Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, this isn’t a pregnancy post. I kind of wish it was, especially because my daughter has pointed out a few times that she is sure there a baby growing in my belly. A few weeks ago I woke up feeling really tired and just not motivated to do anything. I told Steve that with the busy season being over I needed to make my health a priority. For the past three months I had more or less just sat all day in front of a computer editing. Of course, there were the days I was running around to do photo shoots and client meetings, but for the most part I was staying in the house and working at my computer. My scale is (not so) conveniently placed in our bathroom so I often weigh myself, but because I hadn’t been doing much exercise I’d been subconsciously (or consciously) avoiding the scale. On the day that I woke up super tired, I decided to weigh myself and was surprised to find that I was the heaviest I had ever been at about 12 lbs over what is healthiest for my body. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, but it was! I actually thought that I could be pregnant. The number was so much higher than normal that it didn’t make sense to me. At all. For the most part I have a healthy diet. I don’t have a sweet tooth so my breakfast, lunch, and dinners have never been loaded with sugars. I knew there were two things I was drinking that contained a ton of sugar (Coca-Cola and wine), but I didn’t think it could have been making that much of a difference in my weight. That is until Steve got me the FitBit. About a week ago Steve saw my frustration about my weight gain and decided to let me open one of my Christmas gifts early. I had asked for a Garmin to track my runs, but what I got was something so much cooler. It is the Fitbit Charge – a small watch that tracks my calories burned, my steps, my stairs climbed, my minutes of active exercise, and my distance walked. It then syncs up to my phone and computer where I can set goals for myself, use the GPS to track my runs, challenge friends, and track my daily stats. I love it! And I imagine that with my competitive nature I will have a blast with this when I get some friends signed up.
Once the FitBit is all set up it defaults to a few daily goals. For my watch it defaulted to the following:
Steps: 10,000
Distance: 5 miles
Calories Burned: 2000
Stairs climbed: 10
Active minutes: 30
Water intake: 60 ounces
I decided to keep it at those defaults before increasing anything to see how easy it was to obtain those goals. I figured if Fitbit defaulted those goals then I am sure they were attainable for the average person. But, it was actually pretty hard to hit those goals for me. Even on my most active days (running errands, going to CrossFit or running, and just not sitting down much), I noticed I was only at around 8,000 steps after putting the kids down and settling in for the night. I was surprised that I had been that active and not hit the default goals. A couple of days ago, I had an “Aha” moment with why I had been gaining weight. We had a “lazy” day. I say that in quotes because it was still super busy on the work side, but we had no running around and Kellan had been sick so I didn’t get out to exercise. I hadn’t forgotten about my Fitbit, but I just wanted to be able to not worry about it this day so I could focus on comforting Kellan. At the end of the day, I had only walked 3,342 steps, 1.5 miles, 6 stairs, and 1800 calories burned. That is pretty much no exercise throughout the day. I wondered how many days had been like that during my busy season. Even though I was often out at photo shoots, I probably maybe walked another 1,000 steps? And then to top it all off, I was adding unnecessary sugar to my diet. At least five days a week I would have a Coca-Cola or two. Then three nights a week I would have wine. After logging my calories that day and seeing how sedentary my life has been the past three months, it was super obvious why I was gaining weight. I started to wonder how many other people are like this and they don’t even know how little activity they are doing! They have extremely busy days in the mental/work sense, but not physically. The FitBit helps me track that and increase my activity throughout the day when I feel like I am not going to hit my goal. It sounds a little obsessive and too involved, but it really isn’t. I get on my phone three times a day to track what I have eaten and all my Fitbit data syncs up to my phone app. It’s been awesome for me because it motivates me to hit my goals even on the uneventful days.
This past week I set up a goal to lose 0.5lb a week. It gave me a calorie deficit to hit based on that goal. In order to hit this deficit, I decided to cut sugar. I haven’t had a Coca-Cola classic in over five days now and I have given myself two cheat nights with wine. Those aren’t cheat days – just nights. I have also cut out anything with refined sugar. No bread or bad chips or sweets. I’m not unrealistic about it either. If I want a Christmas cookie, I eat half of one. Then I log it and see the 220 calories for the cookie and realize it wasn’t worth it.
So why am I posting this hecka long post right before the holidays? Probably the worst time of year to post it, right? I am actually posting for two reasons. The first is that I need the accountability. I have always been healthier and in shape and now I’m not. I need to get back in shape! If telling you my goals will help me reach those goals, then I am game. The second reason is because I am giving away a Fitbit Charge HERE. If you haven’t entered, you totally need to because there are only 13 hours left in the giveaway. You can track how inactive you actually might be and step it up a notch. What do you say? Let’s get healthier together!
My FitBit pictures. Do you love my tough girl face? LOL! Also, I had to Kellan in a pic since Addisyn was in my StitchFix picture.
XO,
Stacy
+ COMMENTS
add a comment