Phase 2. On my way to lean muscle!

I'm back for sure now for phase 2 of my transformation... I sort of had started a new workout to put some lean weight but a lot was going on and I started losing confidence and i was down for a while but recently I received great news and now I'm back baby!

So I've bought a quiet a few of supplements such as multi vitamins, zma, glutamine, creatine, amino acids, ginseng, casein protein. I got a free bottle of Hemo Rage for a pre workout drink. I've started eating vegetables for the first time in my life and i've also added blue berries to my post workout protein shakes. My diet is pretty much perfect. Around 2200 calories a day and 170g of protein daily. I'm weighed in today at 147.2 pounds. I'm surprised but not totally surprised that i lost another 3 pounds while not working out seriously like i was when i lost all the weight BUT my diet was pretty strict these 2 months! I'm eating 7 to 8 meals a day. Plenty of carbs in my breakfast and lunch, keeping my dinner with lean protein only and avoiding carbs after lunch.

My goal: 15 pounds of lean muscle weight in 3 months!

I will try to keep a daily blog of everything. Dont know how much i will succeed with that with a long hours at my job and battling my lower back and hamstring injuries. But I will try! Same with my workouts! I know I cant go too hard to not hurt myself more but I will keep pushing it!

This is me right now.. Hopefully in 3 weeks I'll look much better and bigger than that!

Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage

Body fat measurements and the measuring tape are recognized as superior methods for measuring "weight loss". When one declares that they want to "lose weight", what they often mean is that they want to lose fat. So, now that you've had your body fat percentage measured, what does the number really mean?

First, your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150 pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).

A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following table describes body fat ranges and their associated categories:

*General Body Fat Percentage Categories

Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)
Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%
Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
Obese 32% plus 25% plus

*American Council on Exercise

Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. Remember, weight loss doesn't always mean fat loss. For example:

Let's say you're a 130# woman with 23% body fat, and you goal is to "lose 20 pounds":

Initial body fat: 130# x 0.23 fat = 30 # body fat

Lean body mass: 130# total - 30# fat = 100# lean body mass (bones, organs and all else)

Goal: 130# - 20# = 110 pounds

As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this woman still requires 100# of lean body mass (bones, organs, etc.), but would only be carrying 10#, or only 9% body fat. From the chart above, you can see that this is a dangerously low percentage.

A better goal might be for the woman to reduce her body fat from 23% to 18%. In this case:

130# x 0.18 = 23 # body fat

100# lean body mass + 23 # = 123# goal weight

So, for this individual to achieve a lean, but healthy 18% fat, she would need to lose only 7 pounds of fat, reducing her weight from her current 130 pounds to 123 pounds. Losing more than 7 pounds means losing lean body mass (usually metabolically-active muscle tissue), which is clearly not desirable.

So before you decide that you need to "lose weight", remember to consider that "weight" consists of both lean body mass and body fat. Try to keep your weight loss goals realistic, and remember, keep the calorie-burning muscle, and lose only the fat.