Toning Up

I feel like I had all these plans today, and I just lost track of time!

I ran for 50 minutes after class, then did 10min of a really tough treadmill program that totally kicked my butt! Would have done the program for a little longer, but I had to be home at a certain time to make dinner, etc.

I had a largish piece of steak for dinner (lean cut) with mushrooms & A1 sauce (seriously, in when I was little, extreme tension would abound at the dinner table when there wasn't sufficient A1, just like the commercials). And I was proud that I had some steamed veggies as a side instead of my usual baked potato w/lots of (I can't believe it's not) butter. Before that I had handful peanuts, apple, 6oz fruit on the bottom yogurt, piece string cheese.

Later, I walked my dog for a little over half an hour and discovered that the tennis league was at 7, not 6 like I thought. However, I didn't just tie my dog to the tree and play, but rather made a mental note for future weeks.

At night, I made "THE brownies" (a special recipe of mine) for my sister for work for her upcoming birthday. Then, I made a cake for her birthday on Sat. b/c I probably won't get a chance tomorrow. She wanted a strawberries-and-cream cake. While it was baking I did 30 min of intervals on the exercise bike. And when I was hand-whipping the cream, it took me like 15 minutes straight of some hard-core arm work (twice, because I stupidly whipped it in 2 batches)--surely that must count for something. I think I can see my right bicep bulging already, in contrat to my puny left one that was merely holding the bowl.
 
Oh boy, what a day. This morning, I accidentally took two different types of allergy medicine in a short span of time, and so I was really lethargic and had blurry vision at work today. I felt so out of it, that I wasn't sure I was going to go to the gym, but I made myself go! :) Unfortunately, I only got there like an hour before closing because of when I was done working. So, I ran for 35 min (couldn't go any longer...my throat was swollen from the allergies and I was full) and did 15 min of high-intensity hills on the stairstepper.

Unbeknownst to me, my sister decided to celebrate her birthday today instead of tomorrow, so my diet was totally thrown off. I had already had my allotment of sweets before she called up tonight! So, I ate a brownie (hey, I had to try one--and I got rid of the rest so there'll be no unintentional snacking on them) a handful of peanuts, apple, boca burger on 2 slices lite rye bread w/ red onions & reduced calorie cheese substitute, weight watchers t.v. dinner (thai chicken variety), piece of cake & ice cream (luckily, there was NO fattening buttercream on the cake). Oh, and I also had a few fresh strawberries.

I think the funniest part of my day was when I had a post-workout nap. I work in a grocery store, and I was having a dream about checking out a Greek lady. I think she was marinating a rack of lamb with plain yogurt and spices. I asked her if she wanted the lamb in a seperate bag. So, when I woke up, all these boxes and books from above my headboard were piled up on my nightstand like I was "scanning" the objects across my pillow. I always have dreams about work but I never actually sleepwalk/sleepwork like that. Oh well.
 
HAHA thats hilarious :D
I used to sleepwalk in college and I would EAT without even knowing it (but doing it in my dream) I gained like 10 pounds in a very short time because of it. I'd wake up and find random food in random places half eaten. It was SO weird. My roommate had to hide things from me :(
 
The day just seemed to fly by yesterday! I got up early essentially for no reason, as I didn't do anything productive with those extra hours.

I was lazy, so my exercise yesterday consisted of a 45-minute walk with my dog. It was so hot and sunny that she insisted being able to walk in the shade and even laid down in protest in the midst of a couple of particularly sunny patches. I saw a couple of people running (mind you, it was noon and about 85 degrees) and jyst didn't understand why they didn't wait until the evening as I was sweating as it was.

It was actually kind of warm at work, too, becuase I think only the back is air conditioned, and I work up front.

Food for the day: apple, peach, 6oz fruit on the bottom yogurt, serving chips, sliver cake, fat free hot dog on a bun, 2 sugar free fudgesicles, 1c steamed veggies, ½ twizzler.

You know, my intentions with the cake began well...I was just going to even out the one side so I could take a picture of it to add to my recipes. However, some strawberry halves kept getting in the way, rendering the layers uneven, and one thing led to another. As a side note, some fat free things kind of creep me out (like what are they putting in there if it's not real meat??), but I'd reccomend the hot dogs--they were Oscar Meyer, turkey and beef, I think. Only 40 calories per link/6g protein/no fat, and they tasted pretty good. I wouldn't go so far as to stray to the chicken/turkey/pork ones though, as that's just too many types of questionable quality meats for my comfort.
 
Today's been a really soupy and humid day--I swear even my toenails were sweating. I admit that I really didn't do too much for father's day and I feel guilty, but I also feel like it's a trumped-up greeting card holiday. And that's not to say that I don't appreciate my dad, but I feel like unexpected thoughfulness is more appreciated than some cookie cutter tie or card. But enough about my thoughts on that!

According to my scale, it says I would have gained four pounds from where I was a couple of days ago. That makes me want to scream, and consequently, I feel like all the mirrors in my house should be taken down so I can stop examining myself.


Food: apple, 1/4c peanuts, fat free hot dog on a bun, sugar free fudgesicle, few spoonfuls ice cream, ¾ c steamed carrots, 8oz nonfat yogurt, 100 calorie pop, ½ c light ice cream. As I'm sure anyone can see by now, I'm a sucker for ice cream.

Regardless, I did an hour tape of Gilad, and some additional ab and arm work. Though I feel like I'm chipping away at Mt. Everest right now, I guess it'd be even worse if I stopped all together. But really! I've been exercising and trying to eat a reduced calorie diet for like a year and I swear I'm exactly the same!
 
Yeah, I guess it just was water weight.
I'm slowly trying to up my calories to fix my metabolism. Right now I'm on 800 cals/day, but I've been ravenous at night lately (though I try to eat every 3-4hrs.). Does this mean I should up my calories a little bit already, or just ignore the cravings? It's the norm for me to workout at 10/11/12 at night, so does that whole not eating late rule not apply to me since I am going to be physically active?
 
Last night I had a random sweet craving that I just couldn't control. I tried to dupe myself by thinking that I was just going into the kitchen to have a glass of water, but deep down I knew I was going there to eat late. I didn't go too crazy--a 1/2 c of light ice cream and a sliver of cake (NO frosting), not a wild binge, but still calories that I didn't need.

Geez, what was I thinking joining a gym without air conditioning (or at least windows)? My workout kind of suffered because of my extreme sweating and swollen airways due to allergies:mad: . Some curmudgeonly old men were watching the sweat pour off of me with kind of creepy grins on their faces:eek: , which I didn't appreciate.

So, at the gym I did 20 min of running, 10 min of a treadmill program, and 15 minutes on the Stairmaster. At home, I did a Gilad tape.

I ate reduced sugar oatmeal w/H20, 6oz light ‘n’ fit yogurt, 6oz fruit on the bottom yogurt, 1c steamed veggies, string cheese, 100 calorie pop, 6oz light ‘n’ fit creamy yogurt, apple, 3oz turkey breast, sugar free popsicle. I'm trying to clear out a fridge full of yogurt that expires on Saturday, so I'll pretty much be eating that for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week!

I'm looking forward to trying a new ab routine tomorrow that I didn't get a chance to do today and this random soy pseudo-beef jerky. I've been intrigued by it for months, so I finally went for the gusto today and bought it. However, I did avoid the bulk candy which was in the next aisle:) --a big weakness of mine!
 
Last edited:
CollegeGirl said:
I'm slowly trying to up my calories to fix my metabolism. Right now I'm on 800 cals/day, but I've been ravenous at night lately (though I try to eat every 3-4hrs.). Does this mean I should up my calories a little bit already, or just ignore the cravings? It's the norm for me to workout at 10/11/12 at night, so does that whole not eating late rule not apply to me since I am going to be physically active?
Click to expand...

Looking at your daily food intake, Im surprised noone has mentioned that you're not eating anything! 800 calories is way too few and the 800 that I see is a bunch of candy and popsicles. You're getting absolutely no protein, which is like premium unleaded fuel (comparison). The eating late rule is ridiculous, just dont overload yourself with carbs before bed. Eat something low in carbs and with good amounts of protein. You need to get up to at least 1400 calories, no wonder you're saying you're hungry.

Dont ignore the food cravings, but eating more good stuff throughout the day should help you to reduce the sugar cravings. You lift weights?
 
tonymcclellan said:
Looking at your daily food intake, Im surprised noone has mentioned that you're not eating anything! 800 calories is way too few and the 800 that I see is a bunch of candy and popsicles. You're getting absolutely no protein, which is like premium unleaded fuel (comparison). The eating late rule is ridiculous, just dont overload yourself with carbs before bed. Eat something low in carbs and with good amounts of protein. You need to get up to at least 1400 calories, no wonder you're saying you're hungry.

Dont ignore the food cravings, but eating more good stuff throughout the day should help you to reduce the sugar cravings. You lift weights?
Click to expand...

I was just thinking the same thing! I was reading your journal, and it definetly seems like you could use more calories, and more protein, less sugar. If you up your protein and calories, it should help with some of the sugar cravings (i'm learning that from experience as well). You should be lifting weights too if you aren't. I know I'm just repeating the post above, but it's a really good point, and it's exactly what I was thinking.
 
Well, I am digesting your comments, but I also must defend myslef, as that's my nature.:)

"A bunch of candy and popsicles" shows me that you haven't viewed my whole food diary, as I've had like 3 twizzlers in total and just bought popsicles a few days ago. And though I do realize that I eat many nutritionless sweets, for better or for worse, I'm an artificial sweetner kind of girl, so it's not as if I'm all hopped up on actual sugar or consuming an excess of dessert calories, as things such as sucralose have extra atoms added onto the sugar molecule to prevent them from being metabolized by the body. Then again, I read that in some ways, actual sugar may be better (i.e., making you feel satiated).

And as for protein, I'm not sure how much is enough. I've heard that the average american or avid weightlifter loads up on protein, and all the excess is merely excreted by the body on a daily basis. Moreover, I went to this vegan nutrition seminar for a class last semester, and I think they said something about the body not really needing protein (however, I didn't really believe much of what the speaker said: stuff like dairy products cause breast cancer, and calcium doesn't do much to prevent loss of bone density:confused: ). Yet, I do eat lots of yogurt which has about 6-8g of protein a pop, and usually one meat-packed diet entree, or piece of meat/soy pseudo-meat product per day. I'd estimate I get more or less 20g of protein on any given day, but I have no idea if that's low or what:confused: .

In addition, i know I need to increase my calories, but I feel I need to do it slowly so I can make an actual routine out of it instead of just a fleeting higher-cal crash diet. I'm just trying to take baby steps with the calories, here!:)

Finally (!), I have been an avid weight-lifer for the past 3.5-4yrs. I mix it up with a binder of workouts from magazines with free weights, weight-based exercise videos, and gym machines. I try to increase the weight of the dumbells whenever my muscles don't get sufficiently fatigued.
 
Hi Collegegirl,

I understand your defense. You have done a lot of homework on the subject.
I think all people are saying is that 800 is low to begin with and to add any sort of empty calories to an already very low calorie total is hard on the body. Its hard enough to get enough nutrients to function on the typical "low calorie" level of 1200-1300.

I've done a lot of homework too and my major in college was exercise phys so I know a little, even tho its been a while...

Protein is a building block. Without sufficient quantities your body will break down its own tissue for energy. Lack of protein can cause growth failure, loss of muscle mass, decreased immunity, weakening of the heart and respiratory system, and even death. 20 grams is NOTHING. I eat more than that just at breakfast. Its recommended to at the least get 1 g per kg of body weight. Vegetarians need protein like the rest of us but they get it in non-animal forms like soy, combos like beans and rice, lentals, peanut butter , eggs, whole wheat etc.

Calcium is a mineral that the body needs for many functions, like building and maintaining bones and teeth, blood clotting, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the regulation of the heart beat. Dairy isn't necessary to getting calcium. I hardly eat any dairy. But vitamins D (sunlight) and K (leafy and dark veggies) are important in building bones and regulating some of the mentioned funcions and not getting too much vitamin A. there is a possible correlation between dairy and breast cancer but you can glean calcium from way more sources than just dairy if thats your concern.

your body will get used to what you give it. If you have been eating 800 cals for a long time thats what your body expects and adapts to it. however, just cause it seems to continue funcitoning for you doesn't mean its healthy or nourished. You can't see the long term effects of what your current lifestyle is doing. I do know that before my ED when i was 13 I had normal bone density. After my ED I had bones comparable to an 80 yr olds and its taken 16 years to get slightly under where I should be for my age. Bones aren't something to mess with, we can't see whats happening to them and just cause they aren't breaking doesn't mean they aren't seriously deteriorating and going to give us major grief when we're older.

I'm glad you want to increase cals and doing it slowly is wise and preferred. I've been doing this myself and would be glad to give you pointers as you begin or get edgy with it...because it is a little bit challenging when you're not used to it. you kind of have to just start it in blind faith that its going to work and your body will cooperate, because it will.

Everyone here wants to see you succeed at your goals. We're on your team!
 
Everyone here wants to see you succeed at your goals. We're on your team!
Click to expand...

This is true. We're are here for help. If you need to talk, I'm here. I might not be the best person to answer your questions, but I will try my best and the other people on here can answer where I can't.
 
CollegeGirl said:
"A bunch of candy and popsicles" shows me that you haven't viewed my whole food diary, as I've had like 3 twizzlers in total and just bought popsicles a few days ago.
Click to expand...

Sorry I did notice a turkey sandwich one day lol ;) As for all that yogurt, I'll say Yoplait for example so when you get a yogurt with 6g protein, your also getting 20g of carbs. You should try to get 1g per lean pound of bodyweight as a guide. Whoever that speaker was, should not be speaking to anyone again. Get your calories up, your body is probably wondering where they are. Good Luck.
 
All I can say is get the cals up and keep going.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top