Tag Archives: Fit for the Fourth

Healthy You Challenge Update

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Not a lot to report, so I am just going to bullet point it :)

  • With the 0.2 Gain this week, I am now in second place in the “Fit for the Fourth” Challenge at work.  Apparently my big loss last week spurred some people to take action.
  • The effing scale is moving in the wrong direction even though I am doing everything right.  I did have a fairly sodium heavy day yesterday, so I am hoping that is the reason
  • Even with the above, I’ve decided to increase my calorie allowance each day to get a little closer to the number of points that WW allows me to have (33), most of last week I was in the 27 point range and I never touched my weekly points allowance of 35 or my earned activity points of 26.  Perhaps I didn’t consume enough calories last week
  • I’ve learned that losing weight is like a strange dance between me and my body.  Years of abusing it with fad diets, exceptionally low calorie diets, diet pills, etc has really made figuring out what it takes for me to lose weight a challenge.  Theoretically, I should have lost almost 3.5 lbs last week if you simply look at my calories in versus calories out.  I didn’t, I gained.
  • On my “day off” this week, I consumed about 175 calories more than the top of my allowance (this was before I increased the calorie allowance) so I didn’t go bat shit crazy with food, I just had a couple of small extras.  Also went over about 75 calories on Sunday (prior to me increasing my range.)
  • I am on day 6 now of wearing my GoWear Fit for 21 days to try to form a new habit.  I almost forget it’s there.  The only frustrating thing is I can’t upload it at work, and remembering to do it at home, well I keep forgetting!

Here is yesterday’s food journal.  It came in at a total of 29 of 33 points or 1762 Calories

Breakfast-Small Banana,  Arnold Thin, 2 egg whites, 1 tsp Shredded Parmesan Cheese, ½ C Almond Breeze (3 Points or 294 calories)

Lunch-2 Tbsp Light Ranch, 3 Tbsp Light Sour Cream, 1 WW 1 Point Bar, 1 Cup Carrot sticks, 1 Serving Taco Soup (7 Points or 438 calories)

Dinner-3 oz cooked chicken breast, 1 cup brown rice, 2 Tbsp Stir Fry Sauce (this has almost 1400 mg of sodium!), 1 cup green pepper strips, ½ cup diced onion, 2 tsp EVOO, 1 Tbsp Brummell & Brown (11 Points or 670 Calories)

Snacks (throughout the day)- WW 1 Point Bar, 1 Cup Strawberries, 1 Light & Fit Yogurt, 1 Tbsp Brummell & Brown, 1 ½ slices of bread (from newly acquired read machine YUMMO) (8 Points or 290 Calories)

2 Activity Points earned for a 30 minute walk with the dog.  The plan was actually for a second walk on my own for 3 miles, but the weather didn’t cooperate and the treadmill wasn’t peaking my interest, ha!

I suppose you (or I really) can learn a lot from the above regarding points vs. calories.  Breakfast I got more calories for fewer points than I did from my snacks, fat and fiber play a HUGE role in the whole points vs. calories game. 

Hope you’re challenging yourself to health!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Weekend Recap

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This weekend feels like it never happened, it was just so full of “stuff.”  I haven’t gotten any of my normal errands and chores taken care of, so the evenings this week will be spent playing catch up.  I hate spending my evenings running to the pet store or doing laundry or cleaning, I’d much rather be lazy (after my exercise,) duh!

Saturday was Weight Watchers Weigh In (up 0.2, which royally pisses me off), spending time with a group of friends, and we also had the kids for the weekend.  I was low exceptionally low on my points all of last week, even though I stayed on the higher end of my calorie scale.  I didn’t eat a single activity point or flex point.  I’m wondering if I was just too low with the points??  I am going to give it another week and then I might just focus on points and calculate the calories for the Fit for the Fourth Challenge.  Thanks to this week’s gain, I am not in second place…BLAH!

Sunday was my Bridal Shower part Deux which was about 2 hours away.  I received an AWESOME coffee maker and a bread maker that I am super excited to try tonight.  The coffee maker is replacing the one that I’ve had since my sophomore year in college, the new one is magical compared the old one (grinds the beans, has a thermal carafe, amazing!)  Fireman is stoked for the bread maker, well more stoked for the bread that I will be able to produce from it.  It will likely take time to get to the point that I’ve worked out a point friendly/calorie friendly recipe but it’s also nice to know that the bread isn’t packed with all sorts of fake nutrients and preservatives.

I also received some items that while I am sure they took a lot of effort, I have no effing clue what to do with them.  You’ve seen the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” right?  You know the wedding album in that movie?  The one that I received trumps that one, at least three times bigger, I wish I was exaggerating.  It’s covered in fake flowers and birds and a huge cord to tie it shut.  I also received a bird cage (for the cards people drop at the wedding), and while I appreciate it, I already have a really simple one (aka one that isn’t covered in bows and ribbons and birds and flowers and more ribbon and lace.)  I probably sound so ungrateful right now, I am sorry for that, but they are things that I can’t use at the wedding.  They are so far from the style that represents who we are or the style that the wedding is (think high end cocktail party which eventually turns into a dinner party, semi-formal dress code.)  I’d so post a picture but I’m scared that someday someone would find it (ok if you want to see it email me lol.)  There’s a lesson in this folks, don’t buy decorations for someone else’s wedding (aka stick to the registry, there’s a reason people spend so much blasted time making that list.) 

OK, enough of my ungrateful ranting.  I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend!  I did wind up going over my calorie limit both Saturday and Sunday, but only by a total of about 250 calories (combined)!  Also I have worn my GoWear Fit everyday since 4/22, seriously that thing is a great motivational tool!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Healthy You Challenge Update

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With the 6.8 pound loss this week, I am in first place in the office “Fit for the Fourth” Challenge.  I sort of feel like I cheated, since the Allergy meds were likely a huge cause of the weight gain in the first place.  I don’t feel bad enough to back out though, ha!  I’m really enjoying this new challenge, and while it’s a little tedious to count both points and calories, I am learning a lot from the experience!  I’m finding that if I stick to my calorie range (1280-1630) which is supposed to allow me to lose 2 lbs a week, I get in around 28 points a day.  Since counting calories doesn’t allow for the 35 weekly points allowance, I’m giving myself one day “off” each weekend from tracking.  It doesn’t mean I can go ape $hit crazy with food, it just means I have a little more freedom.  So far so good on that approach, should I need to reevaluate I will!

I am one day away from finishing Seattle Runner Girls 21 Day Challenge to a new habit, and I am proud to say I will finish!  I think in the past I’ve given myself ridiculous goals to accomplish over too long of periods of time, so focusing on just one single task has really helped.  Yesterday I mentioned a couple of ideas for the next 21 days, and Bella emailed me and mentioned I should focus on something health/weight loss related unless my Starbucks habit was seriously out of control.  The reality is, while I go a lot, I do make smart choices when I am there, usually splurging with 1-2 point items.  So I’ve decided that the next 21 days (starting 4/22, ending 5/13) will be spent (drum roll please):

WEARING MY GOWEAR FIT!  There are a couple of exceptions as to when I will not wear it, there is a wedding that I am going to on 5/1 and the dress wouldn’t allow for it and if any other event comes up that it isn’t feasible with the outfit.  Besides that, that thing will be on me at all times (ok maybe not while sleeping, my arm needs a break!) 

I already pay for the monthly fee, regardless of if I wear the GoWear Fit, so I think it’ll be motivational to keep up with how I am doing regards to calorie deficits and steps taken.  I’m not going to set any other goals in regards to the GoWear Fit (steps taken, specific calorie deficits, etc) other than to wear it and upload the data daily. 

Last week I posted my food journal on my Tuesday post, so I think I will do the same today.  Here is my food journal from yesterday.  I know dinner was pretty calorie dense, but I really kept the rest of the day in check.  The calories came in at 1567 and the points at 28.5

Breakfast

Egg Whites, Arnold Thin, Small Banana, 2 tbsp Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2, 1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (273 Calories or 3.5 Points)

Lunch

6″ Turkey on Wheat loaded up with Veggies plus a bag of Lays Baked Sour Cream and Onion Chips (420 Calories or 7.5 Points)

Dinner

5 oz cooked sirloin beef steak, 1 cup roasted onions, 1 cup roasted green pepper, 1/2 cup roasted mushrooms, 2 tsp Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Brummel and Brown spread,  1 1/2 Cups Lundberg Wild/Brown Rice Blend (717 Calories or 14 Points)

Snacks (Throughout the day)

1 Light & Fit Yogurt (Strawberry Shortcake) and 1 Small Banana (156 Calories or 3.5 Points)

I drank 5 Liters of water (I typically drink 3-5 Liters a day)

I’ve really reduced the number of snacks that I am allowing myself since joining the competition at work.  Mainly because the lower number of calories requires a lower number of points!  I am still getting in most of my Healthy Guidelines everyday, so I am not worried about lacking in any nutritional categories.  Plus my calorie range is pretty broad and some days will hit 33 points and some days will hit 25 or 26, just depends on the quality of the calories that I am consuming.

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare