I am a student of the body and how it works. I love learning about the power of exercise and nutrition and I am constantly trying and applying new things. I love blogging about faith, family, running, goals and overall wellness. I try to be grateful and mindful and to approach each new day as the GIFT from God that it is.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
My Blog Has Moved
In preparation for an amazing 2011, I have moved my blog to /http://melissahuray.blogspot.com/. I hope to see you there!
Becoming Superhuman
http://www.fourhourbody.com/
After reading hundreds of diet/fitness books over the years, I finally found the BEST book. I feel almost euphoric, it's like it was written for ME. I just told Mike, "I feel like I've been released from my prison." He was like, "I didn't know you were in a prison." LOL I laughed and said, "you know.. my FOOD prison.."
What I meant, is that for YEARS, I have felt out of control with regard to my body/weight. There were good and bad days/periods, times of success and failure, loss and gain... many different eating and exercise plans. Through it all... even when I DID lose weight, I would feel like I wasn't going to hold onto it. Like the next binge was going to pack on 5 pounds and result in a downward spiral toward fatsville. Because of this fear, I NEVER had cheat days... well, maybe once or twice a year... and when I did I felt awful and guilty and didn't enjoy it. Not a way to live!
The last time (prior to Christmas, 2010) I REALLY overate was 5-15-10! I almost passed out from a food/salt overdose. I told myself "never again."
After Emmy was born, as most of you would expect, I went back to my obsessive regimen of food preparation, restriction and exercise. Round and round the running track at school, like a hamster on a wheel. Don't get me wrong, you all know how much I love running - but a big part of me was wondering, "What's the point." I mean, I know running and exercise is important and essential for cardiovascular and mental health (and I would continue to do it for those reasons alone) but I am beginning to learn that the weight loss effect is negligible - and when you do "chronic cardio" you actually may be sabotaging your own body. "The 4-Hour Body" takes a less-is-more approach with respect to exercise. Doing simple, effective exercises and high-intensity interval training can have an effect as beneficial as endurance training, according to many studies! Isn't that amazing???
Leaving the hospital after having Emmy last August, I was already down to 135 pounds. 6 weeks later, I had dropped another 13 pounds. After that, the weight loss stopped... despite miles of running, plyometrics and a very strict diet. What was the problem?
Too much exercise, not enough calories, not enough water, not the RIGHT kinds of nutrients, essentially.
For the past six weeks, I did not lose an ounce. Mind you, I was running about 25 miles a week, doing plyometrics 2 days, and eating around 1400 calories a day. Many of you may be saying "What the hell, you're 122 lbs...why do you want to lose more WEIGHT..." Well, I don't necessarily want to lose "weight."
I want to lose fat. My bodyfat scale tells me I am 20%...I have heard the scales aren't very accurate, but at least it's a rough estimate.
What I want, is a SUPERHUMAN body. A body that makes people say, "what the hell have you been doing?" And this is exactly what Timothy Ferriss talks about in his book "The 4-Hour Body." I want ripped abs. I don't want to be a competitive bodybuilder or anything - but I would like to make my body the best functioning machine it can possibly be - and this book is telling me how to do just that... in specific steps. AND...I don't want to spend hours and hours working out. I want to engineer the best functioning body I can.
The book has shown me how to eat more, do less exercise and spike calories once a week to boost fat loss. I have only been following the diet for 4 days - and have already dropped 2 pounds... and that is including a HUGE Christmas Day binge food-fest!
Here's how it works. Throughout the week, I eat protein and slow-burning carbs (vegetables, black beans, lentils, spinach). I don't eat fruit or dairy. On the "free day," anything goes!!! I have also reduced my exercise... running only about 3 miles every other day and doing other exercises such as kettlebells, pushups, lunges and core work on the in-between days. My workouts rarely exceed 30 mins/day. I will be monitoring my progress with the tape measure as well.
Having a weekly cheat day makes it easy to stick to the diet all other days of the week - and I don't feel guilty about it, either, because I know it is helping to reset my metabolism to ensure it converts T4 cells to T3 cells in the thyroid! Who would've guessed a weekly caloric spike would actually boost fat burning?
Also, I am no longer a slave to exercise. I have long heard that short bursts of intense exercise can be as effective (or even more effective) as long distance training. I plan to put this to the test for myself as I am training for Grandma's this spring.
I am so excited about this. I feel like it's a plan I can live with for a lifetime. Much more to come!
After reading hundreds of diet/fitness books over the years, I finally found the BEST book. I feel almost euphoric, it's like it was written for ME. I just told Mike, "I feel like I've been released from my prison." He was like, "I didn't know you were in a prison." LOL I laughed and said, "you know.. my FOOD prison.."
What I meant, is that for YEARS, I have felt out of control with regard to my body/weight. There were good and bad days/periods, times of success and failure, loss and gain... many different eating and exercise plans. Through it all... even when I DID lose weight, I would feel like I wasn't going to hold onto it. Like the next binge was going to pack on 5 pounds and result in a downward spiral toward fatsville. Because of this fear, I NEVER had cheat days... well, maybe once or twice a year... and when I did I felt awful and guilty and didn't enjoy it. Not a way to live!
The last time (prior to Christmas, 2010) I REALLY overate was 5-15-10! I almost passed out from a food/salt overdose. I told myself "never again."
After Emmy was born, as most of you would expect, I went back to my obsessive regimen of food preparation, restriction and exercise. Round and round the running track at school, like a hamster on a wheel. Don't get me wrong, you all know how much I love running - but a big part of me was wondering, "What's the point." I mean, I know running and exercise is important and essential for cardiovascular and mental health (and I would continue to do it for those reasons alone) but I am beginning to learn that the weight loss effect is negligible - and when you do "chronic cardio" you actually may be sabotaging your own body. "The 4-Hour Body" takes a less-is-more approach with respect to exercise. Doing simple, effective exercises and high-intensity interval training can have an effect as beneficial as endurance training, according to many studies! Isn't that amazing???
Leaving the hospital after having Emmy last August, I was already down to 135 pounds. 6 weeks later, I had dropped another 13 pounds. After that, the weight loss stopped... despite miles of running, plyometrics and a very strict diet. What was the problem?
Too much exercise, not enough calories, not enough water, not the RIGHT kinds of nutrients, essentially.
For the past six weeks, I did not lose an ounce. Mind you, I was running about 25 miles a week, doing plyometrics 2 days, and eating around 1400 calories a day. Many of you may be saying "What the hell, you're 122 lbs...why do you want to lose more WEIGHT..." Well, I don't necessarily want to lose "weight."
I want to lose fat. My bodyfat scale tells me I am 20%...I have heard the scales aren't very accurate, but at least it's a rough estimate.
What I want, is a SUPERHUMAN body. A body that makes people say, "what the hell have you been doing?" And this is exactly what Timothy Ferriss talks about in his book "The 4-Hour Body." I want ripped abs. I don't want to be a competitive bodybuilder or anything - but I would like to make my body the best functioning machine it can possibly be - and this book is telling me how to do just that... in specific steps. AND...I don't want to spend hours and hours working out. I want to engineer the best functioning body I can.
The book has shown me how to eat more, do less exercise and spike calories once a week to boost fat loss. I have only been following the diet for 4 days - and have already dropped 2 pounds... and that is including a HUGE Christmas Day binge food-fest!
Here's how it works. Throughout the week, I eat protein and slow-burning carbs (vegetables, black beans, lentils, spinach). I don't eat fruit or dairy. On the "free day," anything goes!!! I have also reduced my exercise... running only about 3 miles every other day and doing other exercises such as kettlebells, pushups, lunges and core work on the in-between days. My workouts rarely exceed 30 mins/day. I will be monitoring my progress with the tape measure as well.
Having a weekly cheat day makes it easy to stick to the diet all other days of the week - and I don't feel guilty about it, either, because I know it is helping to reset my metabolism to ensure it converts T4 cells to T3 cells in the thyroid! Who would've guessed a weekly caloric spike would actually boost fat burning?
Also, I am no longer a slave to exercise. I have long heard that short bursts of intense exercise can be as effective (or even more effective) as long distance training. I plan to put this to the test for myself as I am training for Grandma's this spring.
I am so excited about this. I feel like it's a plan I can live with for a lifetime. Much more to come!
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