It’s been 4½ weeks since I started the push towards racing weight and I’m happy with the progression.  Having done this in 2010, I have a lot of comparison data to peruse: weight, calories and bodyfat %.  I assumed it’d be an exact duplicate of that period, though with a faster weight loss this time since my mileage is up by nearly a third.

In reality, it’s quite different this time.  I’m losing just a pound a week but my bodyfat has dropped more dramatically.  When I started 4.5 weeks ago, my bodyfat in that first week averaged 17.3%.  This week, it averages 15.3%.

Comparatively, in 2010 my bodyfat was substantially higher at this same weight, so I guess the miles are giving me muscle. That might be a d’oh! thought to you guys, but I was always under the impression that the more you ran, the less muscle you had.  I guess the real answer is that as long as you’re eating the right nutrients, fat’s the only thing to go.

What I’m Eating
When I lost weight in 2010, I relied a lot on Trader Joe’s prepared foods.  They’re not that bad for you, no preservatives or fake stuff but I eat a lot better nowadays.  I still don’t like to cook or dirty a bunch of pans but I do ok considering those parameters.  My usual day goes like this:

7:15 – wake
8:30 – first run
9:30 – 5-grain cereal w/ peanut butter or spinach/mushroom omelette
12:00 – double open faced turkey sandwich with melted low-fat cheese and veggies on it…yum
2:00 – almonds or other snack
3:30 – 2nd run
5:00 – 5-grain cereal w/ peanut butter
7:30 – dinner (protein, huge amount of veggies and a generous carb)
8:30 – faux dessert (bread with low-sugar jam on it)
10:00 – crackers and salami or 5-grain cereal w/ cinnamon
11:30-12:30 – bedtime

Calorie-wise, I’m now eating about 2000 calories a day (though I had been eating more as you’ll see below).  You’ll notice my cereal consumption is pretty high, I never get tired of it and it’s simple to prepare (I use the microwave) while assuaging my sweet tooth.  While it’s cooking, I often take that 3 minutes to foam roll my legs.

Dinner’s my fun meal where I have spicy sausage or shrimp or fish or a crockpot thing with tons of veggies and either rice, grains or my favorite, Idahoan instant mashed potatoes (don’t judge me, they rock).  Alternately, I love Trader Joes dumplings, so I sometimes make dinner out of those plus veggies.

Dinner, Then And Now
My dinners end up being 450 to 600 calories. Behold a photo of two 450 calorie meals.

On the left is an Olympiad Pizza from TJ’s, one of the boxed things I used to buy when I lost weight in 2010.  On the right is my standard dinner: 11 big shrimp with broccoli, mushrooms and petite onions plus a huge dollop of those mashed taters.  Both meals take about the same amount of time to prepare but only one is infinitely more satisfying and fun to eat (hint: it isn’t the round frozen turd on the left).

Portion This!
For 2010′s weight-loss, I was pretty religious about measuring so I’d measure a tablespoon of peanut butter in an actual measuring spoon.  I’d become lax with it this time around and as mentioned a couple posts back, that “tablespoon’s” worth was actually 2 tablespoons, netting me around 90 unaccounted-for calories each time.  Turns out, that wasn’t the only thing I’d been misjudging…

I use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop my cereal out.  After all, the package says one serving is ½ cup = 160 calories, so as long as it’s an even cup, my calorie count should be correct, right?  Utterly wrong.

Last week, for the hell of it, I weighed that ½ cup of cereal on my digital postal scale, since weighing is always going to be more accurate for dry stuff.  The box says that ½ cup should weigh 40 grams.  Guess how much it weighed?  No really…guess.

The damn thing weighed 62 grams!  That’s over 50% more calories!  What I thought was 160 calories was actually 248.  Add the extra peanut butter I’d been doling out and that 250 calorie meal was actually around 425!  This is what 40grams looks like in a measuring cup:

Now, I’d say I’m pretty astute when it comes to calories and measuring, so if I’m making these kinds of assumptions, I’ll bet many of my calorie-counting friends are doing the same.  So to all you sweeties out there who insist you can’t lose weight like normal people, I challenge you to weigh your food and measure exactly what you’re ingesting before you claim that as your problem.  I think you’ll find a few holes in your calculations.

That’s it for today.  Next time, I’ll be talking about the mental stuff I’ve been weighing.  Until then, run well folks!

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