kingkeld's Journal

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25 February 2014

Good morning!

I had another night of sleeping at least a little better than most nights. I feel pretty good.

One thing I like about today already is that I don't feel "worn down".

I think this has to do with NOT doing excessive walking yesterday.

And then again...

If you read my journal yesterday, you'll know that I talked about cutting down on excessive walking. Not cutting down walking altogether, but cut down the walking just to walk attitude that I have found myself stuck in lately, while being on sick leave.

It's been WAY too time consuming and I think the end result has been me just ending up hungry and overeating carbs for stupid energy fixes.

Well, yesterday I had decided to NOT walk a whole lot. It was workout day, and that ought to be enough. If my calorie burn was lower than average, then I'd just compensate by having less food. Easy pieces.

End result? 2,900 calories burned, 13,000 steps taken. Same as every other day, and definitely within my normal goals. LOL. How about that?!

All I did (from how it felt) was to go do my workout, do a little shopping, and walk (with a smallish detour because the weather was amazing) to the doctor's office to return a blood pressure measure thingamabob that I had borrowed.

...

I did great on the calories yesterday too. I was NOT overly hungry, and I did NOT have any sugar cravings. I made it on all my macros, and ended up with an 800 calorie deficit, close to the max I can handle. Very nice.

...

Today will be more of the same. I think that I will go do an HIIT session at the gym later this morning, and make that my exercise for the day.

I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. I like the way it feels, and I like feeling accomplished doing it, but I dread the way it drains me. It's HARD frickin' work.

And then, at the same time, I can't help thinking that today might not be the day to go, if I want to go 100%.

My muscles on the front of my thighs are SORE. They are TIRED. This could very well be a problem doing the HIIT, and the elliptical is pretty demanding on those muscles.

...

I think I over did those muscles yesterday, and I definitely feel them today. I'm generally not sore after these workouts even if I push as hard as I can, but today is an exception to that rule.

It was actually remarkable, my workout.

I have been spending the last six weeks getting back to full speed after my surgery. First week, just one rep but full weight. Second week, two reps, third week three reps, etc.

Yesterday, was first time back FULL BLAST. What was interesting - VERY interesting - was that I was actually able to lift more and heavier than before surgery! How is it that after 2½ months of NOT working out to the max, I can suddenly push further? I don't know, but I liked it!

I'm curious how I'll do tomorrow, when it's time for strength training again! :)

...

So, today's plan is to go to the gym, and attempt HIIT, I think. If I see that it'll destroy my legs completely, I'll just make it a nice, 30 minute cardio session. I'll wing it.

I'd like the extra "after burn" effect, but it won't kill me not getting it. I need my legs to be in shape for tomorrow's strength training. This is more important.

The weather forecast ways super pretty spring weather again today. This might motivate me to go have lunch somewhere and get some fresh air. I'll be walking a couple of kilometers for that, but I won't push it to any extremes.

Looking at my numbers, my RDI and my lowest allowed calories today, it's pretty much impossible to NOT have a calorie deficit at the end of the day if I stick to plan. And stick to plan I will.

...

I feel that I am mentally more ready for losing the weight now. It's getting better and better every day. I'm tired of being too heavy. I'm tired of being bothered when I see the numbers on the scale.

And at the same time, these last days have felt like it was very easy to stick to plan. Let's count on this trend lasting. Just keep doing well enough, and leave it at that.

...

I see that I lose weight fast, when I do good. A lot of my weight is fluid, I know this, and it sheds in no time. As soon as I am in a calorie deficit a few days, this happens. It's happening right now.

The moment I go over, it crawls back on.

The trick for me seems to simply be in a smallish deficit. It really doesn't have to be anything drastic.

I feel that as long as I have some kind of deficit daily, then I'm good. I'm not all that worried if the deficit is just a couple of hundred calories. Obviously, I know that a larger deficit will bring me to goal faster, but I'm not really in a hurry, and fighting to get the large deficit will just make me fail easier. So, steady as she goes, Captain. Just keep doing well enough, and I will reach goal before I know it.

Next step today is to plan my meals and work out what I can and can't do.

...

Today, I'm thankful for:
- A reasonable amount of sleep. I feel good.
- Focus on my diet.
- Feeling strong again. It was a GREAT workout yesterday.
- Morning coffee!

Life is good!

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
88.2 kg	66.8 kg	3.2 kg	100%

(4 comments) Losing 2.1 kg a Week

24 February 2014

Good morning!

Wow. I actually slept.

As a matter of fact, I slept a lot through yesterday too.

The band rehearsal was cancelled. I cancelled it, because I had absolutely zero energy. I had so many bad nights in a row, and I just couldn't muster up the will power to go. So we cancelled.

Instead, I took a complete off-day. I did absolutely nothing. Not even walks, workouts or biking. Nothing.

My fitbit says I had 4 active minutes in the day, and that is when I walked to a little store next door to buy dinner. That was literally all the exercise I did.

...

I made sure my food/calorie intake matched my (lack of) calorie burn. I came out of the day with a deficit of a couple of hundred calories. Not much, but better than nothing. I made no bad food choices, and I did well on all accounts.

...

We went to bed around 8:30 PM, and I slept all the way through to 7 AM. Still a LOT of restless sleep, but man can I tell a difference. I slept well, and I feel so much better today.

...

Yesterday, I was reading up on exercise. I was reading up on a lot of things, but something kept grinding my gears, and it still does.

It's about the cardo. It's about long time cardio sessions vs. HIIT.

I completely get it when some of the bloggers and "fitness experts" talk about wasting time on cadio.

This last week, I saw no real results from all my excess walking. All I got out of it was that I was physically drained, and hungry. The result of that was that I went into the candies a few times, and ended up with a weight gain.

Also, I spent a LOT of time doing a whole lot of walking, with really not much of a calorie burn impact.

And then yesterday, I had such an easy day. Sure, I only burnt 2200 calories according to Fitbit, but I only consumed 1900 calories, so there was still a fat loss. All my macros were met, and I couldn't be in a better spot. It was very very easy.

This made me ponder - again.

Is the many hours of walking worth it? When I do my daily walk, about an hour, I burn about 320 calories. Do I need that burn, or is it actually more of a benefit to just lower my intake by 300 calories and save the time and energy for other things?

Of course, there is the OTHER benefits from walking. I do get that. I have a heart that isn't doing exactly what it should be doing, and walking and exercise is good for it.

I'm not talking about NOT doing ANY cardio. I walk a lot already. I took over 110,000 steps last week - INCLUDING my lazy Sunday.

What would happen if I just go for 50,000? Or just wing it? Go when I can?

Wife and I don't own a car, so there will always be walking involved, and quite a bit of it.

...

Yesterday, my entire body was exhausted. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was tired from not sleeping, and I was tired from excess walking.

I got out of bed with the best intentions of both walking and playing music, but I am really happy that I skipped it all. I feel like a completely different person today.

...

My conclusion, for right now at least, is that I don't need all that cardio. I don't need excessive walking. I have found myself walking quite a lot just to walk, just to up my calorie burn, just to do more, more, more, and I didn't like it. Not at all.

I like my morning walks. I like taking a nice, long walk, listening to my audio book, enjoying some alone time. I love that. But I don't love a forced walk to keep my calorie burn up to a certain level, just to create a deficit.

If this is the case, then I think it's much more beneficial to me to lower my intake for the day where I don't get to move as much.

It doesn't even have to be the same day. Everything I do is based on averages, and they even out over time.

The key to this is to not go so excessively high in calorie intake that it can't be caught up (which is what I've been doing, and thus gained weight) or so low in calorie burn that it becomes pointless, or impossible to reach my macros AND be in a calorie deficit at the same time.

I know what I'm doing here, I feel, and I think it makes a lot of sense.

I do so much walking, so much cardio this way, and it really isn't all that necessary if the rest of the cards are played right.

...

What I WILL do instead, is more HIIT. As much as it is TOUGH for me to do, I like the feel of it. I like the extra burn that it gives, and I like the feeling of accomplishment that I get from it.

In theory, I could do this every day that I don't do strength training.

I'm not sure I will, though. It is HARD work. Very, very hard.

I still can't believe that 6 tiny 30 second bursts can kill me like this. LOL. But boy, how they can kill me.

Doing it is fun though. It's a different thing to do, and it gets me out of the house, as I like to do them at the gym on the elliptical. This is where I feel that I get the most out of it.

Besides, I haven't really felt that I could bike a whole lot, because my legs have been so tired from all the walking. Maybe by walking less, I can shift some HIIT sessions to the bike at home. I did this a couple of times, and it was equally exhausting.

The thing that I could NOT do on the bike at home was the four minute cooldowns between the bursts, and this was simply because my legs were too tired.

...

Lots to ponder on today.

...

In a moment, I'm gonna go to the gym and do my workout. I'm really looking forward to it.

After that, I will probably do my walk.

See, it's not that I will completely skip my walks! :) I just don't want to do them "just to do them". I want to feel like doing them.

One thing that I really found as a valuable lesson from yesterday was to see my calorie burn for a lazy day. I don't think I will have days with much less movement than what I had yesterday. Like I said, I only had a tiny walk to a stor that is literally across the parking lot behind the apartments I live in. That was all.

Well, I came out of the day with a calorie burn of 2100. Not all that bad, I'd say.

So, technically, if I just stay at around this number for my food intake, all exercise would be extra burn, and this more fat loss.

This is great info for me.

...

If I stay passive all day, I can consume 2000 calories with no real danger of fat gain.

If I am more active, I can either have a larger fat loss, or consume more.

If I have more activity than my body fat can handle (and I risk losing muscle mass), then I need to eat some of the calories back it.

It's really pretty simple.

...

Anyways, it's time for gym, and a walk.

...

Today, I'm thankful for:
- SLEEP!
- Wife!
- A nice cup of coffee, while writing my journal.
- My buddies. Again, I really appreciate hearing from you guys. I haven't still gotten back to everyone that inbox me, but I'm working my way through it.

Have an awesome week! I will make this one the best in a while! In the words of Dee Snider: "Never Let The Bastards Bring You Down!". :)

Life is good!

EDIT:
After finishing my journal entry, I went to read a little in the community forum. I came across THIS post, and it really made me think.

I feel that confirms a lot of my thoughts on exercise, but it also (re)opened my eyes to something.

We don't need to be standing on an elliptical, or riding a bike, or taking hour long walks to exercise.

What we NEED to do is to generally be active. We NEED to not sit slouched in the couch for hours upon hours every day. We NEED to not spend 20 minutes finding that parking spot closest to the entry to the mall, but just park wherever and walk the rest of the way.

This is what I will be working harder on. General activity. I will have time for it, when I don't waste that time on cardio. Go figure. :)
END OF EDIT.

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
88.5 kg	66.5 kg	3.5 kg	100%

(9 comments) Losing 14 kg a Week

23 February 2014

Good morning!

Whoa! What a fluid gain!

I have zero regrets, though.

I have gained 3.2 kilos since yesterday. It's NOT fat, obviously, it's all fluid. In fact, I have NO fat gain, which is a good thing.

As much as it pains me to see a weigh-in past 90 kilos - which is in absolutely no way acceptable - we had a blast last night.

It was generally a nice and relaxing day, and I needed one of those. I stayed with a lower calorie intake than calorie burn - well, they evened each other out - and it's all good.

The food choices? Well, that's a whole different story. Not the best choices, though I did ensure that my macro requirements were met.

Here's the thing:

I had planned a very light dinner, and a few protein-heavy snacks, to make up for lunch buffet. It was all planned and ready. Then life got in the way.

Daughter wanted to make Krabby Patties. Yup, the Spongebob ones. She has been wanting to do this for maybe a year, but never really took the plunch to go and actually do it.

Well, we had a couple of friends over yesterday, and she wanted to make it for them. How can I say no to that?

The food was GREAT. Essentially, it was burgers with fish patties and horse radish dressing. Really not all that bad. They had too much salt and soy, thogh, and so did the oven baked fries.

It's fine, though. Like I said, no regrets. I'm back in the game today.

...

The real bad side is that I can't stated the feeling of being bloated and heavy. I'm so tired of it.

I'm seriously considering a fast day or 5, just to get rid of it. Maybe this should be my mission this week. I'm not sure I can do it, though. I'm mentally not in the right place for it.

Today is a great starting day, though. It would be very easy.

I have leftover patties from yesterday's burgers. Three, to be exact.

I'm gonna rehearse with the band from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. That's most of the day anyways. I can bring one patty for lunch there, have one in the afternoon, and one for dinner.

Easy.

I think I will make this my calorie intake goal for today. If I need more, I have veggie soups from my last fast frenzy in the freezer.

It would make me feel good and accomplished to do this today, I think.

...

It was another sleepless night. I went to bed around 9 pm, and woke up again about quarter till one am. Haven't slept since, and it's not quarter till 4.

...

Wife is up too. She can't sleep either. Probably my fault.

...

Today, I'm thankful for:
- A GREAT evening!
- Company even when I'm up in the middle of the night.
- Pumpkin spice coffee.

Life is good!

<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/135328102&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true"></iframe>

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
90.5 kg	64.5 kg	5.5 kg	Reasonably Well

(11 comments) Gaining 23.1 kg a Week

22 February 2014

Good morning!

Just a quick weigh-in and check-in for today.

I did just fine yesterday. I walked - A LOT. I walked almost 20 kilometers, and my calorie burn was a whopping 3700 - that is a LOT for me.

Food plans changed massively, but I went with the flow and adjusted as much as I could, and ended up with a 1200 calorie deficit.

We went for ribs at our favorite rib house, and I chose the LARGE set of ribs, and dessert - but everything was counted and calculated. :)

We went there for lunch, but we went late and took our time, and it was just not realistic than any of us were gonna want dinner, so I added those calories to my lunch, and thus it all became okay.

Only downfall was that I was a tad on the low side on protein, but I'm it's fine. I had 170g of my planned 200. I'm sure I will survive that.

...

Today I have decided to make an easy day. It's not gonna be an old-time Indulgence Day, but I'm simply gonna allow myself to eat at maintenance level.

What ever number my fitbit gives me, will be my allowed calories. If I want more, I need to move more. Simple as that.

...

I didn't get much sleep. I was tossing and turning all night, and most of the morning too. I was stubborn, and really wanted my sleep, so I didn't get up. I was in bed for about 11 hours, and I had 4½ hours of efficient sleep.

Still, I feel fairly rested, and I am confident that today will be a good day.

We're not doing anything in particular. We're gonna have our usual lunch buffet, and I'm gonna have 1 kg of SKYR through the day to get the protein numbers up. 1 kg of SKYR gives me a whopping 110g of protein, with a total of 5g of fat, and very few carbs. It's a great nutritional investment.

...

Wife found this link for me. I found it so interesting, and I'm happy to see people who succeed in their weigh-loss journeys.

To me, it proves that what we do is right. Less gastric bypass surgeries, please.

...

Today, I'm thankful for:
- Weekends!
- Wife!
- Morning coffee!

Life is good!

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
87.2 kg	67.8 kg	2.2 kg	100%

(2 comments) Losing 7 kg a Week

21 February 2014

Good morning!

Priority and consistency!

This is the mantra I have been doing all week, and it finally looks like my body is starting to pay attention, at least a little bit.

I'm down three full lbs since yesterday. I'm down 0.6% body fat (which equals 700g). These are all fluctuating numbers, but after seeing what seemed like such an unfair weight-in number yesterday, today's weigh-in gives me a lot more comfort and positive outlook.

...

I slept bad last night. First time I woke up was at 10 PM. Then at 1. Then no more sleep. It's now 5, and I haven't slept more than about three to four hours last night. Boo.

I had way too many thoughts last night. I hate when they get in the way of my sleep.

At least, some of it was about me building my business. That's a positive. It was just a very inconvenient time to be thinking about it, but then again - I think this is what many do when they can't sleep. We think.

...

Yesterday went great.

I have adjusted my numbers quite a bit, to ensure that I reach my calorie and macro goals.

This is done in several ways.

1. I have adjusted my calculations so it only uses 90% of my estimated calorie burn. This will lower my RDI over time.
2. I have forced a 500 calorie deficit on myself daily, unless this makes me go lower than what my body can handle without tapping into muscle. Then I go with the lowest number allowed. This is calculated based on calories burned (after adjustment) the last 7 days, and fat weight.

This brings my RDI for today to 1923 calories. It's not too hard to accomplish, considering I can't go LOWER than this, but not very much higher. It just takes quite a bit of plannning.

IIFYM.com suggests that I now consume 203g of protein per day. Fat and fiber is unchanged. I wonder what made it decide this?

203g of protein is quite a challenge.

I can't help thinking that this is overkill. Maybe even ridiculous overkill - at least considering my goals and my way to training.

I'm not gonna be in a body builder contest or anything. I just wanna be fit.

I remember reading from "2 Meal Mike" that studies have shown that anything over 0.6g per lb of lean body weight is overkill. There are no studies that show mentionable results going past this.

But then again, those I see doing this are showing incredible - truly incredible - results. For now, I'm gonna trust the system and see where we go.

There is no damage that can really come from it anyways. I have been reading numerous articles about this, and from what I can gather, most of what we hear are myths that are now being debunked, as so much other silly nonsense that we hear in regards to weight loss.

It's pretty simple:

If you don't eat enough protein for your body's needs, it can't progress in teh way that you're hoping it will.
If you eat too much protein and thus go over the line of your body's needs, it will be broken down, and stored for energy. Yes. That means fat.

Now, before you panic hearing this, just be aware that this happens with carbs and fat as well. EVERYTHING excess is stored.

The fat cells are then where we pull energy from when we're in a deficit. This is why we set an RDI and why we try to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. It's really that simple.

So, I'm gonna trust the numbers for now.

...

So, I had my first "online" client. Since I'm not allowed to work, because of my sick time, I have decided to do this simply as a favor. Can't keep me from doing favors. :)

I met on skype with the lady, and had a nice talk. I explained my systems and got her started. She has a long way to go, but she sounded like she really wants to do this, and that it didn't sound all that scary.

First week is basically her starting to register all her food. I asked her to NOT start dieting just yet, but just register her food.

Wait and see - after a week she'll be in a calorie dificit. Seeing the numbers, and seeing how much you essentially go over when you are "just eating as you always did", will make you realize quite a few things.

I can't wait to see how she did next week. :)

...

Today, I'm thankful for:
- Wife!
- A drop in weight. Man, I needed to see that.
- Priority and consistency!
- Morning coffee!
- Walk and gym!

This weekend will be busy! I might not write a whole lot - I might even skip a day or two. Let this be my chance to wish you all a great weekend, if I don't make it back. :)

Life is good!

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
88.2 kg	66.8 kg	3.2 kg	100%

(6 comments) Losing 10.5 kg a Week

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