Cataleya Means Business

[Cataleya]

2018 Road Map

Current Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

So I had a lot of things going on the past several months, including moving, starting a new job, and graduating. I tried to do it all but it was killing me, especially after other stuff I didn't foresee, like my grandmother, and more recently a good friend of mine, passing away. Keeping track of every thing that I was doing and eating was really demoralizing, because it was pretty much, "I got up, worked on my dissertation, shoved my face full of quick and shitty foods, went to meetings, ate more crap, came home, worked on my dissertation, tried to sleep but couldn't, woke up and tried to fall back asleep, contemplated what it means to die, and freaked myself out and couldn't get back to sleep. Repeat ad nauseum." So yeah. Not healthy. At all.

 

But I've graduated, my job is settling into something close to a routine, and I am ready to take back my life. In a more sustainable way, this time. I got back into tennis after I moved and it made me really happy, so I want to stick to it. Running is not my favorite but it did help with my weight loss, so I'm keeping it. I also want to keep weightlifting, which gives me life. Eventually, I want my workout schedule to look something like this:

• Tennis 1-2x a week
• Running 2-3x a week
• Weights 2x a week
• Rest 2x a week

 

But I can't just start doing that. I will fail. I know this about myself. So I'm going to build up to it, along with a bunch of other goals I have. Namely, I want to drop soda and Starbucks-type drinks (except plain tea) again, I want to get 10k steps a day, I want to clean up my diet (including learning about what my optimum macro breakdown is), get compliant on a couple meds I have been falling off of (and keep up on my vitamins), limit my intake of sweets, get enough water, get enough sleep, and stretch twice a day. 

 

 

That's a lot! So instead of doing a challenge where I focus on one thing for whatever amount of time and end up Trying to Do Everything, I want to do something a bit longer term and builds up a bit more. I do want to keep doing challenges, but I'm going to focus on paring those down a bit from what I normally do, and instead use those 4 weeks to dive into something specific that I want to improve. Like, say I really want my running to improve, I might do a challenge to speed that progress up. But I don't want to do anything too complicated for those anymore, because it tends to backfire.

 

Anyway, right now I'm thinking something like this:

Week 0: Med and Steps

Week 1: Weights and Protein

Week 2: Running

Week 3: Soda and Water

Week 4: Sweets and Carbs

Week 5: Stretching

Week 6: Sleep and Fat

And anything else I decide to add on as my priorities change.

 

If for some reason I feel I did unsatisfactorily one week, I will repeat that week. If I feel like something falls off that map, I will go back to that week. Nothing terribly structured so I can't feel like a terrible person when I misstep (and I will misstep), but nothing so freeform I can't really keep myself accountable.

 

Eventually I'll move up to something like this, depending on my tennis schedule for the season:

Mondays: Tennis

Tuesdays: Weights

Wednesdays: Run

Thursdays: Rest

Fridays: Weights

Saturdays: Run

Sundays: Rest

 

I'm going to need some tools to make that happen. I'll be using a C25K app to track my running progress (in terms of pushing myself forward instead of just running aimlessly for a half hour or something). I'm also going to be using LifeRPG (for now, we'll see how I like it) to keep track of my daily habits, like med compliance. Fitbit tracks my steps, weight, sleep, and water (PM me if you wanna add me, or post your info here and I'll add you). MyFitnessPal will be used for food and any exercises. I'll use Instagram and NF to post updates about my life and how I'm doing. And of course, all of you are infinitely better at this than I am, so I will be relying on your guidance when it comes to learning about best practices for weightlifting or macro balancing or whatever else will pop up along the way.

 

We start Monday.

 

So, y'know. I'm here. And I mean business.

 

[Akura]

4 hours ago, Cataleya said:

I got back into tennis after I moved and it made me really happy, so I want to stick to it. Running is not my favorite but it did help with my weight loss, so I'm keeping it.

 

When you don't like running, can't you just play tennis more often?

[Cataleya]

  When you don't like running, can't you just play tennis more often?    

 

Tennis requires a partner (and the better they are the better for me, given I want it to be a workout), a court (which requires a membership to a place with an indoor court as it's getting cold outside, on top of what I'm paying for tennis league), and time for me to get to the other side of town, since that's where the indoor courts are.  

 

I don't hate running. It's not my favorite thing, but it's something I can do with a treadmill or track at work or on a treadmill at a nearby building where I live. I can do it at any time and don't need anyone else to be there. And it's free.

 

Last tennis "season" we had a practice once a week and then a match once a week. Our coach just had knee surgery so he is out and it's only one session a week this season, but I'm hoping he will be back next season. I'm using running as a supplement, basically.

[Cataleya]

Alright.

 

Starting weight: 205.8lbs

Waist: 38in

Hips: 48in

 

This week I'm going to be tracking my food (but not tracking whether I track it, if that makes sense), tracking med compliance, and trying to get 10k steps in each day. So my LifeRPG setup looks something like this:

 

Spoiler

 

Medication

Levothyroxine

Inositol

Metformin

Multivitamin

Yasmin

10k Steps

 

I have no issues that I can tell with my thyroid medication, and I'm just starting the Inositol because I've heard from multiple people that it helps a lot with PCOS. I'm apparently on way too low of a dose of the Metformin, which I hadn't been taking anyway because I felt like it wasn't really doing anything for me, so back on I go and am preparing myself for some mild nausea the next few days. Multivitamin is just those fun gummies that I take to supplement my food intake. I asked CVS to ask my new doctor if she'd put me back on Yasmin proper because my acne gets really horrible around that TOM on the generic and I'm kind of tired of it. I'm almost 30, I shouldn't be having acne issues. I get a bonus each day if I can do all five of them.

 

10k steps is 10k steps.

 

 

Anyway that's what I'm going to focus on this week. I am going to try to track food, but that's mostly just to get a baseline idea of where I'm at and get back into the swing of it. I'm not going to be counting if I forget a meal or a day or something against myself. It'll just be helpful to kind of see where I'm at compared to where I want to be regarding my macros. I've been seeing a lot of support for 40/30/30 P/C/F macros for women with PCOS, so I'm going to ... try ... to hit that. I was doing something with lower carbs and higher protein but I don't remember exactly what the breakdown was, but I did feel better with more protein, so we'll see how that goes.

 

LifeRPG has the ability to assign rewards and stuff. I'm going to think about whether I want to do that, because I find I'm not good at tweaking it so I don't get discouraged or so I don't over-reward myself and not try as hard. We'll see how it goes this week (how many points I get) and I can probably figure from there what I should be setting for rewards. I'm being kind of conservative with the points, though I do get a sizable point bonus right now if I complete all my medication tasks, because I feel like that will be challenging for me.

 

Tennis tonight, so we'll see how it goes. I feel ambivalent about this season because I keep getting put into doubles with a player who doesn't necessarily try very hard, and we don't communicate well. I feel like I don't play as well when I play with her, but it is what it is, so we'll work with what we've got.

 

[Urgan]

Hai.

 

17 minutes ago, Cataleya said:

Anyway that's what I'm going to focus on this week. I am going to try to track food, but that's mostly just to get a baseline idea of where I'm at and get back into the swing of it. I'm not going to be counting if I forget a meal or a day or something against myself. It'll just be helpful to kind of see where I'm at compared to where I want to be regarding my macros. I've been seeing a lot of support for 40/30/30 P/C/F macros for women with PCOS, so I'm going to ... try ... to hit that. I was doing something with lower carbs and higher protein but I don't remember exactly what the breakdown was, but I did feel better with more protein, so we'll see how that goes.

 

Obviously a (relative to what most people consider "normal") high protein diet is going to be much better for you long term. I have my protein pegged to the 1g protein/lb bodyweight metric, for no other reason than it's worked fairly well thus far--I don't have any experience with PCOS management, but assuming you're setting your macros somewhere in the ballpark of 1500 and 2000 calories, that number sounds pretty darn reasonable. If there is any reason you feel hitting your goal will be more miss than hit, then my advice is to treat it like you treat the barbell. Start with some really approachable numbers and tweak them week by week until they resemble your desired target? First you have to know what your actual macros are, of course. Then you can break up the difference into something that doesn't sound tough. You can do it.

 

[TGP]

as a recent graduate of c25k... 

"running" seems much more enjoyable now then it did.  The 'runners high' is REALLY cool.  highly recommended and when your not gasping for air and/or joints are threatening to instantly break you can enjoy the beauty of where you are.

assuming I suppose you are in a beautiful place....

 

otherwise; if its just yogging on the dreadmill; you Must remember to bring music!

 

.... well, at least that is My experience.

 

Oh and another thing.   if you are in good game shape; you'll find that the c25k program is really, Really gentle.  You can skip days; and in the end skip whole weeks.  after the 5th week, I ran the 30 minutes strait and figured I just got to the end.

I didn't need 21/2 months of it.

 

I would highly recommend Frequent running, though.  that's the magic of c25k IMHO.

 

[Cataleya]

8 hours ago, Urgan said:

Hai.

 

Obviously a (relative to what most people consider "normal") high protein diet is going to be much better for you long term. I have my protein pegged to the 1g protein/lb bodyweight metric, for no other reason than it's worked fairly well thus far--I don't have any experience with PCOS management, but assuming you're setting your macros somewhere in the ballpark of 1500 and 2000 calories, that number sounds pretty darn reasonable. If there is any reason you feel hitting your goal will be more miss than hit, then my advice is to treat it like you treat the barbell. Start with some really approachable numbers and tweak them week by week until they resemble your desired target? First you have to know what your actual macros are, of course. Then you can break up the difference into something that doesn't sound tough. You can do it.

 

 

Yeah, I hit 16/54/30 today, so I will definitely need to scaffold if that pattern holds! MFP is recommending I get 131g protein, and I got 57g today. Partly I was out of eggs because I didn't realize my fiance had eaten some of my pre-prepared hardboiled eggs. I made some after I got home though, so I'm ready for the rest of the week.

 

 

I should note he still makes fun of me for buying 60 eggs at a time. But now he's eating them too. xD

 

8 hours ago, TGP said:

as a recent graduate of c25k... 

"running" seems much more enjoyable now then it did.  The 'runners high' is REALLY cool.  highly recommended and when your not gasping for air and/or joints are threatening to instantly break you can enjoy the beauty of where you are.

assuming I suppose you are in a beautiful place....

 

otherwise; if its just yogging on the dreadmill; you Must remember to bring music!

 

.... well, at least that is My experience.

 

Oh and another thing.   if you are in good game shape; you'll find that the c25k program is really, Really gentle.  You can skip days; and in the end skip whole weeks.  after the 5th week, I ran the 30 minutes strait and figured I just got to the end.

I didn't need 21/2 months of it.

 

I would highly recommend Frequent running, though.  that's the magic of c25k IMHO.

 

I've actually run three 5ks back when I lived in the city! I am not built for long distance running. I'm a sprinter, hence the tennis and the soccer (previously anyway). I have decent endurance, but not when it comes to running long distance. I also don't get a runner's high. Some people just don't. I've never gotten a runner's high, even when I was running at least two miles a day five days a week before soccer practice, and then, you know, had soccer practice. I just don't get anything out of running.

 

But I do it. It's easy (well, it's hard, but you don't need much to get started), it's mostly free aside from minimal equipment, I can listen to music, and I don't need to schedule around anyone else. But I definitely need C25K and I definitely need to repeat some weeks, even when I was only running. I wish I liked running, and I wish it did more for me than it does. Runner's high sounds amazing. 

 

[TGP]

regarding the No Runner's high.

thats a  bummer.  I won't say its equally awesome each time.  I think ALL kinds of factors apply with me.

 

but I will say this...

 

I don't get "runners high" in any way, shape or form when I hike.  and Yet it is simply my most favorite exercise.  In Fact, I particularly Love steep hills and with them, all I really get (with a really tall hill) is crawling on all fours, gasping for breathing, barely able to see strait.  and Yet Hills are really one of the biggest thrills of hikes cuz the sense of accomplishment of a Huge, intense hike is like better than a runners high.

it is a Mental High for me!  and thats not counting the beauty of a hike.

 

so I don't know.  runners high is good;  it makes a basically uncomfortable experience more tolerable... so its Not everything.

 

 

[Cataleya]

So tomorrow is my day of reevaluation and such but I figured I'd check in.

 

I'm realizing just how shitty my steps have been since I moved. I mean yikes. I've been lucky to hit 6k steps most days, and I maybe get 10k once a week. Horrible. No wonder I feel like shit.

 

For those of you just getting to know me, before I moved from the city, I'd walk 30-40 minutes to and from campus five days a week, and then I would exercise, usually jogging 2-3x a week and doing strength training 2-3x a week. I had to up my daily goal on Fitbit to like 12k for it to be a challenge. Sometimes I'd just start walking and end up walking 7 miles. For fun. I've got the 30k steps in a day badge but always wanted to get even higher than that.

 

I miss those days. It's not exactly safe to walk around here, because there aren't many sidewalks and people are shitty drivers. (I got rear ended twice in a month--once while driving, once while my car was parked and I was shopping.) I'm actually not far from my work, maybe 3 miles, and I considered buying a nice bike and biking to work spring-fall, but there's no way to do it safely.

 

In any case, Schatz (my fiance) reminded me I have this stationary bike type thing that's just the pedals that I had gotten so that on the rare occasion I was watching TV or if I couldn't go outside or something, I could do something. He suggested I use it as a supplement (putting Fitbit on my leg) until I start integrating running again. We tried it, and not only does my Fitbit fit around my ankle but it seemed to do a pretty good job of tracking movement (tracks 7 or 8 of 10 pedals) so I'm going to do that in the evening if I can't get to 10k before then. I don't pedal too hard, probably about 50rpm on virtually no resistance, but then when walking I never really went crazy either. So it's not as satisfying as walking, but I feel comfortable with that activity counting.

 

In terms of med compliance, I'm doing pretty good and I am finally starting to not feel nauseous after taking the metformin, which did affect my activity levels for a few days. I think if I feel fine after next week I might try increasing my dose since my doctor wants me to do that anyway. But I'm taking that slow because metformin is no fun. I'm mad at our local drug store because I asked for a BC refill, specified the new doctor, and said I wanted the brand name again because my acne is less bad on the brand name. Two days later I was like yo, where's my meds. They were like oh it was rejected, they said they didn't have you as a patient. And they didn't call me to tell me that? I asked who they sent it to, and they said my old doctor. So they had to send it off again but because it was Wednesday I probably won't hear anything until Monday at the earliest so I might as well take this month off BC which I'm not happy about in the slightest.

 

Food. I'm not changing anything up right now, just logging, but I notice my macros are all over the place. My average, though, for Monday-Friday anyway, is 49% carbs (182g), 33% fat (55g), and 18% protein (69g). I'm fine with that percentage of fat, but damn I need more protein. I'll have to start scaffolding that in. Calories wise it looks like I hover between 1200-1500 calories but I ate a shitload of bad food on Tuesday. I know what went wrong so that's easy enough to fix. I'm also eating a crappy amount of sugar, mostly inadvertently. I think that will get better as I fix everything else, but we may need to come back to that specifically.

 

So we'll see how I feel tomorrow but I am comfortable with moving on next week and adding weights and protein. I think the steps will work itself out as I add activity in general. I ditched LifeRPG because it kept duplicating my tasks. I'm on Habitica, so if anyone is on that I'm CataleyaGhostmark.

[Urgan]

Progress for days, yo. 

[Hazard]

3 hours ago, Cataleya said:

weights and protein

 

 

[fleaball]

Lurking! Also, where did you find the 40/30/30 thing for PCOS? I admit I haven't done a ton of research, but all I ever seem to find is "some people do better on low carb/high fat and some people do better on the opposite" and people fighting over which is better. Which is entirely unhelpful to me.

[Sylvaa]

12 hours ago, fleaball said:

Lurking! Also, where did you find the 40/30/30 thing for PCOS? I admit I haven't done a ton of research, but all I ever seem to find is "some people do better on low carb/high fat and some people do better on the opposite" and people fighting over which is better. Which is entirely unhelpful to me.

 

Nerd moment (you know I've got them!). So there is a total lack of full understanding around PCOS. BUT one potential cause is excess insulin and / or insulin resistance (which is why Metformin is prescribed). 40 / 30 / 30 is a fairly "standard" diabetic diet because it can help keep insulin levels regulated (also, a Ketogenic diet is not recommended for people with uncontrolled diabetes without significant physician monitoring). Some studies have also shown that Ketogenic diets induce higher rates of insulin resistance. Now, I do know that it is entirely possible to do LCHF without going full Keto, but without proper monitoring (testing sticks or the like), it's kind of semantics.

 

For other possible causes of PCOS (low-level inflammations), a LCHF diet could be beneficial, as it aligns very well with a number of anti-inflammatory diets. So, both may be correct, it just kind of depends on your personal case.

[Cataleya]

Basically what Sylvaa said. A lot of the resources where I've found the 40/30/30 recommendations were focused on the insulin resistance aspect of PCOS which is what I likely have, I guess. I didn't really start putting the dots together until recently. A doctor several years ago prescribed me metformin, it didn't really seem to help, and I started falling off on compliance. My blood sugar is great by all indications but I am overweight and my triglycerides aren't great. So I have never been given a diagnosis of prediabetic or anything but I guess I wasn't taking enough metformin for it to be actually doing anything anyway, so maybe it will help as I increase my dose.

Add in the fact that I was feeling better on higher protein, low(er) carbs before I moved, and I started to wonder. I looked to see if there were diets recommended for PCOS, and many of the resources and posts from people with PCOS on health forums that didn't come across as blatant marketing recommended something along the lines of 40/30/30. I don't feel the need to do keto specifically, but I don't know what the differences between 40/30/30 and keto are. (I've done some research but nutrition advice gets super overwhelming since everyone and their mother claims to be an expert.) But I figure I'll try to get up/down to 40/30/30, or somewhere in that ballpark, and see if it helps. If it doesn't, I'll try something else. Either way, my diet could use some cleaning up again, as things have slipped since I moved.

[Urgan]

I remember reading that in order to hit ketosis you have to get down to and maintain at most 20-25g of carbs, very very low--the kind of numbers you might arrive at purely through vegetables. The difference between the two is very significant. You are your own best guide on how these diets make you feel, you know higher protein works, so that's a good start. 

[Sylvaa]

Just now, Urgan said:

I remember reading that in order to hit ketosis you have to get down to and maintain at most 20-25g of carbs, very very low--the kind of numbers you might arrive at purely through vegetables. The difference between the two is very significant. You are your own best guide on how these diets make you feel, you know higher protein works, so that's a good start. 

 

Actually, ketosis is different for everyone and will depend on whether people are talking total or net carbs, how active a person is, and other factors such as their metabolism. There are some indications that a person has hit ketosis, but people can be in ketosis without having the signs. 

[Urgan]

8 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

 

Actually, ketosis is different for everyone and will depend on whether people are talking total or net carbs, how active a person is, and other factors such as their metabolism. There are some indications that a person has hit ketosis, but people can be in ketosis without having the signs. 

 

Which would explain how one would be able to find a thousand conflicting accounts on the subject. 

[Sylvaa]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

 

Which would explain how one would be able to find a thousand conflicting accounts on the subject. 

 

Absolutely! That is truly why I said it's kind of semantics (and is also one of my biggest pet peeves about the whole thing!). 

[fleaball]

I have been educated! Thanks y'all. Clearly I need to learn how to research better because I never came across any of that. (Okay, also when I read science things my eyes tend to glaze over like five sentences in.) I guess I'll need to sit down and do some actual reading. Booooo. 

 

2 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

So there is a total lack of full understanding around PCOS.

This much I knew, at least! 

 

1 hour ago, Cataleya said:

My blood sugar is great by all indications but I am overweight and my triglycerides aren't great.

This is meeeee. My triglycerides have been ridiculous since I was in grade school. 

[Sylvaa]

Note to self: stop doing Flea's research for her.

 

40 minutes ago, fleaball said:

2 hours ago, Cataleya said:

My blood sugar is great by all indications but I am overweight and my triglycerides aren't great.

This is meeeee. My triglycerides have been ridiculous since I was in grade school. 

 

There is totally a link between PCOS and high triglycerides (and also insulin resistance). BTW, I'm driving soon, so I think I'm done spamming your thread for the day  sorry!

[Cataleya]

BTW, I'm driving soon, so I think I'm done spamming your thread for the day [emoji3] sorry!

I don't mind at all! Like I said, a bunch of people are way smarter than me on this stuff, so I definitely appreciate it. If we all learn something, I'd say that's a win!

Late dinner tonight, update afterward.

[Cataleya]

Sooo update:

I've gotten 10k steps the last three days, so Schatz's suggestion has been super helpful in that regard.

Medication compliance has been 100% this week. If it's 100% next week I'll up my dose of metformin after that.

Starting tomorrow I'm trying to up my protein intake which is what I really need to work on. I ate something like 18/47/35 this week. That's 65g protein, 166g carbs, 55g fat, apparently. I'm not sure how I want to scaffold this. I think I might try to shoot for 100g protein every day and see where that gets me.

Weights start this week as well. I'm gonna start with twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) and see how I feel. Stronglifts didn't really do much for me so I gotta find something else. I guess I'll look into that tomorrow.

So yeah. Pretty good first week, ready to focus on diet this coming week. Let's get some protein, baby.

[Cataleya]

Weighed myself this morning, was down 2lbs to 203.8lbs. Probably due to Schatz getting on me for drinking soda, so I didn't. 

 

 

Played tennis today, hit 10k steps. Sorry, didn't just play tennis today, but actually won for a change. 6-0, 6-2 in doubles. Was pretty stoked!

 

 

Got 102g of protein (barely--drinking the protein shake now). Interestingly when I was on my phone earlier it said I had 100g of protein exactly, but now it says 102g. I don't know. Ended up with 119g of carbs, which isn't my lowest but not bad. Still above my daily goal of I guess 100g according to MFP. I got 96g of fat, which is like, leagues away from even my highest last week. Looking at my food, I had some almonds at 22g of fat, and my chicken tonight was 22g of fat. The chicken at least was high in protein as well, though, so I dunno. Is it bad to eat that much fat? I mean, it was over twice my daily goal, so that's kind of crazy, right? I am trying to focus on protein first, so I don't get overwhelmed, but that was kind of nuts, no pun intended. Was reading @Hazard's topic and he's eating only egg whites, so I thought, maybe I need to also cut down on yolks or something, because I had four eggs today. That was also 20g of fat. I DUNNO MAN IT'S NOT FAT WEEK IT'S PROTEIN WEEK but yeah it weirded me out a bit that it was so goddamn high.

 

Anyway, goal is eventually to hit 40/30/30, today was 24/27/49. Idk.

 

Weights tomorrow. Didn't get a chance to look anything up today. Unsure if I should go endurance or strength route. I guess endurance would be better for tennis?

[Hazard]

1 hour ago, Cataleya said:

Was reading @Hazard's topic and he's eating only egg whites, so I thought, maybe I need to also cut down on yolks or something, because I had four eggs today.

 

 

 

Just to make sure there's no confusion, I am eating other things besides egg whites. .  An Only Eggwhites Diet would be fatal.

 

 

[Urgan]

10 hours ago, Cataleya said:

Got 102g of protein (barely--drinking the protein shake now). Interestingly when I was on my phone earlier it said I had 100g of protein exactly, but now it says 102g. I don't know. Ended up with 119g of carbs, which isn't my lowest but not bad. Still above my daily goal of I guess 100g according to MFP. I got 96g of fat, which is like, leagues away from even my highest last week. Looking at my food, I had some almonds at 22g of fat, and my chicken tonight was 22g of fat. The chicken at least was high in protein as well, though, so I dunno. Is it bad to eat that much fat? I mean, it was over twice my daily goal, so that's kind of crazy, right? I am trying to focus on protein first, so I don't get overwhelmed, but that was kind of nuts, no pun intended. Was reading @Hazard's topic and he's eating only egg whites, so I thought, maybe I need to also cut down on yolks or something, because I had four eggs today. That was also 20g of fat. I DUNNO MAN IT'S NOT FAT WEEK IT'S PROTEIN WEEK but yeah it weirded me out a bit that it was so goddamn high.

 

Anyway, goal is eventually to hit 40/30/30, today was 24/27/49. Idk.

 

Congrats on hitting >100g protein, now you know how to make that happen, which is nothing to sneeze at. You almost doubled your protein from a few days ago. As far as fat goes, FWIW I average around 105g, going back in time a couple months. Nuts are very high in fat for their calorie count, a later goal may be to figure out when it might be best to eat them or not should that prove to make a difference. For now, it's all about the protein. Don't let the other stuff concern you too much lol. Keep it to whole foods (yolks optional, I guess) as possible and you will be doing great this week, right?