The 'Finally Fit the Jeans' Plan

See these jeans? 

These are the jeans that my sister wore when she was pregnant.

With no plans for more children and no more pregnancies, she gave them to me last year. I couldn't even pull them up my legs! I have to admit, there's nothing like not fitting into your sister's maternity jeans to make you feel fat!

I put them in the cupboard with my other 'shrink into' clothes, pulling them out to torture myself every now and again. These days I can actually pull the jeans up, I can even do them up. But it's not pretty and they aren't wearable... yet!

Enter the 'Finally Fit the Jeans' plan!

Six Weeks - One Pair of Jeans

Start : 20/04/12
End : 31/05/12

Reason

This section is more for me. When Day 35 comes around and the last thing I want to do is drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn for strength training, I will come back to this paragraph.

I can remember, back before the triathlon training started, that I used to strength train at least twice, usually three times, a week. I hated doing it but I loved what it gave me. The hint of muscle definition that I started to get, the strength I felt, and the fact that the 'squishiness' I had slowly started to firm up. I loved that having more muscles meant that my body was more efficient at burning energy. 

And these jeans... Oh these jeans... I have come so far with them but the closer I get to them fitting the further away it seems. Why, oh why, can I fit a size 14 (US 10) in most everything else, but you, my size 15 friends... You elude me!

And above that, I am sick of the number on the scales being the be-all and end-all. Weight and health are so much more intricate than that one number. What about lean mass? And waist measurements? Body fat? It's time for me to look at the bigger picture!

Eating
Four meals a day, where have you been all my life? Given the success I have had so far with the whole split breakfast/double lunch dealio, I'm going to stick with it! 2,200 calories a day, split as follows :

6.30am Breakfast One  -  250cal

8am Breakfast Two  -  250cal

11am Lunch One  -  500cal

3pm Lunch Two  -  500cal

7pm Dinner -  500cal

Total  -  2,000cal (with 200cal surplus for 'incidentals')

This is all based on the information I have learnt within Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Along with the double lunch concept and the calculations for working out your daily calorie requirement, Nancy also talks about the importance of fitting in as many food groups into each meal as possible and aiming for a minimum of three. The food groups she states are Grain, Protein, Fruit, Vegetable and Calcium (she refers to this as dairy but that doesn't fit so well with the whole vegan thing!)

Friday's will be a little less 'strict'. I've written more about this below.

Exercising

As with eating, Friday is my day to 'relax' which means rest day! The rest of the week? Let's get sweaty and make some muscles.

Saturday - Jillian's 'Ripped in 30' + Easy Run (Minimum 90mins total exercise)

Sunday - Jillian's 'Ripped in 30' + Cross Train (Minimum 90mins total exercise)

Monday - Long Run (Minimum 90mins total exercise)

Tuesday - Jillian's 'Ripped in 30' + Cross Train (Minimum 60mins total exercise)

Wednesday - Jillian's 'Ripped in 30' + Interval Run (Minimum 60mins total exercise)

Thursday - Jillian's 'Ripped in 30' + Cross Train (Minimum 60mins total exercise)

Weekly Exercise Total = 450 minutes

Measuring

I'm starting things with more measurements and recordings than you can poke a stick at. Weight, body fat, measurements, photos for comparisons.

After that it's Friday weigh-ins and body fat measurements (no mid-week peeking either!) until 31/05 when I will take some final comparison measurements and photos. My Friday weigh in posts will get a bit more official and include a re-cap of how I have gone with FFJ that week.

I won't torture myself by trying on the jeans again until the 31/05.

I won't be setting a particular weight goal, this is all about the jeans and building some much needed muscle. Weight loss is required but toning up is just as important!

My 'Wing-Men'

I'll be using a few 'tools' over the next 6 weeks to help me out :

MyFitnessPal - I will be tracking food and exercise here.

Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 - Just the way I like my strength training. Fast, sweaty and with a bit of cardio thrown for good measure!

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook - The real base of the whole plan.

A Word on Fridays

Some people call it a 'cheat day', others 'a day off'. Whatever the case, I am a true believer in having one day a week were you take it a little bit easier on yourself. For me, it's Friday. On Friday's I buy my lunch, Danny and I go out for dinner and I watch trashy TV from the couch instead of the exercise bike or treadmill.
Knowing that I have Friday's makes the hard days easier. I don't let things get crazy food-wise and during the FFJ plan I will still be tracking and recording on Friday's but I get to have my favourite things without worrying about 'food groups' and ratios. I accept that on these days the net calories figure on MyFitnessPal will be red and I will not feel guilty for it. 

Starting Stats

Weight - 88kg / 194lbs
Body Fat % - 36.7
Lean Mass - 55.7kg / 122.8lbs
Upper Arm - 37cm / 14.5in
Forearm - 26cm / 10.2in
Chest - 108cm / 42.5in
Waist - 89.5cm / 35.2in
Navel - 101cm / 39.7in
Hips - 109.5cm / 43.1in
Thigh - 61cm / 24in
Calf - 42cm / 16.5in


Photos 20/04/12

Front

Side

Back