2.02.2011

maximum efforts, minimum results? Try this...

okay,
I am in the 'the numbers work' camp when it comes to weight loss.
Is or are there reasons why they won't?
Yes.
But, if you are one of those...then this post isn't for you.

Last month for me was a good example of how you can be putting in a maximum effort in one area and falling short in another.
And trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than putting forth maximum effort in one area and having another screw you up.
For me it's food.
Always has been, always will be.
I like it.
I love it.
I love the way it tastes, smells...you name it.
That is why I work out like a dog.
So I can eat when I want to
great for maintenance.
Sucks for weight loss.
I am now trying to train for a pt test and lose my last 13 to 14 pounds ( to initial goal weight..not necessary but it gives me something to shoot for...only 5 pounds to normal bmi).
one pound a month is not acceptable to me.
I can do 3..but 1.
um no.
Counting my calories is key.
Tonight I fell down on the job in a big way and went over by 300 calories.
How did I do that..
well....
I forgot to count the 3 hard candy pieces I sucked on (60)...the milk in two cups of coffee (65) and five ritz crackers (80!) and the butter on my bagels (100) that was 300 calories.
I tried adding it up at the end of the day instead of the beginning...while I was eating my egg white omelet for dinner.
When I realized my rather large mistake I threw out the last 1/4th of my omelette...saving me around 65 calories and bringing my calorie total in at 1805.
ouch.
I burned 700 calories today..I busted my @ss..and all I have to show for it is a lousy 350 calorie deficit ...that will lose me a pound in 10 days..if I exercised like a maniac all ten days ...which I won't.
tomorrow is a scheduled 450 calorie burn...If I did what I did today tomorrow...I would have a 100 calorie deficit to show for all my work.
So I have no intention of letting that happen again.
So, what do I do to make sure that doesn't happen?
I know what to do.

1.) no grazing between meals.
2.) see above.
3.) Drink my water...10 cups minimum
4.) eat high protein, low fat, high veggie meals. (they keep me full)
5.) log my food through out the day..not at the end.
6.) DROP THE SUGAR FROM MY COFFEE
(if I had done this today, used splenda instead of sugar, I would have saved 180 calories and had a 500 calorie deficit instead.)
7.) space my meals into 4 instead of 3...I get up at 7 in the morning. If I eat at 8 and then 12:30 there is a heckuva long time between lunch and dinner..I workout between 4-6.
After I am done with my workout...this is my danger zone and it is also where I have been consuming unwanted calories.
So..if I drop the sugar It leaves room for a small meal...
So...make breakfast 300 tops, lunch 300 tops, coffee 65 tops...snack after 250 tops and dinner my big meal at 600.
I know that some people on lower calorie plans think this sounds like a lot, but I am burning 400 to 600 calories per day in exercise...so it would be akin to you eating 900-1100 calories a day.
Sounds a little different now?
yeah.

Well, that is what I will be doing to take the most advantage of my exercise schedule.
Did my elliptical...upper body weights (UBW from now on) 140 situps ( I did them in two sets and miscounted) and 22 pushups (which were harder than I thought they would be for some reason)
Have a great night..
Here is to a better tomorrow.
Night,
Chris

13 comments:

Maude said...

I really feel you on this post. I know I'm going to have to get it in gear to get the last of the weight off too. Numbers don't lie, as much as we'd like to ignore them. I know you can do this and get yourself to goal!

Karen Butler Ogle said...

I'm looking for that balance too, between workouts and food. It is the exercise where I'm lacking. I'm not having trouble staying on plan but I don't always get in my workouts. I'm battling with lethargy really hard right now.

Christine Jeske said...

A deficit is a deficit! Good plan for broadening your deficit. You are gonna be there soon. Keep fighting! :)

Morgan said...

I just recently started doing the calorie counting thing, and I am struggling a bit with it. I know that it will work, I am just trying to get more comfortable with it. I too am on the side of working my butt off so I can eat more of what I want, and it is FABULOUS for maintaining my current weight, but that isn't what I am going for here.

Also, you have an award waiting for you over on my blog if you are interested!

Anonymous said...

Chris. Hmmmm. This post has added a basketful of "Aha" to a train of thought I've been pulling lately. It's going to be a post. Please do not feel like I'm targeting you. I'm not.

But here's my thought on this post--It's still about the food. After all of this time, all of that weight lost--it's still about eating as much as you can get by with.

You're exercising--taking lots of time--not only to get fit, but so you can have the calorie burn that will allow you to eat more food than you otherwise would be able to eat.

I realize that's not a profound insight on my part, it's what you wrote.

But here is the insight. It's still about the food! Maybe just a little for you--but certainly a HUGE amount for me.

The chains binding us to food are insidious and often quietly present. Despite my logic, my success (I'm still 70 pounds down from my highest weight.), my frequently healthy and different choices...it's still about the food.

I am still bound to food. As my sidebar and my posts reveal--I am not yet free. I feel like this post of yours has just turned my vision into a laser beam on this one issue that I"ve been gazing at lately: Freedom from food.

Your posts so often hold that bit of insight that I need or the words I've been searching for to crystalize my thoughts. You've done that here. Thank you.

It just can't keep being about the food. Like the song says: "We shall be free!"


Deb

Christine said...

@ deb, unfortunately...biologically speaking we will never be 'free' of food. We will always like tasty food in the same way that sex is not only about procreation. We just have to find a balance. It will always be something we will have to be aware of.

Losing 100 said...

Hey, I just noticed that I am at your starting weight! Today I weighed in at 262.4 Thanks again for your inspiration.

Weighing Well said...

Interesting insight as to what Deb said and your response! you both have given me much "food for thought" bad pun - I know. Anyway, Chris, maybe you put this in and I missed it, but what is your daily calorie goal? also, where have you found all your facts about calories? a website, a book? I need some more learning in this area and you seem like you have the knowledge I am missing...


Lastly, I am going out on a limb here, I don't know you but I think you have done an amazing job so far and I think you should reward yourself tremendously and praise yourself just as much. I know you don't want to rest until you reach your goal but I hope you can see that where you are now - even if you go no further - is amazing.

Amanda said...

I'm with Beginning Anew, through reading your blog and some other "scientifically" based blogs, for lack of a better term...where do you get the information needed for the calculations of how much weight you will loose by when? I've been following Allan's plan and am amazed by the simple fact that the number crunching works, but still don't know where the source of the info is. If that makes sense...

Christine said...

well, there are all sorts of formulas...some simple..some not so much..you can look them up on google.I find when you cut the bull, you simply take your goal weight (mine is around 135) and add a zero to the end. that is the amount you would have to eat to maintain that weight (1350 calories). If you exercise you can add what you burn, or not. Depending on how fast you want to lose.

Christine said...

@ beginning anew...My goal is 1500 calories a day..yesterday was a big flub. lol.

deisegal said...

Just trying to get back into blog reading again, and I wanted to say you look fantastic. I tend to dip in and out of blogs for months at a time and everytime you've lost 20lbs or so!!

I don't want to get back into calorie counting in an obsessive way but I HAVE to stop the bloody grazing between meals! GRR, I should tape my mouth up while I'm cooking a well >:(

Bring Pretty Back said...

I am starting a food journal tomorrow to go with working out every day.
You are doing GREAT!
Have a pretty day!
Kristin