Size… It does matter

13 May 2012 at 17:33

Daphne

Health, Life Changes, Musings

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It’s raining out and I’m in the mood to sit around in warm socks, my pajamas and eat comfort food.   Actually, I want to eat junk food.  Food that comes in bright packages, with hues that are like nothing that appears in nature on this planet or anywhere else in this Universe.  Food that is comforting only because it’s filled with chemicals and preservatives which I have decided will embalm me from the inside out.

Keeping a Food Journal

On a more serious note, there I’m sure that everyone has heard that keeping a food journal is a priceless aide to weight loss.  If you know what you’re eating, it’s incredibly difficult to practice denial.  Studies have shown that people who keep a food journal are more successful when it comes to losing weight and maintaining the weight loss.

For me, keeping a food journal has given me an insight into just how awful my eating habits actually are.   More importantly, tracking what I eat has made me incredibly aware of what to me, is the most important element of calorie control.  PORTION SIZE.

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Paying attention, and I mean actually paying attention to serving size is the first thing that changed for me when I began tracking calories and maintaining a food journal.   The picture above is ONE SERVING of Crunchy Cheetos.  There are 21 pieces or 1 ounce of crispy fried brightly covered whatever the hell Cheetos are made of in a serving.

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Walking… More Miles To Go and Promises To Keep

12 May 2012 at 13:59

Daphne

Adventures, Fitness, Health, Life Changes, Musings

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“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking”

Friedrich Nietzsche
German classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture, 1844-1900.

 

Yes, Nietzsche, I am writing a post about getting motivated and starting with Nietzsche.  Because nothings says HOPE like a little Nihilism.  And yet… I think that Nietzsche and Nihilism are great starting points for this post.

 

So, how much do you walk?   If you are anything like me, you probably think that you do a whole crap load of walking.   I walk from my car to the store.  I walk from store to store during my quests for the perfect shade of lipstick.   I’m getting healthy so I make a point of parking further from the door and walking in.  On occasion I take the stairs rather than the ramp or the elevator.   Up until I began wearing a Pedometer everywhere I went, I was convinced that I was doing enough walking to move my ass off the ‘Sedentary Lifestyle Recliner of Fame’ and onto the ‘Moderately Active Armchair of Infamy’.    Turns out that it takes more than a stroll through the Mall on a noble quest for M.A.C. Russian Red to actually move up a link on the Fitness Food Chain.

According to the Surgeon General:

  • 0-5000 Steps = Sedentary Lifestyle
  • 5000-7499 = Low Active Lifestyle
  • 7500-9999 = Somewhat Active
  • 10,000 + is what it takes to get the Active Lifestyle Badge.

I have made an effort to walk at least 2500 steps a day and have been walking around (or sitting around) thrilled to be out there… walking.   Nihilism is actually a good description for my perspective this afternoon.   Damn it!

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