Protein & Fat & Carbs, Oh My!
I tossed and turned all night and woke completely exhausted, fatigued and quite a bit fragile. I called "time out" and reached for my robe instead of my workout clothes this morning. There is a part of me that thinks it was "Resistant Rita" who kept me up all night, throwing an absolute tantrum in my subconscious mind. She is quite the Queen-Bee and makes Stubborn Suzy and Deprived Debbie seem almost charming.
Before bed last night, I spent several hours on the internet trying to dig a bit deeper into my decision to eat more protein. I fell down the rabbit hole and went from one site to another trying to find information that was consistent and from reputable sources. I've said it before, but the more that I learn, the more that I realize there is so much more left for me to learn. I think I found the glitches in my summer experiment. I am not happy about the changes that I now have to make.
The most user-friendly (and very informative) site that I found was free and didn't even require an email address: www.acaloriecounter.com. If you follow through their posts, it takes you step by step through the process of understanding your personal daily caloric need, how to get the best caloric deficit for weight loss (maintaining muscle mass) and how the balance of those calories should be consumed.
The bad? I have been eating way too little protein. Like HUGELY too little! And sometimes, too little calories. And apparently I should be eating something prior to my morning workout (which seems insurmountable to me) and a large protein-packed meal after. They were quite serious about my pre and post-workout meals.
The good? I now have a better understanding of what needs done.
The worst? As I implemented this new strategy (again as an experiment), Resistant Rita would NOT shut her mouth. She kept saying, "Oh my God! That is way too much protein!", "Holy God, how much work do you really want to be doing?", "That is too much counting!" and "You are already overloaded mentally with work and kids and house!". She persisted with, "You will never be able to eat out again!", "The dishes are just going to be endless" and in a last ditch effort to hit me where it really hurts, she said snidely, "Do you really want to be one of those 'protein' people"?
She is mean.
Bottom line for me? (And you can figure yours out for yourself at their website). I should be aiming for 1732 calories a day. Not less! I need to get a minimum of 600 calories/day from protein (or 150 grams). I need to aim for not more than 433 calories/day from fat (or 48 grams). The balance of my calories - let's say 699 (if I went with the minimum protein) which would be 176 grams.
Some very basic information - 1 gram of protein or carbs is equivalent to 4 calories. I gram of fat is equivalent to 9 calories. Based on this, I was surprised when I then took the nutritional information on a package and it wouldn't equal out exactly right. I am chalking that up to rounding and not going to think much more on it. (Hello - there is literally smoke coming off my head already as I try to assimilate all of this new information).
For breakfast today, I made 2 scrambled eggs in 1 tsp olive oil, 1 skinny bread with 1 tbsp jelly*, applesauce, 4 oz of orange juice and a cup of hot tea. (*I don't normally use jelly but 2 whole eggs, for me, is hard to swallow and I needed a flavor helper - which is why I also put 1 tbsp ketchup on my eggs). I will get better at all of this, but baby steps.
My tally? 488 calories. (That is pretty good!) 17 grams of protein. (That is no where near good enough! That is only 11% of my daily minimum requirement!) 14 grams of fat. (I'd say that was fine). 65 grams of carbs. (I'd say that was fine too - BUT now that I am counting the carbs in my fruits and vegetables that might be tricky).
Saying I am overwhelmed is an understatement. But I have been overwhelmed before and made it through. I know there are a million opinions out there as to what I should be doing, how I could make it easier, etc. But, I am the one living in my body. I know what I have tried and what does or doesn't work for me (so far). Mostly, what doesn't (let's be real). But, like Edison and his 1,000 (5,000 or 10,000 - depending on the source) attempts to invent the lightbulb - I will achieve my goal. And right now, this is the path unknown, not taken and open for discovery. So I will follow it forward and determine the results for myself. No matter what Resistant Rita has to say. But I will reserve the right to a learning curve as I make my way forward.
Until next time... Be well!
~Tracy
***Updated from original post - Please see addendum to this post Day 39 1/2***
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