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Good morning, fellow Fatsecreteers!
Yesterday was a good day. It was long, but good.
It was an easy day. Mostly meetings at work, and then working at the gym afterwards.
I was on my feet most of the day, and managed to kick in 20,000+ steps!
I did great on the food choices, and (almost) avoided Wife's cakes. I had a little piece, nothing that kicked in any bad things. It was all good.
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I know I have consistently (well, maybe except Wednesday) been low in calories. I know I have had a deficit. I know I have dropped some weight, but probably mostly just shedding water weight.
I'm not really looking for more than that, so it's fine. That's the upside to maintenance, right?
I still don't know how much I weigh, but I feel like I am lighter again today. If I was to guess, I'd say I'm still around 82-83 kilos.
I still weigh in, but I don't look.
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So, I read an interesting article yesterday.
Inspired by a posting in the forum, I ventured out to learn a little more. This time it was about maintaining the right calorie deficit for one's weight. Just going with the FatSecret 500 calorie deficit may not always be the smartest approach - especially not in maintenance mode.
What I see from the article is, that if we go with too much of a deficit, then we don't just lose weight from excess fat, but also from muscle and potentially other things. This is counter productive, of course, as we need to retain the muscle we have in order to burn more calories.
And... supposedly there is a formula for that. My inner nerd is jumping with joy. More numbers!
The formula is simple. Weight yourself, and have your bodyfat% measured. Then calculate how much of your weight is actually fat.
Take the number of lbs of fat, and multiply it by 30. Alternatively, take the number of kilos of fat and muliply it by 70. I rounded the numbers to make them easier to remember.
As an example - I am approx 83 kilos, with approx 10% body fat. I have 8.3 kilos of fat on my body. 8.3 multiplied by 70 is 560. This means that if I have a calorie deficit of more than 560 calories in a day, I would potentially start losing muscle too.
I still believe the "rule of averages" is in play. This is not necessarily a day-to-day calculation, but something that has to be in effect over maybe a week or so. This I am not 100% sure of.
It makes sense, though, and I think it's a good thing to remember.
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For me, this could mean that I need to ensure to eat to the max of the RDI I have given myself, and maybe even a little bit more.
Since this - like everything else weight loss related - is not a 100% accurate science, I don't think it's all that essential to be 100% on point on all numbers. I do however think that I am going against my own efforts by having too many days being 500-1000 calories under my RDI (which has a built in 500 cal deficit until I am at 80 kilos). Of course, some calories are compensated for on the weekends, but I do think it's something to keep in my mind.
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The whole mindset of NOT eating low cal all the time is hard for me at times. I have spent so much time learning to eat lower calorie foods, and now that I am on "the other side", I need to make sure I eat enough. It is so weird! I had an example of this only yesterday.
Food yesterday was basically a very large pita with beef and lettuce/tomato - one for lunch and one for dinner.
I really wasn't all that hungry to have the dinner one, as it was relatively few hours after I had the lunch one.
I kept debating with myself to just have a small one. However, if I had a small one, I wouldn't have met my protein goal, I wouldn't have met my fat goal, and I would have been 400 calories lower.
When I was losing weight on the fast track, this would have been perfect. Now - not so much. Now I need to UP those numbers and look much more at nutrition, less at the calories.
This is a total shift in mindset, and it is clearly something that takes time, at least for me. I'm sure I'll get it into my thick skull sooner or later, though.
Again - as long as I keep being active, and keep doing my workouts, I will be fine eating large amounts of proper foods, as long as I don't eat stupid s**t.
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Today is a nice day.
No workout today, as I did it yesterday and today is my recovery day. This means that I have done the last workout this week. I don't think I'll get to do more, unless I feel up to it tomorrow. I honestly don't think my legs will be ready, but if they are - then I'll go.
I did half my walk. I know I will have PLENTY of walking later today, so I thought it more productive to go to work early, and save up some comp time.
Later, I will take the bus to another department to go to a meeting. It's 1½ kilometers to and from the bus, so this will be the other half of my walk.
Then, later again, Drummer will come pick up my gear for tomorrow's concert.
And after that, we're having some friends over for dinner.
Phew. That's a lot to do in one day. It's a fun day though.
I can tell that I am a little behind on my sleep today - it's been a rough week. I hope I can sleep tomorrow morning, and that I do NOT wake up at 4 am. I need the rest, especially since we have the concert Saturday night.
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- A fun day ahead.
- Almost weekend.
- Feeling incredibly good.
- Feeling relaxed about my weight loss journey.
- Feeling in control.
- Wife.
Have a great weekend! Don't expect much of a journal Saturday.
Life is good!
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