Sam's Journal

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Well, I just bought my first food scale - taking measuring up a notch, I'd say. Time to get real, get smart, and stop with the "I don't know" on calories that right now, I really don't know.
 
I feel like I'm putting in a lot of tiny posts today - some days, it's the only way I feel like I'd stay out of the kitchen!

I've got 1 liter of water in me already (almost at 1.5L) and have decided to start Alternate Day Fasting. Now, I honestly don't know how this is going to work so I'm going to test it out for a week and go by the following criteria:

1) Am I losing weight?

2) How do I feel physically? (Check in 3x/day for the first week)

3) Am I able to do my workout?

4) How am I feeling emotionally? (Check in 3x/day for the first week)

Here's how this week is looking:

Monday - Fast
Tuesday - 1500 calories-2000
Wednesday - Fast
Thursday - 1500 calories-2000
Friday -Fast until 5pm but have hubby's christmas party so...
Saturday - Fast
Sunday - 1500 calories-2000

In a normal day right now, I'm eating between 800-1400 calories. I know I'm under calories some days and it's not intentional...I just don't think about it that much and I'm busy throughout the day and by night, please just let me go to bed. So I'm going to turn the 1500 calorie days into meal planning days. It's obviously not a perfect diet so I'm going to keep tweaking it for the next month (if I like it) and see how it goes!

Wish me luck, folks!
 
Does anyone else wonder what happened to the folks who write a journal and then drop off into cyber-space oblivion?

Did they give up? Find something better that was working for them?

...please stick around. I need encouragement and to read success stories (Which I will someday be!)
 
So far, so good. Drank 4L of water so far and ate about 400 calories as I was starting to get dizzy. I've got to go to the gym tonight so a complete fast right now isn't happening as today was spent running around like crazy trying to deal with kiddos and got a workout in already.
 
Hi Sam. I thought you were doing well. What has made you switch to alternate day fasting? That is so extreme. Establishing a long-term healthy eating & exercise plan is more sustainable hon. Your kids will want to follow your example as they almost always do. Don't be in so much of a hurry. You can do this the healthy way xoC
 
It's not so much of a hurry thing or even unhealthy from what I'm hearing/reading/researching. There's a newer medical following getting back into fasting as a lifestyle and using fasting days (24 hrs or less with 1-500 calorie meal) to help control weight, insulin (not entirely sure about that claim yet) and blood pressure.

I'm really still in a research section of this but last week sort of led to to wonder more about it (and of course, keep in contact with my doctor). I really don't eat enough on a normal day - like I'm pushing to get 1000 calories. I don't get hungry - or maybe I do but there's so much other stuff that needs to get done that I ignore it until it goes away...I'm not really sure. I don't 'feel' hungry though.

My biggest thing is if I can meal plan for a few days a week and basically not bother on the other days, maybe I might actually get a better handle on meal planning/bothering to eat. I realized last week I went 3 days without eating...in a row which isn't what I'm going for. I just had a lot to do and kept saying later and then I went to bed, woke up went back to being busy and although I could make time, I don't. I'm hoping with knowing I have fasting days, I can use those days to meal plan for the next day.

I don't have an excuse for it because it's stupid - I should make time to eat and I don't. I already am basically having fast days and it does make me feel better. My stomach feels less churny, my energy is higher and I'm more active. I don't know if that's normal but having those days where I don't worry about eating and then remembering "I need to eat tomorrow so let's get something together" seems to be helping some.

The fasting days last week almost cleared up all the bloating, the horrible tummy aches and the other not so pleasant side effects. Going to see what happens and go from there. Definitely not just jumping into it for weight loss - I actually feel better after getting a lot of the crap out of my system and going forward, hoping this continues to work. If it doesn't, that's okay.

Honestly, I've never been strict on one particular diet - even if it's more calories one day, less on another - it all comes down to calories in/calories out and I need to find a way to actually manage to eat a few more calories to get the right amount of macronutrients without vitamins and shakes.

There really is a reason why, all along, I've been saying my diet sucks - it's not that I eat too much. That rarely happens and when I do have a binge day, it's like I ate 1500 calories in a day. It's just that I'm lazy and don't bother eating. I bothered when I was pregnant and that's what led to the weight gain...but now it's like, I've got better/other/more interesting things to do...

Including get my butt to the gym and get dressed to go to a mommy-group.

Cheers,

Sam. (PS: will add some articles I'm going through now and let ya'll know what the doctor says about this).
 
Alternate fasting has its proponents, but I haven´t heard any who would advise you to eat only 1500 kcal on your normal eating days. Pretty sure eating enough on your eating days will make the fast days easier as well. I´m glad you plan to ask your doc about this but be aware that many GPs don´t have too much more of a clue about nutrition than the average citizen. Have you ever watched "Supersize vs Superskinny"? Full episodes are available on Youtube and it´s an interesting watch if you have trouble eating enough/regularly.
 
Hi Sam. I have been doing Intermittent fasting (5:2) for a bit over a year. I don't do both fasts each week as often anymore. On "fast days" I ate about 500 cals. On non-fast days I ate to my TDEE as instructed. My TDEE is 1960 cals. From the 5:2 web-site-"TDEE is the number of calories burnt in a day scaling BMR to level of activity. This is the number of calories you need daily to maintain your current weight and is about the amount you should eat on the days you’re not fasting. It depends on how active you are. " I think it is incredibly important to get the right amount of nutrition & I fear that you are not doing so. Please take care of yourself. You would not forget to feed your children & you should be caring for yourself as well, xo Cate
 
Thanks guys! La, I will definitely be in contact with my doctor who I love - if she doesn't know the answer, it's an instant "Can I refer you to someone who can help in this area?" (why yes, dr, yes you can!). She's amazing and it only makes me trust her more!

Cate, I'm so glad you mentioned that. I'll have to look into my TDEE. I just assumed 1500 calories was enough so it's good to hear from someone who has done this and knows more of the ins-and-outs! You're right - I'm definitely not taking as good care of myself as my kids and I know it's not healthy or advantageous long term. The whole 'new mom' excuse will someday wear itself thin - and I don't really believe in excuses very often (for myself).

Can I change how I feed myself? Yes
Am I going to right this minute? Probably not.
Should I change it? Definitely.

I think it's something that I need to wait until after Christmas, get my stress level down to normal (which is usually pretty low but holidays...urgh!) and start food planning for real. I'm not doing it right now because I just don't feel like taking the time away from other things at the moment. January will mark 3 months exercising at the gym so I'll also take it as a good time to incorporate healthy, planned meals into my days.

If I added something new, honestly, I'd probably just stress myself out right now.
 
SamanthaMacG said:
Well, I just bought my first food scale - taking measuring up a notch, I'd say. Time to get real, get smart, and stop with the "I don't know" on calories that right now, I really don't know.
Click to expand...

I love our food scale. The weird thing about it is this...

When you first start using it and go through the whole process of weighing everything out to keep accurate track of your calories you absolutely haaaaate it. It's such a tedious task and you hate every second of it. You sit there going, "Oh my God, I JUST WANT TO EAAAAT!!!" But, after about a week or so, you pull a complete 180 and actually look forward to weighing your food. You sit there going, "Why haven't I been doing this whole time?"
 
Hey lovely - when I lost my 40lbs here the first time I was here (2010) I did it by eating under 1000 cals a day. It made me sick as a dog after a while, had no energy (although looked fab!) and I put it all back on within 10 months. Slow and steady wins the race! Although you make some valid points for fasting - would 5:2 like Cate does not appeal?
 
I actually like the 5/2 idea - I'm definitely not a strict dieter lol. I eat healthy enough but the scary thing is right now, if I ate 1500 calories every other day, I'd be eating more than I am now. How seriously pathetic is that? My son eats all day long - and he's moving ALL day long. I just have 'other' things to do..that's apparently better than eating?

The worst thing is and this kinda bugs me, I make all our food. I bake bread, sweets, even our pasta is homemade...and I don't bother eating. Yesterday, the family had a ginger-garlic pork loin simmering for 6 hours, cheesy ranch mashed potatoes (my hubby's favorite treat) and roasted carrots with EVOO and cinnamon. Me? I had a clementine and a couple scoops of peanut butter. I remember working in a restaurant when I was younger and learning to resent food because I was cooking all day - I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing the same thing now - I'm cooking for everyone else and I just get annoyed with cooking so it's not enjoyable and food becomes a negative.

Is that weird? I don't know. I hope not but it's something I've noticed is popping back up and I just hate going in the kitchen because cooking = dishes = cleaning = more freaking work. I think I'm starting to get somewhere with this theory because thinking about it is making me anxious and slightly grumpy...note to self...start more positive thinking in the kitchen.

So far today, I've gotten an arm workout in, had one clementine and a green smoothie (1/2 cup frozen spinach, 1-80 cal scoop of protein powder and lemon oil)....taking the kids over to park later to run around and go for a hike.

It's way to nice out to stay indoors.
 
I think a good idea might be to ask hubby to cook for himself and your family and YOU get back to what YOU like. I get sick and tired of doing all the cooking sometimes so I try and have a night off every now and again and Yank cooks himself something (terrible) and I make whatever the F *I* feel like making. Maybe try that and have a night of eating something lovely that only you likes?

Your post worries me a little as I know how easy it is to get into the mindset where you're not eating very much, you're losing weight and feeling more "in control" as a result and the little control freak in me came out and got a bit obsessive and strict with myself. Maybe you're not feeling hungry because your poor body has given up telling you it's hungry! I often go 8 hours into my day without so much as a bite to eat because my body has grown to accept that I don't feed it in the mornings! I need to work on this as I *know* it's healthy to have breakfast - and you know it's not healthy to have multiple days in a row without giving your body the nourishment it needs. Surely 1500 HEALTHY calories are better than 500 calories that aren't feeding your body? Although, if you're doing it as a short term detox then I can understand why the lack of bloating appeals to you! I ordered some AWFUL senna tea to "cleanse" and it involved me nearly shitting myself anytime I left the house for 2 days!! The shameee
 
I definitely need to get hubby more involved - at least on the weekends. The kids aren't going to die from one mac and cheese meal, I'm sure. I don't think I got 1500 calories yesterday so alternate day fasting is so completely off the table for now. Thought it would help me eat more in the end...it's not. I pretty much clued in that if I can't be bothered to eat on a normal day, saying "oh I'll cut out food every other day..." probably not going to work and recognizing that I'm rather resentful of food is not a great mindset to be in I think I got 800 calories of Peanut butter in yesterday and a 100 calorie smoothie. I don't know if anyone needs that much peanut butter but it was delicious and a bit of a treat.

I did manage to grab dinner today which is a first in a couple of weeks. It was an egg wrap.

Wrap = 190
small Egg = 60
tsp EVOO = 40
Peppers = 31
Cheese - 120 calories

Total for dinner = 441

I didn't manage breakfast this morning but did avoid the cookies they had at bible study...and they were ginger snaps!

Sunflower, you're such a sweetheart! You're right - that mindset is scary, addictive and so destructive. I thought I'd feel hungry because I definitely did when pregnant - I couldn't get full! But I'm back to just not feeling hungry and it is partially psychological. I've used senna tea in the past and ouch - oh my goodness that stuff is...effective in getting rid of what once once in you...including my large intestine, I think!

I think I'm going to aim to get my calories up right now. I'm doing 1-3 workouts daily and I know I need to eat so meal prepping...no matter how much I hate you, you have begun....on Saturday for next week. (Hold me to that guys - I'll post pictures).
 
Guess who managed 2/3 meals?!! That's right - me. Granted it was a veggie wrap and an egg wrap but...don't care. I sat down, I ate and hopefully, my stomach doesn't cause me too much pain because bread and I aren't friends. I wonder if that's part of my issue - what is as good as homemade bread? That ooey gooey glutenous deliciousness? Without that, food just isn't the same.
 
I´m sure there are gluten free wraps out there. Or you could try using lettuce leaves (be sure to adjust the calories of the filling accordingly) or a thin omelette to wrap your food. I moved to a country where I can´t stomach the horrible bread; that got rid of the bread addiction alright!
 
Sam, I don't eat gluten. There are squillions of options out there- GF wraps etc. You get used to it. I don't feel that I am missing out at all.
SamanthaMacG said:
ooey gooey glutenous deliciousness
Click to expand...
to me=stomach pain, bloating, constipation.....
so, I don't miss it at all :)
 
I thought the regular tortillas were helping and I was avoiding the tummy bloat/pain/constipation...nope. Just took longer. I have tried a ton of GF options and I would rather just not lol. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually and hey, if I really do want bread, I'm just going to town and then can hurt all at once (jk...sort of).

I'm sitting at 230 exactly now that I'm back to eating normal food again. Doing a bit better with meals - trying to at least eat something, even if it's a piece of fruit or something pre-made. I'm also getting the kiddos out of the house for the afternoon which needs to happen more often so I don't feel so overwhelmed.

No mommy is an island! I can get to the gym and I can work out but I'm sacrificing time that I need to find ways to make that up - hiring a babysitting for a few hours once a month may be it.
 
I've noticed the past 3 weekends, I seem to drop weight - when I'm not at the gym. During the week, my body is holding onto the week and over the weekend, boom. 2-3lbs gone. That's telling me a few things - first, my body needs a break - not a total 'ignore the gym' break but days off. I'm doing cardio 7x/week and I'm tired. I'm also baking (not eating) dozens of cookies for different events and I NEED to take time to rest.

So, I'm going to aim for 4x/week until after the holidays. It's still a GREAT goal and I need to go - it get's me out of the house and I love the gym...but I need that time to clean my house, rest, and knit. Yes, I said knit :D

Anyways, back to the grind.
 
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