Health and Fitness, October 2015

[Nancy]

Got enough steps over 5,000 for half a day with the pedometer yea!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Down a pound this morning. Only 30 more to go!

Was terribly upset this morning (and on the weekend) and found myself in the grocery store. Neither time could I even think of something I wanted to binge on. This is a good thing.

And two people noticed the weight loss yesterday.

So lots of non-scale victories to go with the scale victory.

[LadyMaverick]

Kathryn - I am so very thrilled with the success you are having!!

Collagen Hydrolysate results are postive. I do *think* it is helping with my hair and skin. However, I didn't take before pictures so I don't have any way to prove it. My nails have most definitely became stronger and don't break like before. I didn't have any joint pain before I started taking it, so can't say it made any difference in that. I plan to keep taking it because I don't know of any negative effect and I do like getting the protein boost in my morning coffee.

I'm frustrated because I don't have a plan in place that is working for weight loss. According to last week tally, i ate 2752 less calories than allowed but I gained 3.1 lbs. I averaged 8900 steps last week. It appears the thing that really got me was not sleeping enough - I averaged 5 hrs 52 minutes of sleep last week. REALLY? Not sleeping enough is that BIG of a bad influence???

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

On MyFitnessPal, they'd ask you if you are tracking every bite, weighing food and no estimating. Actually they referred to a neat video which showed the difference weighing makes over measuring, in some cases you can measure a 1/2 cup of something but end up with 20% more calories because the bits were smaller than the nutrition guide expected and you ended up with more items in your 1/2 cup measure (i.e. things were packed more tightly).

That convinced me to move to weighing and my scale is on the counter all the time now. When I have supper, I end up with several extra dishes - my plate, plus things to measure each of my veggies and meat portions. In the morning I measure out my berries (I count a cup but have only a half cup so don't weigh those), then put the bowl on the scale and add my cereal. A very small portion of cereal equals one serving so it is important I measure every day. When I guess and then weigh, I'm often off by 10 grams which doesn't sound like much but that's 20% of the serving. If everything I had was off by 20%, I wouldn't lose weight.

Make sure you are eating all your calories though. MFP has me at a 500 calorie a day deficit and I stay there, eating the extra, not trying to generate large deficits. Since that's been working for me, I'm not changing it.

And, of course, higher protein, higher fat and lower carbs. The higher fat is new for me now that I can tolerate it (couldn't at first.) But it does help satiate and I make fewer bad choices (not no bad choices but fewer) when I get enough fat each day.

Drinking your water and avoiding excessively salty foods is also good.

And yes, being over tired makes a difference. Is your amount of sleep based on the fitbit on sensitive or normal setting. Mine is on sensitive and my goal is 6 hours but I seldom hit that. I do manage a pretty consistent 5.5+ hours, though.

[LadyMaverick]

Kathryn - Thank you for sharing tips that are working for you. I appreciate it!

I refuse to give up. I created a different way of capturing data (using a paper calendar) and am now tracking protein grams. I will put scales on counter top to encourage me to use it regularly.

I'm not sure this is right, but I'm using this formula for protein intake - weight * .36 x 2

I multiplied my average weight from this week and applied that formula. According to that, I am eating way under protein requirements. 107 grams of protein too little this week. I will be paying better attention to this aspect.

Tracking -
Sleep
water
calories
protein
steps
weight

I don't intend to track all this long term. But I am willing to commit to doing it long enough for me to get an understanding, make changes needed and see the outcome I am seeking.

[Twins' Mom]

Completely forgot to weigh myself this morning. Perhaps that's a subconscious reaction to all the stuff I ate yesterday and didn't write down. Just realized I didn't weigh yesterday either and didn't realize it because I never really settled down to do a.m. routine.

Back on the program today. I did at least log in to MFP even tho I never recorded anything yesterday.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I did at least log in to MFP even tho I never recorded anything yesterday.

BTDT and have still lost 20+ pounds so don't make a habit of it but missing a day or two is not a reason to give up tracking entirely. The longer your streak becomes (even if you 'cheated' on a few days along the way) the more automatically better food choices will become.

I am enjoying dh being away because it is giving me a chance to experiment with higher protein, lower carb meals for myself. Since he cooks for me, I've been trying to get him to adjust his cooking slightly to make things better for me (or sticking with just plain meat and have him make sides for himself and I'd make sides for myself.)

I'm loving having my meat combined in sauces with my veggies as I work out new menus for myself. It is making things more interesting. Last time he was away, I stuck to the program mostly by having a frozen dinner for lunch and dinner each day (with additional raw veggies.) It was effective but boring and I worried about the nutrition in so much processed food. This time I'm enjoying my meals much more.

[Nancy]

Did my ex on the gazelle last evening.

[Ramblinrose]

I use a scale too. Have for years and like you Kathryn have increased the good fat in my daily food. It seemed weird to me at first as well. Usually the rule of thumb is to eat your goal weight in ozs of protein. So if I want to be at 125 that's the amount of protein I would need in a day.

However I usually eat 1-2 eggs in the morning, or a egg protein shake made with unsweet almond milk, in the morning and 3-4 ozs of protein for lunch and dinner. My meds make me hungry after dinner which is something I never have had to worry abt. I try to drink hot herbal tea instead.

When I work out early in the morning I try to make my shake before I leave. I usually come home starving and my trainer tells me I need to eat protein then as well. I'm not a fan of hard boiled eggs... The texture makes me gag so I either poach an egg in the microwave or just scramble it.

I haven't been drinking as much water as I should. When I sub it's not an option, but I drink plenty when I am working out. I'm also trying to track my food, but to be honest I don't like doing it so I weigh what I eat and be done with it.

I know I will be eating out tomorrow and Tue, but I've become pretty good at knowing what and how much I should eat.... Hambugers or chicken burgers are great for me cause I just take the bun off and use the lettuce and tomatoe to make a salad. I usually ask for ranch dressing and slightly dip my "salad" into it. Some places I can order a small side salad as well.

[Twins' Mom]

Dropped to .2 of a pound below the last weight I put into MFP last June, so at last I can record weight loss there. I had a good day yesterday - well over 10K steps and ate well. At the little reception I just ate fruit, then cheese/pimento cheese/crackers to keep my tummy from interrupting the program.