Whether you’re a weight training guru or a complete novice in the gym, German Body Comp (GBC) is by far the most effective way to train when you’re kicking off a new fat loss program. And that’s regardless of whether you’ve recently had a baby or just looking to shoot your metabolism into overdrive.
Here’s my GBC workout from this morning – perform exercises 1-4 straight through before returning directly to the beginning for the next set of each.
Today’s weight: 66kg/145.2 pounds (9kg/19.8 pounds down; 8/17.6 to go)
Two major things are happening this morning. Firstly, I’m about to have my start of week 5 measurements taken. I didn’t report on last week’s measurements because they’d dropped quite dramatically. You might think I’d be proud to get this news out there as soon as possible, but the truth is that the quite significant decrease left me terrified I’d be facing a plateau or – God forbid – an increase this week. I’m now realizing (okay, admitting) that this sort of selective journalism pretty much flies in the face of everything I planned for this blog. My bad. So in the interest of truth and imparting all – last week’s measurements showed a 2.3% decrease in body fat although my scale weight had stayed the same. As I whinged to my friend L over Facebook there’s nothing I hate more than to see the scales stay stubbornly the same and it really doesn’t matter how illogical I know this to be. Nor that a vast chunk of my career has been based around teaching people to ignore the scales and focus on measurements. Hey, what can I say? I’m a woman. I know you understand. But – I have decided it’s best not to fuel that particular obsession any further and am now restricting myself to once a week measuring. Just another reason I’m nervously anticipating this morning’s session.
Anyway, enough blathering on about that. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have the hard data. But now to the second thing – today also marks the first day of my elimination diet. Read More
Today’s weight: 65.5kg/144.1 pounds (9.5kg/20.9 pounds down; 7.5/17.6 to go)
Sooooo … after having a GREAT workout this morning, lifting the intensity back to a semi-decent state, I went home to enter my latest body fat measurements into the software. Long story short – not only have I gained 0.5kg since last being measured (13 days ago), I’ve also managed to increase my body fat by 0.2%. Despite all the exercise! Not happy.
It’s not all bad news though. The areas where my measurements went up were cheek, calf, hamstring, and those changes were possibly dramatic enough to count for the total body fat increase. Measurements went down around the love handle areas, and my waist is 3cm smaller. Butt and chest are the same.
A New Plan
This morning’s session was my first one in nearly 18 months with my trainer TJ. Thankfully he moved back from Canada just in time to be there for me post-Alyssa – lucky! Anyway, he’s started me off on some German Body Comp (GBC) training, which I have to say was quite a shock to the system after 9 months of maintenance work and the past 2 weeks of dilly-dallying round the cables. It felt great though, even if halfway through I was dizzy and shaky enough not to really know what I was doing anymore. In a good way, of course! And I’m feeling great now.
GBC is a style of training popularized by strength/conditioning coach and hormone expert Charles Poliquin and is ideal for losing body fat without losing strength. It’s pretty simple in theory – superset upper and lower body exercises with minimal rest time and a controlled (4-0-1) tempo, working in an 8-15 rep range and typically done using 3-4 sets for 3-4 exercises per body part. Reality, of course, is never the same as theory, and GBC (when performed correctly) is one of the absolute best ways to have a truly killer workout in under an hour. Your metabolism won’t know what hit it!
So here’s the plan – 3-4 GBC workouts per week, combined with a quick 10-minute circuit afterwards, plus one cardio session (intervals only, but I’m not up for running yet so it’s going to be hill climbs), and 2-3 Bikram yoga sessions. Sounds like a lot, I know, but it’s all a matter of being organized (early mornings work best for me given E’s crazy work schedule) and I’m incredibly determined to get my body back by Christmas. I certainly could get away with taking things slower, and if you’re in a situation where it’s not realistic to include that much exercise or your body is not yet ready for it, then I’d suggest scaling this back by 25-50%. Get the diet right and results will still follow.
Speaking of which, breakfast post-workout:
3-egg omelette with amrinated feta and spinach, and a side of smoked bacon (that part was naughty). Stayed away from the toast with the exception of one sneaky corner. Breaky was about 90 minutes after training, post-training was half an organic protein shake of my preferred brand. Stay tuned for a detailed nutrition post soon!
Body plus baby? Easy!*
Kat
*(We hope)
Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!
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Today’s weight: 65.5kg/144.1 pounds (9.5kg/20.9 pounds down; 7.5/17.6 to go)
I can’t believe I haven’t lost any weight in the past 7 days. Scratch that – I’ve actually gained a half kilo since last Thursday. Fluctuation be damned, this was not on my agenda! And sure, I’m only 17 days post-birth, but shouldn’t that be all the more reason for the flubber and fluid to effortlessly melt away regardless of exercise or food behaviors? Apparently not.
It’s time to face facts – if breastfeeding (according to ‘them’) burns 800 calories per day, and in the past week I’ve done 2 Bikram yoga sessions and 4 gym sessions, including the new addition of 15-minutes hill climb intervals prior to my gym circuits, then there’s only one thing to blame.
Today’s weight: 65kg/143 pounds (10kg/22 pounds down; 7.5/16.5 to go)
I can’t believe it’s been only 13 days since I gave birth. In some ways it feels completely natural, as though things have always been this way. I suppose that’s a huge blessing; I can’t imagine having to go through this without at least sensing a maternal instinct somewhere deep within. Truth be told, when it comes to sleep deprivation (which I guess is the main challenge at this stage) I count myself lucky in that I’ve suffered extremely severe insomnia on and off over the past 3 years. Not that I’d recommend going through that turmoil voluntarily but there sure is no better way to prepare yourself for night feeds and sleep loss. Night feeds are a walk in the park in comparison! Anyway, there’s so much I could go on about here, so much I really want to write about being a Mum and about my beautiful daughter, but I’m going to keep myself on target at least for today. So here goes – this photo is me the day after birth – pretty standard of course to still have that preggy belly look, but I still wanted to have it on record. Quite amazing how quickly it goes down though, isn’t it?
As far as my helping things along, my plan has always been to get straight back into exercise (of course I may have been just a little unrealistic in taking my workout gear and running shoes into the hospital with me), and the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians states that it’s fine to get back into it within a few days after giving birth so long as you’ve been active right through your pregnancy. Having said that it’s still highly recommended that you check with your doctor before resuming any form of exercise, and particularly if you plan to do so sooner than your post-natal check up (usually around 6 weeks). Read More
So now I’m a mother. And strangely (or perhaps not so) it feels completely natural; as though it’s always been this way. It’s amazing how quickly we can adapt to something that quite literally takes over every single aspect of our lives. I mean, I had a day last week – I think it was our second day at home – when I actually did nothing but feed her all day. E came home and not one dish or dirty piece of clothing had moved since 12 hours earlier. I hadn’t showered, hadn’t returned calls, and had even had to go to the toilet with her still attached. Thankfully I’m finally figuring this breastfeeding thing out now. Honestly, if someone had told me earlier just how painful those first few days could be I think I would have been as scared of that as I was of labour!
The Story Of Alyssa
My beautiful little girl arrived Friday week ago (the 6th), at 1.56 pm, with an incredibly hairy head and weighing 8 pounds 14 ounces. The birth? Not so much fun. I had the (oxytocin) pessary on Thursday night as a preparation to being induced Friday morning at 7. Induction definitely wasn’t in my birth plan, in fact I was fairly determined to do it completely natural unless absolutely forced to change plans. Of course I should have known things weren’t going to be so simple when I found out my due date was 5 days earlier than I thought. Mind you, I still think that was a clerical mix-up, but whatever. It is what it is now! Fortunately the full induction didn’t take place as I went into labour Friday at 3am. I thought it was just cramps at first and hopped in the bath, but by 4.30 I knew it was happening – and contractions were already 4 minutes apart. We got to hospital at 6am and within another half hour or so I was in agony. Apparently I could be heard groaning throughout the entire ward. The pessary speeds up the labour process (in theory!), well it did for me, so there was no gradual build up.
My doctor came to check on me at 8.30am and I was thinking I must be at least halfway. I was one cm dilated! Unbelievable. So he broke my waters after doing an internal (most excruciating thing I’ve ever survived), and she’d pooed inside me which is obviously not good. So then he decides that because I was in so much pain and not progressing, to put me on the oxytocin drip – in his words to speed it up, make the contractions come more often (they were already 1 or 2 min apart at this stage!), and to make it more painful. Awesome. He recommended the epidural, and I decided within about 15 minutes to have it, and did so at 10am. I was going to go for gas first, then maybe pethidine, but something told me I would end up still having the epi, so may as well just have only the one thing. I just didn’t see how I’d be able to make it, considering I thought I’d have so long ahead of me. The thing is, I never researched the epidural because I never thought I’d have it (pretty stupid, huh? – and very unlike me really) so I didn’t realise it would make me numb from the waist down, and not able to move! I also didn’t realise till I read it the next day that it stops the natural release of oxytocin for bonding. Luckily breastfeeding does release that as well. I probably wouldn’t have had it if I knew that (or that I wouldn’t be able to feel how to push properly!). She ended up coming 3 hours after that, at 1.56, and he used the vacuum. There’s a chance that had I avoided the epi I just wouldn’t have relaxed enough to dilate fully when I did, and a lengthy drawn out labour could well have resulted in a c-section, so although part of me regrets going down the drug path I’m also thankful that I have this gorgeous child who has arrived in full health and without my having to go through surgery or who knows what else. And thankfully (despite the vacuum) she doesn’t have any bruising, nor does she have a conehead! What’s more, when it did come time to push the epi had worn off a little and so I was able to focus on what I needed to do. Annoyingly I did still end up having an episiotimy (which the midwife saw fit to photograph, much to our horror in reviewing the camera later!)
And of course it was all worthwhile when I finally had her on my chest. So wonderful. And so very very surreal at first. I was completely overwhelmed by emotion when she came out; I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth to make the official “it’s a girl” announcement.
Meanwhile 10 days has passed and I’ve been gradually figuring this whole thing out. As I said, in some ways it feels totally natural but at the same time every day is filled with new lessons and experiences, not to mention dozens of pooey nappies (why do they always let everything out right after you’ve changed a nappy???), and the gradual return of my breasts to something resembling human tissue and not a very badly botched lumpy DDD boob job!
And in the midst of it all I haven’t forgotten my promise to myself, which is to be pack in my ideal shape by mid February next year; approximately 12 weeks from now. There’ve been a few cautious gym and yoga visits so far, and my eating has been excellent – I totally get why everyone says breastfeeding causes weight loss, it’s because there’s now time left to eat! But more on all that another day. For now – welcome to Alyssa, and welcome officially to you to this blog. This is where it really begins!
Body plus baby? Easy!*
Kat
*(We hope)
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Just playing the waiting game now. Oddly enough I don’t feel particularly nervous or on edge (that seems to happen at night). Really, I see no reason not to keep going about my normal activities, although I admit it was leaving things a little late to drive off and have the car capsule installed yesterday, one day past due!
And perhaps not the smartest idea to go to Bikram yoga class yesterday (although I did feel sooo much better for it physically) – what if my waters were to break? Would I even know it among all that sweat?! I guess if I were to think about others more and myself less I would just stay at home until it happens, rather than risk forcing someone else to deal with the, ahem, mess!
Anyway – my only feeling of nervousness relates to next week. What if the baby hasn’t come by Wednesday or Thursday? I really really really don’t want to be induced. So here’s the plan – today I have an ‘induction massage’ – not exactly sure what that entails, apart from specific pressure point work, but I’ll post on it after the event. If that doesn’t work, there’s a follow-up on Monday, although apparently they do have a pretty good success rate. And then, of course, there’s the list of things that all and sundry are wisely telling me to do -
Hmmm. I think I’ll wait and see if this massage works first! Besides, I’m not too keen to try all of those so-called solutions just yet as E has kindly requested I don’t have the baby today as he’s very busy at work (ha!), and I really don’t want to have it tomorrow, as I don’t want my child’s birthday on Halloween.
Mind you, the sooner it’s out, the sooner I can work on getting back in shape! So let’s hope Sunday’s the day!
(And yes, I just realized how callous that second last sentence sounds – of course the sooner it’s out, the sooner I can bond with my child and start to enjoy being a mother. But that’s a story for a different blog 
)
Body plus baby? Easy!*
Kat
*(We hope)
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D-day minus 6 (or so I thought)
So I went to see my obstetrician this morning. Nothing out of the ordinary there – as you know, it’s a once a week thing at this stage. Anyway, I had thought it was kinda strange last week that he commented I was ‘holding onto the baby’ – after all, I still had 2 weeks to go. But I didn’t dwell on it – I’ve got enough to think about what with wrapping up computer-work and preparing the house. Thank God there’s still at least another week till the due date!
Or so I thought.
First thing he says is that he’s going to do a sweep’n’stretch of my cervix (oh, what joy!) in order to stimulate labor. My first thought – roughly along the lines of WTF?! My second thought – pretty similar as he’d just answered my query as to why (given my due date is next week) with ‘no it’s not, you’re due tomorrow’.
You can say what you want about baby brain, but I’m pretty damn sure I didn’t imagine being told my due date as Nov 2! I don’t even have the car seat installed! (Okay, that’s just poor organization, I admit it). And I know, I know, the due date doesn’t really mean a whole lot, but still. It’s something to focus on. And I certainly hadn’t expected to have ‘labor stimulation’ mid-morning on my way into the gym! Anyway, it didn’t work, and now I have an induction scheduled for next Friday 
. Which I really really really want to avoid, due to the increased likelihood of drugs, cuts, and forceps.
Gonna have to get a natural induction plan together … and I better stop writing this and hit that gym now in case it’s the last chance I get for a while! Easy cable workout coming up …
Body plus baby? Easy!*
Kat
*(We hope)
Don’t forget to leave a comment before you go – if you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.
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D-day minus 11
I’m starting to really miss normal sex. Not that I haven’t missed it sooner than this (although previously the issue was more feeling very self-conscious about my ever-increasing size). But now I’m absolutely HANGING for it. Mainly for that feel of body to body. And by body to body I mean the full length of my body pressed up against E, rather than the sensation of my belly button connecting with him while the rest of me flops around helplessly a foot or so behind. It’s just not quite the same, is it? And I really really hope that I don’t end up having to have stitches because I simply don’t think I can hold out for another 6 weeks or so after the birth! Logic tells me I may be too exhausted and traumatised to care after the event, but right now I just can’t see that happening. We’ll see.
Of course sex isn’t the only thing on my mind . There’s so much I can’t wait for. Not least meeting my baby for the first time. Finding out what sex it is. Seeing it look at me for the first time. Finding out what all the fuss is about; that unbelievable rush of love that everyone says hits you so powerfully. And then there’s all the selfish stuff. I can’t wait to get back into proper training. To have a solarium again (bad mother!) To start losing weight, to keep losing weight, to watch my muscle tone return. To feel like I have some semblence of control over my own body again (boobs aside, I guess). To be regarded as a hot mum. A yummy mummy I guess, although I hate that term. To watch people marvel over what a gorgeous creature I’ve created – yes, the baby, not me! To be able to lie on my stomach again. To be able to watch TV in a relaxed fashion without rolling around like a beached whale every 2 minutes and gasping unattractively for air in between. To build my caffeine tolerance up again! To drink delicious wine – although that’s certainly not going to take much. To go out and feel normal. To feel like me again. Sorry, but I refuse to accept me as the traditional mother symbol. I’m planning my own version of supermom, and heavens knows I may be so far off in my own mind as to what’s truly realistic, but there’s only one way to find out.
And I certainly don’t intend to go into this particular battle with defeat already on my mind.
Body plus baby? Easy!*
Kat
*(We hope)
Don’t forget to leave a comment before you go – if you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.
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Superfoods: The Foundation Of Post-Pregnancy Nutrition
I’m riding a wave of energy that I seriously haven’t felt for months. Years, perhaps. One thing I’ve noticed since squeezing my chubby-cheeked angel out is how damn GOOD I feel. Of course part of it’s simply the high that comes from seeing what a perfect little specimen my body has managed to put together, and some of it has to be a result of the contrast between third trimester exhaustion and the now (semi) return to normal, but I think a lot of it is down to steps I’ve put into place to get my body back on track.
And it’s not just about getting back into shape physically – although that’s certainly a huge motivator. But something that I find even more powerful is the knowledge that I’m slowly but surely regaining control. Control of my body, which in turn gives me a greater sense of control over every aspect of my life (except, perhaps, my sleep schedule), even down to my sense of self-worth and my confidence. A strong and healthy body really does equal a strong and healthy mind.
And what I’m doing to stay on track is trying to find different things to feel good about every day. It sure is a better plan than focusing on those scales (which stubbornly STILL refuse to budge, despite my body fat dropping back to 15.3% as of yesterday). So here’s what I’m loving today – I guarantee it will give you a massive boost as well.
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