How much weight should I be losing?

I was asked this question in the Ideal Bodies Online Forum today. It's important for people to understand that such answers are not cut and dried, and the reasons why this is so. I thought it would be worth sharing (and also because I have been told by my web guru, Brendon Sinclair, that I need to post more often :) )

Q: Is it correct that you should be looking to lose between 500grams and 1.5kg a week, any more than this and it is just water/fluids loss ? The trainer at the gym I go to, said this, so I was just confirming, as when I look at the scales and have only lost 600g - 700g I become despondent.

A: This is so individual - there are no cut and dried answers to 'how much weight should I lose each week'. Personally when I diet for a competition, I can go weeks with the scale bouncing up and down but no real change and then suddenly I will lose a few lbs (this is a lot for me because I am small) in a few days. So, this is why I preach consistency, and patience. It all depends too on how much you have to lose. Someone who is very overweight and has been very inactive will find it relatively easy to lose weight when starting a diet and exercise program. Others who are already active and have been eating quite well, and don't have a lot to lose - will find it more difficult. It depends on your size too - if someone told me I could lose 1.5kg a week I'd laugh in their face. That would mean I could be competition ready in 5 weeks, and that's just not gonna happen. Additionally, if you are losing a lot of weight quickly (ie say more than approximately 2kg per week) then you are likely to be losing MUSCLE as well as fat, and water. Losing muscle is not good. Muscle keeps your metabolism high and keeps you burning fat. Lose muscle and your metabolism slows down making it difficult/impossible to lose fat. This is why diets such as Cohen's (and others), you may lose a lot of weight quickly, but it won't all be fat, and eventually, it will slow your metabolism down so much that when you start to eat 'normally' (and you will, because you are starving), you will put all that weight back on and MORE. We all know someone that has attempted these fad diets, lost weight, and is now fatter than ever. I say if you are losing, which you are (and at a good rate) you are doing great. Keep it up. Remember, some weeks you may not lose, and other weeks you may lose twice as much.

Now, as for me and what I've been up to - I went for a run last night - well, when I say 'run', it's a walk/jog/run/stairs, and man, it was tough! I couldn't even take 2 stairs at a time, my legs were that sore. They have eased off a bit today. I did my cardio earlier this morning, this time on tready, watching Sex & The City reruns. I'm doing 45 min sessions at the moment. So, I think I will train tomorrow and Sunday, then have Monday off whilst in Melbourne. My diet has been clean and good. I have reintroduced some whey protein since I have been off dairy for 3 weeks now - going to see if that has any effect. I really do like to have protein powders after training. I am still feeling very cleared minded which is fantastic, and thankfully I am now sleeping a little better also.

Have a great weekend everyone, train hard, eat well and enjoy!

My a** is so sore!

Jodie spotted for me while I squatted yesterday and OMG, I can barely walk today. We had planned a step class this morning but Jodie pulled out - secretly I was relieved because I was already getting sore. I think my butt is sore more due to the walking lunges I did after squatting but my quads are equally sore. I did a PB squat - 60kg for 10 reps, 65kg for 8 reps (i think it was 8), then, PB of 67.5kg for 6 and then for 4. Yippee. So next week I want to do 70kg for 6. I figure I should be able to since I had fatigued myself a bit on the 10 and 8 rep sets. I have done 72kg with Adam for 1 or 2 reps so if I can get the 70kg for at least 4 then that would be a PB. I've been feeling really strong in the gym. Anyway, I'm paying for it today. That comes after having the sorest hammies I've had in a while, another PB on Stiff Leg Deadlifts, 50kg - i think I could do a little more but I'm too scared with my old groin/hammy injury that flares up after I go hard on them. I had a massage - painful, but good. Bruised!! All down my inner thigh, groin, right to the knee.

Booked a flight to go and see a trainer in Melbourne on Monday. I want a second opinion on my comp prep plans among other things, so we are going to spend a few hours going over lots of stuff.

Had an interview with WHO mag on Tuesday, really excited about that article coming out on Jan 4.

This is a short post, I'm pretty tired so heading to bed, perhaps first read a few pages of my new Alex Cross (James Patterson) novel.

Can't sleep

Hi all, yep, still here just head down, bum up at the moment. Since I went off dairy I can't sleep. Whether it's got anything to do with that I don't know but it seems like it.

So much has been happening!

Long stories short:

Had our first Christmas party last Sunday on a riverboat on a 40+ degree day/evening. They even cooked me gluten/dairy free!

Speaking of, I'm hungry. Started dieting somewhat. Doing my own comp prep, had too much trouble trying to find someone (reputable) to help. Already written up plan and started. 4 x training and 4 x cardio at this stage. Want to be around 114/115 come Jan 1 - around 118 now, put on a couple of lbs. I'll have Christmas off, and Damien's birthday on the 5th, and a couple of drinks for the New Year. Must put tree up this weekend. We have a huge tree. It's awesome when it's up.

Work is crazy. Been doing a lot to my web site - well, I've outsourced it to a company in Brissy and they are doing a fabulous job so far. I just don't have the time to send newsletters myself so they will be doing all that for me (already are). So be prepared to see plenty of changes and updates.

Big news is that Carolyn Gerdtz and I have interviews tomorrow for WHO Magazine! How exciting is that. Stay tuned!

Thanks to all who answered our survey - and for those who missed my blog :) It was gone for a short time!

Training has been going really well, I squatted a PB last week, and was very very sore, today I DB rowed 30kg for 10 reps which was also a PB.

I've had blood tests done for hormone and iron levels, still a few to come back. Iron levels are the only things not looking quite right at this point. Seems now I have too much iron.

Pictured above is Ideal Bodies Online's latest Body Blitz winner, Troy Pedretti. Even though we 'mysteriously' weren't mentioned as Troy's trainer's. Congrats Troy, what an outstanding transformation! Well done to Feedback Coach Rach too.

Ok think I'm finally getting weary enough to sleep. I was planning on a much better update than this.

Hi Sam - yeah would love some help with some recipes and ideas, thank you! I will email you. And Michelle, yes, I'm sure you have some good ideas! Charlotte kindly sent me a couple of quinoa recipes too. Here is what I have been having and I am quite happy with it!

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
stevia, and sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
handful of blueberries (I'll try canned apples next, and some low sugar blackberry jam)

There's no straight protein, but I'm supplementing with BCAA's, as I am before, during and after training, since I now can't have any post workout shakes.

My other meals have been things like fish, silverbeet and sweet potato or salmon and asparagus salad with olive oil, balsamic, lemon & mustard dressing. Pretty plain but so far I am handling the no dairy thing ok. I even had a black coffee last night, which wasn't easy! In the mornings I have a non dairy creamer in my coffee. Tastes different but still drinkable and not as vicious as black.

I'm feeling 'lighter' and better already. Oh and my cold didn't eventuate, how cool is that. I had the sneezing, the itchy ear and throat, and was all stuffed up. Maybe it was hayfever but I've never really suffered from that.

Anonymous, thank you for your suggestions the other day re my lethargy and fatigue. Believe me, I've been having this 'checked out' for years. Also, I don't take fatburners, I can't tolerate them, they burn me out even further, so I tend to feel it's adrenal related. I have an appointment at my GP on Tuesday to ask some questions and get some more tests done even though I am not confident in GP's knowing anything much about this sort of stuff. Unless you are half dead they don't want to know about it. I felt good today, even though I didn't get a great deal of sleep - well not enough by my standards anyway. About 7, maybe a bit less. I went for an hour's walk down by the river in the morning which was nice. Had a bit of work to finish off for this week, so completed that over the course of the afternoon. I also had to have a sleep around 1pm. Then we went grocery shopping, cooked dinner and watched a dvd.

I finished my book :( I hate finishing good books. It was Plea of Insanity by Jilliane Hoffman. Highly recommended. Michelle, what was that Tess Gerritsen new one you mentioned earlier? I need a new one.

Tomorrow Jodie and I are heading off to do some bootcamp at 9.30am before it gets too hot. Then we are going to mum's for lunch. I really should do some more work tomorrow as next week is shaping up to be nightmarishly busy! All good though.

Oh, how could I forget! Ideal Bodies Online has another Body Blitz winner :) This time, a man. My first guy :) (Let's hope the mag rates us a mention this time!). Troy Pedretti has been named as next month's winner. His photos are phenomenal - I will post at a later date.

I have a ton of mail in my feedback folder to answer Monday and Tuesday.

Training - how could I forget. All good, trained both Thursday and Friday so have the weekend off. Trained back and shoulders, PB's on Lat Pulls - haven't done them for a while, getting stronger. On Friday Damien dropped me at the gym and I walked home. I am going to start doing more of that. It's a good 50 min walk home. Wasn't happy when the IPOD sh*t itself 10 mins in though.

Must make a phone call tomorrow about comps next year. Will keep you informed when I have come to a decision. I'm really looking forward to getting my crap together and getting in awesome shape again (while it's still summer!). Even dieting over Christmas is not bothering me a bit. At least I won't be getting fat like 99% of the population :) Except we always get this really awesome huge hamper from one of Damien's workplaces full of handmade biscuits and chocolates, fruit cake, and natural muesli that is full of dried fruit and almonds.

There is a stupid yapping dog next door and it's driving me nuts! Time to go into another room :)

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

Just a quick check in. Been really busy, huge week of clients again this week. Of course having the races yesterday didn't help my productivity. It was a good day though, and amazingly enough, I backed the winner of the Cup. I think I am getting another cold :( I am not having a good run of things lately! I know I'm not the lone ranger there though. I had a few drinks yesterday and not a lot to eat but I don't think I was hungover. I have finally decided to bite the bullet and go gluten and dairy free. It's the dairy that will be tough. I bought and cooked up some quinoa tonight, which will be my oats replacement. Got a big plate of flathead that I cooked up tonight for dinner which was beautiful.

So, tomorrow I will try my quinoa for brekky, not really sure yet how to have it but I will experiment and find a way. Like I said, no dairy makes it tough to be creative! I'm also going to reduce my consumption of artificial sweeteners. Not that I have a lot but I will make an effort to reduce.

I trained in the morning before the races and leg pressed the whole stack for 3 sets. I could feel my muscle fibres tearing! Pretty sore today. I am going to get up and do some cardio in the morning - I haven't done any for so long (3 weeks!) and I feel a bit slobbish! Went to the chiro today which was well timed because my deadlifting session caused me a few issues. My neck and back were so sore. It's time to deadlift again tomorrow or Friday but I don't think that would be wise. Every 2 weeks may be better.

Still trying to figure out my plan of attack for shows early in the year. Will be calling someone tomorrow, and also waiting on a call back from another trainer to confirm her availability.

Firstly, if anyone with a Yahoo address is not getting my mail, it's because I have a problem with Yahoo addresses at the moment - not sure why but they are being returned to me. Am onto it and hopefully it will be fixed shortly.

Trained this morning alone - chest and tris. Also hammies but because my lower back and traps etc are still very sore from deadlifting, I decided just to go light on those and only did 3 wimpy sets. Chest without a spotter and I managed 17.5kg incline DB presses for 11 reps. The next set I expended all my energy getting the db's up, so only managed 6 reps. Really need a spotter on chest day. My forearms are really sore from deadlifting too. Massage was awesome and well needed yesterday morning. An hour and 40 mins of heaven (interpersed with some pain - good pain though!).

What's going on with the weather!! Great to see some rain, but it's horribly windy and cold!! I hope it clears up for the races on Tuesday. We even have Cabcharge tickets to get there and back thanks to one of the sponsors! I have managed to do 2 programs for next week as it's going to be another big one.

Had an interesting phone conversation with a prospective trainer yesterday. I have to wait until she figures out plans for the next few months to see if she is able to take me on or not, but it sounds interesting, and tough, but I do love a challenge. From what I've discussed with her and from looking at my photos, she feels I have a definite hormone imbalance. So, she would require me to have hormone testing on a regular basis to try and right things. I may not be able to do so in such a short time frame though as it can take years. But, I truly am sick of feeling fatigued and lethargic quite often when I still eat very well 90% of the time and train regulary so I am ready to take it on. I am sure my diet will change radically, with no dairy or whey protein, no gluten, no soy, and possibly no rice or eggs. It doesn't leave a huge amount!

Speaking of being tired - training really takes it out of me even though I supplement well and even though I have been getting plenty of sleep. I'm doing basically nil cardio at the moment - don't see the point until I start comp prep now. Trying to make the most of my available time by getting as much work done as possible! It's worked out well because I had two big weeks and now another coming up! Must be the warm weather - well, apart from today!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Hi Doris, thanks for stopping by! Di, have a great time catching up with Rach and Zach. Kimmy, I don't think it's anything but who knows. Things are pretty good Michelle, thanks!

Dinner pic and training

Finally here is a picture when we went out for dinner with Carolyn, Paul, Jodie and Ben.

I had an awesome session at the gym today. Not sure why but I was really strong. All that good (and bad) food I am eating I suppose :) Gotta eat to put on muscle right? I power deadlifted 85kg for 3 reps - a PB. And that was after a set of 10 at 75kg and a set of 6 at 80kg. It's not too bad for a 54kg lightweight I suppose. Especially as I was still quite sore from squatting. I did give myself an extra day recovery but it wasn't enough. Don't think I should squat and deadlift in the same week very often. I don't think I will be able to train hammies tomorrow, too sore. As soon as I got home I called my massage therapist to see if he could fit me in tonight because I am going to have a very very sore lower back. But, alas, couldn't do it, but I will go at 9am tomorrow - will definitely be sore by then. Jode couldn't train tonight, I think she's sick, so I went this morning. I was going to go for a long walk down the river tonight but guess what - it's RAINING!!! Wet stuff, falling out of the sky!!!

Because I have been doing virtually no cardio, I am finding I am able to get a lot of work done!! It's nowhere near as stressful! I've had 11 programs this week and only have one left to write. I think I will do that tomorrow.



Next week of course is Melbourne Cup Day. We have been invited by our good friend David Stevenson, to his company's Neqtar Wines marquee. We were also invited to the Timbercorp marquee so there will be no shortage of beverages for us one would think! Love going to the races. Was way too hot last year so we watched it at the pub instead. I hope it's nice this time. I better do a few of next week's programs to allow for a very lazy (read: hungover) day on Wednesday. And people, it only takes me 3 or 4 glasses of wine to feel a hangover.

Well, I haven't much more to tell really. Things are a little bit boring of late, but that's cool. This will all change very soon :)