getting there is half the fun...

[karenmc6]

starting a new log for the long haul. i've learned so much since joining the forums in january 08 and flexibility is key. this new log happens to coincide with the second women's challenge of 2008, but that's just the first step in a new journey! karen

[karenmc6]

i'm in! this time around i am focusing on fat loss over building muscle since it is so much easier to do one or the other but not both!
i am following lyle mcdonald's rapid fat loss plan.

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[GinnyLou]

Yay! I just love the new avatar picture and I am so glad you started a new journal.

[karenmc6]

thanks, ginger - can always count on you to make me smile!!

Originally Posted by GinnyLou

Yay! I just love the new avatar picture and I am so glad you started a new journal.

[karenmc6]

i'm following the diet from lyle mcdonald's rapid fat loss handbook. it is a protein-sparing modified fast (psmf) for dropping fat quickly without compromising lbm or overall health. i'm sure that many people would find it controversial with it's very limited calories and reduced activity, but i am really ready for a change.

i started my current weightloss journey in september 2006 following a trip to arizona. i weighed in excess of 330 pounds (my scale's maximum) and was miserable. asking for a seat belt extender on the plane was mortifying and it was a chore to haul myself around the grand canyon and various other places we visited. i vowed i would never let myself be so out of shape again and started eating better and exercising (mainly walking) when i got home. i had dropped about eighty pounds when i came across the new rules of lifting for women and the jp forums in january of this year. i signed up for the first women's challenge and changed gyms. i had to drop out of the challenge after surgery to correct a deviated septum knocked me out of the gym for eight weeks, but i loved nrol4w and lifting heavy. i didn't lose much in the way of pounds, but i gained a ton of strength and lost lots of inches. but i also realized that fat loss had to be my first priority since i still weighed in at over 250 pounds.

so i started reading everything i could get my hands on including leigh peele's fat loss troubleshoot. then i came across lyle's rfl program. it's pretty intense but lots of people have had good results, so here i am! as a category 3 dieter, i require about 150 g protein/day and i get two "free" meals a week. the program is simple - every day i eat my protein, 10g efas (mainly in the form of fish oil capsules), two servings of nonfat or lowfat dairy, "unlimited veggies" and as few extra carbs and fat as possible (preferably under 25g each). since i have so much bodyfat, there is little risk of losing lbm and i can stay on the diet for 6-12 weeks before taking a 1-2 week maintenance break. resistance training is recommended 2-3 times a week and cardio is limited and low intensity in keeping with the reduced calorie intake. there really isn't much more to the program than that - just lots of water and i've started drinking green tea a few times a day.

[karenmc6]

08/04/08 mon - day 1
breakfast: egg white omelet with veggies & salsa
lunch: green salad with steak and the glucomannan mustard dressing posted on cassandra forsythe's blog
dinner: chicken breast & asparagus
snack: cottage cheese & chocolate whey shake

887 cals/143g pro/36g carb/15 g fat

08/05 tues
breakfast: egg white omelet with veggies & salsa
lunch: chicken breast & zucchini
dinner: homemade asian chicken soup
snack: cottage cheese

985 cals/185g pro/27g carb/11 g fat

08/06 wed (was at my parents' wed-sun)
breakfast: beef & asparagus
lunch: (restaurant) mesclun & tomato salad with grilled chicken tenders w/balsamic vinegar
dinner: (free) other half of salad and small cone from my favorite ice cream shack
snack: cottage cheese

08/07 thurs
breakfast: egg whites & scallions (ugh - too plain!)
lunch: (restaurant) sirloin caesar salad (no croutons/cheese) w/balsamic vinegar
dinner: chicken breast

08/07 fri
breakfast: chicken breast
lunch: (restaurant) steak tips & seasonal veggies
dinner: chicken breast salad w/balsamic vinegar
snack: cottage cheese

08/07 sat
breakfast: chicken breast
lunch: chicken breast
dinner: chicken breast & salad w/balsamic vinegar (small cheat here - 2T mom's potato salad)
snack: cottage cheese

08/07 sun
breakfast: egg whites & scallions with salsa (much better!!)
lunch: (free) roast beef sub w/four onion rings and baby cone from that same favorite ice cream shack!
dinner: salad with chicken breast deli meat w/balsamic vinegar
snack: cottage cheese

i haven't worked out all of the cal/pro/carb/fat breakdowns and they wouldn't even be close to accurate since i was without my food scale, but i think i did all right - especially since my mom is a major food pusher!! even managed not to eat a piece of my niece's birthday cake on sunday even tho about 12 people were pushing it on me (wtf?!). it looks monotonous, but all that chicken breast wasn't too bad and it was really easy to stop by the grocery store on my way to my parents' and i just baked it the first night and had it for the whole trip - really made things easy!!

[Amblus]

even managed not to eat a piece of my niece's birthday cake on sunday even tho about 12 people were pushing it on me (wtf?!)

Man, why do people do this? I will never understand food-pushers.

Anyway, sounds like you're doing great! I'm looking forward to reading about your workouts.

[lorigaud]

Sounds like you're doing great so far Karen! Keep it up... I'll be looking forward to hearing about your progress with Lyle's plan!

[karenmc6]

being home again makes everything a little easier, but it's hard to share my car when i need to get to the gym. hopefully i can get there tomorrow otherwise i'll have to come up with a plan b. can't complain tho, the kids start school in two weeks and then i'll miss them!

scale: 251/-4 pounds

breakfast: chocolate whey shake-double
lunch: asian chicken soup (chicken broth & breasts, celery, green onion, napa cabbage, mushroom & soy sauce)
dinner: shrimp & cocktail sauce

960 cals/185g pro/22g carb/13g fat

[realcdn]

Hello there. I'm not quite sure if I should wish you luck or not. Eating under 1000 calories for as much as 12 weeks could just mess up your system. Believe me, I know the appeal of really low calorie diets. Sadly I also know the pitfalls. If you hit a wall with this method you can't cut calories. I see women on the weight loss board, maintaining 100-lb+ losses who years later can't eat over 1200 calories without gaining weight. And that's with quite a bit of daily exercise. I understand that losing the weight slower requires more of a commitment, but perhaps won't mess up your metabolism in the long run. Even with my fairly high levels of calories I still plan to take a maintenance break every 12-weeks. I found that the first time I did it I could maintain my weight on 3000cals a day. So I'll wish you luck with your weight loss, but urge you to try something a little more grounded. Have you looked at Leigh Peele's e-books?

Good luck with the challenge.

[karenmc6]

thanks for the concern, anne, but i've done my homework. this program is definitely not for everyone, but lyle really knows his stuff and his program is very thorough and based on a lot of solid research. i think you'll find that leigh peele is a fan and that his rapid fat loss program and her fat loss troubleshoot/opt program have a lot in common. both programs focus heavily on protein consumption and limit carbs and fats in some way. both are based on the premise that a fatter individual can maintain a higher ratio caloric deficit than a leaner individual. and both advise limiting activity to that which can be supported by the caloric deficit. and most importantly, both fully outline how to adapt over time - including free meals, break weeks and recalculating deficits.

i really think that the two programs mesh well together and i plan on following leigh's more moderate program once i have seriously reduced my bodyfat. i think her cyclic diet will help diminish some of the side effects of coming off such a drastic program, particularly the reintroduction of carbs.

it's only been a week and i'm still on a honeymoon with this program, so i have to reserve judgment on how i think i'll do overall. but i needed a change and so far, so good.

Originally Posted by realcdn

Hello there. I'm not quite sure if I should wish you luck or not. Eating under 1000 calories for as much as 12 weeks could just mess up your system. Believe me, I know the appeal of really low calorie diets. Sadly I also know the pitfalls. If you hit a wall with this method you can't cut calories. I see women on the weight loss board, maintaining 100-lb+ losses who years later can't eat over 1200 calories without gaining weight. And that's with quite a bit of daily exercise. I understand that losing the weight slower requires more of a commitment, but perhaps won't mess up your metabolism in the long run. Even with my fairly high levels of calories I still plan to take a maintenance break every 12-weeks. I found that the first time I did it I could maintain my weight on 3000cals a day. So I'll wish you luck with your weight loss, but urge you to try something a little more grounded. Have you looked at Leigh Peele's e-books?

Good luck with the challenge.

[karenmc6]

it's been raining most of the day and i was without a car until this evening, so i opted for the treadmill rather than the gym. not sure i can get there before next week and i really miss it. i really enjoyed doing nrol4w and know that i can't handle it on my deficit, but i've thought about playing around with it a bit - tweaking reps & sets a bit but keeping the same basic program.

breakfast: chicken breast
lunch: saute with chicken breast, mushroom, spinach & fat free cheddar
dinner: asian chicken soup (chicken broth & breasts, celery, green onion, napa cabbage, mushroom & soy sauce) & glucomannan

867 cals/177g pro/13g carb/10g fat

treadmill: 15.0/45:00/3.0/130: 2.27 mi/49:21

[karenmc6]

hugh (my husband) was off work today so we made a day of it in augusta - walked the new trail, went to lunch at longhorn and did a few errands. it's nice to spend some time together without the kids and it seems like a while since we have. he's off nearly every wednesday and the kids head back to school in two weeks, so hopefully we'll get a few more of the days out while the weather is still nice.

breakfast: asian chicken soup (chicken broth & breasts, celery, green onion, napa cabbage, mushroom & soy sauce) & glucomannan
lunch: free meal at longhorn: flo's filet w/ seasonal veggies & mounds candy bar
dinner: chicken breast

1183 cals/153g pro/46g carb/43g fat

four mile walk with hugh before lunch

[sveta]

Hi Karen - thanks for stopping by!
I think having the time for "just two of you" is major...it took us a while to realize it - the DD is turning 11 in October - and I'm trying to learn not to feel guilty for taking little getaways without her.
You seem to be right on schedule with "rapid fat loss" - I have the book, too. Good luck!

[msmogreen]

Hi Karen,

Lyle's rapid fat loss program sounds interesting. When I saw how low your calories were I remembered reading in FLTS that the more weight you have to lose, the more of a deficit you can handle without harm. I'm curious to see how well you do. Sounds like you're doing well so far.

[ceebee]

Hey Karen, love your log name! Maine must be really nice this time of year, lucky you. Your Asian Chicken Soup sounds yummy too.

Do you have much of an appetite at this calorie level or is it suppressed? It sounds like you've done your homework and I'm glad you are logging here and sharing your experience.