Food review Taco Bell Doritos Taco

I am usually not a big fan of Taco Bell but I really like salty foods. I had to try one Nacho Cheese Doritos Taco. At about 170 calories I would count it as a big snack or a small meal. If you like salty food you will enjoy this.. It has the extra punch of flavor from the Doritos Taco shell that gives it some kick. According to myfitnesspal ipad application it has 9g of protein. It is a nice treat that won't kill your diet. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Almost three months of fitbit

After three months with my fitbit I have lost about 12 pounds with the majority of it being fat loss.
I have walked over 1000 miles.   Here is proof:

It can be exhausting at times.   Definitely one thing that helps is to log all of the food I eat.  When I stop logging is when my weight loss plateaus.   Just the simple act of logging food seems to help me to eat less.  I am not sure why that works but it does.   Other things that help are to always walk while talking on the phone... seems silly but really adds on the points.  I try not to sit for too long.   I will
only watch HGTV while I am on the treadmill or elliptical.   I don't always have to be doing fast cardio but  I force myself to keep moving.

I have added in more biking lately.. I am hoping that will help keep Achilles tendon issues at bay.    I would like to lose about 7-8 more pounds.     It might take longer.. as the less you weigh the harder you have to work to lose weight.

Shoes to help with achilles tendinitis

If you are having Achilles tendinitis and still want to get your walking in there is really only one shoe to help that I have found.  This is the MBT shoe. (not sandals)   The MBT rocker bottom shoe allows you to walk without stressing your Achilles tendon.    This is important.. the Achilles tendon can injure easily so protecting it is important.

I have tried other "rocker bottom" shoes and they do not compare.  I do NOT love MBT shoes.   I feel like they are heavy and ugly but when my achilles is bothering me I use them.     The MBT sandals do not help as much.. because they are not as confining as the shoes the sandals won't give your foot the same support.. the sandals do help but the shoes are the best way to go.

If you are new to MBT shoes you might need to start slowly.. a couple hours a day and work your way up.      When your achilles is feeling better try alternating your MBTs with other shoes,  I like Mizuno Wave Rider  Running Shoes.  Karhu Fulcrum shoes are kind of interesting.. they might work for you.. I find they are comfortable and alternate these in with my others.   After wearing my MBTs all of these shoes make my feet feel light as a feather.

Zesty Low Calorie Egg Salad

With easter just passed here is a low calorie egg salad recipe

1 egg hard boiled
1 Tablespoon Miracle Whip Lite
1 teaspoon mustard.
1 teaspoon horseradish
celery chopped - optional

mash the egg with a fork mix in the miracle whip, mustard and horseradish.  Chill in the fridge.  Add the celery right before serving.. otherwise it will make the egg salad soupy.

Calories from miracle whip lite are about 20 plus the calories of the egg about 75, mustard and horseradish - 0 .. for a total of 95 calories.

One Month Anniversary of my Fitbit and I

Well I have been fitbiting a little over a month and so far I love it.   Weight loss is at about 2.5lbs and body fat % is down by almost 10%.       Fitbit is a fun way to get into shape..   It proves that you don't need any fancy exercise equipment.. you can just walk around the house...literally.      I think anyone who has stalled in their weight loss plan should try this.   They just might not ever want to stop.

Fitbit Week Two

I finished my second week of fitbit. So far I like my little tracker. It definitely keeps me moving. The software that goes with it could be better. Not impressed with the iPhone app and since there is none for the ipad, this is the one I use. So far I have walked at least ten miles a day according to my tracker...for today I have logged 12.41 miles. It is a fun little tool and could be your most used piece of exercise equipment.

Buy good walking shoes if you are going to try this. Think of the surfaces you will walk on. A really good pair of running shoes might be your best bet. Change shoes each day or even within a day to give your body some variety. Remember for inflammation ibuprofen is your friend...use it and keep moving... Sometimes the worst thing you can do for pain is to sit.

Fitbit one week later

I have been religiously using my fitbit zip and I love it. It is a great motivator for staying active. I never realized how much sitting I did before fitbit. It is definitely worth the cost. Fitbit will have you logging your food and adding in more steps before you know it.

Drawbacks include that there are some activities that he tracker does not track well.. These you need to manually enter. Something like weightlifting and possibly spinning might be some of these.

If you get nothing else out of fitbit it will help you to determine why you are not losing weight. Most likely you are not as active as you think... And therefore not burning a lot of calories. I remember reading that the average person burns 2000 calories a day. Ummmmm not with our current life style. I think it is much a much less than that. Wear a fit bit for a day and get it to the 2000 calories. If you are a medium sized woman(120-150) that involves a lot of steps.

For my size I have to walk about 25000 steps to get to my fitbit calorie burn target.

 

Fitbit

I have been researching these wearable fitness devices. The fitbit seemed like the best for the money. It is a nice incentive to be more active. The fitbit can sync with your iPhone, ipad or pc. With the initial pairing if you have problems pairing with your apple devices try using your PC. I had to reboot my Computer after installing the fitbit software on my pc. The device then paired just fine. After the initial pairing the fitbit synced fine with my apple devices.

So far I love it. Will update as to my successes with it.

Exercise Progress

About 2 months ago, at the end of November.  I decided to totally commit to exercise.  At least a half hour of cardio a day 5 times a week along with weight training 3 times a week.    So far this has gone very well.

When I started with the Cardio I could only do 3.8 mph walking on the treadmill.  My body seemed to have a tough time with this.  I had to take it slow since my muscles just were not used to it.  I had some major muscle pain.  I am happy to say that in two months I am up over 4.3 mph with a little jogging thrown in every so often.   I try to get in 45 minutes of Cardio whenever possible.    I hope to eventually do more and more running.. this will depend on my knees and how they handle it.

I am thrilled.  My legs are far more solid than I thought they would be after 2 months.  I find that with this pace with a little running thrown in I can get that great exercise spirit lift.   This is also known as the runners high.

 Now my weight loss is not as impressive but I am trying to be patient about that.   I have fallen in love with Cardio again... and I hate to miss it.    The treadmill is by far my favorite way to do this.  On some days I end up having to use the elliptical machine and this is not nearly as much fun.. a great workout though.  I think I tend to go a little too hard on the elliptical..

If you are trying a new cardio routine give it a good two months.   I bet you will see the difference too.
Good exercise music makes a HUGE difference.   I also like doing it at home.. that way I can sing to the music and get as silly and fun as I want.

Weight Loss Music

Great music to listen to when I am working out can make a real difference to me.  I like as fast of a beat as possible.. it really helps me to increase my pace and get my heart beat up even faster.  I have found some great songs on iTunes.  While these might not be the best classic music.  Trying to keep up to the beat with these tunes definitely helps me to go faster and keep up the pace and burn calories more.

SuperStar by Toybox
Glad You Came(Workout Mix) by Julian Marshall
Bouncing Off the Ceiling(Upside Down) by A*Teens
Call Me Maybe(Workout Mix) by Paulette
What Doesn't Kill You(Stronger) Workout Mix by Starlet
Single Ladies( Put a ring on it) by Beyonce - I like the Glee version the best but it is un-released.
Barbie Girl by Aqua

These will give you over 20 minutes of hard core Cardio. I am hoping to get these up to 45.
I fill in the rest of  my time with Brittany, 9-5, Queen, Ace of Base.

So for about 10$ you can get over 20 minutes of cardio that is fun and reuse it over and over.

This really works... and go ahead sing to the music... it really helps.