My Fitness Pal

My darling friend Miss Pants, recently told me about a new, awesome website to track calories and workouts. It is called My Fitness Pal. It is a social media website that keeps uses a community of people to keep you motivated, but also is a great tool to track what you are eating. Dietitians and weight loss professionals are always saying keep a journal of everything that you eat. Does any one know how time consuming this really is? It is crazy to try and write every single thing down right when you eat it. This handy website is also accessible on your phone or other mobile devices.

Blackberry

Android

Iphone/Ipad/Ipod

The best part...it is a free app. You can also search and download directly on your mobile device from your app store or market place, which ever you use.

This is ultra easy for me to use. I either plan what I am going to eat and enter the amounts and calories in then, or I see what I am actually going to eat and then enter it in after. I also able to enter in all of my workouts and activities. This way I know how much I have to workout to not go over on my calories, or how much I get to eat based on my workout. Another cool feature is the nutrients part. It tells you a total of all of your nutrients that you are eating. Using your weight and age it figures out how much of each nutrient you are allotted for the day. This is a great way to track your sugar.

If you hate this idea, then there are several other calorie tracking devices, here are just a couple that I have used in the past.

The Daily Plate - this can also be downloaded as an app, search for LiveStrong.

Calorie King - by far the most comprehensive for eating out. Visit calorieking.com for their mobile version.

You can also go old school. Hand write it. Look at food labels, add it up all together and there you have it, a food journal. Some people say this isn't important, but if you want to know what you are eating and why you can't lose those few pounds, this will tell you when, where and what you are eating that is causing the problem. I have this problem, I diet and feel like I am eating healthy, but then I will track for a week and I will see where my problems are. It mostly has to do with sugar. What can I say, I am having an affair with chocolate. I tell it no, but it doesn't know how to take the hint.

Alright, I will quit ranting and raving. I am going to join the crowd and tell you to make a food journal. I challenge you to try it for a week. If you hate that is fine, if it becomes a habit, you just may become that much healthier!

Paleo time!

I tried the Paleo Diet.

I cut out grains *gasp*, dairy *oh cheese*, and sugars *chocolate sin*. I lasted 4 days.

I had the worst headaches. Like so bad I was just pissed. I looked at sugar like it was the only thing that could save my life. At the end of day 4 G and I decided that we couldn't do it, so we quit. BUT that doesn't mean that we aren't totally giving up. We have added organic grass fed, no hormone dairy back into our diet and if we get offered a cupcake and don't want to say no we aren't going to beat each other up over it. But we are still going strong on no grains. This is by far the hardest thing for me. I am Japanese...we love rice. He is Italian...we love pasta.




The good news is that we aren't eating out at night. Major points for me for not having Taco Bell for over two weeks. Someone at work walked in with a Taco Bell bag and I almost tackled them....well I did in my mind, but then I realized that I should be happy. I got on the scale this morning and I have been rewarded with a total weight loss of 3lbs. Woop, woop! We also made a pact to try to not eat out for lunch more than two times, and if we do let's not make the worst decisions ever. We are trying to stick to salads (olive oil and vinegar dressing only), no creamy soups and for hell's sake stay away from french fries. Or FRIED anything for that matter.






So the moral of the story is don't be afraid to make a new change, if it doesn't work out maybe you find something that does work.

P.S. We are on day two of the updated diet and I still have not had chocolate. Staying strong!

Music!

I don't know about you, but I have to have music to workout. I don't have a special play list anymore for different workouts, I just put the iPod on shuffle and let it go. I am wondering if this is a mistake. Should I have a special play list for each of type of workout that I do? Like for a circuit, should have I have intense dance beats like Rihanna's S&M and then something a little more chill like Jem's Aciiid!? Same with running or cardio, should it just be upbeat, fast paced, get the blood flowing type of music or am I okay to have a mixture of Jason Mraz, Britney, Rihanna, and Aerosmith while I am getting my fitness on?

What do you do? Is music that important to everyone else? Am I hindering my motivation to push myself to the max by listening to a Modest Mouse tune over a Lady Gaga jam?

Apple, Inc. and Nike have made sure to partner to make the most of our workouts. Is this coincidence? Or have they read the research on the effects of music on exercise?

Read here. According to this, I need to carefully select my music to have a positive effect on my workouts. Can I get some help? What are your play lists for working out?

SLACKER

I am surprised, nobody has came to this blog and called me out on being a slacker. Shame on you. Well I have been a slacker. And I will call myself out on it. Ggg-man has decided that he is going to do 100 push up workout. That is a you will do push ups everyday until you can do 100 push ups at a time. Nuts. But it works. I started doing it with him. My goal however was not the 100 push ups, but something that gets the blood flowing and heart pumping so I don't feel like a complete failure on all of my goals for fitness and 2012 in general. If any one is interested in being able to do 100 push ups at a time here you go:

http://www.hundredpushups.com/

In addition to this crazy workout. I do a series of abs, squats, and pull ups. I also have been jump roping for at least 10 mins. I try to go until I am going to pass out. I know that this much isn't cardio or a structured diet, but it is working at keeping me strong and not gaining weight...which is kind of the goal until the end of the semester and bowling season when some time will open up.

Diet wise, I haven't been doing too badly, but not great either. I have been eating out A LOT. But I try to make good choices and control my portions of how much I am actually eating. My main vice seems to be candy, but kind of always has been. I really try to focus on my water intake so that I don't crave a lot of sweets or salty foods. Seems to be working, since I don't really crave the things I am eating just kind of choose to eat Tacobell once a week. Damn nacho cheese.

Well I'll check in at the end of the month with a lovely plan to be ready for bikini season. I need to just be smarter and stay in shape all year round and then I wouldn't have to worry about bikini season. :)

Diet Challenges

What do you all think of Diet Challenges? I personally think that they are good and bad. Let's break it down.




The Good:

• It can unite a group of people together to help motivate and challenge others to make the life style change needed to be successful in weight loss.


• It may create a new life for someone. By this I mean, it could help a person escape from the everyday temptations that people have a hard time of letting go. ie, the sweets, the salty, the fattening.


• It is a life style change, which is what people need mostly when dieting. You can't just say for 6 weeks I am not going to eat this and this and this...but after that 6 weeks is up, gorge yourself on everything in sight. Nope. You can't considered a "diet" successful if you lose X amount of weight and then gain it all back 1 week later.


• It can give a person the confidence to keep pushing towards a healthier life style.


• It can also change your attitude, mood and overall outlook on life. That marathon that you never thought you would want to do, seems possible now. The goal of going to the gym more often seems more reasonable rather than daunting.

The Bad:

• It can end up being a yo-yo diet. You lose 20lbs in 6 weeks, great, but did you maintain it? Constant yo-yo dieting makes it harder to keep the weight off because when your body mass decreases by 10 percent or more, it ends up slowing down your metabolism by 11 to 15 percent.


• Some people will give up. There are a lot of people that will see that there is no way that they can win the whole challenge so they just give up and go back to their old ways.


• Some diet challenges lack certain nutrients or types of foods that when introduced back into the body can be detrimental to your digestion. Like carbs. Completely subtracting carbs from your diet can be really good for a weight loss, but if you stop eating them for an extended period of time and then decide that you are going to have a huge sandwich from your favorite deli, your body may freak out slightly. It might not digest and just turn into fat or it may digest, but your body may think it is a poison, and well you get the idea.


• They don't work. Some diets work for some, but for some the diet might not work. There are certain things that everyone can cut out and lose weight, sometimes, there are items that don't affect people.


• They don't change the people's bad habits into good habits. Kind of falls under the yo-yo thing, but people just will not realize that the bad habits are what need to go, not just adding a diet.

I think that if you are going to do a diet challenge with a group of people this can be really successful in giving someone the push to a healthier lifestyle, but with some diet challenges that would be considered crash diets (HCG diet) you are setting yourself up for failure since it is a lifestyle that is unrealistic to maintain after the challenge is over. If you are going to participate in a diet challenge remember that you will only be successful in weight loss if you change your habits. Like if you eat late at night, try to stay away from fast food and snacks. Try to still make a decent dinner like you would if you were eating earlier. Try not to yo-yo diet, make it a new life.

Perspective

If you are ever looking to put your life in perspective watch the coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on CNN.com. Break your heart and realize that life is a precious thing. Wanna help?

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to help in the aid and relief in Japan.

Follow this link for details.

"We Pray for Japan" Lady Gaga bracelet.

Buy here.

#keepprayingforJapan.

February wrap up

I know that February is not over just yet, but I am pretty sure that I will continue on the same path.

Fails:
Making time for working out. I originally thought that this would be an issue, but I would be able to over come it. Turns out...this is the biggest and main issue in my failure to lose weight. Obviously you can lose some weight by dieting, but to really shred it, you have to work out. I need to learn to over come this. I need to change my frame of mind and I need to make the time. Time is just not going to magically appear, so I will just need to make it happen.

Cupcakes. Well they just need to die. I can't resist them. When I see them, I can hear that they are calling my name. I am sure that I haven't helped the situation by having a cupcake war for Superbowl Sunday with Gregg, but still it was a fun experience.

Successes:
When I plan my meals and grocery shop, it is so easy to just eat what you are suppose to. I give myself a cheat meal for lunch during work and a cheat dinner on Thursday nights. I get out of a class at 9pm, and usually have homework after. I don't like eating in front my professor, I felt like she was staring at me the whole time I was eating, I couldn't handle it.

Water intake. Didn't realize how dehydrated I was until I was hydrated. I am also going to start drinking Liv Skinney again. This weird looking green drink made me feel so much better, I am sure that it is quite possibly the placebo effect, but I feel like my body is more regular, and don't crave the greasy sugary foods while I am drinking it. You can check it out here. If you are interested in learning more about it let me know.

Alright for March even though I will be on vacation for the first week, I am making time. Time for myself, time for my future health. Time to make my minutes more productive and accomplishing.

Also, I promise that I will be a better blogger...obviously the time thing again... :)