I'VE LOST MY MARBLES! And nutrition tweaking by the numbers...

Well, hello again! Here is an updated pic of me... no makeup, but I thought I would show you guys that I look much different than my 1 week post op video! It has been about 8 weeks since surgery now. Below, you will see my new visual aid... 115 glass marbles for 115 pounds to lose (more on how I got that number in a minute...) and there are 38 in the "LOST" jar and 77 remain in the "TO LOSE" jar. I am super excited about this! I am only recording my weight once a week now, so this is a good reminder of how far I have come in between weigh ins....

So, here is how I calculated my weight goal. I started out at 255 pounds which was a BMI of about 45. After doing some pounds to kg conversions, because us Americans can't seem to get on board with the metric system like EVERYONE else (lol), I determined that I would be happiest with a BMI at the upper limit of "normal", which is 18.5 to 24.5. I have always been a little "dense" for my height, usually "heavier" than other people my size, so I think this is realistic. So, at a BMI of 25, I should be about 140 pounds. That is a 115 pound difference from my beginning weight of 255. Since I have lost 38 pounds so far since surgery, that means that I am 33% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL!!! ONE THIRD OF THE WAY TO THE FINISH LINE!!! How freakin' cool is THAT?!? My BMI as of today is 38.64. :)

However, my diet has needed some tweaking, so I am going to share those plans with you now:

The docs said to consume between 400-600 calories per day, and of that, I should be upward of 70+ grams of protein a day. Now, I won't bore you with the math, since you aren't in a nutrition class by choice I assume, but that all just didn't seem quite right to me. Time to listen to my body....

And my body is telling me I am WAY. TOO. ACTIVE. for that low of a calorie intake. I had next to zero energy at that level, and that seemed like too much protein to me. So, I have been closer to the 800 calorie a day range, and losing about 3 pounds a week. However, I have still been feeling very fatigued if I even exercised for more than about 5 minutes, and walking up stairs at school was putting the burn on my muscles. Time for that math now (because you know I am a "why" girl...)!

I calculated my basal metabolic rate to be approximately 2,264 calories per day. That is just about what my body needs, based on my current weight, to keep breathing and my heart beating etc. If I am eating about 800 calories per day, then I should be losing about 2.9 pounds per week just through calorie restriction. That seems about right. As I lose weight and my body composition changes, this number will go down, but no worries, because I have calculated activity level too. At 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity 5 times per week, at my current weight, I will burn an additional 1,950 calories per week for another .5 pound of loss. That puts me at 3.43 pounds per week, and I am perfect with that. Now about the energy thing.

I have been right about in "normal" ranges for fats, carbs, and proteins... but I am not normal. (Shush.) I am very active, and I need my muscles to have immediate energy storage for things like going up stairs and doing squat challenges. I determined I needed more carbs. And as much as I hate to admit it, that 70 grams of protein a day was probably closer to right for what my body needs physiologically right now. And fat? Yeah, I learned about FAT this week in nutrition. We all know that once your body makes a fat cell, it never goes away... it just deflates. As if that is not depressing enough, that empty fat cell is calling out for fat to fill it back up. Little assholes! And fat cells have a loooooong life, so they don't die off as often as we would like. Crap. Turns out that empty fat cells also send out a hormone to pull fat out of the blood to fill up their little tanks... so in the state that I am in, almost all dietary fat I intake will go directly into those little empty fat cells. There's some good news... :(

So, I had to tell you all THAT to tell you all THIS:

NEW DIETARY PLAN....

My diet of 800 calories a day will now be split approximately like this...
70 grams of protein a day for 280 calories---- approximately 35% of my calorie intake.
9 grams of fat a day for 80 calories------------approximately 10% of my calorie intake.
110 grams of carbohydrates per day for 440 calories- approximately 55% of my calorie intake.

I am going to try this for a little bit. I WILL get this damn post-surgery diet perfected so that I can tweak other people's post surgery diet to get them maximum health and weight loss! The 9 grams of fat is gonna kill me, lol, but I need those little asshole fat cells to STARVE! I need the carbs to fuel my muscles and give me some more immediate energy, and the protein to give my body the building blocks it needs to repair stuff so I don't lose muscle tone.

I started wrapping this week, so I took before pics the other day. I just did my second ab wrap this morning. After 4 wraps, I will put up pics of before and after. Only 12 days will have elapsed, so what you see will be mostly due to the wraps and not the other weight loss. I really want to keep my skin toning as I lose weight. Also, to keep my protein up and fat down, I am now mixing my PROFit shakes with half soymilk and half water, and making sure I get at least 2 a day. I take It's Vital morning, noon, and night, along with New You in the morning and night. I usually mix my Greens in somewhere with a fruit and protein drink to keep my body detoxed as my fat stores empty.... Seems to be working well so far! Don't make me bust out some Fat Fighter to keep those hungry little fat cells starving!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget you can get on my It Works! diet plan by ordering off my website <-- click here!

As soon as I can find a damn camera man, or can get to my friends to pick up a tripod they are giving me, I will get another video up! Sorry, but without Raingirl around to hold the camera, it is just too hard!

Well, peace out! I have a project on MSG due in 32 hours.... lol....

Cordes out! :)