Well, I'm 3 days into tracking calories and I've been within 15 calories of 1200 all 3 days now! I'm sticking pretty closely with the food pyramid, too, though I don't eat that many grains. 6-11 servings of grain a day! I'm more like 3-4 with 6-8 of fruits and veggies.
I haven't been getting much in the way of exercise, but I have been trying to make a point of walking around or standing during the day, more than sitting. So I think that counts for something. ;)
All in all the transition back to the world of calorie counting has not been bad so far. Usually day 3 is the worst for me, and all I want to do is eat. Today that wasn't the case so much, and whenever I wanted to eat something, I'd reach for a fruit or vegetable, which was great!
So... I guess this means I'm at step one of making this goal a reality. Today I weighed in at 128. Not the best, but it could be worse, I guess. That leaves me with 15 weeks (pretty much exactly) to lose 18 lbs.
*gulp* Here we go!
Showing posts with label calorie counting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calorie counting. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Doing the Math...
I can't set a goal without informing myself, so here I am, AGAIN, doing math.
(For someone who really doesn't like math, I sure seem to do a lot of it!)
IF I were to set a weight loss goal, I would want to lose the weight by our family reunion in July. And if I'm going to lose the weight by the end of July, I really ought to just plan to lose the weight by Seminar. =D So... my weight loss deadline would be July 15.
July 15... that gives me... about 15 weeks to lose some weight.
At 1 lb a week, that would be 15 lbs, and that would put me at approximately 115 lbs.
That would be good. I would be happy with that. I would be even happier with 110 lbs, though, so let's just aim for 110, since this is all hypothetical. Shall we? =D
So... to lose 20 lbs in 15 weeks, I will need to dispose of 70,000 calories. Wow. That's a lot of calories! Okay... so, 70,000 calories over 15 weeks is... 4666 calories a week. Let's just round that to 4700 calories per week. That means I need to somehow get rid of 671 (rounded down to 670) calories per day. On average, I burn approximately 1350 calories, just by being alive every day. The actual number is 1366.something, but I rounded down for simplicity sake. So... I burn approximately 1600 calories daily, between being alive and living a fairly sedentary life. I could easily up that number to 1800 calories a day, just by being a little more active around the house and sitting less. But for now we'll stick with 1600 calories. So.... I need to somehow rid myself of 670 (or 700, for numbers' sake) calories a day. If I eat 1200 calories a day, that takes that number down to 300. That means I need to burn 300 calories a day through exercise.
Goal: lose 20 lbs
Deadline: July 15
Calories/Week: 4700
Calories/Day: 700
BMR: 1350
Daily Calorie Expenditure: 1600
Calorie Intake/Day: 1200
Calories Burned through Exercise/Day: 300
I seem to always come up with the same answer, every time I want to lose weight. 1200 calories, burn 300 every day. I guess it's good the formula works each time, but somehow I always think it will come out differently. =D Silly me.
So... if I eat 1200 calories a day and burn 300 through exercise, it IS possible for me to lose 20 lbs by the middle of July. That's good to know.
Now, the question is... do I want to?
(For someone who really doesn't like math, I sure seem to do a lot of it!)
IF I were to set a weight loss goal, I would want to lose the weight by our family reunion in July. And if I'm going to lose the weight by the end of July, I really ought to just plan to lose the weight by Seminar. =D So... my weight loss deadline would be July 15.
July 15... that gives me... about 15 weeks to lose some weight.
At 1 lb a week, that would be 15 lbs, and that would put me at approximately 115 lbs.
That would be good. I would be happy with that. I would be even happier with 110 lbs, though, so let's just aim for 110, since this is all hypothetical. Shall we? =D
So... to lose 20 lbs in 15 weeks, I will need to dispose of 70,000 calories. Wow. That's a lot of calories! Okay... so, 70,000 calories over 15 weeks is... 4666 calories a week. Let's just round that to 4700 calories per week. That means I need to somehow get rid of 671 (rounded down to 670) calories per day. On average, I burn approximately 1350 calories, just by being alive every day. The actual number is 1366.something, but I rounded down for simplicity sake. So... I burn approximately 1600 calories daily, between being alive and living a fairly sedentary life. I could easily up that number to 1800 calories a day, just by being a little more active around the house and sitting less. But for now we'll stick with 1600 calories. So.... I need to somehow rid myself of 670 (or 700, for numbers' sake) calories a day. If I eat 1200 calories a day, that takes that number down to 300. That means I need to burn 300 calories a day through exercise.
Goal: lose 20 lbs
Deadline: July 15
Calories/Week: 4700
Calories/Day: 700
BMR: 1350
Daily Calorie Expenditure: 1600
Calorie Intake/Day: 1200
Calories Burned through Exercise/Day: 300
I seem to always come up with the same answer, every time I want to lose weight. 1200 calories, burn 300 every day. I guess it's good the formula works each time, but somehow I always think it will come out differently. =D Silly me.
So... if I eat 1200 calories a day and burn 300 through exercise, it IS possible for me to lose 20 lbs by the middle of July. That's good to know.
Now, the question is... do I want to?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Holy Moly!
I don't know what is different or what changed, but when I got on the scale this morning it spat the number 129 back at me!
WAAAAAHHHHH!
Maybe that gym membership isn't such a bad idea! =( I wish I could say it was muscle and that muscle weighs more than fat, but my jeans are tight, too, so I know that's not the case. Sigh.
Why do I have such a hard time keeping up with an exercise/eating regimen? It really shouldn't be that hard, you know. BUT... enough negativity and on to the positive. I got up early this morning to do some stuff, and I did yoga! It was actually Ellie's idea, which I thought was funny. She said, "Mommy, let's do this:" and then proceeded to transition perfectly from plank to cobra to downward facing dog. It cracked me up! And who can say no when asked to exercise or stretch by a 2 year old?
So I did 3 repetitions of the sun salutation. I haven't been doing it lately, and I've noticed my flexibility getting worse (even worse than it was!) over the last month that I've quit. So... maybe if I start up again I will become a little more flexible. My back has just been really tight.
After the yoga Ellie and I went for a dip in the hot tub. That's a pretty relaxing start to the morning! So far I've had a pretty productive morning and I'm hoping to extend that throughout the day. I've had water, but I haven't eaten yet, so I should go do that now. And record my calories while I'm at it.
WAAAAAHHHHH!
Maybe that gym membership isn't such a bad idea! =( I wish I could say it was muscle and that muscle weighs more than fat, but my jeans are tight, too, so I know that's not the case. Sigh.
Why do I have such a hard time keeping up with an exercise/eating regimen? It really shouldn't be that hard, you know. BUT... enough negativity and on to the positive. I got up early this morning to do some stuff, and I did yoga! It was actually Ellie's idea, which I thought was funny. She said, "Mommy, let's do this:" and then proceeded to transition perfectly from plank to cobra to downward facing dog. It cracked me up! And who can say no when asked to exercise or stretch by a 2 year old?
So I did 3 repetitions of the sun salutation. I haven't been doing it lately, and I've noticed my flexibility getting worse (even worse than it was!) over the last month that I've quit. So... maybe if I start up again I will become a little more flexible. My back has just been really tight.
After the yoga Ellie and I went for a dip in the hot tub. That's a pretty relaxing start to the morning! So far I've had a pretty productive morning and I'm hoping to extend that throughout the day. I've had water, but I haven't eaten yet, so I should go do that now. And record my calories while I'm at it.
Monday, February 23, 2009
124 and sore...
That was me yesterday. Actually, I've been at 124 for a couple days. We did twice as much work on the trapeze on Saturday, so I was EXTRA sore yesterday. Like sit in the hot tub, take ibuprofin and I STILL couldn't move my arms sore. But that means I got a good workout, right?
We've got one more week of the aerial class. I'm still really enjoying it, though I'm realizing I need to beef up my abs to do it well. Still, in the 4 classes I've taken, I can see a HUGE improvement in both my abs and my arms. That impresses me, because I never see that sort of improvement in 4 workouts! So... I might have to continue doing this just for the results. ;D I think Cathy's going to have another free workshop and then start up some new classes at the end of March and into April. I need to figure out if I'm going to TX or not to see if that will work for my schedule, but I'd love to take the beginner class again.
Anyway... Calorie counting is not going so well. And today? Well, today eating is not going so well. I think all I've had to eat today is the better portion of a box of girl scout cookies. Sigh. But they were oh so good! =D
Still, I see a walk on the treadmill (or outside if the wind will die down) and some sit ups in my future...
We've got one more week of the aerial class. I'm still really enjoying it, though I'm realizing I need to beef up my abs to do it well. Still, in the 4 classes I've taken, I can see a HUGE improvement in both my abs and my arms. That impresses me, because I never see that sort of improvement in 4 workouts! So... I might have to continue doing this just for the results. ;D I think Cathy's going to have another free workshop and then start up some new classes at the end of March and into April. I need to figure out if I'm going to TX or not to see if that will work for my schedule, but I'd love to take the beginner class again.
Anyway... Calorie counting is not going so well. And today? Well, today eating is not going so well. I think all I've had to eat today is the better portion of a box of girl scout cookies. Sigh. But they were oh so good! =D
Still, I see a walk on the treadmill (or outside if the wind will die down) and some sit ups in my future...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I woke up early this morning...
My friend Kate challenged me to start waking up at 5am to get more things done in the day. So this morning, I woke up early! I didn't quite make it up at 5, when my alarm went off, but Kate gave me a call at 5:30 to see if I was up and I did roll out of bed then. So I've been up for a little over an hour now. I started my morning with some time in the Word, which I haven't done in a long time. It is such an important part of my day, and yet it seems to be the first thing that gets dropped. It's also, I'm pretty sure, a big part of how my day goes, since my focus tends to be better aligned with God's plan for my life when I start out my day talking to Him. Anyway, it was good to start out the day that way.
So now I've read my Bible and blogged my thoughts on the reading today (somehow thinking "out loud" helps my thoughts be a little more focused just after I wake up in the morning!) and I've got 100 calories under my belt for breakfast. I figured I'd try recording my calories again. I haven't been very consistent (with anything in my life lately, sadly), but today is a new day, right? I'm starting up again. So we're 100 calories and 1 WW point into the day and I'm going to go tackle the treadmill for a while.
It's amazing just how quiet the house is before everyone else gets up. I hope I can keep this early morning routine going.
So now I've read my Bible and blogged my thoughts on the reading today (somehow thinking "out loud" helps my thoughts be a little more focused just after I wake up in the morning!) and I've got 100 calories under my belt for breakfast. I figured I'd try recording my calories again. I haven't been very consistent (with anything in my life lately, sadly), but today is a new day, right? I'm starting up again. So we're 100 calories and 1 WW point into the day and I'm going to go tackle the treadmill for a while.
It's amazing just how quiet the house is before everyone else gets up. I hope I can keep this early morning routine going.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Back on track!
Here I am, back on track, tracking my calories again. It's a new year and a new start and it's been a good day!
Of course, I've been starving all day, but that's just the lack of holiday junk food talking. The first day back tracking calories is always the hardest. Tomorrow will be hard, but easier than today. And if I can make it past 3 days of calorie counting, I'm golden. The it just becomes... routine. And really, I like it once it gets to be routine. I don't feel hungry, it doesn't take long for me to remember what a "normal" portion size is like, and my food scale and I become best buds again. It's great. Once I get past these first 3 days.
But the good news is that I drank a ton of water trying to curb my munchy hunger. It didn't really help with the hunger, but it kept me busy and I logged about 3 liters of water today. That's good news for someone with a pop addiction! Of course, it helps that we got a carbonator over Christmas, so I can drink fizzy water now. It helps curb the pop craving and it doesn't have any additives, extra salt, or artificial sweeteners! It's my new favorite thing.
I managed to get up this morning and do Coach Nicole's 12 minute Pilates ab workout, followed by 45 minutes on the treadmill (at 3.5 mph at 3% incline, for a 355 calorie workout), and I even tossed in 12 "real" push ups for good measure. Mostly I tossed those in to see how many sequential "real" push ups I could do. 12's the limit it seems. I'd like to build that number up. But that's not the point right now...
The point is that at the end of the day, eating 3 meals, snacking as needed to curb the hunger pangs of a belly that's been given anything it wants for a month, drinking water at every turn, and counting every calorie I put in my (not as) little (as I'd like it to be) body, I ended the day alright. Here are today's stats (with my goals in parentheses)
Calories: 1367 (1200-1550)
Fat: 29 (32-56)
Carbs: 224 (163-236)
Protein: 59 (60-127)
Fiber: 25 (25-35)
I even ate some MUFAs today, at least with breakfast and lunch. I don't know about dinner, unless whole wheat spaghetti has MUFAs in it. Hmmm....
So, I'll take it. If I can keep doing this I think I'll be on a good path to being in better shape. And I'd like to be in better shape. I'd like to be healthy, I'd like to be happy, and I'd like to look good.
Happy New Year!
Of course, I've been starving all day, but that's just the lack of holiday junk food talking. The first day back tracking calories is always the hardest. Tomorrow will be hard, but easier than today. And if I can make it past 3 days of calorie counting, I'm golden. The it just becomes... routine. And really, I like it once it gets to be routine. I don't feel hungry, it doesn't take long for me to remember what a "normal" portion size is like, and my food scale and I become best buds again. It's great. Once I get past these first 3 days.
But the good news is that I drank a ton of water trying to curb my munchy hunger. It didn't really help with the hunger, but it kept me busy and I logged about 3 liters of water today. That's good news for someone with a pop addiction! Of course, it helps that we got a carbonator over Christmas, so I can drink fizzy water now. It helps curb the pop craving and it doesn't have any additives, extra salt, or artificial sweeteners! It's my new favorite thing.
I managed to get up this morning and do Coach Nicole's 12 minute Pilates ab workout, followed by 45 minutes on the treadmill (at 3.5 mph at 3% incline, for a 355 calorie workout), and I even tossed in 12 "real" push ups for good measure. Mostly I tossed those in to see how many sequential "real" push ups I could do. 12's the limit it seems. I'd like to build that number up. But that's not the point right now...
The point is that at the end of the day, eating 3 meals, snacking as needed to curb the hunger pangs of a belly that's been given anything it wants for a month, drinking water at every turn, and counting every calorie I put in my (not as) little (as I'd like it to be) body, I ended the day alright. Here are today's stats (with my goals in parentheses)
Calories: 1367 (1200-1550)
Fat: 29 (32-56)
Carbs: 224 (163-236)
Protein: 59 (60-127)
Fiber: 25 (25-35)
I even ate some MUFAs today, at least with breakfast and lunch. I don't know about dinner, unless whole wheat spaghetti has MUFAs in it. Hmmm....
So, I'll take it. If I can keep doing this I think I'll be on a good path to being in better shape. And I'd like to be in better shape. I'd like to be healthy, I'd like to be happy, and I'd like to look good.
Happy New Year!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Down 2 Lbs!
I weighed in at 119 today!! That's 3 lbs down from a week ago. Hooray!!! I'm pretty excited to be out of the 120's and now I have 4 lbs to lose in the next 5 weeks!
4 lbs = 14000 calories
14000/5 = 2800 calories per week
2800/7 = 400 calories per day
I will burn 150 calories through exercise each day.
400-150 = 250 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 250 = 1350 calories I need to consume per day.
And in reverse....
So... does the reverse math work?
1600+150 = 1750 calories burned in a day
1750-1350 = 400 calories lost each day
I need to lose 400 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.
So now I only need to burn 150 calories a day through exercise, which is much easier to maintain! And if I burn more, then I'll just lose it quicker, but I'm not tied to 350 calorie exercise a day. That's wonderful!
4 lbs = 14000 calories
14000/5 = 2800 calories per week
2800/7 = 400 calories per day
I will burn 150 calories through exercise each day.
400-150 = 250 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 250 = 1350 calories I need to consume per day.
And in reverse....
So... does the reverse math work?
1600+150 = 1750 calories burned in a day
1750-1350 = 400 calories lost each day
I need to lose 400 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.
So now I only need to burn 150 calories a day through exercise, which is much easier to maintain! And if I burn more, then I'll just lose it quicker, but I'm not tied to 350 calorie exercise a day. That's wonderful!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Back on track!
Well, I didn't do much today. I was pretty lazy, as I didn't leave the house until late this afternoon when we went to get our flu shots. I went to dinner at Mackenzie River with a friend and by the time I left the house at 6:15 for that I hadn't done any exercise or anything. We got the thin crust Thai Pie pizza and each had a salad. I love their salad! I was good and only put about 1 T. of dressing on (though I counted it as 2 on SP just in case it was more - kind of hard to judge when you're pouring out of a little cup) even though I absolutely LOVE their dressing. Then I ate two slices of pizza. I counted it as 2 medium slices of Pizza Hut thin crust pepperoni, and I think that's fair. Pepperoni is usually some of the fattiest pizza you can get, especially from Pizza Hut, so that's what I usually count pizza as on SP. It was a great dinner out and time with a friend (without kids!) and it's so nice to be able to do that without eating a ton of calories!
So because I didn't exercise before dinner, I knew I'd have to after dinner. I couldn't go two days in a row without exercise!!! Especially not my first week back to exercising and calorie counting! So I put on a movie from hulu.com (Bring it On - a cheerleading movie with peppy music. Peppy music is always good when you're exercising!) and I got on the treadmill and walked at 3.4 mph and an incline of 3-5 for most of the movie. I walked for 90 minutes and finally got off to watch the last 15 minutes of the movie in a chair. =D I figure that was PLENTY of walking. I ended up burning 675 calories in that time, too, so I guess I got my 350 in for today! Made up for yesterday, too!
I don't know what tomorrow holds. We'll have to see how Ellie is doing with her flu shot. Last year she was pretty miserable the day after. If she's that way tomorrow we'll stay home. Otherwise we'll go to playgroup!!
So because I didn't exercise before dinner, I knew I'd have to after dinner. I couldn't go two days in a row without exercise!!! Especially not my first week back to exercising and calorie counting! So I put on a movie from hulu.com (Bring it On - a cheerleading movie with peppy music. Peppy music is always good when you're exercising!) and I got on the treadmill and walked at 3.4 mph and an incline of 3-5 for most of the movie. I walked for 90 minutes and finally got off to watch the last 15 minutes of the movie in a chair. =D I figure that was PLENTY of walking. I ended up burning 675 calories in that time, too, so I guess I got my 350 in for today! Made up for yesterday, too!
I don't know what tomorrow holds. We'll have to see how Ellie is doing with her flu shot. Last year she was pretty miserable the day after. If she's that way tomorrow we'll stay home. Otherwise we'll go to playgroup!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Pretty sure I went over my calories tonight....
I didn't mean to, but I think I did. By maybe a hundred calories or two. Nothing too terrible, but it's 10:00 and I haven't exercised yet.
We went to Over the Tapas for dinner and split an entree and two sides. Well, we split one side, I ate one side, and Leif ate the entree (the teeny tiny entree!). He wasn't a big fan of the creamy potatoes, which I love, but I was expecting to eat only half of them when I ordered them. Instead I ended up eating a whole bowl of the cream laden potatoes, which is where a lot of my calories for the night went. Ack! I went into dinner having 900 calories or so to spare, and I guess it wasn't enough! Sigh. But it's okay. We had a GREAT night out and I got some MUFA in with my dinner. (Have I posted on MUFA yet? If not, that sentence probably sounded naughtier than it was intended, LOL!) If I haven't written a MUFA post yet, I will. I'm giving it a try. But that's beside the point.
Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get some extra exercise in. If I get myself organized I can put Ellie in the stroller and walk over to Bible study. That will be something, at least.
Oh, we did walk around downtown (we parked at Over the Tapas, ate, then walked down to T. Charbonneau's and back the other direction to the Co-op, then back to our car, so however far that is...) so I think that should count as exercise for the evening. =D Maybe I'll still do some DDR if Leif will play with me, but we're both pretty beat, so I don't know. And it IS 10:30 at night already... maybe I'll just go to bed.
We went to Over the Tapas for dinner and split an entree and two sides. Well, we split one side, I ate one side, and Leif ate the entree (the teeny tiny entree!). He wasn't a big fan of the creamy potatoes, which I love, but I was expecting to eat only half of them when I ordered them. Instead I ended up eating a whole bowl of the cream laden potatoes, which is where a lot of my calories for the night went. Ack! I went into dinner having 900 calories or so to spare, and I guess it wasn't enough! Sigh. But it's okay. We had a GREAT night out and I got some MUFA in with my dinner. (Have I posted on MUFA yet? If not, that sentence probably sounded naughtier than it was intended, LOL!) If I haven't written a MUFA post yet, I will. I'm giving it a try. But that's beside the point.
Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get some extra exercise in. If I get myself organized I can put Ellie in the stroller and walk over to Bible study. That will be something, at least.
Oh, we did walk around downtown (we parked at Over the Tapas, ate, then walked down to T. Charbonneau's and back the other direction to the Co-op, then back to our car, so however far that is...) so I think that should count as exercise for the evening. =D Maybe I'll still do some DDR if Leif will play with me, but we're both pretty beat, so I don't know. And it IS 10:30 at night already... maybe I'll just go to bed.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wiiiiii!
I did housework pretty much ALL day today. I don't know if that counts as exercise or not, but I'm sure I burned more calories than sitting on my bum all day! We had a girls' night tonight, so I saved up my dinner calories and decided to eat dinner there. Because 3 of the 4 of us are working on losing weight (before our 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays this year!) most of the food was healthy. That made it a little easier tonight! It also was good that I went into the evening with about 650 calories to spare... =D
Because I hadn't done any real exercise today and I didn't think I'd have the energy to once I got home (you know how it goes...) I decided to head downstairs and play some DDR on the Wii quickly to see how many calories I could knock out in the 25 or so minutes I had to spare before I needed to leave. I got about 215 burned, which meant I only had to burn 150 when I came home. Hooray! When I got home Leif was in the hot tub, so I changed and joined him for a bit, relaxing in the warm water and talking. Then he suggested we go play DDR, so I took the opportunity to burn those last calories of the day and maintain my goal. Little did I know that we would have so much fun and play for so long.... I ended up burning a total of 550 calories playing DDR today!!
Hopefully that will encourage the scale to move!!
Because I hadn't done any real exercise today and I didn't think I'd have the energy to once I got home (you know how it goes...) I decided to head downstairs and play some DDR on the Wii quickly to see how many calories I could knock out in the 25 or so minutes I had to spare before I needed to leave. I got about 215 burned, which meant I only had to burn 150 when I came home. Hooray! When I got home Leif was in the hot tub, so I changed and joined him for a bit, relaxing in the warm water and talking. Then he suggested we go play DDR, so I took the opportunity to burn those last calories of the day and maintain my goal. Little did I know that we would have so much fun and play for so long.... I ended up burning a total of 550 calories playing DDR today!!
Hopefully that will encourage the scale to move!!
Fleeting moderation
I'm struggling with moderation today. Just a little here and a little there... but it all eats up calories!! I'm going to a girls' night tonight, so I might just skip dinner until I get there. I don't remember if we're having real dinner food or not, but there will be calories there for sure! I'm bringing yummy hot chocolate fixins, and I'd hate not to be able to enjoy them just because I couldn't resist eating a handful of sprinkles earlier in the day!
So... I've got 2 hours to get through without indulging before I go tonight. I need help!
(and really, I should be exercising for a good portion of one of those hours!)
So... I've got 2 hours to get through without indulging before I go tonight. I need help!
(and really, I should be exercising for a good portion of one of those hours!)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Treadmill time...
Just walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes and burned 365 calories. I've got just under 300 calories left to consume today. And right now? I'm pretty tired... I think I'll make some Christmas cards, drink some hot chocolate, watch a show, clean the kitchen, then go to bed and actually get 8 hours of sleep. It'll be good.
Rethinking the numbers....
Given the new goal of 7 lbs in 6 weeks, it occurs to me that I might need to rethink my numbers. So here it goes...
7 lbs = 24500 calories
24500/6 = 4083 calories per week
4083/7 = 583 calories per day
I will burn 350 calories through exercise each day.
583-350 = 233 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 233 = 1367 calories I need to consume per day.
Interestingly, 1350 calories is my basal metabolic rate, which sort of makes sense. So.... I think I will aim to keep doing the exercise and just eat a little more to keep my body going and still lose at the rate that I want to. According to the numbers, it should still work. =D
So... does the reverse math work?
1600+350 = 1950 calories burned in a day
1950-1350 = 600 calories lost each day
I need to lose 583 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.
So the new goal is to lose 7 lbs in 6 weeks by exercising to burn 350 calories a day and consuming 1350 calories. That sound MUCH better!
7 lbs = 24500 calories
24500/6 = 4083 calories per week
4083/7 = 583 calories per day
I will burn 350 calories through exercise each day.
583-350 = 233 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 233 = 1367 calories I need to consume per day.
Interestingly, 1350 calories is my basal metabolic rate, which sort of makes sense. So.... I think I will aim to keep doing the exercise and just eat a little more to keep my body going and still lose at the rate that I want to. According to the numbers, it should still work. =D
So... does the reverse math work?
1600+350 = 1950 calories burned in a day
1950-1350 = 600 calories lost each day
I need to lose 583 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.
So the new goal is to lose 7 lbs in 6 weeks by exercising to burn 350 calories a day and consuming 1350 calories. That sound MUCH better!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A goal!
Okay... here it goes.... I'm going to set a new goal for myself. I know we're getting into the holidays and that's typically a hard time to lose weight, but if I'm going to lose this weight that I've gained I can't wait until after the holidays! I can't keep making excuses, and I can't postpone making changes just because I'm afraid it will be difficult. The truth is... it WILL be difficult! If it were easy to lose the weight, it wouldn't be here!
So I'd really like to see myself back down to 115 by the end of the year. That gives me 6 weeks to lose 9 lbs! It'll be a challenge, but I think I can do it... So, in my typical fashion, here are some numbers to help me think through this goal of mine....
To lose 9 lbs, I need to rid myself of 31,500 calories.
To do it in 6 weeks I need to rid myself of 5,250 calories per week.
That translates to 750 calories per day.
According to this calculator, my basal metabolic rate is 1342 (1350 for easy calculations)
If I eat 1100-1200 calories a day, that means I automatically lose 150-250 calories per day.
So... I need to burn 500-600 calories a day through activity or exercise.
According to the Harris Benedict Equation, calculating for a sedentary lifestyle, I should burn about 1610 (1600 for easy calculations) per day. Through my daily activity, then, I automatically lose 400-500 calories.
So... calculating conservatively (assuming I eat closer to 1200 calories than 1100) I need to burn 350 calories through exercise every day.
I should be able to do that.
Whew! This is going to take some diligence and effort. I am going to have to exercise EVERY DAY. Even weekends. And I am going to have to burn at least 350 calories every time I exercise.
This is going to be a challenge for me.
So I'd really like to see myself back down to 115 by the end of the year. That gives me 6 weeks to lose 9 lbs! It'll be a challenge, but I think I can do it... So, in my typical fashion, here are some numbers to help me think through this goal of mine....
To lose 9 lbs, I need to rid myself of 31,500 calories.
To do it in 6 weeks I need to rid myself of 5,250 calories per week.
That translates to 750 calories per day.
According to this calculator, my basal metabolic rate is 1342 (1350 for easy calculations)
If I eat 1100-1200 calories a day, that means I automatically lose 150-250 calories per day.
So... I need to burn 500-600 calories a day through activity or exercise.
According to the Harris Benedict Equation, calculating for a sedentary lifestyle, I should burn about 1610 (1600 for easy calculations) per day. Through my daily activity, then, I automatically lose 400-500 calories.
So... calculating conservatively (assuming I eat closer to 1200 calories than 1100) I need to burn 350 calories through exercise every day.
I should be able to do that.
Whew! This is going to take some diligence and effort. I am going to have to exercise EVERY DAY. Even weekends. And I am going to have to burn at least 350 calories every time I exercise.
This is going to be a challenge for me.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Moderation is not my strong point.
If it's not the 3 glasses of eggnog in an afternoon (at 440 calories per glass!!) it's the other end of the spectrum with a dearth of calories....
I started calorie counting today. I think I might have hit bottom when I got on the scale and saw it up 10 lbs from what I was just a few months ago! So discouraging! But today I did something about it, and it didn't include comfort food!
I started calorie counting today. And I'd forgotten how hard it was to count calories! Not so hard to do the counting, as how hungry I got when I wasn't shoving food into my face every time I felt like it. I was away from home for most of the day, but I limited my beverage consumption to water and coffee (which is calorie free if I drink it black - and I did!) and so I wasn't snacking all the time like I would have been at home. That was a lifesaver! But I got home and entered everything into Spark People and learned that even after calculating my dinner calories (leftover tortilla soup - and I skipped the cheese on it) I was still only at 500 some calories for the day! Sigh... moderation is not my strong point. If I'm not over eating, I'm under eating. Will I ever learn?
The good news is that I'm now up to 850 calories, so maybe I have a little room for a snack later on. I did drink some full sugar pop with dinner, but I limited it to 8 oz, and I don't feel badly about the calories given the rest of my caloric dearth of a day.
So... 300 or so calories to go tonight. That's not too bad, and I will eat them. I also have 32 oz of water to drink still and something else from the fruit and veggie family to consume. I'm making apple butter tonight (because we're canning tomorrow!) so maybe I'll eat an apple.
Anyway, I'm back on the wagon. It's been too long and too many lbs and now I have 20 lbs to lose instead of 10. So... off to change some habits again and see where that gets me.
I started calorie counting today. I think I might have hit bottom when I got on the scale and saw it up 10 lbs from what I was just a few months ago! So discouraging! But today I did something about it, and it didn't include comfort food!
I started calorie counting today. And I'd forgotten how hard it was to count calories! Not so hard to do the counting, as how hungry I got when I wasn't shoving food into my face every time I felt like it. I was away from home for most of the day, but I limited my beverage consumption to water and coffee (which is calorie free if I drink it black - and I did!) and so I wasn't snacking all the time like I would have been at home. That was a lifesaver! But I got home and entered everything into Spark People and learned that even after calculating my dinner calories (leftover tortilla soup - and I skipped the cheese on it) I was still only at 500 some calories for the day! Sigh... moderation is not my strong point. If I'm not over eating, I'm under eating. Will I ever learn?
The good news is that I'm now up to 850 calories, so maybe I have a little room for a snack later on. I did drink some full sugar pop with dinner, but I limited it to 8 oz, and I don't feel badly about the calories given the rest of my caloric dearth of a day.
So... 300 or so calories to go tonight. That's not too bad, and I will eat them. I also have 32 oz of water to drink still and something else from the fruit and veggie family to consume. I'm making apple butter tonight (because we're canning tomorrow!) so maybe I'll eat an apple.
Anyway, I'm back on the wagon. It's been too long and too many lbs and now I have 20 lbs to lose instead of 10. So... off to change some habits again and see where that gets me.
Friday, August 15, 2008
So far so good...
Well, I'm doing okay on calories for today. I still have about 150-200 calories to eat today, which means I can have a good snack this evening while I'm up late watching the Olympics and cleaning/organizing. I'm also just about done with my water for the day, so that's good. And I didn't get a walk in today, but we DID go for a 30 minute family bike ride tonight, complete with hills to climb! It's the first real workout (aside from hikes, I guess) in a while. My legs were tired, but it feels good to get some exercise in.
Okay... back to cleaning the kitchen / organizing the pantry. Because I really don't care about men's volleyball.
Okay... back to cleaning the kitchen / organizing the pantry. Because I really don't care about men's volleyball.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Water helps...
Well, I didn't eat myself out of house and home. In fact, I am still within my calorie range for the day. Drinking water this afternoon/evening helped. And I'm drinking water this evening because I'm out of calories for the day. Still, though, I'm happy not to have completely gone overboard. I'm getting so very close to my 115 stall point and I don't want to plateau here! I really want to bust past it, so I'm going to keep myself strong and stick to my calories.
And I've been doing housework most of today (catching up on the loads and loads of laundry from camping and scrubbing (hands and knees scrubbing!) the bathroom floor and doing a few loads of dishes) so that should help in the exercise department.
Tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping I can finish the laundry and dishes projects tonight so that I can tackle some basement reorganization tomorrow!
And I've been doing housework most of today (catching up on the loads and loads of laundry from camping and scrubbing (hands and knees scrubbing!) the bathroom floor and doing a few loads of dishes) so that should help in the exercise department.
Tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping I can finish the laundry and dishes projects tonight so that I can tackle some basement reorganization tomorrow!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Home again, home again...
Well, we ended up extending our camping trip an extra day, so here it is Sunday night and we just got home! The trip was good. Hard to count calories, didn't get nearly enough water I'm sure, but overall I tried to be moderate and we even got a little hike or two in. And some kayaking, but Ellie was in my boat and ended up falling asleep on my arm (rendering me unable to paddle!) so Leif had to tow us around the lake instead. Guess I can't count that as a workout, huh? But it was good.
I weighed myself this evening when we came home. End of the day, but I figured I'd give it a go so I had some idea of what to expect tomorrow. The scale said 117.4, so we'll see if it goes down in the morning! That would be great! I would still love to see something in the 116 range, but we'll have to take it as it comes. I'm home again, so calorie counting should be a little easier.
I weighed myself this evening when we came home. End of the day, but I figured I'd give it a go so I had some idea of what to expect tomorrow. The scale said 117.4, so we'll see if it goes down in the morning! That would be great! I would still love to see something in the 116 range, but we'll have to take it as it comes. I'm home again, so calorie counting should be a little easier.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Sweet Pea Day 1
Well, we got there a little late, but we did make it to Sweet Pea with our picnic dinner tonight! We just went to see the ballet, and not so much for us to see it as for Eliana to. We knew she'd enjoy the music and dance along with it, and sure enough, she did! It was pretty funny to watch her imitate the dancers on stage. She did lots of twirling and slow, gliding movements. We enjoyed sitting outside in the shade and Leif got to use his new 500 lens, which was nice since we were sitting back so far!
As for the kebabs... they were yummy! Mine didn't end up really being kebabs after all, since I was supposed to use short wooden skewers. I have long metal ones that I use for kebabs, but this was not a grilled meal, and my long skewers didn't fit in the pan, so I gave up on using them and just pan fried the chicken without them. They turned out just fine that way! I wish I'd had time to make rice with them before we went, or stir fried veggies, or something. I felt like they needed a side dish, but we were running late as is, so we didn't get one. BUT it was one of the recipes from Deceptively Delicious, so there was a serving of sweet potato hidden in the chicken kebabs! Hee hee! 
It's the first recipe I've made from this cookbook, so I'm glad it turned out well! I will definitely be making it again, especially since I have the sweet potato puree made up and ready in the freezer this time.
I stayed under for calories, and I did get all my water in, so I splurged and shared a Splenda pop with Leif over dinner! I don't know why I love pop so much, but I do. Now that we have some in the house again, though, I think I will have to work especially hard to make sure to get 2 liters of water in and THEN drink a pop. Water is so important! I got the Jones Cola this time, and I have to say that it's not nearly as good as the Shasta Splenda Cola. I don't know why, but Leif and I agree on that point. It's just not as good.
Well, planning ahead tomorrow and I've already recorded my dinner. Every year I have to get a pulled pork sandwich at Sweet Pea, and tomorrow for dinner is the time!!! So that's already in Spark People and I will plan my day around it. We will eat breakfast here, probably late-ish, and skip the formal lunch, eating Sweet Pea food for dinner. I've packed snacks in the backpack for tomorrow so I'll have something healthy (dried blueberries and apple slices!) to munch on between breakfast and dinner and I'll bring lots of water to keep me hydrated! Hopefully there will be lots of walking in my day and I can count that as exercise. With a little planning this can be a very successful weekend!!
It's the first recipe I've made from this cookbook, so I'm glad it turned out well! I will definitely be making it again, especially since I have the sweet potato puree made up and ready in the freezer this time.
I stayed under for calories, and I did get all my water in, so I splurged and shared a Splenda pop with Leif over dinner! I don't know why I love pop so much, but I do. Now that we have some in the house again, though, I think I will have to work especially hard to make sure to get 2 liters of water in and THEN drink a pop. Water is so important! I got the Jones Cola this time, and I have to say that it's not nearly as good as the Shasta Splenda Cola. I don't know why, but Leif and I agree on that point. It's just not as good.
Well, planning ahead tomorrow and I've already recorded my dinner. Every year I have to get a pulled pork sandwich at Sweet Pea, and tomorrow for dinner is the time!!! So that's already in Spark People and I will plan my day around it. We will eat breakfast here, probably late-ish, and skip the formal lunch, eating Sweet Pea food for dinner. I've packed snacks in the backpack for tomorrow so I'll have something healthy (dried blueberries and apple slices!) to munch on between breakfast and dinner and I'll bring lots of water to keep me hydrated! Hopefully there will be lots of walking in my day and I can count that as exercise. With a little planning this can be a very successful weekend!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
I haven't run yet today...
And I really probably should, but it just finally got cool enough to go. And now my parents are out for a walk and Leif is out mowing the lawn, so if I leave the house to run I will leave poor Ellie unattended, and I probably ought not do that, especially if she does what she did last night with getting out of bed a million times declaring she needed to go potty. So I stay home.
But I'm drinking my water.
And I stayed in my calorie range, so that's good. I even have a little extra for a snack tonight.
And I even got to have a Frappuccino today, but I was good and I got the light one with NO whipped cream. It was 130 calories and it was a nice treat!
So... it's getting dark now and I'm not sure that I'll run, but I will do some tomorrow and then Saturday is the big 5K day!!
But I'm drinking my water.
And I stayed in my calorie range, so that's good. I even have a little extra for a snack tonight.
And I even got to have a Frappuccino today, but I was good and I got the light one with NO whipped cream. It was 130 calories and it was a nice treat!
So... it's getting dark now and I'm not sure that I'll run, but I will do some tomorrow and then Saturday is the big 5K day!!
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