Yesterday I was 149.8 pounds and 32.1% fat. It's true that by the numbers I should have gained about 0.2 pounds this week, but not a whole pound, so I'm calling it largely water fluctuation.
However, I've decided I need to re-tune. In this vein, a few things:
First, go back to really paying attention to my dietary quality. This morning I again ate an egg on toast with half an orange and a glass of milk, which is basically my ultimate yummy-healthy breakfast. No more leaving out the complex carbs, or leaving out the protein, or eating junk food for a while.
Second, I'm going to do a cleanse/fast from the 5th to the 11th. It will involve liver detoxing herbs, psyllium shakes and Cascara sagrada each day, starting after dinner on the 4th. There will be no mind-altering substances and no foods with added salt, sugar or oil throughout. The diet will be vegan for four days, raw vegan for two days, and liquid fast on the last day until breaking for dinner. Hopefully this will a) jump start my weight loss again, b) be fun/get me high, and c) produce the benefits people usually cleanse for. I picked the particular week because my mom's birthday is the 4th, so I will be going out to dinner, but the week after has half a week of school, so by the time the harder part starts I won't have those responsibilities to deal with.
Third, it's time to tighten down again on the calories. I have three weeks and change until Solstice and I do believe I can lose 3 pounds in that time. If the cleanse has its hoped-for effect, I may be able to push it to 5. I won't sweat it too hard (literally) on weekends, because it's hard to resist snacking, hard to get out for exercise, and rest & repair time is important. However, I will insist on staying beneath the magic 1888 and maintaining quality on those weekend days and think about trying to get a run in on Saturdays. On weekdays, I want to keep calories really buckled down by eating a good breakfast, bringing a light lunch to be eaten early and an afternoon snack or 2 large snacks, depending on how you want to view it, as I was talking about recently. Exercise will happen everyday, which shouldn't founder now that the below-freezing mornings have gone away. The goal is to have a 500-700 deficit every weekday, one way or another. I hope to be able to maintain diet between 1400-1600 with 200-500 cals of exercise, for a total range of 550-1050 deficit (my maintenance level being about 1950 right now).
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
The last 15 pounds
People always say the last 10-20 pounds are the hardest. Yadda yadda. Evidently it's true. So why is there such a dearth of information on losing them - or else, it parrots the advice for just starting out?
The thing is, it's easy to lose 15 pounds. It's incredibly easy to modify your diet and exercise habits when they are not very good. You can lose 15 pounds just by cutting out soda, if you drink soda every day. You can lose 15 pounds just by taking a walk every day, if you're not active. And if you go onto any internet forum looking to lose 15 pounds, you'll get these suggestions, as well as cut out fast food, junk food, add cardio 3-5 times a week, avoid processed carbs, eat protein with every meal, and don't eat things dripping in fat but don't avoid it like the plague either because it's filling. Oh, and eat 4-6 times a day.
The trouble is, how do you lose 15 pounds when you've already lost 35 pounds? How do you make a change that your body will respond to when you're already doing most of the right things, certainly all the obvious things? How do you cram in more exercise when it's already putting a strain on your responsibilities to do your now-regular workout? How do you cut your calories further when even with well-studied macronutrient ratios you are starting to get hungry? And how do you get people on the internet to pay attention to the fact that you've already been at this for a while and thus don't need the idiot tips?
The thing is, it's easy to lose 15 pounds. It's incredibly easy to modify your diet and exercise habits when they are not very good. You can lose 15 pounds just by cutting out soda, if you drink soda every day. You can lose 15 pounds just by taking a walk every day, if you're not active. And if you go onto any internet forum looking to lose 15 pounds, you'll get these suggestions, as well as cut out fast food, junk food, add cardio 3-5 times a week, avoid processed carbs, eat protein with every meal, and don't eat things dripping in fat but don't avoid it like the plague either because it's filling. Oh, and eat 4-6 times a day.
The trouble is, how do you lose 15 pounds when you've already lost 35 pounds? How do you make a change that your body will respond to when you're already doing most of the right things, certainly all the obvious things? How do you cram in more exercise when it's already putting a strain on your responsibilities to do your now-regular workout? How do you cut your calories further when even with well-studied macronutrient ratios you are starting to get hungry? And how do you get people on the internet to pay attention to the fact that you've already been at this for a while and thus don't need the idiot tips?
Thanksgiving convos and other recent experiences
Went to my boyfriend's best friend's parent's house for dinner last night. I didn't count calories because I didn't want to be doing mental arithmetic all night, so I just gave it an upper-limit estimate of 3000 calories. There were some cheesy appetizers, a plate of actual dinner that was moderate (probably not more than 600 cals), a couple glasses of wine and 2 mugs of cider with brandy, and not even a whole piece of pie because I was too stuffed by then, but also some chocolates and caramels.
The aforementioned parents have been on a diet recently. It was actually quite strange to sit there and hear them talking about their diet. Apparently they've been doing MediFast for about a month and have lost 14 and 13 pounds respectively. I was pretty quiet through most of the discussion, but I asked a few questions, said I didn't really like the idea of prepackaged, engineered food, and volunteered that through simple calorie counting I've lost 35 pounds in 24 weeks.
It did make me think about how I need a kick start. Recently it's been hard to keep my calories down. When I exercise more I get more hungry, and I'm often hungry not long after I've eaten what has been a normal meal for the past several months. The past three days, however, have been instructive.
On Tuesday, I started off with a sensible breakfast, packed a wrap, and planned to get a coffee at school. When I went for my coffee, however, I got suckered by the donuts and got a maple bar, which turned out to have a colossal 460 calories. Eating when I'm not actually hungry screws everything up, so I ended up eating my wrap during my first class. I then had nothing else with me to eat, so I subsisted until dinnertime on more coffee. After dinner, I was still SO hungry, and also had been wanting ice cream for about a week, so I finally said fuck it and ate most of a pint of ice cream.
On Wednesday, I felt like all my bad choices had been spent the previous day, and found no difficulty in achieving a low calorie count. I had breakfast, brought two snacks to school, ate them when I was hungry, and worked out after class (usually I work out in the morning, but I switched up my schedule on account of the weather). Then I went out to dinner and had a salad. My calorie count was very low and my deficit was quite good.
Yesterday, of course, I ate tons because I wanted some of everything and I expected that. But I was reminded of how heavy and full and really not so pleasant it is to overeat.
So, the take home lessons are: I don't want to go back to overeating, I am still capable of eating low-calorie comfortably, and maybe if I have a frustrating craving, giving in really will get it out of my system. The questions are: why did I get derailed by a donut right after a perfectly good breakfast, and is it possible for me to schedule things so I work out in the afternoon?
I need to find some information on set-points and how to re-set them. I think it's pretty clear that my body is not used to weighing less than 150 pounds, it really never has since reaching my current height, and while the first 35 pounds were easy, now it's saying "hey, WTF are you doing?" It's equally clear that borderline-overweight, over 30% fat is not a state in which I'm going to just leave myself. If my set-point is between 150-165 pounds, then my set-point is screwed up, and there must be a way to fix it.
And I need to pick some kind of kick-start. One thing I can do is re-institute stricter calorie targets and try to take advantage of the good day I had this week as a model: eat breakfast, 2 snacks, workout to boost my endorphins later in the day and moderate dinner. But I'm also thinking of something that can barrel through these next, say, 5 pounds. I know low-carb diets are supposed to be a good kick-start, and I've read people who say they maintained everything they lost, despite the fact that the only theory I've heard about the quick beginning loss is glycogen depletion. MediFast is expensive as fuck, but the general idea of designer diet food is another possibility. And finally, I'm thinking about a "cleanse." Winter, admittedly, is not the easiest time to do this, but cleanses are helpful in a number of ways: they usually force low calories, they involve foods that are high in water, fiber, and antioxidants, all of which are healthy, and they supposedly clean out your system. I'm skeptical of the idea that there's anything hanging out in your colon that can be cleaned out, but that's where many of the claims lie. I am much more sympathetic to the idea that by giving your body only light, unprocessed plant foods, and also certain detoxifying herbs, metabolic processes are given a rest and made more efficient. So that's another idea.
The aforementioned parents have been on a diet recently. It was actually quite strange to sit there and hear them talking about their diet. Apparently they've been doing MediFast for about a month and have lost 14 and 13 pounds respectively. I was pretty quiet through most of the discussion, but I asked a few questions, said I didn't really like the idea of prepackaged, engineered food, and volunteered that through simple calorie counting I've lost 35 pounds in 24 weeks.
It did make me think about how I need a kick start. Recently it's been hard to keep my calories down. When I exercise more I get more hungry, and I'm often hungry not long after I've eaten what has been a normal meal for the past several months. The past three days, however, have been instructive.
On Tuesday, I started off with a sensible breakfast, packed a wrap, and planned to get a coffee at school. When I went for my coffee, however, I got suckered by the donuts and got a maple bar, which turned out to have a colossal 460 calories. Eating when I'm not actually hungry screws everything up, so I ended up eating my wrap during my first class. I then had nothing else with me to eat, so I subsisted until dinnertime on more coffee. After dinner, I was still SO hungry, and also had been wanting ice cream for about a week, so I finally said fuck it and ate most of a pint of ice cream.
On Wednesday, I felt like all my bad choices had been spent the previous day, and found no difficulty in achieving a low calorie count. I had breakfast, brought two snacks to school, ate them when I was hungry, and worked out after class (usually I work out in the morning, but I switched up my schedule on account of the weather). Then I went out to dinner and had a salad. My calorie count was very low and my deficit was quite good.
Yesterday, of course, I ate tons because I wanted some of everything and I expected that. But I was reminded of how heavy and full and really not so pleasant it is to overeat.
So, the take home lessons are: I don't want to go back to overeating, I am still capable of eating low-calorie comfortably, and maybe if I have a frustrating craving, giving in really will get it out of my system. The questions are: why did I get derailed by a donut right after a perfectly good breakfast, and is it possible for me to schedule things so I work out in the afternoon?
I need to find some information on set-points and how to re-set them. I think it's pretty clear that my body is not used to weighing less than 150 pounds, it really never has since reaching my current height, and while the first 35 pounds were easy, now it's saying "hey, WTF are you doing?" It's equally clear that borderline-overweight, over 30% fat is not a state in which I'm going to just leave myself. If my set-point is between 150-165 pounds, then my set-point is screwed up, and there must be a way to fix it.
And I need to pick some kind of kick-start. One thing I can do is re-institute stricter calorie targets and try to take advantage of the good day I had this week as a model: eat breakfast, 2 snacks, workout to boost my endorphins later in the day and moderate dinner. But I'm also thinking of something that can barrel through these next, say, 5 pounds. I know low-carb diets are supposed to be a good kick-start, and I've read people who say they maintained everything they lost, despite the fact that the only theory I've heard about the quick beginning loss is glycogen depletion. MediFast is expensive as fuck, but the general idea of designer diet food is another possibility. And finally, I'm thinking about a "cleanse." Winter, admittedly, is not the easiest time to do this, but cleanses are helpful in a number of ways: they usually force low calories, they involve foods that are high in water, fiber, and antioxidants, all of which are healthy, and they supposedly clean out your system. I'm skeptical of the idea that there's anything hanging out in your colon that can be cleaned out, but that's where many of the claims lie. I am much more sympathetic to the idea that by giving your body only light, unprocessed plant foods, and also certain detoxifying herbs, metabolic processes are given a rest and made more efficient. So that's another idea.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
On Thanksgiving I am grateful for...
The plentiful society I live in that makes it possible for weight to even be an issue.
The success I have had so far, losing 35 pounds in 24 weeks.
The availability of delicious fruits and vegetables that make this journey so much more pleasurable.
The availability of so much information through the internet, which makes the process so entertaining.
All the things I am learning about my body, mind, and culture as I do this.
The success I have had so far, losing 35 pounds in 24 weeks.
The availability of delicious fruits and vegetables that make this journey so much more pleasurable.
The availability of so much information through the internet, which makes the process so entertaining.
All the things I am learning about my body, mind, and culture as I do this.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Magic number: 1888
That is the number of calories, according to my current formulas, that are needed to sustain my ordinary level of activity without any formal exercise at my target weight.
Let's just try to stay below that number each day for now.
(Nevermind tomorrow.)
Let's just try to stay below that number each day for now.
(Nevermind tomorrow.)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Ew
I just ate a maple bar and looked up the calories. I thought it would be something like 300.
It's fucking 460.
Combined with the fact that I forgot my gym clothes as I went out the door and was NOT going to turn around and get them once I was halfway to school (the ground is icy today), looks like it'll be another wash today. Why did it suddenly get so hard?
It's fucking 460.
Combined with the fact that I forgot my gym clothes as I went out the door and was NOT going to turn around and get them once I was halfway to school (the ground is icy today), looks like it'll be another wash today. Why did it suddenly get so hard?
Monday, November 22, 2010
New tack
I'm trying a new tack which hopefully will help me both cut calories and be more academically productive.
That is to replace my large lunch and 2 small snacks with 2 larger snacks. That way, there is no "lunch" meal to distract me and I can use all my between-class time to do homework and the like. Then, I can have something like a bar in the morning and a smoothie in the afternoon, and I will hopefully cut my total at-school calorie intake that way, while leaving nutritious dinner and breakfast unaffected.
Incidentally, I saw this recently:
http://calorielab.com/news/2010/11/20/twinkie-diet-results/
It's hilariously stupid, of course, but it makes me smile and want to try it. I remember in high school one time our English teacher had an alcohol-influenced idea at a party and had us all write list of 100 things to do before we die, and one thing I wrote on mine was to follow a series of weird diets, with an example given: 'like "foods that start with vowels".' Anyway, this would be a good time for something like that, wouldn't it? Obviously not during this season, but during the mostly holiday-free stretch after the end of January, maybe. I could use it as my aid to not getting bored in the last 10 pounds. Just come up with 10 weird diets and try to lose a pound on each one - the guiding principle, of course, being calorie restriction within the arbitrary framework of the diet coupled with continuation of good exercise habits. I can think of three already: foods that start with vowels, the Twinkie diet, and SlimFast. The research aspect would be seeing how each one facilitated or hindered sticking to the diet and feeling healthy in the process. Oh my God I'm such a dork. I may actually do this.
That is to replace my large lunch and 2 small snacks with 2 larger snacks. That way, there is no "lunch" meal to distract me and I can use all my between-class time to do homework and the like. Then, I can have something like a bar in the morning and a smoothie in the afternoon, and I will hopefully cut my total at-school calorie intake that way, while leaving nutritious dinner and breakfast unaffected.
Incidentally, I saw this recently:
http://calorielab.com/news/2010/11/20/twinkie-diet-results/
It's hilariously stupid, of course, but it makes me smile and want to try it. I remember in high school one time our English teacher had an alcohol-influenced idea at a party and had us all write list of 100 things to do before we die, and one thing I wrote on mine was to follow a series of weird diets, with an example given: 'like "foods that start with vowels".' Anyway, this would be a good time for something like that, wouldn't it? Obviously not during this season, but during the mostly holiday-free stretch after the end of January, maybe. I could use it as my aid to not getting bored in the last 10 pounds. Just come up with 10 weird diets and try to lose a pound on each one - the guiding principle, of course, being calorie restriction within the arbitrary framework of the diet coupled with continuation of good exercise habits. I can think of three already: foods that start with vowels, the Twinkie diet, and SlimFast. The research aspect would be seeing how each one facilitated or hindered sticking to the diet and feeling healthy in the process. Oh my God I'm such a dork. I may actually do this.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Weekly weigh-in
I'm getting rather tired of all the archiving I do here of food journals and exercise log and everything, so if someone starts following who is interested in seeing it, I'll consider posting it again, but for now I'm going to stop because it's kind of tedious.
Today I weigh 148.8 pounds at 32.1% body fat. That's 1.0 pound down from last week, so, good, I guess. I have to remind myself not to jump my mind ahead the whole 15 pounds but instead to just focus on losing 5 pounds before Solstice. If I pay attention, that's really not too slow to notice. It would have been a few months ago, but each pound matters more when you're lighter. In 140s, 5 pounds is actually a relatively visible amount.
My lean body mass, as I said recently, seems to be stabilizing. If it stays the same as it is now the whole way down, I will hit my final weight goal at around 26% body fat. That's not too bad. Only a little bit of further loss, or reshaping, would be necessary at that point.
I've really been slacking off on my pull-ups - I haven't done any in probably a month. It's hard to find the time when I have my yoga classes and try to push the cardio on other days. However, I have made some progress in push-ups, because yoga involves plenty of plank work. I haven't been recording my extra practice, though, in part because I do very few at a time. I need to get back to recording every strength exercise I do - even if it's only a few push-ups - so as to keep my motivation and keep doing them regularly.
Today I weigh 148.8 pounds at 32.1% body fat. That's 1.0 pound down from last week, so, good, I guess. I have to remind myself not to jump my mind ahead the whole 15 pounds but instead to just focus on losing 5 pounds before Solstice. If I pay attention, that's really not too slow to notice. It would have been a few months ago, but each pound matters more when you're lighter. In 140s, 5 pounds is actually a relatively visible amount.
My lean body mass, as I said recently, seems to be stabilizing. If it stays the same as it is now the whole way down, I will hit my final weight goal at around 26% body fat. That's not too bad. Only a little bit of further loss, or reshaping, would be necessary at that point.
I've really been slacking off on my pull-ups - I haven't done any in probably a month. It's hard to find the time when I have my yoga classes and try to push the cardio on other days. However, I have made some progress in push-ups, because yoga involves plenty of plank work. I haven't been recording my extra practice, though, in part because I do very few at a time. I need to get back to recording every strength exercise I do - even if it's only a few push-ups - so as to keep my motivation and keep doing them regularly.
Friday, November 19, 2010
An inflection point
The title is a little bit of a math reference. When a graph changes from concave to convex or back, that is, when its second derivative changes sign, that's an inflection point. The function itself may not go from positive to negative, and it doesn't even change from going-up to going-down, but it's still a perceptible, subtle change.
That's what it's like lately. Things are changing about this weight loss process, just a little.
The first thing I've noticed is that, before, I was losing about 2/3 fat to 1/3 lean mass. For the last 7 or so pounds, my lean mass has remained constant on average. This makes sense because I'm now past my lowest previous weight. When I was coming down from 185 to 165 and even to 155, I was losing excess skin, superfluous vascular tissue, weight-bearing muscle that was no longer needed. But the amount of lean mass I have now (about 99-103 pounds) is an amount my body has had for a LONG time and has good uses for regardless of my fat level.
Thus it makes sense that I'm also losing weight more slowly. When my average deficit is about 500, I scrape off a pound in a week, because I'm not getting extra credit.
And who knew that exercising could make you more hungry? Not me! Until now, that wasn't the case. Unless I pushed myself hard all day like on that bike trip, a good workout wouldn't make any difference for how much food I wanted to eat. Now, I'm noticing that I am hungrier on days when I exercise a lot. If I exercise not at all (maintenance intake ~1975) I can deal with eating only 1500-1600 calories. If I burn 200 calories (MC 2175) I'm good for 1600-1700 calories. If I burn 600 calories (MC 2575) then I feel okay on 1800-1900 calories. Obviously this is still a net benefit, but there was a time when I would eat the same number of calories whether I burned 0 or 600 in exercise.
Being hungry after exercise makes it harder to push the same kind of deficit I could before, as well as the fact that I'm burning fewer calories to begin with. You can only scale back your intake so much - for me, between the mental demands of school and the social occasionality of meals, it's not practical to eat fewer than 1500-1600 calories on a typical day. It's starting to strain a little. I haven't had ice cream in almost a month (I don't count the spoonful on spice cake at my parents' dinner, that's not the same), or many other treats recently. All the time I put it off, saying I won't have ice cream today, I'll have it some other time, because that would be 150 or 300 calories cutting into my deficit, which is certainly not 800, and even if it's 650, wouldn't I rather have 650 than just 500?
And mentally, my body image is in a strange spot. I feel SO skinny some respects, yet I observe the fat that remains. My collarbone is concave above, concave below, and sticks up a little around the shoulder. I go to massage my neck and feel one, two, three, FOUR vertebrae protruding in what almost seems like an unnatural way. When I lay on my back, my hipbones feel scarily close to the surface of the skin. Yet I'm still 32% fat. My belly still squishes into rolls when I slouch. My thighs and butt still ripple when I walk (not that you can tell when I'm wearing pants, but there's a full length mirror in the locker room).
Just have to have patience and perseverance. 5 more pounds by Solstice. Take what I get for January. A few more by the end of February, and 5 more before spring break, brings me right up to goal, right? Part of me wants to go on some sort of extreme diet, say, Slimfast and super caffeine pills, or at least a highly regimented, planned diet. I probably would if not for social concerns. But my boyfriend already thinks I'm too inflexible about food. If he would offer me high-calorie food at 8am instead of 8pm when I've already eaten most of my calories for the day, he might get a different impression.
That's what it's like lately. Things are changing about this weight loss process, just a little.
The first thing I've noticed is that, before, I was losing about 2/3 fat to 1/3 lean mass. For the last 7 or so pounds, my lean mass has remained constant on average. This makes sense because I'm now past my lowest previous weight. When I was coming down from 185 to 165 and even to 155, I was losing excess skin, superfluous vascular tissue, weight-bearing muscle that was no longer needed. But the amount of lean mass I have now (about 99-103 pounds) is an amount my body has had for a LONG time and has good uses for regardless of my fat level.
Thus it makes sense that I'm also losing weight more slowly. When my average deficit is about 500, I scrape off a pound in a week, because I'm not getting extra credit.
And who knew that exercising could make you more hungry? Not me! Until now, that wasn't the case. Unless I pushed myself hard all day like on that bike trip, a good workout wouldn't make any difference for how much food I wanted to eat. Now, I'm noticing that I am hungrier on days when I exercise a lot. If I exercise not at all (maintenance intake ~1975) I can deal with eating only 1500-1600 calories. If I burn 200 calories (MC 2175) I'm good for 1600-1700 calories. If I burn 600 calories (MC 2575) then I feel okay on 1800-1900 calories. Obviously this is still a net benefit, but there was a time when I would eat the same number of calories whether I burned 0 or 600 in exercise.
Being hungry after exercise makes it harder to push the same kind of deficit I could before, as well as the fact that I'm burning fewer calories to begin with. You can only scale back your intake so much - for me, between the mental demands of school and the social occasionality of meals, it's not practical to eat fewer than 1500-1600 calories on a typical day. It's starting to strain a little. I haven't had ice cream in almost a month (I don't count the spoonful on spice cake at my parents' dinner, that's not the same), or many other treats recently. All the time I put it off, saying I won't have ice cream today, I'll have it some other time, because that would be 150 or 300 calories cutting into my deficit, which is certainly not 800, and even if it's 650, wouldn't I rather have 650 than just 500?
And mentally, my body image is in a strange spot. I feel SO skinny some respects, yet I observe the fat that remains. My collarbone is concave above, concave below, and sticks up a little around the shoulder. I go to massage my neck and feel one, two, three, FOUR vertebrae protruding in what almost seems like an unnatural way. When I lay on my back, my hipbones feel scarily close to the surface of the skin. Yet I'm still 32% fat. My belly still squishes into rolls when I slouch. My thighs and butt still ripple when I walk (not that you can tell when I'm wearing pants, but there's a full length mirror in the locker room).
Just have to have patience and perseverance. 5 more pounds by Solstice. Take what I get for January. A few more by the end of February, and 5 more before spring break, brings me right up to goal, right? Part of me wants to go on some sort of extreme diet, say, Slimfast and super caffeine pills, or at least a highly regimented, planned diet. I probably would if not for social concerns. But my boyfriend already thinks I'm too inflexible about food. If he would offer me high-calorie food at 8am instead of 8pm when I've already eaten most of my calories for the day, he might get a different impression.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Normal weight, overweight
Normal weight, overweight, normal weight, overweight...
It's just a number. In reality, the difference between 149.6 and 150.2 is completely trivial.
I think it's hilarious that I'm at the "overweight" boundary, with >30% body fat, wearing a size 6.
I went to the gym this morning and it wasn't enough. I burned a fine amount of calories, but I wanted to keep going, I want to exercise for at least an hour to burn through all the energy. After 32 minutes I had to hop off the elliptical and it felt like I hardly did anything. At lunch I went for a walk, it was nice.
And then I come home and my boyfriend has made dessert. He pulls it out after dinner and it is... peanut butter fudge. I look at it, raise my eyebrow in amusement, run and get my calculator. He tells me what went into it. I calculate and... FIVE THOUSAND CALORIES in the whole pan. 330 for a piece about 1-1/2 inches square. It's amazing you can even get calories that concentrated. Oh well, yum.
It's just a number. In reality, the difference between 149.6 and 150.2 is completely trivial.
I think it's hilarious that I'm at the "overweight" boundary, with >30% body fat, wearing a size 6.
I went to the gym this morning and it wasn't enough. I burned a fine amount of calories, but I wanted to keep going, I want to exercise for at least an hour to burn through all the energy. After 32 minutes I had to hop off the elliptical and it felt like I hardly did anything. At lunch I went for a walk, it was nice.
And then I come home and my boyfriend has made dessert. He pulls it out after dinner and it is... peanut butter fudge. I look at it, raise my eyebrow in amusement, run and get my calculator. He tells me what went into it. I calculate and... FIVE THOUSAND CALORIES in the whole pan. 330 for a piece about 1-1/2 inches square. It's amazing you can even get calories that concentrated. Oh well, yum.
Monday, November 15, 2010
MESO GOAL #2 MET - plus waist!
Finally, today I weigh 149.6 pounds! SOO amazing. I am now Cute Normal-Weight Girl! Good superhero name, huh? I've also met my waist goal of 29 inches. Now it's to be expected that I'll waver a bit - I'd like to avoid bouncing above 150 for morning weights as much as possible because the 150s are lame, but I'll certainly be seeing them any other time I step on the scale for a bit. After that inevitable period though, MAY THEY NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN, except possibly in case of pregnancy some years from now.
I can hardly believe this. Not only am I not overweight anymore, but I'm only 15 pounds away from my original, way back in the past weight loss goal, which is exactly how much weight I was able to lose easily then. If circumstances were equivalent (which they aren't, being 35 pounds into the process already) I could just implement one of my qualitative tricks, wait 3-4 months, and be done.
I'm really eager to get away from the overweight boundary now, so I think I'll be extra motivated over these next 5 pounds. I obviously can't peel off 5 pounds before Thanksgiving, but I should be able to get down to the 148, maybe high 147 range. I definitely hope to be below 145 by Solstice and close to 140 by January 4.
Why January 4? Because I will be traveling! I'm going to Europe between January 4-19, just over 2 weeks, which will give an excellent opportunity to test my intuitive-eating skills. I won't be weighing myself because I won't have a scale, and I won't be calorie counting because I will undoubtedly be eating meals the contents of which I cannot monitor. I'm still debating over whether to keep a general log of what I eat. I will also not be able to do the cardio I usually do, but can definitely work on strength exercises, and may do a lot of walking. I'll definitely have to come up with a plan for that before I leave. Then, it's a matter of exercising my ability to think "what's a reasonable portion of this? Which of these foods do I really want and which ones might I skip? What, in a general sense, have I eaten recently? What does my body feel like it needs?" Two weeks, then, is long enough for the effects to build up and I'll see whether I've largely lost, gained, or maintained - but if I gain, it won't be too much damage, not gonna gain 5 pounds or anything.
I've restyled the blog to celebrate this new goal. This is definitely the more important of my two meso goals, and may end up feeling more important than even the final goal. From here on out, everything is new! Every new low I hit will be the lowest low I've ever seen (at this height). I'm already thinner by inches and sizes than I've ever been - though let us not forget that I'm still over 30% body fat. Anyway, looking forward just can be nothing but good at this point.
I can hardly believe this. Not only am I not overweight anymore, but I'm only 15 pounds away from my original, way back in the past weight loss goal, which is exactly how much weight I was able to lose easily then. If circumstances were equivalent (which they aren't, being 35 pounds into the process already) I could just implement one of my qualitative tricks, wait 3-4 months, and be done.
I'm really eager to get away from the overweight boundary now, so I think I'll be extra motivated over these next 5 pounds. I obviously can't peel off 5 pounds before Thanksgiving, but I should be able to get down to the 148, maybe high 147 range. I definitely hope to be below 145 by Solstice and close to 140 by January 4.
Why January 4? Because I will be traveling! I'm going to Europe between January 4-19, just over 2 weeks, which will give an excellent opportunity to test my intuitive-eating skills. I won't be weighing myself because I won't have a scale, and I won't be calorie counting because I will undoubtedly be eating meals the contents of which I cannot monitor. I'm still debating over whether to keep a general log of what I eat. I will also not be able to do the cardio I usually do, but can definitely work on strength exercises, and may do a lot of walking. I'll definitely have to come up with a plan for that before I leave. Then, it's a matter of exercising my ability to think "what's a reasonable portion of this? Which of these foods do I really want and which ones might I skip? What, in a general sense, have I eaten recently? What does my body feel like it needs?" Two weeks, then, is long enough for the effects to build up and I'll see whether I've largely lost, gained, or maintained - but if I gain, it won't be too much damage, not gonna gain 5 pounds or anything.
I've restyled the blog to celebrate this new goal. This is definitely the more important of my two meso goals, and may end up feeling more important than even the final goal. From here on out, everything is new! Every new low I hit will be the lowest low I've ever seen (at this height). I'm already thinner by inches and sizes than I've ever been - though let us not forget that I'm still over 30% body fat. Anyway, looking forward just can be nothing but good at this point.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Good eats, weekly summary, and sshh don't get excited yet
I wouldn't have said anything if it hadn't been my official weigh-in day, but today I weigh 149.8 lbs and 31.7% fat.
Which means that yes, actually technically barely, I am normal weight. And I am also still 0.2 pounds above my meso goal. I kind of don't believe it, though. I like the .6 goals because they give a little more buffer against popping back up over the tens-place switch. So no more on this today.
Quick stats: Average kcals/day 1866, 4 cardio, 2 yoga, average estimated balance -425, -1.0 lb.
Now I've got to catch up on some things I didn't have time to finish a post about this week. Thursday morning, I ate this:
1 egg fried in 1/2 tsp olive oil on a slice of toast (70+20+90=180)
1 orange, cut into half-rounds (100)
8 oz skim milk (90)
8 oz black coffee
Delicious, no? Funny thing is, at 370 calories, it's on the upper end of what I usually eat for breakfast, but it looks like such a typical "dieter's breakfast." (Of course, it would be even more so if I had just the eggwhites and cooked it with some kind of fat free spray, but I like egg yolks and fat is filling). Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Then I went to the gym and burned *659* calories while listening to my Sansa. Thursday morning was pretty much awesome.
For dinner I made tofu and I diced and cooked a turnip my boyfriend had in the crisper. I've probably had turnip before, but only in a soup or something - I didn't really know what it was going to taste like, but I figured it might be a little like a parsnip, especially since I tend to mix up the two words. So I tasted it... it was kind of funny, so I put some butter and salt and pepper on it. It was pretty good that way, but it still had this funny, bitter-spicy note that started to catch up with my tastebuds toward the end of the portion. I think I don't particularly care for turnips, but maybe there's a better way to prepare them.
Friday night, I made acorn squash with butter and brown sugar, then put some leftover rice and crumbled pecans in the hollow. It was amazing. Sometimes acorn squash isn't so good, and I don't really know how to pick out a good one, but they're in season right now, so statistics should be on my side.
So, I like skim milk, coffee, and fruit with a meager protein/carb combo for breakfast, and I should definitely start making more squash. The boyfriend has been gone, but he's coming back today and we'll go shopping and get lots of fruits and vegetables. A few of my new dietary goals are to eat fruit with every breakfast, eat vegetables with every dinner, and to buy produce from the five pigment-antioxidant color groups: red/pink, yellow/orange, green, blue/purple/black, and white/brown.
Activity:
S: 0
S: Outdoor run (2.0 mi)
M: 1 hr yoga
T: Elliptical (15+10m,165+115) and rowing (7:15, 85c)
W: 1 hr yoga
T: Elliptical (42.5m, 527c) and rowing (10.5m, 132c)
F: Elliptical (40.5m, 500c)
Food:
Friday 11/12
Yogurt, granola, and raisin parfait and coffee (130+140+130=400)
Banana and skim milk (100+90=190)
Egg, cheese, and vegetable sandwich (140+40+110+30+180=500)
Babybel cheese (70)
Werther's candy (20)
Skim milk (90)
1/2 acorn squash with butter, brown sugar, black rice and almonds (85+100+45+70+100=400)
Butter and sugar (100+45=145)
Skim milk (90)
400+190+500+70+20+90+400+145+90=1905
Thursday 11/11
Egg on toast, glass of skim milk, an orange, and black coffee (90+90+90+100=370)
Apple with peanut butter (100+200=300)
Tuna garden salad and 1/2 cheese sandwich (20+35+150+90+110=405)
Seasoned popcorn (165)
Bottled Thai coffee (150)
Babybel cheese (70)
Tofu, turnip buttered with salt & pepper, and chard with vinegar (200+40+35+50+10+5=340)
370+300+405+165+150++70+340=1800
Wednesday 11/10
Toast and yogurt with honey (90+130+30=350)
Tangerine (40)
Coffee with skim and simple syrup (10+5=15)
Apple with peanut butter and milk (100+200+80+45=425)
Stonewall Jerquee (165)
Lentils, black rice, tomato sauce, and cheese (130+160+50+110=450)
Seasoned popcorn (50)
Babybel cheese and 1 potato chip (70+10=80)
350+40+15+425+165+450+50+80=1575
Tuesday 11/9
Egg and cheese on toast and a tangerine (90+90+110+40=330)
Almonds (200)
Dry cocoa mix and 100 calorie bar (75+100=175)
Chicken Caesar salad (550)
Pasta with sauce, tofu, and chard with balsamic vinegar (200+50+200+20+10+5=485)
330+200+175+550+485=1740
Monday 11/8
Granola and milk (140+160=300)
Apple (100)
TLC sandwich (430)
Cookies and fig newtons (225+140=365)
Lentils and black rice with cheese (130+160+165=455)
300+100+430+365+455=1650
Sunday 11/7
Chard & cheese scrambled eggs, toast, 1/2 grapefruit, and coffee with milk & sugar (140+100+10+90+30+45=415)
Tangerine (40)
Greek yogurt and honey (130+60=190)
Pinto beans and cheese (130+70=200)
Dinner with parents (1770)
3 glasses wine and 1 vodka elderflower drink (500)
3.5 slices baguette with cheese (280)
Cauliflower/cheese/egg/potato casserole, salad, and bread (600+75+100=775)
1 chocolate, apple spice cake and ice cream (65+75+75=215)
415+40+190+200+1770=2615
Saturday 11/6
1.3 bagels with flavored cream cheese (350+130=480)
Clif builder bar (270)
Vanilla Coke (250)
Nibbles while making dinner (100)
Pasta and asparagus with garlic cheese sauce (400+50+230=680)
480+270+250+100+680=1780
Which means that yes, actually technically barely, I am normal weight. And I am also still 0.2 pounds above my meso goal. I kind of don't believe it, though. I like the .6 goals because they give a little more buffer against popping back up over the tens-place switch. So no more on this today.
Quick stats: Average kcals/day 1866, 4 cardio, 2 yoga, average estimated balance -425, -1.0 lb.
Now I've got to catch up on some things I didn't have time to finish a post about this week. Thursday morning, I ate this:
1 egg fried in 1/2 tsp olive oil on a slice of toast (70+20+90=180)
1 orange, cut into half-rounds (100)
8 oz skim milk (90)
8 oz black coffee
Delicious, no? Funny thing is, at 370 calories, it's on the upper end of what I usually eat for breakfast, but it looks like such a typical "dieter's breakfast." (Of course, it would be even more so if I had just the eggwhites and cooked it with some kind of fat free spray, but I like egg yolks and fat is filling). Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Then I went to the gym and burned *659* calories while listening to my Sansa. Thursday morning was pretty much awesome.
For dinner I made tofu and I diced and cooked a turnip my boyfriend had in the crisper. I've probably had turnip before, but only in a soup or something - I didn't really know what it was going to taste like, but I figured it might be a little like a parsnip, especially since I tend to mix up the two words. So I tasted it... it was kind of funny, so I put some butter and salt and pepper on it. It was pretty good that way, but it still had this funny, bitter-spicy note that started to catch up with my tastebuds toward the end of the portion. I think I don't particularly care for turnips, but maybe there's a better way to prepare them.
Friday night, I made acorn squash with butter and brown sugar, then put some leftover rice and crumbled pecans in the hollow. It was amazing. Sometimes acorn squash isn't so good, and I don't really know how to pick out a good one, but they're in season right now, so statistics should be on my side.
So, I like skim milk, coffee, and fruit with a meager protein/carb combo for breakfast, and I should definitely start making more squash. The boyfriend has been gone, but he's coming back today and we'll go shopping and get lots of fruits and vegetables. A few of my new dietary goals are to eat fruit with every breakfast, eat vegetables with every dinner, and to buy produce from the five pigment-antioxidant color groups: red/pink, yellow/orange, green, blue/purple/black, and white/brown.
Activity:
S: 0
S: Outdoor run (2.0 mi)
M: 1 hr yoga
T: Elliptical (15+10m,165+115) and rowing (7:15, 85c)
W: 1 hr yoga
T: Elliptical (42.5m, 527c) and rowing (10.5m, 132c)
F: Elliptical (40.5m, 500c)
Food:
Friday 11/12
Yogurt, granola, and raisin parfait and coffee (130+140+130=400)
Banana and skim milk (100+90=190)
Egg, cheese, and vegetable sandwich (140+40+110+30+180=500)
Babybel cheese (70)
Werther's candy (20)
Skim milk (90)
1/2 acorn squash with butter, brown sugar, black rice and almonds (85+100+45+70+100=400)
Butter and sugar (100+45=145)
Skim milk (90)
400+190+500+70+20+90+400+145+90=1905
Thursday 11/11
Egg on toast, glass of skim milk, an orange, and black coffee (90+90+90+100=370)
Apple with peanut butter (100+200=300)
Tuna garden salad and 1/2 cheese sandwich (20+35+150+90+110=405)
Seasoned popcorn (165)
Bottled Thai coffee (150)
Babybel cheese (70)
Tofu, turnip buttered with salt & pepper, and chard with vinegar (200+40+35+50+10+5=340)
370+300+405+165+150++70+340=1800
Wednesday 11/10
Toast and yogurt with honey (90+130+30=350)
Tangerine (40)
Coffee with skim and simple syrup (10+5=15)
Apple with peanut butter and milk (100+200+80+45=425)
Stonewall Jerquee (165)
Lentils, black rice, tomato sauce, and cheese (130+160+50+110=450)
Seasoned popcorn (50)
Babybel cheese and 1 potato chip (70+10=80)
350+40+15+425+165+450+50+80=1575
Tuesday 11/9
Egg and cheese on toast and a tangerine (90+90+110+40=330)
Almonds (200)
Dry cocoa mix and 100 calorie bar (75+100=175)
Chicken Caesar salad (550)
Pasta with sauce, tofu, and chard with balsamic vinegar (200+50+200+20+10+5=485)
330+200+175+550+485=1740
Monday 11/8
Granola and milk (140+160=300)
Apple (100)
TLC sandwich (430)
Cookies and fig newtons (225+140=365)
Lentils and black rice with cheese (130+160+165=455)
300+100+430+365+455=1650
Sunday 11/7
Chard & cheese scrambled eggs, toast, 1/2 grapefruit, and coffee with milk & sugar (140+100+10+90+30+45=415)
Tangerine (40)
Greek yogurt and honey (130+60=190)
Pinto beans and cheese (130+70=200)
Dinner with parents (1770)
3 glasses wine and 1 vodka elderflower drink (500)
3.5 slices baguette with cheese (280)
Cauliflower/cheese/egg/potato casserole, salad, and bread (600+75+100=775)
1 chocolate, apple spice cake and ice cream (65+75+75=215)
415+40+190+200+1770=2615
Saturday 11/6
1.3 bagels with flavored cream cheese (350+130=480)
Clif builder bar (270)
Vanilla Coke (250)
Nibbles while making dinner (100)
Pasta and asparagus with garlic cheese sauce (400+50+230=680)
480+270+250+100+680=1780
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Morning sucked
So I got up early to see my boyfriend off (he's flying transcontinental to see a friend) and I thought I'd leave early to get to the gym. I wanted to listen to the whole album Nevermind while ellipticizing. However, as soon as I stepped outside I saw it was raining, so I had to come in and change into rain gear. I pulled on the pants and switched my pockets out with the raincoat, which ruined most of my head start. Then I took off.
About halfway there I realized that I hadn't brought my workout clothes to the gym yet this week, so I had to double back and get them, making me actually late. I decided I definitely didn't have time for the whole album now, but I'd do 30-40 minutes with a "go-list". I got to the gym pretty dry, the rain having lightened up, and changed into my clothes. I looked in the pocket of my coat for my Sansa... and realized my raincoat doesn't have a breast pocket, so I hadn't switched it out of my other coat. I thus HAD NO MUSIC AT ALL, AGAIN.
To make it worse, I'm on my period and was sore from some killer ab work we did in yoga yesterday. So it was hard to go intensely. Nonetheless, I was determined to make up for all that crappiness in some way, and I burned 365 calories. It's not amazing, but it's more than yoga. I also did THREE KNEE PUSH-UPS. So I think it's fair to say I can do knee push-ups now.
About halfway there I realized that I hadn't brought my workout clothes to the gym yet this week, so I had to double back and get them, making me actually late. I decided I definitely didn't have time for the whole album now, but I'd do 30-40 minutes with a "go-list". I got to the gym pretty dry, the rain having lightened up, and changed into my clothes. I looked in the pocket of my coat for my Sansa... and realized my raincoat doesn't have a breast pocket, so I hadn't switched it out of my other coat. I thus HAD NO MUSIC AT ALL, AGAIN.
To make it worse, I'm on my period and was sore from some killer ab work we did in yoga yesterday. So it was hard to go intensely. Nonetheless, I was determined to make up for all that crappiness in some way, and I burned 365 calories. It's not amazing, but it's more than yoga. I also did THREE KNEE PUSH-UPS. So I think it's fair to say I can do knee push-ups now.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Dinner with the 'rents
Holy crap. I always eat/drink a lot at dinner parties, but this time I ate enough calories for an entire day (1770). Thank God I went for a run this morning, so my surplus for the day was only in the 400s.
On the bright side, my stepdad looked pointedly at my jeans and asked "are you continuing to lose weight? You're looking great." Apparently I get shout-outs every 15 pounds. YAY!
Another thing that's nice about losing weight, at least when you have a little money, is that you have a good reason to buy cute new clothes. I got some sweatpants on my way back home that I'll be wearing to yoga tomorrow morning. I used to only buy clothes once or twice a year, when I'd get $50 or $100 in giftcards for my birthday and Christmas, but it's nice to just go get new clothes when the ones I have start to suck.
That's all. Goodnight!
On the bright side, my stepdad looked pointedly at my jeans and asked "are you continuing to lose weight? You're looking great." Apparently I get shout-outs every 15 pounds. YAY!
Another thing that's nice about losing weight, at least when you have a little money, is that you have a good reason to buy cute new clothes. I got some sweatpants on my way back home that I'll be wearing to yoga tomorrow morning. I used to only buy clothes once or twice a year, when I'd get $50 or $100 in giftcards for my birthday and Christmas, but it's nice to just go get new clothes when the ones I have start to suck.
That's all. Goodnight!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Weekly summary
Is it time for another weekly summary already? Today I'm 150.8 pounds and 33.1% fat.
Weekly stats: average kcals/day 1878, 3 cardio, 1 yoga, 1 miscellaneous, average daily balance -287, -2.6 lbs.
Activity:
Sa: 0
Su: 0
M: Extra trip to campus
Tu: Elliptical (20m, 252c)
W: 1 hr yoga
Th: Rowing (10m, 117c) and elliptical (20m, 250c)
F: Elliptical (20m, 261c)
Food journal:
Friday 11/5
Chocolate oatmeal (150+115=265)
Pasta with chicken, green beans, and a small apple (200+340+25+80=645)
Cookie (125)
Rice, beans, and corn with cream cheese and hot sauce (160+115+75+100=450)
Cream cheese (100)
265+645+125+450+100=1585
Thursday 11/4
Chard and cheese omelette and 1 toast (140+110+20+90=360)
Tangerine (40)
TLC sandwich (180+220+30=430)
Chocolate milk (340)
Chocolate (55)
Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans (340+100+50+15+50=555)
360+40+430+340+55+555=1780
Wednesday 11/3
Oatmeal with chocolate and milk (150+85+40=275)
1/2 PB and honey sandwich (90+95+20=205)
Pasta salad and a tangerine (200+90+30+40=360)
Vegan jerky and Tootsie pop (80+60=140)
Cinnamon sugar apples (45+50=95)
Rice and beans with cheese, onions and tomatoes (160+115+220+30=525)
Coffee with milk and touch of sugar (40+5=45)
275+205+360+140+95+525+45=1645
Tuesday 11/2
Scrambled eggs with onions and toast with cream cheese (140+40+10+90+100=390)
Apple (100)
TOC sandwich and a tangerine (180+220+30+40=470)
Strawberries and honey (50+30=80)
Mini Twix (50)
Peanut butter (125)
Pasta with sauce and sauteed tofu and lettuce with dressing (400+50+120+10+45=625)
390+100+470+80+50+125+625=1840
Monday 11/1
Granola with milk (140+160=300)
Greek yogurt with honey and strawberries (130+60+25=215)
Cream cheese roll-up and tangerine (180+100+40=320)
Carrots and hummus (35+65=100)
Halloween candy (105+260+100+70+60=595)
Falafel, rice, cheese, and tomato sauce (200+160+110+30=500)
300+215+320+100+595+500=2030
Sunday 10/31
Chard and cheese omelette and coffee with milk and sugar (175+25+100+50+20+50=420)
Chocolate bar (510)
Ramen (380)
Peanut butter roll-up and milk (180+190+160=530)
Miso with tofu (30+100=130)
2 shots whiskey (205)
Bread and cheese (90+110=200)
420+510+380+530+130+205+200=2375
Saturday 10/30
Breakfast out (870)
Vegetable, cheese, and egg crepe (200+300+100+50=650)
Mixed fruit (100)
2 cups sweetened creamed coffee (100)
Andes mint (20)
Pecans and string cheese (50+80=130)
Black Boss Porter (280)
Pizza (300+25+175+55=555)
Coffee with milk and sugar (55)
870+130+280+555+55=1890
Weekly stats: average kcals/day 1878, 3 cardio, 1 yoga, 1 miscellaneous, average daily balance -287, -2.6 lbs.
Activity:
Sa: 0
Su: 0
M: Extra trip to campus
Tu: Elliptical (20m, 252c)
W: 1 hr yoga
Th: Rowing (10m, 117c) and elliptical (20m, 250c)
F: Elliptical (20m, 261c)
Food journal:
Friday 11/5
Chocolate oatmeal (150+115=265)
Pasta with chicken, green beans, and a small apple (200+340+25+80=645)
Cookie (125)
Rice, beans, and corn with cream cheese and hot sauce (160+115+75+100=450)
Cream cheese (100)
265+645+125+450+100=1585
Thursday 11/4
Chard and cheese omelette and 1 toast (140+110+20+90=360)
Tangerine (40)
TLC sandwich (180+220+30=430)
Chocolate milk (340)
Chocolate (55)
Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans (340+100+50+15+50=555)
360+40+430+340+55+555=1780
Wednesday 11/3
Oatmeal with chocolate and milk (150+85+40=275)
1/2 PB and honey sandwich (90+95+20=205)
Pasta salad and a tangerine (200+90+30+40=360)
Vegan jerky and Tootsie pop (80+60=140)
Cinnamon sugar apples (45+50=95)
Rice and beans with cheese, onions and tomatoes (160+115+220+30=525)
Coffee with milk and touch of sugar (40+5=45)
275+205+360+140+95+525+45=1645
Tuesday 11/2
Scrambled eggs with onions and toast with cream cheese (140+40+10+90+100=390)
Apple (100)
TOC sandwich and a tangerine (180+220+30+40=470)
Strawberries and honey (50+30=80)
Mini Twix (50)
Peanut butter (125)
Pasta with sauce and sauteed tofu and lettuce with dressing (400+50+120+10+45=625)
390+100+470+80+50+125+625=1840
Monday 11/1
Granola with milk (140+160=300)
Greek yogurt with honey and strawberries (130+60+25=215)
Cream cheese roll-up and tangerine (180+100+40=320)
Carrots and hummus (35+65=100)
Halloween candy (105+260+100+70+60=595)
Falafel, rice, cheese, and tomato sauce (200+160+110+30=500)
300+215+320+100+595+500=2030
Sunday 10/31
Chard and cheese omelette and coffee with milk and sugar (175+25+100+50+20+50=420)
Chocolate bar (510)
Ramen (380)
Peanut butter roll-up and milk (180+190+160=530)
Miso with tofu (30+100=130)
2 shots whiskey (205)
Bread and cheese (90+110=200)
420+510+380+530+130+205+200=2375
Saturday 10/30
Breakfast out (870)
Vegetable, cheese, and egg crepe (200+300+100+50=650)
Mixed fruit (100)
2 cups sweetened creamed coffee (100)
Andes mint (20)
Pecans and string cheese (50+80=130)
Black Boss Porter (280)
Pizza (300+25+175+55=555)
Coffee with milk and sugar (55)
870+130+280+555+55=1890
Friday, November 5, 2010
New developments
I hit a new low today (152.0) and my body fat is remaining relatively low (33.5%). I'm very very close to normal weight, which is exciting! I was normal weight by a hair once before at my current height - that was right after losing 10 pounds in 9 days due to illness. At this rate, I'll expect to break 30% around 140.
My mp3 player apparently arrived yesterday, but I guess neither of us went in the front door so I didn't know. Oh well, I'm already on campus and if I went home to pick it up and add music, I wouldn't have time to work out at all. In fact, I already may not have time, blast it - where did the last hour go? At any rate, I now have music-ability. 500 calorie workouts, here I come.
Not just my size, but my shape is changing; I can tell from my pants. I put on the free-box 8s this morning, and ended up switching back into my jeans because they were annoying. In one place, they are indistinguishable in relative size from how they were when I first starting wearing them. In another place, they're developing loose pockets. Altogether, they're kind of starting to sag.
Today I Googled "fit female body" and when I did not get the results I was looking for, I elaborated and asked "what does a fit female body look like?" Still few results. Why is it so hard to find? I just want to see examples of healthy, fit women. Not Olympic athletes, not fashion models, just everyday women who are lean and from whom I could pick one who has a similar frame to me as a reference for what I can strive for.
My mp3 player apparently arrived yesterday, but I guess neither of us went in the front door so I didn't know. Oh well, I'm already on campus and if I went home to pick it up and add music, I wouldn't have time to work out at all. In fact, I already may not have time, blast it - where did the last hour go? At any rate, I now have music-ability. 500 calorie workouts, here I come.
Not just my size, but my shape is changing; I can tell from my pants. I put on the free-box 8s this morning, and ended up switching back into my jeans because they were annoying. In one place, they are indistinguishable in relative size from how they were when I first starting wearing them. In another place, they're developing loose pockets. Altogether, they're kind of starting to sag.
Today I Googled "fit female body" and when I did not get the results I was looking for, I elaborated and asked "what does a fit female body look like?" Still few results. Why is it so hard to find? I just want to see examples of healthy, fit women. Not Olympic athletes, not fashion models, just everyday women who are lean and from whom I could pick one who has a similar frame to me as a reference for what I can strive for.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Reorientation day 2
I went to the gym this morning like I said I would. I was a little late getting out and I don't have the patience for much more than 20 minutes of elliptical without music anyway, so 20 minutes it was, which isn't the stellar 500 calorie workout I was doing before, but it's a fine chunk to slap on top of as much of a dietary deficit as I care to create.
I ate 1840 calories. With just what I was planning to eat for dinner, it could have been 1640, but I was still hungry so, after letting it sit for about 10 minutes, I decided to go ahead and have another serving of pasta. My overall balance was -408 calories. It was nice to not overthink it - I ate when I was hungry, modified my plans due to being hungry, and even indulged spontaneously in a Twix (the big bowl of candy is gone, but there are still stragglers about campus). I think I was getting a little emotionally attached to the numbers, but not counting my calories until after I've eaten them, or at least committed myself to them because that's what I have with me to eat, is really calming. It puts the focus on eating reasonably. I do want to push these last four or so pounds to meso-goal, because I really want to be normal-weight, but in terms of body image I'm basically content to not really worry about it and just let the pounds fade away, as long as I keep making progress. I've got better things to think about than whether I'm eating 1600 or 1800 calories.
I ate 1840 calories. With just what I was planning to eat for dinner, it could have been 1640, but I was still hungry so, after letting it sit for about 10 minutes, I decided to go ahead and have another serving of pasta. My overall balance was -408 calories. It was nice to not overthink it - I ate when I was hungry, modified my plans due to being hungry, and even indulged spontaneously in a Twix (the big bowl of candy is gone, but there are still stragglers about campus). I think I was getting a little emotionally attached to the numbers, but not counting my calories until after I've eaten them, or at least committed myself to them because that's what I have with me to eat, is really calming. It puts the focus on eating reasonably. I do want to push these last four or so pounds to meso-goal, because I really want to be normal-weight, but in terms of body image I'm basically content to not really worry about it and just let the pounds fade away, as long as I keep making progress. I've got better things to think about than whether I'm eating 1600 or 1800 calories.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Day 1 of reorientation
Well, on my first day of getting-my-shit-back-together, there was a bowl of Halloween candy in the Psych lounge. Then more Halloween candy was the snack in my conference class where we bring snacks. I admit, I ate quite a bit of Halloween candy. That's okay. I hadn't had any yet this year, I'm sure it was less than I've eaten in years past, and in a day or two it will all go away.
What's surprising is that after a couple tiny boxes of Milk Duds, a full-size 3 Musketeers, fun size Butterfinger and Crunch, and a Tootsie pop, I still ended up with a deficit for the day - a margin-of-error slim deficit, but still, I was expecting to go way over. I didn't count my calories until the end of the day, instead just making food that seemed good and reasonable last night and bringing it to school. If, instead of 595 calories of candy, I had eaten 200 calories of a more typical snack (sometimes cookies, but sometimes fruit and nuts or caprese crackers), my calorie count for the day would have been 1635, which is impressive to me. Actually, I might have eaten something after dinner as I'm still a little hungry, but as it is I'm inclined not to because then I WOULD have a surplus for the day. Then again, I might not have been hungry after dinner had I not eaten the candy, because we all know sugar actually makes you more hungry.
I didn't exercise, but I have a really good excuse for that. Today was actually my yoga day, but I skipped because I REALLY needed the sleep after being woken up every couple of hours by the consequences of my boyfriend's late-night Halloween party attendance. After that I basically didn't have time because of classes and reading I needed to finish. Tomorrow I'm definitely going into the gym in the morning, and I'm eagerly awaiting my Sansa. I really think that once I can pair exercise with music again this thing will just kick off and I'll hardly have to think about how much I'm eating.
Interesting thing is, while I've been struggling with my diet, my weight has looked like a sine wave but my body fat has evidently dropped. I noticed my percentages were going down much faster than they were before, and my lean mass was increasing when my weight increased, so I figured there was a water retention element but I didn't know if my fat weight was going down or not because that's not what I track in my spreadsheet. So I just changed the formula a little and looked at the past few weeks. While the net change in my weight has been very little, I've definitely lost between 2-4 pounds of fat. So that's good! I don't know what I could have been doing to promote lean mass, since I've REALLY been slacking on my strength training, but maybe it lends support to the idea that I should be eating more and exercising well at this point.
What's surprising is that after a couple tiny boxes of Milk Duds, a full-size 3 Musketeers, fun size Butterfinger and Crunch, and a Tootsie pop, I still ended up with a deficit for the day - a margin-of-error slim deficit, but still, I was expecting to go way over. I didn't count my calories until the end of the day, instead just making food that seemed good and reasonable last night and bringing it to school. If, instead of 595 calories of candy, I had eaten 200 calories of a more typical snack (sometimes cookies, but sometimes fruit and nuts or caprese crackers), my calorie count for the day would have been 1635, which is impressive to me. Actually, I might have eaten something after dinner as I'm still a little hungry, but as it is I'm inclined not to because then I WOULD have a surplus for the day. Then again, I might not have been hungry after dinner had I not eaten the candy, because we all know sugar actually makes you more hungry.
I didn't exercise, but I have a really good excuse for that. Today was actually my yoga day, but I skipped because I REALLY needed the sleep after being woken up every couple of hours by the consequences of my boyfriend's late-night Halloween party attendance. After that I basically didn't have time because of classes and reading I needed to finish. Tomorrow I'm definitely going into the gym in the morning, and I'm eagerly awaiting my Sansa. I really think that once I can pair exercise with music again this thing will just kick off and I'll hardly have to think about how much I'm eating.
Interesting thing is, while I've been struggling with my diet, my weight has looked like a sine wave but my body fat has evidently dropped. I noticed my percentages were going down much faster than they were before, and my lean mass was increasing when my weight increased, so I figured there was a water retention element but I didn't know if my fat weight was going down or not because that's not what I track in my spreadsheet. So I just changed the formula a little and looked at the past few weeks. While the net change in my weight has been very little, I've definitely lost between 2-4 pounds of fat. So that's good! I don't know what I could have been doing to promote lean mass, since I've REALLY been slacking on my strength training, but maybe it lends support to the idea that I should be eating more and exercising well at this point.
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