21,000 Calorie Challenge

Today marks the end of the 21,000 calorie a week challenge. Four weeks. Trying to average 3000 calories a day. It was tough. I more or less made my target for 3 of the 4 weeks. My caloric intake went 21,200, 19,470, 20,850 and 21,810.

As mentioned in previous posts, it was much harder than I anticipated. Over the past three weeks, I only ate out once. So that meant a lot of cooking and planning ahead. I feel like there were three areas where I struggled the most.

• Eating calorie rich dinners. I enjoy chicken and seafood. The problem is that a 6 oz piece of tuna doesn't have many calories. It is a great source of protein and fats. Shrimp is the same way. I can eat 2 dozen shrimp but not stock up on calories.
  
• I need to eat larger portions for dinner. The problem is that I feel like I eat enough. I may have a piece of grilled chicken, potatoes, spinach and bread. I feel full. It met my immediate needs. But my dinner needs to be more than 800 calories for me to achieve 3000.
  
• Snacks. More to come on this later. I focused on cheese, nuts, milk and occasionally ice cream. The nuts didn't workout and left me with a 2-300 calorie void.
  

There were a number of positive benefits that came from the challenge as well.

• Protein intake went WAY up. I average approximately 145 grams per day which is where I should be for my body weight.
  
• Smoothies and whey protein helped in a big way.
  
• I know I ate much better than normal. Oddly, I cut out a bunch of crap from the diet. I snacked less around the office.
  
• No eating out. That was amazing. I hope I can continue this trend though it is extremely difficult on the weekend after training.
• Afternoon energy was up a bit more.
  

This was a very enjoyable challenge. I do feel like my diet still needs some more changes as it is not exactly where I want it to be. However, I hope to continue on with a number of these changes.

The most interesting aspect was watching my weight and body fat. The weight slowly came down (163), popped back up (167), bottomed out again (162) and then settled into about where it was before (165). Last week, I had three consecutive days around 162. I do anticipate that after a weekend of traveling, the weight will settle back down to 163. This seems to be the case when I go out of town for an extended period.

The more interesting aspect was my body fat. It started plummeting. And quickly. After four weeks of this challenge, I am down nearly 1.5%. This morning, I weighed in at 7.2%. That was a weight increase but body fat decrease from last week. I suspect this will climb back into the mid to upper 7s by the end of the week.

What do I think of all this? Not really sure just yet. The reason I set out on this was because I thought my body was literally eating itself. I believed it had become inefficient. When I trained, I theorized that my body looked to muscle instead of fat/glycogen storages because of the calorie deficiency. I still maintain that theory. I would go one step further in that I think that is why my body fat is dropping....my body is learning to attack the fat instead of the muscle.

Weight, Body Fat and New Challenge

Too much to blog about and not enough time. I meant to post this blog last week as I ended the magnesium challenge but time once again alluded me. I am still tracking my weight and body fat each and every week. I was reminded to blog about this when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw my weight down significantly (though it is not reflected in the weekly totals).

Yesterday marks the beginning of a new challenge. The timing couldn't be any better for this one as I moved from the base to the build and eventually the peak periods of my training. Training is going up therefore my caloric need is going up. As I mentioned in the past, I frequently track my calories. I am on a good roll right now with nearly 2 months worth of data.

Aside: Tracking your calories is really not that difficult. Most people shy away from it for two reasons. First, they think it is time consuming. The reality is that most of us eat the same foods over and over again. That makes logging it very easy. It takes me approximately 5 minutes each morning to log the previous days food. Second, it forces people to face the reality that their diet is crap. Very true.

One thing that I frequently ponder is if I am fueling my body properly. I never really question if my diet is 'good.' I think I have a moderately healthy diet and don't splurge on snacks. Junk food is very sparse. You won't find it in my home, minus a few remaining girl scout cookies. If anything, my diet isn't diverse enough.

More importantly, I often wonder if I eat enough. Given that I have a very consistent diet, my caloric intake is relatively stable. I wonder if it is too LOW. So this month, I am revisiting the challenge from last summer...to eat more. My goal is to consume close to 3000 calories a day. Gulp. That should put me nearly 21,000 calories for the week. In the past seven weeks, I have only achieved 21,000 calories a week....once. And that was a week of major eating out. That means I need to eat about 2000 calories MORE a week than I typically do.

My hypothesis is that by keeping my caloric intake low, 2000-2300 cal/day, I am starving my body. This prevents it from recovering after a long workout. It also prevents it from preparing for the next workout. If my glycogen stores are not topped off, then my body goes through the fat and carbs as fuel sources too quickly. It then turns to the muscle for fuel...not good. My hope is that by not 'starving' my body, I will actually lose a bit more weight because the body isn't trying to hoard the calories. Counter intuitive? Maybe, but I don't suspect that will be the case.

I actually think this will be a real challenge for me because I like to eat healthy. Most dinners consist of chicken or fish...both great sources of protein but low calorie options. I also don't want the calories to be empty. They need to be natural foods that I would select in ideal situations. That means not splurging on wings and beer. I suspect there will be five staples in this challenge: nuts, cheese, milk, ice cream and peanut butter. I also don't want to cheat by eating out more often.

As a subset of this goal will be my attempt to ingest 140 grams of protein a day. I seriously slack off in this area and often only get about 110 g/day. The adjustments to the diet should aid the protein goal. They will also raise my fat intake which should help will the weight loss challenge.

The timing, as mentioned, is perfect. I will try this for four weeks and see how I feel. That puts me right into my taper for Rev3...an ideal time to cut back the diet. So can someone pass me a smoothie and protein bar?

Weight and Body Fat Tracking

I have no problem admitting that I am a data junkie, a number geek of sorts. Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated with numbers and telling a story with them. It really is no wonder that I naturally found a career and a hobby that is data heavy. Aside from all the training gadgets, I like to track numerous other things...mileage in shoes, mileage on a set of tires, how many times I eat at a particular place...the list goes on and on.

One of the areas that I am most consistent is with my weight. I have blogged about this a few times before. I don't think I am really obsessed with my weight and I don't think I have a very unhealthy relationship with food. Instead, I like to simply monitor it over the course of time so develop a longitudinal graph. I have been doing this for nearly 2 years with no real goal in mind.

I rarely step on the scale and feel that I need to make changes to my diet...though I should. Instead, it is just an FYI moment. So each Tuesday morning, I follow the same morning routine of getting out of bed and onto the scale to record my weight and body fat. I personally don't believe in weighing myself each day because there are too many factors involved. So I like the idea of a once a week snapshot. Also, I don't really think my scale is 100% accurate but since I use that scale each time, then I find changes comparable.

This year my goal is to get better about it. In the past, I just wrote it down on a piece of paper and looked at it over the course of the year. This year, I am logging each each Tuesday in BT. My goal is to post a new chart at the end of each month so that I can monitor it a bit more. Again, the goal isn't necessarily to 'lose' weight, though, I honestly feel like my ideal weight is probably 157-161.

Instead, I want to hold myself a bit more accountable this year and track changes. I am going to try a few different experiments to determine their impact on my weight. For instance, last year, I did an ice cream challenge. Each and every night, I ate ice cream (4-600 calories) because I felt like I was under fueling my body. Surprisingly, my weight dropped a few pounds. I am definitely up for that challenge again. I am currently starting another challenge by changing my dietary supplements. I am intrigued to see if it makes a difference. Finally, I want to see if their is an correlation between the hours I train and weight loss. Each and everyone of us is different, this is MY experiment.

Ideal Race Weight

My longtime readers may recall that last year I devoted quite a bit of time to monitoring my weight. This wasn't for any specific reason other than to understand what my ideal race weight really was. I had suspected that my race weight should be around 155 lbs. This meant just making a few better diet decisions and I would be there. Well I am back on that boat again.

I have been avoiding the scale for most of the off season. I knew I was eating liberally. Well I am back on the scale and well....I am fat. I use that term a bit facetiously. But the other day, I weighed in nearly 10 pounds heavier than I was this time last year. Here is my last weight challenge post from 2008. The week before Powerman I was 158 pounds with under 7% body fat. Imagine my astonishment when I stepped on the scale for three straight days and had 167-168 readings. Time to put down the ice cream.

I spent a copious amount of time this week wondering what the cause of this weight gain might be. I feel like I am making better food choices this year. I know I am eating more fruits and vegetables. I am working out plenty. I have less snacks around the house. So what gives? Well, a number of things...

1. More upper body muscle. Over the past month I have noticed that my arms and chest have gotten much bigger. The funny thing is that I haven't set foot in a weight room this off-season. I have been focusing on push-ups, pull-ups, core strengthening and some high intensity interval training. Apparently I am seeing the results.

2. Cycling bulk. Last year I spent Dec-March running. This time last year I had amassed nearly 270 miles versus 200 this year. My cycling mileage is nearly the same but I have focused on intensity this year. I can see the muscular difference in my legs. So my legs are a bit bulkier than last season's long and lean muscle.

3. Protein power. My diet is getting 25-50g more of protein each and every day. This is likely the cause of the increased muscle bulk. I have debated going off the protein powder for a while. However, I am nearly 100% certain that my body doesn't get enough so I know it is a good thing.

4. Snacking in the office. Supervising people has encouraged me to adopt some bad eating habits...namely candy. I set it up as encouragement for co-workers to visit my office. Instead, I probably use it more as stress relief.

5. Cooler weather. I am certainly not sweating off the pounds early this season. Maybe the extra baggage is from my hibernation.

Again, I am not getting worked up about my weight...just yet. I still think my ideal weight is probably 158-162. I know I can get leaner. I am happy with the 8.1% body fat. My clothes are fitting me just fine so I know the weight isn't in the bad areas. It just isn't comforting to know that I am nearly 10 pounds heavier.

Part of my goal this season is to experiment with my body a bit more. The diet needs tweaking. I know that. I need to start counting calories. Not from an obsessive perspective but from and informative one. That way I can really determine my ideal race weight. I will never be one who measures out 1 1/4 cup of whatever. But I can practice moderation better.

So I am re-launching my weight challenge. Again, I am going to photograph my body and record my weight each and every Monday morning. Since I feel like I am carrying muscle bulk, it will be interesting to see if there are any changes over the next few months as I change up my routine.

My Newest Passion

I am back on a smoothie kick. I was already known around the office for carrying my big blue cup into the various, mundane meetings that I am forced to attend. Now I have an army of them on my desk. I am adopting the motto that a smoothie a day keeps the aches and pains away. Let's hope I am still saying that in October.

I have always been a fan of smoothies dating back to my time in college were I had an estranged relationship with the manager of the local smoothie king. I could just roll up nearly any night and she would make me whatever smoothie I wanted. The best part about smoothie stores is that they only real inventory they can take is on the number of cups. You can't account for more bananas or a scoop of powder missing. So I exploited this loophole and gravitated toward a liquid diet...err....snack.

I would occasionally travel this route in training. I used smoothies as a reward. Maybe I had a 15 mile run in the morning and needed some extra hydration. Why not add some fruit, protein and carbs. I would treat myself to the 32 oz drink that sometimes resembled the nectar of the gods. In Atlanta, they closed the Planet Smoothie closest to my apartment a couple of years ago. This forced me back to Smoothie King (long story). It wasn't quite as convenient so it became a bit of a luxary. Maybe 2-3 times a month.

When I visit Nashville, Jess is a big proponent of the liquid diet especially after a good workout. And rightfully so. I have written about this before but recovery is key. And what better way to rebuild my fatigued muscles than with fruits. It sure beats grabbing the bag of chips or cookies.

So the one real thing I wanted for Christmas was a nice blender. Moving into the house provided the opportunity needed to revisit my smoothie passion. So each morning, after getting dressed I prepare myself about 20 oz of smoothie. I keep it relatively simple:

1 banana
1 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup of other fruit if needed
1/2 cup of skim milk
1 scoop of whey protein (26g)
2 tablespoons of peanut butter (sometimes)
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup of fresh spinach (really)

Then blend. It is that simple.

The funny part is that I think I can tell how much my body is benefiting from a smoothie a day. I can also tell how much it is hurting my wallet. Keeping fruit, fresh or frozen, in the house isn't easy. My goal each day is to consume the smoothie around 9:30. This tends to hold me until lunch. However, there is a huge distinction on the days that I include peanut butter. It always holds me until lunch. On the other days, I find myself rummaging through my snack drawer around 11.

As expected, the smoothies give me a bit of a kick too. I am finding myself with a bit more energy. I also feel like it is helping me recovery from workouts a bit more. I have long suspected that I fall well short of the proper amount of protein needed in my daily diet. The addition of 26g is probably helping a great deal. Is it enough? Not sure. I will report back when I reach a different conclusion.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164.0 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164.0 lbs 7.3% bf
2/26 162.6 lbs 7.6% bf
3/10 162.0 lbs 7.6% bf
3/24 160.4 lbs 7.0% bf
4/7 158.2 lbs 6.7% bf
4/22 157.0 lbs 7.0% bf

I think my body is at an interesting transition. I am particularly intrigued to see how tracking my weight will change over then next few weeks. Running helps develop long lean muscle. It is very easy to drop weight. Cycling, on the other hand, builds heavy, bulky muscle in the legs while shedding calories and body fat. For instance, a long run for me might be 10 miles where I burn 1000-1200 calories. Cycling is more of a 3-4 hour session where I will go through about 4000 calories. But I will say that I eat like a horse after a long ride.

I must admit that my diet is still nonexistent...I am off the boat. With the warmer weather it should provide me more opportunity to grill out. I need to force myself to prepare pounds of meat at the beginning of the week. I also need to get back on the fruit bandwagon. I was doing so well for a while. As it becomes warmer, hydration plays an even more role. Fruit just makes it so much easier.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164 lbs 7.3% bf
2/26 162.6 7.6% bf
3/10 162 7.6% bf
3/24 160.4 7.0% bf
4/7 158.2 6.7% bf

In full disclosure, I always record my data on Monday mornings and I do anticipate that being the day where I weigh the least. I typically come off a long weekend of training or racing and my body hasn't fully recovered. However, I have noticed that throughout the week, I typically stay within a 1.5 pound range.

I would like to say my diet deserves the credit but that is downright laughable. My diet, nonetheless, is better than last year. I feel like I am getting more fruits and possibly more vegetables but it still remains far from where I would like it to be.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164 lbs 7.3% bf
2/26 162.6 7.6% bf
3/10 162 7.6% bf
3/24 160.4 7.0% bf

As I suspected, the weight is beginning to peel off. I would like to say that it because of my diet...but that hasn't been on target in quiet a while. I am still tinkering with it...but I imagine it will fail when training picks up even more.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164 lbs 7.3% bf
2/26 162.6 7.6% bf
3/10 162 7.6% bf

Well I really thought I would see some improvement here. But honestly, I am not all that shocked. My diet is in the dumps again. But as workouts continue to increase in distance and intensity, the weight will begin to shed ever so slightly.

One of my favorite things to do is weigh myself before and immediately after a workout where I know that water/fluid loss will drive the results. One day last week I was 158 with 5.9% bf. Doubtful. That is called dehydration.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164 lbs 7.3% bf
2/26 162.6 7.6% bf

Something odd happened the other day. After my long run on 2/9, I had a bit of a spell. I am not sure if I was just overheated, dehydrated or malnourished. We ran a 10 mile route and spent some time cooling down in Piedmont Park. Then, we decided to go to the Varsity for lunch....mmm. Well it was PACKED. It literally took 45 minutes to get our food. While waiting, I began to feel a bit warm and faint. The feeling subsided when we received our food.

Now, I am no stranger to food....especially after a workout. I gorged on 2 cheeseburgers, cheese fries and a chocolate shake. I easily put back the calories and then some. I didn't feel good the rest of the day. I wasn't sure if it was a stomach ache, fatigue or from the faint feeling. The next morning I weighed myself and I was 159.4 pounds. Wow. Despite eating a massive lunch and moderate dinner, I dropped nearly 5 pounds in less than 24 hours.

I carefully monitored the weight over the next few days to see if it was an anomaly. Nope. I knew it wasn't really possible for me to shed that much weight due to a 90 minute run so something was clearly wrong. It actually took my body 3-4 days to put the weight back on.

I don't really know what happened. I wonder if it was a sign to cut back on training...though I don't feel like I am over training. Was the weight saying that I wasn't recovered so my body was rejecting things? Not sure. Just something to note for the future.

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Also, I have let my diet go to crap again. I need to get this back on track.

Body Transformation Challenge

1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf
2/13 164 lbs 7.3% bf

The weight number really isn't budging. After Mercedes the body fat dropped significantly so I waited a few days to let my body equalize. I expect that number to come back up over the next week or so.

Body Transformation Challenge

I mentioned a few posts back that I have an ideal race weight and body fat. I hope to get down to 155 and 7% body fat. This begins with cleaning up my diet (I say that as I eat five cookies). For the most part, I am achieving this objective. Fruit and vegetables fill my diet when my schedule is consistent. And I like it. A normal day looks like this for me:

6 am: Banana or granola bar
8 am: Kashi cereal with fat free milk
10 am: Fruit (grapes, strawberries, apples)
12 pm: Turkey sandwich, carrots, fat free yogurt
3 pm: powerbar/clif bar
7 pm: granola or snack
8 pm: dinner (burrito, pasta, chicken and beans)
10 pm: chocolate milk

I am not going to be obsessive about this number it is more of a goal. For me, I think it just forces me to clean up the diet and become a bit more conscious about what I am putting in my body. My plan is to weigh myself on a daily basis for arguments sake. But I will record consecutive days every two weeks so that I can chart any progress.

I will admit that this idea hasn't come into fruition as I initially anticipated. First, I have been running for the better part of two months. Base running is one of the best ways to cut fat. Second, as a result, I initially weighed in at a very low number. I am almost not certain that these numbers will budge much. However, when I drop weight lifting in the next few weeks then the weight might drop as the bulk leaves the body.

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1/14 164 lbs 8.0% bf
1/28 163.4lbs 8.0% bf