Today, I will persevere, regardless of the odds. Last night, I stuck to my rules and this morning, the scale agreed with my choices. Down 0.2 LBS. Now, I know it doesn’t really count because I weigh in on Thursdays, but I still it as acknowledgement and a reminder that I am making healthy choices and moving in the proper direction.
189.4 … It might not seem like a big change. Hell, it’s 3 pounds more than I was in January. BUT It’s also 2 pounds less than I was a week ago.
What did I do differently this week? I got out of my funk. I kicked it to the curb, and even though it’s stalking me with a hungry bear, I am resolutely staring straight ahead and not making eye contact.
I am trying to only eat one large meal each day, two small snacks (100 calories) and one regulated meal (balanced and relatively low calorie). I’m hoping that this is able to help me lose more weight, as the calorie intake at this point has been a comfortable 1500 or so each day.
So, next week I have a goal. Not a particular weight, but to maintain this system I’ve been starting. I want to do this for one month and see where I am. Shake for breakfast, normal lunch, normalish (Weight Watchers or other low calorie recipe) for dinner, and a 100 calorie snack between dinner and bed (around 8:30PM). If I splurge and get Burger King for breakfast, that means I’ll just have a shake for lunch instead, and will drink it whenever I feel like.
So, one thing that I had not changed since starting working out, was my love of coffee…in the morning, afternoon, whatever. Something I had not actually really counted towards my daily calorie intake, was my Sugar Free Hazelnut Creamer. What I hadn’t counted on, was the 30 calories per Tablespoon. That’s 3 tablespoons per day, so 90 calories each and every day, that I was drinking. So, I switched from coffee with creamer, to either green tea or coffee with one packet of Splenda sweetener, saving myself the 30 calories x 3 times/day.
A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that research subjects who drank green tea as part of a controlled diet saw an increase in metabolic rate. The authors concluded that 3 or 4 cups of green tea could increase metabolic rate by 4% over 24-hours. That translates into burning an extra 50 to 100 calories a day. There is still need for more human studies to understand how green tea works, but drinking green tea certainly can’t hurt. Read about the health benefits of green tea from the Guide to Japanese Travel at About.com.
So, in theory at least, me moving from drinking coffee + creamer 3x per day to drinking green tea 3x per day gets me between 140 and 190 calories PER DAY that I am no longer eating and/or am now burning…before dieting, or even exercising! Well isn’t this just embarrassing!
I cannot believe it has been a month since my last post. Life is passing by way too fast!
The gym has been my companion 3-4 days a week, and the scale refused to budge. I accept that. I stared at the scale last week, 191.2. So I decided to buy me some oranges, start drinking my protein shakes for breakfast instead of having cereal and moving on from there. Yesterday I stepped on the scale, 190.2. At least the scale is moving in the right direction. I’m going to fight to get this weight off. I’m going to fight because I’m worth it. And I’m going to fight, because lord knows ain’t no one else going to fight this battle for me!
Lunch today is Qdoba, which I luv. Here’s my menu:
Naked Queso Burrito:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 495,
Calories from Fat: 175,
Protein: 34g,
Carbs: 46g,
Fiber: 8g,
Sugar: 4g,
Total Fat: 19g,
Saturated Fat: 7.5g,
Trans Fat: 0.5g,
Monounsaturated Fat: 7g,
Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g,
Cholesterol: 155mg,
Vitamin A: 62% DV,
Vitamin C: 81% DV,
Calcium: 14% DV,
Iron: 16% DV,
Potassium: 750mg,
Sodium: 1155mg
