My First Paycheck Splurge Will Be...

Friday, August 21, 2009

A BodyBugg for sure! ( http://www.bodybugg.com/) If you haven't seen these, they are devices that you strap on to your arm and they can track (with around 90%+ accuracy) how many calories you are burning. Then, it goes along with a computer program where you can track your food. They use this on the Biggest Loser, and it looks very cool. It's somewhat expensive, but not prohibitively so, and since I don't have to pay for a gym membership (I have one in the building), I think I can justify it. And I like the idea behind BodyBugg, b/c, at the end of the day, despite all the diet tips & tricks you hear, it is ultimately a #'s game - burn more calories than you eat.


I was talking to a friend of mine who is getting a PhD in physiology and he was telling me that, yes, there are some differences between the calories burned from running vs. elliptical vs. strength training, etc. but at the end of the day, just look at everything as a numbers game, don't get too caught up in all sorts of crazy theories.

Healthy Restaurant Picks - Uno's

Thursday, April 30, 2009

On a better note, like I said, a lot of restaurants do have good healthy options. Here's some faves of mine from Uno's, as well as some other healthy options that, if I ate meat, I am sure I would love from Uno's:

Uno's lists all their nutrition info online, and even has a whole "under 500 calories" section on their site. (www.unos.com)

Veggie Soup - 150 calories
Cuban Black Bean & Lentil Soup -180 calories
Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa - 220 calories (without side dishes)
Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Mango Salsa - 240 calories (withous side dishes)
Gorgonzola Walnut Salad - 280 calories
Grilled & Skewered BBQ Shrimp - 300 calories (without side dishes)
House Salad with Grilled Chicken - 320 calories
Eggplant, Spinach & Feta Flatbread Pizza - so, this entire pizza is 810 calories, but you can easily split this with someone for 405 calories each, it's plenty of food - and it's really yummy! (Also, the cheese & tomato flatbread is the same # of calories)

Some things on their menu that i thought were not bad as far as calories were actually pretty bad, so it's always good to check online before you go to a restaurant!

Diet-Busters!

As much as restaurants are getting better at including healthy options, they also keep adding things that are like 1000+ calories (like the giant omelette breakfast sandwich from Burger King, the Double Thickburger at Hardee's, etc.). The newest diet buster I keep seeing ads for is this, the Domino's Bread Bowl Pasta:



Now, the website doesn't give the nutrition info, but this just CAN'T be good for you, right? I mean, pasta inside a bread bowl? I found these calorie listings online for them on another site:

670 calories - Pasta Primavera
700 calories - Chicken Alfredo
730 calories - Three Cheese Mac-N-Cheese
730 calories - Italian Sausage Marinara
740 calories - Chicken Carbonara

Calorie Counting Tips

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

So, one thing most dieters agree on is that keeping a food log, whether you're tracking calories, or Weight Watchers points, or just trying to see what you're eating, is key to figuring out what to improve on. And I think it really opens your eyes to how much you are really eating - sometimes, I will think, i really don't eat that much, why am I not losing weight? But then, when I really write every single thing down, I see where the problems are!

Calories Needed to Maintain Weight:
And the amount of calories needed to maintain even a heavier weight is not that excessive - if you take your weight times 10, thats about the number of calories per day it takes to maintain your weight - so, even to maintain a 200 pound weight, you only have to eat 2000 calories a day. S

Calories Needed to Lose Weight:
And to lose weight, it is often recommended that you eat your current weight times 7. So, if you're 200 pounds, you need to be eating 1400 calories. Granted, these are of course just general recommendations, and will fluctuate depending on your personal activity level.

Places to Track Your Food:
Like I have mentioned, I have an online membership to Weight Watchers, and I have found the only way for me to consistently remember to track my food is to keep the "Points Tracker" open on my laptop so that I have no excuse not to jot something down the moment I eat it - the longer you wait, the more you forget, and probably tend to underestimate what you really ate.

For free services, I think www.fitday.com is great - you can track calories, exercise, nutrients, food groups, etc. - it is awesome! I used it all the time before getting the WW membership (which I mainly got so that I could access their recipes).