CatHerder's Journal

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02 February 2016

I've been reading on what is the appropriate amount of protein. There are a lot of differing opinions. It appears the recommended minimum is 0.6 g/lb lean body mass. There is some disagreement on this minimum with some saying 0.8 g/lb LBM s as the minimum. The maximum for non-anabolic users is generally agreed upon to be 1.0 g/lb LBM.

I've also been listening and reading a lot of the presentations from Dr. Donald Layman. He's a PhD with a specialty on the effects of protein on the body. His recommendation is to have a minimum of 30g of protein with each meal. This is to trigger protein synthesis (muscle building) in the body. The 30g amount is to provide adequate leucine which triggers the synthesis. He also states that any amount greater then 60g per meal does not provide any additional benefit. He also advocates limiting carbs to a max of 120g/day. Here's a podcast he did with Jimmy Moore Dr. Layman podcast

On my personal front, My weight has been increasing. I'm not quite sure why. I have had a few days of overeating due to hunger. I'm going to stay on my current course through Feb and see where I end up. If it gets too bad I may make a correction. I did have my wife measure me with the new calipers. It came out about a quarter of a percent lower so not really a lot of difference between the calipers.

Based on my metabolic tracker my metabolism is low. It is coming up but I think the almost 2 years of dieting has taken a toll. Hopefully I can add more muscle and improve it without putting fat back on. It's a little disheartening but not uncommon with prolonged diets or severe calorie restriction. I'm working on a plan for the end of February to try to bring it back up.

I'm hoping everyone is having a wonderful day!

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
98.9 kg	6.8 kg	8.2 kg	Reasonably Well

(24 comments) Gaining 1.9 kg a Week

30 January 2016

My weight has been bouncing around in the mid 210's for a couple of weeks. I've recently been trying to drop my calories down to 2000/day to see if that can start up the weight loss again. On the positive note, the calipers are saying I've dropped another 1% of bodyfat, down to 16.5%. Looking in the mirror I really don't see it as I still have that bacon slab covering my abs. I'm also adding lean body mass so lifting heavy has definitely been working. I'm closing in on my previous lifting weights. Muscle memory is a great thing.

I've bought new calipers. This one is spring loaded to try to make sure the reading are consistent. The others we had were good but relied on an indicator to tell when you had applied enough force. The spring eliminates the variable of trying to read the indicator when measuring.

Lifting after taking coconut oil for energy has been working well. I carb up after the workout. Still have my fat intake increased although I've noticed more hunger with the lower volume of food. I'm hoping my body adjusts soon as I overate last night, dang cashews.

I'll keep plugging along. Today is morning workout and run followed by a massage in the afternoon. I can't wait.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
98.1 kg	7.6 kg	7.3 kg	Reasonably Well

(1 comment) Gaining 1.0 kg a Week

27 January 2016

I have been upping my fat and decreasing carbs over the past several days. Today I feel relatively normal but had headaches the past few days. I didn't realize my body would have such a hard time switching fuel sources. I have been mostly adding in coconut oil and some olive oil for fats.

I want to get opinions on MCT oils. There appears to be some differing opinions on whether Lauric acid is beneficial when using MCT oils for quick energy. Most MCT oils are a blend of C-8 (Caprylic) and C-10 (Capric), around 60/40. Lauric acid is C-12. The shorter the carbon chain the quicker they are converted to ketones. MCT oils with Lauric acid have around 38% Lauric acid, 28% Caprylic and 34% Capric acids. I've also found a product called Coconut Cooking Oil which appears to be similar to MCT oil with Lauric acid. I'm using that at the moment as it's cheaper. I do have some MCT oil with Lauric acid on order as well so I'll compare the two.

That was pretty long winded. My question is which MCT oil is better to use, with or without Lauric acid?

I hope everybody has a wonderful day!

(8 comments)

24 January 2016

I had a great week as far as workouts. I upped my calories a bit for a couple of days and it appeared to help. I was lifting heavy enough on Friday (leg day) that I was feeling nauseous. I was able to finish all my exercises but was actually seeing stars when I got done. We'll see how everything goes this week.

I also found my lifting log from 5 years ago. I'm still not lifting where I was back then but I am pretty close on some of the lifts. I also weighed 30lbs more back then at about the same bodyfat % so I had more LBM.

(3 comments)

23 January 2016

I've been reading about various aspects of dieting and the psychological aspects. I remember when I was in counseling for depression and was told to avoid black/white thinking. I am also prone to obsessive thinking. I think that just goes with my OCD.

So what does that have to do with dieting? The OCD is what compels me to log everything I eat. It appears some people have trouble with that. I have the Fatsecret app on my phone as well as using the website. Most times I log my food before I eat it, whether at home or eating out. For me it is the way I stay accountable. The times I don't log I tend to overeat.

Over the almost two years I have been on this current journey I have re-framed how I look at food. I started on Atkins and had the mindset of carbs/insulin = bad, fat= good. This is a classic pattern of black/white thinking. My approach now is to look at food on a scale of its nutrition. I try to eat the more nutritious foods and minimize the foods with lower nutrition. I also don't limit my foods, if I want cookies I have a cookie. The key for me is to limit it. As I eat more of the nutritious foods I really don't crave the low nutrition foods (crap). This is a big change for me and it has taken quite a while to get to this point.

I also think of foods in terms of macronutrients, fat, protein and carbohydrates. I have higher fat days mixed in with higher carb days. Most days I try to stay balanced. The human body is great at switching between energy sources and does this on a regular basis. Insulin triggers nutrient storage. Its counterpart is glucogon which triggers ketone and glucose production. Both are part of the feedback system to maintain stable blood glucose.

What I have found out is the human body is very adaptive. I believe that to lose weight you need to eat less than you burn. It sounds so simple. The issue is the human body doesn't want to change so its feedback systems resist. There is also a mental aspect that can be greater than the physical aspects. The key is to find a diet that allows you to create the energy deficit that can be sustained for life.

Back to my journey and wishing everyone the best on theirs.

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
97.1 kg	8.6 kg	6.4 kg	Reasonably Well

(5 comments) Gaining 0.6 kg a Week

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