davisgirl’s journal

[davisgirl]

Hi everyone! Excited to find a forum where I can document my journey and meet others doing the same.

I started my diet July 7th at 227 pounds. I always struggled with my weight! I feel like I was always 20 pounds overweight, but lo and behold, add a couple decades and kids and a divorce and BAM! I need to lose a hundred pounds. But more than that, I need to relearn my relationship with food and exercise. I didn’t get here making healthy choices. And at 50, it’s time to do right by myself.

Exercise has always been a problem for me. I dreaded it. My biggest change is getting over that. My body needs some level of strenuous physical activity every day, and I owe it to myself to be strong and healthy. My main exercise inspiration is FatMeetsFire. I’ve been going to the gym most days. I don’t have a personal trainer or much of a structured plan (yet). Here is my typical workout:

— stretch, 5 minutes
— weight training on Precor machines, mostly upper body arms and back, 15 minutes
— elliptical, my current favorite is the arc trainer, 20 minutes at higher intensity
— weight training, same as before, 15 minutes
— treadmill on a high incline, or rowing machine, 20 minutes.

I stretch more in between. This workout kicks my ass. I get nasty red face . But I feel great. After my workout, I shower and swim for a bit and take a soak in the hot tub. Before I started exercising, I had frequent shoulder, neck, and low back pain. All gone...

For the diet, I’m doing keto and intermittent fasting with a 25% calorie deficit. Carbs are my weakness and with a (rough) starting BMI of 35, family history of diabetes, and weight in my midsection, it’s the obvious choice. My main keto inspiration is Dr Berg and I devour his YouTube content voraciously. My target is 25 net carbs a day, but some days it’s in the low 30s.

Adjusting to the keto diet has been — challenging. I find that I have to track everything to hit my macros. In the process of tracking everything, I’ve found nutritional deficits that linger despite my best attempts at including “super” foods. My biggest challenges seem to be certain minerals, electrolytes (especially potassium), and B vitamins. I hate supplements as a rule, but I’ll be adding a generic multivitamin and a bit of Lite Salt.

I’m a bit confused about the protein component — at my body weight, the recommendations are for 100+ gr/day. This is a challenge, and I’ll need to recheck the calculations as my weight dips because this number is always moving.

Here are some photos:


I wish I had taken a side photo. I’ll start doing that.

Day 10, down 6 lbs:


Today is day 20, and my scale still reads 221. So, I guess I lost zero pounds in the past 10 days. I’m pretty disappointed as there may have been little cheats here or there but I’ve been on task. And I can see big changes. So maybe my weight is redistributing a bit, I’m going to double down and stay on task because truthfully I feel great. I’ll get some fresh pics later today.

That’s all for now, thank you for reading!

 

[alligatorob]

Hey Davis, welcome to the forum! Congratulations on losing 6 pounds, in just 3 weeks that is pretty good. If you read through the diaries and pages here you will find that weight loss is never uniform, we all have ups and downs, but if we eat right in the long run it will always be down. For folks like you and me anyway, people who need to lose a lot.

There are others here who can better advise you on diet and exercise details, but I will give you support and from time to time maybe some unscientific advice.

Hey, I like the pictures, you are braver than I. I avoid the camera when I am as heavy as I am now. Oh, and you look pretty good now, as you get healthier you will look even better!

 

[davisgirl]

Hey Davis, welcome to the forum! Congratulations on losing 6 pounds, in just 3 weeks that is pretty good. If you read through the diaries and pages here you will find that weight loss is never uniform, we all have ups and downs, but if we eat right in the long run it will always be down. For folks like you and me anyway, people who need to lose a lot.

There are others here who can better advise you on diet and exercise details, but I will give you support and from time to time maybe some unscientific advice.

Hey, I like the pictures, you are braver than I. I avoid the camera when I am as heavy as I am now. Oh, and you look pretty good now, as you get healthier you will look even better!

Thanks Alligarob! This has been a real change for me. I’ve broken some bad habits and started better ones the past 20 days. I really feel like I’ve gotten myself off to the best start possible.

I try not to let myself think about how far I have to go. I’m setting small goals in my mind. When I’m blasting out a workout and struggling to breath, I’ve been repeating “7 lbs” in my mind. I just want to lose 7 pounds! Over and over ...

Haha, yeah starting pictures are a lot more fun with a glamorous “after” pic to complement them. I’ve got plenty of time.

Thanks for the comment and encouragement. I will look for your diary.

 

[Trusylver]

Welcome to the forum

— stretch, 5 minutes
— weight training on Precor machines, mostly upper body arms and back, 15 minutes
— elliptical, my current favorite is the arc trainer, 20 minutes at higher intensity
— weight training, same as before, 15 minutes
— treadmill on a high incline, or rowing machine, 20 minutes.

Stretching should not be the first thing on your list, Stretching needs to be done when the muscles are warm at the end of training. What you need to be doing before lifting is a warmup to prevent injury.

I’m a bit confused about the protein component — at my body weight, the recommendations are for 100+ gr/day. This is a challenge, and I’ll need to recheck the calculations as my weight dips because this number is always moving.

If you can find out your bodyfat % base your protein intake on lean mass to not only be a little more accurate to your needs, it will be a much more stable number as you drop bodyfat.

 

[Cate]

Hi, davisgirl & welcome to the forum. Doing keto & IF & reducing calories must bring you rewards. Setting small goals & congratulating yourself as you go is a really good idea. Making healthier changes & losing slowly will help you when you get to maintenance. You have found a good place for support here. Cheers, Cate.

 

[davisgirl]

Welcome to the forum



Stretching should not be the first thing on your list, Stretching needs to be done when the muscles are warm at the end of training. What you need to be doing before lifting is a warmup to prevent injury.



If you can find out your bodyfat % base your protein intake on lean mass to not only be a little more accurate to your needs, it will be a much more stable number as you drop bodyfat.

Hi Trusylver! Thanks, and thank you for the tips.

I actually do the bulk of my stretching during and after my workout. That wasn’t clear from my post. I start out with some quick stretching because it feels so good — most days I head into the gym a bit sore still from the day before. Not to worry about overtraining, although at my level of fitness my workouts are like boot camp to me.

My protein target came from the calculator over at r/ketogains based on an estimated BMI of 35. The calculation is based on lean body mass, but that is only as good as the input and that 35 number is rough. It’s well over the 100s but I’m coming in the 90s just to be on the safe side. My daily intake before was likely 60 grams, so it’s an adjustment. I think I just need to take some measurements to calculate a more accurate BMI? I should have taken measurements at the start but I just started. But yes, I am expecting that protein requirement to go down as I progress...

 

[davisgirl]

Hi, davisgirl & welcome to the forum. Doing keto & IF & reducing calories must bring you rewards. Setting small goals & congratulating yourself as you go is a really good idea. Making healthier changes & losing slowly will help you when you get to maintenance. You have found a good place for support here. Cheers, Cate.

Thanks for the encouragement! The path seems very far ... I need to break it down just to wrap my head around it.

I’ve tried and failed and sputtered my way to this weight, I’ve lost it all at least once, and I think I got the problem figured down to lifestyle. Fairly frequent carb-laden binge eating, coupled with little to no exercise, are what got me here, kept me here, and will return me to this place or worse if unchecked.

And so I turned 50 and had my come to Jesus moment and realized it all had to change for good or it would stay the same. A bit of discipline and choosing to do what’s right for tomorrow, today. Along with the diet, I find excuses all throughout the day for short bursts of activity, whatever that may be, as I’m a bit of the mindset that I’d rather be doing more so than exercising.

I’m excited to get to know you all. I’m glad I found the forum. You’ll be seeing more of me.

 

[alligatorob]

The path seems very far ... I need to break it down just to wrap my head around it.

My take on the path and goals is that what I am trying to do is find a healthy way to live the rest of my life, I don't really set weight goals. My only goal is to eat well today, that's not usually a high bar, and I will know soon if I made it. If I can stay on the path making that one goal every day I know the weight will follow. Anyway it works for me, so far, I know we are all different and my way may or may not work for you. The nice thing about this place is you will find a variety of ideas and opinions to sort through to find your way. I am still in the process of doing that, probably will be for a long time.

One thing that has been instructive for me is to read the diaries of people here who have lost weight and have been at or near goal for a while. They still have struggles, as I am sure I will if one day I am lucky enough to get there. That is why I think this just has to be a new way of living my life, not something with a finish line.

I see you have already attracted the attention of some pretty wise folks. I find all advice here helpful, I don't always follow it all, but it is helpful.

had my come to Jesus moment

Mine came and went a long time ago, probably more than once.

Hang in here, I think the forum will be good for you, and I know you will be good for the forum!

 

[Trusylver]

My protein target came from the calculator over at r/ketogains based on an estimated BMI of 35. The calculation is based on lean body mass, but that is only as good as the input and that 35 number is rough. It’s well over the 100s but I’m coming in the 90s just to be on the safe side. My daily intake before was likely 60 grams, so it’s an adjustment. I think I just need to take some measurements to calculate a more accurate BMI?

Ketogains (not the Reddit group) is very good, and yes it is based on bodyfat% not BMI. Luis is quite approachable on the facebook group.

BMI does not give any indication of lean mass. You are obviously a member of a gym, does it have a person there that is trained in taking bodyfat measurements using calipers ? if your looking for a gold standard measurement then a DEXA scan or Bodpod reading is to be recommended (I am looking forward to my Bodpod measurements next week).

Ketogains will often point people towards a visual estimate or the Navy method for estimation bodyfat % neither is particularly accurate but better than nothing. Bio-electric impedance scales are terrible for accuracy as well.

 

[davisgirl]

My take on the path and goals is that what I am trying to do is find a healthy way to live the rest of my life, I don't really set weight goals. My only goal is to eat well today, that's not usually a high bar, and I will know soon if I made it. If I can stay on the path making that one goal every day I know the weight will follow. Anyway it works for me, so far, I know we are all different and my way may or may not work for you. The nice thing about this place is you will find a variety of ideas and opinions to sort through to find your way. I am still in the process of doing that, probably will be for a long time.

One thing that has been instructive for me is to read the diaries of people here who have lost weight and have been at or near goal for a while. They still have struggles, as I am sure I will if one day I am lucky enough to get there. That is why I think this just has to be a new way of living my life, not something with a finish line.

I see you have already attracted the attention of some pretty wise folks. I find all advice here helpful, I don't always follow it all, but it is helpful.
Mine came and went a long time ago, probably more than once.

Hang in here, I think the forum will be good for you, and I know you will be good for the forum!

I love that “today is the only day that matters”. So true, and in a lot of ways. It will help to put this journey in perspective.

Ketogains (not the Reddit group) is very good, and yes it is based on bodyfat% not BMI. Luis is quite approachable on the facebook group.

BMI does not give any indication of lean mass. You are obviously a member of a gym, does it have a person there that is trained in taking bodyfat measurements using calipers ? if your looking for a gold standard measurement then a DEXA scan or Bodpod reading is to be recommended (I am looking forward to my Bodpod measurements next week).

Ketogains will often point people towards a visual estimate or the Navy method for estimation bodyfat % neither is particularly accurate but better than nothing. Bio-electric impedance scales are terrible for accuracy as well.

I’m a bit new to keto and I assumed ketogains was a Reddit thing. Oops!

Not sure about the caliper thing at the gym. I’m sure they do have someone like that. I’m still at the point where I feel like I kind of get in there, keep my nose down, and then gtfo. My eventual plan, ideally, is to spend less time in the room with all the equipment and more in the room with all the heavy metal. I have a ways to go though. Cardio is my friend.

One thing I love about my gym, it’s just a local Y but it’s perfect: if I head there late morning I can practically have the place to myself. The later in the day the more jockeying for position.

I pulled my 35% number from a form at the doctors office, but a different calculator gave a 37% number. Either number works for my purposes, at least for now. I think it counts my lean muscle mass at some crazy 130 lbs — which is more than my goal weight. So I guess on the course of this journey, I’ll be losing some muscle mass. Strange how that works.

 

[davisgirl]

Today was a sobering workout. I’ve been generally gung ho with my workouts, trying to follow the #fatmeetsfire guy’s philosophy. And today, I did not “bring it” to the gym. Nope. I dragged my ass in there and just did the best I could to drag my ass through the motions with the proper form, and at an appropriate heart rate. I felt fatigued on the cardio. Perhaps all this weight pounding on my knees and calves and thighs is catching up to my legs. I had to lower the normal resistance and intensity, and in the end had to finish the cardio on the rowing machine, off my feet.

The weights went good. I went up in almost everything. Maybe I’ve been taking it easy, but today I took it to where I could barely do my 8 reps without making faces.

Took fresh pics. I can feel big changes but I don’t see much from the pics. I did get the side view this time, which squarely identifies my problem area.



So, still feeling disappointed with no weight loss the past 10 days. I know I’m doing all the right things. With reduced calories and more exercise, the changes will come. I need to learn to play the long game in this, and my impulse is to want it now. In the meantime, I need to finetune the exercise and nutrition as I go and learn. And be honest about shortcomings. I have some things to work on. I’ve been trying to do all my eating between noon and 6pm, but sometimes I’ve been having dinner late. And my choice of fats could be adjusted. As I make the changes, I’m thinking a lot about when I reach my goal weight and what my diet looks like then. I’m thinking that not a lot will change. The calories will be about the same, I calculated a maintenance number at my goal weight on some website and it came in at 1450ish. That seems reasonable. One of the things that will change is my protein requirement will go WAY down, almost half what it is now. I’ll need to replace those calories with the best stuff, and definitely not more fat.

I better go make dinner so I can eat on time. Hope everyone had a great day!

 

[Trusylver]

I pulled my 35% number from a form at the doctors office, but a different calculator gave a 37% number. Either number works for my purposes, at least for now. I think it counts my lean muscle mass at some crazy 130 lbs — which is more than my goal weight. So I guess on the course of this journey, I’ll be losing some muscle mass. Strange how that works.

You do not want to loose muscle mass if you can help it, your muscle keeps your metabolism up and has 50% of your insulin receptors, less muscle means less food you can eat and higher chance of diabetes.

I would suggest you take a look at the ketogains website, there is a fair bit of scientific references made and it explains the why. Numbers are just that numbers, if you understand the reason behind those numbers it becomes easier.

Nope. I dragged my ass in there and just did the best I could

This is good, there are plenty of days when we don't feel up to it, but consistency counts, getting in and doing it, even at a lower intensity is better than not showing up at all (unless you are sick or injured)

 

[Cate]

Well done on pushing through when you did not feel like doing it. I'm sure you felt better for it

 

[davisgirl]

Hey thanks Trusylver! Thanks Cate! I feel like I can use that encouragement. I feel a bit shitty overall, didn’t sleep well last night. Worrying about electrolytes and such.

I’ve decided to do the best I can to ward off muscle soreness and stiffness. Extra stretching and keeping a move on helps. I also spiked a bit of a snack for myself with some cannabis infused coconut oil. Going to sleep like a baby tonight! My version of a nightcap haha.

Trusylver: “You do not want to loose muscle mass if you can help it,”

Ok, hear me out. When I went to the ketogains calculator, plugged in F 5’ 5” 227 sedentary 35% body fat, it spit out a bunch of numbers including the protein requirement of 100+ Grams per day, based on a “lean body mass” it calculated of 134 pounds. My protein requirement is based on 134 pounds of lean mass. My goal weight is 127 pounds. I want to lose FAT til the cows come home — but I do want to lose muscle. A lot of it, in fact. My “dream body” (haha can we talk about that) is me from my 20s with much more definition — my age will do that by itself, the fact that I now get adequate exercise and light weight training will help. I certainly don’t want to be a muscley girley man!

I think my leg muscles in particular will need to lay off a bit because they’re pulling helluva weight now. I think anyone who loses a lot of weight loses muscle weight as well, so losing some of it must not be a bad thing. I’ll have to do it the healthy way though, and I’m on track. I’ll need to recalculate my macros frequently as the weight goes down, and go from there. I’ll need to change up my exercise routines so I don’t get comfortable or bored, and learn how my body responds. I’d love to start a running program, it’s a dream actually, but I’m a good 40 pounds away I think.

Here’s a look at what I’m eating. This was today. The macros are based on the numbers I mentioned, looking for a 1.5 lb/week weight loss:




The day was originally perfect on the macros, but I forgot to add the mozzarella cheese at dinner. I feel a lot better after dinner. Maybe the coconut oil ...

This is a pretty standard day for me. Usually there is an avocado in there somewhere. I need to focus on healthy fats and leaner meats too, less butter. Lots of room for improvement. Maybe find some kidney friendly foods to help with that protein? I need to spend the fat grams wisely too. All of them really. I’ve learned so much about keto and nutrition, and still so much more I need to know. I have glaring gaps in my nutrients, some of the b vitamins, several trace minerals, and especially potassium. I started taking a multivitamin to address some of that, but I’ll be picking up some lite salt hoping for an extra 700 grams or so. On my best day I’m lucky to see 3,500 and I’m generally closer to 2,500. I’ve been eying Dr Bergs array of supplements — his keto kit — but I can’t bring myself to lay out the funds until I know more what I’m doing. I’ll make do for now with the generic multivitamin and the lite salt.

Ive never made my home in the kitchen but a lot of my focus is there now, planning the day and weighing things out. I’m enjoying this journey. Thanks for being there!

I just got the MyFitnessPal and learning my way around it. I spend a lot of time planning my meals and testing various combinations. As I do, I think about what my maintenance diet will look like. About the same calories, with a lot less protein. What will I eat instead? Maybe I’ll have an easier time filling some of those nutrient holes. Before MyFitnessPal I was using nutrientvalue.org and that site calculates everything, but it’s a bit more laborious.

I’m already 6% of the way there!

 

[alligatorob]

Hey Davis, you are off to a great start! I am quite impressed by you food logging and your exercise routine, you will do well. And 6% of the way there is good, just think where you would be if you had not started this diet and exercising!

My “dream body” (haha can we talk about that) is me from my 20s with much more definition — my age will do that by itself, the fact that I now get adequate exercise and light weight training will help. I certainly don’t want to be a muscley girley man!

I used to day dream about getting my body into tip top shape, the George Clooney look was my target. Before that it was Sean Connery. Don't suppose I will ever get there, I also used to dream of winning the lottery, sometimes I still do, but that never happened either.

I wouldn't worry about being a "muscley girley man", fit women with muscle are sexy. That is where I suspect your are headed!

 

[davisgirl]

Hey good morning Alligatorob! Thanks for the kudos. That was a fun post for me, lots of fantasy dreaming and planning ahead. 6% sounds so much better than 6 lbs, I don’t know why. While I wish the 6 lbs were 8 or 10, I’m proud of myself just for getting off to such a good start. I have all my previous false starts to blame for this smooth one.

The hard part for me is going to be the staying power. I’m the one who charges in all gung ho, meets initial resistance, and then my drive peters out. I’m going to hit plateaus, have cheat days, maybe deal with a minor injury, but I’m in this for good now. I need a second wave of enthusiasm and this forum is helping a lot. Seeing so many people who have gone beyond the “diet” to sustainable lifestyles is inspiring. People who quietly go about their program knowing the scale is not going to magically drop 2 pounds every time they turn around.

My sister has been doing weight watchers for a year. She’s had her ups and downs, but has found a way to make it work, and is now down almost 30 pounds. Small progress over time is going to bring in the numbers.

Over time. Must be patient with myself.

I live in a super rural area. My town has 300 people. The grocery store, gym, everything is 30 minutes away. I have to pick up that lite salt today and get some fresh veggies, so I may as well go into the gym and do a little work, probably just some cardio or stretching.

After my workout, I love to cool down with a swim, followed by a short soak in the jacuzzi. I feel like the jacuzzi melts up the fat a bit. Unfortunately, it’s time for yearly maintenance at the Y so the pool is closed for renovations for another 3 weeks. Really miss my full routine, and I wonder if the loss of the additional stretching I do in the pool and the jacuzzi is what made me feel so wonky yesterday.

Eh, I’ll get the lite salt tomorrow and figure out a way to fit a whole avocado into the numbers. Time to hit the macros. Haha, I love these little faces. I’ll find a way to get some good movement around here. There are some body weight routines I like to do, stretching, and I’ve got a couple dogs I can take on the roads for a good walk.

Aw, the girly man muscles. I was feeling a bit silly. Truthfully, women’s bodies are beautiful muscles or not, and kudos to all who are willing to do the work to bulk up. My ideal is slim but strong and toned, a little definition definitely. In the end I’ll take what I can get, belly paunch, loose skin and all. I feel so much better already, I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like to have 20 or 50 pounds gone. I have fairly chronic (severe the past 5 years) shoulder and neck pain. It’s caused me to shy away from activities, and the inaction causes me to stiffen up more. Then in the past year — low back pain had begun to set in. Now just 3 weeks in and the low back pain is gone and my shoulder and neck problems are only at 20% what they were, with no OTC or prescriptions beyond my coconut oil. I think the exercise and swimming afterward really help me to loosen up. Can’t wait to see the pool when it’s finished!

You know, looking at that 6% number, I feel like I’m farther ahead than that. When I “officially” started the diet I was at 227. But this time a year ago, I was at my top weight ever of 246. That was a tough weight, and I lost it without formal diet and exercise, just by not being a total asshole with my eating. I got to that weight binging on things like apple fritters, and I dropped it by no longer purchasing apple fritters and such.

Is it possible to hijack one’s own thread? I apologize for getting pretty random here, but just wanting to give you all a glimpse into my life and challenges etc.

Yeah the running. It is one of my dreams. Always. I have a niece in her 40s who has been doing triathlons for decades. She has tried to start me on a couch to 5k program before. I will do it eventually, with 2 main barriers. First, my current size means I can’t do much more bouncing on these legs beyond the elliptical. Second, always been a smoker, hardcore pack a day for 30 years type of thing. Never could quit. Until 4 years ago when I switched to vaping. Huge improvement, no more bronchitis and colds every winter, major quality of life improvement. But I suspect my lungs are not on par with a non smoker yet. Yet.

I’ll revisit the running in another 30 or so pounds. Because I’m looking for a group of core exercise activities I can do most days, and running would complement that nicely. And I know running helps me drop weight, I ran years ago to slim down for my wedding and it was fast and mostly painless and the weight came off in all the right places. So maybe I can hit that 180 or 190 number, hit a little plateau, and bring in the running to help see me through the rest of the weight loss.

 

[davisgirl]

Yesterday sucked overall. I did some new stretching and ab routines, so that was good. But in the evening my sugar cravings were too much and I splurged by about 400 calories outside of my eating window. Net carbs still in the low 30s, so not a total loss. Hoping to redeem myself today.

Not looking forward to the gym. I feel sore and tired. It’ll probably be the best thing for me.

 

[alligatorob]

in the evening my sugar cravings were too much and I splurged by about 400 calories outside of my eating window. Net carbs still in the low 30s, so not a total loss. Hoping to redeem myself today.

Hey, in the big picture 400 calories is nothing, what matters is what you do today and going forward. Evenings have always been one of my big weaknesses, what I do now is plan for it and leave a few calories for an evening snack. Seems to be working so far.

 

[Cate]

It's just another day & it's done & dusted.
I'm really going to try to eat very little in the evening. I think most of us get cravings then & it's a dangerous time.
Hope gym doesn't kill you

 

[davisgirl]

Hey, in the big picture 400 calories is nothing, what matters is what you do today and going forward. Evenings have always been one of my big weaknesses, what I do now is plan for it and leave a few calories for an evening snack. Seems to be working so far.

That’s a smart way to do it. I know I have this terrible sweet tooth, so I’ve devised a way to feed it. I allocate 270 calories every day. It’s a weird little food thing I do, so:

2 tbsp organic peanut butter
2 tbsp almond flour
Drip of vanilla extract
1 tsp fake sugar

Stir to combine. So it makes a little mixture of what looks and tastes like peanut butter cookie batter. Super rich and sweet. I take little tiny bites on a spoon until it’s gone, and enjoy it immensely.

I leave other things out so that I can enjoy this one bit of decadence. Most days, I am able to enjoy it immensely. The other day though, after my fasting window had closed, and before bedtime, I made a second. Then a third. Oh my.

I need to do better at being strong, enjoying my one portion, and let it go. I was not hungry at the time, but the call for sweets was loud. Binging is a problem for me. If I can’t get it together, I will stop bringing the peanut butter in the house.