Rob's Diary

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5-4-19 snacks:
- 1/2 chocolate chip protein bar (Rx Bar)
Total calories: 110

5-4-19 dinner:
- caprese salad wrap (Coolgreens; spring mix, baby arugula, grape tomatoes, mozzarella, red onion, croutons, balsamic vinaigrette)
- sweet kale bowl (Coolgreens; quinoa, brown, sweet potatoes, kale, red onion, red pepper, avocado dressing)
Total calories: 670 (from website)

Total calories consumed for 5-4-19: 2076

Exercise:
- 3.5 mile run on treadmill (treadmill says 1205 calories burned)
- 2.5 miles incline walking
Total steps: 17,770

Fitbit total calories burned: 4239
MFP calories burned: 3463

Tired after lunch, tried to take a power nap. Dozed off into weird sleep-wake dream, bothersome thoughts. Emotional today. Short fuze. Impatient. Everything pretty mild except for the sleep problems and bothersome thinking. The inner demons are a little restless. I think this is where the rubber meets the road. Progress so far has been good but the fewer calories and exercise may be catching up with me. I plan to rest most of the day tomorrow.
 
Oops, forgot lunch.

5-4-19 lunch:
- salmon burger on sprouted bread with Swiss cheese, red onion, mustard
- grilled chicken salad (spring mix, onion, avocado, lite balsamic vinaigrette)
Total calories: 788
 
5-4-19 sleep: 6hr 12min

5-5-19 weight: 248.0 pounds

5-5-19 breakfast:
- 2 eggs
- 5 oz blackberries
- multivitamin and fiber supplement
- museli with kefir
 
Trusylver said:
your protein actually looks good now I can see your macros you are hitting the target range between 138 and 184 grams (based on weight and running activity), it could be a little lower if based on lean mass only but a number for bodyfat% is needed to calculate that.
Click to expand...

What is that range recommended for? For weight loss? Exercise? Is there more information you can point me to about it?
 
bensanon said:
Everything pretty mild except for the sleep problems and bothersome thinking. The inner demons are a little restless. I think this is where the rubber meets the road. Progress so far has been good but the fewer calories and exercise may be catching up with me. I plan to rest most of the day tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Make sure to give yourself plenty of praise for all you´ve done so far. It´s tough to stick with deprivation for a long time and while I hope it won´t feel like deprivation forever it´s easier when you don´t just focus on a goal you haven´t yet reached but also appreciate the changes you´ve made so far. A little kindness goes a long way.
 
Breakfast total calories: 484

5-5-19 lunch:
- grilled chicken
- turkey burger on sprouted bread with onion and Swiss cheese
- 2 Medjool dates
Total calories: 856
 
5-5-19 snacks:
- 1 chocolate chip protein bar (Rx Bar)
Total calories: 220

5-5-19 dinner:
- yogurt with pistachios and almonds
- grilled chicken salad (baby spinach, baby arugula, red onion, radishes, lite balsamic vinaigrette)
Total calories: 622

Total calories consumed for 5-5-19: 2181

Exercise:
- 5 mile run on treadmill (treadmill says 1413 calories burned)
- 2.5 miles incline walking
Total steps: 19,344

Fitbit total calories burned: 3962
MFP calories burned: 3484

Planned to rest but couldn't stay away from the gym. Run was ok. I'm in the binge danger zone this evening so I may eat more calories later. I'm resting. Things are OK but my mood is low and I'm somewhat negative about things. I think I should change course just a little right now. Since yesterday and probably even Friday, I could tell things were a little tougher mentally and I don't want it to come to a head with a binge so I'm going to try to be proactive and recover tomorrow. I may go for a walk instead of to the gym.

I realized the Fitbit calories depend on the time of day I log it so I'll have to go back and make corrections and I'll do that in a weekly summary with all my numbers. For the meal logging, I've tried to get the main ingredients so there's an idea of what's in the food I eat and the relative amounts. The numbers are probably going to be best summarized weekly. LaMaria said, "good enough really IS good enough" which is so true. I'm really meticulous right now because I want to be in the beginning but I'll learn what's good enough for me with this process over time. It's not a hindrance. I enjoy it.
 
bensanon said:
What is that range recommended for? For weight loss? Exercise? Is there more information you can point me to about it?
Click to expand...

The guidelines for protein is 1 gram per kg of weight if you are just doing general activities

it goes up to 1.2 - 1.6 grams per kg if you are strength training or endurance training (you are doing a lot of running, so would fit in here)

Adolescents need 2 grams per kg of weight

pregnant ladies need an extra 10 grams in the 2nd and 3rd trimester

breast feeding athletes need an extra 20 grams per day.

Basing your estimates on lean mass rather than total weight is more precise, because the excess fat does not need protein and eating too much protein is just adding extra calories you don't need while your trying to loose fat.
 
Trusylver said:
The guidelines for protein is 1 gram per kg of weight if you are just doing general activities

it goes up to 1.2 - 1.6 grams per kg if you are strength training or endurance training (you are doing a lot of running, so would fit in here)

Adolescents need 2 grams per kg of weight

pregnant ladies need an extra 10 grams in the 2nd and 3rd trimester

breast feeding athletes need an extra 20 grams per day.

Basing your estimates on lean mass rather than total weight is more precise, because the excess fat does not need protein and eating too much protein is just adding extra calories you don't need while your trying to loose fat.
Click to expand...

OK. I can use an EIM device but I don't think those are very accurate? Mine was in the 30-35% range but I think it's come down a little so maybe high 20%s. In the setting I'm in now, I couldn't get a more accurate method.

Makes sense how they change for diff populations. Though, whose guidelines and why do you prefer them over others? Not FDA ha! Just Googling around a bit and here's a study (Presence or absence of carbohydrates and the proportion of fat in a high-protein diet affect appetite suppression but not energy expenditure in nor... - PubMed - NCBI) that uses percentage of total calories from protein. I'll put those numbers together with what I'm doing.
 
These numbers are from the head of sports nutrition at the AIS (Professor Louise Burke OAM, PhD, B Sc, Grad Dip Diet)

percentages are not very good when it comes to meeting minimum nutritional needs, a person on a low calorie diet and basing nutrition on percentages is likely to be not meeting minimum nutritional targets, just because somebody needs less calories over all does not mean they need less than minimum protein, this is at its worst for those who have a low calorie intake normally like many smaller ladies (not your situation)

There are also other factors influencing protein intake needs, I shared an article about a month ago which in part looked at the increased protein needs of people looking to loose fat.

The Metabolic Adaptation Manual: Problems, Solutions, & Life After Dieting take a look at the scientific papers referred to in this portion of the article regarding protein intake. However the whole article is worth a read, as it covers a lot of factors in weight loss and explains the hormonal aspects very well.

I think the suggestion in the article of "2.3-3.1g/kg of FFM scaled upwards with severity of caloric restriction and leanness." is not necessarily a good match for many on this forum as the study was done on lean athletes rather than the mostly sedentary general population but aiming for the higher end of the ranges I first posted would still be a good idea.

bensanon said:
OK. I can use an EIM device but I don't think those are very accurate? Mine was in the 30-35% range but I think it's come down a little so maybe high 20%s. In the setting I'm in now, I couldn't get a more accurate method.
Click to expand...

your right, Electronic impedance is not very accurate but are ok for tracking progress if measurements are done under the same conditions each day. Morning before eating but after emptying your bladder is a good time to get the best results, hydration levels can have a big effect on the readings.
 
5-5-19 sleep: 5hr 8min

5-6-19 weight: 246.2 pounds

5-6-19 breakfast:
- 2 eggs
- 1.5 cups strawberries
- 1 banana
- 0.4 cup yogurt
- multivitamin and fiber supplement
- 1/2 serving pistachios
Total calories: 449
 
Trusylver said:
These numbers are from the head of sports nutrition at the AIS (Professor Louise Burke OAM, PhD, B Sc, Grad Dip Diet)

percentages are not very good when it comes to meeting minimum nutritional needs, a person on a low calorie diet and basing nutrition on percentages is likely to be not meeting minimum nutritional targets, just because somebody needs less calories over all does not mean they need less than minimum protein, this is at its worst for those who have a low calorie intake normally like many smaller ladies (not your situation)

There are also other factors influencing protein intake needs, I shared an article about a month ago which in part looked at the increased protein needs of people looking to loose fat.

The Metabolic Adaptation Manual: Problems, Solutions, & Life After Dieting take a look at the scientific papers referred to in this portion of the article regarding protein intake. However the whole article is worth a read, as it covers a lot of factors in weight loss and explains the hormonal aspects very well.

I think the suggestion in the article of "2.3-3.1g/kg of FFM scaled upwards with severity of caloric restriction and leanness." is not necessarily a good match for many on this forum as the study was done on lean athletes rather than the mostly sedentary general population but aiming for the higher end of the ranges I first posted would still be a good idea.



your right, Electronic impedance is not very accurate but are ok for tracking progress if measurements are done under the same conditions each day. Morning before eating but after emptying your bladder is a good time to get the best results, hydration levels can have a big effect on the readings.
Click to expand...

Thank you. This is great information. It will take me awhile to get through that article but I read the portion you linked to. I see the suggestions and it definitely seems like I could aim toward the higher end at 1.6 g/kg and even higher. That's a lot of protein to eat.
 
5-6-19 lunch:
- grilled chicken
- salmon burger on sprouted bread with onion, mustard, and Swiss cheese
- 2.5 servings steamed broccoli
Total calories: 678

5-6-19 dinner:
- mediterranean salad trio bowl with chicken (Zoe's kitchen; pesto farro, quinoa, cauliflower rice, Greek tzatziki, Italian salsa verde, feta, cucumbers, dill)
- quinoa salad (Zoe's kitchen; mixed greens, quinoa, carrots, cabbage, green onion, red peppers, tomatoes, celery, feta, lemon vinaigrette)
Total calories: 622

Total calories consumed for 5-6-19: 2137

Exercise:
- 9 mile walk (MapMyWalk says 1656 calories burned which has got to be an overestimate)
Total steps: 21,144

Fitbit total calories burned: 4620
MFP calories burned: 3887

Went to the park and walked instead of running today. This morning I had a bit of brain fog. Hard to concentrate and multitask. I feel full this evening. I'm not hungry at all which is kind of surprising to me. I successfully averted a binge episode I believe. I think it's because I'm not restricting calories too much. 1770-2400 per day since I started and I've been losing weight!!
 
Thanks LaMaria!

Day 7 -

5-6-19 sleep: 6hr 24min

5-7-19 weight: 247.0 pounds

5-7-19 breakfast:
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup raspberries
- 2/3 cup blackberries
- 2/3 cup blueberries
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- multivitamin and fiber supplement
- 3 cups decaf coffee
Total calories: 470
 
5-7-9 lunch:
- grilled chicken sandwich on sprouted bread with mustard and Swiss cheese
- grilled chicken salad with baby arugula, baby spinach, baby kale, red onion, radishes, cabbage mix)
Total calories: 607

5-7-19 snacks:
- 1/2 chocolate chip protein bar (Rx Bar)
- 1 serving pistachios
Total calories: 260

5-7-19 dinner:
- southwest spicy wrap (Coolgreens; spring mix, baby arugula, black beans, roasted poblano peppers, avocado, corn, corn tortilla chips, artisan blend cheese, southwest vinaigrette; wheat wrap)
caprese salad (Coolgreens; spring mix, baby arugula, grape tomatoes, mozzarella, red onion, croutons, balsamic vinaigrette)
Total calories: 1334

Total calories consumed for 5-5-19: 2670

5-7-19 exercise:
- 6 mile run on treadmill (treadmill says 1672 calories burned)
- 2 miles incline walking
Total steps: 25,622

5-7-19 Fitbit total calories burned: 5128
5-7-19 MFP calories burned: 4433

Felt OK today. Had the thought during lunch that I would run hard and long so I could reward myself at dinner. Well, I did run hard but I didn't plan on over indulging at dinner. I did get a healthy salad and wrap. I think the calories in MFP are an underestimate on the wrap though. When I looked it up online later, it looks like MFP is off by about 270. To be conservative I went with the higher number. The extra calories may explain why I felt so good at dinner and shortly after. Good thing I ran a little farther today. But in all honestly, I've been feeling pretty good in general. I'm not starving myself and I have enough energy to consistently run several miles. I would like to start tweaking as I go along and find out more information but so far, I think I'm doing OK. Input is always welcome. Tomorrow I'll post my numbers for week 1.
 
bensanon said:
But in all honestly, I've been feeling pretty good in general. I'm not starving myself and I have enough energy to consistently run several miles. I would like to start tweaking as I go along and find out more information but so far, I think I'm doing OK. Input is always welcome.
Click to expand...
The only input I have at the moment is that you seem to be doing very well: eating a good variety of mostly healthy foods that looks sustainable in the long run and paying attention to your body and mind. Keep it up!
 
Thanks LaMaria! What are the unhealthy foods I'm eating?

Day 8 -

5-7-19 sleep: 5hr 7min (most distressing issue!!)

5-8-19 weight: 246.2 pounds

5-8-19 breakfast:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup muesli
- 0.9 cup kefir
- multivitamin and fiber supplement
- 1 banana
- 3 cups decaf coffee
Total calories: 556
 
bensanon said:
Thanks LaMaria! What are the unhealthy foods I'm eating?
Click to expand...
:D Interesting that you should hone in on the one tiny detail that might possibly be interpreted as negative. I mostly meant that there are very few 100% objectively healthy foods. Pros and cons to everything and all that.
 
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