A much needed update

I've been needing to get my feelings out about this month so far. I have been using the spark people app on my phone to track my calories. It was telling me that I should be eating 1520 to 1870 calories a day. Wrong!!! So wrong. If you'll noticed on the side of my blog in my weigh in section, it seems that I have been yo-yoing for the past 3 weeks. I have to admit that it was getting me discouraged and for the last two weeks I have been less motivated and mad that this isn't any easier. I've been lessening my workouts and being less productive at home. A depression so to speak. It sucked. Then I talked to my brilliant friend Kelsie who does this stuff for a living. She said maybe I wasnt eating enough or that my calorie intake amount was off. She was so right. She taught me how to calculate the amount of calories I should be eating a day.

First take your weight, I'll use mine as a example, 204 (or thats what it was at the time I discovered this trick). Multiply your weight by 10 and then again by 7. So now I have 14280. Then if you want to lose 1 pound a week you subtract 3,500 and if you want to lose 2 pounds a week you subtract 7,000. I of course would rather lose 2 so I subtracted 7,000. Now I have 7280. Divide this number by 7 and this is the number of calories you should be eating if you want to lose 2 lbs a week without exercising. If you exercise then you need to add back in the calories that you burn off, so for example my total came out to be 1040 but today I burned 461 calories while running. So now I add the 461 to my daily total 1040 and I get 1501. I have not burned that many calories since I started this new lifestyle change and I was eating more calories than that everyday. No wonder it wasn't working. So this weekend when I wasn't running, I had to be super careful about what I ate because I hadn't burned any calories. 1040 really isn't a lot compared to what I had been eating. Since I figured this out I have felt ten times better!!! Its amazing what a change it made to eat less. I'm not starving all the time because my stomach is getting used to me eating less. My energy is amazing also. Two weeks ago I would be back in bed after my workout and shower and now I'm getting stuff done. Oh and do you want a healthy energizing snack after your workout? Juice Plus Complete! I love it!! I blend it with some blue berries and its divine. I love the flavor and how long it keeps me full. I had it for breakfast before church yesterday and it kept me full almost the full 3 hours. I started to feel hungry about 10 minutes before we got out.

There's a reason that we are supposed to take care of our bodies. There is a purpose to this. It helps us live a more productive and happy life. I'm not saying that you shouldn't love yourself, but I love myself being healthy and having energy and being able to keep up with my kids. So hopefully on Wednesday when I weigh myself there is payoff to my new discovery.