Cheese scones and fudginess
You could grate cheese on my calves. Not that you’d want to but you could.
This is admittedly an unusual claim to open a blog entry, but it’s not gratuitous boasting – it’s relevant to the subject at hand. Muscle definition, fitness and diet.
My colleague kicked off the topic this morning. As I was preparing to tuck into a cheese scone from the café downstairs, he announced his need to give up said scones. Apparently, those puppies are made with cream, and then covered with cheese. No wonder they taste fantastic.
Since the colleague in question is as slim as a lamppost, I don’t see why he feels the need to give then up.
I’m thinking a cheese scone twice a week is not the end of the world. This prompted my colleague to remark that the fittest people he knew were all a little plump, because of the terrible diet they feel justified in indulging in.
Fit but pudgy – fudgy. I suspect he was including me in that list, but I’m not about to launch into another bout of angst over my own insecurities.
I don’t know that it’s possible to live on takeaways and sugary food and train hard. Without plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, protein and good carbs, wouldn’t you end up horribly sick or at the very least completely run down? (Naturally I recognise my cheese scones do not fall into any of these good categories. They can go in the "other" column.)
There are more theories than you can shake a stick at when it comes to weight loss, size and shape.
In my own entirely unscientific observation, I favour the theory that the body has a optimal weight it will return to whenever you are eating well and exercising normally – the weight you are genetically predisposed to be.
My weight fluctuates depending on how much exercise I’m doing and how much muscle I’m carrying but my size remains the same. I’ve returned to the same size I was as a teenager – but I’m much heavier as I’m much more active.
I got a big fright the other day. I was at dance class in shorts and happened to catch a glimpse of my legs in the mirror. I’ve long prided myself in the muscular definition of my calves but had no idea said definition continued above the knee. Undeniably not all the way up, but certainly above the knee.
In the various fitness clubs I’m involved with, there are a lot of different body shapes with varying degrees of muscle definition.
Admittedly the fast runners (sub-five-minute a kilometre pack) look like greyhounds. Lots of long, skinny legs. But I would argue that these people are genetically predisposed to be this way. And I swear the fact there’s a pair of identical twins in this pack backs up my theory.
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My weight has gone up/fluctuated by around 5kgs over the past year (it went up by 5-7 but has dropped back a bit) and yet I maintained the same clothing size - and I'm pretty heavy for the clothing size I am too! I love having those moments of seeing muscle definition - after not doing my own weights workouts for a while (just doing pump classes), I've started doing them again, with the inevitable standing in front of all the mirrors at the gym, and find myself strangely entranced by my "guns" (which are pretty impressive from a combo of weights and pole).
I do have a healthy little belly going on though and I think it's from a combo of eating more because my body demands fuel on a regular basis due to my various physical activities and my inability to say no to tasty treats if presented to me;p Oh and that sliding-towards-30 slowing down of my metabolism:/
I am so envious of those lean greyhounds I see running. Mind you, then I think of the strength and/or flexibilty things that I can do and they probably can't and I figure it all balances out:)
Well I can run at sub 5minute kilometers. I have long legs but they are a long way from being thin. Mine are muscular, with very good muscle definition. You could do surface muscle anatomy on my legs. My thighs are finally about as big as they were when I was 18.
I don't know about 'optimal weight', it depends on what your body has to do. What there does seem to be is set points. Fat cells release hormones that regulate appetite and what happens to energy you eat. if you lose weight without exercising it is those empty fat cells that cause you to put it back on. The best way to change your set point is to exercise and watch your diet.
I agree that for triathlon you want to be carrying a bit more fat than a distance runner and probably more muscle too (upper body for the swimming, bigger legs from the biking). Oh and don't listen to the fashion industry, us men like curvy women. It's evolutionary sense, women who are too skinny are unlikely to be ovulating and won't have the body resources to carry your children to term. Just like our idea of beauty is all about symmetry because various life stresses cause loss of it and good symmetry says you have both good genes and an optimal upbringing. Faces we consider ugly are those that are least symmetrical.
A cheese scone is not going to kill you, providing it is in moderation and you are exercising. I am gluten intolerant (genuinely, not faddishly) and I have this recipe for GF cheese scones that uses 150g butter, 100g cheese, 4Tsp yoghurt and two eggs. They are wonderful and almost like normal ones. The fat content is what does it. In moderation they are not a problem. Those food pyramids allow you to have fat, its the amount that matters and providing your main meals are high in complex carbs and veg some cheese scones will not matter.
Oh and if we can't indulge ourselves because we exercise then that defeats half the point. My youngest took up running, in part because of that very reason.
What type of cheese did you have in mind; a nice hard Parmesan or some squishy and over ripe Brie?
Perhaps you could also perfect the art of crushing cloves of garlic between your thighs (sorry, Amy).
Best cheese scones in Wellington: Legato on the waterfront.. YUM
@muscleguy GF cheese scones! recipe pse.
@Runlikeagirl Sorry for not picking this up before. http://www.wheat-free.org/wheat-gluten-free-cheese-scones.html
I used a GF flour mix from the supermarket as a replacement for the flours and it worked just fine. Since like all GF stuff they stale quickly I divide the dough and freeze 2/3 of it in two parcels. The scones can be pepped up with 10s on high in the microwave.
Enjoy.
Merci!
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having just finished three chocolate biscuits, i agree with the whole body has an optimum weight thing and i refuse to swear off eating any type of food - everything in moderation. Having said that - trying to do a hard training session after a day of indulging only serves to convince me that that whole saying of 'you are what you eat' is actually true. Unless you fuel up properly its hard to get the performance
In terms of getting a fright at looking in the mirror and seeing muscle definition - its interesting eh how you can get so caught up in just doing things or seeing yourself in a certain way that a glimpse of a different angle or a comment from someone can open your eyes to a different view of the world. I've been the same size since i was in my late teens - its just the muscle definition that changes depending on how much i exercise - but i attribute a lot of that to genetics - my parents and siblings are the same. I tend to focus on my ability to be able to go for a run/bike ride, benchpress a certain amount rather than how i look so i always find it odd when someone comments on how i look or what i eat in relation to it. Just got told that i was lucky i could eat chocolate biscuits and not put on weight..well yes and no - genetics aside, its not as though i exist solely on chcolate biscuits