With hubby's birthday and some work related things, this goal has been on the back burner. But over the weekend, realizing Vegas is coming up very soon, I decided to bring it front and center.
Ideally, I'd like to lose about 10 -15 lbs. total. That's about what I was in college and truly a "happy weight" for me, I think. But there are so many variables ... I've had a kid, so things have definitely changed. Right now I'm focusing more on a tone body as well, so when it's muscle versus just slim, that makes a huge difference in the number on the scale in relation to the size. Overall, I just want to feel good in my own skin - which is definitely not the case right now.
For my workouts, I'm trying to keep things really simple. Running is such a great form of cardio, and last fall, hubby and I invested in a treadmill. So, I'm aiming to begin running again at least every other day. I've also discovered there will be a 5K in my town on April 6, so my goal is to be back at being able to run the full thing, hopefully in less than 30 minutes.
One of my biggest trouble areas is my tummy. So, I decided to do the Fab Abs January workout schedule I found on Pinterest.
I didn't come across this until last week and just began on Saturday, so I'm planning to do 2-3 workouts each day until I get caught up. So far, I've done five days and my chest/abs are already hurting.
I've also pinned similar calendars for February, March and April, and am looking forward to having an easy workout that isn't too time-intensive to keep me working my abs daily.
Of course, one of the biggest problems/lifestyle changes I need to make is altering my food choices! While nursing, I could eat anything and literally not gain a pound. For awhile, I was eating two breakfasts. Those days are over and those habits have got to change. So I'm working really hard to have healthier options for breakfast, lunch and my snacks. I'm not going to be too restrictive on what I cook for supper, but I am going to work on smaller portions.
I'm considering downloading one of the calorie tracking apps to help me see just how much I consume daily. Do you have any suggestions? And for those of you who already do this and are restricting yourselves to 1200 or 1400 calories a day, what suggestions do you have regarding the foods I can eat that are filling yet low in calories?
I know a lot of my readers are already pros at what I am setting out to accomplish, so please, share your tips and successes with me.
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Hubby and I use My Fitness Pal - it's free! I have a Spark Page on SparkPeople- which is free online but the app (which is actually nicer than MFP) is 3.99 instead of free... so we went with free. :) Instead of a calorie range to stick to - it gives you one calorie goal. I'm sure yours will be minimum like mine which is 1200 calories. I do love the button that says that you're finished tracking for the day - it tells you what you'd weigh in 5 weeks if you ate like that every day. It's neat. I put my first couple "in 5 weeks weight" in my phone and now that I've done it for 5 weeks, I'm less than it said I would be. :)
ReplyDeleteOh! Popcorn! There are 100 calorie bags that you can get butter or kettle corn flavor. They're small snack size but if you like to "munch" or feel like you are eating more than you really are - those work great.
I use the my fitness pal app, it makes it super easy to add up calories and most store brand items are already loaded in the app. When I'm trying to loose weight (like this holiday 5 lbs) I am shooting for 1200 days, 400 a meal. I drink as much water as I can stand. Walden farms is a brand that makes 'no calorie' dressings, sauces, etc. They don't taste amazing but they aren't bad either. Celery + walden farms peanut butter or their ranch salad dressing is something I try and keep at work because its basically a 'zero' calorie snack. Pickles are super low calorie so I'm always snacking on the claussen dill slices. Veggies and fruit are typically all low cal, so have a small helping of meat/starch and a larger portion of veggies. I always eat my veggies first so I'm as full as possible before I start on my meat/starch and I know when I'm full.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else I use myfitness pal. I have it set for a 1/2 lb weight loss a week so I have 1540 calorie allowance a day but try and stay underneath that. I set it that way incase I go over the 1200 calorie limit I don't feel like a failure! Good luck
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