It's just about this time in February that I start getting cabin fever and longing for spring. Happens every year no matter how mild or bad a winter we had. This year was pretty mild so I'm not complaining, it's just that I'm tired of dark mornings, dark evenings and having to bundle up every time I go outside. It doesn't help that all the magazines are showing spring fashions and makeup so I'm dying to bust out my warm weather clothes.
Anyway, I'm back to my regular macros as of today. I switched up my high and low days this weekend because we're going out to dinner tomorrow, but other than that things are back to normal. I must say that even though I don't feel that ultra low carb/ketosis is right for me, I think this was a useful experiment. Here are the pros and cons of my week.
Pros:
1. Hunger level. I definitely experienced much less hunger of the growly stomach kind. I still experienced hunger in that I knew when it was time to fuel up but my stomach didn't growl right after a meal or before the next one. Also I was able to cut down to three bigger meals with one small bedtime protein shake. I don't feel that was better, just different.
2. Eating foods I have difficulty working in at higher carb levels. Since I raised the fat level, I was able to eat avocado, macadamia nuts and my new favorite brownie every day. Not all on the same day but sometimes two of those in a day. This was a nice change of pace.
3. Macro manipulation. I feel like this experiment has made it much easier for me to know how to move macros around and what foods are better for low carb and which for higher carb. I ate very healthy foods and I see them now as their components and not so much which are going to be more pleasurable. I eat the foods I like but I've changed my perspective on food a bit more through this exercise.
Cons:
1. Energy level. This went down considerably. It wasn't so much that I felt weak. It was more a total lack of motivation to move around and when I did move around (such as taking a walk) I definitely felt overall body weakness. Not a good feeling. I suppose that if I had kept up with it, or lowered my protein and carbs and raised the fat even further I might have shifted into true ketosis and overcome this. It wasn't worth it to me to do that.
2. Sleep. This was definitely affected. I was consistently waking up around 3 am (I go to bed between 9-10 pm). After a few days it seemed it didn't affect me during the day, but that may have been one of the reasons for not wanting to move around so much. I really like to sleep longer and I think it's healthier and better for fat loss, so this was a con for me.
3. Weight loss. I weighed on Friday and gained 2 lbs. up to 223.2 lbs. Now, I'm not attributing that to the change in macros directly and it could have been something that was going to happen anyway since I've been losing weight so fast. But the sleep loss and sedentary behavior didn't help my cause at all, so overall I think this is a con.
Overall, I glad I did this and it was a good time to do it since I'm not doing heavy workouts. But I won't be going back to it since there was no advantage for me to do so.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A Little Love On Vday
I wanted to give a shout out to Valentine's Day although at this point in my life it's pretty much just a Hallmark holiday. If you can't express love every day of your life, you've got bigger problems than one holiday can fix.
Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was how my experiment is going. I was going to title this post "Throwing In The Towel" because that's how I felt yesterday.
First, the macros from yesterday...1800 calories, 122 g. protein/95 g. fat/113 g. carb (30%/54%20%).
I haven't done one workout, either the bodyweight one or walking, since Saturday when I decided to change up the macros. I've not been feeling bad. I've been unmotivated. I feel like hibernating and not even going outside. Even walking the dog has felt like a chore. So yesterday I forced myself to go outside for a real walk in the morning and within 5 minutes I could feel my energy go down the tubes. Really unpleasant stuff. I made it through the 20 minute walk but it was not pleasurable. So my thought was that I would quit the experiment today and go back to my original macros.
Well, I compromised. I had some avocado left and didn't want to waste it. So my macros today are as follows. 1500 calories, 124 g. protein, 82 g. fat, 65 g. carb (33%/50%/17%). I'll see how it goes today but my feeling is that ultra low carb is not for me. I see no advantage to it. I'm still waking up at 3 am although I don't feel bad during the day. I'd rather have more sleep. My motivation and energy just to move around is very diminished. There's no way I can train like this. And, although I haven't weighed myself yet, I doubt there is any advantage there either. I plan to be back at my original macros by Saturday. I've shifted my high and low days a bit since we are going to the casino for steakhouse dinner on Sunday (typically a low day). I'll move one of my high days next week earlier in the rotation and have more low days later in the week. It all comes out in the wash.
I'm hoping next week I get some good news about my wrist. It's feeling much much better, with just one point of pain around the wrist bone on the pinky side. My grip is good and I can weight bear on it much better. I still have some pain with certain twisting motions so hopefully a couple more sessions of PT will take care of that. Still looking like I'm on track to be back to lifting weights in March. Just in time for spring!
Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was how my experiment is going. I was going to title this post "Throwing In The Towel" because that's how I felt yesterday.
First, the macros from yesterday...1800 calories, 122 g. protein/95 g. fat/113 g. carb (30%/54%20%).
I haven't done one workout, either the bodyweight one or walking, since Saturday when I decided to change up the macros. I've not been feeling bad. I've been unmotivated. I feel like hibernating and not even going outside. Even walking the dog has felt like a chore. So yesterday I forced myself to go outside for a real walk in the morning and within 5 minutes I could feel my energy go down the tubes. Really unpleasant stuff. I made it through the 20 minute walk but it was not pleasurable. So my thought was that I would quit the experiment today and go back to my original macros.
Well, I compromised. I had some avocado left and didn't want to waste it. So my macros today are as follows. 1500 calories, 124 g. protein, 82 g. fat, 65 g. carb (33%/50%/17%). I'll see how it goes today but my feeling is that ultra low carb is not for me. I see no advantage to it. I'm still waking up at 3 am although I don't feel bad during the day. I'd rather have more sleep. My motivation and energy just to move around is very diminished. There's no way I can train like this. And, although I haven't weighed myself yet, I doubt there is any advantage there either. I plan to be back at my original macros by Saturday. I've shifted my high and low days a bit since we are going to the casino for steakhouse dinner on Sunday (typically a low day). I'll move one of my high days next week earlier in the rotation and have more low days later in the week. It all comes out in the wash.
I'm hoping next week I get some good news about my wrist. It's feeling much much better, with just one point of pain around the wrist bone on the pinky side. My grip is good and I can weight bear on it much better. I still have some pain with certain twisting motions so hopefully a couple more sessions of PT will take care of that. Still looking like I'm on track to be back to lifting weights in March. Just in time for spring!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Experimenting Again
I'm never satisfied unless I'm experimenting with something. Maybe I missed my calling. I should have been a scientist or an explorer.
This time I'm experimenting (with Rog's permission) on lowering my carbs and raising my fats. Here's what I've done so far.
Sunday: 1500 calories, 66 g. carbs, 137 g. protein, 80 g. fat (17%/36%/47%)
Monday: 1800 calories, 92 g. carbs, 155 g. protein, 98 g. fat (20%/33%/47%)
My sleep has been affected by this. I've been waking at 3 am and having trouble falling back to sleep. It feels like hunger but not what I typically experience as hunger so I'm thinking it's more low serotonin than true hunger. I'd like to keep the experiment going for the week so I'm making a bit of an adjustment. Here are my macros for today.
Tuesday: 1500 calories, 48 g. carbs, 120 g. protein, 95 g. fat. (12%/31%/57%)
What I'm trying to accomplish is to go into ketosis for a few days to see if my body responds well to burning fat for energy rather than glucose. In order to accomplish that I need to lower not only my carbs but my protein. Protein can be converted into glucose so if the protein isn't low enough I won't go into ketosis. I'm reluctant to lower the protein too much. I figure that at 120 g. I'm at 1 g./lb of lean body weight. Just an estimate. I'm not being truly scientific about this.
I've added avocado, macadamia nuts and more full fat sour cream to the menu today. One thing I've noticed since Sunday is that I don't have stomach growling hunger after meals like I do when I eat a meal with significant carbs in it. After I eat I get something similar to a hot flash where my body feels like it's heating up from the inside out. Strange feeling but if you're a menopausal woman you know what I'm talking about. :)
I don't intend to keep this up for long, unless I start feeling significantly better than I did on the original plan, starting sleeping better and keep up the fantastic weight loss I've had. I've heard good things about being in a "burning fat for energy" state and I'd like to see if that is true for me. If I can at least train my body to be able to switch from glucose-burning to fat-burning when I want it to, then it's a double win. That way I can choose my daily macros based on what my training needs are and what I feel like eating on any particular day. Wouldn't that be nice?
This time I'm experimenting (with Rog's permission) on lowering my carbs and raising my fats. Here's what I've done so far.
Sunday: 1500 calories, 66 g. carbs, 137 g. protein, 80 g. fat (17%/36%/47%)
Monday: 1800 calories, 92 g. carbs, 155 g. protein, 98 g. fat (20%/33%/47%)
My sleep has been affected by this. I've been waking at 3 am and having trouble falling back to sleep. It feels like hunger but not what I typically experience as hunger so I'm thinking it's more low serotonin than true hunger. I'd like to keep the experiment going for the week so I'm making a bit of an adjustment. Here are my macros for today.
Tuesday: 1500 calories, 48 g. carbs, 120 g. protein, 95 g. fat. (12%/31%/57%)
What I'm trying to accomplish is to go into ketosis for a few days to see if my body responds well to burning fat for energy rather than glucose. In order to accomplish that I need to lower not only my carbs but my protein. Protein can be converted into glucose so if the protein isn't low enough I won't go into ketosis. I'm reluctant to lower the protein too much. I figure that at 120 g. I'm at 1 g./lb of lean body weight. Just an estimate. I'm not being truly scientific about this.
I've added avocado, macadamia nuts and more full fat sour cream to the menu today. One thing I've noticed since Sunday is that I don't have stomach growling hunger after meals like I do when I eat a meal with significant carbs in it. After I eat I get something similar to a hot flash where my body feels like it's heating up from the inside out. Strange feeling but if you're a menopausal woman you know what I'm talking about. :)
I don't intend to keep this up for long, unless I start feeling significantly better than I did on the original plan, starting sleeping better and keep up the fantastic weight loss I've had. I've heard good things about being in a "burning fat for energy" state and I'd like to see if that is true for me. If I can at least train my body to be able to switch from glucose-burning to fat-burning when I want it to, then it's a double win. That way I can choose my daily macros based on what my training needs are and what I feel like eating on any particular day. Wouldn't that be nice?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Doing The Monster Mash
Just saw a great video from the Glute King himself, Bret Contreras, on monster walks and sumo walks. I've been doing both of these for the last few weeks and it's made a big difference in my hip strength and stability. What's really interesting is that researchers found that the best muscle activation happened when the band is placed around the forefeet. I've been putting it around my ankles. Since this exercise has been getting easier and I'm using the stiffest band I have, I'll start putting it around my forefeet when I do this exercise.
Here's the video:
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Nanook Of The North
We finally have enough snow that I can go snowshoeing. Not that I'm complaining. I am totally not a winter person. Fall is more my season. But since I love to walk and walking becomes dangerous if not downright impossible when the sidewalks get icy, I bought a pair of snowshoes with boots and poles about three years ago. Typically I only use them once or twice a year. Last year I didn't use them at all. But this year I've been waiting for snow so I could give it a go once again. And wouldn't you know but we've had a virtually snowless winter up till this week. So I was happy to see some substantial snow (despite having to shovel it). This morning, instead of going to the gym for another boring treadmill session, I went to a local park with a big field and walked around for about 30 minutes or so with the snowshoes. And it was much easier to do it this time than I remember my last time two years ago. Having stronger glutes and core definitely helped that. My stamina and wind isn't what I'd like it to be. I had to stop several times to catch my breath but it got easier after 10 minutes or so. I'd equate this to how I felt when I was running back in the day (in my early 20's). I'd feel winded for about the first 5 minutes or so until my lungs opened up and my body got used to the extra oxygen coming in. That never got any better no matter how fit I got from running. So I supposed that is simply the way I'm built and it's just worse now because I'm not as cardiovascularly fit as I could be. I think a few weeks of this could fix that but I don't know how much longer we'll have snow.
GOOD NEWS ALERT!!!! I lost 3 lbs this week. Astonishing. I thought after how much I ate at the party last Sunday I'd be lucky to stay at the same weight. So either I didn't eat as much as I thought or the fact that I didn't eat sugar or wheat helped me stay in a fat-burning mode. One of the things I'm concerned about is losing so much so quickly. I assume I'm losing some muscle since I'm not lifting. Although the bodyweight workout that Rog gave me is going well, and I don't seem to have lost any strength in my lower body, I'm sure I've lost strength in my upper body. Hopefully I'll get cleared to return to weight training by March. The wrist is slowly getting better even though I've been missing PT appointments. I have to keep in mind that the first priority right now is getting the weight off. It doesn't make any difference what kind of weight it is. Just getting down close to my normal weight will be so good for my body that the benefits will allow me to focus on building the muscle back up later in the game. I'll take pictures at the beginning of March so Rog can see what's happening. When I look in the mirror I can see the glimmer of a real waist there so something is going on and it's all good.
GOOD NEWS ALERT!!!! I lost 3 lbs this week. Astonishing. I thought after how much I ate at the party last Sunday I'd be lucky to stay at the same weight. So either I didn't eat as much as I thought or the fact that I didn't eat sugar or wheat helped me stay in a fat-burning mode. One of the things I'm concerned about is losing so much so quickly. I assume I'm losing some muscle since I'm not lifting. Although the bodyweight workout that Rog gave me is going well, and I don't seem to have lost any strength in my lower body, I'm sure I've lost strength in my upper body. Hopefully I'll get cleared to return to weight training by March. The wrist is slowly getting better even though I've been missing PT appointments. I have to keep in mind that the first priority right now is getting the weight off. It doesn't make any difference what kind of weight it is. Just getting down close to my normal weight will be so good for my body that the benefits will allow me to focus on building the muscle back up later in the game. I'll take pictures at the beginning of March so Rog can see what's happening. When I look in the mirror I can see the glimmer of a real waist there so something is going on and it's all good.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Forging A New Chain
My chain broke on Sunday. After 28 days of unbroken dieting, I decided to ease up on Sunday because we were hosting a Super Bowl party. I stuck to my decision to eliminate sugar and wheat but let myself eat other foods if I wanted to. So I'm sure that I ate over my maintenance level but it was one day and I easily bounced back. Now I'm forging a new chain, two days so far. I'll weigh on Saturday to see how much the day off affected me.
Got my leg workout in on Monday night. My legs felt heavy the next day but not sore like they did after the first session. I went to the gym for a good treadmill session yesterday. I'm working on adding intervals to my 30 minutes with a goal of bringing up my walking speed. Between three leg workouts and 2-3 treadmill workouts a week I think I can get a good enough calorie burn to keep up the weight loss. Goal for February: 5 lbs.
Got my leg workout in on Monday night. My legs felt heavy the next day but not sore like they did after the first session. I went to the gym for a good treadmill session yesterday. I'm working on adding intervals to my 30 minutes with a goal of bringing up my walking speed. Between three leg workouts and 2-3 treadmill workouts a week I think I can get a good enough calorie burn to keep up the weight loss. Goal for February: 5 lbs.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Taking A Victory Lap
Today, being the first day of the month, is an important day to weigh in. Although I'm weighing mostly on a weekly basis just to make sure I'm making progress on the plan, the monthly weigh-in is where I get to see the progress at a higher level.
January 1: I weighed 237.4 lbs (my scale goes in increments of 0.2 lbs.)
February 1: I weighed 224.2 lbs.
Total loss for the month = 13.2 lbs.
I repeat. 13.2 lbs. Gobsmacked is I. I got on and off the scale three times and then had to bend down to look at the number because I couldn't believe my eyes.
Now, yes, I understand scale weight is essentially meaningless. I get that it doesn't say anything about the composition of that weight (fat versus lean tissue). I also understand at this point in my journey that I dicked around for over a year trying to make my need to lose fat something other than what it was. I tried to make it about bodyfat percentage and muscle building and eating this way or that way. In the end what it comes down to is I just need to get weight off. Doesn't matter what that weight consists of. If I'm doing a well-designed weight training program (which I've been doing thanks to Rog's help) then I can assume that either there is some small muscle building going on or that at least I'm not losing any muscle. That's all I can expect that this point. Maybe someday, God willing, when I'm at my "normal" weight (whatever that turns out to be), I can start looking at the overall composition of my body's weight and focus on changing that. But right now the weight needs to go. Period. End of story. And that is happening for which I'm extremely grateful. Victory!!!
January 1: I weighed 237.4 lbs (my scale goes in increments of 0.2 lbs.)
February 1: I weighed 224.2 lbs.
Total loss for the month = 13.2 lbs.
I repeat. 13.2 lbs. Gobsmacked is I. I got on and off the scale three times and then had to bend down to look at the number because I couldn't believe my eyes.
Now, yes, I understand scale weight is essentially meaningless. I get that it doesn't say anything about the composition of that weight (fat versus lean tissue). I also understand at this point in my journey that I dicked around for over a year trying to make my need to lose fat something other than what it was. I tried to make it about bodyfat percentage and muscle building and eating this way or that way. In the end what it comes down to is I just need to get weight off. Doesn't matter what that weight consists of. If I'm doing a well-designed weight training program (which I've been doing thanks to Rog's help) then I can assume that either there is some small muscle building going on or that at least I'm not losing any muscle. That's all I can expect that this point. Maybe someday, God willing, when I'm at my "normal" weight (whatever that turns out to be), I can start looking at the overall composition of my body's weight and focus on changing that. But right now the weight needs to go. Period. End of story. And that is happening for which I'm extremely grateful. Victory!!!
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