Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Calorie Counting at Work BBQ

My new job is great when it comes to freebies! We have fresh bagels and cream cheese every morning, a selection of bags of chips or cookies, cans of soda (thank goodness there are Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet 7-Up, and Diet Iced Tea options), fun-size candy bars to snack on, string cheese, Activia, Instant oatmeal, coffee, tea, Keurig, Red Vines, and a BBQ the first Wednesday of every month. My first week here was not good and I gained a bunch of weight back that I had lost a few months ago. It really didn't help that Ryan didn't move until after that first week, but no excuses. I ate a bagel every day and unhealthy every night. My second week, I cut it down to a half a bagel.... I'm finally down to no bagels. Well, every now and again I throw in a half bagel with my soup lunch. Once a month.

Today was BBQ day. Hamburgers or hotdogs, salad, potato salad, and chips. I (begrudgingly) had a cheese-less, bun-less burger with yellow mustard and red onion, a green salad with 1 Tbsp lite italian dressing, and 3 sunchips. I was trying to avoid the chips, but grabbed those three as I was leaving the lunch-room. It's so hard to eat a burger without cheese and a bun! But it was still pretty good anyhow.

Brekkie (20+140=160 Cal):
1 Keurig French Roast coffee + 1 Keurig Vanilla coffee + 1 Tbsp fat-free hot chocolate + 1 packet of Truvia (what, I don't like my coffee to taste like coffee!)
Peach flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt

Morning Snack (80 Cal):
1 String Cheese

Lunch (300+100+30=430 Cal):
1 hamburger patty with mustard and a red onion slice
1 mixed green salad with 2 slices salami and 1 Tbsp lite dressing
3 Sunchips

Afternoon Snack (65 Cal; yes, I weigh them when I pack my lunch):
2 oz red grapes
3 oz organic strawberries

Forecasted Dinner (347+23=370 Cal):
Salt & Pepper Shrimp (no bell peppers - equivalent # calories in mushroom form instead)
5 slices cucumber, 1 green onion, and 1/2 vine tomato added to salad in shrimp dish above

Leftover: 1200-1105=95 Cal

Hmmm... dessert perhaps? Unless I decide to snack on something while I make dinner. Sicne Ryan will be home late, I may just do that. It's hard coming home after the gym and not eating anything right away. Especially since I have my afternoon snack around 3. Then dinner will be around 8ish. That's an awfully long time to go without eating (esp when working out is involved!). 95 Cal isn't very much. It's 4 strawberries + 2 tsp Nutella (yummm) or 1/2 slice Cracked Wheat Sourdough + 1/5 Avocado (my favorite go-to snack after working out).

Today is Zumba day. I generally go to my gym classes directly from work. I change into my gym clothes right as I'm getting ready to leave. That way, I don't have any excuses! I feel pretty silly driving home when I am already in my gym clothes with my hair pulled back. That said, I usually time my work schedule so that I get to the gym around 5:20 or 5:30. Class starts at 6, so that gives me 25-30 minutes of some cardio before-hand. Usually elliptical. I don't like the treadmill much. Today I may just try and jog for that time. I can hardly ever go over 10 minutes of running, so that's pretty hopeful. I think I'll slow it down and see if I can't make it for 20 + 5 min warm-up/cool-down.

Cheers!

Monday, May 02, 2011

Happy to Report

... that even after a 2 week diet/exercise hiatus whilst I was sick, I didn't gain any weight back! Yippee! So's I can start where I left off. Phew! Since I've been in Novato, here's my diet & exercise schedule (I've included ~35 Cal/day on my gym days for strength training of about 10 minutes/day):

Calories in/day = +1200 ~ +1400
Baseline Calories burned: -2019 Cal

Mon (2818 Cal burned): Pilates 5-6 (-229 Cal) & Zumba 6-7 (-536 Cal)
Tue (2539 Cal burned): Elliptical (-257 Cal) & Pilates 6-7 (-229 Cal)
Wed (2791 Cal burned): Treadmill (-202 Cal) & Zumba 6-7 (-536 Cal)
Thu (2665 Cal burned): Spin 5:10-6 (-363) & Calisthenics 6-7 (-229)
Fri (2019 Cal burned): Free Day
Sat (2589 Cal burned): Zumba 9-10 am
Sun (2019 Cal burned): Free Day

On my free days, I try and at least take in a little walk or hike or bike ride, so those days will vary. I try and keep it light while staying active. For example, yesterday I went on a bike ride in some marshlands near my house for maybe an hour and a half. It was all flat, though, so not vigorous in the least bit. I try and do a 30 min hike of the hill behind my house on Fridays, although last week I skipped Monday Zumba and did an hour hike instead. I like that teacher's class less than the gal who teaches on Wed/Sat. I also try and get in a 15-30 min walk on my lunch break at work. That's more to get some sunshine than exercise, so I don't really count it in my calories.

When I put it all down, I feel like the weight should be pouring off of me, yet it isn't. It's a process, I know. But I'm expending a minimum of 700 Calories more than I take in, and a pound of fat is 3500 Calories, so I should be losing more like a pound a week! We'll see what happens this week. I'm probably a little too lenient on my caloric intake over the weekend. I only want 10 more lbs off, so I better huncker down and just do it, already!