Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I look forward to Wednesday evenings for the Tabata class at the Northwest CT YMCA in Torrington.

What is Tabata?

Tabata is a high-intensity workout that has fitness and weight-loss benefits. Is it like CrossFit? Is it like circuit training? It is a bit of both. Tabata training is intense and It offers maximum workouts in shorter periods of time. Tabata comes from the man who invented it - Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese physician and researcher. He conducted a study using an interval-based training model. His objective was to see if athletes would benefit from a 20/10 session repeated eight times. 20/10 means 20 seconds of all-out exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. This adds up to four minutes total.

I decided to try the hydrostatic scale that's offered at Southern Connecticut State University, in their Human Performance Lab. The hydrostatic scale is used to check your weight and how much of the weight is fat versus muscle. In addition, since I was there, I had them do a caliper test for my body fat.

The students that run the lab were very professional and I highly recommend those that want to have their body composition measured to check out SCSU's lab. The two grad students both provided thorough instructions, especially when it came to the hydrostatic scale. This scale requires you to blow out all the air from your lungs, until there's no air left, underneath the water. I didn't care for the test but the technicians were very helpful along the way.

I've been focusing for months on the loose skin around my abs. It has really motivated me to work extra hard, which is why I'm developing muscle now. If it weren't for the loose skin, I don't think I would have been working as hard as I was, so I guess it's not so bad to have the loose skin. But still, that being said, I still want a flat stomach!

I'm just glad to know that no one can tell I have loose skin. As long as I'm not at the beach, I look like I have a flat stomach with my shirt on. In fact, people often tell me, "what am I, crazy there's no loose skin"! Underneath the clothing, the flabbiness hides very well!

I wrote about a friend a few weeks ago who wants to get his weight down to a certain number, despite already losing over 100 pounds. Recently, he told me he wants to cut his calories in half. To me, this is dangerous, not just because of the potential for developing an eating disorder, but because cutting calories will not result in sustainable weight loss.

Too many people think that by not having enough calories, they will lose weight. Well, all that will happen is that the metabolism will slow down to a crawl. Do you want to feel tired and have no energy? That's what happens with calorie restriction.

There's a little more than a week left to the Plank Challenge I'm doing. Recently, I've held a 4 minute plank but I'm planning to get to 5 minutes by the end of the month.

I know I already have strong abs... you just can't see the muscle through the skin. I do a lot of sit ups, crunches, side planks, mountain climbers, etc. I do think my abs are noticably better, but I know it takes time.