A Caloric Odyssey

My parents started counting calories too (part 2) ... Hey Folx,  A few posts back, I shared a bit about my dad’s journey losing weight. This post is dedicated to my mom and her journey.  “Hello all! Here is my weight loss story. I’m 64 years old, female, 4’10 1/2 “ tall, 163.4 lbs, and it’s May 2019. I’d just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and not happy with how I felt and looked. I also have had migraine disease for 48 years. I’m retired from work but my passion is being an artist. I started my weight loss journey with fitness pal. I login all my food each day with the calories. I’m allotted 1200 calories each day which is low so I carefully plan my meals with food I enjoy. I eat the same thing everyday for breakfast which is 1 slice of Dave’s 21 bread, toasted with crunchy peanut butter, 1/2 cup fresh blueberries and 1/2 cup fresh raspberries. For lunch I usually have a green salad with lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, red onion, tomatoes, 1/2 chicken breast, ...

Are calories from various sources the same? Hey Folx,  Back at it! Last week was a bit tough - just super busy. BUT, I’m still committed to posting 3 times a week!  This week I’m riffing off an article produced by NPR ( NPR Article ). Have a read!  I’ve been writing about how I count calories, which come from various macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fats), as if they were all created equal. Well, they aren’t really, as in, each person may react differently to each macronutrient when your body is processing them. For instance, persons with celiacs disease have an inflammatory reaction to wheat-based carbohydrates. Personally, I think my body responds well to protein and fat more than carbohydrates. I believe there are genetic tests out there that can inform you about your own body’s preferences.  There are two points I want to make about this topic: 1. If weight loss is one of your goals, you have to start somewhere, and starting with a...

Why I’m blogging Hey Folx,  I took a little break to hang out with my family and reflect on why I’m blogging. I still don’t have a 100% answer yet. I may never, but I’ll press on. Moving forward, my goal is to post 3 times a week. One reason I’m blogging is because I truly hope to motivate others that have been in a rut or wanted to make similar changes to their lives, but just haven’t been able to fully commit. I’ve always been able to take a first step, but to commit has been a challenge. Fortunately for me, I’ve figured out a solution and it was to count calories. But it wasn’t that easy. I took the step because of years of researching and messing around with other diets, and a realization I had when talking about weight loss with my colleague. Taking the next step was easy, but finding the right solution allowed me to commit.  I’m also blogging because it keeps me honest and accountable, and I can track my progress. For instance, I’ve done a terrible job cou...

What I eat and do in a day Hey Folx,  Eating. A huge part of my success in counting calories and losing weight has been the idea and ability to plan out my meals for the day. Before I realized the power of doing this (which seems simple and obvious), I would eat too much during earlier meals in the day, then I would spiral and be left with minimal calories at the end of the day. I’d reject this result, give up, and indulge - I was still hungry.  As I started to learn about what I typically ate in a day (and the outrageous amount of calories it totaled = 4000-5000+), and where I could start cutting back, I realized how much food I needed at each meal to be satiated. This was another huge realization. Currently, in a day, I eat 2100 calories. I don’t need that much food (calories) in the morning, lunch is a bit more than breakfast, and dinner is where I wanted to “spend” most of my calories. I like to be full at night. I don’t want the feeling of potential hunger ...

My parents started counting calories too Hey Folx,  Around the same time when I started to change my diet, my parents did too. My dad, who is 65 years old, has seen HUGE changes to his body and weight, just by counting calories. The gist of his journey is below.   From my dad:  My “caloric journey” My journey began about a year after I retired. Before I retired, when I was working, I had the disposable funds for a personal trainer, and I was working out twice a week, in addition to playing golf once a week (walking the course, carrying my bag). When I retired, although I had the time, I no longer had the disposable funds to hire someone to motivate me. I played more golf, but was no longer walking carrying my bag, on my new course. As a result, my weight increased, and I found myself buying increasingly larger sizes of clothing. Although I wanted to lose weight, I am not a person who can walk away from the things that give me pleasure! One evenin...

Counting calories vs. counting macronutrients Hey Folx, Calories in food come from the amount of energy that is stored in chemical structure of that food. When we eat, our body process the food in our stomachs and then disperses the broken down material to systems in our body to use for energy. When we move, breathe, do anything, our bodies are using energy. So energy-in transforms to energy-out.  Food contains macronutrients, which are protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Not every body reacts  the same to each food, and not every food contains the same combination of macronutrients. Some people respond differently to certain macronutrients (i.e. celiacs), and not everybody uses up the same amount of energy in a day.  Food also contains micronutrients, which are salts, vitamins and minerals. Many diets focus on either macronutrient ratios (like the Paleo or Keto diet), and many focus on the micronutrient ratios (like vegan). From my research, none of them ex...

My exercise regiment Hey Folx, Ya, no. I don’t have one. I surf, I skateboard, and I like walking. During the school year, I generally surf about 3 times per week, between 45 min - 2 hours. The picture was from spring 2019 (pre-weight loss), and if you zoom in on it, you can see I've got some extra layering. I’ll skateboard with my son (as he scoots) 1-4 times a week; its a nice cross-training for surfing (I love my Carver skateboard). And when we walk (1-2 times a week), we usually walk a route that is just shy of two miles, with a decent hill component. Nightly, I have a short 10 minute stretch routine too (that may be the only regimented activity). If I feel that I have been slacking, I’ll do some pushups and lunges, but that seems to be rare. Nothing is really regimented though, and I wouldn’t do any of it if I didn’t like it. I’ll never join a gym because no, and I need my physical activity to be functional. In committing to counting calories, I committed to keeping u...

How I count calories Hey Folx, So, the great reveal… I was ready to take control and count calories . I bought a food scale that measures in ounces (oz) (solid, not fluid) and grams (g), and a tupperware set for meal prepping. Of course, I already had measuring cups and spoons. I set up a spreadsheet calculator in google sheets and input the calorie and macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) content of the foods I would eat, obtained from google searches. Then, I started tracking what I ate.  The first week I ate as I normally would, developing a base for how many calories I would normally eat in a day - I think it was somewhere between 4000-5000 calories. I signed up for MyFitnessPal App, which, like many other apps or online calculators, gave me a number of calories to eat per day based on my current weight, height, age, and weight-loss goals. The magical number, based on my personal parameters and wanting to lose 1.5 pounds per week, was 2100 calories. The...