Chillicat's journal

[emmzies]

My bb.com package is now in Auckland with Customs!

This isn't a fair competition since you have tracking-priority status! :protest:

I'm just stuck in limbo for weeks/potentially months in unknown-land.

I swear, if yours arrives before mine.... :evil:

[Chillicat]

OK, so I'm starting my summer cut tomorrow, and I'm uncertain about a few things, diet-wise. When I lost my 6kg earlier in the year, I did it without going on a diet as such, but by making a commitment to going to the gym 4-5 days a week, cutting down on alcohol, eating less crap, and making gradual changes to my diet (like eating more protein, swapping cereal for oats, etc) - so really, it was just a 'cut the crap' diet rather than any kind of calorie counting diet, and it worked for me.

Now I've been maintaining my 60kg weight (fluctuations here and there, mainly holiday or other celebration related!), and I'm happy with my size, but not my excess body fat. I realise that my current diet is fine for maintenance, but that the only way I'm going to see my muscle is to rid myself of the fat, and that adding a spin class to my routine isn't going to be enough!

But I really don't know how many calories I should be eating to lose weight safely (half kg per week max?), and what the composition should be in terms of protein/carbs/fat, as I've been researching all week and keep seeing conflicting information.

My height is 168cm, weight 60kg (132lb), and according to one source my maintenance calories are weight in pounds x 18 (2376), and weight loss = that minus 500 calories (1876).

But the Velocity Diet says I should be on 1605 on workout days and 1275 on non workout days (shit, that's low - given the above I'd probably cheat and do 1605 every day!!). The good thing about the Velocity Diet is that it has a nice list of number of protein/fat/carb grams per day (206/39/105). The diet itself looks hideous and appears to not involve real food at all - so my thought is that maybe I can use the calories and protein/fat/carb grams as a starting point, and work with those numbers but use my normal food? What do you think?

I've put all the foods I generally eat into excel, along with their calories, carbs etc, and I think I can do 1600 calorie day without making huge changes to my current eating (but way less apples than normal - that will be the hardest bit!!). I can manage the fat and carb grams as per Velocity, but not quite the protein, but I think that the 160g I can manage is more than 2g per kg of body weight, so I'm fine with that, at least as a starter.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[VampireChick]

Good luck CC!

[teamfatboy]

Heya CC

Some thoughts:

a. Diet content: whatever you eat's got to work for you. So, it's pointless stacking a diet with stuff you don't like. You've already started down that track - it now becomes a question of portion size, timing, and stick-ability.

b. Pro/Carb/Fat ratios... consider taking a bb'ing approach, higher protein and fat, lower carbs? (so, 45/45/10 % of whatever figures you settle on).

c. how well informed are you on % bf? Is it from skinfolds/girths, or a Tanita. The latter's often not the most reliable as an absolute figure, more as a gauge of increase/decrease.

I'll give it some more thought, once I've got back from Brunch at Joe's Garage =P~

[Travel Express]

whoa Chillcat, Good work with workouts, had a quick read through your journal. and very solid indeed :grin:

[Chillicat]

Heya CC

Some thoughts:

a. Diet content: whatever you eat's got to work for you. So, it's pointless stacking a diet with stuff you don't like. You've already started down that track - it now becomes a question of portion size, timing, and stick-ability.

Yep, that's the principle I'm working on.

b. Pro/Carb/Fat ratios... consider taking a bb'ing approach, higher protein and fat, lower carbs? (so, 45/45/10 % of whatever figures you settle on).

Yes, the Velocity does seem overly carb heavy. I've done some more tweaking and at the moment I can get it so that it looks like 60/20/20 for protein/carb/fat. That seems to be the best I can do at the moment, short of cutting out my morning oats, which is where most of the carbs are coming from. That means cutting out all my apples too, which is going to be the hardest part I think! I was going to allow one a day, but I'll try going hard and cutting them altogether and see how I go.

c. how well informed are you on % bf? Is it from skinfolds/girths, or a Tanita. The latter's often not the most reliable as an absolute figure, more as a gauge of increase/decrease.

Not very informed. Just using Tanita right now, but really more my eyeballs than anything else, which is of course very subjective - but I'm not as concerned about having a certain % of body fat at this point, more about looking at a photo (more objective than a mirror!) and thinking yes, I can see a difference, I can see muscles, and I know I look better than before.

I'll give it some more thought, once I've got back from Brunch at Joe's Garage =P~

mmmm brunch!

[runveerun]

I'll give it some more thought, once I've got back from Brunch at Joe's Garage =P~

That.Looks.Good. =P~

[Chillicat]

Heya CC

b. Pro/Carb/Fat ratios... consider taking a bb'ing approach, higher protein and fat, lower carbs? (so, 45/45/10 % of whatever figures you settle on).

Yes, the Velocity does seem overly carb heavy. I've done some more tweaking and at the moment I can get it so that it looks like 60/20/20 for protein/carb/fat. That seems to be the best I can do at the moment, short of cutting out my morning oats, which is where most of the carbs are coming from. That means cutting out all my apples too, which is going to be the hardest part I think! I was going to allow one a day, but I'll try going hard and cutting them altogether and see how I go.

Thought I'd do a bit of analysis of my pre-cut diet to see what it looks like, and it's very interesting. I appear to be eating around 1600 calories on a normal day right now anyway, so it seems that I won't actually be making a drastic cut in terms of calories. However, that is just based on a normal day!! Not including any cheats, or weekends which can be a bit iffy. So it may be that I'm getting more calories on average per day (if I was to work it out over the course of a week, and being completely honest about everything!!). So I'll stick to the 1600 ish calories and be strict about it for a couple of weeks to start with and see how I go.

As for my ratios, well, it looks like this new plan is a vast improvement, even if 60/20/20 isn't perfect. Currently I'm more like 48/43/9 (protein/carb/fat). The new eating plan cuts about 3 apples a day, as well as my lunchtime tortilla and the chickpeas I normally put in with my tuna to make it last longer. I'll be adding more peanut butter to the eating plan to get more fat - yay, 2 helpings of sludge a day!

[Chillicat]

Ooooh - large surge of excitement - have just checked my FedEx tracking thingy and I think my bb.com package has now cleared Customs! It says '12.46pm: International shipment release' - surely it'll be on a plane and in my hands by tomorrow?? (Don't tell Emzies!).

[emmzies]

Ooooh - large surge of excitement - have just checked my FedEx tracking thingy and I think my bb.com package has now cleared Customs! It says '12.46pm: International shipment release' - surely it'll be on a plane and in my hands by tomorrow?? (Don't tell Emzies!).

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

:evil:

:cry:

[Chillicat]

Ooooh - large surge of excitement - have just checked my FedEx tracking thingy and I think my bb.com package has now cleared Customs! It says '12.46pm: International shipment release' - surely it'll be on a plane and in my hands by tomorrow?? (Don't tell Emzies!).

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

:evil:

:cry:

Hate to say it, but it's now left Customs, flown down to Welly and is in a delivery van. It's coming today. Looks like courier gets priority at Customs - I'll definitely always do it courier from now on, that's for sure. I'll just make sure I buy enough that there isn't much difference in cost (only cost me an extra US$2 for courier).

[Chillicat]

In and out today - very busy at work so bit of a rush job.

Lat pulldowns 35kg4x8

Narrow grip cable bicep curls 15kg 3x12

Cable rows 35kg 4x8

EZ bar bicep curls 5kg 2x21

Pull up assist 10kg 1x1, 15kg 1x3, 20kg 1x4, 25kg 2x5 (couldn't get on this earlier to do unassisted pull ups (up) so bit fatigued by the time I did this!)

Concentration curls 6kg 2x12

Got back to work and there was a very large box from bb.com at reception for me - happy happy joy joy. Hope Emzies' box arrived today too!

[emmzies]

Got back to work and there was a very large box from bb.com at reception for me - happy happy joy joy. Hope Emzies' box arrived today too!

Well, i'm just glad customs aren't total failures. :roll:

Serves me right i guess for not selecting courier....

I'll just keep on waiting :doh:

[Chillicat]

Got back to work and there was a very large box from bb.com at reception for me - happy happy joy joy. Hope Emzies' box arrived today too!

Well, i'm just glad customs aren't total failures. :roll:

Serves me right i guess for not selecting courier....

I'll just keep on waiting :doh:

Yours has been with Customs now for a week and a half, right? That's pretty poor service, regardless of whether you chose courier or not. Well, I'm assuming it's Customs that is the holdup, as NZ Post isn't normally too bad...

[emmzies]

Yours has been with Customs now for a week and a half, right? That's pretty poor service, regardless of whether you chose courier or not. Well, I'm assuming it's Customs that is the holdup, as NZ Post isn't normally too bad...

You are indeed correct. :roll: Their latest response:

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you have not received your package! I have checked the status of your package and your order is currently experiencing customs delays due to the inspection process. I will contact customs to make sure that they have all the necessary information to get your order to you as soon as possible!

Thank you

Diablo Dave

Bodybuilding.com

[Luigi]

waaa waaa waa cry me a river emmzies serves you right for not buying locally

[rose]

Hallo Miss Cat! Any maintenance formula that doesn't take your LBM into account is a crock, a guestimate. You could use your Tanita %. I feel it would give you a more certain starting point. Based on the info you've given in your journal (60kg, Tanita BF 20.6), I used my special blend of herbs and spices to come up with 2168 calories (maintenance). I'm happy to send you the formula I used.

My two cents, there's no way I'd go as low as 1200 calories, even on a rest day. You need that many calories just to lie in bed all day, doing nothing but breathing. Keep feeding your muscle chick. My opinion is you don't need to go so drastic to get the results you want. Maybe just eat a bit smarter.

[Chillicat]

My two cents, there's no way I'd go as low as 1200 calories, even on a rest day. You need that many calories just to lie in bed all day, doing nothing but breathing. Keep feeding your muscle chick. My opinion is you don't need to go so drastic to get the results you want. Maybe just eat a bit smarter.

I completely agree - after day one (today), I think that the 1600 is about right for a standard excercise day - I feel mildly deprived, but not enough so that I'm climbing the walls - but I really wouldn't want to go lower as it seems all a bit crash diety to me and I want to do it safely.

You're right about me needing to get a skin fold thingy done. Still don't feel comfortable enough to just ask someone at the gym and don't have a PT, so might just wing it for now. I know that's the wrong thing to do!

[Chillicat]

Yours has been with Customs now for a week and a half, right? That's pretty poor service, regardless of whether you chose courier or not. Well, I'm assuming it's Customs that is the holdup, as NZ Post isn't normally too bad...

You are indeed correct. :roll: Their latest response:

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you have not received your package! I have checked the status of your package and your order is currently experiencing customs delays due to the inspection process. I will contact customs to make sure that they have all the necessary information to get your order to you as soon as possible!

Thank you

Diablo Dave

Bodybuilding.com

I love how they use so many exclamation marks in their emails - I know I use a ton myself, but I have nothing on the bb.com guys

[Chillicat]

Oh, forgot to put down today's eats:

1. oats, pp and milk

2. sludge and 4 fish oil capsules

3. PS

4. Tin of pink salmon and PS

5. PS

6. 2 hamburgers minus the bread - so 2 meat patties with a bunch of salad

7. will be sludge - yum!!

I think I ended up with about 60/21/19 protein/fat/carb. Most of the carbs are from the oats, but I'm not sure if I can manage without them. But tomorrow's dinner is extra carby so I'm going to try a lower carb brekkie (not as good though - protein shake and milk) but I don't think that will satisfy me as much and set me up for the day. It will still me at something like 54/19/27 though, and I can't see where to cut any more carbs, as the rest are just little bits here and there.

The extra carby dinner is a one off though, and I've timed it to follow a spin class. I'll be doing two lots of excercise tomorrow, legs at lunch then spin after work, so I guess if I have to eat that many carbs, I can at least make sure it's on a day I've earned them!

[emmzies]

I love how they use so many exclamation marks in their emails - I know I use a ton myself, but I have nothing on the bb.com guys

Lol exclamation marks help them pretend that they really give a damn where your order went.

waaa waaa waa cry me a river emmzies serves you right for not buying locally :P

I know ay, silly me. Only idiots would make use of the high exchange rate instead of paying inflated local prices. :doh:

6. 2 hamburgers minus the bread - so 2 meat patties with a bunch of salad

Hamburger salads FTW :grin:

[Luigi]

I know ay, silly me. Only idiots would make use of the high exchange rate instead of paying inflated local prices. :doh:

wrong, i have ordered off bb.com many times and had no holdups... maybe you just suck at ordering

[Chillicat]

Based on the info you've given in your journal (60kg, Tanita BF 20.6), I used my special blend of herbs and spices to come up with 2168 calories (maintenance). I'm happy to send you the formula I used.

That would be great. 2168 seems good too, and puts me at 1668 if I go by the 'minus 500 to lose weight' formula. So that means that the half a sculpt shake with milk that I just had (because I was hungry, dammit!) doesn't really put me over the edge calorie wise - pretty much bang on! Tips me slightly over on carbs, but I'm not going to beat myself up over one percent or whatever.

Like I said earlier - today I've eliminated a bunch of apples, a tortilla, and probably something else that I can't remember right now as my brain is a bit fuzzy from staring at a screen all day. Baby steps! I know myself, and I know I won't stick to it if I make too many changes in one go, and if I can make it through this week on the reduced carbs, maybe then I can make further changes later.

[emmzies]

wrong, i have ordered off bb.com many times and had no holdups... maybe you just suck at ordering

Hows about you keep your lame comebacks and contradictions outta Chillicats journal ay :wink:

[Luigi]

wrong, i have ordered off bb.com many times and had no holdups... maybe you just suck at ordering

Hows about you keep your lame comebacks and contradictions outta Chillicats journal ay :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: