Wow, guys! Over 25,000 people have read (or at least looked at/skimmed; I know I’m long-winded) Wednesday’s post: “I Wanted to Lose Weight by Running, but What I Learned 4 Years Later Surprised Me.”
I don’t know how many it would be if combined that number with Kim’s post “Can Running and Muscle Building Go Together?“!! Thanks to a nice write up and share of our articles on Metabolic Effect’s Facebook page, we got to share our weight and fat loss experiences with many more people than we ever imagined. Thanks for reading our posts.
Kim, (Just) Trying is for Little Girls, and I are so excited that the topic hit home for so many of you! Like I mentioned, Kim is rocking her long distance running and the weights. She’s doing the Metabolic Effect workouts with 17.5-pound dumbbells. So impressive! I was happy to complete 5 rounds in 20 minutes with 12-pounders today! It’s been nice to have someone else doing the exercises so we can encourage each other.
I know lots of you said you were going to read The Metabolic Effect Diet. I hope you like it as much as we both did. BTW, let us know if you do and are following the ME-style workouts. We both love talking about it.
Like I said in Wednesday’s post, I had to take a break from the ME workouts in Nov., but I restarted them again 8 days ago since I wasn’t getting the results I was after on another weight lifting plan. I was getting stronger definitely. But I want to get leaner, and it wasn’t really happening after several weeks. So. Back to what I know works, right? (I admit, too, that my eating had been a little too “loose.” I believe in allowing yourself little bits of your favorite foods, but not ALL THE TIME if you’re trying to achieve abdominal awesomeness.)
The other thing, I think, I had going against me was that I didn’t have a goal. I was just lifting to lift. Just trying it out. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I didn’t really have anything to work for. Now, I know exactly what I want: abs I can see. So, I have something to work for and even an inspiration picture.
Anyway. For the last 8 days, I’ve been doing my ME workouts plus doing some running since I have a half marathon in April to train for. My pants and shirts already fit looser! I also learned how to calculate my lean body weight and fat weight, so I can know whether or not I’m actually burning the fat off or if I’m losing water and/or muscle. (I’ll post about this another day. I find it fascinating!)
I got some questions about The Metabolic Effect Diet, so I thought I’d answer them in case anyone else had the same questions.
Is it an easy read?
Yes. It’s been almost a year since I first read the book, but I remember finishing it quickly. It’s also very readable. Not too heavy on the technical terms.
Is the diet easy to follow?
First of all, the word “diet” simply means “what one eats,” so let’s not forget that. “Going on a diet” is like a made-up thing some copywriter probably came up with in the ’80s. 😉
Like I said Wednesday, The Metabolic Effect Diet is not a “go on a diet” book. It’s not the Zone or anything like that. You can eat whatever you want, but the book will tell you how certain foods may be more effective at burning fat for you based on how your body burns sugar, fat or muscle. First, you take a quiz to see what type of a “burner,” you are. I was one point shy of being a Sugar Burner. I identified more with the description of a Sugar Burner, so I went with that one. It worked well.
Remember: If you want to lose fat and get some awesome abs, you shouldn’t eat an entire bowl of Cheetos for dinner like I did during the Super Bowl, of course. You can eat these things–in moderation–but I think after you read the book and see how food affects the hormones in your body, you won’t want to. (But we all have our moments. Let’s not judge one another, m’kay?)
What’s your goal?
Okay, this wasn’t a question to me, this is my question to you. What are your goals? Do you want to train for a marathon? And do you want abs? Or do you just want to lose fat? Define what you want before you decide what your plan of action is. When you read ME, you will understand why I cut back on my running. Long, steady-state cardio sessions don’t do much to burn fat DESPITE WHAT MAGAZINES LIKE RUNNER’S WORLD AND WOMEN’S RUNNING WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE. They are selling aspirations; don’t buy into it.
Aaaaanyway. Pick a goal and then take the steps that you need to get to that goal. If you want to get lean and you want/need to do a lot of long, steady-state cardio (like you are training for an Ironman or a marathon or something), then just be realistic. Kim is making it work, so it’s not like you can’t get lean and strong and run long distances. Just be realistic about it. It may take you longer to get those abs, but you can still work on it while you train for your race(s). And, hey, you’ll be a stronger runner, too.
Cardio is not a bad thing. I just want to be clear on that. Some cardio is good. Sprinting is really good, and the ME book even suggests it in between weights days, along with walking. I don’t want people to think I hate running. I love running. I just think that if your goal is to get a lean body like the ones you see on the covers of running magazine (those are usually fitness models, btw), then you need to add weights to your routine, and make your cardio sessions more focused. There is such a thing as the law of diminishing returns, you know.
Okay. I’m going to stop here because a) this is getting too long, and b) I have to pee. I had my very first massage today (I know, I’m 36 and I’m just getting around to it), and I drank a TON of water before and after.
Thanks again for reading me and Kim’s posts, and let us know if you have any questions or stories to share about being a runner who lifts weights! If you’ve read ME, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
1 comment
You got me curious about that book. I might pick it up. I agree that running alone won’t help you burn fat. I spent a year just running and finally started strength training. I hope it pays off in the long run.