I would say that it went very well, actually. Lost a weirdly-even 9lbs, which is downright astonishing to me, and feel much better now that it's over. Ready for another good week armed with the lessons I learned. The 1800 calorie thing is working SO SO SO much better than the 1200. And it's not affecting my weight loss at all. I had lost 3.8lb by the time I went up to 1800 calories. So if anything, I lost MORE on that higher amount.
Weird.
Anyway, things are good. Developing a diet/meal plan that works very well for me and is keeping me realthy.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Thursday, September 07, 2006
1200 is just not enough..
Now, I know that a year ago I made it on 800 calories a day for 12 weeks (3 months), but I also now remember how hard that was. Doing 1200 just wasn't working. Yesterday evening on my bike ride, I just couldn't muster any energy no matter what I
did. No amount of personal motivation could make up for the fact that I only had 700 calories and was tackling some nice grades on the bike path.
So I made a decision. I decided that while I'll make 1200 calories a day my goal, I'll listen to my body and go above that if needed. The hard limit I set for myself is 1800 calories a day, which is still next to nothing. On the way home yesterday I stopped at the organic market on my side of town and picked up some delicious apples, bannanas, green beans, and some heavenly black bean soup. I even managed to go over my hard limit of 1800 calories all the way up to 1958, but I figure that's fine. I woke up today feeling SO much better than the previous days.
I also overdid it on excercise yesterday. I woke up at 7am and "hit the gym" for 30 minutes, abusing myself on the elliptical. I think with that, low calorie count, and what have you I basically shot myself in the foot :). The 10 miles I did in the evening were downright brutal, it felt like the 35-40 mile evening ride I did earlier in the summer! Granted there were a ton of long hills going both ways, but still.
Another lesson learned is that the Optifast might just not be my thing. For breakfast I actually brought a bananna with to supplement the morning shake. I ate the bananna first.. then found I wasn't hungry. So I didn't eat. About 11:00a I started to get hungry, so I purchased a little package of Fig Newtons out of the vending machine. 200 calories, no fat, low carbs.. not bad! And the best part - I was never overly hungry (Can't say the same for the rest of the week) or fatigued. Lunch was splendid - a turkey on grain bread sandwich with cheese and a bowl of canned grean beans with some Annie's Organic Italian dressing (OMG SO GOOD). Total so far today is 700 calories, and I feel great.
My lesson for today is to listen to your body. Sure 800 calories is fine if you aren't doing much excercise, but your body needs FUEL. It can get calories from fat, but not much needed carbs and protein. So remember, always listen to your body.
did. No amount of personal motivation could make up for the fact that I only had 700 calories and was tackling some nice grades on the bike path.
So I made a decision. I decided that while I'll make 1200 calories a day my goal, I'll listen to my body and go above that if needed. The hard limit I set for myself is 1800 calories a day, which is still next to nothing. On the way home yesterday I stopped at the organic market on my side of town and picked up some delicious apples, bannanas, green beans, and some heavenly black bean soup. I even managed to go over my hard limit of 1800 calories all the way up to 1958, but I figure that's fine. I woke up today feeling SO much better than the previous days.
I also overdid it on excercise yesterday. I woke up at 7am and "hit the gym" for 30 minutes, abusing myself on the elliptical. I think with that, low calorie count, and what have you I basically shot myself in the foot :). The 10 miles I did in the evening were downright brutal, it felt like the 35-40 mile evening ride I did earlier in the summer! Granted there were a ton of long hills going both ways, but still.
Another lesson learned is that the Optifast might just not be my thing. For breakfast I actually brought a bananna with to supplement the morning shake. I ate the bananna first.. then found I wasn't hungry. So I didn't eat. About 11:00a I started to get hungry, so I purchased a little package of Fig Newtons out of the vending machine. 200 calories, no fat, low carbs.. not bad! And the best part - I was never overly hungry (Can't say the same for the rest of the week) or fatigued. Lunch was splendid - a turkey on grain bread sandwich with cheese and a bowl of canned grean beans with some Annie's Organic Italian dressing (OMG SO GOOD). Total so far today is 700 calories, and I feel great.
My lesson for today is to listen to your body. Sure 800 calories is fine if you aren't doing much excercise, but your body needs FUEL. It can get calories from fat, but not much needed carbs and protein. So remember, always listen to your body.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Lessons
Well, one day of the new beginning is under my belt. I'm glad to say that I kept it at 1256 calories, religiously recording everything I ate using this neat-o program called FitDay. I also excercised for about 90 minutes, a very good and fast paced ride on the way home. The way "there" was a struggle, though, and that's where my lesson comes into play.
DISTRIBUTE CALORIES EVENLY. Seriously, can't stress this enough. By 2pm yesterday I had only consumed about 397 calories, and I could totally feel it. Remember, they aren't bad. Calories = energy. And I was completely lacking in it yesterday. I could barely function when I went home from work, and had to force myself onto the bike. The 10 mile ride "there" was slow and painful, but I made it.
Today, I've had 759 so far. I feel different on a "night and day" kind of factor. I've also consumed about 70% of the carbs that I'll allow myself today. Even with waking up at 7am and spending 30 minutes on a elliptical, I feel energized. I'm going to have a very long ride tonight, so that's very good.
So there ya go. First weigh-in is Friday.. if I can make myself wait that long :).
DISTRIBUTE CALORIES EVENLY. Seriously, can't stress this enough. By 2pm yesterday I had only consumed about 397 calories, and I could totally feel it. Remember, they aren't bad. Calories = energy. And I was completely lacking in it yesterday. I could barely function when I went home from work, and had to force myself onto the bike. The 10 mile ride "there" was slow and painful, but I made it.
Today, I've had 759 so far. I feel different on a "night and day" kind of factor. I've also consumed about 70% of the carbs that I'll allow myself today. Even with waking up at 7am and spending 30 minutes on a elliptical, I feel energized. I'm going to have a very long ride tonight, so that's very good.
So there ya go. First weigh-in is Friday.. if I can make myself wait that long :).
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
I'm back in black (quite literally!)
Well my trusty readers, I'm back!
You may remember me, I went on a crazy liquid diet and lost about 160 lbs last year. Over the year following, I did pretty good but not perfect. I mostly kept the weight off, but eventually gained back about 30 pounds. That does not make me happy.
So I took up bike riding. Over the past couple months I've lost about 10 pounds of fat, and gained some crazy leg muscles. This does make me happy! But my slow weight loss has been fueled by not watching what I eat enough. You can excercise all you want, but unless you eat right it will just maintain. I guess it's good I've found what I can do to maintain, but bad in that I wasted so much energy.
Now I'm back. Starting today, I have a very real goal to reach. I challenged a friend last night that in the time it would take him to lose 20 pounds, I could lose 50. You may say "hahah you lose!" but I have several things going for me. First, I've done it before (rapid weight loss), second I have a great support system, and third.. I don't lose. Ever.
So by January 1 I will have lost another 50 pounds. By March or April 1 or 2007 (haven't decided yet) another 25. And by August 30, 2008 I will have lost a total of 150 pounds (another 75), for a grand total of.. a lot. :)
I'm back on optifast, but only partially. My plan is to keep up my activity level for five days a week, and to limit myself to 1200 calories a day. So this week, for breakfast and lunch I'll substitute in 3 optifast shakes, for 480 calories. That will leave me about 720 calories for a post-workout dinner. I've spoken with my doctor, outlined my plan, and on Thursday I'm going to go in to make sure my vitals are all good for this venture.
Today I've had two optifast shakes so far.. and I'm freaking hungry! I came home for "lunch" to let the kitty out on the porch, and ended up having 1 piece of shaved turkey (probably 10 calories), two pickle slices (5 calories), and two frosted mini-wheats (20 calories). Since I'm not going to punish myself like I did last year, that is fully acceptable, but will put my dinner limit down to 685 calories.
Which may seem like a tiny amount, but when I did "full fast" last year I had 800 calories a day. A *DAY*. Dinner I think will be a tuna sandwich on grain bread, and a turkey sandwich on grain bread. A side of green beans and a can of soup will complete the deal, which should be right around my 685 mark. See, if you eat healthy, you don't have to deny yourself!
I also lucked out. At work we had a nice Health-O-Meter doctor's scale with a digital readout on it that I was using to weigh myself. The person in charge of that division ended up "donating" the scale to me, as it was a customer return that we were unable to sell. Sweet! Now I just have to keep with the "once a week" thing and resist my urge to weigh every day.
There ya go. My venture back into this crazy wacky healthy shit. :)
You may remember me, I went on a crazy liquid diet and lost about 160 lbs last year. Over the year following, I did pretty good but not perfect. I mostly kept the weight off, but eventually gained back about 30 pounds. That does not make me happy.
So I took up bike riding. Over the past couple months I've lost about 10 pounds of fat, and gained some crazy leg muscles. This does make me happy! But my slow weight loss has been fueled by not watching what I eat enough. You can excercise all you want, but unless you eat right it will just maintain. I guess it's good I've found what I can do to maintain, but bad in that I wasted so much energy.
Now I'm back. Starting today, I have a very real goal to reach. I challenged a friend last night that in the time it would take him to lose 20 pounds, I could lose 50. You may say "hahah you lose!" but I have several things going for me. First, I've done it before (rapid weight loss), second I have a great support system, and third.. I don't lose. Ever.
So by January 1 I will have lost another 50 pounds. By March or April 1 or 2007 (haven't decided yet) another 25. And by August 30, 2008 I will have lost a total of 150 pounds (another 75), for a grand total of.. a lot. :)
I'm back on optifast, but only partially. My plan is to keep up my activity level for five days a week, and to limit myself to 1200 calories a day. So this week, for breakfast and lunch I'll substitute in 3 optifast shakes, for 480 calories. That will leave me about 720 calories for a post-workout dinner. I've spoken with my doctor, outlined my plan, and on Thursday I'm going to go in to make sure my vitals are all good for this venture.
Today I've had two optifast shakes so far.. and I'm freaking hungry! I came home for "lunch" to let the kitty out on the porch, and ended up having 1 piece of shaved turkey (probably 10 calories), two pickle slices (5 calories), and two frosted mini-wheats (20 calories). Since I'm not going to punish myself like I did last year, that is fully acceptable, but will put my dinner limit down to 685 calories.
Which may seem like a tiny amount, but when I did "full fast" last year I had 800 calories a day. A *DAY*. Dinner I think will be a tuna sandwich on grain bread, and a turkey sandwich on grain bread. A side of green beans and a can of soup will complete the deal, which should be right around my 685 mark. See, if you eat healthy, you don't have to deny yourself!
I also lucked out. At work we had a nice Health-O-Meter doctor's scale with a digital readout on it that I was using to weigh myself. The person in charge of that division ended up "donating" the scale to me, as it was a customer return that we were unable to sell. Sweet! Now I just have to keep with the "once a week" thing and resist my urge to weigh every day.
There ya go. My venture back into this crazy wacky healthy shit. :)
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