Reflection on Week 3 of 52

Sunday Weigh In: 223.8

Bust: 48.5"
Belly: 44"

I've decided to put my 'Sunday Weigh In' on my reflection post instead of the planning posts now. As you can see I lost 4 pounds this past week! I also took measurements and lost an 1.5" from my bust and 1" from my belly.

This past week has really opened my eyes. I went to the gym three times, which was nice to use a treadmill. I like the treadmill showing me the exact distance I have gone and also my heart rate. When I'm outside exercising, I don't always know those two things. I found a cool website which I added the link to on the right hand side called Map My Run. This can tell you distances of certain routes in your city that people have run. That way I can pick one, run/walk it, and know the exact distance I am going. This is also good for bike riding.

Exercise this week was awesome, Monday and Wednesday I did as planned. Friday I didn't however, we just went for a 30 minute walk with Jorge, HOWEVER I did do Friday's exercises on Saturday. We rode our bikes to the rec center, worked out and rode home. It was awesome. Tuesday and Thursday went as planned with yoga and walking. Today, Sunday, we walked around Waneka Lake (which is very beautiful with an amazingly clear view of the Rocky Mountains), stretched ,and did some of the exercises they had along the 1.2 mile trail. Took about 30 minutes. I also had Dan do AM yoga with me this morning, which is only 15 minutes, but it provides a good stretch and meditation to start the day. I definitely accomplished my exercise goals for week 3.

Did I say that they are doing a wellness challenge in my department at work? At first I was skeptical of it all, I admit that I don't really want people to know I am working out and stuff. Weird huh? To me, it's like admitting that I have a problem, like telling people you take drugs. However, my opinion has changed a lot towards that. After everyone was talking about gaining points (that's our challenge, we get points for certain activities or life style changes), I got more motivated. We all talk about what we do, when we do it, how we do it, etc. I like to hear about everyone's accomplishments and their struggles, it's a nice support group. This one woman has a trainer and she comes in everyday talking about what he teaches her, free tips for me! One thing she did talk about is how hard it is for her to reach 1600 calories a day. She is tiny and never eats. She's just quit smoking that is partly why she never ate, wasn't hungry. Anyway, to make a long story short, now that she quit, she is scared she will use food as a substitute and is watching that she doesn't. I started to wonder how many calories I am taking in. If she can't make it to 1600 calories a day, I thought then that I must be eating like 4000 calories a day.

I did an experiment this weekend. Saturday I counted all of the calories I took in, no restrictions and no diet plan. I just ate and drank what I would usually have for the weekend, because I was very curious. I am not a calorie counter and don't want to get obsessed with it. However I was very interested. So I did it. For Saturday I had 2,747 calories. Ok, that is a lot, but there were some things I had yesterday that I usually never have, for example Bailey's Liquor in a coke (tastes like a milk shake), that is 550 calories right there! I also had 1/3 cup of a Tecate which was 35 calories. I haven't had beer in like 4 months, so after I had a little of it, I felt sick and gave the rest to Dan. So really, I would say my average day would be 2200-2400 calories normally. I am going to count the rest of the week and just see though.

This has really opened my eyes. I found this cool Weight Maintenance Calculator and wanted to see how much a 225 pound woman would need to eat to maintain 225 pounds (not that I would want to, I just wanted to see it and other examples too). With moderate exercise, I would need to consume around 2600 calories. Interesting, because I do consume just a little less maybe than that and I have been maintaining my weight. Then I read a little further and it said this:

By consuming these calories on an average daily basis, you should maintain your weight. However, if you are looking to lose weight, here are some tips:

Most health professionals recommend slow weight loss as the safest and most effective approach. A sensible weight-loss program allows you to lose weight gradually -- about one-half to one pound per week. Gradual weight loss promotes long-term loss of body fat, not just water weight that can be quickly regained.

To lose one pound, a person must burn 3,500 calories more than are consumed (500 calories per day over the course of a week). For example, reducing calories by 300 per day and increasing daily activity to burn off an additional 200 calories should result in a weight loss of one pound per week.

Here is an example of how the calculator can help you. If your daily calorie needs were calculated as 2500 calories and you desire to lose weight, you could:

1. Consume 2200 calories. (That's 300 calories less than this example diet), and
2. Burn 200 calories through activity, to result in a 2000-calorie diet!


After reading that, it gave me more insight into how many calories I need to consume and how many I need to burn. I'm going to look at this week's food choices and calorie counts and just see what I could eliminate, what I can substitute and so on. Cutting 300 - 500 calories should not be a problem. By using the Get Moving Calculator, it gave me an idea of how many calories I am burning with different types of exercises. I liked these website links above because they are simple to read and simple to understand (they are all added on to the right). I must have been doing something right last week. One thing I never want to do is deprive myself because I'll just want that item even more. I believe in balance and not cutting out whole food groups from my diet, that wouldn't be very smart. I want to eat healthfully and make good decisions. I know that by decreasing calories consumed and increasing exercise, burning calories, then I will lose weight. I also know that losing weight needs to happen at a healthy pace.

My tree of knowledge if growing. My tree of life is getting healthier.
la Sirena