AdamWW's Retrospective 'Intuitive Eating' Test Log

[AdamWW]

Slept for 9 hours... 930pm - 630am...

most sleep i've had in... dunno how long.

Went back to make up for yesterday. Got in my lower workout.

Mentally still kind of meh, but, physically feeling more able today which is nice.

Yesterday I hate to admit but I only ate about 2k because my stomach was so ill... but, I barely moved.. maybe like 1000 steps, total... overwise laying down, napping, web surfing...

Should be improved today though.

[AdamWW]

Had so much extra energy I crammed in a 'mini' version of my OHP day since tomorrow i'm having a day off anyway and I had lots of steam to burn off..

Ended up INCREASING my OHP by 5lb... Did OHP, Chins, CGBP, and some curls.

Also forgot to mention, my squat volume increased in the morning lower session too...

And I STILL feel awake and energetic.

Definitely going to start hitting the pillow earlier... so much better today... including my appetite...

[AdamWW]

I find sleeping about 12 or more hours resets my energy and clears my head to a degree. I got some great sleep in last night but I'm not 100% there mentally today. I did feel more human and less bot like this morning, though. I had some great lucid dreams revolving around food. That was probably a first for me. So self aware in the dream I knew I wanted ketchup with something and got up in the dream to go get it, and tasted the food after and said "Oh yeah, now it tastes good."

Thank you allergy drugs.

lol

can't say I ever dream about food.

sex? yea.

Food not so much.

[AdamWW]

I have never dreamed about sex in the traditional sense. Nudity or erotic imagery, sure. When I was younger I had really bad lucid dreams. Now that I'm older, they're fairly silly. I dreamed I was playing jump rope with a baby elephant a few years ago.

my dreams are usually really lame is that they're not too eventful... sometimes I wonder why the hell I bother having them they're so boring, hah!

every once in a while though like I said... it'll be sexy time.

[AdamWW]

That double-session yesterday really really did me in. I mean it was only a total of about 100 minutes in the gym, but somehow going BACK and re-engaging my CNS seemed to just kill me.

Again slept about 9 hours

Woke up so damn sore... decided to go on a walk to loosen my joints up...

When I got home... I felt so ravenous I took in a ~1200 calories breakfast (I think). Somehow, I was craving fats and fruit...

So... 6 eggs, 1 whole avocado, 1 bagel w/almond butter, pack of raspberries (I think it's like, 170g or something on the package)... then a black coffee.

Not even that full... I also have this family reunion today... so... i'm basically going to be shoving in calories non stop

[AdamWW]

How was the food? I had a similar big breakfast this morning and I've felt really... super all day long. Probably stay up and do some reading. I kind of miss that soreness feeling??? IDK how to describe it, but it's sort of pleasurable. DOMS that is. Sometimes I go a little harder just to experience it in the days following.

im a watery blob... hahaha

So much sodium... but it was good. I forgot how addicting those little pieces of chinese bbw pork are... you know, the kind you dip in hot mustard? My face/cheeks/stomach feel like they're drowning.

[AdamWW]

You're in for a long piss. lol

I have no idea what that is, but is it like that slow roasted pork chopped into chunks? I've been having some water retention problems myself, but mostly not from drinking enough water. I should work on that. Honestly, though, ditto on the fat heavy breakfast. I find it makes me slightly bloated but I'm generally more attune of what's going around me all day long vs what I'd normally eat. I eat a normal lunch and a light voluminous dinner. It's been working well on days where I follow that. I might make it a permanent thing. I try to incorporate butter, cream, coconut oil or nut/seed butters in addition to animal based fats. It's working well.

Sorta tempted to try and make those fat bombs keto people use just as a quick snack with some crackers. Just looking for that cheesecake texture.

[AdamWW]

Oh that stuff. I think it's called char sieu? I've never seen it offered with mustard here. Sweet chili sauce, yes.

yea char sui or something

great with either sauce

[AdamWW]

Gonna have to try it out one day. Chari sieu is hit or miss, mostly miss around here. Way better upstate or around your area. I really like the Seattle food scene, though.

we some fancy ass mofo's

[MosToorani]

Good God .. I'm just jealous of the metabolism...

*hides in a corner in fear of Adam's retaliation*

MT

[AdamWW]

Good God .. I'm just jealous of the metabolism...

*hides in a corner in fear of Adam's retaliation*

MT

???

[MosToorani]

joking, ma man.

[AdamWW]

joking, ma man.

No i know, I just don't get the reference? Why would I be mad?

[AdamWW]

OHP is up 5lb from last week. Sodium gains... sodium gains

This was a really, really weird morning:

Due to calorie and sodium intake, I was restless as HELL last night... I couldn't get into a tired mode despite having a super long day until like midnight. Insane dreams.. like.. night terrors.... crazy stuff...

Woke up like 4-5 times... eventually gave up at 9am. Woke up feeling like I just needed to chug water.

Eventually, I made my way to the gym, figuring at BEST I might get in..perhaps.. 5x5's on the OHP and just leave.

Ended up doing a very respectable workout with the OHP gains I mentioned above.

Now, I actually feel better than I did in the morning, which never happens -- usually I need a nap or something if I struggled with sleep the prior night.

In any case... happy with how the day shaped up given lack of sleep. Appetite? Meh... not there... not sure what to do about it, but hopefully in an hour or so it'll get better. Kinda hot here again so, who knows how it'll pan out.

[MosToorani]

No i know, I just don't get the reference? Why would I be mad?

Thought you'd get upset as it's difficult for you to eat a lot to gain weight? and the acid reflux etc.

Just my jealousy of not being able to gorge on pints of ice cream and donuts without going overboard and puffing up haha.

Cheers,

MT

[AdamWW]

Thought you'd get upset as it's difficult for you to eat a lot to gain weight? and the acid reflux etc.

Just my jealousy of not being able to gorge on pints of ice cream and donuts without going overboard and puffing up haha.

Cheers,

MT

I don't gorge, though...

I only eat if I feel like it and so long as it makes me feel good -- at least as far as I can control. Yesterday for example I just didn't realize how badly the sodium would make me feel, etc... but there was never a point when I was eating where I was feeling like, "oh man this hurts but I don't care..."...

I don't see a point in eating if it just hurts... I mean my hunger stops when i'm full just like anyone else... plus unless i'm bedridden and just want to be a hermit, I can't just eat like crap and actually 'feel good' enough to train, hang with friends, etc...

If I feel like I might have UNDEReaten I just grab some higher calorie cereal or some peanut butter and call it a day... or not... whatever feels right I guess. Trying not to overcomplicate it ya know? Gaining weight should be fun.

But before you feel jealous, keep in mind the damage i've done to myself... like yeah, sure, if you get your car into a terrible accident then maybe you get it repaired to an even better condition than before, but you still had to f*ck up your car...

[MosToorani]

I don't gorge, though...

I only eat if I feel like it and so long as it makes me feel good -- at least as far as I can control. Yesterday for example I just didn't realize how badly the sodium would make me feel, etc... but there was never a point when I was eating where I was feeling like, "oh man this hurts but I don't care..."...

I don't see a point in eating if it just hurts... I mean my hunger stops when i'm full just like anyone else... plus unless i'm bedridden and just want to be a hermit, I can't just eat like crap and actually 'feel good' enough to train, hang with friends, etc...

If I feel like I might have UNDEReaten I just grab some higher calorie cereal or some peanut butter and call it a day... or not... whatever feels right I guess. Trying not to overcomplicate it ya know? Gaining weight should be fun.

But before you feel jealous, keep in mind the damage i've done to myself... like yeah, sure, if you get your car into a terrible accident then maybe you get it repaired to an even better condition than before, but you still had to f*ck up your car...

True True ...

You still need to get on that Apple Fritter game! haha!

I would certainly LOVE to see you progress, amigo.

I feel like you've been in the vicious circle when it comes to weight gain for quite some time.. I'm on the same boat, obviously... But getting there.. Gaining is easy for me.. Restriction is what i'm battling with..

Cheers,

MT

[MosToorani]

Oooo apple cinnamon fritters. Would give up sex for a year for an endless supply.

Been there, Done that!

haha!

Cheers,

MT

[Strawng]

I only eat if I feel like it and so long as it makes me feel good -- at least as far as I can control. Yesterday for example I just didn't realize how badly the sodium would make me feel, etc... but there was never a point when I was eating where I was feeling like, "oh man this hurts but I don't care..."...

I don't see a point in eating if it just hurts... I mean my hunger stops when i'm full just like anyone else... plus unless i'm bedridden and just want to be a hermit, I can't just eat like crap and actually 'feel good' enough to train, hang with friends, etc...

If I feel like I might have UNDEReaten I just grab some higher calorie cereal or some peanut butter and call it a day... or not... whatever feels right I guess. Trying not to overcomplicate it ya know? Gaining weight should be fun.

It seems like everything you’ve logged so far has been really solid & I really think you made the right move in ditching the veganism for now & neglecting to take a body fat test. Great steps in the right dorection. I’ve loved keeping up with this thread, but as someone who went through hell & back in terms of weight gain I have to disagree with this last part. In order to consistently gain you will have to at times eat past the point of physical discomfort & it will absolutely not be fun. Your body will get better at dealing with larger loads of food/sodium as you gain, but you will have times where eating just fuking sucks. If it were fun or easy to gain weight in your state, anorexia wouldn’t be the most fatal mental illness. Your body will get better at dealing with food as time goes on. Sodium won’t keep you up all night & you won’t be constantly bloated as your system heals. Before that though, you’d be kidding yourself if you thought it was supposed to be a fun process. I’m not saying it has to be torture but you will be second, third, & fourth guessing yourself due to the physical and emotional sensations that come up with gaining weight. You can’t let yesterday be an excuse to limit sodium for example. A big part of recovery is challenging yourself to eat foods, like apple fritters or now sodium-heavy things perhaps, until you’re not afraid to eat them anymore. You may have to re-train your brain to enjoy some of the more calorically dense foods you used to, because I certainly did. Though I still eat mostly whole foods & I genuinely crave them, I have things like cereal or pb cups or sometimes just a damn bowl of peanut butter on a daily basis because I have the same inexplicably high TDEE that you do & gaining only gets harder. Also, all that being said, I had a similar night of sleep to you because I had a sodium ladden Asian meal right before bed. Lesson learned...next time I will be more on top of the water beforehand. Anyways, you’re doing everything right, just keep it up man!

[AdamWW]

It seems like everything you’ve logged so far has been really solid & I really think you made the right move in ditching the veganism for now & neglecting to take a body fat test. Great steps in the right dorection. I’ve loved keeping up with this thread, but as someone who went through hell & back in terms of weight gain I have to disagree with this last part. In order to consistently gain you will have to at times eat past the point of physical discomfort & it will absolutely not be fun. Your body will get better at dealing with larger loads of food/sodium as you gain, but you will have times where eating just fuking sucks. If it were fun or easy to gain weight in your state, anorexia wouldn’t be the most fatal mental illness. Your body will get better at dealing with food as time goes on. Sodium won’t keep you up all night & you won’t be constantly bloated as your system heals. Before that though, you’d be kidding yourself if you thought it was supposed to be a fun process. I’m not saying it has to be torture but you will be second, third, & fourth guessing yourself due to the physical and emotional sensations that come up with gaining weight. You can’t let yesterday be an excuse to limit sodium for example. A big part of recovery is challenging yourself to eat foods, like apple fritters or now sodium-heavy things perhaps, until you’re not afraid to eat them anymore. You may have to re-train your brain to enjoy some of the more calorically dense foods you used to, because I certainly did. Though I still eat mostly whole foods & I genuinely crave them, I have things like cereal or pb cups or sometimes just a damn bowl of peanut butter on a daily basis because I have the same inexplicably high TDEE that you do & gaining only gets harder. Also, all that being said, I had a similar night of sleep to you because I had a sodium ladden Asian meal right before bed. Lesson learned...next time I will be more on top of the water beforehand. Anyways, you’re doing everything right, just keep it up man!

Thanks for the input man.

I should probably clarify a couple things...

I didn't have negative mental reaction to sodium in the sense that I would never restrict if only sodium-heavy things were around. In this case, though, I basically ate all of the most heavy-sodium foods even though other options were there. The availability of high-energy things was abundant and I simply didn't expect to have a bad reaction. But no, definitely not something I am going to actively avoid, more just something to keep in mind. Also had a few beers... and you know how that goes

"Fun" I suppose isn't the right word... or if it is, it's more of the goal, or something to wake up and try and tell myself simply for motivation. For example, waking up knowing that I can eat whatever, whenever, however much I want even if it's far more than a 'normal' person would, should be a freeing and liberating thing.

Now as far as Apple Fritters are concerned I'm not sure where that came from, hehe. Yeah Apple Fritters are good... maybe I'm missing where I mentioned anything about them? If anything my 'fear foods' are more like carrot cake, donuts, and asian foods cooked/fried in lots of oil. Basically things I cannot account for even if I were to try.

Now, my TDEE is a weird thing... I don't think about it much, but if there's one thing I've noticed is that my NEAT kicks up hard with these increases in sodium, fat, and overall energy. This is especially true after my first meal because I don't even wake up hungry, then I consume a very very large amount of carbs and fat these day (I have SEVERELY de-prioritized protein because I do find it satiating).

For example, when I got home from the reunion, my libido was skyrocketed, I couldn't stop fidgeting... my legs, etc, were in a constant tapping (as if to the beat of a song), and I felt very uncomfortable sitting down. Body heat was also clearly elevated.

But when I wake up in the morning... because of my lower weight, my heartrate sits at like, 40bpm... maybe slightly less... so clearly my body is in hyperdrive trying to repair itself... which is why I've started to carry energy-dense things around with me in my workbag, etc.

Oh and lastly, stopping veganism was probably THE most helpful thing. In a pinch, knowing I always have eggs and cheese at my house is great... seldom is there a time where eggs and cheese doesn't sound good to me... and all the vegan options for higher fat stuff usually don't taste super great, are very pricey, or have more fiber than I am trying to get right now.

[AdamWW]

OK... I have a new recipe I'm going to post on here maybe over the weekend... with pics that is

It's the best breakfast-style pizza I've ever made:



The layering from bottom to top are:

WW Pizza Crust
Salsa + shredded Cheese
Eggs (I used 'sunny side up', breaking the yolks so they were between hard and runny)
Spinach (wilted by cooking with the eggs)
Avocado (you could also use guac)

Then on the top I added a little bit of arugula just for flavor

It was freakin amazin.....

[AdamWW]

Sounds like something I'd order for brunch after a long night of drinking.

precisely. it soaks up the sins.

[AdamWW]

Speaking of sins, I made a huge lunch type sandwich for breakfast today. Just felt like it. I felt so happy going into work. But I'm so tired now. Poor sleep last night. How's your sleep now compared to the other day?

it seems off and on... today was terrible and i'm in a lot of pain... my guts feel like they're going to explode and I haven't eaten enough... I don't know how to handle it because the pain is like, 8/10 at the moment...

[AdamWW]

Ooo, does not sound good, bud. What did you have?

a lot of things. it's 'too far down' in my gut to know what might have done it. i think it's just gas or something but jesus christ it's bad. painful...

[AdamWW]

You're ridiculous. I like that.

It's better this morning... I think I know what did it, too.

I've also decided to remove all veggies, for now, except any kind of lettuce, etc, that might come in things I order.

I have certain things I know will never cause me pain, and that's pretty important right now.

I've also decided to change my minimum daily to 3500 and see how that goes. Feeling pretty desperate to crack 130lb for the first time in a year... I need a good milestone bump.

[AdamWW]

bench is up... rows are up... both by about 5%...

sleep was meh, but I had two FULL rest days with almost zero activity at all, so I think that really really helped.

Pretty toasty outside today... time to crush some melon.

[Strawng]

For the gas, try gas-x. It's the only thing that gives me relief. Good move on cutting out vegetables for awhile & upping the fats/setting a calorie minimum. I need to cook my cruciferous vegetables so they're extra soft & eat a beano beforehand for me to tolerate it but I just fuking love broc**** too much to give it up. I myself went from vegan to pescetarian for my health/weight & I still eat on the higher fat side sometimes when my stomach acts up (horrible IBS for life).

sleep was meh, but I had two FULL rest days with almost zero activity at all, so I think that really really helped.

I'm always astonished at how much some rest days benefit me. I just hit a PR on bench after 2 full rest days despite also sleeping like chit.

[AdamWW]

For the gas, try gas-x. It's the only thing that gives me relief. Good move on cutting out vegetables for awhile & upping the fats/setting a calorie minimum. I need to cook my cruciferous vegetables so they're extra soft & eat a beano beforehand for me to tolerate it but I just fuking love broc**** too much to give it up. I myself went from vegan to pescetarian for my health/weight & I still eat on the higher fat side sometimes when my stomach acts up (horrible IBS for life).

I'm always astonished at how much some rest days benefit me. I just hit a PR on bench after 2 full rest days despite also sleeping like chit.

definitely will try the gas-x.

i'll still have SOME veggies, but i'm going to limit the amount and also the types to make sure it's easy to get through.

bottom-line, i need to see the scale move, and i shouldn't be trusting my intuitions right now. so gotta set a goal.

[TheGymJim]

In.

Interesting log dude. Seems like you're making progress.

I've actually being eating intuitively all year, though from an entirely different angle, i.e. trying to lose weight whilst not tracking (because I hate tracking). Down about 14kg (31lbs) . So rather than eating to hunger I've just been sorta eyeballing food and checking scale weight.

So yeah totally different approach, but nice to see someone else not on the weighing and tracking everything bandwagon of boredom and neutroticism haha

[AdamWW]

In.

Interesting log dude. Seems like you're making progress.

I've actually being eating intuitively all year, though from an entirely different angle, i.e. trying to lose weight whilst not tracking (because I hate tracking). Down about 14kg (31lbs) . So rather than eating to hunger I've just been sorta eyeballing food and checking scale weight.

So yeah totally different approach, but nice to see someone else not on the weighing and tracking everything bandwagon of boredom and neutroticism haha

Hey Dude! Glad you came by.

I'm 100% of the opinion that almost everyone on these forums and who is 'into fitness' in general could easily meet their goals by guesstimating and now weighing/logging everything.

There may be exceptions when people eat out ALL the time, but for common food items if you're been tracking long enough you get really good at all.

Right now all I do is calorie track mentally only because i NEED to gain weight, and it's easy for me to just say "ok, 3 of my 4 meals today have to be 1000 calories, and I can have a 500 calorie snack... to get my minimum". Then if i'm still hungry, I can have more.

But, if I were trying to maintain or bulk in a 'lean' way, it'd be easy enough still.

I like not having to dissect everything