Food, Exercise, or other Reports
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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 -
I let myself sleep in this morning, but I need to work late anyway so I figured I'd start a little later this morning. Weight was back down to around where I think it should have been, even with the KFC dinner last night. Its going to go up this weekend because of female issues, but I really am not concerned at this point.
Though the "I don't really care" thing probably is a large indicator that I desperately need this vacation next week....1 -
I am feeling much the same. I think I would rather see me up a pound or even two at the end of this break. I need to know this one took and if I still don't return to feeling normal everyday then I know I need to see a doctor.
Losing weight is not a problem for me yet so even if I gained 2 pounds I would have it back off it two weeks. That seems like a small price to pay. Maybe extending my time to get to Onederland will help me appreciate it when it arrives because I still don't really care about it at the moment.1 -
yup; I'd much rather see a true weight gain and know that I was truly at or above maintenance and that this one "took". I figure I'm draggy right now because of being female; we'll see if I can pick back up by the end of next week when vacation is over. Otherwise, I definitely need to have those thyroid levels checked early - there's a good possibility I'm down too low again, especially seeing as I've lost about 20 lbs since the last set of bloodwork panels were taken.1
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The crazy of being so accustomed to lower calorie items and trying to eat more calories is summed up in the bowl of Halo Vanilla Bean Ice Cream smothered with dark chocolate syrup.2
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The crazy of being so accustomed to lower calorie items and trying to eat more calories is summed up in the bowl of Halo Vanilla Bean Ice Cream smothered with dark chocolate syrup.
lol
Except I totally relate - I made brownies this week and I'm finding myself eating 3 of them a day to get the calories up.
And I'm actually planning on having Wendy's small french fries with dinner and will have to eat the whole box!1 -
Ugh - I'm already sore in places I didn't know I had, and I know I'm going to be super sore tomorrow after going back to Jiu-Jitsu tonight.
Though it was rather nice that I was able to actual roll the entire allotted time except for the very last session!
However, that knee had to be babied; I figured out real quick during the first round that what we were doing wasn't going to work; my partner had to switch sides so that knee wasn't bending under her body weight.
Though I have a hard time seeing myself as ever becoming proficient at this Its fun, but I"m terrible!
The bad side to all this is that a class lasts around 2 hours, and I'd say if you take out the time periods where the instructor is modeling the next set of moves, that we are moving every bit of an hour to an hour and a half at least. I only counted 30 minutes of my time but added back in nearly 600 calories today
So I stopped at Arby's and got a classic roast beef sandwich on the way home, and I ate 2 mini moon pies and will have an extra serving of halo top to try to accommodate most of that.With as sore as I am now, I need all the protein I can get for muscle repair!1 -
ugh - I am sore today! I was sore yesterday, which I expected, and then I went and scrubbed down my house, then pounded T-posts into the ground because I needed to move the fences I've got around my fruit trees out further to give them more room (they are fenced because of the local 4 -legged vermin called deer.....), then I mowed grass.
Unfortunately, after I finished my yard and started on the neighbors, I messed up my riding mower
as I was coming down the bank from his yard to mine, I was looking back to make sure I had the blades up high enough to keep from scalping the top of the hill and didn't realize how close I was to the rocks I've got around one of my little blueberry bushes - and I ran right over them. They were big enough to stop the blades and kill the mower, and I can't get it to start. Dad came over, looked the mower over, moved the blades a little and got it to fire right up and mow, but when I went to put it back into the shed - nothing; wouldn't start or even turn over. I'm really, really hoping that the battery is just dead and that I can charge it up when I get back from vacation and she'll work.
*sigh* I know its all part of being human, but I hate it when I make a mistake and screw something up. At least it was my mower and not a borrowed one......
So I had to finish the neighbor's yard with the push mower. Great for steps, but not so great when one is already sore and tired lol Though the scrubbing and the pounding posts were harder on me than the mowing.
Well, that and my neck muscles were screaming at me. I have been meaning to hook up a backup camera in my truck for a couple of months, so yesterday I finally crawled under the truck to do it. I decided to hook it up to the wiring going to the trailer plug - easier to get to and easier to find the right wire since I could just go by the diagram off the front of the plug - but I had to hold my head up while laying on my back while I stripped back the tape and then fished the existing wire through the clip and fished the camera wire into that clip then had to clamp it down. My neck muscles were screaming at me! Of course, they were already sore from holding my head up during jiu-jitsu, too, which didn't help.
Good news though - I got it to work on the first try! Yay! I was so proud of myself lol
Today, after church, I need to pack for vacation that starts tomorrow. So I probably won't get a lot of steps in today.
And my weight was up today which pushed my trend weight up, but I know that the lb weight gain is due to muscle repair if the soreness is any indicator and due to female issues which is due to be here in 24 hours......
So far, according to HappyScale, it looks like the daily average over the last week is sitting right around 241 something and up-ticked just a little over the last 7 days. I'm considering that to be an indicator that I'm at maintenance or a little above; its hard for me to know for sure.
This diet break, I decided to try out the TDEE method, so I just set myself to maintenance at active level and am not eating back any exercise calories until I get to 15,000 steps. But I'm finding this to be difficult to be sure about my calorie counts; I think I'm hitting maintenance or above, but I'm not really sure what calorie level is doing it. I picked this method this time around because of the TN trip lats weekend and the vacation this upcoming week, but I think the next diet break, which should be about October, I will stick with the NEAT method and just add back in exercise calories. I seem to be able to understand my calorie intake a little better using NEAT over TDEE.2 -
My body has apparently decided it was being too predictable, so looks like its decided to change things up on me in regards to my cycle. That's fine - I'm packed prepared for whatever it decides it's going to do. Which reminds me - I better put miralax in my kit.....
I've had a hard time getting my activity level back up ever since we went to TN. The activity routine was too new, I guess, to have become habit, and the weather last week didn't cooperate with me and my schedule was hectic. This week gets changed up as well, though I hope I can make up the difference by hiking all over the park.
The good news is that since I started the diet break, my weight went up from 239 to 241 and has balanced around that 241 mark in the last several days, giving me hope that even though my activity has been way down, I'm still apparently eating in a maintenance range. Diet break will continue through Saturday at least, perhaps even into Sunday, and then I'll start back at deficit on Monday morning.
The starting back into deficit will be a challenge, I know, as glutton me has gotten used to the extra food. Not to mention that in the evenings, even with all the extra food, I've been struggling with the snackiness again - all vacation food left overs will definitely be going to my mother's house!1 -
I have a question...is it really necessary to eat back your exercise calories that you have used?....our neighborhood pool has finally opened and I recorded my exercise VERY conservatively only logging about half of the time I was actually moving in the water...and then I ate half of the calories that I was allowed....I am not in any danger of starving!...I just do not want to eat too many or too little calories....btw I hit 80 lbs lost 1 day after my 1 year MFP anniversary!...not bad for an old girl!...now to work on the next 75 and stay in Onderland!2
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »I have a question...is it really necessary to eat back your exercise calories that you have used?....our neighborhood pool has finally opened and I recorded my exercise VERY conservatively only logging about half of the time I was actually moving in the water...and then I ate half of the calories that I was allowed....I am not in any danger of starving!...I just do not want to eat too many or too little calories....btw I hit 80 lbs lost 1 day after my 1 year MFP anniversary!...not bad for an old girl!...now to work on the next 75 and stay in Onderland!
I'm still not sure. I don't normally eat them back unless it's a lot (like over 500) but I have to admit there are times when I feel tired and run down and I think that's my bodies way of telling me I need more calories. It's times like this that I wished I tracked my weight and could tell what was really going on but alas I cannot.1
