Showing posts with label belly fat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belly fat. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Reward Day is Coming!
This coming Sunday, June 14th, is my next reward day. It'll have been three weeks since the last one.
I wasn't sure the original carb-fast worked, so I embarked on the second. As the days have passed, I've wondered... "Is it really working?" At first I wasn't so sure, but now I'm pretty sure it is for a number of reasons.
My belly pooch is the biggest fat store and the one I'm most interested in reducing. It didn't seem to be shrinking. But then I remembered that your body reduces fat from everywhere equally. So, the proof: I can comfortably wear my FitBit on the smallest band setting now, my clothes are looser, my bust actually looks smaller and, if I look closely at my tummy, it's getting a bit more wrinkly below the line where my underwear rides.
In addition, I bought some ketone test strips for urine and the first (and only at this point) test I took showed I had a goodly number of Ketones in my urine which is a good thing as those are a by-product of the body converting fat to energy. YAY!
During this process I have come to realize I need a little less protein and more healthy fats in my diet, so I'm researching keto recipes this week to implement for the next carb-fast. The other question becomes do I go back to a two-week plan or bump up to four weeks? I'm leaning toward two weeks because I really like reward days and I'll have an easier time staying the course during the other thirteen days rather than having to resist temptation for twenty-seven days. :0)
Hope you're having a great week. See you Friday!!
Friday, May 1, 2020
Friday Once Again...
I mentioned the carb fasting last week and I've been doing my homework in regards to how many carbs are in the foods I regularly eat.
My 5-grams-or-less rule might have to modified for one food item: my Greek yogurt. Most flavors have 10 grams of carbs with 3 grams of fiber for a net carb count of 7 grams. I'm not willing to give up the yogurt right now, so I think that's going to be the exception item.
And I also mentioned, I'll be upping the veggie intake mostly via salads. Now it's time to research a few salad fixins'. Few people like a plain salad and kale salad definitely needs a bit of sprucing up. Plus I'll have some calories in general to work with since I'm also trading in the daily (Stouffer's delicious) meatloaf for tuna.
My targeted start date for this fast is either May 10th or May 17th at the latest, and my goal is to fast for two full weeks.
The targeted exercise routines are still in trial and error mode, but we're getting there. My goal is to have at least six, but hopefully nine exercises for each body area to mix and match from.
My reward for fasting for the full two weeks, no matter the results, will be this:
Not a whole gallon, though--just a pint. I can't wait.
* * * * *
Last week's trip to the grocery store was mostly fine. I didn't run into any shortages food-wise, but was unable to find Vitamin C tablets. I'll try again this week. The thing that really floored me (but maybe shouldn't have, considering the COVID-19 mandates for masks) was the complete obliteration of the fabric section and thread. All I wanted was a roll of black thread for my sewing/mending kit as my spool finally ran out, but the thread rack was decimated too. *sigh*
* * * * *
The publishing admin as well as the writing is coming along. I've made progress everyday and I'm looking forward to at least three full uninterrupted hours of writing bliss tomorrow morning.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
I Need to Eat More...
Not an utterance I'd ever thought I'd make, but it's true. I've dropped too many pounds.
Remember, I talked about the moratorium on carbs except for what comes naturally in meats and veggies...? As my body transitions from not sourcing its energy from food (as much) to sourcing it from my stored body fat, I have been feeling draggy. After stepping on the scale, thinking about what I've been eating, and a convo with DH, it seems I'm not eating enough. More protein is definitely in order.
Meatballs are a quick and easy way to get more protein in my diet. Relatively inexpensive too, which is good for my beleaguered budget. Unfortunately, I'm going to get tired of spaghetti / marinara sauce quickly. BBQ sauce has too much sugar. But I did mix Ranch dressing with Buffalo sauce the other day for dipping chicken, so I'm going to make a slightly larger batch of that and slow cook a serving of meatballs and see what happens.
I might add the carb-light tortillas back in...there are only 4 net carbs per serving and it gives me something in which to eat egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, and peanut butter, so thinking hard about that. Plus it'll soothe my bread craving and helpfully keep me from breaking down and cheating horribly at some point.
Anyway, hope you're all well. Stay cool and hydrated--it's still hot hot hot here in North Texas.
Monday, November 6, 2017
Getting back on the wagon...
While in Denver, I fell off the carbohydrate wagon, and I've really struggled to get my willpower up and running again. It's coming along slowly, but still, those grain-based carbs are not good for me.
It's hard to not to dangle my legs over the side of the wagon, though, because despite my indulgences, I'm still making progress in eliminating the first layer of fat. The key turns out to be a combination of things--
A) As long a fasting period each day as I can hold out. Usually, it's about 13 hours. I don't eat after 7pm in the evening and I don't eat before 8am in the morning.
Which means that when I go to the gym and work out in the mornings, B) my body is forced to fuel my workouts with energy I already have stored. Fat burn for the win!!
So that means consuming carbohydrates again hasn't stopped the fat loss. Makes it so hard to stop eating the bad ones...
But I'm making better choices day by day and eating less and less of the unhealthy ones. I need to get back to eating more vegetables and maybe my body will find enough satisfaction in those that the temptation will be easier to resist.
Hope you had a lovely and relaxing weekend. I sure did.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Bye Bye Carbohydrates...
It's been coming. I've know it and have been resisting for a while now, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my carbs.
I have pretzels and tortillas pretty much every day as part of my regimented meal plan. Oftentimes I have pretzels as a snack before bed too. Any carbs I get from veggies or beans or what have you are bonus. And I don't mean that in a good way. Well, the stuff in veggie and beans are the good carbs, pretzels and tortillas are refined carbs...
So I've Google-searched "losing belly fat" because that's pretty much all I've got left aside from general toning. Each site I visited prescribed six to twelve things to help get rid of the nasty stuff.
I felt a bit discouraged because I've done quite a few of them...
...stop consuming non-natural sugars, especially soda (gave those up years ago)
...exercise (well I've been talking about my trips to the gym since August, so, yeah)
...eat more protein (eggs, cheese, tuna everyday; fish and chicken with green veggies mostly for dinner
...eat more fiber (see green veggies with dinner, but I've been thinking about daily salads)
...keep a regular sleep schedule even on weekends (I can't sleep in to save my life)
...reduce stress (only so much I can do, but I do what I can)
...a spoonful of apple cider vinegar a day (I have some at home, the good stuff with the "mother" even, so starting that tomorrow...)
So what's left...?
You guessed it--reduce refined carb intake. >>SOB<<
I've replaced the tortillas with some sort of wrap with half the calories. Not total elimination, but it's a start--I need some bulk to make me full. I'll also start having one of my daily tuna wraps in some sort of leafy green veggie, this week it's green leaf lettuce, but I like romaine and kale too. Red cabbage, maybe, we'll see how it goes.
DH also suggested a before-bed snack of beef jerky because the body has to work hard to break it down so it provides the right kind of energy overnight.
I've added yoga to my repertoire on days I don't go to the gym. I find that I have less energy those days too, plus it's good to alternate workouts--keep the body guessing, which is probably also contributing to this plateau.
Any other helpful hints??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
