Am I doing well for myself?

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Sjun

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I've always had trouble losing weight, I practically starved myself just to see that number on the scale go down. But I knew it wasn't right and I had to take a different route. Something that is more in favor of my well-being, so to speak.

Based on my weight (85kg) and height (163cm) and the activites that I engage on a daily basis, I was estimated that I needed 2300 calories a day to lose 0.5 kg a week. My calorie in-take though is not the same everyday, I decided to strategically fluctuate. So this is my daily calorie intake (Food-wise I eat healthy most of the time, but its a long topic so we will just blow past it)

Saturday: 2300 kcal
Sunday: 2000 kcal
Monday: 2000 kcal
Tuesday: 2000 kcal
Wednesday: 2000 kcal
Thursday: 2300 kcal
Friday: Binge day

On friday, it's the day when I indulge myself to relieve my cravings. Typically, I eat whatever I feel (including fast food). It could reach 5000 kcal maximum. I am not sure though if that's a good idea or not... This is what I am worried about. Can a one day binge every week take a toll on all my hard work? I just thought that it might be good idea cuz first, my metabolism will work harder and my cravings decrease.

Anyway, besides my calorie intake, I engage in 4 different physical activities. (Not all are done in the same day.)

The first activity is what I call my work-out routine, which I engage everyday except Saturday (which is my rest day)

My work-out routine consists of: 3 rounds of bicep curls, 2 rounds of squats, and 2 rounds of side crunches. As simple as that, I don't like to do more as I am still starting off my fitness journey, hopefully as I get more fit and comfortable, I will add on more work outs.

My second activity is figure skating. I am a figure skater and I have been on it since I was a teen. (I am 25 now) i used to be good but since I gained weight, and lost my fitness, I became rusty so now I am trying to get myself back on track.

I figure skating from Monday to Thursday. So thats 4 days a week. And my session is usually one hour and 30 minutes.

My third activity is plyometics. I have to do that because in figure skating, I do jumps. So I need to improve in that aspect. I do plyometrics only on sunday for one hour and thirty minutes also.

My fourth is swimming. I just so this for fun on friday for one hour and 30 minutes.

So here is a summary of my daily schedule.

- Saturday: 2300 kcal, Rest day (no activity at all)
- Sunday: 2000 kcal, plyometrics + work out routine.
- Monday: 2000 kcal, figure skating + work out routine.
- Tuesday: 2000 kcal, figure skating + work out routine.
- Wednesday: 2000 kcal, figure skating + work out routine.
- Thursday: 2300 kcal, figure skating + work out routine.
- Friday: Binge day, swimming + work out routine.

What is your take on my schedule? What I am worried about is what if the binge day comepletely ruin my plan? I feel a little bit discouraged because I am not sure if I am losing weight or not. Granted with this schedule weightless rate would tend to be slow, which is something that I should accept if I want to lose weight healthily. And so far, having followed this schedule for a month and a half, I notice, subtle weight loss. But sometimes I feel like I am just deluding myself. :(
 
Sjun said:
Am I doing well for myself?
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I think so, but it would help to know more about you; age. sex. health, things of that kind. Depending on your answers I think your calorie intake may be too high to expect to lose weight quickly, but slow can be good. On the binge Friday thing, you probably need to average those calories with the other days to realistically understand your intake, longer term averages are important. For myself I don't think a binge day would work, but I have a sever binge eating disorder, you may be different. Maybe better to call it a day of planned higher calorie intake?

I am the least of the experts here, you will probably get better advice from others.

Beware the post from Elizabeth, it may be spam, if it is the moderators will remove it. I would not click on the link.

Welcome to the forum!

Best of luck to you!
 
sorry, but i cannot support simple calorie restrictive diets. in the long run they do not work. people have known this for decades. sure, you will see some results for about 2-3 months, but then your metabolism will slow, you will readjust your calorie intake and whereas you body used to burn x calories a day, you will find you now are burning x minus a significant amount of calories. this triggers a weight gain under the same conditions you used to lose. you will eventually wind up heavier than you started.

i do appreciate your posting, though, ... it got me to finally do a new search. i only got the beginning of the phrase typed into Google, when it finished the line for me...

"why calorie re...." turned into "why calorie restriction doesn't work" as the #1 search. unfortunately the first few articles i read weren't really focused on the primary cause.... misunderstanding about how nutrition works. then i came across this one which shows some promise...

Why Caloric Reduction Doesn't Work – Calories Part IV

i was especially glad to hear them briefly mention insulin as very likely the most important hormone in weight control. i'm going read through the whole series today and if it remainder appears as informative with good information i will post links on my Intermittent Fasting Club string.

...see you in the funny pages.
 
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Seems like a good plan IMO but I would need more information. What's your height and sex? Do you know your body fat percentage? How rigorous is the figure skating? That seems like it would be a great activity engaging all muscles in your body and the swimming similarly.

I don't think the "binge" days are necessarily bad but you may consider redistributing the unhealthy binge day food to one or two unhealthy snacks per day, several days a week. That may help with cravings and would cut out the overload on that binge day. There has been research though on re-feeds that may help with a slowing metabolism as you lose weight. I'm not sure the science points to one best approach yet so trying to tailor an approach to how your body responds makes the most sense IMO. Don't be afraid to try different things to see what works.

I think the 0.5 kg/week is a fantastic rate but you would want to think long-term. You have a great start it sounds like. Can you evaluate where you're at now? You mentioned "subtle weight loss". What has it been exactly over the month and a half you've been on this schedule? How many calories have you been getting per week over the same time frame? Thinking in terms of calories per week and weight loss per month seems reasonable here.
 
I'm really impressed by your exercise routine! And ice-skating would be a great workout, I would think. I'm not so sure about the value of scheduling "binge" days, but I'll leave it to more learned people to give input on that. Nice to meet you, anyway! :)
 
The binge day sounds like what we call a cheat day . Eat off plan .
Love love that you ice skate . I can’t stand up straight on skates . Good luck with your journey
 
Great job at being active. You seem to have a good routine going for you. I would suggest your eating plan be just as thought out.

I know your number one question concerns your overeating habit, but asking that question confirms what you already know. If "practically starving" yourself is something you consider unfavorable to your wellbeing, then isn't eating in great excess the other end of the extreme?

I am confident you know what the answer is. We all like validation, especially when it gives us permission to indulge. But if you truly want sustained weight loss, I think you'd be better off developing healthier habits at the end of the work week.

I don't mean to discourage you. I think you're on a good path. You seem to have a fair idea of what you want to accomplish and perhaps how to do it. I know if you keep trying, you'll get there. Remember, you only truly fail when you stop trying.
 
Hello @Sjun
It is a good plan, but I have some questions
My first question is why do you eat that much (5000kcal) when you're doing your 'cheat-day'?
Do you feel weakness with junky food?
How do you feel with your body?
As long as you will feel pressure about loose weight it will be harder to make it happen.

PS. Ice skating is beautiful! ;)
 
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