One Week In
Well... what can I say? Rome wasn't built in a day.
I've been working on various unhealthy habits this last week. I set goals for myself to eat less, eat lower fat and eat earlier in the day (light dinners). I also set goals to eat less junky food and NO sweets.
How did I do, you ask? I did eat less. On most days I was able to lower my average calorie intake from 5000 or 6000-ish down to 3500 or 4000-ish. I guess that means on those days my calorie intake went down 30-35%.
I ate less fat. My average daily percentage of fat calories went down from 50%-ish to 40%-ish. That's a 20% decrease, which is substantial.
I was able to shift my calorie intake earlier, somewhat. I had bigger breakfasts and ate lunches later, which allowed me to achieve my goal of eating smaller dinners. For example, last night for dinner I had one leftover carnitas wrap (just pork and corn tortilla), about a cup of kidney bean salad and 2 cups of popcorn with butter. Yes, none of those items are low fat, but that dinner represents about 1/2 of my normal calories and fat at dinner.
I'm not breaking my arm to pat myself on the back, but I am very happy with the changes I've made. I haven't radically changed my life. In fact, I can barely tell the difference. Everything I've done so far has just been swapping lower calorie, lower fat alternatives into my routine. Instead of roast beef sandwiches for lunch, now I have turkey & ham (I was amazed at the difference in fat & calories... they taste equivalent to me.) Now I have wasabi peas and cashews at my desk for snacking, instead of chocolate covered peanuts. When I had to stop and grab a sandwhich on the drive home one night, instead of a burger, fries and soda... I got a 6-inch Subway sub. Even when we splurged and ate out last Saturday, we had sushi.
These are the kind of changes that are making a substantial difference but aren't disrupting my lifestyle.
I also set a goal to exercise more. I still haven't made it to the gym in the mornings, but I did power walk 3 different evenings for 15-20 minutes each time. Yes, I know that's hardly an olympic workout but for me it made a difference. What amazed me was that the walks gave me so much more energy in the evenings. I've been pretty well "done" by the time I get home from work lately, so it was nice to actually have a little left over for chores. In fact, this last week I've accomplished more at home than any other week of late. I don't think that is a coincidence. Maybe evening workouts are going to work better for me. Who knew?
I've been working on various unhealthy habits this last week. I set goals for myself to eat less, eat lower fat and eat earlier in the day (light dinners). I also set goals to eat less junky food and NO sweets.
How did I do, you ask? I did eat less. On most days I was able to lower my average calorie intake from 5000 or 6000-ish down to 3500 or 4000-ish. I guess that means on those days my calorie intake went down 30-35%.
I ate less fat. My average daily percentage of fat calories went down from 50%-ish to 40%-ish. That's a 20% decrease, which is substantial.
I was able to shift my calorie intake earlier, somewhat. I had bigger breakfasts and ate lunches later, which allowed me to achieve my goal of eating smaller dinners. For example, last night for dinner I had one leftover carnitas wrap (just pork and corn tortilla), about a cup of kidney bean salad and 2 cups of popcorn with butter. Yes, none of those items are low fat, but that dinner represents about 1/2 of my normal calories and fat at dinner.
I'm not breaking my arm to pat myself on the back, but I am very happy with the changes I've made. I haven't radically changed my life. In fact, I can barely tell the difference. Everything I've done so far has just been swapping lower calorie, lower fat alternatives into my routine. Instead of roast beef sandwiches for lunch, now I have turkey & ham (I was amazed at the difference in fat & calories... they taste equivalent to me.) Now I have wasabi peas and cashews at my desk for snacking, instead of chocolate covered peanuts. When I had to stop and grab a sandwhich on the drive home one night, instead of a burger, fries and soda... I got a 6-inch Subway sub. Even when we splurged and ate out last Saturday, we had sushi.
These are the kind of changes that are making a substantial difference but aren't disrupting my lifestyle.
I also set a goal to exercise more. I still haven't made it to the gym in the mornings, but I did power walk 3 different evenings for 15-20 minutes each time. Yes, I know that's hardly an olympic workout but for me it made a difference. What amazed me was that the walks gave me so much more energy in the evenings. I've been pretty well "done" by the time I get home from work lately, so it was nice to actually have a little left over for chores. In fact, this last week I've accomplished more at home than any other week of late. I don't think that is a coincidence. Maybe evening workouts are going to work better for me. Who knew?
posted by Bif | 1/22/2007 12:20:00 PM
1 Comments:
ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY???? Your caloric intake went down 25-30%!!!! Give yourself some freaking credit! That is awesome!
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