the last 10

Monday

Weight 142

So since I'm only looking to lose 10 more pounds and the scale isn't doing much, I've decided to go the much stricter lentil-less chapter.  I'm now shooting for 20g of protein (and pretty much little else) every 3 hours.  Since I stay at home and am Celiac anyhow, this may be easier for me than for others.  I started this yesterday (Sun) my post cheat day.  I have had 2 Whey Protein shakes this morning, 1 upon waking and one nearly 3 hours later post workout.

I'm still tracking everything on livestrong.com/daily plate and now enter everything with a time instead of "breakfast", etc.

This week I am adding workouts and will try to get 3 runs in.  The weather is still crappy for running outside and since I am not entered into any spring races I'm not concerned with speed or mileage.  I will also see how 3 strength training sessions per week add up.

Black Coffee

140lbs Pre cheat weight
143lbs Post Cheat Day

By logging my calories into Livestrong.com/dailyplate and visiting other blog sites I see that I'm still not quite on track.  I still need to work on my daily routine and incorporate all the elements of the plan, including cold therapy which seems to have gone to the wayside with me.

My cheat day yesterday was ok.  I was shocked to find that it's really only taken one week to learn to drink black coffee.  I tried my decades long coffee of cream & 3 (!!!i know) sweetnlow and I have to say I found it un-drinkable on cheat day.  Awesome.

I've been going thru the blog site of http://www.fourhourbodycouple.com/ on a daily basis.  They really put a lot into their site and tracking their efforts.  The best thing I've found there are their cheat sheets.  It's really been illuminating how much that I actually skip in a week where I would swear I'm doing everything right.

things I've not been doing this week:
CQ- Cissus Quadrangularis 3x per day ( I didn't even order it)

Cold therapy after meals
Eating slowly
eating legumes at every meal- especially breakfast
air squats/gym workout on cheat day
yerba mate on cheat day

I'll be more focused on these items this week.  I will plan better meals and be buying more canned beans today.

I will also be incorporating more workouts next week, I'll start with 3, including kettlebells.

Here is a break down of this past weeks meals Feb 21-26 all include drinking 1 pitcher of iced lemon water upon waking + black coffee at breakfast:

Mon
2240 calories total (holiday, kids home from school)
Protein: 32%, Carbs 31.7%, Fats 36.6%
Breakfast: eggs, egg whites. lentils, guacamole, spinach
lunch: black beans, salad, lean beef strips, guacamole & salsa
dinner: 4 boiled eggs with bowl of lentils (mustard +tarragon) in lettuce
Glute raises, air squats, 2 pitchers iced lemon water, PAGG stack

Tues
1542 Calories total
Protein 40.5%, Carbs 18%, Fats 41.1%
Breakfast: eggs, egg whites, lentils, spinach, turkey ham
Lunch: Salad with boiled eggs, 2 mini chicken sausages, olive oil &vinegar dressing
Dinner: chicken thighs, mixed vegetables
snack: 3oz can of tuna
PAGG Off day

Wed
1043 Calories total
Protein 39%, Carbs 10.7%, Fat 50%
Breakfast: Whey Protein Powder + Water
Post run: 2 eggs boiled
Lunch: Lettuce wrap- 4oz salad shrimp, guacamole, broccoli slaw mix
dinner: Salmon, broccoli, salad

Thurs
1486  Calories total
Protein 50%, Carbs 9.9%, Fat 38.7%
Breakfast: egg+egg white veggie omelet
Lunch: 4 boiled eggs + salad+ vinegar/oil
Dinner: chicken thighs + veggies + 2 glasses red wine
Snack: shrimp wrap with guacamole

Fri
1726 Net total calories
Protein 36.8%, Carbs 8.72%, Fat 54%
Breakfast: Whey Protein + water
Post run: Crabmeat salad (lump crab, red onion, cilantro, red pepper)
Lunch: Salad with Lean beef strips + balsamic &mac oil dressing
Dinner: Grassfed Mexican seasoned ground beef + lettuce + guacamole
3 glasses red wine
Snack: Shrimp wrap with guac

Sat Cheat Day
140 lbs (all measurements same)

3882 Calories
Protein 23%, carbs 37.4%, Fat 38.8%
Breakfast: Whey Protein Powder + water
coffee + grapefruit juice

2nd Cheat Day

140 lbs
measurements: no change

I just ate two peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (on Gluten Free bread).  It is my favorite part of the entire experience so far.  Normally I wouldn't waste a calorie on GF products, but I could eat my weight in peanut butter sandwiches.

I have mixed feelings about cheat day today.  My rings are slipping off my fingers so I do feel like no matter what the scale says at the moment, I'm on the right track.  I'm also still anxious that although today is bliss, the consequences are going to leave a mark.

I am making short ribs & polenta and bought myself a small gluten free choc cake.  I am pleased with my more recent additions to my meals and having just read the "last 10", perhaps I'll try it next week (It includes more peanut butter).  I do like being within the 10lb range of my goal.  It feels very attainable.

Today I started out by drinking less water, I will try to add more throughout the day.

Learning Curve

Friday, Week 2 140lbs

Mistakes I've made:

1.  Incorrect dosage of PAGG stack
For some ridiculous reason I ordered the Mega Green Tea tablets that are 750mg and only need 1 dose daily.  I took these each day for a week and felt awful.  No wonder.  I replaced them with a version I found at Whole Foods (400mg) and have ordered the PAGG Stack combo pill from BodyBuilder.com (not yet arrived).

2.  Massive amounts of food
I do not need 2500 calories a day. I don't know why I felt I had to consume in volume what I didn't have in selection, but certainly my portions could be considered binging aside from Saturday's Cheat.  I think I mentally equated "you don't need to count calories" into "gorge yourself on beans".  It's not a good thing. I've scaled back my meals considerably.  I'm not any more hungry, just naturally consuming normal portions instead of forcing in massive, uncomfortable loads.  5 eggs in one sitting?  Seriously.

3.  Weighing myself obsessively
Tracking is one thing... this is clearly an unhealthy habit I'm getting myself into.  I am working it.  I'm down to once a day today.  I think I'm simply anxious to see how this is working for me and the cheat day still freaks me out.  I may relax a bit once I get a few consistent weeks behind me and see how it all works out in the larger scheme.  At the moment I'm feeling very detail oriented.

Things I'm getting better at:

Definately getting my system of regular meals together.  I've added lettuce wraps with a lean protein, guacamole and julienned raw veggies.  I'm preferring a protein mix upon waking and before working out  then eating a couple boiled eggs before I even shower.

Making sure I have lean protein on hand by pre baking/poaching chicken & fish + boiled eggs and a bag of lentils precooked in containers in the fridge is a priority and makes life easy.  Having a salad prepared in the fridge is also becoming a no brainer no matter what I'm cooking the family for dinner.  I just add my protein on top and I'm good to go without much thought or fuss.



Tomorrow is my official weigh in.  I'll be relieved if I'm back where I was last week (139) before cheat day.  I'm working on making forward progress thru these small changes and since I only have 10lbs to lose now I may have to read the chapter on the last ten.  I skimmed thru it initially and I have to say it looked intimidating and much "stricter".   We shall see.  Maybe once I've mastered this plan and it becomes routine I'll feel more prepared to make bigger changes.

Feeling lousy but lighter at end of week 1

I am one full week into Slow Carbing as of today.  Happily, my weight is still on its way down.  Unhappily I'm feeling rather lousy today for no apparent reason.  Yesterday was my day off of Pagg.  I must wonder if there are side effects to starting again.  Perhaps it affects some more than others.  I also wonder if my dosaging is correct and I will check on that later today.  I bought each bottle individually.

I did two new things today.  First I had a protein drink this morning instead of food because I was scheduled to run 3 miles.  I mixed 1 scoop with 27 grms protein (1grm sugar) to 8oz water.  I had two boiled eggs post run.  Secondly I used 3 oz salad shrimp on my lunch salad.  I did not previously know that  the 3 oz has a whopping 20 grams of protein!  Very good news.

I have increased my water intake today from yesterday as I wonder if that run dehydrated me somewhat or I would need to ingest more water during this plan while adding cardio.  I added a 1liter bottle to my lunch.  I was drinking two large pitchers of ice water a day, throught the entire day.

Again, I know that I'm not supposed to obsessively weigh myself daily, but I can't seem to help it.  I snuck onto the scale this morning and am back at 140.  I'm hopeful that by Sat morning I'll be back to my previous loss of 6lbs and then some.

Clearly I've cut back on my portion sizes each meal today.  I don't know why I thought I needed to gorge myself on these foods last week, but it will be good to see what the cause & effect of more calories will be long term.  Aside from the cheat day, in the book it says not to worry about calories.  I'd like to see if this is indeed the case for me.

While indeed getting at least 20grams of protein each meal, I'm shooting for 130 grams daily.  Tonights dinner is wild caught coho salmon.  easily 20 grams per serving.  Hoping there will be leftovers but feel confident knowing wild caught salad shrimp will equally do the trick.

Tweaking

So technically I'm still on my first week (until tomorrow).  I am a little freaked out that my weight today is 142lbs even though I'm supposed to ignore these fluctuations.  I measured and all measurements are the same.  I need a few consistent weeks before I feel less obsessive about tracking my weight daily, I suppose.

I feel like my portions are humongous and I'm toning it down a bit by eating less lentils per meal (1/2 cup-1 cup).  I'm also switching my lunch to a large salad with lentils with boiled egg instead of a larger meal.

I had to go to a boxing class this morning and felt the volume of food I had ingested was too much.  I will have to work on this as I prefer to run in the morning, but will not be able to tolerate running on a stomach full of beans.  I may have to try some protein powder in water first thing then eat again after run.

I'll try those tweaks again tomorrow.  I'll post my meals and official weigh in for the week on Sat morning before the big "binge" day.  I've added peanut butter & jelly + popcorn to Saturday Fantasy Foods.

Week 1- lost 6lbs+ 1st binge day

I've decided to blog my progress on the slow carb plan from Tim Ferriss's book "The Four Hour Body".

The reviews & comments I'm finding online by people that have not tried the plan themselves are discouraging.   Many of the blogs I've seen so far seem to be incomplete with many modifications.  This being my first blog, I'm simply interested if there are others that are having a positive result by following the plan as written.

My current stats:
42 year old female
2 children
athletic/ runner
weight training 3x per week
current mileage less than 10 miles per week
5'6
145lbs
Celiac disease, NO WHEAT products of any kind
lactose intolerant

I've been an avid runner for the past 7 years.  These last 2 years I raced long distance running 40-70 miles a week and racing 1/2 marathons, full marathons & the 6 day ultra event Transrockies 2010.  Since training for Boston in 2009 in the winter & again last winter for the ultra then the Chicago Marathon, I decided to take 60 days off running starting in November.  I gained 15lbs.

I joined weight watchers online to lose the extra pounds before training again in spring for shorter distances.  I gained 3lbs on a 1200-1600 calorie a day plan with little to no cardio/running.  I generally eat a clean diet of no processed foods.  No wheat, little dairy.  I would ideally like to lose 15lbs of fat while increasing my leg/posterior chain strength and core.  My goal weight is 130.

Today is Monday, I started the plan on this past Wednesday.
Wednesday am Weight: 145lbs

I have followed the following eating schedule without modifications:

7 am-upon waking, one pitcher ice water with lemon
AGG
within 30 minutes of waking breakfast
coffee, black with cinnamon
3 egg whites + 2 eggs scrambled with small amount of olive oil
chicken breast or canned tuna
1-2 cups green lentils
1 cup sautee'd spinach

glute raises
air squats
(5 mile run at 8 min mile pace only on Friday)

11 am
AGG
boneless skinless chicken thigh or canned tuna (4 oz)
2 cups lentils
veggies- either sautee'd spinach, broccoli or kale
lettuce + red onion
1 Tbspn olive oil or Flaxseed Oil& vinegar dressing with garlic (home made)

Ice water

Snack: kimchi
glute raises
air squats

5pm
glass of dry red wine
Ice water
AGG
2 chicken thighs or 6oz salmon or grass fed flank steak
1-2 cups lentils
veggie: spinach/kale or broccoli
1 glass red wine

Ice water with lemon
cold pack on neck x 30 minutes
PAGG
Bed

I did this routine every day except Saturday which I used as my binge day.  I realize it was not 5 days into my plan as recommended but I thought it would be better to insert it here for the sake of future consistency.

I started tracking my food intake on Livestrong.com/daily plate so that I could ensure that I am getting at least 20g protein each meal.

Here are my results since Fri, my first day of tracking:

Friday:
Weight: 141 lbs
Total Calories: 2,287
34.4% Protein, 41% slow carbs,  24.4% fat
Actual Protein: 180 grams
+ 5m run = -690 calories

Saturday- "Binge"day


Weight: 139 lbs
Left bicep: 11"
Right bicep: 11"
waist: 32.5
hips: 37.5
right thigh: 22 3/4"
left thigh: 22 1/4 "

7am- upon waking
1 pitcher ice water w/ lemon
PAGG
slow carb breakfast
6oz grapefruit juice
glute raises + air squats
AGG
snack: 450calories
bottle of yerba mate tea

lunch 1045 calories
ice water w/ lemon
AGG
glass of champagne
dinner 1636 calories
red wine
cold pack
PAGG

Total calories: 4050

Sunday:
Weight 143lbs


Food intake:Same as written above except used grass fed london broil, 8oz black beans, 4oz guacamole at lunch + dinner.
Total Calories: 1841
Protein 44.6%, Slow Carbs 29.15%, Fats 26.23%
Total protein 199 grams

Notes:  I am trying not to panic about the binge day.  It feels very odd.  I ate gluten free sugar laden products that I normally don't indulge in, simply because I could.  I had a hard time not freaking out about it.  I will be relieved if I go back to my weight of 139 this week.  I keep weighing myself and at this moment I am back to 141 (Mon).  I am feeling better seeing the numbers go down again.  I am getting far more protein than recommended.  My meals feel enormous.  I have started taking Beano before each meal to allevieate the bloat from all the lentils.