This has been an exciting week. The scales seem to be moving well again. The official weight loss as of last Wednesday is 72 pounds. I published my 100th post to the blog on Friday which means we are over 100 days into this fantastic 2012 success story! I’ve had lots of energy and enjoyed lots of physical activity. I did begin reading “The South Beach Diet” and feel that I am being educated about food, not just given a “Do this, do that” list. I’ve enjoyed some great food this week, made some good decisions, and have even tried new fitness approaches.
For anyone who isn’t following the Slimdown with Sandee Facebook Group I wanted to mention a great point that was listed by personal trainer and fitness instructor DeAnna Weiss. If you have hit a true plateau (weigh loss has stopped) you need to consider that you may no longer be at the right calorie balance to continue losing weight. As our bodies lose weight, they need fewer calories to operate. If you cut your current daily caloric intake by an additional 250 calories per day and up your calories burned by 250 calories per day in the course of 1 week you’ve burned the 3500 calories you need to lose a pound. Never sacrifice good nutrition though and never cut your calories below 1000. Thanks to DeAnna for breaking it down for us.
I had been in a plateau, though my calorie intake and output according to calculations should be well above what is needed to lose a pound a week. Size does continue to change but I would love to see the numbers change faster even with the muscle gain and inch loss. Thus I have made a few changes.
Last week I re-set my cardio goal to 10 miles, but I actually did 14 miles. That’s a total six extra miles this week over my previous goal of 8 miles. I did this at 4 miles per hour. That should equal approximately 1260 calories burned through this activity alone. I do the Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred at least twice a week. I upped the weight used by 1 lb this week. There are lots of estimates for the calories burned during level one. I am going with a conservative 200 calories per session meaning this week with 2 workouts I burned about 400 calories from this exercise. I’ve done 3 core toning sessions with the hula hoop this week, 80 minutes each. At around 250 calories a session that’s an additional 750 calories burned. My fitness adventure this week was jumping rope. In 20 minutes of jumping with little skill this is about 200 calories burned. This would be a total of 2610 calories burned through exercise this week.
My maintainance calorie range is considered to be around 2200 calories. I consumed an average of around 1580 calories a day this week. That would be 4400 calories under maintenance for the week. When you add the calories saved by eating less and burned by exercising more you get 7020 calories. By the numbers you would expect that weigh in this week would show a loss of around two pounds. We will see how that goes.
One of the decisions I’m proud of from the past week was to split dinner with my daughter on our recent visit to Olive Garden. This saved us both calories and money. By sharing a meal we were able to enjoy the same great flavors but at half the calories. Olive Garden has some nutritious menu options like their delicious Seafood Brodetta and their Venetian Apricot Chicken but we were in the mood for a splurge of italian comfort food. We split a Tour of Italy which set us back an entire 725 calories each, but that’s much better than the 1450 we would have invested if we had each eaten an entire meal. With conservative planning earlier in the day, this was still within calorie range.
We also attended a birthday party this week where I said no to my favorite chocolate cake with white icing (a small slice estimated at around 400 calories and 12 gram of fat). I promised myself that I could have a more calorie conscious treat after the party to reward myself for this decision. So I enjoyed a Jr Frosty from Wendy’s instead for around 175 calories and 5 grams of fat.
Foods that I loved this week? I enjoyed as one of my treats a short Starbucks Skinny Moca for just 80 calories. It was yummy! I also tried Vitalicious brand Egg, Cheese, and Veggie VitaSandwich. At just 150 calories and 7 grams of fiber this frozen entrée is perfect for breakfast on the run.
I did add Raspberry Ketone to my daily regimen but I don’t know that’s it’s made any notable difference. The energy has been very good this week but with better sleep, no sodas, and lots of healthy exercise I would expect that. Unless next week’s weight loss is more than the expected 2 lbs, I’m not going to assume effect.
Looking back over last weeks blog entries, journal entries, and daily logs I have decided to alter the Stepping Stones very little from week 14. I did add the Raspberry Ketone to the daily log. Please take some time to review and see if there are things you wish to add to your plan. Also, evaluate your progress to see if you are on track. Are you consistent in your efforts? Below you will find my stepping stones. You might find them helpful in setting your own plan and goals. Week 15 here we come!
Stepping Stones for Success – Week 15
Goal: “To weigh 135 lbs by 12/31/2012. (That is a loss of approximately 40 lb in 1 year).
Action Steps: I will continue to limit my daily caloric intake to 1600 calories, focusing on good nutrition in my choices. I will continue to speed walk no less than 8 miles during the week and include at least three combined toning and cardio exercise session. I will also have 1 additional “fitness adventure” of 20 minutes or more. I will officially weigh in once this week, marking my progress on the Weight Tracker tool.”
To-Do List:
1. Plan Weekly Menu (See Plan To Eat Fabulous Foods.)
2. Grocery Shop (See Stocking The “New Me” Pantry.)
3. Refill Snack Basket (See The Real Food Fight .)
4. Weigh In (See Weigh In Wednesday.)
5. Organize Outfits and Gear (See Get Your Rear In Gear.)
6. Speed Walk a Total of 10 Miles
7. 3 or More Toning/Cardio Sessions (10 Ways to Increase Your Metabolism)
8. A Random Fitness Adventure of 20 minutes or more.
9. Give myself 3 “Get Out Of Diet Guilt Free Cards”.
10. Enjoy a Rest Day. (See Balance.)
11. Grade Last Weeks Efforts (See A for Effort.)
12. Assess Past Week’s Efforts (See Assess for Success.)
13. Create next Stepping Stones Sheet
14. ReadSouthBeachDiet
15. Hoola- Hooping For Fun And Fitness (See Hoola-Hooping Workout)
Daily Log
Morning Weight: ______ Evening Weight: ______
Omega 3? Yes / No Chia? Yes / No Raspberry Ketone? Yes/No
Servings Of Dairy: ——– Servings Of Grapefruit: ____
Did You Do Daily Affirmations? Yes / No
Did You Use Aromatherapy? Yes / No
Bedtime: —————— Wake Up Time: ———————
Did You Eat Frequently (Approximately Every Two Hours Until After Dinner)? __________
Did You Complete Cardio In Miles or Minutes? ___________________________
Did You Complete Toning Exercises? _________________________________
Did You Drink at least 64 ounces of Water? ______________________________
Total Calories Consumed:_________
Foods Eaten
Breakfast:
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Snack
Slimdown With Sandee 