Alright, send some props my way…I. got. on. the. bike. Yeah. I did. For 25 whole minutes, and flapped my arms around like a deranged chicken most of it, too. You know. For that upper body oomph, and a little cardio push. Won’t burn a gagillion calories, this workout, but it’s a start. Huh? Yay me.

I just looked at the recipe pages… some of those look mighty tasty!  Thanks for posting them.

 Sue

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement. You ladies are all so wonderful. I browse around on ObesityHelp.com and I have to say I am really liking this group so much better than that site for many reasons. You are all so encouraging and helpful and kind. Just had to let you all know!

So, how am I doing this week? Average would be the best answer. I have stayed within points and yesterday did a great job drinking enough water. But, my son is home sick and I’m not going to the gym today as planned. The treadmill is getting dreadfully boring. So, maybe I can run tonight or something. I need to exercise today, no matter what !

I was talking to another friend of mine who is doing WW. I think we agree the most exhausting part of it is thinkingo ut and preparing your meals in advance.

A little tidbit that floated back into my brain as I was dumping Splenda on my oatmeal this morning:

1 cup of Splenda has 96 calories.

Those little packets of artificial sweeteners actually have 4 calories each.

The law allows companies to market them as calorie free because they are under 5 calories/serving.

I think it filtered into the gray matter this morning as I was contemplating the 20 packets of Splenda I use Every.Single. Morning. That’s an extra 80 calories, and if I went by the package info, I’d think it was calorie-free…

Yesterday I had the best exercise day: I went for a vigorous bike ride for 1/2 an hour while baby Aidan had his afternoon nap (that’s a luxury I get with a work-at-home husband). You can go a surprisingly long distance in a half hour! I have decided to start doing this whenever the weather is good. Bike riding works different muscles than my walking muscles and it really gets my heart rate up! In addition, once Aidan woke up, we also went on a walk. Of course today is supposed to be rainy, so it will be a yoga day. Now I have three forms of exercise for variety.

A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. To lose 1 pound a week you will need to expend 3,500 more calories than you eat that week, whether through increased activity or decreased eating or both. Losing 1 to 2 pounds of fat a week is a sensible goal, and so you will want to use the combination of increased activity and eating less that will total 3,500 calories for seven days.

Credit: Discovery Health Channel

Here’s a range of activities (a huge range) with calorie burn calculator, based on your own weight. What a great tool to have handy! (I’ll add it to the sidebar under Helpful Links.)

Discovery Health Burn Rate Calculator