Disclaimer

This blog is an accounting of my personal journey to find fitness. All the content on this blog should be read as a biographical piece of literature, not a medical resource. I am a physician, but I am in no way giving medical advice or establishing doctor patient relationships with my readers. I am simply keeping a diary. If you are starting a diet or exercise program or require medical evaluation or advice, please see your own family physician.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Data, data, numbers.......cool.

Here I am on this Tuesday and I am doing pretty well. I am proud to say that I am keeping my positive attitude.  Doesn't mean everything is perfect, but it does mean that I'm trying to find the positive side in everything. It's amazing how much better your mood is when you do this.

Today I have a lot of positive things to be grateful for. First, I woke up after a decent night's sleep. Good sleep is so important to my overall well being. I hate being too tired. I sleep last night with my fitbit for the first time. It reported that I slept 7 hr and 22min, that I woke up at 4am, 5am and then obviously as my alarm started to go off and I attempted to snooze starting at 5:30am. It says I fell asleep in 8 minutes and that I had a 99% sleep efficiency. Man. I have no idea how accurate this thing is, but it's great for my ego to see that SOMETHING I did was 99% efficient. Ha ha.

You can tell from that data that I did not stay up for the Mavs game last night against the Lakers. I was just too tired. I'm kinda mad at myself because it was a great game AND we won. But, the sleep was nice. I love playoff basketball.

I didn't want to get up this morning, but I did it anyway of course. I didn't work out this morning. I wanted to, but....damn if I didn't set the alarm for the wrong time. Subconscious telling me to sleep? I don't know. But, the kids got up without any fights. Got dressed and.....dare I say for fear of upsetting the gods.......were polite to each other and got ready with no problems. Shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

I looked up my menu for the day and ate the breakfast. It was tasty. There was no snack on the plan for today in the morning and I was worried about getting hungry before TKD, but I was fine. I drank some extra water. I ran a little late in clinic, but made it to TKD on time. It was a freaking nightmare of a class. We did a lot of sparring and speed work. It's basically hitting, punching, kicking as hard as you can while trying to run across the room at the same time.  I was very proud of myself for keeping up, despite the wheezing and sweating and all of that.

After class I had a meeting with my youngest daughter's teacher. She said she's doing great and it felt good to see how well she's doing.  As the afternoon wore on, my right foot began to ache. Seems I must have twisted it in class or something. It's not bad and I've just iced it. Hopefully it won't be too sore to work out tomorrow.  Tonight my son had his spring band concert and it went well. I'm so proud of him. First chair French horn. He's worked hard and loves to play.

The rest of the day's food was right on plan. I burned nearly 700 calories at TKD and I walked 8102 steps today. I'm going to have to really make effort to get to 10,000. I'll say this fitbit thing is making me think about taking those extra steps. Not, consolidating trips. Going the long way around. That stuff really adds up. I am enjoying my new gadget. Knowing that even those few extra steps will count drives me to do better. Knowing that all my movements are tracked helps me be motivated to eat less.

I am looking forward to the weekend. I'll be heading to Oklahoma to my med school reunion. Good news is I look way better than I did when I graduated. Bad news is I'll be faced with foods and situations that will be stressful. Last time I was in OK I had a major binge and it didn't end well. I can't say as I'm not worried. BUT, I am determined to learn to deal with these situations in a healthy way.  Let me know what tips you might have for situations where you cannot control the food and you might be stressed.

Good night, All!

10 comments:

  1. I enjoyed hearing about your Fitbit. I'm getting a similar device (another brand) this week, and I'm hoping it will help me monitor wht I'm doing.

    It is hard to go into a situation where the food is not planned by you. In those situations, I always using food groups and exchanges as my guide. For example, if I get 1 starch, that gives me lots of options for choosing what I eat, such as rice, pasta, whole grain bread, potatoes, etc. I just have to make sure that I keep tyhe portions for each food group in line. Have a great time at the reunion. You will look sooo good, and that always makes it more fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that headline - I'm all about data. Good for the Mavs. Have to admit I haven't been into the NBA much the last couple of years. Do y'all like Clay B. down there in OKC? He's not welcome in these parts.

    On another note, great to hear about 1st chair horn! That's tremendous and will serve him well in life.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's great to know that you are maintaining a healthy positive attitude toward life and I think it is the main ingredients of remaining happy and healthy. Have fun this weekend and forget stress sometime when we are happy we secret the happy hormone Serotonin and it saves us,just bless your food and live the moment!
    Be happy and stay healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I suggest you have something to eat prior to going to any event where you don't have control over what's on offer. That helps a lot. Drink water or club soda while you're there prior to eating anything and you should be able to minimize the temptation to overeat the wrong things.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh I wish I had good tips for you since I struggle with that myself! Have a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enjoy the med school reunion. I have never been to one, and now I regret it as I read the alumni newsletter and people start to die.

    You can stay on plan as much as you want. Drink a lot of iced tea (you know they will have some), eat a lot of protein, even indulge in some fat (with protein) to keep you satiated in lieu of carbs - just stay away from stuff that leads you off course.

    Go Mavs. Beat LA.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have vacation at the beach coming up this next week so I'm interested to read all these great tips for dealing with different situations too! Just wanted to let you know I have been wearing fitbit every single day since I got it in February and it has SERIOUSLY changed how much I walk each day. I am averaging at least 8300 steps a day. Some days I get over 12,000 and some days less but overall it has tremendously made me more aware of my steps. I love that! I do wish it was a little more accurate with calories burned each day but I guess one gadget can't do it all. yet. I'm also trying to stand as much as possible at work but it REALLY kills my lower back. Working on it though. Have fun at your reunion!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Go Mavs, end the Lakers please! As for tips, limit temptation. If the food is on one side of the room, stay on the other. A buffet, don;t start at the beginning, start in the middle or jump out in the middle; whichever sees that you do not get face to face with the worst temptations it has for you. DRINK, lots of water, or whatever diet to fill up and curb the eating urge.

    Stress is a hard one for offering tips as it is much more unique to the individual. Hopefully you'll get a confidence boost in how you are fending off temptation that will lower the stress as time goes by.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tips! I can help with this.

    1.) Eat before going to your reunion event. Stop at a restaurant for a healthy salad, or bring some healthy almonds in your purse to nibble on during snacky-and-mingling time.

    2.) Water down your beverages.

    3.) If you are getting major peer pressure to drink, slip the bartender a note (and $20 tip) that says "Rum and Coke" really means "Diet Coke Only please."

    4.) Spend more time mingling and eating. Try to mingle with people away from the buffet line.

    5.) If it's a sit-down meal, make a mental challenge to yourself to leave a little bit of each type of food on the plate, like 10% of the meal. Don't scrape your plate clean, no matter how good the food might be!

    Christine
    www.phoenixrevolution.net

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lots of great tips here! I always take some healthy food with me or hit the grocery store once I arrive to stock up on some healthy snacks.

    When traveling I usually miss having Greek Yogurt and fresh fruit so I try to get those items to put in my hotel frig.

    The Greek Yogurt has lots of protein and the fruit offers sweetness and fiber a winning combo for keeping me feeling full.

    Have a great time!

    ReplyDelete

Progress to TouchDown and GOALLLL!!