Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Day 271 - 273: 18 miles + Recipe + Burning Question: Why am I SO hungry? + Caloric Math




Monday was a pretty blah day. I woke up not really tired, but just feeling like crap. Sore throat, stuffy nose, sneezing, cough – you name it. Traffic on 400 was a total skank and so I was a little late. NO fun. I got lots done at work though and walked 3.5 miles during lunch, and 3 miles after work. Yes – I walked 6.5 miles. Why? I honestly lost track of time after work – I was reading – trying to finish Over My Dead Body already – I’ve been “reading” it for months! Anywho. I raced home, had yummy DIY pizzas and passed out. I DID try a new treat – cat cookies from Trader Joe’s! I’m a fan! In other news – guess what is back on the shelves? My beloved Kashi dark chocolate oatmeal cookies. Praise the lord! I hope they never recall them again. Silly FDA. I ended up at 1,764 calories, 238 carbs and 51 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.




Tuesday. SSDD. Rolled in to the office, worked, walked 3.5 during lunch, worked, and walked 2.5 after for a total of 6 miles. I hopped on the highway straightaway to let little Reuben out (Austin had a golf thing with clients). We had dinner (those Trader Joe’s pitas + guac + pico + roasted chicken patties) and watched Veronica Mars – LOVE IT! Then I read some book and passed out into a Benadryl-induced coma. I ended up at 1,797 calories, 35 fat grams and 269 carbs. WAY too many carbs, and a little high on calories. Or is it high when you walk 6 miles? I don’t know. Here’s what I ate.



Wednesday was another rough day on the sick side. OMG –when will this end? I worked, walked, worked and walked again haha – see the pattern?! I ended up getting in 5.5 miles, and I made a new recipe when I got home –Chicken Marsala – LOVED IT! (source unknown – SAD!) Here’s the recipe!! (sorry the pic is SO bad - eek!)




.1.5 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp Lemon Pepper
2 boneless thinly sliced chicken breasts (8 oz.)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced Baby Bella mushrooms
½ tsp Oregano Leaves
4 tbsp marsala or slightly sweet white wine
½ tbsp lemon juice
½ tbsp Parsley Flakes
5 oz. barilla angel hair
Spray butter

Set a pot of water to boil and measure out noodles. Mix flour, salt and lemon pepper in a small bowl. Spread on to a large plate. Lightly coat both sides of chicken with mixture. Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan and add noodles to pot. Cook noodles for 6 minutes and drain. Cook chicken about 5 minutes, turning once, or until lightly colored. Remove chicken from skillet to a warm plate (I mircowaved a plate for two minutes, put chicken on it and covered it with foil). Add mushrooms and oregano to skillet; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in wine and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Add Parsley Flakes and remove from heat. Put noodles on plate, lay chicken over it, and spoon sauce over it. It had 488 calories, 63 carbs and 9 fat grams, but like most of my meals you can easily take down the pasta and add mushrooms to bring those calories and carbs down!

After dinner Austin left for poker and I settled in for TV & Reuben time! I ended the day at 1,872 calories, 251 carbs and 49 fat grams. Yes – I suppose it’s high again?? Here’s what I ate. I’m in bed watching SYTYCD now – I’m loving it!!!

So… played around because I’m way curious as to why my 1,700-calorie ceiling keeps getting broken and here is what I figure:

  • I went here and found that at 5’2”, 115 pounds, age 26 I burn 1,317 calories doing NOTHING. Clearly 1,317 isn’t perfectly accurate – I’m a little taller than 5’2”, weigh a little less than 115 (today) and I will be 27 next month (O.M.G.) but STILL let’s go with it.
    Let’s say I burn another 150 calories all day walking around, standing, getting ready, etc., taking me to 1,467 burned.
  • Then I walk 3- 5 days per week. I always walk at least 15 minute miles (4 mph). According to here, each mile burns 59 calories. I typically walk at least 4 miles per day so when I walk four I burn 236 calories, five I burn 295, six I burn 354 or six and a half (most I walk in a day) I burn 384. So this means I burn 1,703, 1,762, 1,821 or 1,851.

Is this math making sense? Is the 150 calories in #2 not enough or too much? I dunno, but if this is right then it makes sense that I’m SO HUNGRY during the week. However, I guess I need to consume fewer calories during the week to offset my booze-it-up weekends. Hmmm. I have a headache now. Thoughts??? Help, friends!

K- now I’m officially out and off to see your bloggies! Hope you all had good hump days!

14 comments:

Kelly Drawdy said...

I love those Trader Joe's cookies! they are sooo yummy. Have you tried their omega-3 cranberry/nut mixture? So good and a good snack. I wish we only had a trader joes here in bham... i am getting friends to smuggle it back from atl! haha

Nerd Girl said...

yes for sure that is why your hungry!! on days you work out, you will need some extra cals/carbs. You will still keep a deficit, but this way you aren't creating too large of a deficit, which will backfire in the end. Hope that helps.

Mica said...

Yeah, it sounds like you need to uptake your intake to make sure that you don't end the day in calorie deficit. That might help your perpetual hunger. (That's a bitch, isn't it?)

Though...I'm not a very good source of information on this, as I tend to think, "Ooh, I ran today. FRENCH FRIES!!!!"

Sarah W. said...

I would try bumping your calories up to 1700-1800 daily intake and see how your hunger levels/weight fares :) its the only way to experiment!

and if you do gain weight, its not necessarily b/c you're eating too much, it could be the QUALITY of your food (I notice that your food isn't always whole - sorry!) and also your carb/fat intake could be playing a role as well.

You want to eat as whole foods as possible - close to nature baby!

hope this helps! you are donig so great! if you're maintaining your weight and working out regularly you deserve to eat a bit more calories than you've been eating, especially if you're HUNGRY. I feel like at maintanence you shouldn't be hungry. and if you are hungry it could also be the QUALITY of your food. try oatmeal w/ a piece of fruit instead of honey nut cheerios & milk - etc.

Unknown said...

I don't know if I've ever commented on your blog before but I have been following it for about a month now. I enjoy reading your blog because we have both had very similiar journeys in the past year. Your calories burned when doing nothing seems right on track as we are similiarly built and I had my rate checked by a nutritionist. However, I discovered a great gadget to wear while I work out to determine the amount of calories I burn when working out, a polar heart rate monitor. You program it with your stats and it will determine how many calories you are burning based on your heart-rate. They run about $100 so not cheap but terrible and it really takes the guessing game out which is what I love! I have considered wearing mine for a day just to see how mnay calories I burn around my office and stuff but have to do so. Sorry this was about a mile long comment!

Anonymous said...

I too read your blog often, but I dno't think I have ever left a comment---you do need to either up your calories or reduce your exercise...maybe walking just during lunch or just in the afternoon rather than both. That's the great thing of being where you are now. You don't have to workout as much if you keep eating the same. But if you start eating more, obviously you have to workout harder. Your choice--just my thoughts. :)

Anonymous said...

OH and one more thing--I second the polar heartrate monitor. I love mine and it's definitely worth the price so you will know how many calories you are burning during your workout.

Neesha and Dustin said...

Looks like things are seriously coming along in your fab new home! I take a month-long-wedding-planning sabbatical and come back to amazingness! Way to go! You guys must be feeling so proud of yourselves and so settled. And congrats on maintaining the whole way through! You are an inspiration, lady!

It's great to be back and I"m SO glad to see you on here still! :)

Anonymous said...

One you get into "maintenance mode" with your weight (which you are) you definitely need to up your calories so that your calories in = your calories out (or close to it). Even in "maintenance" most people fluctuate +/- 3lbs or so.

fittingbackin said...

Kelly: I agree!! I haven't - yum - thanks for the idea! haha Let me know if you ever need me to bring anything over. We've got to plan a trip over there soon!

Nerdgirl: That DOES help - and makes a lot of sense. Thanks, girl!!

Mica: "uptake your intake" even when you don't try to make me laugh you do! Yes, perpetual hunger is a major bitch!

Sarah W: Thanks, Sarah - you're right - I think I will. I REALLY appreciate your pointing out the quality of my food - at the end of the day it can be a lot of crap (especially the snacks). I think I just needed someone to say it! Thanks for the great ideas - you're going to see changes soon - thanks again!!

SLJ: Hi! Thanks for commenting!! I love, love, love the idea of getting one. I think it will so be worth it for me and reduce my anxiety about this guessing game that has become weight maintenance! What kind did you get?? $100 isn't too bad and again - seems TOTALLY worth it!

Lindy: Hey! Thanks for reading! That is very, very true... Hmmm. Oddly I think i'd rather eat more because I REALLY want to meet my goal of walking 1,000 miles this year! So yes - uptake the intake per Mica may be the option I choose here. Thanks for breaking it down!! You're right! And thanks for your thoughts on the HRM... i'm going to look into it today!!

Neesha: Things are def coming along - thanks girl! I feel like we're almost done with 2009's slated items - woo! haha how is the wedding planning going? I hope it's going well and that you're enjoying every last minute of it! Aw you're so sweet - i'm trying! It's hard to stay focused when there's so many things pulling me in every direction but if I can just get that car to the gym i'm 75% done! haha So glad you're back - need to go see what you've been up to Missy!

Healthyfitmama: Hi! Thanks for the advice and i'm glad to see that 3+/- isn't weird!! I feel like i'm f +/- which I definitely want to reduce and get a smaller window of weight fluctuation. Thanks for commenting though - I appreciate your thoughts!!

Thinspired said...

Hey missy! I wish I had the magic solution with hunger/maintenance. Whatever you are doing seems to be working thus far because you are doing so great maintaining. As for the increased hunger, I swear that each time my body has shifted into a new "zone" (like out of the 140's, out of the 130's), my entire system has to readjust for a while and nothing is predictable. It might just be your body figuring things out. I would go with your hunger and try to do what you can to make sure you are fueling your workouts sufficiently. That's just my two cents!

fittingbackin said...

Kelly: I agree!! I haven't - yum - thanks for the idea! haha Let me know if you ever need me to bring anything over. We've got to plan a trip over there soon!

Nerdgirl: That DOES help - and makes a lot of sense. Thanks, girl!!

Mica: "uptake your intake" even when you don't try to make me laugh you do! Yes, perpetual hunger is a major bitch!

Sarah W: Thanks, Sarah - you're right - I think I will. I REALLY appreciate your pointing out the quality of my food - at the end of the day it can be a lot of crap (especially the snacks). I think I just needed someone to say it! Thanks for the great ideas - you're going to see changes soon - thanks again!!

SLJ: Hi! Thanks for commenting!! I love, love, love the idea of getting one. I think it will so be worth it for me and reduce my anxiety about this guessing game that has become weight maintenance! What kind did you get?? $100 isn't too bad and again - seems TOTALLY worth it!

Lindy: Hey! Thanks for reading! That is very, very true... Hmmm. Oddly I think i'd rather eat more because I REALLY want to meet my goal of walking 1,000 miles this year! So yes - uptake the intake per Mica may be the option I choose here. Thanks for breaking it down!! You're right! And thanks for your thoughts on the HRM... i'm going to look into it today!!

Neesha: Things are def coming along - thanks girl! I feel like we're almost done with 2009's slated items - woo! haha how is the wedding planning going? I hope it's going well and that you're enjoying every last minute of it! Aw you're so sweet - i'm trying! It's hard to stay focused when there's so many things pulling me in every direction but if I can just get that car to the gym i'm 75% done! haha So glad you're back - need to go see what you've been up to Missy!

Healthyfitmama: Hi! Thanks for the advice and i'm glad to see that 3+/- isn't weird!! I feel like i'm f +/- which I definitely want to reduce and get a smaller window of weight fluctuation. Thanks for commenting though - I appreciate your thoughts!!

healthyfitmama said...

One you get into "maintenance mode" with your weight (which you are) you definitely need to up your calories so that your calories in = your calories out (or close to it). Even in "maintenance" most people fluctuate +/- 3lbs or so.

Kelly Drawdy said...

I love those Trader Joe's cookies! they are sooo yummy. Have you tried their omega-3 cranberry/nut mixture? So good and a good snack. I wish we only had a trader joes here in bham... i am getting friends to smuggle it back from atl! haha