tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70438747353204745492024-02-06T20:28:17.017-06:00Achievement Unlocked - Weight Losstracking my weight loss as I use the Medifast diet plan and exercise to get back in shape!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-74040492278357545462015-04-02T09:18:00.000-05:002015-04-02T09:18:17.019-05:00C25KNow that my Achilles is back in mostly working order, I've begun running again.<br />
<br />
I started with a couple of days on the treadmill at work, and while running felt really weird, I was able to do it ok. My right calf is still significantly weaker than my left, so everything feels off and I have to make sure I'm not overcompensating. Combine that with the weirdness of running n a treadmill and it just felt off.<br />
<br />
On March 28, I did my first day of C25K, Week 1, Day 1. We ran on the track at The Lodge, so I don't have GPS data, but we did about 1.3 miles. I had to speed walk at least one of the running segments.<br />
<br />
March 30th we went to Des Peres Park and ran Week 1, Day 2. Not counting Warmup and Cool Down, I got in 1.26 miles with a 14:37 minute/mile pace. This felt really good, with my fastest interval coming in at a 10:42 minute/mile, which is WAY too fast for me to run for any length of time.<br />
<br />
Last night (April 1) I braved the wind and potential storms and went out to Des Peres Oark again. This time I knocked out 1.28 miles with a 14:28 minute/mile pace. My fastest interval was still too fast, at 10:51.<br />
<br />
My goal is to work on getting my running intervals at 12-13 minutes/mile pace, and my walking intervals at a 14-15/minutes/mile pace. Also, I need to get my form a little better.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is Week 2, day 1... I transition from Run 60 seconds/walk 90 seconds 8 times to run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes 6 times. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to run it since we're going out of town.<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-89508868613194543302015-03-28T10:13:00.000-05:002015-03-28T10:13:03.291-05:00Time to stop hovering.I'm not committed right now. This is fairly obvious, since I'm not tracking every day, not using my spreadsheets, not blogging every day. I got into a rut where blogging was boring. Then I had my injury. Then the holidays.<br />
<br />
Time for no more excuses. I've started a challenge on BGG to lose weight.<br />
<br />
I'm going low-carb, but not Medifast.<br />
<br />
Today, cheese omelet and bacon for breakfast. I'm going to go to Sam's and buy a ton of my protein shakes.<br />
<br />
Dinner I'll do fish or chicken with some mushrooms or beans. Beans are going to be the most carby thing I eat on a day, and I really hope to keep my carbs well under 100g a day.<br />
<br />
I can run! On the treadmill, and slowly, and I have to shift to walking, but I can do it. So it's time to start training for the 5k in 2 weeks. And the next 5k in 5 weeks. I expect to end up walking the majority of both of them, but we'll see!<br />
<br />
I'm tracking, as of now. It's so easy not to track.<br />
<br />
I should come up with some sort of internalized reward/punishment system for tracking or not. If I track all month of April, maybe I buy myself something big? As soon as I type that I realize that just tracking wouldn't be enough for me to justify a big purchase.<br />
<br />
Anyway, blogging is a step. It gets me thinking about it.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-36794192012957351712015-03-04T10:35:00.002-06:002015-03-04T10:35:24.673-06:00One week in to my two month challengeSo, on February 24th I was at 286.1 lbs. A week later, and I'm at 278.3. I'm making strides int he right direction.<br />
<br />
What's working so far: I'm drinking two high-protein, low carb shakes a day. That gets me 60g of protein for 320 calories.<br />
<br />
I'm going to the gym multiple times a week to do cardio on the elliptical and my strengthening exercises to rebuild my muscle and flexibility after my surgery to repair my ruptured Achilles.<br />
<br />
I'm limiting carbs reasonably most days.<br />
<br />
That's basically it. Lots of protein, watch the bread, work out. I'm generally not that hungry. When I am, I eat something good for me. I keep expecting my weight to bounce back up, but so far it's pretty steady.<br />
<br />
Eight pounds down, but it's the easy 8 pounds. 12 to go in 7 weeks. I think I can do it.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-35074771945901779372015-02-24T09:42:00.000-06:002015-02-24T09:42:08.611-06:00Two months. 20 lbs. I backslid a lot. I can say it was because of my injury and surgery. That's partially true. But there's also the holiday, where I ate junk because I wanted to. And I'm eating more fast food.<br />
<br />
So it's a combination of things. It was easy to get into bad habits with limited mobility.<br />
<br />
Now, though, I want to get back to where I was before the injury. That's ~260 lbs. I'm at ~280.<br />
<br />
So, time to lose 20 pounds, trying to do it via IIFYM.<br />
<br />
My primary strategy: 320 calories for 60g of protein shake, and make sure I eat a reasonable lunch meal and reasonable dinner, hitting 150g or more of protein and 150g or less of carbs.<br />
<br />
I am planning to allow one cheat lunch and one cheat dinner a week. However these 'cheats' will be pre-tracked and I'll work around them to maintain IIFYM as much as possible.<br />
<br />
Dinners will be Chicken, Fish, Turkey with Mushrooms and some other reasonable carb (beans, corn, a small serving of rice or pasta, or a single roll).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to weigh this week as I'm kicking up exercise and changing my diet. I'm just going to track everything and see what happens.<br />
<br />
I was doing well yesterday, but overdid my exercise and ended up eating a late snack of nutella and cheese that wasn't ideal for carbs, but I stayed way under on calories. I need to make sure that my late night snacks are a can of tuna, a cheese stick, maybe an apple... and not a spoonful of nutella out of the jar.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-30022225655655857412015-01-07T11:01:00.002-06:002015-01-07T11:01:54.858-06:00What am I eating?Since I need to get back to regular blogging, and I'm no longer doing Medifast, i thought I'd point out what it is I'm eating currently.<br />
<br />
I'm still somewhat in a 'Medifast Mindset', in that I'm eating 5-6 times a day, and lots of prepackaged snacks, I'm just well over the calories that Medifast provides.<br />
<br />
The bulk of my pre-packaged foods are:<br />
<br />
Weightloss shakes (about 200 calories)<br />
Protein Bars (about 200 calories)<br />
Greek Yogurt with granola (150-200 calories)<br />
Frozen 'light' lunches (200-300 calories)<br />
Cheese sticks (85 calories)<br />
Canned tuna (100 calories)<br />
Nuts (75-150 calories)<br />
<br />
these have taken the place of Medifast bars, crunchy snacks, hearty meals, and shakes. They run close to 2x as many calories as Medifast, and are higher carb. I'm ok with that though.<br />
<br />
In addition to that, I'm eating egg white/egg beater eggs, and turkey sausage/turkey bacon for some breakfasts.<br />
<br />
I'm having bagels 1 day a week for breakfast as well.<br />
<br />
for dinner I'm trying to be reasonable without being ridiculous. We ate out a lot the past 6-8 weeks, so we're going back to healthier options, but not just 'chicken breast plus some mushrooms' like before, there's some other things on the plate.<br />
<br />
I'm getting back into the swing of tracking, but it's not a solid habit yet.<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-13056786597068861372015-01-06T13:12:00.002-06:002015-01-06T13:12:59.237-06:00New Year, new... Fitbit?I'm looking forward to getting a FitBit Surge. I have been trying to read up on the device, especially how it actually works in the real world.<br />
<br />
I've still got my recalled Force, but I submitted my claim for a return recently. Soon I'll ship it back to FitBit, and get a bit over half of what a Surge costs. Then, I think Ill get the Surge with some birthday money.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-24821463798219343502014-12-30T08:53:00.001-06:002014-12-30T08:53:05.652-06:00Back to the blog!I can give all sorts of excuses. I was close to goal. The blog posts were repetitive. I couldn't think of something to write.<br />
<br />
And then there was my ruptured Achilles, and the surgery, and the cast, and then the physical therapy.<br />
<br />
But the fact is that I just weighed in at nearly 280, after being at 255 at the end of summer. Yes, 10 lbs of that was going off Medifast and back into a real diet, as soon as my body had carbs again I popped up, as expected. However, what I didn't do was stay there.<br />
<br />
I can blame the lack of exercise due to surgery, and bloating and swelling, but I also know that I wasn't eating properly. So it's time to get back on the wagon. Blogging regularly. tracking my food intake. Getting back to the gym regularly. Rehabbing my foot so I can play tennis again and start running.<br />
<br />
Today is a new Day Zero. Nearly a year ago I started this journey and was sitting at 332 pounds. I had gotten down to 280 in April. My goal is still at 240, and I've got 39.8 pounds to go, starting now.<br />
<br />
I don't really want to kickstart things with another bout of Medifast, but it is definitely time to go back to small meals, lots of healthy snacks, and reasonable dinners. MyFitnessPal needs to be back on the daily website rotation, and I need to update the app and track religiously.<br />
<br />
Yes, that includes the cupcake I got in the break room this morning. *sigh*<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-25211773161305564512014-11-06T08:13:00.000-06:002014-11-06T08:13:15.530-06:00Overdue update!So, let's update what's been going on the past month.<br />
<br />
I severed my Achilles tendon, and had to wait three weeks to get into surgery. Well, surgery was a success! I wore a splint for a couple days and then went and got checked on and got a cast.<br />
<br />
Two weeks in a cast, completely non weight-bearing, and then I got stitches out. Stitches came out Tuesday of this week and everything looked good. I got put into a heavier cast with my toes pointed down to protect the healing tendon. I'm in this cast for three weeks, BUT I'm now allowed to do as much weight bearing as I like.<br />
<br />
I've hobbled around a little bit with a crutch, and done some 'scooting'. It's not easy, but I'm doing it.<br />
<br />
On November 25th I'll be taken out of the cast and put into a walking boot with a heel lift, and can start walking with a crutch or a cane. This will be just in time for our drip to Disney, so I'll be scooting around the parks on a motorized scooter for much of the time, and limiting my walking to just a little bit a day.<br />
<br />
I've gained a bit of weight over the past month, which isn't surprising considering stress, Halloween, and limited exercise. But it's time to get back on the wagon and make sure I've not lost any ground when I get out of this thing. I want to be at no more than 260 lbs when I get the cast off. I weighed 266.8 this morning, and I think my cast weighs 3-5 lbs between the cotton, the fiberglass, and the tape.<br />
<br />
So, today, I'm back to tracking on MFP and I'll weigh every day now that I can stand on my own feet. I should be able to get back in sync pretty easily, and then it's just 'make good decisions' and hit the holiday season at 260, and not 340 like last year.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-28595448990007287722014-09-29T08:25:00.000-05:002014-09-29T08:25:16.363-05:00Back to bloggingThis is going to be a vaguely random blog post.<br />
<br />
About a month ago, I'd transitioned off Medifast. I was eating more food, and more types of food, exercising a lot more, and I even started playing tennis again. I was bouncing around between 259-265 pounds, which I felt was pretty good considering I doubled my calorie intake and started eating carbs again.<br />
<br />
Well, last week I was playing tennis, and while running for a shot, I felt a snapping in my right heel, and i hit the ground hard. Lying on the court, looking up at the lights, my foot hurt pretty bad, and I was sure I'd just ruptured my Achilles tendon. I got helped up by the class and went to the bench and iced it.<br />
<br />
A while later, my wife came to get me, and brought crutches. I was able to go to my podiatrist the next day and he took a look at it. He confirmed it wasn't good, and sent me to get an MRI.<br />
<br />
Now, Id been seeing this podiatrist because I have a vicious bone spur on the back of my right heel. I had an even worse one on my left heel, that I had surgically removed about 5 years ago. This surgery sucked, and I wasn't really interested in repeating it. However, my right heel was getting worse and worse, and I had finally decided to get surgery in January and just get it dealt with.<br />
<br />
However, before doing that, we decided to try a less invasive response. I took oral steroids for a week, and then strong NSAIDs twice a day. the steroids kicked in while I was at GenCon and it was pretty magical, all the pain went away, and stayed away. When I saw the doctor again later, he suggested I try to stop taking the NSAIDs and see what happened. Well, the pain came back in 2 days, so I went back on them.<br />
<br />
However with NSAIDs on board, I was feeling great so I started back up with tennis. I took a couple of intense 1-on-1 lessons and loved it, and signed up for a couple of group classes. It was at one of those that my tendon snapped.<br />
<br />
The MRI confirmed that I'd severed the tendon, pretty much at the point where the bone spur impinged on it. So now the surgery time frame is moved up a lot. On October 14th, or sooner if there is a cancellation, I'm going to be cut on and have the bone spur planed off, then the tendon will be extracted from my calf where it's all bunched up, and extended, and reattached to the bottom part of the tendon. There's a severed messy bit that will have to be excised.<br />
<br />
I get 8-12 weeks of immobilization and then I start rehabbing it.<br />
<br />
I'm not looking forward to all this, but at least it will be done, and there's a good chance of regaining 100% strength in it. I know on my left foot, it feels better than it had in years, so I'm hopeful about that.<br />
<br />
I just want to get it over with.<br />
<br />
So now that I can't hit the gym and the courts 4-5 times a week, I've got to come up with an upper body workout routine and watch what I'm eating more. I don't want to lose too much ground to this.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-61058193362311932382014-08-27T08:37:00.005-05:002014-08-27T08:37:52.554-05:00A month of transition, sort ofWell, I didn't transition the 'approved' way, as we decided to cut out the majority of our Medifast purchases.<br />
<br />
In the past month I've taken to eating Yoplait 100-calorie greek yogurt with granola, protein meal replacement bars from Aldi, and Campbell's 'on the go' soups, and still eating the occasionaly Medifast shakes, bars, and etc from our stash.<br />
<br />
I've also started eating more carbs and variety at dinner. Some pizza, some pasta, even some bread.<br />
<br />
I haven't been tracking very religiously, I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to just wing it. Well, I moved between 254 and 262 lbs. About an 8 pound swing over the past month, but never got a new low.<br />
<br />
I know that I was going to immediately add some weight as my carb intake increased, so that's ok. And I also was on a steroid regimen for my foot, and I know that increases water retention. And finally, while I was at GenCon I was eating a out more, since I was, you know, at a convention.<br />
<br />
Well, I think I've learned that while I can fairly easily maintain myself at this rate, it's time to buckle down and start tracking seriously again. I'm going to reset my MFP to a new baseline next week. that will give my body one more week to recover from the steroids and once there, I'm going to create new spreadsheets and track everything to try to get a feel for my actual BMR while eating real food.<br />
<br />
Currently my food plan is:<br />
<br />
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon and eggs, or a shake<br />
Morning Snack: Greek Yogurt and Granola<br />
Lunch: various: soup, tuna, mac and cheese, leftovers, etc<br />
Afternoon Snack: protein bar<br />
Dinner: lean meats and veggies, occasionally go out<br />
Dessert: protein smoothie or low-cal ice cream treat<br />
<br />
Expect to see more weekly charts and graphs again starting next week as I keep transitioning off Medifast and onto something permanent!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-44054974984298750312014-08-01T08:59:00.001-05:002014-08-01T09:02:35.394-05:00Progress pics, before and afterLong before I started Medifast, I took some 'before pics' when I decided to start losing weight on my doctor's advice. Over the course of 6 months or so (honestly I'm not certain when the first pic was taken, May 2013 is an estimate) I went from 345 pounds to 332 pounds, at which point I decided to start Medifast. Despite 332 not being my 'heaviest recorded weight', I completely reset MFP to zero at this point, to give me a baseline. However, I didn't take fresh progress pics then.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBrRuEAXf4QE2-APZHc1oYaD7n4QCKFSHmXnNzZNhhWrTv6OOQt-t2LzVTqykJgveqRydx_7lzC8qQu-fxd3EO84Zgq2CWVKKXHOLMOXn2Vk-ZKDXgCLBUeCBOA1NxhnXIroTGWAwCrs/s1600/progresspic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBrRuEAXf4QE2-APZHc1oYaD7n4QCKFSHmXnNzZNhhWrTv6OOQt-t2LzVTqykJgveqRydx_7lzC8qQu-fxd3EO84Zgq2CWVKKXHOLMOXn2Vk-ZKDXgCLBUeCBOA1NxhnXIroTGWAwCrs/s1600/progresspic.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In addition to the loss of 90 pounds between these two pictures you can also see a few other interesting changes...<br />
<br />
For one, we finished painting the bathroom! I'm wearing my Fitbit in the new picture. I'm not wearing my wedding band, as it is at the jeweler getting resized so it stops falling off my finger, and finally, I've got a new phone. Also notice that I have learned to take pictures in landscape mode as well.<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-76434015867927187652014-07-31T13:53:00.002-05:002014-07-31T14:10:25.553-05:00A mostly Medifast transition day!So, I weighed in at 255 this morning, just over low, and have decided to do an 'almost not Medifast' day.<br />
<br />
<b>Breakfast (replacing: Medifast Shake)</b><br />
2/3 cup egg whites<br />
1 Laughing Cow wedge<br />
4 slices turkey bacon<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>202 Calories, 4g carbs, 8g fat, 26g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>vs Medifast:</i><br />
<i>90 calories, 13g carbs, 2g fat, 11g protein</i><br />
<br />
2x the calories, lower carb. This breakfast fills me up much better than Medifast ever did.<br />
<br />
<b>Morning Snack (replacing: Medifast Bar)</b><br />
5.3 oz Strawberry Cheesecake Greek Yogurt<br />
1/4 cup Bear Naked Chocolate Granola<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>230 calories, 33g carb, 4g fat, 15g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>vs Medifast:</i><br />
<i>110</i><i> calories, 13g carbs, 4g fat, 11g protein</i><br />
<br />
I actually used too much granola today, and can probably cut the amount in half, saving 65 calories, 10g carbs, 3g fat, and only losing 1.5g protein. I really, really like this as a snack. The last time I tried Greek yogurt, I did not like it, texture-wise and flavor-wise it just didn't work. However, the cheesecake flavor masks the 'weird' flavor, and the crunchy granola mix-in really fixes the texture problem. This stuff is really good, and I will be trying more flavors as I go. The stuff I'm eating now has sucralose in it, and I'd like to not be eating much of that.<br />
<br />
<b>Lunch (replacing: Medifast Hearty Meal with Cheese and Chicken)</b><br />
Quest Bar - Cookies and Cream<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>180 calories, 22g carbs, 7g fat, 21g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>vs Medifast with add-ins</i><br />
<i>263</i><i> calories, 15g carbs, 11g fat, 29g protein</i><br />
<br />
I really, really liked the Quest Bar. It was very dense, nicely sweet and cookie-like. It's got good macronutrients. Again, we've got Sucralose and Stevia in it, which isn't ideal. However it is more ideal than a candy bar and bag of chips. These guys are pretty expensive, but I think I'll keep eating them if they hold up. Which means I need to find a place to buy them in bulk for cheap.<br />
<br />
<b>Afternoon Snack (no change)</b><br />
Medifast Pretzel sticks.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>110 calories, 14g carbs, 2g fat, 11g protein.</li>
</ul>
<br />
I'm not changing this up today, but eventually I'll want something non-Medifast here that is higher protein and lower carb. I can easily see this ending up being canned tuna regularly, since it's protein-dense carb free. I'm one of those weird people that like canned tuna plain, so I can get away with that, I don't need crackers and mayo with it.<br />
<br />
<b>Dinner (no real change)</b><br />
Tonight I'm going to make a turkey burger in a portobello cap bun, add cheese, and eat a few tater tots. Other than the tater tots and cheese, this is basically the same meal I'd normally eat.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>413 calories, 23g carbs, 9g fat, 53g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Dessert (replacing Medifast SoftBake Smoothie)</b><br />
1 Scoop Isoflex PB/Chocolate Whey Protein Isolate<br />
.5 oz Neufchatel Cheese<br />
1 Tbsp No-sugar added Quik<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>168 calories, 6g carbs, 4g fat, 29g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>vs Medifast with add-ins</i><br />
<i>190</i><i> calories, 21g carbs, 6g fat, 21g protein</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I'm going to end my day (presumably, if I don't snack extra) at:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1303 Calories</li>
<li>102g carbs</li>
<li>34g fat</li>
<li>155g protein</li>
</ul>
<br />
I'm also hitting 2433 mg sodium and 29 g fiber.<br />
<br />
My 'IIFYM' targets for today (including my gym trip) would have me eat another 1200 calories, 59 carbs, 68 fats, 70 protein, and 31 fiber. I'm not yet to that point though, as I'm still transitioning. That said, I'm very happy to be eating different food, even if it is from the supplement store and not the grocery store. I think doing things this way will give me a much greater chance of success, because I can keep up my habits, shift away from them slowly, and not be tied to big shipments of Medifast.<br />
<br />
So far so good! I'll keep cranking up my calorie intake, adjusting my macros, adding more foods, and see what happens!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-66606010926687944712014-07-25T09:16:00.000-05:002014-07-25T09:16:50.249-05:00If It Fits Your Macros - doing some math!So, I want to convert from Medifast to IIFYM now that I'm at the tail end of my weight loss goal, as I think it will improve my ability to keep losing fat and to gain muscle. However, that means I have to do a lot of work into what my TDEE actually is.<br />
<br />
If I go to <a href="http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/">http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/</a> and put in my numbers (Male, 43 years old, 6'2", 255 lbs) and plug in my desk job with no exercise, it claims that I have a BMR of 2223 calories and a TDEE of 2667/day. this seems fairly accurate with what MFP claims as well<br />
<br />
So, to lose 1 pound a week, I need to consume 2167 calories a day with no exercise. To lose 2 lbs a week I need to consume 1657 calories a day with no exercise.<br />
<br />
I do two circuit training workouts a week, which I think probably burn about 350 calories per class. I also try to hit the elliptical at least once, which is about 700 calories generally.<br />
<br />
So my 'extra' burn on a standard week is 1400 calories, or 200 calories a day. Spreading that across the week, it looks like I need to eat at around 2400 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week, or 2050 to lose 1.5 pounds. I like the idea of losing a little more than 1 pound a week, so I want to target that number.<br />
<br />
Now, for the next step, I weigh 255 pounds and have a target of 2050 calories a day. IIFYM claims that that would be 'reckless' with no added exercise, however with my exercise level that should be considered closer to an 'aggressive' plan, which seems accurate to me.<br />
<br />
With all that plugged in, IIFYM came back with the following guidelines:<br />
<br />
189 grams of protein/day<br />
85 grams of fat/day<br />
133 grams of carbs/day<br />
51+ grams of fiber/day<br />
<br />
That seems totally reasonable. Now, lets look at what a normal day should look like on tis plan and see if that makes any sense at all with what I want to eat...<br />
<br />
<b>Breakfast - Egg white omelet (237 calories, 8 carbs, 5 fat, 37 protein)</b><br />
2/3 cup egg whites<br />
2 wedges laughing cow<br />
3 oz grilled chicken<br />
<br />
<b>Morning Snack - Medifast bar and Almonds (280 calories, 18 carbs, 20 fat, 17 protein)</b><br />
1 Medifast Crunch bar<br />
28 grams almonds<br />
<br />
<b>Lunch - Medifast with cheese and chicken (260 calories, 15 carbs, 10 fat, 26 protein)</b><br />
1 Mac and Cheese<br />
3 oz grilled chicken<br />
1 wedge laughing cow<br />
<br />
<b>Afternoon Snack - Greek Yogurt and Granola (230 calories, 33 carbs, 4 fat, 15 protein)</b><br />
5.3 oz Yoplait Greek 100 Strawberry Cheesecake<br />
1/4 cup Bear Naked Heavenly Chocolate Granola<br />
<br />
<b>Dinner - Chicken and vegetables (557 calories, 30 carbs, 33 fat, 39 protein)</b><br />
8 oz grilled chicken<br />
1.5 cups mushrooms<br />
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil<br />
1 cup black eyed peas<br />
<br />
<b>Dessert - Smoothie (225 calories, 21 carbs, 9 fat, 22 protein)</b><br />
1 Medifast soft bake<br />
1 oz Neufchatel Cheese<br />
2 tbsp PB2<br />
<br />
This would end the day at:<br />
<br />
1,789 calories (261 remaining)<br />
125g carbs (8 remaining)<br />
81g fat (4 remaining)<br />
156g protein (33 remaining!)<br />
29g fiber (22 remaining)<br />
<br />
So, I need to supplement this with a high-fiber, high- protein, low-carb snack in some way. A quick look sees I can replace one Medifast crunch bar with a Quest Bar and add another Quest Bar (170 calories, 3 carbs, 6 fat, 20 protein) and end up here:<br />
<br />
2,029 calories (close enough to be a rounding error)<br />
137 carbs (just over)<br />
90 fat (just over)<br />
186 protein (just under)<br />
42 fiber (under, I should add a fiber pill)<br />
<br />
That's pretty freaking close, actually. My first thought is 'holy crap, that is a LOT of food'. My second thought is this is going to be restrictive in very similar ways to Medifast for most days, since trying to hit those targets is going to be tough. I'll also want to change up dinner a lot more, with different meats and starchy veggies.<br />
<br />
I'll need to come up with a LOT of different meal plans/options, and I'll also want to look at ditching Medifast mac and cheese and expand my lunch options.<br />
<br />
So, there's some stuff to blog about for the next couple of days! Meal planning. Medifast takes meal planning out of the equation, so this will be a change of pace.<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-38514106084460623102014-07-21T10:08:00.003-05:002014-07-21T10:14:18.436-05:00Transitioning off Medifast soon!I'm at 255 (+/- 1 lb) and while I did not hit my goal weight of 240 yet, we've decided to start the transition off of Medifast towards more 'real' foods. To that end, we've made a few purchases that should help things moving forward.<br />
<br />
Now though, I'm going to talk a bit about meals and snacks and how things used to work, how they work now, and how they'll hopefully be working in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>Breakfast, before Medifast:</b><br />
Skipped it many days, sometimes had a big bowl of sugary cereal (1.5 cups) with 2% milk. Lots of days I had a gas station hot dog or biscuit, or 2 McDonald's burritos or a sausage biscuit, or a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit. (0-600+ calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Breakfast, on Medifast:</b><br />
A Medifast shake or 3/4 cup Medifast cereal and 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. (90-140 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Breakfast plans now:</b><br />
Kashi GoLean High Protein cereal or Fiber One Chocolate cereal and unsweetened vanilla almond milk, or egg whites with cheese and mushrooms, or a protein shake. (100-200 calories).<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway:</i> Breakfast every day is critical to not over-snacking later, and almond milk is amazing.<br />
<br />
<b>Morning Snack, before Medifast:</b><br />
Vendo-bot food, candy bars, potato chips, cookies, pop tarts. (200-500 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Morning snack, on Medifast:</b><br />
Medifast Crunch Bar, Almonds (85-110 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Morning Snack plans now:</b><br />
High protein meal replacement bars, Almonds (85-200 calories)<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway</i>: Make sure you have reasonable healthy snacks at work. However, don't bring bags and boxes of them to work, since the work day is the place I'm most likely to graze. Bring exactly enough snacks for each day.<br />
<br />
<b>Lunch, before Medifast:</b><br />
Fast food value meals, Subway, Qdoba Take Two menu, Indian buffet, Chinese buffet, deli soup and sandwiches, one large can of chunky soup. (400-2000 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Lunch, on Medifast:</b><br />
Macaroni and cheese, sometimes with extra cheese and chicken. (100-200 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Lunch plans now:</b><br />
Continuing to eat Medifast Mac and Cheese, but will look into frozen dinners, canned soups, and other options, as well as bringing leftovers for lunches. (100-500 calories)<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway:</i> I simply can't go eat buffet/fast food 3-5 times a week at work. I need to make sure I bring a lunch every single day and have lunch outings at work limited to social events with friends a couple times a month.<br />
<br />
<b>Afternoon snacks, before Medifast:</b><br />
Very rare, actually. This is likely due to the fact that most of my lunches were massive 1000-2000 calorie piles of sodium and fat. If I skipped lunch then this would be Vendo-bot, though. (0 calories or 250-500 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Afternoon snacks, on Medifast:</b><br />
One of a variety of crispy Medifast snacks (90-110 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Afternoon snack plans now:</b><br />
Protein bars, nuts, yogurt and granola, or some other reasonable snack. (100-300 calories)<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway</i>: Afternoon snacks are critical to balancing out the day. Eating three small meals works much better than one large one, so I need to make sure I've got this covered with things brought from home so that I'm not hitting the Vendo-bot for a candy bar and chips.<br />
<br />
<b>Dinner, before Medifast:</b><br />
While I made many home cooked meals, and a lot of them were actually relatively healthy, portion sizes were a little out of control. Tons of rice, tons of pasta, breads, etc. However, many nights, especially right before Medifast meant lots of fast food. We were going out to eat 4-6 nights a week, with planned meals out after workout class two nights, and then the other nights were pizza, or Mexican, or a sit-down restaurant, or fast food. (800-2500 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Dinner, on Medifast:</b><br />
6-9 ounces of lean protein, 1.5 cups of mushrooms, sauces. (400-600 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Dinner plans now:</b><br />
4-8 ounces of lean protein, more vegetables, including adding back in grains, and reasonable bread/pasta and sauces. (500-1000 calories)<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway:</i> Cook every night. Don't come to the dinner table starving because you ate crap all day at lunch. Have a stocked pantry and refrigerator, and get fresh meats and veggies regularly. Going out to eat should be a special treat and not the default. When you do go out to eat, have reasonable servings.<br />
<br />
<b>Post-Dinner snack, before Medifast:</b><br />
Chocolate chip cookies, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, Sonic Blasts, McFlurries, frozen yogurt, frozen custard concretes with mix-ins. (200-800 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Post Dinner snack, on Medifast:</b><br />
Medifast smoothie with a soft-bake mix, cream cheese, and PB2 (120-150 calories)<br />
<br />
<b>Post-dinner snack plans now:</b><br />
More Medifast smoothies, and possibly coming up with other smoothie recipes using protein powders, real peanut butter, and other ingredients. (120-250 calories)<br />
<br />
<i>Biggest takeaway:</i> While I really do want something dessert-like every night, I need to make sure that the high-calorie choices are very rare treats and not daily occurrences. This is where we are most likely to keep buying Medifast products for the foreseeable future, as well.<br />
<br />
Before Medifast, I was consuming anywhere from 1600-6000 or so calories a day, and gaining weight when I wasn't tracking. I doubt I had many 6,000 calorie days, but I am sure I had more 4,000 calorie days than I would have ever expected.<br />
<br />
Now, though, I want to take my average Medifast day (1100-1300 calories) and transition into a more reasonable 2000-2500 calorie diet. I'm not planning on jumping directly up to 2500, obviously, but this is the overall goal, to get myself to a place where my normal day is at a calorie level that should make it easy to lose about 1 lb a week if I exercise, and maintain if I don't.<br />
<br />
To do this, I just need to keep weighing, keep tracking, and keep bringing food to work and cooking at home. I got my kickstart. Now it's time to lock it in.<br />
<br />
<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-25989119294312576022014-07-17T09:54:00.002-05:002014-07-17T10:10:33.712-05:00Week 26?! Yes, week 26! Broke through my plateau.Ok, summer has been horrible for my blogging. It's also not done a great thing for my diet plan, I was in a plateau for quite some time, but this week I have pushed myself to make the right choices and get back on plan.<br />
<br />
This summer has been great. I feel better than I've felt in ages, and we're doing a lot of stuff outside. We're also going out to eat a little more, and even treating ourselves. Since the summer started I've been on a cruise (made reasonable food choices, but did not 'diet'). Spent a week with my family (more reasonable food choices but still no dieting). Since we got back we've gone out to dinner a few times (reasonable choices, staying as close to lean and green as possible). We even had a small celebratory night out at a hotel, with dinner (reasonable), dessert (fresh cannoli), breakfast in bed, then crepes for brunch.<br />
<br />
Finally tonight, we've got one more kid-free evening before our daughter comes back from camp, and we're going out one more time on a date night.<br />
<br />
The key to all of this is that despite all of this 'not on plan' eating and activity, I've managed to maintain, and not gain. And then once I buckled down, this week I had over a 4 pound loss! I expect this is because I've spent most of the summer eating enough carbs to have glycogen stored up again, and this week I've burned through some of it.<br />
<br />
As of this morning, I was at 254 pounds. Seven months ago, I was at 332 and had put a goal of 250 pounds as a far future goal, nearly impossible to attain. Now I'm a stone's throw away. I reset my goal to 240, so that I would go off plan and regain glycogen and still stay under 250 and have that be my maintenance weight, but now that I'm nearly there, I think I can do a little better.<br />
<br />
So, while I'm not to goal yet, it is time to take a pretty hard look at things. In a couple of weeks (whenever I hit 250, I think) I'm going to start transitioning off Medifast and start eating more real food. I want to do the transition properly and then shift into a standard 'IIFYM' (if it fits your macros) style of eating to focus on building muscle and losing fat slowly. So over the next few weeks I'll be looking into that and see where I think I need to set my intake on carbs, fats, and proteins. I expect I'll still be low-carb for a long time, but not quite so low carb as I am now.<br />
<br />
I'd like to be in transition before the end of this month, and off Medifast sometime in August or September.<br />
<br />
Medifast has been amazing, even with the last few weeks (they were frustrating at the time, but honestly, I wasn't on plan consistently for any of my plateau, so it's hard to complain with 'maintaining/slight loss' when you aren't actually following the diet!).<br />
<br />
The biggest lessons I've learned are: consistent meal planning, cooking every day, bringing lunch to work every day. Those are huge, because of course you're going to gain weight when you grab a biscuit at Mc Donald's for breakfast, eat chinese buffet for lunch, and then order pizza for dinner because you don't want to cook. One of those as a special occasion? Sure. All three in one day, and multiple days a week that look like that? Bad idea.<br />
<br />
Ok! Enough talking. Time to break out some graphs. I've been a slacker this summer, but it's time to end this thing with a bang, so it's back to daily blogging and weekly graphs and charts!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nnY71Dw4ok22ul6H9F5q4jKvGoP-rdUkxfhJecr75xHxMaYfzqcxdQzNXw-4R7sLh1gv-EcAEckXBCNv4jE3A9P2_1nahdR9yf-o5GLc4jU0oykE7Z4MVF35gyGMV1LBwkPa8NLLsSk/s1600/week26detail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nnY71Dw4ok22ul6H9F5q4jKvGoP-rdUkxfhJecr75xHxMaYfzqcxdQzNXw-4R7sLh1gv-EcAEckXBCNv4jE3A9P2_1nahdR9yf-o5GLc4jU0oykE7Z4MVF35gyGMV1LBwkPa8NLLsSk/s1600/week26detail.png" height="222" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to embiggen!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here you can see the tail end of my plateau. It started at the middle of may when I hit 260 and then started hovering, dancing between 258 and 262 for a few weeks. I started this week in a good place, 258.0, my previous low. Even with dinner at Blueberry Hill, cannoli, and crepes, I only went up to 259.9 and decided to knock it out of the park the rest of the week. I hydrated, followed Medifast, limited snacks, and broke through.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnG86-oIPOGbXbOclSoOlzVet5ZZiGW-KoQ-ta1oNA1CDzRt1FD3_-mxyLJsdUAuO-vg9EbatuupW3bGnGCcwM9HdX4Ya7a0fJSD8nfvJ_ynHN2oT2HSbh84qwRYm2UmI3L_HUhGnLv0/s1600/week26progress.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnG86-oIPOGbXbOclSoOlzVet5ZZiGW-KoQ-ta1oNA1CDzRt1FD3_-mxyLJsdUAuO-vg9EbatuupW3bGnGCcwM9HdX4Ya7a0fJSD8nfvJ_ynHN2oT2HSbh84qwRYm2UmI3L_HUhGnLv0/s1600/week26progress.png" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 6-week plateau is obvious here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Taking a look at the weekly, you can see the stall, hovering at 259-261. Despite that though, I ended week 26 at an even 3.0 pound loss week, and that's good enough. I still think I can manage to hit my goal by mid-August.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCB_H8lqWdh6xOABQZvJdYCfFYKPjgM8hhbUfDok5_ibu42Oh1B7tullhn-N2wA4s3pFJGw-iMohCrYzXwG7YL7WlNqB1sIYLKd1Ayzo0LTXR7lmeHQSFA01gVa705s9ycoyt8lyIzJs/s1600/week26graph.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCB_H8lqWdh6xOABQZvJdYCfFYKPjgM8hhbUfDok5_ibu42Oh1B7tullhn-N2wA4s3pFJGw-iMohCrYzXwG7YL7WlNqB1sIYLKd1Ayzo0LTXR7lmeHQSFA01gVa705s9ycoyt8lyIzJs/s1600/week26graph.png" height="260" width="400" /></a></div>
And here's my weekly graph. Still pretty impressive, even with that flat bit. Not much longer now!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-73022859368399161112014-07-01T14:12:00.000-05:002014-07-01T14:12:03.559-05:00Back from vacation!I was on vacation for about two weeks and managed a cruise and beach trip off Medifast and maintained!<br />
<br />
I'll be posting a more detailed post this week once I'm hydrated, caught up from being gone for a while, and have some more data, but for now I'm pretty happy. Now it's time to get back on Medifast for the last bit of my loss and then transition and get my long-term plan in effect to build muscle.<br />
<br />
But before I go:<br />
<br />
Marshall and Christy, last week:<br />
<br />
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And us prior to starting Medifast:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/996875_10101038021433536_1993514958_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/996875_10101038021433536_1993514958_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-27635055304493963782014-06-11T10:43:00.002-05:002014-06-11T10:59:56.543-05:00Scale frustrations, slacking on the blog, and NSV.So I haven't been blogging. I also haven't been losing weight.<br />
<br />
For the past few weeks I've been hovering. Why am I hovering? A few reasons, most likely.<br />
<br />
I've been eating out slightly more often, and that's increasing carb intake. I'm snacking on a few things I shouldn't... a chicken finger, some real peanut butter, more sauces than I should be eating with my chicken and mushrooms, etc. going heavy on sodium and not keeping my carbs under 100g is not helping.<br />
<br />
I'm just not drinking my water. I know I need to and I'm working on that today.<br />
<br />
I'd stopped exercising as much.<br />
<br />
So, I need to actually pay better attention to water and sodium and carbs for a few days, and then I'm going on vacation where the goal will be to 'eat like a healthy person' and not 'eat a medifast diet' or 'nom nom nom buffet food and dessert bars'.<br />
<br />
I want to get home from vacation within 2 lbs of where I started (ideally 2 lbs lower, but 2 lbs heavier is ok).<br />
<br />
I'm currently at 260. My low is 258.2, but that was an outlier when it happened. I've been bouncing between 259-261 for a couple weeks now and it is definitely time to buckle down and do something to kickstart my metabolism. I'm hoping that more/different types of exercise and different foods will help.<br />
<br />
However, let's go over a few NSV that have happened:<br />
<br />
I can mow the entire lawn, with edging, and cleanup and not get winded.<br />
I was up on the roof cleaning gutters and it was perfectly fine.<br />
I'm wearing size XL shorts and shirts and they fit.<br />
I put on a pair of size 38 pants and they fit!<br />
<br />
I was straining my size 44 pants when I started this. I'm not totally comfortable in a size 38 yet but it is close. All my 44s are gone to Goodwill, and the 42s are on their way. 40 is comfortably loose (requires a belt) and 38 is a little tight.<br />
<br />
I still have 20 lbs to lose, but I feel great and am getting slimmer and stronger. So I can't complain too much when I'm having a scale plateau at this point.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-48615947475473052052014-05-29T11:56:00.002-05:002014-05-29T11:56:50.113-05:0019 weeks! Getting closer to goal!I'v enot been a very attentive blogger for the past couple of weeks, and I also hadn'tbeen tracking as well as I should. I have lots of reasons, but they don't matter! It's time to get back on this horse. So, for the first time in a while, here's a full blown weekly update!<br />
<br />
Here's some details to get us started.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to embiggen!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My weekly average has dipped below 4lbs a week to a respectable 3.8. I had an up and down week this week after posting a slight gain last week. I ended on a good note though, and feel like I'm back on track after Geekway. At my current rate I've got 5-7 weeks left on Medifast before I start transitioning.<br />
<br />
Let's take a look at my weekly progress now:<br />
<br />
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We've moved away from those big sweeping drops and settled in two knocking out 1 spot a week. That's to be expected now that I'm 'off the scale' for 1lb and 2lb losses. If I stick with a 3.x loss then I'll hit 240 5-7 weeks. That will put me in July, and then I'll transition. I think that's still feasible even with the slowdown I've seen recently.<br />
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Looking at my TDEE, the past couple weeks have seen me eating more net calories. I need to make sure I'm getting in my exercise (I haven't been getting my extra in) and limiting some of my extra calories. I can exercise and eat more, or I can eat on plan and not exercise, but eating more and not exercising is a bad combination.<br />
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And finally:<br />
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My expected and actual weight for the week rejoined one another. My expected loss by TDEE overall keeps dropping away from my actual, but I think that's clearly to be expected. I just need to track better and keep my hydration up and I think this will be more accurate. If nothing else I can track it over time and adjust my TDEE based on reality.<br />
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So, there's my status update. I'm hovering just over my low weight right now. I just need to put in a few more weeks and then I can shift out of this mode! Then it's keep tracking, keep weighing, and making sure I maintain the loss.<br />
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Not much longer now!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-88309814786978746252014-05-22T09:20:00.001-05:002014-05-22T09:20:28.289-05:00Brief weekly update (Week 18!)It's been a hectic week and I haven't had as much time to blog as I'd like. I'll try to get a full weekly update post up soon, but here's a quick one!<br />
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Progress: I lost over 4 lbs the week before Geekway, but this week I ended up 1lb over last week. I know exactly why: working out last night, not drinking enough water at the convention, and not staying on plan. I had rice, potatoes, bread, etc while at Geekway, and all those carbs reloaded my glycogen stores, so it's back to the Medifast Plan at a fairly strict level for the next few days to get back on track.<br />
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Here's my weekly progress chart:<br />
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My weekly average has dropped to 3.8 lbs/week, which is still pretty awesome. I expect to have a big loss this week as well, if I'm right about holding onto glycogen.<br />
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Since I don't have any scale victories this week, I'll add a couple non-scale: I had to add ANOTHER (this is #3) hole to my belt. It's really ridiculous at this point for me to still keep it, it's so long.<br />
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Also, last night at workout class, I got about 75% of a pull-up done. This is the first time I've actually gotten most of the way there, and I think I'll be able to knock one out in a couple of weeks.<br />
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<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-2003907342243233642014-05-20T20:16:00.000-05:002014-05-20T20:16:08.369-05:00Anniversary Dinner!Today is my wife and my 14th Anniversary, and in celebration I cooked a fancy dinner!<br />
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Pork Tenderloin and Filet Mignon seared on an iron skillet and then finished in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.<br />
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Roasted mushrooms and asparagus with balsamic vinaigrette reduction.<br />
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Seared green beans in sesame oil and soy sauce.<br />
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And because it's a special occasion, dark chocolate dipped strawberries.<br />
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While it's not 100% on plan, it's very close, and it's on a rare occasion!<br />
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I just need to make sure to drink my water and really hit it at the gym tomorrow.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-71239522104567925762014-05-19T20:52:00.000-05:002014-05-19T20:53:31.058-05:00Back to the blog!From Wednesday-Sunday I was working the Geekway to the West board game convention, and never had a chance to blog. It was four days of hard work and tons of fun gaming! I did not really stay on plan for much of the weekend... I ate Medifast and tried to stay hydrated, but my meals included rice (with sushi), roasted potatoes, bacon and eggs, and even a sandwich during breakdown.<br />
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That said, I was only up .3 lbs after the weekend, and I know that even with the extra carbs that I was eating at a calorie deficit, so while I may have gained some glycogen and water weight, I didn't gain any fat.<br />
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I'll try to post a better post tomorrow, with more info and some pictures, but right now I'm still decompressing!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-8956606646677924782014-05-13T13:15:00.000-05:002014-05-19T20:53:15.121-05:00Hydrostatic Body Fat Test complete!Today at lunch I went to my gym to do a hydrostatic body fat assessment. It was an interesting experience!<br />
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I showed up and was given a small room to change out of my work clothes into my swimsuit. While I was changing, Laura (the operator) asked me some basic questions... name, height, weight, why I was getting the test, etc. As I finished getting dressed she weighed me on a scale and then had me get into the tank.<br />
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The water was warm, and she had me squeeze all the air bubbles out of my trunks, hook my toes under a bar, and put a dive belt across my lap. Then she gave the instructions, I was to lie back, pinch my nose closed, and breathe out, and she would tap the side of the tub when it was time to come up.<br />
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My first time under, I was still breathing out when she tapped, and I came up.. that was just to make sure I was ok. The second time, I was still forcing air out when she let me up, told me to breathe out a little faster and go a little deeper, so my elbow wouldn't stick out of the water.<br />
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The next time, I went deeper, got a good reading, and was told for the last time when I finished breathing out, to really clench my core and force the last air out. This last time I did that and stayed under for a half second and came up. While I got dressed, she put in the numbers and got me my report.<br />
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Here's what I ended up with!<br />
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Height: 74 inches<br />
Dry Weight: 262 pounds<br />
Residual Volume: 2.359<br />
Wet Weight: 5.5 lbs<br />
Body Fat: 69.55 lbs (26.6%)<br />
Lean Body mass: 192.45 lbs (73.45%)<br />
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Target Body Fat %: 18.1%<br />
Target Weight: 234 lbs<br />
Pounds to lose: 28<br />
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Resting Metabolic Rate: 2390 Calories/day<br />
Adjusted Metabolic Rate: 3107 calories/day<br />
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I'm doing quite a bit better than expected! I still want to get to 240 lbs on Medifast, and then go into transition to lose the last bit. I was given some advice on nutrition, to increase my protein intake to 130 g/day every day, and to make sure to eat 25-30g after working out.<br />
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I plan to go back for a followup test in a few months!<br />
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<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-80287811088620749752014-05-12T15:07:00.000-05:002014-05-19T20:52:57.616-05:00This will be an interesting week...This week is the 10th Annual Geekway to the West. It's a 4-day board gaming convention, and I am one of the board members/organizers.<br />
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This convention takes up a TON of my time, as there is a ton to do and only a few people to do it, but we're coming in to the home stretch now. This weekend I finalized registrations and got the 801 people coming off to our graphic designer so he can get badges printed, put in an order for an extra 120 games for our free game giveaway, bought another few hundred dollars worth of games for door prizes, volunteer prizes, and to fill some spots in our library, and then went to our annual 'Punch and Play' event, where we get the games ready for Play and Win, and try to play a few of them too.<br />
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Wednesday night is setup, where we organize the event space, vendor space, open play area, library, registration, and play and win areas, and also try to figure out where exactly we're going to put the 850 games we're giving away to people.<br />
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What does all this mean though? Well, I'll probably be getting a lot more incidental walking and lifting than normal, but it also means I'm eating meals out for multiple nights in a row, with limited access to on-plan choices.<br />
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It will be an interesting week. I'm going to do the best I can, but I don't expect to manage 100% plan compliance. Combining that with me skipping the gym this week because of the convention, and well, we'll see what happens. regardless, it will be fun!<br />
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<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-48254579229232959542014-05-08T09:20:00.001-05:002014-05-08T09:20:22.317-05:0016 Weeks. Zero loss this week, bleh.Between exercise, being sick, or whatever, this week was a static week for me. I ended up exactly where I was last Thursday, with my weight bouncing from a low of 264.5 (1.3 lbs down from previous low on April 27th), to a high of 267.4 (1 lb more than last week's final weigh-in, and 2.9 lbs over my low).<br />
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Not sure who the culprit is, but I'm hopeful that this means I'll have an easier time losing next week. With 4 days of Geekway throwing a wrench into Lean and green, I'll need all the help I can get.<br />
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<br />Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7043874735320474549.post-4744789354389729732014-05-07T22:56:00.002-05:002014-05-07T22:56:33.718-05:00Hectic DayJust realized that I hadn't blogged yet today... I've been super busy though, between a couple of work projects, Geekway coming in a week, grocery shopping, workout class, and more.<br />
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I was up a ton today, all water weight I know, but it's still annoying. I hope it will all melt off tonight, as I've been drinking a ton of water. However, I'm also feeling a little sick, and I'm not sure how that will mess with me.<br />
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I managed to make it through my workout class ok, but since then I've felt bleh. Here's to tomorrow giving me a nice surprise on the scale for when I post my weekly update!Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16110234166961870650noreply@blogger.com0