Help w/TNT Food log - am I missing something?

[Sinker]

I began TNT 3/24/08. I know the scale isn't the final arbiter of success, but so far the weight hasn't budged. Yesterday's food log is pretty typical except for dinner, which was at my mother's house. Normal dinner iw 6-8oz of meat with a large helping of fresh veggies w/olive oil.

I did my workout at the Y in the morning, thus the early am protein shakes.

Maybe I'm eating too much, but the overall intake is much less than it was prior to starting TNT.

I also know that I need to make the mental adjustment to food as fuel vs food as entertainment!

So, please take a look and see if I'm missing something.


5:00am Nitrean Protein shake w/8oz water
1 cup coffee w/tsp powdered creamer
6:00am Shake
6:30am 1 coffee
7:15am 2 eggs w/1 slice american cheese, 2 small sausage links
8:30am 5g creatine monohydrate
Noon – large chef salad; ham, turkey, swiss, cheddar, cuke, olives, lettuce w/Italian dressing
2:00pm 1 HB egg
3:30pm ½ loaf flaxseed bread w/2 TBS natty pb
Diet Rootbeer
5:30pm 2 cups turkey chili, no beans
8:00pm 1 small sausage link
9:00pm 1 sf jello cup w/whipped cream
Total daily water: ~56oz

[LWilson212]

I can't really share my personal experience yet, since I only started TNT one week after you on 3/31. But something that crossed my mind this morning thinking about someone else's log is the creatine. I have heard and read many good things about it, but I also read that many women do not care for it because it causes you to retain water and have a higher scale weight. Maybe that could have some impact?

Also, how close are you to your goals? I suspect for all of us that if you are trying to lose 5 or 10 lbs of fat, it will be slower and harder than 50.

BTW, nice bike!

[Sinker]

Originally Posted by LWilson212

I can't really share my personal experience yet, since I only started TNT one week after you on 3/31. But something that crossed my mind this morning thinking about someone else's log is the creatine. I have heard and read many good things about it, but I also read that many women do not care for it because it causes you to retain water and have a higher scale weight. Maybe that could have some impact?

Also, how close are you to your goals? I suspect for all of us that if you are trying to lose 5 or 10 lbs of fat, it will be slower and harder than 50.

BTW, nice bike!

Thanks!

I've lost 20-25lbs in the last year since I began mountain biking and eating a little better (medium cheesesteaks instead of large!). But I'm still at 24% BF as of just before starting TNT. So yeah, maybe the easy weight has already come off, but it's not like I'm trying to burn away the last 5lbs of fat, either.


And I wonder about the creatine as well.

[bacardio]

I would check the carbs on the flaxseed bread and the chili. Flaxseed bread may still have regular flour in it and the chili may have some sugar.

Other then that it may come down to just overall calorie count. I had this problem. I ended up counting the daily calories and reducing my calorie count until the scale started to move down.

[RedLefty]

If you've lost the initial weight through dieting and biking, the workouts may be adding some lean tissue (muscle, bone, tendons, etc...). Add that to the possible water-retaining effects of creatine and that's some additional weight. Good weight, though.

At the same time, you may be losing some fat. Balance it all out and the total weight stays the same while you're actually getting much fitter. I weigh the exact same I did two years ago, but my waist is 2 inches smaller and all the muscles are bigger.

In this first phase of TNT you might lose 3 or 4% BF while not moving the scale. It happens and is a good thing. The extra muscle will help your body work that much harder as you continue to lose fat in the coming weeks.

And yes, it's possible to overeat on TNT for some people. Even with little to no carbs, 5,000 kcal of steak is still 5,000 kcal. As one of our forum members likes to say, even if you manipulate the macronutrients you can't beat the laws of thermodynamics.

Based on your posted log of one day's eating, I think it's unlikely that you're overreating, ethough.

[Lost Dog]

If you just started the creatine, you can add about 5lbs of water weight. But, it's a one-time thing when you start. I wouldn't worry about the creatine.

Try to take measurements to track changes that way, too. I only pick a few fatter spots, like my belly, butt, and waist. I don't really care what the measurements are, just that they are moving.

[DirtyMartini]

Do you know how many calories you're eating and how many to get in order for you to lose weight?

I just did a really rough estimation of your day and it looks like it's around 2300-2400 calories or so. That might be weight-loss cals for you; might not.
Again, my #'s below are complete guesses:

5:00am Nitrean Protein shake w/8oz water (200 cals?)
1 cup coffee w/tsp powdered creamer
6:00am Shake (200 cals?)
6:30am 1 coffee
7:15am 2 eggs w/1 slice american cheese, 2 small sausage links (~300 cals)
8:30am 5g creatine monohydrate
Noon – large chef salad; ham, turkey, swiss, cheddar, cuke, olives, lettuce w/Italian dressing (400-500 cals)
2:00pm 1 HB egg (70 cals)
3:30pm ½ loaf flaxseed bread w/2 TBS natty pb (half a loaf??? Wouldn't this be like 500 calories alone? Then the 200 cals from teh PB)
Diet Rootbeer
5:30pm 2 cups turkey chili, no beans (maybe 300 cals)
8:00pm 1 small sausage link (100 cals?)
9:00pm 1 sf jello cup w/whipped cream (50-100 cals)
Total daily water: ~56oz


Did you really eat half a loaf of bread? That isn't TNT-approved, I'm sure, unless the bread is not really "bread" as we know it.

[missjane]

The Nitrean shakes are 110 calories.

I am assuming the flaxseed bread is the TNT recipe floating around that makes a little tiny loaf of bread. Am I right? If so, then half a loaf isn't really much at all.

[Sinker]

I love this place! Thanks for all the great insights and suggestions. I know it's subjective, but I FEEL stronger and leaner already. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I crank out the 15th step-up after thinking I was going to die at number 10!

Jane is right, it's the TNT-recipe flax seed bread. I found the only good thing about flaxseed bread w/peanut butter is the peanut butter.

And Miss Martini, thanks for doing the math. It'll help me get a handle on total cals.

[DirtyMartini]

oh phew, I'm glad it was the flax muffin thing. I was picturing an actual loaf of bread

In that case, without knowing a whole lot more, I'm with the majority here - measure!