Nadia B Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Hi all, I have a silly question. I apologize if it has been addressed already. I've been wondering what is considered to be a workout? I tried to use search first, promise. I've read this thread http://forum.whole9l...__fromsearch__1, which was quite helpful. I give some examples of my activities I am confused about. Pilates class? Ballet class (most of time it's core strength training at the barre)? Ice skating? I know the general rule – listen to your body and eat as much as needed to maintain decent energy level. The problem is that I am never hungry even after very intense workouts. So, do I need extra snacks for high intensity activities only? Skip carbs if the intensity is low? Note: I am 5'5, 121. My goal weight is 116 and I wouldn't mind loosing "those 5 pounds", but I am not stressing about it too much. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 There's really no cut and dry answer here. I would just tell you to listen to your body, but I think it's really easy to not eat enough food for one's activity level...especially if you're saying you aren't hungry. If you are doing any activity that you consider "working out," eat a mini meal. If that means you get to dinner and can only stomach 1 palm of protein, instead of the 2 that you usually would eat at dinner, that's okay too. We don't want you forcing food down your throat when you're actually full. I'd just give yourself the opportunity to get the extra food when you need it. Does that make sense? Additionally, I would caution you to hold onto any number for a goal weight. The number is arbitrary and doesn't actually tell you anything. Worry more about performance, energy level and body comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Renée, Thanks for replying, your answer makes perfect sense. I think I'll learn to recognize the signals from my body soon instead of ignoring them completely in order to match specific number. I just do not want to decrease positive effects of being active by improper nutrition. Regarding my goal weight – this is the weight I've been most comfortable at. However, I have no intention of going back to just “not fatâ€. I have a perfect understanding that having my body functioning properly, enjoying myself and bringing harmony in my life feels so much better than fitting into a certain pants size. I wish I realized it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Regarding my goal weight – this is the weight I've been most comfortable at. However, I have no intention of going back to just “not fatâ€. I have a perfect understanding that having my body functioning properly, enjoying myself and bringing harmony in my life feels so much better than fitting into a certain pants size. I wish I realized it before. Okie dokie. Just checking! Because honestly, 5'5" and 116 is very light, imo. Not that light's a bad thing, but if you start working out, lifting weights and/or just gaining more muscle, it's going to be very hard to get anywhere close to that number. Good! Carry on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Okie dokie. Just checking! Support we get here means so much. You, guys, are golden. I do strength training twice a week + ballet class once a week. Pilates/skating etc are my extras for fun. I definitely plan to adjust my workouts to make them more functional - Cross Fit and weight lifting, but one step at a time for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praxisproject Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 If I do a proper strength workout I'll have a coconut water or something a bit higher in energy, even if I'm not hungry. But sometimes I do a "quickie" version and I don't have anything extra for those. So far I have never been hungry after a workout (although food afterwards often seems more delicious lol), it seems to drastically reduce my appetite. I have my dinner after my workout as I do mine in the evenings, so maybe my body knows if it waits there'll be food anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Thanks, praxisproject. I'll just experiment and play around with it I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenderbender Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I find I preform better with a pre workout meal of protein and fat no matter what time of day I work out..... ( unless its strict cardio then empty stomach). As far as a post WO meal I usually only feel the recovery benefits if I'm lifting heavy or doing sprints.....( full out anaerobic efforts) .... If I do agility/ conditioning/ technical/ boxing/ etc.... I feel like I'm good as long as I eat my next meal within an hour or so.... So the short answer is..... Just experiment and see how you feel. It's a very individual thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for your input, Fenderbender. I understand that there is no definition of the term workout, but I was curious to see what other people think. I was hoping to hear more opinions from ladies, but I guess Renée has nailed it. I have my 1,5 hour ballet class today, which is at 8 pm. Having dinner is not an option as it's not very pleasant to do all these exercises with full stomach, so is eating after = too late. I'll try to have two small protein meals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Hefta-Gaub Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 On the topic of weight. I just want to point out that 5'5" and 116lbs would be a BMI of 19.3. That's considered to be in the "normal" range by the NIH. Assuming you are active in things like ballet I would suspect you're quite fit. I'm only 5'4" myself, although I'm 135lbs. As an active ultramarathoner and ironman triathlete, I'm constantly being told by people that they don't understand how I can only eat 1500 calories a day. Or how they think I'm too small. I am not at all skinny. I have thick muscular legs and broad shoulders for my frame. I just happen to be small. Honestly, It's kinda frustrating. Yes, there are people out there who have eating disorders who are always trying to lose weight. But I sometimes feel like we're so obsessed by weight in our society that we also overreact when someone is actually a smaller person who happens to be a healthy weight for their frame size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 I assume that Renee's post had two purposes 1) to check if I am obsessed dieter, who sneaks harmful habits into Whole30 2) to encourage different (I'd say advanced) approach to goal setting. I understand your frustration, my best friend is naturally very thin, but she gets inappropriate comments all the time. I think that people generaly lack such skill as "mind your own business". Btw I am from undereating planet. I have never been small, but weight gain progressed as I moved to Canada. I went calorie restriction/low fat path (better version with no processes or packaged food, still). I started working out. I've lost 30lb, kept it off for a year and got bunch of health issues. I want to get rid of the "fat girl" syndrome, learn how to manage stress and be healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I assume that Renee's post had two purposes 1) to check if I am obsessed dieter, who sneaks harmful habits into Whole30 2) to encourage different (I'd say advanced) approach to goal setting. Yep, all of those! The biggest reason was just to give you a heads up, not because you're focusing on any number (which we still don't like), but rather that that particular number may be an unrealistic one. Obviously we've never met and I have no idea what your body type is, so what do I know? I just know a number of athletic women around 5'5", where 116 would be really difficult if not impossible to get to, while maintaining any semblance of performance/health. That doesn't mean you can't get there, I just wanted to make sure that you don't have your heart set on that number and that you're perfectly content to let your body tell you where it wants to be! (Which it sounds like you are!) And of course I hope you'll ditch your scale long before you get there!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Obviously we've never met and I have no idea what your body type is, so what do I know? I just know a number of athletic women around 5'5", where 116 would be really difficult if not impossible to get to, while maintaining any semblance of performance/health. And of course I hope you'll ditch your scale long before you get there!! Getting lighter would benefit my ballet dancing, that's for sure. I am not trying to be like professional dancers, who seem to have negative percentage of body fat. Again, it's their way of earning money which affects their health pretty much like any professional sport. Not to mention crazy stress due to the necessity to fit into certain range. I am proud to say - SCALES ARE GONE. I am not even planning to step on them after the Whole 30 is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Hefta-Gaub Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 The thing about "performance" is that how to measure performance is specific the the functional activity we're attempting to be good at. I know that there is a strong correlation between CrossFit and the Whole30 community. And "body weight" is rarely something useful in measuring or managing a path toward a CrossFit performance goal. (Although, I'm sure we'd all agree that there are some CrossFit exercises and performance metrics in which power to weight plays a big role: pull-ups, get-ups, box-jumps, etc.) But the idea that weight doesn't matter for any athletic performance is simply not true. There are some sports, where "performance" is directly related to weight. For example, cycling. The best measure of performance is power to weight ratio. And the biggest factor in performance is not the persons ability to generate power, but the weight that power is divided by. Paying attention to ones weight is not (necessarily) and indicator of unhealthy choices. I get that for a lot of people "weight" and "scales" are all tied up into this jumbled mess of body image, self doubt, self punishment, and as much of what Whole 30 is about helping people begin to have a healthy view of themselves relative to food as nutrition. I realize that many many people struggle with this. And for those people who have a very real sense of dread or fear or pain when they think about weight or step on a scale, it's good advice to stop using a scale. But the scale is not the problem. The scale is just a tool, that gives you information. How you process that information and how you use that information is what is most important to both your health and your athletic performance. Anyway, I hope you all understand where I'm coming from... I'm not trying to be argumentative. Hopefully you understand that. I do however, think it's important to accept that there are perfectly good reasons to use tools like scales, and to pay attention to "weight". And that particularly for people who are smaller/shorter (5'5"), that a weight 116 lbs is not (necessarily) and unhealthy weight. And in particular, related to the topic of athletic performance, there are good/healthy uses of a scale or paying attention to weight. Thanks for listening to my thoughts with an open mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Brad, we're saying the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.