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Questioning Body Fat Percentage

November 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Caroline and Tori are fitness competitors who both got in amazing shape and hit their Venus ratio's. Both had 23 and 24 percent body fat in their legs yet 5-7% in their upper body. The main thing here is everyone depending on their genetics and heredity will compartmentalize fat differently on their body.

Caroline and Tori are fitness competitors who both got in amazing shape and hit their Venus ratio’s. Both had 23-24% body fat in their legs yet 5-7% in their upper body. The main thing here is everyone, depending on their genetics and heredity, will compartmentalize fat differently on their body. You can’t compare yourself to others.

What is so important about body fat percentage?

Hydrostatic body fat percentage is the gold standard.  It is the method which every other method is calibrated on.  There are no assumptions; they use just the properties of your body in the water.

What is so important about of your body fat percentage?  It’s a number.

It reminds Brad of eating for calories when you need to lose weight when really you just need to eat the right amount of food to lose weight.  People like to go to an online calculator and find out they are supposed to eat 2712 calories a day as an example, then they don’t lose weight and they think their metabolism is broken.  The calculator just gave them the wrong estimate for their body.  People forget that the body is the end game, not the calculator, chart, book, theory, or what someone else did to lose weight.

The total over all body fat percentage does not tell you a whole lot unless you reach a dramatically low percentage that it is irrelevant.   It’s just like how your overall body weight on the scale doesn’t tell you a whole lot either.

DEXA/DXA is the most accurate and is the key for a health standpoint because it tells you regional fat percentages.

Everyone stores fat differently

Brad and John have a lot of data to look at and today they focused on two female fitness competitors who were both approximately 15% body fat which is very low for females.   This is dramatically low for a woman.   One of them had 6.9% in her trunk (her upper body from the waist up).  The other one had below 5% in her trunk (she had a full set of shredded abs and her back was totally visible). 

Tori and Caroline are fitness competitors that places first and third in their respective categories so they were both in amazing shape.  Neither of them looked awkward, they both looked totally feminine.

Both had 23 and 24 percent body fat in their legs.  See the difference between the upper and lower body?  The main thing here is everyone depending on their genetics and heredity will compartmentalize fat differently on their body.

So another female could have 20% in her legs, but maybe 11% in her upper body, and roughly the same overall body fat percentage as Tory and Caroline and look totally different.  If she tries to compare herself to these fitness competitors (or anyone else for that matter) at the same overall body fat it totally falls apart. 

Everyone stores body fat in different patterns.  These storage patterns are genetic and you cannot manipulate them.  There are some schools of thought that you can manipulate them with diet but there is no data or measurements that prove this theory.  The theories are purely anecdotal and guess work. 

Don’t let body fat measurements hijack your goals

Setting a goal as a percentage body fat can mess you up.  It is a form of goal hijacking.

If you get down to your golden ratio and then would need to go a lot leaner to get the ab definition it could change your overall aesthetic to not be as visually appealing.  Also total body fat percentage is totally dependent on how much muscle mass is there.  Body fat is relative to your lean body mass.  So if you increase your lean body mass without losing any fat your overall body fat % drops.

Body weight and body fat percentage is only useful if you have a “shape” to go with it or a measurable goal like Venus or Adonis Ideal or Ratio.

 

What is your goal?

What is your goal?  To get to a certain size?  A certain weight?  For some of us it was to simply leave our obesity behind, become healthy and functional, have the ability to walk or hike with loved ones, and enjoy a better quality of life and not necessarily become a bikini model.

When I first joined the Venus Factor my goal was to get down to a size 8 which was the smallest size I’d ever been as an adult.  The goal setting in the Venus Factor program enabled me to exceed that by several sizes.  In fact I had no idea how lean I got until I had a hydrostatic body fat test which showed I’d gotten down to 10.5% overall body fat (I am 5’1″ and I was 116 pounds).

It was good that I had the test at that time because it helped me to understand that I needed to increase my food intake and give up trying for the Venus Ideal waist.  I didn’t realize that I was an outlier yet.  I had no idea what I had achieved.

 

I was trying to get down to my Venus Ideal waist and didn't realize that at 10.5% overall body fat there was no where left to go, nothing else left to lose.

I was trying to get down to my Venus Ideal waist and didn’t realize that at 10.5% overall body fat there was no where left to go, nothing else left to lose.  On the right I was at 11.5% at the time of my DXA scan.  With unusually high LBM for my height getting to my Venus Ideal waist is not a realistic goal for me, and that is okay, I get to work with the genetic hand I’m dealt.

 

I’d gotten down to probably slightly below 10% overall body fat for my Venus Transformation VT4 photos (at 109 pounds.)  This was the only time ever that I got to my Venus Ideal waist, for a mere moment in time.

A year later I had a DXA scan which showed that I’d gone up to 11.5% overall body fat with 105 pounds of lean body mass. My Android fat was 5% (.4 pounds) and my Gynoid was 16.8%, so like Tori and Caroline my legs were significantly higher compared to my upper body.

As John said this is typical for females. I was 51.5 years old at the time of the DXA (over a year ago) and because of my age I might have lower estrogen levels.  My hormone panel shows normal levels but I’m clearly in the season of my life where estrogen levels start waning. This may make it more possible to gain muscle and get to a lower body fat for females later in life.

I was very proud of the fact that DXA showed my Visceral Adipose Tissue (VAT) at .06 pounds!  From a health standpoint this is really good, although it’s probably not necessary to be that low.

 

How do body fat tests help you learn to maintain fitness?

I’ve lived my life for several years now floating 12-13% overall body fat and sometimes up to possibly 14-15% (just a guess).  The body fat tests were good for giving me a health marker and a rough idea about where I’m at depending on how my clothes fit.

I find tremendous freedom in no longer needing the body weight scale.  I know how my clothes fit and if I need to slim down just a bit I know how much to eat to make that happen, nothing else is really needed for me to maintain (except to keep up with training!)

My body fat level is unique to me.  It doesn’t make me better or worse than anyone else and shouldn’t be used as a comparison. It doesn’t mean anything to me but a health marker and a bench mark that goes with my pictures and my look and shape at that level.  That said, I’m learning to feel good about myself even when I don’t live my life at that 10% benchmark and can move up a little in body fat and not be too hard on myself.

By listening to podcasts like this today I learn more about my body.  This helped me to feel good about what I’ve achieved.  I am still maturing in my fitness life and will continue to constantly learn.  Listening to Leigh Peele podcasts are also helping me learn about my body and my fitness level as I mature in this process.

 

What happens when you get close to your Venus Ideal goal?

If you are following the Venus Factor System you will find that you will learn more once you get closer to your goal.  The goal setting in this program is a perfect place to start and will allow you to achieve exactly what you want and most likely exceed your expectations for yourself.

Some ladies get very close to the ideal and say this is close enough, they’ve achieved what they wanted, now they just want to enjoy life and keep what they’ve achieved.  And they go on to do exactly that.  It is great.  It fits their lifestyle and they move on.

Others will reach the Venus Ideal at a much higher body fat than I did, and that is perfect.  I kind of envy women with that genetic hand.  Sometimes if they try to go lower in body fat to get “ripped abs” or whatever it won’t look as good because they go beyond the Venus Ideal.  The Venus Ideal is based on what the human eye finds the most pleasing, and that is why the formula is used in art.

Other women will find they build muscle fairly easily because of their genetics and so will also likely reach a lower body fat level if they keep going with the fat loss.  Denise and I are in this category.  We live our day to day life with our waist circumference slightly above the Venus Ideal (or like me several inches above) and it’s just as good as those who get to live exactly at the ideal with more body fat.  Neither is better or worse, it just is what it is.

It is just as well and okay for women who find living slightly above the ideal ratio at a higher yet still quite healthy body fat level. After all it’s about being healthy, functional, having a better quality of life, and enjoying more time with your loved ones.

What matters is what makes YOU happy and healthy.  Once again, you, your body, and your life are the end game; not the system, program, workout, diet protocol, theory, ideal metrics, book, chart, calculator, or what someone else says or does.  You get to decide what makes you happy and all these tools can help you get to that point.

It really all depends on the genetic hand you are dealt.  You won’t know what you have until you lose enough fat.  The best way to lose significant fat is to divide and conquer while also weight training to the best of your ability.  The Venus Factor workouts are the best I’ve found for my build and have enabled me to reach my genetic potential in a way that at least my husband and friends around me say is still pleasing to the eye and still feminine yet strong.

What will you do to achieve your best genetic potential that fits your life?  I would love to hear about it.

-Ro

 

 

Find out what John and Brad have to say about questioning body fat percentage:

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For Everything There Is a Season

November 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Liss is one of our Every Day Venus ladies who knows how to flow with the seasons.

Liss is one of our Every Day Venus ladies who knows how to flow with the seasons.

 

What about goals and systems?

There has been a lot of talk recently in our community about the difference between goals and systems.  Many of us read an interesting article recently on the Summer Tomato which gave us some food for thought.

Most of us have learned over time in our weight loss journey that there is no one size fits all.  No method that works for everyone.  No single right way or wrong way.  It all varies from person to person.  It all varies for a single person as you go through all the different seasons of your life.

What works for diet changes over time with your seasons.  What fits for physical fitness varies over time with your seasons.  What works for your successful mindset varies over time with your seasons.

Mind, body, and your life circumstances; all have their seasons.  Sometimes goals are appropriate and other times systems are appropriate.  You can move in and out of these as you please.

Much of what works with the Venus Systems is that the goal metrics we shoot for are mostly a range.  The weight goal is a range, the hip circumference is a range, and although the shoulders and waist are specific, most of us learned in the end that it’s also kind of a range.

The range is learned once you lose the “excess fat” and get fairly close to the specific ideal.  You learn what works for your individual lifestyle.  You learn what your body is once you get down to a healthy level.

Each body is different, even for two people of the same height, you learn to work with what you got.  You have control over some things and not other things.  You learn acceptance.

Liss is a perfect example of someone who uses goals and systems, and flows with the seasons in her life; balancing her family life and fun summer vacation times. She writes about much of this on her blog and in our private online community.

 

Goals and systems for the calorie deficit.

The diet and ability to sustain a calorie deficit changes with time.  Many of us found we could do an aggressive calorie deficit once or twice, but then it takes it’s toll and we find it’s no longer a good idea.  The season changed on us.  It’s a new season for some of us and we can’t do that anymore.

That is why John and designed the Venus Factor fat loss protocol in our manual.

Much of the time the season that comes upon us is out of our control.  Women in mid life have hormone changes.  Heck we females have hormone changes all of our lives between normal cycles, having kids, nursing kids, mid life, various health issues, it seems endless.

We have learned to roll with it and it is the same with our diet and whether our not we can sustain a calorie deficit.

Many women with find that with monthly cycles a calorie deficit is just not going to happen for one week a month.  They realize that it’s actually a win to simply eat at maintenance that one week in addition to any other days they might eat at maintenance.  Trying to force the issue will result in disaster.  This is not to say that some women can’t do it.  Most will find it extremely difficult.  This is normal.

Your ability to eat at a calorie deficit changes with the seasons in your life; work stress, family stress, health stress, changing hormones, you name it.  It’s always okay to eat at maintenance.  Always always always.

 

Always look forward, take a deep breath and stay positive

If you still need to lose significant body fat to be healthy remember that eating at maintenance is always a win. The same goes for if you are already at a healthy body fat and you just want to get a little leaner; this is a slower process and in many ways harder.  Eating at maintenance is always a win.  I will type this again; Eating at maintenance is always a win.

The only losing game is a long string of over eating and this usually happens when you simply give up. Just because you over eat one day or so, or even a few days or a week, it does not mean you have ruined all.

You can’t go back and change it, just move forward.  Just keep moving forward.  Leigh Peele gives really good advice, she said the same thing in her forum and on her Facebook page recently.

 

Don’t live in regret or have those moments where you get down on what you have done, could have done, etc. It’s a waste of time and literally achieves nothing because you can’t time travel. You can’t change the past. Nothing can be done. What you can do is push yourself now, today and the days that follow to make smart moves towards the direction of being a person you are proud of. When you are prideful in yourself, you accomplish things.

When you have doubt, lack self trust, or judge yourself in such a harsh manner – what is there to do than cower in your own insults? After all, no one knows better low blows than the ones we can throw at ourselves.

Don’t throw those blows. Look forward instead.

-Leigh Peele

 

Never beat yourself for eating at maintenance or even over eating sometimes.  Again the only thing harmful is self loathing or beating yourself up and then giving up.  It does no good.  It has no value.  It’s more than a waste time, it’s toxic.

Think of eating at maintenance as something necessary for your health and periodically part of your over all long term weight loss goal (or system if you choose to focus more on the process than the goal).

If you need to shift your mental mindset to stay positive and healthy do it.  Learn to roll with it like you’ve learned to with many other things in your life already.

We are all different, we all have to find our own way in a sense, but what worked for me in most of my fat loss cycles was focusing on the system and not the end goal.  It gets me to my goal, which is a specific shape and feel that I like for my body.  It does me no good to look at the scale anymore.  It does me no good to look at the tape measure anymore.  It does me no good to get a DXA scan.

What does me good is meandering in the direction of a calorie deficit with a fierce mindset (because it’s hard) yet learning to take maintenance breaks as often and as long as needed.  I can tell by how I feel.  I can tell by how I sleep.  I can tell by how strong I am.  I can tell by my ability to take on stress.

 

The answer is in you

As you go through the Venus Factor systems, listen to the coaching calls, read what others do, listen to the success stories in the contest interviews, research and experiment, but learn to listen to your own body.  It has the answer even better than a calculator estimate or the protocol or theory in the manual.

Your own body; it is the end game.  It tells you when you ate too much.  It tells you when you ate too little.  It tells you when you pushed too hard.  It tells you when you took on too much stress.  It tells you when it’s time to adjust your priorities.  It tells you when it’s time to change your mindset.  It tells you when it’s time to switch from a goal to a system, or back to a goal, or any combination of the two.

Everything we do in the journey here at Venus is a lifestyle and it’s long term.  Take the time.  Make the time.  You are worth it.

Learn to roll with the seasons.

It is training for maintaining.

Have a fabulous weekend,

-Ro

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Be Disappointed If You Can’t Live Your Daily Life at a Low Body Fat Level.

October 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

When you reach your fitness goals you still go through a maturing process

It sounds odd but once you hit your fitness goals, especially if you’ve exceeded your expectations, you will still go through a maturing process.  You learn to adjust to a shape and size that you have to be happy with.  Usually most of us want to be back to our leanest.  That is the benchmark we all compare ourselves to.

I don’t use a scale anymore, or even a tape measure.  I might get on a scale a couple times a year, and an occasional DXA scan (which is the only method I trust for true body fat %).  After a couple of years now I base my “range” on three sets of clothes – mainly determined by pants/waist sizes as that is mainly where the fat fluctuates.

I exceeded my own goal when I got down to 10% body fat. Once we do this this is our benchmark, but we can't live our day to day life there.

I exceeded my own goal when I got down to 10% body fat. Once we do this it is our benchmark, but we can’t live our day to day life there. The Venus Factor system IS what got me to exceed my wildest expectations for myself.

Why we need periodic refeeds

Leigh Peele’s Starve Mode book and recent podcast are helping me learn to mature in my journey. Leigh’s explanations and research are helping me to learn why we can’t live our day to day lives at a super lean body fat level.  It’s helping me understand why we need breaks from the deficit (sometimes called a refeed).

I will admit, all along I’ve always hated the term refeed and I didn’t believe that we needed them.  I saw too many people using a refeed as an excuse to eat too much. I just wasn’t willing to go there.  I was afraid of getting fat again.  To be perfectly honest that seemed like my worst nightmare after how hard I worked to achieve my goal.

Now I know that a refeed is not meant to be a free for all – eating as much as you want – for as long as you want – binge.  It just means eat at maintenance.  Yes, it’s that simple.  Eat at maintenance, and if you’ve been doing the reverse taper (it’s built into our nutrition calculator) then that is probably not much higher than your slight deficit anyway.

We have some refeed days built into our Venus Factor 12 week Fat Loss manual, but based on how you feel you might need extended periods of eating at maintenance.

Relax, the slight calorie deficit still works

The first time I hit this higher range over a year ago I almost had a meltdown.  It’s hard when you have worked so hard to lose body fat; you still have a fear of gaining it all back.  For the most part, if you are paying attention that is just not going to happen. 

Give yourself a month or two of doing exactly what you already know how to do and you will be back to being comfortable again. 

It probably won’t be the last time.

Relax. Take a deep breath.  Work on the deficit when you can, then take a break from the deficit and be patient.  It does still take a calorie deficit to lose fat.  But take it slow.  Easy does it.  Trust the process.  Trust your body.  It will be a delayed reaction. 

What you do now can take up to three weeks to show results.  The first week is the hardest, the next week gets better, then you find your groove, and each week gets better.  You keep plugging along and it’s not very exciting, but you know what to do.

After a while your clothes change how they fit and you start seeing more muscle definition again.  Once you start seeing small changes like this it keeps you motivated to keep going. 

Women are meant to have a higher body fat compared to men

Women are meant to have a certain level of healthy body fat, more than men.  It is nature’s way of survival for us.  We are not really meant to manipulate our bodies to be super lean, but some of us do it anyway and we have to learn how to manage this in a healthy manner.

If we are not careful we can actually develop eating disorders, so we must learn to stay healthy and take care of ourselves.  I have never had an eating disorder and I don’t intend to start down that path, ever.

I'm learning to accept that this level is very healthy and livable, and I'm fine right as long as I want or need to stay here.

I’m still convincing myself that the higher end is okay.  I can shoot for slightly lower if I want, or I can stay where I am as long as I want to or need to.  It’s okay either way.  Whatever is livable, sustainable, or fits with my life and stress level at the moment in time, or the season in my life.

 

So probably the biggest struggle for me is accepting that I’m okay even at my highest end of the range, shown in the collage, all very recent pictures from the last several months up to a few days ago.  Learning to accept this is a normal part of the maturing process.

First of all body fat level does not matter.  Finding the shape and look you like matters more.  Once you find that it might be good to know what the level is, but it’s not entirely necessary.

My body fat percentage tends to be on the very low side mainly because my lean body mass (LBM) is on the very high side.  At 5’1 my LBM (per DXA) is 105 lbs., for most women my height this is 98 lbs. or under.  Comparison is not a good idea, for me or for anyone else.

We are all different.  I have to accept that this is me; this is how I’m designed.  I love lifting heavy and I love feeling strong.  I love my gym time.  I wouldn’t be happy without it.  So yeah I’m big for my height and that’s just how it is. In general I’m still a tiny person, I am only 5’1″ after all.

It doesn’t help me to know my scale weight or my body fat percentage anymore

Recently someone asked me what my weight and body fat percentage is right now.  I had to answer that I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.  I don’t think it does me any good to know.  I’d rather just learn to be happy with my shape and whatever clothes I decide to wear. I know how to eat at a slight deficit and that’s all I need to know.  I either decide to do it or not.  If I have too much stress or I am not getting enough sleep then a deficit for me is not sustainable.

I know which clothes fit and I know this is my high end.  All I know is I want to learn to accept and love where I’m at right now, while at the same time trying to get just slightly slimmer when I can.  I’ll know once I’m there by which clothes fit. 

I know how to get there; just a slight calorie deficit, taking breaks as needed, constantly listening to my body at various cycles of hunger and stress, sleep and energy level, and strength at the gym.  It’s all about energy balance and being tuned into your own body.

Learning to love your body right where you are at; It takes constant work.  It’s hard.

I’m still convincing myself that the higher end is okay.  I can shoot for slightly lower if I want, or I can stay where I am as long as I want to or need to.  It’s okay either way.  Whatever is livable, sustainable, or fits with my life and stress level at the moment in time, or the season in my life.

Just as Nicola explains in the podcast with John, learning to love your body takes constant effort and it’s not easy.  It does not matter where you are in your weight loss journey.  It takes work even after you achieve your goal.  It’s constant work.

The best time to start on that mental work is now, right where you are at.  Whatever level you are at, it is training for maintaining.

-Ro

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Ask Nicola; Learn to Love Your Body

October 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We all deal with insecurities with our bodies; even after we achieve our goals. This picture was a real turning point for me.

We all deal with insecurities with our bodies; even after we achieve our goals. This picture taken last Friday night was a real turning point for me.

 

We all deal with insecurities with our bodies; even after we achieve our goals

This podcast with John and Nicola was extremely helpful to me regarding emotional issues that I’m currently dealing with.

Sometimes I have a huge disconnect between how I see myself and how others see me. My husband Randy says I look perfect right now, but I tend to see myself as bigger than I once was, even though I lost 60 pounds!

 

Your body is your power house

Randy sees me as a whole person. When he sees my shape, he sees the whole shape and he does not nitpick at the parts like I do. When he hears me talk about my body he gets frustrated and tells me that I’m not looking at the whole picture or that my overall shape is beautiful.

He also sees how I work and use my body as the power house in all that I do.

 

Comparison is the thief of joy

I am constantly comparing myself to when I was at my leanest which was immediately after I’d achieved my Venus goals. My leanest is not a realistic body fat level to live my life especially as a female. At my leanest (10% body fat) I was able to create some great fitness model looking pictures.

But this is sometimes a drawback for me as I tend to compare myself to them. I am almost 53 years old and I don’t live my life prancing around in a bikini and high heels, at 10% body fat, and water manipulated!  It’s just not a practical comparison.

It’s as bad as any of us who compare ourselves to all the fitness model pictures of girls who were ripped for a few nano seconds in time AND had their pictures enhanced with photoshop, AND we have NO IDEA what methods were taken to get their bodies in that kind of shape.

Even my own pictures were only a moment in time that took weeks to prepare for.

 

I did not see anything special in the picture

I took this silly locker room picture because I was happy that the new jeans and T-shirt felt good and brought back fun memories of my recent vacation with my dear friend Carla. We had gone clothes shopping together and she helped me pick these out.

The reactions I got from the picture were a turning point for me.  I  did not see anything special in this picture.  In fact what I saw were arms that are too bulky,  a torso that is too thick, and in my mind I pictured the fat on my legs and butt that I don’t like.  You are supposed to have some fat on your body!

I wasn’t wearing makeup so I didn’t take off my prescription sunglasses that I had worn for work outside.  I just wanted to take the picture so I could post it for Carla and let her know I was thinking of her and the fun we had going shopping the day I’d purchased these clothes.

 

Sometimes you need to listen to the truthful positive feedback

After I posted the picture on Facebook and MyFitnessPal I was brought to tears by the comments and compliments. It was a turning point.

Even though we can’t base our happiness on compliments and what others think, it is nice to get positive attention on occasion. I’m only human and this makes me feel good sometimes.

Not only was it nice, but it spoke to me on a deep level about how I was viewing myself. Something was wrong and I needed to take action.

 

You can have fitness goals and still decide to feel good about your body

Even if I have a short term goal of getting back to my pre-summer vacation shape I can feel good about my shape now. I can focus on the strength and health improvements that I’ve already achieved. I can focus on feeling good about the actions I am taking today to achieve my short term goals.

My goal is not to get back to 10% body fat and that is okay too. I can decide to be happy anywhere in my healthy body fat range and it does not matter what anyone else thinks.

 

What can you do about it?

You can tend to analyze your parts, not the whole.

You can tend to look at your body parts as something that is an object, not part of you.

  1. There is social pressure for a variety of reasons.
  2. You can develop insecurities early on.  Then your body becomes a rejection point. You start nit picking.

How can I like my body when I have a lot of weight to lose?

It’s not easy.  It takes work.

Your body is not just a visual object.  It is a practical power house.  It is you.

Today Nicola will give you something to start doing to help learning to appreciate yourself and your current efforts.

 

I am taking Nicola’s advice and I’m feeling better already!
-Ro

 

Dr. Nicola Bird

Nicola’s Online Program

Listen to John’s interview with Dr. Nicola Bird here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Bodyfat, psychology, Sage Advice, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Remain Consistent While Maintaining Fitness; Calorie Intake and Training Are the Key

October 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 3.

 

The "Skinny Brad" is on the far right.

The “Skinny Brad” is on the far right.  If you are like me you are probably thinking “Skinny? He looks pretty good to me right there!”  Brad is just plain awesome.

 

Today’s Topic:  Brad’s 7 week experiment and DXA scan – PART 1

Brad Talks about his experiment after having just completed almost 7 weeks of no workouts, and no fasting.

The key to maintaining fitness is calorie intake and training.  While most of us already knew this, Brad proves this in a 7 week experiment using a DXA scan and some measurements (an experiment none of us really want to undertake – so thank you Brad for doing this for us!)

One interesting point Brad makes in the podcast is that water fluctuations within the body happen constantly.  Even while eating at maintenance, not fasting, and not exercising Brad experienced the sudden weight loss (nicknamed “Whoosh”) the morning after a large meal, and also random mornings of unexplained weight gains.

This is proof that the scale being used for monitoring fat loss over time is a “trend tool” and we all need to ignore the water fluctuations that randomly happen in our body.   While some water retention can be explained with sodium, DOMS, hormone cycles, and certain foods some reasons are unknown and appear to be entirely random.  Don’t get caught up in worrying about random water fluctuations in the body that happen on a daily basis.

Brad answers the following questions in the podcast:

  • The key to having strength and muscle is needing it.
  • Muscle gain and loss is transitory.
  • Fat gain and loss is transitory.
  • Why you shouldn’t worry about muscle loss during a fast.
  • How does muscle memory work?
  • How easy it is to gain muscle back.
  • When does scale weight matter?
  • What metrics should you pay attention to?
  • Why a DXA scan so important?

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Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Podcast, Uncensored Podcasts S03 Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Fat Cat Who Became a Lean and Mean Adonis

July 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Squeeky before and after pictures.

Squeaky before and after pictures.

Little does one of our cats know that I’m writing an article about him becoming an Adonis kitty.

What kind of a name is Squeaky?

We’ve had “Squeaky” for about 10 years now.  First, you are probably wondering what the heck kind of a name is “Squeaky”?  Well, we live in a remote area right next to a wild canyon.  Let’s just say when it comes to the outdoor pets only the smart and strong survive.  We have a couple of indoor cats who can never go outside because they wouldn’t survive.

Squeaky is one of the outdoor “ranch cats”.   Usually we wait just a bit to name some of the ranch pets, and by then some part of their personality becomes a highlight and makes it easy to pick a name that describes them.

 

Squeeky weighed about 17 pounds most of his adult life. He is 10 years old now and weighs 13 pounds.

Another before and after comparison. Squeaky weighed about 17 pounds most of his adult life. He is 10 years old now and weighs 13 pounds.

 

Squeaky has always had this sort of cute, low volume, squeaky sounding meow. Whenever we go outside and he hears us, he comes trotting towards us from a long way off,”squeaking” the whole way.  It’s really kind of cute.  So he got the name Squeaky.

Squeaky suddenly started moving around more and lost weight

Several weeks ago we noticed that he takes off to somewhere up the road and stays away, sometimes over night or for a day or so, and then comes back.  All of our pets are fixed so we know there is no girlfriend involved. We’ve also noticed that he seems kind of wiry and is more active now, and he’s lost a lot of weight.  We were worried that he might be sick or have hyperthyroidism which is common in cats.

We took Squeaky to the vet and they checked him out and did blood work and it turns out he is absolutely healthy, not a thing wrong with him.  For all of his adult life he’s weighed about 17 pounds.  He was fat.  Now he weighs 13 pounds.

We never even knew Squeaky was fat.  We always thought he was just big and muscular compared to his siblings; we thought he was strong and “beefy”.  The vet said he was perfect now; the epitome of health.  Lean and mean.  Randy and I laughed and said “He’s become an Adonis kitty!”

 

We were happy to learn that Squeeky wasn't sick, in fact he had simply become an Adonis kitty! Lean and mean.

We were happy to learn that Squeaky wasn’t sick, in fact he had simply become a healthy, lean and mean Adonis kitty!

What changed for Squeaky?

We started thinking about what changed? Well he used to hang around with one of his brothers, another Mackerel tabby we had named Tiger.  But Tiger recent passed away due to stomach cancer.  Squeaky and Tiger were buddies and they hung around the ranch together.

Now that Tiger is gone, Squeaky is more active and trots up the road to the neighbors property to hang out sometimes.  He comes and goes a lot.  He simply eats less and moves more, so he lost weight and became an Adonis.

 

Squeeky on the top tier when he used to hang about the property more. Now he trots up and down the road, back and forth, and is simply more active.

Squeaky on the top tier when he used to hang about the property more. Now he trots up and down the road, back and forth, and is simply more active.

 

Regulating food intake is key

We’ve noticed over the years that some of our pets just sort of self regulate their eating.  Most are active because they have plenty of room to move around.  But some will eat until they get fat and we have to regulate their food.

Funny it’s just like people.  Too much food makes us fat. Sometimes we have to regulate what we eat to either lose weight or maintain.  It is really the same simple principle.  There is nothing wrong with our metabolism, there is nothing wrong with us, we just need to learn to navigate the over abundance of food that we are constantly bombarded with. It really is that simple.

It was kind of the same way for me having been over weight most of my life.  I never realized how small I was or even what my true shape was until I lost all the weight.  People thought I was strong and big boned.  You don’t really know what you have under all that fat until you get there.

I found out there is really no such thing as “big boned”; I think that’s the sort of look you get when you have muscle AND fat (at least it was for me). Once you lose the excess weight you realize it’s easier to move and you have more energy.

Just like we noticed with Squeaky.

The other thing is that I never knew that I ate too much.  I’m not sure how that fact was lost along the way during my years of yo-yo dieting and in the mountain of diet and fitness information I had accumulated along the way.

It wasn’t until I immersed myself in the Venus Factor lifestyle that the idea finally solidified in my mind; I’m small, I don’t move as much as my ancestors did to survive (even with intense gym workouts), therefore I don’t need so much food.

The key for me wasn’t in a calorie counter, calculator, chart, or book (although those are a good place to start), but actually in learning to watch my body change over time according to the amount I ate, as well as paying attention to the ebb and flow of how I feel.

 

California Mule deer, Doe and Fawn; in the lower left the Doe is nursing the fawn.

Randy took these pictures while we were sitting on our deck during a lunch break; California Mule deer in our back yard, doe and fawn. In the picture on the lower left the doe is letting her fawn nurse.

Life in the wilderness

On another note regarding the wilderness area we live.  As I was downloading the “after” pictures of Squeaky I noticed some fun pictures Randy took about the same time.  It’s quite common to see mule deer in California, but it’s rare to see a doe nursing her fawn.

This doe and fawn were literally in our back yard just below our deck, and you can see the fawn nursing in one picture.  The fawn was barely walking on wobbly legs.  They were quite amazing and beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed the little animal story.  Until next time,

-Ro

Filed Under: Bodyfat, fat loss, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Endless Cardio Does Not Change Your Shape; Interview with Jenny Weaks

May 20, 2013 by 3 Comments

Today we are honored to listen to Jenny Weaks who placed second in the 7th Venus Index Transformation Contest.

Check out her beautiful transformation from the 12 Week Contest:

Jenny learned that the key to getting a good shape was the right amount of food and a good weight training program designed for women.

Jenny learned that the key to getting a good shape was the right amount of food and a good weight training program designed for women.

Read what Jenny wrote about her experience with Venus Index:

I was in week 8 of Phase 1 when the contest started. I got to week 11 and decided to jump on to Phase 2 because there was so much buzz on the forums about it. The 1st six weeks I did very minimal cardio, mainly just walking when I felt like it. Aside from continuing to focus on fat loss, I decided (based on midway progress pictures), that I needed to focus more on my arms and glutes. I was losing a lot of weight quickly and my arms looked pretty skinny compared to my legs. My butt was getting flat too, so I decided to do some specializations for arms and butt at that point and I continued them through to the end. The nutrition side of Venus is what really drove my success. I did a minimum of two 36-48 hour fasts per week. RTD called for 800 calories a day for me, so I found it much easier to just not eat a few days a week than to eat so low in calories. That deficit was hard at times, and I had some setbacks along the way, but I learned quickly that any higher calorie days were more bloat than fat. A fasting day would bring me right back down. I lost 15 pounds during VT7 and got down to 21% bodyfat (tested by DEXA scan). I didn’t quite make all my VI measurements, so that is my next goal.

Jenny's metrics for the 12 week contest

Jenny’s metrics for the 12 week contest

Jenny's pictures before the 12 week contest.

Jenny’s pictures before the 12 week contest.

More of Jenny after the 12 week contest

More of Jenny after the 12 week contest

Jenny before and after her transformation.

Jenny before and after her transformation.

 

Listen to Jenny’s interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, transformation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Hierarchy of Diet and Fitness needs; Redefining the Fitness Pyramid

May 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic:  The Hierarchy of Diet and Fitness needs; Redefining the Fitness Pyramid

Don't stress about what you can't control. Change what you can.

Don’t stress about what you can’t control. Change what you can.

John and Brad discuss how to look at your health and fitness needs.  Nutrition, supplements, ability to lose fat, ability to gain muscle, and ability to train are all interrelated.  It all works together.  Small things effect other things and then can escalate to hinder your goals.

Your own pyramid is unique.  Your own inhibitors can be anywhere on your pyramid.  Certain things are foundational:

  • Keeping stress under control
  • Awake and sleep cycles
  • Fat loss, if needed
  • Effort in the gym
  • Ability to sleep
  • Amount to eat (not too much, not too little)
  • Injury
  • Ability to recover from workouts
  • Finding a good time to workout

People with sleep and stress out of control typically have trouble sticking with a diet and fitness program.

Each person is unique.  Sometimes supplements or nutrition can address specific inhibitors.

The main thing is don’t worry or stress about things you have no control over.  Change the things you can.  Small things effect other things and then can escalate into bigger problems that hinder your goals.

I hope you enjoy listening to the discussion as much as I did.

-Ro

 

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Filed Under: Bodyfat, stress, Supplements, Uncensored Podcasts S02, weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Naomi’s Recovery Experiment; Her Version Of “Bulking”

April 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
DXA scans are used primarily to evaluate bone mineral density. DXA scans can also be used to measure total body composition and fat content with a high degree of accuracy comparable to hydrostatic weighing with a few important caveats.

Naomi used a DEXA or DXA scan to measure her results. DXA scans are used primarily to evaluate bone mineral density.

Last time I shared that I had some health setbacks; I started 2012 in the best shape of my life and ended it in much worse shape.  In December I had a DEXA scan which showed my lean body mass (LBM) as 114 pounds and 20% body fat.

I had a second DEXA done to check progress after four months of doing the Venus Index Workout.  My goals were to have increased LBM and to maintain body fat.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, previously DEXA) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD).  DXA scans can also be used to measure total body composition and fat content with a high degree of accuracy comparable to hydrostatic weighing with a few important caveats.

What is Bulking?

In body building circles, people throw around the term “bulking“.  It’s generally accepted to be part of a bulk and cut process whereby one eats in excess, lifts heavy at the gym, makes huge LBM gains, and then strips away excess body fat to reveal larger muscles.  Men in particular pile on a lot of fat all in the name of bulking.

The truth of what is possible with bulking varies depending upon a variety of factors including gender, training age, genetic potential.

In my case, I am a 48 year old woman with a long history of training who simply needed to regain lost strength.  So right there, it is somewhat misleading to even be talking about bulking, and yet many people would claim my results indicated a successful bulk.

The truth about gaining muscle is that once muscle tissue has been built, it is a much faster process to get back to previous levels of strength.  I still pushed myself very hard.  For example, I could barely do a body weight squat in early December and now I am back to being able to squat 135 pounds and on track to increased loads over time.

How I “Bulked”

You have likely figured out by now that I did not “bulk” in the traditional sense of the term in body building circles.

Instead, I used the tools as laid out to carefully eat enough to allow my strength increases to continue to unfold and I constantly monitored my waist and belly button measurements.  Every time the waist or the belly button increased, I increased my caloric deficit via the principles in Eat Stop Eat until I saw my baseline numbers.  I tend to loosen up a bit more on weekends.  While undergoing this experiment, I carried slightly more body fat than I am comfortable with, but not much.

The Scale Scared Me!

I admit it! The entire four months I trusted John Barban and Brad Pilon on this little experiment, I watched with horror as the scale bounced around.  Admittedly, it never strayed more than about 10-12 pounds higher than my contest photos, so not at all a traditional bulking cycle, but it was a little scary to see bigger numbers when I am trusting that I am living the Venus lifestyle.

My Successful Bulk Results

This is not the ripped levels you see in my contest photos but rather a very livable, maintainable, every day level that still keeps me on my toes.

Naomi after her experiment at 20% body fat. On the left fasted, on the right fully fed and hydrated.

Naomi after her experiment at 20% body fat. On the left fasted, on the right fully fed and hydrated.

My LBM last December was shockingly low.  In fact, it came in well below the levels predicted for my height. I am 5’11” and with a LBM of just under 114 pounds, I was possibly a genetic outlier on the low end of the scale.  Venus Index predicts my LBM could go as high as 126 pounds.

Fear not, I thought. I had just lost all my strength so presumably bulking would bring my LBM right back up to within a predicted Venus Index Ideal range.

Sure enough, my DEXA scan showed my LBM at 118 pounds, 7 oz which was a gain of just over 4 pounds.  That averages out to about 1 pound per month.

Not bad, right?  Remember that I was actually getting back what I’d lost after illness; this is not a realistic rate of gain for a trained woman my age.

So What’s Next?

While I am not expecting realistically to gain much more LBM in my lifetime, I do expect to see a little more growth before I get older and as more decline sets in.  Going forward I expect to see some more improvement.  I would also like to get leaner.  Perhaps not as lean as I was in the 4th Venus Transformation Contest, but possibly similar to the 1st Venus Transformation Contest.

Changing body composition

I was surprised to see my android (above the belt) vs gynoid (below the belt) fat ratio slightly improved.  Considering how much time I’d spent sedentary before the last DEXA scan, I was carrying 20.1% android fat as compared to 19.7% this time around while gynoid fat went from 29.5% to 29.4%.  While these numbers seem quite similar, it is worth noting that since the total percentage remained the same at 20.2%, clearly there was a change in body composition.

This is solid proof that a well-designed weight lifting program like Venus Index positively affects both physique and health.

Other reasons to have a DEXA

As John realized in his DEXA scan, it is possible to have muscle imbalances.  I was surprised to note that on both of my DEXA scans the entire left side of my body is stronger.  I will be tailoring my workouts to address this issue according to the guidelines John talked about.  For example I will do fewer reps or sets on the left to allow the lagging right side to catch up.

My bone density actually went up in the last 4 months!  I can only guess that weight lifting caused this happy result.

Ladies, pick up those weights if you want to maintain or increase your bone density!  Bone density is the most common reason most women my age have a DEXA scan done.   It can also be used to monitor body composition and is a useful tool when choosing goals and designing your workout.

If you’ve had a DEXA, what did you learn and how did it affect your training program and goals?

Filed Under: Bodyfat, Health, Muscle Growth Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Are Weight Gain And Muscle Gain Escalators?

March 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic:  Weight gain and muscle gain escalators

Muscle gain and fat loss are two separate concepts

Muscle gain and fat loss are two separate concepts

In order to get to your ideal golden ratio and stay there you have two things you must do:

1. Build muscle mass which gives you you’re golden shape

2. Reduce bodfyat to a level to show your muscle and shape

This requires two kinds of effort that should be viewed as separate things.

Muscle Building Effort

Building muscle is an obvious effort that requires you to move your body. It’s something that builds momentum and you can see it and feel it in the gym and every time you workout.

In order to push past your genetic set point of muscle you must follow a well designed workout program consistently. Even when you’ve achieved an impressive amount of muscle you must continue to workout to avoid losing that muscle.

Fat Loss Effort

Losing body fat requires a different kind of effort. It’s not a physical effort you put in the gym, it doesn’t require hours of cardio. The real effort that you must exert to burn fat is self control over your diet and eating habits. This is a daily effort that seems to start as soon as you wake up and doesn’t stop until you fall asleep each day. Most people who have successfully cut body fat and got in great shape will attest that dieting to burn fat is a much greater effort than working out to build muscle.

These two styles of effort should be viewed as separate things.

In today’s podcast we will use an analogy of the weight gain and fat gain escalators to explain how you should be viewing the process of gaining muscle and losing fat.

You’ll learn how getting to the muscle size and body fat levels you desire is one thing, and how staying there is another.

John

 

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Filed Under: Bodyfat, cardio, Exercise, fat loss, Uncategorized, Weight training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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