Good morning!
Thanksgiving was easy for me. We aren't celebrating it until tonight. :D
Instead, my day went by with working, picking up our new beds and assembling them last night.
It was three full hours of crawling around on the floor, messing with large, heavy boards, hammering and screwing in little thingamabobs, and what have you.
I did it all on my own, as Wife was busy prepping dinner for tonight. As some of you know, she's American and Thanksgiving is a big deal. Since we don't have the day off in Denmark, it's a lot less complicated to push it a day, so nobody has to get up early and go to work the day after.
Anyways, I was really impressed with myself. First of all, the bed looks great. I had no trouble with assembling it - it's an IKEA style system that can easily be confusing - and last, but not lest, IT WAS IN NO WAY PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTING TO DO!
None of it was a physical challenge. Not lifting the old beds out. Not handling large mattreses, not carrying the boxes with the new beds up to our apartment on the 3rd floor, not being on my knees on a wooden floor or hours. None of it.
I feel it today, obviously. I can tell that I did an extra workout - but the visit to the gym this morning was just as heavy and as intense as always.
I'm tired now, though. :) It's a great kind of tired, the one that just makes you feel accomplished. Now, if only I could lift my arms. LOL.
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So, I already did my walk. I did my workout routine. I walked to work, where I am now. Fitbit says I did 11,300 steps so far today, and it's only 8:24 AM.
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As I said, tonight is the Thanksgiving feast.
I have laid a plan, and I intend to keep it.
Trying to prep for tonight, I came across
this article, talking about my "dilemma". How to stay on track for the feast, especially if you're doing Intermittent Fasting.
I know it would have been smart to post the article a day or two earlier, but hey - at least we can read it and use it for Christmas too. :)
For me, there is obviously the extra challenge of not wanting to go all nuts due to surgery in 6 days.
So, here is my game plan.
1. Burn as many calories as I can during the day. Walk, workout, etc.
2. BCAA to keep my muslces fed on amino acids post-workout. This is to stay fasting and calorie free until I eventually eat.
3. Skip ALL meals until Dinner. This will give me 2000 calories to spend for dinner. Easy as pie. The hard part is to restrict myself more than I probably am gonna want to. Several guests are bringing desserts, and obviously I want to have a taste, but limit it. I can't just say no either, it'd be rude on a day like this.
- It's basically gonna be a 24 hour fast. I've done them before, it's no big deal. As long as I stay hydrated, can consume BCAA and have coffee, it's all good. The rest is purely a mental game, and I have done it so many times.
4. As he mentions in the article, load up on meats first at the dinner. Sides are not as important. And for me - a very strict limit on desserts.
5. Compensate as hell all day tomorrow. :)
After the dinner is done and overwith, there will be absolutely no snacking. This is when the feeding window closes. Dinner isn't until 7 PM, which is when my feeding window normally closes. I will pay attention to what time I stop eating, and I will then compensate that time tomorrow morning. If I stop eating an hour too late, then I will wait an extra hour eating tomorrow.
Also, the rest of the days until surgery will be extremely low carb days. I need to shed the water weight, and I know this will do it. It's tedious, but it has to be done.
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I would love to see at least two kilos (liters?) of fluctuation drop. Looking at my numbers this morning, this is VERY possible. And if it isn't then it's all sitting in the muscles and not a big deal.
I've been reading up on little tips and tricks to do this. It's really not much about weight loss - or rather, it's not about FAT loss - but more about shedding the fluid. This is also important for me, as it will assist in loosening my skin.
What I did to study this is basically read up on what the boxers, weight lifters, etc., do to shed weight before a weigh in for "fight night". There are lots of very EXTREME things they do, and I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.
There are other things though. Simple tricks like going super low carb for days, while drinking excessive water will prime you to have to go #1 much more often than normal, and when you during the last 24 hours stop drinking fluid, your body will still want to dispose of what it has retained. Smart. You're basically priming yourself so your body is expecting more water, and then denying it.
As long as we don't do this every day, and as long as we don't regard it as actual weight loss, there is no harm in it, I think.
For me, I am already drinking tons of water. My body is used to it. The low carb days will help me shed more of it. I know this. I think it'll work.
I will do my "fluid free" day on the day I go to the hospital. This is the day BEFORE surgery. It'll be a busy day and not having to drink water will actually be welcome.
Mind you, please, this is ONLY something I am doing because of the unusual situation. I do NOT recommend doing things like these. I just want to prime myself for doing this.
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The next days, after tonight's feast, I will also go VERY low calorie. I will probably not reach my protein goals, and I know I should I don't think I'll do a whole lot of damage from doing this a few days. Sure, I might deflate the muscles a tiny bit, but we're talking 4 days here. Not a whole lot.
This could help me drop an extra lb of actual fat. Given that I have a very high calorie burn in general, I can easily create an additional 3500 calorie deficit in 4 days. That would take away about 1 lb of fat (including some muscle).
Again, it's only a few days.
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I have a plan for recovery post-surgery too, as you know.
Basically, rest as needed, eat at maintenance level with FULL focus on protein and fat, and exercise as much as I can. Keep challenging myself (within reason and without being stupid or hard headed), in order to get back on track as soon as possible.
To think... Maintenance is ONE WEEK away. :)
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It's been hard to fully stay focused with all the stress at work and home.
I'm happy to say that some of the stress factors - those at home - are slowly going away. Wife is feeling much better, and will not be sick from work any longer. In fact, she is starting a new job this Monday!!!
It's been a couple of ROUGH months, but things are clearing up!
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- A great night's sleep in our new bed!
- An AWESOME - but rough - workout!
- Knowing what to do and how to handle tonight's feast!
- Wife!
- Coffee!
Have a great weekend! I don't have too many plans this weekend, so expect journals! :)
Life is good!