Weight loss and exercise #2

I did get the chance to weigh myself this morning around 5AM. On Friday I was 156.8 but today I was 155 exactly. In just 10 pounds I’ll be a normal BMI for my height. I had a burger today and I’m not sure on the calories but I was just going to have soup for dinner and I should be fine.

Pretty much right at goal, though I might have under logged dinner due to eating family style (with the family) so I didn't weigh things out. The other wild card is exercise this morning. 45 minutes of full on cardio that the machine pegged at over 500 plus 30 minutes of circuit training that was more toward strength training than cardio. I took 475 total. Worst case might be a wash instead of a deficit. I will weigh in the morning. I am not too stressed about it, though a nasty surprise is not out of the question if I am retaining water. I think I will be 158 or 159.

Surprised in a nice way this morning - 157. I am not kidding myself about being able to slack off though. I want to see a few low 150s before I believe I have it back under control.

I am at 169 pounds. What are the reasons for this? Before I can determine this, there are a few things that I need to do. I need to work on discapline. I need to more consistently log here my calories consumed and burned every day. I need to more accurately move over to the next day my overages and days that I am short my target, and make up for them. About once a week on average I am short by at least 300 calories. Not good. Lazy. I need to start my meals earlier in the morning, and make sure I meet my targets. This may require snacking if necessary, something I have not done in some time. What can I snack on that is inexpensive?

Once I have done the above for at least a week or two, then I will reassess my situation. I may be overestimating the calories consumed when I have to guess the amount. I may need to adjust my determination of calories burned, or attempt to determine the calories burned on those exercise machines.

I attended yoga class again today and I enjoyed it again,though some of the positions are tough....I had tea at the cafe after...it feels good to do some form of movement with my body...and I am learning to pay attention and improve my inner awareness too.
I still have to improve my diet.

I had a string cheese for a snack at work at 10. That had 80 calories. I also had a large thermos of diet Lipton green tea. For lunch I had a mini Stouffers cheese lasagna at 340. Then I went to McDonald’s and got a 6 piece nugget and small fry which was 500 calories. Dinner will be 4oz of a Cornish hen. Thats 220 calories. That’s only 1,140 calories for the day. I’m too stressed about the cat and my dentist appointment and work to really care about reaching my calorie goal.

Right at goal, so no after dinner snack tonight. Only a little TRX exercise today. Will be at the gym bright and early tomorrow. Next weigh in Thursday.

It seems my forever changing baseline caloroes probably helped to make my weight yo-yo. I started losing some weight when I stopped using MFP calories. When I used my watch, that caused some problems with weight too. However, when I performed better, the calories indicated by the watch went down. When this figure was too high, I frequently adjusted downward. I imagine this helped for better assessment of calories. When I went to MET, my calories burned went down a bit. I also think moving my base down to 2200 helped in the weight loss. As I have said before, I need to be more discaplined and consistent with my calories consumed and burned, and meeting my targets. I need to stick with this approach. I do not know how to determine calories burned on the machines at the fitness center. This is a difficukt to determine variable. However, I have not begun to use the machines to any significant extent.

No exercise. Target of 2200 calories. Consumed about 2243 calories. Exercise tomorrow.

@Tucson - How big is your maintenance range? What is the bottom and what is the top? Even though I obsess every bit as much as you, it's a lot easier to play with the numbers when you have a big range.

I had a string cheese at 10 that had 80 calories. I had a dentist appointment at 1:30 and I was I was too nervous to eat before and by the time my dentist appointment was over and I was able to eat, it was later in the afternoon and I needed a large amount of calories in one meal so I went to Burger King and I got a Whopper without mayonnaise and onions which was 490 calories and a larger order of fries which 430 calories. That was 1000 calories total including the string cheese and now I’m not very hungry.

Does this happen to anyone else where you don’t eat much during the day and then have too many calories left later in the afternoon? What do you do with them? I usually get fast food. I don’t feel like eating a bunch of little things. Is there something more healthier? I have lost and kept weight off but I am pretty much clueless when it comes to nutrition.

I have my same old answer you are probably tired of hearing - logging helps. I can see how much protein/carbs/fat I have consumed as well as a few other things if I choose to see them like fiber, sugar, salt and maybe some vitamins (I know it tells me when I log something that I have enough vitamin C). I try to always make sure there is fruit (no problem for me; I love fruit and always keep some around at home) and vegetables (same, but requires some thought/prep) in my diet. It would also help you with getting up to a healthy level - you should always average more than 1200 a day for good health.

If I have any ground to make up, I usually treat myself to a sweet snack or two. If you want to lean toward healthy, a handful of raisins and nuts will go over 100 calories and I can eat a few handfuls. I consider few foods to be truly unhealthy; there are unhealthy mixes that have too much of one thing or another (like too much fat or salt during one day) but very few single foods.

I went ~200 over yesterday and moved one snack to today to put it back under. Fortunately, I was able to hit the gym this morning and can make that work with a little discipline. Since I went to the gym today, I will weigh tomorrow morning instead of today. I feel pretty good about weighing tomorrow; I probably really didn't have to move the snack forward but I want to be sure I am in deficit for a while.

Yeah sorry I guess I do sound like a broken record. For someone who’s lost and kept off a lot of weight I sure am clueless when it comes to nutrition. I’ll try not to be so annoying.

Today I weighed myself and I was 154.8.

I had a couple string cheeses that were 80 calories each. For lunch I a quesadilla which was 660 calories and then I tried Starbucks new drink and the way I ordered it it had 240 calories. There’s some whipped cream left that I might just leave there. I also had a diet Snapple that had 10 calories. For dinner I’ll probably just have a stuffed pepper that has 200 calories. Total I have down 1,260 but there’s a lot of whipped cream left in my cup so I’m not really sure on the exact amount.

I went over again today, didn't log some stuff yet that was a little high on calories. Tomorrow morning's weigh in will probably still be okay; probably 157 or 158. Still need to work on keeping deficit. I think I need to go a little higher on goal to quit blowing it so easy. It's a mental thing, but once I get a couple of hundred over, it's easy to kind of blow the day off and figure I will make up for it. Stupid, I know. But upping it will make it easier to stick to and still be at a deficit even if it is smaller.

I weigh 169 again. I did not exercise. Target is 2200 calories. I have consumed 2233. I am thinking of increasing my base calories to 2300 or more calories after the weekend in order to stabilize my weight. I need to gain a coupoe pounds back.

I eat 3 meals and maybe 1-2 snacks since I do better on less food and don’t feel well with too much food in my stomach. Need to work on my abs and core, and strength, not 21 anymore.

158 and change this morning. Not making much progress toward mid to lower 150s, but still in my maintenance range of 150 to 160. I have made progress on the recomposition front though. My BF% is probably somewhere in the teens. The back "corners" where my sides meet my back above the hips and a small "pouch" around the navel are the only pockets of fat of much significance left. Now that I am so close, I want them gone also preferably in the next 2 months as I am now 2 months away from my big milestone. My original goal when I started this over a year ago was to turn 60 at a healthy weight (below a BMI of 25) and reasonably fit. Having achieved that, I want to raise the bar; now I would like to turn 60 with a BMI just below 24 and visible abs. I only have to lose 3-4 pounds in 2 months and continue the current exercise regimen. It's very doable. Then will come the long term goals, like not losing any ground before 65...

I am 168 pounds today. I will not run until my weight is above 170 pounds. However, I will exercise at the fitness center. I have had a couple low calorie days. Due to my weight loss, I will up my target weight to 2400 calories. I will consistently meet my target of 2400. I may be over reporting calories consumed, or under reporting calories burned. Lets take one variable out of the picture which for now will he running. Lets see if this provides some good results.

So I have three things to do. No exercise for now. Meet my new target of 2400 calories. This willl go on for two weeks and then look at the results. I will religously assess and log my stats on MFP and here. I have been lacking in discapline.

I have had cereal and eggs for 762 calories. I will have a begal with butter in about a couple hours. This will be 443 calories. Two to three hours later I will have lunch. At 7 PM I will have dinner. I still have not decided on dessert, if I still have calories to consume. I need to keep to a schedule. Discapline, discapline, discapline.

@UpDownAround:

You had mentioned my target calorie range. I do not have one but I do not want to go under 170. This much I know. So I will set a weight range now, between 170 and 174.

@Tucson - the reason I asked about range is that you can cut loose to try to get further back up in the range. If you are 500 over a day, it will take a week to gain a pound. You just need to figure out something affordable that will pack on that kind of calorie count without reviving old bad habits.

Good idea. I will need to think of how this can work for me if I were to cobtinue running. Since I am not running for about one week, maintaining that higher calorie count should be doable. I need to find fat ladened, inexpensive foods or snacks. Maybe I need to start to make desserts again.

I was having a rough day at work and I was really struggling with everything so I went out to lunch. I had French onion soup and fake filet mignon with fries. I also had a brownie with ice cream. I really have no idea how many calories any of it had. That was around 1:30 I think. I had some chips around 2. I’m skipping dinner. My family is getting McDonald’s. I’m still full from lunch.

I have my day planned for tomorrow which includes 2 full meals and 2 decent size snacks. It’s still 1,200 calories but at least I’ll be eating throughout the day.

My next weigh in is Sunday morning.

I have consumed 2633 calories. This is 133 calories above my target. I am raising ny target to 2500 calories for the time being. In this way, I will be gaining weight instead of just maitaining it. I do not think 2300 calories will do it for me. Now how do I manage 2500 calories? Maybe once again drinking smoothies with protien powder. I can always slip in a milk shake instead of the smoothie. Good yogurt costs money.

Yogurt doesn't have to be Greek; a lot of store brand "regular" yogurts are pretty cheap and are often flavored and sweetened with regular sugar and aren't low calorie. Peanut butter is always an easy one for me; I hardly ever eat it because of how quickly it adds up when I eat it. I like a thick layer and will even eat a heaping tablespoon or two right out of the jar. One of the local stores has a great deal on fried chicken drumsticks in the deli. I would have no trouble packing on the extra calories. As much as I whine and complain about trying to get down a little further, it's pretty amazing that I have stayed below goal for 8 months.

Pretty much right at goal yesterday with no exercise. I will get some exercise today; a few TRX circuits. May head up to the gym near work tonight or early AM tomorrow.

So I did get to the gym for a pretty strong calorie burn; ARCTrainer for 50 minutes and pretty good circuit work, plus I did some TRX at home earlier. Ate a lot so it came out close to even though, if my logging is correct.