I am feeling kind of down today. I seem to be at a weight loss plateau and I am not losing even though I kicked up my running this week. I know in my head that the work I am doing today won’t show yet; but it is still getting to me. I really need to see some positive results. I need to not let myself be so dismayed by these temporary results. The fact is that I know as long as I maintain the kind of effort that I have had since I began this challenge, my weight will eventually start to drop again. I will have to suck it up and muster up some patience to keep my stress level down so that my metabolic rate will not slow. I refuse to let my confidence be broken over something so temporary and trivial.


On to a better topic, I heard on the Today Show last week that you can calculate how many calories you can eat to lose weight and the calculation is based on your current weight. The formula is to take your current weight and multiply that number by 10. Since I am hovering around 163 pounds my total calories that I should eat a day to lose weight is 163 times 10 which is 1630 calories. My goal calorie intake range for this challenge has been 1600 to 1700 calories a day. I guess I was pretty close to right on with how many calories I thought I needed to be eating. As I lose weight I will need to readjust my calorie intake to ensure my weight loss.

Yesterday was my son’s game day and game day’s are always hard for me. We don’t have time to eat dinner before we go to the game. Waiting that long to eat causes me to feel very hungry when we go to dinner. I try to curb this feeling by taking a secondary snack with me to the game. I have not mastered the art of choosing the healthiest secondary snack on the planet but I do limit my calorie intake. The problem is that I still eat the same amount of calories for dinner that I would have if I had not had a secondary snack and had dinner at a more reasonable hour. On these days I end up eating an extra 150 or so calories for the day. Doing so kicks me out of my goal calorie intake range. My saving grace is that football season is over for my son and I won’t have to eat so late anymore. As I look back on My Daily Food Accountability for today, I see where I could have made some changes in my dinner to reduce my caloric intake. One, I could have eaten 3 oz’s of chicken fajitas instead of 4 oz’s. Also, I could have reduced the rice or the beans by half. Looking closely at where small changes could be made in my diet will prepare me for the next time I find myself in the same situation.

To finish up for today, I have one bit of good news to share. I did run twice again on Thursday just as I was planning to do. No cop outs. No getting caught up in something else. I made it a priority and I followed through. I am giving myself a huge pat on the back for this one. Overall, I am doing very well and I am proud of what I have accomplished. The work that I have put into this so far has been a challenge and sometimes even difficult; but, it has been well worth all the effort. I want to end this post on a positive note because I know that confidence and positive thinking is what will get me past all the hurdles that I have to cross on the way to losing 40 pounds by the time I turn 40 years of age. Make it a great day. Thanks for reading and following me on my journey.

Thursday October 22, 2009

Breakfast:
1 cup Total Raisin Bran
1 cup Silk Vanilla Light
1 slice (1 servings) Sara Lee Classic Honey Wheat Bread
1/2 Tbsp (.5 servings) Land O Lakes Light Spreadable Butter with Canola Oil
8 oz’s Propel Vitamin Water Beverage Berry Flavored

...29% of my RDA of fiber and 355 calories, 1% cholesterol and 12g of protein

Lunch:
2 slices Sara Lee Honey Wheat Bread
6 slices Oscar Mayer Shaved Brown Sugar Ham
1 slice Kraft Pepper Jack Cheese
1/6 cup Raw Sugar Snap Peas
1 bag Individual sized Lay’s Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips
1 cup Strawberries
16 oz’s Propel Vitamin Water Beverage Berry Flavored

... 28% of my RDA of fiber and 559 calories, 16% cholesterol and 24g of protein

Midday Snack:
1 Fiber One Peanut Butter Bar
8 oz’s Propel Vitamin Water Beverage Berry flavored

... 35% of my RDA of fiber and 160 calories, 0% cholesterol and 3g of protein

Secondary Snack:
1 bag Individual Sized Lay’s Barbeque Potato Chips
8 oz’s Propel Vitamin Water Beverage Berry flavored

... 8% of my RDA of fiber and 150 calories, 0% cholesterol and 2g of protein

Dinner: Taco Cabana N.W. Oklahoma City, OK
4 oz’s Chicken Fajita’s
1 Soft Tortilla
1 oz Guacamole
1/2 cup Barracho Beans
1/2 cup Spanish Rice
16 oz’s Water with Lemon
1 pkt Sweet n Low

...?% of my RDA of fiber and 648 calories, ?% cholesterol and 40.1g protein

Bedtime Snack:
1 Granny Smith Apple sliced with peel on
8oz Propel Vitamin Water Beverage Berry flavored

...20% of my RDA of fiber and 90 calories, 0% cholesterol and 0g protein

*My total daily nutritional information:

… ?% of my RDA of fiber and 1962 calories, ?% cholesterol and 81.1g protein