Competitor Blog: Finding Satisfaction

I was designed to eat. When people say “Oh, I forgot to eat!” I am immediately appalled. My whole life can be summed up by moments of being awake counting down the moments until I get to eat or sleep. I am essentially a sloth trapped in a human’s body!

This can make cutting macros a bit of a challenge. There are many times I find that I still desire to eat more. Please note that I am usually no longer “hungry” or feeling hunger. I just enjoy the eating process; chewing, tasting, and feeling the warm hug of carbs in my belly. Since eating my weight in food is not an option I have picked up a few tricks to help tide me over. 

Water never does the whole “fill up the space and feel full” trick. I like my water icey cold and I will drink a lot of it but all it does is make me and my belly cold. It is flavorless and does little to appease my demanding taste buds. Coffee however fills me up quite nicely. It’s warm and I can get it flavored without extra calories/macros. If I am feeling really generous I can doctor it up with some sugar free creamer (tracked of course) or some sugar free flavored syrup. The flavored syrup is my new thing for home. A little can really go a long way! I use ½ a tablespoon and it is plenty. Coffee works better than tea for the full feeling. I am not sure why but I try not to look a gift horse too hard in the mouth. I did not drink coffee before but now that I have started it is a nice routine. I even have decaf because sometimes I feel the need to “snack” at night time and this can help if I am feeling desperate. 

Keep busy. It is easier to do physical busy activities on the weekend. Often you won’t notice that you are feeling a little hungry if you are up trying to get a chore done. Even if you do think “hmmm I could eat” you are usually so into your project you can put it off until the next appropriate food time. The important thing is to make sure you stop and eat at regular intervals. Otherwise, you may find yourself ravenous and falling headlong into poor food choices.

I am a soda drinker. I like the fizzy bubbles and the sweetness. Try making your own Italian soda’s. Using the sugar free syrup and club soda I can make myself a sparkly beverage to help cut the sweet tooth. It’s different from the La Croix flavored waters which are OK but a little bland. It really can help shake up the monotony of water and it feels like you are having a treat.

So tell me, do you have any tricks that you use to help pacify your consumption cravings?

Positive Directions

So last week it was pinch time.  You know, the awesome time where they pinch your skin and see how much fat you have in there.  As much as I dislike the whole process I still seem to have some sort of sick fascination in wanting to know where I am.  I will be honest with you, it makes the even the most body confident/comfortable person cringe.  It’s putting yourself out there in a very emotionally vulnerable position.  But to the pinch defense it gives information you wouldn’t otherwise know, it’s a relatively short process, and no one is paying attention but you and your trainer.  I try and go to my happy place and ignore it.  Of course, I then try to act only mildly interested once all the data is collected and evaluated.

All my hard work in the kitchen paid off these last few weeks!  I am happy to announce the numbers that we wanted down, went down and the numbers we wanted up, went up!!  Best.  Feeling.  Ever.
This whole thing is a journey.  I was in relatively fit shape when I began this whole process.  I think the fact that I am not trying to diet to lose weight is what blows the most minds.  I am eating a diet to build muscle.  You have to feed those muscles if you want them to grow and apparently it’s a pain in the butt to balance.

Here are some of the things that I find are working for me.

8 g of protein and they taste awesome!

•  Find a food combo that works and stick to it!!!  For me my snack every work day is cottage cheese and later yogurt.  Yogurt is like my afternoon sweets craving replacement.  I drink a protein shake either in the AM (if I am on my way to the gym in a hurry) or at night (after training or a run session).  I then try and fill in around those what else I need.  It works don’t rock the boat.
• Plan ahead, even though it sucks.  I am thinking about my whole day’s food before I even get started with the day.  For me starting with dinner and planning around it is best.  Dinner is a family experience and if I account for a piece of cake for dessert then I can eat it without tanking the whole day.  But ONLY if I plan for it.
• Get a trainer and see them at least once a week.  You think you can do it on your own but unless you have crazy good impulse control you won’t.  If you see them less than once a week you will find it easier to cheat and fall off the wagon.  You won’t have the same level of another person counting on you to do the right thing.  Plus, they are great resource to learn how to do new exercises, make adjustments to current exercises to make them more effective/comfortable, food suggestions, push your preconceived boundaries of what you are capable of,  and someone who will not take it personal when you give them legit stink face.
• Pack your things.  Pack your gym bag and have it ready and by the door the next day.  I am at the gym at 6 AM two days a week.  I *have* to have everything packed and planned down to my underwear and socks.  If I oversleep or drag my feet for 5 minutes my whole morning will be rushed.  My gym clothes are laid out in a particular order, my bags are packed and I allot myself a little more time for a relaxed transition into the land of the living. 
•  Everything in its place.  For me any tiny little trip up will bust the door wide open for an excuse.  I can’t find my running shoes.  Where did I put my headphones?  The liners in all my sports bras are wrinkled and need to be straightened.  I can’t find my favorite shorts.  My shaker cup is dirty.  Shoes are always together in their spot.  I try to straighten the bra situation before they get put in the drawer.  Headphones are zipped in the running belt.  Any little thing I can do ahead of time to save me when I feel like I have no time.
• Talk to your partner about your goals.  They will play a huge part in success and probably unbeknownst to them.  Usually they want to help but they don’t know how.  For me it’s food.  I need to know what our dinner plan is so I can plan my day around it.  Or if we have no planned dinner I have these parameters that I can eat in will you help me figure it out. 

All of this is STILL a process.  I still fail.  I still get mad.  Occasionally I eat my feelings. But I am trying REALLY hard to do better.  And little by little I am getting there.  

Mmmmfood

I love food.  I do not love tracking food. 

When Mike asked me to track my daily food I clarified if tracking it from my plate to my mouth counted.  Alas, my friends it does not.

I have done food journals before to help figure out medical conditions.  They are a HUGE help in many regards.  But they are a pain in the butt.  It isn’t so much that it is hard or an extremely time consuming task it’s just kind of a bummer.

I have never tracked calories before.  I figured if I want it then I am going to eat and worry about the consequences later.  I realize that is a terrible plan but it’s the one I typically operate with.  Fortunately, technology is a huge blessing!  Mike recommended checking out MyFitnessPal.  You can access it on a computer and download an app for your smartphone.  But this is why it is amazing to me; it has a bar code scanner.  One that works and pulls up the food and nutritional info almost every time.  The only time it didn’t work was some weird obscure something or other I was eating (I should probably be more concerned that it couldn’t find something I was eating).  You can also enter your exercise so that your calorie allotment for the day adjusts based on the calories you expend.  Be warned though, the fitness portion leaves a little something to be desired.

 Why is tracking food good for you? 

• It helps keep you accountable.  When you can physically see how many mini snickers you have chowed down in one day you start feeling a little guilty.
• I enjoy seeing how many free bonus calories I get after a good work out or run.  And don’t tell Mike, but sometimes I fill those bonus calories with cake!
• It is easier to see patterns which may help uncover certain trigger foods to avoid.  I have migraines and a whole laundry list of stomach issues.  I found out Chinese food made me feel like death and narrowed it down to that lovely MSG.  Another fun one with MSG, Dorito’s.  I haven’t had Dorito’s in over 8 years!
• It’s strangely fascinating to see the calories add up.  Some things will shock you by having very few calories. 

In the end, everyone is going to have bad days.  Don’t beat yourself up too bad for dipping into the candy bowl every once in a while or eating a delicious white bread sandwich BUT don’t forget to log it.  If you think of the food you put in as the amount of burpee’s you will have to do you may just think otherwise.  Happy tracking!