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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Q&A Wednesday: Inches, Belly Fat and The Quitter’s Disease
by Erika Nicole Kendall
Got four questions – all sort of related – for Q&A Wednesday:
Q:I have a problem with belly fat – after I had my son in ’07, people keep asking me how many months I am… it looks like I’m about 6mos pregnant, and I hate it! Can you please help me?
Hmmm.. If your tummy is sticking out like it was when you were pregnant, it sounds like – for starters – you might want to try to add WAY more fiber to your diet. It will help rid you of some of that excess waste (which means you’ll be spending lots of time on the potty), but it will help you figure out where your tummy really is.
Secondly, here’s the short version of dealing with fat: you can’t control where it burns. Sure, you might be able to do crunches to tone it up, but if you have lots of fat covering it up, you’ll need to tend to that first. Aerobic exercise (also known as cardio) is your best bet. Give yourself a slow start – walking each day. Walk for weeks until you feel like running, then run. Take your little one for a walk in the stroller. Walk until you feel like running (I put my daughter in an umbrella stroller and pushed her while running). If you can hit a gym, hit the treadmill. You’re going to have to move something to get it down.
You’ll also have to ease up on the processed foods. Go light on the breads, fries, and excess sugars. That alone will get you down to looking more like 3mos than 6, at least! Couple it with the walking, and you’re on your way.
Q: Is losing inches a prerequisite to losing pounds?
If you’re losing pounds, you’re definitely losing inches, but if you’re losing inches, it doesn’t always mean you’re losing pounds. Here’s why:
Losing inches can mean that you’re either losing fat, or becoming leaner by developing muscle. Since muscle weighs just as much as – if not more than – fat, you can lose inches and not see any change on the scale (unfortunately.)
Losing pounds means that you’re losing mass. So theoretically, this means that the tape measure has to move. Just don’t always expect it to move in the exact same place each time.
Q: How many times did you quit exercising/eating right before you started toughing it out?
Honestly… I went back and forth countless times. I’d actually give up out of embarrassment. I’d be ashamed of being at the gym and seeing all these fit people struggling to not snicker at the fat girl who couldn’t survive an incline on the treadmill. I’d be embarrassed and frustrated by eating a salad around my skinny friends who OD’d on pizza and crap when we dined out. I’d be mad that I couldn’t figure out the formula…
…until I figured out the formula. I stopped giving a damn what the people around me thought/were doing, and started focusing on me and what I needed. I realized just how WRONG the people around me get it, so I figured I couldn’t trust anyone else’s understanding of what was best for me BUT me. From there, I sought out my own answers, and I was straight. It took one final time of quitting the gym, frustrated that I hustled for 6 months only to lose 20lbs and then gain 10 back in 90 days (that’s one pound every nine days…sigh) for me to realize I didn’t have my head together. Once I got my eating habits right? I was straight. I’ve been smooth sailing ever since.
Q: How important is it to actually eat three meals per day? If you don’t, how does it affect your metabolism?
I have a post coming up on this, but you absolutely must nourish yourself regularly throughout the day. Without it, you become sluggish, and your body – now feeling like food may not come for a while – starts to hold onto the energy it has stored within (read: the fat you have on your body) and makes it harder to burn. This is why you become sluggish.
Keep those questions coming, and I’ll have ‘em ready for next week! Have thoughts? Let me hear ‘em in the comments!
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I truly relate to “I stopped giving a damn what the people around me thought/were doing, and started focusing on me and what I needed.” That’s an important step to finally getting it right. Once I achieved that, everything became much easier. Our minds are powerful and can keep us trapped in a box because of fear. Most times people ain’t even checking for us or what we look like in the gym… we just assume. But for the ones who do stare, I just wink, smile and give em a headnod.
—Nikki
Exactly! My biggest hurdle was practicing yoga in front of others. Now, I get into my zen mode, and while I might notice people watching me, baffled, I’m always so at peace when I’m done that I no longer care. I’m usually too proud of how my body held up to the stress of the routine!
Our minds are powerful, but the collective that is the individual is MUCH stronger!
—Erika
OMG!!!! ALL of the questions are questions I have had and continue to have weekly. Belly fat, check! Start and stop exercise routine, check! Not eating, holding on to fat, check!!! Thank you so much for this blog and for your candid responses to these questions. I am just getting in from the gym and decided tonight not to ever go back!!! Thank goodness I read this tonight…off to the gym in the morning as planned!!!!!
—dst399
You better take your tail to the gym AS PLANNED! I’ll be there – why shouldn’t you?
—Erika
When I first started working out after not having done it for over a year, a brisk walk on the treadmill and some Pilates did the trick. However, Once I lost 40 pounds and had some great fitness gains, I knew I needed to step it up a bit. I was at a plateau until now. I have had a lot of success in losing inches (although not pounds…yet) with interval training. If your gym has a pre-season sports conditioning class, that will get you better results faster than walking or jogging. It combines the best of both worlds: cardio and resistance training. Just struggle through it and do the best you can and you will lose inches very fast! I’ve dropped a dress size in 3 weeks. The shape or your body will change significantly!
—Therese
Thank you for that information your Website has been a Blessing to me. I had Gastric Bypass surgery in 2006 and I loss a lost of weight But, the last 40 pounds have been a struggle. With the help of your website and making my mind UP I AM DOING IT so thank you
—Sharon
This was very interesting!! You answered many of the questions I had about your weight loss. Great to know someone who struggled with finding the formula not only found the formula but made the formula work for them! Way to GO!!
—Tina Fite
Erika, for someone that needs to get more fiber in their diet, what do you think about adding Benefiber or Metamucil to food or drinks?
I think I’m getting plenty of fiber but I still add some to my in-between meal snacks (either a protein drink before a workout or some yogurt between meals) to help me feel full.
—Ben
Honestly, I don’t have personal experience with either… but I am a fan of laxative teas, though. They’re usually labeled as “slimming teas” because they tend to clean out the insides, lol… leaving a flatter tummy appearance.
There are also lots of fruits/foods with high fiber in them – grapefruit, avocado, rolled oats, black beans, shoot.. most beans, really – that you can get away with adding to your daily diet, and you’ll be fine.
—Erika
IAM GETTING SO MUCH INFO FROM UR SITE THX YOU SO MUCH…………..TO KEEP IT REAL IAM SAYING THIS AS I EAT A 1/2 CUP OF FULL FAT ICE CREAM BUT STILL LEARNING SO BARE WITH ME ………..LOL
—cakediva77
hi i love ur latest post . keep more coming they’re very inspirational. i also so on past posts that u talked about fiber and ,slimming teas’ i was wondering do they actually help and which ones to use. and also how good is oatmeal for you and does it make you gain weight ? thanks
—victoria
Hey,
Why do I fall asleep if I sit on the couch and relax after a meal? Is it because the meal is too heavy, did I eat to much, or do you think my metabolism has slowed down and my body can’t process too much at one time. What is happening?
Thanks.
—hill
How do you handle the “I’m going to start on ……?
42 year old ex-ballet dancer…just been through a major surgery..gained 20 pounds….think it’s depression or maybe just plain ole’ laziness after recovery… belong to two health clubs which are very boring. being a dancer….i need direction and choreography…:) Thinking about going back to dance but expensive when retired and you have to pay for it instead of getting paid to do it..I pack and bring my work out bag every day to the office so I can be encouraged to get dress in the bathroom after work and go to the gym but my car always goes home instead..job is so exhausting from thinking ..i’m just burnt out…I never used to be like this..I even tried people from the gym call me sometimes it works but I need to find my own encouragement to get there…
Please help.
—mis4ta