Never Challenge A Teenager!

In making the decision to get healthier myself, I am trying really hard to have my family make healthier choices too. It's not that hard to do now that they see me walking my talk and making great strides in my progress. Which does inspire them. So the exciting news is that my 15 year old son, Britton, has agreed to join me in working out at the gym. I started out thinking it was just maneuver to save his Xbox from being taken away (which I did threaten to do because he just spends entirely too much time on that thing and as a result has put on weight) but now I really think he is looking forward to seeing his body change and to become healthier.

I am really happy for him, but I learned a huge lesson last night while at the gym . . . NEVER challenge a teenager! He handed me my butt on a silver platter! I hit the Treadmill then the Stair Climber/Elliptical for a total of 45 mins and 450 calories burned. Britton on the other hand, continued working out for another half hour (and he was working at a higher resistance than I was). He worked out for an hour and 15 minutes total and burned a whopping 780 calories! Way to go Britton!!! He said he would rather work out in the mornings before school, so I said, OK I will try to wake you up at 5:30 and we'll hit the gym again (thinking this kid would never get up that early as he is difficult to wake up at 7:00 normally). Guess what? He jumped out of bed and was ready to go in a flash! I'm actually really excited to have a workout partner who is motivated to get up that early and workout (I once tried to get my sister Katie to be my early morning workout partner, but she ended up just thinking I was a nuts and our workouts were short lived!). I even told him last night, "Hey, it's 8:30. If we're gonna get up at 5:30 you better think about getting to bed." He immediately told his friends on Xbox he had to go, logged off, and went to sleep! He says he wants to get up at 5:30 and hit the gym 5 days a week (M-F)! That's awesome. I'm really proud of his decision. The added bonus to our early mornings is that I get to spend some quality time with him one on one, which is a rare opportunity when your talking about your teenage kids.

Can't wait to tell you about the gym this morning -- but that information is for tomorrow's blog!

March 2, 2011

OK so today wasn't the best when it comes to my food intake. I had great intentions, but sort of accidentally skipped a meal, so I did not make my target for either calories or protein. The worst part about it is that the meal I skipped was the one intended for my protein shake -- so when I say I missed my target, I mean by A LOT. Here's how the day went down:

Breakfast -- NOT my usual protein shake. I decided I wanted an omelet. I woke up a little hungry, so I wanted something solid, and instead of a 2 "egg" omelet, I wanted a 3 "egg" Omelet. I tried talking myself out of the extra 1/4 cup of liquid egg whites, but when all was said and done, 3 "eggs" it was. So here's what I had:

3/4 cup Eggbeaters 100% Liquid Egg Whites
1 individual serving package Light Cheddar Cheese
1 slice Ham Lunch Meat
1 slice Tomato
1/4 small Avocado

It was good, and I ate it all. At this point of the day I was doing great and right on track to meet my goals for the day. My breakfast gave me 35g of protein to start the day and contained 244 calories. Plus I knew that I would hit my target protein with the consumption of my protein shake, which has 44g. Knowing this, I knew I had a little wiggle room with my lunch. (Pay attention, this is where the day goes down hill!) I decided to make Popcorn for "lunch." I had 5 cups (which is a good size bowl) and instead of sitting down and eating without distractions, I sort of munched on it while I entered billing. Mindless snacking is a definite NO-NO! Because I grazed while I worked it took a long time of no fluids because I can't eat and drink at the same time and can't drink for 45 mins after eating, so my 2 hour lunch meant my fluids were low.

My fluids being low, meant I had to push fluids, which fills up my space and throws my eating/drinking schedule off. I was still trying to get my 64oz in by the time dinner rolled around. I told myself that I would have a protein shake after I got back from the gym. When I did get back from the gym, I showered, finished helping Kana with his homework, and then I went to bed.

Basically I ended my day so low in cals and protein that my day ended in a net negative after my workout. 386 calories consumed - 450 calories burned = total calories of -64 for the day. I don't mind the negative net calories once in a while, but I don't like being short on my protein ever! I'm moving on, making better choices for today, and just letting it go.