![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threadwalkerI lost weight. Yay! But I don't know why. So I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop (or for the scale to spring back up...)
The only reason why I don't lock this blog for my eyes only is that I think so many of us struggle with our bodies, weight, personal images, finding motivation to stay fit, get fit or finding a new way to enjoy being fit.
I struggle too. I struggle everyday and I envy those who don't lose the battle to impulses.
I haven't blogged as much as I have in the past because it seemed like it was the same-old same-old fight and I had nothing new to add. But I had a break through and want to share both the woes of the last year and the (still suspiscious) success of the past week.
What Changed
1. I'm taking my weight when I get home from work, not when I get up in the morning. The morning is the "lightest" part of my day, so the oddness increases.
2. I've increased what I'm eating.
3. I've stopped counting WW points, although I still journal my food.
4. I'm making meals from Tosca Reno's cook book.
5. Overall I've altered what I'm eating. I cut out sweets. I cut down on fruit/veg from 9 portions a day to 5 portions a day. I've increased daily protein from the equivalent of 1/2 cup to 1 to 1-1/2 cup. I'm getting carbs from vegetables and a 1/2 cup of "grain" (quinoa, lentils, etc).
6. I'm down to 1 diet coke a day (from 4+) and making up the difference in water. I stopped counting WW points. (example of daily diet below)
7. I'm trying to listen to my body and stop when I'm full.
8. KLWilliams' comment at Cal Shakes is still ringing through my head. Yes, I have been wanting to fail and so I've been sabotaging myself. Everytime I think about reaching for an extra serving or a sweet, I hear Karen laughing at me and saying, "Of course you're sabotaging yourself. It's obvious you want to fail." And I ask myself, is the the moment of failure or the moment of success? And I pull my hand back.
9. My work outs have shifted from 60+ minutes of running with core to 20-30 min running + weight lifting + core. Overall duration is the same (about 75 minutes), but focus has changed from "Tempo" run to "hard speed run" followed by muscle building session.
10. Coincidentally, the CRAZY thing is I don't crave sweets.
I've lost 5 lbs in less than a week. Although I'd like to credit the triathlon, I can't. Past experience has shown that a one-day event like that might dehydrate me and show a drop on the scale the next day, the reality is that a single 3-4hr event like that isn't enough to account for the ongoing loss.
Why this is crazy
So I keep asking myself, wtf? why? why now? Is it real or a cruel scale-joke and in 2 days the scale will revell in crushing me.
I've been slaving away exercising and tracking my WW points (painstakingly blogged here) in an effort to try to take off the 15 lb I put on in 2009 plus the subsequent 5 lb I gained when I mentally turned the corner and decided to train for a half-marathon. (yes, I gained 5 MORE pounds when I acted and started eating right and increased my running, so that means I was +20lb from my happy place for over a year). For the last 6 months I've been bouncing in the same 5 lb bubble between 160-165. It even crept up to 167 briefly after a weekend of food-debauchery. The last few months have been bobbling around the 160 mark, but it's been soooo slooooow.
I was full of suspicion and doubt over the last few days. I seriously thought my home scale was setting me up for a rude joke, so I used the mechanical scale at the gym and it has me down to 155 today. So... again... wtf?
Learning from Experience and What I've read and maybe the experts really do know more than I do ...
I suspect I've been starving my muscles and I couldn't lose weight because my body wasn't getting enough calories to support the infrastructure I have. My body composition has shifted a bit in the last few years since hitting my happy place (145 lb). A few of the 20 lb are probably due to muscle, which is good, but most of is in the form of stored fat, hence my need to unbox bigger work clothing. I'm not lying to myself about the composition of the 20lb, but I can see that my legs have gotten quite muscular and even though I like the way they bulge when I'm running (aren't gym mirrors fun?), that muscle requires fuel in order to be maintained. It's my guess that by not giving my body enough fuel, my metabolism slowed down which is why my weight loss to 160 was so slow and also why I could put on a few pounds so quickly over a weekend.
I suspect that WW is great for weight loss when you start from a semi-sedentary lifestyle of free-form eating and maintain a healthy fitness level of 30-60 minutes a day. It's probably not so great if you are trying to be seriously athletic and build muscle and/or train for endurance events. In my reading as recent as this week literature indicates I should eat 2300 calories a day. My brain freezes up when I see that number and I panic because I am convinced that I'll get fat if I eat that much. I refuse to let go of the thing that worked, which is WW. However, I realized this morning that I hit my goal weight before I started doing triathlons and getting serious about endurance events. I think it's time to set aside my panic, step away from my WW points and focus on new nutrition plans that are geared for athletes. The trick is finding the perfect one for the busy mom as opposed to the Ironman-in-training.
Typical Daily Menu
before morning work out
1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal plus 2 tbl yogurt (active yeast), 2 tbl dried fruit
mid morning
fruit - 1 cup of grapes or 1 banana or 1 apple
lunch
salad: greens, 3 tbl kalamata olives, 2 tbl low fat feta, 1/2 cup mixed chopped tomatoes and bell peppers
1/2 cup broccoli slaw + 1.5 tbl dressing
1 cup quinoa (with edamame, chopped cucumber, chopped bell pepper, herbs, green onion, lemon juice, lime juice, soy sauce)
afternoon
fruit or carrots + salsa
dinner:
0.5-1 broiled chicken breast
1 cup roasted vegetables + salt and olive oil
salad
0.5 to 1 cup cooked lentils (tossed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, seasoning)
Plus 1 Diet Coke and a lot of water.
Although I'm waiting for this to turn into some practical joke, a few co-workers were asking me today if I lost weight because they felt my clothing was fitting differently.
Fingers crossed I'm not lying to myself.
The only reason why I don't lock this blog for my eyes only is that I think so many of us struggle with our bodies, weight, personal images, finding motivation to stay fit, get fit or finding a new way to enjoy being fit.
I struggle too. I struggle everyday and I envy those who don't lose the battle to impulses.
I haven't blogged as much as I have in the past because it seemed like it was the same-old same-old fight and I had nothing new to add. But I had a break through and want to share both the woes of the last year and the (still suspiscious) success of the past week.
What Changed
1. I'm taking my weight when I get home from work, not when I get up in the morning. The morning is the "lightest" part of my day, so the oddness increases.
2. I've increased what I'm eating.
3. I've stopped counting WW points, although I still journal my food.
4. I'm making meals from Tosca Reno's cook book.
5. Overall I've altered what I'm eating. I cut out sweets. I cut down on fruit/veg from 9 portions a day to 5 portions a day. I've increased daily protein from the equivalent of 1/2 cup to 1 to 1-1/2 cup. I'm getting carbs from vegetables and a 1/2 cup of "grain" (quinoa, lentils, etc).
6. I'm down to 1 diet coke a day (from 4+) and making up the difference in water. I stopped counting WW points. (example of daily diet below)
7. I'm trying to listen to my body and stop when I'm full.
8. KLWilliams' comment at Cal Shakes is still ringing through my head. Yes, I have been wanting to fail and so I've been sabotaging myself. Everytime I think about reaching for an extra serving or a sweet, I hear Karen laughing at me and saying, "Of course you're sabotaging yourself. It's obvious you want to fail." And I ask myself, is the the moment of failure or the moment of success? And I pull my hand back.
9. My work outs have shifted from 60+ minutes of running with core to 20-30 min running + weight lifting + core. Overall duration is the same (about 75 minutes), but focus has changed from "Tempo" run to "hard speed run" followed by muscle building session.
10. Coincidentally, the CRAZY thing is I don't crave sweets.
I've lost 5 lbs in less than a week. Although I'd like to credit the triathlon, I can't. Past experience has shown that a one-day event like that might dehydrate me and show a drop on the scale the next day, the reality is that a single 3-4hr event like that isn't enough to account for the ongoing loss.
Why this is crazy
So I keep asking myself, wtf? why? why now? Is it real or a cruel scale-joke and in 2 days the scale will revell in crushing me.
I've been slaving away exercising and tracking my WW points (painstakingly blogged here) in an effort to try to take off the 15 lb I put on in 2009 plus the subsequent 5 lb I gained when I mentally turned the corner and decided to train for a half-marathon. (yes, I gained 5 MORE pounds when I acted and started eating right and increased my running, so that means I was +20lb from my happy place for over a year). For the last 6 months I've been bouncing in the same 5 lb bubble between 160-165. It even crept up to 167 briefly after a weekend of food-debauchery. The last few months have been bobbling around the 160 mark, but it's been soooo slooooow.
I was full of suspicion and doubt over the last few days. I seriously thought my home scale was setting me up for a rude joke, so I used the mechanical scale at the gym and it has me down to 155 today. So... again... wtf?
Learning from Experience and What I've read and maybe the experts really do know more than I do ...
I suspect I've been starving my muscles and I couldn't lose weight because my body wasn't getting enough calories to support the infrastructure I have. My body composition has shifted a bit in the last few years since hitting my happy place (145 lb). A few of the 20 lb are probably due to muscle, which is good, but most of is in the form of stored fat, hence my need to unbox bigger work clothing. I'm not lying to myself about the composition of the 20lb, but I can see that my legs have gotten quite muscular and even though I like the way they bulge when I'm running (aren't gym mirrors fun?), that muscle requires fuel in order to be maintained. It's my guess that by not giving my body enough fuel, my metabolism slowed down which is why my weight loss to 160 was so slow and also why I could put on a few pounds so quickly over a weekend.
I suspect that WW is great for weight loss when you start from a semi-sedentary lifestyle of free-form eating and maintain a healthy fitness level of 30-60 minutes a day. It's probably not so great if you are trying to be seriously athletic and build muscle and/or train for endurance events. In my reading as recent as this week literature indicates I should eat 2300 calories a day. My brain freezes up when I see that number and I panic because I am convinced that I'll get fat if I eat that much. I refuse to let go of the thing that worked, which is WW. However, I realized this morning that I hit my goal weight before I started doing triathlons and getting serious about endurance events. I think it's time to set aside my panic, step away from my WW points and focus on new nutrition plans that are geared for athletes. The trick is finding the perfect one for the busy mom as opposed to the Ironman-in-training.
Typical Daily Menu
before morning work out
1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal plus 2 tbl yogurt (active yeast), 2 tbl dried fruit
mid morning
fruit - 1 cup of grapes or 1 banana or 1 apple
lunch
salad: greens, 3 tbl kalamata olives, 2 tbl low fat feta, 1/2 cup mixed chopped tomatoes and bell peppers
1/2 cup broccoli slaw + 1.5 tbl dressing
1 cup quinoa (with edamame, chopped cucumber, chopped bell pepper, herbs, green onion, lemon juice, lime juice, soy sauce)
afternoon
fruit or carrots + salsa
dinner:
0.5-1 broiled chicken breast
1 cup roasted vegetables + salt and olive oil
salad
0.5 to 1 cup cooked lentils (tossed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, seasoning)
Plus 1 Diet Coke and a lot of water.
Although I'm waiting for this to turn into some practical joke, a few co-workers were asking me today if I lost weight because they felt my clothing was fitting differently.
Fingers crossed I'm not lying to myself.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Protein!
Date: 2010-09-15 07:21 pm (UTC)*prurient curiousity on my part. I don't actually diet. I just like reading about the new fads so I can follow along as others do it. Wieght loss for me would have to involve exercise and better maintenance of my thyroid. Stupid slow metabolism :-/
no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 08:47 pm (UTC)So far my experience is regardless of calorie count, I gain if I eat too much carbs or too much salt.. and lose if I keep those in check with meals that consist of 4-5 oz protein and a serving of complex carbs. (eg: 1/2 chix breast with a lot of green beans with butter and garlic).
Same thing happens to me after racing
Date: 2010-09-15 11:57 pm (UTC)After an olympic distance race or longer, I typically lost ~5lbs.
I'd be all "Yeah baby!!! I lost weight!!!" and my coach would go "Sorry, it'll be back." Sadly, she was right; over the next two weeks or so I'd gain it back. YMMV.
BTW, if you want to race more, you're welcome to join me: Mermaid duathlon Sept 26 (Santa Cruz, sprint duathlon, there is also a triathlon option) and Silicon Valley Half Marathon (Oct 31). You could also talk me into Harper's Ferry Duathlon (a sprint distance du in lovely Harper's Ferry, CA) on Nov 14. Let me know if interested. G
Re: Same thing happens to me after racing
Date: 2010-09-17 09:07 pm (UTC)I think more than anything cutting out the sugar and increasing the protein is what my body has been waiting for. I jumped on the scale today and it hasn't budged up. Definitely an individualized thing at a certain point.
I would be interested in your race schedule, but Mr Husband is having bone-spur removal surgery on Oct. 7, so we're racing to get things done by then and then clearing the calendar for the rest of October.
BUT.... post your race schedule for after the new year. I'm up for tri's and 1/2 marathons. A bunch of my co-workers are doing the Kaiser 1/2 in San Francisco, which is probably in February. I'd cheerfully add more to my schedule or replace it with something else.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-16 05:22 am (UTC)