Tag: weighing in

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Using The Tools on This Site

I wanted to revisit all the Fitness tools and Calculators included on this site.  I had mixed results but the bottom line is that my tummy must be trimmed down. Stepping through the main page, we have the:

  • Body Fat Calculator  from http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/  The formula provided will not calculate your exact body fat percentage but should give you a consistent measurement you can use as a guideline and determine if you’re losing body fat and/or muscle. Oddly, the calculation says I have body fat percentage is 27.4%.  My scale tells me it is 39%. I think I’m measuring something incorrectly.

    From http://www.fat2fitradio.com/
    Fat 2 Fit #144 – New Measurements Of Success Written on March 3, 2013 – 12:00 am | by Helana Brigman

Looking at this photo, I’m sadly inclined to believe my scale.

  •  How much should you weigh?  Inputting 39% body fat into the Fat 2 Fit Tool, the ideal weight for my age with 35% body fat is 168 pounds.  That seems doable.
  • Calories and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) –  Fat 2 Fit Tools advocates eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels in the chart are not extreme, but  create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner.  Based on my goal weight of 168 and assuming light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week,  the tool suggests a daily caloric intake of 2005! As I get closer to my goal weight, my weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.
  • Covert Bailey Body Fat Calculation – The formulas in this body fat calculation are based on the Covert Bailey book The Ultimate Fit or Fat. The formula does not calculate your exact body fat percentage but should give you a consistent measurement you can use as a guideline and determine if you’re losing body fat and/or muscle.  Again, this weirdly gave me a body fat percentage of 27.8%.  This is not right.
  • Waist to Hip Ratio – Carrying extra weight around your middle, indicated by a high waist to hip ratio, increases health risks associated with obesity.  This tool tells me my Waist to Hip ratio is: 0.93.  Anything over 0.85 signifies a high health risk!
  • Waist to Height Ratio – The waist to height ratio is the best predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality. My Waist to Height Ratio is 58.3%.  According to the tool, a ratio 54 to 58 means “Seriously Overweight” and a ratio over 58 means “Highly Obese“. That’s not good.
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Diet Fitness New York Weight

Photos are Worth a Thousand Words

From http://www.fat2fitradio.com/
From http://www.fat2fitradio.com/
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Calories Diet Fitness Weight

Weighing In

I took the day off from exercise today. 🙂  I checked my weight this morning directly after waking up.  Although most sites discourage you from weighing yourself every day, I find I cannot help myself when I am trying to get fit.

I liked the tips provided in the Medicinenet.com article To Weigh, Or Not To Weigh…That Is The Question [Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD,  Medical Editor: William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR]

Whatever weigh-in frequency you choose, keep these tips in mind when stepping on the scale:
1. Weighing yourself first thing in the morning is usually best. Because of variations in food and fluid consumption, we often “gain” different amounts of weight throughout the day.
2. If you’re weighing frequently, remember that daily fluctuations in weight are common. Just because you’re heavier today than yesterday doesn’t mean your weight control program isn’t working. Don’t become a slave to the numbers.
3. Monthly variations in weight are also common in menstruating women.
4. “Plateaus” in weight loss aren’t necessarily bad. If you’re exercising a lot, your weight may remain constant for a time even though you’re still decreasing your body fat content and getting healthier.
5. Finally, cues other than the numbers on the scale are equally important. How do you feel? Are your clothes getting looser or tighter? Do you feel stronger, healthier, leaner? Your own perceptions can be the most valuable tools to help you track your weight control progress.

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Calories Diet Exercise Fitness Kickboxing New York sports

Healthy Eating and Walking

So the thought for today is to eat better and continue exercising.  It’s a lovely day so I did a 3.7 mile loop of the park this afternoon.  As for healthy eating, I like the advice of: Prospect Park Preserve

  • cutting out junk food, processed foods, sugars…[including the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup]
  • eating more colorful and fresh foods
  • eating in moderation [drinking more water as I might be thirsty rather than hungry]

I found a nice web page called Healthy Eating Easy Tips for Planning a Healthy Diet and Sticking To It from Helpguide.com that provides some common sense advice.

I had a weird diet day today.  I slept in this morning so ate fewer meals.  I’m not sure how that ranks in the BMR [Basal Metabolic Rate] calculation.  Given my 3-5 days/week of moderate exercise activity, I can eat about 2150 calories each day.  The Fat2FitRadio.com calculation is described as:

The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels …create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You’ll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the [calculation provides] the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person.

Given that I woke up late today, I only ate 2 meals and consumed approximately 650  calories today….. is that bad? I don’t know….

Optimum Nutrition - 100% Nat Oats & Whey ChocolateAlso,  the Helpguide.com article mentioned that we should avoid sugars in any form.  My breakfast this morning comprised a fruit shake made from frozen mangoes, Zico Coconut Water, and Optimum Nutrition – 100% Natural Oats & Whey Chocolate.  The Optimum Nutrition protein drink is very tasty.  The label says, however, that it contains 8 g of Sugars in the form of honey powder and evaporated cane juice powder.  I’m guessing that is not good news but I’m very fond of it.  The Livestrong.com site has an article titled Health Risks of High Fructose Corn Syrup that sums up many of the concerns about High Fructose Corn Syrup [HFCS].  Among other things, it notes that the human body process regular sugars differently than HFCS.

A couple of excerpts from the Health Risks of High Fructose Corn Syrup article:

The human body does not process HFCS the same way it processes sugar. Fructose requires a different metabolic pathway than other carbohydrates because it skips glycolysis, or normal carbohydrate metabolism. Because of this, fructose is an unregulated source of “acetyl CoA,” or the starting material for fatty acid synthesis. Furthermore, by ingesting HFCS, a vicious cycle can ensue. This is because eating HFCS can increase the feelings of hunger.

Liver Disease & Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Metabolic syndrome includes elevated insulin levels, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels and increased blood pressure. The journal, “Hepatology” noted in June 2010, “The rising incidence of obesity and diabetes coincides with a marked increase in fructose consumption and is higher in individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.” Furthermore, fructose consumption is a contributing environmental risk factor for increased fibrosis of the liver.

Read the entire article at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/259181-heath-risks-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/?utm_source=popslideshow&utm_medium=a1

..and, yes, I remembered to log my nutrition and exercise into SparkPeople.com site .  I’ve been less consistent about logging into the Self.com Diet Club as it’s more cumbersome.

 

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Exercise Fitness Kickboxing New York sports

Strength Training at Crunch Gym

Looking at yesterday’s workout, it is clear that I haven’t been working as hard as I should when I am at Crunch. I felt ashamed at the amount of my whining. 🙁  So, this morning I told Frank that I needed to be pushed harder.woman lifting weights cartoon

Taking it to heart, Frank had me doing lateral pull-downs, rows, and bicep exercises with much heavier weights.  I had to do knuckle push ups [modified because I was on my knees] and modified jumping jacks [no jumping] with two pound weights.  The knuckle push ups are supposed to help strengthen my wrists and my forearms –  both of which should help with kickboxing as well.

All in all, I think we accomplished a great deal more today.  Excellent!

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Calories Diet Exercise Fitness Injuries Kickboxing New York sports

Back Strengtheners With Resistance Bands and Kickboxing Cardio

I met with John Salgado this afternoon for my kickboxing session.  We’re going to ease into strengthening my legs so we focused primarily on arms and back.  The session  began with mobility exercises to try to get the kinks out of my legs. We then proceeded to do a series of slow front kicks. By isolating each part of the kick, John says that we work on our core strength, balance and technique.  [I found a related article on the benefit of isolation exercises called “How to Front Kick“.]

Then we moved onto Back Exercises [3 sets] using the Stability Ball:

Using the Resistance Bands and seated on a balance ball:

  • Lateral Rowskickboxing woman
  • Seated Rows
  • Bicep Curls

Also on the Balance Ball [3 sets]:

  • Push ups on the Stability Ball Reps: 12-15
  • Knee Tucks on the Stability Ball Reps: 12-15
  • Dumbbell Chest Press on Ball [15, 20, 25 lb weights]
  • Dumbbell Triceps Extensions on Ball [15, 20, 25 lb weights]
  • Sit ups [last set with light weights]

We also did a couple of rounds doing punches, slips and kicks with the punching bag. We finished with 3 minutes of elbow-to-knees sit ups.

After stretching my legs and back, we ended our session today with some QiGong outside.

We picked up a couple of Mango and Green Teas with Tapioca at CoCo Fresh Tea and Juice.  According to Livingstrong.com, tapioca bubble tea combines tea, milk, honey and cooked tapioca pearls to form a frothy beverage that should be treated as a dessert in your caloric count. The large drink probably contained more than 300 calories. I’d always thought tapioca was good for you but I think I will pass on these next time.

 

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Calories Diet Exercise Fitness Kickboxing New York sports

Calorie Goals – Which Calculator To Follow?

Which BMR calculator?I  dutifully logged my food intake for the day on SparkPeople.com.  According to the SparkPeople site, I should be eating 1,380 to 1,730 calories per day.  It’s difficult for me to stay within this range. I like to eat and tend to eat out a lot.  I also tend to go to sporting events so the food that I buy is often greasy… [Yes, there’s room for improvement.] In my defense, I have begun to make fruit protein shakes for breakfast with Chocolate Flavored Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Oats and Whey Protein.  It is made with whole grain oats and all-whey protein; has no artificial flavors and no synthetic colors.  It does contain honey powder and evaporated cane juice powder but that’s better than High-Fructose Corn Syrup….  I throw the protein powder in the blender with some milk and frozen fruit and it tastes great.

Anyway, if I compare the SparkPeople.com calorie suggestion with the Calories and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator on Fat2FitRadio.com,  it looks as if the SparkPeople.com guideline would be correct only if I were very sedentary.  Giving myself credit for working out 3-5 times a week, I should be considered “Moderately Active” and can consume 2,150 calories on a daily basis!  That would mean that, although incredibly unhealthy, the 2 bags of potato chips I consumed today were OK. [2 oz. for a total of 304 calories] How funny is that?  Somehow, I don’t believe either of my trainers would be pleased to hear it.

I’ll be seeing John tomorrow for Kickboxing…I’ll ask him. LOL