BRIENMALONE's CalorieKing blog
Tuesday, Jan 22 2008 - The Power of Consistency and Charting
View BRIENMALONE's food & exercise for this day
[6:40pm] For those of you playing at home, the water weight did come off on Monday as predicted and I weighed in at 234.5 - right on target!
Chart Motivation
There is a real power in charting your progress. I'm so glad that CK makes it easy. If you are journaling your foods consistently, take a moment to look at the charts available from the Diet Diary section. I frequently use the second chart from the top showing calorie intake, net calories and exercise.
Since the plan that I follow revolves around net calories, the top charts are what tell me how I'm doing. Check out the last 6 days.
That chart is so amazingly "on-track" that I'm just beaming over here. I had a bit of a break in my routine today. I would be at work right now, but now I've got to burn some vacation time to take care of those things you can't do on the weekends.
Knowing that I have 5 solid, near-perfect days on that chart is motivating me to stay on target.
Why I Haven't Had a Single Brownie
So, here I am at home... alone... with all the junk that we have here in the house. There is a plate of brownies on the stove, with a ziplock baggie of chocolate covered cookies. There is a small bag of peppermint hot chocolate mix... and tons of other "comfort food" items... but I haven't touched a bite.
About 30 minutes ago, I had a 'what the heck - why not?' thought, but it drifted away as I broke out the cottage cheese and a banana.
Everything is going so well, I don't want to ruin it now! This is the most "on track" I have been to date and I want to see if I can have a full week exactly to plan.
As you correct your foods, the changes you make add strength to your resolve. The longer you go without the things that are bad for you (sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol) the less hold they have on you.
Time and Distance = Strength
In the recent past, I have had a real problem with sugar consumption. You may have noticed that a few days ago, I had two 100 calories hostess mini cupcake snack packs. I did this because I could afford the calories and because I hadn't had a sweet in a while.
Not only was I completely disappointed by the taste (fruit now tastes sweeter and better than refined sugar to me) I didn't have the urge to "overindulge"
----------
1:30pm
Odd Mixtures
I just got back from the grocery and after hunting for some healthy carbs, I came home with two big boxes of oatmeal - regular, not instant. (Regular has more fiber and only takes a minute longer to cook)
Rather than my usual soup + tuna concoction, I made barilla protein pasta with 1/2 cup of Classico Spinach and Garlic Tomato Sauce. For some inexplicable reason, I added a half cup of oats to this and another 1/2 cup of sauce.
Oats are neutral in flavor, so honestly, it tasted like spaghetti... just more fibrous.
This isn't a dish that I plan to repeat, nor do I recommend that you try it... but keep your mind open when it comes to food mixtures. You never know when you might stumble on something delicious.
---------
6:40pm
A Good Dilemma to Have
Well, here I am - I've just had a filling dinner and when I check my daily totals, I have to eat another 500 calories. Yeesh! I checked my ratios and they're fantastic today. I think I'm going to just dive into a protein shake to make the numbers simple.
Chart Motivation
There is a real power in charting your progress. I'm so glad that CK makes it easy. If you are journaling your foods consistently, take a moment to look at the charts available from the Diet Diary section. I frequently use the second chart from the top showing calorie intake, net calories and exercise.
Since the plan that I follow revolves around net calories, the top charts are what tell me how I'm doing. Check out the last 6 days.
That chart is so amazingly "on-track" that I'm just beaming over here. I had a bit of a break in my routine today. I would be at work right now, but now I've got to burn some vacation time to take care of those things you can't do on the weekends.
Knowing that I have 5 solid, near-perfect days on that chart is motivating me to stay on target.
Why I Haven't Had a Single Brownie
So, here I am at home... alone... with all the junk that we have here in the house. There is a plate of brownies on the stove, with a ziplock baggie of chocolate covered cookies. There is a small bag of peppermint hot chocolate mix... and tons of other "comfort food" items... but I haven't touched a bite.
About 30 minutes ago, I had a 'what the heck - why not?' thought, but it drifted away as I broke out the cottage cheese and a banana.
Everything is going so well, I don't want to ruin it now! This is the most "on track" I have been to date and I want to see if I can have a full week exactly to plan.
As you correct your foods, the changes you make add strength to your resolve. The longer you go without the things that are bad for you (sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol) the less hold they have on you.
Time and Distance = Strength
In the recent past, I have had a real problem with sugar consumption. You may have noticed that a few days ago, I had two 100 calories hostess mini cupcake snack packs. I did this because I could afford the calories and because I hadn't had a sweet in a while.
Not only was I completely disappointed by the taste (fruit now tastes sweeter and better than refined sugar to me) I didn't have the urge to "overindulge"
----------
1:30pm
Odd Mixtures
I just got back from the grocery and after hunting for some healthy carbs, I came home with two big boxes of oatmeal - regular, not instant. (Regular has more fiber and only takes a minute longer to cook)
Rather than my usual soup + tuna concoction, I made barilla protein pasta with 1/2 cup of Classico Spinach and Garlic Tomato Sauce. For some inexplicable reason, I added a half cup of oats to this and another 1/2 cup of sauce.
Oats are neutral in flavor, so honestly, it tasted like spaghetti... just more fibrous.
This isn't a dish that I plan to repeat, nor do I recommend that you try it... but keep your mind open when it comes to food mixtures. You never know when you might stumble on something delicious.
---------
6:40pm
A Good Dilemma to Have
Well, here I am - I've just had a filling dinner and when I check my daily totals, I have to eat another 500 calories. Yeesh! I checked my ratios and they're fantastic today. I think I'm going to just dive into a protein shake to make the numbers simple.
3 comments so far.
3.
a decade ago
Hi Meydee! I bought the software shortly after I joined. It has so many great features, but they got one thing completely backwards - and it made me stop using it altogether. You can log on to the website from anywhere and enter your foods, but you can only have the software on one PC. Wouldn't it make sense to be able to download your food and blog data from the website to your PC? Instead of doing that, they allow you to upload your data FROM the software, which overwrites anything you have on the website. So, if you're on the road and recording your foods on the website, when you get home, you have to manually enter them into the software. I have no clue why they would do it this way.
by BRIENMALONE
2.
a decade ago
Thanks for sharing your charts. I use the desk top version so I am going to see if I can do the charts there. Congrats on you week!
by MEYDEE
1.
a decade ago
Brein,
I am beaming over here in PA for you,WTG!!! You are right on target and could not have had a better week!
by JENNCST