January 28, 2014

Another snow day!

As predicted, my kids' school was canceled yesterday and today. It looks likely it'll be canceled tomorrow, too. This has NEVER happened, for as long as I've been alive, that they've canceled so many days of school due to cold weather. I don't know that they would cancel it just because of the temperature, but the roads have been awful, too. It hasn't gotten warm enough to melt any snow, so it just keeps building up. Then, the super cold temps turn it into ice almost immediately when it does snow.

We are allowed six snow days per school year, and the kids are on day seven right now. So they'll be making up at least one day in June, and it's only January! The kids were actually not very happy that school was canceled today. The snow days have been boring, because it's too cold for them to play outside, the roads are too bad to drive anywhere, and there is only so much to do at home. Yesterday, they had a friend come over, so that kept them busy.

I've always liked cold weather, but I really don't like snow. This winter has just been awful, and it's definitely affecting my mood. It looks SO dreary outside:


It's not that bad if we have some warmer (and by warmer, I just mean mid-30's!) days thrown in the mix, with some sunshine. But it's been dreary and freezing cold every single day lately. I really hope this means we have a perfect summer!

This morning, I had just three miles on the schedule, but I figured I'd run for an entire episode of Flashpoint, about 43 minutes. My easy pace is back to feeling easy, and my heart rate is back down to normal. It occurred to me that the heart rate thing happened right after I got a flu shot; I have no idea if that had anything to do with it, but it's a possibility. My heart rate was really high, and I felt like crap for a couple of weeks (especially while running), but now it's totally back to normal.

Today, I ran at a 9:05-ish pace and my heart rate barely reached Zone 3. I've felt fantastic the past week or so while running, so I think I'm back to normal. Today, I just set the speed on the treadmill and then ran for the whole episode of Flashpoint, which ended up being 4.7 miles total.



After my run, I did strength training on the Wii Fit U. I've been doing well with sticking to my goal of strength training twice per week. Today, I added some more of the strength and yoga exercises to my routine. I like the Wii Fit exercises because they're short, and I think that's why I've actually stuck to doing the routine. I still feel like I get a good strength workout, though.


Carly shared this article about weight loss myths on Facebook today, and I thought it was worth mentioning here. I really love that it discusses the "1200 calories a day" issue. When I first started losing weight, I'd always heard that 1200 calories per day was what I should aim for. And even SparkPeople suggested 1200-1550 per day. I tried that, and felt like I was absolutely starving! There was no way I could stick with that for very long.

I really wanted to be able to find a way of eating that I could live with forever, and still enjoy my life, so I experimented to be able to eat as much as possible and still lose weight. I found that I could lose weight while eating 1800 calories a day, and even more on the days that I ran. Eating 1800 kept me MUCH more satisfied, so that I was much less likely to binge; and I didn't feel hungry all the time. The scale even dropped faster when I was eating more. I really don't believe that there is a one particular "magic number"--we just have to experiment to find out what works for us as individuals.

Just for fun, I used the calorie calculator on the article's website see what number it said I should aim for in weight maintenance. My age just changed to 32, my weight was 139 today, and I exercise 3-5 days per week. It said that to maintain my weight, I should eat 2165 calories per day. If I had to guess how many calories I've been eating lately, I'd say that's pretty accurate! I've probably been eating between 2000-2500 for several weeks, and my weight has stayed very steady. It suggested that to lose weight, I should aim for 1840 calories per day (and the lowest would be 1624). I'm doing really well without counting calories or WW Points, so I don't plan to start counting now, but I thought it would be interesting to see what the calculator suggested.

Anyway, normally, I don't like to read weight loss articles, but when I saw that Carly shared it, I figured it must be decent ;)


By the way, I haven't heard from Carolyn R. from Minneapolis, MN about winning the magazine giveaway. Carolyn, not sure if you saw on the post yesterday, but you won a one-year subscription to Runner's World from me! Just send me an e-mail with your full name and address where you'd like the magazine sent, and I'll get it ordered this week.

19 comments:

  1. you should check out veronica mars when you're done flashpoint. The main actor from flashpoint is in it too

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  2. I feel you on this winter. This is mine and my husbands first winter in ND and it is rough. Not so much the cold or the snow but the overcast. I need to see sunshine!

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  3. Sadly, I don't think Veronica Mars is on Netflix anymore. :(

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  4. I'm so glad you addressed the 1200 calorie issue! I've seen other bloggers claim that's what they eat, and they claim not to understand how people can eat 2000 calories a day. I think they must not exercise much...there's no way I could do it with the way I exercise.

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  5. I am still reading Brain Over Binge but haven't overeaten or binged since I started. It's as easy as saying "no animal brain, don't think so." I can't believe that just having the information has made it so easy to say no and not feel deprived. I hope this is a lifelong change.

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  6. Thank you for posting this. I always see 1200 points and give up because it's a number I can't do. This site also gave me 1800. That's a number I can do!

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  7. I was able to do 1800 while nursing my baby. As she got older and nursed less I had to lower my calories. I got as low as 1200 but was starving and the pounds weren't coming off anymore. I'm back up to about 1600. I tried to go back to 1800 but I gained. 1600 I maintain. I've been stuck at the same weight for months now. Not sure what to do. At this point as long as the #'s don't go up I'm ok. Down would make me happier, but I'm ok.

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  8. The thing people forget is that dropping your calories drastically to 1200 a day will get you some immediate weight loss but your body will adjust and it sees that amount as starving yourself (especially if you are exercising regularly like everyone should be doing), so it lowers your metabolism so you actually burn less...and that defeats the purpose of starving yourself. Reality is that you should eat whole, natural foods as much as possible and exercise regularly...lots of protein if you are tearing down muscle at all, and use moderation in your portion sizes.

    I kind of let myself go for a bit recently (mix of anxiety, cold weather, laziness, being overwhelmed, etc) and have been really unhappy with my reflection in the mirror and how my clothes have fit. I wasn't eating terribly bad, but I had dropped off the exercise bandwagon pretty drastically. The last week, I have added back in 40 mins of moderate exercise a day, with very little diet changes and I am already losing pounds...will start weight training again to improve metabolism and keep my bones strong and the pounds will start to fall off. I am super excited that I am not having to starve myself to see improvement and the exercise definite improves all the issues that were keeping me from exercising in the first place.

    Reading your blog has helped me to get and stay motivated even in this cold weather (have indoor weight room but no treadmill or bike). --Mishka

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  9. Interesting article. I've been with SP for four years now and they always stated 1700 was my highest, yet this says, on the highest setting says 2017. Hard to know which one to follow!

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  10. I haven't been counting for a couple of months. Oct to Jan were horrific for me, so I'm just trying to make better choices and stay active in this dreariness. The weather just makes me want to hide under a blanket with a book or my tablet!

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  11. I feel for you with the cold weather. Luckily we have had some sun that has melted our snow. It is now just the bitter cold temperatures that make you wish for the inside. I don't even like walking from my car to the door! :)

    Hope things warm up for you soon!

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  12. I'm also not a fan of the 1200 calorie myth :( For me 1800 is the magic number as well. If I'm working out I can do up to 2000 and still lose weight. So many people are hungry all day unnecessarily and it bothers me a lot!

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  13. We are opposites! I think cold weather is ok (my preference is 60-70 degrees, though), but I LOVE snow. Cold weather is only worth it if there is snow, IMO! Thanks for the link, because I have always wondered about that 1200 calorie rule. It definitely is less than what I eat, and I am in the normal range for my height.

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  14. Regarding the magical 1200 calorie number, the World Health Organization says 1200 is the starvation line. And not starvation like "I'm really hungry for lunch since I skipped breakfast" but actual STARVATION. And of course, the body doesn't realize that you're purposely drastically limiting calories; the body just thinks FAMINE! HOARD ALL THE FAT!!! I know I couldn't eat at 1200 calories and be happy...I think using Spark People, I was always pushing the upper end of my range (probably around 1400 or so). I'm currently reading Why We Get Fat by Gary Tauber and it's fascinating, I highly recommend it if you're interested in nutrition & history.

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  15. Love the part about the 1200 myth... don't starve yourself people! When I was losing weight I needed to eat ~2500 to maintain my starting weight. So I would eat somewhere between 1800-2000 a day, which left me satisfied as long as I ate smart, and then exercised five days a week for 30 minutes. I lost 2 pounds a week steady for about half a year to reach goal weight doing that!

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  16. 1200 calories a day is just INSANE !!!

    I do anywhere between 2300-2600 a day ... not counting special event days : ) Live life and maintain ...

    We received 6 inches of snow last night ... this is a MAJOR event in eastern NC. We're about an 1.5 from the coast. Stay warm and safe everyone : )

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  17. I have lost a mere 26 pounds over the last 2.5 years. I lose weight sloooooow with lots of breaks where I just maintain where I'm at. That is with working out, too, about 30 minutes 5x a week. I am 42. I can't seem to get past where I currently am and would love to lose another 25 lbs. (would be at 150 then and am 5'4) I have used spark people all along and stayed between 1200-1550 calories. This calculator has me at 1770 for the slowest rate of loss! Crazy town. I think for this next month I will aim for that but get my extra calories from whole foods, for sure. Can't hurt! Thanks for the link. Also, I am in Wisconsin and so feel your (chilly) pain! :)

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  18. Hopefully you will be able to get out soon! I will send some of our FL sunshine your way :) Have a great day!

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