No S diet

[boilerchick]

I've enjoyed reading this discussion and was glad to know that I'm not the only one who is not so into the mini-meals concept. For me eating that often leads to more opportunities to overeat or eat less than ideal food. Even if it may burn slightly more calories to eat several mini-meals, the calories I save by not eating that often are greater. I typically eat 3 decent sized meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) so that I'm full and satisfied. If I'm truly hungry at other times I'll have a small snack (such as one piece of string cheese, one small apple, or one small yogurt). I have a lot of weight to lose, and I lose the best eating this way.

 

[DirtDiva]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to help trouble shoot, cause I'm really at a loss. OK, so here is ALOT of info....

I workout 5-6 times per week, the last 3 months were with an STS weight Rotation plus cardio workout. I only workout to dvds, almost made it out to a class yesterday, but I seem to have some anxieties about working out with other people that comes and goes. I am very sedentary at my job, I work from home, so I get in even less walking around than just going to an office.

When I do dvds like HIIT I'm gasping for air, I did STS full body yesterday and I was wiped at the end. Some dvds are just nice low impact stuff that works up a sweat and burns pretty decent calories like Powerstrike and some of the KCM cardio, and others are more intense like Turbo Fire or KPC or HIIT, but I mix it up a lot and always get at least 3 days of weight work in any given week. Right now, I am going to mix up weeks with variations of full body weights and split workouts.

I always forget the different body types, I have broad shoulders, I am pretty muscular under the fat and have decent strength, and the bulk of my fat is around my middle, I have larger upper arms (12 inch around), and my upper thighs are not huge, but not thin, I don't store weight in my hips or butt, I guess I'm built a little more like a guy .

For about 7 months I followed Primal eating my Mark Sisson, loved it, lost 7 pounds, but those were "extra" pounds I put on by eating like crap and not working out enough due to a house move. Stopped losing, but liked eating that way and felt good. Then for a couple months I lightened up on the "rules" of Primal, but did not gain. Then decided it's time to lose more weight, so I'm in week 6 of Cheat to Lose (carb cycling with 1 cheat day, first 3 weeks no cheat day) and I have lost 2-3 inches overall, and a pound or two that just keeps coming back and going away after my 2 low carb days. I eat 5 meals/snacks a day, the calories range from 250 to 400 per meal, but I NEVER eat 5 meals closer to the 400 range in one day, and I do have a cheat day on Saturday, I am not binging on Saturdays, just eating some fun stuff at normal meal times, like pasta for dinner kind of meals and having a dessert instead of protein and veggies, not any extra snacking, those cheats make me full for so long.

I am not a frequent drinker, I will have 1-2 glasses of white sometimes, but not often when I eat out. I don't eat much sugar or white carbs, actually have not since I started eating Primal almost a year ago. I do feel that the higher carb days on Cheat to lose may be too high, so this week I am tweaking those days to reduce the whole wheat kind of carbs to early meals only, and only 1 or 2 times per day, then fruit for the other meals with carbs.

Well that's my diet and workout history in a giant nutshell, I am open to any thoughts or advice you have!

I have been thinking about this all day since reading it around noon. I was wondering if you thought you were overweight, but you really don't have that much fat to lose. I am thinking your body is hanging on to a normal share of fat it needs for hormone production, etc., and if your hormones aren't balanced it will need fat for that reason. You sound like you have a healthy way of eating and have it under control too. Low carb diets are great for shedding excess water and I see that same 1-1/2 to 2 pounds come and go depending on carbs I've eaten that week.

When I need to lose weight, say 5-7 pounds because I need to be lighter on the bike, I can only relate what works for me, and you know how subjective everybody's experience is. So the following is what I do for me, and of course this may very well NOT work for another human being on the planet.

First thing I rely on is my scale. I weigh myself every single morning. I'm not going to let that number play mind games with me either, I want to know what makes me gain, like if its two pounds the next day and I know that's impossible, I'll figure out what I ate to see a direct correlation the next time that happens and especially when I lose that same amount just as quickly. That can be either something too salty, too much sugar or the entire Slow & Heavy dvd and I'm a hurting unit and its muscle pump. I know red wine makes me gain because alcohol produces acetate in the liver which stops the fat burning process in the body. I'll never drink alcohol within a 2 hour time span after working out. Same thing with TTOTM. Bamm! I can gain 4 pounds and then lose it in two days. The scale tracks that and makes me realize I'm not going crazy. So a good digital scale is really important to me.

The other piece of technology I can't live without is my Polar RS400 and I am faithful about charting my progress on the software it comes with. This is separate from their website forums also. I then get angry or better word, pissed off at myself and treat it like it is, which is all about numbers. I've figured out the amount of calories my body works on the best, which is right around 1800 a day. Then I set up a workout schedule and I work out twice a day, and space the workouts by 5 to 6 hours. I know what I'm going to eat that day and I make sure all my nutrient boxes are checked. I tally up those calories and then I take half of those calories and I work them off during those two workouts. For example, if I eat 1,800 that day, I need two workouts that are 450 each. Weights in the morning, can be kettlebells, a full body workout, or a favorite from STS. The second workout has to be cardio, not always HIIT, but a mix and I plan them to be different every time, but I have to burn up to the half way mark, so sometimes I'll be doing several cardio workouts strung together, like all the MMA's. Figuring out what your calories are is pretty much key here, and its way easy to overshoot if you aren't good on portions or eyeballing how much is a serving size. I would think this is the hardest part of it all, so when I'm in this mode, I only make and eat things that I know add up to this many calories. If I eat too much during the day, that last workout is going to hurt me. I've found that drinking enough water is important and I know when I'm losing weight because i'm getting up in the middle of the night way more. I drink a lot of green tea and I have documented on my calendar that works for me. I add coconut oil to my protein even though its a whopping 120 calories for that tablespoon but I'm not hungry for hours. Another thing I've noticed, I WANT to feel hunger. Of course I wouldn't do this in front of working out or if you have blood sugar issues, but I want my body to understand hunger and use up all its glycogen stores. I really believe you have to look at this from some well-perceived angles and documenting is a good way to know how much is going in and the workouts with the Polar on how much is going out. If you are sedentary during the day, that one hour workout may not be doing as much as you want it to. I looked back over my polar calendar months and every time I've documented weight loss, it was on 14 plus hours and not all of it was being a sweaty mess, it was simply keeping the motor running a couple of times a day, that includes shopping too. Once summer comes or if I've reached my goal, I don't follow it anymore and let my body do its thing and usually by the end of Fall I've lost weight from riding, probably all muscle too. That's where Cathe comes back in...

I have noticed that if I gain weight, it will be during the winter, even with snow sports and lifting, I think its in connection with the lack of Vitamin D and the sun. Anyway, you hear that advice "don't overthink it" and I don't want to make it sound like oh well, its so easy, cuz its not! Just don't give up!

 

[Dela]

DirtDiva, thank you and WOW! Really I truly appreciate all the thought and time you have put into your response.

One thing that really stands out for me that you said, is the working out for 1 hour just is not enough to balance a whole day of mainly sitting. I try to do some stuff during the day that forces me to go up and down the stairs, or do some laundry, but working from home, I get in so little extra movement. I have a go wear fit, and it's SO true, on days I am just out and about, shopping or whatever, I burn a much larger amount of calories, even if I don't do a workout for that day.

I really believe the answer for me is no longer to be found in what I am eating, and is really about how much I am NOT moving.

I am working on adding in days with 2 workouts, but need to find that rhythm, I did it on Friday then again Monday, then Tuesday and today will only be 1. I'll need to focus on doing an AM workout before work, instead of waiting until lunch time for the first workout. "Lunch" often turns into meetings because "it's the only time everyone had available", gee wonder why??

I love your precision on taking your daily calories and splitting the number as your workout calorie burn goal. That's a very good way to look at it.

I was eating coconut oil in my smoothies a while back, while eating "primal" and my experience was the same, I stayed full for hours, almond butter helps with that for me too, but coconut oil does have some magical properties.

Again, thank you SO much for sharing all of this!