I'm slacking! I forgot to remind everyone that TODAY is the last day to go record your weight loss for the Pound for Pound Challenge. Run, don't walk, to Pound for Pound Challenge and record your loss to help donate food!
So I hopped on the bandwagon and started the 30 Day Shred. I have always loved Jillian on the Biggest Loser and then after reading (and seeing!) so many positive reviews of the Shred, I had to follow. Especially when I saw it for so dang cheap on Amazon.
I ordered the DVD Monday, but since the Shred is currently available for free OnDemand, I started on Monday at level 1. I will do each of the 3 levels for 10 days.
The workout on Monday was intense! It is only 20 minutes long (maybe a little longer including the warmup and cool down), but I was shaking afterward. My legs were like jelly. Yesterday (Tuesday) was no joke. I was so sore. More sore than when I started playing hockey again. I procrastinated shredding again because I knew it would hurt even more than Monday due to the soreness. I did it though- I wanted to cross off that day on the shred calendar I made.
I was about to cry while I was doing it. If I thought yesterday was bad from Monday's workout, I don't know what today is. At least twice as bad. My calves, hammies, quads- all burning. I dread getting up to pee... and with the amount of water I drink, I'm always getting up. AHHH. And to think, I get to shred tonight too! At least it goes quickly and felt shorter yesterday than I was thinking it would.
Hola- I just wanted to remind you that May 5 is coming up- this is the deadline to log back into www.PFPChallenge.com to report your weight loss, and ensure that your loss will result in a donation to your local food bank.
Again, if you aren't interested in losing weight, but still want to contribute and have a positive effect, you can login and donate directly to Feeding America.
Step 4: Reading Labels, Measuring, and Recipes with Nutritional Info
This is something that I've always been bad about. I've kept track of calories for awhile, but I guesstimate on a lot of things- not good.
I've been making a huge effort recently to actually measure out things such as butter, cheese, sour cream, etc. These are so easy to add in more than I am counting.
Also, since I need to be very strict about my supper, I am planning on going to the library this weekend and get some HEALTHY cookbooks with nutritional info in them. I can scan through them and find recipes that are for my allotted calories.
It is really hard to make sure I get the right portion size, especially when most recipes are for 4+ people & there are only two of us. So while I may be making something that is 4 portions within my calorie range, if I don't stick to that portion size, I've blown it again. I need to reduce the recipe to only MAKE TWO PORTIONS. This way we can cut the final product in half and know that we are each getting the right portion and calorie intake.
Step 5: Before Photos
I've taken these- well John took them of me. I was in my workout gear & me in spandex right now is not cute. So, I will not be sharing these. But know that I have them! If you really need a reference, see my wedding pictures.. There are many that I did not post though that very clearly show my triple chin.
Step 6: Donate to Pound for Pound
If you have been watching the Biggest Loser, you have probably seen a commercial for this. You go to the website and pledge to lose a certain amount of weight. For every pound that you lose, a pound of food is donated locally. Sweet! The weigh in day is May 5- only 6 weeks away. I pledged 7 pounds- that is MORE than a pound a week.. I really hope I can do it!
Step 7: Educate Yourself!
Go to the library! There are tons of cookbooks and healthy living and eating books- for FREE! I plan on going this weekend to get some cookbooks and hopefully some issues of Cooking Light for some recipe inspiration.
Step 8: Snacktime
I covered this a bit in my eating plan, but by spreading out my calories through the day, I feel way more full and don't eat SO much at every sit down, but feel starved in between. I've tried to choose healthy snacks that are still yummy!
On the blog, Ash has some awesome snack ideas if you are stuck! Now if you will excuse, me it is my snacktime.
My Eating and Exercise Plans
Now that I know I need to eat 1200 calories and burn 300 or eat 1300 and burn 500, I need to know when I will do these. I plan on switching it up, to keep my metabolism guessing, and keep my muscles from getting sore/tired.
Monday: Eat 1200 calories and burn 300 calories by riding my stationary bike for a half hour.
Tuesday: Eat 1300 calories and burn 500 by riding my bike for a half hour and then using my Wii fit for a half hour.
Wednesday: Eat 1200 calories and burn 300 calories on the Wii Fit for an hour.
Thursday: Eat 1200 calories and burn 300 on the bike for a half hour.
Friday: Eat 1300 calories and burn 500 on the bike for a half hour and Wii Fit.
Saturday: Eat 1300 calories and burn 500/600 on the bike for an hour.
Sunday- Eat 1200 calories and have a rest on the exercise! (Still keeping a 300 calorie deficit!)
You can see this all illustrated graphically in my handy dandy chart that is on the bulletin board in the kitchen- right next to my weight tracking chart!
This is my bulletin board- I also keep on it the week's menu so that I know what to pull out of the freezer the night before, and John can look and see for himself what is for supper. (I MAY also keep some frequently used recipes on there- pizza dough and buttercream frosting.)
Now, for the food. How will I know how many calories I am taking in?
Well, my day until I get home from work at 6:30 is the same, every day.
Breakfast: A hard boiled egg and protein rich cereal bar (these both help HUGELY in keeping me full)- 218 calories
AM Snack: An apple- 72 calories
Lunch: Soup or a Sandwich (100-200), Carrot Sticks (50 calories), 1 tbsp fat free ranch dressing (50), a 100 calorie snack of some sort (chips, cookie, granola bar, trail mix, etc.)- 375 Calories
PM Snack: 1/2 Banana (53), 2% Cheddar Cheesestick (keeps me full until I get home) (60)= 113 Calories
This is a total of 778 calories until I get home from work, leaving me 526 calories or 422 calories based on how much I am planning on exercising.
Supper will be 400 calories each day, and the surplus calories are used towards night time snacks- on days with more available, I eat Weight Watcher's Ice cream cups or a serving (1/4 cup) of trail mix. Days with fewer leftover calories, I eat Sugar Free Jell-O with Light Cool Whip or air popped popcorn with Zero calorie Parkay butter spray.
YUM.
Step 1: Make a Plan & Set a Goal!
My plan is to lose 20 (+) pounds, in 20 weeks.
My goal is to fit back into my clothes & be comfortable again.
Step 2: Set Your Rewards
I copied Ash's chart to track my progress. You can see that I pinned it up on the bulletin board in the kitchen, so I have to see it all of the time.
On the bottom are .5 pound increments. When I reach each milestone, I'll cross out that number.
Part of my problem with losing weight, is sticking to it. I'm hoping that doing this with a group and being accountable to others will provide me incentive to see it through. If that isn't enough though, part of the challenge is setting rewards.
I'm still stuck on this! The rewards could be every pound, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, etc. Obviously I don't want a food reward, and I don't really want a clothes reward- I've got a gift card I'm waiting to use when this is over. The rewards shouldn't cost too much since we are saving... I'm stuck- any ideas?
Step 3: Workout and Eating Plans
So this part required a bit of math.
First I needed to figure out how many calories I need to burn in order to lose around 1 pound a week (preferably more).
1- According to the average of a few BMR calculators, my body height & weight burns 1554 calories each day without exercise. So technically, I could eat that many calories everyday and not gain (or lose) weight.
2- In order to lose 1 pound/week, I need to burn 3500 calories over that 1554/day. 3500 calories divided by 7 days in a week is 500 calories per day extra that I will need to burn. If I want to lose 1.5 pounds/week, I need to burn an extra 750 calories a day.
3- What are my net calories? (The calories that I take in minus the calories that I burn)
Daily:
BMR (1554) - Calorie Deficit (750) = 804 Calories
4- So, how many calories should I be eating in order to get a net of 804 (800) calories?
Daily:
800 = Calories in - calories out
800 = Calories in - 500 (What I will burn through exercise)
800 + 500 = Calories In
1300 = Calories In (On days that I burn 500 calories through exercise)
OR
Daily:
800 = Calories in - calories out
800 = Calories in - 300 (What I will burn through exercise)
800 + 300 = Calories In
1100 = Calories In (On days that I burn 300 calories through exercise)
I don't like the idea of eating less than 1200 calories a day, so I bumped those days up to 1200- since those calculations are based on losing 1.5 pounds/week, I have a bit of play room.
Holy cow, that was a lot of math... I'm still not convinced it makes sense, but I've done it before and it did make sense, and this was Ash's formula, so I'll go with it.
In another post, I'll continue with my actual exercise and eating plans, now that I know how much I will need to eat and exercise.
You may (or may not) have noticed the new button on the lower right hand side of my blog. I've decided to participate in Ash is Fit!'s 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks challenge.
I will go into more detail about my specific plans, but I encourage you to check out her blog and the info about the challenge. She has a 20/20 Challenge Archive with all of the information on the right side of the blog, right at the top!
I'm very excited to do this with (over a hundred!) other people for encouragement and ideas. The first official weigh-in is on Friday, so wish me luck!
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