2015 Reset ~ Cleaning Up My Plate

I have tracked everyday since the first of the year.  I've also taken the time to clear out junk food and get more fruits and veggies (freggies) in the house.  I noticed my breakfasts were really lacking this time of year.  In the Spring/Summer/Fall, I usually have a post-workout smoothie for breakfast.  I get 2 servings of milk, 2-3 servings of freggies and protein powder for only 6 points.  Great way to start the day.  Not so great when it's 38 degrees outside.  I cannot drink nearly 32 ounces of icy cold goodness, no matter how good it tastes, when it's that cold out!

Other breakfast options have left me not feeling recovered after a good workout.  Lots of carbs - oatmeal with blueberries, waffles, toast, cereal, English muffins.  I went back to an old standby this week and I forgot just how much I enjoyed it!  Scrambled egg whites with veggies.  This week I had mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, and spinach.  It takes no time at all once the veggies are prepped.  Two bell peppers, two zucchini, a bag of spinach and a handful of mushrooms have lasted all week.  I'm not opposed to using whole eggs, I just find the pourable egg whites a lot easier, and when I come in from a run I want to eat NOW!

I use half a cup of egg whites which equals 50 calories, 2 grams of carbs, and 10 grams of protein for ONE point!  I cook about one cup of veggies (2 servings) then pour my egg whites over it.  This takes about the same amount of time that I need to toast an English muffin!  I've been having an orange (0), coffee (with light almond milk for creamer = 0), and sometimes an English muffin (3.)  I start my day with good protein, 3 servings of freggies and some carbs for only 4 points!  {Side note: I calculate based on the points plus system, but am too lazy to type points plus every time, so I just type points!}

My tracking week starts on Friday, so I'm going to recap last week's points.  I've read different views on activity points.  Some people use their weekly points before their activity points.  I've always used my activity points first.  I feel like I've earned them. I carry them throughout the week, but once the week is gone so are they.  I did use some of my weekly points last week, but not all.  I've used the WW app to calculate activity points, then compared to the calories my Suunto watch says I burned.  It averages out to 50 calories a point, so that's what I use.

Friday (daily allowance = 26)
Used 31 PP
Earned 2 AP
Used 2 AP + 3 WP
3 F/V (Fruits/Veggies)

Saturday
Used 43 PP (went out to eat)
Earned 0 AP
Used 17 WP
4 F/V

Sunday
Used 23 PP
Earned 5 AP
Used 0 AP + 0 WP
5 F/V

Monday
Used 25 PP
Earned 8 AP
Used 0 AP + 0 WP
6 F/V

I was feeling pretty good up to this point (although it's kind of unusual for me to not use all my daily points.)  Then my hormones went crazy!  I didn't sleep a wink on Monday night and spent all day Tuesday fighting anxiety and my blood pressure was up.  I'm surprised I didn't eat more points on Tuesday!  Les was out of town, which meant I didn't cook dinner so that probably saved me.  If there had been any chocolate in the house it would not have been safe!  We have none and I plan to keep it that way.

Tuesday
Used 28 PP
Earned 0 AP
Used 2 AP + 0 WP
7 F/V  Woo hoo!

Took Tylenol PM before bed on Tuesday and slept like a rock! I had to make an unplanned grocery trip for food for a funeral. A Snickers bar at the checkout line jumped into my cart.  It made it home, but did not survive the night.

Wednesday
Used 33 PP
Earned 0 AP
Used 7 AP + 0 WP
5 F/V

I made the mistake of buying an Asian salad without closely reading the label.  17 points for a bunch of cabbage!  The dressing was full of sugar, but still...  I know better.

Thursday
Used 36 PP
Earned 6 AP
Used 10 AP + 0 WP
7 F/V

Weekly recap
Daily Allowance 182 PP (26*7)
Earned (and used) 28 AP
Used 20 WP
Used 219 PP Total - Average of 31 PP per day

In spite of a midweek meltdown I was down half a pound this morning.  I'll take it!  I see other areas that I need to work on (drink more water!) but I'm happy to see my plate getting cleaner.

Calculating Activity Points

I recently signed up for Weight Watchers online.  I haven't been able to get my weight back to where I want it, and with our current travel schedule getting to meetings just wasn't going to work.  There are almost no meetings on Oahu!  I signed up for 3 months, so that gives me until Thanksgiving to get back to where I want to be.

When I did the old points systems, I knew that about 50 calories equaled 1 point.  I used that same number for activity points.  At some point, I switched to 100 calories burned.  With the Points Plus system, I've never been sure.  To add even more confusion, my Suunto watch shows significantly fewer calories burned than my Garmin did for similar outings (about 75 calories/mile vs. 100 calories/mile.)

This week I decided to calculate my activity points online to see what I would get versus calories burned.  Here are some examples:

Sunday rode 8.96 miles, burned 273 calories (divided by 50 = 5.5 AP), 6 AP online
Monday ran 6 miles, burned 363 calories (/50 = 7 AP), 11 AP online
Tuesday rode 9.39 miles, burned 299 calories (/50 = 6 AP), 10 AP online
Wednesday rest day
Thursday ran 9.21 miles, burned 742 calories (/50 = 15 AP), 15 AP online

That is about clear as mud!  Some are close, while others seem way off.  The good news is I haven't used all the points and on my rest day I used very few weekly points.  So hopefully I'll see a loss on the scale tomorrow.

While this method doesn't seem perfect, it's still a lot better than what I did when I joined WW in 1997.  No matter the activity, 1 point was earned for every 20 minutes.  So if I walked, ran, biked, hiked, or surfed for an hour, I earned 3 points!