Monday measurements

How did measurements go? Haha....don't ask.

I am so frustrated right now, I'm about ready to choke every single person who's ever written anything I've read about fat loss. Because I have yet to read a book that says, if you do everything you are supposed to do, you will not lose fat. Which would be the truth in my case.

This whole thing of improving my physique is turning into quite the scientific experiment. My kitchen has turned into a lab and my body is the test tube. It has taken me deeper than I EVER expected to go. And what I mean by this is that I have calculated and counted and weighed and calculated some more every single day for the past 8 days so that I KNEW my macros and I KNEW how many calories I was taking in. I wear my heart rate monitor for every workout anymore so I KNOW how many calories I am burning. And on paper, it looks real good. Yet....

If you came to my house and looked on my counter, you would think I was taking college classes or something. There are two large notebooks, 3 small notebooks, a couple of binders, books and a calculator. Most nights, my family is waiting for me at the table while I'm measuring and weighing food. I'm ALWAYS sitting at the counter, calculating. When my kids ask me to go outside with them, I say, "Just a minute, I have to do my calculations first". It's insane. And I don't intend to live this way forever. But it is sure taking forever to figure this out. Figuring out what works for ME, at least.

I don't know what is so different about my body from everyone else who can follow a plan and drop fat. I can't say I workout too much. In fact, I'm most positive that my workouts are the ONE thing that isn't hindering me. Therefore the key lies in my diet. Still.

According to calculations recommended by a highly regarded health/fitness expert, my maintenance level of calories is about 2000 per day (14,000 per week). I've calculated that in the past week, I've eaten 11,453 which is far under my maintenance. Factor in calories burned through exercise this past week (2,193) and I've got a net calorie intake of 9,260. Which then translates to a 4,740 calorie deficit. And if 3,500 calories is a pound, I should have lost a little over a pound. But when I measured myself this morning, I was actually BIGGER! How can this be?????

My scale shows a 6lb loss, of course. This is why I NEVER rely on the scale for much other than keeping track of bloat. I was totally bloated at the beginning of last week. So I can't ever tell if I'm losing fat or water. My caliper seems to not be much of a help anymore either, because it's ALWAYS on the same setting. I'm so lean in my upper body that I don't think it's an effective way to measure my body fat, since mine all sits on my bottom half. Don't get me wrong, I still have a certain amount of extra fat I need to lose around my middle if I wanted to get into "competition shape".

Stay with me....

This book I've been reading also has calculations to determine caloric needs. And I've never seen anything like them before. They are quite unlike the mainstream calculations you seem to find all over the internet. According to their calculations, I'm SERIOUSLY overestimating my maintenance level of calories. Which I had been wondering all along.

Also, their recommendations for macro nutrients are a lot different. The protein amount is surprisingly less. But according to their studies (remember, these guys are scientists) they found that while the recommended daily allowance of protein is enough to maintain muscle, it doesn't put you in a positive nitrogen balance, which is needed to build muscle. That doesn't mean that eating protein protein and more protein is going to build you more and more muscle. There is a certain point at which adding more protein beyond necessary does not mean more gains, it just means you are eating more than you really need. In other words, adding protein over and above the RDA is necessary for muscle gain, however, adding too much doesn't equal even more muscle.

And, carbohydrates are good! They help fat metabolism. Although if you overeat them, they are easily stored as fat. I think my carbohydrate consumption has been far too low for far too long. It's something to think about I guess. My problem lies within finding the right amount for my needs. While I've been trying to cut back carbs and cycle carbs, I still may not be getting enough. Therefore all my efforts have been wasted because I'm still not properly fueling my body.

Anyway, in conclusion, my last week, carb cycling in this pattern:

Low
Moderate
Low
Moderate
Low
High
Moderate

...proved to be ineffective for me. Unless I actually have lost, but just don't know it. Perhaps internally? It sounds stupid, but I've read that it takes a while for us to see a loss because it happens from the inside out. While someone who could stand to lose weight might notice something right away, someone like me is probably going to have to be more patient. Not sure how much more patient I can be. This is becoming ridiculous.