Little John
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What if you have a slightly larger breakfast and lunch? Say, add a banana or salad to the meal? Wow, those were big meals, who needs a snack after that?!
Mowens's Diary
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Mowens1984
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I've considered doing something like that but without completely abandoning the idea of eating whatever my wife ends up eating for dinner, I'd always be over my calories if I added in more food for breakfast and lunch.
Part of my issue is my wife says she wants to jump on this bandwagon I'm on but isn't committing and I'm allowing her eating habits to bleed over into mine. It's a fine line between sounding like I'm blaming my wife for my going over and just feeling frustrated that I don't feel like we can sit at the table and eat together because what she's eating isn't healthy enough to fit in my calorie budget.
Part of my issue is my wife says she wants to jump on this bandwagon I'm on but isn't committing and I'm allowing her eating habits to bleed over into mine. It's a fine line between sounding like I'm blaming my wife for my going over and just feeling frustrated that I don't feel like we can sit at the table and eat together because what she's eating isn't healthy enough to fit in my calorie budget.
Mowens1984
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I finally got around to unloading some pictures from our camping trip so I can share.
The heat index on the days we were there got over 100F (37.7c) so it was pretty toasty. If I look bigger in the green shirt, it's because that's just an XL whereas the blue shirt is an XXL. I'm starting to be able to fit into my smaller shirts, which makes up probably 2/3 of my wardrobe.
And if you're wondering, the gnome is my dad's idea. He takes it on all the trips he goes on and inserts it into the pictures. He named it "Tommy" after Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong fame.
My dad and I. This is on top of a structure named Chimney Rock. Apparently, a ton of people jump that rail behind us and end up getting stuck on a lower level or fall to their deaths (mostly accidental). Just looking over it gave me vertigo. We're up much higher than the picture makes it seem. It was almost 100 degrees at this point and the sun was directly in our eyes, hence the funny faces:
This was on a 2 mile hike where the trail started literally 50 feet from our campsite. It had a huge arch at the end but the pictures came out really dark:
This was looking out from the arch we were hiking towards in the previous picture. I'm standing in front of just a tiny piece of rock that broke off of the bottom to help form the arch. Icy cold water was dripping from the top and that's what I'm reaching out for:
A shot of our trailer and truck. Yes, we went "glamping" (glamorous camping). Hey, my dad is 62 and has a bad back, we're not about to lie on the ground. Haha!
The tide was really low here but the scenery was still beautiful and it was a milder 86F while we were hiking. This area is called Creation Falls and is several miles away from anything else. You have to drive 20 miles down a gravel road just to begin the hike:
The heat index on the days we were there got over 100F (37.7c) so it was pretty toasty. If I look bigger in the green shirt, it's because that's just an XL whereas the blue shirt is an XXL. I'm starting to be able to fit into my smaller shirts, which makes up probably 2/3 of my wardrobe.
And if you're wondering, the gnome is my dad's idea. He takes it on all the trips he goes on and inserts it into the pictures. He named it "Tommy" after Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong fame.
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My dad and I. This is on top of a structure named Chimney Rock. Apparently, a ton of people jump that rail behind us and end up getting stuck on a lower level or fall to their deaths (mostly accidental). Just looking over it gave me vertigo. We're up much higher than the picture makes it seem. It was almost 100 degrees at this point and the sun was directly in our eyes, hence the funny faces:
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This was on a 2 mile hike where the trail started literally 50 feet from our campsite. It had a huge arch at the end but the pictures came out really dark:
------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------
This was looking out from the arch we were hiking towards in the previous picture. I'm standing in front of just a tiny piece of rock that broke off of the bottom to help form the arch. Icy cold water was dripping from the top and that's what I'm reaching out for:
------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------
A shot of our trailer and truck. Yes, we went "glamping" (glamorous camping). Hey, my dad is 62 and has a bad back, we're not about to lie on the ground. Haha!
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The tide was really low here but the scenery was still beautiful and it was a milder 86F while we were hiking. This area is called Creation Falls and is several miles away from anything else. You have to drive 20 miles down a gravel road just to begin the hike:
Mowens1984
New member
Oh yeah, he had the shoulder length hair and mustache since he was like 18. I've had a goatee/beard for about the same amount of time. He likes to tell me a story about how his dad served in the Korean war and always had a military cut and wouldn't let my dad grow his hair out, so when my dad turned 18, he moved out and grew it out as long as he could stand it.
He was also 16 when Woodstock was going on so he was definitely a hippie, even if he won't admit it. Haha!
He was also 16 when Woodstock was going on so he was definitely a hippie, even if he won't admit it. Haha!
jen_renee
New member
haha! I love this. Seriously. That's awesome.
Great pics! Nothing wrong with "glamping". I used to go tent camping with my dad all the time when I was younger. I'd love to get a little vintage camper now, but that's mostly because I think they're cute with all the little lights strung up. haha!
Mowens1984
New member
I'm re-evaluating my caloric budget right now from both ends of the spectrum. On one side, I'm letting myself slip up too much and eat too many things where it isn't easy to gauge how much I'm eating. I'm going to really try to stop doing that nearly as often.
On the other end, I'm easing up on my 2lbs a week loss and bringing it up to 1 1/2 a week, which grants me an additional 300 calories a day. I don't want to overdo it and I'm worried I might be restricting my diet too much and hurting myself in the long run.
The thing that doesn't make sense to me is everything I read says a male of my age/weight/height should have about 2,600 calories a day to maintain. Everything else I read says I have to create a deficit of 1,000 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week. Yet thirdly, I read that a male of my age/weight/height should not dip below 1,800 calories a day.
You should be able to see the rub here. If all 3 of those statements are true, I only have the capacity to create a maximum deficit of 800 calories a day without dipping into "starvation" levels.
When I adjust my MyFitnessPal level to 1 1/2 lbs a week, it brought my daily budget from 1,580 up to 1,830 which sounds much more reasonable to me.
What are your opinions on this? Is it better to adjust the levels up or do you think I would be perfectly safe and healthy to maintain the 1,600 calories a day if I'm not feeling hungry or that it's too much of a burden to attain?
On the other end, I'm easing up on my 2lbs a week loss and bringing it up to 1 1/2 a week, which grants me an additional 300 calories a day. I don't want to overdo it and I'm worried I might be restricting my diet too much and hurting myself in the long run.
The thing that doesn't make sense to me is everything I read says a male of my age/weight/height should have about 2,600 calories a day to maintain. Everything else I read says I have to create a deficit of 1,000 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week. Yet thirdly, I read that a male of my age/weight/height should not dip below 1,800 calories a day.
You should be able to see the rub here. If all 3 of those statements are true, I only have the capacity to create a maximum deficit of 800 calories a day without dipping into "starvation" levels.
When I adjust my MyFitnessPal level to 1 1/2 lbs a week, it brought my daily budget from 1,580 up to 1,830 which sounds much more reasonable to me.
What are your opinions on this? Is it better to adjust the levels up or do you think I would be perfectly safe and healthy to maintain the 1,600 calories a day if I'm not feeling hungry or that it's too much of a burden to attain?
IAmGoingToTri
New member
I think a deficit of 800 calories per day is plenty. It means that you can lose about 3/4 kg per week, or about 19 kg in 6 months (800 * 7) / 7700; 1 kg of bodyfat being about 7700 calories). I would not be unhappy about that rate.
Second, needing about 2600 calories maintain depends a lot on how much you burn. When my triathlon training was really going well, and when I was doing physically demanding work at the same time I burned about 3500-4000 calories on a regular day, and on a competition day (when I do an Olympic Distance) I burned over 5000 calories.
Anyways, I am not encouraging you to drastically increase your exercise, I know that you already are quite active and I don't think it's a good idea to force yourself to do anything, when I do that I tend to bounce back from it. But you may slowly make your life more active, and that could accelerate your weight loss rate a bit.
I think it's hard to say whether or not 1600 is not enough. I think you can do it for a while, and slowly move to 1800 when you feel that exercising gets easier.
I don't know if that was useful, perhaps it is.
Second, needing about 2600 calories maintain depends a lot on how much you burn. When my triathlon training was really going well, and when I was doing physically demanding work at the same time I burned about 3500-4000 calories on a regular day, and on a competition day (when I do an Olympic Distance) I burned over 5000 calories.
Anyways, I am not encouraging you to drastically increase your exercise, I know that you already are quite active and I don't think it's a good idea to force yourself to do anything, when I do that I tend to bounce back from it. But you may slowly make your life more active, and that could accelerate your weight loss rate a bit.
I think it's hard to say whether or not 1600 is not enough. I think you can do it for a while, and slowly move to 1800 when you feel that exercising gets easier.
I don't know if that was useful, perhaps it is.
Butterfly88
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I think you shouldn't go below 1,800 but instead should focusing on lowering carb, fat, and sugar intake.
brawny77
New member
Hello
I too am a calorie counter. I think you are good to shoot for 1500- 1800 a day. Perhaps if you are eating 1800 you could ramp up your exercise a bit to burn off an extra 200-300 calories. That's like 20 minutes or so on a stationary bike. I find that I hit plateaus where I do everything right but my body will just hold on to weight for a while. The key is to fight through it and in a while the weight will start to come off again. Anyway I applaud your effort dude...keep fighting
I too am a calorie counter. I think you are good to shoot for 1500- 1800 a day. Perhaps if you are eating 1800 you could ramp up your exercise a bit to burn off an extra 200-300 calories. That's like 20 minutes or so on a stationary bike. I find that I hit plateaus where I do everything right but my body will just hold on to weight for a while. The key is to fight through it and in a while the weight will start to come off again. Anyway I applaud your effort dude...keep fighting
IAmGoingToTri
New member
Btw I like your photos!Awesome landscape and it looks like you had a good time there!
Mowens1984
New member
I guess I should have added my exercise in. Right now, I'm averaging between 45-60 minutes of semi-brisk (about 15 minute miles) walking a day about 5 times a week. So you think this amount of exercise, which I intend to increase slowly over time as it gets easier, would compliment the 1,800 calorie budget?
MyFitnessPal claims 40 minutes of the pace I walk burns about 230 calories and 60 minutes is 337 calories burned so that would still put my end of the day intake at about 1,500-1,600 after exercise; a deficit of 900-1,000 calories a day.
And I do need to focus on cutting more sodium, fat and carbs out of my diet, I'm just trying to find a happy amount to aim for before I focus more on that aspect of the diet.
MyFitnessPal claims 40 minutes of the pace I walk burns about 230 calories and 60 minutes is 337 calories burned so that would still put my end of the day intake at about 1,500-1,600 after exercise; a deficit of 900-1,000 calories a day.
And I do need to focus on cutting more sodium, fat and carbs out of my diet, I'm just trying to find a happy amount to aim for before I focus more on that aspect of the diet.
brawny77
New member
I plugged in 20 minutes of moderate stationary biking into a calories burned gizmo and it said at 306lbs I will burn about 320 in 20 minutes. 20 minutes of walking doesn't get me that much burn. But the best exercise is the one you will consistently do. I am going to add some walking as the Texas summer turns to fall.
Little John
New member
I think that, if you're aiming for under 1800 calories a day, you should definitely include your exercise.
Re: glamping - considering all the hiking you did, I don't think you were glamping. If you were just lounging around the front of your camper all day, rocking the fried Oreos and pinot grigio, then yes, you'd be glamping.
Re: glamping - considering all the hiking you did, I don't think you were glamping. If you were just lounging around the front of your camper all day, rocking the fried Oreos and pinot grigio, then yes, you'd be glamping.
Mowens1984
New member
I had a really rough weekend. Between Labor Day cookouts and family unexpectedly coming to town and staying with us, I had 2 straight days of way overdoing it.
I'm perched somewhere between beating myself up for losing sight of what I'm after and feeling self-pity for myself.
I know it isn't the end of the world, but I'm feeling awfully annoyed with myself lately. The FitBit I ordered is supposed to come in on Friday and I'm still really excited about that. If anything will help me stay focused, I think it'll be the visual reminder on my wrist.
I'm perched somewhere between beating myself up for losing sight of what I'm after and feeling self-pity for myself.
I know it isn't the end of the world, but I'm feeling awfully annoyed with myself lately. The FitBit I ordered is supposed to come in on Friday and I'm still really excited about that. If anything will help me stay focused, I think it'll be the visual reminder on my wrist.
Cate
Long term member
We can't be motivated all the time Mowens, but we can use those down days as a yardstick.I often feel that way, but I know that I have to pick myself & move forward or would end up being that 111kg fat person again. That is SOOO not happening!
Get over it hon. You can do this! We are our own worst enemies. You are doing well, even with the minor hiccoughs xo Cate
Get over it hon. You can do this! We are our own worst enemies. You are doing well, even with the minor hiccoughs xo Cate
Mowens1984
New member
No, you're both right. A bad day in this new lifestyle is still better than a good day in my old lifestyle.
I went for a 43 minute walk a couple of nights ago and barely started to lose my breath by the end of it. 3 months ago, I would have been gasping for air after 5 minutes and in much more physical pain.
I need to go easier on myself and accept that slip ups are just going to happen, whether I like it or not.
I'm still fighting the little voice in my head that tells me to keep eating even when I'm not hungry or have no reason to keep eating.
I went for a 43 minute walk a couple of nights ago and barely started to lose my breath by the end of it. 3 months ago, I would have been gasping for air after 5 minutes and in much more physical pain.
I need to go easier on myself and accept that slip ups are just going to happen, whether I like it or not.
I'm still fighting the little voice in my head that tells me to keep eating even when I'm not hungry or have no reason to keep eating.
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