Okay, I submit! I'm getting FATTER

[makedah]

I had a caliper reading done today. June 6, I had caliper and hydrostatic done (by another person). I know that readings can vary based on the person who's measuring, but I couldn't remember the first guy's name. So I'm sticking with this guy from here on in.

BTW - I'm 5'8"

June 6
caliper reading (I can be more specific on skinfolds and such for those who want the numbers)

32.77% bodyfat
189.5 lbs
127.41 fat-free weight

hydrostatic test (same day)
35.7% bodyfat
121.85 fat-free weight


Jan. 22
38.10% bodyfat
207.25 lbs
128.29 fat-free weight


Okay, I know to consider margin of error, blah blah. But I also know that I'm a size bigger than I was in June. I was hoping more of it was muscle, even though I knew better.

I'm the same weight and almost the same size I was when I STARTED losing weight back in May 2000. I don't want to be fat anymore, much less FATTER.

I'd avoided the "diets" I saw here like the plague (too strict, too much work, too much meat), but now I SUBMIT. Plus, getting treated for anxiety seems to have licked my decades-long emotional eating problem, so I feel I can be "in control" more when it comes to food.

Before Spatts even asks , here's what I've been eating. As I type it out, I see that there's not a big mystery here:

Jan 16
strawberry soy protein powder mixed with 3/4 c. apple juice, 1/4 OJ

1 veggie corn dog & 4 mini veggie corn dogs, with dijon mustard

1 c. sweet potato (I always eat them plain)

1 c. ice cream

2 slices super supreme pizza

1 small bag lite microwave popcorn

totals
2318 cals
98 gm fat
271 carb
85 protein


Jan 17
strawberry protein powder + 1 c. OJ

2 slices super supreme pizza (leftovers )

1 small bag lite microwave popcorn

1 cherry Yoplait Whips! yogurt

(following includes 2 diff meals)
8 oz NY strip steak (4 oz at each meal)
2 large yellow summer squash, sauteed with green onions in 1/2 T. olive oil
1 medium sweet potato

totals
1997 cals
75 fat
204 carb
127 protein


So -- I'm posting this because I want to vent my frustration, and because I want some help! I'll do a bunch of searches on diets (I know messages like this get posted all the time), but any personalized tips/questions would be nice.

I know basically that I need to quit eating so much junk. What's new is that I'm finally opening my mind to something other than the food pyramid in terms of macronutrient ratios. One of my main sticking points has been this: I can't go extremely low in carbs (like keto) and fat if it means eating a ton of meat. I can't/won't do that for palate, gastric and environmental reasons. That 8-oz steak was delish, but about my max for meat for one day.

In terms of caloric needs - you can see my LBM. Also, I lift 4 days a week (modified WSB), I run 3 times a week (less than 30 min) and have one "off" day. I'm a grad student, so my 'job' isn't physically strenuous and I have a lot of flexibility in meal times.

 

[KEL]

Sorry about your gain

You don't eat enough protein. Ditch the food pyramid- it's not giving you the whole truth.
I've just started carb rotation this week. There are volumes to be read about it on the womens board alone.

 

[makedah]

Thanks, kel. Tell me how the carb rotating is doing (yes, I have the link to Spatts' cutting diet ). Is it a big switch from what you were doing before?

 

[valerie]

Hey girl I have been thinking of you, your posts have often mentioned your size. Heres what I can offer for you to consider. The closer to nature you can eat the better off you will be. Time to get some good eating habits learned.

More, much more real food. Veggies should be added to your diet. Try to eat at least 4-5 cups of them a day at a minimum. Especially the fiberous ones like brocolli,green beans,they should be veggies you like. Hopefully not corn (grain) peas and carrots. Just a little if you must. FIBER AND PROTEIN ARE YOUR FRIENDS.

If you insist on processed foods then you will end up wearing them on your butt or wherever you store fat. The idea is to burn the fat you already have stored not to add to it.

To be strong for lifting include some GOOD COMPLEX CARBS. Like the sweet taters-good for you. Brown rice, oatmeal and other WHOLE GRAINS. Portion sizes should be that you get somewhere around 100 grams of starchy carbs a day. This is REALLY A LOT. The veggies can be UNLIMITED. This is to give you a starting point. The starchy carbs can be reduced later on.

First things first. Get your food plan set up, keep it simple and then you can make adj. later. Clean out your home of ALL SHIT FOOD. Give youself a chance for success.

Get into the habit of eating CLEAN and watch out world you will be one fit and strong woman. NO KETO. We women need some carbs in our lives, just make them ones that help not hurt. Some good fats would nice too. Adding some flaxseed oil or fish oil can be helpful as well.

Hope this helps-valerie

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Makedah -- firstly let me commend you on laying it all out on the table.....I think it is more admirable than you yourself realize.

I think it is easy to make smaller changes a little at a time and before you know it you have lost your taste for certain things and the need to eat them has all but vanished.

I have noticed that my fav cheats...french fries and ice cream have actually tasted BETTER since I do not eat them very often anymore.

Eating somewhat cleanly without making it hard is really easier than you think.

If you remember to eat 6 smaller meals a day and insist that protein be a big part of it, you are headed in the right direction. No one says you cannot have an indulgence or cut out carbs entirely. When you start the ball rolling the right direction and want to tweak your body just a little more, sure bring out the heavy artillery and cut out simple carbs for along time...or cycle them as kel suggested.

I try to eat eggs or whites every morning with a slice of whole grain toast w/o fats or jellies. I hate oatmeal but will have it sprinkled with splenda and cinnamon if I have to. I have heard some women sprinkle with some chocolate protein powder.

Snack time: oatquares cereal or almonds or natty peanut butter on graham crackers but not much of this.

Lunch: always chicken as it is easy for me to keep without heating up in my office. Grilled a few days in advance or what I call fake baked (cutlets dipped in egg and rolled in bread crumbs and baked in the oven sprayed with some pam), roasted sweet potoates (like steak fries style), or brown rice.

Snack again: protein shake, or almonds again, or protien bar

dinner: chicken or beef or turkey breast or turkey chili (my husband makes it) with brown rice or taters again

snack: it is a tossup between more chicken, protein shake, or protein pudding (low fat, sugar free instant pudding made the way the box suggests and add a scoop of protein powder).

Sometimes for snack, it will be a tortilla with low fat cheese although this is an oxymoron and I tend to fall back on this when pressed for time...but in reality, I am not a competitor ona super clean cutting diet -- so I do not freak over it.

And every weekend in the beginning of my weight loss, was a good cheat day (either Sat or Sun but not both days). When I got tired of feeling bloated and annoyed after one day of a free pass, I cut it to one cheat meal a weekend.

You will do it --- it takes time and when you mess up, you should not be angry at yourself and certainly not consider it a failure. It is a long term way of eating, not a diet. You have your whole life to get it right.

There are some posts from Fit Fossil...she has the best theories and strategies for those of us who are not stepping on stage. Her approach is patient and honest and she has a good head on her shoulders way of dealing with it.

Search for her name in this section...honestly, anytime I see her post in a thread, I read that thread immediately.

 

[spatts]

Lacks protein, vitamins, minerals...the carb choices are empty and high GI, too much fat, too many calories...etc. I'm sure you knew all that already.

One of these days I'm gonna write a book called the "Ten to One Diet." The section of the food label with vitamins and minerals has to have 10 present for every 1 ingredient listed at the bottom of the label. That's pretty much a summary of healthy food.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

OH I forgot ...I do not do well with fish -- my tummy just does not react well with almost any form of it.

SO, don't forget some EFAs -- I add flax seed oil to my protein shakes. If necessary, I will take it by the spoonful but it is nasty.

But fish is really good if you like it, as a fab protein source and the EFAs as well.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

One of these days I'm gonna write a book called the "Ten to One Diet." The section of the food label with vitamins and minerals has to have 10 present for every 1 ingredient listed at the bottom of the label. That's pretty much a summary of healthy food.

Spatts, could you please clarify -- I am not totally understanding this ....I know it sounds ignorant but if you could be a bit more specific as to what you mean by 10 to 1.

 

[spatts]

Well, I was half kidding (I probably should've said "more vits and mins than ingredients."), but as an example:

Oats, raw, 13 vits and mins, 1 ingredient (oats). Just another way to think about eating more "natural" or "whole" foods.


Makedah, the good news is that with a diet like the one you posted, just about any significant change will lend results.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Ok -- slow on the uptake...appreciate your clearing that up.

 

[makedah]

Thanks all, for the encouragement and advice!

I used to eat mostly whole foods, preferably organic. I had 2T freshly-ground flaxseed a day. I ate 7-8 servings of veggies a day. Imagine! Somehow, I slipped back into convenience products.

I can "clean" up my diet. I can cut back the carbs (the sweets and junk food are the bulk of my carbs right now).

The main thing I'm going to have to labor at is adding more protein. I'll spend some time tonight figuring up how to do it without going overboard on the meat or dairy (I'm lactose intolerant - ice cream doesn't hurt so much but milk or cottage cheese will make me sick and they're yucky). I'll go back to some of MS and VLC's threads to see how they do it.

Eating more protein is a hard thing to get my head around -- I hear it is for a lot of women. I worry that eating more protein will be bad for my health - most things I read tell me high-protein diets are harmful. (Not that my current diet won't kill me...)

 

[Gladiola]

"the good news is that with a diet like the one you posted, just about any significant change will lend results."

100% agreed!

I relate to not wanting to eat lots of protein - it's a problem for me as well. I also relate to your reluctance... I feel the same way about low carb. I think I'd lose my mind or something.. I'm a lil paranoid about dipping below 150-200g carbs per day!

I think you've gotten great advice so far. Just want to add that I would avoid carb rotation at first... you want to start slow & just get comfortable with clean eating. So avoid anything that might overwhelm & frustrate you - so that you won't end up sabotaging your own efforts.

Pick healthy foods that you love & base your diet around them. Every healthy food you eat & junk you don't eat in a given day is a success! If small steps work best for you - go for it! If you are an all-or-nothing person (that's me) than pick a healthy diet plan & go for that.

EFA's - I LOVE natty PB with banannas or apples cut up - yummy! Nuts to snack on too. Flaxseeds - if you are eating the seeds you won't get much EFA's (b/c the seeds go right through you) so it's flaxseed oil that you want.

Be sure to get enough water, green tea is good for anti-oxidants & some studies have shown it helps weight-loss.

"High-protein" diets are considered unhealthy only because they are usually NO CARB. No carbs means no fruits & veggies & whole grains. Which means no vits & mins & anti-oxidants.

That's is quite different from most bodybuilder of fitness diets. The more I learn about nutrition, the more I'm convinced what I follow (when I'm good ) is the BEST WAY to eat.

 

[Puddles]

Huggggs, Makedah. I know where you're coming from big time.

Knowledge is power though and with all of the help here on the boards, you're gonna do what you need to do to get to where you wanna be. Just don't give up...you'll get it workin and you know everyone here wants to help in any way they can.

Me...I keep my diet simple. I eat similarly to the way Newgirl posted. I've found that having less choices in foods in the house make it much easier to keep on track. Cook in large quantities, this way you will have the food already prepared, which becomes convience food! Read the labels of everything you buy...you will be surprised at how they sneak carbs and fats into things. I don't mix fats and carbs in the same meals. Like...if I have a craving for peanutbutter, I will have a small spoon and eat it just off the spoon, but mixing it with bread and jelly would be wrong because the p.b. is so high in fat. Eat every 2-3 hours...I often fail at this myself, but I do try. Mornings are the worst for me, I will have my coffee with skim milk and then I often find myself not eating until noon, but I'm a late night person, so I make up for it later in the day. I use nonstick pots and pans and the only fat I add to my food is olive oil, sparingly. I grill most of my meats...usually covering them in spices or marinades...A1 steaksauce is my recent favorite...they have like 5 different flavors now. I keep my carbs to under 120 a day...cal's are usually low compared to what I see everyone else eating here...around 1200 to 1400 with about 70% of it coming from proteins (eggbeaters, chicken, tuna, salmon, beef, mrp shakes). I will eat canned salmon (boneless) right out of the can. Tuna now comes in little pouches and I keep them at work so I always have protein on hand, I'll empty it into a paper bowl and top it with yellow mustard and a rice cake on the side. Breakfast when I can get it down, is either a protein shake made with water or eggbeaters veggie scramble. I hate healthy oatmeal, but I've found a great multigrain bread that I have instead. But...it's either protein or carbs for breakfast for me, not both.

I don't actually enjoy most meals anymore, but for me, good tasting food is a big issue for me so I just consume my daily foods as a necessity instead of a pleasure, just eating to survive kinda mentality, then on Friday nights we have our cheat night where I allow myself to enjoy food for a night...it's at our favorite Italian resterant and I enjoy every bite, every sip of my drinks and I even have desert sometimes! I've only recently been getting creative in the kitchen again...tonight I made Chinese fried rice...used brown rice (I keep a huge pot of cooked brown rice in the fridge at all times), onions browned in olive oil, eggbeaters scrambled in there, and a little soy sauce...after it was all done, I diced up my already cooked chicken breast and added in the oriental mixture of veggies which had broccoli, water chestnuts, carrots, and some kind of funky peas. I'm a very good cook which is partly how I put so much weight on in the past. Sauces with butter and wine went on almost all of my dishes, good Italian foods...I married into a traditional Italian family and my cooking skills were appreciated. Strangely, I don't really miss the foods on a daily basis...maybe it's because I allow myself the cheat night once a week.

One last thing...are you drinking your water? I never did because it gave me stomach aches. I found that drinking room temp. water stopped that. The tap water here in Florida is awful, so I buy the Zephyrhills 24 oz. sports bottles by the case (3 cases at a time actually...that lasts us about 2 weeks here) and now I'm like an infant...I can't go anywhere without my water. I will carry it up and down inside the house with me, and I never get into the car without a bottle. Water is very important for fat loss and it helps your skin...drink up!

 

[JJFigure]

Eating more protein doesn't have to be as bad as it sounds. There are a few decent whey proteins out there - here's my current fav:

proform whey - pure whey isolate = no lactose issues
www.nextgenproteins.com
2 scoops = 194 kcal, 0g carb, 49g protein + some vitas and minerals

This is a light tasting, easy mixing (lump free!) whey protein. I'm currently using strawberry banana, but have tried chocolate too. You can order samples from the company to try in advance. There are also decent bars out there - Doctor's carbrite low carb bars, Labrada's lean body, and Nitrotech bars (peanut butter choco chip) are some of my favorite brands. But better yet, stick with the real protein sources. I mainly use bars when traveling, although I drink protein after every lift.

Eggs and egg whites are great protein sources - you should see my shelf o' eggs in my fridge! And of course, there's chicken, turkey, and tuna - the other "white" meats. As far as digestive issues with protein, it may just have been the combination of foods you've been eating, not just protein. I'm trying to eat a few more carbs right now - it's actually been harder on my digestion, believe it or not. Carbs + protein = unhappy tummy in my world. However, protein + fat = happy tummy. And I'm eating clean carb/protein combos, like oatmeal and egg whites.

Good luck sweetie! It sounds like you have the right mental attitude to tackle the diet side the right way!

 

[takniteasy]

Please excuse for hijacking your thread but JJ, do you have any problems with bloating with the Proform whey protein powder? I would love to get my hands on something that wont make me bloat like there's no tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[makedah]

You ladies are the best!

Okay, I'm getting revved up! I bought some eggs and tofu tonight and some oats (don't like 'em cooked - but I like 'em raw, so I'm gonna try some in my A.M. protein shake). Going to start experimenting with chickpeas tomorrow with this dish I found on epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=1654

[Edited planned diet b/c my math doesn't work. TBA]

Glad - Thanks for sharing the protein/carb 'fear'... I see I'm not the only one. I'm jumping right in with the new program. There are some foods in my house that can't be returned or given away (like frozen foods my veg friends won't eat) - that kind of stuff I'll work into my diet until it's gone. But I'm not trying to go 'squeaky clean' just yet. I'll do the additives/artificial sweeteners thing (judiciously) as long as I feel I need to.

I know that grinding the flaxseeds makes them digestible - I ground mine to a powder in a coffee grinder (don't worry, I don't drink coffee. That would be NASTY!). The seeds are cheap, they have the fiber and lignans and they kept me regular! Are you saying I can't get the EFAs with ground flax?

MrsPuddlesFL - Tee hee, I remember Tampa water. But I do pretty well at drinking my water - plain, seltzer and as herbal tea.

I love to cook as well, and one of my resistances to a 'strict' diet was having to limit the dishes I could make. But I'm getting over that - a good cook can always find interesting things to make.

JJ - thanks for the tip - I'll call them for samples. That powder would help me a lot. I've heard people say that their GI issues with meat decreased when they decreased certain carbs. Let's hope so.