Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Bigtime Eating for August Week 1

So, after managing to gain about 3-4lbs in June, I’ve pretty much maintained through July instead of making steady progress towards my goal weight [still 10lbs off!]. My intake increased slightly, from an average around 3000 to in the solid 3000’s, but it wasn’t enough to really gain.
For me [especially when my metabolism kicks in after each increase] I have to not only eat bigger than my recommended amount as well as the “norm,” but also push it past fullness—even when I’m getting my calories in the densest ways possible.

In any case, I got frustrated and changed my mind about the whole “progress to 4000 by Labor Day” and that extreme thing in me took over and I was like “August is not going to have one day below 4000!”
And, as is typical when I get stubborn and determined about something, I haven’t given in even when it proved to be a lot more challenging [physically regurgitating and stomach exploding] than I’d imagined.

I weighed in this morning and was up a solid 5lbs! Holy moly! Part of me paniced—as much as I want to weigh that much and more, the whole purpose is to be in my best physical state and I know gaining too fast can be just as unhealthy as crash dieting to lose weight.
However, when I think about it logically, even though I am taking in extreme amounts and did to an extra big increase, it still only amounts to less than 1000 extra a day, enough for a “real” 2lbs at best, and my goal is an average of a pound a week, with 2lbs on the initial kickoff being perfectly reasonable [room to adapt and adjust]. Hence, I plan to continue mission 4000 through the week and see where I end up next week before I make any adjustments. I can give my body a chance to adapt as well as seeing what’s “real.” Next week I’ll have a caloric average for the week based on where I end up. If I’m still progressing at 2+ lbs a week I can be a littler more relaxed about the stuffing myself—maybe still shoot for 4000 but have a 35-3700 daily minimum.
We’ll see where I’m at—for now I’m holding strong and steady.
And hopefully applying the same stubborn willpower to retrain the TIMING of this new level of eating:
This is the more truly concerning issue in terms of healthy habits and results now is that I am doing a massive amount of eating late. Yes, I have made some significant improvements earlier—I’m not adding a full 1000 calories late—but I am still leaving a good 1500 calories after 10pm. That’s my target time to have only a bedtime snack [even an 800 cal one!] left, not just to be getting through dinner with 1000 left to have once my stomach is partially recovered from exploding…only to end up going to bed equally uncomfortable. This type of habit is something I detested and shudder upon when I look back at my college gaining. I don’t want to gain this next 10lbs the way I did then.I know I can do it healthier and with better physical results and life in the process if I pace myself better—a LOT better!
My Nutrition Goals and Objectives this week:
Steady Adaption: Hold strong at 4000 [40-4200 range]
àNext week set target range/average based on next week’s weighin after steady at this level
Timing: Apply stubborn determination to overhaul my eating pattern
Makeup: Balanced for best results, GI function, performance + makeup/rep of bigtime dt

Objectives
Makeup
>Protein: 100-130g [150 max] àPlenty to build w/o kidney stress or hinder energy and function
>Fat: ~120-150g [=25-30%]
>FR/V: 5-6/3-5 *Include dried and dense for top setup and best function!
>Carbs: power foods! àFill up extra calories for my kind of diet!
Gameplan: Focus on meeting needs + bigtime filler $$ with happy foods

My Challenges will be:
My stomach problems:
I can’t wait to get into that specialist and start figuring this one out! It would be SO much easier to “just eat” if I didn’t have constant pain and discomfort and bathroom issues making it hard enough to eat a normal diet, much less a gaining one.
Time [+ poor time management!]:
Aside from sucky habits, that’s honestly the main thing that keeps me stuck eating too much too late. I eat a few bowls of cereal, my eggs, and wolf down snacks in the car and STILL end up late for work.
Plus I get anxious to do stuff I need to do and sick of eating all the time…then come nighttime all I do is eat all night anyways so it doesn’t really save me any time. If I could get on a good schedule I’d have my evenings as well as better results.

Here goes…can I take this all the way??!

No comments: