Imp's fat loss log...because why not?

[Imp81318]

I have been finding that as I make progress or have a revelation about something, I feel the need to share my experience but there isn't really a place to put it that I think anyone will really care. So, instead of posting it in the nutrition or fat loss section where it is really out of place, I'll post these little things in here for myself and anyone else that happens to read my log.

First, for everyone that isn't inside my head (there might be a few of you I suppose), a little bit about myself: I'm 34/m/5'7" tall. I was always rail skinny through high school and even through most of college, until my junior/senior of college when my body finally matured and filled out. In the 13 years since I've graduated college, I have generally felt and looked my best around 180 pounds. I have never consistently exercised or worked out in my life for longer than 5 or 6 months at a time. After college I gradually started to gain weight, and I went for about a decade or so where I'd slowly creep up to 200 lbs, see that '2' and start watching what I eat a little bit and drop right back down to 185 or so with little to no effort, and then maintain that weight for a year or so until I slowly crept back up again... More recently I have not been able to drop the pounds as quickly and easily, and I have not been able to maintain a lower weight once I do get there. Through the fall I had been thinking about getting back on the bandwagon and trying to lose some weight again, but I kept finding excuses not to do it. Until one day my wife and I were talking about how we'd both like to lose a few pounds. So I got on the scale and weighed 205 pounds. When I saw that number, something clicked and I told my wife I was going to try to lose some weight. That day she got on the elliptical and we've both been working toward our goals since (note that I'm taking a little bit of artistic liberty with the dates as I can't remember the exact sequence of events. Point is, I decided to start losing weight and weighed 205 lbs on January 12, 2017). The next day, January 13th, I weighed myself in the morning at 201 lbs and thought "wow, this weight loss stuff is pretty easy..."

I consider my starting weight to be around 202 pounds +/-, and I consider myself to have started this journey on January 12th. The first week or two was really about me learning - I got a recommendation to download the MyFitnessPal app from another website, and that site also pointed me here. I started tracking what I was eating for about a week or so just to get a baseline of my caloric intake and to check the TDEE numbers from the app. In this first week I didn't really change anything about my diet or anything, I just started reading and trying to learn how to "eat healthy" to lose "weight". Since I had never seriously thought about what or how much I was eating before, I had no idea what 3oz of chicken looked like, or what a serving of salad dressing even was. I also had never found any kind of workout routine that I liked before (I loathe using the elliptical, and the only other equipment we have is a Total Gym which I've used with good results in the past, but the progress was very slow). We have 2 kids (kindergarten and daycare), and I work full-time so I knew that any program (like the beginner programs recommended on this site) that either took a lot of time (1hr+) and/or required going to the gym regularly were not going to work from me. I needed something I could do at home, worked into my schedule, and something that I could do fairly quickly (targeting 30 minute workouts). So I made an appointment with a personal trainer at the gym at my daughter's daycare since we have a free membership with her daycare enrollment. I met with John 4 times, and he helped me set up a HIIT workout that mixed in cardio stuff with resistance training that I can do at home and change up as I go to keep it interesting. He also leads a class with very similar workouts at the gym Sunday mornings, so I committed (to myself) to working out at home twice during the week, and in his class on Sundays.

This all happened around the middle to end of January. I started weighing myself regularly (several times per day) and recording my weight sporadically (always a morning measurement, but my weight was fluctuating wildly at first and I wasn't particularly consistent with picking high days or low days, so initially it looks like my weight was constant/up and down, while I know that I've been making consistent progress based on the intermittent weights that I didn't record. I have settled into a routine of working out Tues, Thurs, Sunday (class) and measuring my meals and tracking calories.

This site has taught me so much about nutrition and the proper way to eat. I have noticed that after the first week or so of adjustment, as long as I think about the choices I'm making I really do not struggle to hit my calorie goals most days without feeling terribly hungry. This week I have started really tracking my macros in addition to tracking my calories and I've found that it a bit more difficult to hit my protein goal without exceeding my calories - I eat a whole lot more carbs than I realized! The biggest changes to my diet have to replace foods I like eating like granola bars and sandwiches with other foods I like eating like salads and celery/peppers (this week I started adding hummus with the veggies...yummy!).

When I started making grilled chicken salads for lunch and really started watching my calories I was trying to stay very strict to the printed serving size on the bag of frozen grilled chicken chunks (or whatever food I was looking at that day). My wife suggested I eat more chicken, but I figure if I wanted to lose weight I had watch portion sizes very closely. This served we greatly in reducing calories, but I was finding it impossible to hit my protein goals no matter what I did. So I started replacing my other granola bar with a protein bar, or trying to reduce calories at breakfast by eating 2 hard boiled eggs instead of a protein shake so I had some calories left to try to squeeze in more protein at the end of the day. So I continued to cut calories where I could so I had enough left at the end of the day to squeeze in a protein bar and a 2nd greek yogurt to fill out my protein goals for the day and felt like there was no way I would ever be able to get all of my protein in without supplements.

Just last night I had another realization - not only can I put more chicken or tuna on my salad (even above the 2 servings I'm currently eating - why not go to 3 servings?), I can also eat more for breakfast. Why not have a 3rd, or even a 4th hard boiled egg in the morning and cut out a granola bar? Like I said, I am just learning and I feel like I am eating a TON of protein, but the results don't lie...

And that brings me to my current stats: As of this morning, my weight is 193.2 lbs and I have 4 days of consistent loss - 194.8, 194.0, 193.4, 193.2. I feel like I am past the wild fluctuations due to water weight evening out and I can weigh myself in the morning and feel fairly confident it is a true representation of my current weight (before I was seeing a 4-5 pound swing between the middle of the night and first thing in the morning when all I had done between measurements was sleep). Today is my workout day and I've been looking forward to it for over 24 hours. Just gotta get through the rest of the work day...

[Imp81318]

Today the scale was up a bit compared to previous days - 194.2. I attribute much of this to water retention. We had a packaged marinated turkey loin last night that had a fair amount of sodium in it. I am guessing that with a day of flushing my system with a lot of water and a good workout tonight I'll be back on track.

My goal for today is to meet all of my macros without using any whey products. Yesterday I had a protein bar and a scoop of whey in a glass of milk to get my protein in - today it is all real foods. Here's the meal plan:

Breakfast/Morning Snack: 354kcal, 21g C, 16g F, 31g P
3 hard boiled eggs
Greek Yogurt

Lunch: 501kcal, 47g C, 11g F, 46g P
3 oz turkey breast
1 cup risotto
6oz prepared tunafish salad

Dinner: 343kcal, 15g C, 7g F, 60g P
8oz chicken fingers on salad

Snacks: 733kcal, 81g C, 39g F, 25g P
celery with hummus
Nut bar
Pear
Pistachios
Glass of chocolate milk

Totals: 1,931kcal, 163g C, 73g F, 162g P = 99kcal under my goal, protein goal met, 6g under on fat.

Boy, that's a whole lot of food.... I've ALWAYS been a big eater - you know, the guy that cleans up leftovers after dinner, even at big family gatherings like holidays. The guy that ordered 2 or even 3 lunches in junior high and high school. And, to me, that looks like a ton of food to eat. 2 months ago I NEVER would have believed you if you had told me that I could eat that much food in a day and LOSE WEIGHT. And truthfully, I can't for the life of me figure out how I ate so many calories before.... It MUST have been the kinds of food I was eating, not how much food I was eating... Just an absolutely incredible revelation for me...

[Imp81318]

Well, I had to modify my evening snacks a bit yesterday since my wife had different plans for the salads than I was thinking - she added bacon and avocado and used different chicken than I had planned around. So I upped my chicken a bit and cut out the nuts and chocolate milk. Result was that I hit my protein goal for the day naturally while staying under my calorie goal! I was a couple of grams short on fat, but I'm not too worried about that since I had plenty of fat the day before. I'll call it a success!

Newton found that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I'll adapth that law of physics, combined with Murphy's law and say that every success comes with a failure. The key is to keep the successes outweighing the failures. My recent successes:

I'm sticking to and enjoying my workout routine.

I've been hitting my calorie goals every day and haven't been deviating from my planned food intake. Once or twice a week I'll go over my goal because I'll decide to have a beer in the evening or something, but even those days I've been careful to stay below maintenance so I'm still losing fat, just not as much as I'm trying for.

I'm learning a TON about nutrition and how to eat to lose weight.

My wife has commented on 2 different occasions, one of which was last night that I'm looking more trim around my midsection.

I've been doing interval style workouts, rather than true weightlifting. I noticed yesterday that while I felt like I was pushing myself hard throughout the workout, within a few minutes of finishing the workout I felt like my heart rate had already returned to normal and I didn't feel nearly as exhausted as I have in prior workouts. I am assuming at this point that this is due to starting to get in better cardiovascular shape and my heart recovering more quickly, although it could also mean that I just didn't push myself hard enough (this really did not seem to be the case during the workout).

Now for the failures:

I've gained 2.0 pounds over the last 2 days according to the scale. I know that weight loss is not linear, but I had had 3 consecutive days of steady loss before these last 2 days. Up until now my weight was all over the place day-to-day with a general downward trend. Those few days of steady loss had my thinking that maybe I had gotten my water weight steadied and I'd be able to have more trust the scale on a day-to-day basis. I'm still tracking my 7-day average weight as the number that I care about, and that number is still steadily decreasing. In the grand scheme of things this isn't a terrible failure, or even really a failure at all, but it is a bit frustrating.

[Imp81318]

Yesterday I decided to make our nice weekly breakfast for the family of eggs, fried taters, and bacon figuring that I'd just eat carefully the rest of the day to make sure I hit my protein and calorie goals (fat wasn't going to be a problem!). That was a great plan until lunch time when my wife informed we were having a pizza and movie party with the kids for dinner. Had a great time, and managed to keep my total calories below maintenance even though I did exceed my goal for the day. All macros were also met. Today I'm back down on the scale and ready to hit my workout hard in another hour or so.

[Imp81318]

I just realized how long my posts have been in here... sorry for anyone that has actually read all of that! Haha

[Imp81318]

I just got back from the gym and I feel great. Earlier in my journey I would notice that I would crash immediately after working out, especially when I worked out in the morning on the weekend. I've noticed last week and especially today that the crash is not nearly as severe. I attribute this to a couple of factors at this point:

1. I have been making sure to eat some fruit just before working out. Last week it was a banana on my drive to the gym, this morning I had a protein shake with fruit for breakfast since we are out of eggs. Previous weeks I had been having only protein, and I suspect that adding the sugars and carbs from the fruit might be helping me have more energy during and immediately after my workout.

2. My cardiovascular conditioning and recovery is greatly improved already. I have never been in what I would consider truly good shape in my life. I've never had a particularly fit looking physique and I have never played competitive sports or done cardio that gave me good cardiovascular health. I think that the regular HIIT workouts are already improving my cardiovascular health and my heart/breathing is recovering much more quickly after my workouts. I suspect that since my body is getting proper amounts of oxygen more quickly I am able to recover from my workouts more quickly and that may also be helping me avoid the hard crash post-workout.

3. Related to #2, but since my breathing has recovered and I feel much better by the time I get home, I am also typically being more active shortly after finishing my workout than I had been previous weeks which is likely also helping me keep my energy level up.

Thoughts from the (silent) peanut gallery?

[lukepeter]

Having read most of the novel above, I can safely say - well done

The logging process is a great tool for adherence, keep it up (it is also selfishly motivating for me to read about other peoples successes).

You seem to have a good handle on things, so I wont be all preachy about anything Knowing that you have read my verbose and rambling log, you know how I stand w.r.t. training frequency, intensity, and volume - and my view on the abhorrent nature of cardio in the life of a fat loser

I will say this though - ease up on the daily weighing - especially if it is being used as a source of a dopamine buzz (well done me for losing 200g last night, brain sends hit of dopamine...). It sets you up for disappointment if you have a slightly higher than normal carb intake and end up gaining some weight in retained water. Pick a day, do an "official" weigh in on that day only - trust the science (assuming you remain as disciplined as you appear to have been) and loosen the weighing reins a little Lift, lift, lift... you have far less fat to lose than some of us, and the change from 12ish % to lower can really devour your lean mass especially as your body is adapting to become an efficient cardio monster.\

In for progress.

[Imp81318]

Thanks, Lukepeter. I will continue to weigh myself daily (and actually typically several times per day) but I understand the recommendation to go to weekly weigh-ins. What I prefer to do is to weigh myself each day and track my 7-day running average weight (average of my last 7 daily weights). Looking at the 7-day running average helps to smooth out the daily fluctuations and gives a better measure of the overall trend. I know that days that I eat more carbs or salt I am likely to follow with a couple of days with my weight up. I am still learning exactly what the triggers are going to be for me to have higher weigh-ins, and how long those higher numbers are going to persist for, but overall I prefer tracking every day. I am a numbers guy by nature, I can't help it.😁

I don't have a good handle on BF% estimation, but I can assure you that I am currently much higher than 12%.

[Imp81318]

I felt like I didn't do a whole lot of core/abs work this morning... Everytime I stretch to grab something or cough/sneeze today I realize just how wrong I was this morning! I'm not sure exactly which movement/exercise it was that hit them so hard, but I have some serious abdominal DOMS hitting me this evening.

[Imp81318]

Had a rollercoaster day yesterday. Planned my meals out as I always do in the morning, only to realize I needed to attend a meeting with catered lunch at work. Scrapped the meal plan and quickly built a new plan of snacks and dinner around the catered lunch, only to have to leave work just before lunch was delivered to pick my daughter up from daycare due to a bomb threat evacuation. So, on to meal plan 3 for the day. Ended up hitting my macros and staying within my calorie goal for the day so I'll call it a win.

Today I'm on my second iteration meal plan since I didn't originally count of the fastnachts being delivered to the break room. But hey, I can't turn down the once-a-year snack. Back on track with some revised snacks throughout the day and I'll hit my macros while only going over my calories by 94kcal, which means I'll still come in at a deficit, just not as big of a deficit as my target. I'll call it a push.

[Imp81318]

I had a bit of an odd workout today - I had good energy and my effort level felt good, but most of muscles just seemed to lack power and get fatigued quickly. On my chest press especially, I felt like there was just nothing there when I tried to engage my chest muscles - the only power I had was from my shoulders to execute the press. Same thing for my abs early on, although the abs got better as I progressed through the workout. Other muscles like my last and glutes felt good... I'm curious to see how stuff feels during my workout on Thursday...

[Imp81318]

Calories have been generally on point, except yesterday I had an extra helping of potato chips (my biggest weakness!) at a retirement luncheon at work. But other than that extra helping I managed to fit everything else from the luncheon into my daily plan and hit my macros and calories for the day so not too bad. I had to work late yesterday and didn't have time to work out. First time I've missed a scheduled workout since I started and I have every intention of getting the workout in today.

[Imp81318]

It's been a few days since my last update. Family in town staying with us all weekend + daughter's 3rd birthday party = no time for my fat loss log. I made up for the skipped workout last Thursday with a quick workout after work on Friday before family arrived. Not as long as my normal workouts, but the intensity seemed to be there and I felt pretty good afterwards, although I definitely wasn't ready to throw in the towel when I did. I got a really good workout in Sunday morning where I pushed myself to failure and beyond (that is to say that my last round of "running the stairs" consisted of me literally pulling myself up the stairs with the handrail because my legs wouldn't lift me anymore at that point, but I kept moving and completed the exercise.

As you can surely imagine, birthday party = nutrition not on point. I didn't bother tracking anything Saturday. I generally kept my portions reasonable, except for my second sloppy joe sandwich. I KNOW that I went over my calories for the day, but I'm ok with that. It was a day, for me, to enjoy spending time with family and let loose a bit. It was well worth any setback that I incurred and I got back on the wagon..well, sort of back on... on Sunday morning. Skipped my FIL's famous buttermilk pancakes for breakfast in favor of a yogurt and cottage cheese before my workout. The rest of my nutrition was on point, except that I'm not entirely confident of my macros or total calories for the day because we had some homemade chicken corn noodle soup for dinner and I had no real way of figuring out how much of anything was in it. I just looked at nutritional information for some pre-made brands and picked one that seemed similar to what we had but I don't know if it was all that accurate. I do know that our soup was much more heavy on chicken and was made very healthy (i.e. Stock was made by boiling the chicken not from pre-made stuff bought at the store) with little to no added fat or calories compared to what I've gotten from the store in the past.

All of that said, and I feel like I've hit a bit of a plateau. I've been up and down within a 2 pound range for the last 7 days. I know it has to last for a few weeks before it is truly considered a plateau, and I've had a couple of days with poor nutrition mixed in there, but not terribly happy to see this stall in my progress. I guess I just have to really tighten up on my tracking and see what I see over the next week or two and then begin to consider making some changes. I do not believe that my TDEE has dropped that significantly after just 10-ish pounds of weight loss, but we shall see...

[Imp81318]

I was able to squeeze in a very quick cardio workout on the rowing machine at the gym last night. It felt good to know I was doing a bit extra, but ultimately I felt like I didn't push myself hard enough and ended the workout wishing I had done more (I was tight on time so only had time for a quick HIIT session). Next time I will change up my intervals so that I get a bit more real work in during the time that I have available. Other than that, nutrition continues to look good. I am starting to think that I should be taking a multivitamin of some kind though, because my fruit intake has dropped off since I've been counting calories and trying to keep my protein up.

[lukepeter]

Your TDEE certainly has not dropped by any significant amount through the loss of 10lbs, unless almost all of that was muscle. Get your macro's back in line and the weight will fall again at a reliable and predictable rate.

[Imp81318]

That's exactly what I was thinking too Luke. After being pretty constant for 7 consecutive days, my weight has decreased and set new low marks each of the last 2 days. This morning was more than a pound lower than my previous lowest weigh-in, so I suspect it was just a combination of maybe some water retention and muscle development that was leading to maintaining weight.

Another factor that could be contributing to the sudden drop is that I skipped my normal Tuesday workout. That could be leading to some reduced water retention, I suppose. Hopefully I'll be able to get out of work at a reasonable time tonight and I'll get my workout in tonight.

Regardless of what the scale says though, I am wearing a pair of pants that I haven't worn in a few months and they are noticibly looser than the last time I wore them, so I'll call that a positive sign.

[Imp81318]

Another morning, another low-mark on the scale. I finally feel like I have my head above water again at work so I'll be skipping out a little early tonight to make sure I have time for a workout or two (might try to slip in a quick HIIT rowing session at the gym when I pick my daughter up from daycare after my regular interval routine at home). The last 2 days we've had dinners that are really hard for me to track accurately - large family-style dishes where the entire family just gets served out of a single pot. Last night, for example, was a stir fry with broc****, chicken, peppers, and pineapple over a bed of rice. I measured the rice as accurately as I could - by volume though since, again, we made a single large pot for the family and the nutritional information was only by weight for uncooked, or by volume for cooked. I really just guessed at the chicken stir fry mixture though - I'm pretty sure I got less of each ingredient than I assumed, but that's ok - I had plenty of protein yesterday. To make up for this lack of accuracy I ate below my calorie goal for the day and, much to my surprise, I did not feel exceptionally hungry either day. It really is true that once you adjust to eating smaller portions you realize just how much you used to overeat.

It is funny to me - on the one hand, I look at the amount of food that I pack for my lunch and think that it looks like plenty for me, but on the other hand I look at the number of calories at the end of the day and wonder how I could possibly be eating enough.

Packing my lunch this morning was a real reminder of just how easy it will be to go off-track once I reach my goals though. I figured out everything I was going to eat today last night, working around the dinner my wife has planned for us. With all of my calories totaled up I ended up around 200 calories below my goal. I started to grab a few extra snacks to take to work "just in case" I get hungry, but was able to stop myself and look at the pile of food I already had out and say "That's enough. You don't need to eat more than that. And if you do, you can snack tonight after dinner. You haven't eaten any more than this any day this week and you've been fine." I just need to break my habit of thinking I need more than I really do or the weight will go right back on, I'm sure.

[Imp81318]

This weekend was not kind to my macro goals. I generally track things as closely as I am able throughout the week to make sure I'm hitting my macros. On the weekend I still track things, but I'm less concerned with pinpoint accuracy and macros - I track more for total calories and I don't measure out each portion nearly as carefully. Saturday went pretty well and I'm pretty sure my macros and calories were actually on point. Sunday not so much. Took the kids to a carnival and, surprisingly, 3 slices of pizza and 3 large cookies do not fit well into my macros. Had a really enjoyable day and with being so busy, I really didn't have much time to eat so my calories stayed in check pretty decently (other than the nice cold beer I treated myself with while grilling dinner in sub-freezing temperatures). All in all, had a great weekend.

Things I'm noticing about my health/routine/progress:

1. The scale continues to be friendly, but at slower rate. It seems like I am giving up steady day-to-day losses in lieu of sudden drops by a pound or so once per week spaced with periods of pretty constant weigh-ins in between.

2. My workouts have been HIIT sessions. At home, I do a routine that mixes in wide variety of exercises targeting as many muscle groups as possible. I have been using largely body weight, with assistance of a few dumb bells and weights I have, as well as using our Total Gym. I am not looking to become a bodybuilder, but once I reach a comfortable weight I would like to continue working out with the goal of becoming a bit more toned and athletic looking. I have been thinking that I would have all that I'd need at home to achieve that goal, but I am becoming less and less convinced. I've already begun to max myself out on the weights I have available on some of my exercises. When working in a class similar to my at-home workouts, but at the gym with a trainer yesterday I actually exceeded the weights I have at home on a couple of exercises. I really do not have the time to go to the gym during the week right now, so I'm not sure exactly what this is going to mean for my progress, but I do know that it is a nice problem to have. I also cannot see buying a wide variety of dumb bells and weights to keep pushing myself at home.

3. I feel GREAT! I attribute this to the workouts and weight loss to some extent, but also to the changes in my diet. I have more energy throughout the day and don't typically hit the afternoon snooze period after lunch at work. It sounds crazy to me to be able to say this, but cardiovascularly I may already be in the best shape of my adult life. That is a very rewarding, and also sad realization to have - it speaks to both my progress and work so far, but also to just how poor my health has been. After my workout class yesterday I really wanted to hit the rowing machine for a little extra cardio, but I had to run to meet the family at the carnival. Next week.

4. I noticed in the mirror last night that my love handles seem to be noticeably smaller. I took a few photos on February 18th as my "initial" progress photos (I had already lost some weight at this point and my wife had noticed a change physically, but it is the best I have). I plan to take another set on March 18th to compare.

5. I really like the trainer that runs the HIIT classes that I'm taking, but I find it difficult to accept his compliments. He has worked with me to show me different exercises I could add to my routine after class, given me extra pointers on form, etc., which is great and very much appreciated. But whenever he says something about my effort level, or progress/changes he's seen in me, I always immediately think that he's paid to make his clients feel good and kind of ignore some of the stuff he's saying to me. I am fully aware that this is a "me" issue, but I'm not sure how to get to a point where I can just accept his compliments. I almost feel like I need to slack off a bit to see if he calls me out on it so I'll know whether or not I can trust him or something...

[Imp81318]

I dipped below the 190's for the first time in years this morning, so felt it appropriate to share my success so far:

[lukepeter]

Hurray for progress Keep at it, with a goal weight of 180lb (if I recall correctly?) you are really only a month and a bit from done... The end, as they say, is very much in sight.

[Imp81318]

Yes, my current goal is 180lb. Based on my projection I am between a month and a month and a half from reaching that goal. That said, however, I have always viewed 180lb as an "initial goal" and a point for re-evaluation and re-consideration. My wife has held firm that she thinks I look best around 180, but I'm not so sure I couldn't stand to be down around 170 or so. Regardless, once I know what 180 looks like on me I'll update my goals - either lose a little more, or maintain that weight and continue to tone and tighten my body a bit.

[Imp81318]

Week in Review:


Protein/Fat/Total Cals
Goal: 152 / 79 / 2,030
Mon: 171 / 79 / 1,902
Tue: 163 / 86 / 1,980
Wed: 146 / 80 / 1,915
Thu: 157 / 110 / 2,332
Fri: 105 / 104 / 1,255 (Breakfast, Lunch, and afternoon snack only - dinner not included, 775 kcal left for dinner)

Weekly Avg: 159 / 89 / 2,032 (not including Friday)

__________________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Exercise has been a different story this week. Between long days working and the 16" of snow we got earlier this week, my only exercise since last Sunday has been related to snow removal, most of which was done with a snow blower that my neighbor was kind enough to loan me. I WILL get a good workout in at home tonight, do some cardio tomorrow morning, and go to class Sunday morning (possibly followed by a cardio session if I have the energy. This is the 2nd week in a row that my exercise routine has gotten interrupted. I hate that it is happening, but it has also been a great gut check reminder that this process is not always going to be as easy and smooth sailing as it has been so far. I view everything that I'm doing as a lifestyle change, not just a diet/effort to lose some weight. And these past 2 weeks have been a little reminder that it isn't enough to just fit exercising into my routine when it is easy and convenient - I also have to find ways to do it when life gets hectic and I have to work late or have "kid duty" during my normal workout time right after work. This part I realize is going to become my next real focus - figuring out how to fit my workouts into a flexible life schedule.

[lukepeter]

Those are solid macros

Keep it up man.

[Imp81318]

Those are solid macros

Keep it up man.

Thanks! Went over my total calories Friday, but not terribly. Yesterday was terrible. Pizza Hut wings for lunch with my son, and Chinese takeout for dinner, followed by a dram of bourboun after the kids went to bed. Today WILL be back on track.

________________________________________________

I had a really good workout Friday night after work. Yesterday morning I snuck out to the gym just as everyone else was opening their eyes and did a quick HIIT session on the rowing machine. Felt great to get a little extra cardio work in. Woke up this morning, and MAN did I ever feel the effects of it - my entire core from my neck to waist was stiff and tight. Did a bit of extra warmup before HIIT class this morning, and had a GREAT workout in class. Really felt like I had good effort throughout the class and pushed myself. I can already feel my body tightening up, which tells me I did actually do good work and tomorrow is going to SUCK! LOL...

My enthusiasm for tracking everything I eat is beginning to wane a bit. I think this is due to eating more difficult foods to log/track - a combination of having more home style meals that are all cooked in one big pan/slow cooker at home, and also eating out/takeout at local restaurants a couple of times as well. I tend to let myself get frustrated when I can't be confident that I'm tracking accurately and want to just stop tracking all together. I haven't stopped tracking, or making my best guesstimates for these difficult foods, but I am starting to kind of question the necessity of it since I feel like I'm just throwing numbers at it anyway. But, I'm not going to stop and I WILL keep myself on track!

[Imp81318]

My last progress photos were taken on February 17th, and I have had in my head that I'd take updated photos every month to track my progress. But, some mornings I wake up and just feel thinner, and I tend to notice it in the mirror as well. I've been waiting for one of those mornings to get some updated status pictures. So here we are, several days after my monthly progress update with no photos. So I decided I was going to fix that this morning, "no matter what." Of course, I woke up and the scale is reading the heaviest it has in 2+ weeks. But even with that (I know it has to be water weight mostly because my macros and total calories have been on track) they are not uploaded in my Bodyspace (since I wasn't able to attach them to this post for some reason, guessing image size issues).

[Imp81318]

After two consecutive weeks of long hours in the office derailed my training schedule, with a couple of days of not tracking my calories quite as closely as I should have mixed in, staying home from work with my sick daughter yesterday = finally getting back on track with my Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday workout schedule this week. Woke up this morning feeling great, and really re-motivated about making progress toward my goal weight despite the scale remaining stuck for about the 9th straight day. I know that my TDEE hasn't changed, so I just have to keep on with my plan and trust in the process. The last 2 days I have upped my lean protein intake at lunch from 6oz of chicken breast to 8oz and 1 can of tuna to 2 cans, respectively, and that change has allowed me enough 'free' calories at the end of day to indulge in some doritos and girl scout cookies without exceeding my daily calorie goals. As good as those treats tasted, I ultimately found myself wishing I had just 'banked' the couple of hundred extra calories each day in hopes of re-starting the fat loss on the scale. At least for now, I think I'm better off psychologically not treating myself until I start to see progress on the scales again, which I fully expect to hit any day now. This morning the mirror was kind to me, and I appeared to be noticeably more trim than I was just 2 days ago when I took the photos, so I'm pretty confident I've just been carrying around a bit of extra water weight. I fully expect the scale to respond in the next day or two. While I don't think I'll be continuing with the 'treats' at the end of the day, I do think I'm going to keep eating the extra protein at lunch as it felt good to be able to grab any snack I was in the mood for out of cupboard at the end of the night (even though I wasn't really hungry and really only ate the junk food because I had structured my day around allowing for it so I kind of felt like I owed it to myself to eat it).

[lukepeter]

After two consecutive weeks of long hours in the office derailed my training schedule, with a couple of days of not tracking my calories quite as closely as I should have mixed in, staying home from work with my sick daughter yesterday = finally getting back on track with my Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday workout schedule this week. Woke up this morning feeling great, and really re-motivated about making progress toward my goal weight despite the scale remaining stuck for about the 9th straight day. I know that my TDEE hasn't changed, so I just have to keep on with my plan and trust in the process. The last 2 days I have upped my lean protein intake at lunch from 6oz of chicken breast to 8oz and 1 can of tuna to 2 cans, respectively, and that change has allowed me enough 'free' calories at the end of day to indulge in some doritos and girl scout cookies without exceeding my daily calorie goals. As good as those treats tasted, I ultimately found myself wishing I had just 'banked' the couple of hundred extra calories each day in hopes of re-starting the fat loss on the scale. At least for now, I think I'm better off psychologically not treating myself until I start to see progress on the scales again, which I fully expect to hit any day now. This morning the mirror was kind to me, and I appeared to be noticeably more trim than I was just 2 days ago when I took the photos, so I'm pretty confident I've just been carrying around a bit of extra water weight. I fully expect the scale to respond in the next day or two. While I don't think I'll be continuing with the 'treats' at the end of the day, I do think I'm going to keep eating the extra protein at lunch as it felt good to be able to grab any snack I was in the mood for out of cupboard at the end of the night (even though I wasn't really hungry and really only ate the junk food because I had structured my day around allowing for it so I kind of felt like I owed it to myself to eat it).

Kids and home life can really be a hurdle in this process - well done on getting over the bump unscathed. Individuals who do not have significant familial commitments wont understand, but the amount of patience you have to muster to get through day to day family life when on a deficit is monumental, the wife and kids should not have to suffer because we were undisciplined in our eating habits

A trend I have noticed in myself over the last few weeks - it's very easy to have a small handful too many doritos, or peanuts, or cookies, and the effect of that small over indulgence can be large when your macros are being carefully balanced. The snack foods should be weighed, or consumed in known portions if you are going to track them adequately. Again, its hard to deal with this when you are the only one in the household that is trying to adhere to a specific macro target, the "undesirable" foods are still present for the family and you need to exercise significant "wontpower". Likewise, if you are blessed with a wife that cooks fantastically (like mine does), you will have to deal with the additional unknowns that home cooked meals bring - I typically have to save 800-1000kcal a day in order to eat an acceptable portion of dinner as prepared by the missus.

Well done on taking the follow up pics - try and stick to a month by month schedule from now on. For me, taking weekly pics was a little disheartening at first since change was so slow, but it is amazing looking back at 35 weeks worth of progress photos and being able to see the change almost in time lapse, it helps me when motivation is low to look back at where I was vs where I am now.

Keep it up, you are making good progress, and there is no reason to stop now.

[Imp81318]

Yeah, my wife is also an excellent cook but she has watched her weight very carefully for her entire adult life, whereas this is my first time seriously watching what I'm eating and counting calories/macros and sticking to a serious workout routine. She has been incredibly understanding and patient with me as far as giving me detailed run-downs of everything she puts into our home-cooked meals and trying her best to help me estimate portion sizes, etc. But when she's trying to finish making dinner, deal with screaming children, and get plates on the table she really doesn't need or want to deal with me peppering her with a million questions about specific details of how much she's giving me to eat, or exactly how much butter she used, etc so like you said, I try to do my best to balance the desire to track everything meticulously with respecting the stress of home and everyday life.

I have been careful to weigh/track closely all of my snacks, particularly the 'unhealthy' ones the last few nights. And I've gotten a whole lot better about making sure I'm tracking every single day, even if I don't weigh/measure a single portion throughout the day I'll still decide how much I'm going to eat beforehand and stick to an estimated serving of that size as best I can by 'eyeballing it'.

On the photos - the only reason I was reluctant to take photos on the monthly mark was because I could tell that I was bloated and retaining water that day, so I knew/know that the photo was not an accurate representation of the progress that I've actually made. This morning I was actually surprised at how much of a difference I could see in the mirror compared to the photo that I took just a few mornings ago.

[Imp81318]

As I've mentioned previously, I've been busy at work lately so I've been getting up at 4AM to do a few extra hours of work at home before having to get the kids ready for school. I've even done it on the weekends a few times just because it's s one of the only times I can get a quiet house to concentrate other than 9 or 10 at night after the kids go to bed when I'm too tired to concentrate and be productive. This has been working really well for me, and I've actually begun to enjoy the quiet, productivity first thing in the morning.

This morning I had a sudden revelation while waiting for my computer to boot up at 3AM... If I can get up at 3 or 4 AM to put in extra hours of work, why can't I drag myself out of bed at 5 to get a workout in twice a week? I really couldn't come up with a good answer for myself, so I'm thinking about trying morning workouts starting next week. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the same feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment out of working out before anyone else is up that I've been getting out of doing work on the computer. It has to be worth a shot, anyway, I figure.

[Imp81318]

Week in Review:


Protein/Fat/Total Cals
Goal: 152 / 79 / 2,030
Sat: 138 / 84 / 2,210
Sun: 162 / 66 / 1,831
Mon: 162 / 82 / 2,025
Tue: 153 / 82 / 2,037
Wed: 160 / 102 / 2,037
Thu: 149 / 98 / 2,199
Fri: 158 / 84 / 1,877 (projected based on the meals I have planned out through the end of the day today)

Weekly Avg: 155 / 85 / 2,031

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As I've said in my other posts, I have gotten back on track with my exercise this week. Nutrition has been on-point all week long. Weight was very steady all week, except for one day when it was a few pounds high, and then dropped right around 1.5 lbs in the last 2 days. My 7-day running average has dropped below 190, and I'm feeling great! Looking forward to treating myself with a nice, dark homebrewed RIS tonight, following by an extra session of cardio first thing tomorrow morning before anyone else is out of bed (unless my daughter wakes up at 5AM again like she did today!).