Week 1 Synopsis: mixed success

What went well:

- 491 more steps/day than the prior 100 days

- 0.2 more miles/day " "

- 16 more floors/ day "  ";  14 more than goal!!

- down 1.3lb / 0.2 BMI for the week (despite NYC, though I'll pay for that in full this week) - ahead of target

- drank lots and lots of water. This is generally a good thing!!

- logged all my food, for better or for worse. 

What could have gone better:

- sleep. Averaged less than 5 hr/day. Day with under 3 hr. Nuff said. 

- burned 17 fewer calories/day than prior period ... And 153 fewer than target

- needed 1228 more steps/day to hit target (which will help with calorie burn). Now will need to up my average by 93 going forward to make up for it. 

% calories from:

Carbs - 37 (too high)

fat - 40 (ok)

protein - 24 (too low)

Sodium - 2519mg

Water - 121oz (great)

Flying is for the Birds

Took a trip to NYC this week that was both fabulous and horrid. It is fitting for a trip to NYC as that's how I see the city in general. It is such a juxtaposition of dead and alive, magnificent and appalling, insane wealth and aching poverty.  Architectural beauty overlaid with the smell of stale urine ... Everywhere. 

The highlights: my meetings and the people I went to connect with. Truly inspiring and energizing discussions and I wish I could have stayed for a week. Had a whole30 compliant breakfast with a friend and colleague, including a dairy-free veggie omelet and delicious green smoothie with kale, orange, banana, and celery. Truly refreshing and appetizing, no joke. Had a half-caff latte from Starbucks with coconut milk - not low fat but YUMMY!!!

The lowlights:  massive delays and flight cancelations on both flights, leading to super late arrivals, tons of wasted time at airports, and extra late bedtimes, and *way* too little sleep. Compound that with falling totally off the food wagon at both airports and lunch ... Feeling pretty crappy now all things considered. 

I read a great article this morning that is inspiring me to pick up the pieces and recommit. 

http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/whole30-diet-review.html

Told from the athletic male perspective, it was a great reminder of why we do this, how to set ourselves up for success, and how to think about it. Hard - but sorry, not hard. But hard. Hah!!

 

Rough night

Rough night emotionally... Didn't get to sleep until after midnight though I'd been in bed for well over 75 minutes. Fitbit said I got over 6 hours though, so I'll take its word for it. 

Feeling a little out of health ... Possibly from too much water yesterday. Electrolyte issue?  I ate a big bowl of honeydew and a banana today to self-correct. Feeling better already :)

Torture ~ Day 3

Nuff said...

... I'm walking away now

Day Two - Pretty Awesome

OK - today went pretty well, but certainly not perfectly.  FELT better, sexier, skinnier than yesterday, though I'm definitely tired.

What went well:

• 38 floors ... driven largely by 188 fl. oz of water. 
• Scale was happy this morning!

What could have gone better:

• I did well on the carb front (18%), but ate way too many calories via fat (53%).  What started out as a low calorie food (shrimp) got doused in glorious olive oil and butter.  YUM - but too much after Chorizo Soup and an avocado for lunch.  Need to temper the fat.  Went probably 250 kcal above where I would have liked to have been today.  FORGOT that green peas aren't W30 compliant, though they do count as whole foods in my world.
  http://bestosteph.blogspot.com/2015/06/gambas-al-ajillo-spicy-yummy-garlicky.html
• Maybe not quite so much water.  Per WebMD, "In general, you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day." ... sedentary go toward lower end, active go toward higher end.  I am happy to say I don't weigh 188, ergo even if I were super active - way too much water.  Thinking my new goal should be somewhere around 120 oz/day.
• Still fewer than 7000 steps for the day.  Aiming for at LEAST 8000 given my current office arrangement.

What went terribly:

• 2 hr 37 min of sleep last night.  As soon as I hit "publish" I'm going to bed.  Seriously.  With no phone or FB anywhere near me.
• Too much sodium.  I have low blood pressure, so this isn't deadly (I don't think) but today consumed 3826mg.  "The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend an upper limit for sodium consumption of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for adults."
• I am realizing that I obsess over food and drink.  This can't be a good thing.  I think about it all the time.  boooo. 

Climbing stairs

A Harvard Alumni Study showed that men averaging a minimum of eight flights of stairs daily attained a 33 percent reduced mortality rate than sedentary men.

I'll assume this translates roughly to "the gentler sex" as well, and I'll also assume that it's not just the causality of 8 flights/day but also the correlated healthier lifestyles lived by those more inclined to take the stairs. 

Having said that ... Dear Husband replaced my year old, worn out Fitbit flex with the HR Charge for Mother's Day. Other than the ugly, clunky band, I love it!!  It tracks new things including stairs climbed.  I've made a goal to get lots of flights of stairs in, especially during the work week where I'm not moving around much at all. Since moving off the main campus, I don't have much cause to take more than a few steps an hour. The weight I shed last winter is starting to return ... Rut roh!!

So ... Current MO is to only use the ladies room on the top floor. I sit on 2, but I pee on 5. TMI perhaps, but hey - I'm getting some extra steps in!!!  To make things even more fun during my #101daysOfHealth, I'm focusing on water intake too which of course presents more catalysts for a visit to floor 5. It's noon and I've logged 20 flights lol. 

I noticed earlier today that JimIngersoll logged a 50 flight day at one time. I can't even imagine ... But with each repeated day, stairs get less tiring. The body adjusts. I first noticed this in college when we only had stairs at #THiRDEAst, and the trek home to the third floor was easy. Heaven help me if I ever had to go straight to 4th or 5th ... My body just wasn't conditioned to it. I bet those fifth Easters were in better shape than I though. 

So - taking steps - up up and away.  Let's reduce this mortality rate. Need to channel my Ostlund longevity (91+) and defy my Brooks one (50-)...

Peace and be well

Ps - I must commend my new Soffts from Zappis. I HATE heels, but these look awesome and don't slow me down on stairs whatsoever. 

Day 1

What worked:

• I baselined where I am, using my trusty fitbit data (LOVE my Fitbit!!)
• I stayed within the confines of whole food eating - no crap in - yeah!!  Husband noticed :)  Enjoyed 3 of my all time favorite recipes.
  http://bestosteph.blogspot.com/2015/06/crockpot-minestrone-without-crockpot.html
  http://bestosteph.blogspot.com/2015/04/goldilocks-chili-con-carne.html
  http://bestosteph.blogspot.com/2015/05/lamburgers-with-feta-arugula-kalamatas.html (hold the feta)
• I drank tons of water - well beyond my 100oz goal
• I climbed 30 flights of stairs, much due to my strategy of going up 3 flights at work anytime I wish to use the restroom.  Note bullet above ...

What didn't go so well:

• I'm very focused on finding a way to get more sleep.  Didn't even try to go to bed until the wee hours of the morning, due to working on the bills and general admin stuff at home
• Once in bed - I got sucked into FB.  GRRR ... this happens too often
• After the lights went out, I couldn't shut off my mind.  Nothing specific worrying me, just couldn't shut down to go to sleep.

Thursday's hope:

• Stairs - lots
• Water - lots
• Food - whole
• Sleep - please oh please oh please ...