Good morning!
It's a great day! It's Saturday, I'm up earlier than expected (but not surprised at all), and I have time to write a proper journal before I go work at the gym.
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"I am always amazed at home much time and energy you spend on your journals and your well being. Where does it come from? Wish you could put it in a bottle and sell me some."
This was a comment on my journal yesterday. Thanks, Neptunebch!
It really comes very naturally to me. I just type. Whatever pops into my mind, goes into the journal. I rarely proof read (as you've probably noticed) and I rarely change anything of any significance. I just type.
I think it's a great way of channeling things, get thoughts straight. All that jazz.
When it comes to spending time on my health, it's less than you'd think.
I mentioned it the other day - actual gym workout time is 0.8% of my time. It's nothing. But what I do in those less-than-one-percent of my time, I do full force, and it shows. Then, of course, there is a lot of walking. I make sure to stay on my feet as much as I possibly can. I walk every day. I stand up at work, when I really don't need to, and I walk to and from stores, etc. I don't own a car, so it makes it easier to not get lazy again. I am done being lazy, I think, other than the occasional day here and there of course.
Oh, and about bottling it. It's already done:
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I had another interesting comment, regarding the weight gains/drops and the much higher fat percentage that I have seen lately.
My buddy Nimm, whom I listen to closely when it comes to sane muscle building and maintenance, wrote:
"If your weight is going up, and your body fat is going up, but you look mostly the same while your lifts are increasing - there's a good chance you are adding actual mass and not just water. Fortunately, it sounds like you are developing some muscle mass. When I bulked the first time, I added nearly 25 pounds but relatively little body fat - if you're lifting, eating a small calorie surplus, and getting enough protein, you will add a mix of lean mass and body fat. But because muscle is so much denser than fat, you can add a good amount of weight before looking any larger in the midsection. It's nice to get larger AND improve body composition at the same time!"
It's nice to get confirmations that I am doing the right thing. I think I am. I can CLEARLY see body composition changes lately, and they are still coming! I upped the weight on two machines yesterday, the ones handling my thighs. They are now on 11 and 12 respectively on a scale that goes to 18. I average 12.4 on these machines. Not bad at all.
These days I can FEEL the strength difference a lot. When I lift things, even just a coffee cup, I can feel my muscles tightening harder. I feel that I flex more. Not in a "showy" way, just a natural muscle flex. I never had this before, and it's just freaky to feel. It's a great feeling though.
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So, yesterday I did great. I ended the day at 1900 calories out of my 2500 allowance. Again, probably too low to bulk up as Nimm says, but I made sure to have the protein requirements met, and have enough fat in my foods.
I did treat myself to fat/sugar free ice cream. I felt that I wanted something sweet, and it completely did it for me. I didn't have a lot, just 100g. It was nice.
This was at a cost of a little over 100 calories. No biggie.
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The result? I am down another 900 grams today, and my body fat percentage is down 0.2%. Minor on the fat, major on the weight. I think this is just fine.
I think there is still fluid coming off me.
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So, today is the big experiment day. Probably the dullest and easiest experiment to do, though.
Basically, I'm gonna do what I do every day. :)
I will NOT have my Indulgence Day, but just behave like I would on any other day. The idea is to NOT have a calorie spike. To NOT have a carb spike.
The point to this is to see just how much of my weight is fluid. According to my gym scale, I retain quite a lot of water. It does't really bother me, other than the fact that it's maybe excess weight. I like to be light on my feet, and I don't see a need to carry around the extra load. I'm not looking to lose WEIGHT, or MASS. Just FLUID.
It's been MONTHS since I have not had an Indulgence Day, and many of them have turned into weekends.
After these days/weekends I always gain a LOT of fluid - and of course also a little fat. It's usually more or less gone after about a week, but then I tend to start all over.
This weekend, I will just do what I do on non-weekend days. I will stay within my normal 2500 calorie RDI, make sure to get protein and fat, and limit my carbs within reason. I don't really look at the carbs a whole lot, but I do know that I can't go overboard in them.
What I do, as you may know, is basically not eat stupid s**t. This keeps my calorie intake low, as well as my carb intake. I don't really eat bread any longer, and that helps a lot too.
So, I am curious to see whether I will KEEP dropping fluid weight for some extra days, and how much more weight I will lose because of this. I am trying to find my "true" weight, as I think I have been hovering above it for quite some time.
I have no idea whether it will stop at 81 kilos, 80, or for that matter 75. Time will tell. My guess is a kilo or maybe two more, and that is it. But let's try and see what happens. This is probably the easiest experiment I have ever done. :)
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Since I am working at the gym today, I will be away from all bad foods all morning and all day until 3 PM. This just leaves 4 hours until my feeding window closes. It should be a walk in the part to make it to goal today.
My "lunch" is a huge protein shake. It's almost 400 calories, and that leaves 2000 calories for dinner and snacks.
I have a little leftover ice cream from yesterday, and I will probably have this before my feeding window closes, as an after dinner treat. This is another 100 calories or so.
So this leaves 1900 calories for dinner and after noon snacks.
Snacks will be apples. Nothing else. I'm guessing 2 or three thoughout the day. That's about 200 calories.
So, I have 1700 calories left for dinner. I think I can handle that. :)
I don't know what dinner will be just yet - I think Wife and I will go dinner-shopping after I am done working. On the other hand, we have franks in the fridge, and that might be it. I can easily afford having two, it'll be about 600 calories and make be reach my fat/protein goal. Maybe just oven baked fries with it? Nice and easy, and a good Saturday dinner.
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- A GREAT night's sleep.
- Up relatively early.
- Time for journaling.
- Time for coffee.
- Working the gym today. This is ALWAYS fun.
- Weekend!
- Wife!
- My buddies commenting on my journals. I love reading your comments! Thank you so much!
Have an awesome weekend! Life is good!
