So last week I went to a free week trial at a local cross-fit place and I found I really enjoyed it. I lost 4 pounds last week! Then of course over the weekend I gained 2 back because I was eating crappy. I decided to join for the rest of the month to see if I could really stick with something and enjoy it.So today and my personal trainer asked me if I wanted to participate in a national paleo cross-fit competition. I would only be competing against myself. Basically, it starts Sept 16 and goes to Nov 10th. It is 8 weeks of intense cross-fit, and strict paleo eating. She told me that everyone who has ever done this loses at least 30 pounds! I would LOVE to loose that much in that short of a time frame however I am scared I won't be able to stick to the strict paleo diet!!! I looked over the list of approved foods and even though I have done paleo before, this is WAY stricter! Plus I have to eat 6 meals a day which I am not sure I can do. I am thinking that I could do the competition with my dh on our own without registering. I don't need to win a prize to know I am changing my body and exercising. Now I am just starting to ramble so you don't have to read on. I see the women doing cross-fit at the gym and most (but not all) of them are on the thinner side, but not near what I would expect to see for doing cross-fit for 3-4 years. So now I am rethinking doing cross-fit since the women at the gym don't look any different than those that exercise but don't do cross-fit. Maybe it's just this cross-fit gym that doesn't produce the results I am looking for....or maybe I should just join a regular gym and do cross-fit workouts on my own there. It would defiantly be cheaper to attend a regular gym. Hmmm...Just things I have to think about. Have any of you tried cross-fit and if so did you just loose weight, or were you able to define your muscles? My goal is to loose all 60 pounds of baby weight and have definition in my arms, abs, and legs. Have any of you had success on doing that? If so, how did you do it??
Losing weight is pretty much all about diet. You've got to eat at a 3500 calorie deficit to get rid of one pound. So, initially, much of weight loss is simply water weight [which is probably the real reason why you put back on 2 pounds, unless you ate 7000 calories over your TDEE]. I lost no weight doing exercise. However, I enjoy my time at the gym as it has helped me build up my muscle tone and given me greater strength. I do half my time on cardio and half on strength training. I've just started to move from relying on the resistance machines to doing more work with free weights and kettlebells. The strength training is where you will develop muscle definition/toning. Honestly, I'm a bit appalled that a trainer would encourage what sounds like a very unhealthy weight loss plan. A healthy weight loss should be 1-2 pounds per week. Maybe people lose a lot doing what she's encouraging, but my bet is that they also gain it back. The key to effective lifetime weight loss is to eat and live in a way you can do for you whole life. If you can't eat/live the lifestyle you're doing to lose weight for the rest of your life, you will probably gain it back. Look at exercise as a way to gain strength and energy; look at your food choices as a way to lose weight. Have you figured out your TDEE and BMR? Do you know how many calories you should be eating per day to lose? Do you measure and log your food?
I was a bit surprised she asked me to do the challenge as I am a a beginner when it comes to cross-fit and I have a hard time sticking to a strict diet. The more I think about it the more I don't want to do the challenge because it seems so intense and I just know I will binge eat after the 8 weeks which would be terrible. I know I need a lifestyle change and for me it has to be slow. I can't do a cold turkey toss out all the bad food and only buy healthy food. I have already made huge changes to our diet this past year and I am still working on it. I have stabilized my weight by making the changes and now I am ready to loose the weight. My gut tells me that this cross-fit place is not the right fit for me and that I should just get a membership at a regular gym. I would just exercise at home but I need that membership to get me out of the house to exercise. If I pay for it, I will use it. I have to many excuses to NOT do it at home. I know what my TDEE and BMR are. I have not been logging my food lately and I know I need to start up again. I keep forgetting and I have had a lot on my plate (no pun intended) lately with life and extended family. Since I am back to exercising regularly I need to start tracking my food again. JosieB made some great worksheets that I used. I need to print some more off.
Have you tried using something like myfitness.com? I love using it for logging, especially with their smartphone app. I just scan the bar code on something and there it goes! Plus, they have a huge database of stuff already in there. I wonder if your trainer is getting some kind of bonus for signing people up for the challenge. I can't see a responsible trainer suggesting what she is. I lost the 25 pounds I wanted to and still ate what I wanted; I just logged it and kept it all in my calorie count. I'm in maintenance mode now, but I still log my calories to keep an account of them. I'd love to stop, but I know I'll go back to just grabbing a handful of something here and a handful there and telling myself that it's not much---- it so painfully adds up! I'm with you on needing the gym membership to exercise faithfully. My insurance helps with my membership dues and knowing I've paid for something makes me go out and do it. Otherwise, I feel ripped off! LOL Since it sounds like you're wanting definition, I'd do some cardio to warm up and then head for the strength training. You won't bulk up doing it, but you should start seeing the definition. Just make sure you ditch the scale and take measurements instead. That'll be way more accurate.
you know what works for you. join the facility that will provide you with sustainable results. some people need the more intense drama of a specialty program to be motivated, others don't. either way most people see more weight loss up front than later on. The less progressed folks at crossfit gym, may be less motivated and simply struggling to maintain. its not necessarily a commentary on the program. I would want to focus on eating how you will eat ongoing after the initial weight loss is achieved.
