It's so silly what our minds can do to us on a whim. Last night, I was watching TV with my boyfriend, sitting on the floor and stretching my hamstrings, and I flexed my quad and made him poke my thigh with his finger. I was like, "Feel THESE muscles, baby."
And then this morning, I wake up and get on the scale just for "fun", and I see that same old number and feel terrible.
I've been in similar situations. Logically, I don't think I have a lot of weight I could possibly lose. That is, my weight is already pretty low but since I've got some flab, muscle will just come in and replace the fat and the scale probably won't change much at all. But for some reason, that still depresses me sometimes, even though I'm proud enough of my growing biceps to show them off to my boyfriend all the time.
I struggle massively with my weight. I find that I do better with my portions if I weigh and measure. I may eyeball 8 oz. of chicken, but I am usually generous.
If you are doing that, as said above, the calorie ranges are just jumping off points for average people. You may have to adjust them to have success.
Thanks to everyone for the support. I think I'm going to make it through today with just a couple scratches. I've been pretty crabby all day, but I've made a few decisions.
One, I'm buying an electronic food scale. I already measure, but, well, why not be fanatical about weighing, too? Ha!
Two, I'm taking my calories back up to "maintenance" when I start lifting Stage 2 next week. Because I didn't do it properly before - I only did it for about a week.
Three, I'm putting the scale away for the length of time I'm on maintenance. Two weeks, to start, I think. Then a check in.
Because honestly, I think the frustration comes from not knowing what to do now, and I don't know what to do because I don't know whether I need to eat more or less. If I honestly give "maintenance" a run, then I'll know what MY body needs, instead of just an estimate. Maybe my metabolism is slow and I do need to cut low. Or maybe it just seems slow because left to my own devices, I don't eat as much as I should. That's valuable information.
Patience is really just what gets me. I want to have lost a few pounds before I meet my family for Easter brunch...I want to have lost a few pounds before I hit the beach...I want to have lost a few pounds before I go on a family vacation in August...but these are all superficial deadlines. What matters is that I keep working out, being healthy, and making progress in knowledge of my body. Blindly guessing in the dark is a nightmare. I want to KNOW how many calories I should eat. There's always going to be an event I want to look a little slimmer for...because overall, I just want to BE a little slimmer, and that's worth the effort.
So, I plan to go to Meijer tonight and check out the scales...and then do some cardio or yoga at home. And eat my lean steak and green beans, yum.
I did have a big bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Puff Cereal for breakfast - with a scoop of protein powder for damage control (don't even ask why I had this in the house, it's gone now), and after lunch I had a can of Izze sparkling fruit juice. Honestly, I think I still made my calorie range for the day, and cutting myself some slack on the food side of things while I was freaking out made me feel instantly a little less fanatical. (I just don't think 1600 is enough, why do I keep shooting for it?)
And I'm craving the weight room. I was going to start again on Monday (my last Stage 1 workout being last Sunday), but I took Friday off work as a personal day, and I'm chomping at the bit to get back in there. I feel much better about myself when I'm focusing on what my body can do.
Thanks again, everyone, for the words of encouragement.
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
I dont know how accurate my new software is but I put in for my weight, my workout Stage 1 A 3 sets and I was shocked it estimated over 600 cals burned. NO WONDER they say stick to maintenance.
I have to go check but was that maintenance before NROL? Because if so I have numbers. That is what they are good for LOL!
I think you will feel better with a baseline of what your body needs and balance what your body wants. You sound so much like me and the food it is not funny. Pn the whole schmeel. I also have The Every Other Day Diet by Jon Benson. They are all similar. The only thing is is that on that one they have you measure by your hands your portions, no counting. But it is totally along the PN lines for requirements.
Thanks to everyone for the support. I think I'm going to make it through today with just a couple scratches. I've been pretty crabby all day, but I've made a few decisions.
One, I'm buying an electronic food scale. I already measure, but, well, why not be fanatical about weighing, too? Ha!
Two, I'm taking my calories back up to "maintenance" when I start lifting Stage 2 next week. Because I didn't do it properly before - I only did it for about a week.
Three, I'm putting the scale away for the length of time I'm on maintenance. Two weeks, to start, I think. Then a check in.
Because honestly, I think the frustration comes from not knowing what to do now, and I don't know what to do because I don't know whether I need to eat more or less. If I honestly give "maintenance" a run, then I'll know what MY body needs, instead of just an estimate. Maybe my metabolism is slow and I do need to cut low. Or maybe it just seems slow because left to my own devices, I don't eat as much as I should. That's valuable information.
Patience is really just what gets me. I want to have lost a few pounds before I meet my family for Easter brunch...I want to have lost a few pounds before I hit the beach...I want to have lost a few pounds before I go on a family vacation in August...but these are all superficial deadlines. What matters is that I keep working out, being healthy, and making progress in knowledge of my body. Blindly guessing in the dark is a nightmare. I want to KNOW how many calories I should eat. There's always going to be an event I want to look a little slimmer for...because overall, I just want to BE a little slimmer, and that's worth the effort.
So, I plan to go to Meijer tonight and check out the scales...and then do some cardio or yoga at home. And eat my lean steak and green beans, yum.
I did have a big bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Puff Cereal for breakfast - with a scoop of protein powder for damage control (don't even ask why I had this in the house, it's gone now), and after lunch I had a can of Izze sparkling fruit juice. Honestly, I think I still made my calorie range for the day, and cutting myself some slack on the food side of things while I was freaking out made me feel instantly a little less fanatical. (I just don't think 1600 is enough, why do I keep shooting for it?)
And I'm craving the weight room. I was going to start again on Monday (my last Stage 1 workout being last Sunday), but I took Friday off work as a personal day, and I'm chomping at the bit to get back in there. I feel much better about myself when I'm focusing on what my body can do.
Thanks again, everyone, for the words of encouragement.
Sounds like a good plan. Patience is ALWAYS the hardest part!!!
Rixa.......I think you could be my twin with your thinking. That darned scale can put me in a tail-spin faster than anything else. It also wipes my good attitude right out of the window. I am weighing but only on Saturday mornings and I'm really trying not to let it bother me.
I think you have a very good plan in place. Like you said, stick to those maintanence calories and see what happens. I'm eating 1617 on non-lifting days and 1887 for my lifting days. What are your ranges on maintanence? I'll be interested to see how you do after a few weeks at that range.
Also, remember, have you taken before photos? Have you taken recent ones? Maybe doing that will get you "believing" again.
Hang in there. You are doing so awesome!! You just have to give your body a chance to catch up to what you are doing.
__________________
"Become better than you used to be, not better than someone else." ~ Leigh Peele
Hi there. I just read through your log and I can feel your frustration with lack of weight loss. I think it's a great idea for you to go back up to "maintenance" level for a couple weeks. The NROL4W workouts are very metabolically taxing, especially if you're also doing HIIT. You're putting yourself at a pretty good sized deficit if you're eating only 1600-1800 calories.
How many complete rest days are you taking a week? See how your weight goes at the higher calorie level. If you still stay the same weight you may even consider upping calories a bit to see if it truly is your maintenance level. If you are carrying as much lean mass as you suspect, your maintenance level is higher than the average woman and you are possibly putting your body into too deep a deficit for it to let go of the fat. Keep experimenting, you'll find your sweet spot.
Oh, speaking of sweets...calories are calories. If you eat some Peanut Butter Puff Cereal w/protein powder while staying within your calorie range...it's all good.
I think you will feel better with a baseline of what your body needs and balance what your body wants. You sound so much like me and the food it is not funny. Pn the whole schmeel. I also have The Every Other Day Diet by Jon Benson. They are all similar. The only thing is is that on that one they have you measure by your hands your portions, no counting. But it is totally along the PN lines for requirements.
Yeah, I think PN is great. I generally feel good - don't get sleepy in the afternoon, feel light and clean and not so bloated as I did on processed foods...I got a food scale last night, and was surprised by my measurements. I would've guessed that my steak last night was 5 oz. when it was only 4 oz. - that's either a savings of 50 calories or another ounce of food in my stomach. Loving that scale!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dillytl
Sounds like a good plan. Patience is ALWAYS the hardest part!!!
And patience is SO not my strong suit. Luckily, I'm stubborn as hell, so I'm sticking with this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanie932
Rixa.......I think you could be my twin with your thinking. That darned scale can put me in a tail-spin faster than anything else. It also wipes my good attitude right out of the window. I am weighing but only on Saturday mornings and I'm really trying not to let it bother me.
I think you have a very good plan in place. Like you said, stick to those maintanence calories and see what happens. I'm eating 1617 on non-lifting days and 1887 for my lifting days. What are your ranges on maintanence? I'll be interested to see how you do after a few weeks at that range.
Also, remember, have you taken before photos? Have you taken recent ones? Maybe doing that will get you "believing" again.
Ahhh! No photos!! I do have some before photos, from a while ago...I also have these really HORRIFYING pictures from the worst vacation of my life (Rhode Island, lots of rich, thin people and I had no one to talk to about anything remotely interesting), but I keep those in my sock drawer. Just knowing they exist is enough to kick me into high gear.
But I can feel changes in my body. My stomach feels tighter, despite negligible changes in measurements.
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'ilJ
Hi there. I just read through your log and I can feel your frustration with lack of weight loss. I think it's a great idea for you to go back up to "maintenance" level for a couple weeks. The NROL4W workouts are very metabolically taxing, especially if you're also doing HIIT. You're putting yourself at a pretty good sized deficit if you're eating only 1600-1800 calories.
How many complete rest days are you taking a week? See how your weight goes at the higher calorie level. If you still stay the same weight you may even consider upping calories a bit to see if it truly is your maintenance level. If you are carrying as much lean mass as you suspect, your maintenance level is higher than the average woman and you are possibly putting your body into too deep a deficit for it to let go of the fat. Keep experimenting, you'll find your sweet spot.
Yeah, I think I figured that out yesterday, too. If I use the lean mass equation for figuring maintenance calories, it puts me around 2,600 on lifting days, which is 200 more than even the book tells me to eat. So I'm going to have to do some detective work. On the upside, I get to eat while I do this detective work!
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'ilJ
Oh, speaking of sweets...calories are calories. If you eat some Peanut Butter Puff Cereal w/protein powder while staying within your calorie range...it's all good.
Haha, yeah...I'm trying to follow the John Berardi school of thought - eat clean 90% of the time, indulge 10% of the time...so even though it fit within my macros and calories for the day, I'm counting the Reese's cereal as a cheat meal. Accountability!
Thanks for everyone's support! I'm happy to say that after a day of intense frustration, I saw the scale move down this morning. I guess if it's not hard work, the end result probably isn't worth it, right?
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
I took a personal day off work today (planned ahead since Tuesday, when I was desperately close to playing hooky). It's blissful! I have a package coming of my favorite shower gel from Lush.com - it smells like jasmine and honey and liquid sexiness. I see a long, hot shower in my not-so-distant future. I also plan to scour sporting goods stores for a foam roller, so I can get the kinks out of my upper back and roll out my tight calves.
Gladly, after my mid-week freakout, I have good numbers to report. All that HIIT paid off.
Avg. Cals This Week - 1,891
Avg. Protein This Week - 154 (2400 cals sunday, 1900 cals monday and tuesday, and 1600 these last two days. Lord am I hungry! 1600 is too low.)
8lbs fat loss in 7 weeks...slow, steady progress. But if I keep this up, I'll look remarkably changed by summer. (And let's be honest, isn't that what those of us who feel unhappy with our shape want, summer after summer? An improvement?)
Using kfisherx's Diet Template spreadsheet - which you can find here - the calculation tells me I am indeed burning 2600 calories a day. Holy cow! I must use this information for good, and not evil - evil being justification to plow into a box of girl scout cookies (damn those girl scouts!). I need to eat breakfast.
Last night, I went to an award show for work. Went with a coworker, Megan. We went out to eat first (there was no food last year...but of course, there was food this year...whatever.) and I had a black bean burger with tomato soup, mmm. Then, at the show, someone from our company was given a lifetime achievement award, so we sat up front at these pretty white tables and had bottles of champagne all around. I took a few sips of the champagne to be "festive", but it probably only added up to about an ounce in total, if that. Anyway, I'm proud I can make good decisions under peer pressure and off "the plan".
2,600 calories a day.
!
I never would have guessed.
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
I took a personal day off work today (planned ahead since Tuesday, when I was desperately close to playing hooky). It's blissful! I have a package coming of my favorite shower gel from Lush.com - it smells like jasmine and honey and liquid sexiness. I see a long, hot shower in my not-so-distant future. I also plan to scour sporting goods stores for a foam roller, so I can get the kinks out of my upper back and roll out my tight calves.
Gladly, after my mid-week freakout, I have good numbers to report. All that HIIT paid off.
Avg. Cals This Week - 1,891 Avg. Protein This Week - 154
(2400 cals sunday, 1900 cals monday and tuesday, and 1600 these last two days. Lord am I hungry! 1600 is too low.)
8lbs fat loss in 7 weeks...slow, steady progress. But if I keep this up, I'll look remarkably changed by summer. (And let's be honest, isn't that what those of us who feel unhappy with our shape want, summer after summer? An improvement?)
Using kfisherx's Diet Template spreadsheet - which you can find here - the calculation tells me I am indeed burning 2600 calories a day. Holy cow! I must use this information for good, and not evil - evil being justification to plow into a box of girl scout cookies (damn those girl scouts!). I need to eat breakfast.
Last night, I went to an award show for work. Went with a coworker, Megan. We went out to eat first (there was no food last year...but of course, there was food this year...whatever.) and I had a black bean burger with tomato soup, mmm. Then, at the show, someone from our company was given a lifetime achievement award, so we sat up front at these pretty white tables and had bottles of champagne all around. I took a few sips of the champagne to be "festive", but it probably only added up to about an ounce in total, if that. Anyway, I'm proud I can make good decisions under peer pressure and off "the plan".
2,600 calories a day.
!
I never would have guessed.
NICE progress there!!! Congrats on your self control at the awards show!
Those girl scouts are evil bitches. Especially the ones that work on the Thin Mint assembly line.
Glad you're seeing some progress. Slow and steady is the best way to get lasting results anyway.
ROTFLMAO!!! I could not have said it better. Okay seriously I cringe when I see all the pudgy little girls selling these things.
Be careful with my spreadsheet. It is about trends not about daily numbers just like the scale. My metabolism moves and yours will too. Right now it is probably the case you are burning close to 2600 kcals a day if you are trending over 1 week or more. For me, that was a life saver to figure out because it gave me the confidence to eat more which, in turn, increased my metabolsim even more. I had to go up to a steady 2600 kcals a day before I started to see any wheight gain.
ROTFLMAO!!! I could not have said it better. Okay seriously I cringe when I see all the pudgy little girls selling these things.
Ahh, whenever I see overweight little kids it makes me depressed. Last summer I saw this little girl who was at least 50 lbs overweight begging her parents for a churro, and they got her one. I was like, noooooo!
Be careful with my spreadsheet. It is about trends not about daily numbers just like the scale. My metabolism moves and yours will too. Right now it is probably the case you are burning close to 2600 kcals a day if you are trending over 1 week or more. For me, that was a life saver to figure out because it gave me the confidence to eat more which, in turn, increased my metabolsim even more. I had to go up to a steady 2600 kcals a day before I started to see any wheight gain.
Yes, I have a copy saved to track week-to-week, and a copy saved to track overall trends and right now, they both say 2600 calories. And what you said is exactly how I feel - seeing those numbers gives me more confidence to eat more food. I never in a million years would have estimated my calorie needs that high.
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'ilJ
Those girl scouts are evil bitches. Especially the ones that work on the Thin Mint assembly line.
Glad you're seeing some progress. Slow and steady is the best way to get lasting results anyway.
We've had THREE girl scout order forms at work so far this winter! And that's not including the other charity fund drives people bring in - candy bar boxes, order forms for TUBS of cookie dough, ugh! I did get some thin mints, but there's always room in a week for a few cookies. Some people at work ordered like FIVE boxes of girl scout cookies. It blows my mind! There are more dangerous cookies than thin mints...like those rich little peanut butter ones...bleh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marygrace
Ahh, whenever I see overweight little kids it makes me depressed. Last summer I saw this little girl who was at least 50 lbs overweight begging her parents for a churro, and they got her one. I was like, noooooo!
Oh man, I used to think I was this huge whale of a kid. I was a chubby kid, sure. But man, did my dad put me through my paces - when I was 9 or 10, I was on swim team every summer - an hour of lap swimming a day in the summer, PLUS I had tennis lessons twice a week, and I was running around outside all the time. But my dad was always saying, "Two more bites of this, three more bites of this...clean your plate." Talk about mixed messages.
Chubby 15 years ago is not the same as chubby now! Kids now are HUGE. I hate when you see a really fat kid and they have that sad look in their eyes...like they hate themselves. Because when you're 8, you don't know about proper nutrition and exercise and blood sugar. When you're 8, you just eat what tastes good, and what your parents give you.
I really hope that if I ever have kids, I can continue this healthy lifestyle...have a home gym in the basement or whatever, and cook them delicious, clean foods to fuel them. And hopefully educate them in a positive way, and not hurt their self-esteem while they learn about health. It seems to be such a rare thing these days for kids.
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
We've had THREE girl scout order forms at work so far this winter! And that's not including the other charity fund drives people bring in - candy bar boxes, order forms for TUBS of cookie dough, ugh! I did get some thin mints, but there's always room in a week for a few cookies. Some people at work ordered like FIVE boxes of girl scout cookies. It blows my mind! There are more dangerous cookies than thin mints...like those rich little peanut butter ones...bleh.
My boss sent me an email - her daughter was selling them - I politely declined. Normally, I would have bought a box, cuz she's my boss. Nope - sorry - not this time!!
My boss sent me an email - her daughter was selling them - I politely declined. Normally, I would have bought a box, cuz she's my boss. Nope - sorry - not this time!!
If you buy the boxes and don't pick them up, it's considered a tax-deductible charity contribution. More like waistline-deductible charity contribution!
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
I took a personal day off work today (planned ahead since Tuesday, when I was desperately close to playing hooky). It's blissful! I have a package coming of my favorite shower gel fromLush.com - it smells like jasmine and honey and liquid sexiness. I see a long, hot shower in my not-so-distant future. I also plan to scour sporting goods stores for a foam roller, so I can get the kinks out of my upper back and roll out my tight calves.
OMG this web site is awesome. Of course they don't have a store in lame old Pittsburgh, so I placed an order, including the Flying Fox shower gel!
OMG this web site is awesome. Of course they don't have a store in lame old Pittsburgh, so I placed an order, including the Flying Fox shower gel!
I always feel so pretentious when I say this, but I have LOVED this store since I first heard about it when I was 15 (almost 10 years ago). Back then, there were NO stores in the U.S., the closest was in Canada. Not even a U.S. website, you ordered in Canadian dollars and everything was so much cheaper back then! And every time I traveled to Europe during college, I would look for Lush stores...one in Glasgow, Scotland, one in Prague, one in Florence, Italy - that one, my friends and I just stumbled across in the most mixed up city ever. When we found that one, my friends snapped a picture and I had about the BIGGEST grin on my face. I don't think I've ever been captured that giddy-looking since.
Okay. I'm a dork. But I'm not a big like, Cucumber-Melon-Mango person. I like my bath stuff earthy, flowery, and musky. And Lush is the best place ever. I'm already scheming on how to trick my boyfriend into going there when we're in Chicago in two weeks...What? I need some soap! =oD
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
Today is the last night of my rest week. I just pulled a lasagna out of the oven - a recipe from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Cookbook. It smells delicious. It went straight into the fridge - I'll cut it up and have some for lunch tomorrow. And tomorrow night, I'm making turkey meatballs (one of my favorites) to have for dinners this week.
I'm a flip-flopper. After using kfisherx's diet template and plugging in 7 weeks of data, I found that I am indeed burning 2600 calories a day. Which I had suspected. So I'm shooting to keep my calories about what they have been - 1800 on non-lifting days, 2100 on lifting days. I've seen good progress so far on that, and have lost around 1.5lbs a week, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Slow and steady, right? I can't really SEE any changes yet. I can kind of feel them. My stomach feels a little tighter. I almost have an ab. Haha...almost!
I'm shooting for a 2lb loss this week. 3 days of lifting, and at least 3 of HIIT. But rather than drop calories (HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY), I'm going to try and sneak in some extra activity - a bit of steady state cardio (although I generally find this boring), or some yoga, or maybe I'll swim 1/2 mile a couple nights this week. I have a great blue Speedo suit and goggles and the cap and everything. I was a swimmer as a kid, and I still find this sort of exciting and meditative, even though I recognize it's not really any more thrilling than sitting on an elliptical for 30 minutes. And it's good for my sinuses, all that blowing out of the nose.
Tonight I'm going over the exercises for Stage 2. I'm kind of nervous! I'm also getting up 20 minutes earlier (at 5 am) to allow myself some extra time in the gym to figure things out. I'm excited!
I've always loved lifting. But up until NROL4W, I knew I had to change my plan, but never knew what to change to. I think NROL4W is really the first plan I've been consistently excited about, because it changes every few weeks. And when I've finished it, well, I've had NROL for a while and I may finally have the courage to try it!
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
1.5 lbs a week is just about right and you won't be just seeing that. You will also probably not see it on the scale because you are building muscle at the same time so it will all go slowly. You are on the right track though I would say.
1.5 lbs a week is just about right and you won't be just seeing that. You will also probably not see it on the scale because you are building muscle at the same time so it will all go slowly. You are on the right track though I would say.
Thank you. I think it's going well...1.5lbs a week is going pretty easy, so far. I'm not often going hungry. I have energy to work out. Hopefully my metabolism won't crash and stall, which means I'll have a steady weight loss instead of ten pounds here, plateau, a few more pounds there.
I just want to be able to see some muscles!
__________________
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." - Lois Wyse
Stage 2 - Workout A1 - 2x10 Front Squat/Push Press - used the Oly bar, 45lbs.
Step Up - 10s, 15s on a knee-height step
DB 1-point Row - 15s
Static Lunge, RFE - 15s
Push Ups - 10 on toes x 2
Plank - 30s/30s, 48s (WHEW)
Cable Horiz. Woodchop - 10lbs, 20lbs
Man! Or, erm, WOMAN! Stage 2 really takes it up a notch. The squat/push press was kind of fun, but I felt weird gripping the bar with my fingers back. The DB 1-point rows were shaky and I lost my balance a couple times. The static lunges with rear foot elevated - JEEZ! I took an extra rest between sides, my heart was pounding fast. And I was saying the Lord's Prayer during the plank - and I'm not even religious.
So, basically, a GREAT WORKOUT!
The pushups are getting easier. Hopefully that wave of dread in my stomach I get when walking to the mat will go away soon - I think that's the worst part!
I was a sniveling, sweaty mess after this workout. I think I actually sobbed after my first plank. No tears, just a sob. Or maybe some sort of battle cry. Yeah, that's it. A battle cry.
During my rests, I was editing my own Just Do It commercial in my head...like this one:
I'm shooting for a 2lb loss this week. 3 days of lifting, and at least 3 of HIIT. But rather than drop calories (HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY), I'm going to try and sneak in some extra activity - a bit of steady state cardio (although I generally find this boring), or some yoga, or maybe I'll swim 1/2 mile a couple nights this week.
Good thinking. Especially now that its starting to get a little warmer out, I like to take a walk after dinner.
Congrats on finishing your first stage 2 workout! I'm so impressed you started the push-presses with the Oly bar!
Linear Mode
