Back again for another blog post here. Today I was just thinking how hard all of this can be, and for anyone starting out, but in the end it'll be all worth it. Right now I cook most of my meals, log everything, write about it, research and help other people as much as I can. It can be a daunting task and even tedious in some cases. However this week I saw the weight that I had put on during Christmas start to come off and it gave me a sense of accomplishment and renewed my motivation. Just remember stick to it and you will reap your gains.
A person recently asked me on facebook "Hey how much do i need to do at the gym to lose 10 lb's" My response was to not worry about what you burn rather what you eat. It's easy to think that if we go run for hours or ride a bike that the weight falls right off. I used to think this as well. I'd work out for an hour, do 30 mins of cardio and feel great, only to follow that by going to eat some crazy fast food meal. Lets look at something here:
Estimate calories burned during a 1 hour (yes 1 full hour) of cardio at the speed of 5 without stopping is 600 calories.
A big mac value meal, not even super sized is 1000-1100 calories. So even if you ran/jogged for a full hour you would still be in a caloric surplus! (I know there are other caloric losses after the exercise, this is for simplicities sake) This doesn't even take into account that your meal you just consumed has 200 grams of carbs and only 30 grams of protein. This will leave you hungry in a few hours.
What is all boils down to is calories in vs calories out. This is something I had to learn, and yes Paleo helped me lose weight due to the caloric deficit but it was those foods that helped me feel full and satisfied. A lot of the chemicals and by products in processed food clog up your body's sensors in thinking that it isn't full. Real food does not do this. That is why I stick with paleo(ish) foods. So next time you think about jumping into a gym and doing all of that work, make sure you know what you're eating and that it doesn't sabotage all of your hard work!
Now my hypocritical ass will give an update of how I am doing. It took two weeks for me to start shedding weight. My body either had to get used to me eating normal again or maybe it was the increased carb intake then what I was used to, but it's finally coming out. My two week weight is back down to 254.2. I started out at 261. I could not believe I put on 15 pounds over the holidays, but I can't dwell on the past and just need to focus on the future. My measurements are all the same as they were when I finished the challenge, except my arms are getting slightly bigger (woot!). There are two things that I have decided on and i'll share those in their own paragraphs.
First I am tapering down my caffeine in take and may even cut it out completely (for a while). I have had sleeping problems like no other, and I super caffeine sensitive. SO I have put two and two together and gotten that I may need to cut down or even cut out the caffeine to get to where I want to be. I have already started halfing my caffeine intake from 18 oz of coffee a morning to 9. This already is giving me slight headaches and withdrawal symptoms. Tomorrow I will do even less coffee and by sunday, I am only going to be doing green tea. Wish me luck on this one.
Once I hit my normal weight of 240-245, I am going to start an intermittent fasting protocol. I am going to follow this website's guidelines: http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html Basically the premise of it goes against everything anyone was ever told ever in the fitness world but it has some incredible data. My ultimate goal is to be 220-230 and hopefully this will catapult me into that by my 30th birthday.
As for the Ocean Avenue stuff, I am completely out of the smoothie protein. This stuff was absolutely fantastic. It tasted so good. THe only thing is 1 serving is 13 grams, so I was having to use 2-3 scoops post workout of even for a snack. I still take the empower but I do not see any result or noticeable results from it. I do not take the empower or focus any longer as they were giving me weird headaches. I do have the berry protein and it is good but a little too tart for me. My wife loves it though. All in all the products are very good and if you would like to try them I can put you into contact with the right people for samples!
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