Clothing OPTional--90% More Salacious!

[scribess]

Yeah. Much of my thought process while reading FLTS was, "Wow, I never knew-- ARGH! Leigh, I could help you!"

But I did read somewhere that she realizes the editor didn't do a good job and I think for future projects she'll find someone else.

[scribess]

Morning weigh-in: 148.4 (three days running now, alas)

Sleep: 6 hours 19 minutes--think I may have to try incorporating weekend naps if this keeps up. Normally I don't like napping unless I'm sick or already have a headache because I usually wake up with one. But maybe I should give it a shot.

Stats for Friday, June 13
Cals burned: 2608
Cals eaten: 1697 (166p/165.7c/44f; smidge low on protein; fat lower still, carbs a bit too high)
Deficit: 911

Activity

• 35 minutes Pilates Sculpt DVD (again with coworker. Somehow I always manage to forget about the exercises I dislike even though we do these videos every week. This time I forgot about the side planks. Did them just from the knees as I did side planks for OPT the day before)
• 15 walk at work
• OPT Weeks 1-3 program A1, 2 sets instead of 3 (tried listening to my iPod for the planks this time. Helpful except that when I had Red Hot Chili Peppers on for the second plank, started bobbing in time to the music)
• 1 hour DDR
• 4 minutes "vigorous activity" according to my GWF from pumping up my bike tires

I kinda expected my burn to be around 2700, given my activity. I think my NEAT's already slowing a bit. Will have to work on keeping it up.

Regarding my vigorous activity--honestly my METs on the GWF are rarely high enough to get this label. Fine with me, actually--I'm not a huge fan of vigor. In regards to exercise, that is. Considering my poor sleep and history with amenorrhea, I think I'm better off just trying to get a lot of moderate burn in rather than bouts of vigorous burn.

Plus I think back to when I lived in Chicago and how I consistently lost 2 lbs/week primarily from walking (weighted as I usually had a backpack, however) and 3x/week workouts at Curves. My body likes to take it relatively easy, I think, and I'm happy to accomodate it.

[kimikaw]

Originally Posted by scribess

My body likes to take it relatively easy, I think, and I'm happy to accomodate it.

I'm starting to wonder the same about mine. Everytime I get a few weeks into training hard, I seem to shut down. No energy today. But will push through a workout this afternoon to see if that helps.

[scribess]

Heh--I just posted on this same topic on your log!

Yeah, it's hard for me to figure out if I'm pushing myself too hard or if I'm just tired because I'm in a caloric deficit and my body's irritated with me. Guess I just need to keep an eye on things and make sure the deficit doesn't get too big.

[scribess]

It probably won't surprise anyone to learn that I have conversations with myself. Mostly unspoken, but still. I internally speak to myself as if I'm another person. Or, in this case, I speak to my body as if it's another person. So I present to you Deficit Theatre.

Only it's not quite theatre since it's written. I really ought to call it Deficit Dialogue. (ponders)

Anyway.

For the more visual among you who might find it difficult to picture me talking to my body (particularly since I've yet to put up an avatar) when my body and I look the same, feel free to picture me

as me,* and this sock puppet

as my body.**

So now that that's taken care of, here we go.

My Body: Hey. Did you get the memo I sent you?

Me: (flipping the page from whatever it is she's editing) What memo?

My Body: You know, the headache. It's a sign that I'm hungry and need to be fed.

Me: Oh. I thought the headache was from allergies. But I'm on it! (drinks 8oz of water and then marks an errant comma)

My Body: But--

Me: Hush now, I'm working.

[ten minutes later]

My Body: Did you get the urgent memo?

Me: You wouldn't happen to mean the pounding headache, would you?

My Body: That's the one. Told you I wasn't thirsty. Need actual sustenance.

Me: No, you don't. Besides, Leigh says there are many kinds of hunger--

My Body: (mimicking) Leigh says. Give me food, woman! Something other than chicken! I need fuel so as to avoid collapse!

Me: (brightening) Well, use some of the excess fat! That's the whole point of the deficit, you know! C'mon, burn it!

My Body: We don't have any extra fat.

Me: (stabbing at more extra commas) Then what the hell do you call the pinchable stuff?

My Body: Pinchable...? Oh, that. I'm saving that in case of famine.

Me: THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE A FAMINE!

My Body: ... says you.


This concludes our performance of Deficit Theatre. You may now envision me and the sock-puppet-that-isn't-me taking a bow.


*No comments on the frizzy hair, please (nope, not just a shadow). That's what you get when you have fine, naturally curly hair and have just worked out and for some unfathomable reason have decided to take the time to fiddle with the timer on your digital camera to snap various pictures of yourself proclaiming that "Deficits are fun and easy!" for a bunch of people you've never met outside of an online forum, then go through all the pictures to find that you have dandelion fuzz in every one, but are irritated you've just spent a half-hour taking pictures of yourself in the first place. Even I have my limits. Fixing the hair and going back for another round would've been just too crazy.

**No, it's not my sock puppet, let alone my arm. But it's not like I could do some Peter Jacksonian-style Gollum/Smeagol soliloquy thingummy, where the character is the same but there are fancy CGI'd camera angles and lighting and whatnot to make clear who the speaker is. I'm not that proficient in video. So you get sock puppet photos cribbed from the Internet. Tough break.

[Juleske]

I see you're taking the Distraction method for dealing with your fatloss symptoms

[Pips]

Loved that

Hope you win from your inner... sock puppet..

[kimikaw]

Oh, that was great. Thanks for the huge smile and laugh.

[stingo]

Dunno about the sock puppet but you look pretty lean already...?

[scribess]

Originally Posted by Juleske

I see you're taking the Distraction method for dealing with your fatloss symptoms

Hey, kept my fingers typing till it was time for my afternoon snack!

Originally Posted by Pips

Loved that

Hope you win from your inner... sock puppet..

Thanks. I just hope I haven't given myself an aversion to sock puppets. I like them in general, honest.

Originally Posted by kimikaw

Oh, that was great. Thanks for the huge smile and laugh.

Thanks! Helped to entertain myself as well.

Originally Posted by stingo

Dunno about the sock puppet but you look pretty lean already...?

Remember how in my first post I mentioned that my body type is marshmallow center and toothpick limbs? The toothpick part pertains to my neck and head as well. Though of course the neck and head aren't limbs, but anyway. I can fake it pretty well in upper body shots.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by scribess

Remember how in my first post I mentioned that my body type is marshmallow center and toothpick limbs? The toothpick part pertains to my neck and head as well. Though of course the neck and head aren't limbs, but anyway. I can fake it pretty well in upper body shots.

Perhaps instead of trying to lose weight you should put on muscle?

[scribess]

I'm sure I'll have to switch to body recomp at some point, but at a 30.5ish-inch waist, I've definitely got fat to lose. General consensus seems to be to focus on fat loss first, so that's what I'm doing.

[scribess]

Morning weigh-in: 149.2 (snarl!)
Sleep: 6 hours 19 minutes--I'm already taking 6mg of melatonin. Wonder if I should try increasing further...

Stats for Saturday, June 14
Cals burned: 2963
Cals consumed: 1631 (173.3p/134.7c/46.3f; 42%p/32%c/26%f)
Deficit: 1332

Activity

• 50 min bike ride (Okay, it's closer to interval work than the steady state OPT calls for in weeks 1-3, but I looove my Saturday morning bike rides and really don't want to give them up. It's really about the diet anyway, right?
• OPT Weeks 1-3 Resistance A2, 2 sets instead of 3 (Think I may've found a winning song for the planks. "Dig" by Incubus helped quite a bit--collapsed on left side at 43 seconds, but got to 62 on my right)
• 1.5 hours DDR (I'm starting to treat it like a particularly good book. "Just one more song..." Do definitely need to watch it here, I think. Granted, my heart rate doesn't get too high and there are always breaks between songs, but I definitely think this could be elevating my cortisol too much. What I should do is start noticing how well I sleep on the nights where I skip it.)

[Juleske]

Originally Posted by scribess

I'm sure I'll have to switch to body recomp at some point, but at a 30.5ish-inch waist, I've definitely got fat to lose. General consensus seems to be to focus on fat loss first, so that's what I'm doing.

Dude, *my* waist is 30 inches. Are you calling me fat here?

But nothing wrong with *cough*vanity*cough* dieting down to your preferred level. Still, I also advocate pumping iron, not especially to get swole, but for health. Strong muscles ensure you won't be one of those shuffling old ladies on the street with one of those cart thingies, half bent over cause their backs gave out years ago. Those ladies always scare me right into the gym. Anyhoo, what was I saying.. Oh yeah, you called me fat!

[NYC_Native]

You ladies nearly made me snort my coffee right now, LOL. I also didn't expect to see sock puppets in this thread, or any thread here on the forum for that matter.

And re: the subject of pumping iron, definitely do it as part of your fat-loss plan. It makes ya feel all good inside, or at least it does with me!

[Willie]

Originally Posted by scribess

Activity

• 1/2 hour Pilates DVD with coworker (had fun discussing disturbingness of V.C. Andrews' books and amazement at the parents who allowed their preadolescent children read them)

*Subscribed*
Anyone who mentions both the decided sketchiness of V.C. Andrews AND a lack of parental oversight WRT preadolescent (and adolescent, imo) reading choices, is aces in my book.

[scribess]

Originally Posted by Juleske

Dude, *my* waist is 30 inches. Are you calling me fat here?

*sigh* I'm saying, Jules, that I wish I carried those 30 inches as well as you do! Looks like everyone forgot that in my initial stats, I listed my BF% as around 30-32%. I got the higher end of that range from caliper measures at my gym about three months ago, and my scale weight isn't too much less now than it was then. I have a small frame (5'8.5" tall and wrist circumference of 6"), so BMI is even less accurate for me than usual. Add to that that my fat goes primarily to my abdomen, and, well, like I said, I can fake it pretty well in upper body shots. Particularly clothed ones.

Originally Posted by Juleske

Still, I also advocate pumping iron, not especially to get swole, but for health. Strong muscles ensure you won't be one of those shuffling old ladies on the street with one of those cart thingies, half bent over cause their backs gave out years ago. Those ladies always scare me right into the gym.

Originally Posted by NYC_Native

And re: the subject of pumping iron, definitely do it as part of your fat-loss plan. It makes ya feel all good inside, or at least it does with me!

*sputters* What makes you assume I'm not lifting weights? Just because I don't particularly like lifting heavy things and I'm too lazy to list my sets, reps, and DB weight here doesn't mean I'm not doing it. OPT calls for resistance training 4 days a week, and it's not all BW exercises. (It's listed as "A1" and "A2" under my activity.) Where's my sock puppet? I need to whine to it about how I'm misunderstood and affronted.

Originally Posted by Willie

*Subscribed*
Anyone who mentions both the decided sketchiness of V.C. Andrews AND a lack of parental oversight WRT preadolescent (and adolescent, imo) reading choices, is aces in my book.

Hello, and thanks for the compliment! Your comment reminds me of how, at another forum entirely unrelated to training, someone mentioned that anyone who could include references to both Tennyson and Dave Eggers in the same paragraph had to have something going for them. Since I was an English major in college, discussion of books leaks into pretty much everything for me.

I've never actually read V.C. Andrews, but I did see enough of Flowers in the Attic to become disturbed by it.

[NYC_Native]

Originally Posted by scribess

*sputters* What makes you assume I'm not lifting weights? Just because I don't particularly like lifting heavy things and I'm too lazy to list my sets, reps, and DB weight here doesn't mean I'm not doing it. OPT calls for resistance training 4 days a week, and it's not all BW exercises. (It's listed as "A1" and "A2" under my activity.) Where's my sock puppet? I need to whine to it about how I'm misunderstood and affronted.

Girl, you better start listing those reps then so that we know you are workin' it. I'll be keeping an eye on you!!!

Originally Posted by scribess

I've never actually read V.C. Andrews, but I did see enough of Flowers in the Attic to become disturbed by it.

Andrews' books are just so messed up. I read "Flowers" when I was 13, and I'm convinced it's one of those novels every teen girl has to read; all of my female classmates in 8th grade also did the same.

I just went through VC Andrews' online bio, and even that sounds like an overheated Southern gothic piece.

[amyem]

Bahahah - LOVE Deficit Theatre. Bravo, braaaaavo.

Girl, you look hella petite (well, in the head shot anyways ) - I'm sure you'll have awesome results with this program. What kind of lifting were you doing before you started OPT? Oh, and excellent maintenance calorie-detective work. Perfect pre-dieting plan.

[Willie]

Originally Posted by scribess

Hello, and thanks for the compliment! Your comment reminds me of how, at another forum entirely unrelated to training, someone mentioned that anyone who could include references to both Tennyson and Dave Eggers in the same paragraph had to have something going for them. Since I was an English major in college, discussion of books leaks into pretty much everything for me.

I've never actually read V.C. Andrews, but I did see enough of Flowers in the Attic to become disturbed by it.

Oh, I read ALL of them in middle school. I am certain that a not-so-rare combination of insidious note-passing, bathroom bullying, and really bad young adult literature (Danielle Steele?) is what prompted me to become a middle school English / SS teacher.

[missjane]

Originally Posted by realcdn

Agreed. I always thought that Leigh should replace who is editing her work. If I'm picking up glaring errors they have to drive more picky people nuts.

I even volunteered to edit for her!

[Espi]

Subscribed! Deficit theatre was totally 'ossum' to read

[scribess]

Originally Posted by NYC_Native

Girl, you better start listing those reps then so that we know you are workin' it. I'll be keeping an eye on you!!!

So you want my log to be an actual log, huh, rather than just blather? *heaves sigh* Fine, fine, watch for it tomorrow since I tend to lag a day.

Originally Posted by amyem

What kind of lifting were you doing before you started OPT?

Meh, a lotta half-hearted, low weight, high rep stuff on the machines at my gym. "Program" based on the recommendations a trainer gave me during a free session (that was back in March). Something about teaching my muscles to fire properly. Previous to that I'd been doing Curves, so I like to think the machines there at least had my muscles firing right. Anyway, gym program likely did me a whole lotta no good.

Then I had my little stint of raising cals to maintenance/break, so once I got back into training after the break, I did some body weight and light DB exercises I got out of a book. Tried for three days a week, but often hit more like two.

Originally Posted by Willie

Oh, I read ALL of them in middle school. I am certain that a not-so-rare combination of insidious note-passing, bathroom bullying, and really bad young adult literature (Danielle Steele?) is what prompted me to become a middle school English / SS teacher.

Snork! I like you. You're snarky.

Originally Posted by missjane

I even volunteered to edit for her!

I think Leigh now has a bevy of volunteer editors she can call upon...

Originally Posted by Espi

Subscribed! Deficit theatre was totally 'ossum' to read

Thank you!

[Deserve]

Wow! You go camping for one weekend and look at all the excitement I missed. Sock puppets, a discussion on editing, and a body type free for all.

I now feel compelled to apologize to all the editor types for my typing like an illiterate third grader. I listen to the grammar girl podcast. That has to count for something.

[scribess]

Morning weigh-in: 149.2--was hoping the water retention would be back down again b/c I thought I peed a lot yesterday, but then I realized I'm in the ovulation phase of my cycle (have been having other symptoms that clued me in), which means this retention is likely due to "joy of being a woman" crap, so I can't do anything about it.

On the plus side, this is right when I should be ovulating based on my pre-amenorrhea-of-last-year cycles, so looks like I'm finally getting back on track hormone-wise.

Now departing TMIville.

Sleep: 6 hours 10 minutes. Particularly irritated that my alarm woke me up this morning. I hate when that happens b/c it means I could've slept X amount of minutes longer were it not for the day job and need of steady employment.

Stats from Sunday, June 14
Cals burned: 2061
Cals eaten: 1819 (particularly crappy on the diet: 122.6p/176.1c/71.4f; 27%/38%/35%. Even though I ate too many cals, didn't come close to the 166g protein I should at 1625 cals)
Deficit: 242

Activity: None; rest day. I'd thought to truly make it a rest day by taking a nap, but then I wound up watching Ghost Town instead. I heart amazon on demand via TiVo.

Also had a thought about going for a walk, but a hailstorm changed my mind.

Finished out my first week of OPT. I'll do my best to cobble together a report of sorts; one of my goals yesterday was to finally put together a spreadsheet to track everything since I haven't found one online that I like, but yeah. Watched Ghost Town instead. Worth it though; good movie.

[Juleske]

grats on getting your hormones back together. Welcome to all the joys of a natural cycle :p

[scribess]

Total cals burned: 17400
Total cals eaten: 11246
Deficit: 6154, or ~1.75 lbs

Weight: 153.2--->149.2 -4.0lb

Measurements
Neck: 11.75--------->11.75 -0
Bust: 37.5----------->37.375 -.125
Under bust: 33.5---->33 -.5
Waist: 31------------>30.625 -.375
Abdomen: 37 3/8--->37.25 -.125
Hips: 40 5/8--------->40 5/8 -0
R bicep: 10.5-------->10.25 -.25
R thigh: 22.5-------->22.25 -.25
R calf: 14------------>14 -0

Not a terrible first week. 'Course, it's the second week and onwards that really matter. I'll be curious to see if the GWF burn measures up with my loss.

Though I'm still attempting to take BF measurements with my AccuMeasure calipers, since it's only one site (suprailiac ) I think I'll just track that month to month rather than weekly. Too difficult for me to be consistent.

[scribess]

Originally Posted by Deserve

Wow! You go camping for one weekend and look at all the excitement I missed. Sock puppets, a discussion on editing, and a body type free for all.

Yup. My log is where it's at, yo.

Originally Posted by Deserve

I now feel compelled to apologize to all the editor types for my typing like an illiterate third grader. I listen to the grammar girl podcast. That has to count for something.

C'mon. Your typing is at least like that of a literate third grader.

But I tend to ignore online grammar stuff, because when I make a mistake and it comes out that my job is as an editor, I look all the more like an idiot.

Originally Posted by Juleske

grats on getting your hormones back together. Welcome to all the joys of a natural cycle :p

Yes. I feel like a natural woman.

[NYC_Native]

Originally Posted by scribess

So you want my log to be an actual log, huh, rather than just blather? *heaves sigh* Fine, fine, watch for it tomorrow since I tend to lag a day.

Yes, that is what I want to see. Now get to posting more numbers, woman! LOL

Going back to the figures, I think you're making solid progress, even if it is just week 1 of OPT. And with regards to calipers, I can never be consistent with them. That's why I actually wound up getting an Omron (which is in storage somewhere in Temple, TX, at the moment), because it was just easier for me to hold onto a bioimpedence thingie than basic calipers. So for now, I'm only doing measuring tape and keeping track of those figures.

[stingo]

Hmm I was told there'd be workouts? You know, with weights posted and stuff?