Monday, June 9, 2014

Bits of Fit

It was a lovely, extremely busy weekend. I had a lovely 6 mile run and went to a friend's bridal tea Saturday, we all went for a LONG hike Sunday, and we managed to get all our chores done, too. We were exhausted but I like to think it was a good exhausted. I was ready to hit the ground running at work today, but life had other plans, and L developed a rash last night that was consistent with hand-foot-mouth (its been going around the kids' school). He was afebrile, but clingy and itchy, and wouldn't be put down, so we are taking turns holding him while the other goes to work. 

Weight loss related bits:
  • I started wearing my FitBit on Friday. I was hoping I'd get to the recommended 10K steps. Turns out, I walk a LOT. I didn't run or work out Friday and I easily got 15K. Saturday and Sunday were 20K each. Today will be lower since I'm spending half the day sitting on the couch holding a toddler, but overall, I think I can safely say my weight gain is not due to inactivity. 
  • I also synced the FitBit to MFP and I get EXTRA CALORIES for the walking I do.
  • Pretty much everything has more calories than I expected. A peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat >400 Kcal. On small slice of swiss=110 Kcal. One slice of pizza with black olives >400 Kcal. Six stoneground wheat crackers=180 Kcal. 
  • I did manage to stay within 100KCal of my goal (which varied, based on activity level) each day. Yesterday I had about 100 Kcal left, even after the 2nd glass of wine.  
  • I really want to put the FitBit on B for a day. I think he'd easily get to 50K, he DOES NOT stop moving. Yesterday, after the two hour hike during which he ran back and forth, climbed, jumped etc.. the entire time, he came home and proceeded to run back and forth our house and jump from chair to table to chair in the backyard, belting out Frozen songs. I finally got him to bed at 8 and heard him kicking the wall for about an hour. 
I'm OK with going over my daily caloric allotment. I would like to lose a few pounds, but I'm OK with it going extremely slowly. The more important goal was really to become more aware of what and how I'm eating and exercising and to make sure I'm doing the right things for long-term health. I absolutely was eating too much. I had NO IDEA how many calories were in things I routinely ate and considered "pretty healthy". I have no intention to stop eating pizza or any other treat, but I will definitely keep it to 2 slices. I bought tons of different greens for having salads with our dinners so that we eat less of the main, higher calorie dish. I almost grabbed a cookie in clinic today, but looked at the calories (it wasn't even home made!) and ate my pineapple instead (and it was SO JUICY and good!). 

I've also been trying to keep up my activity---I walked the dog around another block to try to bolster my steps this morning (and then realized I wasn't wearing my FitBit, durrr!), I mustered up the motivation to do my push-ups/planks while L watched home videos on my phone, I paced while reading blogs on my phone the other night because I was at 19800 and I really wanted to get to 20K (but last night I gave up at 19700 because I was beat).

If you have any concerns about your weight or are simply curious about what you're eating, I HIGHLY recommend tracking your calories for a week or two. Its really fascinating and pretty easy to do, since you can search the app for calorie counts others have entered, and easily google most other things.  I also think pretty much everyone should try a pedometer for a week or so too. I love how the two integrate my information and update in real time. Technology!

9 comments:

  1. Poor L. Maybe it's poison ivy?

    Yeah, isn't it depressing how many calories are in "healthy" food. Eating less is hard. One warning, salads are GREAT, but if you put anything other than leaves and tomatoes/other veggies into them, the calories start to add up. Olive oil is 120 calories PER TABLESPOON (And really. who just has one TB. Nobody.) I unfortunately found that eating salads with my main meal caused me to consume more calories, as I cut insufficient amounts of my main dish. What worked in the end was having a salad for dinner, OR having my main dish, but never both.

    Blegh. Sucks.

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  2. it sounds like it has been a really good experience! i'd love to try a FitBit someday but since I am already traumatized (f-ing milk supply) after 3 days of calorie logging i think i'll probably wait a few months :)

    to OMDG - making dressing that is >50% mustard/balsamic vin and less olive oil helps a lot! but i am picky and only like homemade, can't stand 'light' salad bar italian dressing or similar.

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    1. We make dressing like that too. I can also eat salad/veggies without any dressing. Yesterday we had tacos and I just ate a huge pile of the taco veggies (tomatoes, green onions, olives, jalepenos) with some TJs "broccoli slaw" and a spoonful of salsa on top. The other day I just piled some lettuce mix on my plate and ate it in between slices of pizza.

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    2. Also, sarah, something must be wrong if you are getting such a low calorie allotment with your BFing and activity levels. Did you set it for losing 1 lb/week? That REALLY lowers your calorie count to what i consider an unsustainable level. I changed it to 0.5 lb/week which helped a lot. Also by hooking up the fitbit, it automatically gives me extra calories based on my activity which is also extremely encouraging. if you are on your feet a lot, it may help. But…I COMPLETELY support just letting it go for a while.

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    3. i set it for 0.5 lb/week. i added 480 kcal of breastfeeding/day. so, the total was 1330+480+any other exercise that i did. i chose 'lightly active'. i'm only 5'1" and these really are vanity lbs (i.e., i want to go from BMI 21 --> 19.5) so that was it! all that said, i quit because i really am concerned it impacted my milk supply. i did some soul searching and decided i can suck it up for next next 6 months and then be as vain as i want :)

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    4. ps: on non workout days i bet i get VERY few steps. terrible! in 6 months to celebrate quitting the pump i'm buying a fitbit!

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  3. Wow. 15-20K steps a DAY!!!! You are rocking it! I'm SUPER proud when I hit 15,000 a day, that happens very, very rarely. And I thought, as a teacher, that I walked a decent amount. Clearly not that much! You are really moving!

    Isn't it amazing what counting calories for 1-2 weeks can do? I feel like my experience was so eye opening, no wonder I wasn't losing any weight when I was breastfeeding! I was eating WAY more than an extra 300 calories a day. I'm still not being great about tracking my calories again. I need to re-start that ASAP, because it really does start sneaking up on me, the extra snacks. Ugh. I hate losing weight. I can't wait until I'm just trying to maintain again...

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  4. That really is amazing that you walk so much! And I agree, it really is interesting just to know what you're eating. I was at an event today where lunch was served, and I knew I was overeating. But before, I wouldn't have even realized. and you know what? I didn't even overeat that much - if I exercise a little tonight, or dont' eat snacks when I get home, I'll be okay. Before, that never would've happened.

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  5. Nothing worse than going on a walk and then realizing you left the Fitbit at home! Some days I do more than others. Work days tend to have fewer, and weekends have more. When I was under goal the other night I paced around my bedroom before going to sleep. So it is bringing out the obsessive side of my personality.

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