What in the world am I doing anyway?

"So, how are you losing the weight? Are you following a diet or a program? What kind of exercising are you doing?".

I've been asked those questions countless times over the past few months. And, I just have to smile. I'd be happy to share my super weight loss "secret"! And I won't charge you anything. :-) My usual response is to simply say, "I'm eating healthy and exercising regularly, and it seems to be working!".

But, some people like more details. So, what does a typical day look like for me? Glad you asked.

Right now, I eat between 1,100-1,200 calories a day. And yes, I do count and record my calories. This is the recommended amount of calories that I need to eat for my body weight as I'm continuing to lose weight. I keep a notebook on top of our refrigerator and when I eat, I write it down. I record the time of day I ate, what I ate, how much (portion size), what category it falls into (grains, fruit, protein, veggies, etc.) and how many calories. It takes me 2 minutes at the most, and I find it very helpful! I'm able to look back and make sure my diet is balanced, and I know I'm getting my body's calorie needs without going over. Calories add up quickly in certain foods, and keeping a record has been a huge part of my success the past 3 months. I say the past 3 months, because I didn't record my meals before then. I wish I would have! This is such a learning process...

Today, I began my morning with a bowl of Quaker Oats Weight Control Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal with 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries on top. I also had an orange. This specific oatmeal contains 7 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein to get my metabolism going in the morning.

I eat about every 3 hours - 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between. Eating every 3 hours keeps my metabolism up, and I'm not ever starving before the next meal, which helps me not to overeat. Today I didn't eat breakfast until 8:30am, and I needed to eat lunch before we left home at 11:45am. Not a problem! I just didn't need a morning snack today. For lunch, I had a turkey sandwich. I used one slice of Ezekiel 4:9 bread and 3 slices of turkey breast, and topped it with spinach, cucumber, onion, green pepper and a little bit of dijonnaise. I also had some cauliflower and carrots with a light ranch dressing, and half a banana. That was at 11:30am.

We were in town all day, and I didn't actually eat a snack this afternoon, but we had supper earlier than usual at 5:30pm. I had a salad - lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery, cucumber, onion, and red pepper with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. I also had an apple and 1/4 cup of pecans.

When I got home and counted up my calories, I realized that I was only around 900, and I was a little bit hungry still. I also noticed that I my carbohydrate intake was lower than normal. (Carbs are our bodies favorite and preferred source of energy. They're not evil! Eaten correctly, they actually aid in weight loss!) So, at 7:00pm, I had an orange (simple carb) and a piece of Ezekiel bread (complex carb) drizzled in honey. That put me right at my daily goal - about 1,100 calories. I could look back and make sure that I ate an appropriate amount of each food category, which I did. A good day!

For exercise, I have a schedule and combine both circuit training and cardio. On M-W-F, I do circuit training and light cardio. T-Th-S are strictly cardio. Sunday is my day of rest! For my circuit training, I follow the fitness program of The Biggest Loser. (It's a TV show, and I'll explain how I found out about it later!)

Circuit training is a fancy term but it basically means that you work through a series of exercises that are aimed at toning and strengthening all of the different muscles in your body. I use dumbbells (8 lbs.) and work my upper body, then I move right on to my core exercises which work my abdomen, and then I finish up with the lower body. I do exercises like biceps curls, push ups, crunches, leg lunges, to name a few. The goal is to move from one exercise to the next with no breaks. This increases strength and maximizes the amount of calories you burn. As I've grown stronger, I've increased the weight of the dumbbells, and the number of repetitions I do for each exercise, which makes my workout time increase.

Cardio exercise includes anything that gets your heart rate up and keeps it there for an extended period of time. (At least 10 minutes.) This is the fastest way to burn calories, so combining circuit training and cardio exercise really stimulates weight loss. On the days when I do cardio, I either go walking, use our Norditrak Ski Machine downstairs, or use the Gazelle Glider I got from Stuff Etc. (another God story!) Right now, I exercise at least an hour every day. I got up a little earlier this morning so that I'd be able to fit it in before we left for town. I prefer exercising in the morning, so I try to make it work whenever possible!

That's a brief overview. Our computers are in high demand tonight, so my time is up. :-) Rejoicing in Him ~ Bekah