This weekend was 50/50 on the diet and exercise front. Saturday was great. I did my workout when I got up in the morning, ate well, and shopped 'til I dropped (for about 4 hours...I was pooped).
Saturday night was a terrible night. I'm not talking about exercise/diet. I had some personal things happen that just sucked the air/life out of me. I'd rather not get in to it here (I'd like to keep this a positive space), but needless to say, Sunday was spent moping around my apartment, doing absolutely nothing. If you follow me on Instagram (@MyInnerButterfly), you'll know that my day was spent just like this....
I would have liked to get the couple loads of laundry, menu planning, and grocery shopping done that I had to do; but it just didn't happen.
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But today is a new day, and I have something more important to talk about now!
Calories.
Yep, I said I did not want to count calories, because it drives me completely bonkers. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm eating enough. Now, I know I said that I wouldn't be checking the scale for a few weeks, but come on! Who can really stay away from that b*tch?! I've been peeking at it pretty much every day. And I'm NOT liking what I'm seeing. Yep, I know starting a weight training plan can make me hold on to some water weight, etc. However, I'm almost 2 weeks in to this, and rather than going down or staying the same, it has been slowly inching up.
That's not the point. I know I can't measure my progress by the scale only (dumb b*tch scale). I have to say, that I do feel thinner. I feel like my arms have thinned out a little, my stomach feels smaller, and my bra fat rolls have gotten smaller (yeah NSV's!). The point is that, I don't want to be bad to my body. We've all heard of people saying that you need to eat enough, or if you're at a plateau, you should increase your calories. I haven't been counting calories, but I'd say that I'm probably averaging around 1200/day. There were a couple days that I went to bed with a grumbling stomach.
Not good.
And heck, one of the advantages of increasing your activity, is that you can eat more.
Long story short: I did a few calculations, and I really should be eating around 1600 calories/day to lose weight. That is a scary number. But I need to ask myself....am I in this to lose weight the healthy way? Or do I want to try to lose it really fast, only to plateau or gain in the future?
Sigh. I'm scared. I don't want to increase my calories. What if I gain weight????
Anyone else face this dilemma before??
Maybe it's time to break out my BodyMedia Fit to get a better measure of how many calories I'm burning now that I'm lifting (heavy) weights (well, heavy to me). That would mean counting calories again. At least for a week or so....I just don't want to get so obsessive about numbers. AHHH!!!
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Okay, that's it for me today. This post got way longer than I had anticipated. But it's something that's been in the back of my mind. Any advice?
Wish I could help on the counting front - but honestly I don't count BUT I have heard that if you don't eat enough calories you might NOT lose. I gained weight training for my last half-marathon because I thought "hey I am burning it" why not? BOOP! So this time around I am REALLY going to watch it. Good luck girl and with the "not so cool" thing or things that happened over the weekend. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience. I definitely think I need to be more careful about what I eat. And thanks for your virtual *hugs*! It's really appreciated. :)
DeleteHey lady!!! I am no help with the calorie thing. Try using my fitness pal to log what you eat for a while. I personally dont eat back what Ive worked off but I know not eating enough will stall your loss. Keep it up... sorry about you weekend it will get better! Sending lots of hugs and positive energy your way!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was using LoseIt, and may need to go back to it. Thanks for the hugs and positive energy - I appreciate it!
Deletelast year, months into my normal worout routine, my trainer said it sseemed weird i wasnt losing more so he suggested i up my calories by about 300-400 a day and after doing that it helped A LOT and got my weight loss moving again! Otherwise if your body isnt getting enough it will hold onto what it IS getting. (Im definitely no expert, just what I have researched/laerned etc!)
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I think it's just the fact that usually when you hear someone say they're trying to lose weight, they say they're eating "1200" calories. And especially with me being so short, that's a scary number for me! Thanks for the thoughts - it has kind of pushed me to think that maybe it's not such a bad idea to increase calories after all!
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