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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 12 September 2007 12:12 pm |
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This is post 1000 in the diary
Tuesday
Woke up at 6am and decided to stay up (even though I was tired and would normally have gone back to bed) so I could do a bunch of stuff before heading over to college. I finished breakfast by 7.10am. My counselling session (re-)highlighted my repeat pattern of "keeping busy", sometimes even making up unnecessary work to fill up my time, never resting relaxing and reflecting. The induction then began - there are so many of us on this course we had to initially gather at the outdoor basketball court before being segmented into smaller groups. A register was called, a powerpoint presentation introduced the course, an ice-breaker exercise had us all briefly introducing ourselves (in my case it was in one ear and out of the other - if I'll get to know these ~20 people it will be on my own time) a tour of college and a timely break (during which I went to see why my computer account wasn't working; had to have my password re-set but there are still problems). A welcome surprise is a free trip to Alton Towers (it is a theme park with rides) this Friday, the aim is to bond the group. I received my timetable, showing 20 hours in college spread over 4 days (I can make the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings - and on Thursday mornings; I can do as I please on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) we were also handed a handbook describing our course (homework: read booklet). We were introduced to two figure-heads the Team Leader and the Section Manager. It turns out that it was those two senior people who gave me that interview last Monday. Finally the promised snacks arrived. I snubbed the potato chips completely (numbers were such that I could have had 2 packets to myself), I had one artificially sweetned drink and picked a miniature Cadbury Crunchie bar (weighed at 16.4g and later worked out as 78 calories) at 12.35pm (not the best choice to nourish me but my body probably welcomed it after almost 5.5 hours since breakfast). Timetable in hand went back to counsellor to arrange a regular slot. Wednesdays will be my longest days: 9am start and 5pm finish (with a 7-8pm workout following closely) not much different from full time employment. By contrast Monday is 9am-1pm at college. I went home, having not eaten any of the food I packed (in 4 boxes) - though I would eat most of those boxes at home later in the day.
I spotted one anomaly: according to the syllabus [ edexcel.org.uk/VirtualContent/102518/BN018439_for_IT_Practitioners.pdf] each unit provides 60 Guided Learning Hours, yet we only have 31 teaching weeks with one weekly 90 minute session per unit, this means we're only getting 46.5 GLH per unit (a shortfall of 13.5 hours, or 23%, per unit - I wonder if this puts us at disadvantage).
Over 2 years the course comprises 18 units, 6 of which are mandatory and the other 12 can be chosen (it is not clear if the choice is by students or by the college). In the first year students have no choice - there are 9 units (4 of them are from the list of 6 mandatory units, the other 5 are 'optional' units that have been selected for us). I guess for the 2nd year that leaves me the other 2 mandatory units and 7 additional 'optional' units - though it remains to be seen whether I actually get a choice about those 7 units or whether this choice will again be made for me. Tomorrow I will want to re-read the part of the syllabus relating to the the 8 units I am timetabled to cover from Monday onwards.
Made most of the few hours of free time before going out for my 7pm pump class (got there early, set up my weights and then continued reading that 'handbook'). Next week early set-up for pump won't happen because Jam is supposed to happen immediately beforehand in the same studio. In bed before 11pm. (60.4% of calories from fruit and therefore 68.3% of calories from carbs on my high-calorie high-carb (and therefore low-fat) day - also first actual vegeterian day for a while.)
Exercise: [AM] 45 min cycle to college, [PM] 60 min Body Pump. 1.75 hours.
Shopping: 0
Veg: [1348g] beetroot-boiled90 chard-cooked74 cabbage-boiled48 fine-whole-beans-boiled33 cucumber30 celery7 =281 13.4%
Legumes: [26g] TVP-dried85 =85 4.0%
Fruit: [3230g] mango275 apple180 plum-british-lightred168 banana164 orange128 pear120 peaches91 cantelope-melon71 raspberries70 =1267 60.4%
Nuts: [28g] peanuts-salted167 =167 8.0%
Animals: [51g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder202 =202 9.6%
Rubbish: [28g] college-freebie:crunchie-cadbury78 chewing-gum-honey-lemon21 =99 4.7%
Totals: [4712g] 2100, 100.0g protein (19.0%), 29.5g fat (12.7%), 358.5g carb (68.3%), 6.66g saturated fat, 78.98g fibre, 1.09g sodium. 301 is 14.3%
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 13 September 2007 03:27 am |
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Wednesday
Ever since I started doing proper tracking of macronutrients, it has struck me that percentage of calories from Nuts is indeed a very good predictor of percentage of calories from fat [making the whole exercise slightly redundant]. Calories from fruit i predictive of calories from carbs (at least today).
Also, if the amount I eat [in grams] wasn't automatically reported, I wouldn't have realied it adds up to so much. 1500 calories from 3151g gives an average of 48 calories per 100g.
Doen't feel like I've achieved much today.
Exercie: [AM] 60 min Body Step, [PM] 60 min Body Combat. 2 hours.
Shopping: 90p potatos(7.5kg) 83p mushrooms(1.4kg). £1.73
Veg: [1221g] button-sprouts94 mushroom-common-boiled78 romaine-lettuce34 beetroot-boiled23 =228 15.2%
Legumes: [12g] TVP-dried38 =38 2.5%
Fruit: [1704g] pear171 apple146 orange145 plum-british-lightred79 raspberries70 =611 40.7%
Nuts: [69g] peanuts-salted348 linseed52 =400 26.6%
Animals: [135g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder86 turkey-smoked-wafer-thin50 Honduran-jumbo-king-prawns50 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder20 =206 13.7%
Rubbish: [10g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon18 =18 1.2%
Totals: [3151g] 1500, 100.0g protein (26.7%), 47.4g fat (28.4%), 168.4g carb (44.9%), 8.49g saturated fat, 51.78g fibre, 0.89g sodium. 224 is 14.9%
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 14 September 2007 05:48 am |
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Thursday
Picked up courgettes at Sainsbury before an enjoyable pump class, then chatted on phone to Jon whilst buying onions at the market. Cycled to college to print selected portions of syllabus. Briefly sat outside in the sun then came home. Rob came for a visit (he tried to have me come out to the pub but I resisted). Mum postponed a planned visit to the allotment and I went for a nap. 6-9pm was a most productive visit to TESCO where goods normally valued at around £130 were transferred to me for £12.41. Total weight was 64.8 kg (or 142.8 lb). That's about 17% more than my current weight! Spent the next 5.5 hours dealing with shopping but more time will need to be spent on this tomorrow. Too tired to continue!
Decided not to labour the fruit angle at the last meal and ended up with a rather 'moderate' carb day.
Exercise: [AM] 60 min Body Pump, 30 min cycle to college. 1.5 hours.
Shopping:
Sainsbury 94p courgettes(1.6kg)
Market 120p onions(4.1kg)
TESCO
360p apple(20.3kg)
253p pears(10.6kg)
56p conference-pears(3.1kg)
46p white-cabbage(7.7kg)
43p swede(3.4kg)
36p cantelope-melon-cubes(580g)
30p mushrooms-portabello(480g)
30p apple-grape-strawerry-smoothie(raspberry-banana-guava)(360g)
26p italian-style-salad(200g)
25p watermelon(3.3kg)
25p asparagus(250g)
24p onion-courgette-pepper-tomato(490g)
23p mango(880g)
20p banana(2.8kg)
19p onions(1.4kg)
18p carrots(3.1kg)
18p cherry-tomato(800g)
18p stir-fry:beensprout-cabbage-pepper-carrot-onion(270g)
17p grapes(430g)
15p plums(560g)
14p bananitos(590g)
14p pepper-green(300g)
14p pepper-red(250g)
14p mixed-lead-salad(200g)
13p mushrooms(420g)
13p pepper-orange-baby(210p)
13p baby-leeks(210g)
12p raddish(460g)
12p okra(175g)
10p tomato-vine(720g)
10p romaine-lettuce(280g)
£14.55
Veg: [938g] summer-veg:onion-courgette-pepper-tomato(raw)79 stir-fry:beensprout-cabbage-pepper-carrot-oni29 cabbage-boiled28 beetroot-boiled27 mushroom-common-boiled24 onion-pickled9 courgette-boiled7 pepper-red-boiled5 =209 13.9%
Legumes: [9g] butter-bean-boiled10 =10 0.6%
Fruit: [1452g] plum-british-lightred153 raspberries139 orange111 smoothie:rapberry-banana-guava25 =428 28.5%
Nuts: [96g] peanuts-salted578 =578 38.6%
Animals: [160g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder84 liver-ox-stewed50 turkey-smoked-wafer-thin50 Honduran-jumbo-king-prawns50 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder21 =255 17.0%
Rubbish: [12g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon21 =21 1.4%
Totals: [2668g] 1500, 100.0g protein (26.7%), 62.0g fat (37.2%), 135.4g carb (36.1%), 10.88g saturated fat, 44.56g fibre, 0.95g sodium. 276 is 18.4%
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voodoodoll
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 September 2007 11:27 pm |
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hey nir- hope you are well  are you enjoying your college course? i'm just catching up on peoples diaries after my holiday. hope you have a good time at alton towers today, i really want to go but its so expensive!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 15 September 2007 12:05 am |
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Even though I was only there [at Alton Towers] for 5 hours, and the last hour was spent getting lost and managing to get back to the coach with only minutes to spare, it was still quite enjoyable, went on a mixture of rides - mostly the 'thrill' type.
As for college, save for my 3-hour 'induction' and today's trip to the theme park, college has not really started yet. Our first proper class is 9am on Monday so a full report will follow
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 15 September 2007 07:14 am |
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Friday
Bedtime was 3.30am so when I woke up less than 4 hours later I was tired. Packed almost 2kg of 'lunch' with me on the Alton Towers trip: peanuts, smoked-turkey, beetroot, cabbage, courgettes, cucumber and mixed-leaf salads. Didn't take a book with me in the hope that I'd be motivated to read the course syllabus on the bus. That was a mistake. Part of the time at least paid attention to the films screened on the coach (Blades of Glory on the way back - already seen this as a preview at the cinema a few months ago though). Ended up spending longer on the coach trips (almost 5 hours) than enjoying myself in the park (just over 4 hours) but it was still worth it. Did the park by myself - that's my style. In the absence of fruit, doing moderate-carb is a piece of cake. Every student who brought their own lunch brought rubbish, naturally [sweets, potato chips etc]
Naturally quite tired afterwards. I'm concerned about my apples and pears - still yet have to find a cold storage solution for them!
On the 5th of June I started compiling end-of-day statistics for all the foods I was eating [possibly in response to OWF saying that my end-of-day percentage figures don't make sense to her] and I carried on doing this for almost 3 months even though it often took longer to do than the narrative bit of the diary. However, from August 31st onwards the computer is gradually taking over the role of producing the summary. I do a bit of hand-editing (adding colour, for example) but it takes seconds rather than minutes.
I defrosted more smoked turkey than I ended up needing - as the day wasn't as fruit-heavy as usual (I mostly eat fruit in frozen smoothies, which I have to be home to prepare). I think 45% carbs is an acceptable carb target for my moderate carb days. overshooting on protein was not intentional. When I got home I was hitting the exotic veg I don't get every day such as portobello mushrooms, okra, asparagus, peppers etc. I wouldn't be up this late (or early) if it wasn't for the fire alarm going off in my building in the middle of the night (false alarm).
Exercise: 45 min cycle to college. 0.75 hours.
Shopping: 0.
Veg: [2749g] courgette-boiled103 cabbage-boiled71 beetroot-boiled67 tomato56 pepper-orange-raw52 asparagus-boiled41 mixed-salad-FLORETTE40 pepper-red31 cucumber25 leek-boiled23 okra-boiled22 mushroom-common-boiled19 lettuce-mixed-leaf12 =563 37.5%
Fruit: [836g] mango139 apple79 cantelope-melon55 grapes43 strawberries16 =331 22.1%
Nuts: [54g] peanuts-salted283 monkey-nuts41 =324 21.6%
Animals: [161g] turkey-smoked-wafer-thin150 chocolate-flavour-whey-powder98 =248 16.5%
Rubbish: [20g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon34 =34 2.2%
Totals: [3820g] 1500, 104.0g protein (27.7%), 45.0g fat (27.0%), 169.8g carb (45.3%), 7.65g saturated fat, 62.05g fibre, 0.93g sodium. 282 is 18.8%
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 16 September 2007 09:35 am |
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Hi Nir
We used to go to Alton Towers a couple of times a year. Becasue of Martins' disability we don't queue, but get priority and don't have to wait for rides, so we get a lot more rides for our money as well as discount entry. But we haven't been for a couple of years because of the tiddly widdlies. It's all a bit too loud for teeny peole, although at 3 Ben would probably enjoy the kiddy land areas now.
Did you make any bonds? Strike up any friendships with other students? Are you the only mature? Am dying to know how you feel.
All the best
B
Last edited on 16 September 2007 09:36 am by Ohm
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 16 September 2007 12:37 pm |
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Becci Aryal wrote: Did you make any bonds? Strike up any friendships with other students? Are you the only mature? Am dying to know how you feel.
I didn't make conversation on the coach, and they quickly disperesed upon arrival at the park (which is quite large - I think I spotted a couple of people during the time I was there). I guess not much different to my visit to Eurodisney in 2005 (except I actually travelled there on my own, too). Not spotted any mature students on my course yet. There are 80+ of us but we're in 20-odd tutor groups (I'm definitely the only mature student in my group). I expect I shall get to know people eventually. Some of the group already know each other, having done the corresponding Level 2 course last year. There are definitely differences in social development between course participants - some are social and outgoing whilst others remind me of myself at their age.
Saturday
Gym: went to the sauna to relax and finish the shower drying-off process before showing up for combat, where it was apparent that it was Carol's birthday today. When people state their age they say how old they will be at their next birthday (this happened with the last 2 people I can think of, both in their 50s). The CD wouldn't play in the studio's stereo and various gym personnel were alerted. After a 20 minute delay when we were going to give up on it and use a ghetto-blaster, it started working again - we now think there is a lose wire inside the stereo. We had to miss a couple of combat tracks to avoid running late. Carol brought a box of Celebration chocolates. I picked a Snickers and a Malteaser but waited till I was in the changing room and able to weigh them.
Outdoors by the food centre there was a NESCAFE promotion for their frothy-hot-drink-maker (£75 is still a rip-off surely) - I stopped to have a hot drink, plumping for a 'chocochino'. Then I popped into Waitrose in an attempt to obtain nutrition info for the chocochino (not available there but the internet proved useful later on) and had a sample of stilton cheese with apricot. I was not worried about indulging as it was a scheduled high day.
Against my advice, Nash purchased a new overpriced toy - a Nokia N95 phone. This will cost him about £400 over the course of the year, what a waste of money, you can get a decent laptop for this sort of spend but evidently there was cash burning a hole in his pocket. I was also an "early adopter" in my time, getting all sorts of overpriced technology "because I'm worth it". On the plus side he is finally in the world of contract phones so I don't have to keep calling him back.
My pears are finally all refrigerated. Produce currently still awaiting refrigeration includes apples, swede and onions.
6-8pm was a trip to the allotment. I spent nothing and came home with raspberries(2kg) onions(1kg) spinach(780g) cauliflower(760g) mange-tout(120g). The last two were freebies from mum who was given them by a guy at the market who was otherwise forbidden from doing price reductions (a curious development and a cause for concern). I cooked a bunch of those low-carb high-protein vegetables, ready to be eaten tomorrow (a low-calorie moderate-carb day).
I made sure I really enjoyed my high-carb day. I guess now that I only have 2 of them per week I will grow to appreciate them more - and with low days on 5 out of 7 days, I will eventually think of them as "the norm" rather than something unusual to dread.
Exercise: [AM] 45 min Body Combat, 60 min Body Pump. 1.75 hours.
Shopping: 0.
Veg: [863g] onion-boiled109 iceberg-lettuce18 raddish10 =137 6.5%
Legumes: [47g] TVP-dried154 =154 7.3%
Fruit: [2824g] pear494 apple355 grapes130 plum-british-lightred83 cantelope-melon55 =1117 53.2%
Starchy: [472g] swede-boiled47 potato-baked32 =79 3.8%
Nuts: [8g] peanuts-salted45 =45 2.2%
Animals: [119g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder189 liver-ox-stewed50 turkey-smoked-wafer-thin50 =289 13.8%
Rubbish: [70g] sample-by-food-centre:chococino-NESCAFE-Dolce-Gusto148 gym:snickers-bar-MARS47 gym:malteser-bar-MARS41 Waitrose-sample:stilton-with-apricot22 chewing-gum-honey-lemon21 =279 13.3%
Totals: [4403g] 2100, 100.7g protein (19.2%), 28.1g fat (12.0%), 361.2g carb (68.8%), 7.14g saturated fat, 59.60g fibre, 0.62g sodium. 568 is 27.0%
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 16 September 2007 06:45 pm |
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okay, I've been trying to follow along...but I'm soo confused ...and the amusement park field trip just threw me altogether..... apparently the UK university system is just completely and totally different from the US university system---crib notes requested please.
From what you say about the average age of your fellow classmates I get the idea that you are entering at what would be the US equiv. of a "freshman" (first year college student right out of high school)...but for some reason I had the idea that you already had an undergraduate degree in the computer field so would this be a second degree in a different field? Or is it a cetification program rather than a degree program? Or is the whole degree system itself totally different from the US system?
EDITED TO ADD; I had other questions but re-read an earlier entry and figured it out
Last edited on 16 September 2007 06:50 pm by suenos
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 16 September 2007 07:00 pm |
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| Most of my fellow students are aged 16, having just finished the compulsory part of their education. This is not a "higher education" college - it is a "further education" college, and this course is not a degree-level course - it is a lesser course.
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 16 September 2007 07:28 pm |
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| Oh dear... I was actually going to comment how nice it would be if you ended up making a "love connection" with a fellow classmate...late night study sessions....parties....cramming & bonding together in coffee shops...but I was envisioning 21 year olds....now that you've said "Most of my fellow students are aged 16".....I guess that would be....umm....wrong and scary
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 16 September 2007 08:38 pm |
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Just a little explanation:
In the UK, compulsory education runs from the September after the child turns 4 until the April after they turn 16, at which point most students sit their GCSEs. From 16 to 18 is considered FE (further education) which is when students study for AS and A levels. A levels are the normal exams used for entry to University or HE(higher education) for which the youngest students are usually around 19. You can study for A level sin the sixth form of most high schools, or you can leave school and go to college for them. Many schools are very selective and don't allow their "weaker" students to stay on to the sixth form, preferring to cherry pick the students likely to "perform" better and get higher results.
There are lots of further education colleges, catering for non-academic courses, national vocational courses (which are just basically non-academic courses), city and guilds (which replaced many apprenticeships) and also GCSEs and AS and A levels. FE colleges also cater for mature students, offering university entrance courses called Access courses (full name: Access to HE).
University is quite different to college, although some of the older (called red-brick) universities are composed of untis also called "colleges". At university students are usually academic, and study academic courses (BSc, BA, BEd, MSC, MA, PGCert, PGDip, PGCE, PhD, etc).
In the early 1990s all the former Polytechnic Colleges, which had offered degrees and BTechs were renamed universities, in order to try to stop discrimination against those who had studied in polytechnics rather than the few "redbrick" or old school universities. The government has a drive to increase the graduate population of the UK. They want 50% of us to have a bachelors degree.
Personally, as a graduate myself, and as someone who works and teaches in a university, I just think this move will bring about a disregard for degrees, and people will simply need to achieve more or better grades, or take a higher degree to receive the same recognition and respect formerly afforded by a degree.
Nir, I beleive, is a red brick graduate - one of the best. Me, I'm a product of one of the new universities - the red bricks would probably not even have considered me! And yet I have a string of post-graduate qualifications of which my family are very proud.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 17 September 2007 03:11 am |
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Sunday
At the Jam class found a mini Mars bar abandoned from yesterday's birthday celebrations though at the food centre snubbed the NESCAFE promo people. According to instructor Jason we shall have our Pump class re-instated in 2-3 weeks.
Online did my best to catch up with blogs (and also read a paper failing to show metabolism slow-down response in obese people alternated between actual starvation and a 600 calorie diet).
Another food shuffle saw all apples find a home in the fridge, the watermelon and some pears migrating to the freezer, and some potatos and onions rotated out of the fridge (and unrefrigerated swede got cooked and eaten). Bottom line is that currently unrefrigerated items include some onions and some potatos but no fruit.
7 day food shopping total: 0.45 + 0 + 1.73 + 14.55 + 0 + 0 + 0.82 = £17.55
1500 calories and over 4kg of food, greedy?
Exercise: [noon] 60 min Body Jam, [PM] 45 min Body Step. 1.75 hours.
Shopping: 62p fennel(2.5kg) 20p aubergine(350g). £0.82
Veg: [1757g] spinach-boiled84 tomato64 cauliflower-boiled54 courgette-boiled53 mushroom-common-boiled29 mange-tout-boiled20 onion-boiled20 =325 21.7%
Fruit: [1609g] raspberries219 apple201 plum-british-lightred80 =500 33.4%
Starchy: [602g] swede-boiled61 potato-baked35 =96 6.4%
Nuts: [52g] peanuts-salted273 peanuts-redskin-raw37 =310 20.7%
Animals: [97g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder108 turkey-smoked-wafer-thin50 Sainsbury-sample:gammon-wiltchire-deli26 strawberry-flavour-whey-powder22 =206 13.7%
Rubbish: [20g] gym-Carol-birthday:mars-bar-MARS44 chewing-gum-honey-lemon18 =63 4.2%
Totals: [4137g] 1500, 101.4g protein (27.0%), 45.7g fat (27.4%), 170.9g carb (45.6%), 6.57g saturated fat, 62.96g fibre, 0.58g sodium. 269 is 17.9%
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 18 September 2007 03:40 am |
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Monday
I was disappointed by the tediousness of the course experience. Things like having to turn out screens off to show our willingness to pay attention to our teachers, the register being taken on an almost hourly basis, having to get up and dessert our classroom for a 15 minute break (rather pointless given that we're back in the same room, which at any rate cannot be locked and which will be left unguarded for a bit), a pointless tutorial session involving filling in a pointless 'individual learning plan' form and so on and so forth. If this is representative of what I've signed up for I may not last the length of the course. Let's hope it isn't.
Although I manged to end up with carbs at 38% my self-talk was arguing with me throughout the day, asking me to raise the target from 45% to 50%. I don't think anyone is going to call 50% "moderate carb" though and it is surely only fair, if I'm giving the 'moderate carb' experiment a fair go, to stick to it properly. (Anyhow what am I complaining about - I get to eat 1.3kg (3lb) of fruit and still call it 'moderate carb'!.) At around 3.30pm I was feeling a bit down and overwhelmed so I turned off the laptop and the constant stream of noise it was generating. After a bit of quiet time I got up again and did something relaxing: preparing a wide array of vegetables of fruit for consumption later on today - and tomorrow.
Tomorrow is a high day with a difference - the difference being I'm out of my home for a large chunk of the morning (thus unable to enjoy fruit smoothies during this time) so I'll probably forward-eat some calories during breakfast.
Exercise: [AM] 30 min cycle to college, [PM] 60 min Body Combat. 1.5 hours.
Shopping: £1 plums(2.7kg) 21p acorn-squash(1kg). £1.21
Veg: [1774g] cauliflower-boiled65 courgette-boiled48 onion-boiled46 spinach-boiled36 pepper-green29 fennel-boil24 romaine-lettuce16 aubergine-raw13 cabbage-boiled12 raddish7 celery7 =304 20.2%
Legumes: [8g] TVP-dried25 =25 1.7%
Fruit: [1322g] raspberries146 watermelon114 plum-british-lightred104 =364 24.3%
Starchy: [184g] potato-baked58 winter-squash-baked40 =98 6.6%
Nuts: [83g] peanuts-salted499 =499 33.2%
Animals: [114g] turkey-smoked-wafer-thin100 chocolate-flavour-whey-powder48 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder44 =192 12.8%
Rubbish: [10g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon18 =18 1.2%
Totals: [3496g] 1500, 100.0g protein (26.7%), 58.4g fat (35.1%), 143.4g carb (38.3%), 9.45g saturated fat, 54.19g fibre, 0.89g sodium. 210 is 14.0%
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 18 September 2007 03:23 pm |
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Hi Nir, may I ask you a question? Tell me to mind my own business if you like, but I would be really intreested in your answer:
You are not fat, or overweight or obese. In fact, for many people (especially many who use this forum, perhaps) you would probably represent a role model type persona. You are knowledgeable and informed regarding dieting, nutrition and exercise. What, if you don't mind me asking, is your goal? Are you going for a body-building physique? Are you seeking an iron control over your weight? What is the point towards which you strive?
I am not seeking to judge you in any way, I am simply intrigued.
Becci
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 18 September 2007 04:16 pm |
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40 pages is a bit much to read, so a quick recap: I consider myself a compulsive over-eater in recovery. My #1 goal is to abstain from compulsive over-eating.
I would also like to be lean (10% body fat) and at some point I'd like to build some mass, and I'd like to optimise my health, too. These are secondary concerns.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 18 September 2007 07:27 pm |
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| I've gone back to http://www.caloriesperhour.com/forums/forum31/953-16.html to read what I was up to this week a year ago. I know that September 20th was pivotal but the whole page was fun for me to revisit. [and the mysterious event of September 15th was me being unexpectedly expelled from my then-current gym, if anyone was still wondering]
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voodoodoll
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 19 September 2007 01:56 am |
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Nir wrote: and also read a paper failing to show metabolism slow-down response in obese people alternated between actual starvation and a 600 calorie diet
wow, this sounds really interesting! so technically someone could eat 0 cals one day and 600 the next and not have a metabloism slow down? thats bizarre as it contradicts all ive learnt about good nutrition!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 19 September 2007 02:04 am |
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10 days at 0 calories followed by a few days at 600 calories and repeated. This study is from 1964. The key thing of course is that the subjects were very obese - the study itself acknowledges that its findings are in contradiction with results shown elsewhere (presumably in non-obese).
ht tp://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/med/2006-1218-204659/riet_64_metabolic.pdf
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voodoodoll
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 19 September 2007 02:38 am |
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| wow, that genuinely sounds fascinating! i guess with a BMI of 37.8 i come under the very obese category (though happily no longer morbidly so ) ... still id be reluctant to go to such extreme measures... 10 days of starvation doesnt sound like fun... and as for 600 calories, thats nothing!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 19 September 2007 02:41 am |
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| I would never want to see anyone, however obese, go less than 75% below their unadjusted RMR without being medically supervised!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 19 September 2007 03:48 am |
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Tuesday
2nd day at college was more intersting and less tedious. Back at home around 3pm and making up for lost time spent much of the day eating (food weighed almost 5.5kg or 12lb) so I guess I'm ready for my next stretch of low days. Had a small fire whilst 'baking' a potato in the microwave and lost another one of my favourite plastic containers (a relic from my 1996 "ice-cream diet" days). I was invited to a birthday party in Wolverhampton which involves an overnight stay but I think this time I'll give it a miss. I've just noticed I'm nearly out of chewing gum (which might be my 2nd most expenive food after Whey powder!). Mum called to say mange-tout was at a good price and later on she came over to deliver it.
Felt lazy and skipped the new body jam class but saw the end of it whilst in queue for follow-on pump. It was well attended and looked like a lot of fun (didn't recognise the songs, not sure if they are from the new release or whether Shey was going through older stuff) I'll make sure to turn up for jam too next Tuesday! After the class snapped up 12 lovely 'vegetable kebabs' for an unbelievable price (6 kebabs for 50p - or 12 kebabs for 2p...)
Exercise: [AM] 30 min cycle to college, [PM] 60 min Body Pump. 1.5 hours.
Shopping: £1 mange-tout(1.9kg) 2p veg-kebab-butternutSquash-courgette-onion-pepper(680g). £1.02
Veg: [1857g] veg-kebab-pepper-courgette-redonion-butternut141 onion-boiled59 cherry-tomato49 cabbage-boiled36 mange-tout-boiled28 fennel-boil22 pepper-green11 aubergine-boiled11 raddish8 celery6 =371 17.7%
Legumes: [10g] TVP-dried33 =33 1.6%
Fruit: [3237g] pear517 plum-british-lightred218 grapes127 watermelon113 orange111 raspberries73 =1158 55.2%
Starchy: [265g] winter-squash-baked69 potato-baked60 =129 6.2%
Nuts: [20g] peanuts-salted119 =119 5.7%
Animals: [68g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder199 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder67 =266 12.7%
Rubbish: [14g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon23 =23 1.1%
Totals: [5470g] 2100, 100.0g protein (19.0%), 26.6g fat (11.4%), 365.1g carb (69.5%), 5.27g saturated fat, 81.30g fibre, 0.32g sodium. 289 is 13.8%
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 19 September 2007 05:01 pm |
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Nir wrote: I've gone back to http://www.caloriesperhour.com/forums/forum31/953-16.html to read what I was up to this week a year ago. I know that September 20th was pivotal but the whole page was fun for me to revisit. [and the mysterious event of September 15th was me being unexpectedly expelled from my then-current gym, if anyone was still wondering]
Nir, you have indeedy come a far distance from that period ...I remember being a bit concerned at the time about the "cheesecake" day ... and now you've just completed 6 months of abst. from compulsive overeating...the difference a year can make! and I had to laugh about your reaction to being told that the guys bulking were eating 3000-4000 calories a day...ah, to be a guy! If I chose to do a bulk 'n cut I'd only get 25-2800....but it would still be fun, fun, fun (told ya I'm greeeeedy ).
Anyway, you've inspired me to made me think about my own nutrition/fitness goals for the next year...the last year has been 99% about learning how to simply maintain...I think I'll give some thought through the day about where I'd like to be this time next year and how I plan to get there. Thanks, as usual, for planting the seed of inspiration.
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Javan
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 19 September 2007 09:32 pm |
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Hey Nir!
I'm back yet again, although really did not leave, just been distant is all. Anyhow, great times reading your posts. After reading a bunch today I can say that a lot of us have really come a long way.
Cheers!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 20 September 2007 12:17 pm |
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suenos wrote: Anyway, you've inspired me to made me think about my own nutrition/fitness goals for the next year...the last year has been 99% about learning how to simply maintain...I think I'll give some thought through the day about where I'd like to be this time next year and how I plan to get there. Thanks, as usual, for planting the seed of inspiration.
cool
Wednesday
Left hoe early to hit LIDL for more chewing gum before college. College sessions covered various topics [for example data vs information; English grammer/spelling quizes; history of (non-computer) animation; features of graphics cards]. My counselling session was about how my life is tuning upside down as a result of the college course and what I think of it, about how I spent most of yesterday eating, about the impact of the way I relate my life in the session with details on how he relates to me. On the way home met up with Nash near M&S so he can give me a spare memory stick (gave mine to mum so she can back-up important files in case her computer dies prematurely) - Nash was in town to negotiate a price reduction on his mobile phone contract - his total cost of ownership for the phone is now down to £330 for the year which is still expensive in my book.
Opened a packet of salt and vinegar crisps [USA: potato chips] that I obtained at college but only had 1/4 of the packet before coming to my senses.
Before combat got some 'pea shoots' at Sainsbury's - they worked out to be a negative amount so got a tin of chopped tomatos so I'd have something to pay at the checkout. More fruit made it into the freezer, making room in the fridge for the onions, potatos and squashes and so 6 days after my landmark shopping trip I have once more achieved 100% refrigeration status for produce.
Busy day till about 8.30pm but still found time to fit in my food - it can be done.
Exercise: [AM] 45 min cycle to LIDL/college, [PM] 60 min Body Combat. 1.75 hours.
Shopping: 585p chewing-gum(390 pieces) 21p tomato-chopped-tin(400g) -16p pea shoots(200g). £5.90.
Veg: [2241g] mange-tout-boiled258 cherry-tomato94 cabbage-boiled43 button-sprouts20 raddish17 romaine-lettuce16 celery10 pea-shoots9 =467 31.2%
Fruit: [1337g] plum-british-lightred169 orange112 raspberries73 pear48 mango12 =413 27.6%
Nuts: [69g] peanuts-salted416 =416 27.7%
Animals: [37g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder123 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder23 =146 9.7%
Rubbish: [20g] crisps-salt-vinegar34 chewing-gum-honey-lemon23 =58 3.8%
Totals: [3705g] 1500, 100.3g protein (26.7%), 49.2g fat (29.5%), 164.0g carb (43.7%), 8.86g saturated fat, 62.45g fibre, 0.52g sodium. 204 is 13.6%
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gauloises
New Member
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Posted: 20 September 2007 01:18 pm |
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Oooh, I'm not allowed into LIDL any more ... I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that I was living off their frozen ham-and-mushroom pizzas for about 6 months ... £1.89 for 2 .... for a broke fat girl that's heaven.
Can I ask what you're doing at college, exactly? I can't quite figure out from your posts what age you are. Just nosy ...
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 20 September 2007 02:29 pm |
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I'm doing a BTEC National Diploma - IT Practitioner. Most of the class are in the 16-19 age range. About 1/3 of the class are over 18. At 34, I'm the oldest. This is my first time back into full time education since I was done back in the summer of 1994.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 21 September 2007 05:56 am |
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Thursday
Parents dominated the early morning. Sister, passing through last night, fixed their computer by uninstalling their firewall. Initially grateful mum started to panic because, well... absence of firewall and was eager to make me as stressed as she was. We compromised: I was to talk dad over the phone on (re-)installation of this free firewall, so at least I could have breakfast at the same time. I then lazed around on the internet and was late for my pump class. Luckily there was a spare station set up so I was ready in no time and didn't miss anything. On the way home picked a decent amount of sweet potatos for £1 at the market. College sessions included identifying components on a mother board and an introduction to VB.NET by following step-by-step instructions to create a simple form-based application featuring a couple of buttons and some input/output text boxes.
Was allowed home 1 hour earlier than expected from college. Caught up with Tracy via online chat. Mum delivered post which included a catheter sample size 14. Given that I was scared of size 10 a short while ago it seems remarkable that I'm daring to try a larger model (and it works painlessly and more efficiently - I think I'll switch to this size). Also, the dietitian I saw last month at the hospital has mailed a 5-day analysis of my food by nutrient. It was initially comforting that for every single nutrient that has an RNI (recommended nutrient intake) value established, I am easily surpassing that level. For example 482mg of Vitamin C per day - just from food. I then notice a few stars(*) indicating defficiancies. A closer look makes me smile - what am I "defficient" in? Calories, Carbohydrate and Fat - and then it breaks it down telling me I'm defficient in saturated fat and trans fat. How ridiculous! I'm deficient in calories because I'm creating a calorie deficit - and no-one can be deficient in trans fats or saturated fats as our bodies don't need them. I wonder whether I should stop taking my multi-vitamin, given that my diet appears to be complete. I'll probably carry on with it though.
Went to TESCO with mum where I paid £6.86 for 26.4kg (58lb) of produce - I wanted to stock up on low-cost peanuts but bizzarely not only are they missing but apparently they are not planning to restock them any time soon - so went to ASDA instead - got some items at full price but also got some produce bargains: £1.85 for 5.36kg (11.8lb). Incidentally the ASDA smart-price cottage cheese has been price-hiked from 23p to 32p. I imagine this is so that some people are confused and don't realise the price has risen. 39% is such an unreasonable increase - the gap in the pence-per-gram-of-protein between cottage cheese and Whey powder is now further reduced. There is a certain madness about it all: why am I buying so much fruit and vegetables, given that I was struggling to store my sweet potatos in the morning and storing produce unrefrigerated is not ideal? Am I a compulsive bargain hunter? Part of me wants to come off the diet simply so I can eat enough produce to avoid the wastage that will inevitably follow in the next few weeks.
In my book both chewing gum and crisps are 'rubbish' - but what a difference. A pice of gum is 2.5 calories and may last an hour. A medium-sized potato crisp is 5 calories and gets consumed instantly!
Today is day 21 of relying on my 'new' calorie counting software - time sure flies.
Exercise: [AM] 60 min Body Pump, [PM] 30 min cycle to college. 1.5 hours.
Shopping:
Market
£1 sweet-potato(2.1kg)
TESCO
162p apple(6.3kg)
135p plums(5.3kg)
56p broccoli(1.6kg)
49p swede(1.9kg)
36p cherry-tomato(1.1kg)
35p banana(4.5kg)
26p Pan-roasted-apple&grape-salad(200g)
24p okra(350g)
20p pear(1kg)
20p portabelo-mushrooms(340g)
20p peas&runner-beans(260g)
15p rhubarb(430g)
13p orange(1kg)
13p savoy-cabbage(500g)
13p pineapple(150g)
10p raddish(360g)
10p red-lettuce(330g)
10p cabbage-leek-greens(300g)
10p little-gem(210g)
9p chesnut-mushrooms(250g)
ASDA
291p salted-peanut(3kg)
133p sugar-free-blackcurrant-squash(7L)
80p cantelope-melon(3.2kg)
60p leek(1.7kg)
30p red-peppers(200g)
15p little-gem(260g)
£13.95
Veg: [2004g] mange-tout-boiled129 button-sprouts106 pea-frozen-SP98 pepper-red64 okra-boiled41 cabbage-boiled30 pea-shoots29 fennel-boil22 runner-beans(raw?)21 lettuce-mixed-leaf16 raddish5 =560 37.3%
Fruit: [990g] plum-british-lightred151 watermelon113 apple33 grapes9 =305 20.4%
Starchy: [29g] sweet-potato-boiled25 =25 1.6%
Nuts: [79g] peanuts-salted248 walnut-halves-WHITWORTHS83 olives-pitted23 =353 23.5%
Animals: [106g] turkey-smoked-wafer-thin100 chocolate-flavour-whey-powder60 =160 10.7%
Rubbish: [36g] goat-milk-soft-cheese69 chewing-gum-honey-lemon23 crisps-salt-vinegar5 =97 6.5%
Totals: [3244g] 1500, 100.0g protein (26.7%), 53.5g fat (32.1%), 154.7g carb (41.3%), 6.94g saturated fat, 63.65g fibre, 0.69g sodium. 257 is 17.1%
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 21 September 2007 11:28 am |
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| Catheter? What kind of catheter? What for? Yes, I know that there is one type with which we are are familliar, but there are other types too - I don't want to jumpt to conclusions.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 21 September 2007 12:09 pm |
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| urinary (my bladder tends to only half-empty if I urinate naturally)
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 21 September 2007 01:39 pm |
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Oh, Nir, I am so sorry. I would never have said anything if I knew. I am so sorry. Please feel free to administer to me a good hard kick to a portion of anatomy of your choice. I am SO SORRY.
B
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 21 September 2007 03:51 pm |
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| don't worry about it; what other catheters are there?
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Ohm
Senior Member
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Posted: 21 September 2007 04:08 pm |
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Well, the other main catheter that I tend to think of is the indwelling catheter used to deliver mainline antibiotics or other drugs. Use of an indwelling catheter negates the use for constant injections or venflon usage. These are often used for cancer patients (which is why I was worried when I saw your post) aor for other long term illnesses.
I think, although I could be wrong, that catheter simply means a long thing tube.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 22 September 2007 07:27 am |
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In that case I guess I've had anaethetic/sedation drugs administered into vein via catheter placed on my arm a few times whilst whilst at hospital.
Friday
An off-day after 4 days in college, today actually felt like a weekend. I guess having not worked for a year I've not really had that feeling for a while. Did my best to attack my produce problem (over 4kg successfully eaten) but there is still much to do in this deparment, lots of stuff still badly needs refrigeration. Tomorrow is high-carb day and I really should use it to maximise this produce-munching objective. Not that I expect to be eating much more than 4kg of produce - but I'll be able to eat different kinds of things.
Made the OA meeting (first time in a while) and early on decided to not share so was more calm during the meeting. The first 7 people to share were all following steps and sharing positively about the program. Then one person shared about not following the program so I decided it would be ok for me to share in similiar vein so I did a quickie as well.
I'm not being very efficient with my spare time at the moment.
Apparently I can get a discount on my Whey powder if I buy it online via a cashback site, it is a bit fiddly, have till Thursday to decide whether to do it this time around.
Exercise: [AM] 45 min Body Step, [PM] 45 min cycle to OA/Sainsbury. 1.5 hours.
Shopping: 0
Veg: [2684g] broccoli-boiled224 cherry-tomato55 cabbage-leek-TESCO48 fennel-boil33 cabbage-boiled26 portabello-mushrooms-boiled24 rhubarb23 chesnut-mushrooms-boiled17 okra-boiled14 romaine-lettuce6 little-gem-lettuce1 mange-tout-boiled1 =472 31.5%
Fruit: [1342g] plum-british-lightred155 mango98 cantelope-melon65 pineapple64 pear51 =433 28.8%
Starchy: [281g] swede-boiled31 =31 2.1%
Nuts: [59g] peanuts-salted315 monkey-nuts36 =351 23.4%
Animals: [36g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder122 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder19 =142 9.4%
Rubbish: [25g] eclair-cream-cake33 chewing-gum-honey-lemon23 double-gloucester-cheese9 crisps-salt-vinegar6 =71 4.8%
Totals: [4427g] 1500, 100.1g protein (26.7%), 52.4g fat (31.5%), 156.9g carb (41.8%), 6.80g saturated fat, 69.01g fibre, 1.12g sodium. 213 is 14.2%
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clarinetgurl
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 September 2007 09:06 am |
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Becci Aryal wrote: Well, the other main catheter that I tend to think of is the indwelling catheter used to deliver mainline antibiotics or other drugs. Use of an indwelling catheter negates the use for constant injections or venflon usage. These are often used for cancer patients (which is why I was worried when I saw your post) aor for other long term illnesses.
I think, although I could be wrong, that catheter simply means a long thing tube.
Like the broviac I had when I had leukemia...funny thing is, once the whole thing was over I really didn't want them to take it out. I had gotten so used to hardly ever having to be stuck with needles, that the thought of gettiung stuck every couple of months at check-ups was horrible to me 
Also, the dietitian I saw last month at the hospital has mailed a 5-day analysis of my food by nutrient. It was initially comforting that for every single nutrient that has an RNI (recommended nutrient intake) value established, I am easily surpassing that level. For example 482mg of Vitamin C per day - just from food. I then notice a few stars(*) indicating defficiancies. A closer look makes me smile - what am I "defficient" in? Calories, Carbohydrate and Fat - and then it breaks it down telling me I'm defficient in saturated fat and trans fat. How ridiculous! I'm deficient in calories because I'm creating a calorie deficit - and no-one can be deficient in trans fats or saturated fats as our bodies don't need them.
Tsk, tsk. Deficient in trans fats---better scarf down some more french fries. Hilarious.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!!
CG
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 23 September 2007 05:16 am |
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thanks clarinetgurl
Saturday
Getting used to some of those new combat tracks now that I'm seeing them a 2nd time.
Early in the day Matthew texted to say he was coming. I decided to reserve calories for potential drinking  . Later on it was clarified that Rob wanted to go to Northampton to do a tour of pubs. This isn't my thing and I didn't want to pay good money not to enjoy myself, so I passed (and therefore had my calories back to do with as I please).
2 days after my shopping spree I finally managed to get every last piece of fruit either into the fridge or into the freezer. To do this I had to take some stuff out of the fridge - currently unrefrigerated items include swede, onions and potatos. Also had to chuck 3 frozen 6-month-old loaves of wholemeal bread (probably best given their age and how I presently feel about grain's place in my diet). When I was feeling very aware of my financial situation I was trying to optimise calories-per-pence in case vegetables were hard to come by, and a loaf of wholemeal bread, when reduced to 10p, represents the extreme in value. Yet grain comes a poor 4th compared with vegetables, fruit and legumes and is not a food Dr Fuhrman would have me eat in unlimited quantities. For the moment I'm not poor enough to justify eating bread.
Food weighed 5kg - only half a kilo more than yesterday, but macronutrient breakdown is rather different. beat that for high carbs! I also for once managed the '90% rule', sigh.
Exercise: [AM] 45 min Body Combat, 60 min Body Pump. 1.75 hours
Shopping: 0.
Veg: [1885g] beetroot-boiled125 leek-boiled106 fine-whole-beans-boiled54 fennel-boil37 cabbage-boiled31 iceberg-lettuce27 raddish23 =402 19.1%
Legumes: [22g] TVP-dried74 =74 3.5%
Fruit: [2410g] mango216 plum-british-lightred186 pear180 watermelon113 orange98 cantelope-melon55 =847 40.4%
Starchy: [589g] potato-baked330 sweet-potato-boiled78 winter-squash-baked25 =433 20.6%
Nuts: [12g] peanuts-salted69 =69 3.3%
Grain: [29g] wholesome-wraps65 =65 3.1%
Animals: [48g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder119 vanilla-flavour-whey-powder70 =189 9.0%
Rubbish: [10g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon15 crisps-salt-vinegar5 =21 1.0%
Totals: [5005g] 2100, 100.0g protein (19.1%), 22.4g fat (9.6%), 374.5g carb (71.3%), 3.54g saturated fat, 79.21g fibre, 0.29g sodium. 210 is 10.0%
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voodoodoll
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 September 2007 01:57 pm |
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hey nir, forgive my ignorance but whats the 90% rule?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 23 September 2007 02:18 pm |
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Page 206 of Eat To Live: "The 90 Per Cent Rule: For longevity and weight loss, the Life Plan diet should aim to be made up of at least 90 per cent unrefined plant food. My most successful patients treat processed foods and animal foods as condiments, constituting no more than 10 per cent of their total calorie intake. [...] Using the 90 per cent rule, you are allowed to eat almost any kind of food, even a small biscuit, as long a all your other calories that day are from nutrient-dense vegetation. [...] Most people are addicted to the foods they grew up with. They feel deprived if their diet denies them the foods they love. With the Life Plan these food loves will become condiments or rewards for special occasions You will be surprised how much more you will enjoy a healthier diet once you become accustomed to a different way of preparing foods and eating. It will take time; there will be a period of adjustment."
Forgot to mention about the MySQL problems. My InnoDB file (which contains all the data tables for my calorie-counting project) has ballooned up from 10MB to 18MB and I refused to believe that my 24 days of nutritional information requires that much storage. I researched what can be done to reclaim the space. It turns out that I needed to back up the data into textual SQL format, delete the file (and crucially also delete the log files at the same time), and then re-import the database from the SQL files. This was quite scary to do and I was without a working database for about 2 hours (it literally refused to re-start the server). The good news is that now my InnoDB tables are stored in separate files, for example my daypart table, which is the main table which has one record for every food morsel I eat throughout the day, happily lives in a 160kb file (the table has 952 records).
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 24 September 2007 03:38 am |
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Sunday
For a good few hours today I had an ache in my tummy. I don't know what this is about. It wasn't there when I woke up and I doubt it was a function of the foods I had in the early part of the day [which feature in my other days in various combinations: peanuts, plums and chocolate whey powder]. It did go away after a few hours.
Dean called to ask for a reminder of how to use the visitor parking ticket I gave him. Additionally he was coming to Milton Keynes with his young son [refer to binge last November at son's Christening - son must therefore now be 1 year 4 months old] and I was to supply said hungry son with bananas. Dean surprised me with an assortment of clothing he reckons he is now too big for but might be suitable for me. I've never considered myself to be similiar dimensions to him, don't know why. Later on in the day I would try every piece of clothing. The main thing is style: my style is short sleeves or sleeveless and sometimes I continue with this in the winter season. 2 of the 5 tops were woolie, all were long-sleeve. Fashionwise they're perhaps a cut above what I normally source for myself, and I do sometimes use layers in winter so I see how I could use them.
Decided to skip the lunchtime jam class and called dad to ask for a trip to the alltoment. I put over 2 hours into this, emerging back with: yellow-winter-squash(4kg) raspberries(2.1kg) spinach(730g) chard(490g) apple(100g). Mum started calling from the shops, asking whether I wanted her to buy me various bargains she was spotting, later coming to deliver the shopping.
Coming down to collect the shopping mum did for me, I noticed that my bicycle was stolen at some point since I used it 24 hours earlier. You may recall that this happened to me on January 29th - when it prompted me to change from the Bletchley gym to the Central Milton Keynes gym. I got another one in February and for a while I was careful about carrying it up two flights of stairs every time I used it. Yet recently I got lazy and cocky, in fact chaining it outside every day for the last few weeks. There is no one to blame but myself (oh, I guess I could get away with blaming the thief, but I've had one bicycle vandalised and another 3 stolen - so have I finally learnt my lesson?). It is remarkable that certain things, such as a frustrating telephone conversation with my mother where I cannot get a word in edgeways can make my blood boil and even have me hang up on her, yet discovering that I've lost a bicycle I've spent over £40 on and has been a constant part of my life for over 6 months has been accepted without much emotion.
It was a relief that I recognised that my bicycle was not forever and had already sourced "my next bike" months ago. This was a bike I had assembled myself and had never ridden, unsatisfied at the time with the job I had done. This was so many months ago that the tyres had completely deflated - but once I pumped them up and took the replacement bike downstairs, it seemed to work and did its job delivering me to the step class. Still fresh from the bike-loss experience I carried my new bike back to the safety of my flat.
Whilst finding freezer space for my raspberries found and chucked out two more loaves of bread - allowing myself a slice first. Made sure to spend some time preparing vegetables for tomorrow's lunch at college.
7 day shopping summary: 1.21 + 1.02 + 5.90 + 13.95 + 0 + 0 + 0.86 = £22.94
% Rubbish is high due to the curry 'treat' which is an unknown quantity, fibre is a little disappointing relative to other days.
Exercise: [PM] 45 min Body Step. 0.75 hours.
Shopping: 30p stir-fry:beansprouts-cabbage-carrot-redPepper(700g) 30p veg-mix:redOnion-courgette-yellowPepper-fennel(400g) 16p chicken-liver(400g) 10p prawn-jalfrezi(350g). £0.86
Veg: [1175g] stir-fry:beansprouts-cabbage-carrot-redPepper89 beetroot-boiled53 spinach-boiled47 little-gem-lettuce27 courgette-boiled19 onion-boiled12 pepper-mixed-frozen7 fennel-boil1 =255 17.0%
Fruit: [1272g] plum-british-lightred273 raspberries74 =347 23.2%
Starchy: [153g] swede-boiled17 =17 1.1%
Nuts: [61g] peanuts-salted366 =366 24.4%
Grain: [56g] warburton-wolegrain-goodness-bread79 wholesome-wraps50 =129 8.6%
Animals: [159g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder89 turkey-smoked-wafer-thin50 liver-chicken-stew50 Honduran-jumbo-king-prawns38 =228 15.2%
Rubbish: [257g] vegetable-curry143 chewing-gum-honey-lemon10 crisps-salt-vinegar5 =157 10.5%
Totals: [3134g] 1500, 100.0g protein (26.7%), 48.6g fat (29.2%), 165.5g carb (44.1%), 7.97g saturated fat, 37.50g fibre, 1.02g sodium. 385 is 25.7%
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clarinetgurl
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 September 2007 05:45 am |
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I can't believe your bike got stolen again! Man, there must be some real bicycle-aholics in your neighbor... 
At least you had a replacement all ready...still stinks though.
CG
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Theresa
Senior Member
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Posted: 24 September 2007 05:23 pm |
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Hi Nir
I have been glancing through your diary and see how long you have been writing. What was your weight before you started and how much have you lost? Im being nosy so if it's none of my business just say so. Also I was wondering why you would need a dietician, you seem to have so much knowledge yourself I think you could start charging for your advice? But please don't I am always broke and I will need lots more advice over the next couple of months!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 24 September 2007 05:34 pm |
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CG: yes, it is a shame.
Theresa: I have anemia (low blood count) and the hematologist at the hospital referred me to a dietitian to see if they could look at my diet and see whether it could be caused by a lack of some nutrient (but they didn't find anything).
I'm 1.66m. On my first ever post (January 2006) I was giving my weight as 60.0kg, so that's BMI 21.8. Right now physicsdiet.com has my average weight at 55.1kg (works out BMI 20.0). In 2002-2003 my BMI was around 26-27.
The advice is free but I have no qualifications in nutrition or medicine!
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Theresa
Senior Member
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Posted: 24 September 2007 05:53 pm |
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| Thanks for the reply Nir, I also used to be aneamic but when I was so thin and I found eating lots of beetroot seemed to help, the doctor also told me once to eat lots of liquorice to help with the low blood pressure that you often get when you are aneamic. But I don't think mine was too bad I wasnt sent to a dietician or for blood tests.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 10:59 am |
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The medical profession has been failing to find a cause for my anemia for 1.5 years now (partly because it is 'mild' or 'borderline')
Monday
At college the mystery of the missing files was solved: on the classroom computer, 'My Documents' now incorrectly points at the local C drive rather than the network directory, and I have not lost my files. Subjects included employability (psychometric tests), spreadsheets (Excel) and programming (VB.NET). I was lazing around in programming but towards the end noticed a couple of students were an assignment ahead of me so spent an extra few minutes in the library catching up with them before heading home.
For the second time we've had our extra Monday combat - the only positive change in the recent timetable shuffle, and quite enjoyable. We did not get the large room with the teacher microphone - BOSU got their way this time. We were even numbered and I guess they do need slightly more space that we do. The gym management has been shamed into reinstating almost all of the cancelled classes. The problem is that if they re-instate the Jam class on a Monday evening, there will be 3 classes running concurrently in 2 studios. Translation = they'll probably cancel my combat. . This week I stayed for body step too which was fun - they launched the entire new release and Kim was team-teaching with Jo for the first half. Kim is the regular teacher for the slot but has been absent with illness for months so it was very nice to see her again - and I like the new release. After the gym spotted some well-priced salmon  . Also got an artichoke, even though I think it is more trouble than it is worth - to pass on to mum who is more keen on them. She came over to collect her loot and in exchange I got my mail.
At home my last milkshake marked the end of chocolate-flavour whey powder - I'm out of it. Only 3 flavours now remain: vanilla, strawberry and banana. Went to bed shortly after midnight but was forced up around 2am by a fire alarm that went on for ages. Whilst waiting for the fire service to turn up and turn it off I got the chance to start dealing with my mail, which included the book "only fat people skip breakfast" by Lee Janogly (thanks Becci!) I'm a slow reader. I'm up to page 10.
Exercise: [AM] 30 min cycle to college, [PM] 60 min Body Combat, 60 min Body Step. 2.5 hours.
Shopping: 40p salmon-fillets(500g). £0.40
Veg: [1012g] chard-cooked51 cherry-tomato48 beetroot-boiled43 leek-boiled31 spinach-boiled25 little-gem-lettuce17 =216 14.4%
Fruit: [2025g] raspberries222 plum-british-lightred176 orange101 cantelope-melon44 =544 36.3%
Starchy: [137g] sweet-potato-boiled40 swede-boiled10 =49 3.3%
Nuts: [66g] peanuts-salted397 =397 26.4%
Animals: [117g] chocolate-flavour-whey-powder155 salmon-fillet-cooked74 liver-chicken-stewed50 =279 18.6%
Rubbish: [9g] chewing-gum-honey-lemon15 =15 1.0%
Totals: [3366g] 1500, 99.5g protein (26.5%), 51.3g fat (30.8%), 160.2g carb (42.7%), 9.18g saturated fat, 55.33g fibre, 0.79g sodium. 294 is 19.6%
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 04:18 pm |
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Morning Nir!
Tough about your bike being stolen...again! How goes it with your current zig-zag & bodyfat %....are you seeing a measureable progress yet?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 06:18 pm |
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Been zig-zagging for 18 days (Sun-Sat = 1500,1500,2100,1500,1500,1500,2100). That's a daily average intake of 1671. That is supposedly a weekly deficit of 3000 calories. Carbs held down to 45% of calories on low days. So, do I see any results at all? Well, the trend line has gone from 55.39 to 55.12kg (122.0 to 121.4lb). That's about 1/4 of lb per week (instead of the 6/7 of lb per week hoped for). I don't think I'll be going any lower than this - my unadjusted RMR is around 1430. I guess I could try to drop carbs even lower - but for now I don't want to. 1/4 lb a week is better than nothing. For now I'll continue doing the same.
It is worth mentioning that my trended weight seems incredibly stable, given that I will consume up to 10lb of food per day (not including drinks).
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 07:33 pm |
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Neat chart!...I'm somewhat surprised at a weekly 3000 cal deficit translating into 1/4 pound weekly loss though...if it were anyone other you I'd be wondering at the accuracy of the daily calorie count. How is this translating into bodyfat% changes?
I'm wondering if you even need to bother with keeping your carb cycle in the zig zag mix though....just 'cause I think you may be looking at it in relative rather than absolute terms. I mean your protein intake is consistent at 100 grams across the entire cycle, so there's no "higher" protein days at all, and while 45% and 160 grams in carbs is "low" relative to your normal intake, in absolute terms I'm not sure the "low" is low enough to make any refeed difference - see what I mean? Not saying there's anything detrimental about it, just wondering if, under the present set-up, it's making enough of a difference to be worth the effort, seems like you'd get the exact same results from a straight zig zag.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 07:45 pm |
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According to BFFM, first stop is "moderate carb" (40-50%), second stop is "low-carb" (25-35%) and I'm not quite sure I'm prepared to go there just yet.
Arguably I shouldn't be at 70% carbs on my high days. This is the first time I've been playing with macronutrients since doing Atkins back in 2004.
I have mixed feelings about protein and I won't be pushing it any higher than 1.8g/kg, so fat/carb balance is all I'm left to play with.
Let's see if there's any noticable body fat% trend - maybe slightly lower (note: obtained by stepping on BIA scales every morning):
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 07:57 pm |
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suenos wrote: I'm wondering if you even need to bother with keeping your carb cycle in the zig zag mix though.
1500 calories with carbs at 60% (225g) is a lot more enjoyable than with carbs at 45% (169g) so perhaps I should ditch the carb thing for a while on low days? Will think about it.
Incidentally notice that the BIA-reported body fat is a shadow of the weight graph. Makes me think it isn't very reliable.
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 25 September 2007 08:05 pm |
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It's been a while since I've looked at BFFM, but I think T.V. mentions somewhere that endomorphs (and that would me me) tend to do better with more carb restriction while ectos don't find it a problem.
Hmm, since you have no fat in your diet than you can healthily play with really, and don't feel comfortable with increasing protein...that just leaves carbs to manipulate...which, in this case, translates into...just calories...which I guess answers my original question now that I think about it, I'm just had a "oh duh moment"
edited to add:
Ha! we were both posting at the same time! and yes, that's what I meant, since there is really no significant benifit from adding a carb cycle to the mix at this point, why not just make the low cal days more bearable by not worrying about that aspect of it?
Last edited on 25 September 2007 08:08 pm by suenos
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