Author: Jenna

Ok, ok, ok… I know I have been promising this post for a few weeks now but you are finally getting it! YAY!

This is the method I use to figure out how many calories I need to eat daily. This method works if you are eating to maintain or lose weight (or I guess bulking too). There are many, many, many calculators out there. I prefer the fat 2 fit radio calculator. I prefer this method because you eat the same amount every day. You don’t have to eat back exercise calories like some methods.

Please note, all links are set to open in a new window.

Please note, these are all just estimates. If you aren’t doing what you need (maintaining, losing etc) then you may need to adjust up or down. If you are trying to lose weight be sure to weigh everything possible. If you don’t have a kitchen scale I highly recommend one. I got mine at Target for about $20.

There are several calculators on this site. I will try to explain, as simply as I can, what I do. I have found this to be the best method and website for me. I will use my real numbers and screen shots as a guide for you. You will need a tape measure and scale to get the most accurate numbers.

You will first need to get an estimate of your body fat. I recommend using the Body Fat, Military and Covert Bailey and taking the average.

After you have a body fat idea (note: it is an estimate and not entirely correct) you can complete the BMR/TDEE calculation.

I do things a little bit different. Instead of putting in my goal weight I re-enter my current weight. I now know how many calories I need to maintain. But what if you want to lose weight? Have no fear, I have a solution for that. You eat 10, 15 or 20% less than your given calorie goal. The percent you choose depends on a few factors. The main one is how much weight do you need to lose? If you are overweight/obese you can most likely go with 20%. If you are 5-10 pounds away from a healthy weight range, go with 15%. If you are already in a healthy range but want to drop lower in the healthy range, use 10%. I currently use 10% because I am in the healthy range for my height but wish to lose about 10-15 more pounds.

Now, how do you determine your activity level? I think of it as hours per week instead of days. It makes it a little easier. If you exercise 1-3 hours a week use the lightly active; if you are around 6 hours use very active. If you feel you are somewhere in between levels, pick a calorie goal between them!

Disclaimer: In the first week or two you may not see results. If you change habits sometimes your body freaks out and holds onto weight because it doesn’t know what is going on. Please give this about 4 weeks and if it doesn’t work then play with your numbers. If you are losing too much, add back 100 calories each week until you lose at the weight you want. If you aren’t losing (or gaining) then cut 100 calories each week. These are all estimates and all results may very.

Disclaimer #2: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, personal trainer or anything that qualifies me to give advice. This is what I have found, through much research over the years, that has worked for me. Please consult your doctor before trying this. I am not liable for anything that happens if you use this method. I am not the first to use this method. I am not the people who came up with this method.

I love avocados and therefore I love guacamole. Usually I make guac from scratch. I buy avocados and use my muscles to smash them. Well, the last time I made guac the avocados were not in my favor. I was shopping the day before I made the guac and many avocados were far from ripe while the rest were past ripe. I really wanted guac so I grabbed a pack of wholly guacamole. It turned out ok, but it was not as good as home-made. LOL

I mixed in chopped jalapenos and queso fresco along with some garlic and onion powder to spice it up. Then I topped it with a little more queso fresco. This was not a complicated Tasty Tuesday… I mostly just wanted to share these pictures with you!

What is your favorite way to make guacamole? Chunky or smooth? Add-Ins?

I haven’t watched The Biggest Loser in several years. I stopped watching it because it started to feel more like it was about product placement and not about health and fitness.

The show was never realistic. I got that but I liked seeing the transformations. I liked when they tried to get to the bottom of their issues with food. Not everyone can go away to a ranch for a few months to lose weight. Most of us have to figure out weight loss in the real world so we can’t apply everything from the show.

I did not watch the most recent season but I have read and seen the pictures from the finale. I must say, I am shocked. The woman who won did not look healthy. She shocked Jillian and Bob, and not in a good way. Rachael Ray asked Bob about it and he pretty much danced around the question and changed the subject. If he thought it was healthy, he would have given his opinion. She dropped 45 pounds in just a few months. She went from a healthy weight to underweight. It is not healthy to lose 45 pounds that quickly when you are already at a healthy weight.

In reading subsequent interviews with the winner she has stated she ate 1,600 calories and worked out for six hours a day during the home part of the competition. 1,600 calories and six hours of working out?? I eat more than that on days I don’t work out. I still manage to lose weight but at a healthy rate.

People are just saying she did it to win the money and she will gain weight back now that the contest is over. Really? You know this for a fact? I haven’t seen her say that anywhere. I actually saw an article in which she stated she planned to maintain her loss. To me that doesn’t sound like she plans to gain any back…

I am not jealous of her. I have no desire to be skinny. I have no desire to be underweight. I want to be strong and healthy. I want to lose fat, not weight. I want to build muscle and strength.

I don’t think potentially harming yourself to win $250,000 is worth it. I also don’t think it is a great image to put forth as a role model. And yes, she is a role model. A lot of people watch that show and are inspired by the contestants. They will look to her as an example and start working out six hours while barely eating.

Obesity is a huge problem in America but we need to solve it by educating people. People should now there is an estimated calorie amount they should eat to maintain. Calories on menus don’t have an effect on people if they don’t know how many calories to consume in the first place. A 700 calorie burger doesn’t mean anything if the person ordering it doesn’t know what context the 700 calories is in.

I don’t know how to solve the obesity problem. It is a multifaceted problem and needs to be attacked from many angles. Education is one of them. Another is not promoting or encouraging unhealthy habits. I have heard the Biggest Loser is going to look at this issue and adjust the contest. I hope something good becomes of this.

I know last week I said I would cover the TDEE method but this just felt more timely and fitting. I promise the 28th will talk all about TDEE. I will educate you on estimating your calories and determining a safe calorie cut in order to lose weight!

I am a huge proponent of eating in moderation. I don’t believe in denying yourself foods that you love. My favorite food is cheesecake. Do I eat cheesecake all the time? No. I have cheesecake maybe twice a year but I make sure the really enjoy it when I do have it.

I believe denying yourself of foods you love lead to binge eating. If you want something, have it but don’t go overboard. If you are at a birthday celebration have a small slice of cake, don’t eat a piece the size of your head. Is it your birthday? Or Christmas? Enjoy yourself. Eat what you want and get back on track the next day.

Now, eating out can fill you up on calories but you can fit eating out into your goals. I eat out several times a week. I eat fast food too. Too much food causes obesity, not fast food. If you like fast food, why not enjoy it? It always helps to plan ahead. If I know I am going out to eat I might eat less at breakfast or lunch or even the day before or after. I might get an extra workout in. Or I might just plan my meal around how many calories I have left. There is so much you can do to negate a meal out.

I have lost over 30 pounds by eating whatever I want, as long as it fit in my calorie goal. I believe it is important to know what your calorie goal is and to track what you eat. I will cover figuring out your calorie goal in next Friday’s column,

Now, there may be some people who struggle with sugar addiction. Personally, I do not have this issue but I know a few people who say if they have sugar (added, not like in fruit) they cannot stop. I don’t know if this is an addiction issue or more of along the lines of a binge eating problem. They are starting to do studies on sugar as an addiction and I can see where this may come in play. If you aren’t someone with this addiction then you should have no problem eating whatever you want within your calories.

Examples of what I eat:

Saturday I went to Dunkin Donut and had a brown sugar and cinnamon latte (180 calories) along with a cookie dough donut (380 calories). I stayed under my calorie goal and reached my protein goal of 100g. I had a protein smoothie for breakfast, pizza dip for lunch, a cliff bar after my workout, fish & sweet potato for dinner and trail mix for dessert. I ate fairly healthy for breakfast and dinner plus got to have some treats.

Last Friday night I went to In & Out. I got a double double meal but got it protein style. I saved a ton of calories just by cutting out the bun, plus I eat too many carbs as is so forgoing a bun doesn’t bother me. A lot of places are using lettuce wraps instead of buns or tortillas. It is a great way to save calories. When this trend first started I was not a fan but after trying it out I really like it. The lettuce is so refreshing and I don’t feel so lethargic afterward.

Besides In & Out lettuce wraps are also available at Carl’s Jr and Jimmy John’s. I also enjoy the double chicken chopped salad at Subway. It’s basically a foot long on spinach instead of bread. The way I make it the salad comes to about 350 calories with 40g of protein. It keeps me full for quite some time. I don’t need an afternoon snack if I eat this salad.

Sometimes you can make adjustments while eating out and still satisfy the craving. If you are trying to lose weight I highly recommend not cutting out any foods or food groups. I believe you can lose weight while eating whatever you want. Plus then when you reach your goal weight your diet won’t change. If you cut out carbs, lose weight and then try to add carbs back in you will more than likely gain weight back. If you just limit your intake while losing weight you are more likely to keep the weight off. Remember, your diet is something you should be able to maintain for the rest of your life. If you can’t sustain never eating out you shouldn’t cut out restaurants while trying to lose weight. It is just not realistic.

It seems that people are shamed for admitting to wanting to lose weight/get fit for vanity reasons. We all say we want to lose weight to be healthier. When you say you want to look hot people tend to be a bit more judgmental.

Well, screw them. I am trying to lose weight to be healthy but I also want to look hot. I want to look like a bad ass. My goals include a 6 pack and the ability to run in just a sports bra and short shorts. When it is 110 degrees out I don’t want to wear a shirt. I want my thighs to not rub together so I can rock those short shorts.

Is this wrong? Should I only be focused on being healthy? Technically I am healthy right now. I have a good BMI, all my blood work is good. Cholesterol isn’t high. So, do I continue to say I want to be healthy? I am healthy. I want to lose fat, not weight. I want my body to look slamming. I want to wear crop tops and low-rise jeans without a muffin top or love handles.

I want to look like this:

Or this:

I want to be strong. I want arms with amazing definition. I want abs. Does this make me a bad person? Does this make me vain? Shallow? Maybe. But I think those that know me would tell you I am more than just a pretty face that wants to be able to beat the crap out of you.

• Running
• Strength training (possibly read/follow NWOLFW)
• Ballet classes at Ballet Arizona
• Boxing/kick boxing/mma

Once running season is over I will have to adjust again. I believe my last race will be May 3rd. Basically I will need a plan for March and April. I should be able to handle that, right?

I know this is a day late but I ended up having a date night last night. We celebrated our belated anniversary. I figure that is a good enough reason. Anyway, this is a new feature. I am going to keep all my health and fitness post for Fridays. Stay tuned every Friday for a new fitness or health related post!

Tomorrow I have the PF Chang’s Rock n Roll half marathon. I haven’t gotten in much training and was questioning if I should even do it. I thought if I did it and did terribly I wouldn’t be happy. But if I didn’t do it, I would be unhappy as well.

This was last years PF Chang’s. I only did the mini.

I spoke to my health coach about it and she said I probably have enough of a base to be able to complete it, even if I did have to walk every now and then. I think she is right but there will probably be more walking than I’d like. But hopefully I can compete it without having to hop on the trailer vehicle.

I went to the Expo yesterday and got all my stuff and made my decision to do it. I think I would regret not doing it more than I would doing it (and just not doing as well as I’d like).

I have created a new running plan. Part of my downfall for this was I didn’t have a good plan. I was just kind of haphazardly going when I had the time. Then I got sick and have been off the last two weeks.

I am also working on refining my goals for the year. I am taking a Maximize Your Motivation class through work and part of that is goal setting. I have never used the SMARTER approach in my personal life but am going to work on it for my 2014 goals, so look for that post in the future.

The Awesome 80s Run was… not so awesome.

I do so love the t-shirt and medal I “earned” but it won’t be enough to bring me back next year.

It actually started leading up to the event. The website and social media accounts were not clear on packet pick up. Was it the Friday before? Was it the morning of? I even emailed them to ask but never heard back. They eventually sent a mass email that linked to their site saying only day of but later that day Road Runner Sports tweeted they had packet pick up the day before. I went morning of and they only had two people. The set up lacked good flow and was kind of a mess.

The course itself was somewhat dangerous. The first part was decent and weaved us through the giant empty parking lot but then we got onto the roadway and they didn’t have a lane closed off so a car could have easily came up the lane people were running and walking in. I tried to stick to the sidewalk when I realized this but saw so many people in the road who appeared oblivious to this fact.

We then went on a dirt path, which was pretty rocky. I don’t mean gravel or hard packed rock. There was a ton of loose rocks and rather large stones. There were also huge tire ruts in various places. I was kind of thankful I was walking instead of running. I would have probably tripped and fell or twisted my ankle.

We then ran along another (major) road. I stuck to the sidewalk again because it was not closed to traffic. Did I mention in both spots we were going with traffic, making it even harder to see cars? Although you would have to be blind or extremely distracted to not see the large groups of people..

We went back into the parking lot and there were cars coming in! A few of the cars got fairly close to runners. There was no where for either to go. Then we pass a construction area. They were laying asphalt and smoking as we went by. Yah, neither of those are particularly good for my asthma. Then came the even more dangerous area. The road was one lane each way and it was an out and back, so runners/walkers on both sides. There were several vehicles going in and out including large construction vehicles. At one point I had to tap my friend and have her look behind because a truck was coming up. 

I have never done a race in which I felt so endangered as this one. It was ridiculous. 

I didn’t run due to being sick the last few days. I walked 3.1 miles in about 46 minutes (not officially timed but they had a clock at the finish).

All Images Copyright: Her Life… Most Ordinary, 2014.