Better Body Goals-Accountability Thread

[Mermaid Saphira]

haha! I'm going to quote that orange juice commercial "Who doesn't want to cut calories and look better naked?" xD

Anywho, I tried the video and I'm typing this so I'm obviously not dead. lol. I must admit, not matter how sad, those jumpjacks, I was sure, were going to be the end of me xD I'm all sweaty now so I think I'll take a shower

[SeaGlass Siren]

I look forward to your reports! I'd love to hear how it works for you.

I'm happy- my mom was here today and she pointed out that I'm looking very trim and fit. Right on. I have so far to go. I look great in clothes, but I want to look great nekkid. lol

High fins all around! :slapslap:

[Rat-Soup]

Ok, so I read through as much of this thread as I could before replying, and yes I skimmed some of it, but there are a few exercise myths I have to address.

1. SPOT REDUCTION DOES NOT WORK

The idea that you can lose fat from only one part of your body while leaving the rest relatively untouched is false. Your body loses fat from everywhere at once. You cannot work one body part more to make the fat in that area shed faster. You CAN work one body part more in order to define the muscle better, but that's it.

2. IF WOMEN LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS, IT WILL NOT MAKE YOU 'BULKY'

For one simple, biological reason; women simply DO NOT have enough testosterone to build muscle like those you see on a bodybuilder. The only way women can get THAT huge is through steroids, simple as that. However, that does not mean that naturally muscly women are an impossibility, but it take a VERY SPECIFIC kind of exercise and diet regime to make you gain that kind of competition muscle naturally.

If you want 'tone', lift weights. And I don't mean a million reps with one kilo dumbbells. I mean proper weights, with barbells. Aim for 5 sets of 3-5 reps at high weight for strength, and 3 sets of 10-15 reps of medium weight for hypertrophy (muscle building). And when I say medium weight, I mean something that you will just barley be able to finish with on the last rep of your last set. Same goes for the heavy weight. And for the love of hell, make sure you learn proper form on any lifts you attempt. Slow weight progression + proper form = greater fitness gains with no injury.

Weightlifting will also burn calories faster than cardio. That does not mean that cardio does not have its place, it's just that it should be used as a supplement to further cut down body fat percentage, rather than be the whole basis of your exercise regime.

3. BMI IS ALMOST USELESS IN IDENTIFYING THE HEALTH LEVEL OF AN INDIVIDUAL

This is an outdated system, invented in a time when we knew much less about fitness health than we do now. It is mostly accurate as a health indicator of a large population that is mostly sedentary. For individuals, it is almost useless. This becomes truer the fitter you get. Muscle weighs more than fat, so a simple formula like the BMI is grossly inaccurate.

A better indicator of fitness is body fat percentage. That is, how much fat your body has (beyond the absolute minimum amount of fat the body needs to function). There are levels of body fat that is healthy, and others that are not, and some that are simply unsustainable. This is usually measured with a fat caliper, or water tank weighing. Or, you could use this handy visual guide here if you need a quick reference: http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/...age-men-women/

And finally

4. FAD DIETS AND CRASH DIETS ARE UNSUSTAINABLE AND OFTEN UNHEALTHY

Eating well is not rocket surgery. A simple guide to healthy eating is going with the 'clean' approach. Do you have to look up the ingredients or preservatives in a food item, or find them unpronounceable? Then don't eat it. Go with fresh produce where you can, and packaged food whose ingredients do not go beyond "tomatoes 80% water, salt, preservative". Generally try keep to a ratio of high protein, medium carbs, low fat for maintaining weight. Lower the carb intake for weight loss/cutting body fat. Increase it for bulking. Always keep the protein high so as not to lose muscle mass while losing weight. Remember to choose high fat over high sugar if there is a toss up. Sugar is worse than fat. Your body knows how to deal with fat. It has no idea how to deal with sugar well. Eating healthy does not have to be boring. If you are generally eating well but cannot be bothered micro-managing everything (like me), just work out more. However, if your diet is mostly McDonalds, you are going to be out of luck. You cannot out-train a bad diet.

Hope this was useful in some way and didn't come off as preachy. I'm sorry if this was already covered in some of the pages I skimmed over.

[deepblue]

Rat-soup- sure, those things have been covered, as we've gone along, usually in direct response to someone posting about it. No one's talked about fad diets yet, which is great- unless I missed that. I think we have an extremely diverse population of mers and we all have our own ways of eating, and each can be done smartly or improved upon, or even changed entirely. That doesn't mean we don't want people to contribute their information. I'm sure these things will all get covered again, as we go along, within conversation.

Can you tell us what your better body goals are and how you either achieve them or hope to? Maybe you can tell us how you utilize that information for your own better body goals.

[Usagi]

Holy crap, Saphira! You're hot!! Haha but aren't you like 14? Why are you worrying? You should be off frolicking in fields and riding ponies and enjoying your youth! :P

Urgh. It seems I've been building up muscle in my thighs...but the fat isn't going away! ):<

Idk about "fad" diets not working. Last summer, I was stupid and desperate enough to kind of stop eating for a week or two. I even went to Warped Tour, where you were pretty much sweating as soon as you got out of the car. The only thing I ate that day was the lettuce off my boyfriend's burger. Honestly, I think I might have been trying to get his attention by only eating that. Like a cry for help or something. In those 1-2 weeks I dropped about 10 pounds (maybe I sweated it all away! haha). Which, now that I think about it, is kinda scary. I lost a lot of my already non-existent boobs lol they're starting to come back, though. But I haven't gained any of the weight back! I've actually lost more! But I was really tired and irritable. I DO NOT recommend it.

I DO recommend increasing your water intake. I think most people know that, though.

And I think some of the people of that website lie...I was looking for my match..one picture said the girl was 5' 1" and 130 pounds, and she looked like a damn model. Haha unless her boobs weighed like 15 pounds each, I don't see how that's possible. Hahaha

[Mermaid Varshana]

Women usually lie about their weight, so when we see real numbers and the bodies that match, we're often surprised.

[deepblue]

Idk about "fad" diets not working. ~snip~. I DO NOT recommend it.

Right- that's where the not working comes in... any 'diet' that makes you lose weight rapidly and can't be sustained is' not working'. If you can't eat the way you are for the rest of your life and be okay, is it smart? Unless you're talking about a specialized short term situation under medical advice, I know that happens. But under basic, normal circumstances, if you can't eat the way you are and be healthy with it long term, then it's probably not a good idea.

And it can screw with your metabolism, and when you start eating normally again, you'll gain so much back, and it gets stored, because your body had just been through a period of time in which it thought it was starving. Our bodies have come from eons of humanity that went through droughts and famine, and harsh seasons, and they're made to survive it if possible- only now most of us are in a time of plenty, with more choices than our ancestors ever had, but our bodies are still only human. Or mer.

And anyway, eating great all the time means you can have a day here or there of whatever you want and not only can you not eat too much with a stomach used to less, but it won't change your metabolism if it's just a day.

[Mermaid Saphira]

Holy crap, Saphira! You're hot!! Haha but aren't you like 14? Why are you worrying? You should be off frolicking in fields and riding ponies and enjoying your youth! :P

I know, I know, but I'd like to get in shape. I've had some bad health problems since I was little and I don't want them to get in my way anymore. Plus, it doesn't hurt to look great in a new dress along the way lol

[Mermaid Dottie]

All right guys! 25 (actually 27:46) minutes of cardio, 30 sit ups, and 10 pushups.
I hurt! in a good way, though. ^_^

[Mermaid Syrena]

Yay, Dottie! Well done! *waves pompoms* Yeah that hurt feels good, lol.

I did my usual interval treadmill run today. I've noticed that since I've started interval running, more people have commented that I look fitter and slightly slimmer. Which is a big achievement for me- I usually put on muscle relatively easy- and I know, I know, "lifting heavy weights and getting bulky" is supposed to be a myth for girls... but I did feel myself getting bigger, when I was lifting heavy!
Now that I'm interval training and doing moderate weights, I feel like I'm in a place where I like my body better. I also do Herbalife shakes twice a day. I know a lot of people are wary of Herbalife-- but I don't do the MLM shizz. For me, it's just an easy way to shake up a protein shake and have that as a meal. (classes keep me pretty busy!)

[Mermaid Dottie]

Awww... Thanks Magick!

I just looked at that Rat-soup's suggested website. I found this body fat percentage calculator to go with it. I don't know how accurate it is, but according to my clumsy math, it appears to work fairly well.
And here's a lean body mass calculator.

According to these calculators, I have a 33% body fat, and my lean body mass is 128. Comparing my picture that I posted the other day, to the pictures given on the website That seems right. I would like to get my body fat percentage down to around 25%. Anymer know how to do that?

[Mermaid Syrena]

Haha, Dottie- that's the first time anybody's called me "Magick"! ;P
My actual mer-name is Syrena (chose it before watching POTC 4, meh), and I'm trying to get it changed to that. I know there's a Sirena and a Mermaid Sirena on Mernetwork, though.

I'd recommend:
1. Clean eating, with a little calorie deficit --> You can google "daily caloric needs calculator", and it'll give you a rough estimate of how many calories you should be consuming a day. Bear in mind that you should still be filling yourself up with good, nutritious food, though! 300 calories of a wholewheat sandwich does NOT equal 300 calories of chocolate! ... Also, I say "a little calorie deficit" because if you try to starve yourself- your body goes into starvation mode, which promotes fat storage. Which is not what we want.
2. Cardio- you're doing great on this already, keep it up!
3. Muscle-toning - keep up the pushups and situps. If you could slowly work some weights in there, that would greatly help.
4. Water - at least 2L a day, although I gun for 3 L when I'm feeling brave.
5. Sleep- not sleeping enough promotes the production of a certain chemical (the name eludes me now) that promotes fat storage.

Hope that helps!

Also, for some quick, natural fixes-- dandelion tea and ginger tea are great for mild detoxing and helping digestive problems.

[Mermaid Varshana]

I second weight bearing exercises. I lost a lot of fat that way

[SeaGlass Siren]

Guys after 1st 14 that's when you really feel the burn.

I thought I was doin it wrong but I guess I didn't feel anything because of how much thigh fat I had LOL...

But now... I'm feeling it reach my butt

[Mermaid Dottie]

Magick Syrena, you are awesome.
I just got back on the Myfitnesspal app on my phone that keeps track of calories.
And I really do need to drink more water.
Weights, though.... I don't have money for weights, nor do I know anyone that has them. Is there anything I can use instead of real barbells?
And, where do I even start?
I've never used weights before, not even in school. I usually kept in shape because of the swim team. I didn't have to do P.E. because of that.

[Mermaid Varshana]

Your own body weight. Giant sacks of sand from Home Depot. Full water jugs. Kitty litter jugs.

[Usagi]

0_____________________0
I used to be grossed out by turkey burgers for some reason (I don't eat beef or pork or seafood). But I had one last night. OH MY GOD. It's so delicious. TuT (happy crying, lol). and it has 20 g of protein and only 9 g of fat. Yummmm

I think baby-lifting would be good exercise. Hahaha

[Rat-Soup]

Largely, I would like to get stronger. My forseeable goals are to be able to lift twice my body weight (110kg) on the major lifts (Deadlift, Squat, Bench). Maybe focus on my upper body strength some more. My current lifts are as follows:

Deadlift 80kg (2 Rep Max.)
Squat 55kg (Working weight. Don't know my 1RM)
Bench 35kg
Rows 37kg
Overhead Press 25kg

As you can see, my upper body needs work. Working on being able to do at least 10 pull-ups (currently on 2. Le sigh)

I don't really focus on my appearance much r.e weight and so on (probably one of the very few people I have known to not have body image issues like that), but I recently discovered I really like the muscled aesthetic so I'm largely aiming for that. Probably around the 15%-17% body fat mark in the guide above, but with more muscle. Probably not to be sustained for too long, I mostly want to get there for the purpose of cosplaying as a Femme-Bane for Supanova con this time next year. I lift Mon, Wed, Fri, and do Tabata-style sprints (20 sec sprint, 10 sec walk, for as long as possible. I can go for 4 1/2 minutes currently) on Tue and Thur. Rest on weekends. I SAY rest, but I usually end up going raving or clubbing and dance for about 8 hours or something ridiculous like that.

My eating habits are pretty modest. I was brought up with a pretty healthy approach to food. I only eat until I'm full and no further. I have never eaten to the point of nausea and food comas are pretty rare for me. I prefer simply flavoured food. A nearly raw, unseasoned kangaroo steak and steamed veggies with no sauce are a regular dinner occurance for me, and not because I'm lazy (which I am). I stick pretty much exclusively to wholemeal pasta and bread. I don't really keep track of exactly how much protein/fat/carbs I get in every meal. I find the whole micromanaging-what-you-eat thing waaaaay too much effort. I'd rather just work out more. Some people prefer it the other way around.

My supplementation is pretty simple. Fish oil, magnesium/zinc daily, a pre-workout before I train and a protein shake after. Thinking about getting on to a daily creatine supplement as well (there's creatine in the pre-workout I take, but I think you need to take a small amout daily for more noticeable muscle gain results through creatine supplementation specifically).

I'll see if I can put up some body shots. I don't have internet at home, only at work or at my partners' places, and uploading a mostly undressed photo of myself at work doesn't seem like a good idea... =S

[XMermaidMarinaX]

I want to tone up, and exercise, eat healthier, and basically just be a fitter me.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Yeah, I do carry the baby around a lot, and his weight gradually increases naturally. (he's a bit over 20 pounds now, I think.)
Water jugs is a really good idea.
What about cans of food? Or is that too light?
Like I said, I have never, ever tried weight lifting before. I don't think I know how. 0.o

Also, Rat-Soup,
Have you introduced yourself on the forum yet?
I'd like to know more about you and your interest in merfolk.