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Good morning!
Ah... a good night's sleep. Well, kinda.
My fitbit tells me I had 7 hours of actual sleep time over an 8 hour period. Frustrating, though, is the fact that I spend the rest of the time walking back and forth to the rest room. I think I was up about every hour.
Still, can't complain. It's the best sleep I've had since the surgery. I had no significant pains, and I feel pretty good this morning. The only drawback is that I think I had my neck turned a bit weird over the course of the night, because I have it aching a little more than I care for this morning. Still, in the big picture, it's no biggie.
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I think I've been walking too much lately. Yesterday, some of my stitches that I have in my groin area were stinging and sore. I think I have been pushing it a little too far, and I promised Wife to take it a LOT more easy today.
I still have a few things to do today, but nothing that requires lots of movement or anything. I need to shop a bit, but the store is pretty much right across the street. I can do that.
The rest of the day, I will be hanging at home, just enjoying myself. I have some music disks that I want to watch, and a few movies I've been meaning to check out. Today is a good day for it.
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I also see that my stomach - basically the gut - is very swollen.
After last surgery, I had a lot of fluid buildup around the cut, and I am dreading that this might be the same. It could still be that it's just a new cut and that it takes more time for it to settle down, but it has me slightly concerned. Of course, it could also be related to me walking too much.
Just to be safe, I took some photos of it and sent them to my surgeon to evaluate. I'm thinking she's gonna tell me that everything is okay. Better safe than sorry, though. :)
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I failed on my calorie intake yesterday. I did NOT meet the calorie intake that I was supposed to. I fell about 500 calories short. Reaching 3300 calories in proper foods daily is a real challenge.
I met the protein, fat and carb goals that I have set for myself, but I can see that I probably need to up my carb allowance if I want to reach the higher calorie intake.
Of course, it leaves room for a little more of the fun stuff, and I don't mind that. The thing is, of course, that I can't let the fun stuff spin out of control, and I REALLY can't let it wake up the Carb Monster. He hasn't been around for quite a while (knock on wood, everyone!), and he's not welcome.
This is one of the things I am working on right now, getting it through my head.
Carbs aren't necessarily bad. We need carbs. Well, we need GOOD carbs.
Looking at my values from the last week, month, three months and half a year, I see that my carb intake is pretty consistent. I have had between 28% and 34% of my intake from carbs depending which time frame we look at.
These days, I try to not go over 200g of carbs per day. This, along with 190g of protein and about 30% of my calories coming from fat, makes it really hard to reach the 3300 calories that I am trying to consume right now.
I know that upping the carbs will put me in the risk zone of two things:
- water retention
- waking up the Carb Monster
I can live with a little water retention. That's not too important. I can shed water again in no time. It's a lot worse if the Carb Monster wakes up and wants to play.
Then again, with the amounts of food I'm eating these days, there isn't room for much candy and other stupid food choices. I constantly feel stuffed.
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I gotta say, It's been a LONG time since I have physically felt so satisfied with my foods. I am really liking eating like this. I eat until I am full, and everything I eat is satisfying. I never feel that I am compromising. If anything, the compromise is to have a little MORE.
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The question is, of course, if it is better to reach the calorie intake goal, to retain muscle mass, or to avoid fluid retention because of too many carbs? Not even sure if this is a problem, but it's the question that keeps sitting there pokin' at my noggin.
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I was looking around at the IIFYM.com website, looking for some answers to this. I found this little snipped about carbs:
What is the best way to start IIFYM when coming off of a low carb diet? This can be a tricky one. When you first input your numbers in to our IIFYM Calculator, you will be give a specific amount of carbs to eat. Many people that have been on a low carb diet usually (not always) have developed some sort of fear of carbs. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. Even elite level body builders develop this phobia over time. Luckily there are great contest prep coaches out there that are doing an awesome job helping athletes and general population dieters come out of these low carb nightmares and restore their metabolism. The best way to come off of a low carb or low calorie diet it to reverse out of it. Basically, stay low, and slowly increase carbs and fat over a very long period of time. In some cases 6 months, In more extreme cases 18-24 months.
Most people want to jump right in to the new macros that the IIFYM Calculator gives them but they forget that those numbers are what a person with a healthy metabolic capacity should be eating. If you have been low carb dieting for a good amount of time, you will certainly gain weight (water and glycogen mostly, with some fat and little muscle, which is when most people get discouraged and then quit, saying that IIFYM does not work. The issue however is not with IIFYM, it is with their wrecked metabolism and the speed at which they jumped in to the new macros.
The best way to reverse diet out of a low carb or very low calorie diet is always going to be under the supervision of a trained nutrition coach that has a experience reverse dieting people back in to solid metabolic health.
If you go it a lone, you will have to follow some sort of cookie cutter plan, and modify it as you go. An example of reverse diet with an emphasis on restoring a wrecked metabolism will look different from a plan of someone that has a healthy metabolic capacity and simply wants to start eating more food. The difference is in the time taken to increase macros.
I really like the whole idea behind IIFYM. IIFYM is short for "If It Fits Your Macros", and the idea is that as long as you reach your macro goals, then you will lose/gain/maintain weight, depending on your mission, with full focus on muscles and other factors.
It makes perfect sense to me.
Now, when I use this calculator, it gives me the macro goals I need to reach for the day - but the trouble is that it gives me a very very different TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expediture) number than my scale does. I am going with my scale for now, as I see the point to using the tool I have sitting in my house, and that I have paid quite a bit of money for. I do trust that it's a pretty good evaluation that it gives me.
I'm keeping a keen eye on it, though, and if it is wrong then I honestly won't mind. Having to consume all these calories daily forever will be a massive challenge.
The IIFYM website suggests that I am overeating by 1000 calories per day right now. The scale says I am not. The truth? Probably somewhere inbetween. But I won't know unless I try, and I don't want to risk my muscle mass right now, so I am going with the higher numbers.
This is also the reason I can't get my macros to match up.
If I was to go with the IIFYM-recommended RDI, then it would match up. The protein, the fat and the carbs all together will give the RDI. Clever.
Instead, I see that I fall short, because my calorie requirement is set higher than my macros call for.
I could simply choose to accept that I consume MORE protein, fat and carbs than I am allowed, to fit in the calorie intake. This will probably be the solution, at least for now. As soon as I know what I need to do here, I will adjust it. I think some googling is in place.
My main thought is, though, that it is the carb numbers that I need to up, to maybe slowly introduce more carbs. Doing this will make it relatively easy to up my calorie intake. I am already at a point where my protein and fat intake are optimal, and there isn't much reason to consume more. More protein doesn't give more muscles if the needs are already met. Same goes with fat.
If the difference between the IIFYM calculator and my scale is simply a matter of activities, then the carb number would be the one to up. If I am simply burning more calories from exercise (exercise being EVERYTHING I do except lie flat on my back sleeping), then it makes sense that I need to add more carbs, as these are what is mostly burned during cardio exercises. Can anyone follow me on this? Am I making sense?
It's scary, though.
A lot of this IS a mental game. I am so used to restrict myself, and this feels a LOT like not caring and just letting go, which is what made me fat in the first place. I don't ever want to be fat again. Never ever.
I know it's not the same. It's about remaining in control. It's about LEARNING the right way of eating, with my goals in mind.
If I was just gonna "live life and move on as a thin man", then I could just go with the lower RDI. But I want to build muscle. I want to be strong and fit, and I need more than this. Obviously, it takes a different focus.
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Speaking of numbers... here is today's update:
Weight:
07.12.13: 82.4 kg
08.12.13: 82.9 kg (pretty much average of the last several months)
09.12.13: 83.4 kg
10.12.13: 83.4 kg
11.12.13: 82.4 kg
Bodyfat:
07.12.13: 07.5% (6.18 kg)
08.12.13: 07.0% (5.80 kg - lowest in AGES!)
09.12.13: 06.8% (5.67 kg)
10.12.13: 10.8% (9.00 kg)
11.12.13: 09.3% (7.66 kg)
Muscle weight:
07.12.13: 72.5 kg
08.12.13: 73.4 kg
09.12.13: 73.9 kg
10.12.13: 71.5 kg
11.12.13: 71.1 kg
Fluid Percentage::
07.12.13: 68.5% (56.44 kg)
08.12.13: 68.3% (56.62 kg)
09.12.13: 70.5% (58,80 kg)
10.12.13: 65.6% (54.71 kg)
11.12.13: 66.0% (54,51 kg)
Total Daily Energy Exp.:
07.12.13: 3379 calories
08.12.13: 3424 calories
09.12.13: 3451 calories
10.12.13: 3342 calories
11.12.13: 3320 calories
Abdominal fat:
07.12.13: 4% (a first in a LONG time!)
08.12.13: 4%
09.12.13: 4%
10.12.13: 5%
11.12.13: 4%
Several things jump out:
- I am down in weight by a full kilo, which means I am back to what I weighed on the 7th, when I started this experiment.
- Even though I weigh the same as I did on the 7th, the body fat is up by a good chunk. Just about 1½ kilo.
- No real change in fluid/muscle since yesterday.
So, today's weigh-in was strange. I suddenly "gained" a lot of fat - about 2½ kilos. Today I supposedly have 1.3 kgs less fat. Does this indicate that the "off" numbers yesterday are crawling back to where they should be, or will it get stuck where it is? Only time will tell.
Also, how much does it factor in that I was in a calorie deficit of 500 yesterday? Probably not much, but still...
My best bet is that the freak numbers from yesterday are slowly settling back to where they normally will be. As several of you pointed out in the comments yesterday, my body is in a strange state right now, recovering from surgery. My numbers can be all over the place at any given time.
There is a general trend forming, though, which is weight stability. The fact that I am back to what I weighed 4 days ago is comforting. It shows me that I might get to stay around this weight.
Bodyfat percentage is up. This will happen as fluid comes down. Fluid is SUPPOSED to come down. We always retain a lot of water after surgeries. It's part of it.
Looking at my weight the day before surgery, I have the following numbers:
Weight: 81.6 kgs
Fat: 8.5% (6.9 kgs)
Muscle: 70.9 kgs
Fluid: 66.5% (54.26 kgs)
TDEE: 3308
As you can see, the numbers aren't significantly different at any point. The only one that has a bit of change is the body fat. If this reading is still coming down after yesterdays strange gain, then it's all good.
I can't wait to see what numbers present themselves tomorrow.
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Today, I'm thankful for:
- Sleep. A full night's sleep, even with interruptions, along with a good afternoon nap yesterday. Boy did I need it. I feel like a million dollars today.
- Morning coffee.
- A good understanding of my new weight/muscle/recovery mission.
- Google, for learning new things.
- Wife!
- All you guys for all your input!
Happy hump day! Life is good!
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