Tap Squats Work Better than Spanx

And they don't give you a muffin top or make it hard to breathe. Just a public service announcement.

I'm realizing how easy it is to carry extra pounds, because I worked out yesterday and according to my Fit I still only burned about 2150 calories all day. I'm a large person with a two story house I'm running up and down all day. Don't even have a desk job. Yikes.

Yesterday I worked out, as follows:

--5 min elliptical, which my Fit only registered as two minutes. Witch.
--15 reps X 4 sets of Cuban Dumbbell Snatches, which I stole from Lori on Finding Radiance-- instead of shoulder raises or presses or whatever they are, because I heart whole body exercises, plus I love the name.
--15 reps X 4 sets triceps extensions
--bunches of crunches
--5 more minutes elliptical

I also ate more or less clean if you don't count two spoonfuls of my daughters' Ben & Jerry's, left over from Cheat Day. Wasn't hungry until noon, I expect I filled my glycogen stores for the next 12 months at the fondue restaurant.

I got to the gym First Thing this morning which I suspect is going to be the way to do it. Tried exercising on an empty tum, as I was listening to a podcast the other day which advised this (well, they recommended 2 c of black coffee, but I'm not doing that). They also recommended not eating carbohydrates three hours before or after your workout, and drinking 1 oz of water for each pound of bodyweight. They say it Really Works, and I'm sure it does, but I'm not doing that, either. They made the former recommendation as a way of discouraging insulin and promoting growth hormone. That's why Jillian Michaels recommends no carbs before bed, which is not too hard for me, mostly, if you don't count spoonfuls of other people's Ben & Jerry's. No-carbs-before-bed helped me break my plateau. But I am looking for sustainability and at this point I am not motivated enough to relegate carbohydrates to a three hour window in the middle of the day.

Hope my blogosphere buddies are having a brilliant Monday.

Comments

  1. That's a bummer about the total calories burned. Maybe it is off some.

    Regarding the exercise, I almost always exercise on an empty stomach and have not had a problem with it; however, that doesn't mean that I am doing the right thing.

    Oh, and the Ben and Jerry's, isn't there some kind of rule that calories don't count if you take the food from someone else? j/k of course.

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  2. Elaine, I posted this in response to your question on my blog - but I'll put it here, too regarding the GWF.

    The calorie burn seems appropriate. It really is shocking how little extra calories you have to eat to wipe out the exercise. Part of what you are seeing is the fact that it shows you net calories, not ‘gross’ calories so to speak. Like if a calculator says that you burned 200 calories walking, that also includes the 70ish that you would have burned anyway just being alive (but we don't think that way, we think "Oh I burned 200 calories above and beyond my intake). So the net calorie burn is less than you would think it should be! I burn on average in a given day about 2100 or so. However, I cannot eat 2100 every day and maintain.

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  3. Oh - I forgot - those people advocating no carbs in the hours preceding and after your workout are nuts! Your body really needs to have some quick release carbs or your workouts are not as productive and you won't recover as fast. I would recommend a couple books to read:
    The Athlete's Way and Faster,Better,Stronger.

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  4. Came over from Lori's blog to visit you. I completely agree with what Lori told you about carbs and working out. That is what my personal trainer also advised me.

    Keep up the good work. Taking it off slow is the best way to keep it off, IMO!

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  5. Glad to hear different advice-- I get cutting out most refined carbs, adding protein, vegies, etc, but trying to live on 20% carbs is just not happening for me. I would hate it and I don't wanna hate it, you know? I've been thrilled I've done so well cutting out most bread, cheese, etc (except for Cheat Day!) I do allow myself dark chocolate and Frankenbars--Fiber 1, etc, even though the ingredient list does not look very whole-foody, does it? It's definitely going slow-- some bloggers lose what I've lost total in a week!-- but the weight training has really made a difference, and it helps to remember that my main goal is to change my eating and exercise to try not to get diabetes.

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