“Weight loss” is NOT the same thing as “fat loss”!

I add a lot of people on Facebook for motivation reasons – people who want to get healthy (not experts in anyway) and bodybuilding athletes /pros. With saving all these fit friends comes a vast amount of knowledge. However, some of these people post some wacky stuff. Some are just ridiculous. You can pinpoint who doesn’t know much about becoming healthy.

I watched a video today where this guy was telling his audience not to be so upset with all the new people in the gym in the next couple weeks. (I won’t be because I’m still new too.) The guy, also, talked about how there are so many personal trainers and other people that know nothing about training and they’re the first ones to judge a “New Year’s resolutioner”. Really, if you’re in the gym and you’re judging other people negatively, you’re done with your workout – go home. Now, if you see a person who is doing an exercise wrong, where they could possibly hurt themselves, then you should say something to help them. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted someone to show me what to do in the gym as a newbie. I had no one to help since I would go after midnight. I know I do a lot of things wrong and no one corrects me. I had a boyfriend who went to the gym with me one day and had the nerve to tell me after I was done working out that I was doing my triceps extensions wrong…and he still never told me how to do it. People, if you know how to do an exercise and someone is doing it wrong, help them! GEEZ! (FYI – that guy is my “ex” now!)

Skinny fat or Fat Skinny? I chose neither. HA! There is no difference. I don’t want to be “skinny”. Been there, done that. People thought I was anorexic and I ate a lot! I just didn’t have any muscle. A healthy body has some muscle. Something I have learned since my journey started back in May was that doing too much cardio will keep you from maintaining the muscle mass you worked so hard to get. Depending on your goals for your own body, anymore cardio after 45 min-1 hour is considered excessive and your body will start to use muscle (or fat, whatever your body feels like using) as energy. The best way to optimize muscle gain/maintenance is not to overdo the cardio. And if you are only doing cardio, stop it! If you really want to lose weight, adjust your caloric intake, do at least 30 minutes on the treadmill and lift weights. If you eat clean and you lift weights, you will build muscle. You can do your much-loved cardio – just keep it under an hour. After a while and with clean eating, your metabolism takes over and the muscle will burn the fat itself, even when you’re not working out. A person, who does more than an hour of cardio, is going for just being skinny. That is, if they are in fact burning more calories than taking in. Otherwise, they won’t see much of a difference.

My goal is to lose fat mass and gain muscle. My ideal body fat would be less than 20%. I’d like to be around 120-125 lbs. (I’m 5’2.) If I decided to compete, then obviously those numbers would drop a little bit.  I’ve got a ways to go.

The minimum amount of fat necessary for basic physical health is 10-13% for women, and 2-5% for men. Don’t take that wrong though. That is not what an average healthy person should have. It is only for what amount of fat a person needs to maintain life. AccuFitness came out with a chart for body fat %. For a person my age (32), it is considered “ideal” to be between 21-26% body fat. I’m pretty sure I’m a few percentages above that without working out so I have some work to do.

Many people will think it’s about dieting and end up doing those fad diets. Fad diets do NOT work! They are temporary fixes and why would you want weight loss to be temporary? Most people will gain the weight they lost after they stop the fad diet and some will gain even more weight, leaving them back where they started. There is nothing “temporary” about becoming healthy and fit. It’s a lifestyle and you have to commit to exercise and changing your diet (what you eat daily) for the rest of your life.

Here are some other things I’ve learned:

1.      Eat that protein! If you eat enough protein, your body will burn the fat and spare the muscle. 1 gram per lb of body weight per day, if you’re wondering.

2.      Lift weights. More muscle = more fat burned.

3.      Your body loves muscle! That’s why it will burn fat more efficiently when you do have more muscle. It wants to get rid of the fat! I’m not wrong on this! Get fatter and see how your body and organs start to function for you!

4.      Weights before cardio. It’s better to use most of your energy lifting weights. You really don’t need much for cardio anyway. You will burn more calories this way as well.

5.      Train one body part a day. You need a couple days in between to recover that muscle.

6.      Eat 5-6 small meals a day, equally spaced apart. I eat every 3 hours. This will include a pre/post workout shake or meal.

7.      Get enough sleep. 7-8 hours is what I need.

8.      Drink water! Flush all that crap out of your body! LOL I pee 20 times a day but I feel so much better if I’m hydrated. I like to drink fruit-infused water. I’ll blog about it soon.

9.      Seek professional help. It’s not a bad thing. Ask a certified personal trainer/training coach. FYI, I’m not an expert. You don’t have to ask me or take my advice on anything.

D'Anna
xo