Cold 1 Ella 0

My cold / flu didn't seem to understand that it was to have been vanquished! I am sicker than ever and will put myself back to bed as soon as I have written my blog entry. Between the rest and the chicken soup I will be back to normal in no time (I hope).

Despite being sick and tired yesterday I still managed to get almost all of my To Dos done (just the 1 hour Storage organizing left to do). Today though I am going to take it easy and do mostly sit on the couch with a laptop things:

• Create my RPM daily templates. I realized that I am far more effective if I have a strong and busy structure. These daily templates will help speed up my weekly planning.
• Transfer my written running To Do list to my existing RPM running To Do list.
• Type up my 2009 goals and print.
• Order Soldier donations boxes from post office. Our good friends Beauty and Beast decided to donate Soldier Boxes this year instead of getting each other Christmas presents. How nice and terrific of them! Although Christmas is past I am sure that some soldiers out there would still appreciate a package.
• Rest, rest, rest and get better.

Before I sign off for the day I want to reiterate how important I am finding the calorie counter. It is amazing how little food can add up! It is also answering soooo many questions about why I can maintain my weight but not necessarily lose it. And the thing is ... I eat pretty darned good! For instance, here is what I ate yesterday:

• My typical oatmeal breakfast which consists of oatmeal, raisins, blueberries, raspberries, ground flax seed, ground almonds, yogurt, and a little milk (349 calories)
• My non-fat latte (200 calories)
• Bean & Vegetable Quesadilla with 1/2 avocado (390 calories)
• Shrimp Gumbo (300 calories)
• Snacks consisting of 1 apple, 2 oz peanuts, and 1/2 cup cherries (434 calories)

That sounds pretty good doesn't it. Pretty healthy, not going overboard. Well, I think that it is. But it adds up to 1673 calories!! Which wouldn't be too bad except that I can only have 1200 calories (without exercising) without gaining weight. Which gives me a deficit of 473 calories. Yesterday I worked out to the tune of 488 calories. Which means that I contributed to my weight loss a measley 15 calories (out of 3500)!!! Heck, if I am off just a bit on my portion size that 15 calories could be gone in a biteful! And, each day is about the same. Today I am not working out at all so I will have to be extra vigilent.

So what am I going to do about this so that I can lose the 10 lbs that I would like to? Here are some of the strategies that I am going to try for the next week or so:

• Cut out raisins from my oatmeal. The raisins are contributing 74 calories. I don't think that I will miss these (and, in fact, this morning I really didn't)
• If I am going to eat nuts I will choose to eat only 1 oz. which should cut about 150 calories.
• Be careful of the avocado. While I only had 1/2 an avocado yesterday the day before I had 1 1/2 which adds up big time.
• Ensure that I exercise for at least 500 calories per day (not including today when I am kicking this cold). I will do this by wearing my heart monitor every time that I exercise to get a true count of my calories.
• Track my calories during the day to know where I am at at all times.
• Keep tweeking :)

On a happier note: I did get another compliment at the gym yesterday. Another one of the gals in my class mentioned that I looked like was really slimming down. I will take comfort in the fact that even though my scale isn't showing changes my body must be.

Have a good one!

Ella

P.S. I just came across this and had to share it:

"You are the only problem you will ever have and you are the only solution." Bob Proctor