RFL For Summer

[cl046]

Summer is right around the corner, so what better time to begin my RFL journey!

About Me
31/F
5'4" and ~130lbs
~ 26% BF (CAT 2)

I was slim and fit growing up. I played sports all my life, including 4 years of college lacrosse. After school, I continued to run and lift weights (mostly machine based) and maintained a weight around 120-126lbs. Over the past two years I went through a lot of "life stuff" and eating healthy/working out was quick to a backseat. Needless to say, I put on weight (doesn't sound like much based on the numbers) but I'm a small-ish female so it has been noticeable and I have lost my fit physique. My goal with RFL is to lose the fat I've put on and to regain my confidence before summer gets underway. I plan to post daily in this log to hold myself accountable.

Workout & Supps

Full body routine 2x/week

EC Stack
Calcium
Magnesium
Potassium
Fish Oil
Multi-vitamin

**Side note: I've been reading the forums all day and I have been incredibly inspired by the blogs of tr4nsf0rm3r, birdiefu, and Bobbyguns18. I am looking for more so if you have a favorite log on these forums that has inspired, motivated, etc. you please share below!!

[cl046]

Day 1

Weight: 134lbs

Protein: 113
Fat: 25.9
Carbs: 12.2
Cals: 744
** (doesn't include supplements and veggies)

Workout: None

So my Day 1 weigh-in was much higher than I expected. In fact, it's my highest scale weight in recent memory I'm guessing the pasta/bread-heavy Mother's Day dinner from the previous night had a lot to do with that! Anyway, day 1 (yesterday) was ok overall. I'm still playing around with RFL foods. Going forward, I'm going to nix whole eggs and ground turkey to get my fat grams lower. My daily protein goal is at least 120 grams so I need to work on hitting that too. But overall I think it was a pretty good first day.

[runliftsleep]

Just look at it this way: lots of water weight to drop, so you'll see quick results

[cl046]

Day 2

Weight: 132.8lbs (-1.2)

Protein: 127
Fat: 20
Carbs: 28
Cals: 824
** (doesn't include supplements and veggies)

Workout: None

Day 2 (toady 5/9) is in the books! I'm still playing around with my RFL foods. I was able to get my protein up, but it looks like I'm still too high on carb and fat grams. I had beef jerky, which contributed to half my fat grams today so I think I will stay away from that going forward. And as for the carbs - they just crept up! According to FitnessPal, the 28 grams came from FF mayo, 1tbp BBQ sauce, beef jerky, protein powder (60g), FF half and half, FF cheese, etc. I suppose I could cut out the bbq sauce and the half & half along with the beef jerky.

Last night I slept horribly My body was tired but my mind just wouldn't "shut off." I didn't even take the EC stack yesterday so it was really just my body adjusting to the new diet. I was tossing and turning all night then woke at 3am to relieve my bladder and then when I finally fell asleep I dreamt that I was in a bakery ordering a dozen muffins. The funny part is, I can't even remember the last time I ate a muffin!! I guess my body is trying to tell me something, eh?

So far, I've been really good about taking all my supplements and fairly good about meeting my macros. Tomorrow I'm planning to hit the gym for my first full body workout since starting RFL. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to do a high rep/depletion workout even though it will be Day 3 for me --- does anyone have any insight on that?

[Ryker]

Originally Posted by cl046

So far, I've been really good about taking all my supplements and fairly good about meeting my macros. Tomorrow I'm planning to hit the gym for my first full body workout since starting RFL. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to do a high rep/depletion workout even though it will be Day 3 for me --- does anyone have any insight on that?

Why in the world do you think that would even remotely be a good idea?

[cl046]

Day 3

Weight: 131.6lbs (-1.2, -2.4)

Protein: 127
Fat: 19
Carbs: 15
Cals: 767
** (doesn't include supplements and veggies)

Workout: Full Body with dumbbells & machines

Another 1.2lbs down. I felt good about Day 3 - got both my fat and carb grams down, hit my protein requirements, and took all my supplements. I also did my first workout since starting RFL and felt pretty good during and after. I was a little tired before but I put on some music and reminded myself why I was doing RFL (get ready for summer!) and that was enough to motivated me.

I also slept a little better last night. I still got up in the middle of the night to pee but I wasn't tossing and turning like the previous night. In fact, I slept pretty well and felt pretty refreshed in this morning.

I will say that I did get some food (and drink ) cravings earlier. A few friends went to get drinks at an outdoor bar by my place because the weather was so nice today. I stayed strong and declined the invite to drink beer and eat bar food and instead went to the gym to do my workout. It wasn't easy by any means! Even after I got back from the gym I was still craving some non-RFL foods and a cocktail. But, again, I resisted and just reminded myself WHY I was doing RFL and stayed focused on those goals.

[sfczarnecki]

Hi! Just wanted to say I'm enjoying reading your progress. We seem to be of a similar size/weight and your numbers seem to be about the same as mine food/nutrition-wise when I'm doing RFL. Just nice to see someone in a similar boat that I can relate to. Keep it up! Hope you get great results!

[cl046]

Originally Posted by sfczarnecki

Hi! Just wanted to say I'm enjoying reading your progress. We seem to be of a similar size/weight and your numbers seem to be about the same as mine food/nutrition-wise when I'm doing RFL. Just nice to see someone in a similar boat that I can relate to. Keep it up! Hope you get great results!

Thanks for reading sfczarnecki I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Are you currently doing RFL?

[cl046]

Day 4

Weight: 131.6lbs (0, -2.4)

Protein: 117
Fat: 14
Carbs: 15
Cals: 669
** (doesn't include supplements and veggies)

Workout: none

No scale change this morning, which (I won't lie) was discouraging. I've read enough logs to know that weight loss is hardly ever linear and that sometimes a weight will stick for a day or two (or three or four or five!) before it goes down while doing RFL, but it's still disappointing for me to see the scale unchanged given that I've only lost 2.4lbs since day 1 and I thought I was carrying a lot of water weight to begin with.

On the bright side, I put on a dress today that I haven't worn in weeks because I didn't feel comfortable in it (too puffy and bloaty) and lo and behold it fit and looked great. So I know I must be making some sort of progress I'm kind of kicking myself for not taking body measurements and "before" pictures on day 0/1 so that I had more ways to track my progress than by just relying on the scale.

Food wise, I lowered my fat intake my removing yet another condiment. I'm already starting to get tired of the way I've been cooking my chicken breast and now it's even less tasty so tonight I plan to search the forum for some recipe ideas (please feel free to leave your recipes below or link me to a favorite of yours ).

Sleep was ok last night. I'm still getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but I don't seem to be as restless as I was my very first night. I haven't been fatigued as I thought I would be on low cal/low carbs but I'm sure that has something to do with the EC stack.

[Neilnacarter]

Check out the recipe section

I have a favourite Thai Chciken salad (larb gai)

Ground chicken
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Mint Cilantro
Green beans and red onion.

No extra calories from sugary sauces or fats there and its delicious.