Wow, I walked into the office, and in the break room someone brought in a gooey King Cake… and it’s not even Mardi Gras yet! I quickly passed it by, because I had written to a friend last night that this was going to be my zero-tolerance or “perfect week” to start the first full week of 2008 off right. That means, no unplanned, unscheduled, or non-nutritious foods, period. Yes, officially that’s right back to where I started in Sept 2006, and when I got buttoned back up in October 2007, but I’m finding that with one excuse or another (sickness, traveling, not having time to get to the supermarket), I’ve made a lot of short-term decisions in the past few weeks.
Sure, as Scott says, life does get in the way. But practicing being 100% faithful for just one week, especially to get off the habit of making allowances, cutting deals, “celebrating,” seems like something I need to do right now.
Breakfast: a ZonePerfect bar and a cup of coffee. I have a salad standing by for lunch, with a little low-fat cottage cheese for additional protein. Since I’m working out tonight, I need to have a mid-afternoon snack of some sort, probably a little chicken I have in the break room freezer, as I won’t be eating a normal dinner.
I did lose some weight in the past month, even with the obstacles, but I’m still trying to step up the calorie-burning, and I guess I have to tinker with my calorie allowances, as for the longest time I was neither gaining nor losing, even though my calories were averaging about 1500 per day and I was working out 4-5 times per week. As hesitant as I am to accept the logic, I guess I wasn’t quite having enough calories throughout the day to allow me to readily burn the stored fat. I want to lose 5 pounds in January. I can do that, right?
Why is it I can easily get to 800-900 calories by the end of lunchtime but I can’t seem to get the 1500-1600 calories in when I know my evening is going to consist of:
work to 5:30
Chiro appointment
Quick change of clothes
Jazzercise class 7pm
home and hit the treadmill for 30-60 min
I am generally too tired to eat after that. I’m adding a 4pm snack at work. It seems that either about 1300 calories or 2100 calories is doable, but hitting the right level just in between, about 1500-1600, is toughest for me.
I probably could load up more in the morning. I’ve never been a time-for-breakfast person. So far today:
ZonePerfect bar (210 cal), at 8:30 am, eaten at office desk
Coffee with flavored creamer (about 50 cal)
Lean Cuisine chicken panini sandwich (310 cal I think, kind of a waste as it wasn’t that good)
small bag Salsitas tortilla chips (210) (just to get my calories up, I don’t normally even eat them)
1 golden delicious apple (120 or so)
I would rather have had a salad for lunch but hadn’t had time to hit the supermarket. I like more veggies in my daily diet. Maybe time to make a big bowl of marinated veggies (cauli-broc-carrots-etc) which make for a fast snack.
The only times I feel really hungry in the morning is if I’ve completely skipped dinner the night before. Which I thought I was doing well to do, since I don’t want to eat late, and it’s 8:30-9pm till I get back from exercise class on the nights I go. I’ve been listening to the Strengthcast, another fitness podcast, whose host advocates eating healthy foods in small amounts every three hours. I’m finding that hard to do. Any suggestions?
Hey, Ann! You are really after this goal, good for you!
I must first apologize, I can’t remember your height and weight. That matters in how many calories you should be taking in. Do you know your BMR?
Also what time do you get up, and what time do you go to bed?
Though I can’t imagine 1300 calories a day for a week as harmful. I wouldn’t stay at that low level with your amount of cardio for long, and you definitely want to keep moving! It really gives you the fit, not just thin, appearance. But you know that, or you wouldn’t be doing it. That and its fun!
5 pounds is very doable for January. Sounds like a perfect goal!
I must first apologize, I can’t remember your height and weight. That matters in how many calories you should be taking in. Do you know your BMR?
I probably haven’t said per se. I’m about 5’2”, and this morning I weighed 160.0, down from 230 over time. An online calculator just told me my BMR is 1435.
Also what time do you get up, and what time do you go to bed?
Generally I’m getting up at 7am and lately I’ve been going to bed very early for me, 10pm or so. Sometimes 11p. That’s way more sleep than I used to get. I used to be a night-owl TV junkie.
Though I can’t imagine 1300 calories a day for a week as harmful. I wouldn’t stay at that low level with your amount of cardio for long, and you definitely want to keep moving! It really gives you the fit, not just thin, appearance. But you know that, or you wouldn’t be doing it. That and its fun!
Exactly! No, I didn’t think of it as harmful; I am just wondering whether I’ve been cutting calories to the point where my body isn’t burning fat as efficiently as it could. I haven’t been the best record-keeper, especially as I didn’t own a scale until a month ago. I only had doctor’s office weigh-ins as my reference points. Which was fine when I wasn’t ready to deal with pounds and was still working towards a goal.
Basically, I’ve lost 70 pounds in what works out to be 70 weeks. Not bad, though there was a long spell where I just stayed 170-175 even though I was still exercising a lot and being pretty careful about food, though not keeping records of calories. In October, I began “phase two,” writing down my calories again for a bit, stepping up the resistance work, and continuing the Jazzercise. Since then I’ve dropped ten more pounds. I look more toned. Yep, gained muscle.
5 pounds is very doable for January. Sounds like a perfect goal!
I think so too, but it’s funny, I hadn’t broken my goal up in to monthly allotments like that before. I just had a final destination. Lately I just feel like I’m working way harder at this and seeing smaller losses than seems logical. Some people suggested to me that I’m maybe not eating enough calories, so I’m tinkering. I don’t think there’s a shortcut, I just want to optimize my efforts. Thanks, Bree, I appreciate your time so much!
I wouldn’t suggest going below your BMR, that will stall your fat burn, but if you calorie average, it should work out. Try adding a protein shake first thing in the morning and see if that helps. Or on your way out of work. I’d find something fairly healthy, but wonderfully yummy, to add in somewhere. Fiber One bars are great (must exercise caution, they will give you gas within 3 hours after eating), yogurt smoothies, or go nuts and get a latte. You can afford the calories, and deserve a treat! Make it fun and enjoy it.
But this week, I can see how you’d want to avoid the treat to kind of break any lingering cravings from the holidays. I’m excited to find out how you “spend” your left over calorie budget!
I’m excited to find out how you “spend” your left over calorie budget!
That does sound exciting, doesn’t it? I think I just redistributed my day, mostly. Still basically keeping it around 1500, but a little more variety this week. I continued to do the EggBeaters and ham on multigrain bread (discovered I can microwave the egg substitute in a cup with a little water, instead of using any oil, and it still comes out of the cup). Added a Zone bar or something at 4pm on the days I’ll be going to class and not eating a normal dinner. Tonight I made a huge fresh salad at Sweet Tomatoes, but with only some balsamic vinegar on the side.
Tomorrow I will treat myself to my weekly latte, an iced grande 1-pump-sugar-free-hazelnut nonfat latte from you-know-where, my usual on Saturday mornings after I work out. I like Spirutein protein shakes too; I keep the powder at work and usually buy lowfat milk, but haven’t made any all week. All in all I guess I have done pretty well, though it’s been a bit of an emotional struggle this week. Yesterday, out of the blue, I was jonesing for a Napoleon pastry, guess ‘cause I saw some lovely ones in a bakery case about two weeks ago and had a ‘flashback’ or something. Doubt I’ll have one anytime soon but maybe a bit of chocolate.
Sounds like you are right on track, and have it all figured out. Great job! I look forward to your insight on a perfect week. I may have to copy you next week!
Sounds like you are right on track, and have it all figured out. Great job! I look forward to your insight on a perfect week. I may have to copy you next week!
Oh, I should never have framed it as “perfect week.” Tonight I made a bit of a break from it. I admit it’s because I was feeling a bit sad, reflecting on how a particularly important friendship has fallen apart and I don’t quite understand why. I had a pretty heavy dinner at a Greek diner, pastitsio with a salad, and then got a slice of coconut cake and ate half of it. Not the end of the world, but hardly ‘perfect.’ Overall it was a good week though. I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble being consistent during the week. A friend recently told me I should give myself one day to have anything-I-want, that it would actually shake up my metabolism to do so. Gee, Tony, I didn’t need the excuse! But I think I can treat myself once in a while. Of course, the food didn’t solve my emotional problems, but I did write a notecard to another friend which helped me sort some of it out.
A good meal, sounds perfect to me! And you recognize why you veered, and that it was yummy, but not the solution. And it wasn’t a binge, just a heavier than normal meal, like you said, not the end of the world. I view it as a successful pop quiz.
A good meal, sounds perfect to me! And you recognize why you veered, and that it was yummy, but not the solution. And it wasn’t a binge, just a heavier than normal meal, like you said, not the end of the world. I view it as a successful pop quiz.
I like the re-frame of this. I just wish I could resolve the interpersonal thing. It’s hard when someone you felt very close to completely cuts himself off from you with no explanation. If it was something I’ve done or said, or even something that can’t be helped, I want to know. I yearn for closure if nothing else. Maybe that’s a female thing. Months have gone by, and I sent a birthday card with just a very simple “Happy Birthday” message, hoping perhaps a little door would open at least for acknowledgement of same, but so far, no luck. I guess at some point I’ll just have to let go as it’s out of my control. (sigh)
As hard as it is, you may just have to let it go. Have you tried simply calling him up and saying hi? I’m sure you have, but it was worth asking. Men are such different creatures, they can just not talk to their friends and families for months and not realize it—and with no hard feelings. It’s so odd. Good luck on getting the answers you want, but don’t take it personally if you don’t. Men are weird.
The frustrating part is, even with all the attention paid, and the extravagance not being that far out of bounds, I’m up two pounds. Five hours of Jazzercise, a half hour on the treadmill, some walking, and I’ve put on weight. Maybe it’s temporary weight, but it makes me remember why I didn’t have a scale before. Is it possible I’ve added a little muscle? Sure. My arms are starting to look bigger and so forth. Maybe I did better when I didn’t sweat the short-term so much.
OK, there are a couple of possibilities. You may not have eaten enough with the increase workouts and your body went into hoard mode, dropping your metabolism. If this is the cause, it will let go of the weight when it realizes you are not in a crisis and will continue to feed it. It may be a bad time in your monthly cycle. If that’s the case, I feel your pain, and it is definitely temporary.
You could have added muscle, but I’m not sure 5 pounds in a week is possible unless you are training like Arnold.
The main thing is: how do you feel? Do you feel like you just kickstarted your body in the right direction? It was an experiment, and if it helped prove to yourself that you can do it, then it was a success! Worse case is you managed to gain 5 pounds of pure fat (which you didn’t, I’m positive its a mixture of muscle and water). So what? Go back to doing what you were before and it’ll melt off again.
Thanks, Bree. It was just two pounds, but I was sitting on 160.0 flat and am up to 162 this morning, more in the evening, and I had tasted those 150’s ONCE, which is why it’s frustrating. It’s quite possible it’s a hydration issue or something. I doubt my workouts are intense enough to be called ‘intense,’ even though I do get a solid 50 minutes in the target heart zone between the cardio and the weights, especially if I use the wrist weights for warmup to get there faster. I just don’t seem to lose consistently.
I do feel pretty good. I was just trying the ‘break it down into smaller goals’ thing, which I guess is not for me.
