I wrote last about my change in direction. I was giving myself permission to maintain. Permission to just be for a while. There is victory in maintaining and I was beginning to look to experiencing it.
And that is going to have to wait a bit longer...
The tides have changed again. My cholesterol numbers have come back and they've come back high. I recently changed doctors and this one believes the numbers will come down when I shed more weight. She's given me 6 months to lose more before she wants to discuss medical weight loss options. Not surgery, but drug assisted weight loss. Thankfully I'm ineligible for surgery due to my weight loss this year and I'm happy for doctors to stop asking me about it.
However, I'm not much happier about the drug assisted options. I don't like medicine and I think I've had solid weight loss success without it this year. But I still have my hereditarily high cholesterol numbers to consider. If the doc things rapid weight loss will get me in a better range, then I feel it is irresponsible to ignore her medical advice.
The plan provided by the doctor was 1200 calories with 45 minutes of cardio 6 days a week, no carbs after 6pm and ramp up on lean protein in all other meals. Not to be whiny but this also didn't work for me. I discussed that I'd been seeing results at 1600+ calories and didn't think I could do 1200. My point was not accepted.
I've considered that this new doctor isn't right for me. She's talking drug therapy versus crash dieting (in my completely non-medical opinion), neither option I find particularly appealing. Instead of going through the trouble of switching again, I am going to see through the next 6 months and find out what my numbers look like in April.
Last week I tried 1200 calories. After 5 days, I was unpleasant. My husband can vouch for that. Also I started to itch. I have yet to find a doctor who's seen it or person who's experienced it, but when I lose weight I tend to develop itchy hot red spots anywhere part of my body presses into something else. Sometimes these spots even turn into hives. It's really not comfortable, physically or mentally as I have no idea why it is happening.
Also, that was without exercise added in! I can see using a 1200 calories day every once in a while to reset my eating patterns, but long term I just don't think it is for me.
So I'm back to 1600 calories and I'm going to workout 6 days a week (go to the gym, do DVDs at home or walk around my neighborhood). I've interviewed a number of nutritionists and will be scheduling with one as soon as finances permit. I'm back on the weight loss bandwagon with reinvented motivation.
Wish me luck!
Showing posts with label calorie counting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calorie counting. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Factoring in Exercise
Here's my usual calorie counting round-up:
Evaluation:
Goal 1 - Exercise M, W, and Sa. This was a resounding success. I even added Friday into the mix after my pipe explosion. I felt good for all the exercise and will continue with this being my base schedule. Why Monday - Wednesday - Saturday? Monday starts my week off on the right foot. I mentally set the stage for a successful week with a positive active note. Wednesday is weigh-in day for me. No point in skipping that. And Saturday is Junior Fitness. How on earth can I let my little girl down by not wanting to go to the gym? Yup - I've totally worked myself into a corner on that one! The past two week's this has been my schedule and, for the first time since I started all this, it doesn't feel at all forced. Well... There might be a little force on Monday, but it is a good healthy coercion.
Goal 2 -Eat 1/2 my exercise calories. This one scares me. It is so counter intuitive to eat more when all I want to do is weight less. However, this got added because I actually have already been eating half my exercise calories. Actually I have actually been eating all my exercise calories. On one hand I can say that I succeeded at this goal - I ate them. Looking at the Difference column in the table up there, I've still got a pretty rocky ride in calorie totals. That may be fine, but it might also be aggravating the overindulgence on the weekends when I'm more tired, less scheduled and struggling to recover enough to survive the next week. I'm going to keep the spirit of this goal in the coming week by attempting to eat only 1/2 my exercise calories.
Goal 3 - Roll legs (IT band) each evening. I think I got 3 out of 7 here - less than 50%. This is a simple requirement for keeping me pain-free. Wow is it ever an effective treatment for the pain I've had in my legs for so many years!!! And so simple. But. I. Must. Remember. I have been bad about that until the pain comes back. Being proactive in this area improves my quality of life. Done. This goal stays. Maybe it will even move to number 1.
Goal 4 - Blog in the evenings. Ha! I'm blogging all over the place. Before work. At lunch. After dinner. In my head during my commute. This goal is more about time management. My evenings have been hard lately - I'm so very very tired. But I need to add some structure there. Allowing myself to lounge in the evenings isn't as rejuvenating as I would like. Also, I'd like to start planning my morning workouts for the week so I'm not coming up with them fresh each day. This goal stays as well (do I detect a pattern of being slow to let anything go?) but in a modified format. I'm not sure how to say it concisely - I setup for the next day each evening. Be it writing a blag post, packing a gym back or putting together lunches. The prep work at night sets me up for a good following day. I'm going to keep at it.
All in all, I had a good week. I feel okay to good most days. I've had at least 3 mothers of older children tell me over the past week that this is a demanding time and it will get better with respect to the exhaustion. The exercise is helping with that as well the morning coffee I can't seem to give up. Not only can I do this, but I am doing this. Every day. Of that I am very proud. And hopefully I'll have smaller numbers on Wednesday to show for all this work!
| Date | Food Calories | Exercise Calories | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, July 23 | 1544 | 208 | 1336 |
| Tuesday, July 24 | 1617 | 0 | 1617 |
| Wednesday, July 25 | 1710 | 452 | 1258 |
| Thursday, July 26 | 1607 | 0 | 1607 |
| Friday, July 27 | 2326 | 488 | 1838 |
| Saturday, July 28 | 2201 | 479 | 1722 |
| Sunday, July 29 | 1987 | 0 | 1978 |
| Totals | 12992 | 1627 | 11356 |
| Averages | 1856 | --- | 1624 |
Evaluation:
- Consistent Tracking: I tracked every day! I have to admit this is a lot easier with MFP than WW or my paper journal. Or maybe I'm really really infatuated with this website...
- 1600 Daily Goal: 3 days out of 7 tracked were between 1400 and 1650. This is the last week I'm going to include this evaluation criteria. I'm not finding it motivational or useful.
- Weekly Average: 1856 - second highest since I started tracking. Ouch.
- Monthly Average: 1725
- (New!) Weekly Average w/ Exercise: 1624 - This is a reassuring number. It is one that I will work to lower, but it is good to know that my overages and exercise are helping to balance each other as I work to figure all this out.
Goal 1 - Exercise M, W, and Sa. This was a resounding success. I even added Friday into the mix after my pipe explosion. I felt good for all the exercise and will continue with this being my base schedule. Why Monday - Wednesday - Saturday? Monday starts my week off on the right foot. I mentally set the stage for a successful week with a positive active note. Wednesday is weigh-in day for me. No point in skipping that. And Saturday is Junior Fitness. How on earth can I let my little girl down by not wanting to go to the gym? Yup - I've totally worked myself into a corner on that one! The past two week's this has been my schedule and, for the first time since I started all this, it doesn't feel at all forced. Well... There might be a little force on Monday, but it is a good healthy coercion.
Goal 2 -Eat 1/2 my exercise calories. This one scares me. It is so counter intuitive to eat more when all I want to do is weight less. However, this got added because I actually have already been eating half my exercise calories. Actually I have actually been eating all my exercise calories. On one hand I can say that I succeeded at this goal - I ate them. Looking at the Difference column in the table up there, I've still got a pretty rocky ride in calorie totals. That may be fine, but it might also be aggravating the overindulgence on the weekends when I'm more tired, less scheduled and struggling to recover enough to survive the next week. I'm going to keep the spirit of this goal in the coming week by attempting to eat only 1/2 my exercise calories.
Goal 3 - Roll legs (IT band) each evening. I think I got 3 out of 7 here - less than 50%. This is a simple requirement for keeping me pain-free. Wow is it ever an effective treatment for the pain I've had in my legs for so many years!!! And so simple. But. I. Must. Remember. I have been bad about that until the pain comes back. Being proactive in this area improves my quality of life. Done. This goal stays. Maybe it will even move to number 1.
Goal 4 - Blog in the evenings. Ha! I'm blogging all over the place. Before work. At lunch. After dinner. In my head during my commute. This goal is more about time management. My evenings have been hard lately - I'm so very very tired. But I need to add some structure there. Allowing myself to lounge in the evenings isn't as rejuvenating as I would like. Also, I'd like to start planning my morning workouts for the week so I'm not coming up with them fresh each day. This goal stays as well (do I detect a pattern of being slow to let anything go?) but in a modified format. I'm not sure how to say it concisely - I setup for the next day each evening. Be it writing a blag post, packing a gym back or putting together lunches. The prep work at night sets me up for a good following day. I'm going to keep at it.
All in all, I had a good week. I feel okay to good most days. I've had at least 3 mothers of older children tell me over the past week that this is a demanding time and it will get better with respect to the exhaustion. The exercise is helping with that as well the morning coffee I can't seem to give up. Not only can I do this, but I am doing this. Every day. Of that I am very proud. And hopefully I'll have smaller numbers on Wednesday to show for all this work!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Workout 120730: Overslept
The alarm clock went off. I remember being annoyed. I turned it off. I did not wake up. The extra sleep was glorious. I needed it. However, when my 3 year old came in to wake me up at 6:15am, I still needed to get to the gym and I so didn't want to.
But I did:
25 min Arc Trainer - Interval level 3
5 min Treadmill - 2.0 mph
Stretch
I wore my heart rate monitor again today. It told me that I burnt 647 calories with an average heart rate of 147 bpm and a maximum of 173 bpm. MFP says 394 calories were burnt. I am really rooting for the HRM. It would be awesome if that extra burn was real!
Apparently, the signal the HRM sends out to communicate with my watch works on a lot of the exercise machines at the gym. It was strange to not be holding onto the machine and have my heart rate show up on the machine's display. The first strangeness - the rates were not the same. The machine was usually 2-3 bpm faster than the watch. If both readings are coming from the monitor around my chest, I'm really not sure what to make about that.
The second strangeness... This happens without me doing any pairing or modification of my equipment at all. It occured to me that someone else's heart rate monitor could be talking to my machine or watch. OR my heart rate could be displayed elsewhere. That was strange to think about for more than 5 seconds. I'm very curious what the range of the HRM is now. Also, if this is some type of universal signal maybe there is an app for my phone and I can entirely bypass the watch. That's an exciting thought.
But I did:
25 min Arc Trainer - Interval level 3
5 min Treadmill - 2.0 mph
Stretch
I wore my heart rate monitor again today. It told me that I burnt 647 calories with an average heart rate of 147 bpm and a maximum of 173 bpm. MFP says 394 calories were burnt. I am really rooting for the HRM. It would be awesome if that extra burn was real!
Apparently, the signal the HRM sends out to communicate with my watch works on a lot of the exercise machines at the gym. It was strange to not be holding onto the machine and have my heart rate show up on the machine's display. The first strangeness - the rates were not the same. The machine was usually 2-3 bpm faster than the watch. If both readings are coming from the monitor around my chest, I'm really not sure what to make about that.
The second strangeness... This happens without me doing any pairing or modification of my equipment at all. It occured to me that someone else's heart rate monitor could be talking to my machine or watch. OR my heart rate could be displayed elsewhere. That was strange to think about for more than 5 seconds. I'm very curious what the range of the HRM is now. Also, if this is some type of universal signal maybe there is an app for my phone and I can entirely bypass the watch. That's an exciting thought.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Workout 120728: Exercise Calories
Third Saturday in a row! I'm really enjoying my new Saturday morning routine. I like getting up and out of the house at the start of the weekend. Now if I could just manage it on a schedule. Each week we've been a little later to the gym. Bean is headed to a class, so the time is more relevant than I'd like it to be on a Saturday morning. However, that class is what is getting me in there, so we pretty much need to make it on time. The lesson I learned this morning? If you want to be at the gym at 9:15am, start cooking breakfast before 8am. Let's see how I can apply it next week.
Today's workout:
15 min Treadmill - Hill level 4
3 Sets Each:
10 Reverse Curls
Stretch
Between the jumping rope and lunges I was pretty exhausted. I'm thrilled with how much I got done. It was also strangely satisfying to feel sweat trickling down my ears. Proof that I'm working hard and making progress. I like the affirmation.
Earlier this week I added a goal to eat 1/2 my exercise calories. Before going hog wild, I want to get a more accurate count of what those calories are. I know the cardio machines in the gym are useless for giving real totals. Also MFP can only guesstimate because it doesn't have your heart rate during the workout. Really I need to wear a heart rate monitor. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers happened to have a Timex that she's no longer using. Today was my first workout wearing it.
Circuit Training, which is what I consider these style workouts, comes to about 400 calories burned for 30 minutes according to MFP. The heart rate monitor had a different answer. As I stepped on the treadmill I started it. After switching it off during my stretching, it told me that my average heart rate was 145bpm and I burned 812 calories in 45 minutes!!!! Wow!
That said, I am not planning to eat 406 extra calories today. Yesterday I went overboard with dinner so I'm working off an overage anyway. I'm also not sure that I believe the HRM yet. 812's a pretty impressive number. At least it is to me. I'm excited to play with the numbers more this week and see how they look taking exercise into account. Plus I love having a new tool. I've never been a gadget person (despite years of working in the tech field), but that appears to be changing. At least I don't have to worry about being bored with MFP. I'm having too much fun with all these numbers. :)
---
It's time for Stop By Saturday again! This week's question - What is your favorite event to watch during the Summer Olympics? For me it would have to be gymnastics. In recent years I've added swimming to my list but I've been watching gymnastics (women's) since I was a little girl. There is something about it I just love. Also, I love to see the sport the host country adds. Sometimes they are really interesting.
Check out the other blogs in Stop By Saturdays:
Today's workout:
15 min Treadmill - Hill level 4
3 Sets Each:
10 squats with 10 lb weight10 Crunches
5 Bridge Kickouts
40 Jump Ropes (60 - 75 sec)
10 Bicep Curls with 5 lb weight
10 Tricep Extensions with 5 lb weight (each side)
10 Walking Lunges (5 steps each side)
20 Knee Lifts
10 Reverse Curls
Stretch
Between the jumping rope and lunges I was pretty exhausted. I'm thrilled with how much I got done. It was also strangely satisfying to feel sweat trickling down my ears. Proof that I'm working hard and making progress. I like the affirmation.
Earlier this week I added a goal to eat 1/2 my exercise calories. Before going hog wild, I want to get a more accurate count of what those calories are. I know the cardio machines in the gym are useless for giving real totals. Also MFP can only guesstimate because it doesn't have your heart rate during the workout. Really I need to wear a heart rate monitor. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers happened to have a Timex that she's no longer using. Today was my first workout wearing it.
Circuit Training, which is what I consider these style workouts, comes to about 400 calories burned for 30 minutes according to MFP. The heart rate monitor had a different answer. As I stepped on the treadmill I started it. After switching it off during my stretching, it told me that my average heart rate was 145bpm and I burned 812 calories in 45 minutes!!!! Wow!
That said, I am not planning to eat 406 extra calories today. Yesterday I went overboard with dinner so I'm working off an overage anyway. I'm also not sure that I believe the HRM yet. 812's a pretty impressive number. At least it is to me. I'm excited to play with the numbers more this week and see how they look taking exercise into account. Plus I love having a new tool. I've never been a gadget person (despite years of working in the tech field), but that appears to be changing. At least I don't have to worry about being bored with MFP. I'm having too much fun with all these numbers. :)
---
It's time for Stop By Saturday again! This week's question - What is your favorite event to watch during the Summer Olympics? For me it would have to be gymnastics. In recent years I've added swimming to my list but I've been watching gymnastics (women's) since I was a little girl. There is something about it I just love. Also, I love to see the sport the host country adds. Sometimes they are really interesting.
Check out the other blogs in Stop By Saturdays:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Considering Goals
Update on the calorie front:
Evaluating the week using my criteria:
As for my shortcomings this week. Brie needs to come in 1 oz serving sizes. An ounce of Brie is more calories than I expected and it's very hard to stop at just one ounce. I might venture to say impossible when there are 6 more ounces just sitting there looking yummy. Also looking back on my daily logs, I know there was more Brie consumed during the weekend, but I see no record of it. Oh how disappointing! I bet I went over more on Sunday that I think I did. Shoot! Why does cheese have to be so good?!?!?
This past week I did keep my paper journal and I even wrote in it a few times (maybe I should have written more about cheese). I like having it with me. I particularly enjoy sitting with a pen and putting down thoughts slowly with no ability to take them back. I can cross them out, but they are still on the paper under all the extra ink. There's something so nice about that.
One thing I did write was what I aim to do in the coming week. This week my goals are:
| Monday, July 16 | 1594 | |
| Tuesday, July 17 | 1615 | |
| Wednesday, July 18 | 1626 | |
| Thursday, July 19 | 1595 | |
| Friday, July 20 | 1809 | Dinner out at my favorite Mexican Restaurant |
| Saturday, July 21 | 1877 | Beer and Brie |
| Sunday, July 22 | 2065 | Family Dinner Gathering (chips and dips) |
Evaluating the week using my criteria:
- Consistent Tracking: I tracked every day! My Fitness Pal is still amusing me.
- 1600 Daily Goal: 4 days out of 7 tracked were between 1400 and 1650.
- Weekly Average:1740
- Monthly Average: 1686
As for my shortcomings this week. Brie needs to come in 1 oz serving sizes. An ounce of Brie is more calories than I expected and it's very hard to stop at just one ounce. I might venture to say impossible when there are 6 more ounces just sitting there looking yummy. Also looking back on my daily logs, I know there was more Brie consumed during the weekend, but I see no record of it. Oh how disappointing! I bet I went over more on Sunday that I think I did. Shoot! Why does cheese have to be so good?!?!?
This past week I did keep my paper journal and I even wrote in it a few times (maybe I should have written more about cheese). I like having it with me. I particularly enjoy sitting with a pen and putting down thoughts slowly with no ability to take them back. I can cross them out, but they are still on the paper under all the extra ink. There's something so nice about that.
One thing I did write was what I aim to do in the coming week. This week my goals are:
- Monday Wednesday, Saturday workouts
- Eat 1/2 exercise calories
- Roll legs (IT band) each evening
- Blog in the evenings (versus in the morning)
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
My Fitness Pal
Last week I learned that my sisters were on My Fitness Pal. I've had a MFP account for a while - their database of foods is pretty substantial - but I haven't really used their site as much as I've used Sparkpeople. Their web interface did nothing for me when I checked it out briefly, but I hadn't really looked into their mobile app. After hearing my sisters rave over how easy it was, I decided to join in and see how things went. Turns out, the app is a huge improvement over the website. Here's what I've tracked this past week.
Tracking via the iPhone app is easy. I love that I can scan bar codes to enter foods. Where Sparkpeople gives a 250 calories range for me to stay within, My Fitness Pal gives me a number to stay under, 1630. Any cardio that is added is automatically included in your allowable calories for the day. I think I like that through I've been trying not to eat those extra calories. I've setup my account for losing 1 pound per week. If not eating my exercise calories means I lose a little faster then yeah, but I'm not going to give myself too much room to go over my 1600 calorie goal.
They also provide some good graphics as to how you are doing as the week progresses. I found this graph to be motivating as the week went on. It shows numbers different from those int he table because it includes exercise calories in the totals. Also motivating is this little message they give you at the end of each day "
| Monday, July 9 | 1596 | |
| Tuesday, July 10 | 1665 | Thai Basil Pork was worse than I thought |
| Wednesday, July 11 | 1600 | BINGO! |
| Thursday, July 12 | 1596 | |
| Friday, July 13 | 1891 | Wegman's Hot Bar Smorgasbord |
| Saturday, July 14 | 1648 | |
| Sunday, July 15 | 1813 | Pizza for lunch - soo good! |
Tracking via the iPhone app is easy. I love that I can scan bar codes to enter foods. Where Sparkpeople gives a 250 calories range for me to stay within, My Fitness Pal gives me a number to stay under, 1630. Any cardio that is added is automatically included in your allowable calories for the day. I think I like that through I've been trying not to eat those extra calories. I've setup my account for losing 1 pound per week. If not eating my exercise calories means I lose a little faster then yeah, but I'm not going to give myself too much room to go over my 1600 calorie goal.
They also provide some good graphics as to how you are doing as the week progresses. I found this graph to be motivating as the week went on. It shows numbers different from those int he table because it includes exercise calories in the totals. Also motivating is this little message they give you at the end of each day "
- Consistent Tracking: I tracked every day! It helps to have a new toy to play with.
- 1600 Daily Goal: 4 days out of 7 tracked were between 1400 and 1650.
- Weekly Average: 1687
- Monthly Average: 1684
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Crabs and Beer
I've felt good this past week. Exercise has been reestablished. I've recommitted to our weekly meal planning and am cooking at home more often. I actually have a plan in place to use all our CSA vegetables this week. The past two weeks I've had to toss more than I'd like. This week I'll have room in my crisper drawers when we pick up our share on tomorrow. Woohoo!
Evaluation:
I also adjusted my range around my daily goal. On my tracking post last week, Heather commented that going under isn't a bad thing. Thinking more about it I put the lower limit on my calories because I didn't want get in the practice of eating too little. However, that is not usually my problem. I tend of overeat. For my 1600 Daily Goal, I'm going to continue forward with the upper limit of 1650, but use a lower limit of 1400. I'm okay with this especially considering the two days above where I would normally have been outside of my range. I wasn't going hungry either of those days. It can be a good thing.
My biggest surprise this week is how my Weekly and Monthly averages dropped again. I am positive some of that has to do with not tracking two days, but I've not tracked before and had the averages stay high. I'm steadily trending down! That is a very good thing.
| Monday, July 2 | 1648 | |
| Tuesday, July 3 | 1588 | |
| Wednesday, July 4 | 1427 | I would have gone over on this day (or come a lot closer), but my lunch spoiled. After tasting it, I had no appetite. |
| Thursday, July 5 | 1764 | Pomegranate Martini! |
| Friday, July 6 | 1438 | super low-cal diner: Polenta and Swiss Chard |
| Saturday, July 7 | --- | Family Party (honestly - it was too hot to do more than snack but I did fit in a slice of rhubarb strawberry apple bread. Sooo good!) |
| Sunday, July 8 | --- | Recovering from Family Party (pizza and salad day) |
Evaluation:
- Consistent Tracking: Two days not tracked. My family's annual Fourth of July party is pretty much untrackable. That's not totally true, but I'm okay with not having tracked it. I did try to make good decisions (like a salad with very little dressing after 2 slices of pizza at lunch).
- 1600 Daily Goal: 4 days out of 5 tracked were between 1400 and 1650.
- Weekly Average: 1573
- Monthly Average: 1690
I also adjusted my range around my daily goal. On my tracking post last week, Heather commented that going under isn't a bad thing. Thinking more about it I put the lower limit on my calories because I didn't want get in the practice of eating too little. However, that is not usually my problem. I tend of overeat. For my 1600 Daily Goal, I'm going to continue forward with the upper limit of 1650, but use a lower limit of 1400. I'm okay with this especially considering the two days above where I would normally have been outside of my range. I wasn't going hungry either of those days. It can be a good thing.
My biggest surprise this week is how my Weekly and Monthly averages dropped again. I am positive some of that has to do with not tracking two days, but I've not tracked before and had the averages stay high. I'm steadily trending down! That is a very good thing.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Keeping Track
With my ruminations last week, I did not post my normal stats. Here's a double header in order to catch up:
Evaluation:
Evaluation:
This past Sunday, I tracked all day, but I didn't put a number above. We went out to dinner and I made decent choices, but the restaurant didn't offer nutritional analysis of their foods. I could guess, but it would be just guessing (jalapeno poppers and a broiled crab cake - yum). And it would take a lot of time to figure out. I've decided that I'm going to save myself the time and allow one meal out that I cannot figure out each week. If I don't need that allowance? Great! But if we go out to a place and the information isn't available, I'm not going to stress over it and spend way too much time trying to figure it out.
My biggest disappointment was my meal at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Apparently they cook their portabella mushroom in solid lard because it contains more calories than there 1/4 pound burger. Not cool. I was so agitated about that one. Not to mention, I think they might have also made my kid sick to her stomach. Either way, they are definitely off the acceptable dining options list for a while.
| Monday, June 18 | 1647 | |
| Tuesday, June 19 | 1585 | |
| Wednesday, June 20 | 1802 | PT Day - So hungry! |
| Thursday, June 21 | 1628 | |
| Friday, June 22 | 2090 | Chinese Takeout including Sushi |
| Saturday, June 23 | --- | Shed Demolition Day - Food was pretty healthy, but there were a LOT of sweets |
| Sunday, June 24 | --- | Post Demolition - So tired! |
Evaluation:
- Consistent Tracking: Two days not tracked. We were doing a major project at the house. There were people everywhere and kids to be corralled and meals provided. It was a fun productive weekend, but I didn't even pick up my notebook to track food during the day. The good part is that I also kept the worst of the junk food out of the house, so i wasn't grazing on bad choices. Except for donuts. *sigh*
- 1600 Daily Goal: Three days of out of 5 tracked were within 50 calories of 1600.
- Weekly Average: 1750
- Monthly Average: 1796
| Monday, June 25 | 1389 | |
| Tuesday, June 26 | 1599 | |
| Wednesday, June 27 | 1630 | |
| Thursday, June 28 | 2157 | Final PT Day and the installation of SOD |
| Friday, June 29 | 1685 | |
| Saturday, June 30 | 1841 | Cheeburger |
| Sunday, July 1 | --- | More on this after the eval... |
Evaluation:
- Consistent Tracking: I'm giving myself a gold star for tracking this past week. I was feeling awful, but I kept writing everything down. I even tracked on Sunday - I just wasn't sure how to account for the foods eaten.
- 1600 Daily Goal: Two days of out of 6 tracked were within 50 calories of 1600.
- Weekly Average: 1717
- Monthly Average: 1760
This past Sunday, I tracked all day, but I didn't put a number above. We went out to dinner and I made decent choices, but the restaurant didn't offer nutritional analysis of their foods. I could guess, but it would be just guessing (jalapeno poppers and a broiled crab cake - yum). And it would take a lot of time to figure out. I've decided that I'm going to save myself the time and allow one meal out that I cannot figure out each week. If I don't need that allowance? Great! But if we go out to a place and the information isn't available, I'm not going to stress over it and spend way too much time trying to figure it out.
My biggest disappointment was my meal at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Apparently they cook their portabella mushroom in solid lard because it contains more calories than there 1/4 pound burger. Not cool. I was so agitated about that one. Not to mention, I think they might have also made my kid sick to her stomach. Either way, they are definitely off the acceptable dining options list for a while.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Food Judgement
Last night I sat down with my girls to eat dinner. They split a can of whole wheat ABC & 123's with Meatballs while I had leftover chicken and mashed potatoes. There were no vegetables. Well, unless you count the sauce on the ABC's... The can says there is a full serving in there somewhere. That counts, right?
*sigh*
Oh well. We only eat like that two or three times a month. If my husband had been coming home for dinner I'd have at least chopped up and sauteed the Swiss Chard in the vegetable draw. But who was I impressing? My 3 year old was extra thrilled that I let her pick her dinner from the pantry all by herself. It was adorable.
But in my nutritional disaster that was dinner I had a triumph. At the end of dinner, I sat down and recorded my calories totaling everything up for the day. I was hoping I hadn't exceeded 1500 so that I could pull a chocolate chip cookie or two out of the freezer. I was at 1581. And I was full.
So I stopped eating.
I was satisfied.
And no craving came haunting in the night. No obsessive thoughts about food. No pepperoni drive-bys. I was quite simply just done.
And it was a superb feeling.
I have food issues. Given that I try to focus on the positives of working out and calorie counting, you might have missed the food issues. But they are here. They are big. All too often they dominate my thoughts and I do all these other activities to counter them. I work hard to find coping mechanisms. And when I'm not coping? I create avoidance tactics and diversions. I tell myself stories about the future and remind myself of why I'm doing all this. I fold clothes, vacuum or knit. I brush my teeth.
Last night I didn't need to. I coped. I coped without trying. This has been happening more and more lately. It is a great feeling. I am able to control my calories like never before.
Calories aren't loaded with emotion the way food is. Each calorie is just a unit of energy. I need a certain number of them and, when I have enough, I can be done. Points didn't translate that way. The formula used to determine them passed judgement on food. It was about more than just input and output. I didn't deal well with that. So far I'm counting calories without the negativity or obsession I've experienced in the past.
Someday I hope to move beyond the simple calorie counting further into a wholesome nutrition-filled diet, but for now this is good. I don't need to rush and I still have lots to learn without muddying the waters. It feels so good to have something objective to cling to during this process. Something serving my purposes so well. I'm kind of embarrassed that I never thought to try it before. But instead, I'll be thankful. Thankful for a judgement-free way to deal with one aspect of all this. Thankful this is working. Thankful for the time to find it.
*sigh*
Oh well. We only eat like that two or three times a month. If my husband had been coming home for dinner I'd have at least chopped up and sauteed the Swiss Chard in the vegetable draw. But who was I impressing? My 3 year old was extra thrilled that I let her pick her dinner from the pantry all by herself. It was adorable.
But in my nutritional disaster that was dinner I had a triumph. At the end of dinner, I sat down and recorded my calories totaling everything up for the day. I was hoping I hadn't exceeded 1500 so that I could pull a chocolate chip cookie or two out of the freezer. I was at 1581. And I was full.
So I stopped eating.
I was satisfied.
And no craving came haunting in the night. No obsessive thoughts about food. No pepperoni drive-bys. I was quite simply just done.
And it was a superb feeling.
I have food issues. Given that I try to focus on the positives of working out and calorie counting, you might have missed the food issues. But they are here. They are big. All too often they dominate my thoughts and I do all these other activities to counter them. I work hard to find coping mechanisms. And when I'm not coping? I create avoidance tactics and diversions. I tell myself stories about the future and remind myself of why I'm doing all this. I fold clothes, vacuum or knit. I brush my teeth.
Last night I didn't need to. I coped. I coped without trying. This has been happening more and more lately. It is a great feeling. I am able to control my calories like never before.
Calories aren't loaded with emotion the way food is. Each calorie is just a unit of energy. I need a certain number of them and, when I have enough, I can be done. Points didn't translate that way. The formula used to determine them passed judgement on food. It was about more than just input and output. I didn't deal well with that. So far I'm counting calories without the negativity or obsession I've experienced in the past.
Someday I hope to move beyond the simple calorie counting further into a wholesome nutrition-filled diet, but for now this is good. I don't need to rush and I still have lots to learn without muddying the waters. It feels so good to have something objective to cling to during this process. Something serving my purposes so well. I'm kind of embarrassed that I never thought to try it before. But instead, I'll be thankful. Thankful for a judgement-free way to deal with one aspect of all this. Thankful this is working. Thankful for the time to find it.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Even Keel
Today is my foot doctor appointment. I also have some free time to do some sneaker shopping in the evening. I'm planning for these two activities to realign my physical world and my workouts to resume tomorrow morning. I packed my gym bag last night so I'm totally ready to go for tomorrow. We'll see how that advance planning works.
Current evaluation:
Both of my kids fell ill on Thursday within hours of each other and one of our relatives brought us dinner. My husband and I orbited the kids trying to figure out what they would eat, taking temperatures, rocking and soothing while occasionally grabbing a bite of whatever we could manage in the moment. It was kind of like a party buffet without the festive atmosphere. I'm definitely learning that, when I eat in that mode, I overeat.
The kids are slowly recovering, but Father's Day weekend was pretty much cancelled. To make an attempt at some celebration for my husband, I got carry out on Saturday night which included French Fries and Tzatziki Dip. If you've never tried this combination, save yourself and don't start now. If you have, you understand why I'm happy that I stayed close to 2000 calories that day.
All-in-all, I'm happy with last week. I look forward to the week to come with a return to health in my house and, hopefully, a return to the gym for my body!
| Monday, June 11 | 1403 | |
| Tuesday, June 12 | 1622 | |
| Wednesday, June 13 | 1571 | |
| Thursday, June 14 | 2130 | My kids got sick; dining under pressure |
| Friday, June 15 | 1627 | |
| Saturday, June 16 | 2055 | Father's Day Carry Out |
| Sunday, June 17 | 1541 |
Current evaluation:
- Consistent Tracking: Spot on.
- 1600 Daily Goal: Three days of out of 7 were within 50 calories of 1600. While the goal is my daily target, I'm finding it to be a discouraging statistic.
- Weekly Average: 1707. That's more like it! I'm totally good with this average.
- Monthly Average: 1809. Again I'm good with this. If the range I got from SparkPeople is correct, this puts my monthly average within that range to lose 1 pound per week. I like the long term trend being established.
Both of my kids fell ill on Thursday within hours of each other and one of our relatives brought us dinner. My husband and I orbited the kids trying to figure out what they would eat, taking temperatures, rocking and soothing while occasionally grabbing a bite of whatever we could manage in the moment. It was kind of like a party buffet without the festive atmosphere. I'm definitely learning that, when I eat in that mode, I overeat.
The kids are slowly recovering, but Father's Day weekend was pretty much cancelled. To make an attempt at some celebration for my husband, I got carry out on Saturday night which included French Fries and Tzatziki Dip. If you've never tried this combination, save yourself and don't start now. If you have, you understand why I'm happy that I stayed close to 2000 calories that day.
All-in-all, I'm happy with last week. I look forward to the week to come with a return to health in my house and, hopefully, a return to the gym for my body!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Plunder
I'm thinking of making my calorie counts a weekly addition for a while. I'm learning a lot by looking at them. Also, I like the solid number aspect of this. The running averages give me an idea of the direction I'm headed.
Without further adieu here's last week's totals:
And here's my current evaluation criteria:
The biggest shock this past week was the 3000+ calorie day. I ate reasonably all day. I dropped my kids off with their grandparents and headed to a grown-up birthday party (isn't it just great that I feel compelled to classify the type of party I'm attending). I went in with a plan. At the party, I consumed 1600 calories - my entire daily allotment. My problem was that I didn't treat the buffet as a meal. I snacked. As with the dip, I need to manage buffet style in servings. The drive-by snacking got me into trouble.
The difference between Saturday and Sunday was the wine I had on Saturday. I had4 glasses a bit. Otherwise my party consumption was the same about 1200 calories. I don't regret the wine by any stretch but what I find fascinating is that I ate 1200 calories simply because I was at a party and out of my controlled environment. This is definitely where solid coping mechanisms are needed.
Without those two party days my totals would have looked a lot different. However, I am proud of how I handled the meals surrounding the parties. On Saturday I went into the day with a plan and I executed it flawlessly up to party time. On Sunday I knew I'd overdone it, so we made a big green salad and put grilled tuna on top for dinner. I don't feel upset with myself over those numbers, just interested in what I can learn.
Of course, I do kind of wonder how many times I have to learn certain lessons before they stick. *sigh* I look forward to the day when I will report that I picked up a plate at a party, filled it with a little of the things I wanted and then stepped away from the table for the rest of the night. That will be an interesting day. :)
Without further adieu here's last week's totals:
| Monday, June 4 | 1587 | |
| Tuesday, June 5 | 1666 | |
| Wednesday, June 6 | 1627 | |
| Thursday, June 7 | 1734 | |
| Friday, June 8 | 1488 | Low calories, but I was satisfied all day |
| Saturday, June 9 | 3082 | Party with Grown-ups and no kids |
| Sunday, June 10 | 2007 | Party surrounded by lots of kids |
And here's my current evaluation criteria:
- Consistent Tracking: Woohoo! I counted on all days! I can say there was a bit of portion size estimation going on on Saturday and Sunday, but being at someone else's house I feel strange whipping out a measuring cup and notebook.
- 1600 Daily Goal: Only 2 days of out of 7 were within 50 calories of 1600. I'm starting to wonder if this metric does anything for me. Having the goal is good, but I seem to be a little all over the place. Maybe that is the reason to maintain it.
- Weekly Average: 13191 / 7 = 1884. That's higher than I'd like.
- Monthly Average: 36895 / 20 = 1845. This is lower than the weekly average. For the sake of comparison, this says that my intake last week was higher than usual.
The biggest shock this past week was the 3000+ calorie day. I ate reasonably all day. I dropped my kids off with their grandparents and headed to a grown-up birthday party (isn't it just great that I feel compelled to classify the type of party I'm attending). I went in with a plan. At the party, I consumed 1600 calories - my entire daily allotment. My problem was that I didn't treat the buffet as a meal. I snacked. As with the dip, I need to manage buffet style in servings. The drive-by snacking got me into trouble.
The difference between Saturday and Sunday was the wine I had on Saturday. I had
Without those two party days my totals would have looked a lot different. However, I am proud of how I handled the meals surrounding the parties. On Saturday I went into the day with a plan and I executed it flawlessly up to party time. On Sunday I knew I'd overdone it, so we made a big green salad and put grilled tuna on top for dinner. I don't feel upset with myself over those numbers, just interested in what I can learn.
Of course, I do kind of wonder how many times I have to learn certain lessons before they stick. *sigh* I look forward to the day when I will report that I picked up a plate at a party, filled it with a little of the things I wanted and then stepped away from the table for the rest of the night. That will be an interesting day. :)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The Results Are In
Today's post is brought to you by the number...
....
Yeah!!!! Woohoo! Go Margot! It's your birthday! Have a party!
I am thrilled! Hesitantly thrilled but thrilled nonetheless. That number came as a bit of a surprise this morning. I was hoping for 225. After moving to calorie counting, I was more than a little concerned that my process would be found lacking against the proven system that is Weight Watchers. Really I was a lot worried. Today I know that worry is unfounded. There is no one tool for success.
The biggest plus is that I like counting calories more than I do counting points. The first time I did WW I knew the formula well enough to guesstimate points from calories. The new point system has a much more complicated formula. And many restaurants only offer calorie counts on their foods these days which have no place in the new formula. I was finding that very frustrating. Switching to calories fixed that. I only have to add and the number is increasingly available.
My hesitation comes from the constant fear that this isn't real and the weight will return. I'm not sure if that fear will ever go away. I may reach my goal and always feel a 100 lb weight following behind me waiting to reunite. That might be the trade off for going through this process. By succeeding I know what both side feeling like. I won't ever be an blissfully ignorant skinny person. This person who had a 100 lb weight loss goal will always be here.
That's not such a bad thing, but it is one more thing to consider along my way. Learning to celebrate these losses is hard. I should be over the moon with excitement for the progress I'm making. And I am! Sort of. There's just more to it. I guess there will always be more to it.
My total weight loss since May's weigh in is 6 pounds. Since my first weigh-in in January my total weight loss is 16 pounds. That averages out to 0.72 pounds per week, or 3.2 pounds per month, for this year. I like the 3.2 pounds per month number. It is solid progress, but definitely not too quick. The slower progress gives me a little more hope that this is real. I am making permanent changes in my life, ones that I can stick with forever. Go me! :)
224
....
Yeah!!!! Woohoo! Go Margot! It's your birthday! Have a party!
I am thrilled! Hesitantly thrilled but thrilled nonetheless. That number came as a bit of a surprise this morning. I was hoping for 225. After moving to calorie counting, I was more than a little concerned that my process would be found lacking against the proven system that is Weight Watchers. Really I was a lot worried. Today I know that worry is unfounded. There is no one tool for success.
The biggest plus is that I like counting calories more than I do counting points. The first time I did WW I knew the formula well enough to guesstimate points from calories. The new point system has a much more complicated formula. And many restaurants only offer calorie counts on their foods these days which have no place in the new formula. I was finding that very frustrating. Switching to calories fixed that. I only have to add and the number is increasingly available.
My hesitation comes from the constant fear that this isn't real and the weight will return. I'm not sure if that fear will ever go away. I may reach my goal and always feel a 100 lb weight following behind me waiting to reunite. That might be the trade off for going through this process. By succeeding I know what both side feeling like. I won't ever be an blissfully ignorant skinny person. This person who had a 100 lb weight loss goal will always be here.
That's not such a bad thing, but it is one more thing to consider along my way. Learning to celebrate these losses is hard. I should be over the moon with excitement for the progress I'm making. And I am! Sort of. There's just more to it. I guess there will always be more to it.
My total weight loss since May's weigh in is 6 pounds. Since my first weigh-in in January my total weight loss is 16 pounds. That averages out to 0.72 pounds per week, or 3.2 pounds per month, for this year. I like the 3.2 pounds per month number. It is solid progress, but definitely not too quick. The slower progress gives me a little more hope that this is real. I am making permanent changes in my life, ones that I can stick with forever. Go me! :)
Monday, June 4, 2012
The Calorie Edition
Today I did not make it to the gym. My heel on my left foot is hurting. I don't even have to stand on it for it to hurt. While my sneakers help, the pin is still there. I have PT this afternoon, so I'm officially resting it. I also broke my elevator streak this morning at work. *sigh* I'm not thrilled, but I'm trying not to beat myself. The minute the heel pain eases up I'll be back to my goal. Someone out there help me stick to that, okay?
What I can offer on this fine Monday is a bit more thought on my calorie counting.
Last calorie edition, I said that anything within 50 calories of 1600 was a successful day. That post claimed a 55% success rate. Above shows a success rate of 10%. I am not happy with that at all. Adding all the numbers above together and dividing by 9 (since I don't have a total for one of the days) I get an 1892 calorie average. That is 300 calories above my daily target.
That number does include two weekends which are higher. To get a more well-rounded number I'll take all the days tracked over a full weeks (23704) and divide by 13 days which gives me a 1824 calorie average. That's 224 over my goal, but better than 300. I'm not in love with that number, but I'm okay with it. Given that I'm trying now, I really wonder how many calories I was eating before.
In this process of trying to meet my big goal, I am learning a lot.
The tiredness could just be because I'm working hard to make ALL this happen. The combination of exercise, job, kids and diet would make anyone tired, right? So I'm holding steady again this week. Monthly weigh-in is Wednesday which will give me another statistic to add to the pile. I can't wait to see what spin it has to offer!
What I can offer on this fine Monday is a bit more thought on my calorie counting.
| Friday, May 25 | 1536 | |
| Saturday, May 26 | 2045 | Counted after the fact |
| Sunday, May 27 | 2656 | Counted after the fact |
| Monday, May 28 | 1829 | |
| Tuesday, May 29 | 1655 | |
| Wednesday, May 30 | 1604 | |
| Thursday, May 31 | 1759 | |
| Friday, June 1 | --- | Tracked food but ate at a place with no nutritional data |
| Saturday, June 2 | 1812 | |
| Sunday, June 3 | 2136 | Pizza is impossible |
Last calorie edition, I said that anything within 50 calories of 1600 was a successful day. That post claimed a 55% success rate. Above shows a success rate of 10%. I am not happy with that at all. Adding all the numbers above together and dividing by 9 (since I don't have a total for one of the days) I get an 1892 calorie average. That is 300 calories above my daily target.
That number does include two weekends which are higher. To get a more well-rounded number I'll take all the days tracked over a full weeks (23704) and divide by 13 days which gives me a 1824 calorie average. That's 224 over my goal, but better than 300. I'm not in love with that number, but I'm okay with it. Given that I'm trying now, I really wonder how many calories I was eating before.
In this process of trying to meet my big goal, I am learning a lot.
- Pizza. *sigh* When you are dieting, don't eat pizza. It really isn't worth it. I ate 575 calories just in pizza crust yesterday. It was wonderful, delicious and just what I wanted. However, I would have been satisfied by making pizza out of a whole wheat pita which has the added benefit of being potion controlled. Meals like that help me to understand how I've gained the weight I have in my life. What felt like a reasonable dinner totaled 937 calories. Not reasonable if it is anything less than an exception.
- Weekends are hard. Those are the times when I eat impulsively or intuitively. I did better this weekend than last, but I was still much higher than where I wanted to be. Keys to doing better include eating at restaurants which provide nutritional data and eating whole meals as a family. Eating on the run with no insight into what I'm grabbing is disastrous almost every time.
- Estimating calories in a dish is a needed skill. Friday I did well, but I had an excellent lunch which I had no idea how to count. The dishes were complex and prepared by a restaurant chef. I can make an educated guess on the ingredients, but I know restaurants are notorious for fattening up otherwise benign dishes. I need to figure out what to do on days when I eat foods which I have no idea how to calculate. Maybe a flat number? As a coping mechanism, my husband has agreed that we will only eat at one place a week where I can't figure out the calories with some accuracy. I'm okay with that solution for now, but I'd like to become better at estimating this.
The tiredness could just be because I'm working hard to make ALL this happen. The combination of exercise, job, kids and diet would make anyone tired, right? So I'm holding steady again this week. Monthly weigh-in is Wednesday which will give me another statistic to add to the pile. I can't wait to see what spin it has to offer!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Workout 120601: FIVE!!!
My FIFTH workout of the week was:
35 min Treadmill walk (totaling 1.6 miles)
Stretch
Um, yeah. I went to the gym this morning. I really wasn't feeling it, but I was so sore I figured that moving was the only thing that would help. I'm glad I did go, but man my heart was not into this morning.
But... I went to the gym all FIVE mornings this week!!! That surpasses my goal of 4 workouts a week and sets the standard for what I can accomplish in the post PT era. I'm proud of myself for following through on my routine and really pushing during my workouts earlier in the week. The biggest factors in making this happen were having my gym bag packed and ready to go the night before and getting to bed on time.
Not that getting to bed on time was all that hard. I have been beat the past couple of days. Last night I went to bed at 8pm a few minutes after my 3 year old laid down. I'm not even sure she was asleep when I passed out. I'm starting to wonder if I might be cutting my calories a little too lean during the week. I make up for it with overages on the weekends, but maybe I'd have more control if I didn't limit quite so much during the week.
Either way, it is something I'll be thinking on going into next week. My monthly weigh-in is on Wednesday and I've definitely looking forward to it. It is good to know that I'm making progress for all the work that I'm putting in. Those results in conjunction with how I've been feeling will help determine my course for the month to come. More than anything I hope I maintain the happy I've achieved. It's almost better than the weight loss. Almost, but not quite. :)
35 min Treadmill walk (totaling 1.6 miles)
Stretch
Um, yeah. I went to the gym this morning. I really wasn't feeling it, but I was so sore I figured that moving was the only thing that would help. I'm glad I did go, but man my heart was not into this morning.
But... I went to the gym all FIVE mornings this week!!! That surpasses my goal of 4 workouts a week and sets the standard for what I can accomplish in the post PT era. I'm proud of myself for following through on my routine and really pushing during my workouts earlier in the week. The biggest factors in making this happen were having my gym bag packed and ready to go the night before and getting to bed on time.
Not that getting to bed on time was all that hard. I have been beat the past couple of days. Last night I went to bed at 8pm a few minutes after my 3 year old laid down. I'm not even sure she was asleep when I passed out. I'm starting to wonder if I might be cutting my calories a little too lean during the week. I make up for it with overages on the weekends, but maybe I'd have more control if I didn't limit quite so much during the week.
Either way, it is something I'll be thinking on going into next week. My monthly weigh-in is on Wednesday and I've definitely looking forward to it. It is good to know that I'm making progress for all the work that I'm putting in. Those results in conjunction with how I've been feeling will help determine my course for the month to come. More than anything I hope I maintain the happy I've achieved. It's almost better than the weight loss. Almost, but not quite. :)
Friday, May 25, 2012
Calorie Counting
For the past week and a half my goal has been Calorie Counting. Here's the data:
All in all I think I've done well. I'm considering any value within 50 calories of my 1600 calorie goal to be a success. That makes 6 out of 11 days successful. Not passing grades in school, but for my first 11 days of calorie counting I find it to be acceptable.
The first day I tracked, I also input the food into Weight Watchers. There my daily points allowance was 35 points. The food I consumed that Monday was 37 points. Comparing calories to points is like comparing apples to oranges, but I was glad to see that my 1600 calories loosely correlated to the number of points I was allowed in the WW program.
Not tracking is what I have the biggest problem with. I need to track every day. I had a rough day on Thursday and just gave up towards the end of the day. It's not good that I gave up but I am proud that I kept up my tracking. Friday I intended to track, but left my book in my car and then ate out lunch and had completely given up by dinner time. As I would tell my 3 year old, that is unacceptable.
Over the past 11 days I've felt pretty good. There haven't been any crash days like I experienced 2 weeks ago and my cravings have been manageable. I've used Spark People to support calorie lookups as well as general web sources. I even started asking Siri for calorie information. I dare say it's been fun getting this setup and figured out.
I'm going to hold steady and see what my June weigh-in says about my progress. Again this month... I'm hopeful!
| Monday, May 14 | 1622 | 37 WW Points |
| Tuesday, May 15 | 1875 | |
| Wednesday, May 16 | 1620 | |
| Thursday, May 17 | 2292 | Began the day well, but made worse choices as the day progressed. Bad Choices culminated in a 500 calorie ice cream cone. |
| Friday, May 18 | --- | No tracking today. |
| Saturday, May 19 | 1608 | |
| Sunday, May 20 | 1550 | |
| Monday, May 21 | 1746 | |
| Tuesday, May 22 | 1566 | |
| Wednesday, May 23 | 1755 | |
| Thursday, May 24 | 1605 |
All in all I think I've done well. I'm considering any value within 50 calories of my 1600 calorie goal to be a success. That makes 6 out of 11 days successful. Not passing grades in school, but for my first 11 days of calorie counting I find it to be acceptable.
The first day I tracked, I also input the food into Weight Watchers. There my daily points allowance was 35 points. The food I consumed that Monday was 37 points. Comparing calories to points is like comparing apples to oranges, but I was glad to see that my 1600 calories loosely correlated to the number of points I was allowed in the WW program.
Not tracking is what I have the biggest problem with. I need to track every day. I had a rough day on Thursday and just gave up towards the end of the day. It's not good that I gave up but I am proud that I kept up my tracking. Friday I intended to track, but left my book in my car and then ate out lunch and had completely given up by dinner time. As I would tell my 3 year old, that is unacceptable.
Over the past 11 days I've felt pretty good. There haven't been any crash days like I experienced 2 weeks ago and my cravings have been manageable. I've used Spark People to support calorie lookups as well as general web sources. I even started asking Siri for calorie information. I dare say it's been fun getting this setup and figured out.
I'm going to hold steady and see what my June weigh-in says about my progress. Again this month... I'm hopeful!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Refine Tracking
A week of tracking my diet and I'm feeling good. I made some decent decisions and remembered to write everything down that I ate. I can already see that the weekends are going to be the hardest. I have a difficult time pulling out my notebook and writing down what I'm eating around other people. And on the weekends I'm pretty much always around other people.
Last Thursday, I had a rough evening. I got through my PT session with no problems, but as I walked to the car I could tell something was wrong. I was shaky and skittish. I needed food. I determined that chocolate milk would do the trick and headed out in my car. I stopped at the first grocery store and there were no individual sized drinks. Not quite comfortable doing so, I packed myself back into my car and headed towards home.
Thankfully there was a 7-Eleven on the drive home. I went in and got some self-prescribed chocolate milk and downed it. I felt so much better. I picked up my girls and headed home for dinner. The cycle of shakiness continued through the evening. I'd get shaky, eat something and it would go away. I was feeling rough and not really sure why.
Prior to PT, I'd eaten 911 calories for the day. By the end of the day, I'd eaten 1391. I counted and then fell asleep for the night.
This week my goal is to start tracking calories. I joined SparkPeople again (dublythe) and determined my base calories. Each day I should be consuming 1520 - 1870 calories. I'm still going to keep my paper journal. I find the searching for things to enter when I already know the numbers to be tedious and a time waste. However, SparkPeople is good for helping me look up the value for things that I don't know. It also can offer me more insight into other nutritional information I'm not tracking by hand.
I'm glad to have a direction. Hopefully it is the right one. I'd certainly like to avoid any more days like Thursday. Of course, I am not looking forward to the day when all I really want in the world is a big unhealthy plate of nachos. Seeing those calories is a definite deterrent!
Last Thursday, I had a rough evening. I got through my PT session with no problems, but as I walked to the car I could tell something was wrong. I was shaky and skittish. I needed food. I determined that chocolate milk would do the trick and headed out in my car. I stopped at the first grocery store and there were no individual sized drinks. Not quite comfortable doing so, I packed myself back into my car and headed towards home.
Thankfully there was a 7-Eleven on the drive home. I went in and got some self-prescribed chocolate milk and downed it. I felt so much better. I picked up my girls and headed home for dinner. The cycle of shakiness continued through the evening. I'd get shaky, eat something and it would go away. I was feeling rough and not really sure why.
Prior to PT, I'd eaten 911 calories for the day. By the end of the day, I'd eaten 1391. I counted and then fell asleep for the night.
This week my goal is to start tracking calories. I joined SparkPeople again (dublythe) and determined my base calories. Each day I should be consuming 1520 - 1870 calories. I'm still going to keep my paper journal. I find the searching for things to enter when I already know the numbers to be tedious and a time waste. However, SparkPeople is good for helping me look up the value for things that I don't know. It also can offer me more insight into other nutritional information I'm not tracking by hand.
I'm glad to have a direction. Hopefully it is the right one. I'd certainly like to avoid any more days like Thursday. Of course, I am not looking forward to the day when all I really want in the world is a big unhealthy plate of nachos. Seeing those calories is a definite deterrent!
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