bunchofheather

Category: diet

  • high tech dieting

    Losing weight in 2014 is so much more fun then 2004 or 1994! Back in 1994 I would devote a notebook to calorie and weight tracking and in 2004 I had spreadsheets.  But, now? I have websites that link to each other, feeding information into a variety of charts and graphs, and in some cases giving me the opportunity to earn discounts, rewards, donations to charity, and even actual cash. Talk about motivating!

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    The weight I use on my weight journey page here is the same as I log at MyFitnessPal. That weight feeds out to Fitbit, SparkPeople, and others. That weight is Mondays, in the morning, naked. DietBet has its own weight logging and is usually a little different because that weight is when I am dressed for the photos required there (described as airport security attire) and so far hasn’t been a Monday.

    My exercise page is the portion of my daily exercise that I do purposefully on the treadmill and record here. But that’s just a portion of all the Fitbit data throughout my day that then feeds into MyFitnessPal for calories and Earndit, Everymove, AchieveMint, Walgreens, and others to earn me discounts, cash, donations to charity, entries to contests, etc.

    Truly amazing… In another ten years, when I am maintaining this loss, I wonder what the trackers are going to look like and do…

  • random bits

    Happy Sunday!

    —-

    I am really over the winter season and ready for Spring.  Unfortunately, the calendar is not in agreement and it is only the beginning of January.  Tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be “take your breath away and freeze exposed skin in minutes” temperature days.  ICK!  Oh, and that is after it rains later and changes to snow tonight… so everything should be coated in a nice layer of ice to add to the fun.

    Today I went and gave blood.  A different experience though because I did a double red-cell donation instead of a whole blood donation.  They hook you up to a machine, take out your blood, separate the red blood cells from the plasma and platelets, then put the plasma and platelets back into you with additional saline (and then do it again to get a double batch.)  This allows them to get twice the red blood cells from you.  You can’t donate again for 112 days as compared to the 56 days if you do whole blood.

    However, since I am 5’4″ tall, I was told when they switch over to all the new machines, I won’t be able to do the double type.  Seems odd that it would be allowed just because the machine is older but apparently it had something to do with the rate it processes the blood and to have the proper volume women have to be 5’5″ (but I may still qualify if my iron is high enough and depending on my weight).

    One of the cool things about it was that you don’t have to sit there and eat cookies or crackers and juice after.  Since they put saline back with the plasma and platelets, it has less of an impact on the way you feel.

    —

    Made egg salad today, we’re going to have it for dinner and I’m also going to portion it out for a few days worth of work food.  I’d like to get back to planning and taking my own lunches.  Even though lunch is free at the cafeteria, it isn’t always full of great choices.  There is a salad bar but I am not a fan of lettuce unless I have lots of dressing.  I was getting the vegetable occasionally, the soup, and then peppers and cucumbers with a bit of lettuce.  When you added in the crackers that I must put in soup and the dressing I can’t pass up… even those seemingly healthy choices end up being higher in calories without much protein to keep me satisfied to the end of the work day.  Then I want a snack, and I have candy bars (not just a few, actually within my office at the moment there’s about 72 candy bars and it can be up to 108 or 144 candy bars if I’ve just been to the distributor for an order) in my office that are for sale for the students’ fundraising.  I have a box of Corn Pops (yes, that cereal formerly known as Sugar Pops!) and maple oatmeal.  Much smarter sugary snack!  Plus, the lunches I will take have decent protein levels for better satiety.

    I’m gonna kick butt in all of the weight loss competitions I am in currently!!!

    —

    A couple of my co-workers are looking at doing the Autism Frostbite 5k in March…  since the 5k I originally planned on doing is in April, not March as I thought, I am considering it.  The pros are: still have a goal to work for in March, good cause, friends to run with, still can do the others in April and so more is better.  The cons:  it starts at 8am and with it’s location I would have to leave my house by 6am, in March, on a Saturday…  So I am leaning towards bailing and just having my first one be the 5k I’d originally planned on doing.   Which starts at 10am on a Saturday in April (much more reasonable since I wouldn’t have to leave my house until closer to 9.)

    —

    I plan on doing my first and second 5K of 2014 a week apart…  I don’t know if this is necessarily a good idea but by that point (in April) I should be running 3.1 miles at least once a week and that would be Saturday anyway…

    —

    Okay, off to do some dishes, sort out my plastic food containers (not being able to find lids to match bowls is driving me nuts), and shred some onions and cabbage (also to be packaged up for work food)

  • continuing the cliché – Welcome to 2014

    2014
    I hate to say I am making resolutions… resolutions don’t have a good track record for me, or apparently for most of the rest of the world.

    But I definitely have goals in mind for this year.

    First, my weight. Well, as you know, I’m leading the biggest loser challenge for my location at work. So, of course, I’d like to win that!  1st place is $300, 3rd place is $100, that is what I got last year. I’m proud that I am starting this year at the weight I ended last year’s challenge because that means I didn’t just gain everything I lost back! However, starting at a lower weight also makes winning harder.

    For me, money is an incredible motivator, so I also signed up for two 4 week Dietbets and the 6 month challenge as well. Which puts a goal of 4% on me for January 30th to win the 4 week challenges and month one of the 6 month challenge. At that point I will reassess if I want to join more. I feel real confident about the 6 month challenge, it will end two weeks before my birthday and I am pretty sure I can lose at least 10% by then!

    Exercise goals. I am planning to restart the 5k training program. The first 5k I found that I absolutely want to do is in April (originally I thought it was in March.) I may look for another to do in March as well. I also want to add in strength training but I don’t have concrete goals related to that yet. I have been working towards being able to do a pull-up and a chin-up. My goal will be to be able to do a pull-up and a chin-up by my birthday in July. And in general, a little bit of exercise everyday, so continue to work to get at least 10k steps per day (seriously addicted to my Fitbit!)

    Sewing. I don’t really have definable goals but I would like to use up the majority of fabric in my stash.

    My hair. My goal is to let it grow! I do what is called “search and destroy” where I look through my hair and snip any split ends that are found. That will be sufficient for quite a while.

    And that will do for now.

  • jump on the bandwagon: 2013, a look back

    Like you haven’t heard all this before…

    2013, the year I lost 38 pounds, quit smoking, and found out I liked running…

    What else did I do this year?  Well, I learned more about sewing with knits, making swing jackets for a coworker, dresses for myself, and most recently the fancy pants…

    I also sewed some coffee cozies and mug rugs.  Oh, and finished the quilt I started years ago:

    quilt

    And now, it is time to look forward to what will be…

    Welcome 2014.

  • Christmas Eve Ramblings

    I thought it was a better title than Tuesday night ramblings…  So let’s start off with some cuteness:

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    Exercise continues.  I am actually pretty proud that I have pretty diligently been exercising for about five months now… I’d be more impressed with myself if I was regularly running 2+ miles but I am regularly walking 2+ miles so it’s better than sitting on the couch.

    Diet continues.  I am back to counting calories religiously and it works for me! And yes, I’m counting today and tomorrow… even if I go over, it is better to be consistent.  Funny though, I’m actually a little under today.  It likely helps my goals that we don’t really do anything special for Christmas, I’m rather a grinch and getting grinchier every year.  The other thing that helped was dinner ending up not so good and getting fed to the outdoor cats…

    Getting really excited about “The Biggest Loser” competition starting up at work.  I sent out the email for the competitions today and our team is getting off to a great start.  I plan on kicking ass at the competition again this year… money motivates me.  I maintained the loss that I ended last year’s with and ready to go for more!!!  Also considering doing DietBet as well, they have a 4 week, 4% competition and a 6 month, 10% one…

    That brings up another motivator for me:  technology!  As I mentioned before, my Fitbit is like crack.  And it feeds into MyFitnessPal.  That alone is motivating.  Add in technology based earnings with the Fitbit feeding into Earndit, Everymove, Achievemint, Walgreens, and the Weightloss Project as well… more crack.

    So, 2014 is getting close.  I can’t say as I am going to set resolutions… I just plan on continuing the path of improvement I’m on… lose weight, get fitter, continue not smoking…

    On to a different topic… sewing.  Yesterday I had to drive to Harrisburg and since I was there, visited PA Fabric Outlet.  OMG!  I restrained myself and only spent $40!  Lots of really great fabrics.  I rank it below Fabric Mart though… not just for the fabrics but the people were a tad bit friendlier at Fabric Mart…  Last weekend I sewed two bags, because what I need is more bags, not.  That might be part of my Christmas day as well, sewing.

    Oh, speaking of bags… I won a bag from Fitmark, specifically I won their Namaste bag.  Nice to win something, ‘specially a bag, but I really would have rather had their “The Box” or one of their messenger bags.  Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers… but I think I’m likely going to give it away as it’s really most useful if you are carting a yoga mat (and I can’t see me ever doing that!)

    Okay, time for bed so that Santa can arrive.  No cookies in the house for him, well I do have some chocolate goldfish (35 goldfish = 140 calories!) but I prefer not to share (like I said, grinchier!)

  • Walking at a weird time.

    I normally walk in the mornings on work days.  But, today didn’t work out like normal…

    First, I had to be to work early today so I didn’t do my normal Monday morning run/walk. Then, instead of being at my office for the majority of the day where I walk around occasionally & often also walk to other buildings throughout the day I sat in a meeting for a few hours. Then my boss took two coworkers and I to Chipotle for a late lunch.

    This is where the Fitbit and tracking my food on MFP really works to motivate me.  I’d only walked 3,000 steps today and would be way over on calories with my dinner added onto the lunch.

    Unacceptable!

    So I got my butt onto the treadmill and walked over 3 miles.  Now I am over 11,000 total steps for the day and while I’m still over on my calorie goal for the day it isn’t nearly as bad and dinner tasted that much better!

    Yay me!

  • Yuck to winter!

    One more week! I love the winter solstice because it means days start getting longer again!  I prefer to drive in the daylight and with shorter days it doesn’t often work out that way in the evenings.

    Right now I’m sitting on the couch and looking out the window occasionally at the snow falling.  I will move to the treadmill soon, open up the curtains on the sliding glass door and walk and watch it accumulate.  If it does because it is seeming to change over to rain.  Oh well, watching rain out the door works too.

    My weight is headed back down in the correct direction.  It amazes me how quickly I am seeing results again!  Why?  Nothing magic… Move more, eat less.  For me this means obsessively counting my calories, I use an app for that (MyFitnessPal.)  And then I have the Fitbit which like I said before is crack.  It gives me daily feedback on whether I’m getting off my ass enough and connects to MFP to give me more calories to eat if I exercise more.

    I really haven’t been running so much as I’ve been walking.  But that’s okay.  My goals are not to run a marathon… Right now the primary focus is to get the weight down.  My next goal is 175.  On the way to that goal I will continue the walking with the occasional running that I am doing.

    Come the new year I will up the running plan again in prep for my first real 5K at the end of March.

    My other 2014 goal is to reach 150 by my birthday in July.  I totally see it as achievable.  Then I’ll reassess what I want to work on next, whether I set a new lower goal or work on strictly maintenance.

    I’m really excited for the new year!  I’m the Wellness Ambassador at work now (me? who would have thought!)  Every year we do “The Biggest Loser” which is company wide.  I’m also going to run a local version for just our program since some of my coworkers have expressed that they’d join something local but don’t want to compete company-wide.

    Last year I came in 3rd across all the women in the company and won $100.  Then our team got 4th place.  I’m aiming for 1st place this year!  It’s based on percentage lost for the individual, then the team winnings are based on maintaining the loss at the end of the individual challenge.

    Well, off to watch it rain.  The snow that was accumulating when I started typing is now completely gone.

  • I bought myself a fitbit and other news…

    As readers of my blog may know (all five of you), I have struggled with my weight since quitting smoking in August.  Before that I was losing weight steadily since the beginning of the year.  In fact, I’d lost 48 pounds.  Now, as of last Monday’s official record, I am at a net loss of 33 because I gained 15 back.

    What changed?

    I took up running in the form of the C25K training program.  I have kept up with it past the 5k fun run I did in October and exercise at least 3 days a week.  Well, I know I didn’t gain those 15 pounds from running!  Next?

    I stopped smoking.  It is said that people gain an average of 10 pounds when they quit smoking.  I like to think I am an overachiever but I don’t think I can blame it all on the smoking.   Besides, restarting isn’t an option so nothing I can change here… Next?

    I stopped recording my food intake.  Therein lies the root of the problem!  If I am not obsessively counting my calories I begin to lie to myself.  “Oh, I know I ate a candy bar at 10am but these cookies won’t really put my calories for the day that far over.”  Not having the actual calories taken in for the day staring at me from my phone made it easy to fool myself.

    So I again began scanning packages and recording bites.  When?  Thanksgiving Day, of course.  Why not restart a diet on the most gluttonous day of the year?

    Then yesterday, I bought a Fitbit.  I was planning on buying the Zip when I went into the store, but it was $10 more than I thought it was going to be so I ended up talking myself into the One which was even more expensive (don’t try to follow that logic… it’s impossible.)  I would have loved the Flex that you wear on your wrist but using sign language all day would mean that the more I talked, the more steps it would count.

    So far I am really liking the Fitbit.  It syncs into My Fitness Pal (which I just switched to from Lose It) so I can track steps and exercise in the same program as my calories.  It also syncs to SparkPeople for my points there and then I have it linking to Earndit, Everymove, AchieveMint, and Walgreens because you can win things and earn discounts and such through them.

    So I have seriously restarted my quest towards 150 pounds with renewed vigor (and new electronics.)

  • calories in, calories out…

    I have tried so many diets in my life. It always comes down to the calories I eat.  Personally I think for everyone it boils down to the calories but some people hold fast to their “oh, but if I eat the magic combination of high-carb/low-fat or low-carb/high-fat or high-protein/high-fat then the weight will melt away faster.”  Uh, no.  Regardless of which book, magazine article, celebrity, or commercial diet you follow it boils down to calories.

    For me, I find it easier to count calories then I do to eat according to someone’s defined plan.  Back when Weight Watchers did “3 protein, 4 bread, etc.” I was successful on that as well.  I didn’t like the switch to points at all.  And I’ve never done well on a plan that says eat “1 slice bread, one grapefruit, one cup of yogurt.”  I might eat that but probably not on the day or time that the diet list says I should.

    So why am I rambling about calories?  It is time to get back to counting them for me.  I’ve been slack about it and it is such a slippery slope back to the fatness.  It’s been twelve weeks since I quit smoking.  I’ve gained nine pounds back during that time.  Time to put a halt on it and just say no to the cravings for caramel corn.

    Yes, caramel corn.  Available everywhere and oh, so good!  I have been on a many weeks binge on caramel corn!  I may investigate recipes for a lower calorie make at home version.  But I am making a public declaration to stop buying bags of it!  In fact, I think it’s a good time to publicly declare that I will stop buying anything to eat in a gas station…

    I think I just came up with the basis for the next best selling diet book “Your Car is Making You Fat.”  The premise is simple:  Don’t eat anything you can buy from your car (no fast food) and don’t eat anything you buy where you can buy fuel for your car (no gas station convenience food).

    Tomorrow morning I’ll weigh in and we’ll go from there.

    Speaking of junk food… I got the Pecan Pie Pringles.  And Cinnamon & Sugar ones.  They were okay, good but nothing special.  I’d not buy them again…  I’d rather have caramel corn.

    And now, I shall end my food/calorie ramblings with this:  I am sooo sick of pumpkin spice this, that, and everything!