Lady Morella's Journey

[ladymorella]

I've done a couple of challenges in the past, but don't remember if I completed them or not. I'm a bit of an adventuring ranger. I'm currently training for a hike in South America, which probably won't happen, but I need something to succeed in right now so climbing mountains seems easier than anything else. However I have been doing crossfit for I think 3 years now. 2015 was not good to me and I have kinda fallen off for various reasons. I used to crossfit 3 times a week, but since Thanksgiving I have been averaging about 1 time a week if that. Work is going to require some late hours again so more than 1 time a week might be hard.

 

Ultimately my goal is to lose weight. I need to lose about 40lbs, then from there I can see if I need to lose more. Hard to tell exactly since I know I have more muscle than I did before I gained the extra fat. I think I kinda know how to make that happen now, but only time will tell I guess.

 

So my quests are to:

 

• Eat at least 1800 calories a day for at least 6 days a week. On long hike days this should be 2000-2100. I don't plan on one of these in the next 4 weeks, but who knows, it would be a shame to waste the winter in the desert by not hiking. So why not go big?

• Cut the carbs. I have a macro diet my coach gave me so I am trying to go back to adhering to that since I lost 10lbs on it. Due to dietary restrictions I have had issues staying on it as I couldn't find enough variety for it to be sustainable. I'm working on adding more recipes to my recipe box. My goal is to stick to 105g of carbs a day or less (not a lot less on workout days). However for the quest Eat 150g of carb or less a day for at least 5 days a week.

• Get back into regular crossfit attendance. Goal is 7 times in the challenge timeframe. If work requires a lot of late hours again I can sub a class with a longer rowing workout such as a 5k or the Concept2 Rowing for hikers or similar workout, but need to go at least once a week.

• Read a book. I have selected one for the challenge. I want to get back into reading, but it hasn't really happened. The book I have selected is 211 pages so it shouldn't be too bad. If I hate the book it can be swapped out for another one I started a few weeks ago, but had to return to the library.

[Jezaraen]

Good luck with your challenge!

[ladymorella]

Thanks!

[Jezaraen]

Cutting carbs can be so hard def with you in spirit!

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[ladymorella]

Yeah, for sure. I have had digestive problems for years and have developed a fear of food from it. Most of my safe foods are carbs so it is a little scary.

[Jezaraen]

So many tasty things are carb-fests! Why world why!

[Rurik Harrgath]

Following!  This one ought to be good judging by those goals and the enthusiasm behind them.  Go big, indeed!

[ladymorella]

Good start I ate 1890 calories. 100g of carbs and made it to Crossfit today.

[ladymorella]

Hey! I even got some reading in. Oh man setting up premises is boring.

[Jezaraen]

Good start I ate 1890 calories. 100g of carbs and made it to Crossfit today.

Wooo great work! 

[ladymorella]

Hit my calorie goal today. Though not gonna lie, I had 110 calories left and I had to find some candied pecans to try to get away with eating as little as possible. 1/2 a serving didn't work so I went and ate the whole 1oz.  1884 hits the mark though.

 

72g < 105g carbs = true. so check

 

Rest day

 

Might read a bit tonight still.

[ladymorella]

- Cal 1843

- Carbs squeak in at 104g

- Made it to crossfit - twice in a week and I finally actually made it to the morning class which I haven't made in months. I've gone twice now since July or Aug. Yay! I prefer the morning class and it has been the one I have attended for years.

- No reading today.

[Jezaraen]

Wooo good work making it to crossfit and staying under carbs!

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[ladymorella]

- Cal 1912

- Carbs 83g

- Rest day

- Read another section

I have been trying to hit my macros. I am having a lot of problems getting the fats in. I am suppose to have 100-120 grams a day. So far I have done ok due to coconut milk. Work is about to start having late nights again, but fortunately it look like it will only last til the end of January tops. Until we go to phase two. But that means I won't have as much time for meal prep. Not sure how I am going to get enough in over the next week. :-/

[tinkerer]

Hi Lady Morella! I'm excited to find a fellow rebel with mountain climbing aspirations!

For hitting fat macros, are nuts an option? They are conveniently high in fats and protein and low on carbs but I know they don't work for everyone.

[ladymorella]

Hit my calories yesterday at 1831.

 

Carbs: I went out of my ideal 105g, but was below the 150g allowance. It was a coworker's birthday and his wife made Rice Crispy treats for everyone. Rice Crispy Treats!!! I already had cereal so I didn't have a lot of room to change the game plan. The salad I had supposedly had more carbs in it than I though. Though the website doesn't seem to show different nutritional info for crispy chicken vs grilled chicken so I expect I had 10g less than what myfitnesspal said.

 

I'm done with the crossfit classes for the week as the goal was twice a week. I hoped to get back into 3 times a week, but work up too late and I only have two class time I can make with my work schedule on Fridays.

[ladymorella]

Hi Lady Morella! I'm excited to find a fellow rebel with mountain climbing aspirations!

For hitting fat macros, are nuts an option? They are conveniently high in fats and protein and low on carbs but I know they don't work for everyone.

I was excited to see others have big hike goals too. I just climbed a mountain I dreamed of hiking when I was 7 two weeks ago. It was amazing and was a little technical at the top which I hadn't expected. So cool.

 

I can have seed and nuts except almonds and peanuts. I have been doing pumpkin seeds and just bought some cashews. I want to get some pecans this weekend. I can tolerate them pretty well so long as I only have about a 1/4 cup serving a day.

 

My coach gave me 50%-60% of calories coming from fat for my macros so I can lose weight. It's a lot of fat! Avocados are great, but don't always pair with my meals.

[ladymorella]

Cal: 2087 which is in the final goal range. My coach wanted me to do 2100 a day, but I have a tendency to under eat so I am slowly upping it. Last month I was working on hitting 1600-1800 calories each day and did well so this month is 1800-2000. With a focus on staying in my carb marco limit.

 

Carbs: squeak in at 102g. Eating out at good restaurants that has local food and their own recipes making tracking difficult.

 

Went on a hike today. I'm happy about that. I might try to get at least one in a week. That or a hill climb. My cardo is not where it should be.

[Rurik Harrgath]

Carbs: I went out of my ideal 105g, but was below the 150g allowance. It was a coworker's birthday and his wife made Rice Crispy treats for everyone. Rice Crispy Treats!!! I already had cereal so I didn't have a lot of room to change the game plan. The salad I had supposedly had more carbs in it than I though. Though the website doesn't seem to show different nutritional info for crispy chicken vs grilled chicken so I expect I had 10g less than what myfitnesspal said.

 

Rice Krispy Treats always makes me think of this article, especially when related to macros and CrossFit:  Rice Krispy Treats Trump Kale For Abs

 

Those bloody things make wonderful post-workout treats!

[ladymorella]

 

Rice Krispy Treats always makes me think of this article, especially when related to macros and CrossFit:  Rice Krispy Treats Trump Kale For Abs

 

Those bloody things make wonderful post-workout treats!

Haha! I didn't even have to follow the link to know what you were referring to. I think it was Feb of last year I joined Eat to Perform. Part of the reason was this article. (Well and maybe because several coaches liked the articles on FB and do macro diets.) I thought hey if Rice Crispy treats are allowed in this way of life, maybe I should try it out. Many of them eat Rice Krispy Treats on a regular bases and they refer to it only by the abbreviation KRT!

 They recommend a square big enough to give you 50g (I think) of carbs after a workout. When I first made a batch and did the calculations I kept adding more and more to the scale. Man it can't be this much! I must have made a miscalculation. Nope, I was in heaven. Man, rice krispy treats and mac and cheese. I swear if I fell into a vat of it I would eat until I died.

[tinkerer]

I was excited to see others have big hike goals too. I just climbed a mountain I dreamed of hiking when I was 7 two weeks ago. It was amazing and was a little technical at the top which I hadn't expected. So cool.

 

I can have seed and nuts except almonds and peanuts. I have been doing pumpkin seeds and just bought some cashews. I want to get some pecans this weekend. I can tolerate them pretty well so long as I only have about a 1/4 cup serving a day.

 

My coach gave me 50%-60% of calories coming from fat for my macros so I can lose weight. It's a lot of fat! Avocados are great, but don't always pair with my meals.

Congrats on the mountain summit! Technical aspects at the end just make getting there feel that much sweeter.

 

A few people I know can just eat an avocado with a spoon. I'm not one of those people. Also: they are expensive.

 

Went on a hike today. I'm happy about that. I might try to get at least one in a week. That or a hill climb. My cardo is not where it should be.

Hiking once a week is great. Once you get the routine it just gets easier and easier to grab your pack and head out for a few hours.

[tinkerer]

double post

[ladymorella]

Congrats on the mountain summit! Technical aspects at the end just make getting there feel that much sweeter.

 

A few people I know can just eat an avocado with a spoon. I'm not one of those people. Also: they are expensive.

 

Hiking once a week is great. Once you get the routine it just gets easier and easier to grab your pack and head out for a few hours.

Yeah, one of the coaches at my gym eats avocado with a spoon. I can't either. I do really like them though so that works well for me right now.

 

I love hiking I think the hard part for me is settling on a hike that is only an hour sometimes. So when things get busy it almost seems like a tease. I wish there was a more difficult trail close to me.

[ladymorella]

Hit my calorie goal. Although today, maybe only because I promised to do a progress report every day and I didn't want to write that I didn't hit it because I just didn't want to eat after lunch. :-( Which let's be honest, it  wasn't really lunch anyway, but rather several low calorie appetizers at some friends' party. Man are appetizers hard to track. Uh, I had one olive, 4 apple slices, 1 broccoli, 1 califlower, 3 baby carrots and ... sigh..

 

Since I needed 400 more calories late in the day I used up the rest of my carbs. The protein was a tad low today. But I still stayed at my 105g carb goal.

 

I was hoping to be able to read a little more of my book. Maybe even get a good chuck read this weekend, but it was a bit too busy.

[Huntress]

I like your goals and your ambition! Sounds like you are doing a great job with a challenge that requires a lot of tricky calorie monitoring. Nice work!