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Good morning!
So, it's the 3rd day in a row weighing in at 82 kilos sharp. I gotta say I was hoping to see a drop in weight today, but I wasn't really expecting it. At least there is no gain, and I am down .6% bodyfat. Not much, and not really worth counting, but I will take it as a kind of progress regardless.
After two days of 900 calories, I went full force and maxed my RDI yesterday at 2100 calories. It felt good, and I felt that I had SO MUCH food. :)
The reason for the change is something I've read quite some lately - the importance of nutrition in regards to maintaining weight (as opposed to losing it, not that nutrition isn't important here too!), and lifting weights.
I'm starting to feel that I life quite a bit - at least compared to the general public at the gym. Mind you, the gym is for "regular people", not designed for the heavy weight lifters. I most likely can't compare with them, and have no intention to.
Anyways, I have found a "formula" that supposedly can help me get to the right place in my maintenance phase, to avoid gaining too much weight, but help me gain the muscle that I need to maintain.
Looking at these calculations, I realize several things:
- I've been WAY low on protein for ages. This could explain why I haven't progressed much on the weights for the last few months, and probably have lost some muscle too.
- I have most likely "starved" my body on the days that I go very low on calories, and sacrificed having proper amounts of protein and fat to do the workouts that I am doing.
- I might be pushing too hard walking before gym three days per week. It might be more beneficial to move the "pre-gym" walks to later in the day. It would make sense to not spend the energy on walking before gym, especially since this is during my fasting period. This one I'm not sure about just yet, though.
Anyways, what I have found and read is that I can calculate a few things:
Maintenance calorie intake in general should be somewhere close to 14-16 calories per lb bodyweight. For me, at 76 kilos, or 167 lbs, when I reach my goal weight (but more about that in a moment). Suggested intake of protein to be sufficient to retain/build muscle at this level supposedly takes about one gram of protein per lb bodyweight. This is 167 grams of protein per day. It's been rare that I have been even close to 100. So this is clearly something to work on.
Protein "costs" about 4 calories per gram. This means that I need to allot a whopping 668 calories to protein alone. This is more calories than I consume on my Low Cal Days. That's food for thought.
Then, it's suggested that 30% of my calories comes from fat. Fat is needed for me to build some muscle, or maintain what I've got, along with the protein. Fat comes at an even more whopping 9 calories per gram, so at a 2100 calorie intake, I would need 70 grams of fat per day. That seems like a LOT compared to what I normally eat, unless I make stupid food choices.
Yesterday, I met those goals. I gotta say I was STUFFED and had no urge to eat anything more, but it was a challenge to get through it all. This is probably also the reason that I am not down in weight today.
I will try to do the same today, but I can see that I will need to get into protein shakes and bars today to get even remotely close to my goal. I'm not sure I will fully get there with what I have planned, but I can see that I will get very close.
And also, I will be able to do it even with a nice low calorie intake if I play my cards right. I think I'll be able to stuff in another protein bar somewhere to reach my goal.
I really don't want to start being TOO depending on protein shakes and bars, as they are fairly costly. I really don't want to be spending all my money on supplements like this, but initially it's probaby a smart, easy way to get the things I need. Then, as we go, I need to up my food intakes to better match the need. And of course, I want to see a change happening.
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Yesterday, I was thinking a lot about my goal.
Is 76 really a realistic goal for me, or is it actually too low?
I have been talking about this before. I originally had an 80 kilos goal with the surgeons, but they approved surgery when I weighed 81-82 kilos, and that is all good.
Since then, I have put on a significant amount of muslce and gained a LOT of strength, to the point where I found it relevant for the surgeons to take a 2nd look at me, because my body proportions have changed, and it might change the surgery procedure. I might even need a slight adjustment of the skin on my chest because of this. I'm not sure about this, though.
So, if I was to go today, at 82 kilos, I am very certain that the goal for them is still met. It's fine. It's much more MY goal that I am aiming to reach.
I would love to be lighter, as I can FEEL a difference when I'm lighter.
However, the 76 kilos is probably not necessary. I think I like the THOUGHT of being under 80 at all times much more than I actually NEED to be under 80. And if I keep putting on some muscle, I will most certainly soon reach a point where 76 kilos as a goal is about as unrealistic as if I set it to 50 kilos.
If I was to do this, it would be such hard work that I just don't see myself doing it.
So, this is something I'm gonna evaluate a lot on in the future. I'm gonna be less focused on goal, but focus much more on the day-to-day maintenance actions.
I'm not gonna change anything significantly the next week. I want to meet the surgeons before I do anything, get that 2nd approval that everything is peachy.
I will, however, use my RDI more efficiently over the next week, and see what changes this will give me. I will try to get ALL my protein, and ALL my fat, but keep my calories relatively low, preferably a chunk under RDI, but not necessarily.
And of course, since we're close to the surgeons' meeting, there will be NO indulgence Day this Saturday. There will be a party that we're attending, but the menu seems okay. We will have roasted port (and I will severely look out for added salt!), lots of salads that I get to "assemble" myself, so I know what's in it, and there will be water and coke zero. This I can handle. It shouldn't be too big an issue.
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So, speaking of lifing weights at my gym. I went through the machines to see what weights I'm actually lifting. They all just have a number, from 1-18, to make it easy to remember the settings. But on each machine there is a little chart that shows the real weight. I gotta say I was surprised with some of these.
These are my stats:
Should Press - 44 kgs/97 lbs (setting 9)
Lat Pulldown - 66 kgs/146 lbs (setting 10)
Leg Press - 172 kgs/380 lbs (setting 18)
Abs (not sure what this machine is actually called) - 82 kgs/180 lbs (setting 17)
Chest Press - 86 kgs/190 lbs (setting 10)
Biceps Curl - 42 kgs/93 lbs (setting 10)
Leg Extensions - 62 kgs/138 lbs (setting 10)
Seated Dip - 75 kgs/165 lbs (setting 11)
Mid Row - 88 kgs/194 lbs (setting 16)
Leg Curl - 90 kgs/199 lbs (setting 11)
These machines all have a max. setting at 18.
I think I can be pretty proud of this. When I started back in January, I started on level 4 on all upper body machines, and 6 on lower body.
Still, I have seen virtually no further progress the last 3-4 months. I really want to push forward a little, to keep things interesting, but it's HARD. These suckers are HEAVY as they are. I hope the protein and the fat and the general better use of calories can help me getting there. This has to be my main mission. I am very certain that building more muscle and maintaining my calories will help me on the rest of my weight journey too, as a "side effect". :)
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Today, no gym. I went yesterday for a 2nd attempt. If you read my journal from yesterday, you'll know that I went but didn't have the strength to follow through. Nowhere near. This was early morning, after my walk, and after two Low Cal Days in a row.
Well, I spend the day at work filling myself with good nutrients, and PLENTY of protein, and when I went back to do my workout in the afternoon, I had no issues. I wonder how much related these things are? Was it just because I got to rest after my walk, or was it because I re-fuled my body with good stuff before going? Obviously, I can't tell from just one time. But I know I will try eating right again today, and see how I feel. I will be able to tell at the gym tomorrow morning whether there is a change.
This, hopefully, will also help me away from the unscheduled binging days that I have seen WAY too many of lately. I could easily imagine that the binging is related to my body just not getting enough of the right nutrients. Not necessarily just the carb monster.
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I do feel that my focus is different today.
I have been falling asleep listening to the Paul McKenna weight loss CD the last three nights, and they make a difference. Thanks, Pam, for reminding me. I do see that they imprint a different mindset, and this works. I will keep listening to these every night for a while, and see if I can get all this thoroughly implemented. It's so easy to do things when the obsessiveness of the bad stuff is gone, isn't it? :)
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Today is a quiet day at work. A couple of easy cases, and of course it's cake day. No cake for me, thank you very much. I will, however have lunch, two HUGE protein shakes, a protein bar, two apples and probably a little more fruit. Then I will have dinner, go to work at the gym, have another apple and a nother protein shake, all before 7 PM when my feeding window closes. Phew. It's hard to imagine losing/maintaining weight eating all that. But looking at the calories, I'll be at least 500 cals lower than RDI. Wow.
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- Learning new things every day. This is all good, useful info.
- A day with focus.
- Smoothies and shakes!
- Wife!
Happy Thursday! Life is good!
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180.8 lb
Lost so far: 160.9 lb.
Still to go: 0 lb.
Diet followed 100%.
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steady weight
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