Counting Calories…
I took Easter Sunday off from working out….and in my time off I realized that I have been waaaay underestimating my calories, which is why I thought I was stuck on a plateau…I was doing cardio 2x a day some days and getting nowhere (weightloss wise) since Feb…it really does help to write down everything you eat! I know I’ve heard it a million times but I was resistant to doing it because I figured it was "clean" so it seemed much lower than what it actually was…when you add in a teaspoon of peanut butter here, a few walnuts there…you can really blow up the number of calories you are eating…I was eating a salad pretty frequently with strawberries, walnuts, and chicken in it…thinking, wow, soo healthy, and so good….well, the salad dressing had 150 cals in it, the walnuts were 200 cals (for 1 serving, which is 1/4 cup!), and we won’t even discuss fat content!…the salad had at least 500 calories in it, and I wasn’t even counting the calories, and I was eating it 2x a day some days!…wow what an eye opener!…I was really stressing out because I thought my calories were as low as I wanted them in order to keep muscle, and I couldn’t see doing MORE cardio…so I thought I was gonna be stuck forever…and ever…and ever…and ever…and…you get the point…but I’m glad I took the time to analyze the diet…I plan to see some progress here really soon now!…not to self: work SMARTER, not HARDER!
AM
all exercises 6-8 reps 3 sets each
bench press #65lb
incline bench press #65lb, #55
flat dumbell press #30lb db’s
skullcrushers #45lb
assisted dips
overhead rope pull #35
cable bicep exercise #40, #35
dumbell curls #20
barbell 21’s #25lb
PM
cardio: 20 min eliptical, 10 min side step machine, 15 min stairmaster
April 14, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Oh yeah, nuts get me into trouble.
I put a tbs of olive oil and some vinegar in my salads. And I do sprinkle a little bit of sunflower seeds in my salad. That is all of the calories I get from that.
But I stay away from the nuts and peanut butter. It’s to "crave inducing" for me.
I’ll have to say work smart AND hard. It sort of drives me crazy when I see people say they spent over an hour doing cardio, but how many calories did they burn? I can do 500 in under 30 minutes. Why stay on longer than you have to unless you’re building endurance as well?
April 14, 2009 at 12:55 pm
No more PB for me!..and less walnuts