Living Outside the Stacks

This week I have been a calorie counting, exercise logging, SparkPeople app using machine!  Seriously, I’ve learned so much since I downloaded SparkPeople to my Droid (click here for the mobile download for Droid).  For example, I was drinking a large mocha flavored coffee from a popular coffee place every other day or so until I found out that it was accounting for 45% of my allotted caloric intake.  Forty~five percent is a heck of a lot when you want to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and, possibly, a snack.  Needless to say, I have since stopped with the ‘ccinos.  That doesn’t mean I’m never drinking one again, (I cannot give up that mocha goodness) it just means that I have to be more aware of portion control and determine what I’m willing to give up for that treat.

I also learned how much fast food can hurt.  On my way to work the other day I realized that I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch, so I decided to stop and grab some fries, a fish sandwich and a coffee, that was a whopping 814 calories!  Duuuude, that is crazy!  I know this may be purely psychosomatic but I also felt ill the rest of the night.  It may be that I hadn’t had fast food in about a week and it wasn’t settling right or it may have been that I was just sick over how many calories I’d consumed in one meal but I felt YUCK the rest of the night.

My 2 for 1 water exchange has been going real well.  Actually, it’s been going better than expected, I’ve also started to drink more herbal tea (Lipton Cranberry Pomegranate Tea, how do I heart thee…).  I had 1/2 a soda this week and couldn’t finish it.  It was my first soda in about a week.  Way too sweet.

In an effort to keep me even more accountable for my food intake, I’ll be participating in the March Food Diary Challenge hosted by Brooke Lippy.  Nothing like knowing that other people are going to see what you’ve inhaled all day to keep you focused…

I exercised 3 out of 7 days this week and on the days that I didn’t workout, I made sure I went over my step goal (which was 5000 per day).  I know my step goal is low but when you figure I’m a librarian and I don’t spend a lot of time on my feet, I thought I’d start low and work my way up, this way I’m not defeated when I don’t make 10,000 steps.  This week’s goal is 7500 per day.

I’ll tell you now, I didn’t lose any weight but I didn’t gain either.  I’m not upset because I learned something about myself and my eating habits, so I consider this a win.

My Stats:

• Starting weight:  163.2 lbs
• Today’s weight:  162 lbs
• Goal weight:  145 lbs

How was your week?  Did you learn anything surprising about your eating habits?

Disclosure:  I did not receive any compensation or this post.  Mamavation is a weight loss support group that uses social media to help women and especially mothers to lead a healthy lifestyle.  You can learn more about Mamavation by visiting the website, following on Twitter or liking on Facebook.

I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. Read more from this author