Perspective & Carbs
It is SO important to keep perspective.In my last post I complained that I had gained a few pounds over Christmas taking me back up to 165lbs. I was pretty disappointed about this.
Then, it occurred to me that I was making a mistake. Yes, I had gained some weight on the scale but, as I normally do, I hadn't compared against my body fat % using my highly technical "Fat Grab-O-Meter"
This makes a huge difference and I'm shocked that I forgot to compare.
So the reality is quite amazing to me. Let's put this in context.
back in September I weighed in at 170 lbs with at 25% body fat. This meant I needed to lose 30 lbs of fat to reach my target.
Today, I weigh in at 165 lbs at 19% body fat (yup it's up slightly from before xmas) but this means I still only need to lose 16.6 lbs to reach my target.
Even though I'm only a net 5 lbs different from September I'm still about 50% closer to my target.
That is a much more optimistic way of looking at things. And that's enough complaining from me.
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Another topic is carbs.
Unlike the "Atkins bunch" I eat carbs. I believe carbs are super essencial in giving my body the energy it needs for my intense workouts and also (probably more important for my over all life) for brain function.I eat a larger amount of carbs in the morning and gradually ease off carbs into the evening. I try not to eat carbs after 7:00 PM.
This is my way....I know not everyone agrees with it. The general thinking that I've heard otherwise suggests that you need consistent carbs over the course of a day.
My argument to the contrary is pretty straight forward. In the evening, after my workouts, I'm not going to be burning the carbs. A late night carb snack will turn directly into sugar and then be stored as fat while I sleep (the amount of course depends on your metabolic rate).
A late night protein snack will turn into unused energy as well but (as I understand it) is stored in the muscle, ready for the next workout, not as fat.
Now I don't pretend to know everything there is to know. But I can say that this works pretty well for me.
posted by Mark at
3:42 AM
2 Comments:
Everyone's gotta do what works for THEIR bodies - I think that's the problem with a lot of things printed in magazines and such - what works for one will not always work for another. I like carbs too, I do try to keep the as unprocessed as possible, fruits and veggies, and if its bread or grain make sure its whole wheat. I guess as much as possible, especially closer to competition, I try to do the evolutionary style of eating or Paleo, but its not always easy to give up rice even if its brown rice or whole wheat toast..
Glad you were able to put things back in perspective and some pretty good stats too!
Have a great new year!
By
Kimberly Rae, at 11:23 AM, December 30, 2005
Balance, balance, balance. This is the key to life including fitness and nutrition. Too much or too little of anything can be a very bad thing.
One last thing, is to always try to put things in perspective. It's easy to jump to a conclusion and get very disappointed, but try to look at the big picture. This is something that I've had to learn the hard way.
By
Steven Ercolani, at 6:32 AM, January 04, 2006
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