Challenges Information Thread

[marymc]

Based on Wendy Chant’s, “Crack the Fat-Loss Code” WOE and Book

Are you sick of “falling off the wagon” because you can’t cope with yet another week of induction and you miss starchy foods like potatoes, bread and rice too much? Are you frustrated because your strict low carb diet worked great at first, but then you seemed to hit a plateau, and your body stubbornly refused to give up another pound? Are you fed up with losing and gaining the same 5 or 10 pounds? Would you believe it if someone told you that yes, you can even have those sweets again, and still lose weight?

Come on in and learn why this is happening with your body, and how you can re-train it so that you can begin to eat carbs again and continue to lose weight doing it through a specific method of carb cycling. At first it may seem a bit daunting and complicated but don’t worry – it’s really not! And there are some folks already on higher levels to help you along.

This way of eating (WOE) is based on Wendy Chant’s book, “Crack the Fat-Loss Code.” In order to successfully follow this challenge, it is highly recommended that you support the author and purchase the book. It’s not expensive, only about $10 – less some places, and in it you will find an awesome explanation of the “why” and the “how” of this WOE. Since this is a carb cycling program, to help you get in the swing of cycling, you will also find daily logs for all cycles in the book. These are extremely helpful, especially in the beginning, to help you learn which foods to eat and when to eat them, and where you can introduce carbs back into your diet. In addition to that, there are loads of sample menus for each step of the way including guidelines for men, women and even those who are diabetic. There are even some yummy recipe suggestions! I have to admit, until I had the book in my hand, I did not fully understand the cycles, so I urge you to pick up a copy to help you along.

Here's the link to the first challenge, or just look for the Wendy Chant Code Crackers for the current one!

Wendy Chant Code Crackers for July '08

~~~~~
Wendy Chant, is a certified Master Personal Trainer (MPT), a Specialist in Performance Nutrition (SPN), a former marathon runner and champion bodybuilder, and is the Founder of ForeverFit training studios. She holds a B.S. in Medical Sciences and Nutrition Science.

[Andrea78]

Christmas Surprise Challenge

The first rule of this challenge is to throw away your scale! Or at least, put it away until Christmas 2008.

I have been thinking how I obsess over the scale every day, and it actually hinders my weight loss! If I don't see a loss every day I get discouraged. I know it's irrational and logically know why the reasons we don't lose every day. Our weight fluctuates, it's normal. I tend to give up if I don't see fast results in the time frame I want. Is there anybody out there like me? Stepping on the scale everyday, sometimes 2-3 times a day? Do you get depressed when you don't lose and go off plan thinking why bother?

If so, join me in this challenge. It doesn't matter what low carb plan you are on, just put that scale away with me until Christmas and concentrate on how you FEEL and how your clothes fit. Get that tape measure out! Scales lie and you know why.

So get workin it with your eating and exercise plan and we can all support each other in a scale-free environment! No weighing allowed! And on Christmas Morning when we step on that scale, we will be greatly rewarded with a loss that hopefully reflects all of our hard work

WHY THE SCALE LIES

We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.

Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.

Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it’s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That’s why, when it comes to eating, it’s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners.

Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum.

Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it’s associated water. It’s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.

Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it’s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It’s the actual weight of everything you’ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you’ve finished digesting it.

Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it’s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it’s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it’s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it’s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you’re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.

This brings us to the scale’s sneakiest attribute. It doesn’t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you’ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you’re just sitting around. That’s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.

Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn’t differentiate between the two. It can’t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current.

If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don’t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It’s a matter of mind over scale.

[kiwikid]

I am going to try to restart an old challenge. Many of the challenges that interest me, seem to have slipped away. [COLOR="Blue"]Cheat Free[/COLOR] is for those of us who have a hard time getting back on track when cheating. So we don't. Our challenge is simple. Strive to be cheat free with whichever phase you're on. Join and start at anytime.

If [COLOR="Blue"]YOU [/COLOR]join the challenge, [COLOR="blue"]YOU[/COLOR] need to
1. You determine your own WOE, and the cheats associated.
2. Strive to be cheat free every day, one day at a time.
3. Try to post every day, to let us know how you did staying cheat free, and to brag about the temptations you turned down. That way we can all celebrate with you.
4. Praise members who resist temptation.
5. Tell us if you cheated - we understand.
6. Encourage members who cheated to start again.
7. Collect as many stars as you can.
7. You are encouraged to post your stars in your signature.

[U]Records and Rewards [/U]
1. I will keep a speedsheet of all the members, and record their days being cheat-free. I am going to commit to this daily (It will challenge me, but I hope keep me honest to the challenge.)
2. Public congratulations on the thread will be made whenever someone has been cheat-free for 7 days (I think one week is significant and well worth celebrating).
3. A bronze star will be sent to anyone cheat-free for 14 consecutive days.
4. A Silver star will be sent to anyone cheat free for 30 consecutive days.
5. A Gold star will be sent to anyone who is cheat free for 100 consecutive days.

If you CHOOSE to cheat, you have to start all over at #1.

[mike lou]

Low-fat or low-carb? A recent New York Times Magazine (July 7, 2002) cover story answered this question and said that Dr. Atkins was right all along, "its not fat that makes us fat but carbohydrates." Though the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in research trying to prove that fat is the cause of obesity, there has been a subtle shift in the scientific consensus over the past five years supporting what the low-carb diet doctors have been saying all along: if we eat less carbohydrates, we will lose weight and live longer.
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Mike lou

New Hampshire Alcohol Addiction Treatment

[pkfortner]

sign me in

[rcliff9424]

I'm 6'2" 270lbs. Very old