(NFSC) CathyVee's Cutting Journal

[CathyVee]

In for Female Cutting. I tried to attach photos from this past weekend (I just finished the 12 Week Tranformation) but I'm not having any luck. I've got pictures in my BodySpace if anyone wants to take a look.

I'll post more details later. Currently taking a 1 week break from training.

[CathyVee]

Every time I try to upload the photos I fail!!

Here's a little bit of background info about me. In 2009 I weighed 172 lbs. I started working with a trainer and changed the way I ate. After about a year I weighed 120 lbs. Last summer I had a very bad flare up of my MS (I was diagnosed in 2007), ended up in the hospital several times and wound up weighing 113 lbs. After I recuperated I got back to the gym and started working on increasing strength and putting on some muscle and had lots of fun doing that. After bulking up I weighed 139 lbs in January, joined the Transformation Challenge and my final weight after 12 weeks was 131 lbs.

I am hoping that I can cut some of the fat but I plan to do it at a very slow pace, like maybe 1/2 lb/week. I am going to try and focus more on measurements rather than the scale. My current stats are:
Chest -- 37 1/2"
Waist -- 29"
Hips -- 38"
Thigh -- 21 1/8"

My plan is as follows:

Strength training-- 4 times /week
Diet--The same stuff I usually eat: chicken, fish, eggs, lean beef, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, fruits and veggies. Will likely cut about 250 cals/day. I am debating between basing it off the average for the week or possibly adjusting the calories on work-out vs non-work out days. I have used the calculations here on this site and I usually eat between 130 to 150 grams protein, 60 grams of fat and the rest I fill in with carbs.
Cardio--no cardio (unless you count tire flipping)

I'm assuming that I probably should eat a maintenance this week since I'm taking a 1 week break but I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to eat at maintenance for a few weeks just to give my body a break and then start cutting. Anybody have any suggestions? I have a Bodymedia so I have a good idea of what my maintenance calories should be (I usually burn between 1950 and 2150 on non-workout days--workout days range between 2400 to 2800 calories)

Yesterday totals: Calories burned-2076 Calories consumed-1982 (P-141.7 C-217.2 F-59.2)

[CathyVee]

So much for eating at maintenance. Yesterday's Bodymedia readings: Calories burned-2394 Calories consumed-2172 (P-170 C-239 F-65). I'm surprised that I burned so many calories. I'm off work on Wednesday but I guess that running errands, shopping and housework do burn quite a bit of calories. Today's planned meals only have me at 1907 calories so I guess I'm going to have to come up with something to add to one of my meals.

Really missing training but I know that taking a break is important. Can't wait until Monday!

[allmebaby]

I'm in. I think as an RN you would be on your feet all day so I think it's reasonable that you would burn that many calories in a day. I can't wait to see your progress, you've done great so far. Good job.

[CathyVee]

^ What surprised me was the fact that I was off work the day I burned all those calories.

Yesterday's numbers:
Calories burned-2094
Calories consumed-2197
P-156
C-262
F-62

I can't believe how much I miss training. I'm back at it on Monday and I can't wait.

[CathyVee]

Not too bad yesterday with maintenance eating. One more week of this and then I will stat cutting calories. Shouldn't be too hard considering that I ate 234 calories worth of candy! I'm still debating between eating the same calorie level every day vs higher on workout days/lower on non-workout days. Yesterday's numbers:

Calories burned: 2148
Calories consumed: 2052
P - 142
C - 215
F - 72

[CathyVee]

Last day of self-imposed rest. Yesterday's totals:

Calories burned - 2175
Calories consumed - 2071
P - 127
C - 253
F - 57

I haven't done any training since last Saturday. My average daily calorie burn for the last 7 days is 2152. I chose a 7 day period from back in March when I was training I was averaging 2441 calories burned per day. My plan for this week is to continue to eat at this week's maintenance (2150) and head back to the gym on Monday. I will then look at the numbers next Sunday and then make adjustments.

[CathyVee]

Yesterdays numbers:

Calories burned - 2221
Calories consumed - 2153
P - 131
C - 242
F - 75

One more week of eating at maintenance and then it's time to cut. I'm very happy to get back to the gym tonight.

[CathyVee]

Yesterday was chest. I have horrible upper body strength so it's not my favorite day.

Calories burned - 2169
Calories consumed - 2074
P - 152
C- 228
F - 62

[CathyVee]

Tuesday is usually my most sedentary day--2 hour meeting at work and it's also a rest day so I tend to feel like a slug. Plus the weather is abysmal so the pugs had an abbreviated walk. Yesterday's totals:

Calories burned - 2084
Calories consumed - 1990
P - 134
C- 209
F- 68

Today is my favorite day--back day! Wednesdays tend to be high calorie burn days so I may up the calories a bit.

[CathyVee]

Had a decent workout yesterday. I can tell that I've taken a week off because I was having some major trouble on the pull ups. I usually can do 5 on my first set without a problem but today I could only get through 3 before stopping. It was a struggle and my trainer had to help me quite a bit but I got through them all. Deadlifts at 95 lbs were incredibly light but once I got up to 135 lbs I was really working hard. Did 150 tire flips in 14 min 3 sec. I've previously only done 100 flips so yay me! Yesterday's numbers:

Calories burned - 2485
Calories consumed - 2257 (I suspect it's more because we went out for my daughter's 16th birthday and my calories for dinner are estimates. I had grilled shrimp and steamed veggies and skipped the rice. Did eat a couple of french fries)
P - 158
C- 287
F - 53

[CathyVee]

Thursday's numbers:
Calories burned - 2209
Calories consuned - 2028
P - 150
C - 204
F- 68

Friday:
Cals burned - 2133
Cals consumed - 2209
P - 130
C- 260
F- 76

Today is leg day!

[CathyVee]

Yeterday's numbers:
Calories burned - 2566 (I love leg day!)
The following numbers are as of 5 PM. I kind of lost track after dinner (We had Chinese food--a little bit of curry beef, beef with broccoli, 1 pot sticker, 1 crab rangoon plus I was sampling some of the M&Ms and jelly beans while I was filling Easter baskets.)
Calories consumed 1811 +
P - 117 +
C - 239 +
F - 45 +

I'm not going to even bother counting calories today. I'm going to treat Easter dinner as a cheat meal. I am eating an egg white and veggie omelet right now just to make sure I get in my protein.

Tomorrow my plan is to start my cutting diet. I'm going to cut 250 calories/day which I hope translates to a 1/2 lb weight loss/week.

[CathyVee]

Today was a fun eating day but I will be glad to get back to my regular eating mode tomorrow. I was disappointed though. Everyone gave me flowers because they know I'm watching my weight.

Looking at my Bodymedia numbers, I'm averaging 2200 calories burned/day which means I will be looking at eating 1950 cals/day if I want to lose 1/2 lb/week. My game plan for this week is to eat consistently and then next week I'm going to try adjusting the calories depending on whether it's a training day or a non-training day. I've previously tried carb cycling which seemed to work pretty well except I really hated the low-carb days. I was only eating 60 grams of carbs plus my calories had a tendency to drop to about 1300 cals which is much to low but my weekly average ended up being 1600 cals/day. If anyone reading this has any suggestions on adjusting calories based on work-out/non-workout days I'm willing to listen.

[CathyVee]

Monday's numbers:
Calories burned - 2138
Calories consumed - 1931
P - 146
C - 224
F - 55
I'm surprised my calorie burn was so low since I did go into the gym. Monday is chest day and it always makes me feel like such a weakling. My post workout meal was a carton of low fat chocolate milk which tasted really good!

It's been a couple of weeks since this started so tomorrow I'm planning on checking my measurements to see if there have been any changes. I doubt it since I've been eating at maintenance but it will be interesting to compare the numbers.

[CathyVee]

Tuesday's numbers:
Calories burned - 2050
Calories consumed - 1842
P -140
C - 183
F - 62

Slight change in measurements. Previous numbers in parentheses.
Chest -- 37" (37 1/2")
Waist -- 28 7/8" ( 29")
Hips -- 37 3/4" (38")
Thigh -- 21" (21 1/8")

[CathyVee]

Wednesday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2467
Cals consumed - 2266
P - 136
C - 287
F - 64

Change of plan. I was so hungry yesterday that I've decided to increase my cal intake on Wed and Sat since those are my big calorie burn days. I work-out at 9 AM on Saturdays so I may have to increase the calories a bit on Friday just to make sure I've got enough energy to get through a leg workout. Had a decent workout yesterday but I was having a horrible time with pull-ups.

[CathyVee]

Thursday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2231
Cals consumed - 1883
P - 141
C - 212
F - 55

Kind of surprised about how many calories I burned yesterday as it was a rest day. I don't want to feel deprived so I've been planning some treats into my meal plan. Someday I will have enough posts to be able to post my meal plan. My Bodymedia has a really nice calorie tracker and I like how it breaks down p/c/f. The only thing that I don't like is that when you plan meals for a future date it only gives you total calories but no breakdown. My meals are fairly routine so I usually have an idea if I'm hitting my macros but it would be nice to have a better idea about numbers.

[CathyVee]

Friday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2103
Cals consumed - 1947
P - 144
C - 214
F - 61

I resisted the urge to step on the scale even though I was very tempted. Yesterday I noticed that it seems that I lost some fat from my abdomen. Definitely a lot less to grab. I tried to run the numbers the see the cals I'm averaging for the past week but I forgot that I didn't record meals last Sunday due to it being Easter. I'm very pleased so far.

I usually eat a couple of snacks during the day but I was terribly busy at work and missed one. Ended up eating some cottage cheese and salsa around 9 PM. I normally don't eat after 7 PM so it was a bit odd but I could get used to it.

Today was leg day and it was pretty hard. Squatting 135 lbs wasn't too bad but 155 was killer.

[CathyVee]

Saturday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2583
Cals consumed - 2307
P - 146
C - 272
F - 75

Looks like I am increasing calories on training days. Fat was a bit higher than usual because I had a hamburger for dinner and I ate a dark chocolate bunny! The beef was lean (93/7) and I used an Ezekiel hamburger bun.

[CathyVee]

Sunday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2305
Cals consumed - 2300
P - 139
C - 274
F - 76

Cals consumed are likely not entirely accurate. I went to a party and had to do a lot of estimating though I'm getting pretty good at that. On Saturday when I was making hamburgers I grabbed a handful of ground beef, threw it on the scale and it was 4 oz.

[CathyVee]

Monday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2301
Cals consumed - 1958
P- 141
C- 211
F- 64

Interesting training session yesterday. Bench press, incline dumbbell press, dead lift, squat and overhead press. My trainer is going to have me do basically the same workout for the next two weeks with some slight variations and the focus is going to be on increasing strength. I waited until I got home to write it all down so I'm not 100% sure of all the numbers but I do remember that I was able to deadlift 185 lbs!

[spicyprice]

Just saw that you are using the bodymedia and am thinking about getting one as well. Do you ever wear it on your calf while at work?

[CathyVee]

^ I've never tried it on my calf. I always wear it on my arm. I did wear it on my thigh once when I was wearing a sleeveless dress.

Yesterday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2077
Cals consumed - 2043
P - 140
C - 267
F - 48

Way too many carbs yesterday (Easter candy--mmm, jelly beans) and a little low on fat. Tueday is also my lowest calorie burn day and that is because I spend 2 hours sitting in a weekly meeting. Luckily, the rest of the week my job has me up on my feet a lot which means I burn a lot more calories.

[CathyVee]

Wednesday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2553
Cals consumed - 2011
P - 132
C - 229
F- 63

A bit low on calories but I was a bit high calorie-wise on Tuesday. I checked the average for the past 7 days and depending on how accurate my cal intake calculations have been, I'm averaging a 243 cal daily deficit. I figured on a 250 cal deficit so I'm pretty pleased. I sometimes think that my carbs are still a bit high and that I should increase my protein but I really do enjoy the carbs.

[spicyprice]

Very awesome on the DL!!

I like looking over the varying burned cals on your log.... cant wait till I have some consistent numbers of more normal days!

DO you just take your off while in shower?

[CathyVee]

^ I take mine off every morning when I'm showering. The directions said you should only wear it 23 hours/day so I take it off, sync up the data and let it charge for the full hour. It has an option where you can manually edit off-body time. It gives all kinds of options for activities plus it allows you to choose how much time you spent on the activity.

Thursday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2167
Cals consumed - 1883
P - 135
C - 195
F - 68

Forgot to put the chicken in my salad for lunch so I ended up eating my cottage cheese which was meant to be my afternoon snack. I was very hungry when I got home from work.

[CathyVee]

Friday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2129
Cals consumed - 1909
P - 145
C- 216
F - 49

Average cals burned for the last week is 2302. Debating about dropping the cals 20% just to see what happens. That will take me down to 1840 which I think is do-able. I couldn't resist the urge to weigh myself this morning and my weight was 132. Two weeks ago I was 132.8 so I am losing although I know that you can't really trust the scale. I'll do measurements again this Wednesday.

Had a great workout this morning, felt suprisingly energized.

[CathyVee]

Saturday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2467
Cals consumed - 2147
P - 145
C - 226
F - 77

About 450 calories yesterday can be attributed to some homemade chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. I felt like I was starving yesterday. I'm still pretty hungry despite eating my (almost) 700 calories bowl of oatmeal this morning. Think I might have to go to the freezer and snag another cookie.

For dinner tonight my family is making crab legs and I don't feel like weighing out every bit of meat that I'm eating so I'll just consider it a cheat meal.

[spicyprice]

Saturday's numbers:
Cals burned - 2467
Cals consumed - 2147
P - 145
C - 226
F - 77

About 450 calories yesterday can be attributed to some homemade chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. I felt like I was starving yesterday. I'm still pretty hungry despite eating my (almost) 700 calories bowl of oatmeal this morning. Think I might have to go to the freezer and snag another cookie.

For dinner tonight my family is making crab legs and I don't feel like weighing out every bit of meat that I'm eating so I'll just consider it a cheat meal.

MMMM, crab legs!! You will probably be surprised, crab legs dont really weigh a lot and are a lot lower in cals than you might think. When I have bought canned crab meat, I usually find myself popping 2 cans and still not getting a ton of protein. So maybe not quite a cheat meal (unless you drown them in butter and have your way with those awesome sounding cookies!) Cant wait till you can post pics!