I'm starting a journal, too!

[Anastasia]

Ok girls,
I'm gonna start writing down what I ate here too (and not only in my personal food-log) so you guys can actually have a peek and critique where ever it's necessary!

I recognized that I'm eating pretty 'bad' over the weekends.., not really cheating-wise (also *shameshame*) but in regards to my cal. intake etc. I definately need to change that!

So, I'll start by writing down beginning from last Fri. (granted that I'm sick since last Wed., so it's a bit up and down so far..)

Fri.
#1 (8:00 am) 1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup no-fat (0,3%) milk
1 scoop prot.powder

#2 (10:30 am) 1 apple
1 TBSP natural PB

#3 (01:15 pm) 2 slices ww bread
6 eggwhites

#4 (03:30 pm) 1 cup 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot.pow.

#5 (07:00 pm) 8 oz. chickenbreast
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup red bell pepper

#6 (21:00) 1 cup 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot. pow.

Total: 1,712 cal, 148 carbs, 227 prot.(quite high!) and 22 fat

Sun.
#1 (7:30 am) 1/2 bran muffin
coffee w/ splash of 0,3% milk

#2 (10:00 am) 2 hearty oatmeal pancakes
1 TSP Sugar-free Jam

#3 (12:30 am) 5 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 cup broccoli

#4 (03:30 pm) 4 oz. sweet potato
1/4 c. ricotta (LF)

#5 (06:00 pm) 1 c 0,3% milk
1/2 banana
2 scoops whey prot. powder

Total: 1,004 cal, 107 carbs, 122 prot. & 11 fat (everything too low..)

Mon., today, so far:
#1 (7:30 am) 1 c oatmeal
1 c. 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot. powder

#2 (10:30 am) 1 pear
1/4 c. LF cottage cheese

#3 (01:30 pm) 8 oz. sweet potato
1/4 c. LF ricotta cheese

~ as far as I counted 990 cal, 125 carbs, 56 prot. & 6 fat ~

I'll continue writing tonight or tomorrow.

[Anastasia]

That's how the rest of yesterday looked like:

#4 (03:15 pm) 1 c 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot. powder

#5 (06:30 pm) Shrimp & Broccoli Stirfry
2/3 c. cooked brown rice

Total: 1,618 cal, 182 carbs (quite high), 140 prot. (too low), 11 fat

Tue., today ~ so far:
#1 (6:30 am) 1 c oatmeal
1 c 0,3 % milk
1 scoop whey prot. powder

#2 (8:45 am) 2 No-fat Fig Newton cookies *shameshame*

#3 (10:30 am) 4 oz. sweet potato
1/4 c. LF ricotta cheese

[Anastasia]

Before I continue writing my journal I've to 'confess' that I've been bad in the afternoon, giving in my big craving for gummybears (which my Grandaunt sent from Germany).. I had a big handful (only the red and orange ones *lol*) and really could have kicked myself in the butt afterwards.. I felt so bad, I even skipped my meal #5 as I was afraid I had already more than enough calories (not to mention the high carbs & sugar!.. *cry*) and wouldn't need to feed myself extra.. Also not the smart thing to do, huh?..
Well, anyway.., I have to get over it and will hit the gym again tomorrow (finally again after 1 week of rest) and then extra hard!

So, to continue with my meal plan..

#4 (01:30 pm) 6 eggwhites
2 slices Millet ww bread

(#5 03:00 pm Handful gummybears...)

#6 (06:30 pm) 4 oz. chickenbreast
1 cup Broccoli

[playmaker]

LMAO!!

Dont skip meals even when u cheat! Forget it and get back to track, BTW ur diet look fine to me keep it up and train hard

[Emma-Leigh]

Hey!

Welcome to the boards - I saw your piccies and you look great! You definately have a really amazing foundation to start building on! Good luck with it!

Don't beat yourself up about the gummi bears! :) As long as it is not a daily thing then a few sugary treats is not going to do you harm - infact, the psychological 'relax' of eating something 'bad' for you would probably do you more good!

As for if you should have skipped your meal altogether - It depends on how big a cheat it was. If it was a decent serving then you were probably right to decrease your meal - but I probably would have had a little protein with it to try to counteract the sugar rush. If it was a small cheat then, as Playmaker said, you could have eaten a normal meal and it would not have done you any harm.

Your diet looks great - If I may make a suggestion, I would up the fats just a little bit (they are a little low). Have you considered adding something like salmon to your meals? It is a great source of essential fatty acids and is really healthy for you... Otherwise - Keep it up! :D

[Anastasia]

Thanks, girls!
I guess you're both right.., I need to learn how to relax a bit whenever I did in fact cheat, huh?.. Well, I'll try my best. It's not always that easy -especially after I've had an eating disorder (anorexia/bulimia) for many years and though I've left that problem behind me it's still always a bit with me in my head..

As for the serving size of the gummi bears, that's the tough part, Emma-Leigh, it was only a handful (roughly 100g) but that already cost me 343 cals!!! and 74 carbs -of which we all know was all sugar *yikes*

As far as the fat-intake goes.., yeah, I've thought it's maybe a bit too low.. Unfortunately I don't eat fish.. (well, I'm just trying shrimps out and they're ok *ggg*) so Salmon is really not a choice for me.. I'll try to get more flaxseeds into my daily nutrition, that should be good, too, right!?

Have a good day! :-)

[Anastasia]

Wed. 28th Jan.

Cardio at 6 am, empty stomach, moderate intensity, 20-25 min.

#1 (7:30 am) 1 c. oatmeal
1 c. 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot. powder

Weightlifting (chest & back) 1 hour

#2 (10:30 am) -Post workout meal-
1c 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot. powder

#3 (01:30 pm) 6 oz. chickenbreast
1 c. broccoli
4 oz. sweet potato

#4 (03:30 pm) 1,5 servings Cream of Wheat

#5 (06:45 pm) 5 eggwhites
1 whole egg
1 oz. LF mozzarella cheese
1 TBSP Salsa
1 slice Milltet ww bread

Total: 1650 cal, 159 carbs, 195 prot., 21 fat

Thursday, 29th Jan

Cardio on empty stomach, moderate intensity 20 min.

#1 (07:00 am) 1 c oatmeal
1 c. 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot. powder

Warm-up Treadmill 10 mins.,
Weightlifting (Thighs, Hamstrings & Calves) 1 hour

#2 (10:30 am) -Post workout meal-
1 c 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot. powder

#3 (11:30 am) 1 apple w/ 1 TBSP nat. PB

[Anastasia]

#4 (01:30 pm) 8 oz. sweet potato
1/2 c. LF ricotta cheese

#5 (04:00 pm) 1 sl. bread (pita-style)
w/bit of lettuce and tomato, mozzarella
(no clue about cals. etc. as I bought it at a store *booh*)

#6 (06:30 pm) 1 Prezel
2 oz. chickenbreast

Total (estimated b/c of #5) 1650 cal, 200 g carbs, 135g prot., 25 g fat

I felt 'crappy' the whole day.. It definately reflects on my eating.. :(

Fri., 30th Jan. -Another 'screwed up' day.. For some reason I was hungry all afternoon/evening.. (Usually I try NOT to eat that late b4 bed..)

#1 (7:30 am) 1 c oatmeal
1 c 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot.powder

Weightlifting (legs) 1 hour, 25 min. cardio


#2 (10:30 am) -Post workout meal-
1 c 0,3 % milk
2 scoops whey prot. powder


#3 (11:30 am) 1 Banana

#4 (01:30 pm) 5 eggwhites
1 whole egg
1 TBSP Salsa
1 oz. LF mozzarella cheese
1 sl. ww Millet bread

#5 (03:30 pm) 1 c. 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot.powder

#6 (07:00 pm) 3 oz. chickenbreast
1 c broccoli
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 slice ww bread

#7 (09:30 pm) 1 sm. pear
1 c. 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot.powder

Total: 2045 cals *SHRIEK*, 172 carbs, 253 protein (Holy cow!..), 16 fat
...I just counted that together NOW as I didn't have time yesterday anymore.. and I'm literally having a heart-attack now about the results.. The cals and the protein.. OMG.. :o

Today, Sat. 31th Jan ~'bad' weekend started.. :D ~

#1 (08:15 am) 1 oatmeal pancake
bit less than 1/4 c sugar-free syrup

#2 (10:00 am) 2 regular pancakes
1/4 c sugar-free syrup

#3 (01:15 pm) 2 FF Hotdog-sausages (small)
2 sm. Hotdog buns
bit of ketchup, mustard, relish

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by Anastasia
I felt 'crappy' the whole day.. It definately reflects on my eating.. :(

Fri., 30th Jan. -Another 'screwed up' day.. For some reason I was hungry all afternoon/evening.. (Usually I try NOT to eat that late b4 bed..)

#1 (7:30 am) 1 c oatmeal
1 c 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot.powder

Weightlifting (legs) 1 hour, 25 min. cardio


#2 (10:30 am) -Post workout meal-
1 c 0,3 % milk
2 scoops whey prot. powder


#3 (11:30 am) 1 Banana

#4 (01:30 pm) 5 eggwhites
1 whole egg
1 TBSP Salsa
1 oz. LF mozzarella cheese
1 sl. ww Millet bread

#5 (03:30 pm) 1 c. 0,3% milk
2 scoops whey prot.powder

#6 (07:00 pm) 3 oz. chickenbreast
1 c broccoli
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 slice ww bread

#7 (09:30 pm) 1 sm. pear
1 c. 0,3% milk
1 scoop whey prot.powder

[B]Total: 2045 cals *SHRIEK*, 172 carbs, 253 protein (Holy cow!..), 16 fat

Hee hee!! Girl! THAT is NOT a cheat day! That is no where NEAR a bad day - infact I would call that a GREAT day!!! Sure, your protein could be a little lower and your fats a little higher, but your food choises were good and your meals well spaced and pretty balanced!

You are trying to add some muscle yes? Well - then this day was a GOOD day. You need this type of calorie count when you are trying to add muscle! To calculate your rough calorie needs try this:

Convert weight to weight in kg = weight in pounds / 2.2
Lean mass = weight in kg x [(100-BF)/100]

Then take your LMM:
Times your LMM by 24 to get a rough basal calorie need (the calories your body would need if you were comatose).
Times this by your activity factor - which for most people is between 1.4 and 1.6 (so, take 1.5) - to take into account your daily activity expenditure
Times this by 1.1 (thermogenic effect of food - which takes into account the energy it takes to digest the food you eat).

So - if we use your figures:
120 pounds = 54.5kg
BF = 15%
Lean mass = 54.4 x (100 - 15 / 100) = 46.4
Times by 24 = 1114
Times by 1.5 = 1669
Times by 1.1 = 1840
That gives you your rough calorie needs to MAINTAIN your current muscle mass.

So, if you want to add some lean muscle then you have to eat more than this (about 200 to 300). If you want to loose weight, then you want to eat about 200 to 300 less than this.

You DON'T need to loose weight (I saw your piccies - you are a lean bean!! :)). You need to add some quality lean muscle mass - so, to do this, you need to EAT!!! :D You need to eat about 2000 cals a day - so you did WELL!!!

Go and read this thread:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=177893&highlight=detour

Go down to her 'cheat' day - now... THAT is a cheat!

Your brain has been 'tainted' by years of food restriction so I can understand that a day with cals of that level may freak you out a little - but you need to now step back and think of your body in terms of something that needs to be feed correctly. You have to start working with your body, rather than constantly battling against it! If you feed your muscles, they will respond and they will then melt the fat off you.

You just have to trust yourself - you were obviously needing more food than you have been eating so your body 'asked' for more food - and it was GREAT than you answered this need and fed it in a sensible way.

You are doing really well - keep it up!


ps: Increase the fat a little - maybe look into some walnuts or linseed to add to salads or to your oats.

[imperfectly_lou]

That looks damn fantastic Anastasia!!!!!!!! Don't you dare go freaking out on us! I agree wholeheartedly with Emma-Leigh. I have been insanely hungry lately too, our bodies are trying ot tell us something when that happens!

I guarantee you will have tons more energy and feel great today!

[Anastasia]

Hey girls, I just wanted to let you know how great you are!!! You really cheered my up!

Emma-Leigh: I know I should eat more in regards to really putting on some nice muscle.. but quite honestly I'm still 'afraid'.., as stupid as this sounds!.. Before I started working out again (~4 weeks ago) I'd say my daily intake was around 1,000-1,200 cal and of course it was all the wrong stuff, so I got to bed hungry EVERY day..
Now that I've slowly increased the intake to 1,500-1,600 (my body made me eat more as soon as I started lifting!) I'm hesitating putting some more cals on top.. I know, my workout might be intense (1 hour every day + 25 min. cardio 3x/week) but as I'm not able to lift real heavy yet (just to give you an idea, for Biceps excis I can only handle 10 lb DB or max 15 lb, though with 15 lb I'm not able to lift more than 4-5 times the first set.., so I figured it's too heavy for me yet when I want to accomplish a set of 3 or 4, right?) I really don't know what will happen when I suddenly increase the cal intake to 1,800 or even 2,000 and still lift so light???
I figured I should try to trust my body like I did (without noticing it) when I started out. Maybe with the time, it will tell me within the next weeks that it needs more anyway??

Anyway I thank you for your calculations! It made me feel better immediately!!!

Also I have to thank you for the link, that cheat day really made me realize that mine was nothing! *lol* (I was actually envying her for eating so many 'bad' but yet yummy things *lol*)

Well, I guess my cheat day will come soon, for sure, as my dd is going to be 2 on Tuesday and we'll have a cake for her which I'll make myself *yummyyummy* But I'll keep in mind that we all have days like that -plus I'm only planning on having ONE piece and not the whole cake *LOL*

Lou Aye, aye, Mam! :D
You're right, I should trust my body more! From now on I will and try NOT to freak out anymore! ;)

I'll continue my journal tomorrow as I don't have time now anymore!

Thanx again, girls! It's great to have you guys being there for me!
xxx

[Lady_Gadiva]

Hey Anastasia, you're getting serious. Remember me, NetLady @ M&F. You are doing great!! Glad to know you are still sticking with it.

Your diet looks good and clean. Are you working out heavy?

[imperfectly_lou]

Hey Sharon! Nice to see u over here! :)

Val - haven't seen any posts from you for awhile hon!