Sonya’s BodyBlog

I had a hydrostatic body fat testing last week (April 21st) and was very happy with the results!  I’m actually 14.2% body fat, which is about 2.5% lower than the reading I’m getting at home with calipers.  Sure, I still don’t look the way I want but, psychologically, this lower number made me feel slimmer and closer to my goals.  Funny how that works…
My weight is a couple of pounds heavier than usual from the creatine loading and maybe a tiny bit of muscle gain.  I’ve reduced my carb intake hoping to go back to a state of ketosis (where I had my best fat loss results) to lose an additional 2% fat.  It’s time to shake things up since I’ve been plateaued for about 6 weeks with no fat loss.  So far, my weight is down 2 lbs and the infamous ab vein is becoming more prominent!  (Btw, thanks for the kind words about the vein.  It still grosses me out a bit but I’m trying to love it!!)

My goal is to be down 0.5% fat by this Saturday.  I’ll keep measuring at home with the calipers and will have another hydrostatic measurement in 3 months.  By that time, I’m hoping to have reached my goal of 12% body fat (or maybe a bit lower!)

I’m thinking about becoming a certified personal trainer.  I’m passionate about being healthy, have been creating my own healthy recipes, and more and more people are coming over to my place to have me calculate their body fat % and help them with diet and exercise plans.  I’ve started researching different certification courses but I’m wondering, is any one certification better/more respected than the others?  Maybe a subjective question, but any information would be helpful.

Man, where have I been?  It’s been one thing after another, keeping me from bodyspace!  Ok, I’m back and, sadly, last Saturday I didn’t hit anywhere into the 14% zone.  The good news is my bf stayed constant, so I can’t complain.  I think the low calorie/low carb cycle ran its course so now I’m bulking to put on more muscle.  I’ll try it for a few weeks then lean out again.  I’m keeping my bf in check; I really don’t want to get above 16.5%.
Now that I’m eating more (LOTS more at 2185 cals/day) I’m able to lift a considerable amount more weight, and have been pretty sore this week.  I can see a slight difference in my arms and abs and promise I’ll take more pictures soon!  I do know that my weight has gone up from 112 lbs to 115 lbs which I HOPE is all muscle gain!!  We’ll see when I measure later today.

My hardcore diet and exercise cycle is paying off, even with my bum knee.  I’m SO proud to say that my body fat at 15.15%, my thigh measurement at 20.25", and my hip measurement at 35", are the absolute lowest they have ever been.  Also, my LBM increased .7lbs. This is major progress for me!

My goal is to break into the 14% range by Wednesday.  I’ll keep you posted….

Squats & cardio, which I’ve been doing like a fiend at 2-3 sessions a day, have caused my knee to act up (again).  I plan on going easy on it for a bit, laying off the squats and modifying my lower body workout to non-knee-hurting exercises.  I may not get as much quad work, but I’ll load up on dead lifts & good mornings (two exercises I love!).  I altered my cardio work out to an upper-body-focused-circuit using light weights & body resistance (chin ups, modified push ups, clean & jerks and one arm snatches).   I’m also toying with the idea of swimming laps, which I haven’t done for eons.  I’m REALLY hoping the bum knee won’t set me back on my goal of reaching 15% body fat by Saturday….we’ll see….

The good news from today’s measuring was that both my abs and triceps dropped 0.5mm.  It may not sound like much, but it’s a great feeling to see a change, however slight, especially in the triceps (they’d been holding steady at 11mm for weeks).  Single digits here I come!
Surprise, surprise, my legs had no change. It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m optimistic that they’ll follow the triceps and finally start leaning out.  Both of those areas like to be hold on to every bit of fat that they can, which is awesome.  Love it.  It has to drop eventually, so I’ll step up the intensity & see if I hit 15.0% on Saturday.

After being stuck around 16.5% - 17% body fat, and with a goal of hitting 12%, I decided to get off the fat plateau by cutting my calories (1,120 cals on a low day & 1,500 on a high day, spread over 5 meals) & try carb cycling.   Since 1/6/08, I’ve been on a high protein/low carb cycle, eating no more than 20g carbs/day, most of which come from low fat cottage cheese, nothing "bready" (I can’t express how good pizza sounds these days).  I eat at least 30g protein/meal (usually more) and load up on fibrous carbs throughout the day.   I also lift weights every morning, always working to increase my reps and/or weight, and do cardio 2 - 3 times a day.  Can you tell I’m determined to shake the fat?

The good news is it has paid off.  Over the past month I’ve dropped to 15.53% body fat, which is the lowest I’ve ever been.   The bad news is this past week I didn’t have much of a drop (I measure fat every Saturday).  And by "much of a drop" I mean no drop.  On the bright side, I held steady, but I was really hoping for at least a .5% drop.   Fearing another dreaded plateau, I increased my calories by 100 on both low & high days (I have 3 low days in a row then 1 high day, I also now eat more carbs on high days) and remeasure on Wednesday to see if I have a drop.

So…..tomorrow is my big day.  I’m anxious & REALLY hoping last week was an anomaly and I’ll be back on track.  If not, I will probably need to try something new, like cut out dairy.  I’ve been hooked on low fat cottage cheese but I could bite the bullet and let it go if needed….but it’ll suck.  I know the carb cycling isn’t sustainable but I’m hoping to lean out a nip more before it stops working and I go back to bulking.  Until tomorrow….

I’m having a tough day, craving sugar like mad.  I can’t stop thinking about molasses cookies and pink frosting (yes, specifically pink b/c I saw it on tv) on chocolate cupcakes.  BUT, I’ll keep drinking chocolate whey protein with cinnamon & flax seeds and believe it tastes even better than cupcakes!

I did 9 chin ups this morning!  It’s a far cry from the 3 I could do on 1/1/08.