough calories. WW may or may not be designed for the obese person who has little activity (I have NEVER heard that) but the program works for anyone with any amount to lose as long as they do the program as designed and not try to tinker with it because they know better (believe me, I've done that tinkering myself, I ALWAYS know better or so I think). A lot of people try to eat less than the amount of points they have available to them thinking less food = more weight loss and yes, that's true BUT not if it isn't enough food for your body to sustain itself. The point system is designed to give you enough food so that you are healthy and energetic and will also lose weight at the same time. This assumes you're following the 8 healthy guidelines too and not filling yourself with 1 piece of fruit and lots of cookies; I've done that one and every other game playing technique you can come up with and it all amounted to painfully slow weight loss... .2 one week, .4 another, then nothing then .2 you get the picture.

I hope that helps explains things more too. Let us know if, when you add in more points (more healthy foods), what your results are. I'd expect it to be good within a week or possibly 2. You're doing great Tess!!

(WW receptionist and hopefully leader someday)

[Guest guest]

On 4/5/07, nancydewolf <nancydewolf@...> wrote:

Hi Tess,

Just got a chance to read this note. Regarding the WW revelation about points... YES!!!! If you're on flex you MUST eat all your points regardless of whether you are exercising or not. At your level of exertion you should also be eating all or most of your flex AND activity points. A less active person might not need to eat that many " extra " points but for you they are not extra. The body goes into starvation mode, that is protecting itself from starvation, by slowing waaaaaay down when you don't eat enough calories.<SNIP>I suspect I have gone into starvation mode-- I ate all my points this past week, and was up 1.2 lbs at weigh-in. I sorta expected that, figured my body would latch onto every extra calorie and stash it away in case I go back to shortchanging it-- but still, it was emotionally discouraging.

WW may or may not be designed for the obese person who has little activity (I have NEVER heard that) but the program works for anyone with any amount to lose as long as they do the program as designed and not try to tinker with it because they know better (believe me, I've done that tinkering myself, I ALWAYS know better or so I think). <SNIP>I got the feeling she was confiding something entirely off the record, and perhaps something that she'd surmised personally. I'm aware that WW is very strict (as it must be) with what may and may not be said by a leader, and I got the feeling she was going out on a limb with this. I probably shouldn't even have shared that bit-- she's a fantastic leader and I'd hate to get her in trouble if anyone ever figured out which meeting I go to. The fact that the personal trainer (while praising WW) had come to the same conclusion independently, tends to make be believe it's true, whether or not it's something that's openly acknowledged by the WW organization. After all, only what, 15% of all Americans exercise regularly? And I bet the percentage of overweight/obese people within that 15% is vanishingly small.

I hope that helps explains things more too. Let us know if, when you add in more points (more healthy foods), what your results are. I'd expect it to be good within a week or possibly 2. You're doing great Tess!!Thanks. I'm going to give it another week. If I still gain, I'll probably cut the activity points back out. I've worked too hard to lose this weight, to allow more than a couple of lbs to creep back on! Got too much invested in clothes now, too! LOL

(WW receptionist and hopefully leader someday)I have no doubt you'll make a great leader, and I'd be honored to attend one of your meetings any day!Tess

[Guest guest]

Re: Tess' week 3/3- P90, M3Fitness & WW revelation

On 4/5/07, nancydewolf <nancydewolfsbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote:

Hi Tess,

The body goes into starvation mode, that is protecting itself from starvation, by slowing waaaaaay down when you don't eat enough calories.<SNIP>

I suspect I have gone into starvation mode-- I ate all my points this past week, and was up 1.2 lbs at weigh-in. I sorta expected that, figured my body would latch onto every extra calorie and stash it away in case I go back to shortchanging it-- but still, it was emotionally discouraging.

I'm sure it was! That is very frustrating! Sometimes it is a matter of playing with the levels to see what works. On core and in maintenance mode I get 63 points for non core foods each week but I've found if I eat all 63 I gain, but right around 53 I maintain well (and I'm also eating my activity points most days).

WW may or may not be designed for the obese person who has little activity (I have NEVER heard that) but the program works for anyone with any amount to lose as long as they do the program as designed and not try to tinker with it because they know better (believe me, I've done that tinkering myself, I ALWAYS know better or so I think). <SNIP>

I got the feeling she was confiding something entirely off the record, and perhaps something that she'd surmised personally. I'm aware that WW is very strict (as it must be) with what may and may not be said by a leader, and I got the feeling she was going out on a limb with this. I probably shouldn't even have shared that bit-- she's a fantastic leader and I'd hate to get her in trouble if anyone ever figured out which meeting I go to.

I'm not one to report people for things like this so no worries from me! :-) The fact that the personal trainer (while praising WW) had come to the same conclusion independently, tends to make be believe it's true, whether or not it's something that's openly acknowledged by the WW organization. After all, only what, 15% of all Americans exercise regularly? And I bet the percentage of overweight/obese people within that 15% is vanishingly small. I can see where it might have merit. In December they revamped the current program and did add an excellent exercise component (I think you get the booklet at week 3 or 4) that is definitely aimed at the sedentary individual but it also addresses the needs of people who have been moving too (it brings you through starting to continually challenging yourself and making exercise a regular part of your life). It is still up to individual leaders to stress activity or not though. I adore my leader but wish she would stress it more (and she works out at least 3x a week).

I hope that helps explains things more too. Let us know if, when you add in more points (more healthy foods), what your results are. I'd expect it to be good within a week or possibly 2. You're doing great Tess!!

Thanks. I'm going to give it another week. If I still gain, I'll probably cut the activity points back out. I've worked too hard to lose this weight, to allow more than a couple of lbs to creep back on! Got too much invested in clothes now, too! LOL

Sounds like a smart approach. You already get your water in regularly too don't you? I know it can help. I think you gave me some good ideas on that (my perpetual challenge, I think I'm just being bratty because I'd rather drink diet coke).

Something else to consider... we've talked about core/flex before and you might think about trying core for a week or two. I've heard a lot of people get off plateaus and lose significantly when they switch programs (either direction) because their body is shaken up by their doing something new. You might want to talk with your leader about this possibility.

(WW receptionist and hopefully leader someday)

I have no doubt you'll make a great leader, and I'd be honored to attend one of your meetings any day!

I am honored by your confidence in me, thank you so much!!! I still have tons to learn and I appreciate your sharing your journey with me, hearing other people's perspectives educates me all the time.

Thanks and good luck!!!