Shelley's Lean Mean Journey - The First Steps

[shellbel]

Hi all, just wanted to chronicle my journey to try to regain my lost fitness here for some accountability and maybe some feedback. It helps to know you are not alone in the struggle sometimes. Anyway, today was day one for me and it was my high carb day along with high volume workout whole body plus 20 min on elliptical at 10 METS.
Diet was good, no hunger. If anything I had to work to get all of the meals in since I slept a bit later than usual getting up at 8am (usually eat breakfast at 6am). I only seem to have managed to screw up two things on the diet today. I forgot to put the one cup of broccoli in my stir fry (oops) and didn't get home from gym until 9pm to eat my final meal so ate after 8pm. Otherwise doing ok!
At gym:
1)triceps dips were assisted on machine - rather than go really light whole 45 reps I did them as a drop set adding more assist every time I reached failure
2)chin ups were brutal but I got through them (can only do 1 without assist though) - I think it's cuz of my big heavy butt I have to hoist
3) leg press was fine with 2 sets at 70lb
4) leg curl at 30lb 2x25
5) leg ext at 30lb 2x25
6) hamball curls were killer but got through them
7) forgot to do inner and outer thigh at gym so did inner thigh on my pilates reformer x 20 reps and used pilates bands to do the outer thigh.
8) abs were my only strong point from the pilates classes I was taking before this - the v sits were the easiest thing tonight

Have a good night all going to bed!
Shelley

[shellbel]

Okay so today started off badly but luckily I have recovered for the most part. I packed my food for today last night in my cooler - ran out the door with it in hand only to realize that I had forgotten my pager - ran back in house and grabbed pager but set down the cooler while I was looking for it. Ended up halfway to work (40 min drive) only to realize the cooler is now sitting on my kitchen counter. Oops. Luckily I was able to get everything except the brown rice cakes and almond butter here in hospital cafe. I substituted some whole grain cereal and peanut butter for them and the rest I managed to duplicate (celery, eggs, spinach, almonds, banana).

[Italianangel]

Originally Posted by shellbel

Okay so today started off badly but luckily I have recovered for the most part. I packed my food for today last night in my cooler - ran out the door with it in hand only to realize that I had forgotten my pager - ran back in house and grabbed pager but set down the cooler while I was looking for it. Ended up halfway to work (40 min drive) only to realize the cooler is now sitting on my kitchen counter. Oops. Luckily I was able to get everything except the brown rice cakes and almond butter here in hospital cafe. I substituted some whole grain cereal and peanut butter for them and the rest I managed to duplicate (celery, eggs, spinach, almonds, banana).

nice save!!!
so far so good, the effort all counts!

[lizzyb]

Hi shellbel!
Just catching up in here.......welcome aboard! I think we are following the same program you and I......so wonderful to have someone to co-miserate with, lol!! JK!! Welcome to the boards

[shellbel]

Thank you lizzyb. It is nice to have someone on same program on here ESP after today! Hardest day by far yet. I don't function well at all low carb

[shellbel]

So today was my low carb day. Had the 2 boiled eggs, a ton of chicken, and a lot of salad. Subbed out veggie burgers for the 3rd meal.
Workouts were low with pull ups 2x6 BW with a little assist from a chair, bent over rows, lateral raises, preacher curls, and skull crushers. The cardio was rough low carb - 10 mets for 20 min was doable on my higher carb day but today I could only pull 8.5-9 mets with a higher RPE than the 10 Sunday. Going to bed now will eat some carbs tomorrow!

[lizzyb]

Originally Posted by shellbel

Thank you lizzyb. It is nice to have someone on same program on here ESP after today! Hardest day by far yet. I don't function well at all low carb

Cool! You know, I guess I'm funny 'cause I don't function well with high carb days....all bloated and gassy and puffy feeling, lol!! tho' yeah, do have the energy to give the cardio a real go for the money!!

Are you training at home as well? You mentioned the use of a chair for assisted pullups......I train at home as well, and well I've always wondered HOW to use a chair for assissted pullups, unless of course you are doing negative reps, then I do get it afterall, lol!! Another quirky question......I've totally forgotten what a MET is, would you mind describing this for me (old age catches up after a while, lol!!)

Here's hoping you had a better day being high carbed and all

[shellbel]

I use METS just because I use it at work to evaluate how active patients are in order to see if they can handle the stress of surgery from a cardiovascular standpoint. If you can do <4 METS then I start to worry about the stress of the surgery on your heart. It is not widely used but my elliptical has a setting where I can monitor it so I look at it to make sure I keep my effort up. When it ways 10 I am a bit skeptical based on my body composition but my RPE scores are high also so I figure my intensity is OK at 8 or above.

Scope of Usage of the MET Concept (Borrowed From Wikepedia to save me a lot of typing)

Epidemiology and Public Health
The MET concept is implicitly based on a statistical approach and has been primarily designed to be used in epidemiological surveys, where survey respondents answer the amount of time they spend for specific physical activities.

Moreover MET is used to provide general medical thresholds and guidelines to a population. Since MET is a measure of intensity and rate, the concept of MET-minute can be used to quantify the total amount of physical activity in a way comparable across different persons and types of activities. Thus brisk walking at 5 km/h for half an hour (a moderate intensity activity of 3.3 MET) accounts for about 100 MET-min and is in this aspect equivalent to running at 10 km/h for ten minutes (a vigorous intensity activity of 10 MET). This way the total effort expended in different activities over a period of time can be accumulated: a common guideline is that total regular physical activity must lie in the range of 500 to 1,000 MET-minutes per week to produce substantial health benefits for adults. Note that there is a statistically observed dose-response relationship between MET-min and health benefits.


Comparison and Classification of Physical Activities
MET is also used as a method to indicate and compare the absolute aerobic intensity and energy expenditures of different physical activities. In this context the concept of MET is also used to prescribe exercise in clinical settings, such as in rehabilitation of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Tables of experimentally estimated typical MET values for exercise and other physical activities are published.

A common classification for public health purposes is:

Light-intensity activities are defined as 1.1 MET to 2.9 MET;
Moderate-intensity activities are defined as 3.0 to 5.9 METs;
Vigorous-intensity activities are defined as 6.0 METs or more.
Consequently the recommendation for 500 to 1,000 MET-minutes per week can be translated to at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity activity per week, or at least 1.5 hours (90 min) of vigorous intensity activity etc.

Indicative examples of nominal MET values for different activities are provided in the following table:

Physical Activity MET
Light Intensity Activities < 3
sleeping 0.9
watching television 1.0
sexual activity 1.3
writing, desk work, typing 1.8
walking, less than 2.0 mph (3.2 km/h), level ground, strolling, very slow 2.0
Moderate Intensity Activities 3 to 6
bicycling, stationary, 50 watts, very light effort 3.0
calisthenics, home exercise, light or moderate effort, general 3.5
bicycling, <10 mph (16 km/h), leisure, to work or for pleasure 4.0
bicycling, stationary, 100 watts, light effort 5.5
Vigorous Intensity Activities > 6
jogging, general 7.0
calisthenics (e.g. pushups, situps, pullups,jumping jacks), heavy, vigorous effort 8.0
running jogging, in place 8.0


Individual Functional Capacity
MET can also be used to provide an indication of an individual's functional capacity, more formally measured by VO2 max (i.e. maximal oxygen uptake, or the maximum rate of oxygen consumption that a person can achieve), thus providing an indicative translation of VO2 max measurements to equivalent maximum activity intensities and vice versa.

For example a person with a measured maximum oxygen uptake of 60ml . kg -1 . min -1 would have an indicative functional capacity of approximately 17 MET (since 1 MET is by convention 3.5 ml . kg -1 . min -1). Practically this indicates that this person can achieve to execute a physical activity of 17 MET intensity. According to typical surveys, an average healthy young male adult has a functional capacity of about 13 MET (45 ml . kg -1 . min -1 VO2max), an average healthy middle-aged male adult one of 10 MET, while a typical patient with severe pulmonary disease a functional capacity of only 4 MET.


Limitations in the usage of MET to calculate actual energy expenditure
It must be noted that published MET values (or exercise calorie calculators on web sites, which are based on such values) for specific activities are experimentally and statistically derived from a sample of persons and are in fact indicative averages. Obviously the level of intensity at which a specific person performs a specific physical activity (e.g., the pace of walking, the speed of running, etc.) will deviate from the representative experimental conditions used for the calculation of the standard MET values, but moreover, as is explained in the following, the actual energy expenditure and the RMR will differ according to the person's overall fitness level and other factors.

The same holds for MET (or kcal) values indicated in modern fitness exercise equipment, which are based on statistical models and are of indicative value only. In this case, even if the MET value indicated is a better statistical prediction than published tables, there is no way to account for the person's actual RMR and thus energy expenditure (e.g., Kcal). In short, a person can use the MET concept to plan or monitor physical activity levels or get an indication of the aerobic intensity and order of magnitude of energy expenditure for a specific activity, but not use the MET concept to calculate actual energy expenditure or a daily energy input-output balance.

More specifically, from a strictly scientific point of view, statistically estimated predictions, such as MET or BMI, are inaccurate when used for specific persons, and MET values must be treated as indicative only, taking into account that both RMR and actual energy consumption are highly dependent on physical and environmental factors such as adiposity, physical fitness level, cardiovascular health, or even ambient temperature.

Moreover, even the definition of MET is problematic when used for specific persons. By convention, 1 MET is considered equivalent to the consumption of 3.5 ml O2 kg-1 min-1 (or 3.5 ml of oxygen per kg of body mass per minute) and is roughly equivalent to the expenditure of 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour. This value was first experimentally derived from the resting oxygen consumption of a particular subject (a healthy 40-year-old, 70-kg man) and must therefore be treated as a convention. Since the RMR of a person depends mainly on lean body mass (and not total weight) and other physiological factors such as health status, age, etc., actual RMR (and thus 1-MET energy equivalents) may vary significantly from the kcal-per-kg-per-hour rule of thumb. RMR measurements by calorimetry in medical surveys have shown that the conventional 1-MET value overestimates the actual resting O2 consumption and energy expenditures by about 20% to 30% on the average, whereas body composition (ratio of body fat to lean body mass) accounted for most of the variance.

[shellbel]

July 22 Diet Basic with one sub (had to use a whole wheat english muffin instead of 2 rice cakes). Plus didn't leave gym until 830pm so didn't eat dinner until 9pm so I didn't have my protein shake as last snack.

Workout was:
Warmup on treadmill walking 3.0 mph for 10 min

Pec Dec 4x10@30,40,40,40
Tricep Pushdown: 4x10@60
Hero Curls: 4x10@8,10,12.5,12.5 each hand
Rear Delt Raises: 4x10@7.5,10,10,10
Sit Ups: 2x10 BW

Cardio: Stairmaster x 20 min, 50 steps per min

[shellbel]

The days that I can do at home based on my limited equipment I will, if the workout requires cable machines and hanging knee raise or heavy barbells etc then I will go to the gym just b/c it is easier than tyring to adapt the exercises for home.

[shellbel]

OK, missed a day of journaling b/c my dsl went out so I will see if I can recall the last 2 days here.
July 23:
Diet was Fresh/Raw:
Meal 1: apple, 2 tsp natural PB, and a banana
Snack 1: 1 whole wheat english muffin with almond butter and 2 celery sticks (forgot the stupid rice cakes at home again - sheesh at least they don't go bad)
Meal 2: 6 boiled egg whites with a cup of raw spinach (I hate spinach soooo badly but I am getting used to it at least)
Snack 2: 1 cup broccoli florets with 1/4 cup of my hubby's cousin's homemade chipotle-cilantro hummus (very very good)
Meal 3: Stir fry with red pepper, red onion, snow peas, broccoli, one tbsp olive oil, tbsp honey and a dash of soy sauce - I have been using tilapia for this one b/c it is so bland that it absorbs the flavors of the stir fry well
Snack 3: 1/2 cup cottage cheese FF

Workout: hi 2 as written except for midback rows were on my pilates machine with enough resistance to be well fatigued by the 25 reps, supersetted the back rows with the sumo squats. I was not able to put much weight on my back for the pushups and still do the required number) only 5 lb.

[shellbel]

Oops! Forgot the cardio - did 20 min elliptical at 8-10 mets

On to today: another low carb day yuck! I always feel so weak and grumpy.
Meal 1: 2 boiled eggs
Snack 1: a piece of chicken breast tenderloin - feels weird eating these plain alone as a snack they are so bland
Meal 2: 2 cups spinach with a chicken breast sliced on top and a lite balsamic dressing 2 tbsp
Snack 2: another piece of chicken - I don't think that my snack portions are reaching the 3 oz mark b/c I can't get myself to eat 2 of the peices (they are small about the size of 2 of my fingers once cooked)
Meal 3: veggie burgers (morningstar grillers) with one whole wheat english muffin and spinach salad again.
Snack 3: I had a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese instead of the chicken because I was going to barf if I had it right after the gym (please let me know if the chicken is a must or if I can sub in something like a piece of turkey breast or some egg whites)! I don't like chicken that much to begin with. I manage to eat it more than I care to but 4 times a day makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. Ok enough complaining! There are worse things in life than eating chicken.

Workout:
10 min warm up on elliptical

Deadlifts: 3x10@60,70,80
Bench Press: 3x10,10,8@75,85,95
Military Press: 3x8@30,40,40
Knee Raises 3x10 with semi-successful holding of DB with feet! Couldn't do 25 lb for 10 reps did 15
Cardio: walking 4.0 mph with 2% incline for 20 min (strangely I find that I break a sweat faster walking at a very brisk rate vs jogging at a moderate rate)

[lizzyb]

I would say it is quite 'legal' to substitute for any protein source so long as you are using lean choices of proteins with similar protein/fat values. I use tuna some days, shrimp others or a shake if I'm in a rush.......
Lol @ "walking 4.0mph with 2% incline....", I must have really short legs because 4mph for me is a very slow jog for me.......if I try to walk at 4mph I have to hold the rails to keep up, lol!!

[shellbel]

I have to listen to really really fast dance music to walk that fast - if the music stops I almost fly off the treadmill immediately! Here are my past few days:

Sunday: Diet was fresh/raw on the go and workout was lo 3:

10 min warmup on elliptical
Pec Dec 4x10@45
Tricep Pushdown 4x10@75
Hero Curls 4x10@12.5 per hand
Rear Delt Raise 4x10@10
2x10 sit ups
Cardio: 20 min elliptical @ 9+ mets

Monday was 24 hour shift at work followed by sleeping Tuesday - diet was eating whatever meal happened to be on eating schedule at time I was awake except a bowl of cereal with milk before bed tues - next time I should maybe eat the oatmeal instead but I was too tired to cook it lol.

Today was back from the land of the zombies with lo carb day.
Meal 1: 2 boiled eggs
Snack 1: 2 extra lean turkey dogs with no bun
Meal 2: 2 cups romaine lettuce with 3 oz fillet of sole and 2 tbsp light balsamic vinaigrette
Snack 2: skipped (but still ate every 3 hrs)
Meal 3: one 96% lean burger with bun and 2 lean turkey dogs (no buns), romaine lettuce.
Snack 3: chicken 3 oz

Workout was lo 2
pullups 2x6 with slight assist from a chair
bent over underhand row with a heavy band 3x12 (wow! feels really hard vs free weight for some reason)
side delt raise 3x10@12.5
shrugs with DB 15lb plus band for extra resistance (3x8)
Preacher curls 3x10 and Skull Crusher 3x10 with 15 lb

[shellbel]

July 30 - went to Six Flags with my hubby on my day off, managed to eat the low carb day with a few slight mods
Meal 1 - ate the 2 boiled eggs
skipped snack 1 b/c I slept in a bit and ate lunch 3h after meal 1
Meal 2 - Wendy's chicken ceasar salad with 1/4 packet light ranch dressing
Snack 2 - a bottle of vitamin water (healthiest thing in whole park)
Meal 3 - Another Wendy's chicken caesar salad with the light ranch and a small kid's hamburger
Snack 3 - Protein shake with water

Workout:
Deadlifts: 3x10@80
Bench press: 3x10@70
Military Press: 3x10@15
Situps
Cardio:elliptical 20 min at 8-10 mets

Friday July 31
Late Call (12pm till midnight shift)
workout: hi2 as dictated with 20 min on elliptical at >9 mets
diet:
Meal 1: apple with 2 tsp natural peanut butter and a banana
Snack 1: 2 brown rice cakes with almond butter 2 tsp and 2 celery sticks
Meal 2: egg whites x 6 and a cup of raw spinach
Snack 2: banana, 12 almonds
Meal 3: 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup black eyed peas with salsa on top
Snack 3: missed

[shellbel]

August 1 - day off!
August 2 - on call overnight
Day off workout
Diet:
Meal 1: banana and 22 almonds
Snack 1: 5 baby carrots, one celery stick, 1/4 cup broccoli and a chocolate protein shake
Meal 2: 4 egg whites scrambled with mushroom and onion and wrapped in a low fat low carb tortilla with red peppers and a cup of spinach - 1 tbsp nonfat italian dressing on it
Snack 2: 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese with 1/2 scoop cookies and cream protein powder, 5 raw almonds, and a tsp of almond butter (yummy)!
Meal 3: 1/2 cup quinoa with 1 cup broccoli and mushrooms with 4 oz sole grilled with red chile paste for taste
Snack 3: (>one hour before sleeping in am - ate a 0730 slept at 0900)

sleep until noon (too hot to sleep anymore)

Start next day plan
Meal 1: smoothie with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/4 cup frozen peaches, water, hemp oil 1 tbsp
Snack 1: 3 oz grilled chicken with red pepper jelly (can't find in store so made some minus the pectin so more like a sauce made with splenda).
Meal 2: 4 oz canned tuna with 1/4 cup mango and some red onion, 1 tbsp hemp oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Snack 2: skipped b/c of late awakening
Meal 3: 3 oz chicken with mushroom, pineapple, red pepper - yummy
Snack 3: chocolate protein shake with banana and natty PB 1 tsp

Workout was Day 5: 30 sec, 60sec, 90sec intervals. 30 sec felt good, 60 sec tough but OK and 90 sec downright brutal.

[shellbel]

August 4:
Diet was the simple plan:
Meal 1: oatmeal 1/2 cup dry measure
Snack 1: peach yogurt nonfat sugar free 6 oz
Meal 2: 2 boiled eggs, 1/4 cup hummus, 1 cup raw broccoli
Snack 2: celery sticks with 1 tbsp almond butter and 1 tbsp natty PB
Meal 3: nonfat low carb tortilla with veggie meat 3 oz and some spinach with a tbsp of nonfat italian dressing on it
Snack 3: skipped (too close to bedtime)

Workout was 50 light reps of squats, SLDL, hip ext on cable, crunches with cable for a little added resistance, cable back rows, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, overhead presses, and chest presses with 15 min light cardio on elliptcal to round it off. Not too bad, 50 reps burns though!

[shellbel]

OK so today is another killer 25 h work day - going on 19 h without sitting down right now and I thought that I could avoid my downfall this time. Around 1-3am I always crave sugar so badly and I am so sleepy. The PACU nurses always give me candy to "keep me awake" and I just had my butterfinger "fix". I wish that I could make it through a single 24h call without cheating like that but no matter how strong my willpower is for the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the shift it always seems to crumble once the middle of the night hits and I end up eating a donut or a pastry or a candybar. I never crave anything salty or savory just pure sugar.

[shellbel]

I am sure that the caffeine that I have to drink to stay awake this long doesn't help with the sugar cravings either!

[A1food4U]

Your body is sending a message that it wants "easy" quick calories but these aren't helping you in the long run. It sets up a cycle for the "crave". Try keeping gala or fuji apples with you there sweeter varieties. Anjou pears are sweet as well. Ripe bananas would even work. These naturally sweet alternatives would all be better than pumping on processed sugar. It takes about a week to break yourself but in the end it's worth it, healthier and a whole lot less calories....