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I had my weekly visit with my nutritionist this morning - I *gained* 1lb from last week's weigh-in! No change in exercise, no change in caloric intake, nothing different except not I'm officially a pound heavier. In this past month's stall, my weight has either remained unchanged or I've been down a percentage of a pound but this gain, however small, is frustrating.
I'll be staying the course as far as my exercise routine but we are going to fine tune my meal plan. Instead of eating to a particular caloric goal, she wants me eating the exact servings from the major food groups each and every day and nothing else, totally disregarding calorie counts for now. This breaks down to:
I've eaten strictly to the plan today except I'm still short 1 serving of veggies, which I loathe anyway. I steamed my first serving of summer squash for dinner tonight and God help me, I ate it. I don't think I can choke down another healthy food item after that trauma! Don't like V8 juice, but I might go have a glass of V-Fusion and just note the 'extra' fruit.
I also wore my heart rate monitor during Zumba tonight. Out of a 45 minute class, my heart rate stayed at 155 or above for 39:42 minutes. If I'm getting this kind of workout 3x/week, then I'm working way harder than I did on the elliptical and for a longer overall period of time. And it's so much fun!
Pitt, the Couch to 5K run training program that I do 3 days a week varies in intensity as I progress, but this week (#3) consists of a 5 minute warm up walk at 3.5mph, followed by 2 sets of the following routine - a 1.5 minute run at 5.5 mph, a 1.5 minute walk at 3.5 mph and 4% elevation - a 3 minute run at 5.5 mph and a 3 minute walk at 3.5 mph and 4% elevation then a 5 minute cooldown walk at 3.5 mph and 2% elevation. Heart rate jumps to 165+ when running and around 150/155 when walking at an elevation.
I've know about the fat-burning/heart rate target zone for a while, but the trainer wants me working at a higher intensity. My doctor scheduled me for a CPET test mid-March so we can fine-tune my exercise routine and see exactly where my body is genetically set to work the best.
For anyone out there thinking this kind of medical assistance is financially out of reach - my doctor is on my insurance plan and each visit is a $25 co-pay,including tests like the BMR test to find my true resting metabolism. The nutritionist works with my doctor and charges $15 for a visit which lasts about 45 minutes and includes a weigh-in, blood pressure check and one-on-one review of my weekly dietary intake and suggestions to improve. Considering that Weight Watchers is $12 a week + a registration fee for a generic meeting and a public weigh-in, the extra $3 a week for a private nutritionist is well worth the sacrifice of a weekly mocha latte!
You are lucky insurance wise; mine won't tough anything to do with weight loss other than surgery and routine [once a year] normal blood panels plus anything that is out of whack [I am on a statin so they can justify that testing]
My comment on the diet is it looks high in sugar and low in protein.and I am not a "low carb" person or a diabetic nor do I have any known blood sugar problems.
I am getting about 50% of calories from carbs but I have fouind - 1 serving of skim milk has about 30% of sugar for the day so my fruit needs to be kept to low glycemic fruits and bread [unless it is absolutely 100% whole grain] - only complex carbs and it is still hard to keep sugar levels right and that sets off a whole cascade of store store store as that is the signal the body gets ...... watch out for high fructose corn syrup sneaking in as well..........even some vegetables supply much of the sugar allotment [tomatoes, onions, peppers]....just some PTC since I have been logging and tracking all of these parameters on diet software.
I have not hit any complete stalls yet - Feb was a slow month with only a 4lb loss but the average has been about 6lbs.
Try cutting out:
Enriched flours, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Salt and Hydrogenated oils.
On Dr Oz there are some who have cut out one of these ingredients and lost weight. For me, I cut all 5 out and have had success also.
Sugar intake is very difficult to keep within acceptable parameters. I consistently go over my daily allowance by about 10% because it is in so many processed and packaged foods! I've already totally cut out bleached enriched flour which has forced me to cut waaaaay down on my bread intake. I love white bread, especially French bread, but like Dr. Oz says - it's a candy bar for the stomach! I need to find a cooking class somewhere to teach me how to cook nutritiously. We eat out a lot and buy packaged meals because I just can't cook very well.
Jumped on the scale first thing this morning and I was down 4 POUNDS from yesterday morning. We'll see how this week's nutritional plan goes but I'm hoping my body just needed to acclimate to my fitness routine and is ready to begin releasing some fat once again.
One of the things I learned from my other group today was that often when you plateau your body is replacing fat with water then - boom - sudden drop! . Sodium also plays havoc with weight because it makes you retain water and can mess with BP if you are sensitive to it. Hooray on that drop; I know how good it feels!
You cannot eat out without overdosing on sodium. Guess you need to get cooking, gal!
I was thinking about vegetables - and your not liking them. Have you ever tried butternut squash? This is like eating dessert to me and full of fiber and very good for you. You just slice it in half lenghtwise , scoop out the seeds and pulp, put it on foil on a baking sheet with some PAM in a 400 degree oven and cook for about 40 minutes scoop out the insides and treat with nutmeg or cinammon. A lot of recipies call for putting water in the pan but it is much sweeter without the water. I LOVE THIS stuff. If you like pumpkin pie I bet you would too!
It sounds odd - but to get off a plateau many people suggested upping my caloric intake slightly for a day or 2 and then returning to my normal amount. I fought it for a while and then inadvertently had a "bad" day - ended up being 300-400 calories over my usual and the weight loss started again!
Sugar intake is very difficult to keep within acceptable parameters. I consistently go over my daily allowance by about 10% because it is in so many processed and packaged foods! I've already totally cut out bleached enriched flour which has forced me to cut waaaaay down on my bread intake. I love white bread, especially French bread, but like Dr. Oz says - it's a candy bar for the stomach! I need to find a cooking class somewhere to teach me how to cook nutritiously. We eat out a lot and buy packaged meals because I just can't cook very well.
Jumped on the scale first thing this morning and I was down 4 POUNDS from yesterday morning. We'll see how this week's nutritional plan goes but I'm hoping my body just needed to acclimate to my fitness routine and is ready to begin releasing some fat once again.
Sugar is a beast! Its everywhere! (just like salt)
Sounds like to do the bloat & dump. I do that, so does my s.o.
I was take weight everyday and noticed it happening so much I actually started to get happen when it went up. LOL
Cooking takes practice and some good cookwear. Read reviews on pans and stuff. It really does make a HUGE difference. I highly suggest getting one of those george forman grills. (or something like it) Its fast and easy. A fast and easy veggie heavy thing I like to make was pepper sticks spritzed with olive oil and "grilled" till the color turned bright. (still firm but hot)
Other veggie sneaks:
Meatloaf w/ chopped veggie
Soup w/ pureed veggie additions
Goggle: Just Veggies (dry snack to replace dry crunchy stuff. SO GOOD)
Green Smoothies
Had another weekly visit with the nutritionist - I'm down 3.4lbs from last week. Yay! Eating to food groups is much harder than just counting calories and I had several days that I just couldn't get all my servings of a particular group in. I had 1 off day last Monday when I made the huge mistake of not eating before working out. My body crashed and I craved Asian food (carbs) and before I knew it, I had ordered crab Rangoon, General's chicken and an egg roll. It was great, but when I weighed the next morning, my weight jumped up 3 lbs. Totally not worth it.
Pitt, thank you SO MUCH for the veggie sneaks - I need all the help I can get with that. I did try summer squash and zucchini this week - no real taste but the texture is not particularly appealing! - and plan to try granny's butternut squash recipe soon.
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No change in exercise, no change in caloric intake, nothing different except not I'm officially a pound heavier. In this past month's stall, my weight has either remained unchanged or I've been down a percentage of a pound but this gain, however small, is frustrating. 
Don't like V8 juice, but I might go have a glass of V-Fusion and just note the 'extra' fruit. 
