Your Best Guestimate - Day 10

It wasn’t easy traveling and having to figure out calories this weekend. Actually, it was near impossible. My husband and best friend have embarked on this healthy lifestyle change with me. All weekend our conversation sounded like this:

“How many calories do you think are in one bratwurst?” We didn’t know, and we will never know.

“How many calories do you think are in one piece of sushi and one mini crab cake?” Damn weddings and the associated foods of usual portions.

"How many calories are in an Irish Car Bomb?" Not a political statement, but a drink shot containing a variety of alcohols. Identities have been concealed to protect the innocent. My guestimate: too many calories.

Lots of Weird Weight Loss Tips for Traveling

• Bring an apple (I got this from H3 friend Jeff) .
• Order a side salad and appetizer with protein for your meal.
• Eat half of hotel omelet, but regular serving of fruit.
• Ask your friends or co-workers for help. Just verbalizing “Which do you think is better?” might help you make a better food choice. Even if you already know which item on the menu is a better choice.
• Walk when you can. Skip the cab or rental car. Unless you are wearing 4-inch heels to the wedding. You then have permission to take a cab.
• When tempted by the Doritos at the pre-wedding picnic, get up and play a game of Corn Hole. I am not okay with the name of this game, but it is fun. I was tempted by the Doritos and avoided Doritos with a game of Corn Hole.
• Do better than you normally would. Even if you don’t make the best choice every time. Make better choices. This is great advice I heard from Bob Wright at Hilton Head Health. Bob is the Director of Education.
• Get back to your structured eating and exercising plan when you get home.
• Congratulate yourself for focusing on your goals even when you are away from home.

Tuesday Exercise Journal
Boot Camp 10: 10 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, jumping jacks, 300 meters. Repeat 5 times.
Weights: 8lb, 12 reps: biceps, flys, squats, triceps, rows, full overhead press.
18 flights of stairs

Tuesday Food Journal
075 - Egg
025 - Blueberries
025 - Plain yogurt
035 - Kashi Go Lean Whole Grain Puffs
018 - Spinach and sprouts
140 - Grilled chicken
025 - Balsamic dressing
100 - Banana
025 - Blueberries
025 - Plain yogurt
035 - Kashi Go Lean Whole Grain Puffs
070 - Honeydew
035 - Laughing Cow Light Cheese
120 - cheese bread
075 - Hummus
075 - Tabouli
225 - Turkey burger
042 - Peach

The Importance of Being Earnest - Day 9

I’ve got exercise on the brain. It is probably a little irritating to the people around me who are not thinking about exercise. I went to Hilton Head Health with my friend Mamie just over two week ago. We are still focusing on lessons learned during our H3 experience. This weekend, Mamie and I met up at a friend’s wedding in Minnesota.

On Saturday morning before the festivities started, we decided to take a 3 mile walk along the Mississippi. As we started walking, I asked Mamie what we used to do with our time on other trips like this. I’m the curious one. Mamie responded, “Eat.” She is the wise one.

What downtown St. Paul, Minnesota looks like at 7 a.m. if you decide to take a stroll

In the past, we would have had a long breakfast that would turn into a long lunch, and inevitably that would turn into a long dinner. Somewhere in between we’d visit a museum or local point of interest, but meals punctuated our mini-college reunions. When I think back on all the places I’ve visited, I think mostly of the food I’ve eaten in those places. New York, Chicago, Toronto. Lots of nice restaurants. Once I took a walk in New York when I was there for work. I got up at 5 a.m. and hit the streets looking for a good bagel. It was a 30 minute walk (food inspired, but a walk none the less). Now, I wish I’d taken more walks like that in different cities.

First thing Saturday morning, my husband and I took a 30 minute walk around downtown St. Paul. Quiet city, good for walking. Mid morning, we took a 3 mile walk along the Mississippi. Out of my 10 friends, 6 opted to go on the long walk with me and Mamie. Instead of two good meals we had two good walks. Instead of eating and talking, we were walking and talking. Same good time. Fewer calories.

Weird Weight Loss Tip
"Before breakfast" and "after lunch" are not times. Stop telling time by meals. I noticed I’ve been doing this throughout the blog and in life. I’m going to make a conscious effort to start telling time be the time of day, and not my belly!

Get by with a little help from your friends. I know they say have a workout buddy. Someone to be accountable to, but I disagree. If you have a workout buddy that is fine. But I say beg borrow and steal a workout buddy. You don’t need one forever, you need one for every day. Could be a different one each day. This weekend Mamie and I asked our friends if they wanted to walk with us. Most of them did. The boys made us do 1 minute runs, push-ups, jumping jacks. I decline the push-ups, but I’m grateful that they were there to push us a little further than we may have done on our own. Thanks, Posse! I love you guys. Thanks for the great walk. We would have made Huck and Tom proud.

Monday Exercise Journal
22 flights of stairs at work
30 minutes in park with monsters

Monday Food Journal
090 - Cottage cheese
120 - Honeydew
005 - Celery
200 - Marinara meat sauce
280 - 2 slices oat bread
042 - Peach
200 - Meatball
060 - Bread w/cheese
012 - 1 Baked Dorito (Don't ask. Didn't know Doritos could be singular, did you? Next time I won't eat it, just so I don't look stupid having to journal about it)
025 - Honeydew

Back to Life – Day 8

Monday Weigh In : - 7 lbs. (Weight change July 12 to date)

Wooo hoo! I checked at work and at home. Both scales are showing the same amount lost. I’m pretty surprised, but I also know that weight can drastically fluctuate. We’ll see what my results are next Monday for comparison. I am happy.

Weekend in review

Friday
Exercise Journal
20 minute walk before work
20 minute walk at the airport. We skipped the train in the ATL airport and walked to our concourse. Ya’ll in Atlanta know that is a workout.

Food Journal
100 - Oatmeal
150 – ½ Frozen Banana with Peanut Butter
Unknown Lunch– Arugula, yellow beet, blue berry, and gorgonzola salad, 2 oz beef tenderloin, ½ chocolate peanut butter cupcake, ½ meltaway cookie (yumminess)
Unknown Dinner – 1 beef slider no bun, 1 fish slider no bun, 1 onion ring, 2 cheese curds, 1 mini-meatball, 2 sips strawberry milkshake
Unknown drinks – Irish Car Bomb and Kamikaze

Good News. Skipped the beer at the Happy Gnome in St. Paul. Bad News. The Irish Car Bomb and Kamikaze at dinner. Less worried about the two shots of worthless alcohol and calories, but more worried that I’m too old to do shots. After taking both shots, my college roommates and I were tired and immediately went back to hotel to sleep. Rather unlike nights of debauchery in our younger days.

Saturday
Exercise Journal
30 minute walk in downtown St. Paul pre-breakfast
1 hour – 3 mile walk/run along the Mississippi river

I want to give a special thanks to my friends for taking a long walk with us on Saturday. Extra motivation and fun! I'll tell you more about it in tomorrow's blog.

Food Journal
Unknown calories most of the day. This is bad news. Good news is that I tested my judgement and portion control skills.
½ hotel omelet, ½ sausage, 50 calories of honeydew, 40 calories of coffee with milk
Lunch – 1 Bratwurst and 1 hot dog no buns. 1 tsp potato salad, cole slaw, and kraut. 1 piece of rye bread, 1 slice of corned beef, 2 mini-lemon cookies, 1 oatmeal cookie.
Dinner – Wedding reception. Lost track here, but I was nervous about giving a toast to bride and groom. I made better food choices than normal. Enjoyed 2 mojitos and a glass of champagne.

Good News. I brought my running shoes and did a 3 mile walk/run while traveling! Bad news. I remembered running shoes, but not my workout pants. Good thing Minnesota is the home of Target. No excuse not to workout on this trip!

Sunday
Food Journal
200 – ½ turkey sandwich
040 – Coffee with skim milk
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
280 – 2 pieces Pepperidge farm soft oatmeal bread
090 – 1 tbsp peanut butter
080 – 2 tsp Polaner’s cherry preserves
120 – 1.5 eggs
160 – 2 oz salmon
050 – Sautéed spinach and green peppers
50 – 4 oz Organic limeade

Exercise Journal
1.5 hours in the Great Barn at Stone Mountain Park. It is like Cross Fit for kids. Running jumping, sliding, climbing, throwing. I got a lot of exercise in there! I also felt a lot better than the last time I was in there with my monsters. Better fitness actually means more fun for all.
20 minutes Paddle boat at Stone Mountain Park. Big monster is too short to paddle so I had to do all the work.

Weird Weight Loss Tip
Don’t just take the stairs instead of the escalator. Don’t just walk instead of the moving sidewalk. Pick someone on the escalator or moving sidewalk and try to keep up with them while you are on foot. It might seem creepy at the mall, but if you do this at the airport, people with think you are just trying to catch your flight!

Weird Weight Loss Tip for Weddings
As my dear friend Mamie said as she walked on to the dance floor this weekend, “I’m just here to burn calories.” Don’t forget to dance. No one cares if you dance like Elaine Benes from Seinfield, Mamie. Oh, wait. That's how you run. Different story. Have fun, burn calories!

Run Away with Me - Day 5

It has been a weird week. I feel like I have a new superpower. My husband claims he can hear his metabolism buzzing. Here is the problem, I'll be traveling soon. A wedding out of town. Lots of friends from college. Oh, don't you remember how much fun food was in college?

I'm going to eat and enjoy myself, but I'm also going to bring my running shoes. Something I've never done before, but I heard an interesting comment at Hilton Head Health from Beth Leermakers. Dr. Leermakers is Hilton Head Health's Wellness Counselor.

What would a runner do if she were traveling? She'd pack her running shoes. I've packed my running shoes. I've carved out some time on Saturday morning to walk or run or move before the wedding festivities start. Ditto for Sunday before I fly back home. I'd like to do 30 minutes each day. More if I can. I've also packed my food journal so you can hear all about the exciting things I eat, and maybe about the exciting things I opt not to eat. Of course, I'll bring my camera.

Weird Weightloss Tip
Be your own fortune teller. Write down what you plan to eat at the beginning of the day. Having a plan means you might better be able to control your calorie intake. Hmm. This is great advice. I might just try this! Actually, I did this twice this week and it helped me avert "emergency" eating and snacking. Happy exercising and happy eating!

Going to miss me until Monday?
I'll share my exercise and food journals with you next week. Until then go to H3Daily blog for a crazy backyard workout!