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Good morning!
It's super early (or late, depending how you look at it) - 2:48 AM.
I can't sleep, but it's not a bad "can't sleep". I simply woke up rested and feel that if I stay in bed then I'm simply gonna be awake until the alarm goes off anyways. Why waste my time doing that, and potentially wake up Wife because I get restless and keep turning etc., right?
So, I decided to get up. If I stay, then most likely I will fall asleep about 30 minutes before the alarm goes off and I will have a hard time waking up again.
So, I decided to do an early weigh-in, get on my laptop, turn on spotify and the write my journal.
Lately, my mornings have been busy, but in a good way. Taking an extra hour to walk every morning is something that I have really grown to like, and I am looking forward to doing it every day. However, it also take a full hour away from my other activities in the morning. One of those, that I feel suffers a little - is my journal.
I still write a lot, but I feel that I always end up running out of time, and eventually have to end it quickly, as it's time to go if I want my schedule to not fall apart.
So, this is a good chance to sit down comfortable with a cup of coffee and just write.
It's an early weigh-in, and experience tells me that a few hundred grams extra will weigh me down when I do this, but I decided to weigh in nonetheless. It doesn't really matter THAT much. It'll just be adjusted in tomorrow's weigh-in anyways.
Today, I am at 85.3 kilos. It's 700 grams over what I weighed one week ago, and then if we counter maybe 200 grams from weighing in early, then let's say a pound. Meh.
It's still too early to look at statistics and say how I am doing, whether I'm maintaining weight or not. Sure, I am up, but this last week was right after the crazy 600 calorie marathon I did, and there is obviously an immediate weight gain coming after such a venture. I knew this and I'm fine with it. Hey, I'm still 8 kilos lighter than when I started doing that. :)
Yesterday's Low Cal Day went without a hitch.
I had a protein shake for breakfast, a low cal soup for lunch and a pita bread with ham and lettuce for dinner.
Now, the interesting thing this morning is that I - for the first time in a long time - actually do feel a little hungry. Not a bad hunger, just a little friendly reminder from my stomach that it's probably soon gonna be time for breakfast. It'll have to wait a little though - I want to have my breakfast with Wife when she wakes up.
I think what is different is my protein shake breakfast. It has the nutrients, but I would guess that a fluid based breakfast simply won't fill me as much as what I'm used to.
I can, however, see this as an advantage. And I wouldn't be nervous about doing the same thing again next time - the hunger feeling is not really anything worth mentioning.
What I see as a huge plus is that I might be able to use this as sheer nutrition, to up my protein and calories, without making me feel that I am stuffing myself silly.
This has been an issue for me these last days - SO MUCH FOOD. So I am hoping that this way I can supply some extra of the goodies without feeling that I eat too much.
...
This reminds me...
In conclusion to my "confused" journal yesterday - it's really hard to make the decision as to what to do at this stage of my diet for me.
I know I need to be in maintenance mode. I know I need to build up muscle. But I really want to keep my Low Cal Days.
I have decided to keep doing what I set out to - at least for three weeks - unless something radical changes on the way.
To me it feel like if I quit doing it already, then I haven't really learned anything from it. I need to go far enough that I clearly can see a result, I clearly can see in which direction it affects me.
The worst that can happen is that I gain a little fat. Honestly, so what? I've been there before, and I know what needs to be done to lose it again. It's a minor change to go back, and they'll be off again. It's nothing I can't handle.
So, I will keep going with these numbers AT LEAST this week and next week, see where it takes me. Then I will adjust accordingly.
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Spring seems to FINALLY have arrived in Denmark!
This is a good thing as I was about to go track down Lady Spring and give her a beating! LOL!
The temperatures are finally above 15 degrees centigrade, and it's about damn time. Yesterday was the first day in 6 months that it has reached that temperature. SIX FRICKIN' MONTHS! I'm terrified to get the heating bill next year. It'll cost us a ton! Not much I can do about it, though.
The weather yesterday was simply beautiful. I loved my walk, and it was such a nice day that I ended up doing two more walks through the day - first one in my lunch break, then an extended walk going to teach at the school.
Yesterday was my last day with the kids for this school year. We won't be back until late September/early October. I'm gonna miss it, and I'm gonna miss the paycheck. It's always nice to have a little extra income.
I do appreciate an extra evening at home though. It seems that with teaching weight loss, extra exercise put it and all, it kinda gets busy sometimes. Busy is good. The only downside is that I don't get to fully catch up on my tv-shows. :)
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So, I am done with Low Cal Days for now, not having the next one come up until Sunday, when I am rehearsing with Burnin' Live! In a ways I am always glad to have them overwith, because they do require a little extra planning, but at the same time I always feel amazingly well on those days. As long as I don't have more than a few in a row I am more than fine with it.
The other days are easier in the way that I have a LOT more wiggle room, obviously. But, on the other hand, I have felt that I needed too much food to meet the requirements.
Today is different, though, partially because of the protein shakes and bars, but also because of lunch.
Check out the "menu" for today:
Breakfast:
Rye Bread, ham, eggs and cheese, as usual. I have added the cheese lately to up the calories.
2nd Breakfast:
Protein shake.
Lunch:
A nice, large portion of chili con carne with two hot dogs and cheese. Plenty of kidney beans.
Dinner:
Currently unresolved.
Evening snack:
Currently unresolved.
What I have so far amounts to 1600 calories. I have 1075 to go - but a nice dinner with some meat and generally good choices should get me close, and I can supply with a shake or protein bar at the end to meet the goal.
I do think it's important to meet the goal. I have given this a LOT of thought over the last 24 hours. If I don't meet the goal for the day, then I can't determine if my calorie intake generally is too low, too high or just right, so I really do want to reach the right level.
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Today is gym day. I'm looking forward to it. The whole "convincing myself to go" thing is long gone. I WANT to go. I like going, and I don't want to be without it. It's great to finally, FINALLY, have found that drive to do it.
I feel what it does to me. I feel how much it changes my body to the better.
Yesterday, my back was a little sore and I wanted to stretch out. I couldn't really get to do it at work, until I remembered a spot where there is a huge wooden bar hanging across a walkway. It's just slightly out of reach when I lift my hands up.
One tiny little jump made me able to reach it, and I could easily pull myself up by the fingers/hands, and just hang there stretching! Wow! I couldn't hang on all too long, but I was able to hang there, stretch my back, have time to realize how amazing this was, and even pull myself up by the arms and also lift my feet up! This lasted max 10-15 seconds, but what a thing to discover! I have never, ever, ever, ever, EVER been able to do anything like that!
I'm still baffled how far I have pushed myself physically the last few months.
My back and shoulder pains are completely gone, I'm happy to say. I had some minor strains - probably from the workouts - but they are no longer, and I can keep going as I'd like.
I have upped the weight on several machines lately. I have a few now where I am in the top 80% of the weight. All the machines have a max setting of 18 (the weight varies greatly, depending on which type of exercise we're talking), and from memory my settings are like this:
Level 9: 4 machines
Level 10: 2 machines
Level 11: 1 machine
Level 15: 1 machine
Level 16: 2 machines
Max setting is 18, and these machines are not in any way different from what the "real" bodybuilders use. They're not made lighter or anything. It's the real deal.
Other than this, there are two exercises that simply rely on body weight, there are two rowing machines that I set to max load (not too hard only going 45 sec), and two spinning bikes that I generally stand up and ride (less time wasted setting height on bike, etc.)
It's a great workout, and I'm pretty damn proud of the numbers, considering that I have only done this for 3½ months.
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Wow, more than an hour has flown by... time just zooms by when I write. It's been SO nice to actually sit down and do a proper journal, with plenty to time for it and plenty on my mind.
I need to get up early more often! :)
Today I am thankful for:
- A reasonably good weigh-in!
- Waking up early to write!
- Spotify! Free Bird! :)
- Morning coffee!
- So many goals met in the gym, and then some!
- Spring is here!
Happy Wednesday! Life is good!
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188.1 lb
Lost so far: 153.7 lb.
Still to go: 0.7 lb.
Diet followed 100%.
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losing 20.1 lb a week
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