What happens when I don't get enough carbs and protein ??

This is a followup of my blog post yesterday. I cannot emphasize enough about making good nutritional choices while exercising intensely. I am a living example of how the gains made by an intensive exercise program got completely negated by poor nutrition. Yesterday morning I started the day with egg and portobello mushroom curry. No carbs for breakfast. I did not feel hungry till 1 PM. Then I ate moong and moth sprout salad. By 3 PM I got hungry again. I just had a few protein bars at office so I went to the vending machine. Without a choice I got 2 lunchables loaded with preservatives and salt. The ham was so tasty, I ended up having two lunchables with a  few slices of cheese.

I was still hungry :-( So I had a GNC protein bar. Most of the protein bars taste yuck and this was the only bar I have liked so far. It is supposed to have 15 gm of protein and comparably less sugar.

Nope..Not good enough. Damn it..my body was demanding a full meal. I realized that as much sugar levels were dropping down I was craving more sugar. I came back home after battling an hour of sluggish traffic...all ready to eat a full meal. Luckily my mom had prepared quinoa and tofu curry. I tried to control my portion size. So ate as less as I could. Even after a cup of south indian coffee I did not feel great. Finally I gave into my craving and ate a 3 squares of cadbury's. Duhhh....Yes I know I violated my first rule...But instantly I felt better. The sugar in my blood had spiked.

As I was winding down to go to bed..I was still feeling hungry. My husband came into the room with a banana and I could not resist. I told him I will have half and ended up eating the whole banana. Though it was a healthier choice then sweets, bananas are also loaded with sugar. A correct serving is only 1/2 banana. My personal trainer had specifically told me to avoid carbs especially during dinner time. Her theory was that it gets stored right in the belly. 

When I initially started a high protein diet, I completely avoided rice and switched to quinoa. A couple of times I felt extremely tired. I realized right away that something was not right with me and talked to my doctor. A blood test revealed that on both the occasions my sugar was below the normal range of 70-90. It had dipped below 70 on both the occasions when I felt extremely tired. 

I was referred to an endocrinologist but fortunately cleared of any disorder. I asked her if it could be because of going on a high protein diet. She told me the body should still be able to use glycogen reserves and not dip down. She said she would have to test me further when I was in such a state. Fortunately I never have had low sugar again and I am doing okay so far. 

So how do I carry on an intensive exercise program, reduce my calorific intake and still feel good. I brainstormed and came up with some guidelines. I don't know how successful I will be. But I will find out in a few weeks:

1. Salads are not enough for lunch. I do need a little bit of carbs and sufficient protein. This will help in preventing the onset of sugar craving. Carbs remain our primary source of energy. Stabilizing the blood sugar is very important in feeling energetic and not succumbing to any cravings throughout the day. 
2. Starting the day with enough protein is extremely important. I started the day yesterday with an egg and this kept me full till lunch. But  I messed up my lunch so I ended up craving carbs.
3. I need to have an array of healthy snacks handy. Here are the choices I came up with. 
1. bananas. 1/2 banana would be a good source of potassium. Yes they are rich in sugar but it should be okay. 
2. apple and peanut butter. Peanut butter is high in protein and apples have negative calories. Meaning they provide lesser calories than the calories that are needed to digest
3. Deli meat free of preservatives. For vegas tofurky is an option. 
4. Chaas : Chaas is very filling and cooling for summer. I usually blend together a little bit greek yogurt, mint, coriander, jeera and salt. Trust me it feels so good to have this. I find it so much better than the sugary, greek yogurt cups available in grocery stores. 

Any other suggestions are most welcome !!!! 

I woke up today and ran for 2 miles around Central Park in Fremont. I felt so good running around this beautiful lake, watching the sun rise and ducks quacking.  But after 25 minutes I start feeling the onset of a headache. My heart rate monitor showed that my heart rate had been sustained at 180. This is the maximum it should be for my age. I am still working on reducing this. Hopefully it should become better after a little more practice. I came back home famished. One egg, one slice of whole wheat bread, 3 slices of deli meat, 1/2 banana and a bowl of moth and moong sprouts and I am still hungry !!! I think it is the effect of the almost zero carb diet I had yesterday. I am going to keep stepping up my effort on the cardio program and fine tuning my diet. Let's see how effective it is at burning my fat reserves. I will keep you posted !!

  

More Cardio, More protein and less carbs.

Today morning I stepped on the weighing scale with great trepidation. I topped the scales at 146 lbs. Drat... I have been working hard the past one month and I have barely lost weight. I have heard people losing 4-5 lbs per week and after so much hard work I have lost only 4 lbs in a month. I felt demotivated. I need to burn some of my fat reserves. What am I doing wrong ? And where do I need to change ? Here is what I have decided to stick to for the next two weeks:

Nutrition:

1. Absolutely no sweet treats and fried savories. Yes oh yes...Good bye cake, chakilli, pizza, fried bhajji. I would eat clean during the entire week but when I meet friends and family over the weekend, I would end up eating something stupid and ruining all the hard work. Last weekend I was guilty of eating heavenly Bundt cake and delicious carrot halwa. 
2. Increase my protein intake. Yesterday I did not have enough protein for breakfast and I started looking for something else to eat mid-morning. Today I had an egg omelet with portobella mushroom and even after 3 1/2 hours I am still not hungry. So  will make sure I have enough protein for breakfast. 
3. Decrease my carb intake. I have almost stop eating rice and switched to qunioa. Qunioa is a very healthy grain. It is technically a nut. Among grains it has the highest protein content. It contains all the nine essential amino acids. It also has high fibre. Plus it contains magnesium, manganese, vitamin B2 and iron.
4. Salads : How can I forget salads ? Now I really hate the usual garden salad options. So finally I learned to make a salad I like.  This is usually what I have before I start filling my stomach with carbs. Moong and Moth Sprouts salad : Mix moong, moth sprouts, soaked almonds, kale, spinach, chard (mixed super greens from sprout), carrot, cucumber, blue berries and red grapes
5. Season with : Himalayan salt and Shan chaat masala
   Dressing: 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon.

Exercise: 

1. Increase my cardio. I have been doing more of strength training. They say cardio is better for burning overall fat. Strength training does zoom up my resting metabolic rate but then I find it hard to reduce my calorie intake. So I am going to scale back a bit on the strength training and go up on the cardio. Mind you I am not giving up strength training but I am going to scale back a little. So what are my cardio options ? 

• Swimming - I joined a new swim class to perfect my swim strokes. I will be swimming for an hour every Saturday morning. I love swimming. It is an excellent, non-impact, whole body cardio. I got motivated to learn swimming when my son started his swim lessons. I started learning it about 1 1/2 years back and I think it is one of the best skills I gained. Probably after I finish a sweaty cardio session in the swim, I will jump in the pool to do a few laps and cool off. 
• Running - I have never been a good runner. I have a chest heart rate monitor and I noticed that my heart rate zooms up to 180-185 every time I try to run even at a very moderate speed of 5.5 miles. For my age 180 is the maximum it should go to. I will still do running for 20 minutes 2X a week. 
• Elliptical - It is a pretty good alternative to running. Non impact. 20 minutes of elliptical before my running session would warm me up enough. So 2x a week 20 minutes of running and 20 minutes of elliptical. And if time permits will cool off in the swimming pool and do a few laps. 
• Cycling - I love cycling outdoors. I have a hybrid bike. But I am yet to find a good biking trail. I like to bike around the lake in Fremont Central park. But the trail gets pretty crowded and its hard to bike there at a good speed. Until I find a good biking trail, it is suspended for now. 
• Less Mills Body Combat class - Now this is a great option. It is a martial based cardio class by Less Mills. If you are ever mad at somebody this is an excellent class to go to. At the end of the class you would have dissipated your anger and burnt more than 600 calories. You can get more info at http://w3.lesmills.com/sweden/en/classes/bodycombat/about-bodycombat/. Here is Body Combat sizzler. I really love this class. 

Less Mills Body Attack Class - Another great Aerobic class. It is a sports inspired cardio workout routine. It focusses more on plyometrics and interval training. Here is the sizzler.

• Hiking - Wish I had the time for it. I used to hike Mission peak regularly but I do not like it anymore. It has a steep uphill ascent and a steep downhill descent. The downhill descent really hurts my knees big time. I want to hike Berry creek trail in Big Basin national park. It is one of the most beautiful trails in Bay area. It is a 12 mile loop with three unique water falls en route. There is nothing more tranquil then hiking through the giant redwoods listening to the sound of falling water. Maybe I will go there next weekend before all the water dries up. Probably make it a family picnic. Here are some pics from my last hike to Berry creek trail. I really loved the trail !! 

I will keep you posted on how much the increase cardio makes a difference to my weight loss journey. I am sure I can lose more pounds if I start a cleansing diet or fast. But I don't think it can support my correct activity level. And hey the goal is not just to shed pounds but to get fit and fitter !!!! 

140 lbs to 125 lbs and then back to 150 lbs..Yikes !!

I began my fitness journey in July 2011. After a three month trip to India I had gained a hefty 20 lbs and was topping the scale at 140 lbs+. I wanted to stop bunny hopping in and out of my jeans so I decided to lose weight. I teamed up with my girl friend and decided to start hiking regularly. My regular hiking spot was  Mission Peak in Fremont, CA.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/mission

One day as I was hiking on Mission Peak my skin started burning. It was a hot day and I was not sweating. Ever since I was a child I was never able to sweat enough. My friends would always saw I look so fresh and radiant even in the blistering Chennai weather. But only I knew the truth. I would not sweat but my skin would burn in the heat and the sweat would not ooze out. As a result my eczema would flare up. Hearing me complain about my burning skin irritation during the hike, my friend who is a doctor suggested that I use a steam sauna to open up my pores. She suggested I try out the local 24 hour fitness facility. I was very iffy. I never liked gyms and with great trepidation I entered the gym. It was stinky and awful. Ewwwww....I entered the steam sauna. It was filled with big, burly men with tattoos all over their body. In the steamy haze I got terrified and I fled the sauna. I was not interested in the cardio machines. I found them mindlessly boring. So what do I do with my membership !!


The receptionist suggested I try out the Less Mills Body pump program. What's that !!! Check out

http://w3.lesmills.com/sweden/en/classes/bodypump/about-bodypump/

He said I could burn 600+ calories in one session. I was skeptical. The next day I came for the class. The instructor walked in. She was a lean, toned American with a cocky attitude. Gingerly I started following her moves in the class. For the next 60 minutes she made us excercise every muscle in the body systemically. The music was fantastic and it was just inspirational watching her exercise and talk non stop to motivate us to keep going. I was floored. Oh boy...she made sure I became aware of every muscle in my body.  I was so sore and I did not realize that my intense soreness was because of the workout. I thought something was wrong with my mattress and ended up sleeping on a sleeping bag for the next few weeks. The next few days my metabolic rate zoomed through the roof. I would be hungry all the time. I would go often to my local favorite restaurant Anjappar and have a big bowl of chicken biryani, fried fish, ghee dosa and still wonder what next to eat. In spite of such a heavy meal I would wake up hungry in the night. I even suspected I was having a thyroid problem and went to the doctor to have my thyroid checked. Right during the physical examination my tummy growled in hunger. Believe it or not despite my crazy eating habits I dropped down 20+ lbs !!!! But hang on this was definitely not sustainable !!

Gradually my body got accustomed to the routine and before I knew it the pounds slowly came rolling back over a period of two years.  I would keep telling myself that I would lose it by hitting the gym again. I would bike 6 miles to the gym, do the less mills body pump class, run for 2 miles on the treadmill and head straight to Anjappar to eat a big bowl of chicken biryani and finish it off with gulab jamun. After a few months I joined back the workforce. Oh what a nice company I joined....so much free food. I left the company 15 lbs heavier !! After my morning meal of steel cut oats, almonds and blueberries I would be hungry again at 10:30 AM. The kitchen was stocked with free snacks of every kind and variety. So between my trips to the kitchen and my favorite restaurants I gradually became more and more rotund. I would step on the weighing scale and convince myself that the weight gain was because of the muscle I was gaining. During the holiday season and on business trips I would generously eat cake and sweets. No holds barred. I would always tell myself that I would burn it off. Finally I topped the scales at 150 lbs. My primary care physian showed me a chart of my weight gain over the past 2 years. From 140 lbs to 125  lbs and back to 150 lbs..Yikes !!!! But my cholesterol readings still looked good.

So this time I decided to get a personal trainer. I was obsessed about losing the extra fat. My old routines were not working anymore because my body had become accustomed to the moves. Plus as I lifted more and more weights during squats my lower back started aching. I realized my form might not be right. So I hired a personal trainer. My personal trainer guided me on clean nutrition and I learned how important healthy nutrition and meal planning is. She has also been guiding me on the right form and teaching me multi functional exercise routines so I can exercise multiple muscle groups at the same time. Yes, sometimes I feel guilty about the money I spend on personal training. But I look at it as an investment in my health. Many people waste money on alcohol, cigarettes and shopping. I am spending it on improving my fitness. I have completely stopped my restaurant trips and slowly though I have not lost a lot of lbs I see that I am losing inches !! I am yet to completely conquer my sweet tooth craving but I am getting there. My overall fitness has improved compared to before.

Here are some tips that I have learned on my fitness journey:

• Start the day with protein. This will keep you  more full. I would eat 1/2 cup steel cut oats with blueberries, walnuts/almonds and 1 tbsp of honey for breakfast. But I would be hungry in 2 hours. Once I switched to eggs I started feeling less hungry. Eggs are very filling and nutritious. It is okay to have one full egg per day as long as your cholesterol numbers are within range.
• Plan your meals. When you are hungry you want to grab whatever can fill your stomach. So plan in advance. Keep a protein bar handy. 
• Do not underestimate the importance of good nutrition. When it comes to maintaining good weight loss nutrition plays a more important role than exercise. I ruined all the gains I made by my intensive workout routines by making poor nutritional choices. 
• Cardio is good but strength training boosts your resting metabolic rate. During cardio you burn calories only during the cardio session. But when you do strength training you continue burning calories even after you finish working out. Aim to do strength training for 2-3 times per week at least. 
• Do something you enjoy. Like take a zumba class or go hiking with your friends. I love all the Less Mills program. They have great music, great routines and great choreography. The teachers are very inspiring.
• If you want to get leaner, stronger and fitter routine is your enemy. Don't have a fixed exercise routine. Keep changing your workout routines every week. Try a new class, form a group to go hiking. 
• Don't hesitate to invest in good fitness gear. At a bare minimum you should have a good shoe. I did my first half marathon in my favorite hiking cum walking shoes. I was too cheap to invest in a good pair of running shoes. Midway I ended up getting foot blisters and by the time I completed the race they had even removed the finish line :-(  My poor hubby could not even get a picture of me finishing the race. 
• Find like minded friends who are interested in fitness and good nutrition. The group synergy will motivate you to keep going. 

Having kids is not an excuse not to exercise. I have a 7 year old boy myself and I can understand the challenges. But here are some tips:

1. Carry your kid piggy back and try to do squats. It is strength training. I do it with my son. He is a good 50 lbs. It is a nice way to bond with your child too. If you have two kids even better !! Use the older one for squats and the younger one for bicep curls. The kids will love it !!
2. I love to go hiking with my son. He rides on my back and goes on rambling on.
3. Play tag with your kids. It is interval training right there.
4. Try to do leap frog races with your kids. Excellent for the thighs !! 
5. Try super man with your kids. Very good for your core workout.
6. The best part I love about working out with kids is they run away after sometime. No strength training class will offer you this benefit..lol.

I am on a mission again to lose a few more inches. I will keep you posted on how I am doing. This time around I think I got it right. Varied exercise routine and clean nutrition !!