Good morning + afternoon!
I stayed up late last night working on a big case study for MNT and it felt SO good to have more work under my belt. It also allowed me to sleep in a little longer and put less time between my alarm clock and eating something.
Actually, the fasting was no big deal. I did get kind of hungry around 10PM last night, but it wasn’t anything major and my stomach was actually fine this morning after some water. It’s amazing how much I misinterpret hunger and thirst in the mornings.
One thing I did do this morning: weigh myself. I decided if the MET test was going to need my weight, better to do it on my own scale for consistency purposes.
My scale had about an inch of dust on it – I haven’t weighed myself in months. I stopped weighing myself about a year into maintenance when I realized how much I was stressing out over the number. When I was losing I usually saw either a maintenance or loss, but rarely did I see a gain. In maintenance I saw losses and gains and the variance was driving me nuts so I just decided to quit the scale and have never looked back. My clothes and how my body looks and feels have been great indicators as to how I’m going.
So you can imagine that I was a bit nervous when I got out the scale this morning.
Before I stepped on, I gave myself a pep talk.
- My clothes fit
- I’ve lost my summer vacation weight (which was just a matter of not traveling and eating in restaurants non-stop for a few weekends in a row and keeping up the healthy habits at home)
- In the grand scheme of life on earth, my body is perfect.
And I stepped on to see: 127 pounds.
That would be a 7-pound gain. My first reaction was a bit of panic – well I certainly don’t feel 7 pounds heavier. I started to think of explanations: I didn’t exercise yesterday, I had ice cream after dinner, I’ve been doing yoga since December and focusing a bit more on weights.
And I came full circle to realize: the number reallydoesn’t matter!!!!
In fact, my latest post onBreathe fits well into this topic:Mind Over Matter.
So that was that.
Before I left for my test I made a smoothie to have when it was over:
- 1 cup frozen mango
- ~1.5 cups soy milk
- 1 tbsp flax
- 1/2 packet Vega powder
The MET test was funny. I looked like an alien! My reason for getting it was simply for educational purposes. They always tell us in class if we have the opportunity to get one to do so.
The YMCA uses the New Leaf Fitness MET test. It’s pretty much as accurate as you can get, as it measures both oxygen consumption AND CO2 production (older tests just measure oxygen and you breathe through a tube with a plugged nose.) I relaxed and breathed calmly for about 15 minutes while reading a magazine and it was done.
Based on your O2 and CO2 usage and production, the computer can tell how many calories your body requires just to survive – excluding all exercise and daily activity level. I couldn’t have food in my stomach because that spikes metabolism, and I wasn’t allowed to exercise or doing anything out of the ordinary yesterday to ensure the number was as basic as possible.
So my RMR was…… ~1300!
I was actually not surprised at all. I had a BOD POD test done almost 3 years ago and it came out at 1150, and all of the Harris-Benedict equations predict me in the mid-1300s, so I thought I’d end up in the upper 1200s.
Victoria says my resting FAT + CHO usage looks good too – it should be 80/20 at rest.
Several of you asked me if this test is going to change the way I eat or anything. Well, no, it’s not. I’m still going to eat by my hunger cues. When you factor in a light lifestyle, you get about 1800 calories to maintain weight without exercise. Add in 300-500 for workouts, and you get 2100-2300 to maintain. I probably eat about 1800-1900 on a regular basis, so by virtue of the Squiggly Line Effect, I’m pretty much spot on. Had my RMR come out to 1500+ or so, I still don’t think i would have changed anything intentionally because you never know where there is a margin of error and the ONLY accurate way to really know your caloric needs is to just see if you gain or lose weight. If you gain, you’re eating too much. If you lose, too little. And I think going by your clothes is the best way to judge that 
After my test I drank my smoothie (that’s a piece of plastic chicken in Victoria’s office!)
And had a cup of free coffee to prevent a caffeine headache 
I am addicted again. Sniff. I hate/love you coffee! I’m sitting here now at 2PM with a pretty bad headache. Grrr. Since I don’t want to switch to decaf or give it up because I really enjoy the roasty, bold taste of coffee, I’m just going to have to be addicted again.
After my smoothie V and I went outside to walk a bit before kickboxing so I could digest.
(HA – totally posed 
)
Kickboxing was really fun!! I’ve been wanting to go to it for a few weeks now (can you tell my group exercise bug is catching on again! I go through phases of loving + hating it and it sure is more fun with a friend). What I loved about the class was that we only did about 50% kickboxing – jabs, uppercuts, crosses + kicks – and spent the rest of the time doing jacks, medicine ball work, and other cardio. ‘Twas fun.
Once home I made a big salad for lunch with a piece of wild salmon I had in the freezer from Costco (I bought a big one and portioned and froze it). I had thawed it out yesterday.
- Romaine + spinach + olive oil drizzle
- Zucchini
- Green pepper
- Carrot
- Gorgonzola
- Raisins
- Salmon
I used this Emeril’s Seasoning I’d gotten a while back as a sample from Foodbuzz ’s Tastemaker Program on the veggies + salmon as they cooked – like it a lot even with onion powder in the list!
With my salad I had some cantaloupe drizzled with agave and microwaved for my poor sensitive teeth.
That’s a wrap!
Good morning + afternoon!
I stayed up late last night working on a big case study for MNT and it felt SO good to have more work under my belt. It also allowed me to sleep in a little longer and put less time between my alarm clock and eating something.
Actually, the fasting was no big deal. I did get kind of hungry around 10PM last night, but it wasn’t anything major and my stomach was actually fine this morning after some water. It’s amazing how much I misinterpret hunger and thirst in the mornings.
One thing I did do this morning: weigh myself. I decided if the MET test was going to need my weight, better to do it on my own scale for consistency purposes.
My scale had about an inch of dust on it – I haven’t weighed myself in months. I stopped weighing myself about a year into maintenance when I realized how much I was stressing out over the number. When I was losing I usually saw either a maintenance or loss, but rarely did I see a gain. In maintenance I saw losses and gains and the variance was driving me nuts so I just decided to quit the scale and have never looked back. My clothes and how my body looks and feels have been great indicators as to how I’m going.
So you can imagine that I was a bit nervous when I got out the scale this morning.
Before I stepped on, I gave myself a pep talk.
And I stepped on to see: 127 pounds.
That would be a 7-pound gain. My first reaction was a bit of panic – well I certainly don’t feel 7 pounds heavier. I started to think of explanations: I didn’t exercise yesterday, I had ice cream after dinner, I’ve been doing yoga since December and focusing a bit more on weights.
And I came full circle to realize: the number reallydoesn’t matter!!!!
In fact, my latest post onBreathe fits well into this topic:Mind Over Matter.
So that was that.
Before I left for my test I made a smoothie to have when it was over:
The MET test was funny. I looked like an alien! My reason for getting it was simply for educational purposes. They always tell us in class if we have the opportunity to get one to do so.
The YMCA uses the New Leaf Fitness MET test. It’s pretty much as accurate as you can get, as it measures both oxygen consumption AND CO2 production (older tests just measure oxygen and you breathe through a tube with a plugged nose.) I relaxed and breathed calmly for about 15 minutes while reading a magazine and it was done.
Based on your O2 and CO2 usage and production, the computer can tell how many calories your body requires just to survive – excluding all exercise and daily activity level. I couldn’t have food in my stomach because that spikes metabolism, and I wasn’t allowed to exercise or doing anything out of the ordinary yesterday to ensure the number was as basic as possible.
So my RMR was…… ~1300!
I was actually not surprised at all. I had a BOD POD test done almost 3 years ago and it came out at 1150, and all of the Harris-Benedict equations predict me in the mid-1300s, so I thought I’d end up in the upper 1200s.
Victoria says my resting FAT + CHO usage looks good too – it should be 80/20 at rest.
Several of you asked me if this test is going to change the way I eat or anything. Well, no, it’s not. I’m still going to eat by my hunger cues. When you factor in a light lifestyle, you get about 1800 calories to maintain weight without exercise. Add in 300-500 for workouts, and you get 2100-2300 to maintain. I probably eat about 1800-1900 on a regular basis, so by virtue of the Squiggly Line Effect, I’m pretty much spot on. Had my RMR come out to 1500+ or so, I still don’t think i would have changed anything intentionally because you never know where there is a margin of error and the ONLY accurate way to really know your caloric needs is to just see if you gain or lose weight. If you gain, you’re eating too much. If you lose, too little. And I think going by your clothes is the best way to judge that
After my test I drank my smoothie (that’s a piece of plastic chicken in Victoria’s office!)
And had a cup of free coffee to prevent a caffeine headache
I am addicted again. Sniff. I hate/love you coffee! I’m sitting here now at 2PM with a pretty bad headache. Grrr. Since I don’t want to switch to decaf or give it up because I really enjoy the roasty, bold taste of coffee, I’m just going to have to be addicted again.
After my smoothie V and I went outside to walk a bit before kickboxing so I could digest.
(HA – totally posed
)
Kickboxing was really fun!! I’ve been wanting to go to it for a few weeks now (can you tell my group exercise bug is catching on again! I go through phases of loving + hating it and it sure is more fun with a friend). What I loved about the class was that we only did about 50% kickboxing – jabs, uppercuts, crosses + kicks – and spent the rest of the time doing jacks, medicine ball work, and other cardio. ‘Twas fun.
Once home I made a big salad for lunch with a piece of wild salmon I had in the freezer from Costco (I bought a big one and portioned and froze it). I had thawed it out yesterday.
I used this Emeril’s Seasoning I’d gotten a while back as a sample from Foodbuzz ’s Tastemaker Program on the veggies + salmon as they cooked – like it a lot even with onion powder in the list!
With my salad I had some cantaloupe drizzled with agave and microwaved for my poor sensitive teeth.
That’s a wrap!