Dieting in Quarantine

DietAccountability101

DietAccountability101

Active member
Hi all,

Hope everyone is safe and well :)
I'm back...again! Like a monster in a horror movie, I come back more determined and nastier than ever. :flame:

Like many people across the world, I am trying to adjust to social distancing and the other consequences of COVID-19. The most recent development is that I will be on Furlough Leave starting from tomorrow until at least the end of May. This is where the Government pays 80% of my wages while I do not do any work for my employer. I work in Property, and as everybody has been advised against buying or selling property for the foreseeable future, there is going to be a huuuuuuge cash flow issue for at least a couple of months.

It's been years since I had 2/3 months off from working, so I am determined to make the most of my time off. My gym membership has been frozen, so I have been exercising by watching Les Mills classes and going for walks everyday. I have LOVED exercising from home. I wish I had started it sooner as it saves so much time!

There is a risk that I will succumb to boredom so I will also be using this blog to try set out to-do lists to structure my day/week. I have had a couple of weekends doing nothing other than watching Netflix, but the novelty will soon wear off.

Day 1 will start tomorrow. I will take official measurements tomorrow, but I would ideally like to lose a stone/dress size. I literally have no excuses now (no commuting, no work, no friends or family to see) so it should just be a case of putting my mind to it.
 
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So here are the starting stats:
9 stone 13.5 lbs, 35-28-39
Would like to see a couple of inches off each measurement.

Day 1 went well :) It was the first day of my Furlough Leave so, naturally, I took advantage of having a lie-in on a Monday! (And then eventually started on some chores...)

I did a virtual body combat class and a core exercise class, which were both great fun. I would like to keep doing some weight training as I've enjoyed body pump at the gym, but clearly I did not get the message that gym equipment is also a thing that people have been panic buying. I stayed up until half 12 last night trying to look for a body resistance band since they're cheaper and more compact than weights, but everywhere was either sold out or had at least a 2 week waiting time for delivery. In the end, I decided to order one to arrive on 23 April (here's hoping it's not delayed), so I will have to make do with using 2 litre bottles as weights for the time being.

Food:
Breakfast: Garlic mushroom, 2 poached eggs, avocado
Lunch (still full from breakfast): A protein flapjack
Dinner: Chicken rogan josh and half a naan

Nutrition: 1,414 calories, 108.6g protein, 65g fat, 108g carbs
Exercise: 12,375 steps, 2,140 calories
Deficit: 726 calories
 
Hi, 101. I thought I had welcomed you back, but apparently not. I must have got sidetracked. I'm sure you'll make the most of your enforced furlough. Food sounds delicious :)
 
Cate said:
Hi, 101. I thought I had welcomed you back, but apparently not. I must have got sidetracked. I'm sure you'll make the most of your enforced furlough. Food sounds delicious :)
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Thank you :D

overlandflyer said:
just curious as to how you figure this out...?

i have two other questions for you ...what time do you finish dinner? ... and what time do you eat breakfast?
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I have a fitbit, so the hard work is done for me ;) My routine has changed a bit this week as I haven't needed to set my alarm for anything, but I've tried putting off breakfast until at least 10am and dinner is usually around 8pm.
 
Day 2 went well :) I weighed 9 stone 1.25 lbs in the morning.

Exercise was body pump - it went rather well apart from the chest press as couldn't find anything the right weight. I'm sure once I get a bit more familiar with the online classes then I can swap for non-weight options.

Food diary:
Breakfast: protein flapjack
Lunch: tuna mayonnaise salad with brown pasta
Dinner: cod in thai green sauce and veggies
Snack: Garlic mushroom and chorizo

Nutrition: 1,262 calories, 95g protein, 45g fat, 132g carbs
Exercise: 14,970 steps, 2,421 calories:
Deficit: 1,159
 
Your stats are like my dream stats! Haha. I think the best I had when I was starting at the gym years ago was 36-32-40. I would love my waist to be under 30. You sound like you have a good programme going on. Enjoy the bit of free time. I've taken a few breaks like this a number of times in my career and I would recommend it to anyone.
 
Emilyrose said:
Your stats are like my dream stats! Haha. I think the best I had when I was starting at the gym years ago was 36-32-40. I would love my waist to be under 30. You sound like you have a good programme going on. Enjoy the bit of free time. I've taken a few breaks like this a number of times in my career and I would recommend it to anyone.
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Aww thanks! Yeah so far I'm enjoying the time off - just feels like a very long weekend at the moment!

Day 3 was good. Was lovely weather so I spent the day sorting out the garden and then went for a long walk.

Food diary:
Breakfast: Weetabix and a protein shake
Lunch: Chorizo sausage, fried egg and salad
Dinner: Chicken katsu curry with veg
Snacks: a packet of crisps

Nutrition: 1,390 calories, 124g protein, 53g fat, 98g carbs
Exercise: 19,842 steps, 2,364 calories
Deficit: 974 calories
 
DietAccountability101 said:
... My routine has changed a bit this week as I haven't needed to set my alarm for anything, but I've tried putting off breakfast until at least 10am and dinner is usually around 8pm.
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very good... too many people confuse the point of breakfast (first meal after your overnight "fast") with the time of day...early in the morning. delaying your breakfast to give your body a >12 hour break from having to digest food does your system a world of good. after 12+ hours your insulin level should be dropping to the point where your body can access your fat stores to replenish your glycogen stores. without a break like this on a calorie restrictive diet, when you cannot access your fat stores (high insulin levels triggered by digestion), the only choice your body has is to slow down your metabolism to match your caloric intake. something you want to avoid at all costs while dieting. good luck & stay healthy.
 
overlandflyer said:
very good... too many people confuse the point of breakfast (first meal after your overnight "fast") with the time of day...early in the morning. delaying your breakfast to give your body a >12 hour break from having to digest food does your system a world of good. after 12+ hours your insulin level should be dropping to the point where your body can access your fat stores to replenish your glycogen stores. without a break like this on a calorie restrictive diet, when you cannot access your fat stores (high insulin levels triggered by digestion), the only choice your body has is to slow down your metabolism to match your caloric intake. something you want to avoid at all costs while dieting. good luck & stay healthy.
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Thank you for that - I totally didn't realise this! That does make sense though and I will use it as a reason not to rush out of bed in the morning ;)

Day 4 was very boozy. Still feeling a little fragile now. I had a casual beer with friends over facetime in the afternoon, and then in the evening I had a pub quiz with a different set of friends. We went wild with it being the start of the bank holiday (shots etc). I should use the fact that we're communicating over the internet as a reason to drink water in between alcoholic drinks, but the thought did not cross my mind at the time...

I attempted some strength training yesterday, but my legs were not happy with this plan at all. I probably went about half an inch above the ground when I was doing jump lunges. Managed about half an hour in the end, but I am feeling better today so I probably just needed a day off.

Food diary:
Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs with salsa and chorizo
Lunch: tuna salad with brown rice
Dinner: salmon in tomato sauce and veg
Snack: a protein shake
Alcohol: 2 cans of beer, 2 glasses of wine, 2 gin and tonics, half a shot of tequila

Nutrition: 2,310 calories, 104g protein, 39 fat, 131g carbs
Exercise: 17,634 steps, 2,396 calories:
Deficit: 86 calories (what a modest number :p)
 
Forgot to mention that I have been weighing myself each day:
Monday: 9 stone 13.5lbs
Tuesday: 9 stone 12.25lbs
Wednesday: 9 stone 11.5lbs
Thursday: 9 stone 11.75 lbs
Friday: 9 stone 10lbs

Will try to remember to put it in my daily updates so I can monitor which direction it's heading.
 
Thanks very much guys. I weighed myself today and have gone up to 9 stone 11.5 lbs - think yesterday's weight might be due to dehydration from drinking alcohol. Still, I can't knock 2 lbs :)

Yesterday was a fairly lazy Netflix day, but I still managed to do two classes which were Body Combat and Sh'bam. I have been a bit concerned about what would fill the gap if the talk of banning walking outside as exercise did happen, so I'm glad I tried out Sh'bam as it's low intensity so would be a good alternative.

Food diary:
Breakfast: nothing (still asleep!)
Lunch: chicken goujons with salad in a wholemeal wrap
Dinner: chicken curry with veg
Snack: protein cookie

Nutrition: 1,425 calories, 122g protein, 42g fat, 124g carbs
Exercise: 10,619 steps, 2,152 calories burned
Deficit: 728 calories
 
Hey DA, great deficit! I have noticed alcohol dehydration can cause a water weight loss, so that may make sense. Keep on doing what you did today and you'll lose those pounds in fat in no time.
 
Had a lovely bank holiday :) it was my boyfriend's birthday as well (which we were supposed to be in Florida for) so we made up for it by having a long walk near a reservoir we live close to and doing a pub quiz with his family.

Food and exercise diary:

Saturday
Breakfast: ham, boiled egg and salsa
Lunch: protein flapjack
Dinner: chicken curry with a small piece of garlic bread and pizza
Alcohol: 1 gin and tonic, 1 glass of wine, 1 beer
Nutrition: 1,640 calories, 109g protein, 46g fat, 122g carbs
Exercise: 20,447 steps, 2,344 calories
Deficit: 704 calories

Sunday: didn't do one as it was my boyfriend's birthday. We had a huge takeaway though, which was all American food. I did do over 26,000 steps and a body pump class though so I had hoped at the time that might balance it out.

Monday:
Breakfast: nothing (was way too full from the takeaway!)
Lunch: chicken goujons in a wholemeal wrap
Dinner: cod thai curry with veg
Nutrition: 1,403 calories, 87g protein, 47g fat, 148g carbs
Exercise: 8,185 steps, 1,924 calories burned (including a Sh'bam class)
Deficit: 521 calories

Weight:
Sunday 9 stone 11.5 lbs
Monday 9 stone 13.5 lbs
Tuesday 9 stone 13.5 lbs

Measurements on Monday: 35-27.5-39

So looks like that takeaway on Sunday has messed up my week :confused: still I'm happy I still have half an inch off my waist. Non-scale victories!
 
Today's weight was 9 stone 12.75 lbs - good to see it's going down again!

In the spirit of only going to the supermarket when it's necessary, I have been looking up recipes which have canned tuna in them. I made some tuna patties, which were very easy to make and tasted great (so much so that I had them again today). I might actually be half-decent at cooking by the end of this.

Food diary
Breakfast: an apple and banana smoothie
Lunch: tuna patties
Dinner: turkey curry with veg
Nutrition: 1,391 calories, 129g protein, 50g fat, 107g carbs
Exercise: 17,765 steps, 2,450 calories burned (including one Body Combat class)
Deficit: 1,059
 
I love tuna patties. Avoiding the supermarket is a very good idea. Last time I went I had people coming up really close to me grabbing stuff without any physical distancing at all. I won't be going back any time soon. Getting a delivery today.
Happy birthday, belatedly 101's BF for Sunday!
 
Cate said:
I love tuna patties. Avoiding the supermarket is a very good idea. Last time I went I had people coming up really close to me grabbing stuff without any physical distancing at all. I won't be going back any time soon. Getting a delivery today.
Happy birthday, belatedly 101's BF for Sunday!
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Thank you for the birthday wishes for the bf :) Food deliveries in the UK are nearly impossible at the moment. My 88-year-old grandmother is on a priority list for a particular supermarket as she's also disabled, and even then it was a case of checking the website daily for nearly 2 weeks to get her a slot. I nearly ended up having to go to the shops myself and then do a 80 mile trip to drop off the shopping. I had a similar experience to you last time I went out - people are oblivious!

Today I weighed 9 stone 11.5 lbs - now I just need to keep it off this time!

Yesterday went well. I did a body pump and core exercise class and then had a decent walk afterwards. I also found something quite interesting on YouTube about fat loss which I did not know (and would be interested to see if anyone on here has heard this!). Apparently drinking alcohol "pauses" your body's ability to burn fat. I had always thought that if you had a calorie deficit and the alcohol was factored into your macros then your body's fat burning would carry on normal, but my understanding from this video is that alcohol is another matter altogether. I will research it a bit more before I take it as gospel, but some food for thought (she says while typing this and drinking a glass of wine).


Food diary
Breakfast: yogurt, peanut butter and apple
Lunch: tuna patties
Dinner: chicken in black bean sauce and veg
Nutrition: 1,329 calories, 116g protein, 48g fat, 102 carbs

Exercise: 14,034 calories, 2,333 calories
Deficit: 1,004
 
Hi 101
I watched a bit of that video, skipped the part about alcohol though because i don't drink at all--though I must say these covid times have me reconsidering that! I am always interested in how to target fat loss, especially belly fat which doesn't seem to move on me!
You sound like you have a great program going on both with diet and exercise.
 
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