Stressed Eating

I eat when I'm stressed.

That becomes obvious on days like I had today when I try to follow my careful counting of calories. I'm not going to splurge and gorge myself on food, even though I want to do just that. I'll maintain my daily goal of less than 1,400 calories, but it won't be easy.

I guess I have always been aware of this connection between stress and food, but it's never been as painfully obvious as it was today.

Ah, weight loss. You enlightening bastard.

Calorie Counting

From October 11th to October 18th, for my weight of 224.4 lbs., and attempting to lose 2.7 lbs. during the week, it was suggested that I consume 1,878 calories a day to meet my goal. That would be 13,146 calories for the week.

I ate a total of 9,953 calories during the week (~1,421 calories a day). With exercise, I consumed a net of 4,633 calories during the week (~661 calories a day).

I ended up losing 4.4 lbs.

This week I’m supposed to shoot for 1,837 calories a day. I think I’m going to try and keep it right around the 1,400 calories I consumed last week and see if I see the same results.

What I really want is a heart rate monitor that also tracks the calories burned. I want to wear it throughout the day to get a more accurate count on the calories burned to help plan the calories I can safely still consume and healthily lose the weight I want to lose to reach my goal.

Week of Working Out - Oct. 18

Here is a list of the exercise I completed during the past week,
October 12th – October 18th.
---
Monday: WALKING – outdoors at 5:00 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:08.69 minutes; temp of 42; sore left leg: outside of knee, Achilles tendon, and blister on heel.

Tuesday: RUNNING – outdoors at 5:30 PM; 1 mile WALK to warm up, then run of 3 miles with splits of 9:26.07, 9:59.41, and 10:05.92, for a total of 29:31.40 minutes running, followed by a .62 mile WALK to cool down for a total of 23:24.09 minutes walking.

Wednesday: WALKING – outdoors at 5:00 PM; 2.62 mile out-and-back course with 2 loops around complex; 36:33.97 minutes.

Thursday: RUNNING – outdoors at 5:30 PM; 1 mile WALK to warm up, then run of 3 miles with splits of 9:33.04, 9:47.32, and 9:35.99, for a total of 28:56.35 minutes running, followed by a .62 mile WALK to cool down for a total of 22:59.13 minutes walking; temp of 48, calm but cloudy; run felt quick, but great.

Friday: WALKING – outdoors at 11:00 PM; 2.62 mile out-and-back course with 2 loops around complex; 35:52.19 minutes; temp of 43 with light drizzle, but it was calm; used the stress of the day to power through the walk, and felt amazing afterward.

Saturday: RUNNING – outdoors at 7:00 AM; 1 mile WALK to warm up, then run of 3 miles with splits of 9:33.64, 9:32.93, and 9:30.38, for a total of 28:36.95 minutes running, followed by a .62 mile WALK to cool down for a total of 23:19.89 minutes walking; temp of 39, calm and still dark to start; no leg troubles except for sore blister during the mile warm up.

WALKING – outdoors at 8:00 PM; 2.62 mile out-and-back course with 2 loops around complex; 36:34.38 minutes; nice walk with no leg problems at all – the lanced blister was much improved.

Sunday: WALKING – outdoors at 8:15 PM; 2.62 mile out-and-back course with 2 loops around complex; 36:00.21 minutes; temp of 56 with 11 mph winds from the south; blood blister on left side of waist is sore, but didn’t bother me during the walk; was jumpy in the dark because of scary movie this afternoon – the heart rate was definitely up.

Progress Report XXXIV - October 18

Weight: 220 lbs.
Loss/Gain: - 4.4 lbs.

50 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)
21 lbs. to New Goal (199 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: 5:28:57.25 hours (walking: 4:01:52.55 hours; running: 1:27:04.70 hours)

Exercise Distance: 26.34 miles (walking: 17.34 miles; running: 9 miles)

This has been a great week for exercise. I’ve been out everyday (some days more than once), and I’ve lengthened my walks to include another 9-10 minutes. My big concern is that when the weather finally turns bad (i.e. snow and/or ice) and I can no longer walk and run on the roads, I’ll drop back out of the habit. I don’t have the money to afford a monthly gym membership, so I’ll have to get creative.

The diet is going well. I like the up and down of my graph of calories consumed on days I run instead of walking. It makes a neat pattern. I’m still keeping both my total calories consumed and my net calories less than recommended until I can judge just how accurate the program is in predicting my weekly weight loss based solely on my height, weight, daily activity level, and the exercise I put into the program. I’m not starving, but I do get pretty hungry after longer workouts.

I did add another serving of vegetables to the dinners I ate this week. I’m hesitant to add more fruits until I can find some lower calorie fruits I enjoy.

Picked up a couple of treats (Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ Doritos and fun-sized 3 Muskateers bars) at the store – we’ll see how portioning out these impacts the diet. (I did notice that it was more difficult to fit them in today and not exceed my daily calorie goals.)

Damn Double Heel

No, I don't really have a double heel. Although the blister on my left foot has grown nearly that large.

I struggled with blisters earlier in the year when I was working out as much as I've been the past few weeks. I can't remember if they ever went away, or if I just managed them with lancing and draining.

I thought about taking a picture and posting the blister in all its disgusting glory, but decided against it. Why ruin a good day for some unsuspecting person visiting the blog?

I did lance the mother, and will see how things go with another, shorter workout later today.

Progress Report XXXIII - October 11

Weight: 224.4 lbs.
Loss/Gain: - 3.8 lbs.

54.4 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)
25.4 lbs. to New Goal (199 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: 4:10:47.94 hours (walking: 3:40:03.15 hours; running: 30:44.79 minutes)

Exercise Distance: 19.1 miles (walking: 16 miles; running: 3.1 miles)

Boo ya! Another week of weight loss. I’m steadily working my way towards my goal. It was a good week, with exercise every day and the diet strictly followed. What I need to do now is increase the exercise so that I can increase my calorie intake – 1,500 calories a day is not a lot of food. Don’t get me wrong, it’s enough; I’m not starving, but I guess I just wish I could have a little more leeway in my choices.

Run for the Roses (my 13th consecutive showing at this run!) was a lot of fun. My uncle Jeff came with me this year, and we had a great run. It was chilly, but not unpleasant. I’m going to do my best to find the motivation to add running to my workout regime. It would be nice to run until the weather forces me off the roads.

Week of Working Out - Oct. 11

Here is a list of the exercise I completed during the past week,
October 5th – October 11th.
---
Monday: WALKING – outdoors at 8:30 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 26:53.21 minutes; temp of 60; felt quick, but was probably due to the fact that I haven’t exercised since the end of July.

Tuesday: WALKING – outdoors at 5:30 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:27.37 minutes; temp of 52 with winds of 21 mph; out trying to beat the rain – and I succeeded, barely.

Wednesday: WALKING – outdoors at 5:00 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:42.01 minutes; temp of 66 with winds of 14 mph; legs a little stiff and sore heels where I’ve had blisters from walking in the past.

Thursday: WALKING – outdoors at 4:30 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:41.81 minutes; temp of 49; just the right amount of chill in the air for a short walk; feeling less stiff, but there’s some new-to-exercise chafing that’s annoying.

Friday: WALKING – outdoors at 4:15 PM; 4 mile out-and-back course; 55:21.57 minutes; temp of 53; perfect, beautiful walk; feet sore from rubbing in shoe on inside of both heels.

Saturday: WALKING – outdoors at 5:30 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:08.48 minutes; temp of 39; blister on left inside heel is a pain, but not while walking.

Sunday: RUNNING – Run for the Roses XXIII – 5K; 9:00 AM; 30:44.79 minutes – 1st mile split: 9:55; 2nd mile split: 19:35; temp of 30 degrees, but bundled up I was warm by the 2nd mile; very fun run; felt great even hours after the race; no problems at all with blister on left heel; ran with Jeff.

WALKING – outdoors at 12:00 PM; 2 mile out-and-back course; 27:48.70 minutes; temp of 40; nice recovery walk after the run earlier in the day.

Progress Report XXXII - October 4

Starting weight on October 1st: 232.4 lbs.
Weight: 228.2 lbs.
Loss/Gain: - 4.2 lbs.

58.2 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)
29.2 lbs. to New Goal (199 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: none

Exercise Distance: none

So I was gone for a while. Okay, not a while – a long time. I could make excuses, but they won’t change what’s happened. Basically I quit exercising and quit watching what I ate. I ballooned back up to 232.4 lbs – only 4.4 lbs from where I started this year. And this was after losing close to 30 lbs!

Frustrating, to say the least.

I’m back on the warpath now. I started with the beginning of the month – October 1st – weighing in at 232.4 lbs. Over 3 days I’ve managed to lose 4.2 lbs by simply eating the correct foods at the right portions. I’m holding myself accountable for the calories I’m eating, and it has worked wonders.

I’ll start the exercising again this week, and we’ll see where it goes from here. I know my original goal of 170 lbs is unreachable (with healthy weight loss), so I’ve adjusted my expectations and hope to reach 199 lbs by December 31st.

August 23	October 4

Week of Working Out - Aug. 2

Here is a list of the exercise I completed during the past week,
July 27th – August 2nd.
---
Sunday: rest

Monday: rest

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: rest

Friday: rest

Saturday: rest

Sunday: rest
---

Progress Report XXXI - August 2

Weight: 227.6 lbs.
Loss/Gain: + 5 lbs.

57.6 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: none

Exercise Distance: none

Late in posting because there was nothing here to post that I was pleased about. Some of the weight gain had to be due to the fact that a lot of what I lost on RAGBRAI was water weight, but still…I didn’t exercise and I ate crap all week. So there’s that too.