day 178 (day 3 / week 26)

Today I did The Firm 3-in-1 Cardio Sculpt. I did the whole thing this time (yaay) and burned 573 calories in 60 minutes. I also will be doing 10 sets of 10 push ups throughout the day instead of all at one time, to spike the metabolism. They can be full on push ups, modified push ups (on the knees) or wall push ups, like from the other day. I am going to do a combo of all 3.

The other day I entered the 36 minutes I did of The Firm into my fitness tracker on SP, and it said that I burned 390 calories (today at the 36 min mark it said I burned 379). It really cracks me up that it grossly under estimates my walking (by like 900 calories), but over estimates my cardio videos (not by much though so that's good). Every one's bodies are different, and react differently to different workouts so I guess that makes sense. So glad this HRM calculates calories burned.

I really like this The Firm workout. It is a complete, total body workout with a warm up and cool down. I had sweat dripping down my face (that never happens!)! It was a GREAT workout, and I like how her (Allie DelRio Pointer's) circuits move along quickly, so you don't really have a chance to get bored. I was able to keep up much better this time, and am getting the hang of her choreography. The leg segment at the end is killer, but I like it :). I don't still feel all pumped afterward, and I actually have energy right now, unlike when I do the 30DS. After the 30 Day Shred, I feel exhausted.

I think I am going to re-do that calorie calculation formula, and account for my walks. I am going to commit to 3 days of my walks a week, and 4 days of these aerobic video's for the calculation. It seems about right. I'm curious to see if those numbers will change at all.

I am kind of mad at myself for not doing the 30DS yesterday, cause I had a 25 day streak going on that I threw out the window lol. Oh well lol. I may or may not do it this afternoon when we get back from my mother's house. We'll see :).

Have a great weekend! Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 162 (day 1 / week 24)

I can't believe how fast this week has gone by...

I found myself today wishing I hadn't committed to the 30 Day Shred (that commitment phobia kicking in lol) and I desperately wanted to do something different. I had a mini tantrum, in my head and procrastinated for a good 2 hours before doing something.

I did the 30 Day Shred, level THREE (day 11) and loved it! I love the traveling pushups, although I liked the walking ones too from Level 2. Not sure why, but I was able to hang with Jillian this time, instead of following along with Anita. It seemed easier, but I bet it's just a fluke lol. I think it's just cause it's new. It went by faster for me than the other 2 levels also, but I think it's because I didn't know what was going to happen next. What's going to happen now that I know what's in all 3 levels? *cry* I'm totally screwed now. Now I have to find something to trick my mind with, in order to keep this going. The sad part is that it's only day ELEVEN! *cry* I'll figure it out, cause there are worser things (like punking out all together). I can do this! I am a star!

Yesterday I said that I was going to give you guys the formula and do mine again, to make sure I'm eating enough, so this is going to be a long post. I learned this formula in school, but found it on sparkpeople.com again, so I am just going to copy/paste from there, since it's easier that way (for me lol). Thinking about this lately made me realize that I am doing something, that makes me crazy, and I said I wasn't going to do it. It's the whole reason why this is probably even an issue. I started weighing myself often again. I hid my scale, but I pull it out of the drawer to use it, and then put it back (great hiding space, and my hubby won't hide it for me! Grrrr). There is something comforting about standing on the scale for me. Knowing if I gained weight, or lost weight w/in a day's time doesn't make me feel like I have to work harder or less, or make me have a "fat" day and tell me what I can or can't wear or anything...I think I'm just more curious and fascinated with weight fluctuation, now that I track and write down everything that I put in my mouth very strictly. It makes me laugh when I see that I weighed 3 lbs less than yesterday morning, and drank the same amount of water, and ate pretty much the same foods (creature of habbit). Regardless, I need to stop! *looks in the mirror and points a finger* Stop it! Do you hear me?!?" *shakes shoulders.* OK...I'm not a crazy person. I promise.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A FITNESS PROFESSIONAL. Please keep this in mind when you do your calculations. However, the fitness professional on sparkpeople.com Becky Hand, a registered dietitian, is the person that made this formula available (I am not putting any blame on her either--I think it's a BLESSING that this info is available for us to use!)

Here is that formula. I am going to use myself as an example, you can just plug your own numbers in to find out your numbers:

Age: 31
HT: 5'3 (63 inches/160 centimeters/1.6 meters)
Current weight: 194 lbs (88 KG)
Goal weight: 135 lbs (61 KG)
Fitness plan: 30-60 minute cardio sessions, 7 times per week

Because these formulas use height in both centimeters and meters, here’s how to calculate it: Multiply height in inches by 2.54 to convert inches to centimeters. So, my height conversion would look like: 63 x 2.54 = 160 centimeters, or 1.6 meters Because these formulas use weight in kilograms, here’s how to calculate it: Divide weight in pounds by 2.2 to convert pounds into kilograms. So, my weight conversion looks like this: 194 ÷ 2.2 = 88 kilograms

STEP 1: DETERMINE YOUR BODY MASS INDEX:

BMI: 34

BMI = weight (in kilograms) divided by height squared (in meters). My BMI = 88 kilograms ÷ (1.6 meters x 1.6 meters) = 34.

STEP 2: SET YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOAL

I want to weigh 135 by December 31, 2009 (which probably wont happen) so I will settle for 2 lbs a week.

	Because I wants to lose another 59 pounds total, hopefully by the end of the year. That is 29 weeks away. I am setting a goal of 2 pounds a week, to try to get there, which adds up almost perfectly.

STEP 3: PLAN FOR FITNESS

I burn a
minimum: 2,597 calories/week
maximum: 6,069 calories/week

	According to sparkpeople, when I do 30 minutes of "circuit training" (my minimum) at 194 lbs I burn 371 calories/day, a minimum of 2597 calories weekly. On the days that I walk the most (80 minute 4.25 miles=496 calories) and do 30 minutes of circuit training, I burn 867 calories/day, a maximum of 6069 calories weekly. My fitness plan on sparkpeople reflects this with a weekly goal, advising me to burn 1620 calories through cardio, a week (which I ALWAYS go over).

STEP 4: MEETING YOUR BASAL METABOLIC NEEDS

My basal metabolic rate: 1,642 calories

Female BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg.) + (1.8 x height in cm.) – (4.7 x age in years) Male BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm.) - (6.8 x age in years) My BMR = 655 + (9.6 x 88 kg.) + (1.8 x 160 cm) – (4.7 x 31 years) = 1,642 calories

STEP 5: SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE ASSUMPTION

Sparkpeople assumes that outside of exercise, most people live a somewhat sedentary lifestyle:

SparkPeople makes the assumption that everyone is fairly sedentary throughout most of the day, except for the planned fitness activities they do. This sedentary lifestyle includes light walking on the job, light housekeeping, deskwork, running errands, etc. To determine the additional calorie needs of a relatively sedentary lifestyle, multiple your BMR by 1.2 to get the number of calories you need for both basal metabolic functions and light activity.

	Sedentary lifestyle needs: BMR x 1.2 My sedentary lifestyle needs: 1,642 calories x 1.2 = 1,970 calories.

STEP 6: TOTAL DAILY CALORIE NEED

I am exercising everyday, so I need to factor that into the equation:
I burn a minimum: 2,597 calories/week and a maximum: 6,069 calories/week

	My minimum daily calorie burn = 2597 calories weekly ÷ 7 days = 371 additional calories per day. My maximum daily calorie burn = 6069 calories weekly ÷ 7 days = 867 additional calories per day. Minimum: 1970 sedentary calories + 371 fitness calories = 2,341 total calories daily. Maximum: 1970 sedentary calories + 867 fitness calories = 2,837 total calories daily.

STEP 7: ACCOUNT FOR RATE OF WEIGHT LOSS

1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories. I want to lose 2 pounds a week which means that I want to lose 7000 calories a week.

Total Calorie Needs – weight loss rate (in calories per day) = Your Calorie Goal for Weight Loss Since I wants to lose 2 pounds per week, I need to cut 1000 calories per day. So, my minimum weight loss calorie target (2,341 calories – 1000 calories) is 1,341 calories per day, and my maximum weight loss calorie target (2,837 calories – 1000 calories) is 1,837 calories per day.

This makes so much sense to me! A few weeks ago, I realized that if I was eating 1300-1400 calories a day, I was losing weight. If I ate 1200, like sparkpeople has me eating, I go NO WHERE. I am appalled at the amount of calories I need to eat on maximum days, but I guess it makes sense.

Sparkpeople subtracts 250 calories from your weight loss goal (step 7) for the low end of the range, and adds 100 calories, to get the high end of the range. So for me:

on a 30 minute day:
1200 (1091*) calories -- 1441 calories (1200-1450, rounded to the nearest 10)
*The SparkPeople program will NOT allow any female to eat less than 1,200 calories daily or any male to eat less than 1,500 calories daily.

on a 110 minute day:
1587 calories -- 1937 calories (1590-1940, rounded to the nearest 10).

There you have it! I haven't been eating enough, but a part of me feels strange eating more, because the media and "common sense" (clearly not a smart statement at all) says "eat more, gain more, eat less, gain less." It's all about calories in and calories out. To tell you the truth, I'm afraid to eat more than 1500 calories a day because I am afraid I will gain weight. The math says that I wont, though, so I just need to trust that. If I start gaining weight, then we'll see, but for now, I'm still losing :).

Step #10: For Your Health and Safety

The SparkPeople program will NOT allow any female to eat less than 1,200 calories daily or any male to eat less than 1,500 calories daily.

When calories drop too low (usually below 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men), your body’s protection mechanism switches on because the body thinks it is starving. In order to conserve energy, the body lowers your metabolism and you will not burn calories as quickly. This results in a slower weight loss rate, or sometimes prohibits any weight loss from occurring.

At SparkPeople we call this “Starvation Mode”. When your caloric intake falls below these levels, it is also extremely difficult to obtain all the nutrients that your body needs for health and survival. These very low calorie intakes can also lead to other health problems such as eating disorders, gout, gallstones, and heart complications.

*deep breath* feels much better now. I did this before, but I didn't account for the days that I was doing more than 30 minutes. I would say that 3-4 days a week I am doing more than 30 minutes...

Sorry for the long blog. If you haven't joined sparkpeople yet, you should. It's free, and it's a PERSONALIZED plan. Fit just for you! You don't even need to have gym equipment or a gym membership! You don't even need to have videos! There are free videos on the site, from their Personal Fitness Trainer Nicole. This equation is calculated automatically into your nutrition plan, when you tell it how much exercise you do. It's been such a blessing, and I have regained knowledge that fell out of my head (mommy brain) years ago, and I have a better sense of how to make lasting lifestyle changes. SUCH A BLESSING!

Those of you that introduced sparkpeople to me, I don't have enough gratitude to express to you....thank you! thank you! thank you!

Make today count! Knowledge is power! Make it happen!

I can do this. I am a star.