Day 67- The Calories Do Count

I just got home from the gym,
I am sweaty, hot and sore-
and I love it!
I just started a new session of
semi-private personal training,
which I love so much!!

I love this group for two reasons,
1) Because as sad, corny or pathetic
as it sounds- my social interaction
consists of gym rats right now and I
get my social out at the gym.
and,
2) Because as much as I love to lift
weights and use the gym equipment,
for some reason I just don't push myself
as hard as a coach pushes me.


As I was leaving the gym, I saw a gal
that has done this little Team In Training
group before, but wasn't there today.
She said she was so frustrated- during the last
session she had spent 6 hours a week,
burning 600 calories per workout
yet she GAINED 6 pounds! She did lose
inches off both her waist and her hips-
but that bigger number on the scale was
more than discouraging.

I know how she feels-
I've been there- and the most probable
solution just doesn't make any sense!

We women have a mentality that less is MORE
in the world of diet and more is MORE in
the world of fitness.
We think to lose weight, we need to eat less,
but to lose weight we need to exercise more
and more and more and more!!
So sometimes we get discouraged,
sometimes we get extreme
and sometimes we give up!

In all honesty, I have to fight this thinking
every single day of my life.
I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that
if I am working out and trying to lose weight
or gain muscle, I might have to eat more!

But it is true. Our bodies are naturally prepared
to protect us from starvation. Unless we train
them to burn what we eat, our bodies will
naturally hang on to the food we eat for
basic survival. Add in exercise, when we are
burning more calories than usual- our bodies
going into hyper protection mode of the
calories we consume. This becomes a bitter
cycle- exercise more but burn few calories!

The ONLY way to avoid this trap is to eat enough-
and enough of the right types of food-
that our bodies don't panic and start hanging
on to everything we eat.

Eat Often- Try to eat something about every
three to five hours- trying for about 300-400 calories
 per meal/snack

Eat Enough- Eat at least 1200 calories,
if you are working out & lifting weights, you may
even need to try 1400-1500 calories

Eat Protein- I can't believe how often this comes up
in every thing I hear, read or study- especially if you
are lifting weights, you need protein

Track Your Eating- I cannot believe how often I get to
the end of the day and realize I didn't get enough calories.
I end up eating a handful of almonds before bed very
frequently because I look at my log and realize I have barely
gotten 1000 calories. Do NOT enter starvation mode!

& finally, Track Your Eating- on the converse of the
above, I can't believe how many times I get lazy about
tracking and go back to enter several days. It never fails,
these are the days that I end up getting candy bars,
bites of brownies which turn into pans of brownies and
frozen yogurt a few times in a week.
NOT joking, track your eating!