Food: I suggest looking through the last week of posts to figure out WTF went on with food this week. Briefly, the intention was that this would be maintenance calories at an average of 210±5 lbs, so 2220 calories instead of 1680. Despite planning and leaving in room for more carbs, old habits at my parents’ house die very hard and I found myself snacking a lot more than I should have. That, and unexpected carbs like cake more than just on Wednesday, or what specifically my mom wanted for dinner (and breakfast) on her birthday on Wednesday.
I found myself rapidly gaining weight (see below, or the infographic) and so modified food goals as I went through the week. I technically ended up at –6% of the stated goal, though I was a bit high on carbs because I was so low on fat, as a percentage of the calories.
Exercise: This week had wins and losses for exercise. Wins because I got out for walks, I finally started some weight training, and I swam four times. Losses because I still didn’t do core exercises at all (I’m supposed to do them every day for 15 minutes), and I did not meet my goal of ≥40 minutes of cardio at least 5 days per week. That said, I did expend more calories this week in exercise than every other week but two of the last nine weeks, coming in at 2920. That’s the best since Week 05 at 3083, while Week 04 was a whopping 3776. And, that’s despite driving for 18 hours straight and having three nearly full (work) days of telecons.
Sleep: Sleep this week was all over the place, including earning my first down arrow (indicating fewer than about 4 hours of sleep (I forget specifically what I set it at for my chart). That particular down arrow is because I got into Cincinnati at 7am and had a 12pm telecon, so I was pretty screwed that day. Sunday’s <8 hours was due to packing and needing to leave, while Friday’s was because I stayed up past 4am doing stuff the night before (or morning of?). So, even though I averaged ≥8 hrs/night, I gave myself a 😐 rating because of how variable it was and especially that Monday one.
Measurements: As discussed in the daily updates, but clearly visible on the graph, weight was also all over the place, and it had an upwards trend until I took drastic measures with respect to cutting calories after Wednesday. The average for the week is up relative to last week, my first increase. The goal this week was to be in maintenance mode, and not change the average (or go down!), and certainly not go up by half a pound. Still: I need to not get demoralized, I need to stick with the plan, it’s just a half pound, I can correct that. I’m supposed to average 213.0 lbs next week, so that might be hard to reach (losing 2.1 lbs on the average), but I’m going to try. ‘Cause I need to prove to myself that I can recover from this and keep moving and not give up!
Bodyfat was also up on Sunday-last, and I’m scared to measure it tomorrow. It was up slightly but, that’s okay since I’m still about two weeks ahead of the plan. Though again, I’m a bit scared about what it might be tomorrow after the pigging out this week.
Points: Points were higher this week than last, and near an all-time high because of the weights. They were lower than they could have been because of the sleep, and because I didn’t hit my protein goal every day. I still was higher on protein than most other macros every day, but it was still under 100% of the goal for maintenance at this calorie level. If I were to give myself points for that, the score raises to +66, and if I had gotten enough sleep every night, I would’ve been at +70, which would’ve been an all-time high. Amazing what happens when I actually do the exercise I’m supposed to!
Looking Ahead 1 Week: Next week is going to be tough for several reasons:
- It’s the continuation of this two-week trip, but this time at the pseudo-mother-in-law’s house, so more but other temptations, and she’s not as keen on me cooking.
- I have a grant review panel all week which means I will be in front of my computer from 7am through 1am. With a few breaks, but it is seriously that intense, at least when in-person. I’ve not been on a fully virtual panel before.
- When not doing the panel, I have a huge amount of writing I need to do for work, so again no rest for the wicked.
- The pseudo-MiL has no exercise equipment, so all there is is cardio (walking around her neighborhood) or core exercises.
- The end of the week (Saturday) is the drive back to Colorado, which is a 17-hour drive but at least the time zones work for us rather than against us this time.
So … it’ll be an interesting week even without the strong impetus to drop 2+ lbs.
My Fitness Blog 