12/11/2010

Today is my day off :P I ate well, didn't exercise and plan on being back tomorrow ;).

Warm Regards,

Christina

12/10/10

Beverages:

1.5 cups organic whole milk

15 cups of water

1 cup mother's milk nursing tea

Breakfast:

1 cup oatmeal

2 tea sugar

2 teas butter

Lunch:

A ginormeous salad with the following ingredients:

4 cups spring mix

5.5oz of an avocado (ok I over did it, but I really wanted the whole thing LOL next time, I only need an ounce or two)

3 ounces of turkey

1 ounce cheddar

3oz carrots chopped

1tbsp balsamic vinegar

1tbsp organic olive oil

Snack:

p90x recovery drink with one scoop protein powder

Dinner:

Baked Ham

Roasted Potatoes

.5 cup cup green beans

Dessert: EPIC FAIL

6oz of COFFEE (WAAAAAAAA) with a teaspoon of cream and a teaspoon of sugar (ugh, more on this below)

Approximate Nutritional Breakdown:

2289 Calories

159 g Protein

111 g fat

163 g carbs

Approximate calorie burn:

1660 resting metabolic rate

400 avg. from breastfeeding

200 from moderate daily activity

400 from turbofire tone 45ez workout (nothing easy about it!)

Approximate calorie deficit:

2660 - 2289 = 371 - kind of pathetic, but much better than nothing and a whole lot better than a gain!

My Thoughts:

Less avocado next time lol and no coffee! If I had eaten only 2 oz of avocado, it would have been 150 calories less and take out the coffee, it would have been 25 calories less, bringing my deficit rate up to 546 - a much more respectable number. But alas, I ate all that avocado and a lot of ham at dinner lol.

I "caved" and justified having coffee this evening and 6oz in, I decided to quit. It's just not worth it! The calories for one and I caved on my commitment, NOT OKAY! It was hard for me to come on here and admit it, but I had to because I can't lie to you.

Another realization I had today... I hate working out more than 30 - 40 minutes TOPS and I just don't have enough TIME to workout more than that at this stage in my life. So next time, I'll just skip a little portion in the middle of my longer workouts, and vary which parts I skip each time so I don't miss too much overall. A lot of the workouts are about 30-40 minutes so I won't have to do it often.

Warmest Regards,

Christina

My Calorie Needs in a Nutshell

Just a general guide to show how I calculate my calorie needs each day:

You start with your "Resting Metabolic Rate" RMR for short. You calculate this by taking your weight and multiplying by 10. Everyone is individual and will need to keep that in mind, some people burn more, some less, but this is a great place to start in trying to figure out your own caloric needs. Also, even though your weight starts going down, you may still be burning more because of building muscle, but generally it's good to stick with this calculation unless you're starting to feel fatigued in general, then you *might* be suffering from a genuine need for more of the right kind of calories. Listen to your body, *you* will know when something is wrong.

My RMR is 1650 this week. As I lose weight I will need to adjust my calculations.

The next thing you'll need to calculate is calorie burn from regular daily activity. This is called DAB for short (daily activity burn). You calculate by multiplying your RMR by either 10% for sedentary activity, 20% for moderate activity, or 30% for high activity.

Some days I am 10%, others 20%, so calculate daily as necessary and will also adjust as my RMR goes down with my weight :D

Next I get to calculate a circumstantial calorie burn (which is awesome!) for breastfeeding my 7 month old son :D. Breastfeeding on average burns 300-500 calories per day, so I average it out to 400.

Breastfeeding a 7 month old, full time = 400 calories on average

1660+200+400=2260 for my total calorie burn. This does NOT include exercise calorie burn, but we'll get to that later.

QUALITY of calories count as well!

I am mostly concerned about HEALTHY FATS (and my definition of healthy fats is far from average, please visit HERE for some more info) and protein intake. I'd like to keep my carbohydrate intake below 125g daily.

I need to start creating a calorie deficit, either through eating less or through exercise. I hope to start with exercise :P cause I like eating a little too much.

3500 calories = 1lb

each 3500 calorie deficit = 1lb lost!

Hey, ho, let's go!

Why has Christina (the coffee girl!) given up coffee???

If you've known me for any length of time, you know my great love for coffee. I love the smell, I love the look, I love the mugs (oh HOW I love the MUGS!), I love the memories it brings to mind each and every time I drink it *sigh*. I have finally decided that on a day to day basis, coffee will not be a part of my daily routine any longer. Here are my reasons, as succinctly as I could put them.

1). Calories & nutrition were definitely a factor. I like my coffee heavy on the cream and sugar. Too much sugar is not good for our body in general and causes us to hang on to and gain fat more so than other macro-nutrients in general. Also, I could be using my calorie allotment for the day on much more beneficial things.

2.) Caffeine (not just coffee per say) is hard on the digestive system and coffee's acidic nature can also be stressful on the digestive system as well. A healthy digestive system or "gut" for short, is vital for overall health and well being. The gut is one of the first lines of defense in our immune system and if our gut isn't healthy, we can't fight off disease well and we can't properly digest and absorb all the good things in the good foods we eat!

3.) Lastly, and it's so hard to admit this part... coffee is mood altering and addictive and when I don't get it at regular intervals, I don't like the cranky, unmotivated, tired person I become. I want my choices and the power of God's Holy Spirit living within me to control my behavior, not some outside substance that I am choosing to consume, knowing that it's my little "cheerleader in a cup" as the comedian Anita Renfroe so eloquently puts it.

I hope that explains it well enough and I admit I will use coffee when in dire need, but as far as it becoming a regular part of my daily routines again, it's so long and farewell, my good coffee friend.

Warmest Regards,

Christina

12/09/2010

Beverages:

3.5 cups organic whole milk

12 cups of water

1 cup ginger ale

Breakfast:

1 cup oatmeal

1 tbsp sugar

2 teas butter

Lunch:

A delicious concoction that I made from leftovers, it involved mushrooms, cheese, tuna salad, leftover pasta & white balsamic vinegar

Snack:

p90x recovery drink

Dinner:

Baked Ham

Roasted Potatoes

3/4 cup green beans

Approximate Nutritional Breakdown:

1711 Calories

90 g Protein

70 g fat

180g carbs

Approximate calorie burn:

1660 resting metabolic rate

400 avg. from breastfeeding

250 from moderate daily activity

400 from turbofire tone 30 workout

Approximate calorie deficit:

2710 - 1711 = 999 (waaaaaaaa!)

My Thoughts:

I'm on my first day of officially not drinking coffee anymore... it's been rough. Technically I started not drinking coffee when I started getting sick 2 1/2 days ago approximately, but today is my first concerted effort towards not drinking it anymore. I've said many times how I wanted to stop drinking it, and even tried for a day.... lol or less. But this time, I'd like to make it stick. I'm not swearing off it entirely, just on a day to day basis. I'll post more about my reasons why in another post.

I felt good today. I got a headache and started feeling sleep right before dinner time, but I usually feel that way, coffee or no, so I just took some Ibuprofen for the head ache and pressed on. I didn't really *try* very hard as far as what kinds of foods I took in today and that's probably why I didn't do a great job on my protein intake and my carb count was a little higher than I would like it to be. I did manage to get in a good strength building workout this afternoon and it KICKED MY BUTT. Gotta love TurboFire :D

12/08/2010

All still recovering, much like the day before - I'll be back in action tomorrow!

Regards,

Christina

12/07/2010

The kids and I were sick sick sick with a fast moving stomach bug :P nothing in the way of exercise and little in the way of eating happened today.

I'll be back tomorrow!

Blessings,

Christina