Part 1: (of a long blog....please hang in there!)
I just have to quickly share something with you. I was reading the All You magazine last night and I usually never read the horoscopes but for some reason this time I chose to look them over. Here's what mine says:
"Use your powers of concentration and willpower to achieve a personal health or fitness goal. With five planets powering up your wellness zone, small steps taken now can lead to big results later in the year. Pace yourself, though, as the weekend-warrior approach might backfire and leave you a wounded warrior. Find a realistic diet and exercise program that you can stick to."
That could not have spoken to me any better if it had lips and vocal chords! Although I'm not sure what they mean by weekend-warrior. Doesn't sound like it applies to me though. Even though I don't really believe in this stuff, it was cool to read. Especially when all the other signs were talking about money, career, relationships, family, kids, creativity, etc.
Part 2: (as promised.....nutrition diary for the past week)
I REAAAAAALLLLLLY don't want to do this after last night. Remember how in my last post I said that I would be pretty much on track as long as I didn't pig out Sunday night, and that I didn't expect that to happen? Well, I should never have said that because it was like an invitation for the munchies devil to take over my body. I don't know WHAT came over me. I guess it was a long time coming.
I want to explain a couple things before I get started.
I don't pay any attention to BMI (body mass index) because I'm pretty sure it is going to tell me that I am underweight for my height, age, blah blah blah. I'm not interested in that number. Here are the numbers I am interested in:
My BMR (basal metabolic rate - which is total calories my body burns for normal bodily functions: digestion, circulation, respiration, temperature regulation, etc.) is 1285 calories. This is what my body burns without me even having to think about it.
My TDEE (total daily energy expenditure - which is what I burn in 24 hours including exercise and BMR functions) is 1992 calories. Let's round it up to 2000, a nice even number - this is my maintenance level. So basically, to lose fat, I'm going to need to take in less than this number every day in calories.
Now, when I look at that on a weekly scale, to not gain or lose any weight, I should keep my calories at 13,944 per week. My goal for this past week was 10,500 calories - that would have put me in a nice position to lose 1 pound. How do I know? Because you have to have a 3,500 calorie deficit in order to lose a pound. And a pound a week is a safe number. Still with me?
Well, it wasn't all bad. If I wouldn't have gotten the munchies last night I probably would have been very close to hitting that goal. My final number was 11,881 calories for the week. Which means I had a 2,063 calorie deficit. And if I keep up those numbers this week, I will definitely have lost a pound.
I can't be too unhappy about that.
So now let's look at calorie totals and macro nutrient ratios for each day:
MONDAY:
calories = 1107 (very low for me, can't believe I was able to function on this little food)
fat = 33.2% of total calories
protein = 29.4% of total calories
carbs = 45.8% of total calories
TUESDAY
calories = 1067
fat = 17%
protein = 29.3%
carbs = 45.8%
WEDNESDAY
calories = 1835
fat = 13.4%
protein = 12.3%
carbs = 21.1%
*note: the percentages should actually be higher but I forgot to record fat/protein/carb. Calories are correct.
THURSDAY
calories = 1524
fat = 34.5%
protein = 25.4%
carbs = 42.5%
FRIDAY
calories = 1757
fat = 27.5%
protein = 24.2%
carbs = 48.3%
SATURDAY - here's where it starts to get ugly
calories = 2322
fat = 32.6%
protein = 22%
carbs = 40%
SUNDAY
calories = 2429
fat = 36%
protein = 21.3%
carbs = 46.2%
Baseline ratios look something like this:
50-55% carbohydrates
30% protein
15-20% fat
It seems as though I am actually right where I want to be with my carb ratios falling under 50% but I definitely need to up my protein intake, which always seems to be the case. I am not happy with any of my protein percentages. They just have to go up. And my fat intake is surprisingly high, although I know that most of it is in the form of healthy fats so I'm not worried. Although I really could work on lowering that and upping protein for the sake of trial & error.
This was one GIANT pain in the ass, keeping track of everything I ate and then calculating it all. But I have read that to get the best idea of where you are and what you need to improve on, this will help your chances of success immensely! Now that I have a baseline for myself, I know exactly what I need to do in order to speed up my fat loss.
All of my calculations come from a FANTASTIC book (it's my bible - I read it time and time again) Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto and you can find it here.
And since this post got quite long, I think I will post exactly what I ate each day this week along with the numbers, so it isn't so overwhelming. And since it's Monday, here's what I ate last Monday:
8:00 am - 1/2 C. rolled oats, 1/2 C. 1% cottage cheese
11:00 am (post workout) - fruit smoothie & protein powder
1:30 pm - 2 whole eggs, 1 slice sprouted grain Ezekiel bread w/ 1/2 tbsp real butter
5:45 pm - wild rice & chicken casserole
6:30 pm - 3 minute home-made healthy microwave cake (no flour, no butter, no sugar....no kidding!) I posted the recipe for this here.
total calories = 1107
total fat grams = 40.9
total protein grams = 81.4
total carb grams = 127
total fibre grams = 19.2
*note: this wouldn't be a perfect sample day since my numbers weren't stellar and my eating times weren't ideal. But it is what it is. I'm not saying you should follow it! ;)
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