WATCH-ME'S Goal Seeking Journal

[lildragonfly]

So what are you eating to keep protein so high and fats lower?

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by lildragonfly

So what are you eating to keep protein so high and fats lower?

The last couple of days, mostly grilled chicken tenders.

Tuna.

Turkey burgers.

Turkey.

Protein shakes.

Carb Master Yogurt.

Cottage cheese.

Boiled eggs.

But today, I had a small 85% lean ground beef burger, and another small ground turkey burger. That shot the fat up a bit more.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

God is real.

I rejoice and give thanks to HIM.

I prayed last night that He would help me find the missing archives that I spent hours searching for yesterday. I ended the prayer with a sense of peace. I knew He would help me. I trusted Him. And that was enough.

Within two minutes of entering my office this morning, I found the files. They were in a very unsuspecting place that I would have never thought to look for them, but He knew, and He delivers.

No words.

Only praise.

[lildragonfly]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

God is real.

I rejoice and give thanks to HIM.

I prayed last night that He would help me find the missing archives that I spent hours searching for yesterday. I ended the prayer with a sense of peace. I knew He would help me. I trusted Him. And that was enough.

Within two minutes of entering my office this morning, I found the files. They were in a very unsuspecting place that I would have never thought to look for them, but He knew, and He delivers.

No words.

Only praise.

YAYAYAYAYA!!!!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

WEIGH DAY UPDATE

Net loss for the week: 1 pound.


Feeling might lean today.....Sweet!

[btinc]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

WEIGH DAY UPDATE

Net loss for the week: 1 pound.


Feeling might lean today.....Sweet!

Sweet!!!!!!!!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

FRIDAY MAY 16

What a great day. Cloudy, gray, rainy, cold. Yet I'm on top of the world. So many blessings.

Little hungrier today than yesterday, or the day before. Strange how appetite will fluctuate from day to day.

Totals for the day:

CALS 1931

PROT............214 GR.................45%
CARBS...........55 GR..................10%
FIBER............17 GR
FAT................82 GR..................38%
ALCOHOL........19 GR/3 carbs........7%

80 oz of water consumed by 7:00 p.m. Will likely drink another 20-30 oz before the evening is over.

WORKOUTS:

Super Callanetics
18 mins Ab Jam

(May go on walk later...depends)

[btinc]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

FRIDAY MAY 16

What a great day. Cloudy, gray, rainy, cold. Yet I'm on top of the world. So many blessings.

Little hungrier today than yesterday, or the day before. Strange how appetite will fluctuate from day to day.

Totals for the day:

CALS 1931

PROT............214 GR.................45%
CARBS...........55 GR..................10%
FIBER............17 GR
FAT................82 GR..................38%
ALCOHOL........19 GR/3 carbs........7%

80 oz of water consumed by 7:00 p.m. Will likely drink another 20-30 oz before the evening is over.

WORKOUTS:

Super Callanetics
18 mins Ab Jam

(May go on walk later...depends)

I like it.

[feather319]

Hey - just checkin in! Thanks for posting on my blog. Good job with the 1 pound weight loss! You posted in my blog about me being a healthy weight. Yeah, I'm pretty healthy but my body fat is 20%. What is yours? You seem so lean!!! What is your goal bodyfat? sorry if I missed that somewhere in your journal already.

Keep up the great work!

What is callenetics? I think my mom had one of those videos from the 1980's I use to do where you hold poses for long periods and do slow intense moves. Is that what that is? That is tough!! I might just have to get my mom's video when I go home to visit July 4!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Hey, Feather. Thanks for the thumbs up.

I'm happy with the way things are going with this. I've never been so in tune with my body, the tiny signals it gives, telling me when it's time to eat, to sleep, to be patient, to rejoice.

I seem to have more patience and acceptance now than I ever have in the past with the fluctuations that take place, knowing in my heart/mind that they are part of the journey, the necessary evils of receiving and winning the prize. It's okay. It's not always easy, but it's okay. And if it WERE easy, then it wouldn't be worth it, because the success would be fleeting. And I want it to be lasting.

As for my comment about your body weight, didn't mean for you to take that in a negative way. It just made me raise my eyebrows and take a look at the goal I'd set for myself, being three inches shorter than you are. But it's NOT all about height vs. weight. Way too simplistic. We are such uniquely made creatures, cookie-cutter body weights don't apply, do they?

My body fat is same as yours. My Accumeasure calipers register 19.6, and I had the fitness manager/trainer at the Y measure me to see how accurate. He gave me 20.7 a week or so ago. So mine are about 1 off, which is good to know for guidance purposes. My goal for body fat is 16-17%, and I'm in this for life, so I'm willing to work and wait for my achievements.

I'll try to check in and keep up with your progress too.

Hope you have a great week!

(And yes -- almost forgot -- Callanetics is a very intense workout. Most are skeptics until they try it for themselves. I don't care how outdated the visuals are, if it works, it works. And I'm a believer.)

[deacons98]

Hi Twyla!

Was checking in on how your were doing, and funny enough we seem to be on the same page this week - I just finished up a week of upping my protein and lowering my fat a bit. Wanted to see where that would take me. Changed things up a bit and brought me down a pound! Still continuing to up my calories too.

You sound so, so good. Congrats on your progress and have a good refeed!

[lovenuts]

Twila, you have such a positive attitude all the time, it is so great to read you, I go back in your journal to learn by your experience and it's helping me so much!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by deacons98

I just finished up a week of upping my protein and lowering my fat a bit. Wanted to see where that would take me. Changed things up a bit and brought me down a pound! Still continuing to up my calories too. You sound so, so good. Congrats on your progress and have a good refeed!

Hey, Deacon. Way to go on the changes and progress!

My refeed is delayed one day. Too much going on today. It will be tomorrow instead.

Glad you stopped by. Hope this is a good week for you.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by lovenuts

Twila, you have such a positive attitude all the time, it is so great to read you, I go back in your journal to learn by your experience and it's helping me so much!

Thanks, Gigi. That's rewarding to me to hear you say that.

I love your quote:

Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.

Such wise words! "We must do." Amen.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

SAT MAY 17

No refeed today. Delayed till tomorrow. Too much scheduled for today.

Totals today:

CALS 1650

PROT.................201 GR.......49
CARBS................48 GR........11
FIBER.................15 GR
FAT.....................76 GR........40

Mini workout today: 25 mins of Cardio Party TJ with weighted gloves....all I had time for

Reading up on some upper body training. Will add to my UB workout for tomorrow's refeed the supine single-arm dumbbell extension. Intermediate is suggested 3 sets of 12; advanced is 4 sets of 10. I'm gonna use 10 lbs starting out and see where I go with this one.

Gotta run to rent a movie for youngest son.

[jjcanada]

Twyla!!! You rock woman!

Talk about an inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally have had the chance to catch up on the last 2 weeks and your progress is *PHENOMENAL*!

I bow down to you and your success!! Amazing, amazing, amazing!

[feather319]

Hey Twyla. Your macros are looking good. How do you consume so little carbs? Do you count the carbs in your veggies? My romaine hearts lettuce has 4 carb per 4 cups. I get about 3 servings of these a day not to mention a few cups of broccoli and caulflower. My carbs are getting a bit too high but btinc mentions unlimited veggies. What is your take?

btinc, want to chime in?

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by feather319

How do you consume so little carbs? Do you count the carbs in your veggies? My romaine hearts lettuce has 4 carb per 4 cups. I get about 3 servings of these a day not to mention a few cups of broccoli and caulflower. My carbs are getting a bit too high but btinc mentions unlimited veggies. What is your take?

btinc, want to chime in?

Hey, Feather. About my carbs, I eat most of the "count" before noon, because I work out in the mornings. The rest of the day is fibrous, and I usu have a 6 oz serving of a green veggie (broccoli, broco/mix, cauliflower, asparagus, squash, etc.) with lunch and with dinnner -- OR, I'll have 2-3 oz of spinach -- I'm a spinach freak -- with dinner, along with whatever meat I'm having.

The rest of my carbs come from cream from my coffee (a.m.), or if I allow my self to have one square of 85% choco per day (mornings, split into 2 pieces, 1/2 square with tea mid morning, the other half for dessert with lunch), and other trace ways of trickling them in, such as 1 gr for a boiled egg, or the trace grams in my protein shakes.

This is what I'm doing for NOW, and it's what I've learned is working for ME for NOW. That doesn't mean I'll always eat this few carbs, and esp when I begin a carb rotation, that will change too.

I HAVE found that eating less than 20 net is very difficult for me to do. If I do that, I have to strategically plan my activity level for the day. I just drag on too few carbs.

But when I do go that low, upping fat significantly sort of takes care of the energy deficit, so it all works out for the most part.

Btinc has been so extremely helpful to me in learning my body's tolerances for macros. I can't thank him enough for his expertise and insight. But he has made it very clear to me over and over that how I eat is dictated by my body's response to the fuel I give it, and it's a very personal thing, meaning that what brings progress for me may not bring progress for another.

We are all so eager to learn and absorb from these boards the mountain of information and knowledge about what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat it, when to work out, how to work out -- the list goes on and on. As my "etched in stone" siggy says -- Research, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own -- we must remember to take what proves to be useful for our individual bodies, and discard what may not be useful or may not be the best for our specific needs. We are so unique, each of us. That's what makes this whole process a mystery.

But isn't it fun, the quest to solve the puzzle?

Our bodies are miracles.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

SUN MAY 18 - REFEED DAY

Today will be a modified refeed. I will not be able to get in a workout until around 2:30 p.m., so I plan not to up my carbs as signficantly as I have with past refeeds. We'll see where it takes me.

I usually weigh on the morning of my refeed days simply because I like knowing where I "begin" and where I "end" when I then weigh on my Friday weigh-in days. It is fascinating to me to see how refeeds are tolerated by my body. I chart everything. Details are very telling.

Drum roll please?

Down two more pounds since this past Friday's weigh in.

I am thrilled out of my mind.

My metabolism is rejoicing, and I'm joining in the chorus!

I'm well on my way to a strong, lean and fit body!

Thanks, Btinc....you da man!

[hummingbird11]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

Down two more pounds since this past Friday's weigh in.
I am thrilled out of my mind.
My metabolism is rejoicing, and I'm joining in the chorus!
I'm well on my way to a strong, lean and fit body!

[lovenuts]

A huge BRAVO Twila,

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Refeed day's end -- (almost).

I wasn't able to start my workout till later in the day, so I went a little easier on carbs this morning, some lean protein. I stayed pleasantly full all morning. Then started to load a little at lunch on carbs. Today's carbs consisted of: rice cakes, 2 mini raisin bagels, fat-free, low-sugar yogurt; cereal; two pieces of Riesen candy (good stuff!), Glycomaize. All remaining carbs came from traces from predominantly protein sources that had trace carbs in it.

Stopped eating "real carbs" about a half hour after my workout, and the plan was to eat only fibrous carbs with all remaining meals.

I wanted to keep carbs at around 200-250 today. I came very close to targets. Yeah! I'm developing some expertise at this, no?

Was shooting for 2500 cals. I'm not quite there yet, but I haven't eat everything that I put into Fitday for my planned meals, which, when finished, will be at 2492. I'm close, but not quite there. The night is young, however, and the remaining food is all lean protein and just a few fat grams.

My workouts were great today, although I had to stop lower body towards the end due to foot cramps. I had been on my feet earlier today with 3-inch heels for three solid hours, and my feet were protesting. I took some postassium and guzzled water, then ended up rubbing my feet with muscle ointment, kept socks on, and within a half hour they were fine.

I've always had that kind of "crinkly" feet. When I took ballet as a young girl, the instructor furtively grabbed one of my feet without warning and began straigtening my toes, which sent me into a hellish spasm, and I smacked him in self-defense. Then I left the studio and never returned.

TOTALS TODAY: (as projected)

CALS 2492

PROT...............236 GR............38%
CARBS............260 GR............38%
FIBER.............. 27 GR
FAT................ 57 GR.............20%

I didn't splurge on anything that I was craving today, due to the crunch on time. My two pieces of Riesen maybe?

WORKOUTS:

35 mins UB (the supine dumbbell thing went well, but form is tricky; felt it mainly in triceps); 25 mins LB; 15 mins elliptical/cardio; 20 min walk planned within the next half hour.

I'm very satisfied with my strength gains. I have gone up in weight on most everthing. I try to at least do the first set with my heaviest weight, even if I have to go down to the lower weight with Sets 2 and 3. Every little push helps.

Day went well. I'm beyond torqued! Life is very good!

[feather319]

Thanks for sharing your progress!!! That's awesome!!

[lildragonfly]

Have a great day!!