Monday Macros: Cutting Diet 2019

I started my cutting diet last week and I've lost 3 lbs. If you've read this blog for a minute, you probably know that I have struggled with my weight since I was a child. I subjected myself to many years of calorie restriction and over-exercising. In 2017, I committed to increasing my caloric intake and to gaining lean mass. It didn't work as well as I would have liked (injury, poor guidance, a lot more fat gain than intended), but I learned A LOT. I spent 2018 trying to find maintenance calories, lean out a little, and get stronger, which was much more successful. I finally feel ready to implement a cut. If you've been eating in a deficit for a long time and struggling to adhere to that deficit (lots of cheat/treat meals or days, whole months where you just say fuck it, periods of binging/heavy restriction), get yourself a nutrition coach and work on finding your maintenance calories. You will be happier in the long run.

My plan and tools for the cut:

• I lowered my macros to 135 P, 175 C, 55 F for a total of 1735 calories. I had been aiming for 2040 calories, so this is a manageable deficit.
• I try to hit my macro targets every day but the bottom line is total calories. I used to try to hit my protein goal no matter what, but that meant I was usually going over my total calories on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I can usually get 80 grams of protein without really trying so I'm not too concerned about my overall protein intake. This is probably my biggest change from how I normally track macros.
• I recently started intermittent fasting. I use the Zero app and I've been aiming for 14 hour fasts. I have managed a couple of 16 hours so far. I am waking up more easily and feel more focused in the mornings. I was waking up ravenous in December and January and NEEDED breakfast. Now I'm making it to lunch time pretty easily.
• I'm aiming for 800 grams of vegetables and fruit every day. This combined with intermittent fasting has been leaving me feeling FULL. I force fed myself dinner for 90 minutes tonight because there we so many vegetables. I never thought I could feel so satisfied on only 175 grams of carbs. Volume eating for the win. #800gchallenge
• I'm using Affinity Athletics Coach Delta to track my progress. I adjusted my macros because I know that I feel best when I'm eating 135 grams of protein. I know that this is not what Coach Delta recommends and I take full responsibility for the changes I made. My friends are the guys behind Affinity Athletics but I'm not paid/sponsored to promote their products. I bought this and I like it.
• I plan to eat in a deficit until my Strongman competition on March 30. We are going to the BVIs the week before so I probably won't be tracking. The resort sent us an email with instructions on how to order groceries for our villa because the only on-island grocery store was destroyed during the hurricane. I am going to try to order what I normally eat during the day and then enjoy dinner at restaurants. Alcohol is going to make or break that week. The CrossFit Open has started and I am adding an extra 80 grams of carbs to Fridays to fuel our Saturday morning Open workouts.
• I start training for my half marathon the week after the Strongman competition. I will readjust my goals based on my progress.

Here are some screenshots of my Coach Delta. I input my information into the blue cells and it populates the rest of the information. I added the column that says Weekly Avg. Calories so I can indicate if I was compliant or not. You can see that I lost 3 lbs even though I ate an average of 1911 calories last week.

Monthly Progress Photos: February 2019

I'm trying something a little different this year because Weight Loss Wednesday posts started to become a pain in the ass. My dogs weren't cool with waiting for potty time each week while I weighed myself, measured my body fat, and changed into my bathing suit for progress photos. If I took them out first, I inevitably forgot to take measurements and/or photos, or started drinking coffee, which throws off measurements and photos. Now I do all that jazz on the first of the month. I weigh myself most mornings and take a simple progress photo that I store in MyFitnessPal.

These are many January 1 to February 1 comparison photos. I weighed 152.8 lbs on January 1 and 151.6 lbs a month later. My Omron recorded my body fat percentage as 23.9% on both days. I don't put much stock in that thing because it can be heavily impacted by hydration and sodium intake, but it's good for keeping an eye on trends.

My arms look bigger and my bed is made this month so I'm declaring this a win!

Knowing Science Stuff is Neat

This morning I woke up and decided it wasn't a good day for me to go to CrossFit. I was sore from yesterday's Strongman training and I burned my finger cooking last night. Heavy hang cleans were probably not going to help me feel better. I'm trying to remember that exercise is fun and that I enjoy it and no one makes me go to the gym, and I can take a day off when I want. I got a little restless by noon and decided to go for an easy run on the Beltline.

Meal Planning and Meal Prepping

The pilot and I returned to Atlanta this week from a fun trip to Norfolk and Charleston. We ate a lot of roasted oysters and drank a lot of vodka. Personally, I was ready to get back to meal prepping because my insides couldn't take any more celebrating. I felt like I had only consumed Indian food take-out, chicken wings, and wine for the entire month of December and I craved vegetables. I spent the holidays with my family up in New York. Does anyone else visit their parents and wonder how the whole family didn't end up with scurvy from their childhood diets?

I'm not the best cook, but I am pretty good at meal prepping. I can get a week's worth of proteins, vegetables, and carbs prepped, cooked, and stored in under 2 hours. I have the luxury of getting to eat most of my meals at home (instead of at school or in an office), and so I usually store my food in larger batches and put together meals when I eat them. If I know I'm going to be pressed for time, I will measure out portions into individual Tupperware and use a dry erase marker to label the lids with the meal's contents.

The Pilot is a much better cook than me. Sometimes he's my sous chef.

New Year, Same Me, Hopefully Some More Posts

It's 2019! I am excited for a new year and a new semester, but I am even more excited that I woke up this morning well-rested. I have had the worst cold since Friday. I've basically been in bed for days, and it was a legit struggle to stay awake at dinner last night. I spent my New Year's Eve exactly how I wanted to spend it - having dinner with my best friend - and then I was home and in bed with the pups by 10 PM. I just wish this cough and the rain would finally stop!

No hangover for this girl this morning.

December Reflections

Well friends, it's been a while. I haven't felt the urge or the ability to write because I've been working to process everything that happened this fall. First off, going back to college at 32 years old has been an incredible opportunity, but also scary and a little confusing. For those who don't know, I have a master's degree in teaching. I did Teach For America right out of undergrad and was a teacher for three years before transitioning into education nonprofit work for seven years. Education was never supposed to be my career but I kept putting off going back to school because I was scared to give up my paycheck and I didn't think I could pursue what I am actually passionate about - nutrition, health, and fitness - because I never thought I was good enough at science or math. But circumstances gave me the gift (and the kick in the ass) to enroll at Georgia State as a post-baccalaureate student. The great news is that I got an A in my Principles of Nutrition course. I am excited about my studies. But it also took most of the semester for me to relearn how to study. I feel prepared to kick ass next semester and I am really looking forward to taking Human Anatomy and Physiology II.

I found these as part of a class assignment and now I'm addicted to pink princess cheddar Goldfish.

Weight Loss Wednesday 10.3.18

I signed up to participate in Street Parking's fall nutrition challenge. It uses their templates, a food list, and a points tracking system. I want something to hold me accountable to cleaning up my diet and getting me to eat balanced meals at regular intervals, and this challenge looked like it would fit the bill. I have already had to bite my tongue several times because I have a lot of opinions about their rules and banned items. I remind myself that it's their company/program's challenge and no one is making me do it. This is a learning experience for me and something to push me outside of my comfort zone.

We submitted starting photos and stats on Monday, October 1. These photos are cropped but not otherwise edited. Lord, do I miss the structure edit function!

CFID Strongman Competition

Last Saturday I competed in my first Strongman competition and I won the women's novice division. Andrew Hanus coaches a Strongman class at CrossFit Identity and he put on this competition. He is super strong and super awesome.

I've talked about wanting to get into Strongman. Coach Chad had Strongman Saturdays when I went to CrossFit Central LI and I really enjoyed learning how to pick up heavy oddly shaped instruments. I figured I'd be relatively good at it because I'm pretty strong and there doesn't seem to be much holding your own bodyweight on top of a pull-up bar. I had such a good time at the competition and I left really jazzed about learning more. I went to Coach Andrew's Strongman class last night and had the best time.

The competition had five events.

Event 1: Press Medley (60 seconds): Log Clean & Press -then- Axle Clean & Press Away
Competitor will have 60 seconds to complete the medley. Competitor will begin with the Log Clean and Press to overhead. The competitor will wait for the down command from the judge. Once a successful lift has been completed they will move to the Axle Clean & Press Away. The competitor only has to clean the bar for the first rep, once in the front rack they will complete as many overhead presses as possible with the time remaining. If the competitor drops the bar they will be allowed to clean it again if time permits, however, only overhead presses count as reps. Most reps conducted in the time frame wins.

2018 Quarterly Goal Update - Q2

April I made it to 8 CrossFit classes.

May I made it to 13 CrossFit classes.

June I made it to 13 CrossFit classes.

Quarter Total: 34

Total/Year Goal: 74/180

April I attended 3 Infinity Yoga classes and 1 Southern OM class.

May I attended 2 Yoga Works classes (Infinity Yoga's new name) and 1 Bottom Line Yoga class.

June I attended 1 Bikram Yoga Roslyn class.

Quarter Total: 8

Total/Year Goal: 16/50

Apirl I tucked 2 times.

June I tucked 1 time.

Quarter Total: 3

Total/Year Goal: 19/50

April I ran 2.4 miles.

May I ran 3.9 miles.

Quarter Total: 16.3

Total for Year: 17.6

Major Life Changes

If you follow me on Instagram (@inshapeoutofmind), you might have seen that I have gone back to school. After some deep reflection, prayer, and encouragement from my parents, I decided that I needed to take the leap and go after something I have been secretly dreaming about for a while. I want to be a registered dietitian. By the grace of God, I got into Georgia State University's post baccalaureate program even though school was starting in less than a week. I have several prerequisite courses to take before I can apply to the master's degree coordinated program in dietetics. I left my job to focus on school, but am looking for part-time work, so if you know of opportunities, please let your girl know!

So I'm back in college. It's exciting and also scary. I'm learning so much and needing to relearn how to study. Coursework is a lot different 10 years later. The iPhone came out right before my senior year. It was both a phone AND an iPod! Mind blown! Now I use my iPhone to answer participation questions in class. My textbooks each have apps. It will read my textbook to me.

Remember that time I told you that I wanted to win the fat loss challenge and then I won? I believe that putting your thoughts and dreams out into the world help you to realize them. And so I share the following goals with you:

1. Earn an A- or above in all of my prerequisite courses, which will be 3 semesters of chemistry, 2 semesters of human anatomy and physiology, precalculus, and principles of nutrition.
2. Rock the shit out of the GRE with a 165 or above on both the verbal and quantitative sections and a 5 or above in the writing section.
3. Get accepted into Georgia State University's Master of Science coordinated program in dietetics.
4. Maintain an A average throughout the program.
5. Intern at an Atlanta hospital working with patients with chronic diseases.
6. Rock the shit out of the Registration Examination for Dietitians.
7. Become employed at an Atlanta medical facility working with patients with chronic diseases.
8. Establish my own practice working with clients who are interested in nutrition coaching with a focus on wellness in addition to weight loss or muscle gain. (Think a step above if it fits your macros. What about your micros?)

I look forward to blogging about my journey and building my knowledge so I have useful content to share with you. I am excited to be on this road to becoming a registered dietitian!