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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 29 December 2006 12:08 pm |
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The title of this diary is inspired by a book a dear friend gave me for Christmas, "The Secret". In section 2 it brings up the story of the Genie and the Magic Lamp. The genie ALWAYS says 'Your wish is my command'. So far I have read that I am to ask for what I want (once) and then believe it is mine already. I don't know what comes after that!!!!
I am very serious about making a lasting lifestyle change. This website is absolutely wonderful, so I will share my journey here. I have been writing on paper, but I think it is important to open the story to others. This will give me some sense of accountability and I like the idea of getting connected with others who share a similar goal.
I am 41 years old, about 128 pounds and 5'4" with a small frame. My body fat is somewhere around 30%. What I claim as 'already mine' is to decrease this to 20%. Like many others I was shocked when I did a body fat test. I am not that overweight. I look well at 120 pounds. But I have eaten a diet high in fat my entire life. Up to this point I have not been able to kick the ice cream habit, much less all the other goodies I indulge in a few times a day. I would say I ingest sugar 5+ times a day. Fat and sugar are very important to me - so you could say my longing for them is both physical and emotional.
I am seeking to build a complete fitness plan by the time I return to work on Jan. 2nd. I alredy ownand have used these tools: smith machine, free weights, a comprehensive book of weight training exercises, jump rope, Turbo Jam workouts, good tennis shoes, lots of knowledge about nutrition, some experience in yoga and lots of dance training and practice.
In the last few days I added these tools: jigsaw-style mats (6'x8'), Timex Ironman HRM. Tonight I downloaded Tony Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" as my tool for attacking my nutrition habits. I am waiting for a Laugh Yoga CD - to assist in mental well-being, and Beachbody's P90X workout system with chin-up bar, bands and recovery drink.
Having exercise mats is essential, I now realize, and the HRM is letting me know for the first time in my life what my heart is doing during various activities. In the last couple days I discovered I jump rope in zone 4 (consistently) and lift weights in zone 2 (using the average HR). This tool is intended to help me to track intensity of workouts and ultimately lower my resting heart rate (which is around 92).
The P90X system is probably out of my league, but I think I can slowly increase intensity and manage it with the HRM. My understanding is there are 12 challenging, quality workouts which means I am getting a lot of value for the cost.
Changing eating habits is my 'weakest muscle' and I will rely on Venuto's book to develop an eating plan that is more nutritous and lower in fat than I currently eat. I 'know' what I need to do, but have thus far been unwilling. Now time is ticking and I am ready to take on this challenge with his guidance and direction.
I was completely inactive for a couple years and then found a place for cardio in my life this summer using Turbo Jam. I had a well-rounded exercise regime of 4-7 hrs/week from July to September of 2006. Then I dutifully returned to my former habit of sitting all day at work and reclining all evening.... until a couple of weeks ago. Returning to this website's forums got my mind in the right place again so it was easy to start exercising.
My accomplishments over the last 2 weeks has been to do 30-60 minutes of exercise every day - weight-lifting, jump rope, Turbo Jam, stretching and floor exercises. I have gained a couple pounds in these two weeks, mostly in fat.
Over the next few days I will post my thoughts/actions as I finalize a full fitness plan that will address eating, exercising and maintaining emotional well-being.
--Chere
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NevD
New Member
| Joined: | 26 October 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1536 |
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Posted: 29 December 2006 06:33 pm |
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Hi chere -
It sounds like you've pretty much amassed the means. Now all you need to do is use them properly.
Might I suggest that you alternate cardio with weights? That means you'd do 3 cardios and 3 weights sessions per week, with one day off?
Good luck - and keep monitoring the body fat. It's the best indicator of whether you're doing things correctly.
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 30 December 2006 08:06 pm |
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I had a 400 calorie breakfast and I feel like I am about to burst! Whole foods are so filling and bulky.
Meal 1 – 11:30am
Oatmeal with splenda, honey, 2% milk, peach chunks
Protein drink
I packed up the refined foods in my pantry and put them out of sight in the back. There is still a lot of food left that I can eat. I thought there wouldn’t be. I was not tempted by the chocolate and other goodies.
Learning what is a 300 calorie meal with a 50/30/20 ratio is time-consuming. But as Venuto says, he is teaching us how to fish, not just giving us a fish. I have the time to do this while on vacation, so it works out well.
Increased jump rope session to 20 minutes (on mat, with electronic music). Venuto explains that cardio is essential in burning excess fat, and to shoot for 5-7 days a week, 30-60 minutes (20 minute minimum). Maintenance is 3-4 days a week, once I am at 20% body fat.
My plan is to get up every morning (6 am on weekdays), drink water and do stuff for an hour, jump rope 30 minutes, take a shower and have breakfast. It is recommended to eat within 30 minutes after exercise because you won’t feel like eating as much than if you wait longer. Venuto recommends doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach.
This morning I got up at 9:30 (on vacation), jumped rope at 10:30 and ate at 11:30. Then I put the london broil in the crock pot. Today’s meals were planned before I went to bed, and are similar to yesterday’s. I worked on meals yesterday and shopped for what I needed.
Eating the first meal so late makes it more difficult to eat 5 meals, 3 hours apart.--11:30, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 – that is only 4.
I was a breakfast-skipper, refined food eater and continual snacker. No longer! I read a few chapters of Venuto’s book yesterday and have a good plan for eating and doing cardio. Today I will read about adding strength training. He has made developing a fitness plan very easy. His words are concise, the right information, and personable. I love his book! Since he practices what he preaches and I respect bodybuilders and have heard how they eat several meals and extra protein, I rest in his advice. So I am not feeling confused or that I need to switch out some of his advice for something I heard better somewhere else.
I have never eaten 5 meals a day before. I ate more than 5 times a day! But it is grazing on snack food, not well-planned, nutritious meals.
Meal 2 -- 3:30pm
½ slice ww bread
¼ c. tuna
½ Tb low-fat mayo
1/4 oz. low-fat cheese
20 grapes
tea with 2 Tb. fat-free half&half
1 sugar-free popsicle
Meal 3 -- 5:30pm
¼ c. brown rice
½ c. broccoli
½ c. coleslaw
2 oz. chicken
tea with 2 Tb. fat-free half&half
Meal 4 -- 8:30pm
Protein drink
½ slice ww bread
½ Tb. Low-fat butter
Yesterday was a great day of learning and planning. I did 15 minutes of jump rope, shopped, ate according to BFFM, and 45 minutes of Turbo Jam’s Cardio Party.
I was shocked at what a great workout Cardio Party is. I stayed in zone 3 and 4. I can see where it is possible to lose weight doing it daily, from what Venuto says about aerobic exercise. Right amount of time and intensity.
Last edited on 1 January 2007 05:54 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 31 December 2006 05:32 am |
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It is after 9pm and I feel terrific! I feel slimmer and more energetic and the scale says I am down to 126 pounds. I have completed Day 2 of no refined sugar or white flour, eating every three hours, keeping the protein/carbs/fat ratio of 30/50/20 at each meal, and no snacking in between. I did 20 minutes of cardio before breakfast and 40 minutes of strength training before my last meal.
I finished the chapter on strength training in BFFM this afternoon so I knew what to do for tonight’s workout and have a complete plan now. I do not have any issues at all with the BFFM program, so I am following it as it is.
GOAL SETTING – (haven’t read that chapter yet)
NUTRITION – 5 meals, 300 cal each, every 3 hours, 30-50-20 ratio for protein-carbs-fat, just say no to refined sugar and flour
CARDIO – 5-7 times a week, 30-60 minutes a session, before breakfast whenever possible, wear heart monitor and target zone 4
WEIGHT TRAINING – 3 times a week, 45 minute sessions, 4 body parts per workout, doing 2 exercises per body part and 3 sets for each exercise, progression training
I went to Whole Foods today to get their brand of whey protein. It tastes much better than Biochem’s, which is what I am using now. I looked for chocolate but they all had fructose in them. Instead I created this protein drink:
1 Tb. cocoa powder
1 scoop whey protein
½ c. 1% milk
½ Tb. honey
2 packets splenda
½ frozen banana
ice
Okay, it is not original, but for an ice cream lover no longer eating ice cream, it tastes great! Healthy food is satisfying, has variety of flavors and textures, but tends not to be ‘exciting’ like junk food. So this is a nice alternative. I am not eating exactly as I should – not enough vegetables and most of the fat comes from animals, but considering all the #%@&! I am NOT eating, I am extremely proud.
Just a couple days ago changing my eating habits was inconceivable. Then I ‘claimed’ 20% body fat as something that is mine, found BFFM and I am a changed woman. Just like Venuto says, it starts with setting clear goals and positive thinking. I have to admit that I planned to make big changes this week while on vacation. I have the time to do it, and it has really happened!
I knew that exercising again wasn’t going to make enough of a difference. After all, I gained a couple pounds in just 2 weeks. And believe me, it wasn’t from gaining muscle, it was from eating more and eating refined foods. The only way I could make a change is to make it SUDDEN. I wasn’t going to be able to do it gradually because I just don’t have the will power. Riding on Venuto’s enthusiasm and encouragement made the change easy. Now I just need to continue and be consistent.
HERE’S MY FITNESS PLAN:
6:00am -- Get up
7:00am -- Jump rope before breakfast, 20-30 minutes
8:00am -- Eat 300-400 calorie breakfast, pack for 2 daytime meals
9:00am – Go to work
11:30am – 300 cal. lunch (not sure if this time will work)
2:30pm -- 300 cal. meal
5:30pm – Go home
6:00pm – 300 cal. dinner
7:00pm – 45 minutes of strength training every other day (can do cardio on alt. days, but don’t have to)
8:30pm – 300 cal. meal
10:00pm – Up to my room, read, plan for next day, journal
11:00pm – Sleep
I was a little fuzzy on how to eat and how to exercise, which tends to make it ineffective. Now I have a plan. I will know what other activities I can say ‘yes’ to and I will be able to say ‘no’ comfortably. I have no idea if eating 5 meals a day will be difficult. I live a simple life with few distractions, so it shouldn’t be too hard. I am used to cooking several servings of a meat, or a vegetable, or rice and storing it to use for several meals.
Since reading forums is what made it so easy to get back on track with exercising, I am going to read forums, BFFM and whatever else on a regular basis, hopefully daily, so I can keep this constantly in front of me. Otherwise I can easily go back to my ‘other’ life that is just waiting as my default lifestyle. I figure the more days I live a healthy lifestyle, the more it will have influence on my choices.
Last edited on 1 January 2007 03:19 am by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 31 December 2006 09:46 pm |
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This morning I jumped rope for 25 minutes. I have been able to increase this time by 5 minutes every day over the last 4 days. I never would have thought this possible. But knowing that it is better to stay in a target zone that you can maintain for a longer period of time (Venuto) helped, as well as knowing what my heart rate is. I stayed in zone 4 for 23.5 minutes of the 25. I stop every minute or so for a few seconds to keep my heart rate down, and then about a minute every 5 minutes or so. Even with these stops my heart rate stays in zone 4 most of the time. Jump roping feels very good to me. My knees don’t hurt since I am jumping on the 20mm thick mat. My muscles are not as taxed as when I am lifting weights. My heart is responding very well to sustained exercise. I would very much like to see my RHR go down. 92 is outrageous!
Got up at 9:00am, jumped at 10:30 and had first meal at 11:30.
Meal 1
Oatmeal with 1% milk, splenda, peach, low-fat ‘butter’ (no honey this time)
Protein drink with 6 oz. juice
C-52%/P-34%/F-14%
I did the calculations for my next meal. I wanted to see if I could have an egg dish that I am accustomed to eating, and it worked out okay. The best accompaniment, ratio-wise, is 20 spears of asparagus. That is a lot! Instead I am a little off ratio but I am going to have broccoli instead. Venuto says to use mostly egg whites; too bad I love egg yolks more!
Meal 2 -- 2:30pm
Eggs aLa Goldenrod (boiled egg, white sauce, toast)
1 c. broccoli
Last edited on 1 January 2007 03:15 am by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 1 January 2007 03:14 am |
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Ordered Accu-measure 2000 fat caliper and Myo tape from eBay -- $13! Plan to go to Target to get a kitchen scale this afternoon. The old one I have is obviously not accurate.
I am winding down on the reading, planning, and purchasing. Tomorrow is my last day of vacation so the timing is good! I never could have put all this together in such a short period of time without this free time. There is so much calculating to do and I have lots of pieces of paper, and there seems to be so many steps to do in the middle of figuring it all out and carrying it out. But soon all will be smoother and take less time and much less thought.
I am glad it is taking P90X so long to get here (the promise of delivery in 5-7 business days has passed). That would have added more information to digest and I needed to handle this eating thing by itself. Plus it was helpful to get a good exercise framework from Venuto and now I can use P90X to accomplish it. I wanted to do it in 90 days and become a ‘graduate’ but I was concerned that it would be hard to stick with it. Personally, I have a hard time following someone else’s plan. That is why Venuto has helped me so much. He gives me a checklist of what my diet should contain, and my workouts should contain, for the goal of my choosing. I call this a framework, where I get to build the program, but I know I am not getting too off-base because I am staying within the framework. His explanations of why things work also keeps me on track and motivated to use his framework. And then he explains that you can adjust your plan as you get feedback on what you are doing, and make it more customized for YOU.
Meal 3 -- 5:30pm
2 oz. lean beef (cooked in crock pot yesterday)
small potato with 1 Tb. low-fat 'butter'
1 tangerine
Meal 4 -- 8:30pm
chocolate protein shake
1/2 slice toast with 1/2 Tb. 'butter'
Plan to have some champagne tonight. Happy New Year everyone! And I wish you well on you fitness goals!
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 1 January 2007 05:47 pm |
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Decided to do Day 2 of split weight lifting routine at 11pm last night and worked out for 45 minutes, doing 5 minutes of cardio as warm-up. I would end that sentence with an exclamation, except that it is very common for me to feel like exercising this late at night. It can be a problem for when I want to get up early in the morning to do cardio. Day 2 was legs, back, biceps, calves. I liked this routine better than Day 1: chest, shoulders, triceps, abs.
Woke up earlier this morning (8am) and had Meal 1 at 9am, in an effort to get five meals in today. Plan to jump rope soon and then have Meal 2 at noon. Body is adjusting to new diet and daily exercise. Don’t feel over-trained or stuffed or starving. Put thick-cut oats in the crockpot for this week's oatmeal breakfasts. This stuff costs more but is incredibly filling and very good tasting. Cooking it slowly in the crockpot makes is tender. One recipe I have followed in the past is to add a chopped granny smith apple to the oats and water. Absolutely delicious! I tried macintosh and it just wasn't the same. Had less flavor and a little mushy. I was surprised since these make great apple pies.
I made it 3 days without refined foods! Only had a couple glasses of champagne last night which was off-diet. I would like to jump rope 30 minutes today, if possible, but I am not feeling very well. Friend wants to hike at State Park this afternoon – 3 to 5 miles. I am 125 lbs this morning.
Read a couple more chapters of BFFM last night. I am even more impressed. I learned about individual body types and how to use performance feedback to get to where you want to be. Venuto explains how to collect feedback and chart your progress, then tells you how to use this to decide what to do going forward.
Question of the Day:
I wonder what I could do with all these egg yolks I am not going to eat? I don’t have a dog and my birds and cats don’t want them. They would be a nice addition to the grain we drop on starving nations! Has anyone found a good use for them (without making them part of another recipe)?
Venuto Quote of the Day:
“You are always going to get some kind of results. It’s how you interpret your results that will determine whether you’ll reach your final destination or not……you need to gather feedback and change your course the instant you notice you are not heading in the right direction.”
Last edited on 1 January 2007 06:02 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 2 January 2007 06:56 am |
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I am so tired! My plan was to go up to my room at 10pm and go to sleep at 11pm. I just got to bed and it is 11:30pm. I’ll give myself a few minutes to wind down and write in this diary, and then I am going to sleep. This is a challenge for me. Not withstanding I am coming off a 10 day vacation, I become more awake as it gets later. I am not actually tired – sleepy tired, but exhausted from all the food preparation I just finished for tomorrow’s meals. Tomorrow is my first day at work on this eating plan. It is so much easier to stay home! Heck, even hanging out with a friend today, chatting at Starbucks caused me to delay a meal by 3 HOURS! That meant I still had only 4 meals today instead of 5, as planned. I am not upset, just making an effort to follow the plan for optimal fat-loss.
Overall, things are going great. I finished off Day 4 of no refined sugar or flour. I feel terrific! So this is what stable blood sugar feels like….. Today was my first time to enter into the ‘world’ and face delicious baked goods and lattes. I ordered a sugar-free skinny vanilla latte. Even that was not staying to the diet. And it didn’t taste so hot. My friend got a frappachino with lots of whip cream on top, and iced gingerbread. It looked so delicious. The longer I was there, the more tempted I felt. She couldn’t eat the whole slice, and when she went off to the bathroom, I almost grabbed her plate to eat some of it – without thinking! I felt silly.
Hiking was off because of the rain, and that is how we ended up at Starbucks. I planned to do Turbo Jam’s Cardio Party, but kept putting it off and then I got into packing tomorrow’s daytime meals. I was in that kitchen for about 2 hours. I needed to come up with a shrimp dish and do all the calculating as I planned the meal. I didn’t have too much trouble figuring out what to have together that is at the 50/30/20 ratio. What took so long was the blasted sweet and sour sauce I was trying to concoct. I substituted ingredients, it didn’t taste right so I kept adding more things. I ended up with twice as much sauce as planned and only marginally tasty. I’ll have to work on that recipe! The most unpleasant part is the taste of the splenda and lack of the taste of brown sugar. When I get a chance to get back to the store, I will get some shrimp cocktail sauce. It’s high carbs balances well with the shrimp’s high protein. It is not a complex carbohydrate by any means, and has some sugar in it, but I think that would be a great late afternoon meal at work.
Okay, I got all that off my chest. I feel better. Have a good night’s rest everyone! Now let's see if I can get to sleep and rise at 6am tomorrow!
Last edited on 2 January 2007 06:09 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 2 January 2007 06:06 pm |
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I got up at 6:30am, jumped rope for 30 minutes at 7:15am. I did it! It was a bit tough having to rush so I wouldn’t be late for work. There is no way I could pack 2 meals in the morning. I am glad I did it last night. Breakfast was typical: oatmeal and protein drink, and I feel nice and full. Next meal is at noon. Another co-worker started a low carb, no sugar diet so we are going to support each other in the office. I feel sleepy, but healthy. My blood sugar is amazingly stable.
My plan for this week is to stick with getting up early and jumping rope – shooting for 30 minutes each time; and sticking with the meal plan. I will see what it is like to eat 5 meals a day. I am keeping the same schedule as before but adding the 8:30am meal before work. I need to get storage containers that are square and smaller capacity to be able to fit everything in my lunch box. Part of what took so long last night was looking for appropriate containers and ‘stealing’ the ones I needed that were already being used.
I should have the fat caliper by the weekend so I will begin the habit of weighing and measuring on Saturday mornings. Then I will need to devise a log that incorporates everything together to make charting easier. Everything else is in place and being implemented. I will just need to gather more meal plans through time to allow for variety. I decided to do strength training 4 days a week: Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday. That gives me plenty of free evenings after work, so I can keep a good social life. For now I will follow this exercise plan:
Monday am- jump rope pm- open
Tuesday am- jump rope pm- open
Wednesday am- jump rope pm- weights
Thursday am- jump rope pm- weights
Friday am- jump rope pm- open
Saturday am- jump rope pm- weights
Sunday am- jump rope pm- weights
Adjustments will be made once I see if cardio every morning is reasonable/necessary and when I begin to incorporate P90X workouts into my plan.
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 3 January 2007 05:24 pm |
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Good morning, everyone! I hope you had a pleasant day yesterday. It was my first day back to work and it was really hard to focus on WORK! I felt tired all day. I ate 2 meals on schedule at work, which was good. No huge temptations – though I did have to hide the container of candy that was a gift, and the international coffees.
The sweet and sour shrimp w/ rice turned out okay and that was my late afternoon meal. The shrimp was so filling! But I don’t think I can eat that sauce again. I’m going to chunk it and try again later. When I got home last night I decided to have salad with tuna. To get enough carbs I had an apple, tangarine and some grapes. Finally I was able to find a meal I could eat all this fruit I bought! I still felt tired so I napped a little. Then it was after 8pm so I had my evening protein shake and toast. Before I knew it, it was time to pack tomorrow’s meals. I dreaded it. But once I got started everything went well and it was enjoyable.
STRATEGY is the key. I decided that it would be better if I am making a salad to eat, I should make another at the same time for the next day. Because I had to drag out all the ingredients all over again. And it would be good to have the refridgerator more organized for these meals so I can grab things easily. Also I boiled a ½ dozen eggs for future meals, a small pot of brown rice, and saved ½ of the potato I was cooking. Getting organized felt good. But it was after 11pm, again, before I was finished and I didn’t go to sleep until midnight.
I made an ‘executive’ decision and moved my alarm to 7:30am. I have done cardio several mornings now and pushed from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. The alarm went off this morning and somehoow I found myself waking up again at 8:20am! Geez – so much rushing around. I ate my standard breakfast – oatmeal and protein drink and then rushed off to work. (I now add a spoonful of non-fat half&half to the whey, orange juice and splenda -- it tastes better)
My body feels weary in a way I am not accustomed. It isn’t the same as feeling ill, lack of sleep or even from too much weight trainng. This must be what if feels like to do a lot of cardio. So I am glad I didn’t try to push jumping rope this morning. It is a lot to add so much food preparation and exercise sessions. I will have to be patient this week as I combine this with working. Thank goodness it is a short week!
Meal 2 – 12 noon
Salad with tuna
Homemade vinegar and oil dressing
Tangarine, apple, grapes
Meal 3 – 3pm
2 oz beef
5 oz potato w/ ½ Tb. ‘butter’
½ c. broccoli
Meal 4 – 6pm
Eggs ala goldenrod
1 c. broccoli
7:30pm weight training: chest, shoulders, triceps, abs
8:30pm protien shake and toast
Venuto Quote of the Day:
“You have to do it by yourself, but you can’t do it alone.”
Last edited on 3 January 2007 05:30 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 4 January 2007 05:29 pm |
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Using the BFFM meal plan – eating whole foods often - is the only possible way I can avoid eating sugar. I stay full and know the next meal is right around the corner.
Yesterday was day 5 of not eating refined foods. I started digging around the kitchen for something ‘bad’ to eat after work, but didn’t find much. I didn’t remember the bag of goodies I hid in the back! Meal 4 ended up being a snack size popcorn with shredded cheese on top and half of a tuna fish sandwich (instead of the more nutritious meal that was planned). Calorie and P/C/F ratio were fine.
At 8:30pm I did weight training and liked doing chest, shoulders, triceps, abs much better than on Saturday. I felt accomplished that I exercised as planned AND enjoyed it. Then I had a protein shake and instead of toast, I put peanut butter and honey in the shake. YUM-YUM-YUM. And very filling too. This is a great ice cream substitute.
Then it was meal packing time again. First meal was easy. Second meal never got packed. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted. I went upstairs ‘almost’ on time, looked up some recipes and went to sleep at 11:30pm.
Woke up this morning on schedule and jumped rope for 30 minutes. It was so much easier than 2 days ago. Taking a one-day break was a good decision. Had to pack meal one more meal and this made me a little late for work.
Meal 2 – 12 noon
2 oz beef
½ cup rice with ‘butter’
½ cup broccoli
Meal 3 – 3:30pm
½ cup egg salad
1 slice bread
salad with oil/vinegar dressing
apple
Meal 4 – 6:30pm
~No idea~
I wonder:
Does anyone else reading this forum jump rope for cardio?
Venuto Quote of the Day:
“Like ice cream, doughnuts are one of the all time no-no’s when body fat reduction
and good health are your goals. Doughnuts contain that king of fat storing
combinations: refined sugar and saturated fats.”
Last edited on 4 January 2007 05:32 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 5 January 2007 05:35 pm |
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Yesterday was Day 7 of the new eating plan. Can I say that I have not had refined foods (white sugar, white flour)? Yesterday I dug around the kitchen again right after work, looking for ‘bad’ food. Nothing healthy sounded appetizing. I wanted something sweet. I ate a granola bar (Health Valley, peanut butter) and cooked up some shrimp. The granola bar tasted fabulous (it has sugar in it) and the shrimp made me feel satiated. I stayed withing the C/P/F ratio and calorie count, so it was a ‘sorta’ cheat meal. I did Day 2 of the split weight training workout. I was able to increase what I had done on Sunday. And it felt SO GOOD. I felt proud and my legs are gaining more definition. I do believe I am starting to get into this new routine. It has been tough to make such big changes that demand so much attention.
After the workout I noticed that I don’t feel ‘wrung out’ and shakey like I always have after doing weights. I am sure it is the new eating plan. My blood sugar is more controlled and I am eating more protein throughout the day, plus the carbohydrates are more complex. Awesome! I can see that it is important to support exercise with a good diet in order to make progress. Another thing – doing 3 sets of each exercise, and 2 exercises for each body part. Is more effective than how I trained previously. I can make real progress this way. I am diligently charting weight lifted and # of reps for each set.
Weight is 126 lbs this morning. I have not yet measured anything else, but will start as soon as the fat caliper arrives. My clothes are still tight and I think I have the same amount of fat on my thighs. My stomach has shrunk a little. I got up at 6:30am and jumped rope for 31 minutes! Had the normal breakfast: oatmeal with milk and fruit, protein in orange juice.
I am bulking up from the exercise, but it may be that I need to change my diet to burn more fat. Instead of the 50/30/20 ratio of C/P/F, I am going to change to 40/40/20. On a 1500 calorie diet, that means 30g protein, 30g carbs and 6.5g fat each meal for 5 meals. Right now I shoot for 22g protein, 38g carbs and 6.5g fat. This amount of protein is hard enough to reach, so I will be grocery shopping and getting more assortments of meat and fish and will buy cottage cheese.
Okay, here’s the big news…… P90X arrived last night! I can’t say I am impressed with beachbody’s shipping policies and tracking, but I am impressed with this program. The books that come with it are very well-made. I read through the nutrition program and a good part of the P90X booklet. I can see that the work I have done in the last few weeks is essential preparation for P90X, and I expect to spend more time getting used to the eating plan and exercise schedule before starting it. I will watch and try some of the workouts and may even incorporate some of them in what I am now doing as a way to prepare for the big commitment.
I did not pack any meals last night or this morning and it was a wonderful break. I decided that on Fridays I can go home for lunch. I will spend this weekend getting better organized and gathering more meal plans. Plus I will cook up a pot of beans and, if time, experiment with cooking with 100% whole wheat flour.
Tonight I am going out to eat with a couple that feels their friend is a good match for me! It is time to start dating again. I AM READY. So this is the first day going to a restaurant on this diet. We will go to a steak place so I will choose a leaner cut with baked potato (sour cream, no butter). I will keep to the same portions, but it will probably extend beyond 300 calories (!!!) so I don’t plan to have Meal 5 later in the evening.
Venuto Quote of the Day:
…add this to your goal and affirmation list: “I don’t go to the gym to maintain,. I go to the gym to improve. And if I want to improve, then today, I must beat my previous workout and do something I’ve never done before.” This mindset makes training extremely exciting.
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trimB
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 January 2007 06:08 pm |
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| Great quote! Funny though - my first thought was intimidating, not exciting... what if I don't quite feel up to pushing myself that hard today??
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NevD
New Member
| Joined: | 26 October 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1536 |
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Posted: 5 January 2007 06:22 pm |
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Sounds more like a 'body-build' mindset than a 'lose-weight' mindset.
As long as you are getting positive results, why worry?
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 6 January 2007 06:20 am |
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wow
your diary is very inspirational! it has caused me to reconsider my approach to all of this. i am happy that things are working out so well for you! and keep posting! i'd love to read about your progress.
~zen
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 7 January 2007 04:56 am |
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Last night went well. At the restaurant I ate half of my sirloin and about half of the potato. No drink, no dessert. It helped that I was with my co-worker that is also on a restricted diet. She is trying to lose weight after having a baby. Back at her place we all stayed up talking until 1am and I had 2 beers.
Today was ‘back to work’ on this new lifestyle. It feels like another job! But it is one I want to do and I am getting a lot of satisfaction from seeing changes in my body, even this early.
I was hungry as soon as I got up this morning, and had a bit of a time figuring out what to eat on this new 40/40/20 plan. I had 1 ½ scoops of whey in 8 oz. of orange juice and a spoonful of natural peanut butter. That brought back a childhood memory – For years I got up early on the weekends and watched cartoons with a jar of peanut butter and a long spoon. See what I mean about eating a high fat diet all my life?! A couple hours later, at noon, I concocted a 40/40/20 meal of chopped eggs with white sauce on a piece of toast and low-fat cottage cheese. I had to run to the grocery store to get the cottage cheese in order to make a high protein breakfast. The meal was okay but somewhat unpleasant. I washed it down with diet sprite.
In the meantime I put the beans in the crockpot and they were done by the 6pm meal. I watched P90X’s ‘Cardio X’ workout thinking I would do that instead of jumping rope, but it was a mix of every part of P90X and not a steady pace where I could keep my heart rate up, plus I would have to concentrate on learning a lot of new moves. I didn’t think that would be a good cardio workout this morning, so I jumped rope for 31 minutes. I feel my glutes and calves getting stronger. I was able to play around with different steps which made it fun.
I used the ‘My Weigh 7001dx’ to weigh my 3rd meal. I was able to figure it out without reading the directions and it was amazing to use, compared to the dollar store version I had for years, which by the way, went straight into the trash. I found a website that reviews kitchen scales and this one got the best recommendation, and of course I got a great deal on eBay, with the fast shipping and great service I have grown accustomed to.
Meal 2 – noon
Eggs ala goldenrod
½ c. cottage cheese
Meal 3 – 3pm
3 oz. sirloin
2.5 oz potato with a spoonful of cottage cheese and a little ‘butter’
½ tangerine
1 scoop of P90X recovery drink (has sugar in it)
Meal 4 – 6pm
½ c. beans
2 oz. beef
¼ c. sautéed onions
½ c. milk with cocoa and splenda
Meal 5 – 9pm
1 ½ scoops whey
½ c. milk
3 splenda
1/3 frozen banana
½ Tb. Peanut butter
1 Tb. Cocoa
ice
Last edited on 7 January 2007 04:59 am by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 7 January 2007 05:25 am |
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It is SO NICE to hear from you all! I am glad you are getting a benefit from this diary, zen. I will keep writing, especially knowing that others are listening.
trimblebee and nevd: I am pulling quotes from a book that is over 300 pages, and some other documents that Venuto sends to those on his mailing list. Looking at that quote by itself, I agree that it could be pressuring. And it sounds like it is coming straight from a bodybuilder. Which, I guess it is! I take it in stride – I am in the arena of 8-10 pound dumb bells, so I am sure I am not pushing it like more muscle-minded folks. But I am benefiting from his mindset in realizing if I stay in the super-safe and comfortable zone, I won’t, AND HAVEN’T, build muscle while lifting weights. So starting from an 8 lb. dumb bell and increasing weight/reps slowly through time, is a very good plan for me (as opposed to staying at 8 lbs. through eternity). And I think once a person knows the difference between being too soft and pushing too hard, that if maintaining at the same weight/reps makes sense, then that is exactly what they should do. But for me, being at the very beginning of the journey, I have some moving forward and growing to do!
My personal quote of the day: {Just say NO to  }
Last edited on 7 January 2007 05:27 am by chererene
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NevD
New Member
| Joined: | 26 October 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1536 |
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Posted: 7 January 2007 02:50 pm |
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I had to run to the grocery store to get the cottage cheese in order to make a high protein breakfast. The meal was okay but somewhat unpleasant.
Cottage cheese is a great food, but not a winner in taste terms. I find that splashing on a smidge of spicy ketchup or a 'Branston' type pickle perks things up no end...
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 8 January 2007 07:30 pm |
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Yesterday I jumped rope for 32 minutes and stayed on the 40/40/20 diet without out much trouble. Here were the meals~
Meal 1 – 11am
whey in orange juice
2 tsp. peanut butter
(not a very filling breakfast)
Meal 2 – 1:30pm
4 oz shrimp
1Tb cocktail sauce
½ c. coleslaw, homemade
½ c. steamed kale
½ grapefruit
10 grapes
(this meal felt exceptionally satisfying)
Meal 3 – 4:30pm at Jason’s Deli
Chicken chili
2 mini muffins
1/3 c. frozen yogurt
few bites of a very fattening potato
Meal 4 – 7pm
Oatmeal
Chocolate/whey in milk
Meal 5 ~skipped~
I cooked a pork loin in the crockpot in the afternoon, made coleslaw, and cooked up enough shrimp for a few meals. It is so easy to put the shrimp in a rectangular dish, stir in a little olive oil and pour in a little water, sprinkle some spices, then cook in the microwave at 60% power for about 3 minutes. When they are done I drain them and put them in the fridge to eat later as shrimp cocktail. I packed 2 meals for today and then went to bed at 10:30pm.
I felt rested this morning but jumping rope was a killer for some reason. I kept tripping, my heart ran faster than normal and I needed more breaks.
Meal 1 – 11am
Oatmeal
Chocolate/whey in milk
Meal 2 – noon
3 oz. beef
½ cup brown rice
½ c. broccoli
Meal 3 – 3pm
4 oz shrimp
1Tb cocktail sauce
½ c. coleslaw, homemade
½ grapefruit
10 grapes
Meal 4 – 6pm
Pork loin
Beans
?
Meal 5 -- 9pm
Chocolate whey shake w/ peanut butter
I didn't do weight training over the weekend, as scheduled, so I plan to do a workout tonight. Four days a week may be too much.
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 9 January 2007 06:19 pm |
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Lifted weights last night for 45 minutes at 6:30pm. I was in the mood to exercise much earlier than normal. The workout was great. Packed lunches and went to bed late, talking to friends on the West coast.
Decided to forgo jump rope this morning. Instead I watched the Kenpo X workout and it looks fun! Punches, kicks and blocks. I want to do it tonight but going over a friends for dinner. I’ll do the workout late tonight or see if I can squeeze an hour workout before work tomorrow.
Meals are similar, except today I am having asparagus with the pork/rice. Made a wine-mustard sauce last night – YUCK. I’d rather have ½ white wine and ½ chicken broth.
I measured my arms, waist, hips, legs over the weekend. But I am still getting used to the Accu-measure caliper so I don’t have a consistent body fat reading to log yet. One thing, though, is my fat % is less than estimated by other means. It is closer to 25%. Still, losing 5% is a good challenge, and according to Venuto, should take about 10 weeks.
Have a great day, everyone!
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 10 January 2007 06:55 pm |
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Last night was my cheat night. I went to L.’s after work, had 2 apple martinis and then ½ c. white rice with a bowl of gumbo. Her gumbo has a lot of okra in it and I LOVED it!!! (to my surprise). I got a lot less protein than normal, but also ate a handful of pistachios. That’s not so bad, right? Well, as I was getting ready to leave, it became apparent that my rock-solid friend needed some support. I stayed an hour more.
I left jazzed and wide awake. I planned to cheat last night yet there was not dessert, so I went out of the way to find a McDonalds and got a vanilla cone. Remember, ice cream is my first and most enduring love! It was pretty good, but not as gratifying as a piece of banana pudding cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. That will be my big cheat when the time comes. Anyway, I enjoyed the cone while I drove home and then came up with another fabulous idea. I pass by Taco Bell on the way home and I could get the Nachos Bell Grande for ole times sake! So I obediently turned into Taco Bell, and …. the door was locked. Apparently the place closes at 10pm and it was…..10pm. I drove the rest of the way home a little grumpy. But my stomach hurt a little from the ice cream, so I cheered up by the time I reached the front door.
I went straight to my room instead of watching TV. I tape All My Children every day – but I had experienced enough real-life drama with my buddy so my brain didn’t need more ‘deep sighing’ stress. Okay, so that was a good choice that I usually don’t make. I read a little bit from BFFM – the chapter on making good food choices and fell asleep by 11:30pm. Since I was still interested in trying Kenpo X in the morning, I set the alarm for 6am.
And I got up at 6am! I know you don’t know me, but that is a flat-out miracle. At least 1½ hours earlier than what I have been doing for years. Kenpo was fun, but not nearly as strenuous as Turbo Jam’s Cardio Party or 30 minutes of jump rope. Those are a lot harder. I wore my heart monitor and stayed in zone 3 most of the time. Still, I enjoyed the punching and kicking. Jumping rope has made a REAL difference in my heart’s endurance.
I did not pack lunches, and had a protein shake for breakfast instead of oatmeal. Thankfully I am not fantasizing about more cheating. Last night I also practiced with the body fat caliper and got consistent enough that I logged a measurement – 12mm, which makes me 24.15% body fat. Venuto took the time to make the Accu-measure chart much more detailed than the one that comes with the caliper. Then I filled out his chart that logs body fat/lean mass over a 12 week period. The goal is to lose ½% body fat each week without losing lean body mass. THAT is what encourages me to continue eating right. If I start cheating a lot, that % is not going to go down. Having numbers staring you in the face is movtivating.
I am going home for lunch today to eat some of the rice and gumbo and will make a salad and salad dressing from cottage cheese. I will cream it in the blender and add spices, vingegar and mabe a little oil. Then I’ll pack this afternoon’s meal.
Meal 1 – 8:30am
Milk/fruit protein shake
Meal 2 – 12 noon
Gumbo
½ c. white rice
salad with ‘cottage cream’
Meal 3 – 3pm
3 oz. pork loin
½ yam
aparagus
Meal 4 – 6pm
?
Meal 5 – 9pm
Oatmeal
Chocolate whey drink
Venuto Quote of the Day:
"Your goal is to make the best choice possible from the foods available to you in any given circumstance. You may not always be able to eat the best thing possible, but you don’t have to eat the worst thing either. If you‘re faced with a choice between bad and worse, take bad. Faced with good and great, choose great."
Last edited on 10 January 2007 06:59 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 11 January 2007 10:46 pm |
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Got home last night and ate 2 protein bars a friend gave me. It was the right amount of protein and carbs, but double the fat. They didn’t taste that great (that is why she gave them to me!) but I enjoyed them pretty well. I could tell the difference in how I felt, though, compared to eating whole food. Did 30 minutes of Yoga X – out of 90 minutes. That workout is TOUGH and will take some time to build up to. I loved the stretching and ‘clearing my mind’ after work. But I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times you go into plank, upward dog, plank, downward dog – 100 maybe? I have trouble with that kind of repetition, though I do see its value. Then I did the 20 min. Turbo Jam's Ab Jam - so effective and very fun!
My last meal was a half serving of shrimp with cocktail sauce, carrot and celery sticks with the cottage cream and a chunk of cheese. Plus I had a half-glass of wine. THEN I ate 2 sugar-free fudgesicles, which are about 9 carbs each. I went to bed early and set the alarm for 6am.
Got up at 6 this morning, grudgingly, and ended up going through a bunch of papers I stashed away at Christmas. I was looking for a federal tax refund check (how I lost it, I do not know) but found two unpaid bills instead. 
That got me to a late start but I decided to exercise anyway. I did a 50 minute weight training workout and loved every minute of it. I thought I wouldn’t lift as well so early in the day, but my stats were consistent with working out at night. And it feels great to lift weights in the morning. You may have noticed that I am shying away from jumping rope in the morning. Monday really kicked my toosh so I am doing other things while my attitude recuperates. I am starting to look forward to jumping again soon, but will do it later in the day. Right now I am thrilled that I am getting up so early  and I don’t want to disourage that.
On a side note, I am keeping up with reading forums and I finished re-reading a chapter in BFFM. I think it is important to read this stuff several times so it becomes ‘common’ knowledge. I read BFFM like a madwoman over the holiday break since I was so eager to get started on the right foot and didn’t have time to lollygag around. Changing eating and sleeping patterns and caloire expediture is BIG, so I am being kind to myself and also I feel so happy that I finally made this step. I feel great and great about myself. Now it is all so CLEAR why we are told to change our diet first whenever we have a physical condition, like high cholesterol, sleeping problem, depression, etc.
One thing I haven’t mentioned, because it is so personal, is that I have been crying a whole lot less these past couple weeks. Crying is one of my favorite past times, for some reason. My homelife growing up was full of crises and abuse, so becoming a full-fledged adult has taken a lot of time and effort. Following BFFM has affected my moods, by making them very even, kinda like what it is doing to my blood sugar. Maybe there is a correlation there? It’s possible. But hey, why keep suffering from the backlash of past incidents when it is possible to move forward into the present, free from all of that?! If for no other reason, THIS is enough for me to keep going on eating well and exercising. And it helps a lot to finally have a clear definition of what that means.
Meal 1 – 8:30am
Whey in orange juice and a spoonful of peanut butter
Meal 2 – 12 noon
cup of chili (some sour cream and cheese)
salad, low-cal italian dressing, a few croutons
2 saltine crackers
(ate out with co-workers)
Meal 3 – 3pm
2 protein bars
(no leftovers from lunch, as planned)
Meal 4 – 6pm
Tuna and salad?
Meal 5 – 9pm
Strawberry protein shake
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OWF
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 01:58 am |
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Hi Chere,
Thanks for posting in my diary!
I just read your entire diary-every last post! I enjoyed reading and its funny you say the name of your diary is from a book, The Secret. I saw the DVD The Secret over the summer last year and I LOVED IT! My friend mailed me another copy for Christmas too! Whats funny, is I just changed the name of my diary the other day because I felt my old name was not in the present tense and was in my way. That is something we have in common. I like your positive attitude. We also have an abusive/violent childhood in common. Hmm....coincidence? Or does everyone with a scary childhood have eating issues? I have been on some sort of "diet" since I was 12 years old. Interesting to think about. I am also in LOVE with sugar. I probably ate it about 10 times a day. I am slowly making better choices. I also started reading BFFM the other day. I like it so far. I probably wont be able to stick to the 5 planned and cooked and packed meals you are so diligent about, but I will alter it to fit my lifestyle and work schedule. It seems like a positive approach.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and congrats on losing weight already!
 OWF
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Hisgal
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 05:46 pm |
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We also have an abusive/violent childhood in common. Hmm....coincidence? Or does everyone with a scary childhood have eating issues? I have been on some sort of "diet" since I was 12 years old. Interesting to think about.
That is an interesting thought.....mine wasn't physically abusive, but is was mentally abusive. My mother was verbally abusive, told me she wished I'd never been born, and never told me that she loved me until about 6 weeks before she died of lung cancer. I never felt loved by her, or important in her life. And I've been overweight since I was about 11-12 years old. Hmmmmm...........
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 07:02 pm |
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Got home yesterday just before 7pm. I was surprised that I didn’t feel pressed to hurry up and eat while running errands after work. I am used to my body saying, “I want to eat and I want to eat NOW!!!”. I didn’t think the protein bars would sustain me, but they did. I was eager to have a meal I am now accustomed to – beef, yam and asparagus. I feel so good after eating food like that. I got sleepy and cozy on the couch, but after an hour or so I got up and did 30 minutes of the Plyometrics X 60 minute workout. Ouch!!!! I worked my legs and back in the morning and was pretty sore, so doing plyo (jumping around) wasn’t the best combination. But I was curious about trying another cardio workout in P90X since the others didn’t get my heart rate up enough. This one does just fine! I was in zone 4 most of the time – this is is a lot closer to jumping rope. I felt like I was in basketball practice, or something like that, when the coach has you do crazy warm up exercises. It was fun.
So last night after Plyo, I made the P90X recovery drink with ½ milk, ½ water and enough whey to balance the protein and carbs. It tasted pretty good, but I could tell I was drinking something with sugar in it. Then later, not feeling hungry at all, I decided to have a snack size popcorn. It simply is not worth the calories without butter, so I melted 2 teaspoons of real butter and drizzled it on top. I haven’t had real butter in 2 weeks. It was quite satisfying. Went to bed after 11pm.
I got up at 7:30am this morning, pretty peeved that it wasn’t Saturday! My cats really annoy me sometimes when they stare at me waiting for me to get up and feed them. The worst part is their whiskers, just ever so barely touching my face. It makes me want to scream! I have always had a hard time getting up so I purposefully got them to expect breakfast as soon as I get up. It is my second alarm clock if the first one doesn’t get me to budge.
Needless to say, no time for exercise but breakfast was great. Got back to oatmeal. By the way, I find that a lot of these foods freeze very well. I can’t tell that the oatmeal was frozen or the beef last night. When I make a lot of something I put half in the freezer. This cuts down on the amount of cooking.
I didn’t pack meals either. The plan is to go home for lunch. I look forward to real food again and am not thinking about wanting junk. I even considered eating Taco Bell while running errands last night, and didn’t want it!! My worst time is in the evening. I used to snack all the way until bedtime and would bring a bag of candy with me to munch on, or suck on, while I read.
Meal 1
Oatmeal
Chocolate whey drink
Meal 2
Gumbo and rice
Kale
Meal 3
Pork loin
Rice
Asparagus
Meal 4
Dinner out at cuban restaurant
Meal 5
~skip~
BFFM Quotes Price Pritchett:
“Everything looks like a failure in the middle. You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room. If you send a rocket toward the moon, about ninety percent of the time it’s off course – it “fails” its way to the moon by continually making mistakes and correcting them.”
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 07:30 pm |
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hey!
i just wanted to ask what you meant by your heart being in zones. i assume it means where your heart rate it, but what is optimal for fat loss and how long of a period should you be in a particular zone?
thanks!
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 07:35 pm |
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OWF,
Since I just read from your diary yesterday, I don’t know what it was entitled before! But I do see your positive attitude in the title now. You have been writing for a long time, so I stopped midway and searched for the word ‘fat’ on the following pages, since I was looking to see if you had measured your body fat % again since the beginning. So whenever you talked about your father, the ‘fat’ in the word was highlighted. It wasn’t the word I was searching for, but my curiosity caused me to read a little – and I saw your relationship with him wasn’t good. It got me thinking about how hard you are on yourself and I have been the same.
Being hard on myself is painful. It consumed me even when I knew I was doing it and shouldn’t. It takes a while to get the very powerful, negative-voltage messages out of our heads that we got from unloving parents. But I forged on year after year, as I am sure you will. As far as I am concerned, there is no choice but to keep trying. The result of not conquering the ill-effects of child abuse is not a life worth living, in my opinion. The effort DOES bring results, but it was years before I started to get some relief.
I know that my relationship with food is directly linked to my childhood experiences. For me, it was a way to experience pleasure. Sweetness from sugar and fulfilment from fat. That is why I was so scared to give it up. Of course the goal (in my case) is to learn how to get sweetness and fulfillment from people, rather than food! The most essential person to get it from is ourselves. That is one person you can control. And I look to build long-term, committed friendships to fill the gap from family.
Hisgal,
Nice to hear from you! I am finally starting to make some friends on this forum. This is cool! Your story has a real ‘bite’ to it. It is so hard to grow up without a mother’s love. It makes me think of that experiment they did several years ago. To see if infants could thrive without attention they left one group in their cribs with no hugs and kisses, and gave them food without the presence of a human. The control group was given a normal amount of love and attention. Babies started dying quickly in the test group so they immediately abandoned the experiment. ~SCARY~
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 12 January 2007 07:41 pm |
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Hi Zenobia,
I got a heart rate monitor that told me to do a couple of things to get an estimate of my maximum heart rate. It was 185. From that you look at a chart to see what your heart rate is for each zone. For me zone 4 is 148-169, and that is the zone I am targeting. It is where you are getting a really good workout but you can still talk while in it. Zone 5 goes from 169 to the max of 185. I don't plan to work at that level for now since my goal is to be able to sustain 30 minutes of cardio in my target zone (which I am told is how to burn fat). So to answer your question, Venuto recommends 30-60 minutes of consistent cardio to burn fat, 5-7 times a week. And before breakfast is an ideal time.
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Hisgal
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 January 2007 02:03 am |
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My cats really annoy me sometimes when they stare at me waiting for me to get up and feed them. The worst part is their whiskers, just ever so barely touching my face. It makes me want to scream!
Yeah, but you've got to love them anyway, don't you?
I've got two.....a 8 1/2 year old male and a 1 1/2 year old female. Since the kids moved out and got married, they've been our "kids". We'd be lost without them. They are both "lap cats" and I sleep best when they cuddle up with me
I didn't start to lose weight until after my mother died. I wonder if there is some significance in that? But, I'd also have to say it was after I let go and totally forgave her for the things she said and did. I am a Christian, and know I have to forgive....even when it isn't easy or when it doesn't seem right. Once I forgave her, I had a great peace.........then I started losing weight. I didn't put that all together until now! Thanks Zen and Chere for your insight
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 15 January 2007 09:32 pm |
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Yep, gotta love the kitties! They are wonderful companions. And my lovebirds also - they are 2 little bundles of cuteness!!!!
Over the weekend I did a lot of cooking for the coming week. I have to keep the meals varied and interesting in order to stay with the eating plan. So I cooked meatloaf in the crockpot (which is absolutely delicious, by the way), mashed potatoes, shrimp, coleslaw, oven potatoes, broccoli, rice, oatmeal. These are all simple foods but it still took up a lot of time. But I love it.
I was able to get out last night to a chili social, which was fun. I had finished my 3rd meal a couple hours before the party, and I didn’t feel all that hungry. Even with eating a small amount of chili and a corn muffin, I felt satiated. I got another serving of both anyway and then drank a beer. But even so, my internal experience was much different than being at parties prior to changing my diet. Also, I got seriously lost picking up my friend D., and then we got lost going to the party – which ended up being closer to my place – but in all that I felt extremely calm. I am not getting those surges of adrenalin (or whatever it is) that caused me to feel fearful or anxious on a regular basis.
My son came home with the flu and I started feeling icky so I didn’t exercise as much. Even so, I tallied close to 5 hours of exercise for the past week. I got back to jumping rope on Saturday morning and was glad that I could enjoy it again. Sometimes you just need a break!
I am not going to go into detail about my meals each day, since they are staying relatively the same. I did, however, decide that 1500 calories was a little too high, so I now plan for 1400 calories. This means each meal consists of 27g protein, 27g carbohydrates and 5g fat. Sometimes I go over on the fat and one night I ate carbohydrates only for my last meal of the day. I do plan to say when I have cheated because I need to know how often since it is easy to tell myself it was a long time ago since I had a sweet snack.
I read a little from “The Secret” about the importance of being grateful. So, as they recommended, one night I wrote down a list of things for which I am grateful. I got to 50! I could have written even more but decided to save it for another session. It makes sense because the book says to spend our time thinking about the things we want, rather than the things we don’t want. So being grateful is taking a tally of the things we want AND HAVE already!
Tomorrow is my day to take body fat measurment. I cheated a little and measured yesterday. I measured 1 or 2 mm less than last week (I am still working on being consistent). Not sure what will happen tomorrow, though. I just finished eating a brownie with chocolate icing......
I took two other measurements over the weekend, both of which made me very happy. Both Saturday and Sunday morning I took my pulse before rising out of bed. It was 70 and 72bpm, respectively. I am thrilled! This may not be the same way I measured before, so I can’t verify the change, but I swear my pulse was closer to 85 or 90bpm before I started jumping rope for 30 minutes at a time. Also, a few years ago I bought some litmus paper to test the acidity of my saliva. This is supposed to be a good indication of health. 7 – neutral – is ideal. In the past mine got as low at 5.6. It is now 5.9. I consider that a real triumph and I am sure it is because I am eating less sugar.
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 17 January 2007 12:22 am |
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Feeling a little sick today. Still have a slight fever. Last night I did 1 hour of stretching using Stretch X. It was the perfect thing to do while not feeling well enough to lift weights or do cardio. Even yoga would have been too strenuous.
Yesterday I allowed myself that big icing-covered brownie after lunch. It was so filling I didn’t even think of eating a meal at 3:30pm. I ate a planned meal when I got home at 6pm and then started thinking about what else I wanted. I ate 2 popsicles (16g carbs), 2 granola bars (46g carbs). Then I got the bright idea to have two pieces of toast (36g carbs) with peanut butter (natural) and jelly (fruit only). Each one of these treats was very enjoyable. But they were way OFF PLAN. I tend to comfort myself with food when I am sick. I am not exactly sure what to think of this slip. It means I was in deficit about 45g protein for the day and in excess 45g carbohydrates, and had extra fat from eating the peanut butter. This is NOT COUNTING the brownie. That was several grams of fat and carbohydrates, but I do not know how much.
So from all that analyzation, I would say the brownie was the real excess. The other choices were compromising and a little high in fat but nothing horrible. From this I see that once I slip I keep stumbling a little while after. Plus not feeling well played an emotional factor. We’ll see how today goes.
This morning I needed to sleep in again and I was not hungry for food so I had whey in milk and orange juice. That tasted great (I love orange julius!) and didn’t curdle like I thought it would. Packing was easy. One meal is already at work and so I packed the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli.
My friend S. suggested we go to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and split a salad and a piece of cheesecake. I was all about that. So we did. I also had 2 small pieces of white bread with real butter (less than a tablespoon) and I added a little cream to my coffee. So I’ve slipped again! The salad had chicken in it but much less than 3.5 oz. Everything tasted so good because these are things I have denied myself for a couple of weeks. So now packing meals for tomorrow is unnecessary since there are two in the office refridgerator already!
I discovered bodybuilding.com. You can search for products in multiple ways. As an example, you can search protein bars by the most protein, the lowest carbs, the least sugar, the most popular, etc. It is really cool! And shipping is reasonable if you choose FedEx ground. Protein powder is one of my additional expenses on this plan, so I am looking for a good supplier.
I decided to eat a meal at 3:30pm today even though I cheated at lunch. It was a smart move. I had a light meal, a little low in carbs and low in fat: shrimp with cocktail sauce, coleslaw and an apple. I feel nourished again. It is time to make a plan to prevent a tailspin in cheating. I WILL NOT eat any sugar tonight. If I am dying for something, I will make the chocolate whey shake with peanut butter. I WILL NOT eat a low protein meal tonight. I WILL carefully count what I eat tonight. I will then take the time to set out a no-cheating plan for tomorrow. My goal is to follow BFFM, which is to cheat no more than 2 times a week. That is 2 meals out of 35!Last edited on 17 January 2007 08:54 am by
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 18 January 2007 12:30 am |
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Guess what! I measured body fat % last night (Tuesday is measuring day) and it has gone down 1mm! That doesn’t sound like much, but 11mm is 23.25% body fat. I have gone down almost 1% in one week. That is high, so I am not completely convinced I am accurate. But I am using a freckle to locate the same place every time. I will continue as I have been doing and trust I will become more accurate through time. In any case, it is clear I have not increased in body fat. I am surprised from all the recent cheating this week, and less exercise from being ill. But as I look back I have been working really hard and the lifestyle changes have been significant. In the past I would have eaten a lot more carbs and fat in the last week, MUCH MORE, and a lot less protein. I have heard progress can be two steps forward, one step back. So cheating may have slowed my progress but it did not stop it. In a way it was helpful because as a newbie I was so afraid to fall off the wagon that I was stressing and clutching tightly. Now I have a clearer idea of what falling off will cause.
BFFM offers great strategy techniques for how to respond to the results you are charting. Depending on what is happening – i.e. body fat goes up and lean mass goes down, both body fat and lean mass go up, etc. – he tells you what adjustment needs to be made to your current plan to continue toward your personal goal. Charting results is essential in having this type of control over the long run. It can keep us from just responding to the moment, and instead look at our big picture. On my body fat chart I have put my goal for each week next to where I will put down my actual measurement. Last night I was thrilled to see I had exceeded it. If I had not done that I would have been more fuzzy as to how good/poor my results were.
1st weekly reading: 24.15% body fat
2nd weekly reading: 23.25% body fat (goal was 23.65%)
3rd week goal: 23.15%
(this is not much of a change from last week, but I am keeping an overal goal of losing ½% a week)
I have decided that icing-covered brownies are a NO-NO. They are entirely too sweet compared to the rest of what I eat and it did not make me feel good. If I had eaten ¼ of it, as planned, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had to take it out again, eat another ¼ and then munch on the rest of it until I couldn’t stand it anymore. The cheesecake was entirely different. It is full of fat, but I still think the quality of ingredients were better and less sugar too. I ate ½ and couldn’t eat the other ½ because my friend ate it! And it did not make me feel gross like the brownie.
I just discovered 1 slice of banana cream cheesecake at the Factory has 12g protein, 70g carbs, and 63g fat. WOW!!!!! So I got 6g protein, 35g carbs, and 32g fat (maybe more since I ate a lot of whipped cream).
Lower fat options:
Raspberry lemon cream has 66g carbs and 46g fat.
Original has 53g carbs and 45g fat.
Having said all that, I am actually back on track again. Meals were totally on-plan last night and throughout today. I still have a low fever but seem to be getting better. No exercise last night or this morning. But I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen doing food prep.
Last edited on 18 January 2007 12:34 am by chererene
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OWF
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 18 January 2007 02:26 am |
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chererene wrote: Guess what!
I just discovered 1 slice of banana cream cheesecake at the Factory has 12g protein, 70g carbs, and 63g fat. WOW!!!!! So I got 6g protein, 35g carbs, and 32g fat (maybe more since I ate a lot of whipped cream).
Lower fat options:
Raspberry lemon cream has 66g carbs and 46g fat.
Original has 53g carbs and 45g fat.
Having said all that, I am actually back on track again. Meals were totally on-plan last night and throughout today. I still have a low fever but seem to be getting better. No exercise last night or this morning. But I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen doing food prep.
I remember when I first started working for the Cheesecake Factory and finding out all the nutrition info from the cheesecakes....sad and scary! One slice of the chocolate tower truffle cake has 99 grams of fat and 2,000 calories-its a HUGE slice though and 2-3 people can share it after dinner! Anyway,I am glad you are back on track again!! Also, CONGRATULATIONS on your lower bodyfat %!!!!!!! THAT IS GREAT!!
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 18 January 2007 09:22 pm |
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Thanks, OWF. I am really excited about measuring again next week. It gives me incentive to stick with the right kinds of foods. Oh, I forgot to mention that when my body fat % went down, my weight was unchanged. That was really cool to actually see that I had increased in lean body mass.
Yesterday was 100% on-plan eating. I made shrimp soup when I got home, with the liquid from microwaving the shrimp, the shrimp, kale, mashed potatoes, beans, tomato, and a little rice. It was delicious and filling. I did not have the 5th meal because my appetite is suppressed from the low fever. I am a little bit better tdday but still haven’t kicked it. So many people have been struck with the intestinal virus lately, and it lasts at least a week. Hopefully I am getting a very, very light case. Not exercising is weird. This is the 5th day already.
Still spending a lot of time in the kitchen, even though I did so much over the weekend. It is apparent that eating the BFFM plan and preparing all the meals myself is a lot of work. I like food prep so I am committed to stick with it. I made more poblano peppers and onions, sauteed mushrooms, and made some green beans with dried tomato, which looked great (but I forgot to bring it with me today). I tried to pack some meals ahead of time but I resisted deciding too far out what I would eat.
This morning I slept in and went to work late because of the snow. It was nice not to rush. I had oatmeal and was smart enough not to take my vitamins (my stomach is not ready for them) and had Designer whey (chocolate) in milk. Holy cow – that stuff tastes a lot better than adding cocoa and splenda to Biochem's vanilla protein. And it doesn’t even have sugar in it. I was very impressed with the taste. That breakfast was very satisfying.Last edited on 18 January 2007 09:25 pm by chererene
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chererene
Senior Member
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Posted: 20 January 2007 12:17 am |
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Last night I went home and had a chocolate peanut butter whey shake. I didn’t think I could eat again, but I did and had tuna on toast, some slaw and 2 green olives. I felt tempted to have something sweet, so I had a sugar-free fudgesicle and I managed to stop there. Instead of cooking, I did some house cleaning, and then did the 1hr Stretch X. My back hurt this morning so I will have to be careful doing the more advanced stretches.
This morning I awoke at 7am and did 20 minutes of the Cardio X workout. It felt good but also I could tell my body isn’t completely well. I had oatmeal without fruit and chocolate whey drink. I was able to take my vitamins without my tummy hurting.
Last night I read another chapter of BFFM, about Calories. That is such an excellent book. Here are some calculations I did:
According to Katch-McArdle formula BMR= 370 + (21.6 x lean mass in kg)
My BMR = 370 + (21.6 x 43) = 1299
When my activity level is light, my TDEE is 1.375 x 1299 = 1786 calories to maintain
When my activity level is moderate, my TDEE is 1.55 x 1299 = 2013 calories to maintain
Eating 20% deficit is 1429 with light exercise.
(this is higher than I expected, but maybe I eat a lot more calories in a day than I realized)
1200 calories is the absolute minimum per day.
If I zig-zag every three days, then on the 4th day I would eat 25% more (which is 5% over maintenance) = 1875 or 2114 calories.
If I stick with the 40-40-20 ratio, then:
Then with light exercise, 1430 calories for the day / 286 calories each meal
Protein: Day—572 cal., 143g Meal – 114 cal, 28.5g
Carbs: Day—572 cal., 143g Meal – 114 cal, 28.5g
Fat: Day—286 cal., 31.5g Meal – 57 cal, 6.5g
Zig-Zag Day
With light exercise, 1786 calories for the day / 357 calories each meal
Protein: Day—714 cal., 178.5g Meal – 143 cal, 35.5g
Carbs: Day—714 cal., 178.5g Meal – 143 cal, 35.5g
Fat: Day—357 cal., 89g Meal – 71.5 cal, 8g
I learned that the body is excellent at adjusting to whatever new habit you start. So a great way to keep it from knowing that you have cut your calories below maintenance, is not to cut them every 4th day. But it is important to continue to keep a balance and not overeat. That means each 4th day is NOT ice cream day!!!!
I lost 2 pounds at the very beginning of the diet transformation. And I felt very hungry at night. I no longer feel hunger (I don’t feel a deficit) and I have not lost any weight in a couple weeks. I think my body is adjusting quite well . That is why I cut my calories to 1400/day, but I was adding little things on top of the planned meals, like a ½ beer, a fudgesicle, some popcorn. And then on the days I ate more, the fat content was high, and/or the protein was a lot lower. So I will need to make some adjustment to that.
My decision is that if I do eat something in addtion to the meal, then I will write it down. I will take the extra time and calculate total calories for the day. I don’t really want to do this but…
Venuto said in BFFM
“Many people do almost everything right: they work out, choose the right foods and eat frequently. Yet they miss the most obvious factor of all: they’re simply eating too much! Sometimes, the only mistake holding people back from reaching their goals is failure to pay attention to portion sizes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, it’s the weekend already!! I am having a co-worker over tomorrow with her two little ones. Her husband is busy trying to get his PhD by the Spring. I have fallen in love with these children. Holding little B. reminded me of 18 years ago when I carried my own little 2 year old boy in my arms. So S. doesn't know it yet, but I am devising all kinds of ways that I can be with her kids. She'll be thrilled when she finds out! They do not have family in the area and so they rarely get to go out by themselves. I am ready and willing to be Auntie Chere!!! They have cats too, so when they come over I am going to make a cat toy with little B. I learned how to do knotting from making bird toys, so I think I can re-enact the toy I got at Petsmart.
Their visit will jump-start me on housecleaning for my party next Sunday. I am involved in Meetup.com and am hosting a DVD/potluck night for the Independent Fim group. You don’t really think about it until you are in the situation, but it is not easy to provide enough seating for 15 people to watch a movie (comfortably)!
My goals this weekend are to cook (of course) and see if by Sunday night I can pack 4 meals, rev up the exercise again, and start calculating total calories every day. I am going to try breading some tilapia and baking it. I am not a big fish fan, but I need to get on board with it. I got some tartar sauce to help it go down. I will probably cook a roast too.
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