or What the Hell are you Doing Again?In response to Marla's comment, I thought I should clarify what my current strategy is in terms of fat loss and training.
I have reached my goal to weigh sub 60kg with body fat between 7kg and 8kg. I have actually been at this level for almost 3 months.
My current goals are
• to stay at my 'happy' weight forever
• to reset my set point so this becomes easy
• to slowly increase my calories so average daily intake is around 2,000+ without fat gain
• to reduce my training so that my body doesn't get injured or sick
• to have some freedom to eat like a 'normal' person on occasions
• to reduce my stress levels
• to get my period back [the only concrete evidence I have that I am not trying to maintain a body fat percentage that is too lean]
• to have enough energy to train hard and have enough left over for the rest of the day
What am I doing to achieve these goals
• slowly increasing my average weekly calorie level - I am at about 1800 now and hoping I can go higher (still calorie cycling low/high)
• reducing my training from 80-90 minutes a day 5 days a week to 30 minutes a day 5 days a week - 2-3 weight sessions and 2-3 cardio sessions
• eating back half of the calories I burn in exercise so I don't get too hungry or too tired
• monitoring my scale weight - 56 kg is my 'happy' weight and I have a 2kg buffer to account for fluctuations
• having a high calorie day or a free meal/day once a week so I can eat out with Mr KatieP (I wait for a low(er) scale number before I do this)
• sleeping more - 5am starts are no longer required
Fundamentally my three biggest enemies are hunger, fatigue and lack of spontaneity. I will do what it takes to stay lean, but I choose not to live the rest of my life hungry, tired and unable to go out to eat once in a while.
I took a week off training to give my body a rest and to have a break from the stress of training. It made me realise that I have been under eating and over training. I am trying to find the middle ground where I stay in shape and stay sane. It is all a big experiment.
And for the record, TTOM arrived yesterday so something is working.
Those are my EXACT current goals as well! Thanks now I can copy and paste LOL! Good luck to you.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing as much as you do, it's great to hear about other's experiences, especially being a newbie to the whole figure competing. Well done on maintaining your weight as I know that can be so difficult to achieve!
If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on competing again? Or are you finished with that?
@Redhead - welcome - thanks for leaving a comment. I stopped by your blog - it is nice to find someone else in the same place x
ReplyDelete@Kristin - competing again? don't think so but never say never. I find the whole comparing myself to others quite difficult. Even though I know intellectually I can only be the best 'me' I went in feeling that I looked amazing and came out feeling fat and under-muscled.
I think it was a great way for me to find motivation to lean down and now I am hanging on to it, I think I would prefer not have to go through all the physical/mental trauma of competing. It's a bit EXTREME!
Thanks for answering me Katie and that's completely fair enough too! I think you looked amazing from your photos and well done for just doing it anyway. All the best with your journey to finding your best 'you' and maintaining, you are doing such an awesome job so far and I look forward to continuing to read about it :)
ReplyDelete