Sab's thread

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  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    rimir74 wrote: »
    My spreadsheet is very basic. I just look at overall data movement for calories in 4 week sets and overall for the year. I'm not tracking weight since it seems to be stable. I have a net calorie listed just to make myself feel like I have some leeway. Since my weight is pretty much maintaining, I'm likely not in the lower calorie column

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x-U5_S1FOLICblo3jzexdgYx7f34SiKsqk1Tg0kTTHo/edit?usp=sharing

    Thanks for sharing. I believe this is the saner approach to long-term maintenance - I don't see myself monitoring things this closely three years after either, not if the method is good and the results are as desired.
  • AudreyJDuke
    AudreyJDuke Posts: 1,092 Member
    Great ideas, I need this!!!!
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    So it's been about a month of maintenance, and things are pretty good. Thought I'd update this thread. I had a bump in weight at the beginning, but it's been keeping perfectly in line with expectations afterwards, in spite of the occasional pigging out and recent trips. Here's the stuff (trendline's stupid Google Docs own intepretation):
    m75hg0euo8yg.jpg

    Training's also fine so far. Not much of a progress weight-wise, then again I cannot increment as I should because I only have 5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 dumbbells, so if I feel 10 reps is easy I just have to do more until I can switch to a higher weight. But it looks better. Definitely better. At least in what concerns upper body. Lower body's still a challenge.
    sg9ydn0eq2xy.jpg

    I get cramps. Yesterday my right calf cramped FOUR CONSECUTIVE TIMES during side-lying clams which I am now scared of. It was a pain rollercoaster of 5 full minutes. I am not sure why it happened, I take Magnesium supplements, had hydrated properly both before and during training, had stretched, and the clam was literally the last on the agenda. Does anyone else get these *kitten*? How do you deal with them?
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).

    Sorry for the radio silence. I had a 1 week vacation and tried to make the most out of it. Luckily, one cannot notice it one the scale (yet?) - walking 30k steps per day helped with that! :smiley:
    I thought about rolling calories too. However, if I know myself (and I do so well), I'll end up milking it telling myself that I can always eat less later while carrying on with the gorgefest. I'll be able to do it at some point, but it's best if I don't give myself too much rope in the beginning, and own up to closing my diary on a surplus whenever that occurs.

    I sent you a FR. Hope that's okay. Your diary is quite interesting!
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Sounds like things are going pretty well... nice job.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).

    Sorry for the radio silence. I had a 1 week vacation and tried to make the most out of it. Luckily, one cannot notice it one the scale (yet?) - walking 30k steps per day helped with that! :smiley:
    I thought about rolling calories too. However, if I know myself (and I do so well), I'll end up milking it telling myself that I can always eat less later while carrying on with the gorgefest. I'll be able to do it at some point, but it's best if I don't give myself too much rope in the beginning, and own up to closing my diary on a surplus whenever that occurs.

    I sent you a FR. Hope that's okay. Your diary is quite interesting!

    I eat a lot of junk and fruit; crazy high carbs and sugar. A few protein rich things to kick that up. I don't log much exercise. I managed to lose 65 pounds and hold it pretty steady for the last 3 months. This last weekend is an anomaly; my eldest's graduation was kind of a weekend mini vacation.
  • rimir74
    rimir74 Posts: 29 Member
    I too do rolling calories. Because of this thread, I looked in on Keto but don't think I can manage that amount of fat or protein for my required calories and being vegetarian. I also looked at the OMAD idea and fasting in general. I've decided to do a trial with 16:8 - most of my calories consumed within 8 hours between 12pm to 8pm. I have some orange juice or unsweetened coffee in the morning to tide me over till noon. I've also started a bit of exercising again - going back to my fave cardio of 4.5km or so in the early morning.
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Sounds like things are going pretty well... nice job.

    Thank you!
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).

    Sorry for the radio silence. I had a 1 week vacation and tried to make the most out of it. Luckily, one cannot notice it one the scale (yet?) - walking 30k steps per day helped with that! :smiley:
    I thought about rolling calories too. However, if I know myself (and I do so well), I'll end up milking it telling myself that I can always eat less later while carrying on with the gorgefest. I'll be able to do it at some point, but it's best if I don't give myself too much rope in the beginning, and own up to closing my diary on a surplus whenever that occurs.

    I sent you a FR. Hope that's okay. Your diary is quite interesting!

    I eat a lot of junk and fruit; crazy high carbs and sugar. A few protein rich things to kick that up. I don't log much exercise. I managed to lose 65 pounds and hold it pretty steady for the last 3 months. This last weekend is an anomaly; my eldest's graduation was kind of a weekend mini vacation.

    Congrats to you and your kid! Yeah, I noticed that our diaries are quite the opposite - I'm naturally veering off carbs and into the higher fat, higher protein land. Don't care much for fruits, but veggies are a must.
    rimir74 wrote: »
    I too do rolling calories. Because of this thread, I looked in on Keto but don't think I can manage that amount of fat or protein for my required calories and being vegetarian. I also looked at the OMAD idea and fasting in general. I've decided to do a trial with 16:8 - most of my calories consumed within 8 hours between 12pm to 8pm. I have some orange juice or unsweetened coffee in the morning to tide me over till noon. I've also started a bit of exercising again - going back to my fave cardio of 4.5km or so in the early morning.

    Macro ratios are really a personal preference. It doesn't make sense to go for keto, or LCHF, or LFHC etc etc. if it doesn't make you feel right. And being a vegetarian would definitely make keto complicated. There's only so much avocado you can shove in a day.

    I tried OMAD, didn't stick. I am a monster if deprived of dinner, and couldn't really go through ALL the workday without eating. However, for years I've not eaten breakfast and just ate lunch (13:00) and dinner (21:00). My incursion in ketoworld changed that and my inner clock, waking up at 6:00 way too easily I started being hungry in the morning as well (so I eat a protein bar, or a cup of greek yogurt).

    Having an eating window between 12-8pm, while also aiding with calorie control, I think would actually structure one's schedule... maybe even disassociate day-to-day activities with food and take your mind off it. Lunch, dinner, full stop. I would be much more prone to thinking about the stomach if I had 5 meals a day (which would be an absolute chore).

    Great to hear you're exercising! Running or walking? And thanks for the metric... it's rara avis around here :smiley:
  • Motor_Election
    Motor_Election Posts: 29 Member
    edited June 2018
    From my own experience and what I've read about fitness exercises or "bodybuilding", if you want to see progress in weight lifting exercises, it's better to do less reps on a higher weight than more reps on a weight that is not *so* challenging to you. More reps will lead to higher endurance but will offer slower strength gains. Also from my own experience: I need to eat differently on the days I go to the gym than on other days. I can't put as much effort into my gym session if I haven't had a decent meal before. You're probably at the point where you have to eat more to exercise more instead of exercise more to eat more :smile:

    Edit: btw, you look like you're doing great ;-)
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    From my own experience and what I've read about fitness exercises or "bodybuilding", if you want to see progress in weight lifting exercises, it's better to do less reps on a higher weight than more reps on a weight that is not *so* challenging to you. More reps will lead to higher endurance but will offer slower strength gains. Also from my own experience: I need to eat differently on the days I go to the gym than on other days. I can't put as much effort into my gym session if I haven't had a decent meal before. You're probably at the point where you have to eat more to exercise more instead of exercise more to eat more :smile:

    Edit: btw, you look like you're doing great ;-)

    Hi, and thanks! I'm pushing myself to get back into the routine, having been gone for two weeks (and having to go again for two others... I should just change to body weight exercises :neutral:)

    I am doing sets of 10 reps. I could go lower and up the weight, but not at the moment :disappointed: Was saying that I have dumbbells and a barbell at home, and they just go in increments of 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs). I'm somewhere in-between now, for example I can single curl 12 reps with 7.5 kg / 16.5 lbs, but I can't do 6 reps with 10 kg / 22 lbs yet. I'll stay here and increase reps until I can move to lifting heavier. Or, (*gasp* brilliant idea!), I should just buy some in-between plates. Don't know why I didn't think of this before...

    I don't eat differently because I just pack an hour of training every two days, in the late evening. Cal burn is minimal during that, and recharging gets done at dinner and the next day (which is rest day).
  • rimir74
    rimir74 Posts: 29 Member
    1) Agreed on the avocado comment. Haha. 2) Good point about the eating window helping to take my mind off food for 2/3 of the day. It helps that my snacking window is now also restricted. 3) Oh, definitely running - 4.5km to 4.8km in about 27-29 minutes. Trying to get a few push-ups in there as part of the warm up. Yep, I too live in a metric world.
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    @rimir74 - that's a good speed! around 5k is not too long, not too short, sweet spot for the daily dose of cardio. And doing it consistently is sure to give you lots of benefits. Also, I admire people who can exercise in the morning. If I do, I'm later turning into a sleepy, absent-minded, slouching sack of potatoes in the office.

    I really love running (Most of the times. On bad days I hate it. Then I love it once finished, again). Back on my first tour of duty losing, I started running and worked up to 9k and a stress fracture... whoops. I take it easier now. Personal best for the last 3 years was a week and a half ago, 7.8 km in 47 mins. That is aaaalmost 10 km/h... so close. And then I didn't run anymore, except 20 mins with a fever on Saturday. Lately, being on the road a good deal of time has NOT helped, and between weight training and running, in the small time I have I pick training.
  • bufger
    bufger Posts: 763 Member
    I keep macros the same as im used to the food i prepare and like to eat. I just go TDEE -500 for cut, +500 for bulk. When gaining strength I focus on increasing weight, when cutting I plan on maintaining the weight lifted (or slight loss of strength) and maintenance would be maintain strength and level of cardio. Keeping it simple is the only way i'd be able to do it.
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    bufger wrote: »
    I keep macros the same as im used to the food i prepare and like to eat. I just go TDEE -500 for cut, +500 for bulk. When gaining strength I focus on increasing weight, when cutting I plan on maintaining the weight lifted (or slight loss of strength) and maintenance would be maintain strength and level of cardio. Keeping it simple is the only way i'd be able to do it.

    Sounds like the sane approach!

    I still have a tiny fatso in my head which would probably get apoplexy at the mere thought of eating a surplus of 500 cals a day. I may consider bulk and cut cycles at some point, but now it's just too soon after the shed. Maintenance and recomp are fine. Plus, I noticed from my 1.5 maintenance month average that I maintain perfectly at a lower calorie level (ca. 1700 versus 1850 which I got as a calculator output). And that is with weighing everything, getting 16k steps a day and not counting weight training cals. That's a bigger gap than I was expecting, but then again this is the reason I'm keeping the complicated sheet. Makes things easier in the long run :smile:
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    edited June 2018
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).

    Sorry for the radio silence. I had a 1 week vacation and tried to make the most out of it. Luckily, one cannot notice it one the scale (yet?) - walking 30k steps per day helped with that! :smiley:
    I thought about rolling calories too. However, if I know myself (and I do so well), I'll end up milking it telling myself that I can always eat less later while carrying on with the gorgefest. I'll be able to do it at some point, but it's best if I don't give myself too much rope in the beginning, and own up to closing my diary on a surplus whenever that occurs.

    I sent you a FR. Hope that's okay. Your diary is quite interesting!

    I eat a lot of junk and fruit; crazy high carbs and sugar. A few protein rich things to kick that up. I don't log much exercise. I managed to lose 65 pounds and hold it pretty steady for the last 3 months. This last weekend is an anomaly; my eldest's graduation was kind of a weekend mini vacation.

    Congrats to you and your kid! Yeah, I noticed that our diaries are quite the opposite - I'm naturally veering off carbs and into the higher fat, higher protein land. Don't care much for fruits, but veggies are a must.

    Thanks! My son chose a great school and major; he started a dream job yesterday, working for a major animation studio.

    Congrats to you on your success!

    I think the thing that makes MFP work so well is the ability to make trade offs and eat stuff you like. I do try to have more veggies than I got the last few days; yesterday a lot of broccoli, tonight I think asparagus. Some days salads, etc. I eat a lot of chicken and fish for a lot of protein with not many calories. I don't eat mammals, so very few fatty meats in my diet. I mentioned I rarely log much exercise; that doesn't mean I don't do any. My job as a software developer is so sedentary that I feel like I need to ignore exercise unless it is more than just walking a couple of miles. Even then, I think a lot of estimates are off. mmw wanted to give me 466 calories for walking 66 minutes at ~4.2 mph yesterday (this was beyond an additional 2.5 miles unlogged). I edited that back to 300.

    It seems kind of ridiculous sometimes how tight my food logging is when I use voodoo to come up with the calorie goal and exercise numbers. But I have some anxiety about letting my consumption get out of control again, so I plan to keep logging strictly for some time. I think I am pretty settled into my 5 pound maintenance range now, with the top of it 4 pounds below my absolute max. just have to try to eat at least somewhat healthy and watch for weight trending up or down too much.
  • bufger
    bufger Posts: 763 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    bufger wrote: »
    I keep macros the same as im used to the food i prepare and like to eat. I just go TDEE -500 for cut, +500 for bulk. When gaining strength I focus on increasing weight, when cutting I plan on maintaining the weight lifted (or slight loss of strength) and maintenance would be maintain strength and level of cardio. Keeping it simple is the only way i'd be able to do it.

    Sounds like the sane approach!

    I still have a tiny fatso in my head which would probably get apoplexy at the mere thought of eating a surplus of 500 cals a day. I may consider bulk and cut cycles at some point, but now it's just too soon after the shed. Maintenance and recomp are fine. Plus, I noticed from my 1.5 maintenance month average that I maintain perfectly at a lower calorie level (ca. 1700 versus 1850 which I got as a calculator output). And that is with weighing everything, getting 16k steps a day and not counting weight training cals. That's a bigger gap than I was expecting, but then again this is the reason I'm keeping the complicated sheet. Makes things easier in the long run :smile:

    You know what you're doing, you're just nervous.
    Best advice is to just never let your guard down. You'll be fine
    You look a million dollars btw. Really strong and defined. Congrats on reaching maintenance!
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    I get rolling calorie counts by rolling calories. If you look at my log for today, you will probably head scratch about the breakfast choices. Half or more of that is overage from last night when I was up late. If I don't get back to even today, I will roll some into tomorrow. Besides being simpler, it keeps me getting too far behind. I am adjusting calories up and down based on the scale. I need to adjust them up, but I am keeping the deficit a little longer to give me more breathing room (more than a little paranoid about gaining it back).

    Sorry for the radio silence. I had a 1 week vacation and tried to make the most out of it. Luckily, one cannot notice it one the scale (yet?) - walking 30k steps per day helped with that! :smiley:
    I thought about rolling calories too. However, if I know myself (and I do so well), I'll end up milking it telling myself that I can always eat less later while carrying on with the gorgefest. I'll be able to do it at some point, but it's best if I don't give myself too much rope in the beginning, and own up to closing my diary on a surplus whenever that occurs.

    I sent you a FR. Hope that's okay. Your diary is quite interesting!

    I eat a lot of junk and fruit; crazy high carbs and sugar. A few protein rich things to kick that up. I don't log much exercise. I managed to lose 65 pounds and hold it pretty steady for the last 3 months. This last weekend is an anomaly; my eldest's graduation was kind of a weekend mini vacation.

    Congrats to you and your kid! Yeah, I noticed that our diaries are quite the opposite - I'm naturally veering off carbs and into the higher fat, higher protein land. Don't care much for fruits, but veggies are a must.

    Thanks! My son chose a great school and major; he started a dream job yesterday, working for a major animation studio.

    Congrats to you on your success!

    I think the thing that makes MFP work so well is the ability to make trade offs and eat stuff you like. I do try to have more veggies than I got the last few days; yesterday a lot of broccoli, tonight I think asparagus. Some days salads, etc. I eat a lot of chicken and fish for a lot of protein with not many calories. I don't eat mammals, so very few fatty meats in my diet. I mentioned I rarely log much exercise; that doesn't mean I don't do any. My job as a software developer is so sedentary that I feel like I need to ignore exercise unless it is more than just walking a couple of miles. Even then, I think a lot of estimates are off. mmw wanted to give me 466 calories for walking 66 minutes at ~4.2 mph yesterday (this was beyond an additional 2.5 miles unlogged). I edited that back to 300.

    It seems kind of ridiculous sometimes how tight my food logging is when I use voodoo to come up with the calorie goal and exercise numbers. But I have some anxiety about letting my consumption get out of control again, so I plan to keep logging strictly for some time. I think I am pretty settled into my 5 pound maintenance range now, with the top of it 4 pounds below my absolute max. just have to try to eat at least somewhat healthy and watch for weight trending up or down too much.

    I'm so happy for you and your son. Sounds like a dream job to me indeed!

    And I feel you on the sedentary. Desk job here as well, sometimes glued in the chair for long hours... and same way of dealing with it. I don't count exercise in my diary unless it's running, which gets synced automatically (as „jogging, training, pushing wheelchair”... lol. Google Fit). The purposeful walking I record in the sheet as 2/3 of net exercise calories, so pretty much the same as your editing of yesterday's cals. I think we're onto something :smile:

    You seem to be having it down pretty well. Of course, totally understand how a tighter leash on numbers grants one the peace of mind. I've been recording the same foods over and over into my diary for years, but I do it anyway because... what if I'm off in my estimates otherwise? 2 mins of recording is a small price to pay :smile:


    @bufger - Thanks so much!
  • AudreyJDuke
    AudreyJDuke Posts: 1,092 Member
    Great ideas, needed this, thanks!
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
    Hi guys, small update.

    1. Last days it was too hot and humid for me to be hungry. Luckily I am one who can eat regardless of whether there's hunger or not. If there's food, that's really the only requirement. :smiley:
    2. I whooshed about 4 lbs in a matter of a week. Had been eating a bit lower than my target, but counting the miserably little exercise I was able to do in the last period it was still theoretically in parameters. Maybe my estimates have been too conservative.
    3. Switched the programme yesterday to the beginner version of Strong Curves. Posting outcome for reference. Yes, I'm an analogue girl, I prefer to have things in writing :smile:
    r8a25whzw2qz.jpg

    I'm curious as to the results of the programme at the end of those three months. Had a good reading of many MFP threads discussing Strong Curves and the feedback is generally very positive.
    Downside is it kills my legs enough to really fight for a 20 min running session after the workout.