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(tw: body and diet and weight talk ahead)
I'm trying food tracking again. I've already warned my wife and tried to pick an app that doesn't make the calorie total the biggest deal. I just want to know if what I think I'm eating in my head lines up with what I'm actually eating -- am I getting enough protein? Iron? How much fat do I actually eat?
Of course, it's hard to ignore calories altogether. The app I picked is Cronometer, which lets you highlight either macronutrients, micronutrients, or calories. So far, I've been focusing on the macros, but I did fiddle with the calorie counter as well. This app actually put me at 2300 kcals/day, which is the highest any program has ever let me start at, and a good sign in general. After using the google fit app for a few years, it does appear that I burn close to that range when I'm not doing long runs/intense crossfit.
I think the biggest problem with counting calories previously is that every app would start me at 1800 kcals/day, which is already too low for me, and then try to cut me down further for weight loss. If 1800 is already a 500 kcal deficit, no wonder I spiraled pretty quickly and had a hard time sticking with it. The truth is, I am large and I am active, and I really do need more cals than someone else my age and height. Hopefully, once I can suss out how much I actually need and do well on, I can better tweak that number and then, maybe someday, get below 200# again.
(Not that there's anything wrong with being over 200# itself, but I do want to run faster, walk further, and be able to do body-weight exercises more effectively, and I've felt sufficiently hindered by my larger self that I want to change that. Honestly, I think I'm pretty hot as is, but... I also really want to run more)
So yesterday I started tracking everything and already ran into my first hurdle: even though I told myself I wouldn't hold to the projected kcal total, I still found myself trying to get under it. 🙃 My brain sees it as a competition, and it's so hard not to try and "win" by eating less than that amount. Maybe I just need to bump it up further, until I'm actually eating as much as I want/need without trying to restrict. IDK. It's hard.
But I did learn that I'm not getting as much protein as I need and wow, it's hard to get enough iron. I did well on fiber and other micronutrients, so that's good. My end goal, really, is just to get a vibe check and adjust as needed. So if I'm still talking about tracking food a month from now, politely hit me with a rolled up newspaper.
In happier news, this week we tested our 1RM on back squat and bench press, and I pr'ed both -- my back squat is now at 195# (so, so close to breaking that sweet 200#) and my bench is at 120#. Those are still small numbers in the powerlifting world, but I'm finally breaking into what are considered intermediate numbers vs the novice category I'd been in. But what's really cool is that both of those break my best lifts from when I was last lifting heavy in my 20s. I never thought I could be stronger in my late 30s than mid-20s, but I'll take it!
I'm trying food tracking again. I've already warned my wife and tried to pick an app that doesn't make the calorie total the biggest deal. I just want to know if what I think I'm eating in my head lines up with what I'm actually eating -- am I getting enough protein? Iron? How much fat do I actually eat?
Of course, it's hard to ignore calories altogether. The app I picked is Cronometer, which lets you highlight either macronutrients, micronutrients, or calories. So far, I've been focusing on the macros, but I did fiddle with the calorie counter as well. This app actually put me at 2300 kcals/day, which is the highest any program has ever let me start at, and a good sign in general. After using the google fit app for a few years, it does appear that I burn close to that range when I'm not doing long runs/intense crossfit.
I think the biggest problem with counting calories previously is that every app would start me at 1800 kcals/day, which is already too low for me, and then try to cut me down further for weight loss. If 1800 is already a 500 kcal deficit, no wonder I spiraled pretty quickly and had a hard time sticking with it. The truth is, I am large and I am active, and I really do need more cals than someone else my age and height. Hopefully, once I can suss out how much I actually need and do well on, I can better tweak that number and then, maybe someday, get below 200# again.
(Not that there's anything wrong with being over 200# itself, but I do want to run faster, walk further, and be able to do body-weight exercises more effectively, and I've felt sufficiently hindered by my larger self that I want to change that. Honestly, I think I'm pretty hot as is, but... I also really want to run more)
So yesterday I started tracking everything and already ran into my first hurdle: even though I told myself I wouldn't hold to the projected kcal total, I still found myself trying to get under it. 🙃 My brain sees it as a competition, and it's so hard not to try and "win" by eating less than that amount. Maybe I just need to bump it up further, until I'm actually eating as much as I want/need without trying to restrict. IDK. It's hard.
But I did learn that I'm not getting as much protein as I need and wow, it's hard to get enough iron. I did well on fiber and other micronutrients, so that's good. My end goal, really, is just to get a vibe check and adjust as needed. So if I'm still talking about tracking food a month from now, politely hit me with a rolled up newspaper.
In happier news, this week we tested our 1RM on back squat and bench press, and I pr'ed both -- my back squat is now at 195# (so, so close to breaking that sweet 200#) and my bench is at 120#. Those are still small numbers in the powerlifting world, but I'm finally breaking into what are considered intermediate numbers vs the novice category I'd been in. But what's really cool is that both of those break my best lifts from when I was last lifting heavy in my 20s. I never thought I could be stronger in my late 30s than mid-20s, but I'll take it!
