Moving on over to my main blog

Trying to keep up with this blog, my main one, & my SparkPeople one is getting tedious, so time to consolidate a bit! From now on, you can find all my entries at my main blog: When Cats Attack!

There are other non weight-loss related entries there, but you can look in the categories for "Chasing 150" and you'll find only the weight-loss ones:

When Cats Attack

Calories! Oy!

I know I said last week's small loss didn't bother me, but something's been on my mind for a few days. Actually, more like a few weeks. The more I think about it, the more I realize it's not the small weight loss or previous losses that get to me. It's the constant fatigue that I hate so much.

One of the main reasons I started this change was for my health & energy levels. I suffered from high levels of fatigue, so crippling I couldn't do more than the bare minimum chores around the house. And after the first few weeks of exercise, calorie & carb adjustments, I did find that energy. I was almost bouncy, which is unheard of for me. I felt good mentally and physically.

I don't know when exactly this went away. Looking back, I suspect the energy rush only lasted 2-4 weeks at most. After that point, I've gradually been feeling more and more fatigued.

Some of it is major amounts of stress. Major financial issues, college, switching around schedules & having less rest time. My therapist is not surprised that I am so fatigued based on the stress level I'm dealing with right now.

But it's been something more than that. I can feel it. But when I was dropping weight quickly, I was able to push through the exhaustion, because I was meeting at least one of my goals. But now I'm not losing weight AND I feel like crap. I've got to have at least one ;) Actually, the ideal is both, based on the success stories I've seen at Fitday, SparkPeople, and 3 Fat Chicks, that is an attainable goal. You don't have to be miserable to lose weight.

So we're going to try upping the calorie intake. I know, AGAIN. But SparkPeople's recommendations have been scolding me for weeks that I need to eat more calories to sustain the huge amounts of exercise I'm doing. I've been ignoring it, but it looks like I've been going through a wonky weight loss since I started adding more exercise without upping the calories. Based on what I've seen from other people warning about this & based on how I feel, I worry that my body is trying to hold onto whatever fat & energy it has because I'm not fueling it with enough calories.

So I'm going to follow SP's recommendations of 1820-2120 calories a day, staying on the lower end on low activity days & higher end on big workout days. I've also dropped down my calorie burn to 4000 a week, and I'm going to try to stick to that and not blow by it like I have been, logging 5000 calories or more burned each week. It means cutting out a little bit of exercise, but I think it's worth it. I want to exercise & enjoy it & be healthy, but there's no point in killing myself with exercise and not having energy to do more with my family & around the house.

Plus, I've got to create a do-able exercise schedule that I can continue with when I start school on the 30th. I'm not going to be able to work out 7 days a week, or probably even 6...so now is the time to make sure I have a good 5 day a week routine.

I'm not going to stress if my Monday weigh-in shows bad results. I know it's going to take a week or two for my body to readjust. And this will probably mean that I will have a more "average loss" of a pound or two a week. But you know, if I feel great, am eating right & exercising, then I can be patient.

Monday Weigh-In & Thoughts - August 9th Edition

So not a great result on the weight loss front for this week. I didn't even make a 1lb loss...a .8lb loss for a current weight of 233.6.

I didn't do much differently this past week than I did the week before, but there was a little less sleep, a little more stress, a few more carbs & one missed exercise day on the treadmill. So I suppose this shows the importance of getting a full night's rest & the impact stress has on weight loss.

But I still feel accomplished, because the scale is not bothering me at all this time. Last week was exhausting for me. The husband actually worked 4 nights, which meant that I was up and moving from 6:30am to 9pm every day, Mon-Fri. I was super tired and exercise was an effort.

Some nice inch loss on measurements, though I'm puzzled by the half-inch gain in the waist & hips. Muscle, perhaps? My clothes are starting to look pretty loose, which is exciting. So is the inch loss on my thigh. My thighs have been the bane of my existence even at my skinniest, so any loss there makes me happy :)

Food - My goal was 1,590 - 1,790 calories a day. I think there was one day that I didn't hit that goal, but I was only over by 100 calories. I did notice that most of my days were in the 1700s, which was a little higher than the previous week.

I was also too focused on carb percentages than carb amounts. While I was hitting my carb percentages, I went way higher with grams, most days over 230.

Exercise - 2 days of 45mins on the treadmill, 6.5 incline, more 2.5mph than 2. Skipped Monday due to exhaustion, but made up for it on Friday when I went 15 minutes straight at 2.5mph.

Strength training & Yoga 3 days out of the week, and my Tae-Bo tape 1 day. And 28 laps in the pool on Saturday with a boost in speed to try to add some intensity.

Mood & Energy - Another blah week. I was exhausted most of the week, and had to take a nap Sunday. Stressed over all the same old things...money, school, new dog, etc. It was a real effort to exercise this past week.

Upcoming week: Try to pull my calorie intake down to see more 1500-1600 days, with a little more zig-zagging of calorie intake. Also reduce number of carbs to less than 220. Treadmill exercise is getting ramped up, a 7% incline going at 2.5mph for at least 35 minutes. Will also push to do more daily walks at work & endure the heat. Will push a little harder during Saturday's lap swim.

This morning was a good morning. I got my treadmill exercise in and feel pretty good. Am hopeful this week will be better than the last.

Upcoming Week
Calorie range: 1500-1800
Treadmill (with 7% incline) @ 2.5mph - 3x a week, 35mins
Tae-bo/Yoga videos - 2x a week, 50 min (also 30 min Yoga on Sunday)
Energizing Yoga - 3x a week, 20 mins
Calisthenics - 3x a week, 2 sets of 15
Swimming - 1x a week, 32 laps total = 6 breast stroke, 6 paddleboard, 10 crawl, 10 backstroke

Monday Weigh-In & Thoughts - August 2nd Edition

So it looks like my body just needed to readjust a bit. I blew out the expected loss of 1.5lbs with an almost 4lb loss for the week. Only 6.2 more lbs until my 2nd mini-goal is met! (losing 25lbs)

Almost every day I stepped on the scale this week, I was down. Even my "monthly visitor" didn't cause any gains due to water retention. I'm hopeful that the new BC pills are making a difference, and so far I'm seeing great results.

I've averaged a 2.6lb/week loss so far. I'm sure this will slow down greatly as more weight comes off. But I'm going to enjoy the ride while I can!

Food - My goal was 1,590 - 1,790 calories a day. With the exception of Monday & Friday, I did really well with my goal. I also made an effort to push my carbs closer to 55%, protein 25-30%, and fats 15-20% (similar to when I first started this) and I feel a LOT better. Current calories & ratios = good results. So this week? More of the same.

Exercise - 3 days of 45mins on the treadmill, 6.5 incline, more 2.5mph than 2. Got good & sweaty with this, but it didn't kill me, which is apparently right where I need to be.

I took Thursday off of it because I was exhausted. But I did do some strength training & Yoga 3 days out of the week, and my Tae-Bo tape 1 day. And 24 laps in the pool (we managed to scrounge the money to go).

This week? Will probably stick with the same exercise schedule, with a little tweak since I didn't work out this morning (stayed up too late last night). I've also been using work breaks for walks, shooting baskets, & playing Wii Sports, so that's squeezing in a little more activity time.

Mood & Energy - Mood isn't great. The monthly visitor didn't pack as much of a wallop as she normally does, and I think that's due to the Sprintec. But our dismal finances are making it hard to keep my spirits up. We need Adam to work 2 days a week to make it on our plan, and he's not even getting that right now. Energy is OK. If I was in a better mood, I think the energy would pump up a little.

Upcoming week: Try to keep a similar schedule as last week & see if I can see another good loss on the scale.

Calorie range: 1600-1800

Treadmill (with 6.5% incline) @ 2.5/2mph intervals - 2x a week,60 mins

Tae-bo/Yoga videos - 2x a week, 50 min (also 30 min Yoga on Sunday)

Energizing Yoga - 3x a week, 20 mins

Calisthenics - 3x a week, 2 sets of 15

Swimming - 1x a week, 4 sets of 8 ( 2 each freestyle,backstroke,breast stroke, and paddleboard)