My DCM health challenge for today: Plan a healthy snack for tomorrow: Prepare one to take with you, or decide what you will eat.

I did this yesterday. A friend mailed me the diet information she’d been given by a nutritionist. She knew I’d been struggling with transitioning off of the Keto diet. The information helped me to readjust my macros and it also gave suggestions for healthy high protein snacks. So, yesterday, I went to the grocery and the Amish market(which had just opened for the season and offers organic vegetables) and brought home fresh veggies and fruit and the high protein yogurt and cottage cheese to go with them. I think I’m set for the week.

Ouch

I hurt my back yesterday and canceled both my class with Josh this afternoon and the one with Kim tonight. I said I wouldn’t do that again but thought rest was the best thing to help my back. I had muscle spasms all day yesterday and had two muscles cramp up, one in my side and one on my hip. Both were hard and as big as a fist and painful. So, I had a good reason to skip the workouts...couldn’t walk completely upright for most of yesterday...and I don’t think one day off will hurt me that much. 

Today I was cleaning out my closet in anticipation of warmer weather. I came across some skirts that have been too tight for years. I know mentally that I’ve lost forty pounds but I don’t think that knowledge has been realized emotionally. When I look at myself in the mirror, I just don’t think I’ve slimmed down that much even though Steve keeps telling me I have. Then I try on something like those skirts that have been uncomfortably tight for a long time and guess what?...they fall off. That’s motivation to keep me going but I do hate I missed the window of opportunity on those skirts. Maybe I can take them up in the waist?

And speaking of diets, I have a specific diet question that I hope someone can answer or at least, direct me to a source for answers. You all know how I’ve struggled with my diet since I decided to stop the Keto diet. The Keto diet has you counting macros or, in other words, the grams of the three major categories of nutrition, carbohydrates, protein and fat in grams. The number of grams needed of each is determined by your caloric need divided into 75% fat, 20% protein and 5%carbs. No, I’m not a mathematical genius, I had an app for that. Since going off Keto, I’ve tried to have my carbs at 40%, protein at 35% and fat at 25%.  That sounds easy enough on paper but here is the dilemma and the question. When I get the 90grams of protein required to make certain I’m burning fat and not muscle and to assure I’m helping to feed my muscles as they grow and strengthen through working out, my daily fat grams always exceed that 25%. In fact, they are usually always in the lead with my macro breakdown looking more like C30-35%, P25-30%, F35-40%. Here is what I had for breakfast:

2 fresh, organic, farm raised (my friend, Ginny’s) eggs

A cup to cup and a half of spinach sautéed in just a little extra virgin olive oil

A tablespoon of real bacon bits (only adds 2 grams of fat)

Handful of cherry tomatoes 

Half a large grapefruit 

With all those carbs, you might think this meal was carb heavy or maybe that the two eggs would make it protein strong but here is the actual breakdown:

50% fat/27%protein/23%carbs. 

Tell me how that happens? And it seems every meal works out this way. 

When I was in my early thirties, I lost about thirty pounds that I’d put on following a miscarriage. I did that by limiting both calories and fat and exercising like crazy. It was easy to limit fat in those days because I used a lot of manufactured foods that were low or no fat. Now, I’d like to eat cleaner and try to avoid foods with ingredients I can’t pronounce or that sound like they belong on the pharmacy shelf instead of in the grocery aisle. I know that means more fat in my diet but I think it’s far healthier for me in the long run. I know a lot comes down to preparation techniques but when I do choose to sauté, rather than bake, steam or roast, I try to use either spray or a minimal amount of healthy fat such as olive oil. Because of my desire to eat more cleanly, I realize I can’t expect to keep my fat grams below 20-24 a day like I did in my thirties because there are just too many naturally occurring fats. That brings me right back to my original question, how do I get at least 90 grams of protein a day, have a diet high in healthy-non starchy carbs (striving for 110-120 grams a day) and still keep my fat below 30% and 50 grams? That question is driving me bonkers so if anyone has an answer, please let me know. 

A Different Kind of Diet

Despite the fact that AT&T keeps telling me my screen time is down, I’ve finally realized just how much of my day social media, net browsing and games eat up.  And we haven’t even begun to discuss my other vice, TV. So, today I start another diet (this blog withstanding) by limiting my screen time drastically. When I tell you what those limitations are, I’m sure many will see even those times as excessive but I think I will be surprised by how restricting electronic interference will free up my time and energy. Here is the plan:

Games: 30 minutes overall and no more than 15 minutes playing Candycrush. The exception will be Words With Friends which I can play when I’m waiting somewhere and can do little else. Some games may be eliminated eventually but these restrictions should help to break their hold on me. 

Social Media: Twenty to thirty minutes total and that includes Instagram and Pinterest. So, I had better use my Facebook time wisely. 

Internet browsing: only when it has a specific reason such as online banking, research or necessary shopping. 

TV: This only applies to sitting and watching. I can still have Pandora playing in the background as I do other things. And I hope to start exercising, especially using the eliptical, while watching my favorite shows. Otherwise, lazy watching shall be restricted to no more than two hours a day and that’s just in case we have a movie night which is rare. 

I’m hoping, when I’m accomplishing more and don’t always seem to be short on time or exhausted from lack of sleep, I will realize how beneficial this diet is. 

March Madness

Yesterday afternoon,I worked out with Josh. It was all arms and by the end, my arms felt like two dead fish. That evening I went to Kim’s yoga class. We did a lot of work from both plank and table pose. That means, my poor exhausted arms were having to support a lot of my weight. Kim asked if we were feeling the workout and stretch in our legs. All I could feel was the pain and trembling in my arms.

Today I woke up sore but most of the pain was from the yoga where we’d really worked our legs. 

This morning, I had another workout with Josh. He’d promised me no arm work today but he wasn’t altogether honest. Our warm up was five minutes of walking carries and rope pulls. Still, the meat of the workout was aerobic, legs and core. So after it ended, I decided to get in some time on the rower and treadmill because my Apple Watch does not record most of the training as exercise. I think this is because we don’t move around a lot. I only did about ten minutes but boy! I am paying for it now. I’m so sore that I can barely move. I think this is a great afternoon to sit and watch Tennessee play in March Madness. 

Hope everyone is having a beautiful Sunday. 

Something happened in our peaceful little town this past week that has caused both heartache and anger. The conflict had been going on for months. There has been a colony of feral cats living around a factory, now abandoned, in downtown Loudon for over seventy years. Many people’s domestic pets came from this colony and most likely my Bubs and LuLu are descendants. They hurt no one, kept vermine at bay and nearby residents entertained. Instead of finding them the pests they were later described to be, those humans who lived nearby cherished and nurtured the cats. One resident, a retired judge, led the fight to preserve them. She not only provided food and sheltered, she also had many of them spayed and neutered and found homes for both cats and kittens. About a year a a half ago, our city commission hired a new city administrator. This is a man who was asked to leave his last position for reasons not revealed. We do have a problem with vultures that roost in mass on downtown structures. They aren’t harmful but can be terribly disturbing, like a visual bad omen or harbingers of disaster. There is nothing that can be done about the vultures because they are protected by law. No one really knows why they inhabit our town in such huge numbers but the newly hired city administrator became convinced that it was the feral cats that were attracting them. As most people know, this is an irrational concept because vultures only eat carrion. Many people saw the two species coexisting peacefully. Still, this fellow decided that the solution to the over population of vultures was to kill the cats. He proposed poisoning them last year but the retired judge and cat caretaker informed him that would violate the animal cruelty laws and she would make certain he was prosecuted. Still, he appeared to be intent on destroying the cats. It seemed to become a crusade with him. Last Wednesday, he and his assistant carried through their threats covertly. Without warning, they gathered up the dozen cats, two of which were pregnant and all of the kittens already promised to good homes, and then fast tracked their euthanasia. They were all dead before the end of day. His assistant is actually head of our local ASPCA! That evidently didn’t give her greater love for animals but it did give her the knowledge to know how to classify the cats as strays so that they wouldn’t be held for the required seventy four hours. Their excuse for this atrocity? They told someone that there are plans to tear down the buildings where the cats reside and didn’t want them killed then. Evidently, since they killed them, they just didn’t want the corpses that might attract more vultures. People aren’t happy. There is supposed to be a city council meeting tomorrow night. I don’t hold out much hope that anything will come from it. It usually feels as if it is an us against them battle when it comes to the citizens versus the commissioners. But, unlike the city administrator and his assistant, they are elected officials. I live outside the city limits so I don’t really have a vote in this matter but I still plan to be there tomorrow night. I have a best friend who lives down town but is having surgery tomorrow and so can’t attend. I can at least stand in as her presence in the crowd I hope shows up to protest.  

Day 74

Wow, this year is moving right along and I feel like I’m trailing behind. It feels like Spring here. We’ve had so much rain lately that everything seems to be covered in mud but today is looking great with blue skies and the forecast for the next week is dry. So, despite the fact that I’ve accomplished little of what I’d hoped to do during the winter months, I’m feeling great about where I’m at. 

Both my health coach, Velma, and my therapist, Tamala, (yes, I know I seem to need a lot of help, lol, but I’m very grateful to have both of their support And guidance) have told me that I should concentrate on my health right now and the other things will fall into place in time. I think they realize that I need ultra focus, at least at the beginning of a project, and this project being me. I do admit to being a wee bit OCD...some days a lot more than others. 

Yesterday, I was feeling miserable because I’d been having back pain that had kept me up for the last two days. I’d thought I wasn’t going to be able to make my workout with Josh and even when I realized I was going to have the time, I was tempted to skip. But I decided to push through the fatigue and pain and I’m so happy I did because I left our session feeling energized. I then went on, after dinner, to a yoga class my niece teaches and I ended my day on a very good note. 

I’m still working on my diet. I know I ate too much fruit yesterday, three bananas, an apple and a mandarin orange, but I really felt I needed the energy boost. Not only do I think I should listen to my body and what I instinctively know it needs but if I need that sugar boost to get me through, isn’t it much better to get it from fruit than junk food? Maybe I’m justifying my food choices but I think fruit is a much better choice on many levels. 

I was a bad, bad, bad, bad girl yesterday. Hoping there are some Abbott and Costello fans who get that reference. Lol

In my defense, I had a colonoscopy yesterday morning and a thirty-six hour fast prior to that and I only ate two meals yesterday. But....those two meals, yikes!  A breakfast that included the southern staples, biscuit, gravy and fried apples and for dinner, a Chili’s burger....nuff said.  That burger alone had more calories than I usually eat in a day. Did I mention the thirty-six hour fast?

As Scarlett O’Hara said, “Tomorrow is another day.” And I’m back on the straight and narrow...or at least the not so wide and not so curvy road...today. 

I had a great workout with Josh yesterday. Yay, the month of struggle is over! I hope. 😊

Day 66

Weight: 176.4

Yesterday was my first day of intermittent fasting. Sixteen hours between my last meal on Wednesday and my first meal on Thursday. I did okay but it threw off my eating schedule. I had a big breakfast but wasn’t hungry and missed a convenient time for lunch. Then it was time to go to the gym and workout with Josh. I started off strong but then suddenly felt like I was going to either pass out or throw up. Thankfully, my body couldn’t decide so I did neither but I missed the finish line on another session. Josh suggested I skip the fasting on days I train. 

The fasting did work to kick off the weight loss again. I was down nearly acpoind and a half this morning. Yay! Today, I just did twelve hours which will put my lunch at s normal time. Now, to find foods that will give me the strength and energy to power through that workout. 

I promise, I will try and give you those brain diet guidelines later today. It’s basically, eating clean and a diet that consists of lots of healthy vegetables, lean protein, low fat and no sugar. The author says this formula works better for women in the long run and the weight stays off better than high fat/low carb diets. There are also several nutrients in pill form that she suggests taking. I will give a full list if them later. 

Day 65

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. This is day 65. 

I had my evaluation with Josh at the gym on Monday. He said I did great but I thought it was a mediocre showing after a month of struggle of one minor illness after another. I am feeling better now and I’m going to try hard to do my best with my health, weight loss and fitness goals. 

Although it was certainly down from my first evaluation, my resting pulse rate was high during the evaluation. I blame that on my social anxiety aka stage fright. I thought we would do the workout part of the evaluation, not thinking that, as my trainer, Josh is well aware of where I’m at physically. The anticipation of having to perform and be judged for it had my heart racing. I knew that 90 beats a minute was not my resting heart rate and also that my blood pressure was not normally as high as the evaluation showed. I saw my gastroenterologist yesterday because it’s that dreaded colonoscopy time again. My BP was great. I also purchased a pulse meter and my resting heart rate is around 70. I’m taking it with me to the gym today to see what my recovery rate is. Two minutes on the torture device called a rower should get my heart rate up high enough. I actually like that machine but honestly, if your intensity is high enough, two to three minutes is more of a workout than twenty minutes on the treadmill. 

I think I’m getting a handle on my nutrition and diet. I’ve been reading a lot and much of it is very contradictory. But recently, I’ve read two books which made far more sense than any of the others, The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD and Brain Body Diet by Sara Gottfried, MD. Brain Body Diet would be a beneficial read for anyone but it is specifically speaking to women and our unique needs.  It is also about the link between brain and body health as well as, emotional/cognitive and physical health.  I think we all are aware of this link on some level but both individuals and medical professionals, for the most part, choose to ignore it or,at least, are not fully aware of the importance of it. Our brains only count for about 2% of our weight but require 20% of our caloric energy to function. Knowing that, it just makes sense, if we aren’t fueling our body properly, we are not going to function properly physically or mentally. So, I’m going to implement the books diet guidelines for the next month, as suggested and we’ll see if I’m not only thinner by my next evaluation but also performing better both physically and mentally. I’ll try to write more on this tomorrow and include a synopsis of the book’s suggested diet and lifestyle changes but I’m out of time for today. I hope you all are having a wonderful day, have considered what those three things you are most grateful for today and are progressing on your own journey to optimum health and life. ❤️ you all, Sande!