Wednesday: March 18, 2009 Calories: Yes 1722 Macros: No, although very close Protein:95 g Fat: 84g Carbs:146 Fiber 16. Also today included a preplanned off plan meal for dinner due to an unusual work schedule so am actually surprised I hit the calories and that the macros ended up being very close.
I redid Tuesday as I added a bedtime snack after posting. I've had some extra errands and also been tired so exercise has been lacking this week. But the good news is the whoosh is here and the scale is finally dropping. Today's weight is 243.5 which is 9.5 lbs lower than my highest 2009 weight. And I think that the total weight loss since last summer is 16 or 17 lbs now.
I still have mixed feelings about how I've been approaching this. The flexible approach has a lot of advantages long term but short term the slower progress is frustrating. It's also not necessarily any easier to accomplish than taking a stricter approach is in some ways it's harder to be able to make changes on the fly and still overall meet your goals. I'm still trying to find that balance between being realistic and sustainable but yet still gets results.
The problem is that most deficits suck. You can do a small deficit and it still seems to suck. At least I find that. I sometimes I think that I'd be happier with a smaller deficit, but then I remember that I don't want to be dieting forever. And I remember (for me) that too low a deficit and I'm in maintenance. Okay, it's better than gaining, but only slightly.
Sigh, I'm not sure I know what I'm trying to say. I know with your diabetes that things become more complicated. However, the one good point is that you're lighter than last year.
I read a little article on Diet Blog the other day and thought of your concerns about protein intake. I guess a small study was done, using a moderate protein diet 30P/30F/40C vs. the food guide pyramid. Amounts of weight lost were relatively equal, but those doing more protein lost quite a bit more body fat. You might want to read it for motivation on the protein intake front.
Anyway, congrats on the scale whoosh!
As for bigger deficit/faster progress vs. smaller deficit/slower progress, I think it's very much a personal thing. I find that my metabolism starts to go south in a hurry if my deficit gets too large and it becomes counter productive. Plus I feel miserable. And that is not sustainable for me considering how much weight I have left to lose. So I go for moderate deficit, moderate results. And a maintenance day once a week. My trouble is the occasional times I just STOP everything and then regain. That issue, I have to work on. If I didn't have those periods, I'd be far closer to my goal.
Anyway, you have losses, even if slower than you'd like. And you are maintaining them and NOT gaining back. So that's all good stuff, I say!
Hey Diana ... you sure have a lot going on right now!! Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and if you need any advice regarding the water, just PM me!!
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This weekend hasn't been the greatest. I have not felt well all weekend and I wasn't sure if I was just stressed out or coming down with something. Probably both actually but I do think I'm sick--nothing major just a cold but yuck.
Eating has been a little bit on the binge side here and there this past weekend or just not hungry so am not on plan. I will try and make the rest of this week at maintenance and see what happens. Not the best circumstances to make changes but I also don't think that trying to eat in a deficit while sick is smart either. I'm logging foods and will eventually get the data into this log but not tonight.
On a good note though this is the first time I've been sick since October I think. Pretty good for the cold and flu season. Other than this past weekend I've overall felt better than I have in a long time and I think it's because my Vit D levels are improving. My blood work came back still low at 27 but much better than 10. So I have a prescription for 12 more weeks of megadose Vit D.
My daughter's headaches are much better now that she's back on the melatonin again. I'm glad she's doing better and that this recent set back only lasted a few weeks.
Trying to decide if I should go to work tomorrow or stay home sick. It's an all day staff meeting and since I won't have to find coverage or cancel patients I may just stay home and take it easy.
Weird week continues. I am sick yesterday was awful. I slept most of the day. Today was a little better but exhausting. Worked for a couple of hours and then had to do mom errands the afternoon.
I'm more or less taking a break from dieting this week including preplanning food and aiming for certain targets. The only thing I'm doing is maintaining the food log with the understanding that things may not be as precise as typical. I'm also taking a little break from the food scale. So it's good but also a little bit scary as eating has been kind of mindless. Which is the type of mental break I need at the moment but also I hope it doesn't erode my previous habits and that I'm able to come right back into it when I'm off of whatever you want to call this week. (I'm not sure maintenance is quite the term I'm looking for here...)
Anyway need to try and head to bed. I hate being sick.
Feel better soon Diana!
I hear you on needing a break to get over the sickies ... unfortunately, I have been sick all freakin' winter!!
Usually I can totally relate to that one. This is the best winter I've had in a long time some years have been one bug after another. Hope you feel better soon to.
I feel much better today. Still congested and tired but did get a bit of errands accomplished today.
Calories: average intake 2072, most days runnning more like 2200-2500 in. The calories are somewhat estimated though as I didn't weigh everything. GoWearfit burn: average 2116 Macros: Not a goal for this week although I did try to increase my carb intake. Training: None planned rest week also sick Weight: was holding 244-245 prior to maintenance, highest 249, and a lot of day to day variability so overall holding fine. Conclusions: This week was actually not the best maintenance week definately a little on the binge side and getting in a lot of junk that I normally don't eat. But I do feel like I've had a break mentally and ready to dig back in.
I am pleased that my weight was pretty stable despite eating 500 to 1,000+ calories than I've been this past 3 months. Granted it's only been a week and I think that's too little time to make long term conclusions on but it does seem to support that I'm hitting the deficit overall and that the total progress is at least somewhat masked by water weight.
Plans for April are not set in stone yet but I think I'm going to increase the deficit and try to stay a little more structured overall. I'm hoping that going at it a little harder even if only for a few weeks will help in terms of seeing more progress overall. If it ends up not being sustainable overall it still will be more information. Macro goals will be protein--optimal 130 to 150 grams but will consider 100 grams or more a success. I will try and keep carbs around 100 grams (including fiber) as a minimum--it's just easier the way my insulin is set up and I don't want to totally deplete liver glycogen in the event of a serious low. Plus I feel like I can get the benefits of having a little bit of whole grains and fruits not just veggies. Calorie goal will be 1200 to 1500. I know Leigh recommended I increase my fat intake but that may not happen in order to keep calories lower. My plan is to let the fat intake fall where it will. I also really should drink more water.
Training wise I plan to continue with moderate intensity cardio and weight training, also to take advantage of warmer weather (less pain from the arthritis in my ankle) and see about increasing general activity. Goals are blood sugar control, overall health, and fat loss. I actually liked the variety that OPT training provides but am a little tired of it after 2 cycles through. Debating whether to use NROLW, Power Training or a month of exercise videos. I like Cathe Friedrich and Amy Bento and have quite a bit of both so right now am leaning towards using the videos as it would make a nice break. I also have all of Jari Love's stuff and that was fun too very different from the type of weight training I usually do but since I did a few months of her programs before OPT I think I'll give her a pass right now. Plus it would be a short cycle which sounds good to me right now. Anyway I plan to poke around on Amy's and Cathe's sites and see if one of their rotations appeals to me or just alternate between cardio and weight videos. Another option would be one of Turbulence Training stuff for a while. I don't have the package but am on his mailing list so have a lot of his free stuff. I don't agree with his cardio is a waste of time but do like some of his strength training.
For the most part feeling better overall still tend to get some awful vertigo now and then.
This week I plan to be back on track but will also make allowances since it's spring break and my daughter is out of school this week.
"As far as (healthy) eating, either do it, or don't. Same issues repeated over and over is just insanity. We either commit to the endeavor or pay lip-service to it. This is the hardest part of the whole process, and it needs to be practiced more than the actual physical training. It's mind training." ~ Matt Thorne
"The reason that most people fail instead of succeed is that they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment."
Not the best month. My weight is up a little from last month but the stats measurements were taken at the end of a maintenance week followed by a period of having trouble getting back on track. Some measurements have decreased while others are up a little.
I was 100% compliant with food logging although not always compliant to my diet and training goals. Never terribly off kilter and if I had an off day I just moved on and tried to get on track as quickly as possible. Oh and I finally did a little just fun time sewing and reading while I was sick. So that was good. I just need to continue that when well.
[IMG]file:///Users/diana/Library/Ca ches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG]Copying and pasting challenge update to my log.
I haven't updated my log in a while. I've kept saying I'll do it tomorrow when I have time to add in my info only I never seem to have enough minutes to look up the data and transfer it here. I'm muddling through though although it seems like one step forward and two steps back as far as food goes so I'm still having a hard time getting back on track. I did take a few days off from food logging though early in April.
For exercise I've been doing some DVD's lately for a change. Amy Bento Slo-Mo and cardio. Last week I did some premix's didn't like one of the splits (in hindsight should have realized that bi's, tri's, and shoulders is stupid but by the time I noticed it I didn't want to figure something else out last minute) so this week I'm doing the total body premixes. Much better so far. It actually does make a nice change. I was only going to do this for a month but maybe will make it two. We'll see.
Just a quick update/summary. Results this month are typical of previous--some progress but very very slow and very little change in scale weight but I'm noticing that overall my clothes are fitting looser. Interestingly enough even with a little more relaxed attitude as far as food choices, macros, and planning go I'm still averaging about 700 calorie deficit on dieting days. I have been 100% compliant with food logging except for planned days off.
And when eating at maintenance whether planned or unplanned my weight is stable which leads me to believe the gowear fit numbers are reasonably accurate. I have noticed an overall higher burn this month. Don't know if it's the weather leading to better activity tolerance, the period of maintenance or both.
Workouts have been videos from Amy Bento, lawn mowing etc. Except for tonight. Tried a total body printed off the web for a change of pace. I will try this for this week and if I like it continue for 4 weeks. (It's a 3 day rotation).
Day 1--Strength
(These are all 5 x 5. Dumbbell weights are single dumbbell only not total weight)
A1: Lat pulldown: 30/40/50/50/50 A2: Front Squat: 35/35/35/EZ Bar 17/EZ Bar 17. I've always had trouble with front squats and it's been ages since I did them so I dropped the weight way down to work on form. And with my ankle I wanted to keep weight light to start with. Didn't really feel like I worked my legs much but oh well.
B1: Dumbbell Shoulder Press 10/10/10/10/10.
Too easy for low reps but I don't have 12's and the 15's irritate my shoulder. B2: Single leg Dumbell Romanian Deadlift: 15/15/15/15/15 each leg alternating
C: Stability ball rollout: 5/5 Supposed to be 5 sets of 5 but my ball was too squishy so switched to planks 20 secs/30/40.
Oh and thought I'd post an update on Jackie, our dog. She's gotten a lot stronger on the antibiotics so the vet does think she still has an active infection. (She's had a parasitic brain infection that she caught as a pup or was born with.) So the first two and a half months of antibiotics seemed to resolve the symptoms but since this is a recurrence/relapse we're going to try keeping her on the clindamycin for 3 more months but at a lower dose. And of course she still needs the phenobarb.
Someday soon I'll have to post a pic of our dogs. They're all on my hubby's computer not mine and he hasn't sent me any yet. Even though I've been bugging him for weeks. Men!!!!!! Sheesh I thought I was bad at procrastinating.
Got to run. I may not post much but am definately lurking and reading when I can.
Hello there (playing catch up today). It's sometimes nice to know where your maintenance levels are, so that seems to have been a good experiment. It's good to know that your data from the Gowearfit is valid as well. I also think as the weather gets nicer our we all tend to be a little more active. I think after a crappy winter I'm definitely in the mood for summer.
Still waiting on the doggie pics and all other pics!!!!
Haven't posted in a while but I more or less have been plugging ever so slowly along. I'll have to find my charts and post up a summary when I get time. I'm obviously not a very good log keeper at least not on line. I do really well though in Crosstrainer.
I may end up having a little more time on my hands than I had intended though. We'll see. Sunday I tripped and banged my foot into some junk we had piled on the back porch and it has been getting progressively more painful since then. It's a little swollen and bruised but doesn't look like it should be causing me to limp as much as I have been. At work today they ordered an xray and I went and had it done after work. As I was leaving and the tech is giving their usual spiel he did say that he thought that I'll probably be getting a phone call tomorrow which probably means I broke something. I'm speculating here but usually if the tech doesn't see anything they spout the other party line which is your dr will get the report within 48 hours.
So if that's the case maybe I'll have more time to get caught up with logs. That's what I'm doing right now while icing my foot.
Ouch, I hope it's not too bad. The top of my foot had a lovely bruise on it for the last week or so. Funny, dropping a log on a bare foot isn't such a good thing. I've got a nasty habit of working outside in my bare feet, so this is no surprise really. I also hope that the tech was wrong.
Turns out it's just the toe that's fractured but it's down near the foot. The foot/metatarsal area is actually more swollen, bruised, and painful but those bones are not fractured just banged up a bit. Could be worse and shouldn't have too much impact once I get past the initial stages.
Yesterday was nasty pain wise. Today not so bad at first but more sore as the day wears on. I think I'm going to try and find someone to work for me Friday. Even just getting to the dr and running a short errand was pretty miserable.
I'm glad I went in though. Part of the problem is that while pretty minor in and of itself it shouldn't have happened so easily. I have been on steroids off and on for years when my asthma gets bad. Because of the steroid use I do have early osteopenia (precursor to osteoporosis) plus the Vit D deficiency. He wants me to increase my Vit D and he decided to start Boniva earlier rather than wait and monitor the bone loss which was the original plan.
Thanks everybody for the well wishes. I'll have to be careful with my food intake here though. Sitting around a lot can really drop the calories burned quite a bit.
A little rest and ice has helped my foot quite a bit. I've heard that toe fractures are pretty painful but I never actually believed it until now. Before I knew it was fractured I was getting fresh bruising each day I was on it. With keeping it iced and elevated I haven't had any new bruising since mid week and the previous bruising and swelling has mostly gone away. So hopefully soon I'll be able to do more activity soon.
I'm getting bored. And the weather is absolutely beautiful and there's a ton of stuff I could be doing outside.
A little rest and ice has helped my foot quite a bit. I've heard that toe fractures are pretty painful but I never actually believed it until now.
I'm getting bored. And the weather is absolutely beautiful and there's a ton of stuff I could be doing outside.
So you're forced to lie in a hammock or take an at-home vacation! Can you rest and relax?
Got the stomach flu yesterday. I haven't been this sick in years. Holy cow yesterday was nasty for a while there I thought I'd have to go to the hospital for IV's. Had trouble with ketones for a while but they eventually cleared. I still have a fever today but stomach seems to be settling down. More couch potato time.
~Pam~
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