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8/10/09

Tasty Tummy Filler

I'm struggling with perpetual hunger (as I usually do when I calorie count) and I just discovered yet another low-cal void filler:

1 can green beans (about 50 cal.)
1/4 cup salsa (about 25 cal.)


Heat the beans, drain the water, mix in the salsa. Presto: hot, tasty, somewhat filling, and only 75 calories :)

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8/7/09

Resuming Calorie Counting

Today I started calorie counting again. I was trying a few other things (smaller portions, exercise, etc.) but not really having much success. It occurred to me that even though I had the right intentions, unless my calories burned exceed my calories consumed, I'm not going to lose weight. How do I ensure this happens? Eat fewer calories. How do I do this? Count the flippin' things.

I'm an unconscious snacker. I eat all day long, PLUS eat full meals. In theory snacking often can speed up your metabolism, but you still won't lose weight if you consume more calories than you burn.

Today my count was 2,030. I was STARVING, which will give you a glimpse of what I would have eaten had I not restricted my intake. Yeesh.
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7/16/09

Finding New Ways To Exercise

I walk everywhere, kids in tow. This is great for many reasons, including health, financial and environmental. I'm finding that I'm not getting as much of a workout as I used to though.

A couple of years ago the kids rode everywhere in our Graco DuoGlider. I was pushing close to 100 lbs (not sure how much the stroller weighs but the kids were about 35-37 lbs each), AND I was walking briskly. Since my time wasn't eaten away by dawdling toddlers, I'd schedule us a little tighter and walk faster to reach our destinations. So when you combine brisk walking with weight pushing, you get calories burned! All my exercise needs were basically met.

Now, at the ages of 5 and 6 1/2, my kids walk everywhere too. This means we don't walk as quickly, and we stop to look at flowers and bugs and anything else you can imagine would interest a couple of curious kids. I still take the stroller to carry our stuff, but as you can guess, it's much lighter.

As a result, I'm having to be more creative as far as incorporating exercise into my day. One of the changes I've made is to remove a laundry basket from the main floor of our house. Now instead of tossing items into this basket and making one trip downstairs when the basket is full, I run each laundry item downstairs in individual trips (sometimes I wish my kids still rode in the stroller ;)

What are some interesting ways that you sneak exercise into your day? I'd love some new ideas!



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7/8/09

Dr. Rhonda Low, And What Happens To You Body When You Eat A High Fat Meal

I saw this Dr. Rhonda Low segment last night on the news that analyzed the blood of two volunteers before and after they ate a 6,000+ calorie high fat meal. I can't find the segment on line to share the link with you (but I did manage to find her twitter address! @doctorrhonda )

Anyway, the segment on the fatty food was quite shocking. Even after one meal, the volunteers' blood when from clear to cloudy, and the heart rates when from comfortable to struggling. Worth noting is that both volunteers where deemed healthy prior to the test.

Ouch.

It crossed my mind to save the taped segment and replay it every time I get an ice cream craving...

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7/7/09

Weight Loss With One Change At A Time

Yet again I'm trying to ditch the ice cream at midnight habit! So far so good. I'm on day 3 now.

Last night I caved a bit and had a couple of cheese strings (2 x 60 cals) and a chocolate covered chewy granola bar (150) for a total of 270 calories. This is still better than the ice cream, though, which I estimate to be near 1,000 (did I mention I dump chocolate chips, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup all over it? yeeesh. SO yummy though).

Wish me luck tonight! At the moment I'm strong, but anytime after 10:00 pm or so, I stop caring about the calories and I just want the ice cream!! Ahhhh... lol

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