April wrap and May Goals

Goals for April:
There weren't any. I haven't done a goals post in many months. I think because I was doing so badly at accomplishing my goals.

Things accomplished in April:

• Booked a wedding venue.
• Ordered (and received) save-the-dates.
  
• Made a wedding website.
• Ran a 10k in Illinois with my friends Meg and Debbie. In matching shiny headbands:
  
• Threw a Passover seder.

Goals for May:

• Order a wedding dress.
• Send those Save the Dates!
• Start training for the Disneyland Half. Even though its hot out!
• Strength train at least once a week.
• Plan my meals for the week every Sunday afternoon.

January in Review & The Non Diet Diet Update

January goals from the beginning of the month:

Do more yoga.
Check-ish. In the beginning of the month I slacked alot on this. I went once the first week, then we left town for Dan's sister's wedding. When we got back Monday night, our running was all whacked out so we ran on Tuesday and Thursday (yoga nights) instead of Monday and Wednesday. But I stepped it up better in the second half of the month for a total of 6 yoga classes in January- I bought an unlimited month that ends Monday to encourage me to go (after all, I need to get my money's worth) and it seems to have worked!


Eat more fruits and veggies.
Honestly haven't tracked this one very well, but I feel like I'm doing pretty well at it. I've been adding extra fruits to my overnight oats for breakfast, and eating clementines, bananas, and apples for snacks instead of other snacky foods.  Plus experimenting with some new veggie dishes for dinner.


Training plan.
This has been going ok. We signed up for a 10k officially in March so I extended the previous training plan out a little. Also between some early vacations and now the night shift, I know we aren't hitting our long runs as far or often as I'd like. Good thing this 10k is a practice run for the main event 10k in Illinois in April.

Then there were the annual goals:

Home cooking challenge.  
So far so good. One veggie dish and one entree per week, and not one has been skipped yet. However I have been pretty liberal with definitions. Veggie dish is anything that contains vegetables and not meat, entree or side (like the spinach and mushroom lasanga). Entree is anything that is eaten as an entree. Also I have sometimes let my boyfriend do the recipe picking. But I have decided its not cheating if I help with the cooking. (and the eating!)

Half marathon
I am now leaning more towards Disneyland Half as my half-marathon debut. I've only been to Disneyland once and my bf has never been (actually I had to teach my poor, Disney deprived bf which was which- World vs. Land) so it might be fun to explore it together. Also it's on my birthday. (This violates my personal rule against doing anything that might cause me to die on my birthday, but it also sounds fun and exciting) Although I do want to do the Wine and Dine Half at some point, this year is not looking like the right year.

And the mid-month addition:

The Non Diet Diet.
So, for starters I bought a new scale. It is fancier than the last one, in that it doesn't have a dent from a previous move, did not come from Ikea, and also uses bio-electric impedance to check body fat % and muscle %. Plus is reads about 1.5 lbs less than the other, which is always a plus.

Anyways, I have lost a total of about 4 lbs there and body fat % has gone down a bit, but what's more exciting is that I'm back in my middle pants. Like many out there, I have dress pants of different sizes based on how fat I am today. When I started January, I was definitely in my biggest dress pants. Friday night I put them on to head to console and they were all baggy- at the waist, at the thigh, at the crotch. So back to the closet they went and out came the middle size. This is awesome news! Regardless of the scale, I know I'm doing something right if my pants are getting bigger.  I do still have smaller pants (interestingly, all 4 pairs of pants are a size 10, but each manufacturer's size is different from the next) that I used to wear and would like to wear again.

As for the eating better, I think I am. I haven't been counting calories, but I have been looking up some nutrition info along the way and deciding if I really want to eat that or not. Especially true before I buy something, I look at the facts and decide if I even want to have it in the house. It was working out well, but being on overnights has whacked out my hunger cues. Sometimes I'm starving, and sometimes I'm totally nauseous. Sometimes I'm both at the same time. And sometimes I eat before going to bed even though I'm not hungry so hunger doesn't wake me up mid-day. Lets just say this won't be a good week for weight loss.

Feb goals:
Let's keep it simple:
1. Stick to the 10k training plan.
2. Keep up the Home cooking challenge.
3. Get into the smaller smaller pants.

Think I can do it?

Down For The Count

The calorie count, I mean. So I mentioned last week that for a while I was going to keep track of what I ate and the calories in it.  I am about to break down in excruciating mathematical detail (and no pictures) how I plan to lose the weight that's been creeping up recently. So if this is a trigger for you, or if it just bores you a lot, don't read. If you are a numbers or nutrition nerd, read on!  Also, you know, I'm not a doctor or even a dietician. I am just really good at Google-ing. So this is not medical advice. Its just math.

I hate restricting myself by going on diets. Mostly because I like food. No, I love food. My bf's parents joke that me and Dan's entire relationship is based on food. Its not untrue- we cook together, go out to dinner together, I think bringing him lunch is romantic. Since we both come from cultures of food-loving ethnic types (the only people who outshine the Jews on food as love, fun, and guilt, of course, is the Italians), food is a language of love to us. Alas, food is also how you get fat. (So does that mean fat is a language of love for us?)

I have a few motivations to tackle my weight gain: losing weight will make my clothes fit better, will make me healthier, a better runner... also I have a physical every 2 years at work to be medically  cleared to sit console & mine is coming up in August. I'd really like to show up healthier and fitter than in August 2010. The running we are doing is certainly helping, but its not enough by itself.

I have done Weight Watchers before, so I know about (doesn't mean I use) portion control, healthy substitutions, what to order at restaurants etc. I also know how all-consuming the counting becomes after awhile (calories or points, doesn't make a whole lot of difference), and how unsustainable it is for me. I don't really want to go there again.


So first, I thought I should assess my eating habits. My goals were to measure things, make good choices, eat when hungry. I didn't restrict myself, and in most cases did the calorie tally at the end of the day. The results:

Day	Calories	Exercise
Tuesday 1/10	1690	3 mile run after work
Wednesday 1/11	1625	Weight workout
Thursday 1/12	1450	4 mile run after work
Friday 1/13	2000*	None. Dan’s bday celebration
Saturday 1/14	1550	3ish mile walk/run after work
Sunday 1/15	1375	Weights workout
Monday 1/16	1570	5 mile run after work

* For Friday I had to guesstimate the calories using some Google-ing because the restaurant we went to didn't have any nutrition facts available. I did round up from search results because they weren't for the specific restaurant and ingredients; it still wasn't a terrible day, if my calorie count was anywhere close to accurate.

So then the question is, how many calories should I be eating? And this answer is not easy to come up with.  Various websites will take a stab at it though, for you.


Step 1: Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate
That is, calculate how many calories your body burns just to exist. If you lie in bed and do nothing, your body still must burn some amount of calories to keep you alive. Websites that will attempt to calculate that for you can be found here, here, and here. These sites don't take into account different body composition/muscle-mass that can cause a body to burn more or less calories than another, so they are inexact. Gotta use what you've got.

I got 2 different numbers, between those 3 sites, so I will go for the lower one: 1521.25


Step 2: Determine your Activity Level
On top of BMR is how much fuel your body needs to do all the other things you ask it to do during the day. Walking, climbing stairs, exercising... all these take energy, which means your body burns calories to do it.
Estimating activity level is, in my opinion, the hardest part. There is no concrete criteria for which category you fall into. Also it may vary from day to day, week to week. And it makes such a difference in calories allowed. Per the criteria here, the most explanatory I could find, I think I'll call it moderately active because I run (but slowly) 3x a week, with less strenuous exercise on 2-3 other days (yoga or weight training).  You can also use this website, and put in the number of hours per day you spend at each activity level and it'll do steps 1-3 for you.

Step 3: Calculate Caloric expenditure- total calories you burn in a day
Again, tons of websites will be happy to help you, such as: this and this. Since I called myself moderately active, my multiplier is 1.55.

1521.25 x 1.55 = 2358
(Note, if I bump down to light activity, this number goes down to 2091. Huge difference!)
What this number means is, if I stay active and eat this many calories per day, I should not gain or lose any weight.  But what if I want to slim down?


Step 4: Calculating ideal calorie intake
Those same sites linked above have some advice on how to calculate ideal calorie intake. The suggestion given for weight loss is to reduce the number in Step 3 by 20%.
2358 x 0.8 = 1886
(for comparison 2091 x 0.8 = 1672)

Given that it takes approximately a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound, eating at the calorie deficits in step 4 should yield a weight loss of ~1 lb/week. Of course, that's with no cheat days or screwing up. Or vacations. Still, reaching my weight goals within 3 months is totally possible, if I be good.


So what's the plan, man?

Sorry, I'm a BSG dork. Source.

Right, so the plan, which I have, which the Cylons really did not (Yes I am still mad, Ron Moore!), is to stop calorie counting but keep measuring. I think I have shown above that when I plan, measure, and make good choices, I can stay within my calorie allowance without a problem and post a weight loss for the week. When I don't plan or measure, well, I give you Friday the 13th. But even that didn't kill me!


I weighed myself last Tuesday morning and again this morning, to give myself a benchmark for how that amount of eating might affect my weight.
1/10 Weight: 158.2         1/17 Weight: 155.4        Difference: 2.8
I don't really expect to hit numbers like that every week because I know this is at least partially related to the holidays and last weekend's heavy drinking, but I think it still proves that these methods will have some affect. 10 pounds to go! They say the last 10 lbs are the hardest, and they are. These are not the last 10 pounds, they are the next 10 pounds. I can weigh 135 lbs, but as soon as I stop dieting, I reach 145 pretty quickly. I'm ok with it, I'm less ok with 155. It's definitely time to do something.

So the rules for my non-diet diet:

1. Measure food. Weigh food. Do not serve dinner family style. Basically, portion control. This works well for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner at home. But at restaurants...
2. Eat when hungry. Stop when full. Sounds easy but this is SO hard. For starters, I will stop halfway through any meal and ask myself whether I'm still hungry, and how much of what is left I really need to eat to be satiated. Leftovers are OK. In fact, they are encouraged!
3. 1 cheat day per week allowed. Cheat days happen, whether you allow them or not, so might as well allow them. Do not go crazy and eat everything in sight because it's cheat day. Do enjoy yourself and your meals on cheat day.
4. Limit alcohol consumption- lately I've been enjoying quite a few adult beverages, between the holidays, the wedding, and because the winter seasonals are my favorite beers. But they're such a waste of calories, so alcohol is to be used sparingly, when the occasion calls for it... not just because there's an open bottle of wine in the fridge.  I'm not going to limit myself to a number or day; I want to have a drink without guilt when the occasion arises.
5. Weigh myself twice a week (and only twice a week). If the trend goes in the wrong direction, its back to calorie counting and the giant time-suck that entails. Yes, self, that is a threat.

 Sorry that was so long. Yikes!

December 2011 Goals Update

Already over halfway done with the month, and in a few days I'll be heading to visit the bf's family in Virginia for my first real Christmas experience. Excited! But also a little afraid I'm gonna freeze to death.

So lets check in on those December Goals:

1. Stick to my Smart Coach plan and exercise 5 days a week.

Averaging more like 4 times a week, still. Gotta try to fit those nice low-impact activities in for active rest days.

2. More Yoga. 
Major fail here. Neither of the past 2 weeks have I gone to yoga twice. Next week I will only be able to make once before we leave. And I just found out that the Yoga studio is closed the week between Christmas and New Years so it isn't looking good. On the bright side, I read on Fitnessista about YogaDownload.com and downloaded a couple workouts to my Ipod, including an office chair one that I might try to do on the plane. So all is not lost.

3. No more sweets snacking at work. Avoid everyone's goodies!
I've overall done pretty well at this, minus one slip-up on Wednesday. It was the Dessert Competition and after going down to set up my entry, I really wanted to check out what everyone else made. I took a tiny bit of everything that looked good... and it was, indeed, all fabulous. I lost, though. Bummer. I'll be doing a post soon on the fabulous Chocolate Dirt cupcakes I made... they may not be winners, but they are still pretty awesome. Here's my entry  (love the classy shipping crate in the background!):

  And here's a picture of the spread. Yum! Who could resist?

November already?

Seems like just a few days ago I was sweating through a brutal Houston summer (actually that was a few days ago- Wednesday's high was 83.) and now here we are in the same month as Thanksgiving.

Now that its a new month, lets talk about goals.
First, to recap, October goals were:

• Exercise every day.



• Eat 3 or less portion controlled snacks a day.

How did I do? The exercise goal was mostly a miss. I kept it up for about a week, and then I got a cold. Exercising with a cold (to be graphic, with snot running down your face) is totally un-fun. I still kept my running routine up, and went to a softball double header, but I skipped yoga and took some nights off. I had to rest up because two of my Freshman year roomies (and still good buddies) Meg and Debbie came to visit me the following weekend and we had a schedule full of fun to attend to!
As for the snacking (and remember I included alcohol and sugared sodas in my count to 3), I did better at that. It was really a matter of stocking up on stuff to have on hand, like apples, bananas, Luna bars, and Justin's Nut Butter single serve packs. The trick here is that I usually spend a few nights a week at my boyfriend's house across town. I would leave my house with double snacks packed, so I would also have for the next day after staying at his place. The only time I really strayed from the snack rule was, you guessed it, when Meg and Debbie came to visit... and that was mostly about the drinking. I even planned a healthy snack one of the days they were here (cucumbers, peppers, carrots, hummus... and wine!).

So goals for November:

• Old exercise goal: I think 7 days a week is not sustainable. I don't want to set impossible goals, so I'm going to step it back to 5. This leaves room for: 2 running days, 1 softball day, 1 yoga day, and one to fill with whatever comes along. Because of foot woes, Softball plus 2 running days is really all the running I can do. Its getting better though!



• Exercise goal #2: I have a Smart Coach plan drawn up targeting a 10k in February. I don't actually have a race around that time, but I'm on the look out for one. If you know of any in the area (Houston, Austin, San Antonio, southern Louisiana even?) let me know! These days I can suffer through a 2 mile run without stopping, but this plan has me building up to 4 miles by the end of the month.



• Old food goal: I think the 3 snack rule is a good one, so I'm gonna keep that.



• Food goal #2: This is a hard category for me. I've been staring at this post for 20 minutes now. Why? Because I really love eating. I love yummy things, fried things, things topped with cheese, things covered in delicious sauces. But what my diet lacks is vegetables. Vegetables are boring and so I often skimp on the greenery. So here's the goal: I will have a serving of vegetables with every dinner (potatoes don't count, neither does corn) and I will eat them FIRST. That way I can get fuller on the greens, rather than the carbs.

So there you have it. The goals for November. What part of the food pyramid circle are you missing out on most? Do you have any good recipes to add greenery to my diet?