I'm still using Fitday, which surprises me since I tend to get a feel for my eating habits and then just quit tracking. Not this time. I'm keeping it up for now. I have done a better job of balancing fat and protein, mostly by increasing the amount of protein powder that I put in my shakes.
My macros for the past 2 weeks are 40% protein, 40% fat, and 19% percent carb. I'm not sure where the last 1% snuck off to. Maybe my diet plan is working so well that only 99% of the food that eat actually registers. My plan is to get down to the point where only 50% of my food shows up on Fitday's charts and eat twice as much.
Here's what the goal graph looks like this week:
How's that for being on target? What are the odds that I can keep that close to the line?
Here's something funny. Trey is home from school sick today. I came home early to watch him so that Tia could go into work. We both had things that needed to be done today so we did the tag-team on him. Anyway, he was watching some TV show about words and I laid down on the couch. He snuggled up with me and I fell asleep for about 20 minutes.
I dreamed that I was eating chocolate chip cookies.
I don't even really like chocolate chip cookies but my subconscious might be trying to say something to me.
So, I got up and had a protein shake. It was chocolate, if that counts.
This weekend, I was asked my opinion on fat burners like Hydroxycut Hardcore X.
First, these things aren't for everyone. They usually have a fair amount of caffeine in them. Fat burners increase your heart rate and stimulate the central nervous system. Some people found them over-stimulating and feel like their heart is going to jump out of their body or they get the jitters. Some people have shorter fuses when taking fat burners. If you have heart concerns, get the jitters, or already wish that you were more patient, you might want to give these kinds of products a pass.
If you do try them, you will probably want to start with a partial dose for a few days just to see what it feels like and build up to a regular dose or your natural limit (which ever is lower). You also want to make sure that you are getting your daily dose of water. Fat burners also act as diuretics so you're going to be peeing more. If you've read any of the scare-tactic stories about fat burners, most of the problems that I have read about have been from dehydration.
All that said, these next couple bits is something that should be considered before you go throwing $40 - $50 into a month supply of fat burners.
First, they only boost what you're already doing. You can't even dream about eating chocolate chip cookies and think that a fat burner is going to help you. In tonight's dream, I better do some extra dream cardio to make up for the dream cookies. Seriously, you still have to be following a calorie restricted diet, which should include some kind of resistance training. If you're maintenance level of calories is 2,000 a day and you're eating 3,000, you might as well save your money until you are serious about losing weight. A fat burner falls far short of being the magic pill.
In fact, here's the second bit, fat burners might only increase your fat loss by about 5%. If your diet and exercise routine would cause you to lose 20 pounds, taking a fat burner might help you lose 1 more pound. For many people, again, the cost just isn't worth it. Many people don't take them until they get down to those last 10 stubborn pounds.
It's not all negative though.
Dieting can slow your metabolism and make you feel sluggish. A fat burner might make you feel better or more alert.
It might also help you focus more closely on your diet and exercise. If you're going to spend the money, you don't want to waste it so you might follow your plan more strictly.
An interesting discussion similar to this is the effect of vitamins on health. People who take vitamins are generally more healthy than people that don't take vitamins. Is it because of the vitamins? We don't know because what researchers have found is that people who put out the money to buy vitamins also follow other healthful practices like eating better and exercising. Would they be just as healthy without the vitamins? Maybe but they feel that vitamins are part of their overall plan so they take them.
The same thing may hold true for fat burners. If you're going to go that extra step to get that 5% edge on your weight loss and put out good money for these things, you might encourage yourself to adhere more strictly to your game plan. For some people, that might be worth it all right there.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or email and I'll respond personally or in a blog post.
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