Katie's Journal :)

[can_t sit still]

OK...here goes...I'm going to start a journal in hopes of hearing feedback from time to time and tracking my progress.

Brief history...I am 23 years old and started working out in September of 2003 after I graduated college. I started at 19% body fat and 144 pounds and am 5'5". I was measured again about 2 months ago and was 135 pounds and 16.3% body fat and I wear about a size 6 pants. I'm certain that my body fat has increased since then because I haven't watched my food very closely but I'm going to be getting measured twice a month in hopes of better tracking my progress so I'll post the new measurements this week when I get them taken.

Although this isn't the best plan, I'm going to give myself Saturday and Sunday as cheat days (within reason). I have always been one of those people who can eat whatever I want and not gain a lot of weight, so I'm taking baby steps toward bettering the diet. I'm not quite ready to sacrifice all the trips to the ice cream place in the summer with my dog so in order to succeed in the long run, I want to take it slow and give myself some cheat days since I am almost content with where my body is at this point anyhow.

I've struggled lately with being wishy washy about my diet because part of me recognizes that I'm about 5 pounds and a few months of weight lifting away from my ideal body and another part of me looks in the mirror and thinks "I look good enough to eat some baked lays damnit!" Soooo...I'm trying again to clean up the diet and eliminate the refined sugars and partially hydrogenated oils. I feel good about how I'll do this week but the 5 (roughly 300 cal) meals a day proves a bit of a challenge for me. I feel awfully hungry most of the day and don't like that feeling much but I'm working on eating more fibrous carbs to help that hunger subside. Trial and error, trial and error :)

I'll post more tomorrow!

[Emma-Leigh]

Hey there!!

Welcome to the boards!! It sounds like you have made some great progress with your body - 16% BF is pretty good! :)

Hope you keep posting regularly!

[imperfectly_lou]

Welcome Katie!

[can_t sit still]

Thanks for the welcome! I'll definitely post my diet at the end of today.

Two things I forgot to mention...one is that my workouts vary A LOT because of all of my hobbies. I get my exercise doing anything from running, the elliptical machine, spinning, inline rollerblading, aggressive rollerblading (jumping things :)), mountain biking, indoor rock climbing, orienteering, etc. My list of hobbies that involve physical activity is pretty much endless so it keeps me in shape and I get to enjoy variety!

Also...my second meal of the day is the same everyday and I wanted to share it with everyone since I believe that it's like a little slice of heaven to get to eat this meal and have it be as healthy as it is :) You may ALL already know to do this, but for those who don't...I eat them everyday and they are the bomb diggaty ;)

Oatmeal and egg white pancakes:
1/2 cup oatmeal
5 egg whites and one yolk
1 tsp splenda
1 tsp cinammon

Preheat skillet to med-high and spray with pam. Mix all ingredients vigorously with a whisk and pour in prepared pan as you would a pancake. Makes 4 pancakes.

Here's the trick though...I think these pancakes are garbage if you eat them immediately...they are mushy and icky...they are MUCH better at room temperature after a night sitting in a ziploc baggie :) PLUS it allows you to prepare them the night before. I bring them to work in a baggie, don't refridgerate, eat them dipped in 1 tbsp of all fruit, no sugar strawberry jelly and you have yourself a fantastic meal of protein and starchy carb. Nutrition info is as follows (including the jelly):

cals: 333
protein: 25.3
carbs: 39.4
fat: 8

If you haven't tried them you don't know what you're missing :) YUM!!!

More later...

[can_t sit still]

I may or may not work out tonight...have been slightly under the weather this weekend so am trying to take it easy to speed up recovery and kick this cold fast.

Diet today:

7:45am
1 cup shredded wheat
1 cup skim milk
(250 cals, 13 protein, 51 carbs, 1 fat)

10:45am
oatmeal and egg white pancakes
1 tbsp all fruit - no sugar jelly
(333 cals, 25.3 protein, 39.4 carbs, 8 fat)

1:45pm
1/2 cup brown rice
3 oz chicken breast
4 tbsp salsa
1 cup iceberg lettuce
3 oz carrots
(314 cals, 29.3 protein, 37.3 carbs, 4.56 fat)

4:45pm
4 oz tuna with 1 tbsp lowfat mayo
1 cup lettuce
raw veggies (green pepper, brocoli, cauliflower) dipped in 2 tbsp low fat ranch
(393 cals, 39.5 protein, 34.9 carbs, 10.95 fat)

7:45pm
3 oz grilled chicken
salad with green peppers, brocoli and cauliflower and fat free italian dressing
(253 cals, 29.5 protein, 25 carbs, 3.8 fat)

Totals: 1543 cals (35.4% protein, 48.6% carbs, 16.5% fat)

That'll bump up some if I do workout because I'll drink my whey protein shake afterward but that's yet to be determined for today :)

I know when doing 5 meals a day it's best to taper your calories throughout the day and make breakfast the biggest meal but I didn't feel like my apple this morning and I am pretty satisfied with that breakfast and larger mid day meals so it works for me. Normally I fall between 1600 and 1800 calories a day so today was low but again...I planned around the protein shake that i may or may not have. I think my bmr is 1450 or so. I also may look at increasing my healthy fats after trying this eating structure for a little while to see what works best for me.

Looks like that's all for today...more later...

[Emma-Leigh]

Hey Katie,

Your diet looks good - only real suggestions I would make at this stage is to increase your protein in your first meal (could you try something like adding 1/2 cup of cottage cheese??) and, as you suggested, I would increase your healthy fats (add some almonds/walnuts/fatty fish??).

Also, with your stats you should try to make sure you stay at a minimum of 1600 to 1800 cals (up around 1800 would be much better!) so make sure you make up for your post-workout shake with other cals on your non-workout days.

Keep it up and I hope you are fully recovered soon!



ps: Pancakes sound YUMMY! I'll have to give them a go sometime!
:D

[can_t sit still]

Thanks for the suggestion!! I was considering having a whey shake in the morning first thing...then eating my breakfast after my shower, etc. so I'll either do that or start adding cottage cheese in there. I don't think it's sunk in for me yet how important protein is after a night of sleeping and no food!

I think I'm gonna get some Udo's choice oil or something of that nature as my healthy fat.

Also...when I do cardio lately I've been doing an hour on the elliptical which burns 850 calories so I'd be very happy to know that I can increase to 1800 cals, but since my goal is cutting body fat some more, I figured I was alright with 1600. I'm figuring it will only take me 2 or 3 weeks to get down to where I want to be if I stick to the diet hard core and keep up my regular workouts so that's a good feeling. Then I plan on saying sianara to this skimpy eating plan and I'll up my cals to a maintenence amount and continue shaping and building muscle. I'll still eat clean and eat every 3 hrs...I'll just eat more of it! WAHOO!

I actually did make up for the calorie deficit today by having two oatmeal and wheat germ cookies (got the recipe from oxygen magazine). 2 cookies are 116 cals and a good ratio of protein to fat to carbs. I try to cut out starchy carbs the second half of the day but I made the cookies for my boyfriend and was happy to eat them to bump my calories where they needed to be.

More tomorrow....thanks for the feedback...I totally appreciate it!

[imperfectly_lou]

Hey there katie :)

I hate hate hate to be the bearer of bad news, but cardio machines (and particularly eliptical trainers) have the WORST and most inaccurate calorie counters. Even when they ask you to enter your weight, they still overestimate by nearly 50%. When I use the eliptical for an hr, I usually burn about 360cals according to my HR monitor which is much more accurate.

[can_t sit still]

No big deal on the bad news...I sort of knew it was too good to be true :) I still do an hour no matter what cardio I'm doing so I feel great about that.

Man...these crazies at work brought in Lamar's donuts today! I let myself have a diet vanilla coke to help resist the temptation of that aroma of fried sugar that was wafting all around me :) HA!

I'm certain I can resist them but sometimes I just want to say...haven't you people ever thought of bringing in fresh fruit for breakfast! My goodness! The pastries and donuts coming in and out of this place is rediculous!

[can_t sit still]

Alright...my diet for today is (I didn't fit in more protein in the AM yet Emma-Leigh...I just wasn't hungry this morning):

7:45am
1 cup shredded wheat
1 cup skim milk
(250 cals, 13 protein, 51 carbs, 1 fat)

10:45am
oatmeal and egg white pancakes
1 tbsp all fruit - no sugar jelly
(333 cals, 25.3 protein, 39.4 carbs, 8 fat)

1:00pm
post workout whey protein shake
(130 cals, 20 protein, 5 carbs, 2.5 fat)

1:45pm
1/2 cup brown rice
3 oz chicken breast
4 tbsp salsa
1 cup iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup cottage cheese
(319 cals, 35 protein, 32.5 carbs, 5.21 fat)

4:45pm
4 oz tuna with 1 tbsp lowfat mayo
1 cup lettuce
raw veggies (brocoli, cauliflower) dipped in 2 tbsp low fat ranch
(362 cals, 38.7 protein, 27.6 carbs, 10.85 fat)

7:45pm
3 oz grilled chicken
salad with green peppers, brocoli and cauliflower and fat free italian dressing
(228 cals, 28 protein, 20 carbs, 3.8 fat)

Totals: 1622 cals (39.5% protein, 43.3% carbs, 17.4% fat)

My workout is as follows...not sure if this is the best plan for me right now...I may focus harder on each area of the body and break up the workouts instead of doing full body each time I do weights.

30 mins cardio on elliptical (level 12 setting)

abs - a few different exercises

hip adductor - 3 sets 15 reps (100 pounds)
hib abductor - 3 sets 15 reps (70 pounds)
leg extension - 3 sets 15 reps (60 pounds)
seated leg curl - 3 sets 15 reps (75 pounds)
squats - 3 sets 15 reps (20 pounds plus bar)
calf raises - 3 sets 15 reps (30 pounds)
thighsolater - 3 sets 15 reps (75 pounds)
lunges with glute kick backs - 1 set 15 reps (no weights)

weight assisted pull ups - 3 sets 8 reps (100 pounds assistance)
weight assisted dips - 3 sets 15 reps (100 pounds assistance)
chest presses - 2 sets 15 reps (15 pound dumbells)
bicep crossovers - 2 sets 12 reps (12 pound dumbells)
seated rows - 3 sets 15 reps (50 pounds)
lat pull downs - 3 sets 15 reps (45 pounds)

I think that's all...alright so maybe it's not as full body as I'd hoped it would be. I need to throw some back extensions and some shoulder work in there. Overhead presses or something.

That's it for today...my diet ratios are good and I feel good about the workout although I would like to restructure that a bit I think. Any suggestions...send them my way!!!

[can_t sit still]

Alright...I didn't have time to post my diet from yesterday so I'm posting it now. It wasn't great by any means because I had a jam packed day and evening so I made do with what I had. And I'm leaving out the nutrition info cause I have it on my spreadsheet and I'm lazy! HA!

7:45am
1.5 cups skim milk
1.5 cups shredded wheat
1 apple

10:45am
oatmeal and egg white pancakes
1 tbsp all fruit - no sugar jelly

1:45pm
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tbsp natty peanut butter
1.5 cups brocoli and cauliflower in 1 tbsp lowfat ranch

4:00pm
balance bar

7:00pm
1 miller light bottle

10:00pm
detour bar

Ummm...and some animal cookies before bed :) OOPS!

No workout yesterday cause no time. Am getting my bodyfat measured in a few so I'll post the measurements.

[can_t sit still]

Pic from this morning taken in a mirror...sorry!

Measurements from today (in inches):

chest: 33 (ho hum)
upper arm: 10.75
thigh: 23
thigh at knee: 16.5
waist: 26.5
waist below belly button: 28.5
forearm: 9.5
hip: 38.75
calf: 14.5

Body fat: 16.45%

Weight: 134.5

I'm trying to focus on building muscle mostly now but also working to lean up in the hip area through diet and cardio and hip abductor exercises and such. Getting measured again in two weeks to check progress.

[sharkalissa]

Originally posted by can't sit still

balance bar

1 miller light bottle

detour bar

Ummm...and some animal cookies before bed :) OOPS!


I'm sure you know that these are not good (protein bars are really just candy bars with some extra stuff thrown in) But at least you didn't wash them down with 6 beers, like my cheat days (yeah, i know that's really bad)

And that really is not much food - egg whites & 1/2 cup cottage cheese is all the protein you had (not counting whatever *good* proteins you get from those bars). Other than that, it's not too bad :)

[can_t sit still]

I know they are awful and most of the top ingredients are refined sugars, but like said in the beginning of that post...I knew my eating was all messed up yesterday but time didn't allow for me to have my proper meals prepared for that day and I still figure those bars are better than worse alternatives.

Today wasn't much better unfortunately. I'll probably post again come Monday because I'll be out of town all weekend and my weekends are all cheats anyhow (within reason) so no one needs to see those days :) HAHA!