Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Equation for Mass

More weight, more volume. Sounds like my workouts lately. I put my jeans on the other day and my legs, especially my hamstrings, felt thick against the denim. My weight has also been heavier despite keeping snacking to a minimum and my calories within my limit. I feel thicker and heavier, but I can't say that I feel bloated or "fat".

My goal weight is the 127's and that is higher than I originally thought I wanted it to be. As Mark puts it, "Where do you want to live, and where do you want to visit?''. In other words, I would like my weight to consistently not exceed 128.0 and not go below 126.0, I'm OK with "visiting" those numbers, but I want to "live" in the 127's. I'll keep track of my bodyfat once a week, that's really the only way to differentiate muscle vs. fat. And I know I don't want my BF less than 17-18%, and if that means that the number on the scale is higher then I'll have to make peace with it. I know Mark would like me to weigh between 130-132.

I know this must sound way over sensitive about my weight, and maybe it is, but I don't know any other way to be right now. I'm trying to get in touch with how my body feels instead of what my body weighs. I would much rather be addicted to being more muscular than be addicted to overeating! I am feeling the shift, I haven't missed a workout in "forever", (it seems), and the eating thing is having less power.

I'm still sore this morning after Monday's workout. Walking more than an hour yesterday didn't help either (5-6 miles). I have to work all day today so I'm headed to the take a hot bath before my KB workout at 6:00am. I would like to switch my snatch workout to Saturday's and I don't know quite how I'm going to do that yet. Usually I would do a press/squat WO this morning, but a heavy 2 hand swing WO is another option, and then a combination snatch/press on Sat. I won't know until I get out to the gym this morning.

9 comments:

SWM (Stephen) said...

I know this is lame. But can I just say that I read your blog everyday and find it very inspiring.

So far this year I have lost over 5Olbs (and counting). I've been sick these past two weeks and couldn't train at all and it has been driving me nuts. Starting tomorrow though.

Anyway as lame as it sounds 'Thankyou' :)

Darwin said...

This is what I don't get. You work out so much (1-2 hours a day) and eat relatively little (it must average out to less than 2000 calories a day, once you include your free day) - you should be down to 120 by now. Have you ever been tested for thyroid problems? The calories-in, calories-out equation just seems awfully skewed to me for some reason.

Mark Reifkind said...

honey,

you arent too focused on your weight anymore than a bodybuilder or a wrestler or a gymnast, who is trying to 'create' a specific body is. Your goal is to look, weigh and feel a certain way and what you doing it refining the process that is getting you there.
Its a back and forth thing til you get it to balance in the middle where you want it.
you( as are we all) are an experiment of one and you are doing your experiment.
you pose a hypothesis( if I eat or do THIS, then I will get THAT), create the exeriement( the diet plan or the workout) do it, observe the results and draw your conclusions.
Its how things get done. You are really bodybuilding with a kettlebell, thats all.Its not an easy task.OCD does help though, LOL.


Fawn,

she has lot of leg and back muscle.she's 'dense'. and even though she was heavy for so long she ALWAYS was very strong. Tracy barbell squatted and deadlifted 245 lbs back in the ninties with just a belt and wraps weighing 150.She could do sets and reps with 100 lbs in the bench easily.

She got her brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and was on track for her Black belt when life intervened.ANd even when she was heavy she could MOVE well. So a decent amount of muscle density.
Yet all the years being heavy does take its toll on the metabolism and once filled, those fat cells and hormonal adaptations are all too willing to go back into fat production/estrogen mode.

Christine said...

in response to darwin, it appears to me that she's packed on some muscle, and her bodyfat is where she wants it. At some point fat loss stalls and your body reaches a set point. She's happy where she is, and keeping her calories steady.

Good work Tracy!

fawn said...

Sweet Tracy... I didn't know you liked to deadlift! Nice...

Mark Reifkind said...

sorry fawn, that message was for darwin, not you, :))

Tracy Reifkind said...

Stephen, You should know that I'm not "judgey" about what's lame and what's not!

Comments lke yours are what I find inspiring. Just us regular folks doing the best that we can. Looking for strength, motivation and the answers to making our lives better, happier.

50lbs.!!! Congratulations, you must feel great! I was sick between xmas and New Years so I know how you must feel. Once you get "on a roll", you wonder if you'll still "have it" after being forced to take some time off.

Keep in touch, and welcome! Tracy

Tracy Reifkind said...

Darwin, Marks response to Fawn in his previous comment was actually directed to your comment.

I have 3 KB workouts, only 2-3 yoga workouts, and 4 walks in a weeks time. That's 10 hours a week, roughly.

The Kb's by far burn the most fat and build the most muscle therefore requiring the most calories to recover from. Walking only burns 100 cal. per mile and Bikram yoga sweats the water out of your body, but I don't believe it burns many calories. My yoga pratice is for balance, flexibilty, and stability, not for burning calories.

When you count my cheat days into the equation average daily calorie count is, your right, about 2000 calories. Do you know how much volume of food I fit into 200 calories? If you saw the amount of food I eat it would shock you, as it does most who see the size of my portions.

Most people that don't exercise at all have to drop calories below 1200 to lose weight consistently, that's one reason why maintence is so difficult because no one can keep that up for any length of time. Less than 1200 calories is very little food. Especially for those of us that get fat by overeating. So 2000 calories is quite a bit of food.

I hope this helps clear up your concerns, Tracy

Brett Jones said...

Tracy,
Keep on swinging - I feel the same way about yoga: balance etc... a nice mix to the hard style training.