Wednesday, November 18, 2009

So far so good!

I've been so busy lately that i let my food journal slip. I forgot to write down my meals for the past week. I'm back on track now tho.
I went to the doctor today and guess what!! I've lost 4 pounds!! I'm stoked! This looks like it's working, 4 pounds in 12 days isnt bad at all. I'm going to keep at it and see how much i can lose. I'm hoping for 80 pounds in 10 months. That's my goal. Wish me luck...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Day 6

Breakfast @ 7am
(Krystal's)
1 sausage,eggs,cheese on toast = 270 calories
1/2 order of hash browns= 70 calories
total = 340 calories
Lunch @ 11:30am
(Subway)
FT long Black Forrest Ham on wheat =570 calories
(no cheese, no oil, no mayo)
Dinner@6:30
1/3 cp Brown rice = 160 calories
2cps gr turkey skillet dinner = 340 calories
total = 500 calories
Snack @ 7:30
Banana pudding = 400 calories
Daily total = 1810 calories

I completely suck at this diet thing. I knew I wasnt supposed to have that pudding last night but the craving won..ugh.. I hate myself sometimes. I'm not going to give up tho.. persevere.. that's what I have to do. I've only been doing this for 6 days and it isnt all going to come easily. I am still eating less calories (and healthier food) than I was before I started doing this. I didn't realize how hard it would be to change my eating habits. I'm so used to snacking out late at night. I need to gain some will power ... soon! If not I'm going to die a fat ,lonely woman. I don't want that. so persevere I must.. tomorrow is a new day.

Day 5

Breakfast @ 10am
2pks weight control oatmeal = 320 calories
1T lite margarine = 50 calories
1 banana = 105 calories
total = 475 calories
Snack @ 12pm
2 oreo cookies = 140 calories
Lunch @ 1:15pm
2cps salad mix = 20 calories
1/3 cp weight watchers cheese= 80 calories
2T ranch dressing = 130 calories
4oz chicken breast = 120 calories
total = 350 calories
Dinner @ 6pm
3 scrambled eggs = 210 calories
4oz gr turkey sasage = 250 calories
1/2 serving weight watchers cheese = 40 calories
1 wheat biscuit (dry)= 140 calories
total= 640 calories
Daily total = 1827
427 calories over my limit.. HELP!!!!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Day 4

For some reason my left foot was retaining water. It was fine untill around 8:30am, then I noticed that I could barely wiggle my toes. I havnt been eating anything high in sodium,so, the only think I can think that it might be are the leptopril tablets I've been taking. I didnt take anymore after I noticed the problem and it puffed up even more as the day went on, but when I woke up this morning it was fine. I'm still not going to take those pills again untill I talk to my doctor.
Here was my menu for Day 4:
Breakfast @ 7:30am
Scrambeler:
2 eggs = 180 calories
4oz ground turkey sausage = 250 calories
1/2serving weight watcher's cheese = 40 calories
8oz orange juice = 110 calories
total = 580 calories
Snack @ 11am
Apple = 100 calories
Lunch @ 12:45pm
1 Lean Pocket = 270 calories
2cps broccoil = 60 calories
total = 330 calories
Dinner @ 5:30pm
4oz baked chicken breast(boneless,skinless) = 120 calories
3/4cp corn = 100 calories
1cp spinach = 30 calories
total = 250 calories
Snack @ 7pm
lite yogurt(strawberry,banana)= 100 calories
daily total = 1360 calories
I didnt do any exercise because of my fluid retention. I could barely stand to walk to the bathroom much less walk steadily for any length of time.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Day 3

I didn't do so hot staying within my calories today. I didn't binge, but I did go over by 231 calories.I'll do better tomorrow. This calorie counting is still a new system for me. I think I'll do better if I plan my meals out a day in advance rather than just winging it like I've been doing so far. Today's menu:
Breakfast @ 5:30am
1 1/2cps rice crispies cereal = 145 calories
1/2cp skim milk = 40 calories
1 banana = 100 calories
2 8oz cps black coffee = 16 calories
total = 301 calories
Snack @ 9am
lite yogurt w/blue berries = 100 calories
Lunch @ 11am (2 leptopril)
4oz baked salmon = 100 calories
3/4cp brown rice = 160 calories
1/2cp broccoli = 30 calories
total = 290 calories
Snack@ 2pm
apple = 100 calories
Dinner @ 5pm (forgot the leptopril)
Spagetti:
4oz ground turkey = 140 calories
4oz wheat pasta = 360 calories
2cps organic sauce = 240 calories
total = 740 calories
daily total = 1531 calories
I did do some exercise today aswell.. i was able to do 40 minutes of aerobics this morning after breakfast. I know I need to start walking. I've got to get over this fear of people seeing me out walking. I know it may seem silly to some people, but I'm just so embarrassed. I wish I had a treadmill here at the house. I think I'd be more inclined to walk if I could do it behind closed doors. I dont have that option tho. So, tomorrow I'll make an effort to get out there and walk 30 minutes or more. I promise!!
I guess it could have been worse. I'm not binging like I was before I started this diet. I'm not eating junk food either. Atleast the food I'm eating is healthier. So, I'm not going to cry myself to sleep over 231 calories. I did decide to up my calories from now on to 1400. I noticed that I was getting headaches and feeling drained on 1200. After talking to my doctor today we decided that 1200 was just too low for me right now. Considering it was nothing for me to consume upwards of 5000 caories a day before I began the diet, I don't think I'm doing all that bad.
Also, someone offered me some advice about the leptopril I'm taking. (I said in an earlier post today that it was keeping me from sleeping at night.)A lady sent me a message suggesting that I try taking the medicine at breakfast and lunch instead of at lunch and dinner. Maybe that will help me with my sleeping. I'll give it a try. If it's still causing a problem after I try that for a few days, I may have to cut down to 1 pill twice a day instead of 2 pills twice a day.
Tomorrow is a new day. I'll do my best to stay in check with my calories, and do more exercise.Good night everybody.. sweet dreams :*

New beginnings

Hmmm... I learned something new today about how the body burns calories. Turns out the body burns calories even when you lay around all day. It has to use energy to perform basic functions. There is a formula to calculate how many calories your body burns naturally. It's called the Basal metobolic Rate (BMR) caculator. It is a different formula for men as opposed to women. Here are both of the equations: (I also looked up the metric formula for those of you who arnt used to our english weights and measurements ;) )
English BMR Formula
Women: BMR=655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR=66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in year)

Metric BMR Formula
Women: BMR=655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR=66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

Ok, so for me that would be:
665+(4.35 x 375)+(4.7 x 65)-(4.7 x 31)= 2446.05 Then do this >

(Harris Benedict Formula)
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Personally, I fall into the first catagory. I mutiply 2446.05 by 1.2 =3198.06. This is the number of calories I would need to consume in a day to keep my weight where it is.But we all know that im trying to lose weight. Soooo..
If you're still with me here.. Mutiply the number you just got by 7..Mine is 7 x 3198.06= 22386.42
In a week I need 22386.42 calories to stay the fatass that I am today. Now what we do is take the amout of calories we are eating daily on our diets and mutiply it by 7. I've set myself at 1200. So, 1200 x 7 = 8400. Okay if I havnt bored you to sleep yet I'm almost to my point. :P
8400 calories is the amount I eat in a week. So, I take and subtract 8400 from 22386.42= 13986.42

13986.42 is the amout of calories I've burned in a week on my diet. But, how many pounds does that equal out to be? Well you have to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound. So, take 13986.42 and divide it by 3200= 4.3 I will roughly lose 4 to 4 1/2 pounds a week.
Now that we have the theory down let see if it really works.. I'm going to weigh myself again in 12 days.. that will be my 2 week mark on this diet... and if I've lost 8 pounds I'm gonna jump for joy!!
I also found out that in order to keep your body's metabolism from shutting down and going into starvation mode you need to eat a minimum of 1200 calories a day. The catch is if you exercise you'll burn some of the 1200 you take in so to keep your body burning fat you have to replace what you burn. So, if I eat 1200 calories and burn 400 doing aerobics then I have to eat 400 more calories to make it up. I know your probably wondering (like I did) what's the point in exercising if I have to eat more.. well there is a very good answer to that. Exercise builds muscle and muscle burns fat.
After learning all of this I decided to bump my diet up to a 1400 calorie a day intake. even with that I'll lose (in theory) 3 to 4 pounds a week. That's 12 to 16 pounds a month!!! That would rock y'all!!
The only catch to all of this is as you lose weight you have to adapt the caculation. A person that weighs 280 pounds doesnt use as many calories a day as a person that is 375 pounds. Kinda like a person at my weight burns more calories in a 20 minute walk than a person 1/2 my weight.. all because it takes more energy to move a larger, heavier body. So keep in mind that about every 20 pounds you lose you need to recaculate.
I hope this helps you as much as it did me. That's if I didnt put you to sleep trying to explain it all. I'm not math professor, but I did my best. If it's all to complex for you here is a hint.. if you put the formula in your browser with your measurments in the right places it will caculate it for you with out giving yourself a headache trying to do all that number crunching. I did it free hand, but thats just me.. Im used to fooling around with numbers.

Day 2

So... yesterday was the second day of my diet. I woke up with sore muscles. I tried to do some exercises but I only made it threw 10 minutes of it before I felt like I was going to kill over lol. So, I decided to take it easy and just pay attention to my calories. Today I will be back exercising tho. My menu :
Breakfast @ 7am
2pks weight control oatmeal = 310 calories
2tums (dont know why i woke up with heart burn)= 10 calories
total= 320 calories
exercise @8:30 am- 10 minutes of aerobics
Snack @ 10:30 am
2Lg carrots(raw) = 60 calories
2 celery stalks(raw) = 20 calories
3sm dill pickles= 15 calories
total= 95 calories
Lunch @ 12:30pm (2 tabs leptopril)
left over taco salad:
4oz seasoned gr.turkey= 290 calories
1/3cp weight watchers cheese = 80 calories
1cp reduced fat refried beans = 180 calories
3cps lettuce = 30 calories
total= 580 calories
Dinner @ 6pm (2 tabs leptopril)
4oz baked salmon = 100 calories
3/4 brown rice = 160 calories
1cp broccoli = 30 calories
total= 290 calories
daily total= 1285 calories

By the time I was finished with dinner I felt so full and bloated that I was miserable. I'm wondering if this is a side affect of the diet pill i'm taking, along with the sleeplessness and frequent bathroom visits. I'm going to stick it out and see, if once my body gets used to the new diet, this subsides. I do feel more energetic today. Altho, I didnt get much undisturbed sleep last night I dont feel run down.
ok peeps.. that is the run down so far.