Reality check: Counting calories page 68

[Paleobird]

I love seafood. I always have but since going PB and getting "permission" to eat red meat, I have let it lapse in my cooking repertoire. It is a great way to get lots of protein without drowning yourself in too much fat. And if anybody thinks seafood is too expensive but is still paying for fish oil capsules.....
Today I had a yellowfin steak for brunch and I'm going to have scallops for dinner. Yumm.

Another thing learned by counting calories. Measuring the oil I put on a salad instead of just slogging it everywhere. I just had a HUGE salad (a whole 5 oz pre-washed box, yes , I'm lazy, I know.) Two tablespoons of avocado oil coated everything nicely. I know that before I started paying attention, I would have doubled or more that amount. 2 tbs is 250 calories. That much is OK. 500-750 calories of oil I don't need.

[Kelda]

OK weigh-in time - two days ago I clocked 58.2 kg (128.04 lbs) but this morning I'm 58.6 kg (128.92 lbs) so being totally scientific (with Sunday weigh-ins) I must call it today's weight!

As I expected less loss than last week but still a small move downwards. I've done less biking this week too. I shall continue for a few more weeks to really key in sensible eating but my goal is (57 kg) 125 lbs now because it's clear I'm making muscle gains. Power up on the bike by 4% since January and deadlifting weights will be at 55 kg this week :-)

Yes Paleo seafood is a much more efficient (in fat terms) way of eating the protein! That has been a big learning point for me using Fitday.

[winencandy]

How is everyone else doing, Paleobird? Winencandy? etc ...

Since you asked

This weeks #s

My Desired Goals:
Total calories = 1345
Desired protein: 70g
Desired carbs: 75g
Desired fat grams: 85g

This Week’s Averages:
Total calories = 1429
Desired protein: 88g
Desired carbs: 91g
Desired fat grams: 82g

Not too bad. I exceeded the protein and was very close with the fat. I was a bit high on the calories and carbs…BUT I have decided that I am NOT going to stress over these numbers. They are guidelines. I will NOT become obsessed with the #s.

I have a teenage daughter. I want to make sure she sees a healthy attitude towards food from me. (For more on this, see my journal) Because of this I WILL NOT measure my food in front of her. So some of these #’s might be off…whatever. Her developing relationship with food is more important to me than knowing if I had 73 g of something…

I've also started drinking protein shakes...

Oh, yeah,
Results:
I had bought a cheap Ikea scale in December and it wasn’t changing and I was getting frustrated.
I decided to use my parent’s expensive scale the other day
(the one I had been using about once a month since I started this journey – until I’d bought the Ikea one).

Anyway, I don’t know for sure when this happened, but I’ve lost 6 lbs since January!

So I really can't say which "method" worked. The 30 DONN or the Calorie/Protein counting...or both.

I will continue counting for a little while longer, until I "get" a better idea of this calorie/protein/carb/fat thing...

[Paleobird]

You know, WnC, I've decided to stop dinking around with my Ikea scale too. I just placed an Amazon order for a real "doctors office" scale.

I don't think it was one plan OR the other that did it. (congrats on the 6lb shed BTW) I think the 30 DONN is a good way to get focused on all primal food and get the junk cleaned out of your system. THEN the calorie counting can really work. It's like a two phase plan. (God, I just had an awful thought. I could write a book on this and it would actually sell. Nah, too much trouble.)

[Kelda]

Since you asked

Not too bad. I exceeded the protein and was very close with the fat. I was a bit high on the calories and carbs…BUT I have decided that I am NOT going to stress over these numbers. They are guidelines. I will NOT become obsessed with the #s.

I have a teenage daughter. I want to make sure she sees a healthy attitude towards food from me. (For more on this, see my journal) Because of this I WILL NOT measure my food in front of her. So some of these #’s might be off…whatever. Her developing relationship with food is more important to me than knowing if I had 73 g of something…

So I really can't say which "method" worked. The 30 DONN or the Calorie/Protein counting...or both.

I will continue counting for a little while longer, until I "get" a better idea of this calorie/protein/carb/fat thing...

Hi

A few things that sprung to mind!

How interesting that you can lose 6 lbs and not know ... this fits with what many of us find about not seeing ourselves as we actually are!

I think that's a healthy attitude to take, no obsessing, but have you found it enlightening in terms of understanding what portions give what nutrition? That's the important thing I've taken away, getting a much better 'feel' for what sensible portions really are. I think there is deep programming in the brain to kid us into eating more because in evolutionary terms we didn't always have a limitless suppy of food so we had to make the most of it when we found it.

As for setting a good, healthy example for the next generation. Yes, I agree, I have a 19 year old myself - although she no longer lives at home. I think the media have conditioned us somewhat to be over-sensitive to teenage weight issues but I take your point. However, explaining to your daughter that you are working out what is a healthy amount because it's important to be the right weight (neither too small or too big) and that you were never taught that so you are experimenting with making sure you are eating healthily.

The number 11 point on the link Mark posted yesterday 11 Bits of Priceless Advice From Some of the Worlds Top Health Experts | Wild Movement is apposite here I think.

I've been participating in a thread over at Art D V's where two men are losing too much weight. Between this thread and that, the whole notion of accountability to oneself and making personal adjustments to an overall 'sysytem' or plan is essential. We are all individuals ... I blogged about that today if you are interested and of a Monty Python bent :-) Adventures of a Cavegirl: Sage advice - following the Gourd

[Bodhi]

(God, I just had an awful thought. I could write a book on this and it would actually sell. Nah, too much trouble.)

You should do it!

[Kelda]

OK, this is my final check in and it's been a roller-coaster week for a number of reasons. But hopefully this information will be interesting and show how even when the going gets tough Primal is very flexible.

Mr Grok became poorly on Tuesday night (a very bad bout of gastroenteritis which resulted in a 60 hour fast on his part - no idea where it came from) and my daughter (aged 19) has required a lot of long distance support (she lives 600 miles away) so I've had four very disrupted nights and am down to averaging 4 - 5 hours of sleep (in bits); this is not ideal! However, the power of Primal is such that this has not triggered any bipolar symptoms as would have been the case in the past and has not triggered binge eating either although my eating has been affected.

Training is what has suffered the most, in fact apart from one yoga session yesterday I've not been able to do anything since Tuesday (for me this is a long time).

I've opted for a long fast from Thursday evening till this morning (Saturday) to try and reset my system. 37.5 hours in total of only herbal tea - this is the longest I've done and almost certainly wouldn't repeat. At the 22 hour point (my normal longer fast day - maybe once every two weeks) it was very difficult but by 25 hours I was fine although I was very hungry in the early hours and very glad to eat a big cooked breakfast around 7:00 am. I plan to eat a BAS chicken lunch and have salmon with swede and broccoli this evening to refuel the body adequately (planned 150 g protein). I shall walk and yoga today but nothing else and hope that I sleep well and can start afresh tomorrow morning! I was too tired to do more than my yoga class yesterday during this fast period. This is most likely the cumulative affect of poor sleeping rather than fasting per se during which I usually train without a problem.

So for the stats:

On the days I ate I averaged 1790 calories as 114 g fat, 120 g protein and 56.2 g carbs for a 57%, 27%, 13% (3% red wine - 2 glasses).

Averaged over the 7 days it becomes 1534 calories as 98 g fat, 103 g protein and 48 g of carbs (obviously the % split is the same!).

Until Thursday I had gained about 0.3 kgs which is probably mostly down to being so stationary and not training for several days which I think shows how important the moving about a lot at a slow pace is my carbs had crept up a bit too. However, this morning I weighed 58.1 kg (127.8 lbs) so have dropped 0.5 kg from last week's weigh in 6 days ago and given the week I've had, and that I'm at the end of my cycle, that is good and now when I look in the mirror I know I want to stay at this weight. The extra protein has made a massive difference to strength gains - on Tuesday I was deadlifting just about my body weight, so that's a 10% improvement over the last month which is massive and I've seen similar gains in power on the bike. Looking at me I'm pretty certain I've lost more fat lbs but gained a little muscle.

My actual training for this period has been 2:30 of yoga (just the two classes), 2:00 of walking (over several days), 2:36 of biking (just one ride last Sunday) and 40 minutes swimming so down somewhat on a 'normal' week plus the weights session.

So has it been worth calories counting and more importantly macro-tracking - yes, absolutely, I now have a much clearer idea of what will keep me where I want to be, what are sensible portions and where the extra calories sneak in if you aren't careful. I shall not track regularly as there is a temptation to start becoming obsessed with it all but for resetting yourself now and again it's an invaluable tool.

It seems that the goal of 1800 - 2000 during my active days will maintain me (which is what the online calculators suggested). I also know now that when I do long days of riding over the Pyrenees the way to fuel the extra calories will be through adding fat - this is a very useful lesson and explains why I managed my big ride last year so well eating Primal - I hadn't consciously worked out the macros/calories intake at the time but I was glugging olive oil over all my meals!

Two biggest lessons

EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN - it's looking like around a 1 g per lb of body weight (not lean weight - so that's more than Mark suggests and near what Art is recommending of 1.5 g per lb of weight) as an average over the week is best and I've proved again that around the 50 g carb mark is what works for me, the days that I drift higher don't feel so good unless I've been doing a really big bike ride.

KEEP MOVING

5.5 lbs lost in three weeks not feeling hungry and with a significant shift in body composition.

Grok on folks!

[Paleobird]

The extra protein has made a massive difference to strength gains - on Tuesday I was deadlifting just about my body weight, so that's a 10% improvement over the last month which is massive and I've seen similar gains in power on the bike. Looking at me I'm pretty certain I've lost more fat lbs but gained a little muscle.

So has it been worth calories counting and more importantly macro-tracking - yes, absolutely, I now have a much clearer idea of what will keep me where I want to be, what are sensible portions and where the extra calories sneak in if you aren't careful. I shall not track regularly as there is a temptation to start becoming obsessed with it all but for resetting yourself now and again it's an invaluable tool.

Two biggest lessons

EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN - it's looking like around a 1 g per lb of body weight (not lean weight - so that's more than Mark suggests and near what Art is recommending of 1.5 g per lb of weight) as an average over the week is best and I've proved again that around the 50 g carb mark is what works for me, the days that I drift higher don't feel so good unless I've been doing a really big bike ride.

KEEP MOVING

5.5 lbs lost in three weeks not feeling hungry and with a significant shift in body composition.

Yay Kelda. Couldn't have put it better myself. Eat enough protein and keep moving.

I'm down 8.5 lbs and I feel like the body composition shift is really happening. My bra strap lies flat across my back and under my arms instead of burrowing into a layer of padding. I can clearly locate and identify my triceps. I can walk 12-15 miles without being tuckered the next day.

YES! IT WORKS!

[Kelda]

Paleobird - Excellent!

[Eva Lution]

Yay Kelda. Couldn't have put it better myself. Eat enough protein and keep moving.

I'm down 8.5 lbs and I feel like the body composition shift is really happening. My bra strap lies flat across my back and under my arms instead of burrowing into a layer of padding. I can clearly locate and identify my triceps. I can walk 12-15 miles without being tuckered the next day.

YES! IT WORKS!

I just want to add one more sample.

I started tracking calories and macros on March 23 (not quite 3 weeks ago) after a long stall on any weight loss while remaining Primal to a fault. I have done what Paleobird and Kelda have done--more protein, less fat, carbs at about 50g/day, more exercise.

In that time I have lost 6 1/2 pounds and an inch off my waist. My body composition is changing. I have had to buy new pants. My husband is kind of in awe of the changes. So, yes, this works.