Tag Archives: food

Day 344: Cheat day

Day 344 - front

Day 344 – front

Weight: 140.8 lbs.
Workout C: 25 minutes, 28 seconds; next: Workout C, Aug. 12
Total inches: 125.3
Protein: 133g (0g over target)
Calories: 2,560

Looking ahead to post-Project Bulk, I’m intrigued by the concept of “cheat day.”

I need to read up on this in “The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links].

My days have been spent keeping on the straight and narrow of rigorous calorie counts and protein intake. Without it, I would’ve failed at gaining any weight.

But it can be tiring to monitor every bite, every meal nonstop.

In some of the weight loss chapters, I know author Tim Ferriss talks about cheat days, where once a week anything goes. I believe it’s to add some variety and fun to the diet, but for me, it could be a break from number crunching.

I have some reading to do on cheat days, as well as finding shortcuts to reducing fat. As I’ve mentioned before, while I’m satisfied with my muscular gain, I want to have a healthier body fat percentage. At last check in April, it was at a very unhealthy 26.7 percent.

While I’ve enjoyed the challenge of going a year straight in tracking my food consumption, I wouldn’t mind having Saturdays off in the near future.

Day 343 - side

Day 343 – side

Day 140: The end of snack time

Day 140 - front

Weight: 135.8 lbs.
Workout C: 13 minutes, 29 seconds; next: Workout C, Jan. 21
Total inches: 123.4
Protein: 128 g (0 g over target)
Calories: 2,347

My diet has changed in interesting ways since Project Bulk began.

Up until my food crisis in 2007, I ate for convenience. I microwaved a lot and ate fast food. Post-food crisis, I wiped almost all processed food, working to eat better and cook more.

Neither affected my weight, my outlook, my energy or my body, as far as I could tell. I did notice that the few times I eat fast food, it made me a little queasy.

Because I now count calories and protein intake, I tend to stick to the easiest pattern possible. Most days, that’s a protein shake and either oatmeal with raisins or eggs and waffles for breakfast. I usually skip lunch. Dinner is whatever I can eat to hit the daily minimums as closely as possible.

What’s gone is snacking.

For 6 years, I followed a simple directive. Eat when hungry. If my body says eat, I eat. That led to snacking throughout the day: trail mix, peanuts, cereal, cheese, instant oatmeal. I would go through all of these staples quickly, so I kept plenty on hand at home and at the office.

This pattern worked. Instead of two or three big meals, I had six or seven snacks throughout the day. The most important goal was to keep my blood sugar at the right level so I could stay sharp.

Now, with a big breakfast, I’m simply not hungry till late in the day. No hunger, no snacking. Plus, I don’t want to measure out snacks every time to track the numbers. A jar of peanuts lasts and lasts and lasts. It’s protein- and calorie-rich, so I don’t need to screw up dinner later on because I’m too close to the “limit.”

Someday, I may go back to my carefree routine: Eat whenever and never measure. But I’m content with the numbers and their results, even if it means the end of snack time.

Day 140 - side

Day 2: Learning to stuff my face

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day 2

Weight: 122.6 lbs.
No workout today
Total inches: 112.4
Protein: 119 g (3 g over target)

Having done small fitness routines before, I expect a little soreness the day after. But I was lucky today: no aches, just tired. Luckily, it’s a holiday weekend.

Having changed my eating habits radically 5 years ago, I eat small portions of real food daily. My worst habits are eating “bachelor dinners” (popcorn! cereal!) and drinking diet sodas throughout the day.

My new challenge is counting protein grams, something I’ve never done before. I’ve never dieted, so I haven’t endured the mind-numbing task of looking at labels and recording calories and other nutritional data.

The milkshake makes it easier in some ways: 75 calories for drinking about 4 cups in one sitting (though I could easily save some for later in the day). I had planned on going to a friend’s cookout down the street, and he was serving hot dogs and hamburgers.

I searched on Google for the protein content of each, and then estimated if I ate four hot dogs or one hot dog and two hamburgers, I’d be set. That’s more than I usually eat, especially at a party, but this is my “job” now.

The first hot dog was easy, starving from earlier today. And then I had two bratwursts on buns in a row. The third brat was slower, but manageable. (No danger of winning any extreme eating contests here.)

I know that if I stay on target with workouts, then my only other real task is to eat enough protein to build muscles. I like to eat, so the only dull part is looking up numbers and recording them on my spreadsheet.

It’s bodybuilding for accountants.