Tag Archives: consistency

Day 308: The hiccup

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Day 308 - front

  • Weight: 140.0 lbs.
  • Workout C: 29 minutes, 46 seconds; next: Workout C, July 8
  • Total inches: 125.5
  • Protein: 133g (0g over target)
  • Calories: 2,148

I am not prone to mistakes. That’s the upside to being a nutty perfectionist.

So last week, when I passed out from exhaustion, I awoke to a horrifying realization: I skipped my protein shake. Oops.

I have skipped the shake on many days, but always made up for it with extra food. Now, I was in the hole by 83g of protein and some 1,400 calories.

Usually, when I miss my daily targets, it is by minuscule amounts. This was the first time in nearly 300 days that I had come up short.

It took 4 days to make up the deficiency. I just couldn’t let it go until I got it to average out.

I am a slave to the numbers. Keeping a daily record of my diet has been one of the key factors in Project Bulk, the other being regular workouts of increasing intensity.

All mistakes can be fixed. Some simply take longer to correct than others.

Day 308 - side

Day 88: Numbers game

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Day 88

  • Weight: 132.6 lbs.
  • Workout B: 16 minutes, 47 seconds; next: new workout plan, Dec. 3
  • Total inches: 122.0
  • Protein: 129 g (4 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,102

Numbers are everything, and yet, don’t always matter.

This dueling set of principles has been the heart of my calorie counting for the past 3 months.

I count the calories every day, weighing every morsel of food. I’m currently shooting for 2,100 calories a day, but will probably go up to 2,200 in December, since my weight has been flat all month.

But I can’t weigh everything. When I dine outside the home, I have to guess. I’m pretty bad at guessing weights and sizes. But I try anyway.

And unless the calories per portion are printed on the packaging, I have to guess there, too. The Internet helps, but any number of sites will give different estimates.

I learned working at Southern Living about how trying to present nutritional information in recipes was a tricky proposition. Readers look for good data, but it’s hard to calculate perfectly. Burning food in a lab isn’t the same as burning calories in cells.

So even that recipe data can be flawed. What’s a numbers guy to do?

Be consistent.

My calorie count for my protein shake won’t be right every day. The size of the banana and the amount of peanut butter varies. But in the long run, it’s mostly right.

My portion sizes of pizza, chicken or taco salad are measured, but again, not perfect. As long as I measure the overall trend (more muscles, more pounds, more total inches), I’m OK.

The fun part about calories is making it a game. I can easily hit 125 or more grams of protein each day. Getting calories to the right number is more complicated.

I have any number of foods I can use at night to zero in on 2,100. And I don’t mind varying portion sizes. I am not cursed with hunger, so eating less on any given day isn’t a problem. I’ve even balanced out high-calorie days with low-calorie days.

It’s mildly annoying to have to weigh food several times a day. It’s mildly rewarding to hit the target number over and over.

I still pretty much eat what I want. Right up until about 10 p.m., when all accounts are settled.

The numbers are my friend, pushing me to keep going and keep tabs on progress.

Day 82: They call me Mr. Bulk

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Day 82

  • Weight: 131.6 lbs.
  • Workout A: 17 minutes, 20 seconds; next: Workout B on Nov. 27
  • Total inches: 121.1
  • Protein: 125 g (0 g over target)
  • Calories: 1,994

I ran into the Piggly Wiggly the other day to replenish my milk. This is one of my many trips to get either more bananas or more milk for protein shakes.

In the checkout line, my pal David saw me and said hello. Or more specifically, “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Bulk.”

Ha! (I’ve been called far worse things in my life.)

I am known for a lot of wildly different reasons: my haiku, my love of Birmingham, my snark, my blogging and social media wizardry and so on. But with minor effort in a short period of time (fewer than 40 posts in about 10 weeks), I changed how some people perceive me.

Surprising, to me at least. But fun and flattering, too.

I really set out to change my perception of me. Build muscle and at the same time build self-confidence.

David probably hasn’t read every single post. But he did see some of my daily updates on Facebook. And took a peek at least a couple of posts or photos. That was enough to “rebrand” my image in his mind.

My results haven’t been dramatic, especially considering the other bloggers I know who have lost significant pounds over the years. But my consistency in posting and promotion gave me an edge.

It’s not important that others know exactly where I am in my project, but I’m pleased to know they’re aware of it. The foot in the door is getting harder to place with so many distractions for people.

My perception of me is evolving. And apparently, people are paying attention.