Monday, March 28, 2011

I will always be overweight!

I really think that the BMI categories are wrong. I know they are estimates and not based on actual body composition but based on the chart below, I may never get below the overweight category. Even at my lowest weight of 187 I was considered OBESE. Tell me, do I really look that big in the picture below? Sure, I wasn't skinny but I don't think I would consider this an OBESE looking person. My BMI in this picture was 31.1 based on the calculator at the site below.
At this weight, I was being told by others that I shouldn't lose much more because I looked good. My goal weight before was around 135, which would be a BMI of 22.5, within the "normal" BMI range for my height. Heck, even at 150 lbs (which I haven't been since middle school) I'd be in the "overweight" category.

•Underweight = <18.5
•Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
•Overweight = 25–29.9
•Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Courtesy of: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

I think what I need to focus on now is the way my clothes fit and the way I feel. It's going to be really hard not to get discouraged if/when the number on the scale doesn't move but scales don't always tell the whole story and I'm pretty convinced that the whole BMI chart is a load of crap!

I watch the movie Fat Head the other day and the guy that created was considered "overweight" even though he looked very normal. Perhaps he is right and the population hasn't become more overweight, they've changed the BMI chart to make it seems like more people are overweight.

The whole thing is ridiculous so I've just got to remember that and try not to base my success on the numbers...at least not the ones on the scale.

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Can Tea Replace Water?

I saw this article on the MFP boards today and was surprised at how many people were ready to jump on the band wagon and replace their water with tea. Granted, it would be nice to be able to cut back on the water and drink something with a bit of a flavor but I just can't seem to agree with the findings in this study.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1370539/A-cup-tea-good-water-study-suggests.html

I have several concerns or issues with the information in this article so here they are. Let me know how you feel.
1. The study was done in the UK, where tea is a big part of life if I'm not mistaken. :)
2. The study only included 21 volunteers...not nearly enough for this to be considered hard evidence.
3. They served the water warm and allowed them to add milk to their tea.

I'm not a dietitian but I know from personal experience and tea and coffee are diuretics and cause me to be more thirsty afterwards than water. I suppose it is possible that many people don't have that same reaction to tea and such but I do not feel a 21 person study is sufficient evidence to make me replace my daily water intake with tea.
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What are your thoughts?

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Weigh In 03/26/11

Normally I'm not nervous to step on the scale but today was different. I'm not sure why...I didn't eat horribly all week, I just didn't work out as much as I had planned because of the kids being home for spring break and I was just worried that the scale wouldn't be kind.

I took a deep breath and stepped on the scale to see a 1 lb loss. I'll take that. It puts me at 18.2 lbs in about 3 months so I can't really complain. There are many times that I wish this was going faster but I know that's not really the healthy way so I will have to stick it out. I let myself get fat, I have to take the time to do this the right way...even if it drives me crazy in the process.

I've been keep track of my daily calories in/out, the net and how it's impacted my weight loss each week and I'm stumped. I cannot find a clear link between how much I eat and a larger amount of weight lost for a week. It's a bit frustrating because I have weeks where my average net calorie intake was under 1000 and 1 week I gained 0.8 and another I lost 3.4 lbs. These weeks were not consecutive and they were surrounded by weeks that were much higher in the net category...around 1300-1600.

On the MFP plan, you are allowed (and often encouraged) to eat back your exercise calories to keep the body fueled. Normally, I eat back a good portion of them but this week I'm going to try something different. I'm going to try to stay near my intake goal of 1390 and not eat more than 25% of my exercise calories. Let's see if this makes any difference or not.

Since I don't really see any clear indication that the amount I eat back is making a difference on the scale...let's cut back, get to a lower net calorie intake and see what happens.

My next mini goal is to be at 260 by 4/23 so that means I have 4 more weigh ins to lose 7.8 lbs. Gonna be a tough one but it'll keep me focused on the end goal!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Weigh In 03/19/11

This week I stepped on the scale and saw 268.8 lbs. That is 3.2 lbs gone since last week and a total of 17.2 since 1/1/11. I've worked out pretty hard this week and I've varied my workouts, which I think has made a difference. I've also tried NOT to eat back the calories I burned when working out. It didn't always work out that way but I'm going to try to do that again this week and see what happens.

When I did WW before I was able to eat all my flex points, exercise points and then some extras and still lose weight. Apparently, my body is not accepting of this process anymore so I definitely need to work out hard and eat lower calories.

I can do this...it just takes patience and commitment! Oh joy...2 things that don't come all that easily for me! :)
I just wish the person that created this knew the difference between lose and loose! :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Lesson Learned-No Road Trips

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday...no matter how bored he claims he is, Josh is never bored enough to spend 3+ hours in the car going somewhere that might be fun. Drove all the way to Indy to go to the Children's Museum and several other places. Got in the ticket line, he refused to go in. Too many little kids there and he was "sure" it would be filled with baby stuff. Glad he told me before I paid $30+ for tickets.

Ended up finding the war memorial, which was free, and he enjoyed it much more than he would have the museum. Too bad the "free" memorial cost me $50 in gas. Next time, I will only take him to places with guns and military stuff that is within an hour of our house! Let's hope there are more options out there! :)

Weigh In 03/12/11

Boo, I gained 0.8 lbs this week! So annoyed because I worked out and burned some serious calories according to my HRM this week. Going to do a thorough review of my food log and see what I did wrong.

Starting out this week with Chicken & Dumplings (and sides) for my birthday dinner tonight. Can't wait!

Mini Goal Out Of Reach 3/12/11

This week I weighed in at 272 which is up 0.8 lbs from last week. I'm really a little irritated by this because I worked my butt off working out this week. I did eat a lot but I also worked out a lot to counteract that. Guess I need to look at my diary and see what I can do differently. I know I can eat less...just stop eating some of the exercise calories. We'll see what happens this week!

Gaining weight really sucks!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Red Robin - Fail

Been seeing the commercials for the Prime Chophouse Burger and wanted to try it. Today, we went at 11:30, they weren't busy, and we got right in. Order the burger and waited in anticipation for its' arrival. Unfortunately, it left some things to be desired.

The onion straws were excessive and soggy. The combination of smells made it hard to eat because it was so overpowering. The burger patty was actually pretty small and didn't have much flavor.

I ate 1/2 and left the rest on the table. Thank goodness I did because when I got home to log it into MFP I found out the whole sandwich was over 1200 calories. Yikes!

With the donut I ate this morning I've got almost no calories left for dinner. Guess I'll be breaking out some hard core Turbo Jam later this afternoon to make room for dinner! :)

Here are more details about this particular burger:
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers is featuring their Prime Chophouse Burger for just $6.99. Layered with horseradish, sauteed mushrooms, gourmet steak sauce, melted Provolone cheese, and crispy onion straws. Served with Red Robin’s famous Bottomless Steak Fries. The $6.99 Prime Chophouse Burger is available through March 31, 2011 at participating Red Robin Gourmet Burgers locations.

This isn't exactly what mine looked like. My burger was alot more messy and the onion straws in this picture appear to be unbreaded. At any rate, I wouldn't suggest this as a good food option because of the calories, taste and texture.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Weigh In & Mini Goal Update

This week I lost 2.4 lbs for a total loss since 1/1/11 of 14.8 lbs. My first mini goal was to be at or below 270 by the weigh in after my birthday so I need to lose at least 1.2 lbs by 3/12/11 (next saturday) to accomplish that! I think it's doable...here we go!