Ramping Up?

A break-even fortnight, with my weight holding steady at 230. I've been watching what I eat pretty carefully, although I did make one change about three weeks ago that may be a factor. My breakfast routine over the past few months has been a bowl of granola with skim milk: yummy, good source of energy, good source of fiber, etc. But I was noticing that with an intense workout in the morning followed by this breakfast, and usually a fruit and veggie lunch (tomato sandwich + apple + orange or some variation on that theme), I was feeling pretty washed out at the end of the day. Plus, I had noticed for some time that I wasn't building muscle at quite the rate I had planned.

Then one Saturday morning I followed up an intense workout with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, had a salad for lunch, and felt fine all day. My observation -- I feel better if I eat some protein in the morning. And, come to think of it, it couldn't hurt to take in a little more protein if I'm trying to build muscle.

So about three weeks ago I swapped the granola for a whey protein and psyllium fiber shake (my own recipe*), and I've noticed an immediate change in how I feel throughout the day. Plus, I seem to be observing a little more muscular definition, although obviously it's still fairly early in the process. The downside is that my weight didn't drop over the past two weeks, even though I was eating pretty reasonably and exercising vigorously.

Amanda, the nurse at Dr. Harris' office who does the weighing, suggested that if I am putting on even a little bit of muscle, I have to keep in mind that it weighs more than fat. I might even gain some weight, but it all comes down to the basics of watching what I eat, keeping up with the exercise, and recognizing the relationship between the two.

So with 25 weeks and 30 pounds to go towards my goal, I'm going to have to decide whether I should keep on my current track or ramp things up a little for the home stretch. For example, I might go back to counting calories. I don't want to do anything drastic, but I might have to do something to finally break out of this long plateau.

But first, I'm going to keep things exactly where they are for two weeks and see what the next weigh-in brings. If I've learned anything over the past year and a half, it's that losing weight isn't about snap judgments and instant results.

* Phil's Breakfast Protein Shake

4 scoops whey protein
2 tablespoons psyllium husk
20 ounces water
25-ounce shaker cup with lid (or you can use a blender)

72 grams protein
414 calories
11 grams dietary fiber

Pour 8-12 ounces of water into the shaker. Scoop in the whey protein. I recommend vanilla-flavored. You get a nice cream-of-wheat effect with the fiber in there. Some like chocolate, but I personally believe that adding chocolate flavoring to a protein shake is a disservice both to chocolate and to the shake. Better just to have a square or two of good dark chocolate at some point in the day; it tastes better and it's loaded with anti-oxidants. Using a spoon, stir the whey into the water until smooth (this avoids lumping.) Add the psyllium husk and then the rest of the water. Secure the lid and then start shaking -- 30 seconds or so generally does the trick. Enjoy!

On non-hammer (bicycle) days, I use only two scoops of the protein powder, which cuts the calories by about 200 and reduces the protein grams to 36.