In January 2011 I read 4-Hour Body and dove into a rabbit hole of dietary advice. I gobbled up every tidbit in that book then moved on to read and listen to everything by Gary Taubes and Michael Pollan among others. I’ve always been interested in mildy obsessed with nutrition but I was never able to make the connection between my intellectual obsession and my actual life. I’m now at a place in my life where I am able and willing to cook three meals a day, work out regularly and buy high quality ingredients rather than whatever I can afford. I am lucky to have that luxury. So along with that luxury, I am going to take on responsibility. I am going to share the lessons I learn as I tirelessly read scientific articles that drone on and on about nutrient metabolism, books about why “nutritionism” is a bad thing and the latest news in the fight against obesity (and for health). I’m also going to be sharing more recipes but this time they will be focused on health and even taste rather than just on cutting calories.

I’m on a journey to learn everything I can about nutrition, food quality, dietary health, weight loss, muscle development and more and I’d like to take you with me. Upcoming posts will cover everything from secret places corn is hiding in foods to how the ECA stack works to increase metabolism to how to lose “Biggest Loser” levels of weight without compromising your health. I’m also starting an adventure in urban farming by planting tomato and bell pepper plants which I will grow organically on my balcony. I’ll be sharing tips for how to grow your own vegetables with limited space and time as my garden grows (fingers crossed). I’ll also be sharing my ups and downs (in weight and emotions) as I work towards my physical goals. So here’s to the future!

Okay so at a 34C I don’t really qualify as having large breasts anymore, but when I started my journey I did. At one point I was a 36DD. I also have sensitive breasts that don’t take kindly to being jostled around so when I first started working out in my 10 year old sports bra, I quickly realized that I needed something with more support. But, I found it hard to find a sports bra that really held the girls in place while being comfortable and attractive. After a lot of research I found two bras that fill all of those requirements.

The first is the Vixen by Moving Comfort.  This bra is one that you simply pull over your head rather than having to hook in the front or back. I like this style because I always have trouble with those tiny little hooks on the back of bras. As soon as I put the Vixen bra on I was stoked with the fit and shape. It doesn’t smoosh your breasts into a una-boob like the sports bras of the past. It actually lifts and separates so you feel more confident in your workout clothes. That may seem like a silly concept but feeling confident can inspire you to work harder than you would if you felt unattractive and frumpy. The Vixen also has a small amount of padding which is important to me because I there’s nothing I want less at the gym than everyone looking at my nipples while I run!

The second sports bra I recommend for large busts is the Saucony Motion Sensor sports bra. This bra does have a back closure which makes it ideal for people who don’t like pull-on styles. The silhouette from the Motion Sensor bra is different than the Moving Comfort since it is a cross-cross style which separates your breasts a bit more, leaving a less smooth look but offering exceptional support. I haven’t tried the white bra as I prefer black, but the coverage provided by the black version is enough that you can workout with no shirt on if you desire. This bra fits true-to-size and will work well for women of all sizes.

Since upgrading to a proper fitting sports bra, I have less tenderness and pain after intense workouts. So, do your breasts a favor and retire that old sports bra with the fraying seems, or stop wearing two at a time just to get the support you need. Invest in the Vixen by Moving Comfort or Saucony Motion Sensor sports bra. The girls will thank you!

December is upon us which means holiday parties, work events, eating at your desk while working late to finish projects before the end of the year and many other opportunities to ruin your diet. If your work holiday party is anything like mine used to be you’ll have a few cocktails, pop some carb loaded hors d’oeuvres and then have a few more cocktails before falling asleep with a taco on your pillow. Okay, maybe it won’t be that bad. But, December is riddled with diet landmines that you need to be prepared for to make it through.

Many sources report that restaurant entrees have, on average, 1,000 calories. When you eat out you have no control over the ingredients in your food including salt, butter & oil which are diet killers.

I don’t care what they tell you they’re putting or not putting in your food at your favorite restaurant, chances are, you’re eating a ton of butter. In a professional kitchen, it’s almost always the first and last thing in the pan. – Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

Couple that with the fact that most people eat 5,000 – 6,000 calories in a day on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and you’ve got a recipe for disaster at the end of the year.

So, how do you enjoy the holidays without ruining your weight loss? First you need to realize that you’re diet is going to a suffer a bit this month and that’s okay. As long as you aren’t training for a fitness contest on January 2nd, you can have a little wiggle room. The goal is to get through the holidays without completely falling off the wagon and without feeling like you are on a roller coaster of sugar highs and post-pig out lows.

Generally I allow myself one to two cheat days per month. The rest of the days I am steadfast with my diet and workout regimen. During December, I am going to allow myself one cheat day per week to accomodate all of the parties and events. This means I get one day per week when I can eat out, have a couple of glasses or wine or skip a workout if needed and not feel guilty about it. The key to not feeling guilty, and staying off that emotional roller coaster, is sticking to your diet and workouts on the regular days. As long as you are dedicated to your routine on the majority of the days throughout the holidays, you should come out on the other side without significant weight gain.

My final recommendation is to not weigh in until the holidays are over if you can’t handle seeing the scale move up slightly. If you do eat out a few times and indulge in some adult beverages you will most likely have some retained water weight from the alcohol and sodium. That water weight will come off in 1 to 2 weeks when you get back to your normal routine.

Happy holidays from the Weighing It Out team!

With the holidays and all the food temptations that come with them on the horizon, it’s more important than ever that you stick with your fitness goals. I’ve repeatedly mentioned how valuable my BodyMedia FIT armband has been in my weight loss journey. I’m happy to announce that BodyMedia is offering free shipping on all orders through the end of 2010. If you’ve been thinking about getting a body monitor to accurately gauge how many calories you are burning and lose weight faster, there’s no better time.

I do most of the P90X videos in my bedroom. We have sliding closet doors that are mirrored so I can see everything I’m doing and make sure I have good form. I recently started working out in a sports bra with no shirt since I’ve dropped a few and toned up a bit. Now that I’ve got more flesh exposed during my workouts, I can honestly say there is nothing more motivating than seeing yourself when you are working out. Every time I bend over and see my stomach skin pooch out or do jumping jacks and watch my legs smack together I am reminded of why I am working out and why I need to push even harder.

Alternatively, when I am doing an exercise that highlights a part of my body that I like, such as shoulder presses or bicep curls, that also motivates me to keep working hard on those parts to keep them looking that good.

So, if you have access to a full length mirror, I highly recommend working out in front of it. Even if you find it doesn’t motivate you, it is a good idea to keep an eye on your form to make sure you are doing the moves correctly and safely.

I purchased a Reebok StayBall a couple of years ago in yet another attempt to get in shape and lose weight. I think I used it twice. Then it became just another thing collecting dust in the spare room. Last year I hurt my lower back and had a lot of trouble sitting all day in a chair to work. So, I started rotating between sitting in my chair and sitting on the exercise ball. I read up on the benefits of sitting on a ball instead of a chair including increased leg and core strength and burning more calories. But, most people don’t recommend you sit on the ball all day long. So, can sitting on an exercise ball for part of the day really help you get in better shape? Can you really work your muscles and burn calories without “working out”? I decided to find out today.

I have a BodyMedia FIT armband which counts how many calories I burn all day long, not just when my heart rate is up like heart rate monitors do. Having this armband allows me to really know how many calories my body needs based on my activity (or lack of activity) level and is much more accurate than just calculating your BMR. Having the armband also let’s me do fun tests like find out if twitching your foot all day long like some people do will burn more calories. So, today I decided to see if sitting on my StayBall for an hour while I worked burned more calories than sitting in my comfy, squishy office chair. I did the same type of work (I stare at a computer all day, type a little, move a mouse around, the basics) and tried to limit how much I got up during the time I was testing.

After sitting on the StayBall for 60 minutes I had burned 77 calories. For an 8 hour workday I should burn 616 calories sitting on an exercise ball.

After sitting in my office chair for 60 minutes I had burned 73 calories. For an 8 hour workday I should burn 584 calories sitting on my office chair.

If I took sitting on the ball more seriously and made sure I was always upright and using my core I imagine I could burn an extra 50 calories per day if I sat on it for the full 8 hours.

While this is in no way scientific and I know I would need to be in a more controlled environment to get solid results, I think it’s good enough to say that sitting on an exercise ball isn’t going to make you drop any poundage. But, you still may get benefit in your legs and core and may have better back health. Also, when sitting on the ball I was mor likely to move around, shift the weight on my legs and all around just keep a bit more awake and alert than I did when I was sitting in my chair. So, sitting on an exercise ball might be a good way to get through the afternoon or avoid that after-lunch slump even if it isn’t a magic weight loss solution.

Happy sitting!

So you may notice that the one thing missing from this site is progress photos. It’s not that I didn’t think about taking them. To be honest, I really didn’t think I would complete the program so I didn’t think I’d need “before” pictures. As I’ve mentioned before, I never worked out for more than a couple of weeks at a time before so I was pretty sure I was going to quit P90X too. Image my surprise 2 months in when I’m not only sticking with the program but actually really enjoying it.

I think the reason I’ve been able to stick to it and am enjoying it twofold. First, have a hyper-structured plan is ideal for me. I need to know exactly what I have to do to get to the end goal. If there’s anything vague or if I was told to “do cardio 3 times a week” I’d fail. I would walk around the mall and consider that cardio. Or I’d put off all my cardio until the end of the week and then run out of days. Second, I saw results fairly quickly. Sure, during the first month I was a little frustrated because I actually put on some weight. But, that was my fault for not changing my diet. Now that I have my diet in line I am seeing great results. Every week I see something new that makes me go “Hell yah! Keep pushing!”. Recently it’s been my shoulders. I *love* the definition I’m getting there. And for the first time in my life I have actual muscle in my calves instead of a soft lump that serves as a calf leading into my cankle.

The funniest part is that I still get stuck watching the infomercial on TV! Even though I am 2/3 of the way through the program and I know the informercial almost by heart from how many times I watched it before I decided to commit to doing the workouts, I get sucked in. The results are so great and compelling that I can’t help but watch how people have changed their lives. And now I’m one of them.

So, do I wish I had “before” photos? Kind of. But, there’s no way in hell they would have been in a bathing suit so it’s not like I’d be showing the world how much better my upper inner thighs look now or something equally as embarrassing. So, all of the regular photos of me in every day clothes will have to serve as before photos. My after photos probably won’t be in a bikini either. Maybe after 2 cycles

58 days down, 32 to go. I can do anything for 32 days!

I’ve never been one for taking vitamins regularly. I always buy them and then they end up sitting there for a year until they expire and I throw them away. But, now that my diet is better and I’m paying attention to the nutrients I’m getting, I have also committed to taking a few supplements. I don’t believe in multivitamins since most of that stuff you can get just through a good diet and because there has been some evidence that multivitamins may do harm. But, there are some things that are hard to get enough off through diet or that we just don’t eat in our culture.

Calcium is very important for women, and what better time to add a calcium supplement than when you are building bone density with workouts? I take a calcium supplement that also has magnesium for a few reasons. First, magnesium helps the metabolization of calcium. Second, because magnesium is also important for bone health. And third, because magnesium is an important electrolyte which facilitates oxygen delivery to muscles as they work.

I also take Evening Primrose Oil which contains GLA, an essential fatty acid. GLA in Evening Primrose Oil has been linked to reducing inflammation, minimizing PMS symptoms and treating cystic breasts. There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests GLA could contribute to weight loss. I take EPO to relieve symptoms of cystic breasts, which run in my family. But, if it happens to have the other benefits, even better!

Finally I take turmeric as it has also been linked to reducing inflammation in joints and preventing cancer. It may also improve circulation which is beneficial during workouts. None of this is proven but there are no known negative side effects to taking a reasonable amount of turmeric. It’s also rumored to help prevent hangovers if you take it before you drink. So, if it does any of these things and it’s safe to take, I figure why not?

What supplements do you take or think are important for women to take when they are doing intense workouts such as those in P90X?

So, my supplement routine currently includes

The Beachbody people push their recovery drinks pretty hard through P90X, understandably since they make money off of them. If you already use protein or recovery drinks anyway, it probably makes sense to use theirs during the program. I don’t use any recovery drinks because I am on such a calorie restriction. Recovery drinks have at least 200 calories in them so I would have to skip one of my small meals/snacks during the day to fit in the recovery drink.

I don’t feel that I am any more sore without the recovery drink but I do wonder if I would be seeing more changes in my muscles if I was drinking it due to the extra protein. But I also know I’m not going to see any muscle definition until the layer of fat over top of those muscles gets thinner!

To reduce soreness and fatigue I always warm up and cool down and make sure I get a good balance of protein and good carbs from my diet by including whole grains, lean meats and greek yogurt. I try to shoot for a 30/30/30 balance of carbs, proteins and fats (with 10% flex room of course) to stay balanced. But, I find that I’m always carb heavy and protein light.

I also try to stay very hydrated since our bodies need water to flush out the acid that builds up in muscles after workouts. To do this I keep a glass of water by me at all times. I find that if it’s there, I’ll drink it. If it’s not there I won’t think about it. So I’ve had to make it a habit to fill it up each time I get up so water is always available within an arm’s distance.

My last tip for reducing muscle soreness and fatigue is massaging your muscles. Now I know I can’t afford a professional masseuse after each workout and you probably can’t either. Another option is to try to massage your own muscles. But, I can’t reach everywhere, my hands get tired and it’s just awkward anyway. So far the best solution I’ve found is this foam roller that was recommended by my doctor. I got the biggest one after reading reviews because they said you could use it on any body part. You lay the foam roll on the ground and roll your body on top of it. The weight of your body against the roller massages whatever part you put on it. You can also use it on your back to loosen up your spine. I always get a few of those awesome “pops” in my spine when I roll on it. I use it whenever I have sore muscles and it is helping with the spasm in my lower back.

What tips do you have for recovering from P90X workouts and reducing soreness and fatigue?

One of the biggest questions I’ve had so far doing P90X is “how many calories am I burning during the workouts”? I read various articles and blogs where people estimated they were burning 1,000 calories during plyometrics and kenpo. While that sounded promising and while plyo certainly feels like it should burn 1,000 calories, I had my doubts.

After wearing my FIT Armband for a week, I can tell you that a 5’8″ 155ish pound woman with about 35% body fat working hard during the workouts will burn around the following:

Weight Lifting Workouts: 250 calories
Kenpo: 325 – 350 calories
Yoga: 275 – 300 calories
Plyometrics: 450 – 475 calories
Core Synergistics: 325 – 350 calories

If you’re interested in starting P90X and want to know if it will meet your calorie burning needs, this should be a good guide to help you make a decision. Keep in mind that this is for a fairly average woman working at what I would consider 80% (you can’t possibly workout at 100% for an hour). If you work harder you may burn more and if you don’t work as hard you’ll burn less. But, as you can see, the cardio workouts will burn enough that you’ll only have to reduce your caloric intake by about 200 a day to lose a pound a week. 200 calories a day isn’t much, especially if your diet isn’t really fine tuned yet.

If you’re already doing P90X and you’ve been having trouble losing weight, you may be over-estimating how many you’re burning. So, this may be a better guide for you to determine how many you are burning and therefore how much you should be eating in a day.

If you really want to know how many calories you’re burning, go get an armband for yourself. It’s the coolest thing and really motivates you to workout and eat right!