ZepBound Week 4: Getting into a rhythm

 I'm rounding out Week 4 - just today and tomorrow, and then my 5th shot. This week seemed like smooth sailing. 

Diarrhea update: I finally stopped racing to the bathroom - it lasted about Friday to Wednesday - and now find myself mildly constipated. Sigh. I've read that 4 ounces of pear juice in the morning can do wonders so I will start that tomorrow. I have a performance today and would rather not have to race off the stage!

Food update: I decided this week to start counting calories. Although I tracked protein, fiber, and water for the first 3 weeks, I had a sneaky suspicion that I was still eating too many calories. According to my smart scale, my BMR (basic metabolic rate) is only 1400, which would put my TDEE at 1680 (1.2 times BMR for a sedentary person). To lose a pound a week, this means that I would need to shave off 500/calories a day from the TDEE, making my daily max only 1180!!

Obviously this is too few calories, which means I have to boost my TDEE. Two ways that are "easy" (lol) to implement:

  1. Add cardio! Moving from "sedentary" to "light exercise" changes TDEE to 1925 (1.375 times BMR instead of 1.2), which makes max daily calories around 1425. Much more reasonable. 
  2. Strength training: Adding muscle mass will increase BMR, which in turns increases the amount I can eat while still losing weight. 
With this in mind, I wanted to start a walking program to address #1, but it got very cold here. Yes, I have a lot of excuses! But my spring commitments are winding down - today is the last performance for a while - so I will dedicate myself to making this happen.

On the plus side, I did some mild strength training yesterday and am very pleased with myself. I found a YouTube channel called fabulous50s run by Schellea, a lovely lady (with a lovely accent!). I did about 15 minutes of her no-impact shoulder and upper arm exercises that use hand weights, and it felt great! I have to ease in slowly due to bursitis in my left shoulder, but I'm going to try to do these exercises every other day for now. 

I"m feeling very positive and looking forward to my next shot. Despite all the tracking and planning, I feely like I'm finding a groove and not obsessing about this process constantly. My hope is that this all becomes just a normal part of my existence!

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