Good morning! :)
Phew. I'm glad the weekend is over. Damn.
After the Indulgence Day Friday, and the Christmas party Saturday, along with the slightly hung over Sunday - which included MASSIVE sugar cravings - I'm glad to see Monday come around.
I need a regular schedule with enough to do. Right now, please.
I will definitely get that, but today will be rough.
It's probably all the wine from Saturday what is still in my system, rearing its ugly head.
Still, I am on track, on my mission, with everything set and not only am I good to go, but I've been gone all morning.
- Food plan good to go. Check
- Skipping breakfast due to fasting. Check.
- 5K or more walk. Check.
- Gym. Check.
- Work. Check. Well, so far. It's only 8:40 AM. :) Still, have all the intentions of it going well, of course.
- Also, teaching tonight.
...
Weight is up this morning. I knew - KNEW - that the low weigh in yesterday was too good to be true. Nobody goes out, drinks, has good food - even if the portions were tiny - and come home with a legit weight loss of 2½ kilos. It just doesn't happen.
I am, however, down 800 grams since Saturday, so it's no all bad.
I am sure there will be another kilo or two gone in a few days.
...
I need to drop 2 kilos to reach a new low this time around. I think it will happen, as I see that I am still retaining some water, and muscle mass is still unnaturally high.
Man, I can't wait to NOT have to nerd this all that much. Obviously, I will still be analyzing my numbers, but I really am looking forward to having more and better food, not have to worry about
weight, but to be focusing on body fat percentage instead.
This is my mission for the future, and the future is JUST around the corner.
...
Surgery is in ten days. In nine days, I will be admitted to the hospital, for blood work, etc.
In nine days, my weight loss mission ends.
Of course, in effect, this doesn't mean that anything REALLY changes.
The main thing is that I will focus a LOT more on eating enough, on eating the right things to benefit workouts and strength training. The future will have a LOT higher calorie intake, but much more sensible food choices.
There WILL be room for the fun stuff, but with no less focus than there is now.
The beauty of it all is that I think that with the higher calorie allowance (which is really more of a calorie
requirement), it will be much easier to NOT get into all the bad foods.
From what I can see, weight/muscle maintenance for me will be close to 3,000 calorier per day, maybe 2,700-2,800 or so. This IS required when you have a good chunk of muscle to maintain. Eat significantly less, and you'll lose muscle mass.
I also DO thing I need to up my protein intake significantly, more than I have already done.
I was pondering on this on my way through the workout this morning.
I added a HUGE chunk of extra protein a few months back, and the size of my muscles exploded. My workouts became MUCH heavier, and everything got INTENSE. I love it.
Now, I am slowly stalling. I still work out just as heavy, but I don't progress. So, it dawned on me.
I think I might have reached the point where the usual amount of protein doesn't give me enough wiggle room to grow further, but just to maintain.
It's kinda the opposite way of losing weight. If you lose a good chunk of weight but don't adjust your RDI on the way down, you will end up simply eating at maintenance level, and thus stop losing weight. Same principle.
Does it make sense?
Of course, I have other things on my mind right now than to experiment with that.
I have surgery in ten days, and there will be a few weeks of recovery time, then time to rebuild what muscle mass is lost, and there will be other factors to focus on.
The mission and approach is clear though.
This is what I count on doing:
- Fitbit and my Über Smart Smartscale will daily tell me what kind of calories I burn with the activities that I am able to do any day through recovery. Initially, my movement will be close to zero, so I have to set my estimated activity level to "Sedentary" to give me a realistic RDI. I will follow this to the T, not just being under, but being at maintenance.
I think it will be absolutely essential that I consume enough protein and fat for my muscles to stay as big as strong as possible through recovery, and I hope that it will speed up recovery too, in comparison to not doing anything. I will keep a KEEN eye on my body fat percentage to ensure that I am not just gaining fat. It should be possible to go through recovery without gaining much fat, if I do it right. I hope I can focus enough on doing this.
- In regards to exercise, I will start with healing until I feel that I can move around a little. I will then slowly start walking, again with a KEEN focus on my limits, so I won't do TOO much. The surgeons recommended exercise last time, and I am sure they will again. So I will start walking, just short rounds at first, but try to work my way up. This will significantly up my calorie burn and make things easier.
I will start walking to the gym. This will be the first walking goal. Just walk down there, sit down and rest, have coffee, go home. That's it. This "exercise" is mostly about staying in the habit of going to the gym. Not that I think I would ever want to stay away. I love that place.
Next step will be longer and longer walks, and trying out my limits at the gym. Just light weights, and only machines that feel okay. Mind you, we're not talking the first several weeks after surgery for this. But I know that there are machines that I can use, at least with limited weight, relatively early - and I think it's a good idea to do these when my body gives me green light for the project.
Then, as I heal, I will slowly work my way back to where I was. I know this can take months, but I will just have to do the best I can, and enjoy the progress/recovery.
I will write down the numbers I push the last time I work out, and have them as future goals when I come back.
(EDIT:)
I just found
this article online. It seems I am fairly right on my approach on this. I think I can live with a weight maintenance RDI for a few weeks. :)
(END OF EDIT)
...
It's been 1½ year since my last surgery.
I really truly feel that I am WAY better prepared this time around. I have a much clearer idea about my mission and priorities afterwards, and I think this will help me a lot. I know a lot more about my nutrition, and a lot more about how I reacted to the surgery last time.
Last time was MORE than rough on me - my energy was zero for quite a while after. This time, the surgery is significantly smaller, and shouldn't be as invading on everything, other than that I of course still will be cut open and have to heal after. I'm curious to see how I'm gonna react this time around, knowing more, and also being WAY stronger and fitter.
Last time, I as in good shape. I was light on my feet, weight in at 75-77 kilos, and ready for the challenge of the massive surgery.
This time I weigh quite a bit more, as you know, but it's by far mostly muscle. I am way way stronger than last time, lifting trible/quadrouple the weight. My bodyfat percentage is still very acceptable for the surgery, and I know it's all good. I hope the extra strength will help me heal faster.
I will have a LOT more questions about training vs. surgery for my surgeons, though. There are so many things I wonder.
- If I find workout machines where I don't stretch or bend more than if I just it in chair, does it make it okay to work out on it? This could green-light at least 4-5 of the 12 workout machines.
- Can I work the abs in a cruncher, once the skin has healed? The surgery is ONLY skin, so there is a good chance I can do this. If so, how hard can I push myself?
...and of course more questions. Obviously, this is not for the first several weeks after surgery. I'm not crazy. But I do want to get going as fast as I absolutely, positively can.
I hope I won't get the same feeling as I did last time, after the BIG surgery. They literally loosened all the skin on my body, from chest to knees, all the way around - both front and back. At that time, I wasn't allowed to do any workouts for a couple of months, but it took much longer time until it was even remotely comfortable to do anything. It felt like I was tearing into the skin when ever I tried to run or jog, so all I could do was walk, walk, walk.
Of course, back then I didn't lift weights at all.
This time, all I want to do is lift weights, and walk. I'm REALLY curious how the weights will feel. I don't see them as really being a big problem. It's mostly a matter of being in the right positions. My arms and legs, sholders, etc. won't be affected by the surgery. They shouldn't cause any trouble. My biggest concern is working abs and lower back, squats (due to the position) and stuff like that. Things that affect the stomach area directly.
...
Today, I'm thankful for:
- Suffering though the workout this morning. I honestly wasn't sure I was gonna make it to the end, but I did it!
- Feeling awesome after completing the workout AND surviving it. :)
- Morning coffee.
- Water Melon flavored BCAA. Long live recovery! :)
- Wife
- A nice, easy day at work. I thought it would be tough and busy. Turns out I was wrong.
Life is good!