Calorie Deficit Tracking

Sunday (6/29): (2232 + 226) - 1572 = 886
Monday (6/30): (2232 + 550) - 1612 = 1170
Tuesday (7/1): (2232 + 284) - 1600 = 916

Average for the first half of the week: 990 per day.

Measurements coming tomorrow!

Well...let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

It's been hard to watch what you're eating and exercising in college. If not for the fact that there's constantly food around and that it's a rare day when I get three actual balanced meals, it's because none of my days are ever really the same. I may be able to squeeze in a quick dinner around 5:30 before night class but chances are, I'm ready to nosh when I get home because i'll be up til 1:00ish.

So, I decided to scale back and concentrate on ONE thing each week. Make it small but make it count. This week is gonna be exercising. I already did my M run - but I need to do something W & F. I'm hoping this will work out well considering I did my 20 minute run (yes...still on week 5 from just not pushing ahead) and I covered 2 miles which ain't too shabby.

So...running now. Focusing on that. Maybe if my body feels more energized I'll have more willpower to turn away the constant food in our house.

Alright kids, a clean slate

Weightloss is definitely a numbers game - even if you don't want it to be. I think that's why I've been so lax recently - after having an FANTASTIC scale in my parent's room that was digital and did .2s and .6s of weight, the only scale was in the gym and out in front of everyone. I know I should just concentrate on how I feel and how my clothes fit to give me a boost for losing, but really, nothing's better for motivation then going "oh! 2 pounds lost this week!" Mom and Dad sent the old scale and while it's not horribly accurate, it'll do. So I kickstarted my motivation last night.

This past month or so has been really rough. At home, I had a really good routine. I knew what each day would bring. I'd usually have the same snacks. This semester it's just all over. I'm busy, I eat when I can and often eat too much. Snacking has become a HUGE part of my life and if it stays like that I just need to pick healthier snacks.

First I wrote out 28 reasons why I want to adopt a healthier lifestyle from the seemingly basic (being able to run up to the 3rd floor of our townhouse and not feel out of breath) to the pratical (running the 5K in November and hopefully one in the spring) to the all consuming (for lifetime health). I put them in an envelope by the side of my bed and drew one out this morning. Even if I don't exercise in the morning I'll have that thought in my head the entire day to guide my food choices and exercise choices. I wrote out post it notes for week 5 and 6 (3 post it notes each) of Couch to 5K and plan to write the day that I complete that exercise underneath because I've been kind of lackluster and have been on week 4 for LONGER THAN POSSIBLE.

Tomorrow I'm going to weigh myself for the first time in a month and that's a little scary. I was doing well before I came to school so I know with some determination, I'll be able to be successful here. So whatever that number may be tomorrow, I know it'll go down.

Clean slate now. Let's do this!

Love for the gym...

Yesterday was the first time I got to the gym for some weight training. And although I much prefer my home gym, I realized how much I really do like the gym. If I'm not running or walking around the track, I've basically got no cardio but at the gym there's a bike, ellipticals, treadmills that I can set to hills, and stair steppers as well as an isnane amount of weight machines and free weights. I'm in love. I did the elliptical and I just love being able to see exact numbers instead of ball parking how many calories I burtn for SparkPeople.

Also, yesterday I went for an easy Week 3 run with my friend Andy. I kind of encouraged him to come jogging with me and he kept up which is cool since he hadn't had week 1 or 2. However, I only broke a sweat during the last three minute jog so it was easy. He wants to continue jogging and hopefully when we push together throughout the weeks it'll be the workout I'm used to.

Back on track!

So kids, long time no post.

The week before going back to school, I did a Friday weigh in. I was going to pack a scale with me and forgot (but mom and dad are sending it). Since starting it, I lost 10 pounds. Yay me!

However, I came back to school and training week happened. Which meant I'd be running around from about 8:00/8:30 to usually about 7ish each night. Also add to the fact that we did not eat all that healthily and I slacked off for a week.

But I'm back and better than ever. This is the first time I've plugged in calories for week and a half on SparkPeople and I did my second run. On Monday I did a week 2 run and today I did a week 3 run. I had been on week 4 but was struggling a bit so I think I'll repeat week 4. Pleasant to say though, both runs went so well. I didn't have my MP3 player but I just felt calm and very zen afterwards. Am I becoming a runner? Who knows!

We'll start off with a few simple tasks:
1) Count calories. Write down it all. That was my best way to hold myself accountable.
2) Do at least 2 weight training workouts before next Tuesday. Cardio is easy on the track so I just need to do some more weights.
3) No shuttle (unless safety makes it a necessity). It's definitely easy to take it back from Broad but it's only a 7 minute walk. And throughout campus the weather has been so gorgeous that I can't justify taking it. So let's walk!

No weigh in because no scale and still getting back on track!

A shoutout to my sister B! Mom was telling me how good were at the parties and I'm proud! I just read your two blog posts and it seems like you are totally going for Balls to the Wall!

Let's go with a great week

So, really, can I say how much I enjoy counting calories? I've been watching my calories & eating less and it's paid off. We'll save that for the weigh in - look towards a couple paragraphs later.

I basically kicked ass on the Tuesday Tasks. I counted calories and because of which put down some food that I decided I didn't really need as well as didn't stop by 7-11 at all to pick up any snacks. Snacks were brought from home (dear 100 calorie Ritz Snack Pack - I love you!). Calorie counting will be a new habit for now.

These Tuesday's Tasks:
1) Do 20 modified pushups, 20 regular crunches and 20 twist crunches before bed. Because the gym membersip ran out I've gotten a decent amount of cardio in but haven't gotten too much weight training in.
2) Run/walk/jog Monday and Tuesday morning - I've got training all day and that sucks so I want to exercise. The track is close enough to my townhouse.
3) Not feel ashamed to post up on the blog EXACTLY what i eat the first weekend at school. Not sure if that's clear but I know what it means to me.


Weigh-In:
Height: 5'10"
SW: 235.6
Current: 229.4
Pounds lost: 6.2

KICK ASS

So I did a mid week weigh in just to double check and I hit 232.4. Hello BELLOW last low weight. I'm not counting it as a weigh in because not on Tuesday.


But SERIOUSLY, what's helping is counting calories. I use the food journal in SparkPeople (http://www.sparkpeople.com) and I use CalorieKing (http://www.calorieking.com) to double check foods. It's leading me to make smarter choices about food and honestly, turning over a package isn't so hard. What's al ittle dififcult is the fact that my food has been made for me before I get home so unless I can find the recipe, I don't really know what's in it. So I might be undershootign and overshooting on certain foods but I'm sure it evens out. But I actually very much ENJOY doing this which is kind of weird. Yay calorie counting and being aware of what's going in my system.

However, boo to the fact that the gym membership is over. Sadness. Only a week of no gymming it.