Well, Darn

I ate too many calories.

What I did right yesterday

I ate a healthy lunch and breakfast.  I new we would be eating pizza for dinner so I planned out my day ahead of time.  I planned to walk for about 60 minutes and took that into account when planning my day.  I ate three pieces of pizza and was satisfied and happy with myself and not at all tempted to eat more.  

What I could have done better

Unfortunately, I only ended up walking for about 30 minutes, because I got a late start (not my fault, really).  So, I ended up eating 178 calories more than I should have.  That’s not too big of a deal, but I’m stilled bummed about it.  I can see this is going to be a reoccurring issue, planning on one thing and not being able to follow through.  I guess that’s actually regular life – kids, husband, pets, a house to take care of, etc.  My aim is to have a regular life without being HUGE so I can’t expect regular life to care that I had plans to walk for an hour!  

I Feel Great Today

Other than my dilemma on how to get more cardio into my week with a visitor in the house, everything is going great.

What I did right yesterday

I stayed within my calorie range.  I new I was making steak for dinner so I didn’t eat too much for breakfast and lunch.  I also new I need extra calories to eat everything I wanted so I planned to walk until I burned at least the needed calories (nothing wrong with that, right?!) I made dinner, but then went for my walk before I ate.  It worked perfectly.  I actually ended up burning 519 calories and walking for 61 minutes.  That was more than I needed and I wasn’t hungry enough to eat everything I had planned so it ended up being a really good day.  I ate an awesome dinner and got some great exercise.  I feel fantastic today, really healthy and energetic.

What I could have done better

I need to eat more fruit and vegetables.  When I go grocery shopping again, I’ll make sure to stock up.

Not Too Bad

I weighed myself out of curiosity this morning. I only weigh a half a pound more than I did when I stopped keeping track of calories. That is after two days of counting calories and walking once. That is very motivating!

What I did right yesterday

I didn’t go over on calories. Actually, I had to estimate both lunch and dinner so I could have been a little over or a little under, but that’s okay. A friend made dinner, which is always nice. I ate what I thought would consume the rest of the calories I had for the day and I must have been close, because I was hungry before bed. I figure that is a good sign that I didn’t eat too much.

What I could have done better

I ate lunch out yesterday – Chinese food. I could have eaten a healthier lunch since I knew my dinner plans, but I ate way less than I would have normally at that particular restaurant and the calories I estimated for lunch weren’t bad at all. I didn’t exercise yesterday. My feet hurt after my long walk Monday. I’m pretty sure I have plantar fasciitis so I don’t want to push it or make it worse. (I’m hopeful that weight loss will help or completely get rid of this problem.) I really need to find an alternative exercise to walking. Here is my problem though. We have a friend staying with us for a couple of months and I’d feel weird doing anything in the house. We have an elliptical machine in the room he is staying in. I’d love to move that to another room, but it is crazy heavy so I’ll probably just have to wait until he leaves to use it. I’m kicking myself for not swimming in our pool much before it got too cold. It’s not as helpful for lap swims as a pool at the YMCA or a gym would be since it has a shallow end, but it would still be good exercise for me. Next year I plan to buy goggles and, GASP, a bathing suit. (I’ve been swimming in swim shorts and t-shirts.) That’s a good long-term goal!

A Good Day - Back on Track (It feels GREAT)

Okay, I didn't jump right back on the horse, but I'm back now. Here is how yesterday went.

Things I did right

I did great calorie-wise. I ordered a chicken sandwich, baked potato, and Diet Coke for dinner from Wendy’s. I didn’t check the bag until I got home (darn it!). They gave me fries instead of a baked potato and Sprite instead of a Diet Coke. I only ate the sandwich. I’m VERY proud of that!

I tracked my calories with My Fitness Pal. I ended up under my allowed calories for the day, because I didn’t get the baked potato. I also didn’t eat the calories I burned by exercising. I wanted to get a walk in before it got dark so I didn’t find something else to eat when I got home. I wasn’t hungry after my walk. I don’t actually like eating too close to bedtime, which is weird for someone who can EAT, I think. As long as I’m above 1200 calories for the day and not over the amount My Fitness Pal has recommended, I’m thrilled. I figure it’s also okay to eat the calories I burn while exercising, but I don’t think I have to at this point. Maybe, if (fine, when) I hit a plateau, I’ll be more deliberate about this to see what works best.

I walked for 50 minutes. I took it somewhat slow, because I haven’t exercised seriously in about three weeks. I did burn about 437 calories, which is fantastic! I need to find another type of cardio I can do I home so can use different muscles and give me body a break from pounding the pavement every day. Walking every other day would be great. I’ll have to think about what would work best on non-walking days.

Things I could have done better

I didn’t make the best food choices. I could have made dinner instead of picking up food on my way home. I’m thinking on walk days, I should cook dinner after I walk, if my kids can wait an extra hour for dinner. We’ll see. If nothing else, I can cook right when I get home and eat after I walk.

Slipping

It’s taken me much longer to slowly slide back into old eating habits, but unfortunately, I’m well on my way. I haven’t slipped too far so that’s good (and different). But here is where I stop. Starting tomorrow, I will post every day for the rest of the month. I will write about what I did right and what I could have done better. I haven’t weighed myself in a couple of weeks, so tomorrow morning, I’ll jump on the scale. I have to give myself credit though. I haven’t gone back to eating as much bad food as possible and not finding the courage to get back to it. Usually, you wouldn’t see me on here for a year or so!


So here are my goals for the rest of October.

• Blog daily

• Weigh in every Thursday

• Keep track of calories using My Fitness Pal

• Not go over allotted calories

• Exercise four times per week

Deep breath…and go.

Day 16 - Still Going Strong (WAHOO!)

I've been plugging along eating better and being more active for over two weeks! It has been mostly easy! I don't know what is different this time, a combination of things, I suppose. I know this time I am making a permanent change. I've thought that before, but there was always doubt. I have no doubt this time. None! I've lost about 12 pounds. I feel better, lighter even, and more energetic. There have been times when it has been rough, but I haven't been tempted to just start eating with abandon. I consider that a HUGE victory. I bought a Polar heart rate monitor (FT60F), which I love. I was way underestimating how many calories I was burning while walking. That isn't necessarily a bad thing at this point, since not eating those extra calories probably helped me lose so much weight the first two weeks. However, I don't want to lose weight as fast as possible. I want to be healthy and keep my metabolism roaring. Plus, I don't want to feel like I'm starving either. That might make me say forget it and start eating everything in sight. So, so far so good. This is the longest I've made a change since...I can't actually remember. Awesome!

Day 6 (Take ?)

The day of my vow to look into surgery if I haven't lost weight has long come and gone. I just don't want to have surgery. I know how to lose weight. I don't know what it's like to recover from surgery and to have eating/drinking restrictions for the rest of my life, and I'd rather not find out. I feel ready to give it a go all by myself - no chemical or surgical assistance. I'm tough enough. Absolutely. I added the "MyFitnessPal" app to my phone. It's a very handy way of keeping track of calories, exercise, etc. There is also a website myfitnesspal.com that includes a message board and other extras. I'm super optimistic this time. I have no idea why. Fingers crossed!