WATCH-ME'S Goal Seeking Journal

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Hey, Meek.

Glad I can help you out. I agree, having guidelines from others is so helpful, people who've been there and learned from their mistakes.

Just in case it's helpful for you to know, these were the types of carbs I ate yesterday:

Nectarine (pre-D workout)
Lowfat waffles
s/f maple syrup
rice cake
lowfat popcorn
Fiber One bar
Cherrios
Kashi Go Lean
Skim milk
1 slice veggie pizza
Bryon's BBQ on bun
2 marshmallows
2 sq of milk choc
2 graham crackers
cool whip (lite)
Mich Lime Ultra
.25 oz almonds

Everything else was green veggie or lean protein -- f/f cottage cheese, chicken breast, protein powder, slaw

My splurge was the S'more and the BBQ on bun.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

SAT JUL 12

It is 1:49 p.m. and my totals so far are this:

801 cals, 59%F/5%C/38%P

Wanted to make a note of this to self:

My elliptical has 8 levels of intensity. My steady-state cardio sessions are typically 4 mins at Level 4 (warmup);

- Then 3-4 mins at Level 5
- 30 secs recovery at Level 4 (to wipe sweat and drink water)
- 3-4 mins at Level 5
- 30 secs recovery, then repeat,
- Until I reach 31 mins.
- Mins 29 and 30 at Level 4, normal pace; Minute 31 is at Level 4, very slow pace.

I just finished 31 mins at SS on the elliptical, and my calorie expenditure (according to the machine, programmed for my weight/etc.) read 416 cals.

Even assuming this is an overestimation of expenditure, and deducting 100 cals for error (unlikely), I still burned 316 cals minimum.

When I do HIIT on the elliptical, I warm up at Level 4 for four minutes, then go to Level 7 or 8 for 30 secs, recover for a minute at Level 4, then repeat. Sometimes I recover at Level 5 before returning to Level 7 or 8.

When I finish this post, I am going to have my son, who's bored to death with a broken elbow, help me with some tricep work out in the garage (a distraction for him, education for me) and get in about 10-15 mins of tricep work. And that is likely the only workouts I'll get in today.

I'm hoping to stay on target for my calories today.

[Meekness29]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

Hey, Meek.

Glad I can help you out. I agree, having guidelines from others is so helpful, people who've been there and learned from their mistakes.

Just in case it's helpful for you to know, these were the types of carbs I ate yesterday:

Nectarine (pre-D workout)
Lowfat waffles
s/f maple syrup
rice cake
lowfat popcorn
Fiber One bar
Cherrios
Kashi Go Lean
Skim milk
1 slice veggie pizza
Bryon's BBQ on bun
2 marshmallows
2 sq of milk choc
2 graham crackers
cool whip (lite)
Mich Lime Ultra
.25 oz almonds

Everything else was green veggie or lean protein -- f/f cottage cheese, chicken breast, protein powder, slaw

My splurge was the S'more and the BBQ on bun.

Wow, you did really good. See, I would have missed up during my 1st refeed... I had everything HIGH FAT/HIGH CARB on my brain. Thank GOD I didn't refeed on yesterday or else I would have been JACKED UP

Thanks for sharing what you ate... Now I know what type of foods to eat during my refeed.

Your a blessing

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

SUN JUL 13

I had no way of tracking all cals yesterday, because we ate out at a pizza place, and I ordered an antipasto salad, (no pizza) and have no way of knowing how many cals. I stayed satisfied until last night about 8:30, and the HUNGRIES took me by storm. I ate some pepperjack cheese (fat for satiety) and almonds, so who knows what my cals ended up being. But at least I ate on plan and kept carbs rather low.

Workouts were the 31 mins on ss cardio/elliptical, and about 10 mins tricep work.

My legs, esp my inner thighs and glutes, are KILLING ME! The DOMS began yesterday about 2:00 -- delayed? -- and I'm okay once I start walking around, but if I sit down, getting back up is interesting. The workouts on refeed day for LB must have been ON TARGET. Where I need it most.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

MON JUL 14

The storm of cravings from yesterday has subsided, thank God!

Today in more control of hunger levels.

Totals

CALS 1655

PROT........174 GR.....42%
CARBS.......68 GR.....13%
FIBER........20 GR
FAT...........76 GR..... 40%

Workouts:

a.m.

40 mins Cardio with weights

p.m.

21 mins cardio on elliptical

[lildragonfly]

Twyla would you care to post like todays menu to give ideas to us? Im trying to up protein and finding it harder than i thought.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Marsha,

These are the sources of my protein for today's Fitday entries:

Protein Bread (made with egg whites, protein powder & steel cut oats, spices, Splenda)

Eggs
Turkey Breast
Cottage Cheese
String Cheese
Tuna
Carb Master Yogurt

I discovered some delicious grilled chicken breasts from Sam's. They're called Member's Mark (?), Mesquite Grilled. One serving has 29 gr of protein. I take them to work because they're handy. They're thawed by noon, and then I just nuke one and eat it on a bed of spinach.

I add Whey Protein Powder to my food, or drink it in a shake, when I'm trying to get in extra protein also.

As a rule, I eat a lot of tuna, chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, yogurt and PP for most of my protein sources.

Hope that helped?

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

TUES JUL 15

Day 2 of TOM, dealing with the inconvenience and slight bloating, but at least cravings are no longer raging. Those ended on Sunday.

Good day energy wise and for satiety. Upping carbs a bit this week for a few days at low to medium, and it's helped my energy levels, mostly for workouts, which is the whole reason we eat them. Making sure I'm eating the right ones, at the right times, and tapering later in the day to GREEN should prove beneficial.

On days leading up to TOM, I may have to experiment with higher carbs and cals; OR, higher fat and lower carbs. It can't be business as usual, because it's mostly out of my control, and my body's hormones dictate what goes in my mouth those 1-2 days, the best of intentions and planned menus proving all too elusive.

Good macs today, great satiety, great control.

CALS 1568

PROT........182 GR......46%
CARBS........88 GR.....20%
FIBER.........30 GR
FAT............63 GR.......36%

Dinner was 1 can of chicken breast meat over a bed of spinach (what else?), green onion, .5 oz black olives, light sour cream, 2 Tbs salsa, gr. peppers, 1/2 oz almonds.

(I will likely have a protein snack later tonight with tea.)

WORKOUTS:

A.M.

1 hour of Super Callanetics
3 sets of 15, plie squats w/weights

NOON

3 sets of 12 tricep dips in break room

P.M.

40 MINS Zumba (cardio)

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

WED JUL 16

It is 5:20 a.m., and I wanted to make a note of something. I'm normally borderline comatose at this hour. My energy is wasted, my body aches, and I drink coffee and sometimes watch the news, feed the dog -- all for about half hour, to wake up enuf to do my workouts. (I've had .5 c cottage cheese, 1 T PP, 1 T flax, & coffee so far, which is what I often have, sometimes with fruit.)

This morning, I feel far more alert than normal, and I wish I had the words to describe how my body feels. It's not in shut-down mode. It's ready to move.

I don't know if this is fleeting, or just a coincidence, but if having the extra carbs I've had for the last two days has caused this upswing in energy levels (because I'm not AS depleted), then this may be helpful for my workouts overall.

Will it prove helpful for fat loss in the long run?

We'll see.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Feeling very fine! A few extra carbs, and so far, so good ------ No, so far, very good.

Hope I can get this working for me!

I want energy for workouts.
I want to respect my body's need for rest.
I want to control calories to stay within targets.
I want to control cravings and stay satiated.
I want to burn fat as efficiently as possible.
I want to stoke my metabolism.
I want to get stronger and leaner.


At today's end, I can say I've held true to each of those goals, doing MY part to make it happen.

TODAY'S CALS: 1591

PROT.......203 GR.......51%
CARBS......72 GR.......15%
FIBER.......28 GR
FAT...........65 GR.......36%

WORKOUTS:

30 mins UB weights
7 mins ab work
25 mins cardio with hand-held weights
21 mins cardio elliptical

If there is time later tonight, I'll take a power walk/jog.

If I get hungry later, I'll have a protein shake.

Missions accomplished for today.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

THURS JUL 17

Yesterday ended out as well as I'd hoped. Sometimes late at night, maybe a half hour to an hour before bedtime, I get so hungry. Oftentimes it's when I'm at my calorie limits for the day. But last night, I handled it well. I had a small serving of left-over Romaine lettuce w/ chopped gr peppers, about 1/2 T of Feta cheese, and 5 almonds, with two cups of decaf tea and 1/2 tsp of nat PB. It was perfect. Hit the spot, and just enough to tame the hungries. I could have had the shake, but leftover salad with a bit of crunch from the almonds was what I really wanted.

Ended up doing a power walk for 30 mins, jogging a few of the laps. It was humid out, but our neighborhood was filled with people out walking and jogging. It was after the walk that I became a bit hungry. So eating a small snack at that time was inconsequential.

Hoping for an equally successful day today.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

JUL 17 DAY'S SUMMARY:

Another successful day with carbs and cals and satiety. The only difference today was that I was a little short on energy after work today for my cardio. I attribute that to lack of sufficient rest (too late to bed last night) rather than insufficient fuel. I'm gonna try to be in bed tonight by 10:00.

I was prepared to up calories today if necessary, but I'm good. I figure it's best to up cals for tomorrow and Saturday, since Friday's are usu my higher days anyway, and Saturday will be my high day in carbs. I will up carbs a bit higher tomorrow, in the 100gross/80 net range, keeping fat somewhat low (40-45%); Saturday will be low fat and even higher carbs, more around 250-300, higher cals.

TODAY'S TOTALS:

CALS 1749

PROT......205 GR........46%
CARBS.....86 GR........17%
FIBER......23 GR
FAT.........72 GR.........36%

WORKOUTS:

A.M.

1 hour Super Callanetics
4 sets of 10 military presses/12#
4 sets of 10 dumbbell rear lateral raises/10#

P.M.

23 mins ss cardio elliptical
85 walking lunges

If I get hungry later, it will be either a protein shake or a Carb Master Yogurt w/tea.

Very encouraged by my menu changes, my workouts/energy levels, and my inner feeling. I'm feeling/looking leaner, and tomorrow is weigh day. Regardless of what the number may show, when I feel lean, when I see lean, when my clothes show it, that's what's important.

I feel in control. Sweet.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

All right. I did it. The first C25K session. No podcast, boring as *ell, but I did it. It was all the proof I needed that I'm rather depleted, more than I realized. Wow. Eye opener. That explains why my cardio on the elliptical wasn't up to par after work.

27 mins: 5 mins brisk walk, 60 secs run, 90 secs brisk walk/recover; repeat the 60/90 for 8 intervals, walk/recover for 3-5 mins.

The next time I'll try to make sure I have more fuel, or take in some Glycomaze before. In this weather, it's too hot to run before 8:30 p.m.

So I'll add this to today's workouts as extra cardio.

I want the podcasts!!

[GME]

You're doing great! Running without music IS incredibly boring. I tried the C25K program a couple of years ago without the podcasts and I didn't make it through week 1. I hope you get it worked out. You need a teenager!

You are probably right about needing more fuel. I have certainly noticed that when I run too. I can do just about anything for hours on a good low carb meal... hike, swim, kayak, archery (which involves a lot of up and down hills and a good amount of arm and back strength), bike... you name it.

But if I don't have some fruit or something before I run my legs feel like lead. Wednesday I had about 3/4 cup cottage cheese before I ran and just drug along. Today I had the same cottage cheese and cut up a half a peach in it and felt much better.. same time of day, same amount of sleep.

Sorry about the heat.... that really stinks. I won't tell you what kind of weather we are having here. You might kick me!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina.....I want to be where you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so not into hot weather. ESP humidity!

Got the MP3 podcast figured out and downloaded. Yeah!

Plan to run again tomorrow.

Going out with some other people tonight to dinner, leaving shortly.....

Great day eats/workouts wise. Lean is apparent

Carbs around 86 gross so far, gonna go easy at dinner on carbs.

Good energy.

LIFE IS GOOD.

[Antonya]

Hi Twyla! I've been trying to figure out what DOMS are for weeks now...would you please enlighten me? Thanks!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Hey, Antonya! Glad to see you here, girl.

DOMS. Delayed onset of muscle soreness.

I'll bet you can relate with Callanetics, huh?

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Summary of yesterday (Friday):

It was a great day, and it's been a GREAT week.

Went out for dinner last night with friends. I was planning on higher cals and carbs today, but wasn't sure where they'd actually be, considering it's hard to track when you're eating out. Probably had more wine than I should have, but not bad. Had about four glasses over a six-hour period. We had a great time, and it was worth it. I've worked hard, and I needed time to relax and such.

After figuring in eats for the day, I was surprised to see that fat was kept rather low. Yeah! That's the way it's done on high carb days!

TOTALS:

CALS 2177

PROT.......205 GR..........37%
CARBS.....118 GR.........20%
FIBER........37 GR........
FAT...........78 GR.........32%
ALCOHOL...38 GR.........12%

WORKOUTS:

Morning:

40 mins cardio (TJ) with weights
Power90 AbRipper 200

Afternoon:

200 crunches
2 sets of 45 pushups

.................................................. .......................

Plan for today, Saturday, Jul 19th:

High cals, high carbs, low fat, powerhouse workouts -- to include my second segment of C25K

Almost forgot: Down 1/2 pound this week, and that's encouraging, since TOM isn't completely over, so should be a good sign.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Saturday's Summary:

All went VERY well today, and I am thrilled with how my body has responded to this past week's macronutrients and workouts. I have a feeling that the next weigh day will show a very rewarding result.

My aim was high/maintenance level cals today, high carbs (250-300 target), and low fat (less than 75 grams).

TOTALS:

CALS 2319

PROT..........218 GR........37%
CARBS........249 GR.....37%
FIBER...........44 GR
FAT..............63 GR.........24%

WORKOUTS:

25 mins upper body weights
20 mins lower body weights
24 mins abs (18 Ab Jam; 6 mins Kathy Smith Abs)
22 mins HIIT on elliptical

P.M.

C25K Run (approx 30 mins)
- 5 mins brisk walk, followed by six intervals of 90 mins running, 2 mins brisk walking; 3 min cool down.

I'm a tad hungry right now, so I'll probably have some lean protein or cottage cheese with s/f davinci's and hot tea.

Tomorrow I return to lower carbs, probably around 60-70 for 2-3 days, then bump it up to 100 for one day.

I'm loving the extra energy the carbs are giving me, along with the balance that alleviates the hungries. This is great. I'm hoping I can have another successful week like the last one.

So far I'm enjoying the C25K podcasts....great tunes, good motivation. Think I'll stick with this

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

SUNDAY JUL 20

Today was a good day. I had a lot of things on my agenda today, and I knew I wouldn't get everything done I had hoped. High hopes, high expectations. Never enough time.

With that in mind, I knew I'd better get some cardio in early. And it's a good thing, because I didn't have a chance to do anything else. So it was a light day in that respect.

Stayed satisifed all day, aiming for lower carbs today. Went over my target slightly (though 90 percent of them were eaten by 1:00 p.m.), but my calories were RIGHT ON.

CALS 1500

PROT.........170 GR ......46%
CARBS........77 GR....... 18%
FIBER.........20 GR
FAT............57 GR.........34%

WORKOUTS:

30 mins cardio in a.m.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

“Whatever you have, you must make the most of it. Rest assured that you can transform yourself, no matter where you started from. The most important body part is the mind. With the will and the know-how, you can perform near miracles.”
Stuart McRobert

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

MON JUL 21

I had some time midday today at work for some introspection, research and application of what I have learned over the past several months. What a journey, an evolution of knowledge and growth in my fitness goals.

For some reason I was hungrier today than I've been in the past several days. I'd like to think this means that my metabolism is working harder. This was not one of my more intense workout days, so I normally would feed my appetite on days like this, knowing I'd work most of it off. But since I had many things on my schedule for after work, I did not have the extra time for burning it off, so I was trying to be a little on the conservative side, and trying to keep carbs on the low side of my rotations.

My carbs ended up being a little above target for today, but not too bad. 29 of my carbs were eaten near my morning workout, and 29 were eaten near my evening workout. Overall, not a bad day. Just hungrier.

CALS 1982

PROT....235 GR.......48%
CARBS....89 GR......16%
FIBER.....27
FAT........84 GR.......38%

WORKOUTS A.M.

1 hour Super Callanetics

WORKOUTS P.M.

31 mins C25K W2D2 (6 intervals run/walk)
10 mins lat pulldowns and delt work

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

"Discipline is doing what is hard and necessary rather than what is fun and easy
and doing it when it’s necessary,
whether you feel like doing it or not."

Brian Tracy