Food, Exercise, or other Reports
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@NovusDies: I hope you are feeling better!
@bmeadows380: Have fun on the road trip and be safe! Enjoy the diet break, and those extra calories with all the yumminess
@conniewilkins56: I think the Beck diet book really helped me with handling my mind around binges so far. I'd recommend it. I am in no way affiliated with the author, and don't make money from it. I've just read it recently and found it useful, especially once I got over the cheezy language like "thinking like a thin person"
But the strategies in the book are good.
For example, one of the things from the book that worked for me was making "flash" cards and reading them or keeping them in sight. One of my cards has strategies for coping with hunger, the other has strategies for dealing with disappointment etc. Most of the strategies are pretty obvious, but there is something extra to seeing them written down into a program, and having a daily plan about how to implement them. That's really the mechanisms behind cognitive behavioral therapy (as far as I understand), it just makes implicit thoughts explicit, which allows us to deal with them in a more rational manner.
On the other hand, I wanted to ask if you all keep track of your macros, in particular, your protein intake? What has been your experience with it? I am considering increasing the protein share of my diet from 20% to around 30% due to the benefits it brings for preventing muscle loss and decreasing hunger. But, to do so, I'd have to get some protein powder, which is really what's keeping me back. I try to avoid powders and bars and the like as much as possible...1 -
@cremorna1
I have recently gone through the Beck Diet Solution book. There is a lot of helpful information in it. I did not really like the promises it made. Solutions have to be customized for the individual and it made the mistake of trying in some ways to be a universal answer. It also didn't deal with core beliefs enough. Basically some of it did not conform to my understanding of the CBT method which admittedly in far less than expert.
I do think most of it is worth trying.
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Yes, I agree that the book has its highs and lows. As you say, some of the info is useful. It was the first diet-CBT book that I read, so for me some of the stuff really helped. But it may very well be that there are better diet-CBT books out there.1
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And that is how you have an overfeed lol.
35k steps yesterday, dug 7 holes for 3 and 4 gallon bushes, and I mowed most of the yard with the push mower. Biggest recorded exercise calorie day for me too.
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Oh and other than some soreness I am feeling good today. My energy is high. I feel like I could take on the world - until I stand up. However, I did get up at 4:30a this morning and walk 5.5 miles.1
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Oh and other than some soreness I am feeling good today. My energy is high. I feel like I could take on the world - until I stand up. However, I did get up at 4:30a this morning and walk 5.5 miles.
That is great!...feeling better,eating and exercising!...very Much in awe of you!....I hate to get up in the morning...and after I get up, it takes me an hour to get going...I don’t know how I ever used to get kids ready for school and be at our stores by 8 a.m....I stay up until about 2 every morning....my husband is the opposite....a match made in heaven lol0 -
Excellent numbers @NovusDies!!!1
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*yawn* I'm back but am very tired and not up to a long spiel tonight I recorded my weekly weigh in at a new low: 239.4 lbs on Thursday morning, but haven't weighed since as I was out of town. I drove 6+ hours on Thursday down to TN, but I did get my 12,000 steps in by going for a walk down at a local park.
Friday I really have no idea because while my fitness tracker only shows about 5,000 steps for the day, it was not tracking all the loading and carrying and tugging we were doing in going through all the tools and lumber my aunt's husband had and getting it loaded into the U-haul trailer and the pickup. I was on my feet the entire time and was lifting heavy power tools, lumber, boxes, etc for several hours.
I'm not 100% sure I hit maintenance on Thursday; I did eat about 2900 calories, which for me is the lightly active maintenance setting, but over 10,000 steps is likely active so I may have been under.
But I'm pretty sure I hit yesterday or maybe even a surplus since my aunt made lasagna that evening, and I had a pretty large piece with salad and blackberry dumplings and ice cream for dessert. It was a pretty large slice of the lasagna and a large bowl of the dumplings, though I made sure to keep it to a small serving of ice cream (it was regular, though and not my usual halo top). That came to close to 3400 calories, which is a little over very active for me, but might have been right or might have been a little over - could make up for the slight deficit on Thursday, though.
Today was spent driving 8 hours back home as I did all the driving and we were pulling a 12 ft U-haul loaded down not to mention the back of the truck full. My brother came over and we got it all unloaded tonight (what took us half a day to load we got unloaded in 45 minutes......) We just got pizza for supper and while got a personal pan for myself and kept the calories down, I still grabbed a slice of pepperoni and cheese as well then came home for a ice cream sandwich and found myself snacking on a few other things as well. ended up at 3,000 calories today, which is technically the active range for me, but my step count is just over 3,000 steps. But again, the fitness tracker doesn't track the activity of loading and unloading, not to mention the driving - my arms were sore by the time I got home from the steering wheel!
We'll see what I'm up to tomorrow morning - will definitely be some water weight from lunch and dinner today, but since I'm diet breaking, I'd rather be over than under. Even if I gain as much as 2 lbs over the next week, I can easily get that back off after!
The only thing I've got to say is: it is SO MUCH FOOD! I'm finding myself getting to the end of the day with over 1,000 calories left and thinking "what can I eat now?!!" It's going to be even more fun to come up with since I hope to get back to my exercise routine tomorrow with a nice long walk, and then Monday with a cardio session and then yard work and mowing grass on Monday. AND my state is allowing gyms to open, so the Jiu-jitsu academy is starting back up with a modified schedule (only for those students who are comfortable with coming in and only for members), so depending on what I can get done on Monday, I may do that then as well. We'll see!
However, it doesn't take long in the evenings for fat brain to start wanting to snack badly. I"m done for tonight, but I'm having to be stern with glutton-self that there is to be no more. Since I'm getting ready to head to bed now, I should win that battle 1 -
Glad you had a safe trip!0
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*scratches head* My body really hates being predictable, it seems.
I'm on diet break meaning that I've been eating 1000+ calories more for the last 3 days to try to get to maintenance. My exercise routine is way off because I spent much of that time driving. there was some heavy work loading and unloading all that wood working equipment and lumber, but my aunt's lasagna is thick and extremely cheese and saucy, and I know I probably in reality ate 1,000 calories just in one slice on Friday, not to mention several hundred in those dumplings. Yesterday, we stopped at KFC for lunch; I had a grilled chicken snack wrap from a convenience store where we stopped for gas, and yesterday evening was pizza.
So with the extra carbs being eaten and the extra food, then coupled with 2 restaurant meals yesterday, ones typically high in sodium, I was fully prepared for a jump in the scale this morning as its the first time I stepped on it since Thursday morning. The question was, how many pounds up was it going to be, and I was bracing myself for it even as I set the scale down, reminding the fearful part of me that it would be okay.
Except the scale read 239.1 lbs.....or 0.3 lbs down from Thursday's weight........
Now I know that 0.3 lbs is statistically more like nothing, so on the one hand - woohoo! I've maintained for 3 days! - on the other hand, shouldn't there have been a scale spike? Or did I really drop more than that 0.3 lbs, and the water weight is masking it?
Oh well...
Meanwhile, I'm sitting here after breakfast and am absolutely stuffed - and all I had was cashew milk in my coffee, 2 servings of old fashioned oats, with 1 Tbsp of whipped butter, 1 small box of raisins, and about 1/3 a serving of chopped walnuts. All in all that was a 400 calorie breakfast. I've had breakfasts that much even when in deficit, but they were usually like pancakes or waffles; but I'm very full today!
Which was interesting with yesterday, too. I had 1 biscuit, 1 slice of bacon, a greek yogurt, and 2 eggs for breakfast yesterday and 1 cup of milk in my coffee. But you know, I wasn't really overly hungry all day? Even when we stopped for lunch and I did eat, I wasn't feeling all that hungry. Of course my brain was hungry - when is it not? - but my tummy was saying "meh, if you want to eat, that's fine, but I'm good either way".
that's a really weird feeling!2 -
@bmeadows380
One of the reasons to do this is to study yourself in these conditions. Hopefully you are building some confidence.
You may not be at maintenance which would not be surprising considering your numbers are still young. If you are not fully able to restore your glycogen levels you will not see a full carb related spike on the scale. It is also possible you are crossing paths with unrealized losses which happens to some people during their first couple of days of a break. You are whooshing one set and retaining another.
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@bmeadows380
One of the reasons to do this is to study yourself in these conditions. Hopefully you are building some confidence.
You may not be at maintenance which would not be surprising considering your numbers are still young. If you are not fully able to restore your glycogen levels you will not see a full carb related spike on the scale. It is also possible you are crossing paths with unrealized losses which happens to some people during their first couple of days of a break. You are whooshing one set and retaining another.
I'll keep going and we'll see where we are later in the week; if I'm still not at actual maintenance, then I'll up calories until I get there.
Today was a completely sedentary day - I only got about 3,000 steps in. The stupid rain killed my chance at getting a walk in. I ate a little over the lightly active level, so hopefully for today at least, I was actually at my maintenance levels!
tomorrow morning I hope to get up earlier and get my cardio video and walking out of the way - its been 4 days since my routine got disrupted and I need to make myself pick it up back; I know myself well enough to know that something as new as this exercise is for me is still fairly easy to slip back out of if I don't keep it routine!
I've got a lot of yard work to do tomorrow, too, if the weather cooperates - mow grass, get my garden boxes ready, plant what I can get in the ground now, put up my fencing, and I'd like to get my house siding scrubbed down again since I got more cleaner. All this depends on the weather, though! If it doesn't work out, I need to do house work too.1 -
I knew I was probably in a surplus yesterday since my activity was way down, and the scale reflected it - or its finally catching up with me as it was up 0.9 lbs this morning.
It feels really odd to be saying that a scale spike is actually what I was looking for and wanting......1 -
My scales were up this morning and it’s NOT what I was looking for lol.....I hate it when you ate right and those darn scales go the wrong way...oh well, it will be gone again soon....1
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*sigh*
I never thought I'd ever see the day I'd be eating just to get my calories in and not because I wanted to eat.
What would be the next category above very active again? Because I'm pretty sure I hit it today. I did a cardio session this morning, then went on a 5.8 mile walk. After that, I used the riding mower for the lawn and then pushmowed for another 45 minutes or so to edge. I took a break because I wanted to go to the clothing store that opened, and then stopped at Lowe's for a big air conditioner for my living room, then came home and gardened - meaning I used my hoe to loosen up my soil in my garden boxes, added in peat moss and compost and mixed, then planted seeds and plants, then put up my fence.
When i came in and looked at my fitness tracker I had over 24,000 steps in today, and that doesn't even count the steps around Lowe's pushing the cart or part of the steps for push mowing!
So I'm looking at needing to get 3800 calories in today - I think. I still need to eat dinner and I am having fried potatoes - fried in a skillet no less with actual oil! - and a 9 oz bone in pork chop and frozen vegetables. I dug out a piece of cake I had in the freezer to defrost and plan to have 2 servings of Halo Top ice cream, but I still have 250 calorie left after all that!
I'm not going to get it in today. But tomorrow I have to drive north for work, so while I plan to do my cardio first thing, there won't be a lot of steps tomorrow because of driving as I don't know if I'll get back in time to take a walk or not, so I'll just bank those 250 calories until tomorrow.
You know, when I thought through all the problems I might encounter when taking a diet break, having difficulty actually eating all the calories I needed to eat was not one of them!1 -
I am up 8 pounds and really ready to see some of it fall off again. I took a chance to see if Chinese food would spike me as much as it always has and it was a 5 pound gain. I wouldn't care except my left knee began bothering me the morning after the food. I do not know if it is a coincidence. It doesn't seem like those 5 pounds should make that much difference when I am just doing my normal walking and wearing my knee supports.
I have remained in what I believe to be a surplus. Because of this and the big overfeed day I plan to make this break the minimum 10 days instead of 14. I do not like that it was a forced break that I had not properly planned for. I have to take one every 6-8 weeks now so I may alternate between 10 and 14 day breaks.1 -
oh, and that push mowing included the neighbor's steep hill side that I have to push the mower straight up from the bottom for half, then go up top and pull it up and down from the top for the rest!1
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I am not enjoying this much food either. My calories bumped 500 for maintenance and 250 for surplus.
There is no level above very active which is another thing that made me question how I could be so high when I am not an athlete but whatever. You just have to adjust your multiplier or use MFP's NEAT system. I have the TDEE formula in my spreadsheet so I can compare both.1 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »oh, and that push mowing included the neighbor's steep hill side that I have to push the mower straight up from the bottom for half, then go up top and pull it up and down from the top for the rest!
That would be an intense workout. Kind of like me pushing 75 pounds of dirt up the hill backyard in a wheel barrel the other day 7 times. That was part of my 2400 calorie burn day.1 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »oh, and that push mowing included the neighbor's steep hill side that I have to push the mower straight up from the bottom for half, then go up top and pull it up and down from the top for the rest!
That would be an intense workout. Kind of like me pushing 75 pounds of dirt up the hill backyard in a wheel barrel the other day 7 times. That was part of my 2400 calorie burn day.
Don't I know it! That hill is entirely too steep to even think of riding mowing it - even a zero turn couldn't do it. I have to get a running start at the bottom to get it going up the hill, and then muscle as far up as I can get the mower, and I have to do it at a diagonal because the hill is steep enough that the mower will tip over if I'm not holding tight to hold it to the hillside. And I'm guessing I'm doing this for 20 to 30 ft or so lengthwise across the hill. Maybe more - I'm a horrible judge of distance.
gotta love the state of WV! lol
And pushing dirt up the hill sounds SO fun......
It's so hard to let myself count back over 1,000 calories in activity in a day when I keep seeing poster after poster respond in the forums doubting the calorie burn of OP's when asking about calorie estimates. there was one today where the person stated they did 30-40 minutes of cardio and then walked at least 2 miles a day and were estimating they were burning around what - 900 calories in a day? Everyone quickly pointed out that was highly unlikely. However, when I count back 75% of my calories doing 30 minutes cardio and walking 5 miles a day and perhaps 30 minutes on the elliptical, I easily burn 800 calories in a day - at 75% mind you - and was losing at 2 lbs a week or more while doing it!I am not enjoying this much food either. My calories bumped 500 for maintenance and 250 for surplus.
There is no level above very active which is another thing that made me question how I could be so high when I am not an athlete but whatever. You just have to adjust your multiplier or use MFP's NEAT system. I have the TDEE formula in my spreadsheet so I can compare both.
that's what I find so hard to accept too because I can't see myself as an athlete, either. I'm using the MFP NEAT system and have myself set for lightly active. I figure as long as I get a cardio session in and get a minimum of 5,000 steps in a day, I should have at least that much. If I find myself over 10,000 steps, then I start adding in some exercise to try to compensate to get me roughly to where a TDEE calculator says I should be for active and very active states. Today, however, no TDEE calculator was going to cover, so I'm taking a shot in the dark at the 3800 calories; I figure that if 3500 is the very active calorie goal for me to maintain, then 3800 should be somewhere in the ball park of what I actually did today.
If I missed it and find myself at a lower weight on Thursday, then I'll just have to adjust my calorie intake up even further and keep pushing the break out until I can maintain for those 2 weeks.2 -
I think the thing that concerns me about the extra food is I did not choose my new balance of food view so I am unsure what would change it. I no longer see most food as a source of pleasure, comfort, reward, whatever. I see it as a necessity to live and move. I am unconcerned with things like fairness and even deprivation most of the time.
Food pleasure is a switch I turn on. Not one that stays on. When the switch is off I will enjoy eating a treat but I am seeking it out first to fill a calorie gap. It is secondary that it pleasurable.
I like it that way. I do not want to be constantly seeking pleasure from food because that makes it harder. My system allows for a maintenance day each week for pleasure and then I allow myself to "go there" on vacation, holidays, special occasions, and rarely just a spontaneous day.
I like that balance. I think, for me, it is a proper perspective of food.
Over time I can adjust my normal way of eating to account for more calories. In short bursts like a break I end up eating more treat food. Because I am kind of grumbly about not having a vacation I was really not in a frame of mind to take this break but my energy crisis demanded it. I keep trying to flip my switch but it won't stay on because I am not feeling it. For that reason this feels like eating out of character for me. I do not want to get accustomed to it and it mess with my balance.1 -
One thing I'm finding interesting in this is that apparently, I have truly established a new eating pattern that is now ingrained in me - things I might have sought out before the first chance I got don't appeal and I'm still instinctively reaching for the lower calorie items and mentally tallying calories in my head - its become second nature, which is a very good thing!
Exercise, on the other hand, is still too new, meaning its not an ingrained habit yet. It took me quite a while to get myself moving yesterday to get that cardio in and walk since my routine got disrupted over the weekend. I need to either get cardio or an elliptical session in this morning, too, but I've been dragging my feet lol
I don't know if I'll ever truly be able to switch off the food pleasure switch; I just want to maintain it at a reasonable level. For me it wasn't even so much as food pleasure but as that internal glutton that was always hungry - that drive to eat! eat! eat! even when my stomach was satiated. I know that part of me is still lurking in the background, too, like a hungry tiger pacing a cage just looking for a chance to get free and wreak some havoc......
My weight was up more this morning - from 241 yesterday to 241.9 today. But I don't know if that means I'm hitting where I should and glycogen stores are being replenished, or if its just water weight response from yesterday's activity levels, as I am pretty sore this morning.1 -
I am so happy to read about your mental changes about how you view and relate to food. I only hope I can get there in time!1
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I had to go back and see what activity level I had set for my maintenance - I set myself up for active calories. I need to remember that so I can figure out when I need to add back in extra calories to compensate for extra activity - like yesterday, for instance!
So that means my 12,000 steps today are covered in my calorie limit for the day. I added in most of the 250 I was short by yesterday, so I should be caught up. I did about an hour or so's worth of gardening today, but that wasn't really strenuous, so I'm not going to worry about it.
Here's what's sad: I was trying to figure what I could add in to my diet on those days that I'm really short on calories and need to eat something to hit goal, and it finally hit me today: beans! I avoid beans mostly because I hate to open a can and only eat a single serving and have that serving be so high in calories - they would be the perfect filler for those days *slaps forehead*
I can't figure why, but I'm dragging today. It took all I could get to my cardio in this morning, and even after 3 sixteen oz coffees, I was still so sleepy headed and lethargic this afternoon. I made myself go on a walk, but didn't hit 5 miles, and I did get the rest of my garden stuff planted, but I really needed to vacuum but had no energy left to do it. I'm not sure what's up with my energy levels, unless it was sleep related - I did have a little trouble staying asleep last night. Here's hoping tonight is better - if not, I'm going to have to invest in a new mattress! (my mattress is padded on one side only and it was a cheaper thing I bought off Walmart 4 years ago and really is probably near the end of its life).1 -
today my weight was sitting at 241.5 lbs, but the good news is that the trend weight in HappyScale stayed at 240.2. While that's only 2 days worth of data, I'm taking that as a good sign that I am perhaps at least close to eating what I should be eating!1
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I think you can freeze the beans that are left over. When I boil legumes, I usually boil more then I need and freeze the rest.
Sometimes I guess we just need a more restful day, and that's ok!1 -
Hooray for gym classes! My gym resumed some of their classes this week. They're outside for now, and it was crazy windy last night, but it was so nice to go and do class with real people and an instructor. I've done some online classes during quarantine (the same ones I do at the gym), but the calorie burn isn't as good when I'm doing it by myself. I need that extra push from a teacher encouraging me, and I think I also try harder because I don't want to be embarrassed in front of other people.2
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Well, I got my walk in today before the rain set in (5 1/4 miles worth) plus the elliptical this morning, plus vacuuming the house - I currently have over 16,000 steps in today. Since the top end of Active, which is where I have my calories set right now is 15,000, that means I needed a few extra calories today. And this is AFTER consuming 3 1/2 brownies made this morning AND the bowl of rice pudding I'm currently eating! I stopped at McDonald's to get an apple pie and a medium half cut tea only because I needed more calories in for the day. I even tossed raisins into my rice pudding (I prefer rice pudding without raisins) just because I needed calories!
I never ever dreamed of the day I'd stop at McDonald's because I was needing calories......
I'm actually looking forward to getting back to my deficit cause eating this much is even overwhelming the glutton inside me!
I think part of it is that I can't bring myself to go back to the old way of cooking; the cutting calories method has become so normal that its now my routine, so I can't bring myself to use a lot of oil to fry something (though I did fry potatoes the old fashioned way on Monday) or use regular sugar in baked goods or full fat in them, either - I modified the oil content in those brownies this morning as well as subbing splenda and stevia for the sugar.
My jiu-jitsu studio reopened late last week for members only, and while I didn't make it on Monday since I had too many things to do around the house while I could, I'm considering going in on Friday. Except - how many extra calories will I have to eat after doing 2 hours of jiu-jitsu?
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weight was up 2 1/2 lbs this morning, but I'm not concerned as I know its not fat gain but water weight. And who knows what kicked that off? Might be that I'm finally truly out of a deficit; might be because its humid; or even hormones or a combination of all the above plus other factors.
Meanwhile, the activity will be down today as I've got a lot of driving to do today. I did get an elliptical session in though not as long as I wanted, and since I didn't do cardio yesterday, I'll need to get it in today. We'll have to see if I can squeeze in a walk between thundershowers; if not, I'll have to hit the elliptical again tonight.1 -
Today I'm just feeling "blah". I only got 6,000 steps in, though there was probably more that isn't being counted since I shopped in Walmart for an hour pushing a really, really heavy buggy that needed a front end alignment.....
I treated mom and dad to KFC for dinner, and I splurged on a wing in addition to my thigh, then went ahead and got a serving of the cole slaw and mashed potatoes. And 1 coconut sugar free cookie because I wanted to see if they were any good.
I didn't have time to go on a walk since I got home so late, but I had every intention of doing a second eliptical session, except now its 9 pm I'm tired, my back is sore, and I just don't feel like it.
So I ate active level calories today, but was only lightly active; and I really am not caring right now. Even if it was 500 calories over today, I'm not concerned because its one day and isn't a big deal. Tomorrow's activity should be back up since I'll hit the elliptical first thing, get my cardio in, and I think I'm going to tomorrow evening's jiu-jitsu class, and that will be 1 1/2 hours of sweating, so while my steps may not be up there, the exercise will be!1
