Counting Calories at Week 10…

Still on track, though my weightloss has slowed a bit due to the holidays and all the eating out. I’m happy to say I’m still losing – not GAINING – through this year’s season! I’ve lost enough weight now that a lot of people are coming forward and saying something to me [or to others about me] – people I see every day at work, family members, friends, even people I see periodically, like the girl that does my laser hair removal treatments [underarms – I hate shaving them. My gift to myself!]. Now everyone is asking me ‘what’s your secret!!??” Most people’s face falls when I tell them hard work, exercise and counting calories. A lot of people, at one time myself included, want to hear about a magic pill or diet. But  here are a few that are impressed and inspired when I tell them what I’m doing. It really isn’t hard anymore, it just takes consistent work, but once it becomes part of your life, it’s the same as brushing your teeth before bed or balancing your checkbook – necessary, but also beneficial.

To date, I’ve lost 45 lbs! I’m about halfway to my goal now. I started out at 255lbs. I’m now 210lbs and for some reason, no longer embarrassed to say what my weight actually is. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them my weight now. I’m tall [5’7″] and I do have an athletic frame, so I tend to run heavy anyway. I’d like to get to 170lbs and then decide if I need to lose more or not, but I think that’s a good intial goal to have. That’s what I weighed the end of highschool and I was a size 10. I can probably go lower – 148-155, but I’m not sure I want to go too low with the body fat. I have no desire to look like a skinned rabit, or look 10 years older than I am because there’s no fat left on my face to fill in the ‘cracks’. lol… I’m still taking it one step at a time, one day at a time.

I’m also happy to say that I’m now a real size 14 and my days of shopping at the ‘big girl’ store are behind me. I can buy regular clothes in regular sizes, which has been so much fun. I always thought I hated shopping. Nope. I just hated shopping when nothing looked good on me. Now, it’s dangerous already! I started out at a stretchy 18 – if I was honest with myself at the time, I was probably more like a 20 or a 22, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything that went beyond 18, so I’d stuff myself into jeans and I’d have horrendous ‘muffin top’. I was so wrapped up in the numbers. Not anymore. I have a dress I bought last year that’s a size 18 – it finally fits me now and looks great and the size doesn’t bother me. It’s just cut differently from the majority of brands and styles I tend to buy – no biggie. The only problem is, it’s a very lightweight dress that’s more suited to Spring or Summer, so by then it’ll probably be too big and I’ll never get a single use out of it. Unless we go to Florida in the next month or two to visit my mother – then I’ll bring it with me and wear it one night when we go out for dinner.  =)

I’m still using my body bugg – without it, I’d be lost. It really has made the difference for me – a person that had no concept of calories or potion size – or how much I was eating on a daily basis, for that matter. I never wanted to count calories because it never made any sense to me – why count what goes in if you have no idea what you’re burning? Now I know what I’m burning, and it’s made it not only easy, but it motivates me to stick within a certain calorie range so that I stick to a certain calorie burn each day. I shoot to create a calorie deficit of between 1,000-1,250 calories a day. Most days I make it, here and there I don’t, but I always burn more than I consume – even if it’s only by 250 calories.

Now that I’ve been doing this for a while [I started using the body bugg and tracking my calories on 9/27], I also know my body’s cycle, so fluctuations on the scale don’t freak me out. Take today, for instance. I’m about to get my “.” any minute now and I’m up 2lbs from yesterday. I know I’ll hang on to that 2 extra lbs until my “.” is over, and then I’ll drop the 2 lbs over night, and the next day or two I’ll drop 2 more lbs.. My body is funny like that. But it’s okay because overall I’m still losing 1-2lbs per week, which is a good pace for me. In 9 weeks I’ve lost 18 lbs. Woo-hoo! If I can stick to this pace I’l be at my goal weight in the Spring and if I want to keep going, I’ll get to what I call my ‘ultimate weight’ in the summer – in time for our Anniversary in September. The last 2 years we went to Bermuda that week. I’m already dreaming of the cute sundresses and bikinis I’m going to wear next time.  =)

I still have plenty of room for improvement, though. Once the holidays are over I do need to refocus and start getting more of the sugar out of my diet. I live within my calories, but not all calories are equal. My New Year’s resolution will be to clean up my diet and finally ditch the ‘white stuff’ – refined sugar & flour. I still eat a lot of chocolate and I rely on a lot of bars – they’re all natural, but they also have a decent amount of calories and because of that I tend ot eat less fruits and veggies that I otherwise would. I also need to get back to planning my meals better so I maximize my fresh groceries.

I’m still bouncing away on my ball when I watch TV which is both the gift and the curse – it’s a gift because it makes it easy to hit my calorie target for the day, but the curse because it also gives me an out to be lazy and skip a workout BECAUSE I can still hit my target as long as I watch TV on my ball. lol… I need to get back to working out in the mornings again, so that if I feel like skipping an evening workout, it’s not so bad. Or if I feel like just relaxing on the couch or reading, I wont’ miss hitting my target because I hadn’t exercised yet.

Anyway… I know that if I can tweak and tune up my routine, I can increase my weightloss from 1-2lbs per week to 2-3lbs per week, which would be great, but I also think I’ll feel that much better, too. I’m going to be 36 in February – but I feel like I’m going on 16 physically. It’s hard ot believe how old and tired I felt just 2 years ago. I was 34 going on 64 with all my aches and pains, fatigue, shortness of breath when I’d go up some stairs. It was horrible. I could never go back to feeling that way…

The most interesting thing for me now is, when I reach one of my smaller goals – whether it’s hitting a target on the scale, or fitting into an old pair of jeans or a dress, it’s great, but not a big deal. Because I know I’m not stopping here, I’ve got more to do, so if some old piece of clothing fits, but I know I won’t wear it because it’s out of style or not the best quality [because I bought it YEARS ago and it never fit and I always hung onto it hoping it would some day], I just donate it right away and look for the next ‘benchmark’ to shoot for. I’m running out of them, though – I have nothing below a size 12 anymore so once all my old size 12 clothes fit, I’ll have to start buying 10s and 8s to have something to work toward. I actually bought a pair of size 12 jeans last week, and because they have a more than usual amount of stretch to them, they fit me pretty nicely – snug, but not tight. I knew they would because I have the 14s in the same style and they’re already too big in the waste and I have to wear a belt with them. Ironically the black version fo the same jeans in a 14 are still snug – they hardly have any stretch to them, but they’re definitely wearable. If I had a choice, I’d never buy anything stretchy ever again. Not only do they lose their shape too easily, but the also make it too easy to fool yourself into thinking your’e not gaining weight right away. Kind of like not updating your checkbook for a while. You think you’re good until you finally check it and realize you’re broke!

Since my last batch of measurements I’ve lost another 1/2-inch off my chest and off my calves, but the rest are the same. Though my middle is smaller, it isn’t around my waist or hips where I actually measure. It’s almost like the areas above and below my waist are shrinking and tightening up, but I wont’ see a change in my waist measurement until it becomes one, cohesive unit again. lol… I almost don’t have ‘rolls’ anymore and my tummy is ‘this close’ to being flat – still a bit thick, but I’ll take it!

Are Plateaus Inevitable?

I’m starting to think the answer to that question is ‘no.’ Not if you have a body bugg. Plateaus happen when you body doesn’t need as many calories to function [as in after losing some weight], so unless you up your activity level, you’ll end up taking in the same amount of calories you’re burning. Also, if you’re on a very restrictive plan already, your metabolism will eventually slow down so that you reach an equilibrium of sorts. But… it’ll be interesting to see if I run into this problem knowing how many calories I’m burning each day vs. what I’m taking in. I have a feeling the answer is ‘no’…

I eat anywhere from 1,500 to 2,200 calories a day, depending on the circumstances, my choices, and my appetite. But I also burn at least 1,000 calories more than I take in, so I’m always in a caloric deficit. If people pick an arbitrary number – like 1,200 calories and stick to that, eventually it’ll either be too much, or not enough, theoretically…

So, I’ll keep you posted on that aspect of using a body bugg – IF the dreaded plateau does strike. lol… so far, so good. I did have no weightloss for about 2 weeks, but I think it had more to do with my monthly cycle than anything else. Once my period was over, I dropped over 4lbs, seemingly overnight. That’s just how my body works, I guess. As long as it’s temporary and I immediately catch up to the pace I’m going for [2-2.5lbs/wk], I don’t care.

I took some measurements today and was pleasantly surprised. Especially when compared to my original measurements when I started this journey almost 2 years ago:

Here are my inches lost to date:

Chest: 7.5″
Waist: 10″
Hips: 10″
Thighs: 8″ [ea]
Calves: 2.5″ [ea]
Arms: 3.5″ [ea]
Neck: 3″

That last measurement blows me away – 3 inches off my neck! lol… I’ve lost 40lbs so far [40.2 if you want to get technical], and I’m shooting for another 55 lbs to get to my goal weight. At the pace I’m going now, if I can keep it up, I should get there by early to mid April, 2010 – a mere 5 months. That’s just amazing to me. I lost all of 7lbs all of last year because I wasn’t tracking what I was eating. I did drop a dress size from exercising and my body comp changing for the better, but then my weight just stayed the same for months and months until I got frustrated enough to look for something that would work for me – I found clean-eating, Tosca Reno, Oxygen Magazine and Chalene Johnson… and on Chalene’s recommendation – the body bugg. It’s been a slow but steady progression to figuring this all out for myself, but now that everything is clicking, it really does seem pretty easy. If you told me even 6 month ago that it could be this simple, I wouldn’t have believed you…

I’ve tried keeping a food journal in the past  but I was always tracking too many things – carbs, fat grams, protein, etc. And then I’d judge myself, or if I wanted something ‘bad’, I didn’t want to write it down – because that would make it real, disturbing my delicate state of denial. So I’d give up. All I track now are calories, and I eat whatever I want, but because I track calories, and because I like how I feel when I make healthier choices, I tend to want healthier foods 9 times out of 10. I do have chocolate almost every day. I do have snacks like crackers and cheese. Trackign calories has helped me to understand portion sizes. I see what I eat now and compare it to how I WAS eating – even while ‘dieting’ – and it’s no wonder I either gained weight or didn’t lose anything. When they say a food journal is key for most people to reach their weightloss goals and to sustain them, they’re not joking.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get comfortable enough to intuitively know approximately what I’m taking in vs. burning each day after I get to my goal weight. I suspect I’ll continue to use a food journal… even if I stop using the body bug. It’s pretty easy to remember about how many calories you burn during certain activities… and I would think once I don’t have anymore fat to lose, as long as I burn what I’m taking in, I won’t gain anything back. I’ll either be able to eat more, or have less daily activity. Right now I shoot for an hour and a half of ‘activity’ and 10,000 steps, 3,000-3,250 calories burned… yesterday I beat all my targets and didn’t even workout – I tend to do more around the house because I have more energy [and because I know it burns calories] and by bouncing on my stability ball while watching TV. So I gave my body a break from weight lifting and the 45 minutes of cardio I usually do, and today I feel fantastic, and ready to tackle the 2-3 hours of raking and bagging leaves that we have to do.

Losing weight isn’t the rocket science the diet industry will have you believe. It’s in their best interest to give you a taste of success only to take it away, so you keep coming back for more – buying their books, products, ‘systems’, etc… It’s such a sham. If your goal is to lose weight only, then you don’t care that the diet your on doesn’t make nutritional sense as long as the number on the scale moves down. If your goal is to get healthy and fit, nutrition is everything – it affects your performance in everything you do. Which sounds more intelligent?  [It only took 25 years to become obvious for me]. ;)

Thoughts: 11.1.09

This is beginning of week 5 for me with the body bugg, and I’m down 11 lbs. It does what it says it does if you track your calories. I’m finally a believer. After dieting and FAILING miserably for so many years, I finally feel like I’m going to do this and make it to my goals. It’s very new, very awesome sensation. lol…

I would have figured I’d get bored with tracking calories, but I haven’t. I actually love knowing how many calories I’m consuming because I love hitting all my daily targets for calorie burning, steps, activity duration, etc. I’m a body bugg-a-holic if there is such a thing. lol

I’ve also discovered a great trick to making sure I burn up all my calories for the day. I love TV and I watch too much of it, but I bought myself a stability ball, and now I bounce on it while I watch TV – it works so well that I know I burn 350 calories while watching 45 minutes of news! If I know we have a lot of shows ot catch up on and will be in front of the TV for 2-3 hours [I know, it’s a lot…], at least now I know I can burn 1,000 calories or more doing it. It doesn’t replace my daily workouts but it does mean I can just do ONE workout a day and then burn off the rest of my calories while watching TV vs. doing 2 workouts a day like I was doing before, which felt like too much. Bouncing isn’t that hard on the body, but working out twice a day can be.

I’m going to try dropping my calories from 1,850 to 1,750 and burning 3,000 a day vs. 2,850 to see if I can increase my weekly weightloss from 2lbs to 2.5lbs. If it’s too much I’ll go back to what I was doing before [1,000 calorie deficit per day instead of 1,250]. By kicking my routine up a notch, the body bugg software claims I’ll reach my goal by April 9th. Which is great because it gives me time to settle into my new size [whatever that ends up being] and gives me time to do a little shopping – we have a few weddings to go to in May. If/when I reach my goal it’ll mean I’ve lost a total of 95lbs. How crazy is that? I’m almost halfway there – I’ve lost 39 lbs so far since I started this journey. I’m still not 100% sure my goal weight of 159 lbs is correct or not, but I weighed 160 at the end of highschool and again when I lost the weight I gained after my first year of college, so my ‘ideal’ weight is probably around that number. I can always reevaluate once I get there if I think I can lose a few more lbs… and if my body stops at 165 or 170 and I look and feel great, I’m fine with that, too.  =)

The best part of counting calories and living this way is, nothing is off limits. I eat mostly healthy, but now and then I can splurge if I plan for it. Last night my husband took me out for a delicious lobster dinner. I had a 1.5 lb lobster and I dunked every piece in butter – I also made sure to let most of it drip off, and in the end I probably ate about a tablespoon total of the butter, which is about 105 calories. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. When we got home I had enough calories left over to have some popcorn while we watched a movie and a few squares of chocolate. That whole thing about some people being able to eat whatever they want is true – as long as it doesn’t mean their taking in more calories than they burn.

I used to think maintaining a big weightloss would be tough, but if you exercise, it really doesn’t need to be. If I’m burning 1,250 calories more than I’m taking in now, to lose the weight, it means I either keep up the activity level and I get to eat a LOT more, or I can eat about the same amount of food and I don’t have to worry about being SO active every day [right now I do about 10,000 steps and get in about an hour and a half of activity per day, at a minimum]. It’ll mean I can take a couple of days off each week and really let my body recover fully before pushing it again.

This whole experience has been such an eye-opener. I know I won’t ever have the same issues with weight gain again. I know I’ll be ready to move on with the rest of my life when I reach my goals. This will be the toughest thing I’ve ever done. But once I figured out what works for me it stopped being an uphill battle, and turned into a happy journey.  =)  I’m enjoying it every step of the way.

In case you’re wondering about the stability ball, this is the one I have. It’s made to withstand 1,200 lbs – it’s made more rugged for weightlifting. I’ll be getting another as we finish off part of our basement as a gym so I can use it in place of a weight bench: Rhino Skin Stability Ball [image courtesy of amazon.com]

Body Bugg & Counting Calories…

Update: Just found out the sale [free digital readout with armband purchase] ends Wednesday [9/30/09]. Fyi…  =)

This has been a pretty fluid and interesting journey so far… things seem to be happening at a decent progression. I’m figuring things out, getting stronger and smarter about health and fitness with each passing month. I’m at the point fitness-wise where I feel confident trying new sports like kayaking [just have to make the time!], but I haven’t lost any weight in the past few months. I finally had to accept the fact that it was time to track calories burned vs. calories consumed. I watch Biggest Loser and have always found inspiration in the show, but they tend to be vague on the specifics of the program they have the contestants on – until this year. I know they use the Body Bugg to track calories burned, and I now know they put them on a 1.200 calorie a day diet. What I didn’t know until last week was that they expect the women to burn 6,000 calories a day, and the men, 8,000. That is CRAZY!!! I suppose if you didn’t have to work and had all day, it’s easily doable, but not for people with full time jobs, houses, families, responsibilities, etc. But it was good to know. There’s no magic behind their incredible weekly losses – they literally work their asses off!

So… I found a coupon and 24 hour fitness was running a special – buy the Body Bugg, get the digital display for free [here a link to the product page if you’re interested], so I went ahead and ordered it – with apprehension. I’ve never counted calories before and I was worried it would be $224 wasted. Not so at all! It’s incredibly easy to use and really informative. It told me  that in order to lose 2lbs per week to meet my weightloss goal by mid-May, I need to consume 1,850 calories a day and burn 2,850 calories a day. The first night I put the bugg on, it told me I burned 700 calories in my sleep alone! Pretty awesome. Weightlifting is paying off in that department. I absolutely LOVE the Body Bugg. Chalene Johnson, the creator of Turbo Jam and her ChaLEAN Extreme strength training program also fell in love with it and contacted 24hr fitness to be able to offer a coupon special for her followers: bbgcj24

Counting calories is time consuming when you make most of your food from scratch, but I think as long as I measure and write it all down with calculations made, it’ll be a lot easier to make the same dish the next time without taking so much time to figure out all the calories, etc. I made a great minestrone-style soup the other night that turned out to be only 165 calories for a 300g serving [a pretty decent sized bowlful] so I added in a tbsp of parmasan cheese for another 20 calories and it was amazingly delicious and satisfying. It’s definitely been a huge eye-opener the past few days, seeing what has how many calories. I was blown away by how many calories nuts have. I had made a trail mix and I was eating it in 1/2 cup servings – turns out it’s 355 calories, which can throw me off if I’m not careful. 

It’s too soon to report any real weightloss, but I will as I go along. I did lose 2lbs from yesterday, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s that time of the month so I think it was just bloat going away… I’ll be interested to see where I’m at in a week, in a month and in a few months, to see if I can turn this program into steady, healthy fat loss. I decided that as a reward for making my goal by May [just in time for 2 weddings, which means SHOPPING for some sexy party dresses], I’m treating myself to a trip and some shopping in London. I’ve always wanted to go, since I was a kid, so it’s been a long time coming – and celebrating an achievement this momentous in London with my husband is the perfect ‘reward.’  =)

WHEN I reach my goal in May, it will have been about 2 1/2 years since I decided it was time to do something about my health. If you had told me at the time that it would take that long I would have been disappointed. One thing I’ve learned through this whole process is good things are worth working for. And I have no doubt I’ll get there. In the meantime, I can’t wait until I can do 10 full pushups – not having to go to my knees after 5. It’s the smaller goals inbetween the big ones that keep me motivated.  =)

This is my menu for today. I’m going to put it in this post as an example, but also for my own reference:

• Protein shake [made into 2 meals, before and after workout]: 375
• 2 eggs over easy, 1 tsp oil, 1 slice whole grain bread: 350
• 1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt with agave, vanilla, lemon zest and 1 cup berries: 170
• Homemade minestrone soup with 1 Tbsp parmesan: 185
• Veggie sticks [carrot, celery, cuke & red pepper] with 1/4 C hommus: 160
• 4oz Roasted chicken breast, 1/4 C [dry – not sure what that’ll end up being cooked…?] Brown Rice
& 3 oz garlic sauteed asparagus [including oil]: 360
• 8oz black seedless grapes & 1 light mini baby bell cheese: 195
—————-
Total calories: 1,795

[Image courtesy of 24hourfitness.com]

Calories Burned Calculator

I’m turning into an iPhone fanatic. I’m using my phone for everything – I keep track of my financial accounts on it, I track my weight, how much water I drink, I have a food nutritional information application that I can look up items on, a daily food journal/calorie budget application… and on and on. I’m only just starting the food journal app, and in it you can add your own excercises and calories burned per time period – so I needed to figure out approximate how many calories I’m burning doing the various workouts I do. Well, I found this great site with a ‘Calories Burned Calculator‘ based on your height and weight with several exercises listed that you can enter number of minutes performed to get the calories burned. Check it out here:

Calories Burned Calculator

I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I do vigorous weight training, I burn about 400-500 calories in 35 minutes. Woo-hoo! I still do ‘Turbo Jam’ and it’s not listed, but I used ‘Judo-Martial arts’ instead since there’s a lot of boxing and kicking, etc. in the TJ workout. This way I have decent approximate calories burned to add into my daily journal – which calculates how many calories I need to lose 2 lbs/wk based on my height and weight. It’s a decent guideline. I’ve never counted calories before, which could explain why I eat too much. lol… I have no concept of how many calories are in most of the food I consume. 

As for my status, I lost 4 lbs last month and am determined to do better this month. I went back and reviewed some info from Ann Louise Gittleman’s Fat Flush plan… and I’m wondering if my weightloss has slowed due to eating more low-fat dairy. I’m going to cut down for a week and see how it goes. 

I also tried something new: Almond Milk, to replace cow’s milk in my smoothies and in my new favorite comfort – ‘Clean’ hot chocolate. I’ve made 2 variations now, and I love both and don’t find that I miss all the fat in them. So after looking around online to see if I could find almond milk in bulk so it’s less expensive, it seems making it from scratch is pretty easy, so that’ll be my next thing. All it takes is 1 cup of raw almonds, skins on, soaked 8-12 hours in clean filtered or spring water. Then you drain them, and blend the soaked almonds in 4 cups of clean water. You can add flavor if you want – 2 tsp vanilla extract [alcohol free if you want o keep it truly ‘raw’ – I honestly don’t care… I’m not on a raw food or vegan diet], or 1/2 a vanila bean pod, honey or agave syrup to sweeten, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, etc. and whiz it up in the blender together. The last step is straining it through a fine mesh of some sort like cheese cloth. You could also use a coffee filter or paper towels, sprout bag or nut bag… if the liquid your’e left with isn’t 100% smooth, put it back in the blender and blend until smooth. What I’m not sure of is how long it lasts before it goes bad. 

I’m going ot cut down on caffeine – I drink organic coffee 3 days a week when I’m in the office, black, which is fine, but I tend to drink tea all day long when it’s cold out and caffeine taxes the liver and can slow down fat burning… So instead I’m going to switch to hot lemon water, which I love. An added bonus – it keeps your teeth whiter, and cleanses the liver, primes the digestive system so it’s more efficient and it’s hot, which is what I want in winter!

Something I’m excited to try later today is julienning some kale and using it like I would pasta for some shrimp scampi – sautéing it in garlic and olive oil and tossing it with shrimp and lemon juice. If it turns out well, getting my greens will be a lot easier. 

Cheers to good health… 

Calories Burned Calculator courtesy of healthstatus.com