Believe it or not, I've done a ton of reading in the last 2 days (luckily I'm a very fast reader and it's been slow at work :). I've done a lot of reading on metabolism and fat loss because that's what it boils down to. I don't particularly care what the number on the scale is, I want to lose this fat and feel good in my body. So after extensive reading I've decided I don't track enough. I keep the WW journal and I keep track of my exercise, but only superficially. Many, many times I will guess at how many activity points I earned, or how much of something I ate, or what the points value on something was. I thought I was being good but looking over my journals there is way too many of these ~ indicating I was guessing. No more guessing. Yesterdays weighing adventure was a real eye opener for me and highlighted how off I can be even when trying to be strict with myself.
Starting today I am going to keep a very detailed daily journal. Everything will be weighed and I will be tracking every single gram that goes in my mouth. I am also getting new batteries for my HRM (both of them are dead) and am going to use that when I workout so I have a bit of clue what I did. I know the HRMs aren't incredibly accurate but at least it's something and I'm not shooting completely in the dark.
It's going to be tough but I'm going to do it. I won't be doing it forever, just till I get a real handle on what exactly I'm eating and burning. I will do this, in nauseating detail, for 1 month. By then I should have a real grip on what's going on and I will know why I'm not losing the way I want to be.
Right now I'm off to WW to face the music. I feel it will be up again this week but I need to know exactly where I'm starting this part of the journey so that's okay. Hopefully, it won't be up too much.
16 August 2008
15 August 2008
I'm on the hunt, I'm after you.....
I know how my mind works. I know what I need to know in order to know what I want to know. I also know that I can read the same information presented 14 different ways and get it but not get it. But, I read it a 15th way and not only will the light bulb come on, the whole damn block will light up. I have to understand the why. For example, I've heard all my life that it takes 20 minutes for the message to get from your stomach to your brain that you've eaten. I've never understood that. This is the same body that can transmit pain from my toe to my brain before I even realize I did anything. But it takes 20 minutes to get from my stomach to my brain??? Why???? Then I read in a scientific journal that the signals actually come from your upper intestine. When you eat your stomach starts working and when some passes into your upper intestines the signal is sent to your brain that your full and that process takes about 20 minutes. Now it makes sense and I understand. For most people just knowing that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the message is enough. Not me. I need to know why.
I've been doing this diet/exercise thing for so long now, I'm afraid some things aren't working for me. For instance, I know that if you go into a state of calorie deficit for an extended period of time, your metabolism will slow down. Even if you weight train, restricted calories will eventually slow your metabolism. I also know that long bouts of cardio don't work. Every marathon I've ever trained for has actually resulted in a weight gain. Your body gets efficient at burning fat but then it's get really efficient at storing it. Not a good combination.
When I started Weight Watchers 12 weeks ago I had high hopes. I have lost 7 lbs, so that's good, and I do feel a lot better, but it's not going like I hoped it would. Now I know a lot of it is me. I'm not following the plan as closely as I can. I have not been working out as much as I should be. But I think it's because there's some of the whys missing for me. I know a lot about the body and nutrition and working out, but I think there are blank spots that I may not be aware of that will clear things up for me. So I'm on a mission to learn. I've started reading a couple of different trainers books to see if I can't get the light bulb moment. I'm not looking for a new program to follow, I plan on sticking with WW because of the support. I'm looking for the knowledge that I think I'm missing that will make this make more sense to me. Once I understand exactly what's going on, I can tailor it to fit me. The signals to the brain thing?? I now have no problem taking like 4 bites of something then sitting and waiting for my brain to get the signal. Now that I know I can make it work for me.
One of the first things I learned already is about measuring food. I measure my food probably 90% of the time. I have a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons that pretty much live in my dish basket and I measure most of what goes in my mouth with them. I also have a food scale that lives on the counter and I weigh things that need to be weighed. So I'm reading and this trainer is talking about how most people use measuring instruments wrong. She says they are really getting a lot more then they plan on because of this. She showed some examples where tiny miscalculations can add up to a lot of calories during the day. It was definitely and eye-opener. So this morning I weighed my food. All nutrition labels have a serving size in measurements and grams. I set my food scale to grams and weighed my little heart out this morning. Wow!!! What a shock. The 3/4 c. of Special K I measure every day is supposed to be 29 grams. My actual weight was 45 grams. That's 16 grams more than I thought I was getting. That's 55 extra calories I wasn't counting. Now 55 calories is not a lot, but extrapolate that over an entire days food and it can add up. It's possible I'm not losing because I'm actually eating more than I think. I always count my morning banana as 1 point or a small one, 101 calories. I weighed my banana this morning and found it weighed over 200 g. That's a 180 calories. That's 80 calories I'm not counting every single day. With the 55 from the cereal that's 135 so far. Finally the milk. I use skim milk and thought I was using 1 cup. Turns out I'm using almost 1 1/4 cups which is an additional 22 calories. That makes a total of 157 additional calories every day just at breakfast. What could it be for lunch and dinner???
So I'm on the hunt. I'm bound and determined to figure this all out and I think I've made a good start. Now that I weighed everything today, let's see how hungry I am at the end of the day :P
I've been doing this diet/exercise thing for so long now, I'm afraid some things aren't working for me. For instance, I know that if you go into a state of calorie deficit for an extended period of time, your metabolism will slow down. Even if you weight train, restricted calories will eventually slow your metabolism. I also know that long bouts of cardio don't work. Every marathon I've ever trained for has actually resulted in a weight gain. Your body gets efficient at burning fat but then it's get really efficient at storing it. Not a good combination.
When I started Weight Watchers 12 weeks ago I had high hopes. I have lost 7 lbs, so that's good, and I do feel a lot better, but it's not going like I hoped it would. Now I know a lot of it is me. I'm not following the plan as closely as I can. I have not been working out as much as I should be. But I think it's because there's some of the whys missing for me. I know a lot about the body and nutrition and working out, but I think there are blank spots that I may not be aware of that will clear things up for me. So I'm on a mission to learn. I've started reading a couple of different trainers books to see if I can't get the light bulb moment. I'm not looking for a new program to follow, I plan on sticking with WW because of the support. I'm looking for the knowledge that I think I'm missing that will make this make more sense to me. Once I understand exactly what's going on, I can tailor it to fit me. The signals to the brain thing?? I now have no problem taking like 4 bites of something then sitting and waiting for my brain to get the signal. Now that I know I can make it work for me.
One of the first things I learned already is about measuring food. I measure my food probably 90% of the time. I have a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons that pretty much live in my dish basket and I measure most of what goes in my mouth with them. I also have a food scale that lives on the counter and I weigh things that need to be weighed. So I'm reading and this trainer is talking about how most people use measuring instruments wrong. She says they are really getting a lot more then they plan on because of this. She showed some examples where tiny miscalculations can add up to a lot of calories during the day. It was definitely and eye-opener. So this morning I weighed my food. All nutrition labels have a serving size in measurements and grams. I set my food scale to grams and weighed my little heart out this morning. Wow!!! What a shock. The 3/4 c. of Special K I measure every day is supposed to be 29 grams. My actual weight was 45 grams. That's 16 grams more than I thought I was getting. That's 55 extra calories I wasn't counting. Now 55 calories is not a lot, but extrapolate that over an entire days food and it can add up. It's possible I'm not losing because I'm actually eating more than I think. I always count my morning banana as 1 point or a small one, 101 calories. I weighed my banana this morning and found it weighed over 200 g. That's a 180 calories. That's 80 calories I'm not counting every single day. With the 55 from the cereal that's 135 so far. Finally the milk. I use skim milk and thought I was using 1 cup. Turns out I'm using almost 1 1/4 cups which is an additional 22 calories. That makes a total of 157 additional calories every day just at breakfast. What could it be for lunch and dinner???
So I'm on the hunt. I'm bound and determined to figure this all out and I think I've made a good start. Now that I weighed everything today, let's see how hungry I am at the end of the day :P
13 August 2008
Public notice
As someone recently pointed out to me, this is my blog. I will say whatever I darn well please. No one, and I mean no one, is being forced to read this. I read a lot of blogs that I don't agree with and I have this really neat trick I do. If you look up in the right hand corner of the screen you will see an X. If you click that, the blog goes away. It's absolutely miraculous!!! Please feel free to use it at any time.
I don't buy into that political correctness garbage. I will call things just the way I see them. I will call a spade a spade (racist!!!!). I will not buy into the overly sensitive crowd where I have to worry about what I say. If it upsets you, leave. Trust me, you won't hurt my feelings. I'm a big girl and my mother taught me that words can't hurt me. I've been called much worse by way better people.
So this serves as notice, I will say anything I want and if you don't like it you are invited to leave.
I don't buy into that political correctness garbage. I will call things just the way I see them. I will call a spade a spade (racist!!!!). I will not buy into the overly sensitive crowd where I have to worry about what I say. If it upsets you, leave. Trust me, you won't hurt my feelings. I'm a big girl and my mother taught me that words can't hurt me. I've been called much worse by way better people.
So this serves as notice, I will say anything I want and if you don't like it you are invited to leave.
Comment response
The Fitness Diva left a comment on my last post but it's a no-reply email address so I can't reply to her directly, so I'll reply here.
I did not say fried chicken was a black thing. I was stating what the McDonald's commercial showed and the stereotype it perpetrated. As for rap, same thing, I never said it was a black thing. Please do not put words in my mouth. Stereotypes are rash generalizations made about a specific group of people. I did not start the stereotype and if you think that McDonald's is not perpetrating it that's just ridiculous. I think McDonald's is doing a horrible thing with their current collection of ads, that means I agree with you. In all the recent commercials I've seen for McDonald's, I've only seen one white person involved in rap. Now I know for a fact that's not the way it is in real life so McDonald's is exploiting a stereotype. If you would read what I was trying to say and not get so caught up in your own anger you would see that we are on the same side. You have a right to be angry, but at McDonald's not me. I didn't make the commercials.
And yes, after 50 years on the planet I know people. I think it's rather racist to say I don't know black people. Are you just a human or some special life form that needs special consideration? I've been reading your blog for a while now and I honestly did not know until your comment that you were black, nor did I care. I don't care what color any one's skin is because deep down we are all just people. I also can see when something is just wrong and that's how I feel about those commercials.
I can honestly say I don't often deal with people who have knee-jerk reactions. Most of the people I deal with on a regular basis will strive to understand what is being said before reacting to it. So this reaction kind of surprises me. I guess because I noticed the stereotypes McDonald's was promoting, I'm a racist. I find that argument interesting. I think a racist would be someone who would see those commercials and not see anything wrong with them. Turning a blind eye to these things is a large part of the problem. By me seeing the problem and pointing it out, regardless of my skin color, goes much farther towards solving a problem. Back in the 70's and 80's, when a lot of these issues were being brought up, they used to say if you can't talk about it you can't fix it. I think they were talking about domestic abuse, but the same theory applies here. I think the McDonald's commercials are offensive. If I were to say nothing I'd indirectly be supporting them. But by speaking up I'm a racist. Jeez, I'm just not going to win this one, huh???
And, for my final totally unrelated point, the blog I got the initial observation that McDonald's was targeting black people in their current campaigns was the blog of a black woman who is trying to lose weight. Maybe she's racist too???? And sizest????
I did not say fried chicken was a black thing. I was stating what the McDonald's commercial showed and the stereotype it perpetrated. As for rap, same thing, I never said it was a black thing. Please do not put words in my mouth. Stereotypes are rash generalizations made about a specific group of people. I did not start the stereotype and if you think that McDonald's is not perpetrating it that's just ridiculous. I think McDonald's is doing a horrible thing with their current collection of ads, that means I agree with you. In all the recent commercials I've seen for McDonald's, I've only seen one white person involved in rap. Now I know for a fact that's not the way it is in real life so McDonald's is exploiting a stereotype. If you would read what I was trying to say and not get so caught up in your own anger you would see that we are on the same side. You have a right to be angry, but at McDonald's not me. I didn't make the commercials.
And yes, after 50 years on the planet I know people. I think it's rather racist to say I don't know black people. Are you just a human or some special life form that needs special consideration? I've been reading your blog for a while now and I honestly did not know until your comment that you were black, nor did I care. I don't care what color any one's skin is because deep down we are all just people. I also can see when something is just wrong and that's how I feel about those commercials.
I can honestly say I don't often deal with people who have knee-jerk reactions. Most of the people I deal with on a regular basis will strive to understand what is being said before reacting to it. So this reaction kind of surprises me. I guess because I noticed the stereotypes McDonald's was promoting, I'm a racist. I find that argument interesting. I think a racist would be someone who would see those commercials and not see anything wrong with them. Turning a blind eye to these things is a large part of the problem. By me seeing the problem and pointing it out, regardless of my skin color, goes much farther towards solving a problem. Back in the 70's and 80's, when a lot of these issues were being brought up, they used to say if you can't talk about it you can't fix it. I think they were talking about domestic abuse, but the same theory applies here. I think the McDonald's commercials are offensive. If I were to say nothing I'd indirectly be supporting them. But by speaking up I'm a racist. Jeez, I'm just not going to win this one, huh???
And, for my final totally unrelated point, the blog I got the initial observation that McDonald's was targeting black people in their current campaigns was the blog of a black woman who is trying to lose weight. Maybe she's racist too???? And sizest????
12 August 2008
Conspiracy Theory??
I was reading another blog about 2 weeks ago and the author was saying that McDonald's is targeting black people. I immediately went into my conspiracy theory mode and thought, 'yeah, right! They actually sat around and went let's make commercials targeting black people.' I just didn't believe it. Since then I've noticed that all of the McDonald's commercials I see feature black people. They seem to speak of black people things, rap music, fried chicken. It's actually quite shocking. I was watching one tonight and thought that and it was immediately followed by the thought, they can not win for losing. Don't blacks complain because most of the people featured in ads and stuff are white?? So maybe McDonald's is trying to right an inequity. They are doing more commercials with black people and it's as simple as that. Or could it be a conspiracy and the marketing gurus really are marketing McDonald's to black people? What do you think??
I don't really have anything to say
lately. I'm working on getting back into the workout mode and until I'm into it completely I tend to go internal. I tend to turn inward while I'm working things out. So I'm focused right now on getting back into the workouts so I'm working on the inside too.
The good news is it's working. I've done 2 or my 3 planned strength workouts this week and 3 of my 3 planned interval sessions. Actually, I've decided to do intervals every day for now. This is all subject to change at anytime, but for now it's working great.
So that's what's up with me. Once I am fully back on track I'm sure I'll have all kinds of things to write about, but for now I really have nothing to say.
The good news is it's working. I've done 2 or my 3 planned strength workouts this week and 3 of my 3 planned interval sessions. Actually, I've decided to do intervals every day for now. This is all subject to change at anytime, but for now it's working great.
So that's what's up with me. Once I am fully back on track I'm sure I'll have all kinds of things to write about, but for now I really have nothing to say.
11 August 2008
Hello there....
Okay, weigh in didn't go so well on Saturday. I was up again. That's the second week in a row. This has got to stop here and now.
We went to the outlet mall on Saturday and ended up having lunch at Chili's. I knew we were going out for dinner so I kept it light. Saturday night I took Hubby out for his birthday. His birthday was actually last week but we just haven't had time to go out. I took him to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse but didn't tell him, I wanted it to be a surprise. When we got there and he figured out where we were going he couldn't believe it. We've never been there before. It's very expensive and well worth it. He had steak and I had lamb chops. We shared an appetizer of blackened scallops, and a chop salad. Everything was really good. I do have to say that it was the most expensive meal we have ever had though.
So Sunday I knew it was time to get back on track. I got up and worked out - hard. Strength then cardio intervals on the bike. Then it was about 2 hours of house cleaning - god, birds are messy.
Overall it was a good weekend. Nothing exciting but quiet and relaxing. I like that :)+
We went to the outlet mall on Saturday and ended up having lunch at Chili's. I knew we were going out for dinner so I kept it light. Saturday night I took Hubby out for his birthday. His birthday was actually last week but we just haven't had time to go out. I took him to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse but didn't tell him, I wanted it to be a surprise. When we got there and he figured out where we were going he couldn't believe it. We've never been there before. It's very expensive and well worth it. He had steak and I had lamb chops. We shared an appetizer of blackened scallops, and a chop salad. Everything was really good. I do have to say that it was the most expensive meal we have ever had though.
So Sunday I knew it was time to get back on track. I got up and worked out - hard. Strength then cardio intervals on the bike. Then it was about 2 hours of house cleaning - god, birds are messy.
Overall it was a good weekend. Nothing exciting but quiet and relaxing. I like that :)+
10 August 2008
Entrecarders!!!!!
Please, please, please, stop with the music!!!! When I first started Entrecard it seemed a lot of people had music on their blogs. Then I saw a lot of people complaining about it and it seemed to go away. Now it's making a comeback. For the last 20 minutes I've been dropping Entrecards and I've run across 5 blogs with automatic music. STOP!!!! First of all not everyone likes the same music you do. Second, loading music slows up the speed with which your site loads. If it takes too long I just close it out and move one. Thirdly, your music is crap!!!! STOP!!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!! If you want music on your blog put it on the sidebar with the option to turn it on. That way it doesn't blast your visitors out of their chairs when they visit your site. If we want to hear your music we can turn it on, but it's not forced on us. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, STOP!!!!!! I'm noting all sites that have music and I'm definitely not going to visit them again!!!
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