Day 9

While I LOVE that my TOM allows me to drop water weight, I HATE HATE HATE the fatigue that comes with it.  Am looking into what foods I can eat to help get my energy up, but I'm pretty sure it's due to low iron levels.  Spinach would probably help.  Hrm......

Yesterday was an OK day.  Didn't exercise at all, but I think my overall deficit for the day made up for it! 

Here's my summary:

Target Calorie Intake: 1500
Actual Calorie Intake: 1253

I had a small serving of ice cream for dessert, which is fine because I was way under for calories for the day.  I was also under for sodium, which is also always a plus because I tend to have issues with that!  I try to aim for no more than 2000mg per day (ideally I stay in the 1500mg or less range) and I was at 1862mg.  Not 'perfect' by any means but certainly acceptable. 

If I were to be critical, I'd say that I need to work on getting more veggies into my diet, and more water.  I drank about six and a half cups yesterday, so I definitely could have done better (though, I could have done worse, too!!!!)

Target calories burned through exercise: 275
Actual calories burned through exercise: 0

Still dealing with a chest cold and that time of the month (which always = fatigue for me).  Can't wait for this to be over with. 

Target daily deficit: 811
Actual daily deficit: 783 (+200 nursing calories)

So my deficit for the day was 983, which was 172 above target.  So even though I didn't exercise, the day was an overall success.  Woohoo!

Day 8 (Pt. 2)

Well, thank heavens for that time of the month!  I've already let go of a lot of the water I was retaining and was down to 147.4 this morning, which is about two pounds down from where I was at the same time yesterday.  I'm not counting it as an 'official' weigh-in, we only do that on Mondays.  But still, nice to know all the same. 

Time for a summary of yesterday: 

Target Calorie Intake: 1500

Actual Calorie Intake: 1530

Only 30 calories over, not too shabby!  Probably could have eaten better things, though.  We still have hot dogs left over from Joey's birthday party and I want to make sure they get eaten before the buns get mouldy so I had two of those.  I also had a couple of chips (only a couple though, not too shabby) and two chocolate chip cookies.  Still, can't complain about overall quantity of calories consumed. 

Target calories burned through exercise: 275

Actual calories burned through exercise: 0

I won't lie, I just didn't feel like exercising.  I'm bleeding through my yoohoo, after all!  Plus, there's all the period-related fatigue.  Boourns!  I suck.

Target daily deficit: 811

Actual daily deficit: 506
 
Not too bad a deficit.  Not IDEAL.... but not too bad.  Can't really complain.  Will do (and have done) better today. 

I'm Baaaaack!

And so begins day 8.  I haven't been off to a terribly good start, I'll admit it!  I did well much of last week but Saturday was Joey's birthday.  Despite having lots of healthy snack options, I just couldn't stop eating.  Much of what I ate was healthy, but I just consumed so damned much.  I got to the point where I wasn't even HUNGRY, I just wanted to eat.  NO idea what the hell caused it. 

Finally, yesterday, my TOM arrived.  Two weeks late, actually (I'm still not regular, having just started getting periods again in January after almost a two-year pregnancy/breastfeeding break).  I'll admit, I HATE getting my period but there is a sense of relief when it arrives because I know I'll let go of all the water I've been retaining.  PLUS, the terrible cravings will subside and I'll be able to just focus on my diet/exercise plan.

I've also been terrible about updating this blog!  I was so focused on getting ready for Joey's birthday party, I just didn't find the time to write.  Thank heavens it's over and I can get back to life as usual! 

My monday morning weigh-in was brutal this morning- 149.2 pounds!  That's almost a full pound up from last week.  I'm not overly stressed, though, because I know that I'm retaining water like crazy!  In a couple of days, my weight will dip down again.  Next monday should be lower number, for sure! 

The day has been off to a good start- some Fibre 1 raisin bran and skim milk.  I've got a nutritious lunch packed for the day.  When I go home, I'll do a nice workout and burn some cals.  I may have been roughly thrown from the wagon last week, but it's time to get back on and start trucking!

Day 2 - Challenges

So in addition to my regular daily challenges (meet calorie/exercise goals, drink 8 cups of water) I think it would be fun to take on daily challenges.  It will help mix things up and keep me from getting bored (which, let's face it, is the number one thing that's held me back in the past).'

TrainerBob (Bob Harper, The Biggest Loser) tweets daily challenges, and I'm going to take today's challenge from him:

-50 bicep curls
-50 tricep dips
-50 shoulder presses
-50 lateral raises

Wow!  That's a lot.  :)  However, I can totally do it!  Was planning on doing an upper body workout today, anyways.

You know what, though...  Why don't I make it 51 of each?   3 sets, 17 reps each.  Boo-yah!

Phase 2, Day 1 (Details)

Off to a rough start!

Seriously, why do I bake?  I HATE having tasty treats in the house because I'm too tempted to partake.  NO MORE TREATS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!  I've got haystacks, sweet marie bars, peanut butter cookies.... too much temptation for one person to handle. 

Target Calorie Intake: 1500
Actual Calorie Intake: 2085

I also didn't work out like I'd hoped.  Got caught up with mommy duties- dinner, bathing children, folding laundry- and then wound up with not enough time to fit my workout in.  I'm going to start getting up a half-hour early to do a morning workout.  Thankfully I don't work for the next 5 days, which will give me PLENTY of time to fit workouts in.  I DID however manage to play Super Hula Hoop on the Wii Fit for 10 minutes, which burned 80 calories.  I burn an extra 200 calories per day breastfeeding (yes, I'm still nursing.  Still trying to wean.  My son is 16 months old now- but he's in the 25th percentile for height and weight, so he's VERY small for his age.  Small babies are hard to wean!). 

Target calories burned through exercise:  275
Actual calories burned through exercise: 80

If there's anything bad about the days you don't do so well, it's that you learn where your failures are and how to improve the next day!  Fluid intake wasn't ideal yesterday, but I DID manage to drink 6 cups of water so I was about 75% there! 

Today is already much better.  Have drank 3 cups of water so far.  It's lovely outside, so I'll take the boys for a walk as soon as I get home and that should burn another 200 calories. 

Target daily deficit:  811
Actual daily deficit:  31 (+200 nursing calories).


So, my deficit for the day was only 231 calories yesterday.  At that rate, it would take me 15 days to lose one pound!  Not good enough.  Time to ramp up.  Feeling motivated.

Carrie's Total Body Makeover. Phase 2 - Day 1

Well, it's been ages since I've posted here!  Fear not, I haven't fallen off the wagon.  I just discovered MyFitnessPal.com, which is only the BEST weight-loss site EVER.  I mean it- it's amazing!  I can't say enough good things about it.  Best of all- it's free!  Can't get any better than that!


I've been pretty consistantly losing weight since I last posted.  Then my weight was 165.8lbs.  Today, it's (drumroll, please!) 148.4lbs!   17.4 pounds down altogether.  If you want to get TECHNICAL, I know that I'm carrying a good couple pounds water weight right now (TOM is due any day now!) so those should fall off pretty easily.


So, you ask, if you're doing such a good job with your weight loss journey.... why are you posting in your blog again? 


Here's the thing- I've been bouncing between 145 and 149 pounds for over a month now.  Plateau much?  I've learned that this is what happens when you lose this much weight this fast.  Your body goes, "Wait a minute!" and works harder to hold onto the fat.  Oh, also?  I don't totally hate myself anymore.


Four months ago, when I looked in the mirror I said, "ICK!  You're disgusting.  What is wrong with you?  You're a fat tub of lard and you need to fix this!"

Now I look in the mirror and I say, "Hey there sexy buns!  Looking good!"

That's not to say I look GOOD.  I'm still a good twenty pounds away from my final goal of 125.  However, I look so much better than I DID that it's hard to not just want to sit and savor the results.  So I've sat and savored... long enough. :)

So I've decided, on this Monday- the first Monday of Spring- that it was time to get my little buns back in action, and burn off these last few pounds.  My goal is to hit 125 by July 1, 2010.  This means I've got to lose 1.6 pounds per week in order to hit my goal.  DOABLE- but it's gonna take some time and commitment. 

That's where this blog comes in.  My lovely, sexy and BEAUTIFUL friend Ninny has started her own fitness/lifestyle challenge, which she's documenting in her own blog.  Since losing weight and getting healthy is so much easier (and FUN!) when you have someone doing it with you, I've decided to re-boot this blog and truck along with her. 

Also, I've found that I always dig deeper and work harder when I have someone to be accountable to.  This blog has helped me lose weight in the past, and I know it will help me in the future.  So consider this PHASE TWO of Carrie's total body makeover. 



Which brings me to my FAVORITE part.... the number crunching!  I love crunching numbers and setting goals, don't you???  No, seriously.  I love it!  I wish losing weight were as fun and easy as PLANNING to lose weight... ;)

Start weight: 148.4lbs
Target weight: 125
Goal Date: July 1, 2010
Days until goal: 101
Total loss goal: 23.4lbs
Pounds per week to meet goal: 1.62

Like I said- totally doable!  Let's go!  And hey, why stop here?

I work in a desk all day, but I also have two little boys, so I'd consider myself lightly active.  Based on my current age, height, weight my (estimated) TDEE is 2036kcal.  That is, I burn about that many calories just living my life, no exercise or anything.

So if there are 3500kcal in a pound of fat, and I need to burn 1.62 pounds per week, that means I need to create a deficit of 5670kcal per week in order to hit my target.  If I were going to do that through diet alone, that would mean reducing my caloric intake to 1225kcal per day.  However, I don't just want to lose weight- if I do that, I'll be skinny but FLABBY.  I also want to work on toning my muscles and becoming a more fit and healthy person.  So I'm going to work towards a caloric target per day of 1400-1500kcal per day, and aim for a minimum of 275 calorise burned per day through exercise.  While that may not sound like that much, it will require a bit of work.  Four months ago, I'd burn 275 calories in a twenty minute workout!  But after exercising 3-4 days a week over about 18 weeks, I've built up some pretty good endurance.  Now I burn 185 calories during a 25-minute stint of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred!  Good- but makes weight loss that much harder!

Thank heavens for my Polar F6 heart rate monitor, which makes tracking calories burned that much easier!!!

I'll be keeping daily track of my weight loss journal here, and continuing to track everything at MFP (calories in vs. calories out).  If you'd like to join me at MyFitnessPal, my username is MercuryBlue.  I look forward to seeing you!