April 26th - Day 3

April 26th - Day 3
Weight 157.5 lbs

I'm a half pound lighter today, but that is most likely due to hydration levels (water) and not body fat loss just yet although, I am certainly feeling like my calorie target is starting to kick in already. A little bit of hunger is probably "necessary" when weight loss is of interest. The body is simply trying to ask us to eat a little more to meet energy demands. The "trick" is to stay hungry to a certain extent from my personal experiences. If energy supply is lower than energy demand, it stands to reason that I'm going to be a little more hungry than I would be if I wasn't restricting my calories slightly to create an energy defecit. There are other factors that go into this dynamic, but there sure to be some truth to this. No problem. I expect this when I'm eating less than my body wants to maintain the same weight...when your car's gas tank is getting close to empty, doesn't an indicator light come on? Well, I consider a little bit of hunger generally to be similar to that indicator light. The question is...can you continue to drive this car safely and efficiently with less than a full tank of gas in it? Of course you can especially if you know how to eat wholesome foods and train/exercise properly/optimally.

Meal summary:
Nothing radical today. Just simple meals and snacks using my calorie targets and of course, PB and J in every meal. Usually, I'm just using 1 TBSP of PB and 1 TBSP of some sort of jelly with each meal. My most notable meal today was a double decker PB and J sandwich (2 sandwiches stacked on top of each other) with a honey drizzle to top it off. I heated this up in the microwave slightly for about 30 seconds to make it a little warm and moist. With a tall glass of ice cold water, this was all I needed to hit my target of 700 calories. Brilliant. Granny smith apples and naval oranges were my snacks today. Thanks mother earth! Natural is always good. Keep it simple. We are what we eat mos def! ;) Dinner was interesting...I had a few "mexican" PB and J sandwiches on whole wheat tortillas along with grilled veggies and tofu. Hey, I'm eating a healthy diet here that includes PB and J in every meal...not a PB and J ONLY diet. THAT would be dumb. I had a few fig bars with some PB and J as well for dessert to finish the day off.

Total calories today - 2,540

I trained twice today. Once in my spinning class and again later in the day when I went out for an easy 45 minute run on Pacific Beach. Stellar run. My energy levels were low, but that's probably because I'm still pretty tired and sore from the half marathon race I did last Sunday. Racing 13.1 miles all out takes a lot out of the body. I ran my best time ever by a few minutes placing 9th overall so, I expect to be lower energy than normal for up to a week while my body is recovering. Our bodies get stronger/faster/better when we are resting and not when we are training. Training basically breaks the body down. Resting (sleeping particularly) is when our bodies try to catch up on things and adapt to the demands of our day. I was talking to a student after my spinning class about this just today. When in doubt, if you're training often/a lot, rest a little more and I bet you improve faster. Less can and often is more.

Energy balance today = -1,500 calories meaning that I burned 1,500 more than I ate in total today. Well over my target of 416-750 per day. 2 aerobic/moderate workouts today made that possible, but this is too great a defecit. I'll be better about that moving forward. I'm not sure that my metabolism will truly slow down as much as some might with this great a defecit, but I should be careful and keep a lower defecit moving forward.

Some of you have written to me with some PB and J suggestions. Here are a few of those messages. Thanks! I plan to put them to use straight away. People connecting thanks to peanut butter and jelly...the lowest common denominator in the American diet...a food "language" that each and everyone of us can easily understand. I knew it!

Recent messages from friends out there:

ok! looking forward to having a pb&j with you! : )

I love crunchy wheat bread, Trader Joe's Organic PB, a sliced banana and honey (so good after a run). My friend and I were checking out "Fluff" the other day (my kids are obsessed with it) and it actually has less sugar than jam (I broke down and tried some yesterday and it was pretty damn good). I look forward to reading your blog through your journey. Good luck.

I have always been a fan of peanut butter, sliced banana and honey on awhole grain waffle. You can always go with a PB and berry, protein powder,milk and yogurt smoothie ... again a departure, but you may be interested inthat after a couple weeks of PB&J sandwiches.

I haven't checked the website out yet but what about fiber, phytonutrients and vitamins from fruits and veggies? You may never eat another PB&J in your life after this.

GREAT POINT ABOVE. I'M EATING OTHER FOODS TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. WE'LL SEE IF I LOSE THE TASTE FOR PB AND J...THAT TASTE GOES BACK TO CHILDHOOD SO, IT'S PRETTY ROOTED!

I'll be watching. You are one interesting dude Myles. Love ya brotha.

LIVING AN INTERESTING LIFE IS ONE OF MY GOALS EACH DAY. THANKS FOR THAT.