I am a little late to the show as you have been given some great advise already. Congratulations on all that you have already achieved. Way to go!
Basically, how you feel and fit into your clothes is a good gauge of whether you are at weight or not. If you feel fit, healthy, happy and your clothes are fitting the way you want, then you are probably right were you need to be weight wise. On the other hand, if you really need some numbers and want to spend the money, get a fitness profile done. I get one monthly as it is included as part of my gym membership.
Basically, the profile shows you body fat versus lean muscle mass, flexibility, BMR, BMI, and other important factors that make up a healthy person. In my case, the profile compares me to all women in my age group and some other factors. The lower you body fat and higher your lean muscle the healthier you tend to be. But becareful not to go anorexic.
Once you lose the right amount of body fat, you will have extra skin because it was stretched. A lot of people go to plastic surgeons to get that extra skin removed (a belly tuck he he he). At any rate, you can also try just toning up your muscle. This doesn't mean heavy weight lifting. It can be done doing martial arts, sports, aerobic activity, fixing up your house, walking the dog, etc. Toning and building those abs you want doesn't necessarily mean doing a lot of weight lifting and crunches any more.
One of the exercises I use for my ABS is called the plank. You probably know about this. There are different plank position each geared to working your abs, lower and upper, glutes, lower back, etc. You would think just lying on the floor holding your body in position would be easy, well it is not. You are suppose to hold each position for one minute. I am still working on getting past 3 sets of 30 seconds each. Yet I am seeing some results. I also do a lot of cardio and other toning exercises.
Some weight lifting is useful, but light weights with lots of repetition. This is what tones the body and creates the shapes. you only need the heavier stuff if you want to bulk up and build more muscle.
Hope this helps. Keep up the great work. I hope to get there one day.
Jennifer Lupo, D.M.
From: RickS <rstewart@iaff.
To: fast5@yahoogroups.
Sent: Fri, April 30, 2010 3:18:05 PM
Subject: [fast5] Re: How do you know...
I like your point about buying new clothes and inventing a new look. I'm waiting until I can comfortably fit in a 30" waist before I buy any new pants.
Bruce Lee has always been a personal hero of mine. He was incredibly powerful, but in a very compact package. And I want that Brad Pitt midsection from Fight Club. That's the look I'm going for. I don't want to look big anymore. I just want to be a healthy and strong me.
I've spent most of my adult life TRYING to look bigger through weight lifting. But I've reached a point lately where I've really internalized the fact that that mentality is sold to us by marketers trying to sell supplements. I've lived almost 44 years and have never been in a fight. At some point a man needs to put his defenses down and realize that most people are good and most are not looking for a fight. Why be so big? I guess I'm just questioning the nature of perception and why people perceive each other in certain ways.
Yup, my window is coming up soon, can you tell? :)
-Rick
--- In fast5@yahoogroups. com, Heather Twist <HeatherTwist@ ...> wrote:
>
> I'd go by how you feel, and how fit you are. Your body has an inner meter
> for how big it wants to be. It can "tweak" your appetite and your metabolism
> to reach that weight. Eating many meals, it wanted to be bigger. Now it
> wants to be smaller.
>
> If you eat more food, what will happen? My guess is one of the following:
>
> 1. The meter will go back to wanting to be your old weight, and you will be
> 204. OR
> 2. Or, you will be stuck counting calories to get to some arbitrary weight
> you decide you ought to be.
>
> If you eat more than what you feel like eating, you will be uncomfortable.
> And the extra calories will likely just be fat.
>
> So, if you really want to "weigh more", you can probably do that by working
> out. Guys can gain a fair bit of extra muscle. I'm not sure that the extra
> muscle does more than make one look bigger though. You can get really strong
> without the bloated muscles. Monkeys and chimps are way stronger than men,
> and they look skinny.
>
> As for the pockets of adipose tissue: your body uses them. Getting rid of
> all of them isn't healthy at all. Doing hard workouts does get rid of many
> of them or at least hides them though: the people I know who joined
> competitive swimming clubs look real good in their suits!
>
> If you feel you "look small" though, I'd look into your clothing choices.
> Roosters and lions make themselves look big by adding a big ruff of feathers
> or fur: so do male humans in many cultures. My kids always "grow a year"
> when I buy them new clothes to replace the ones they grew out of.
>
> If you look at male fashions, you'll see that historically, a lot of the
> clothing is about making the guy look bigger. The typical American clothing
> that is popular right now, a tee shirt over jeans, shows off one's abs but
> also makes a person look smaller.
>
> But a nice sports jacket makes any guy look wider in the shoulders and also
> way more classy (even when it's worn over a tee shirt, and with jeans!).
> Hats do amazing things too. Hey, you got a nice bod now, show it off! You
> probably need a new wardrobe now anyway, with all that fat gone. So go to a
> nice store that has people to give you advice, and try on some good clothes.
> Get "a look" that is one class up from where you feel comfortable. Chances
> are people will stop saying "you are so skinny" and start saying "Wow. You
> look great!".
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