Day 14: No change on the scale, but I am noticing other changes!
1st: My cravings/hunger have gone way down. When I got home from church last night, I still had about 500 calories to spare for dinner (that I almost forgot about!) 🤷♀️
2nd: My mood is elevated 😊, sleep is deep 😴 (tracked via the Sleep Cycle app), and I've been having some pretty vivid dreams. Those are definitely signs that my supplementation regime is working to elevate my serotonin levels which may also be affecting my perception of hunger 💃.
3rd: I've re-established my baseline of fitness 💪. In December I started working out again, increasing my duration and intensity slowly. More recently I've noticed that my strength and endurance is about where it was last year, and I haven't even been especially sore, despite incorporating muscle confusion and mixed metabolic training. That's my cue to amp things up 📢!
4th: Physique changes 🤸♀️. Whenever my body composition changes, my stomach skin will start to loosen up as things get smaller underneath. Then I'll have a whoosh, and everything tightens back up. Well that is happening right now. I just need to persist.
I once took a mindfulness class, and one of the first things we did was meditate on our intentions so that our behaviors aligned with those intentions. I found the practice very fruitful, and I'd like to add that when our intentions spring from our values, there is even more alignment - truly lightening ⚡ in a bottle. I value excellence, authenticity, and wholeheartedness so my intentions and this very detailed journal entry (which I did not intend!) is springing from those values. So here we go 2019:
Intentions:
Fitness💪 - I crafted a tentative 8 month fitness plan yesterday, beginning with LIIFT4 on February 4th, 80 Day Obsession April 1st, then two rounds of 21 Day Fix Extreme beginning July 1st. I'm hoping the combination of programs will change my body composition so that I may reach my bodyfat percentage goal of 25% by August 16th. While I have a bio-impedance scale to foster situational awareness, I understand the measurements are prone to error 😩. For that reason (and because I love precision ) I've already scouted out a place that does DEXA scans, so I plan to do one in February then another August 14th.
Nutrition 🍴 - Once I start LIIFT4, I'll transition from the Schwarzbein Principle to the nutrition plan that accompanies LIIFT4. The plan includes lists of acceptable foods, a calorie range that accounts for your current weight and goals, consists of 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein, and one cheat meal a week. I've had tremendous success with this way of eating in the past, not to mention my skin always looks amazing and I average 25 gr. of fiber a day. The Schwarzbein Principle that I'm presently doing has been great as far as weaning me off processed foods and excess carbs, but I know from experience I will need to bump up from 20% carbs to 40% to fuel my workouts 🏋️♂️.
Support 🤝 - I find my daily weigh-in, reflection, and ✍ a 📖 not only rewarding, but it creates a kind of accountability that motivates me to follow through on my intentions. I was logging my stats on MyFitnessPal for the last two years, but there was no interacting or connecting with others on the same journey - at least not in the same way that there is on FatSecret. I do start a new job later this month, so my journal entries may be a bit shorter, but I intend to check in daily ✔.
It's a new week. A new day. Carpe Diem!
