May 5, 2011

LEAP FAIL :(

Posted by Ethne~

Seriously, Lori and I are hanging our heads low.  There is nothing to report – or at least nothing we want to report.  But we must.

I haven’t done anything to get me toward my Quantum Leap goal.  I still eat larger quantities and make bad food choices.  I’m not ri-dac-ulous, but I could do SOOO much better.

Wii Fit board is lonely

Fortunately, at Rotary last week (yes, I’m a Rotarian, and I LOVE it!), we had a nutritionist speak and she gave out lots of useful information.  First, a portion estimator.  My standard meals are larger portions (sometimes by far) than recommended for a healthy diet, much less a diet in which I’d like to lose a few pounds.  Here’s a quick summary:

Portion Estimator

1 cup of food = the size of a baseball = 2 scoops of mashed potatoes
½ cup of food = size of a lightbulb = one scoop of ice cream
1/3 cup of food = size of an egg = small handful of crackers
2 T of food = size of a golf ball = small scoop of peanut butter
1 T of food = size of your thumb = dollop of mayo
1 t of food = size of a penny = pat of butter
3 oz = size of a thickness of a deck of cards = small pork chop
1 oz = size of four dice = meat, fish fillet, chicken

These are recommendations for healthy quantities of foods.  I obviously am not controlling my portions as I should.  My portions can sometimes be a tich bigger than that, and sometimes even double that.

Food choices – I usually get fruits, vegetables, lean meat and whole grains in my diet each day.  But I don’t drink nearly enough water and I still munch on stuff like candy, chocolate, chips and other non-nutritive cereal varnish, high-calorie snacks.  I’m not going to cut these things out, but I am going to be strictly mindful of taking just a small quantity – a handful or 1 or 2 pieces of candy.

Exercise – The most ridiculous thing of all is how little exercise I’ve gotten.  Walking to and from the copy room every day, up and down the steps to my condo and chasing after the girls are not legitimate exercise.  I’ve gotten on my Wii Fit once since Quantum Leap started.  I LOVE IT but I still never manage to use it.  WTF?

So here’s where I need to improve: make better food choices in smaller quantities/portion size; drink more water; get at least a LITTLE exercise each day.  And I should be mindful of the calories I consume each day.  For someone of my age, living a sedentary lifestyle, I should consume only 1,800 calories per day.  If I were active, I could ratchet that up to 2,200!  So I better get crackin’!

Lori reports that she has made far too many Taco Bell runs, and while she goes mall walking, and for walks outside their house, she has not kept up with spin class like she promised herself.  When I saw Lori over Easter, I thought both she and Steve looked better, but I know they haven't met their progress goals.
So, Friends, we vow to check back in with you soon, and we'll be back on track!

2 comments:

Garnet Windrider said...

Hi WOMS, I totally love your blog! I too have taken a Quantum leap and happy to report that I have since April 29, lost a total of 20lbs, in another week or so I will be below 200, where I have not been since High School! It's hard work, but it is cutting out a lot of the fast foods, candy/chips, sodas! (I was a 2-a-dayer with the Dr Pepper!) Fried, fat, oils, carbs/grains, dairy (cheese mostly) have been cut out of my diet. Oh yes and Exercise, hard cardio and ab strengthening work for me. Keep the Faith Ethne and Lori, it will happen!

WOM-MOMS said...

What an inspiration! I must do better - today I was on the road most of the day for work, and I didn't eat well. Boo hiss! We'll keep at it. Thanks so much for keeping us posted!