kingkeld's Journal, 23 April 2012

I'm down another pound today, not bad.

The weekend went well, though I did go 100 calories over my RDI yesterday. No biggie, I am well below - probably TOO far, actually - my calorie intake.

This maintenance thing is still puzzling me somewhat. I know what I need to do, I need to consume the calories that I burn. However, when I get even remotely close, I seem to gain weight. Not good.

So, I need to experiment more to find the "sweet spot". Or should that be "the healthy spot"? :)

This week - until Saturday morning - my goal is to be at around 1800 calories. Not too far under. I want to lose another two kgs or so, just be be under 77 kgs.

My exercise goal is to have the fatsecret counter say 3000+ calories burned per day. I try to count everything as accuarate as possible, and I know that some people (occiasionally myself too) believe that the exercise counter is a little too generous on calories burned.

However, it's a goal to set for me, nothing else. I know that if I set out to burn 3000 a day, then I don't stay still and lazy too much. It keeps me going.

This weekend was super quiet and event-less. This means more sitting still, and that means that I had to be extra focused on getting on the bike to burn calories. I did so, both days. More than one hour per day. Not bad at all.

However, I can tell that my legs are aching today. They're tired. I did 30 minutes on the bike this morning - I had to or I wouldn't reach my 3000 calorie goal. It might even be hard to do anyways, if I don't get to stand up for the time I'm assuming I will be at work.

I stand up as much as I can. First of all, it burns calories compared to sitting down. Second of all, it feels like I can better concentrate and feel more comfortable standing up. My back doesn't ache as it does when I sit at my desk all day. So standing up is a great option for me. I like it.

The only time I really sit down is when I do interviews. Most people aren't comfortable standing up at things like these, so we sit down. Maybe I should consider suggesting to them that we stand up? Also, this cuts talk time shorter, as most people don't just lean back, get comfortable and chatty. Hmmm... I gotta experiment a little with that. :)

...and of course, I usually sit down at meetings and at lunch. Meetings are sometimes done standing up, though. I'll just go stand in the back if my back is tired, if they have bad chairs or there is another issue of some kind.

So, this weekend we had a LOT of great food. I know some of you saw the photos in my journal yesterday. I have to point out that there weren't MY food, they were simply examples for those who didn't know what kind of foods I was talking about. Rest assured, though, that mine didn't look much different. :)

I even had some wiggle room yesterday to put in some chocolates and a brownie-in-a-mug thingy that I found the recipe for in the forums. It's pretty simple, and I'll be happy to share:

1 egg
1 tbs sweetener (or sugar)
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pinch of baking powder

Mix thoroughly, put in a mug, microwave one minute. Done. Enjoy.

It's very simple, and tastes okay. Sure, it's not like Wife's cakes, but at 125 calories and two minute preparation time, I think I can't complain. It's good to kill that "here and now" urge for goodies.

Maybe it's an okay way to kick in a few extra calories, and proteins, if I'm running a little low too? I don't see this one as being horribly bad for you.

I'm still in doubt how to up my calories to maintain weight instead of the whole gaining/losing battle. It seems that I gain A LOT when I go higher in calories, and that I lose fast when I go lower.

I think the solution is to consume more calories, but not waste them on bad things like bad snacks. However, this is hard for me, it seems. I eat meals at a reasonable size, and I'm perfectly happy with them. I don't feel that I need to make them bigger in neither portions or calorie count. So the immediate solution will be snacks. And the snacks that I usually end up with are the bad ones. Chocolate. Candies. The question is, of course, how much a difference do these make at the end of the day compared to say an extra slice of cheese here and there, another serving of rice, an extra chicken breast?

The general philosophy that I've gone by when I have been losing weight is to simply eat less than I burn. I haven't really looked much at WHAT I eat. So will it make a difference WHAT I eat to maintain or gain weight? I'm sure it does. However, it'd be nice if I can simply find that balance, where I can eat normally, snack normally and maintain.

Now, that I have my focus back - because I gained weight and had to drop it again (and still am dropping it - two more kgs to go - it's a lot easier to not snack. When I snacked yesterday, it was controlled. I had no trouble doing this. The chocolates I ate were measured out early in the day and lasted for hours. I'm pretty proud of that. I hope I can do that every time - or even just have half and put the rest away. I'd like to one day be able to put on a jacket and find half a chocolate bar that I forgot in there! LOL! That has NEVER happened! :)

I guess I'll simply keep experimenting, and keep a keen eye on the weight. It's pretty simple for me to knock down the weight again once I gain, but it'd be so much nicer to simply not gain. This is - of course - the ultimate goal.

Plan of attack is 1800 calories this week. Get under 77 kgs. I think I can do this by Saturday. Then maybe no Indulgence Day, but simply allow myself to relax a little on Saturday. I'm thinking maybe 2500 calories, and not the 3200+ that I'd normally do.

More on that in a moment.

Then, slowly, start raising the calories again. Maybe 100 calories per week, maybe more. I'm not sure how fast to go. Maybe 200 per week? maybe 100 calories every three days? We'll see.

The goal for me will be to get to maintenance level RDI. FatSecret suggests 2700 when I set it to maintain weight and my activity level to low active. I'm thinking that 2500 will be good, since I'm doing what FatSecret sees at 3000 calories burn per day. If this is a little much compared to the real world measurements, then 2500 is probably good. It trick is to get there, and stay there without gaining.

And if I do gain, then WHY do I gain? Is it because I am getting fatter? Is it simply because I eat more and I have more food processing in my system? Is it because I tend to eat more salt and thus retain more water? I don't know...

Now, about the Indulgence Day... I'm thinking that I might not need it once I get to some level of maintenance. I think, if I have 2500 calories to play with on an every day basis, I should be able to get strange cravings out of the way on the day. I should be able to do things right. I should also have days where I get nowhere near the 2500 calories - it is actually pretty high compared to what I'm used to - so having a day of 3000 after a day or two of some hundred calories lower shouldn't matter. It's a "long run" thing for the future.

I hope this will work. There is really no way of telling before I do it. Try it out.

So, anyways, here I am - babbling again. However, this IS how I find many of the solutions to my "problems". Write about it and you will find a solution.

So, I will stay at 1800 for this week, or for some days if I can see my goal is closing in fast. Then I will slowly up the calories. Then we'll see what happens.

Today, work is gonna be reasonably easy. I have a lot to do, but it's not too hard. I just gotta do it.

Dinner tonight will be leftovers from the weekend. Pork roast, spanish rice and mixed vegetables. Not bad. Lunch - I've invited Wife to go with me for a pita bread at the local pizza place. We didn't have enough leftovers for both lunch and dinner, and dinner's more important.

The pitas at the little place we go to aren't bad though.

It's a small pita, with grilled chicken, and lettuce. No dressing. Pretty good, and very fulfilling for a lunch meal. Low on calories too. :)

Today I'm thankful for:
- A great weekend!
- Sleeping very well for many nights now.
- Finally waking up! I had so much trouble getting out of bed. I was COMFY!
- Morning coffee.

I hope you all have an awesome day! Make it count! Life is good!

173.9 lb Lost so far: 167.8 lb.    Still to go: 0 lb.    Diet followed reasonably well.

---

2356 kcal

Fat: 110.64g | Prot: 117.93g | Carb: 229.90g.   Breakfast: Rye Bread, Sliced Ham (Extra Lean), Egg. Lunch: Lettuce Salad with Assorted Vegetables, Chicken (Skin Not Eaten), Pita Bread. Dinner: eggs, soy sauce, Mixed Vegetables (Solids and Liquids, Canned), Spanish Rice, Nakkekam med svær. Snacks/Other: chocolate ice cream, chocolate, Bananas. more...

3014 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Bicycling (slow) - 11/mph - 30 minutes, Standing - 6 hours, Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 20 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours, Sitting - 6 hours and 40 minutes, Desk Work - 2 hours and 30 minutes. more...