A Time For Everything

Of course, it's spring in Texas and we do tend to get a lot of rain. But, man, with all the COVID-19 happening, sunshine would go a long way to keeping our spirits up here in North Texas. *sigh*

So update on the Chili Cheese Corn dog Casserole... It was okay. It was good. It was fine. But it wasn't great. 'Cause, here's the thing. Corn dogs are deep friend in their batter, right? And our cornbread batter was not deep friend, it was merely baked. And corn dog batter is usually a bit sweet, too, yeah?

Now the sweet can solved, but the deep friend, not so much, unless we use real corn dogs. Which I'm not opposed to. But here's the thing--I'd rather just have a corn dog with mustard and not all that chili and cheese. I guess the FitzGerald household doesn't have a new recipe to incorporate into the rotation. Shame. But, as you know, I try not to eat too much with high bad-for-you content these days, which corn dogs most assuredly have. So is it really a bad thing that the recipe didn't work out?

Logging food and being aware of calories and all the other bits and bites that the Fitbit keeps track has helped me actually drop a couple of pounds. Might all be water weight for the moment, but it's a start. I still have a few pounds to go to reach the target weight again, and I'm almost dreading it because that means my workouts have to become more targeted in order build the muscle. That also means my daily pretzel habit may have to go bye-bye. Will probably have to go bye-bye so I can replace the calories with more protein to help build my own muscles and reduce those carbs>sugars>body fats.

The garage project will continue this weekend with another car load of stuff to be transferred to our warehouse. I might also start some cleaning now that a stretch of (unfinished) wall will be revealed.

Have you got big, exciting plans for the weekend?

Hope it's a good one. Take care.

So I learned how to track my various exercises via the Fitbit and it seems the device does a better job tracking my heart rate when I do that, so yay. I guess the question still is...how accurate is the heart rate as gauged by the Fitbit in exercise mode versus figures provided by the machines at the gym?

I haven't done a detailed analysis of this, but the times I've compared the two, they seem close enough. As long as I'm in the heart rate range for fat burning, it doesn't matter much if the discrepancy is within five to seven beats.

There's a larger difference, however, in the "calories burned" figures. The machines always tell me I've burned more calories than what the Fitbit says. While I'd like to burn more calories, I use the Fitbit's figures just to be on the safe side. As long as I eat/log fewer calories that I burn, I'm always in the process of losing weight.

Apparently a pound is 3500 calories, so it would take a seven-day week to lose a pound if you consistently consumed 500 fewer calories than you burned every day.

I haven't been making as much progress as quickly as I'd been hoping, but learning that info the other day, has made it easier to make sure I keep at least that much of a difference between intake and outgo.

So new challenge for Jen--consume 500 fewer calories a day than I burn. Let's meet back in a week and see what's happened. :0)

Have a great rest of the week.

Now that all the excitement that May, June and July bring to my life, it's time to get back on the weight loss wagon. I still have my goal of reaching 120lbs., but with all the eating I've done in the past two and a half months, I've gained back about 8lbs. and it's time to lose those eight and then some.

So starting this past Monday, I got back on the treadmill and started counting those calories again. It's been a rough few days because my body's gotten used to less exercise and more calories, so it's griping quite a lot. My goal was to get four days of walking in, but I do listen to my body, and while I pushed through today, I think I'll have to skip tomorrow. My right leg needs a break.

I've also gotten back to my snatches of calisthenics. Whenever I use the rest room, I do a few little things to help stretch out the muscles that I don't use much since I sit on my behind most of the day. I can already feel the difference as I'm much less achy overall than I was just a few short days ago.

Also, more water. I've cut back on the (decaf) tea again and am trying to get back to more water. My body definitely lets me know when I haven't drunk enough.

Here's to weight loss (again)!

I haven't talked much about weight loss in the past month or more, mainly because I wasn't doing so hot. I'd reached a record low of 133.6 in late December, but then it was New Years and DH got sick and I was stressed out, so while I was sorta/kinda trying to watch what went into my mouth, I would also give in to the lure of comforting or just plain unhealthy treats. And I was eating a lot of carbs.

When the scale flashed 140 point something a couple of weeks ago, I took myself in hand and got back on track. Closely watched was eating. Gave up carbs for protein more often. Said no to offers of root beer despite strong lure and desire for that vanilla-y sweetness. I got back on the tread mill every morning and upped the speed by a tenth and the incline by one (more calories burned in the same amount of time). A couple of times, I made a decision to eat less-than-healthy choices, but then I buckled down the next day.

The result--I stepped on the scale this past Tuesday morning and the scale read: 133.4!

Two tenths less than my former record low and here's the really exciting part--

That's 32.4 pounds I've lost over the course of the last two years. It might be a little more, but I didn't start recording my weight until a few months into beginning my efforts. I was surprised it was that much. I was thinking it was maybe 20 or 25... WOO HOO!

In February of 2012, I started doing short rounds of calisthenics several times a day to get my large muscle groups working and moving since I sit at a desk all day. Then I started walking in the mornings, but that fell by the wayside a couple of times for various reasons. For a while I counted calories as well, though I haven't been as diligent about that for a while. I check calorie count on the foods I eat, but I don't record everything I consume in MyFitnessPal at this point. Because I pretty much each the same thing for breakfast and snacks each day, the need to count every little calorie has lessened. I just have to gauge lunch and dinner--and of course stay on the exercise train.

While I probably wanted things to progress faster, I've come to the realization that the slower I do this, the better off I am. My body will adjust and learn and accept the changes the longer it takes and the chances of gaining the weight back (and then some) are minimized.

I have another ten to twelve to fifteen pounds to go. Looking at my history, that ought to take me a year. And I'm okay with that.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my lack of ability to say no to the things I should--like root beer, pretzel dogs from Sonic, fries from Mickey D's, and so on and so on.Weight-wise, I've been hovering so very close to and on the wrong side of the 140 lb. mark. I really want clear that hurdle and head toward the 130 lb. point. That'll be the next hurdle.

I've turned a corner and I'm ready to get 'er done. So I'm saying no again. Monday, DH asked me if I wanted a root beer from an eatery here in the business park and I said NO. All weekend through the beginning of the week, I said NO to the tempting things in my cabinets and fridge (things I have to have--like cereal or heat and eat items for Sonshine and DH). Instead, I chose protein or fruits and veggies. I like protein and fruits and veggies, don't get me wrong, but most of the time there's prep work or cooking involved and when I'm hungry, I'm hungry. It's hard to wait. And, okay, I get lazy, too.

In trying to utilize my exercise time to better (and safer and cooler) effect, I switched from walking around my neighborhood for thirty minutes to pedaling my bike pedals. (I bought just the pedals on a stand, not a full stationary bike.) Now, if I can double that effort and pedal while I watch TV--you know, cuz the new TV season is right around the corner--I can earn almost three times as many burned calories as that thirty minutes of walking. Woot! More calories for eating, and possibly saying yes every now and then to an icy cold can of A&W Root Beer.

To get the figures for calories burned from walking versus pedaling, I had to open MyFitnessPal, and I figured, what the heck, I'll start keying in my food and my exercise now. No time like the present, right?

I have twenty pounds to lose to reach my ultimate goal. I know it's better to have a target date for things, but I also know slower weight loss is better weight loss, so I'm just going to shoot for reaching 137 lbs. by September 1st. That's four pounds in three weeks. That's do-able. I've done it before. I've just got to keep saying no! Just this morning I said no to sleeping in because it was raining and just oh, so tempting to snuggle back under the covers.

What about you? I know two of my faithful friends/readers are also watching what they eat and trying to shed a few pounds. How are you doing friends??

In a continuing effort to lose a few pounds, I have decided to calorie count. Which also means portion measuring.

After keying in certain facts (height, weight, age, level of exercise) into online tabulators, it has been determined that I need 1372 calories per day to lose one pound per week without adding exercise to the mix.

I started on Monday and have done pretty well so far. I went over by approximate 34 calories yesterday but was way under by about 300 the day before.

I have even been able to sneak a strawberry shake from Wendy's and a can of rootbeer in there, though not on the same day. I'm finally past the constant hungries and now just experience the occasional hungries. Like today. I'm trying to save up for dinner tonight as I'm attending the band banquet with my kid and I think he said we're having Mexican. I have 800 left for dinner at this point. Can I make it through the rest of the day--six and half hours--until dinner. Hot mint tea acts as somewhat of an appetite suppressant for me, so I'll probably be having a few cups of that between now and dinner. And I'll lose 12 calories a cup. But that's okay.

I do need to exercise though. I've extra-sedentary lately for some reason and my body has been griping at me.

I think after a couple of weeks and a real weight check on the scale, I may reduce my caloric intake by that 72 down to 1300 and see what happens.