I can't believe it's been five weeks since I started blogging about my health and fitness journey. Throughout the week I think about this little space and the commitment I've made to blog about my experiences. It's helped keep me accountable when I just want to hide with a cheeseburger or scarf down some ice cream. Tracking and blogging have been essential for me these past five weeks, and have been so instrumental in my success.
And yes, I said success because that's what this week was, a great success! There was still a lot of stress present this week, but I didn't let that effect my diet. The biggest challenge I encountered was eating out. We went to Red Robin, one of my favorite places to eat. I'm a cheeseburger girl, remember? Well, my hubby had a birthday burger on his loyalty card, and so we decided to stop for dinner. That was hard. The waitress brought a platter of French fries before the meals were delivered. Those fries stared at me the whole time, but I didn't eat one. Victory! Choosing a meal turned out to be even more difficult! They didn't have a nutrition menu readily available and I couldn't pull it up on my phone without downloading some app. Thankfully I had my trusty MyFitnessPal app on my phone and I could look up some menu options. I'm still baffled by how many calories and fat grams are in some salads and soups and sandwiches. And the old me would have ordered a big cheeseburger, which probably would have been worth my daily calorie limit. Eating away from home is tough. I met the challenge with a little frustration, but ultimately success.
I wanted to provide a tip this week for something that's been helping me. I realized the other day, as I was making an egg and toast, that butter has a whole lot of calories. I know, shocker, right? One tablespoon of butter contains 100 calories. Wow! I can eat a whole banana for just a few more calories than a little tablespoon of butter. Being calorie conscious, I decided to forgo the butter. And guess what? I couldn't tell the difference because I dipped my toast in my egg yolk. My tip is, when you have an ingredient that carries a lot of calories or fat, think about whether that ingredient is essential to the flavor of the dish you're making. I've been skipping mayo (high calorie) on my sandwiches and adding spicy mustard (low/no calorie) instead, and I really don't miss the mayo. Cheese is another one. I love cheese. Love it! But is it really necessary on my sub when I load it up with tons of flavorful veggies? Nope. I'm finding that it's not. Don't get me wrong, cheese is essential sometimes and so is butter. I'm no butter-cheese hater. But I've just been taking a brief pause before I add those ingredients to my meals, and considering if I can leave them out or replace then with a healthier option and not alter the flavor of the dish too much.
Those are my thoughts for how things went this week, and what I'm doing to keep up with the challenge. Now let's talk numbers!
Calories Burned won't be entirely accurate this week because I couldn't get my phone to track my last workout. Boo.
Calories Burned: 1,995 (goal of 1,520 per week)
Exercise Minutes: 246 minutes (goal of 250 minutes per week)
Pounds Lost This Week: 3.8
New Weight: 162.6
Total Pounds Lost: 29.4
Yay!!! Totally blown away and pleased with my numbers this week. In the beginning of my journey I had 57 pounds to lose to reach my final weight loss goal. Now I've surpassed the halfway mark! AND, I'm only 0.6 pounds away from having lost 30 pounds!! I had wanted to lose 30 pounds by the end of June, and I think I'm going to make it! Happy Dance!
Thanks for stopping Transformation Thursday this week! I hope you're inspired to make healthy choices this week, even something small like skipping the mayo or taking a walk around the block. Small, healthy choices can make a big impact on your life over time. I'm rooting for you too!!
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