Category Archives: diet

How I'm doing it.

I have been asked quite a few questions lately about how I am losing the weight. Keep in mind that this process started about 4 years ago, so it has gone through various permutations to get to the point I am currently at.

Food: I pretty much count calories.

I try to eat around 1400 calories per day. I have played with this a bit, and going lower doesn’t really help that much, so may as well eat more if I can, right? Some days it is 1350, some days 1500, but on average around 1400. I try to eat 50% of my calories from complex carbs, fruits and veggies. I shoot for 25% protein and 25% fat. Ideally, I would love to be at 40/30/30 – but I really do like to eat fruit and grains, so that is hard. I try to eat very little refined starches.

I eat 5 times a day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. I strive to have protein/carbs and fat every time I eat. I don’t really eat a lot of sweet stuff. I don’t use artificial sweeteners, if I want something sweet – I have the real thing. That way I have learned that I don’t need that stuff on a daily basis, but it really is a treat. So I am not wasting my calories on 100 calorie packs, or junk like that.

Cardio: I do cardio pretty much everyday. At least 30 minutes, and many times longer. During this warm time of year I jog 3x per week (3 miles), and then ride my bike the other days. In winter, I do exercise DVDs inside. Don’t belong to a gym, and no plans to currently.

Strength training: This is a very important part of my lifestyle. I own a bowflex and some hand weights, which is great because there is no excuse I can make for not using them! I currently strength train 4x per week. I do legs/back on Monday and Thursday; arms/chest/abs on Tues/Fri. About every 2 months, I change the exercises that I do for those body parts. It takes me about 20-30 minutes for each session.

The Mind: I do a *lot* of reading about health and weight loss. Not just diet books, but those on the science behind nutrition, weight loss and weight disorders. I also try to meditate. Learning to have patience with myself and to not expect perfection has really been a large part of my success.

So, this is what I do. And this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Am I perfect? No, of course not! I would say I am on plan around 90% of the time.
My lifestyle is doable, enjoyable and works for me.

Happy Monday!

Ah, the start of a new week. I really want to make sure I stay focused for the rest of the month. My birthday is June 5th, and I do plan on allowing myself some treats that weekend when we go away.

I did C25K today. Another 25 minute jog. Felt like I was pushing it, but still ended up at about the same pace as Saturday. Going to take a while to get the pace up more, I guess. But – I still jogged 1 3/4 miles without stopping!

Today’s food:
Calorie goal: 1,350 • Consumed: 1,343 • Burned: 381
Net calories: 962
C/P/F ratio: 50/21/29

I was a little high on fat today. I ate some of that yummy, yummy greek yogurt I got at the farmers market on Saturday. Full fat stuff, of course. I only had half cup – it was really good. Added chopped strawberries and a tsp of honey to it. Can’t have this too often, but what a nice treat!

Musings on 'cheat' days

I don’t know if there is a term I care for less in the weight loss world than ‘cheat day’. The name alone is a totally negative term.

First, the word ‘cheat’ is defined by Websters as:

1: to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
2: to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice
3: to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting
1 a: to practice fraud or trickery b: to violate rules dishonestly

Do any of these definitions sound like something you want to apply to your life? No one is perfect, and no one eats totally on plan all the time (I certainly don’t). But I don’t consider it ‘cheating’ when I go off plan. And sometimes those off plan foods are actually planned in. Then I have control over them.

Cheating also implies that the way you are eating is not something you can sustain for a lifetime. If you view your eating plan as so rigid and uncompromising that you cannot have some of your favorites – then how can you possibly expect to succeed in maintaining your weight loss (let alone getting to goal)?

I think it would be better to call it a choice rather than a cheat. There are too many negative feelings and associations with cheating: guilt, remorse, self loathing, the feeling of lack of control.

If you make a choice, then you are fully aware ahead of time as to the consequences of your actions. You can say, I am choosing to have this piece of cheesecake. It will not cause me to go off plan, it is not a license to abandon the rest of the day (eating wise), and I can get right back on my normal plan with the next meal.
That can eliminate the guilt, because if you are going to have something – why not truly enjoy it without the guilt?

It's Friday!

Well – I made it through the day on track. Just need to wait out the cravings for stuff LOL!

Did a new upper body workout on the bowflex today, and then a WATP 3 mile walk.

Today’s Menu
Calorie goal: 1,350 • Consumed: 1,238 • Burned: 369
Net calories: 869

C/P/F ratio: 47/31/22

Brekkie:
Fage 0%
strawberries
honey
hemp granola
coffee with milk

Lunch:
chicken sausage on light wheat bun
2 oz lemon pepper tuna
mandarin orange snack pack

Snack:
1/2 ounce cashews
1% latte

Dinner:
4 oz grilled chicken
steamed broccoli
applesauce

Snack:
soy crisps

Happy Friday!

It’s the start of the weekend, yay!
Did my upper body bowflex workout, a short 3 mile bike ride (bank and store) and Couch to 5K Week 4 Day 1.
5 minute jogs in this one. It was fine, my legs still feel heavy though. I don’t care for that feeling very much. 3 miles of that feeling wouldn’t be very fun. I was wearing my bike shorts and a tshirt, and got beeped at on the way to the track. Not sure if it was a joke or not, but kind of fun!

Today’s Menu:

Calorie goal: 1,350 Consumed: 1,427 • Burned: 365
Net calories: 1,062
C/P/F ratio: 52/26/22

Brekkie:
Super pancakes with blueberry sauce
coffee with milk

Lunch:
Boca burger
Zone fudge graham bar

Snack:
1% latte
2 clementines

Dinner:
Flatout pizza with turkey pepperoni
Steamed broccoli
applesauce
1/3 oz of cashews

Snack:
homemade yogurt with chopped strawberries and a drizzle of honey.

Hectic Day

Busy day getting ready for a conference this weekend. Actually I won’t be going, John is, but I had to pack all of the stuff to sell. Took days to do that, but got it done and the car all packed.
When he gets back on Sunday, I have to go to Vermont for another conference! Will be interesting trying to fit my exercise in, but I will do it!

Today’s Menu

Calorie goal: 1,350 • Consumed: 1,366 • Burned: 330
Net calories: 1,036

C/P/F ratio: 61/23/16 (kind of out of whack today)

Brekkie:
Yogurt/strawberries Nutrisystem granola, honey
Coffee with milk

Lunch:
Nutrisystem Cheesy potatoes
Boca Burger

Snack:
2 clementines
Grande nonfat latte

Dinner:
NS Mac and Cheese
Steamed broccoli
Applesauce
1/3 oz of cashews

Snack:
Nutrisystem Mint chocolate crunch bar
green tea

Weigh in day!

Yippee!! I lost 1.6 pounds this week, which puts me in the 150s!! Yay!!! I think the jogging and biking was a good exercise change up to keep the pounds coming off. Wish I could lose this much every week!

I was supposed to do C25K Week 3 Day 3 today, I use the little podcasts to tell me when to start and stop jogging. Well, halfway through the warmup – the batteries died on my MP3 player (note to self – always check the batteries before leaving home).

So, since I was already at the track, I decided to alternate walk one time around and jog one time around. I did 4 laps walking and 5 jogging. So 2.25 miles. I decided to see how far I could go around on the last jog – and did 2 laps around the track. I can jog for 1/2 a mile at a time! I am so excited!

Today’s Menu

Calorie goal: 1,500 • Consumed: 1,466 • Burned: 330
Net calories: 1,136
C/P/F ratio: 45/28/27

Brekkie:
Dunkin Donuts Poppyseed Bagel
Lite Cream Cheese
Coffee with skim milk

Lunch:
Zone Chocolate Peanut Butter bar
2 oz of Lemon Pepper Tuna
2 Clementines

Snack:
1% latte
1/3 oz cashews

Dinner:
4 oz grilled chicken
steamed broccoli
strawberries
1/2 serving soy crisps

Snack:
NS chocolate caramel bar

Bowflex workout

This was today’s workout:
I upped the sets to 3 this week – and I feel awesome!

Arms:
Seated Shoulder Press: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 25 pounds
French Press: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 20 pounds
Lying triceps extension: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 25 pounds
Bicep curls: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 25 pounds
reverse curls: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 25 pounds

Back:
Seated Lat rows: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds
Rear Deltoid row: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds
Lying Lat pulldown: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 30 pounds
Functional lower back: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds

Chest/abs:
Bench Press: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds
Ab Crunch: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds

Legs:
Seated Leg press: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 80 pounds
Seated leg curl: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 35 pounds
Calf Raise: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 80 pounds
Standing Hip Abduction: 3 sets, 10 reps each at 30 pounds

Monday, monday

Good eating day today. Easter was not a big holiday in our house, so no food atonement for me today LOL!

I did my full body workout with bowflex. I upped the weights on the biceps curls to 20 pounds. I think next week I will be up to 25 pounds. I figure this new weight training is going to make me maintain for a few weeks, and I really want to be okay with that. I hope I am LOL!
I also did Hard Core Fusion for the cardio workout.

Calorie goal: 1,343 • Consumed: 1,372 • Burned: 518

Food Item Servings Cals
strawberries (raw) 1.00 46
Coffee 1.00 2
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Honey 0.30 18
Fage Total 2% 0.50 65
Nutrisystem Advanced Lowfat Granola Cereal 1.00 160
Clementines 1.00 35
Morningstar Farms Veggie Breakfast Sausage Patties 1.00 80
Nutrisystem Advanced Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar 1.00 210
Clementines 1.00 35
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Espresso Shot 1.00 9
Fisher Whole Cashews 0.33 59
Birds Eye Baby Broccoli Florets 1.00 30
strawberries (raw) 1.00 46
Hormel Pillow Pak Sliced Turkey Pepperoni 0.50 37
Nutrisystem Advanced Thin Crust Pizza With Cheese 1.00 220
NutriSystem Caramel Crunch Popcorn 1.00 100

Weigh in is tomorrow

I took a sneak peek at the scale today, and looks like there will be little to no loss tomorrow. But, again – no telling until the morning! It’s not about the scale anymore.

I really feel like I have a good handle on how to eat for life. This isn’t about point counting, or eating prepackaged food, or how much weight loss how fast. It is about feeding my body the fuel it needs to live a long and healthy life. Understanding the nutritional value of food and exercise, and know that as long as I am doing those things right, the scale number is secondary.

Foods today:
strawberries (raw) 1.00 46
Coffee 1.00 2
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Honey 0.30 18
Fage Total 2% 0.50 65
Nutrisystem Advanced Lowfat Granola Cereal 1.00 160
Louis Kemp Seafood Co. Crab Snack Delights 2.00 70
Nutrisystem Advanced Fudge Graham Bar 1.00 180
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Espresso Shot 1.00 9
Hannaford Mandarin Oranges Snack Bowl 0.90 63
Birds Eye Baby Broccoli Florets 1.00 30
Cashew Nuts 0.30 47
Nutrisystem Advanced Chicken With Dumplings 1.00 270
Hannaford Unsweetened Applesauce – 4 Oz. Cup 1.00 50
Skim Milk 0.10 8
NutriSystem Advanced Chocolate Crunch Bar 1.00 140