Fed Up 2 Fit: First Week Update

I made it through my first week of my fitness challenge for the new year. Me and my new “barefoot” Merrells that I got over Thanksgiving holiday (on sale well over 50% off at Gander Mountain) are getting very well acquainted. Just so you know, I wear socks anyway. They are so comfy!

So far I’m down 4 pounds (although I gained one back this morning, but hopefully it will be gone when I wake up tomorrow again – probably muscle from all this new exercise I’ve been participating in). I joined the Run Your A$$ Off Diet Bet Challenge and signed up for a My Fitness Pal Account. I just love the My Fitness Pal App and Website account.

It really helps me stay on track with what I’m eating. I love that the Android App has a bar-code reader so it will scan the package or can of what I eat and automagically add the nutrition info to my logs. It quickly syncs every few minutes, too – so I can see my progress on the computer if I log in there. I like being able to cheer my friends on and see what they are eating to get ideas of what types of meals to make. It is very inspiring to see other people getting out to run, walk, and be active.

The app/website also works wirelessly with a bunch of pedometers and scales that you can buy (pricey). I’m looking in to buying a FitBit to track my steps and calories burned. I looked at some of the iPhone Apps but I’m not so sure about using GPS to track my speed and motion – that’s kind of creepy. I guess if you use a cell phone, you already ARE being tracked by GPS… but that’s a topic for another day – and maybe another blog besides this one.

I’ve been avoiding fast food for the most part. I had to eat at McDonald’s one day this past week and got a grilled chicken sandwich, nix the bacon (no club), wiped off all the Mayo, ate only 1/2 of my fries, and drank water with it. It was about 550 calories for the meal – maybe 600. I figured out that my “healthy” meal at Chipotle on Sunday for lunch ended up being 1002 calories. I died. Who would have thunk? At least the calories at Chipotle were organic whole ingredients. I wish McD’s would ditch the white buns and high fructose corn syrup. And avocado is one of my favorite foods ever.

But now I know. I need to get a bowl next time I go – nix the chips and taco shells, put it on a bed of lettuce, and eat half the portion and save the rest for the next day’s lunch! Voila! Low cal.

Jason’s Deli has some great and healthy choices. The Spinach Wrap was last week’s winner. And since ice cream is not my Achilles heel, I don’t mind watching the kids eat it in front of me. No one feels deprived. When there is chocolate involved, mama is going to have a hard time saying no. I was CHUCK NORRIS TOUGH to resist the chocolate chip cookies my entire family ate in front of me (and even in my lap if you include the tiny tot – who waved his under my nose and dropped crumbs on my lap).

I’m mostly following a loose version of the 17 Day Diet. Mainly it’s just a breakfast of 2 eggs, a fruit, and a cup of green tea. Sometimes I add cheese and chili powder to the eggs. I switch the fruit out – blueberries, orange, applesauce. Lunch and Dinner are grain restricted the first 17 days, but I have cheated and had a little bit of bread, crackers, rice, chips, and pasta (moderation) – because I live a really fast paced life with 4 kids and can’t cook more than one meal. Sue me – I’m being realistic. If it takes me a little longer to get the weight off, then that’s just how it will have to wash out. I try to stick to my goals on My Fitness Pal (they give you a calorie limit)… so that I can still lose weight even if I don’t exercise enough.

HOWEVER – I learned a lot about calories by reading this interesting blog post (which has some great calorie calculator links). Apparently if you don’t eat enough calories to maintain your activity level (ie:starve yourself), your body will burn muscle for fuel. That’s not good, folks. You want to keep your muscle. Just nod your head YES if you have no idea what I’m talking about – then go read that post. Mkay?

THIS FACT is why most dieting doesn’t work for people. Diet alone can’t really get you in shape. It’s the combination of eating right and getting enough motion in to your life that makes you HEALTHY. Stinks that there’s no diet pill that is good for you – but we all know that, deep down, don’t we?

Eat right, EXERCISE (no way around it), drink lots of water (another thing I have drastically increased – up to 5-6 8oz glasses a day so far), and get enough sleep. There’s your recipe for getting FIT. I need to work harder on the sleep part, apparently… it’s almost 1 AM…

During my first week of FedUp2Fit, I did Pilates three times, walked a mile one day, walked around my block a couple of times, and did some aerobic housekeeping including vacuuming the stairs another day. I’d say that pretty much completes my goal of exercising at least 5 days of the week. I’m hoping the little FitBit will inspire me to add more steps in to my day. I truly felt that the Pilates strengthened my muscles. I’m using “Crunch” Pilates and found that you can “rent” them on Netflix. I bought one of them a few years back at Sam’s Club and that’s the main one I use.

At first the kids thought it was silly – seeing mama work out on the living room floor; but now my almost 14 year old daughter is interested in joining me. She walked with me this past week, too… which was nice. We caught a white heron off guard on our hike.

Time well-spent with your kids (unplugged & outside), weight lost, feeling good, eating well, and wildlife photos = priceless.

{ Here’s to week #2! }

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P.S. I’m tweeting my health and weight loss updates with the #mamavation hashtag.