 Surly Girly Opening her mouth and removing doubt |
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Lean, Mean, etc. August 10, 2005 I've been a busy busy girl this week - not so much with the work productivity, but I think I'm beginning to see the end of "summer slack-mode". Today is Wednesday and I made it to the gym again today (MWF and alternating Saturdays is my goal) and I've been kicking ass and taking names about sticking to my eating plan. Not even one teeny little cheat. And I've spent just HOURS on line researching different things. Today I've been researching different claims of the perfect ratio of carbs/calorie/fat. What's up with all the MILLIONS of different scenarios out there? I can figure out easily enough what my basal metabolism is, so I know with 98% accuracy the right # of calories I need to be eating a day - but I know I'll get better results and stick to it longer if I can find some ratio that makes me feel satisfied and not like I'm hard-core dieting. This week I'm experimenting with 25% fat - 55% carb - 20% protein. We'll see how that works for me. I don't buy any of the Atkins or South Beach or whatever diets that cut way down on carbs - its next to impossible to get good protein without a little fat, and keeping fat down is the best way to stick to my calorie guideline. And the best way to keep me from straying is let me snack all day (on fruits or some low-cal snack) so that I don't feel deprived in anyway. ANYWAY - I did read something else today that intrigued me - Evidently I may even have better results if I slept better (I get maybe 3 good nights of sleep a week, the rest is fitful, although working out consistently help a little) and cut out caffeine - both of which will help reduce cortisol. See, your body reduces cortisol while sleeping and cortisol is known to increase blood sugar which in excess leads to fat production. And caffeine is one of the bigger culprits of cortisol spikes. So after I get my eating/workout pattern back this week, next week I'll be eliminating soft drinks (poor TBG) and taking a very low melatonin supplement before bed on the nights before I don't work out (then if that works and I can wake up easily, then I'll try it 7 days/week). I'm not sure I buy the cortisol=obesity claims well enough to buy any of those stupid cortislim type pills that actively supress cortisol (because your body creates it for a reason) - but my (secondary) research on melatonin shows that there are no side effects even from high doses, but if nothing else, may help me sleep better at night. And I can't think of anyone who doesn't think that cutting back on caffeine is a brilliant idea - and if nothing else will aide in the mission to reduce my blood pressure (which I might add was a bit high at the grocery store pharmacy machine on Saturday). Anyhoo. So yeah - and I've been having powerball fantasies again. Which reminds me, I need to buy a ticket today. $92 million. Of course if you take the lump sum, after taxes really is only like $24 million, but hey, I'm not complaining. But I did my homework on that too - a girl can never be too prepared to win. There was this financial planner guy interviewed a few years back on CNN/Money about what you should do with the cash - and he confirmed what I suspected: that the lump sum payout, although reduced, actually reaps more in the long term as long as you invest. And investing the better portion of $24 million can kick back some pretty comfortable annual interest payments without ever having to touch the principal. Not to mention the benefits of not having to pay that earned prize tax every year that you got payment on the annualized payment plan. So uhmm. I've put some thought into this, thereby guaranteeing I'll NEVER WIN. But the dream is worth the $1 ticket every once in awhile. I think that about covers it - other than TBG and I finalized our trip to Seattle in October and I can't wait. It's good to have something to look forward to - its also a good target date for a goal weight. I'll let you know if I make it there. No word on the job front. *Sigh* posted by LoneStarCupcake @ 10:50 AM 
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