In a recent blog post I talked about an APP called LOSE IT, where you can track your food & exercise all on your smartphone. High tech, right? It’s similar to My Fitness Pal with a few differences. I love the food and exercise icons in the LOSE IT app and that’s why it won me over.
As a trainer and a coach, it’s important that I do the things that I recommend. SO, I jumped right in and started tracking my food and exercise using the app a few weeks ago. Plus, I will be on the beach in a swimsuit
in a short while, so I was a bit more motivated to dial things in.
I’ve been cooking a ton lately and wasn’t sure how my portions and calories were shaking down, and I wanted a way to enter the ingredients of a recipe and determine the correct portion for myself and my boyfriend. I just LOVE the app for this purpose, it’s really helped!
Week 1: lost almost 2 pounds, YAY! But hang on, it’s not all sunshine & roses. I didn’t feel great. I was hangry. It wasn’t really that bad, but I did have an angry night when I went to bed hangry.
Do you know hangry means? Well, let me tell you… you become this hybrid between angry and hungry. Grouchy, irritable, can’t stop thinking about food. Can you relate? Yeah, thought so. That’s what it feels like when you eat less than you burn. Now, in the short term, this is a good thing, it jumpstarts weight loss, but in the long term, well, it’s plain unsustainable.
Week 2: bumped up my calories by 100 per day. After that week, my weight blipped up .4 pounds, but I was happier. I also learned a bunch. Let me count the ways…
In week 2, I know I was happier with a few extra calories, but honestly, I feel like it was all in my head. Just knowing I had those extra calories, I wasn’t feeling so deprived and I wasn’t so pissed off. That ever happen to you? You set a goal, you follow through, but you’re mad at your own goals. Yeah, it’s confusing, but it’s really normal. Change is hard. Setting a goal and wanting to stick to it, and then feel frustrated because it’s hard, well, that’s the way it goes. So, in week 2, I ended up having extra calories at the end of the day, which made me mentally feel better. Like I won. I’m just being honest guys, and I hope it’s helpful for you to hear how I feel, because I am not superhuman just because I’m a trainer. I have challenges and frustrations just like YOU. Here’s what also happened for me in week 2. I remembered that I’d fasted before. John Berardi talks a lot about intermittent fasting (click here to learn more) and it all of a sudden occurred to me that I’d done multiple 24 hour fasts. I got though it and lived to tell the story. Then my mind made the connection, aha, so what if I’m a little hungry, I’m ok, really (or maybe those extra 100 calories helped my brain synapses to finally fire!). Whatever it was, I realized that I had trained my body to BE hungry every 3 hours or so, and I can train it to deal with a little bit of hunger too.
Ok, I just started week 3: I’ve decreased my calories by 50. So if the math has confused you, I have added 50 calories onto what the app suggests for me to lose 1/2 pound per week. My logic: the first week was unsustainable, the 2nd week was too comfortable, now I’m searching for that happy medium. So far, so good.
So, I’ll keep you posted on how week 3 goes after I measure next Sunday (the day before I leave for THE vacation).
One thing I know for sure. This is the most clear I’ve ever been on how important measuring portions is for weight loss. I’ve done a bazillion diets and programs, and honestly I can remember this one where I ate clean for 21 days, NO SUGAR, no cheats, nothing, and I didn’t even lose 1 pound. But, I wasn’t measuring this accurately.
No two people are alike and no 2 days are alike, so practice different things, listen to your body, ask your coach or trainer for help, and keep at it! You’ll get there! I’d love to hear your thoughts below, so leave me a comment…