Getting healthy is a process

So, in my last real post I talked about feeling like EVERYTHING I did revolved around my weight loss.  I have found that I have regained some semblance of sanity now that I don't log everything I do in 5 different places.  I still religiously log my food and exercise in MFP.  I do not blog as often.  I still check in on my DietBet that is in progress.  Other than that, I have chilled.

I think that people forget that this is a lifetime journey.  Once you hit that goal you're done.  I don't think it works that way.  I have known many people that get with 10 pounds of their goal or even reach it and then turn around and put all 100+ pounds right back on.  How frustrating is that?  More importantly, wouldn't it be easier to just check in to ensure that you stay on the right track?

That being said, there is no reason to eat a salad for lunch every day for the rest of your life.  I believe the key is moderation.  Many people talk about the 80/20 rule.  Eat healthy 80% of the time and give yourself a break the other 20%.  I am leaning more toward the 90/10 side of things only because there is NO WAY I am gaining all of this back!  Granted, I am not to the maintenance phase yet but I will be soon.

People focus so much on what they CAN'T eat or CAN'T do.  Why?  I can eat whatever I want.  Can I eat it all day every day?  Sure.  If I want to ruin what I have accomplished.  But that doesn't mean that I have to say no to every slice of birthday cake or worry about what I am going to eat at a dinner party.  Moderation.  I have to be able to live life without constantly worrying about it.

On that note, I also see a lot of people beat themselves up over the scale.  1 pound and their life is going to end.  Obviously, weight fluctuates.  They talk about "falling off the wagon" or "cheating".  I don't believe in those things.  I believe in building certain things into your program so that you can be successful.  Are there days that I want to eat everything in sight?  Of course.  I wouldn't be human if I didn't have those days.  Give yourself some room to breathe.  If you find that you are 200 mg over in sodium after you make dinner, then what?  Oh well.  1 day, 1 meal will not change your life.

Variety is good for the body.  It keeps it guessing.  I believe that's why I am having good success with carb cycling.  My food is constantly switching and then I have a day where I can eat whatever I want.  I am aware that it could be damaging but it's not.  Moderation.  I give myself an extra 1,000 calories to have my way with and I'm happy.

Bottom line:  Getting healthy is a process.  It's not always easy but it's definitely worth it.

The 3 Keys to my success this year

I was thinking about what has led to my success this year.  I broke it down to 3 things.

1) Keaira LaShae - I have mentioned her before but honestly - I couldn't do it without her.  I am constantly challenged, encouraged and motivated to better myself.

2) Diet Bet - I am competitive by nature and this only fuels it!  Not to mention that there is a social aspect that just makes it fun.  I won my first Diet Bet (Chris Powell Challenge) and am working on a 6 month transformer challenge now.

3) My Fitness Pal - I have used other trackers before and loved them.  MFP is built to cover all of the variables.  It also has a social component that is highly enjoyable and motivational.  I like to help people and this gives me a chance to share what I have learned as well.

Every person is different...from motivation to calories to workouts.  You absolutely need to do what works for you.  1 of the lessons that I learned this year was that I need to feed my body.  I was trying to eat 1,200 calories with a 200+ pound body.  That wasn't enough.  I am now consistently eating 1,600 and still dropping the same amount of weight.  I was introduced to Carb Cycling this year as well.  It has made a huge difference in my relationship with food.  I also learned the value of limiting sodium.  I feel better.  The only way to find out what works for you and what doesn't is by tracking.  I really cannot stress that enough.

I will admit that doing all of these things can be time consuming and is not always the easiest thing to maintain.  We are all busy.  Our responsibilities may be different, but we all have things that we need to focus on outside of ourselves.  On the flip side, I have to take care of me or there won't be anyone to do what I do.  It's a choice.  I choose to get healthy.  I have struggled my whole life with my weight and I will continue to be aware of it forever.  I have achieved significant results and am confident that I have a handle on my goals.  I am not saying it's easy - because it's not.  But it's certainly a lot more manageable if you have a plan.  Keep that in mind as you continue on your journey and achieve your goals.

5 Simple Ways to Become a Consistent Food & Fitness Tracker

I HAVE to track or I have no idea why I lost weight or gained it...and...I need to know.   So I can repeat it - good or bad.  I have also found My Fitness Pal very helpful.  I used to use the Daily Burn Tracker; however, just this week I decided to switch to MFP.  DB is much more limited than MFP is.  I ended up looking up foods on MFP anyway.  Also, I loved the simplicity of the DB Tracker but I was needing more in the way of interaction.  My Fitness Pal definitely gives you that in a variety of formats: Friends, groups and forums.  I brought many friends with me from my Diet Bet.  The fact that so many of the Diet-Betters use it was the final straw that made me switch.  So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  What works best for you?  Let me know in the comments.

Here's how to get started: 5 Simple Ways to Become a Consistent Food & Fitness Tracker

Something to think about

I am part of the 6 month Transformer Diet Bet and we have a Facebook page for feedback.  It's awesome.  There is a lot of encouragement and a lot of interaction between the participants.  One thing that I have learned recently is that I may not be eating enough.  I was focusing on 1200 to 1400 calories except for carb day which would get me up to 1600 or so.  Of course on my free day it was a lot higher but it was supposed to be.  I am not finding out that I should be closer to 1600 to 1800 on low carb days.  Potentially even higher.  According to the calorie calculator that is going around the group - my Basal Metabolic Rate is 1621.  Which means that if I were in a coma and not active at all, that would be the calories needed to sustain myself.  If I did little to no activity, I need at least 1,556 and if I work out 3-5 days a week (which I usually do) I should be eating 2010 calories.  These numbers are based on the desire to lose weight at a safe and healthy pace of a pound a week.  That is a FAR cry from the 1200 to 1400 I was averaging.  I have decided to follow this and increase my calorie intake.  I am still doing the carb cycling I will just increase those targets to reflect it.  I have been doing it for the last few days.  I have gotten up to 1500 for the last 2 low carb days.  It seems like A LOT of food.  Rationally I know it's not but it sure seems like it right now.

Below is the info that I was reading from Weight Loss Problems.  Decide for yourself if it's helpful to you.  I think it's worth a try.  I know that I wouldn't be able to sustain 1,200 calories a day forever.  Especially since the smaller I get the more I active I get and I will need to make sure I continue to feed my body.  Anyway, here's what they had to say.

A lesson on BMR, creating a calorie deficit, and what the heck “NET” calories means

Okay, so every single human being and animal has something called a BMR. This stands for basal metabolic rate (some may call it resting metabolic rate). Your BMR is the amount of energy your body expends daily, simply at rest. We all know calories are just a unit of energy, so to equate our BMR, we calculate it in terms of calories. Basically, if you were to be in a coma, your BMR is how many calories your body would burn just laying on the ventilator. You do not have to expend any extra energy to burn those calories. 

So, what the heck is YOUR BMR and why do you have to eat that much? Well first, calculate your own BMR using this site. To help explain better, I will use my own BMR for an example. When using that site, I calculate my BMR out to be 1688.3 calories. This number is often lower than your true BMR, especially if you are a fairly active person. As you exercise more, your body burns calories (and provides you with energy) more effectively, so your metabolic rate increases. Now you want to multiply this number by how active you are. This will give you how many calories you should be eating every day to maintain your current weight. So if you’re just starting out on this journey and you have lived a fairly sedentarylifestyle until now (no exercise or sports, not working a job that requires being on your feet most of the day), then you will multiply your BMR by 1.2. If you are a lightly active person (you work a job that requires a lot of standing, you’re usually on your feet 1-3 days a week), then multiply your BMR by 1.375. If you are moderately active (you’ve been on this journey for awhile and tend to jog, bike, or use the elliptical 3-5 days a week) then you will multiply your BMR by 1.55. If you’re very active (you do hard exercise and/or sports 6-7 days a week consistently and have been doing so for awhile), you will multiply your BMR by 1.725. If you are an athlete(very hard exercise and/or sports every day as well as sports training; basically you never sit down and are working out 10+ hours a day), then you multiply your BMR by 1.9.

So, you can use the above equation to get your daily caloric needs, or some people, myself included, do not like to use that part of the equation because they use a tracker like myfitnesspal, which calculates the calories you burn in your workout every day for you. The most effective way to calculate your burn during your workout is to invest in a heart rate monitor. When your heart rate is elevated, you’re burning more calories. That’s how those machines at the gym determine how many calories you’re burning: they take the average person (155 pounds), and what their heart rate would be at the level, resistance, and speed you’re going at. So obviously, if you’re not 155 pounds, or if you’re going at a level that’s easier for you than someone who’s never worked out before, your heart rate is going to be different from the “average” that these machines provide. Take the number of calories burned according to the machine (or even according to myfitnesspal) as a close “guess-timation.” 

So let’s go back to my example of my BMR, 1688.3. We’re going to round it to 1690 to make it easier. In my daily workout, I often burn (according to myfitnesspal) around 600 calories. So let’s say today I went to the gym and burned that 600. If I wanted to maintain my current weight, then today I would need to eat 1690 + 600 = 2,290. Sounds like a lot of calories? That’s how much energy I need to keep my body healthy and active. If I don’t eat enough, then my body is going to find other ways to provide me with energy, like breaking down all of my muscle, lowering my metabolism so I don’t burn through my food so quickly, and making me weak to signal to my brain that I need more food. 

But I’m trying to lose weight! So what do I do if I want to lose weight? Healthy weight loss consists of losing 1-2 pounds per week. Slower, steady weight loss has been proven to show long-lasting results, less excess skin, and concrete, healthy habits. So how many calories do I need to burn to lose one pound of fat? 3500 calories is equal to one pound of fat. Here’s where it gets a bit tricky, so try to stay with me. Since there are 7 days in one week, we’re going to easily divide 3500 calories by 7. That gives us 500 calories. That means every day this week, I want to have an excess burn, or “deficit” of 500 calories. Let’s go back to my calorie consumption. I burned 600 calories today, so if I didn’t want to lose any weight, I would need to eat 2,290 calories. Since I’m trying to lose weight, I’m going to subtract 500 calories from my calorie goal of 2,290. That gives me a grand total of 1,790 calories. So for the entire day, my calorie consumption should equal out to 1,790 calories. To some, that may sound like a lot, but my body is working hard to provide me with energy, so I need to fuel it back up.

So what’s up with myfitnesspal only giving me 1200 calories? Myfitnesspal has to cater to thousands of people, so they set their baseline at a number that already creates the calorie deficit for you. Let me repeat that, if you did absolutely nothing the whole day and did not work out, the calories myfitnesspal gives you (1200) is what you NEED to eat just to sustain your body, AS WELL AS LOSE WEIGHT. For those of you who have a myfitnesspal account, click on the link labeled goals. It will take you to a page where it breaks down your calorie deficit for you. Here is a picture of mine:

According to myfitnesspal (again, guess-timations), my natural caloric burn every day is 2,180 calories. I set my baseline calorie consumption at 1300 calories. So even if I were to not work out and barely move the whole day, I would still create a 880 calorie deficit. If I eat exactly 1300 calories every day, without working out, it is projected that I will burn 6,160 calories in one week, which equals out to a 1.8 pound weight loss. This is why you need to eat back the calories you burn in exercise. BECAUSE FOR THE VAST MAJORITY, 1200 CALORIES IS THE BARE MINIMUM TO SUSTAIN YOUR BODY AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT AT THE SAME TIME. I encourage most of you to up your myfitnesspal calorie goal if you feel a NET calorie goal of 1200 is too low (to do so, go back to that Goals tab, and click the green “change goals” button. Then choose the custom button instead of guided, and it will let you input how many net calories you wish to consume). 

What happens if I don’t eat 1200 net calories every day? Your body is smart, and it will recognize that it’s not getting the fuel it needs. It will go into something called starvation mode, where your body wants to protect itself from starving and dying. It will break down your muscle, slow your metabolism, weaken your body, and eventually shut down your organs. Think of your body as a car; you can’t expect your car to move without fuel in it.

I know this seems like a lot to handle, but weight loss can be achieved if you fuel your body properly. If you find you’re eating your BMR with the deficit and you’re still not losing weight, go ahead and lower your calorie consumption by 100-200 a day. Every body is different and like I said, these are all guess-timations. As long as you don’t drop below 1200 net calories, you don’t need to worry about not eating enough. Eat well, eat enough, and exercise daily and you will see success.

(Source: weightlossproblems)

Diet Bet: Complete!

Whew!  That was a close one!  I finally weighed in this morning and I was verified as losing 8.8 pounds in the 4 weeks!  Made it by a measly .3 pounds.  But I made it!  I earned it.  I am always a little cautious when I have to weigh on a day other than Sunday since midweek weigh-ins aren't usually a good thing for me.

I look forward to the next one.  I am going to do a 6 month one now so I can keep it going.  If you haven't already joined a diet bet, I HIGHLY recommend it.  Chris & Heidi Powell are doing another one starting March 11th called Spring Fling.  In addition, the 6 month one is The Transformer - I think that's the next one that I am doing.  The camaraderie is awesome.  Just that extra motivation - that person saying good job is enough to make you push forward.  I am a sucker for positive reinforcement!

I also like to be recognized and make money.  I think that's the other major draw.  I can be motivated to accomplish my goals and if I succeed I am rewarded.  Not just by my smaller size but monetarily as well.  It's a win win!

Hopefully, you are accomplishing your goals.  If you need a hand, let me know and I will do my best to help!