- Weight: 139.0 lbs.
- No workout today; next: Workout C, April 20 (makeup for today)
- Total inches: 124.5
- Protein: 131 g (0 g over target)
- Calories: 2,100
The numbers from the last 220 or so days are all lies. Lies, I tell ya!
I screwed up royally.
I bragged about my daily protein shake to a friend last week: “Three cups 2 percent milk, a banana, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, one scoop of protein powder …”
Friend (who happens to know a lot about building muscles and changing weight): “Just one scoop? Really? That doesn’t sound like enough.”
Me: “Oh, sure it is. I’ve been using that recipe since Day 1.”
Friend: “Are you sure?”
I was. And then the next day, I was not.
I checked.
| Recipe version | Protein (g) | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| “The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links] | 75 | 970 |
| My screwed-up version | 48 | 880 |
| My corrected version | 74 | 1,180 |
Yikes. The actual recipe calls for “30 g whey protein isolate,” which I thought meant 30 g of protein powder or about one scoop. I really needed four scoops of protein powder to yield 30 g of protein.
Sigh.
The scary repercussions …
- I overcounted for each of the first 225 days by 90 calories and a whopping 27 g protein.
- That means I took in 20 percent less protein than I thought, slowing my muscle growth by a possible 20 percent.
- My measurements for protein and calories are inaccurate from Sept. 1 to April 13.
Using four times as much protein powder per shake means …
- The cost of protein powder has quadrupled, since I’ll use it up four times faster.
- The shake tastes much more chocolatey.
Sunday, I started using four scoops in the shake. I didn’t even think about the additional calories. I am that stupid.
After noticing the 1.2-pound gain in the last 7 days, I needed to double-check all of the recipe’s nutritional stats. I realized today, after running the numbers, that I had accidentally consumed 300 extra calories a day, a 15 percent jump from the 2,000-calorie target.
Sigh again.
I am extremely grateful my knowledgeable friend raised the red flag. It allows me to make the corrections and have more accurate numbers.
The first decision is to leave the pre-April 14 numbers alone. I’ll add a note to the spreadsheet, but trying to revise all the numbers in all the posts will be too much work for me.
The second decision is to revise my daily calorie target immediately. Because the protein shake costs 210 more calories than previously assumed, I am dropping from 2,300 calories a day to 2,100. We’ll see if my weight remains steady (as it has been for the past 3 months) or goes up with more muscle growth from sufficient protein.
It’s tough to face a mistake like this, a simple miscalculation that I could’ve caught months ago. But I feel better knowing that I might actually be on the right track, even if I can’t follow a simple recipe.
I can’t lie to myself.
