Week 9 – Day 62 of 84

It all comes down to choices.

I can eat nearly PERFECT when I’m at work.  I take all my food for the day (except supper) and since I have no other options in front of me, sticking to that is rather easy.  Then I usually can stick to a healthy supper pretty easy with a little planning.  Now, the weekends, they seem to be a bit more tempting to veer off diet.  When my kids were younger, and I was chasing them around at ballgames and practices and such, I would bring a cooler with me in my car wherever we went.  I had it packed with safe foods that I could eat easily, such as yogurt and Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal; protein bars and RTDs; nuts; tuna packets and pita; etc.  People got really used to seeing me eat my mini meals at ballgames.

Anyway, weekends tend to be a little tougher for me, but when I’m “in the zone”, I usually do really well with my choices.  Eating at Chili’s for supper last night, for instance.  I knew I could eat well off of the Guiltless menu.  Today, I had a baby shower to attend (for my new grandniece), so I ate before I went, and made up my mind before going in that I would NOT be eating.  Dave’s sister invited us to supper (to be able to visit the new baby some more before they make the trip back home).  She cooks very southern and I knew that I might have to make “choices” there, so I ate something before I left and ate small portions of the healthy options she had before us.  But, I did choose to have a little of the “Velveeta shells and cheese” and a sliver of a piece of her birthday cake as well.  So, after saying all that, here’s how today went.

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1113 (+55)

Ratio = 24% protein/52% carbs/24% fat

I’ll be re-evaluating my calories and getting our workouts ready for the final phase tomorrow.  AND it’s Free Day!!

Week 9 – Day 61 of 84

Today Jodi and I are were “on the road” for the biggest part of the day, so eating was tricky.  I went over my calories just a bit.  We were doing great with calories, but we were tempted a bit when we knew we were eating out for supper.  So, we chose Chili’s and both of us ate off the Guiltless Grill.  I had the Black Bean burger, which is YUMMO, and Jodi had the Grilled Chicken platter.

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1298 (+240)

Ratio = 30% protein/55% carbs/16% fat

Week 9 – Day 60 of 84

Day 60! That’s hard to believe.

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1027 (-31)

Ratio = 27% protein/50% carbs/23% fat

One of our co-workers had a birthday today and Judy brought a cake!! I had a piece that was about 1 1/2” square.  I did figure it into the calories above.  That was my only “cheat” this week!! Only two more days of this low calorie misery. (I’m not a believer in this low of calories… I’m only doing it to try to stay within this program.)

Week 9 – Day 59 of 84

Today was busy.  But, my eats are still right on target.

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1069 (+11)

Ratio = 30% protein/50% carbs/20% fat

AND I got 45 grams of fiber!!

Today is cycle day 25 – and I noticed the “need” for chocolate hit me a bit today… I DID NOT cave!

Week 9 – Day 58 of 84

More rest and recovery.  I did well with my eats today!!

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1066 (+8)

Ratio = 30% protein/50% carbs/20% fat (Right on target!!)

B = Protein shake, 1/2c Fiber One Original, small banana

MM = Hummus and carrots (YUM!!)

L = Subway salad with chicken breast and red wine vinaigrette

MM = Joseph’s pita (toasted) and salsa and fat free sour cream

D = Pita pizza (Can bacon, mushrooms, onion, and 2% mozzarella cheese)

MM = Protein pudding and dollop of Cool Whip

Today is cycle day 24, so even though I’m eating LOW calorie this week, I fear hormones may affect my scale weight.  We’ll see how it all plays out.

Week 9 – Day 57 of 84

Today was a rest/recovery day.  I did a series of stretches and three foam roller exercises.  That’s about all I’ll do each day this week.

Today’s Eats:

Goal = 1058 calories (30p/50c/20f)

Actual = 1097 (+37)

Ratio = 31% protein/47% carbs/22% fat

Week 8 – Day 56 of 84

End of Week 8.  Tomorrow begins a rest/recovery week where we will spend our workout time doing intentional stretching and foam rolling.  There’s a little learning curve to using the foam roller… and they are not without some pain!  We get a few laughs doing it, though.

Because we will NOT be working out, our calories will be very low for us.  We’ll be at a 35% deficit of our TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), which is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) plus your activity level.  It’s the same thing as “Maintenance Calories”.  Simply put, if you ate your TDEE daily, you would maintain your weight at your current activity level.  Eat above your TDEE, and you pack on the pounds.  To lose weight, one must be at a deficit.  Calories in, calories out.

We’ll be shooting for 30% protein, 50% carbs (YES!!), and 20% fat.  Very doable. 

So, 35% deficit of my TDEE is equal to 1058 calories.  This is for ONE WEEK only at a very low activity (rest) level.  I would not recommend this for an extended period of time.  In Weeks 10-12, we’ll be at a 40% deficit, but our activity level will be higher, so we’ll be allowed a few more calories… but this will be the final attempt to shed some FAT during our 12 week challenge.

Speaking of shedding fat… I read the Hormonal Timing book and beginning with my next 12-week challenge, I AM so going to start tracking my cycle and symptoms and adjusting my eating/workouts around my cycle days!!! The thought is that two weeks out of the month women are in a fat loss mode and the other two weeks they’re in a muscle building/strength mode.  Diet is adjusted with the two cycles and so are the workout principals. This should be INTERESTING.

On another note, look what I got this weekend…

 

I LOVE ab work!!! Can’t wait!!