TXSnowman's Journal, 09 January 2014

Excellent job. Keep up the good work. You seem to have found what works for your body (everyone's different). Ignoring naysayers and negative people (I'm sure you already do)can be the secret to long term health. 

what plan are you following TXSnowman? Must be nice to see 17.5% BF :) 

Paleo Guy: I started with a pretty basic low calorie, low-carb diet. I cut out all grains. No breads, cakes, tortillas, rice, quinoa, etc. I stuck to lower calorie meats, egg products, and lots of spinach, peppers, broccoli, squash, green beans, and rarely a little potato for variety. GNC was glad to see me...lol. I use their fish oil, DHA, DHEA, CLA, Vitamins, and amino acid. I began with a very low calorie diet and the only exercise I could do was walking a couple miles per day. As the weight came down, I walked more, began hiking, using a stair master & doing yoga & fitness training with my Wii console. Very recently (first of this year) I bought a home gym to start doing resistance training, and I started doing a series of exercises to firm up my core. About a week ago, I switched to the Intermittent Fasting that I was talking about in my post, but I'm still trying to figure out the right balance there. As for the 17.5% body fat, you bet I'm loving it. I started at about 35%, so it is down to about half of my starting level. At this point, I'm really more interested in goals that are not weight. I want a 32" or smaller waist, and I'd like to see a 12% or 13% body fat. I think those are realistic. If I reach those two goals, the weight will be whatever it works out to be. More muscle mass will mean a little more weight, a little less muscle & my weight will drop. I'm shooting for the former, rather than the later...lol. 

Based on your post I read your profile and appreciate your take on bariatric surgery. You confirmed what I always suspected. With or without the surgery it is all about nutrition and exercise. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 

I am no expert, but do you need more protein in your diet?  

Rundaloo, Thanks for the advice. I'm with you there 100%. The increases in calories that I'm doing will be predominantly protein. I've been working on increasing the protein as I've been increasing my calorie counts. I know that the RDA for protein is .4g per pound of body weight per day, but most of the info I find on training sites suggest that I need .8 to 1g per pound. So I should take in between 156g & 195g per day and I'm currently up to an avg of 137g per day. I just bought a goodly supply of a high quality Whey Protein Isolate to help bring my protein numbers up. November & prior I averaged 123g prot, 60g carb, 30g fat. Dec avg was 123g prot, 73g carb, 31g fat. So far in January its 137g prot, 67g carb, 36g fat PLUS I'm taking 10 mg of Branched Chain Amino Acids pre-workout and another 10 mg after workouts instead of the 2.5 mg tab that I used to take once or twice daily. Thanks again. Have a great day. 

Isn't it crazy when something works a little too well! I am loving the 16:8. I don't have your results but it controls my appetite - what more could one ask for? Good luck with your experiment.  

CPModem, I checked out your profile and have to say...GREAT JOB! You really seem to have found a wonderful balance in your diet / exercise and the ability to maintain it is inspiring.  

Thanks BuffyBear!  

Great job! Had a question about GNC. What products do you use? I just bought Kelp (have a thyroid problem and thought this would help). I saw the fish oil, but wasn't sure what that was for. Any other suggestions? I am on a low cal, low fat diet, but I'm not fasting. I eat three small meals a day and limit my snacks in between. 

Jillzee, I take GNC Fish Oil 1000 (Omega 3 fatty acids). DHA600 (Boosts brain function). Glucosamine & Chondroitin for joints (because I'm not 20 anymore), CLA Softchew (helps burn fat), DHEA (to help increase testosterone (it will raise testosterone and estrogen in women), 2 GNC Multi-Vitamins for men, Chewable Vitamin C (because its cold & flu season), vitamin D (because during the winter you don't create enough no matter how much time you spend outdoors) & Vitamin B12 Softchew. 

Last time I went to the doctor, found out my good cholesterol was low (HDL) I researched and found that fish oil helps increase HDL (Good Cholesterol) which is what our bodies use to keep our arteries clear of bad cholesterol.  

Here is a link http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/07/29/fish-oil-works-better-than-statins-at-improving-hdl-cholesterol.aspx  

All I can say is Wow! You truly an inspiration. :) 

Thanks imechelle. I appreciate your kind thoughts!