Mid-Week Hump

So after a small bout with a stomach bug Sunday night and some of yesterday I am back on track. I did not get my steps, my 1 hour of cardio, or 2800 calories burned yesterday but I almost hit my deficit. You can't knock it out of the ballpark EVERYDAY, is what I keep reminding myself.I did get 30 minutes on the elliptical and that helped.

I have my coaching session with the Body Bugg person today. I hope they have some more helpful, refining, advice on how to maximize my efforts.

So I cheated and hopped on the scales yesterday...if things keep progressing I should have a GOOD week. Yeah Stomach bugs...

Now I need to prepare and get extra steps in for Betsy Birthday Feast on Thursday!

Lorey

TRIFECTA

CALORIES BURNED- CALORIE DEFICIT- STEPS TAKEN

Those are the magic deliverables ... thank goodness for them because the awful rainy weather bringing the temperature down to the 60's (it is APRIL!!) has sapped all of my positive thinking. My first call with my Body Bugg coach is this Wednesday, though, and I'm embarassed to actually have someone savvy about nutrition read about all those empty carbs I've been consuming ... or see a pattern of low activity Mondays.

Do you believe in habits? I've always been told that if you do something for three weeks in a row, then it becomes ingrained, a habit, that you naturally become more accustomed to whatever it is you're repeating. Well, I'm pretty good at strapping on my armband, checking out my monitor, and keeping tabs on calories ... but not getting bored with my walks and exercise routine is still a challenge. My friend Chloe has challenged me to do a triathalon with her in Miami sometime this fall- she'll come up from Colombia to meet and compete together. Sounds like fun- and a worthy goal. I think I need to have something like that in the not-so-distant future to keep myself in line and in program.

Not that I can't see that I am changing ... on Saturday after the walk thru Eckington I went to pick up tickets for the DC Filmfest (went to see "Basic Sanitation") in Chinatown ... and didn't think twice about walking home, despite the blisters I could feel and the heat of the day. Betsy of a few months ago would definitely have said it was alright to take a cab ...

NOW, I'm off to do laundry, another task I've procrastinated at for the entire weekend ... and plan on getting in my extra steps for the evening by pacing the basement hallways ...

OUCH!

Too much? Would love to think that that's the cause of my misery ... but alas, its all in the name of fashion. Due to the loss of my weekend walking partner, I branched out to other friends and instead of wearing my normal sneakers, I sported a pair of adidas soccer shoes. BIG mistake! After clocking 9500 steps in 80 degree weather, I might have been somewhat fashionable ... but also earned two less than lovely blisters on the soft underbelly of each of my fourth toe. How do you explain that??

Nonetheless, I persevered, and my only concession was to change shoes (important!) and identify other non loadbearing exercise to stay moving and get in my count for the day.

Today I switched back to my sneaks and headed off on another DC Walking Tour. This time it was Brookland, a little haven of suburbia within the confines of Washington DC. Not NW though- NE, located adjacent to Catholic University. After our tour we headed up to the National Arboretum and its azalea walk where I met the trifecta- calories burned, steps met, and cardio target met.

BodyBugg Evaluation- I concur with Miss L- after three weeks of wearing the gizmo, I am starting to see changes. Not just physical- but also mental. Sure, Weight Watchers, the Cabbage Soup Diet, all those other plans worked for a while but didn't make me truly recognize the size of a portion as well as the consequences- negative and positive- of how I use my time. Type A that I am, I find myself constantly checking in on my monitor to find out how many calories I've burned, how many steps I've taken- and then immediately plan on remedial action. No excuses necessary- very clear to me that if I don't get in my daily steps or cardio, then it will be impossible to maintain the calorie deficit I need.

A Saturday report from 'burbville......

As you may know I am trying to get my house ready to sell. My Mom came into town this weekend to help with several projects and between painting, cleaning the patio, planting flowers, buying flowers, shopping, and taking care of my 2 month old I managed to walk 9300 steps, burn 2900 calories and get 36 minutes of elevated heart rate all without a workout.

We also ran by Chick Fil A for lunch and I was a good girl-- Grilled chix sandwich on Whole Wheat and my Mom and I split a fry. A 450 cal. lunch and I got my Chick Fil A fix in for a while (God I love those waffle fries)!

We have more projects scheduled for tomorrow but I also want to make sure I get my steps in and my 1 hour of cardio. So I am going to get up in the Morning for a 30 minute walk to kick off my step count for the day.

All in all not a bad day and I have to say I am exhausted!

Body Bugg Evaluation-- So far I am 1 week into using this gizmo I have to say it is a GREAT motivator, coach, and weight loss aide. Every "weight loss" plan I have ever embarked on is always great in the first week but I have to say I am very focused on my movements and found myself continually re-fining my food choices. I still have a ways to go but I like the accountability and the #'s in black and white- no speculation needed. Month 2 will be a better evaluation time but I am feeling very positive.

New Walk!

OK, walking partner change up for the day ... DC tourism board sponsored a fabulous weekend called "WalkingTownDC" with 60+ free tours of neighborhoods throughout the city. Last fall I went on the Marvin Gaye tour in Anacostia and today I explored the Eckington neighborhood in NE. Tomorrow I'm going to tour Brookland, home of my friend Theodora, as it's another neighborhood that I could contemplate living and buying my first home.

Two of my fabulous coworkers from National Geographic joined me- here's our picture in front of NG's old warehouse ... it now belongs to the DC School board.

So, miss Lorey, how did your walk go today?

A slice of pizza

OK, I'm looking (actively) for incentives to cut down my pizza intake. Pizza, as you can guess, is my favorite dinner for one. Easy to make, even easier to buy, and always yummy. BUT I learned that it takes the equivalent of the following to burn off a slice:

10 MILES on a bike
3.5 MILES on foot

So, do I REALLY want pizza that badly?

Oh what a lovely sign!!

WE DID IT!

Yeah ... officially we each lost 1.8 and 1.6 pounds. Even better, though, is that we've helped each other stay on track and get motivated every day to reach activity targets, steps and calorie deficits.

For me, the greatest awareness has been WHAT I eat, or perhas, what i DON'T eat. I'm getting too many carbs (surprise, surprise), the right amount of sodium (no kidding) but weak on getting enough protein and calcium. The big news though is that I'm actually AWARE of what I'm missing so I can improve the overall make-up of my meals.

And one last thing ... we really lived. I had a couple of beers, Lorey had some wine, this is real life.

NOW, on to planning this weekend's walk.

Lunch ... in pictures!

Well, here it is ... presentation is better than it could be, what with nice wooden tray, papertowel and bright food colors. Guess how many calories in this Trader Joes Vegetarian lasagna, unsweetened appleasauce and corn.

Calorie count isn't that horrific- but if you look at the sodium and fat content, you might reconsider. All worth it though because I have this better than a Butterfinger dessert: the Slimfast Peanut Butter Crunch. Only 120 calories but quite scrumptious!


Did you guess yet how many calories??

Does it count??

OK, I have a question ... if I walk to the movies to get in my last 4,000 steps of the day, are the positive effects canceled out by the fact that I also bought popcorn? Stayed within the calorie count for the day- and resisted the siren call of diet coke- but was I hungry, or just suffering a Pavlovian reaction??

Week Two, Double the Fun!!

OK, week two arrived with energy still in high gear with the arrival of Body Bugg #2 and spring weather. We have the same goal ... burn a minimum of 2800 calories daily- while maintaining a 1000 calorie deficit daily. Did I mention a 10,000 minimum step requirement? Easy if you're not sedentary ...otherwise an act of will.

Here are the photos from Rock Creek Park- we brought along special guest Lily Duggan who was GREAT until the end when all three of us were hungry after a four mile sojourn from Peirce Mill to the north and back again. Eager to keep the calorie balance in check- we left for a brand new restaurant on the U Street corridor- Chix DC. (If you want to check out their yummy chicken go to www.chixdc.com) My favorite things from lunch were the roasted sweet potatoes and flavored water which we had al fresco on the patio out front.

So, what were the results? Betsy entered week two with an additional 2.2 loss recorded, making for a grand total of 4.6 after two weeks. Very anxious to keep the energy and commitment going to obtain the desired goal ... the sooner the better!! As a reward for all the hard work, a spa treatment (by a very strong Bulgarian) plus a fantastic manicure and pedicure rounded out the evening. We all met up for dinner at Jennifer's where we kept each other honest over multigrain tortilla chips and grilled meat.

Onward ho!!

I can do anything

OK, so its only week two, but I'm definitely feeling energized and good about how this program is going. Yesterday I walked in excess of 20,000 steps and today I packed my lunch and snacks for work and cancelled a lunch ... Why is that exciting or relevant? Because I replaced my lunch date with a Bodysculpt aerobics class at the Y. Now ... if there was only a way for my legs to feel a little less like jelly after all those lunges ...

So, like my good friend Spidey, this new energy is sticking ...

Hope you're having a good day!

Do we have to use those as starting photos

Bets-- Thanks for posting our "before" pictures today. That whole trick with turning you body to the side like they do on the red carpet was not helping me much today..... oh my GOD! I keep chanting six weeks post partum as my partial excuse... Still does not explain a good 60lbs of it though.....

Either way I can't wait for my body bugg. In preperation of its arrival I am committing this week to 1 hour of cardio a day and to eating healthy. 1st week back at work, painters in the house, and I determined not to get side tracked!

Intake, Outtake

That's the sad truth. You are what you eat. You know all the cliches, don't you? Well, after many sunrises and sunsets, the task of creating a permanent calorie deficit to get rid of unwanted poundage has begun in earnest.

The men in the photo above are made from trash out of a dump in Cologne, Germany and have travelled the world. The ladies embarking on this important quest are eager to do the same.

How?

Easy. Maintain a calorie deficit of 1000 a day will garner a two pound weight loss weekly. As testimony, each of us will be wearing a body bugg to measure physical activity. Type A's, the watches we wear will enable us to check in throughout the day to see exactly how many steps have been taken ... or for how many minutes we've elevated our heart rates. Important tie-in will be logging all food consumption.

Did YOU know that a blueberry muffin from Dunkin Donuts has 470 calories? Appalling. A whole wheat turkey sub from Potbelly's has a mere 1524 grams of sodiums. Outrageous.

Here are photos the girls at the beginning ... we met this morning and walked 4.5 miles. Great kickstart!