I'm Back!

Where have I been?  Around.

It’s been a week since I have posted anything and for that I am sorry. Things have been pretty crazy around my house the last week. My wife's high school dance team was getting ready to put on their annual spring show and most of her free time was dedicated to preparing for that. That meant that kid and baby duty were my sole responsibility.  After everyone was in bed, I just didn’t have the energy to get online and put together a half-ass post. So now it’s a week later and I have no problem putting up something half-ass. :)

Things aren't going so well in the weight loss area. Last Friday I weighed in for a few contests that I am in and I ended up putting a few pounds back on. I am now officially over 180lbs.  Looking back I am not 100% sure where I went wrong. I continue to do cardio, eat well, and lift.  If I could place blame anywhere, I think it might be that I am not eating enough.

Looking back at my logs, I am probably only consuming about 1500 calories a day. I figure my maintenance level is probably somewhere a little North of 2500. Going low calorie for a few days isn’t bad but doing so continuously isn’t good. I think that is where my weight gain has come from.

Could it be that my body is storing fat in anticipation of not getting enough food?

This week I have increased my calories a bit and am now hovering around 2100/kcal's a day. Friday will be the true test to see if that approach has worked.

BTW - Weight loss contests are the worst thing to do if you only have a small amount of weight to lose (less than 10lbs). You will get judged for anything that was gained even though to gain can be quite normal in these circumstances. If you fit this bill and someone asks you to join a contest, you would be best to say now. Just my 2 cents.

Protein Shake Cleanse

I took an experience from The Healthier Me and his latest post on a 3-day Shakeology Cleanse and decided to do my own 3 day cleanse to jump start my weight loss. I changed it up a bit from his cleanse since I don't have Shakeology (that stuff is expensive!) and instead opted to use some of my own protein powder that I had around the house.

Details

The premise of the cleanse is this. You start your day with a protein shake and some fruit. You have the same thing for lunch and then a healthy dinner. Sounds simple enough and it reminded me of those old SlimFast commercials from the 80's.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVhQOG6ip0

What I Did

I started the cleanse on Tuesday by making a shake that consisted of almond milk, protein powder, sunbutter, banana's, and strawberries. I made it a double so that I had some for lunch. For supper that night we had family over and they brought Chipotle. I am not one to resist Chipotle and mine consisted of a bowl (no rice) fajita veggies, double chicken, guac, lettuce, and salsa. Pretty healthy by my standards.

Wednesday saw me making the same shake as Tuesday. For supper my wife made up some chicken breast and right before bed I made up a protein shake with some casein protein powder.

On Thursday I wanted to keep my carbs low for the day since I was not working out so I decided to cut out the fruit. The shake then consisted of almond milk and a few tablespoons of Sunbutter. For supper my wife had cooked up some ground beef with onions and cabbage. She also made up some cinnamon apples to which I did have a few pieces. I also splurged and had a piece of string cheese right before bed.

Conclusion

Friday morning is now here and I have decided to continue on with the cleanse if even just through the day. I did manage some time to hop on the scale this morning and my weight is down to 179. So in total I lost 2lbs while doing this challenge. It's hard to say if that weight loss was a results of the cardio I did this week, the low calories consumed (1500 a day) or the shake cleanse itself. All I know is it's not quite the 5lbs that Mike from The Healthier Me lost but it also might be the difference in the shakes we made. I have heard that Shakeology is the bomb. Would love it if someone could send me some samples to try. Maybe 6 samples so I could try the cleanse for real this time? :)

So there you have it. Down 2lbs and hoping to be down 2 more by next week.

P.S. I have joined another weight loss challenge with some friends. Nothing like a challenge to help keep me motivated.