A healthy lifestyle

I made the decision several months ago to get healthier. I wanted to lose a few pounds and with my health issues (arthritis, lupus, blah blah blah), I just wanted to feel better. So I began changing my eating habits and started working out at the gym several times a week. I’ve lost about 15 pounds since I started! Of course, I fell off the wagon tons of times, but I’ve always gotten back in to the swing of things.

Now, I am trying to lose another 5-8 pounds and I will be at my goal weight! I decided to record my typical day of eating and working out for my future reference and for you in case you are interested!

Breakfast:

4 boiled egg whites (I threw out the yolk): 68 calories

1 small red plum: 30 calories

1 can of Diet Mt Dew: 0 calories

1st bottle of water with Mio Energy: 0 calories

Workout:

I just started doing a Couch to 5K program and today I did Day Two. That burned about 96 calories.

2nd bottle of water: 0 calories

Lunch:

Chicken LoLo (grilled chicken tenders on top of sautéed zucchini, spinach and squash) from FIG: 300 calories

Side of fruit: 70 calories

3rd bottle of water: 0 calories

Snacks: (I usually have a snack between breakfast and lunch and then another snack or two between lunch and dinner!)

Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp Bar: 110 calories

Protein Brownie (My Dad made this…it has coconut, protein and cocoa in it and that’s all I care to know!): 50 calories

19 Garden Veggie Ranch chips: 65

12 cocoa roasted almonds: 75

4th bottle of water (Propel): 0 calories

2nd Diet Mt Dew: 0 calories

Dinner:

Subway-6 inch Turkey on wheat bread with cucumbers and pepperjack cheese: 310 calories

1 bag of Subway apples: 35 calories

5th bottle of water (Propel): 0 calories

1 Sugar free Reese’s peanut butter cup: 36 calories

Snack:

2 Fun Size pieces of Hershey’s milk chocolate with almonds: 146 calories

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My caloric goal for the day is 1200 calories. If you counted, my net (calories consumed minus calories burned at the gym) caloric intake for the day was 1199. The only problem with that is that after I got home from church at around 8:30pm, I couldn’t resist having a small bowl of ice cream… that probably added on about 250 more calories. That puts me at about 1450.

Based on my sex, weight, height and activity levels, I burn about 1800 calories a day just doing normal things (breathing, walking around, standing up, changing diapers :), etc.). So I still burned more calories than I consumed, but I like to keep it under 1200 calories a day for my optimum weight loss.

My problems are (1) I REALLY love chocolate (2) I like to snack in the afternoons (3) I like to munch in front of the tv at night. If I can just get some more self control in those areas, I will get to my goal weight much sooner!