December 02, 2014

Food logging

First, the winner of the Eddie Bauer $100 gift card giveaway is... Erica Cook! I've sent you an email, Erica. Hope you have fun spending your gift card :) Thanks to everyone who entered!


As promised, I am posting my food log from yesterday:


It's kind of interesting how easy it was to stay on track when I knew I was going to be posting it! ;)

I ran a few miles in the morning at a really easy pace, and it felt fantastic. I didn't look at my Garmin at all, and just let my mind wander, and I felt really good the entire time. I expected my pace to be in the 11:00's, but it ended up being 10:12 average (my heart rate was low, at 141). I hope that means my easy pace is getting easier and I'm starting to get faster? We'll see.

Today, I had intervals on the schedule: 6 x 400's. It was cold and windy this morning, and I really just wanted to do the intervals on the treadmill. I ran a quarter mile at 6.0 mph (10:00/mi pace) to warm up, but I noticed my Garmin was reading 9:00/mile. I stopped the treadmill to figure out what the deal was, and somehow the foot pod calibration had reset to 103.9% (it should have been at 93.9%). So after changing it back to 93.9%, it matched the reading on the treadmill.

I ran another quarter mile at 6.0, and then for my intervals, I decided to do 8.0 mph. In between, I jogged a quarter mile recovery at 5.5 mph. I think the 8.0 was perfect--not so hard that I wanted to die, but not easy. Next time I may try 8.1 or 8.2. I did 6 repeats, and then jogged a quarter mile to cool down. In the end, the workout looked like this:

The random drop in pace at the beginning was when
I hopped off the treadmill to turn on the fan


I've been craving steel cut oats lately, but they are such a pain in the ass to make, that I haven't made them. You may remember all of my steel cut oats incidents from the past--they either burn, or undercook, or overflow, or anything else that could possibly go wrong. Then I finally learned to cook them to where they are perfect, but they take forever. So last night, I went to Kroger to buy some, and then put them on the stove to cook while Jerry and I watched Breaking Bad (I'm watching it for the second time with him, because he'd never seen it; we're on Season 3). It took about an hour, but I had four servings of the oats to keep in the fridge for breakfast this week.

While I was at Kroger yesterday, I noticed that they have medjool dates again! I love dates, but I haven't been able to find them for a couple of years. I bought some, and today I split a couple of them open and spread them with a tiny bit of peanut butter. The dates are 0 PointsPlus, and the amount of peanut butter I used was only 1 PP total. A good snack!




My brother, Nathan, and I signed up for a race on December 14th. It's the Santa Hustle Half-Marathon at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio.



It's kind of far to drive--1.5 hours--but I really wanted to do it. I think it'll be fun to run around the park when all the rides are shut down for the winter. I'm hoping for good weather! If the weather cooperates (no ice or snow), then I'm going to shoot for sub-2:03. According to the McMillen Calculator, and based on the 10K I just ran, I should be able to do a half in 2:02:52 (a 9:23/mi pace). But I would be happy with anything faster than the Monroe Half I did last month (2:08-something). Anyway, we're not staying the night down there, so we'll just have to get up and out the door early in order to get there on time. It looks like a fun race! Anyone else doing it?

28 comments:

  1. How can there be zero points for dates? There's like 60 calories in just one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fresh fruit (including fresh dates) contains 0 PointsPlus. I was surprised to see that dates were included, but as long as I only have 1-2 per day, I don't think it'll be a problem.

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  2. I do steel cut oats in a slow cooker. I use a small slow cooker with 1/2 cup of oats an 2.5 cups of water plus a little salt and just put it on low before I go to bed. You can also use a big slow cooker and multiply the amounts to make enough for a few days and then reheat it as and when!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think my slow cooker must run hot; several people have told me that they love to make steel cut oats in the slow cooker, but when I tried it, they burned. I wish I could do that--it'd be much easier! Maybe I'll give it another try.

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    2. I had this same problem with my slow cooker. We ended up buying "quick" steel cut oats and just make them on the stove now. That doesn't take too long.

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    3. you just need to add more water if it runs hot, it'll take a bit of experimenting to see how much more you need. I'd try it during the day so I could monitor it. Some people use timers to start their slow cooker too, so you could maybe try that and have it come on a few hours before you get up if it's cooking them faster. Good luck!

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  3. Fresh dates are indeed 0 PP, but those dates on your plate are dried dates, not fresh. My WW tracker says two of those are 4 PP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, they were labeled as "fresh", but after a Google search, I've learned there are also "semi-dry" dates, which I believe these must be. The taste and texture of these are much different from the dried dates I've had, so I don't think they are fully dried. I'll count them as fresh--I always did before, and there was never a problem!

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    2. I just found this on Livestrong.com, which should make it clear as mud ;) "The fresh dates are available soft, semi-soft or dry. The dry fresh date is not the same as the dried date. A dry date simply contains less moisture than a soft date."

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  4. Do you find it easier to write your food log down by hand or using the WW app? I've tried it using the phone and didn't really care for it, but didn't want to have to carry the log with me. Oh well. Can't have it both ways!

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    Replies
    1. I actually do both, but I prefer the handwritten one better. It's just much easier to flip back through if needed. I do use the app, because, like you said, I don't want to carry the log with me when I go somewhere. I think it's just about personal preference!

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  5. Hi Katie,
    Great blog!
    I make overnight steel cut oats. Just boil your water (I always use more than the recipe calls for) and once boiled add your oats. Stir and cook for about a minute. Then turn off the heat, cover the oatmeal pot and go to bed! In the morning your oatmeal is ready to be either re-heated in the microwave or on the stove. It keeps great in the fridge all week or portion it out into single serve containers and freeze.

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    Replies
    1. Interesting! That is one way I haven't tried before, so I think I'll give it a go. As long as I don't forget to turn off the stove once it's boiling, haha ;)

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  6. Hey Katie- medjool dates are not the same thing as regular dates, they have a high sugar content and are not 0 P+- they are 4 P+ for 2 of them. I know this week you're trying really hard with accurately tracking so you might want to count points for them. I've had ones that look exactly like yours pictured and I looked up the brand in WW and they were indeed 4 P+. (you're awesome, not trying to be critical!)

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    Replies
    1. Oh, geez! Who knew that dates could be so complicated? ;) Maybe I'll just split the difference, and count them as 1 PP each.

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  7. I love that you hand write your food log. Makes me want to give it a try. I feel burned out by my app.

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    Replies
    1. It's funny, sometimes something as simple as starting a fresh new journal is super motivating to me! I do like having the handwritten log.

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  8. lol, I realized that I read your whole blog, and when I got to the date part, I was the same as the others...who knew dates could bring out such a response in all of us?!
    I avoid steel cut as well, because of the cooking. Maybe I will try the suggestion I saw of letting them cook themselves overnight.

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    Replies
    1. I guess I've been counting them wrong all this time! I learned quite a bit about dates, though ;)

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  9. Great job with your food log! You're so inspiring - just by holding yourself accountable, something I hardly do.
    Also I will definitely have to try that snack - I love dates and just bought some. Just gotta add peanut butter!

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    Replies
    1. Dates and almond butter is really good, too. I think I actually like the almond butter better than the peanut butter with the dates!

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  10. I'm curious about your activity points. 8 points for a 3 mile run? Or did you have other activity in there. How do you calculate those points? Based on calories burned or some other way. This is one thing I've struggled with.

    Also, I'm running the Honolulu Marathon on December 14th. I'll be more concerned about overheating... no snow or ice here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just recently starting using my ActiveLink again, and the Active Link gives me a LOT more PointsPlus than I got when I calculated the PP based on calories burned. The run itself only gave me 4 PP, but because I was pretty active the rest of the day, the PP kept accumulating. I'm not sure how long I'll keep the ActiveLink activated. I like it, but I do think it gives me too many activity PP.

      The Honolulu Marathon sounds fantastic! Enjoy!

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    2. Okay, thanks! That makes sense. I usually go by calories burned and give myself 1 point for every 75 calories. I burn about 90-100 calories/mile so a 3 mile run would be about 4 points as well.

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  11. Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They have frozen individual steel cut oats that you just pop in the microwave? Easy and delicious!

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    Replies
    1. I wish I had a Trader Joe's nearby! The closest one is in Ann Arbor, about 45-60 minutes away. The individual oats would be so convenient to have in the freezer!

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  12. 1/2 cup oat, 3/4 cup milk, sweetner of your choice. In the fridge over night. In the morning, microwave for 1 minute and voila!

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  13. 1/2 cup oat +3/4 cup milk+sweetner of your choice, put in fridge overnight. In the morning, microwave for 1 minute and voila!

    ReplyDelete

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