Amy's weight loss diary

Thanks Andrea. I think I did the right thing in the circumstances, but it's just a conflict between my principles (I don't want to be overly hungry and I don't want to sacrifice my health and wellbeing for a diet) and the calorie goal. I just hope these days don't come up too often. Definitely have to get to the gym today though (didn't go yesterday)
 
I know when i feel like that, i won't be able to stop myself from eating. It makes sense to just do it but minimise the damage as much as possible. And try not to feel too bad about it.

I sometimes feel like this around my periods. I am sure i have said that before around here somewhere already.
 
I'm pleased that I didn't go for anything too "bad" though (although that would've involved a trip out of the house, I don't have anything like that at all!- except the nuts, but I've bagged them up into 25g lots and I'm only having them after the gym). My thought during it was "have as few calories as possible to get rid of the hunger, make myself feel better"- and as you say, minimise the damage. I didn't crave anything in particular, I was just hungry and had low blood sugar.

Had a really good session in the gym, although at the end of the cardio I had that sensation where breathing hurts, like as if my wind canal was dry (yes, I was certainly drinking, I needed to!). I'm starting to get into the swing of the new program, even though it's very hard. The rowing 500m in record time is a real killer (almost working hard enough to make myself want to vomit)- although I cut a second off the time I did two days ago, which I was pleased about- 2 minutes 6 seconds today. At the end I was really glad I had those nuts (I also packed a couple of clementines), because I felt really weak. Still have a love-hate relationship with exercise- it's starting to make me feel better in general, but it's really tiring and it hurts (not hurt as in injury, hurt as in burn and pushing myself to my limit).

On track for calories so far today, have only had 45% of my limit.
 
Food diary time (this may be a "so far", I'm way under so there may be room for dessert):

Sunday 17 April

Breakfast: Trying to get back down to the actual portion size recommended on the side of the porridge pack, so cut a bit to see whether it'd be enough for me to stay full on (now I can do that with a more precise scale). 45g oats, 502ml milk (I overpoured a little), and 60g blueberries (because 75 was generous even in 50g). Subtotal: 355 cal, 22g protein, 56g carbs, 4g fat)
Pre-gym snack: 129g gala apple (64 calories, 15g carbs)
Post-gym snack (the gym leaves me feeling depleted, I really need to eat. Not sure what to eat but this is what I'm trying for now): 2 clementines (total weight 120g) and 25g honey roasted nuts (cashew and peanut). Subtotal: 206 calories, 6g protein, 19g carbs, 12g fat
Lunch: 2 slices rye bread, with 60g cottage cheese (measured this time), and about a gram total of dried oregano, dried mint, and ground pepper (counted as 0.3g each). Subtotal: 230 calories, 11g protein, 41g carbs, 2g fat
Snack: a 60g plum (anyone in the UK, the Tesco ripen at home plums are superb at the moment) and a cup of tea with 47g milk in it. Subtotal: 44 calories, 2g protein, 9g carbs, less than 1g fat (fat not registering as even 1% of my allowance)
Dinner: a portion (chicken thigh plus sauce) of the chicken cacciatore I made a few days ago. Works really well as leftovers (chicken not melt-in-the-mouth as it was, but nowhere near as tough as leftover chicken often is). Served with 104g steamed zucchini, 156g steamed carrot, and 211g boiled potato. Subtotal: 456 calories, 31g protein, 61g carbs, 9g fat

Total (which I'll revise if I have dessert): 1357 calories (72% of allowance), 74g protein, 202g carbs, 28g fat (and 75% of salt allowance)
 
Ooooh, I've been waiting for the plums to get good again. Brought some from Asda last month and they were VILE. Will def pick some up, thanks for the tip!

Are you sure you should be exercising to the point where you feel like you're going to be sick? I guess it's good to push yourself and stuff but it sounds like your body can't cope with how much you're doing if you want to vomit.
 
It's just for that little section that I feel that bad- I'm working on a program set up by a trainer in the gym, and what he's having me doing is row 500m on the machine as fast as I possibly can. It's 2 and a bit minutes of pure hell (that's how long it takes me), but I can see the point of the exercise. I used to row (as in, in a boat) and the races would be 2km, so I used to go through much worse than that. I suppose it's sort of like HITT? I imagine I'll get used to it and that it'll do wonders for my fitness. The rest of the cardio (15 min crosstrainer on a hard hill setting, and 10 min stepper on a moderate hill setting) is also quite difficult (towards the end I'm counting down the 30-second intervals until they're over) but manageable.
 
I'm feeling really mentally foggy today, which is really annoying because I have important thinky type stuff to do (yeah, I know, I sell the importance of what I do well). It's driving me nuts and I don't know what to do about it. Pre diet, I probably would've grabbed for something sugary, which I know can provide me with short bursts of mental energy. Obviously don't want to do that now. Diet going well... stuff I'm actually trying to be doing not so much. Frustrated. (I'm getting more sleep, I think I'm eating properly... probably not drinking enough so trying to rectify that. Going to see if I can improve the sleep, remember to take my iron supplements, keep my diet good, and if it persists, talk to the doctor)
 
Decided as I wasn't getting anything done to have a nap- I usually have trouble sleeping during daylight hours, so I figured at least I'd rest for an hour and wouldn't waste my time staring at the screen getting nothing done. Woke up three hours later- I suspect I needed that sleep more than I thought.

Have had a good day food wise. No gym as I'm now only going every second day (or so).

Monday 18 April

Breakfast: 40g (recommended serving) oats, 500ml milk (300 for cooking, 200 on top), with 60g summer berries, and 1200ml coffee with 200ml milk (yes, I measured that). Subtotal: 345 calories, 23g protein, 52g carbs, 4g fat.
Snack: 60g plum (27 calories, 6g carbs)
Lunch: 2 slices rye bread, with 102g tomato, 60g light cottage cheese, and about a gram (combined) of pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano (for purposes of counting, counted as 0.3g each. My scale goes to the nearest gram). Subtotal: 247 calories, 12g protein, 44g carbs, 2g fat.
Snack: a 342g mango (222 calories, 1g protein, 58g carbs, <1g fat but 2% of my allowance)
Another snack (was very hungry for some reason): 2 rye crispbreads with 60g Branston original pickle. Subtotal: 134 calories, 2g protein, 29g carbs, <1g fat but 1% of total)
Dinner (I ate too much): a portion of the chilli recipe I spoke about earlier, 170g boiled potato, 221g steamed zucchini, and 260g spinach (microwaved in bag). Subtotal: 505 calories, 41g protein, 57g carbs, 13g fat
Total: 1484 calories (79%), 82g protein, 249g carbs, 21g fat, and over on salt (I don't want to think about how much too much, I saw from the subtotals it was a lot, the grand total just says "100%", but I know that means "or over")

Thinking about whether to do chocolate for Easter. I don't think anyone in my life is going to get me anything (because they either know I'm on a diet or aren't close enough to me to give me stuff- fair enough), but it's just one of those cultural markers. I didn't do it last year and my mum was upset with me when I told her that. I can probably "afford" it on my calories, but should I do it just because it's something that's "done"? Seems a bit silly to me.
 
I think it sounds like you may be overdoing it at the gym. It shouldn't feel that bad. You are not in a race with anyone. Fitness will come but you are forcing yourself so much by the sounds of it. Sure you need to push out your boundaries but I wonder if you are doing it too much. If its a short lived feeling and you recover quickly when you stop, that should be ok.

Isn't it great when you fall asleep like that. Congratulations. I can just feel it myself.
 
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A couple of months into working out I did feel a bit mentally and physically exhausted. I read somewhere that it's your body trying to slow down. I believe it's because your body is somewhat confused with your metabolism boost and that your usual equilibrium has been disrupted. To compensate, your body is trying to conserve energy by making you feel more sleepy, hungry, etc. I dunno, I'm bad at explaining things but keep on going! It will go away soon enough :)
 
Thanks for the feedback :)

I'm not sure what it is. It was definitely time to push it up a notch at the gym, and I expected it to be quite hard (especially the rowing bit, which is essentially "push yourself to your limit"). I expect that'll get easier as I get used to the new program, it's early days.

I wonder whether it's because I'm not getting as much sleep. I really have trouble getting myself to go to bed early (earlier than midnight) and as the sun is rising earlier and earlier I'm waking up earlier and earlier (I have very thin curtains, and am not really in a position to be replacing them). In the height of summer the sun rises at about 4am here, which I am not looking forward to.

It's an increasing problem for me, and one which I previously would have solved with food (if I can't think, try fresh air, caffeine, then sugar- obviously that last one is less of an option now). Yesterday I was very tempted by the cans of (regular) Pepsi I'm storing here so that my boyfriend doesn't binge on them, but I managed to resist.

Am feeling a little better today, we'll see how it goes.
 
If you are only getting six hours a night. Its definitely got to be a significant factor. Even if you were getting seven, i would think its a factor. It would be for me that's for sure. I need eight hours on a regular basis. But i am older and need my sleep more. I admit it took quite a few years for me to understand how lack of sleep was affecting me in all parts of my life. Once i had a cleaning job and would go to bed late like you and get up early to go to work. I was always tired. I was glad to quit that job. At the time, i was unable to process how i felt with a lack of sleep because i had always had bad sleep habits.

You could drapes some heavy cloth or a some more sheets or a blanket over the windows at bedtime so the sun doesn't disturb you in the morning.

Or and you could try to have a bit of a lie down every afternoon. I tried this out for the first time earlier this year. And it went really very well much to my surprise. I could often sleep for one or two hours. The plan was just one. Maybe you can fit this in your day. I did around lunch time, after lunch and aimed to get up around 2pm. Siesta time! If you just get into a habit of lying down for a rest at the same time of day you might find that you could develop this new habit and catch up on your missing sleep. Worth a try perhaps.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to get some blackout lining (it's relatively cheap) and bluetack it or something to the edges of my window (the curtain railing is within the window, which is very shallow). I definitely recognise the symptoms of sleep deprivation today. I've just tried to do some relatively idiot-proof work as far as I can, and skipped the gym because I feel rotten.

I've also been very hungry today. I've mostly resisted eating extra (what extra I have eaten has been fruit), but it's still early for dinner for me and I'm ravenous. Trying to hold back, but I'm about ready to start eating my fingers here.
 
Oh Goodness, please don't eat your fingers. :biggrinjester:

Thanks for the recipe. That's probably try trying. On the other hand, i am wary of pre-mixed spices pastes because they are always too hot. I'd have to use my own dried ones instead. As to the spices, I have two large plastic containers of them in my fridge. I should have commented that they are economical to buy from asian shops. If you have a go, you should buy whole as well as some powdered ones because they last longer when whole and some recipes call for them anyway.

You are welcome to join the vegie club too. I must give sunflower a nudge. Yesterday i went out and bought myself a cauliflower. $5. Vegies in oz are quite pricey at the moment. But you can get the odd thing at a reasonable price if you can shop around a little and choose carefully.
 
Thanks :) Would've been alright but wanted to wait for my boyfriend to show up before I ate, and then I realised I didn't have enough vegetables and we had to go shopping. Managed ok- didn't feel sick, just a bit hungry.

I'm terribly unadventurous when it comes to spices- I'm a baby when it comes to hot things. I usually follow the recipe's suggestions unless it looks like it's going to be hot, and then I Google substitutions. (I love the internet) I suppose I could get Indian spices- there's a large South Asian area near my university and they have a lot of specialty shops.

I'm going to be looking in and I'll certainly try things if they catch my eye. I try to get meat into my diet most days because of my iron deficiency though.

Bit late on the diary- my boyfriend came over last night and we were both very tired so we ate dinner and got a very early night. Feeling a heap better as a consequence. A lot of people (including him, I think) have been a little worried that I've been underdoing the food, so I'm pleased to say that even he, with his big appetite and his love for greasy food, was really very satisfied with the calorie controlled meal that I gave him last night (although I told him that he's not allowed to go to the pub and have a fry up to make up). Apart from feeling hungry in the middle of the day- to some degree I just suffered that, as I didn't need to eat anymore.

Tuesday 20 April

Breakfast: 40g oats, 504ml milk, 75g summer berries, with a cup of tea served with 63ml milk (that was a little too milky). Subtotal: 361 calories, 24g protein, 56g carbs, 3g fat
Lunch: 2 slices rye bread, with 60g cottage cheese, 74g tomato, and a gram all up of dried mint and thyme and black pepper. Subtotal: 243 calories, 12g protein, 43g carbs, 2g fat
Snacks: 142g apple and a cup of tea with 43ml milk. Later, 2 clementines (weight 105g together). Subtotal: 135 calories, 2g protein, 31g carbs, <1g fat
Dinner: Leftover Italian stew (from the BBC website, as adapted), with 50g basmati rice, 154g steamed carrot, and 119g steamed zucchini (well, this is half of what I made last night and we tried to make sure it was divided pretty evenly). Subtotal: 574 calories, 27g protein, 78g carbs, 12g fat
Total: 1315 calories (70%), 67g protein, 209g carbs, 19g fat, under sodium allowance
 
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Are you having carbs especially high GI carbs within 20 minute of finishing your workout ? this is needed to give your recovery from training a kick start and helps to prevent that need to crash in the afternoon.
 
I tend to have a piece of fruit and (for the moment, I'm experimenting with it) a very small bag of nuts as soon as I get changed and out of the gym (usually within 20 minutes, depending on how long I take in the shower). For me it's mostly about blood sugar (well, stopping me from getting dizzy and faint, which I presume is blood sugar). I then usually go home and eat a meal or a bigger snack.

Thanks for the suggestion :)
 
Just got the graze box, and it looks pretty good in terms of predefined snacks and my calorie allowance (well most of it, one is a little on the high side).

What I got is:
Bakewell Tart (a 40g mix of almonds, cranberries, and cherry flavoured raisins), which is 168 calories per pack, 18.9g carbs (17.8g of which sugar), 3.5g protein, 8.6g fat (0.7g saturates), 1.9g fibre, and 12.2mg sodium
America's Nut Mix (a 40g mix of almonds, brazil nuts, and pecans)- 263 calories per pack, 2.1g carbs (of which 1.4g is sugar), 6.2g protein, 25.6g fat (3.7g saturates), 2.2g fibre, and 2.8mg sodium (this is all a little on the high side for my liking)
Rock the Casbah (don't ask me about names- 35g mix of pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and dates) containing 160 calories per punnet, 13.1g carbs (of which 11.4g sugar), 3.7g protein, 10.5g fat (1.2 saturated), 2g fibre, and 2.4mg sodium
Love Mix (40g mix of cherries, goji berries, and apricots) 102 calories per punnet, 24.6g carbs (of which 20.9 sugar), 0.9g protein, 0.2g fat (none saturates), 1.5g fibre, and 8.8mg sodium

Will let anyone who's interested know when I have them and what I think. For now, they're parcelled up and I intend to make this last the better part of a week.
 
the nuts are good for the protein but a sweet piece of fruit combined with the nuts is better, the science behind it relates to the replenishment of glycogen stores in the muscles which if your dizzy and feint you will have greatly depleted by the time you have depleted your blood sugar levels enough to reach that dizzy stage.

Chocolate milk is a great post workout snack if you can keep it cold.
 
Food diary time. Had another day of not feeling very well (although better than yesterday) and so skipped the gym. Didn't want to risk conking out and hurting myself. Had another 3 hour nap this afternoon, I think I'm going to have to see the doctor about this as it's getting ridiculous.

Wednesday 20 April

Breakfast: decided the recommended serving size wasn't quite enough yesterday. 45g Quaker oats, with 174ml milk, and 80g summer berries. Subtotal: 242 calories, 11g protein, 40g carbs, 3g fat
Snack: 2 kiwi fruit (147g) Subtotal: 72 calories, 1g protein, 15g carbs, <1g fat (2% of total)
Lunch: 2 slices rye bread, 60g plain low fat cottage cheese, 74g tomato, and a mix of dried mint, basil, oregano, and ground pepper (counted as 0.2g each). Subtotal: 243 calories, 12g protein, 43g carbs, 2g fat
Snacks: a cob of corn (178g) and 164g pickles (this is my reserve "I'm hungry for no good reason and I don't want to blow my calories" food). Subtotal: 183 calories- the pickles were 18 cal- 6g protein, 33g carbs, 4g fat
Dinner: Chicken cacciatore with 347g boiled potato, and steamed carrot (201g), zucchini (116g), and spinach (260g). Subtotal: 639 calories, 41g protein, 93g carbs, 11g fat
Dessert: 170g low fat Greek yoghurt (it wasn't, but I'm keeping it consistent until I open a new tub- I overcounted previously so I'm undercounting this time), with 10g honey (Australian honey, which is apparently much lower calorie than the cheaper stuff for some strange reason), 80g summer fruit mix, 147g apple (steamed), and 55g plum (steamed), all mixed up. Subtotal: 259 calories, 11g protein, 40g carbs, 5g fat.
Total: 1641 calories (87%), 85g protein, 267g carbs, 28g fat, over on salt.
 
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