This morning I”m dusting off my SparkPeople account.
I haven’t bothered tracking calories and macronutrients for several months. I stopped initially because, frankly, it’s a pain in the butt. And I was also trying to be less obsessive about food by establishing simple rules like eat real food, avoid processed crap. I’ve been recording WHAT I was eating in an effort to sort out food allergies, but now that that’s more or less accomplished, I’ve just been hanging out losing and regaining the same 3-5 pounds for 6 months. But the fact is…tracking and measuring keeps me honest.
I also realized this morning that between stress, injury, and a whole slough of other things, I’m simply not as active as I was 8 months ago–and I mostly haven’t changed how much I’ve been eating to accommodate that. Whoops.
So I recalculated my basal metabolic rate and caloric needs (the Katch McCardle Calculator is really handy for that purpose) based on my current weight, body fat %, and activity level and officially started recording again.
Since I realized how my activity level has dropped, I also want to start bumping that up again. Something I had really good luck with in the past is doing several mini workouts throughout the day. Just little bursts of SOMETHING for ten or fifteen minutes when I have the time. It’s good for waking me up during the long work day and getting me out of my chair and the blood pumping. And it adds up over time.
One of my other local pals is looking to make some lifestyle changes, so I think we’re going to be accountability buddies. That’s always a good thing. Anything to help motivation! I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s a LIFESTYLE and a long haul process. Honestly, I didn’t notice that much difference once I topped thirty. Now that I’m headed toward the middle of this decade, I’m FINALLY noticing how things have slowed metabolically or become more difficult. This is annoying. But whatever, I’ll learn to accommodate.
2 thoughts on “State of Operation G.I.T.”
Good luck! I’m trying to get back to being more mindful of my food. After a scary blood sugar reading (the highest since I’ve been on insulin), I realized I better be tracking my carbs.
So are you going to go back to tracking all the macronutrients again? That’s when I get so frustrated. All that time-consuming stuff. I guess we need to do whatever it takes to keep us on track. Sometimes, it can’t be super simple. It’s about what we’re willing to do to make things better.
I never tracked ALL of them. Carbs and fat weren’t really ever a priority for me. I focus on keeping within a specific calorie range and shooting for high protein (because if I’m getting enough protein and keeping within that calorie range, there’s not room for excessive fat or carbs). I’ve been using Sparkpeople for years, so I’ve got a ginormous database of foods, meals, groupings, etc. of the stuff I cook all the time. Since I tend to eat the same things for breakfast or lunch, I have easy groups made for that, so I really just have to make sure my planned dinner and snacks fit in the budget, which I usually do at the beginning of the day rather than after I’ve already eaten it.