Once again, I"m so late on my goal updates, but it's been a busy few days. The Beau's birthday was on Friday so we took the day off and explored some neighbourhoods we're considering moving to next year (yup, we hope to buy a house). Then we had all kinds of meals out, did some errands and went out with friends last night so it's been a great, yet busy, weekend.
Anyways, enough excuses; here's the goal breakdown and my weigh-in for this past Wednesday.
Goal:Plank - Again, not a single plank done in October. This is officially over.
Goal:Run - I haven't gone for a run in a couple of weeks, as I was training for my CN Tower stair climb and then battled a cold. The plan is to get back into it tomorrow. My current distance is 4.25 km, which is 0.25 km less than I wanted by this point but missing two weeks of running will do that to a person. I still want to hit 5 km by the end of November so I'm going to keep aiming for that.
Goal:Food - Again, not really doing this. I'm trying to keep track in my head but it's just not working. Tomorrow's Monday and a great day to start with the food journal again. This is something I really need to get back on track with.
Goal:Weight - My last weigh-in on Wednesday had me at 192 lb, so no change from the previous week but I'm still not making the losses I need to hit my target. But like the running, I'm just going to keep trying.
Goal:Pants - No dice.
Goal:Dress - Please see Goal:Pants. Sigh.
Goal:Debt - My current debt load is $7,822.72. THIS is the number I really want to see go down and I've got a nice paycheque coming next week, with some ridiculous overtime on it. That will give me a nice chunk to put on my CIBC loan, on which I owe $2,255.12. This is the one I really want cleared by the end of the year, even if I can't hit my target of only having $5,000 owing.
Showing posts with label food journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food journal. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
2011 Goal Update #2
It's that time again - to see how I'm doing on my 2011 goals. And I'm so late on doing this update. So late. I wanted to do this sooner; I even started writing this post last week. But then my life got supercalifragilisticexpiali-busy and, well, here we are, updating super late. Such is life. Anyhoo, here's the latest rundown:
Goal:Plank - I did not do a single plank in September. This is because I quickly realized how much I hate doing planks. HATE. In all honesty, I don't see me continuing on with this, but I'll give it October before I admit defeat.
Goal:Run - I was having a tough go of it for a bit in September while running: I wasn't able to get anywhere near the distance I needed to meet my goals and I was tiring easily. But I was able to rebound and I've hit my 4km goal! Again, it's not four consecutive kilometres, but I'm running four of them all the same. My current run workout is to walk 0.25 km then run 1 km, for a total distance of 5 km. This is working out well so far and I'm hoping to slowly turn those walking sections into running sections as I aim for 4.5 km by the end of October. Still on track!
Goal:Food - Also something I stopped doing was logging my food. I've signed up for no less than four online food journals and ALL OF THEM are pains in the ass. The problem with the online journals is that they depend on users to enter foods and the nutritional values. If a food item isn't entered, you can create it but you need to know the nutritional info for it and that's not the easiest thing, especially if you're eating non-packaged food. So I'm going back to my pen and paper journal and just writing everything down. I want to see a nutritionist this month so I'll have something to show for that appointment without spending hours on the computer to log three meals.
Goal:Weight - My goal is to be at 170 lb and on my last update, I was 22.4 lb away from that (and needed to lose 5.6 lb/month). Today, I'm at 190.2 lb which is 20.2 lb away from my goal. The good news is that I'm moving in the right direction. The less-than-good news is that I didn't lose 5.6 lb last month, so now I have to lose 6.7 lb/month to hit my final goal. While this is still doable, it's at the high end of steady weight loss. But I'm not going to let that get me down - I'm going to keep trying!
Goal:Pants - I'll provide photo evidence next week. I simply have not had time to try them on in the past week. I'm so lame.
Goal:Dress - Please see Goal:Pants. Blargh.
Goal:Debt - I currently owe $9,162.21, which is $672.88 less than last month's total owing. I'm also (of course) waiting on more money to be applied to the loan, which will bring it down by another $400 - and bring it under $9,000! That will mean only $3,762.21 left to pay off this year. I'm feeling a little less confident right now about hitting my goals, but I should also be racking up some overtime this fall so hopefully that will give me the boost I need.
Overall, the numbers that I want to go down (my weight and my debt) are going down and the number that I want to go up (my running distance) is going up. As for my clothes, check in with me on Wednesday, 'kay? I promise I'll have something by then!
Goal:Plank - I did not do a single plank in September. This is because I quickly realized how much I hate doing planks. HATE. In all honesty, I don't see me continuing on with this, but I'll give it October before I admit defeat.
Goal:Run - I was having a tough go of it for a bit in September while running: I wasn't able to get anywhere near the distance I needed to meet my goals and I was tiring easily. But I was able to rebound and I've hit my 4km goal! Again, it's not four consecutive kilometres, but I'm running four of them all the same. My current run workout is to walk 0.25 km then run 1 km, for a total distance of 5 km. This is working out well so far and I'm hoping to slowly turn those walking sections into running sections as I aim for 4.5 km by the end of October. Still on track!
Goal:Food - Also something I stopped doing was logging my food. I've signed up for no less than four online food journals and ALL OF THEM are pains in the ass. The problem with the online journals is that they depend on users to enter foods and the nutritional values. If a food item isn't entered, you can create it but you need to know the nutritional info for it and that's not the easiest thing, especially if you're eating non-packaged food. So I'm going back to my pen and paper journal and just writing everything down. I want to see a nutritionist this month so I'll have something to show for that appointment without spending hours on the computer to log three meals.
Goal:Weight - My goal is to be at 170 lb and on my last update, I was 22.4 lb away from that (and needed to lose 5.6 lb/month). Today, I'm at 190.2 lb which is 20.2 lb away from my goal. The good news is that I'm moving in the right direction. The less-than-good news is that I didn't lose 5.6 lb last month, so now I have to lose 6.7 lb/month to hit my final goal. While this is still doable, it's at the high end of steady weight loss. But I'm not going to let that get me down - I'm going to keep trying!
Goal:Pants - I'll provide photo evidence next week. I simply have not had time to try them on in the past week. I'm so lame.
Goal:Dress - Please see Goal:Pants. Blargh.
Goal:Debt - I currently owe $9,162.21, which is $672.88 less than last month's total owing. I'm also (of course) waiting on more money to be applied to the loan, which will bring it down by another $400 - and bring it under $9,000! That will mean only $3,762.21 left to pay off this year. I'm feeling a little less confident right now about hitting my goals, but I should also be racking up some overtime this fall so hopefully that will give me the boost I need.
Overall, the numbers that I want to go down (my weight and my debt) are going down and the number that I want to go up (my running distance) is going up. As for my clothes, check in with me on Wednesday, 'kay? I promise I'll have something by then!
Monday, September 5, 2011
2011 Goal Update #1
Again, I missed updating my goal statuses on Wednesday, but that's okay because I'm going to do it now! (Only five days late. Sheesh.) So, how am I doing?
Goal:Plank - I'm not going to lie: I didn't do a single plank in Halifax. I wanted to do one every day for the month of August and, at the end of the month, I was about 60% on that. Also, I have not done a single one yet in September. But today is only the 5th so I can start today and still do well this month. Also, I always find it easier to reset and start again after Labour Day; now that summer is over, it's time to get back into a regular routine. (I think I still feel this way because I'm still at an age where, for more than half my life, Labour Day marked the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year, so it still feels like a fresh start.)
Goal:Run - in my quest to be able to run 5km, I wanted to increase my mileage (kilometreage?) to 3.5 km by the end of August. On my last run, I did hit 3.5 km, but it wasn't consecutive; I had to take some walking breaks in between. But I'm going to take it! To stay on track, I need to be at 4 km by the end of September and I'm going to keep at it. I'm right on track!
Goal:Food - as I've mentioned before, I've switched from my hard copy food journal to an online one. I was doing really well with logging all my food and I had every intention of logging my food during vacation (thanks to a handy-dandy Blackberry app!) but it was a little too involved to do during vacation. Because the food items and nutrition value depend on users entering information so it can mean A LOT of searching to find the right food at the right portion size. So I didn't log a single thing while away. Oops. But I'm slowly getting back into it and it has been helping; seeing my calorie allotment for the day and watching it dwindle with each item I put in has really made me realize just how many calories get taken up by "just one" cookie. I'm going to try to maintain this for at least September and hopefully by that point I'll be ready to make the right choices without having to log everything.
Goal:Weight - I'm 22.4 lb away from my goal of 170 lb. With four months to go, that's 5.6 lb/month to lose. How easy is that?!
Goal:Pants - not much change. I was going to try them on and take another photo, but my stomach has been feeling gurgly and gross all weekend, so I'm avoiding anything too tight.
Goal:Dress - pretty much the same thing as the pants.
Goal:Debt - I currently owe $9,835.09 and this month, there will be more money put towards that number. I'm confident that I can hit my $5,000 owing by year-end.
All in all, I'm happy with how I'm doing. It's a big challenge for me, trying to stick with a plan beyond a few weeks. I always start out with such good intentions and I always fall off the wagon within a week or two. And having a consistently-shrinking student loan balance will also help me because at least I'll be making headway towards one goal.
So, tomorrow marks a big reset button for me. Briefly I felt nostalgic for school and that back-to-school feeling. Then I remembered how much I hated high school and how happy I am now with the Beau and the kitty and I'm just fine to have my own kind of back-to to do.
Back to my goals!
Goal:Plank - I'm not going to lie: I didn't do a single plank in Halifax. I wanted to do one every day for the month of August and, at the end of the month, I was about 60% on that. Also, I have not done a single one yet in September. But today is only the 5th so I can start today and still do well this month. Also, I always find it easier to reset and start again after Labour Day; now that summer is over, it's time to get back into a regular routine. (I think I still feel this way because I'm still at an age where, for more than half my life, Labour Day marked the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year, so it still feels like a fresh start.)
Goal:Run - in my quest to be able to run 5km, I wanted to increase my mileage (kilometreage?) to 3.5 km by the end of August. On my last run, I did hit 3.5 km, but it wasn't consecutive; I had to take some walking breaks in between. But I'm going to take it! To stay on track, I need to be at 4 km by the end of September and I'm going to keep at it. I'm right on track!
Goal:Food - as I've mentioned before, I've switched from my hard copy food journal to an online one. I was doing really well with logging all my food and I had every intention of logging my food during vacation (thanks to a handy-dandy Blackberry app!) but it was a little too involved to do during vacation. Because the food items and nutrition value depend on users entering information so it can mean A LOT of searching to find the right food at the right portion size. So I didn't log a single thing while away. Oops. But I'm slowly getting back into it and it has been helping; seeing my calorie allotment for the day and watching it dwindle with each item I put in has really made me realize just how many calories get taken up by "just one" cookie. I'm going to try to maintain this for at least September and hopefully by that point I'll be ready to make the right choices without having to log everything.
Goal:Weight - I'm 22.4 lb away from my goal of 170 lb. With four months to go, that's 5.6 lb/month to lose. How easy is that?!
Goal:Pants - not much change. I was going to try them on and take another photo, but my stomach has been feeling gurgly and gross all weekend, so I'm avoiding anything too tight.
Goal:Dress - pretty much the same thing as the pants.
Goal:Debt - I currently owe $9,835.09 and this month, there will be more money put towards that number. I'm confident that I can hit my $5,000 owing by year-end.
All in all, I'm happy with how I'm doing. It's a big challenge for me, trying to stick with a plan beyond a few weeks. I always start out with such good intentions and I always fall off the wagon within a week or two. And having a consistently-shrinking student loan balance will also help me because at least I'll be making headway towards one goal.
So, tomorrow marks a big reset button for me. Briefly I felt nostalgic for school and that back-to-school feeling. Then I remembered how much I hated high school and how happy I am now with the Beau and the kitty and I'm just fine to have my own kind of back-to to do.
Back to my goals!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
About those numbers...
So, remember the numbers I posted about awhile back? Well, I've got a different perspective on those numbers now. I just got back from seeing my doctor and when I told him I was keeping a food journal, he directed me to My Fitness Pal to log what I eat and how much I work out.
Upon returning to my desk (armed with a salad for lunch, as much out of guilt as out of a desire to eat well) I signed up and got some different information.
To lose a pound a week, I have a daily limit of 1,520 calories. Much lower than the approximate 2,000 I was given before. I also have to work out five times a week for an hour to be able to eat that much; if I work out less, I eat less. This feels a little daunting but I'll see how it goes. The most important part is going to be seeing the calorie totals from what I eat. There's also a mobile app for my Blackberry, so even while I'm on vacation next week I'll be able to log what I eat. Next week could be scary.
BUT - if I keep at this and maintain these targets, I should be down 5 lb by the end of September, which would make me very happy!
---------------------
Plank-a-day: 16/18
Upon returning to my desk (armed with a salad for lunch, as much out of guilt as out of a desire to eat well) I signed up and got some different information.
To lose a pound a week, I have a daily limit of 1,520 calories. Much lower than the approximate 2,000 I was given before. I also have to work out five times a week for an hour to be able to eat that much; if I work out less, I eat less. This feels a little daunting but I'll see how it goes. The most important part is going to be seeing the calorie totals from what I eat. There's also a mobile app for my Blackberry, so even while I'm on vacation next week I'll be able to log what I eat. Next week could be scary.
BUT - if I keep at this and maintain these targets, I should be down 5 lb by the end of September, which would make me very happy!
---------------------
Plank-a-day: 16/18
Friday, August 12, 2011
Goal Recap
Over a few posts, I've listed out the various goals I want to achieve between now and December 31, 2011. Here's a quick recap:
Goal:Plank - do a plank a day for the month of August (and - why not? - the rest of the year)
Goal:Run - be able to run 5 km
Goal:Food - maintain a food journal
Goal:Weight - weigh 170 lb
Goal:Pants - fit into my Esprit jeans
Goal:Dress - fit into my pretty purple dress
Goal:Debt - to have only $5,000 remaining on my student loads
--------------------
Plank-a-day update: 10/12 (I missed yesterday out of laziness/forgetfulness - worst excuse ever)
Goal:Plank - do a plank a day for the month of August (and - why not? - the rest of the year)
Goal:Run - be able to run 5 km
Goal:Food - maintain a food journal
Goal:Weight - weigh 170 lb
Goal:Pants - fit into my Esprit jeans
Goal:Dress - fit into my pretty purple dress
Goal:Debt - to have only $5,000 remaining on my student loads
--------------------
Plank-a-day update: 10/12 (I missed yesterday out of laziness/forgetfulness - worst excuse ever)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #21
I got back on the scale today and I was a little worried; I've eaten terribly the last two days (and by terribly I mean terrible for me yet oh so delicious) and I was worried this would be reflected in my weight.
But I hopped on anyways and saw....191.2 lb. That's a 4 lb loss! Wowza!
I've been sticking with my workouts but I really think the food journal is helping me. There have been a few times when I've made better choices because I didn't want to have to write my awful choices down. Even though no one else reads my food journal, once it's down on paper it's there to stare back at me and I don't like that kind of guilt. And after such a successful weigh-in, I want to keep it going!
--------
Plank-a-day: 9/10
But I hopped on anyways and saw....191.2 lb. That's a 4 lb loss! Wowza!
I've been sticking with my workouts but I really think the food journal is helping me. There have been a few times when I've made better choices because I didn't want to have to write my awful choices down. Even though no one else reads my food journal, once it's down on paper it's there to stare back at me and I don't like that kind of guilt. And after such a successful weigh-in, I want to keep it going!
--------
Plank-a-day: 9/10
Friday, August 5, 2011
The numbers game
I've only been keeping my food journal for a few days but I was shocked at how many calories I calculated I was consuming each day - about 2,000! This feels like a lot, but I wanted to know if it really is so I turned to the trusty internets and looked up various values associated with weight and eating.
First, my BMI, which is 30.5. This puts me in the obese category. My healthy BMI range is 18.5-24.9 and to hit this range, I need to hit...
My happy weight, which is 118 lb - 159 lb. That's 11 lb less that my current target goal.
So this made me feel rather crappy. I was all proud of my target weight and then my BMI measurement tells me it's still not healthy. I know I have to lose some weight, so I decided to calculate my caloric needs for various weights - and suddenly things didn't seem so bad. I calculated my daily needs at both a moderately active level and a slightly active level; even though I work out about five times a week, I don't know what the calculator considers "moderate" or "slight" activity so I wanted to err on the side of caution and have even more numbers for comparison.
So...
Current weight: 195 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,880
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level: 2,437
Target weight: 170 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,511
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level: 2,125
"Happy" weight: 159 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,348
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level:1,987
Suddenly, the 2,000 calories/day I've been calculating don't seem so bad. In fact, according to this, it's not enough! Now I'm not about to start eating a donut or three every day, but I don't feel so bad about myself now. It's also interesting to note that 2,125 - 2,348 calories a day might put somewhere between my target weight and "happy" weight. (This might be a bit of a rash conclusion.)
Anyhoo...after getting the numbers from the various calculators, I don't feel quite so bad about my goals, my eating or even my current weight. Of course, the scale might tell a different story next week but at least that will help me know if I'm on the right track or not!
And if you're interested, all the calculators I used can be found here, through Self.com.
---------------------------
Plank challenge update: 4/5 (still only missed the one day!)
First, my BMI, which is 30.5. This puts me in the obese category. My healthy BMI range is 18.5-24.9 and to hit this range, I need to hit...
My happy weight, which is 118 lb - 159 lb. That's 11 lb less that my current target goal.
So this made me feel rather crappy. I was all proud of my target weight and then my BMI measurement tells me it's still not healthy. I know I have to lose some weight, so I decided to calculate my caloric needs for various weights - and suddenly things didn't seem so bad. I calculated my daily needs at both a moderately active level and a slightly active level; even though I work out about five times a week, I don't know what the calculator considers "moderate" or "slight" activity so I wanted to err on the side of caution and have even more numbers for comparison.
So...
Current weight: 195 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,880
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level: 2,437
Target weight: 170 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,511
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level: 2,125
"Happy" weight: 159 lb
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with moderate activity level: 2,348
Daily calories needed to maintain weight with slight activity level:1,987
Suddenly, the 2,000 calories/day I've been calculating don't seem so bad. In fact, according to this, it's not enough! Now I'm not about to start eating a donut or three every day, but I don't feel so bad about myself now. It's also interesting to note that 2,125 - 2,348 calories a day might put somewhere between my target weight and "happy" weight. (This might be a bit of a rash conclusion.)
Anyhoo...after getting the numbers from the various calculators, I don't feel quite so bad about my goals, my eating or even my current weight. Of course, the scale might tell a different story next week but at least that will help me know if I'm on the right track or not!
And if you're interested, all the calculators I used can be found here, through Self.com.
---------------------------
Plank challenge update: 4/5 (still only missed the one day!)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Goal:Food
Check out my new notebook:
Isn't it cute? And it's an EcoJot one so when I bought this little guy, another one was donated to a child in need. Win-win.
But it's not just an adorable notebook with cupcake-like owls on the front; it will also be my food journal. I've read countless times that a big factor in successful weight loss is keeping a food journal. I've scoffed at the idea under the premise that I can keep track of what I eat on my own, but the real reason I haven't logged my eating habits yet is because I'm scared of what will end up on the page. It's not that my eating habits are bad, it's that they could be better.
Which is why I've started a food journal.
GOAL: To keep a food journal for the rest of the year to evaluate my eating habits
STATUS: Started on August 3
PLAN: Keep my journal with me at all times (or as much as I can) so I can accurately log what I eat
I'm going to use it to see not only what I eat and how much but how I feel after. I get gurgly tummy more often than I'd like and I've wondered if I might be lactose intolerant so this will help me keep track of what dairy I eat and how I feel after. And, after each weekly weigh-in, I can look back at what I ate over the week to see how that has influenced my weight loss (or gain).
But it's not just an adorable notebook with cupcake-like owls on the front; it will also be my food journal. I've read countless times that a big factor in successful weight loss is keeping a food journal. I've scoffed at the idea under the premise that I can keep track of what I eat on my own, but the real reason I haven't logged my eating habits yet is because I'm scared of what will end up on the page. It's not that my eating habits are bad, it's that they could be better.
Which is why I've started a food journal.
GOAL: To keep a food journal for the rest of the year to evaluate my eating habits
STATUS: Started on August 3
PLAN: Keep my journal with me at all times (or as much as I can) so I can accurately log what I eat
I'm going to use it to see not only what I eat and how much but how I feel after. I get gurgly tummy more often than I'd like and I've wondered if I might be lactose intolerant so this will help me keep track of what dairy I eat and how I feel after. And, after each weekly weigh-in, I can look back at what I ate over the week to see how that has influenced my weight loss (or gain).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)