Beginning My Weight-Loss Journey
Halfheartedly, I have joined an Instagram account of a fitness guru at the suggestion of my best friend. We both have been complaining about our post-25-year-old bodies and agreed we needed someone to hold accountable. Fifty bucks seemed a reasonable amount to pay for someone to tell me all about the mysteriously-inaccessible-without-purchasing world of calculating macros, understanding how to meal-plan, and working out.
So, after verbalizing every anxiety I feel in the moment and predict I will feel moving forward to both my husband and best friend, I'm beginning Day 1 of an 8-week challenge. Over the weekend, in preparation for today, I felt a little like I was hanging out over a gym which was on fire and no one could hear me screaming for help. Specifically, I wanted help: 1. Meal prepping 2. Acquiring healthy lifestyle skills 3. Grocery shopping 4. Knowing the best brands for healthy living and 5. Motivation inspiration. That is why I've decided to blog my experience.
First, our Instagram fitness instructor sent us an email explaining how to calculate our macros (the amount of protein, carbohydrate, and fat we can ingest on a daily basis which takes into account our activity level, weight, height, and age). I don't believe I have the rights to share her formula, but they're accessible online for free, I believe. She then sent us a list of foods that fall into acceptable types of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. However, that list literally consisted of 35 food items and 16 recipes. Okay. Maybe this is just me, but I was disappointed--to say the least. Of those 16 recipes, half were about how to cook chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and such. Items that I believe I can safely assume people already know how to make. I was hoping for a little more unique suggestions!
Then, grocery shopping. Lordt. I am not the one to enjoy spending an hour+ grocery shopping, but that's what happened yesterday. I found myself using the barcode-scanner feature on the MyFitnessPal app for almost every single item I picked up. Some things shocked me. I ended up not buying a single "protein bar/granola bar" because in all actuality those are "sugar bars." Also, I was a bit shocked at the prices, too. Granted, I was shopping for two-my husband and I-but I still felt I was being cost-conscious. Our bill ended up being $260 for a little over a week's worth of groceries. I will be posting a separate post which will break down those numbers later. My reasoning for doing the price-break-down is because I KNOW there exists out there the argument of whether eating healthier is more expensive or not, an argument I've personally engaged in and would like to research myself, and I want to join in on that conversation now that I have some real numbers/examples.
Finally, meal-prepping. Conveniently, I am on winter-break right now, so I'm not working. I am a college English professor (which probably explains my wordiness). I took this extra time to....not meal-prep. Probably not the best decision I ever made, but the idea of planning meals just did not excite any fiber of my being. This morning when I woke up, it took me a few minutes to figure out what I was going to eat which remained within my macros-per-meal allotment, but I eventually figured it out. Surprisingly, I feel like I am eating A LOT more than I need to. I know my calculations are right, but it still feels like a lot of food. For example, I ate FOUR hard-boiled eggs, 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 cup of blueberries, and a tablespoon of honey this morning for a total of 47g of carbohydrates, 20.5g of fats, 47.1g of proteins, and 545 calories. This was a wild amount of food for me first thing in the morning. However, I'm also 6 feet tall and 230 pounds, so I think that is why my numbers are so high. And, supposedly, if I'm working out as hard as her routines ask me to, then I should still see some weight loss even with such high food intakes. Plus, I'm not eating Whataburger anymore which, even though it'd definitely fulfill my calorie count, I'm not sure that would keep me within my minimum fat allowance.
Well, I'm off to the gym. Here's to proving to myself that my body isn't actively rejecting weight-loss.
#weightlossjourney #weightlossproblems #imnewtothis
So, after verbalizing every anxiety I feel in the moment and predict I will feel moving forward to both my husband and best friend, I'm beginning Day 1 of an 8-week challenge. Over the weekend, in preparation for today, I felt a little like I was hanging out over a gym which was on fire and no one could hear me screaming for help. Specifically, I wanted help: 1. Meal prepping 2. Acquiring healthy lifestyle skills 3. Grocery shopping 4. Knowing the best brands for healthy living and 5. Motivation inspiration. That is why I've decided to blog my experience.
First, our Instagram fitness instructor sent us an email explaining how to calculate our macros (the amount of protein, carbohydrate, and fat we can ingest on a daily basis which takes into account our activity level, weight, height, and age). I don't believe I have the rights to share her formula, but they're accessible online for free, I believe. She then sent us a list of foods that fall into acceptable types of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. However, that list literally consisted of 35 food items and 16 recipes. Okay. Maybe this is just me, but I was disappointed--to say the least. Of those 16 recipes, half were about how to cook chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and such. Items that I believe I can safely assume people already know how to make. I was hoping for a little more unique suggestions!
Then, grocery shopping. Lordt. I am not the one to enjoy spending an hour+ grocery shopping, but that's what happened yesterday. I found myself using the barcode-scanner feature on the MyFitnessPal app for almost every single item I picked up. Some things shocked me. I ended up not buying a single "protein bar/granola bar" because in all actuality those are "sugar bars." Also, I was a bit shocked at the prices, too. Granted, I was shopping for two-my husband and I-but I still felt I was being cost-conscious. Our bill ended up being $260 for a little over a week's worth of groceries. I will be posting a separate post which will break down those numbers later. My reasoning for doing the price-break-down is because I KNOW there exists out there the argument of whether eating healthier is more expensive or not, an argument I've personally engaged in and would like to research myself, and I want to join in on that conversation now that I have some real numbers/examples.
Finally, meal-prepping. Conveniently, I am on winter-break right now, so I'm not working. I am a college English professor (which probably explains my wordiness). I took this extra time to....not meal-prep. Probably not the best decision I ever made, but the idea of planning meals just did not excite any fiber of my being. This morning when I woke up, it took me a few minutes to figure out what I was going to eat which remained within my macros-per-meal allotment, but I eventually figured it out. Surprisingly, I feel like I am eating A LOT more than I need to. I know my calculations are right, but it still feels like a lot of food. For example, I ate FOUR hard-boiled eggs, 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 cup of blueberries, and a tablespoon of honey this morning for a total of 47g of carbohydrates, 20.5g of fats, 47.1g of proteins, and 545 calories. This was a wild amount of food for me first thing in the morning. However, I'm also 6 feet tall and 230 pounds, so I think that is why my numbers are so high. And, supposedly, if I'm working out as hard as her routines ask me to, then I should still see some weight loss even with such high food intakes. Plus, I'm not eating Whataburger anymore which, even though it'd definitely fulfill my calorie count, I'm not sure that would keep me within my minimum fat allowance.
Well, I'm off to the gym. Here's to proving to myself that my body isn't actively rejecting weight-loss.
#weightlossjourney #weightlossproblems #imnewtothis
OMG! My Dr told me no more than 60 grams of carbs and 40 grams of fat a day. You about expended that for breakfast.
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