[saef]

Up to 150.9, in the wrong direction, and this is probably due to working from home for two weeks straight, which means there's a kitchen near my desk and that I'm a little lonely.

Still, I'm lower than when the holidays began, so that's something. And I'm interested in what my treadmill running twice a week may do for me, and also in how increasing weights may make changes in me. It seems to have roused my appetite, sadly.

It's snowy here and the roads and driveways and parking spaces all have arteriosclerosis.

[silverbirch]

No butter yesterday (Friday 3rd). Streak is 3.

I realise that wearing shoes with heel supports (not slippers or sandals) indoors supports my feet which has a direct and beneficial effect on my ankles, knees, hips and SI joint. I think I might buy myself a groovy pair in a funky colour rather than making do with a pair of black outdoor ones. And this will mean that I keep fit to do more focused exercise.

neurodoc, impressive lifting. Good luck with the new phase of eating. I like the idea of planning for your evening desire for carbs and fat.

You've looked at this infuriating development from all angles, I know, so forgive me if I go onto well-trodden ground again, especially as I'm a rank amateur in this area. Are you content that your body is getting and being able to use OK proportions of fat, carbs, protein, etc? And that you're getting and being able to use all the necessary vitamins and minerals? What about the potential of fibre to pad out your carbs without adding any extra calories?

I remember that you had an appointment with some kind of dietician before Christmas and that it wasn't particularly useful. Is there any mileage in trying someone else?

saef, increasing weights makes me absolutely ravenous.

ETA: you can't tell from my avatar but I am totally ripped. ..... Well, some of my muscles are pretty good.

[neurodoc]

Actually, I got several useful pieces of advice from the dietician. First and foremost is that "planning for the evening binge" thing. Honestly, in all the years I've been resisting the impulse to eat (carbs) after dinner, it never once entered my mind that it might be OK to actually eat after dinner. Yeah, I know, all those years of higher education and so on, but really I've been so heavily indoctrinated into the "eating near bedtime is bad" thing that the one solution I didn't think of was giving in to it in a planned way (other than a measly mini bag of low-fat popcorn, which was totally inadequate and set me up for failure).

The other big change I'm working on is striving for 120 grams of protein per day (that's 480 cals worth, if you're counting). Supposedly, you need that much if you're trying to build muscle mass without going over TDEE. It's really, really hard to do that on a total calorie allotment of 1400-1600 though, and since I made the decision to restrict cals again, I've spent the last day researching high-protein low cal options. I prefer to consume whole foods only, not supplements, but it looks like I'll be adding whey protein powder to some of my carbs for awhile - otherwise I'd live on nothing but meat and fish with garnishes :>)

The third important thing I got from the dietician was a reality check. My resting metabolic rate is NOT broken, and my body fat % is not the 25% I had assumed (though guaranteed not to be 17%; I rechecked with calipers at my gym and it's north of 20%).

For the record, sustained cardio makes me much hungrier than weight lifting. I no longer do more than ~30 min of cardio machines for that very reason (and I prefer to do 12 min of HIIT instead - same calorie burn, 1/3 of the time :>)

[alinnell]

There was an article in the LA Times today about IF and I asked DH if he had read it. He said he scanned it. I've been reading up on IF and we discussed it a bit and both agreed to give it a try. So, starting next week (Monday) we'll embark. We already have a fairly healthy diet so we'll stick to that and take two days a week where we either don't have dinner, have a very light dinner, or have a whole day of light eating (they recommend only 600 calories on the fasting days). I remember back when I was losing the best and I was skipping dinner about once a week and it really did help.

[JayZeeJay]

Hi all, and happy new year!

This holiday break was a bit rocky - I came down with a bad virus on Christmas and it lasted a full week. It was mostly respiratory with fever, aches etc. It did markedly suppress my appetite, but with the rebound effect of my being voraciously hungry once I started to feel better. Current weight is 139.5 - not great, not terrible. Time to start watching calories again (I haven't for almost a month).

2014 has not started out well: On the 1st, I lost my new iPhone. Fortunately a good Samaritan found it and took it home, so I eventually got it back. On the 2nd, I put my (fancy) mountain bike on my brand-new bike racks on the back of my car, and apparently locked it in place wrong. About a mile down the road I looked into my rearview mirror... no bike. I pulled over immediately but I was so afraid to see the damage that I couldn't get out. Fortunately, it could have been worse. The rear wheel stayed in place so the handlebars and front tire were dragged. We went to the bike store, I spent $250 on new parts, and my fiance fixed it. It turns out that the instructions for the racks CLEARLY state how to mount the bike. Cost of stupidity: $250.

Andrea: best of luck re-starting the more restricted calorie intake. I will be aiming for a net of 1400-1600 calories for now (I subtract any definitive exercise from my gross calorie intake - some of you don't do that, I believe. I'm not sure how accurate any of my calculations are, especially after our recent discussions, but I set my daily activity as "slightly active" even though I am on my feet a fair bit.)

[silverbirch]

Thanks, Andrea. I hate protein powder with a vengeance. I'd much rather eat real food, if at all possible, but I know it's a challenge to eat enough protein and keep the calories down. The infamous tuna shake or the slightly less infamous cottage cheese shake are staples in the bodybuilding world, of course. There's also Krista Scott-Dixon's cottage cheese page.

Interesting, Allison. I read this yesterday about the 'good things' IF did to the journalist's body (blood pressure, growth hormone). Like you, I also did better at losing weight when I missed a meal now and then.

JayZeeJay, yes, a bad start to the year but things can only get better, surely? Happy New Year as from now!

[Mudpie]

Wow! Birchie thanks for the cottage cheese page link. I love cottage cheese right out of the container, and finding out it can be heated and combined with stuff for pasta is awesome! I never buy it anymore but that will change with next week's grocery shopping.

I am another who does NOT like tuna in any canned form. Maybe rinsed and combined with cottage cheese and some kind of seasoning will change my mind.

I have to start looking at recipes online.

Dagmar

[traveling michele]

Yes, thanks for the cottage cheese link! I often eat it plain and didn't think to use it in recipes.

Jayzeejay-- hopefully the rest of the year will go more smoothly.

Andrea... I'm sorry your experiment proved so disappointing. Good luck with your transition.

I did what I didn't want to do this holiday season which was gain more weight. Sigh. Dh leaves tomorrow for China again but I still have younger dd for a week. I was briefly 126 before the holidays but all the way up to 133 today. I'm back to work Monday as well so hopefully my usual routine will help. I did a double workout today... Spin followed by bikram yoga so I'm hopeful the scale will oblige some tomorrow if I behave well today.

I'm going to try some different things for lunch and dinner this week to try to shake things up.

[Shannon in ATL]

Birchie - I'm picturing a sign like I have to hang for OSHA - "3 Days Without Butter!" with the number in a different font from the rest where it has been scratched out and rewritten for every successful day.

Andrea - sounds like good info from the dietician, sorry it didn't help more.

Jayzeejay - it can only go up from here.

Michele - with you on the gain. Getting back on point this weekend.

Allison - I have used IF and didn't really see a difference. It just made me grumpy. Hope it helps you guys though.

I have to go write in my awesome log - i have to note something I do every day to make myself more awesome. And love the edit on the title, Birchie.

[Mudpie]

Winter may delay my return home tomorrow night. And prevent me from driving the gazillion miles to IKEA today to get the shelves we need to tidy up the basement.

BAH!

Dagmar

[ICUwishing]

I keep forgetting to weigh myself in the morning - it's as if I am still thinking I'm on vacation from everything until I go back to work this year. With the weather, that could well end up being Tuesday. I guess I didn't lose it too bad in December; I had to shop for slacks yesterday and came home with a selection that were all between size 8 and 10.

I did renew my Masters swimming membership. There is a meet next Sunday within an hour of me, and I really *should* go, if for no other reason than I can get some points for my team. I have to postmark my entry by the 8th. Decisions, decisions!

[Shannon in ATL]

I don't have a problem with whey protein powder. It is really is nothing more than milk liquid (whey) that has been dried to coagulate and extract the protein solids, filtered, dried, and powdered. It's not artificial, and if you buy all natural it doesn't have any artificial flavors or sweeteners in it. It seems to me that it is no different from ricotta cheese which is the same whey that has been heated, coagulated, filtered, and strained, but not dried or powdered. I use a lot of it, and make sure that what I get doesn't have anything extra in it.

[silverbirch]

No butter or peanut butter on Saturday or Sunday. Streak is 5. I fear I'm eating more sweet things to compensate but it'll all even out later on, I hope.

Glad the cottage cheese page was useful.

Shannon, I googled OSHA. Yes, the number is like that. There's a summer fete near here with a sign reused year after year as only the number needs to be changed. Thanks also for your comments on whey protein powder. I've never seen a natural version and I'd imagine that would be OK. The other stuff (banana, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate) is terrible.

Becky, I'd say 'just do it' about your swimming meet except that the weather sounds pretty dreadful in North America. Here, we have heavy rain and high winds, bringing huge floods and coastal damage.

Gymn today. There weren't too many people, the music wasn't too loud and I felt rather accomplished. It's also much warmer lying on a mat than at home.

Keep warm and dry, everyone.

[alinnell]

I was just looking at photos of the winds and waves where you are Birchie. Kind of scary!

I like plain whey powder as well, but don't add it to too many things. I think that if I were being better at hitting the gym and doing some lifting it would be a huge benefit to me...

[silverbirch]

Originally Posted by alinnell

I was just looking at photos of the winds and waves where you are Birchie. Kind of scary!

Yes. Quite. I was soaked to the skin just walking (being blown) 500 yards or so from the car. Full change of clothing needed, down to underwear. The wind is howling now but the fire is blazing.

Your weather seems to be pretty good over there in California! We might all have to migrate westwards.