Tag Archive: calories

Possibly overdoing it

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Sun. January 24, 2010

Some days I wonder if I’m starting to overdo this whole fitness thing.

No, for God’s sake I’m not bragging. Ugh.

I sometimes fear that I’m doing way too much and that my body just isn’t strong enough to handle all of the strain that I’m placing on it. As the coach for the half marathon clinic I’ve really been trying to be on top of my game. I mean, it’s important for me to set an example for everyone else, right? This late into this training cycle, our distances are now up to 16-18K. That’s nothing to sneeze at. It burns a heck of a lot of calories. My heart rate monitor claimed that I burned 1800+ cals on this morning’s run. Also on Sundays are those plyometrics classes. I just don’t have opportunities to take that class at any other time during the week. So, I’ve really been training myself to be able to handle that strenuous class even after having done several hours of running.

Today, after I finished the route, instead of heading back home for a pit stop I decided to hang around north of the city and visit a Tim Hortons to down two cups of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I figured that I needed something to make me not feel tired and something to help me refuel. It’s a good thing that I did that prep work; I actually came out of plyometrics feeling strong. That class burned another 650+ cals. Combined with running, that’s simply a lot of exercise in one day.

I worry. Will my body just rebel one day and tell me that enough is enough? Probably not, but it’s still something I need to observe. For sure, I don’t mind the side-effect of burning a large amount of calories. It’s a factor that’s really helped me to shed some weight. If I continue at this rate though, will I become all sickly? I figure that it’s very possible that something has got to give. It’s a good thing then that I’m doing my best to keep my body healthy. I’ve recently started taking various vitamins and minerals in supplemental form. They should help to keep things in great working order, no? If I somehow fall along the way though, I’m quite sure that someone will tell me. All I can do is to try my best.

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The downward slope

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Thu. January 14, 2010

I’ve been writing about watching what I’ve been eating a bit more often over the past few months. In turn, I’ve also been blogging about all of the incidental things that results in. And that’s mostly because I’ve been getting good results. Fifteen pounds in 3 months is decent and healthy, isn’t it? Well, through the holiday season my weight lost slowed down considerably. I blamed it on the holiday eating. Seemed like the logical thing to do, right? At the very least, I can say that I didn’t gain anything over that tough period. Yay me, I guess. Well, here I am now in mid-January and it seems like my progress has all but slowed to a really slow drip. It’s been bugging me for a while now. I’m increasing my mileage and the amount of calories I’ve been burning. Shouldn’t that be having some accelerated effect? Clearly something in the equation was off. It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally found it.

So, I’ve been using an online food tracker to keep an eye on my intake. I’ve been pretty religious about putting my information in. It’s really necessary for me to do so just so I can get a good idea if I’m over-eating or not. At the beginning the tracker was picking ranges that were somewhat low and restricted. At first I found that I was getting to the end of the calories before the end of the day. In time I adjusted and started eating healthier just to be able to stay in range. If I compare the ranges I had back then to the ranges that are being picked out for me these days, the difference is actually kind of big. I’d almost say that there’s been a 400 calorie daily shift. The change over time in the range was so slow that I didn’t even notice. That might explain why weight loss has slowed down to a trickle.

So, what happened? Why did the program change things like it did? Well, this evening I checked out the goals that I originally picked. I was surprised to find that I was actually pretty close to my original goal. Also, my goal date was still a long time away. As a result, the site adjusted the ranges to have me lose at a rate slow enough to hit the weight exactly by the deadline. Hahah. That explains so much. So! I fiddled around with the settings and changed my goal and goal date to something more sensible.

My goal is to shed 1 lb. per week. I’ve set my deadline to be the end of April. This is a very healthy and reasonable goal. After plugging my data into the site, it adjusted my caloric ranges back to what I saw back in October. Nice. I ready to set the graphs back on a downward slope. Yes! Let’s get’er done!

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Chicken, socialization, or beer

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Thu. January 7, 2010

I’ve been craving chicken wings for a few days. I don’t know, that’s pretty random isn’t it? Then, out of the blue I got an invite to meet up with running friends for beer and wings on Friday. Apparently I willed it and the universe obliged. Isn’t that how The Secret works? Hahahah.

Knowing what’s in store for tomorrow, I’ve been doing my homework. I’ve been checking out the caloric content for wings and potentially beer. I know what I can get away with and what my limits should be. I know how much variance I can get away with. That’s right:I’m going in with a game plan! Yes, it sounds all very fastidious, and even a bit overboard; however, I acknowledge that I need to at least make the effort.

I’ve been working hard for the past few months! It’s not that I’m forcing myself to be good. I actually kind of believe this is now part of a good habit thing that I developed. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t think I could just go ahead and throw caution to the wind. Of course, once I get there, it might all just go out the window and I might end up eating wings like they were going out of style. Even if that happens, if I do some prep work before hand then it at least minimizes the damage. See, I’ve thought it all out. This evening, I made a pasta sauce that was loaded with veggies. I normally toss in a few meatballs for some protein, but I met my protein reqs earlier in the day. As such, I knew that I could skip the meat. The result was a lower calorie meal. I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to deprive myself of chicken, socialization, or beer. It’ll all work out!

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Running, sliding, jumping, squatting

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Sun. December 27, 2009

Some days I seem to be more of an overachiever, perhaps against better judgment, when it comes to this whole healthy thing. This morning I had my usual Sunday long run. I picked out a nice 14K route for everyone that was sort of challenging. There were enough uphill and downhill parts to keep everyone guessing. What made the route all that more challenging was the fact that the temperature was hovering around freezing, to a few degrees above that. What that meant was that there were a lot of frozen patches on the sidewalk from melted snow refreezing, or from collected rain becoming slick. I had many close calls today. There was one slip where I must have travelled 1′ on ice on one foot. It’s a wonder that I didn’t have a bad accident. Someone posited that it might be because I’m too busy keeping an eye on everyone else. Someone else joked that it was only because I was obviously clumsy. Frankly, I think it’s a bit of both.

After the first kilometre or two we’d all spread out into small packs running at particular paces. This time around my pod had about four others running at my pace. You know, one great thing about now having a little bit of speed is that I’m actually able to run with other people. I remember back when I was starting out I always had a bit of a complex when it came to group running. I knew I was slow so I didn’t want people to deliberately slow themselves down just to keep me company. In my mind, everyone has goals to reach for; I didn’t want to be the reason for someone not reaching his or her goal, know what I mean? So, this morning because of everyone the time just flew by. Before I knew it we were on the home stretch. Perhaps if I were to run it on my own it would seem like forever. I was sort of afraid that I’d find the run difficult. On my way in, on the highway I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to bring my water bottle. So, I was going without hydration for the whole distance. I at least knew that I could look forward to getting water as soon as I got back to store, right? That would have been true except they’d run out of cups by the water cooler. What kind of cruel joke was that? Hah. I just ended up rushing back home to get my fill.

I would have been ready to take a nap as soon as I got back, except for the fact that I wanted to go to that plyometrics class. After my first experiences there, I decided to get a set of ten drop-in classes. So, I really need to make use of them whenever possible. Besides, they’re just fun. I knew that I’d get my butt kicked though. I mean, after all of the energy spent running fourteen, would I have anything left in the tank? I had no choice. The class had me breathing hard right from the beginning. All of the running and jumping was draining. One part of the class had us doing some work on a Bosu trainer. That thing is great for working on stability for sure. Ever try to do a plank on one of those? Yeesh. We were also jumping on and off the thing, as well as doing alternating squats on it. I gave it all I could most of the time, but there were many times I had to take a few seconds to gather myself together. By the end, I was pretty ragged and soaked with sweat, but man, it was all worth it.

So, it’s now evening, and really I’ve been lying on the couch for a good part of the day. I developed a decent headache about mid-afternoon. It was the type of headache that I only got when I haven’t been eating enough. Yeah, my caloric intake was out of whack with my expenditures. I had a decent pasta dinner, and now I’m just trying to recover. I guess I was a little bit hardcore today. Once in a while it’s a good thing, no?

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Food challenges and self-control

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Fri. October 30, 2009

Graaagh. This time of year certainly does bring a good number of challenges if you plan on eating a little bit healthier than you normally would, eh? Thanksgiving was just a few weeks ago, and it was hard enough trying to not to gorge myself on turkey and gravy. However, for the most part I did behave. The second challenge came today; the battlefield was the workplace. With Halloween happening on the weekend, all festivities happened today. That means there was a large abundance of chocolate and candy in the office. Sure, the items are labelled as “treat sized” but seriously, would you be able to eat just one?

One might say that the solution would be to just not eat any of it. Well, duh. Thing is that I kind of wanted it. The way I’ve been going about this health thing, I’ve made it a resolution to not deprive myself of things. If I want sugar and empty calories, I’ll just fit it somehow–just at the cost of something else. Well, I had one treat, which was followed by a few more. I recorded it all, and in the end I drew the line at some point. I figured that I had somehow managed to contain the damage. Oh, but then came lunch. Today’s company lunch was catered by a restaurant specializing in soup. They brought four types: chili, tomato and red pepper, Senegalese peanut and chicken, and bisque. I went through choosing the chili, which was really good. Unfortunately, I somehow got the idea that it would be a good idea to sample the other three soups as well. I mean, when else would I have a chance to try these things out for free, right? I worked my way through the pots, taking a partial ladle of each one. Yes, they all were really great. However, I mentally seemed to forget my sense of control. I plugged each serving into my calorie tracker. To my (non-)shock I was in range for my total calories for the day. That would be great except for the fact that it was only midday at the time. Shit!

Well, it’s now the end of the day and I decided that I’d just allow myself to go a little bit over range today. There was no way I would be able to go through the rest of the day without another bite of food. That’s just not healthy. I told myself that this was acceptable. Why? Well, going over once in a while isn’t a bad thing, right? Just as long as I don’t make a habit of it I should be fine. That’s because on average I’d still be in a deficit. See, it all works out.

I’m sure there are more challenges looming on the horizon, but I know that I can face them, or at least plan for them. I’m not going to let any small slip ups bring me down. I know I’m on the right track.

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There’s a learning curve involved

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Mon. October 19, 2009

Thought I was being good at lunch today by ordering a spicy chicken breast on a bed of salad. Sounds bleedin’ well healthy, except for the fact that the salad was smothered in Caesar dressing. That made the salad pretty fatty. Damn.

Guess that just shows that I’m still learning.

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The numbers game

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Thu. October 15, 2009

About a week ago, I stated here that I’ve started keeping track of what I’ve been eating. Like I said before, doing so has lead me to an increased awareness in terms of the caloric density of things. Consider salad without the dressing. I could a whole whack of that and it’d still be under 100 calories. For dinner this evening I boiled two cups of frozen broccoli and cauliflower. That’s a whole lot! Even so, that only totalled 60 calories. That’s insane! By contrast, consider a measly cup of white rice. That actually comes out to 242 calories.

I don’t think I’m on a proper diet or anything. I’m not cutting out nasty things from my diet. Instead I’m just making sure that my daily intake falls within a particular range. I still have chips or the occasional chocolate bar. The only difference now is that I know that if I eat something nasty or high calorie it only means that I don’t have that many calories left for later snacks or dinner. I’ll use today as an example. For lunch, a colleague and I went to a Chinese restaurant for takeout. I got a combo with a big pile of rice, barbecue pork, and Peking duck. On paper it doesn’t seem like much, but the 2.5 cups of rice alone goes beyond 600 calories. Based on the website I’m using, the whole thing came out to just under 1200 calories. Bloody hell! Including what I ate for breakfast, I was only left with about 300-500 calories to stay in range. Knowing that I’d done that, I messed with my dinner plans a little bit. I ended up eating 2 cups of broccoli and cauliflower with about a cup of chopped leftover turkey. I tossed in some almond dessert tofu and in the end I had a satisfying dinner that didn’t make me go over my daily quotas. See! All is well.

Really, one week in, so far so good. My mathematical mind is treating it all like the numbers game that it really is. It’s also that part of me that’s actually measuring out servings. I have a bag of Ruffles in the cupboard that I’ve slowly been eating through. The label says that a serving is about 20 chips so I’ve damn well been counting out 20 chips. In all seriousness, 20 chips is satisfying enough. I have a box of Mini Wheats. For breakfast I’ve been counting out of those little 27 biscuits and measuring out half a cup of milk. I’m well aware of how anal this all sounds. I mean, there doesn’t seem to be any freedom. However, if it means I can quantify the effects of food I’m quite willing to do it. I’m finding that measuring out and eating “one serving” or certain foods is actually enough. It’s surprising, and yet it shouldn’t be.

So far, there hasn’t been much temptation to go over the caloric range. When I’m in my own place, I have control. There’s pumpkin ice cream in the freezer that I want to get to, but I know that I have to make room for it if I want some. Lately I haven’t been doing so, so there it sits, and I’m OK with that. It’s when I go out, or to my parents’ place that things tend to go off the rails. A few days ago I was visiting them and somehow in one meal I managed to stuff down lobster, pork, rice, yogurt, cashews, and mushrooms. Yeah…I went over that day. Luckily, that was the day that I’d done the 21K run so I was legitimately all right with going over. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with some friends and we’re going for hot pot for dinner; I’m already trying to work out my plan of attack. I can’t just starve myself until then, but I intend to save as many calories as I can until that meal.

So, is all of this insanity worth it? Well, combined with some exercise, this whole endeavour is showing some positive signs: I’m actually down a few pounds. Of course, we’re only a week in, so perhaps it’s too early to tell. I don’t know. In any case, I plan on keep up with this for at least a few months. I’ll keep y’all posted.

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Keeping track of inputs and outputs

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Thu. October 8, 2009

About a day or two ago I decided to start keeping track of what I’ve been eating. I mean, with all of the running that I’ve been doing you’d think that the weight would’ve been tumbling off. Yeah, sure, I’ve lost about 20 lbs. since I’ve started running in 2007, but there was so much potential there. Lately, I’ve plateaued. Over the span of months I tend to waver by about 5 pounds in either direction, basically netting to 0 change. I’m not seeing much progress at all anymore. So, if I’m getting the cardio in, then that tells me that food is the culprit. I’m throwing it out there that I will attempt to keep my daily consumption of calories to 1800-2100 for the next little while. That’s a couple hundred lower than my required daily intake to stay where I’m at. I want to see if that has any effect.

So, even though I’ve only been tracking for a few days, I’m already making some interesting observations. I’m quite amazed at how even a bit of junk food can eat into daily limits. Earlier today I went with some colleagues to McDonalds. I was looking at the Value Menu and decided to get too baked pies for $1.39. Sounds like a decent deal, doesn’t it? I glommed down both pies pretty easily and went to check the stats after. It turns out that both pies cost me 540 cals total. That’s insane! Those could honestly have gone to something better, know what I mean?

I guess one of the good things about keeping track is just the general increased awareness of it all. I can imagine that over time this record keeping can help me figure out what’s too much, and how to balance things. For example, if I plan on eating a donut, that better come out of the budget elsewhere. Still…it remains to be seen how much of an effect this will all have.

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