Professional Moms... let's group together!

I have other groups online with working Moms... they help me find cool things to do with our 4 year old... help me keep up with my scrapbooking.  But I would love to get into a group of other mothers that also work full time outside of the home... and are trying to lose weight. 

I respect SAHMs... but it's a different perspective to have to pack lunches, work a full day, make dinners on the go and find time to work out as well. 

Here's a bit about me... and hopefully there will be other professional Moms wanting to team up to get rid of some extra weight!

33, 5'5", CW 168; GW 145.  Married x6.5 years; we have a 4 year old daughter.  I work in healthcare 5 days a week (8-6 M-Th; 8-12 on Fri).

spookrepitus, I find entering things into the calorie log to be tedious too.  I have a spreadsheet on my computer at work where I keep a running calorie total for the day and I've been doing that for about a year.  I tried using CCs calorie log for the first time on Tuesday for logging Monday's meals and it look me forever to do it.  I think once you get used to the process and use the tags, it's probably not that bad.

I'm definitely up for other challenges.  Anything that will help me keep my excitement up for this weight loss journey is more than welcome.  :-)

At first I found the log to be very tedious, however, I have been doing it for awhile now and I can log pretty quickly.  I start logging first thing in the am.  I tag many items.  I look back at past days, because I find I eat things again.  I enter in some items I do not find manual. 

For me the biggest thing was not worrying so much about being exact.  I use the tracker as a guide, many times I just punch in say french dressing and just pick the first one that comes on the list and not worry about what brand I actually used.  Usually the calories are very similar and I have a pretty good idea of how many calories the item should be so I know when one looks really out there.

Nutrition Report
Fat - 31.2% (62 grams)
Protein - 13.1% (59 grams)
Carbohydrates - 42.0% (189 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 13.7%

Daily Sodium Intake - 2,167 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 74 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 75 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 11 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 39 grams


Nutrition Grade A
Date Calories Grams Fat Carbs Protein Grade 6-18.08 1,800 2,586 62 189 59 A

Wed, Jun 18 2008 Grade Grams Cals Home made granola bars B- 24 101 Milk, Nonfat, Fluid - Without Added Vitamin A (Fat Free Or Skim) A 123 43 Bananas A 101 90 Light Swiss Original - Wedges B- 21 35 Chocolate Brownie - CLIF ZBAR A 36 120 TastyBite Spinach Dal A 142 115 TastyBite Spinach Dal A 142 115 Coffee - Black
810 16 Apples A 125 65 Chocolate Dip - Fruit Dips B 28 70 Bread, Cracked-wheat A- 28 73 Olive Oil B 9 80 Chocolate Brownie - CLIF ZBAR A 36 120 Dates, Domestic, Natural And Dry A 50 141 Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties Veggie Burgers - Burgers B+ 67 110 Dempster's Deluxe - Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns B 77 200 American Soy-Cheese Slices - Hard Cheese

70 Total Calories Consumed 1,564

i personally think the log is easier to use in classic, which is strange since they are the same, but whatever.  once you get used to it.. so simple.  plus you can preplan your day with it and then delete as needed.

 

my cals for the day: probably more than i dreamed possible. i refuse to even write down what i ate.

fine.  here it is:

2 slices light bread (70), 1 lauging cow light (35), 1 slice provolone (100), 3 slices salami (150), grapes (100), taco dip (250), tortilla chips (750), bread (200), beer (120), vodka (yet to be determined)

at least 1775.  today was a stressful, exhausting day.  can you tell?

I prefer the classic too!   I  was  a  slacker  the last two nights!  ha ha  I'm working on the logging now......     luckily I didn't eat too badly!  :)   How are you all doing with this?  Is it helping ?? 

Breakfast B+  Nature's Own Double Fiber Wheat Bread 56 80 D+  Sugars, Granulated 17 66 C   Regular Jif Creamy 32 190     Red RaspberryReduced Sugar Preserves - Smucker's 34 50   Lunch A   Apples 138 72 B+  Nature's Own Double Fiber Wheat Bread 56 80     Deli Sliced Turkey Breast 45 40 C   Kraft 2% Milk American Singles - Sandwich Cheese 32 76   Dinner A   Raisin Nut Bran 55 200 A-  Silk Soymilk Light Vanilla - Half-Gallon 180 60   Snacks A   Nutri-Grain bar Apple 37 140 D+  String Cheese 28 80 A   Toasted Nuts 'n Cranberry - LUNA BAR 48 170   Total Calories Consumed   1,304





I did not do well  :(  not enough food....  grrr

Coppertop--I'll be doing well when I say "grr not enough food" ;)

Honestly I typically log, somewhere, everyday, even if its just a running log in my head.  I also journal it, usually, much to the delight and interest of my poor journal friends.

I figured though admitting in public what I ate would be a good idea.  Because maybe a little more humiliation would hit the spot.....

Well, my log for yesterday....ugh....rough day.  I fell off the wagon bad so I haven't even logged it all yet.  I was doing semi ok...until dinner and my husband brought home KFC.  Sure, I could have cooked something else for myself, but I wasn't in that kind of mood, you know?  and I am totally starving already this morning.  I haven't had breakfast yet though. 

I plan on doing better today. 

and I'll get yesterdays log done and post it when I can. 

Add/Edit: I tag a lot of my items for much quicker logging, but my list can get pretty long.

I didn't do as bad as I thought, although my sodium was out of this world!!  YIKES!!!

  Fat - 30.4% (54 grams)
Protein - 19.3% (77 grams)
Carbohydrates - 50.3% (201 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 4,579 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 34 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 161 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 17 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 22 grams
Nutrition Grade

Date Calories Grams Fat Carbs Protein Grade 2008-06-18 1,566 945 54 201 77 B-

hello all... it was my idea to log/track and I've been the worst of them all.  Had a mini-crisis (friend in hospital) as well as work stress... so I haven't been logging in the calories.  Hope it's helping others... I'm honestly not sure how long I'll be keeping up with calorie counting.  Find it a bit tedious and makes me focus on food more than I already obsess about it.  I may keep up with my journal-- but not sure how much actual calorie counting I'm going to keep doing.  I'm going to eat well... and not too much... but logging in everything is hard to keep up with on a daily basis. 

Kudos to all of you gals that have been able to keep on the wagon!

 

Date Calories Grams Fat Carbs Protein Grade 2008-06-19 1,708 1,427 43 200 89 A-

Ah, yeah...I find that tracking what I eat does tend to make me obsess about food.  This time around I am trying to find some balance that I can live with for the rest of my life.  Unfortunately, for me vague promises to myself like "I'll eat healthy things" and "not too much" don't work well.  Arrrgh.  It looks like I just have to get used to writing down everything I eat. 

Fat - 25.2% (48 grams)
Protein - 21.9% (94 grams)
Carbohydrates - 52.9% (226 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 1,133 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 104 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 149 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 8 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 32 grams


Drea~  I only meant not enough food because I didn't hit my 1700 calorie mark.  I damaged my metabolism ... and am working to get it back so that I can kick it up and lose the weight again.  I have a hard time ... I either pig out on one large meal or I snack all day.  I cannot eat balanced meals much less have a balanced day!  ha ha
I did better the last two days though....  we had a big dinner for work  and I didn't go overboard!!   I was just over 1600 calories for the whole day.     Now I have to get off my duff and walk today!  ha ha     On the days when I don't consume at least 1500 calories... I can't bring myself to work out  :(     I struggle still.  But I keep telling myself that my eating habits are better and now I just need to keep the cardio up ... and the weight will drop!   I am finally noticing that my pants are fitting more comfortably over the last week... so that's good!  I don't dare step on the scale yet though!  ha ha 

Sorry to hear about your rough week ciosa  :(  hope things are getting better for you!    And don't worry about not being able to keep up with it... we will get you in on the next challenge!!!  :) 

Do any of you eat the same foods each day?   I realized that I log some of the same foods each day...  ie: string cheese, kashi go lean with soy milk, and my double fiber PB and J sandwiches!  
All of these are the healthier alternatives... low fat low sugar etc.  which is a huge change for me... and they taste better too! 

My next goal for myself is..... no more coffee creamer!  I tasted a powdered drink today that tasted better than my usual stuff ... general mills in the can type... and I need to go research and make sure its less calories and fat that normal.  That in its self can be up to 400 calories depending on how much sugar and creamer I use in each cup!     Ouch.... there is something I can live without!  Coffee is my weakness though... 

if you really like sweetened coffee, there are sugar free syrups you can get (sams around my way carries them) that are awesome.  you can get flavors like vanilla, kahula (which um by the way makes great white russians-- vodka, skim milk, sugar free kahula syrup), hazlenut (im allergic but i hear its good), raspberry.

so for a nice sweet yummy coffee like the coffee drinks you like, use about a tablespoon or two of the syrup plus coffee and some skim milk.  very frappacuino tasting.  you can even through in a spoonful of sugar free hot chocolate mix, a splash of the vanilla, some ice in the blender-- and you have a mocha frozen coffee drink-- so good.

oh yum, that sounds good. 

So, this is not for everyone but...if you invest in really *good* coffee, make it yourself, grind the beans fresh etc. I find that coffee can be a treat black.  I prefer a light roast if I don't put anything in it.  Fortunately for me, there is a guy down the street from me who roasts coffee for you to order, while you wait - and he charges less than the starbucks from the grocery store.  And in Utah, of all places. 

Usually, however, I end up putting some skim milk in, because I like some texture and I need the protein and calcium anyway.  But I absolutely cannot drink crappy coffee that way!

My husband's colleague sent him a research study that found coffee consumption (5-6 cups a day) was associated with decreased mortality from all causes.  Although to be fair I think that is probably due to coffee replacing other vices that are more detrimental to your health.  But still.

Starbucks is totally my weakness.  I was doing fine when it was 30 minutes away so it was a once in awhile treat.  They just opened one 7 minutes from my house and I pass it a few times a day.  UGG.  My daughter loves it too; she is all of 105 lbs so she likes to treat herself once in awhile. Of course she does not drive yet so I always seem to be with her driving when she wishes to have one.  We like the high calorie stuff too!!

Well, I did not log the last two days.  I have been busy packing for a week long trip with the family.  We leave tomorrow am so I will be off line for the next week.  I have brought 4 different workout tapes, my weights and all accessories needed to get a good workout.  My husband made a comment or two about bringing everything but I stuck to my guns.  I seem to workout great until I go on vacation and then nothing for a week then I just stop for a few weeks.  It makes it that much hard to get started again.

We are driving which is always hard for me because of all the snacking.  I bought some blueberries and kashi bars so I am hoping for the best.  Wish me luck!

Talk to you in a week.

Here we go....

 

Date Calories Grams Fat Carbs Protein Grade 2008-06-20 1,652 1,463 33 259 93

B

 

So this logging thing is enlightening...I appear to be taking in a lot of saturated fats and sodium...good thing my heart isn't in fragile condition LOL. 

I'm going to make the toilet stop running and then come catch up on this thread...

er, well, that didn't take long.  Car trips are difficult;  I always try to bring a cooler (jammed between the carseats, stroller, backpack carriers, playpen, toys and one little suitcase of my own stuff) and fill it with fruit and good things, for the sake of the entire family.  The interstates in UT seem to have even less options for healthy eating than in other parts of the country where I have traveled, hard as that may be to believe.  At least there is Subway, but dang, you can only eat so much Subway. 

Of course we started out that way when we went camping in Yellowstone last summer, but by the end of the week my son was eating nothing but cheese, crackers and gummy worms