Overeating

Overeating at lunch too often, need to watch it! Eat just a little less.

People with weight issues

Seeing fat people who are struggling with weight issues and eating
disorders (eating and drinking senselessly, without knowledge of nutrition,
eating for emotional comfort, greed and boredom) makes me realize the
value of looking after oneself and the dangers of not being disciplined
enough to control what one wants to do in life. How can the body's greed
dictate things to the mind - why should I eat when I don't want to, when I
have made a decision not to? That's the reason I should not have to
struggle with issues such as eating chips at night. So, tomorrow, no more
eating what my mind has said I should not. No more chips.

Chips

The chips problem remains, still had chips at night but awareness
happened before I gorged on them. Have to repair this bad habit - the
reward I'm already reaping (peanut butter for breakfast).

too much of chips at night

This is a constant worry - workout day or not, I am having too many
nachni chips at night. Stop it. Must stop it, it's developing into a
bad habit.

Chips

Decent post workout meals EXCEPT for the chips. Must leave those out - they
are NOT healthy, nachni or not.

Overdid the post-workout carbs?

Think I might have overdone the post workout carbs. Must watch it and get a
good idea of how much to have from Niti.

Don't treat yourself like a dustbin

It's better to dump and waste food, rather than put it into yourself.

Today I ate up the half-finished pack of yogurt lying since god-knows-when
in the office fridge.

Rather, I should have chucked it into the bin and opened the new pack of
yogurt I'd gotten from home!

Really.

I had started to be careful about this but slipped up today.

Remember - chuck it rather than eat it.

You're wasting food - that's insignificant. Tonnes is wasted everyday.

It's not even waste - it's just a pattern of use.

And anyway your body is not a dustbin.

It's precious. Put only the best things in it.

Chana binge

Just had a chana binge - right after lunch. The need to feel full after
lunch is happening. Becoming too lax in habits in all sorts of ways. Must
check it.

Have to stop eating chips!

No matter what the justification - no matter how slim you are and how you
have "earned" it, NO MORE CHIPS! Eat fruit or yogurt instead. Sorry.

Two lunches

Ever since I began coming at the regular time rather than late to office (which means setting out at about 9:30 AM and therefore having breakfast at about 8:45 or 9 AM), I have had to eat at about 11:45 or so, a meal between breakfast and lunch. This is so that the distance between two meals is not more than 3 hours. So far this has been usually half a bowl of yogurt with 1/3rd the packet of meal replacement powder and the 3 boiled egg whites that I carry with me to work. That works out to about 300 calories in my approximation.

This means that I eat lunch at about 2:45 or 3:00 PM. It also means that basically I have increased a meal in my diet. I need to consult Niti for this. Lunch does feel exceptionally heavy at 3:00 PM, especially on non-workout days.

Carbs again! See the signs!!

Eating subconsciously without realizing how much - just had a whole bunch of chana and it's 8.30 PM! Careful!!! Watch it every time you plan to grab carbs and question yourself!

Non-stop squats training!

Managed 254 free squats yesterday - one more than last time, but I think I quit too easily because mentally I crossed that boundary. I should have tried to hit 280 - Ali's record - at least and I may have succeeded. Anyway, the good thing was I took a one minute break and did another 45, thereby (nearly) completing 300 for the day.

Next target 300 straight!

And final target, initially with breaks, is a total of 500.

Also got the new hydrolyzed protein shake - supposedly the form in which it can be absorbed fastest.

Carbs yet AGAIN

I am underestimating the carbs value of chana - it's a lot of grams of
carbs. Must avoid eating at night casually. It's not casual consumption.
Even during the day take small measured quantities and eat.

Good thing is I added a meal at 11.30 between breakfast and lunch, after an
8.30 breakfast - especially during workout days this is the right thing to
do (probably even otherwise).

But this recurring issue of eating TOO MANY CARBS AT NIGHT, both on workout
and non-workout days, is getting to be a VERY bad habit that I'm not
shaking off easily. BATTLE STATIONS on this one now. NO CARBS AT NIGHT!!!

One small but important thing to keep in mind: so far I've been eating meals making sure that the portions are controlled and I do not eat until I feel stuffed. That has been a key turning point in this whole diet which has ensured success. Do not eat until you feel stuffed, instead stop 25% short where you only feel that your hunger has been eliminated and there is still scope to eat a fair bit left.

This has started to change a little bit of late. I've been eating up to the point where I feel I can't eat any  more. Maybe it is to do with the issue of good nutrition to build muscles, but even so, this should not be allowed to happen. That may mean more frequency of small meals (including a lot of protein), but every meal should never ever feel like I cannot eat any more. It should fall 25% short of that full feeling.

In essence, small and more frequent meals but equally importantly, cultivate that habit back again of understanding that a meal is not about feeling full - the job is done for nourishment much before that.

Very important to keep in mind. The way to keep doing that and also get enough nourishment/protein is to ensure high quality meals and more frequent meals. Must eat every 90 minutes. Meal-snack-meal-snack-meal.

Untimely eating

Untimely snackinh is a useless thing to do. For one, it is essentially a
bad eating habit that is not about satisfying hunger or good nourishment,
it is about eating for pleasure or eating to de-stress; about munching on
something, which is intrinsically a bad habit.

Secondly it throws eating plans put of gear, this affecting the correct
meals for a workout.

There is too much of this irregularity in eating happening. Must check
these bad eating tendencies to one stay comfortable (rather than feeling
stuffed) and two to ensure that a good eating lifestyle is maintained and
the body does not get used to senseless indulgences (like the carb snacking
at night which was addressed yesterday but took effort to resolve, even
after all this while of sensible eating).

Resisting carbs at night!

It feels like the old days. Resisting snacking on carbs at night is feeling as difficult as it ever did. Because of the workouts thrice a week and cardio once a week, carb snacking had become a regular affair, especially with cheating thrown in for good measure ever so often.

Now, despite a healthy meal of chicken and some beans and yogurt, I'm feeling the withdrawal pangs of not being able to binge on nachni chips particularly, or even chana.

But I'm quite proud of myself for resisting them tonight despite now knowing that I'm in shape enough to cheat and despite the fact that I did go to the gym for 40 minutes of gentle cardio. The issue is not the calories but of reverting to bad habits and eating not to satiate hunger or for good nutrition, but basically for pleasure. That has to be avoided at all costs.

I'm glad I'm relearning the lesson. It's so easy to fall back into bad habits! But pat yourself on the back - and reward yourself with peanut butter in the morning :-)

Totally inappropriate eating MUST AVOID READ CAREFULLY

Now it's going ballistic, so far it was overindulgence but this is downright stupid. Had a "dinner" of an apple, then half a bag of chana and then loads of nachni chips. All carbs. That too at 9 PM when I'd had my evening meal at 7 PM.

Really, really stupid. Back on the sensible diet now. I'm lucky I didn't get a stomach upset. Really.

Thankfully the weight is off and you're where you want to be - with the kind of eating habits you've kept up in the last 2 weeks, you'd be hard pressed to lose weight. Let's enjoy a little bit of food here and there but let's be sensible about it. Don't screw up at NIGHT!

And see the pattern - your last 5 posts have been about the same thing!!!


CANNOT DO THIS. Strictly to be avoided now. Sensible eating every 3 hours and sensible snacking in between.

And drink enough water.

Overindulgence at Dinner!!!

Overindulgence of the worst kind - at NIGHT. Gorged on a whole packet of
nachni chips at dinner. Cravings becoming common at dinner, must control or
fill with other carbs like cabbage or salad with soup. Also have light
dinners by having an interim snack (apple/salad) before dinner if there's
going to be a delay. Doing stress-relief eating for dinner. Must avoid,
it's a recipe for disaster. Indulgences during the day only!!!

Ballistic eating :-)

Don't know what happened but feeling hungry after the legs workout. Had the
protein shake, chicken and 2 big toasts (from Breadtalk) with cabbage, then
had nachni chips, a mango yogurt and then a glass of milk. Wow. Okay to do
once but not regularly, not at night.

Overeating at dinner

Stuffed myself at dinner - better to do that for the evening meal than
later at night, when there's less time to digest it and the body stores it
instead.

Out of line in Bangkok!

Relaxing the rules in Bangkok - that's fine, but do so sensibly. Eat every
2-3 hours and avoid the really bad stuff.

Enjoy the clothes and the attention instead!

Peanut butter and lazing up on workouts not on!

You didn't get slim and fit by missing workouts and eating peanut butter. It's fine to take a breather but please resume serious training and think hard about what to work at during Bangkok (you'll be missing gym for a week again).

Work on improving the body. Then when you get back, swimming lessons so that you can swim twice a week for cardio fitness.

Missed gym again

Missed gym AGAIN thanks to the IPL meeting in town. Missed cardio yesterday. Eating too late (gap between meals and late at night) and gymming to little. Plus off to Bangkok next week. Not looking so good. Focus and figure out a fitness routine for Bangkok to keep in shape.

Fat start

Started the day with a fat breakfast - peanut butter on two toasts! Go easy
on that. Have a little, but not so much, especially on a cardio day.

Ate too late

Ate at 10.30 on a non-workout day. Not good. Eat early. Follow the basics.

Respect - keeps you motivated. Stay focused and don't overeat. Eat small meals every 3 hours.

nice meeting you Jazz the other day-what remained with me (to my surprise) was the unbelievable slim frame. wonder about the kind of dietery rules and self control must have gone into it- respect.

It was good meeting you and aloka..thanks for the call and your time.

regs, nitin

Breaking rules: eating at night

Broke my own rule and ate nachni chips late at night - albeit on a workout
day - but reinstating this: no more chips after 6 PM! After dinner carbs
very specifically are OUT!

Overeating!

overeating! again! usually it's gorging on snacks - this time on chana - but right after the evening meal. not done. check it.

Missed workout and carb snacking during the day

Missed workout yesterday because the cold continues. So now, I've missed
20th, 24th and the 27th October sessions, went for the 22nd October
session, perhaps unwisely so, for a legs workout. Will next be working out
on 29th October.

I've also been snacking on carbs during the day - usually just chana and
boiled corn, but adding carb to the diet. Only good thing is it's been only
during the day. No carb snacking at night over the last two days, which is
a great thing. Stick to it.

Nachni chips problem

Once again, unwittingly had too many nachni chips - this time with dinner. Combined with missing workouts because of cold, it's disaster. Now nachni, or any other chips BANNED after 6 PM.

PS

PS - missed the workout yesterday because I had a cold type of condition, wise. But try and focus and stay well - have not done cardio for a while also because of foot injury fears. Slacking up a fair bit - buck up!

Getting slightly lazy? and Replace bread with roti

Small things - missed proper meal at noon today, eating bread instead of nachni roti despite having a choice. Getting lazy are we? Buck up, buying new clothes only if body keeps improving!

Generally speaking must lessen the bread and increase the roti intake instead. More roughage and less maida (even brown bread has 10-20% maida)

Dinner too heavy

Dinner is getting too heavy as a meal esp worrisome on non-workout days. Including snacking on carbs - chips etc. If you need to maintain that flat stomach, caution! Maybe grab an apple after the evening meal - keep you feeling full.

Lavash at night!

Just had a whole packet of lavash at 2 am.

Carbs at night - the best way to lose shape on that body you've worked so
hard to get.

You've had a easy week with a little bit of cheating, now back to the
basics.

Any cheating to be done during the day. The night is for sleeping!

Indulgence over dinner and no workouts

Missed 1 workout last week because of Diwali. Missed 1 this week because of a cold. Shite. On top of which I'm indulging in dinner, nachni chips being the main culprit. Apart from that there is no real scaling down of the diet because of the fact that I'm missing the workouts. Not a huge problem; overall I've been a good boy. But I just need to ensure any indulgences are not at dinner time, they should come earlier in the day. Be very strict at dinner. Light, easy. Carry a portion of nachni chips to office if you want to indulge.

And don't miss the next workout.

Also, now I'm getting serious about learning swimming by 31st Dec, 2009.

Disciplined Diwali

Very disciplined Diwali by and large - just missed out on sleep on Sunday night because of an early flight and had a spot or two of kheer. Otherwise stellar. Just need to make sure you eat every 3 hours and you should be broadly good.

Out of rhythm

Messed up on the eating because of a routine change - the principle is simple: eat every 3 hours and snack in between! Ended up eating chips at night because there was a 4.5 hour gap between the evening meal and dinner - albeit with a snack of apple and boiled egg white in between. Careful on this count, and even if there is a gap, mind the carbs at night and eat sensible (even if large) portions!

Old habits die hard

How easily meal habits can be disbalanced! Because a couple of meals got delayed, I went back to the slight madness of eating - with Ragi chips this time, straight AFTER a bagel full meal! Had to consciously stop myself halfway through. Great care! Take great care and eat on time! And no
needless snacking!!!

Chana at night

Chana may be a great food but they're still carbs and one should limit/stop
consumption at night, especially at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Ankle twist

Sprained my ankle/achilles tendon very slightly a couple of days ago,
during a 10 minute run at 12 kmph on the treadmill after an upper body
workout. Have to be careful and warm up for a run even if I have worked out
in the gym.

Being prudent and missing the legs workout today to rest it. Discretion is
the better part of valour. Fitness is about next year, not next week.

Too little eating during the day (pre-workout)?

Need to check - am I eating enough (especially on workout days) during the
day? Very important to eat well balanced but nutritious meals pre-workout
all through the day, or else I end up compensating by eating more
post-workout (which means I end up eating more at night than during the
day). Not ideal. Eat well, especially the pre-workout meal. You're no
longer in weight loss mode. You're in muscle gain mode. The better you eat,
the more power you will have and the better you can workout.

Creatine

Still on the creatine, the results are showing, but last Thursdays 253
non-stop squats meant I had to go easy on the cardio yesterday!

Late lunch!

After a long time made a basic error - 5 hours between breakfast and lunch.
Must not allow this to happen again! The mid-meal snack should be much
bigger in this case. Work on it and pack it with you. Or carry a protein
bar.

Supplements

Began Creatine, today was the 3rd workout day. Makes a big difference in power and also in recovery! Well, great body, here we come. Didn't really do a great pre-workout meal though. Must stay mindful of that since I usually head straight from work to the gym and am driving when it's time to eat the jam sandwich/granola bar/banana. Must keep these things at hand to eat 30-45 minutes before the workout. Especially the jam sandwich sounds nice!!! :-)

Up by 4 kgs

Just realized I am now at 79 kgs from 77 kgs in March/April. Hopefully this is muscle mass, but why do I doubt that a little? Must get leaner and more muscular, without putting on too much weight. Need to be light to be able to run and work on the endurance.

Carbs at night comfort

Taking too much comfort in lavash or soya chips at night. Not acceptable. Have to move on to the next level of fitness rather than scale back. Need to put on lean muscle. Am now at 79 kgs. Is it my imagination or have I put on a just a little bit of fat around the mid-section compared to my earlier skinny self?

Transgressions

Making many transgressions with regards to carbs at night - especially binging on chips. Must stop. This is bad. Indulge in something worthwhile. And that during the day. No carbs at night.

Motivation!

Just posting odd comments that make one feel good and motivated to staying on track, eating right and staying fit!

"jazzz, now have not been to mumbai in ages, and geez do you look fit!!!! if I passed you on the street I might just walk by!!!!"

Roshni on FB

Overeating at lunch

Overate at lunch - on the usual suspect, chana. Ate half an hour after lunch was over, guiltlessly polished off half a pack. Must avoid. If tempted, take a portion and finish it.

weighed in yesterday at 78.5 kgs (is it muscle mass or weight because of peanut butter?)

Have been eating rather freely. I now include generous helpings of peanut butter over toasts in the morning in addition to my usual breakfast. In general, have been trying to eat such that I get over my very careful, almost fearful diet. The holiday helped me to ease up somewhat.

The idea is to maintain my weight and increase some muscle mass, while returning to normalcy in terms of eating, which would include the occasional indulgence. It would also mean eliminating an obsession with the diet and replacing that with a balanced mindfulness towards what one is eating.

This may mean I'll get around to eating right rather than eating too little to effectively fuel a more powerful workout, but while trying to find a balance in nutrition I may put on a little bit of weight. Have to be mindful of that and address it if it does happen. More importantly, the comfort one finds in eating well may trigger a return to the bad habits of tending to overeat a bit during meals or during mid-meal snacks. Or worse, to such habits as snacking in front of the TV at night. So have to watch that very carefully.

Have to also be mindful that this eating well diet is meant to fuel the body for an improvement in the workout and in muscle mass. Once that mass is gained, I may have to scale back. Regulate the diet to the activity. This also means I can eat more on workout days than on non-workout days.

Eating well means eating the right kinds of food, good protein and overall, the diet must still be low in fat, refined foods and sugar. Eat more chicken, fish, egg whites and good carbs. That'll help put on muscle while keeping you lean. The occasional, twice-weekly treat should be kept as such.

Also, Smriti and I are trying to cook to stay in a satisfied but healthy state of mind. Just steaming some vegetables yesterday to have with some smoked salmon made for a nice dinner with the soup.

Weighed myself at the gym and am still at 77 kgs (76.4 to be precise). It's a wonder, given how much I ate on the US holiday. But I suppose we were walking it all off. It's great to have enjoyed eating on the holiday and relaxed on the uptight dietary habits, but must make sure that I stick to weekly treats and not eat arbitrarily bad stuff such as I did yesterday, when I polished off packets of soya chips, that too at night. Remember, no carbs at night, any indulgences during the day only.

Have moved the workout to the evening anyway. The benefit of that is that dinner can include interesting stuff such as bananas or white bread/pasta and additionally, the protein shake, which is always a treat. So there is no reason to binge on chips at night.

Once in a while an "aware" treat is fine, in fact necessary. Such as one meal a week and the caramel popcorn bags that I so enjoy during movies. And in general, the holiday has allowed me to relax in terms of the quantity of eating, so I can eat more of the good food groups. Besides, not to forget that I'm indulging in peanut butter every morning. So life's good. Just keep up with the workouts and keep an eye on the scale.

But don't let bad eating habits creep back into your life.

Panic buttons!

Have been eating crap all day long - unimaginably bad. And not just because
of having few options. Dinner being fried chidwa and fried peanuts? When I
could have had a protein bar? Sugary coffee - two-three cups every couple
of hours? Goes beyond license and may make coming back on track difficult
esp in light of the holiday treats. Must check this abuse immediately
wherever possible. And from Sunday, plan out the meals! Healthy eating
returns with a vengeance - for 2 weeks before weekly treats start.

Weigh yourself at the gym!

Just returned from a 2 week long US holiday where the diet went out the window. Everything was game, including peanut butter sundaes, pastrami sandwiches, white bread, pancakes with maple syrup, butter, ice cream (ah, the Oreo cookie batter ice cream at JP Licks in Boston was just amazing) and everything else.

Ever since I got back I have cut back a little but still not out totally, having peanut butter every day for breakfast with an extra toast. And of course, all of this without having returned to my workout yet. So I will have missed more than 3 weeks of workout before I get back to the routine. In all of this I have put on over 2 kgs. It's been only so much and not more because we have been walking a lot on the holiday, especially in Vegas, Frisco and NY.

But in a way it's been good to get over my fear of putting on weight and begin enjoying myself while also staying fit. I was getting to look too thin and also becoming fairly obsessive and paranoid about staying away from fattening or refined foods. From now on, one odd time I'm going to be treating myself. Ice cream or dessert is also an option once a week (but no more).

So hopefully I'll stabilize at a kilo or two more than I'm presently at and stay there. Importantly I should make sure that my weight does not fluctuate much. This more free state of mind may help me consume more of the good food groups and especially protein so that I can put on more muscle in combination with training.

Carbs at night

Why am I having carbs at night? Must ensure that I do not indulge after 8 PM. No chanas and lavash and the rest after that. Stick with the soups and chicken/fish or milk - or maybe fruit. But no heavy carbs at all at night. Indulge during the day.

Eating at night

Must watch weakness in terms of eating at night - just polished off a
watermelon bowl despite having had yogurt and some chana as well!!

Another important point to note - must reduce the diet when I miss a
workout.

Relaxing a bit

Relaxing a bit but not in a good way - i.e. having good food or laddu or enjoying a beer. I'm letting go on nachni chips!!! That too at night. Careful, it's not about the calories, it's about the mindset and the bad habits.

Treats on workout days during the day! No carbs at night!!! Follow this!

The challenge is to stay at 77 for the next year.

Stomach bug

Down with a stomach bug - had to miss Saturday's workout and still not feeling 100% right. Hope I feel good enough to hit Tuesday's workout.

Overeating at lunch

Another first - overate at lunchtime. That too once the healthy, light nice lunch was over, gorged on chana of all things. It's been a while since I did this and it didn't feel great. Not a serious thing really, but have to watch the unusual appetite pangs when the schedule is not all hunky dory while the IPL is on. Keep eating small frequent meals. Can't get simpler than that, can it?

Impulse carb eating at night!

The stress is starting to have its effect and cloud the thinking. Okay, so got back home after a stressful day and felt hungry despite the customary yogurt. Should have had the watermelon lying in the fridge. But went for comfort carbs instead and ended up having half a jar of raagi chips.

It's okay as a one time treat only - don't let it happen again! Comfort yourself by all means, but try fruit. Or a small portion of chips with a glass of milk.

Unmeasured breakfast before workouts

A couple of slip ups creeping in. Just had a huge cereal breakfast, which is okay before a workout, but had it in many small helpings as I was eating my first portion. Ended up not knowing the portions that I finally had. Bad habit eating. Eat, by all means. But measure the portions and keep tabs. Not arbitrarily dumping small portions and adding milk because you are tempted with the sugar in the cereal!

Rewind - unbelievable.

I just went through the whole blog from the beginning. The journey has been quite incredible and the best part is, now it has become second nature to have frequent small meals and be on a workout. I went from 122 kgs to now a healthy 77 kgs (from a low of 75 kgs, have upped the muscle mass). That's 45 kgs less! From probably 25% or higher fat to less than 12% fat (at the lower end of an ideal body percentage). I feel strong, look good and get into clothes that I could never have imagined that I'd fit into (size 32 Levis or even size 30 Calvin Kleins??? Unbelievable that I used to wear size 42 Levis just a little over a year ago and mostly couldn't find my size in any store).

Wow.

The only ideal thing I now have to add to the mix is cardio once or twice in the week, enjoyable cardio like swimming. And keep enjoying the food lifestyle.

Too much snacking, too much delay between meals

Now that work pressure has stepped up, regularity of meals is taking a hit and irregular snacking is turning up. Trying to balance it as best I can but occasionally there is that 5 hour distance between breakfast and lunch. Not acceptable. Eat small meals every three hours. Stress also seems to be adding to the need to snack in between meals with irregularity. Including on carbs at night, while having green tea. Milk or yoghurt disappearing as a nice night snack, being substituted by soup sticks and the like. Must check this tendency. And not the least, having dinner too late at night, not enough distance between dinner and bedtime. Must check! Each meal getting delayed by an hour or 90 minutes, not on. Small, frequent meals. Small portions. Low, measured snacking.

77 Kgs with 12% body fat

Never thought you would get here! Congratulations, now all you have to do is stick to this. Easy shleasy. You're there!

Complacency, finally?? Stay motivated!!

Missed my workout for the first time I think, but that's still okay. What's alarming is the return of some tendencies to eat illogically.

In this case, it's to do with soya chips. Those things are NOT healthy, they're full of oil and pile on the bad calories.

Also with the new workplace, the 4th day aerobic workout every week is seeming like a tough call. But that's the challenge to cross. If you can manage to maintain fitness and motivation during a tough working phase - and use it to destress - the battle is won.