Whoa! (oh, and good morning!)
Very unexpected - a new low! Seriously, I did not see this coming, even if I had a Low Cal Day yesterday.
What a pleasant surprise. :)
Fat percentage is up, obviously - as it always is when I have a massive weight drop, and reaches 10.5% today, but I can TOTALLY live with that.
I know, I know. I'm not really looking for weight loss. I am looking to maintain, and put on more muscles. However, I do still feel that it's nice to drop just a couple of kilos, and if it just slides in there, then I'll be happy to take it.
Having my Low Cal Day yesterday meants that I am now done with Low Cal Days until next Sunday. I shifted things around so I do NOT have a Low Cal Day on Tuesday. I wanted it gone, as Wife and I are gonna be out all day, and it'll be nice to be able to go have brunch or something throughout the day, or maybe dinner in the evening.
I like the decision I have made that I don't HAVE to reach my RDI on a daily basis. I like it and I haven't even tried a day like that out yet. :)
It just takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders. It's strange. I would have NEVER thought that it would be an issue to eat ENOUGH.
Technically, I'm trying to push for a 2400 calorie intake as a max daily average. This means 2x600 calories (Sundays and Tuesdays), 1x3500 (Saturdays) and 3050 (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays).
I can only have sugars and "bad stuff" on Saturdays. The other days will have to be what I like to call "reasonable" foods.
Knowing how hard it has been to reach the 2675 RDI that I aimed for the last few weeks, and from which I obviously haven't gained any weight, it will be almost impossible to reach 3050 calories without bad foods, so I am really not worried about it. I am so confident about this that I feel that I could stop counting calories on those days. I won't stop, though, as I like to the tool just to know how I am doing. Also, I am watching my protein levels a LOT more these days, and I feel that I need to track them to make sure I get enough - pariticularily with all the workouts.
I have had so many days where it was hard to reach the top of my RDI. I had to, to know where it would take me. It's all about learning your limits.
However, I also felt that I was eating A LOT simply to eat. This is 100% unacceptable to me. I do not want to go down that path. I want to stay in the zone where I eat when I am hungry. I eat when it makes sense and when my body tells me to.
These last weeks I have had days where I essentially have had 1000 calories simply to reach the number. I can't keep doing that - it's mentally stressful, even if this is what I am SUPPOSED to do.
So making the decision to NOT have to go to the top of my 3050 calorie RDI is a massive load off my shoulder. I can simply eat comfortably (and consciously).
...
Yesterday's Low Cal Day went great, by the way.
As I know I have several buddies following my progress on this part of the journey, and are trying it out on their own - here is my food choices for yesterday:
Breakfast:
Two thin slices of rye bread (the lowest calorie one I can find)82 cal.
One egg (71 cal)
13% cheese (46 cal)
Sliced ham (21 cal)
Lunch:
Keld's famous tomato soup! (60 cal)
Dinner:
Smoothie!
- Strawberries (300g - 122 cal)
- Stevia sweetener (14 cal)
- 40g of protein powder (158 cal)
- 1.5% milk (150g - 57 cal)
Total calories for the day: 631. Not bad. I had more milk in my dinner smoothie than I had planned, but the smootie was getting too thick for the blender to handle it, so I had to soften it up. It's okay. I generally consider 600 gold, and less than 650 acceptable.
...
I woke up early this morning, 3 AM.
"Uhhh... what are you doing up at 3 AM on your first day of vacation, Keld?".
I don't know. I just couldn't sleep. There are way too many exciting things happening, and it just make me feel wonderfully awake.
First of all, we had an awesome practice session with Burnin' Live! yesterday. It was SO MUCH FUN!
Wife was there, taking pictures, and we have a bunch of good ones. I put one of them as my profile picture here - I really like it. It's so rock'n'roll! :D
Check it out:
I love this photo of me. To me, it shows how far I have made it both in music, attitude, workouts, and weighloss. I just love it.
Here's another one, with the band.
...and one more...
Ok... that's it for band photos for today. I just thought they were so much fun that I had to share.
...
Today is potentially an important day.
I have the journalist stopping by to do the interview.
For those of you who missed the news on this, this is all about a client from work who turned out to be a journalist writing for the national newspapers in Denmark.
She's very interested in my story, and she'd like to write it for one of the MAJOR papers in Denmark. Pictures and all.
This is what we're doing this afternoon.
I have been waiting for a few months to do this - I felt that I was slacking on my weight loss, and I felt that I wanted to look even better in the pictures that she's gonna take.
How appropriate that TODAY is the day that I reach a new low!
I haven't really done anything to reach the low weigh-in. It's just great timing. All I have done is follow my own rules - and of course push one Low Cal Day forward to not have to do it on Tuesday.
I can't wait to meet with her, and see where it all goes.
Her motivation for writing my story is pretty good, I think. What she tells me is that she has been looking for a good, positive story about people taking their destiny into their own hands.
She wants to write the story about the guy that shows that you CAN lose weight simply by doing right. That you CAN change your lifestyle. That you CAN indeed get healthy.
And she fully believes that I am that guy. Without too shallow, I tend to agree. :D
...
I am, of course, also teaching weight loss tonight. I hope that the girl with Crohn's disease will show up - it's such an interesting case and I really want to help her. I hope it all goes as I imagine it and have planned it.
I found the first "little useful tool" for her. Google is, as always, my friend when it comes to finding information.
She will today receive a LONG list - compiled by people with Crohn's - of food items. The list is categorized to show what is "Read alert!" to "green green go!" when it comes to compatibility with the illness. I think this is a great place to start, along with getting her to count her calories.
If I can accomplish this, and convince her to simply try to do right, then we're a good step down the road to success. We'll see. It's gonna be really interesting.
...
I've had some amazing walks these last few mornings. Well, the walks in general have been amazing, I really like them, but spring has really been knocking at our door here in Denmark these last few weeks.
I feel that I need to show just one more picture - this one I took yesterday on my usual walk:
I really like doing the walk to the beach. It's a beautiful place, and the air is so fresh - it's a brilliant way to start the day.
...and also, walking from my house to the beach and back is five kilometers straight. It's a perfect fit! :)
...
Today, I am thankful for:
- Such an exciting day ahead for me!
- New Low!
- No more Low Cal Days until Sunday! (acutally, I'm not sure how happy I am about this - I kinda like the low cal days)
- A good night's sleep - even if it was short.
- Vacation!
- Gym and a walk in a few hours. Too bad I have to wait for them to open. :)
Here's to a REALLY interesting day, and an amazing week! Life is good!
