Right Choices

Day 2 on my new workout regime and heathly eating kick.

Weight: 16 st 11.8 lbs (-1 lbs)

The hardest thing so far is dinner time for the simple reason my in laws (to be) lovely make me dinner. I am very grateful for them doing so however my only issue is that I am unsure of my calorie intake so I have taken to over estimating (I hope) the calories within the food. Plus I have completely cut down on how much I am eating during this time and not eating certain foods. While I have spoken to him about it my issue is I don't want to sound ungrateful. So I need to take control of the situation and continue to have an open dialog with them regarding what I am doing. Plus I hope what I am doing will encourage them too as they are also trying to lose weight. Sadly today I

Calories Consumed 
Food:1144
Drink:20
Total: 1164/1400 (-236)
A Day: 1
Water consumed: 2 liters

I'm not gonna lie. I am still stiff from yesterday's strength workout so decided to rest my muscles today with the aim being to complete a 40 minute strength workout tomorrow. Hence upping yesterday's by 20 minutes. I also finally got the treadmill fixed so I am looking forward to starting my 5k Podcast tomorrow. My goal is to do that right after my strenght workout as it will increase my afterburn plus doing it the other way can result in fatigue which means I could injure myself.
I got my bike set up today so ended up cycling for 26 mins burning 350 calories. While this is below my daily goal is have learned that I need to slowly up what I am doing as I am struggling since I am at the start of my journey. This isn't an excuse but I find myself tiring very quickly.

Activity
Exercise details: Bike (26 minutes)
Total: 26 minutes

Strength details:n/a
Total: 0 minutes

Day 6: 6th of January

Self Control

One of the things which I struggle with a lot is self control around food, whether it is each time I go into the fridge is just have to have another chuck of cheese or another slice of sandwich meat, ordering way to much takeaway as "it will do me tomorrow" (aye right) and do not get me started on opening a huge bag of crisp or a big chocolate bar and not finishing the packet in one go. This is one of the big things I need to work on if I want to lose weight and keep it off. In other words I am not on a diet I am currently trying in change my eating habits for the better. Which means I shouldnt completely cut out all the food that love but I need to understand the negative impact is off eating too much of that it as well as why it isnt. Using a technique from Bob and Jillian is finding the number of calories in the big bag of crisp and the dip that I love or the calories in the pizza from domino's that I always get and then hop on the treadmill or crosstrainer and don't come off until I have burnt those calories. This is extra exercise which I would have to do on top of my usual routine to negate it. By doing so I hope this will open my eyes to it and demonstrate that if I want to eat it I'm going to have to burn it off. Hence, when I fall off the bandwagon (it happens to all of us) I have a way to combat it without any negative feelings about myself or with the weight loss programme.

Food Intake (1400 max)
Breakfast (max. 280)
Protein bar (90 calories)
Green Tea with Mint (20 calories)
Total = 110 calories (-170 calories)

Lunch (max. 420)
Salad (54)
Total = 54 (-366)

Dinner (max 420)
Stuffed Chicken with Bacon (800 calories)
Peas and carrets (100 calories)
Spaghetti (100 calories)
Total = 1000 (+580)

Snacks (max 280)
None
Total=0 (-280)

Even thought my dinner was very very very high in calories it is okay as I didn't snack today and my breakfast and lunch werecommend under my calorie allowance meaning I had enough banked for it to be ok, plus I still ended up with a calorie deficit of 236 calories.

Ready. Steady. Go.

Today was the first day on my new programme of eating less and moving more. My starting statics for this week are:

Weight: 16 st 12.8 lbs

Waist Measurements: 42 inchs

This weight reading is 3.2 lbs lighter than the reading I gave in my first blog entry. I think this is because I am now going to weight myself as soon as I get up. By weighting myself at the same time without anything on it should reduce the fluctuations. However if I do weight myself everyday I should not be disappointed or set back by this as due to natural fluctuation in the body's water content and is completely normal.

Calories Consumed

Food: 730

Drink: 2
Total: 732 /1400 (-668)
A Day: 5

Water consumed: 2 Litres

Today did not really go as planned. I woke up late meaning by the time I had breakfast it was 1415. I did Bob Harpers Beginners Strength workout, then was ready to hop on the treadmill to do the first day of my couch to 5k podcast however turns out the treadmill isn't working. Instead I went out on a 1.25 hour walk with the dogs. This means I did not do all the exercise I would of liked to do today but as I ended eating right under my calorie allowance I am not really to fused. Hopefully I will get the treadmill working tonight so I can do the podcast tomorrow.  

Activity 

Exercise Details: 1.25 hour trail walk

Total minutes: 75 

Strength Details: Bob Harper Daily Workout

Total minutes: 15

Day 5: 5th of Janaury

Benefits of Measuring Food

Today is the first day on my new weight loss programme and I decided to play a wee game when I was making meals today. I decided I wanted to see how distorted my understanding of portion control was. Below is my menu of what I had to eat today. At first I took out what I thought the correct portion size I needed, then weighted it to see how off I was. I found this as a complete eye opener as because my goal is to lose weight I thought that the portion size was a lot smaller than it should be for the vegetables. However when it came to the yoghurt, hummus and meat I complete over estimated what I should of been eating. This highlighted how much of an education I need to understand portion control. Today really drilled home the benefit of using scales, measuring cup and so on when preparing food to make sure I am getting the correct calorie intake as well as meeting the right portion size to make it 1 of my 5 a day.

Target Food Intake: 1400 Calores
Breakfast (max. 280)
2 Boil Egg White with grill Asparagus tip (50g) (61 calories)
Black Pepper (ground) (5 calories)
2 x Green Tea and Mint (4 Calories)
Total = 70 (-210 calories)

Lunch (max 420)
Greek Honey Yoghurt and Banana (252 calories)
Total = 252 (-168 Calories)

Dinner (max 420)
Gammon Slice with Salad (415 Calories)
Total = 415 (-5 Calories)

Snacks (max 280)
None
Total = 0 (-280)

I understand I am 663 calories under my daily allowance however I got up really late today meaning I had breakfast did my strength workout for the day then walked the dogs. By the time I got home from the dog walk dinner was ready so my 'lunch' was eaten as a snack a few hours before bed.

Prep Work

To give me the best chance for me to make the right choices for the coming week is to prepare myself. So what I mean is that I have my gym stuff sitting out so I get out of bed put it on and workout, hence I am not wasting time looking around for my shoes or my sports bra. Another thing which I have done is that I have my laptop with my youtube videos saved on a tab meaning that they are preloaded (no buffering or adverts to get in the way!) and ready to play, along with the charger so I do not get half way through a workout then have to go hunting for it or more likely use it as an excuse for a break.  

I went out today and brought myself a A5 notebook to use as a food/drink and exercise journal which means I can have a paper form of my daily numbers. This is to use along side the myfitnesspal app which will help me confirm how many calories are in what I am eating. This will help me not underestimate the calories which are in food meaning I will have a better understanding of my food. Again I find but getting this stuff all prepared it advance I am being proactive and ready to get going. The other benefit of using the myfitnesspal app is that it will give my weight loss on a line graph giving me a visual representation of what these changes are doing which numbers alone might not highlight as well.

Day 4: 4th of January

Changes

The following changes that I want to make are to help me meet my goals which I set myself on the 2nd of January. So these aims are to complement and increase my likelihood of meeting those goals.

Drinks

A major change that I am making as from tomorrow is cutting out all fizzy drinks, caffeine and greatly reducing the diluting juice and replacing it with water. Why, simply because I do not want to drink my calories away. Since I am reducing my calories why should I drink away empty calories. Plus, there are so many health benefits that comes from being hydrated from water that it is an all around better choice. Also I have an ice machine and ice cold water is so much more satisfying. I am replacing my morning cup of coffee with a green tea or a peppermint tea so they are caffeine free. Green Tea helps boost the metabolism while peppermint tea is known to reduce bloating especially after meals and they also have less calories per cup so it is a win win in my eyes!

Breakfast

One of the biggest changes that I want to make a habit is eating a healthy breakfast everyday. Since being young I never ate breakfast as I wasn't hungry in the morning, however from articles I have read and according to weight loss experts (Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper) is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it sets you up for the whole day. Also a healthy filling breakfast will also reduce the likelihood of me grazing and snacking on unhealthy food throughout the day. Plus, by including protein, fibre and one of my five a day in my first meal of the day will set me up for the full day.

Fruit and Vegetables 

After spending the first 4 days of 2015 thinking about what I am eating I have realised that some days I do not eat any fruit and vegetables. At 22 (almost 23) I really should know better and I know about getting my minimum of my 5 a day. So my daily goal is to consume at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day as not only do these contain vitamins and minerals they are also low in calories in comparison to snacking on crisps or chocolate. I am also hoping as the year goes on that I can see myself easily eating these 5 a day and later on being able to challenge myself and slowly start boosting my daily numbers to 6-10 a day.

Sauces
I LOVE sauce on all my food, whether it is crisps and dip, burger relish, salad cream, mayonnaise or tomato ketchup. I use these all the time in ridiculously amounts and quite often I have more than one at a time. However, I know this is one of my worst habitats for my waist line. So I have decided to completely cut out the use of sauces with meals and replace it with a measured amount of vinegar. Why? Because at the moment I do not have any self control when it comes to uses sauces and also because of there high salt and sugar content wont be helping me at all, After a few weeks/months of not using sauces I think I could start reintroducing it and seeing how I go however I fulling believe at the moment that it will be better for me to cut out sauces. 

Moving More

Yes, I have a daily exercise and calorie burn goal however I think by moving more in general will also help me. In other words, if I am sitting down doing university work each hour I stop for 15-20 minutes and go outside with the dogs and walk about. Not only will it get the blood flowing and help me with the work I am doing but it will also help me walk off some calories. Yes I know not a lot but a handful is better than spending hour after hour just sitting in front of the laptop as I am more likely to graze then. Also at night, instead of sitting watching the TV or playing video games every 15 minutes get up and do something, weather it is a quick tidy up during the add break or playing with the dogs. Again it is just getting me to move that wee bit more an burn those few extra calories which will help me lose the weight that tiny bit quicker and by keeping myself busy will stop my 'need' to constantly graze. 

Stocking the Fridge

With Monday only being two days away I am off to fill the fridge and cupboards with healthy food choices. By having 5 healthy breakfast and 5 healthy lunches worked out in advance I know exactly how many calories are within each meal. It also takes the effort out of during the week trying to calculated the calorie content, meaning I am more likely to stick within my daily allowance. I have also listed 5 healthy snack choices so if I am hungry prior/post workout I again can select a healthy choice and when recording it in my food journal I know exactly the calorie content.

Breakfast Choices

Boil Egg and rocket (78+ 40 Calories)

Porridge with fruit (214 + 52 Calories)

Scramble Egg and Spinach (287 Calories)

Mashed Banana on 1 slice of Wholemeal Toast (90+95 Calories) 

Low-Fat Greek Yoghurt with fruit (130+90 Calories)

Lunch Choices

Omelette with Mushrooms and cherry tomatoes (160 + 22 + 27 Calories)

Tuna and cucumber wrap (105 + 30 + 15 +172 Calories)

Red Pepper and hummus wrap (30+ 80 + 15 + 172 Calories)

Boil Egg Salad (78+ 40 + 12 +80 + 40 +18 Calories)

Tuna Salad (105 + 40 + 12 + 80 +40 + 18 Calories)

Snack Choices

2 Large Carrots plus 1 small pot of Hummus (82 + 80 Calories)

Apple and Satsuma  (52 + 21 Calories)

Low-Fat Greek Yoghurt (130)

2 Celery Sticks with 1 small pot of Hummus (40 + 80 Calories)

Protein Shake (212 Calories)