Sparrows Experiment

Wow! I just read your first post and it was like I wrote it!
My background: Though I never had diagnosed anorexia, I went through a phase in high school where I only ate 200-300 calories/day and did intense cardio for like an hour...ironically, that was the only time my family gave me compliments about my appearance. Anywyas, I currently average 500-800 calories/day and run for usially 80 min during the weekdays + weights, and the weekends have been random b/c my gym has been closed. However, during the school year I would do 2hr cardio + weights on the same diet and I never lost weight...I actually gained 3-4 lbs!

So, I was wondering if you could give me some explicit advice on how you upped your daily caloric intake, did you/have you immedietly gained weight? I'm just so sick of eating like a bird and exercising like crazy to no avail!
 
Sunday..ahhh Sundays are nice

Yesterday ended up being successful. If you count success by me reaching my calorie goal. I'm sure I went way over actually. I did all as planned, and then some. Late at night I shared some wine with my DH and then he had gotten 2 things of Ben and Jerry's UGH the torture. I had the chocolate fudge brownie one. I'm so a sucker for anything with brownies :(. I think I probably had about 2300 yesterday since BJ's was 1000 whole calories plus the wine. Can you believe they can get away with stuffing 1000 cals into that little tiny pint? sheesh. Anyway, I am STARVING today but I know its consequence of a major insulin spike talking cause I feel puffy other than that. I don't even want to know how much water weight I have on me right now. yipes.
Anyway, I have today as another high cal day and it will be clean and not as high carb. duh. It would be really hard to match yesterdays carb count anyway. It will go against everything in me to continue the high day when I feel so junky.
I should go make a plan right now before the day really starts.
adios!
 
So I went go to see "Cars" with my kids. It was cute but I think they hyped it way overboard. I love the Pixar movies but compared to Nemo and Toy Story I didnt' think it was as good. I was glad my 3 yr old sat through it, thats saying something. My husband is gone for a week to camp with the youth. Hes a youth pastor of about 100 kids at our church. Hope he's not bummed we went to see it without him!
Today is going smoothly:
breakfast: 2 scoop whey, 1 cup soy, 1 T natty butter
lunch: 1 large lc ww tortilla filled with 1 large shreaded chicken breast and ff sr cream, 1/2 c black beans
snack: 2 c chocolate soy milk, 2 slices Ezekiel 4:9 bread toasted
dinner: can tuna, 2 slices Ezekiel bread, sandwich veggies, 1/2 c black beans
snack: sf popcicle, 1T PB if needed (highly doubt it)
1500
I did 60 min mod intensity on the eliptical level 12 and 30 min walking at 4.0 on tread. easy cheesy
 
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hey girl how was your weekend aside from the Ben and Jerry's lol !

60 minutes on the ellitpical are you a crazy woman!?! and THEN 30 minutes walking!!??!! well you are doing wonderful :)

I mean with the determination you have, I love how positive you always are. Your kids are so cute in that pic!

Have a great day :)
 
ahhh Monday. It is SUCH nice weather here. I'm so happy about that. I used to love summer, and prefer it over winter. But I think those were the years I swam my days away and never even knew it was 100+ weather outside :D. I'm such a whimp now ;) I DO love winter and being cozy INSIDE. :)

haha so I have to tell you what my 3 yr old said this weekend that made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. We were in the car leaving downtown and I was stalling to be sure I had everything I needed and hadnt left anything while we were out. A teenage kid all in black and chains passes our car with HUGE hair spikes in the middle of his head in a mohawk and bald everywhere else. It had been fairly quiet up to that point in our car until Ashlynn said "OHMIGOSH (imagine a 3 yr old saying that anyway! haha) MOMMA LOOK! There's a DINOSAUR!!" hahaha the funny part was she was TOTALLY serious and coudn't get why we were hysterical. I have this book full of funny stuff my kids have said. I love adding to it :)

Today I have a bunch of water weight on me. I knew I'd gain a bunch of water with my high days and I'm SO looking forward to my low day today. High days were like constant eat days, and much higher carb than I'm used to. I'm glad to say my body only absorbed 2 pounds of water with those carbs. I can hack that. That'll go away after today, and then some.

I have decided today to have a loose plan of food I'm eating but not caring too much if I don't get it all in. I have overkill from the weekend and my body won't rebel after only a day if I dont' make cals. As of now they're set at 1100 and low carb but I'm going to do whats comfortable. I wonder what it would be like eating like I did at the beginning of all this. I bet i'd be STARVING to death all day!
I'm about to go to the gym for HIIT on the tread. I'll do 30 min alt 6.5 and 8.0
people always think I'm whacked when I do this. everyone else just walks or jogs at slug slow pace. I guess I'm entertainment. lol. Bring on the stares.
before that i'll do bis and tris. My last weight day is always thurs so by monday I'm chompin at the bit to get back to them.

ok i've bored you enough....and me too :) adios
 
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And I thought dinosaurs were extinct ... I need to plan a trip to California and see me one of them things :) That had to be really cute when your 3 year old came out with that. They do come out with the darndest things sometimes.
 
OH yeah we have "dinosaurs" all over the place out here. they like the city the best ;)

So these are 2 of my kids. Ashlynn is on the left and Bethany is on the right. My other avitar was of Ian my son and Ashlynn but it was really hard to see. I can post pics on my avitar but I'm still having trouble posting them in the before and after section. Darn. I was really looking forward to flaunting my stuff for everyone. bummer
:D
 
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Good Morning!

MAN these days DRAGGGG without DH. :(
Well today is off to a goofy start. All my kids are acting VERY goofy. I mean, more than normal...which is saying a lot :D I fed them oatmeal and toast hoping it will calm them down.
Luckily I get to hand them off to the gym in about a half hour :) yippee for childcare and 2 hours of sanity!

Today is back day. I like back day. I like everyday except bi and tri day..but I already got that over with yesterday. My back is still a typical swimmer back. I seem to still have the broad shoulders but since doing weights my hips have slimmed. Or maybe my shoulders got more broad :O nooo say it ain't so! ha. I stepped on the scale just to peeve jcp off and I lost a pound of that water weight and only did 1000 cals yesterday. oops. But ya know I actually felt HUNGER for once in a long time so that was grand. Today I'll be up to where I should be. my appetite has returned after eating so clean and little yesterday.
Anyway, where was I, oh back day. yes. I did HIIT yesterday and loved it and wish I could do it again today but I know its not good to do every single day so I'll do my 45-60 min of boring steady cardio. I'd swim but I'm trying to get rid of my speedo tan lines by swimming in the early morning beating the sun. They clash with my sun dresses and spag string shirts :) haha
Well I have a menu and I won't bore you with those details. Today is another low day before the high day so its 1150. Tomorrow will be a high day before I go low again. thats the plan anyway.
Well not getting anything done just sitting here. have a great day everyone
 
hello

Hi Sparrow,

I just started reading your posts - im 5'5 and around 134 pounds, looking to get down to about 125 (or even less if possible!) Ive been reading over your menu plans and they've been helping me alot, thanks! What's your weekly workout schedule been? Im in the process of giving mine a bit of an upgrade and trying to work in more weight training. Tonight is treadmill (different inclines run/jog then alot of arm work, plus abs :)

jess
 
Hi Jess,

Sounds like we have similar stats.
I usually do 5-6 days of cardio and 3-4 days of weights. This is a typical week:
Monday: Bis and Tris (2-3 exercises per body part, 3-4 sets), 40 min treadmill with 30 min of that HIIT alternating between 6.5-8.0 by 1 minute intervals
low cal/lower carb day
Tuesday: Back ( I do 4-5 exercises for back), 45-60 min eliptical mod pace
low cal/lower carb day
Wednesday: Legs and abs (4-5 exercises for legs), 60 minutes swimming (3000+yds)
medium cal/carb day
Thursday: Chest/Shoulders, HIIT on tread
Medium cal/carb day
Friday: 60 min moderate on eliptical
High cal/carb
Saturday: 60+ minutes swim (3500-4000 yds)
High cal/carb (cheat day) usually about 2000-2500 cals
Sunday: off
low cal/carb
 
sparrow said:
Good Morning!

MAN these days DRAGGGG without DH. :(
Well today is off to a goofy start. All my kids are acting VERY goofy. I mean, more than normal...which is saying a lot :D I fed them oatmeal and toast hoping it will calm them down.
Luckily I get to hand them off to the gym in about a half hour :) yippee for childcare and 2 hours of sanity!

Today is back day. I like back day. I like everyday except bi and tri day..but I already got that over with yesterday. My back is still a typical swimmer back. I seem to still have the broad shoulders but since doing weights my hips have slimmed. Or maybe my shoulders got more broad :O nooo say it ain't so! ha. I stepped on the scale just to peeve jcp off and I lost a pound of that water weight and only did 1000 cals yesterday. oops. But ya know I actually felt HUNGER for once in a long time so that was grand. Today I'll be up to where I should be. my appetite has returned after eating so clean and little yesterday.
Anyway, where was I, oh back day. yes. I did HIIT yesterday and loved it and wish I could do it again today but I know its not good to do every single day so I'll do my 45-60 min of boring steady cardio. I'd swim but I'm trying to get rid of my speedo tan lines by swimming in the early morning beating the sun. They clash with my sun dresses and spag string shirts :) haha
Well I have a menu and I won't bore you with those details. Today is another low day before the high day so its 1150. Tomorrow will be a high day before I go low again. thats the plan anyway.
Well not getting anything done just sitting here. have a great day everyone
Click to expand...

Ohh, so now you're gonna weigh yourself just to aggravate me. I just can't get any respect. ;) :) j/k ..... By the way, really cute children you have. :D
 
Hey jpc its the only way I can justify myself! ;)

I do need to throw the darn thing in the trash. My weight is fluctuating like mad and its making me psychotic. Anything over 130 kinda freaks me. Seems like a big number and I'm happy there (course I was also very happy at 120..eons ago)...but anything more just spins me. When I first started this routine I was dipping into 129 eating the 1300 and that was cool. I could eat like that as long as I didn't see anything scary :( If I'm having this issue now at 1300 how in the heck will I be able to add more? I had a brief period where I actually felt I looked good even though I was gaining little by little and now I'm just not happy. How quickly it turns! I feel really bulky. I do put on muscle very quickly, I already know this about myself and now I'm not liking it. there is this fine line for me between looking fit and sexy...and looking fit and manly. lol. ok maybe its not THAT bad but I'm not feeling very flattering lately. I really wouldn't care so much except my clothes are tight. My shirts don't even fit the same. I tend to wear things that fit me "just right" meaning, gain weight and they won't fit anymore. Even though I weigh 130 I have always been regarded as "petite". Now my clothes aren't all that comfortable to be in and I'm certainly not feeling petite. So everyone says to go by how you look or how your clothes fit. what do I do now? keep on keeping on? what if nothing gets better and I have to start wearing my husbands clothes or something :O lol.
Should I do my bf% tomorrow and see what its doing? it has been 2 weeks I think. I almost just want to do a ton of cardio and ditch the weights a little while. but thats dumb huh? yeah. Man I'm being so vain!
I am psychotic. someone calm me down!
 
As you probably already know, being a scale slave is not a good thing. Since you gain muscle easily, I'd say that was responsible for the higher weight. Like you said, a body fat % measurement might give you a different view of things. But on the whole I'd say ditch the scale, and take a good, hard, honest look at your body, and see where you want to go from there.
 
wierd. wtf !? I mean , this was the SAME way I felt yesterday ! So wierd to me you hit the nail on the head of how I was feeling...

my clothes all fit me 'just right' and I don't like them to fit any other way and lately my pants are all like really tight in the thigh and butt area lol. and the shirts just don't fit near as pretty and 'care'free' like they used to lol..but I really think it is all in our heads alot of the time..b/c one day I'll feel totally heavy and bloated and feel like my stomach is swollen up and all bloaty looking and then some days....I feel great and sexy and pretty and everything fits! Whats up with that anyway?

So now I don't feel so wierd cuz you obviously go through the same stuff. So what IS this I wonder? Well, I know for one that your body fat % is alot less than mine is and I'm sure its not fat you are feeling or seeing. I think it is really all in our heads.

Like today I kinda feel like that cuz I put on these black pants I always like to wear and they are just...uncomfortable...and kinda riding all low on my butt...makes me feel like I stuffed myself in them LOL ! But yesterday night I was in them just fine.. : /

We are just crazy...thats the explanation! LMFAO!! :)

oh, and don't ditch the weights , you will lose all you have worked for muscle-wise up to now, and you'll end up all unhappy again. Don't do it. Keep up what you been doing it will even out soon. My situation has evened out alot since I startedbut ...like yesterday...sometimes I still have those days ya know. Have agreat day ! Make it a good one !!
 
Ok. maybe i needed sleep or something. I'm not feeling as crazy today about everything. sheesh ;)
SO there's a lot of flinging the word "patience" around. I appreciate everyone's patience with ME!
Yesterday I had a good workout and good eating day. I did go off plan just a tad but controlled. I probably got closer to 1300 than the 1150 I'd planned, but as if thats really awful. I count it good that I actually felt like I needed to eat more.
Today is my swimming day! yippee! I look forward to it, funky tan lines and all. I'll do my legs first and then swim. Sometimes it can be very hard to swim after a really hard leg workout. Then swimming becomes solely an arm workout.
My sister in law is coming over today with her kids. I'm so glad for the distraction.
I'm not sure whether to go high or low today. I think I'll just see how it goes. I usually get much more hungry when I swim than run or anything else.
break: 1 scoop whey, 1 c soy milk, 1 piece Ezekiel bread (260)
gym
hold over snack: 1 scoop whey in water (110)
lunch: 1 large lc ww tortilla, 1 c chicken, bell pepper, 2 T sr cream (450)
snack: (sis in law here, needs to be simple...) whey, soy milk (180)
dinner: 1 c broccoli, 1 c chicken, 1 T olive oil (350)
1350
 
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sparrow said:
Ok. maybe i needed sleep or something. I'm not feeling as crazy today about everything. sheesh ;)
SO there's a lot of flinging the word "patience" around. I appreciate everyone's patience with ME!
Yesterday I had a good workout and good eating day. I did go off plan just a tad but controlled. I probably got closer to 1300 than the 1150 I'd planned, but as if thats really awful. I count it good that I actually felt like I needed to eat more.
Today is my swimming day! yippee! I look forward to it, funky tan lines and all. I'll do my legs first and then swim. Sometimes it can be very hard to swim after a really hard leg workout. Then swimming becomes solely an arm workout.
My sister in law is coming over today with her kids. I'm so glad for the distraction.
I'm not sure whether to go high or low today. I think I'll just see how it goes. I usually get much more hungry when I swim than run or anything else.
break: 1 scoop whey, 1 c soy milk, 1 piece Ezekiel bread
gym
lunch: 1 large lc ww tortilla, 1 c chicken, bell pepper, 2 T sr cream, 1/2 c black beans
snack: fit n light yogurt, 2 scoop soy protein
dinner: 1 c broccoli, 1 c cauliflower, 1 c chicken, 1 T olive oil
snack?
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Jeesh , you actually used the word patience twice in the same post. Hmm, maybe there is some hope. ;)
 
Had a fabulous day yesterday, but busy. I thought it would be a kick back day but ended up being kinda nuts:
gym: legs: incline leg press (I went up substantial weight on this), alt. legs on leg press, calf raises (increased weight), ham curl, walking lunges with 30 pound barbell (last week was 20lb barbell).
swim-2000 yds
break: 1 scoop whey, 1 c soy, 1 slice ez. bread
lunch: 1 large lc ww tortilla with 1 c diced chicken, 1/2 c bell pepper, 2 T ff sr cream
snack: cup soy (thats all I could do while I had company)
dinner: same as lunch
snack: 2 T natty butter
1300
My workout was da bomb. I pushed myself and its fun to do on leg day you get all sweaty (ew). My issue with leg days is that I am THRASHED by the time I decide to swim. I can't kick at all and my body just feels shaky and shocked from what I just did to it. I did a triathlon once where I felt like that after the bike to the run. its a hard feeling to describe but you either feel like you're gonna be able to go forever because you feel your strength through the "hitting the wall" feeling...or you feel like your gonna collapse because your body is on the verge of weakness. can't explain. Anyway, I only did 2000yards.. My buddy the ironman triathlete was out there. I almost had to share a lane with him, he did offer because the pool was full :O which would have been very intimidating. Luckily a woman got out JUST as I was getting into his lane. WHEW. Hes a maniac.
I had my sis in law and her kids over most of the day and was absolutly STARVED by the time they left around 7pm. I never wait that long for dinner. Then I couldn't sleep and was up till 2am. thats annoying. I have had the hardest time sleeping lately. its pretty standard for me to stay up till 12-1am, and then I sleep poorly because of my 3 yr old. I used to go to bed at 10.
Today I'm sore, very sore, but a good sore. I can actually walk this time so thats saying something :) I also was 131.4 so thats great better than the 132 highs. maybe I can start bumping cals up again next week.
busy day today. I may take the day off of the gym I think I did that thurs last week too. I might get to it later..I dunno. I have no menu planned either. Thats dangerous for me so I'm going to go write it down now. so far my breakfast was the same as yesterday. so thats it for now...oh yeah and my sister in law hadn't seen me since Easter. The first thing she said is "omg I am jealous, you are RIPPED" :D I know I'm not...but at least she noticed I had some extra muscle there.
 
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