In this log, I'm going to track my quest on Leigh Peele's R.E.P.A.I.R. program, found in her
Metabolic Repair Manual. This program is designed to reset a person's metabolism after long periods of overtraining and extreme dieting.
Some background on me. Given that I'm doing this program, it may be obvious that I have a history of overtraining and extreme dieting.
(Warning - if you're a dude made uncomfortable by the word "amenorrhea", perhaps this isn't the log for you to read.)
My New Year's resolution going into 2005 was to lose some weight. I never weighed myself at my heaviest, but I'm thinking I was about 180-185lbs. (I'm 5'4", and now 31 years old.) From January 2005 to October 2005, I lost 40-45lbs (calorie restriction and 30 mins aerobic exercise a day), getting down to about 140. I then started "maintenance" and gradually lost another 10 pounds. I started exercising more and more, and before long, was up to about 10 miles of walking and running every day, except one rest day per week. Oh yeah, and I trained for a marathon on Saturdays. Plus I did yoga. And pilates. At this point, I was eating 2,000 calories a day and maintaining my weight. I was constantly low energy and feeling dizzy and cranky.
Then, just for fun, I added strength training! And didn't eat any more! The new energy demands made me a little insane and finally I had a meltdown and started therapy to deal with the compulsive exercise issue. I went on an eating binge, gained 10 pounds, then went on a diet and lost 5.
Now? I am okay. I think. Even though I am a little bigger than a lot of people here (now 135 pounds, and the Omron puts me at 22.7%) I am happy with how my body looks, and I would like to get the metabolism to where it should be after the rollercoaster of crap I have put it through. Oh, and I went off the pill because I'm trying to get pregnant, and I think I have secondary amenorrhea. Makes getting knocked up hard, no matter how much we "practice." So. Gotta try to fix that. (Yes, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled.)
Soooo.... Enter R.E.P.A.I.R.
(By the way, this is a great read. I highly recommend it.)
The first phase is Rest. I am to sit on my ass for the next two weeks and do nothing that my life does not absolutely require.
This scares the freaking crap out of me. I have not gone more than one day without intense exercise for the last three years. And now I'm supposed to not do ANYTHING for two weeks. Going to be hard.
The food thing is even harder. Based on her Metabolic Level Test, I am a level two. (My results - 7 A's, 6 B's, 7 C's, 2 D's, 1 did not answer; I averaged that to a B/Level Two.) Based on her Activity Test (with no exercise), I have a 1.4 multiplier on my BMR - that seems high, but I live in a city and have to walk a lot to get to work and run errands, and I have two dogs that have to be walked.
Given those results, I have the following food guidelines for the next two weeks:
1470 calories
147 g protein
40 g fat
the rest carbs
Today is Day 1. Since I will have no workouts to record for awhile, I will be posting about how I'm feeling and how the food thing is going. Soon I will be R.E.P.A.I.R.ed!