Sorry it's been so long--I've started a new job setting up a start-from-scratch medical office, and it's left my brain pretty fried. Still, it's been pretty great to be a part of it.
I wanted to post a little something that I learned WAY back when I decided 'enough was enough' with regard to my health and bordering the obese line.
Two things to invest in right off the bat?
1)A solid set of measuring cups/spoons
2) A food scale
From there measure EVERYTHING. It's hard to believe how little a cup of spaghetti is when you actually measure it out. A cup of sugar-laced sodas, an ounce of cheese--it's not a lot of food OR nutrition for the amount of calories they bear.
It sounds tedious, and at times I just want to say 'fuck it, I'm all set.' You know what though, that extra step really will show up on the scale. Eyeballing serving sizes can easily set the wrong expectations for people. I mean, I know I used to eat an entire box of pasta in a sitting and be like--"Hey, look at that--500 calories, right, must be!"
Nay, most boxed pastas are 210 calories for 2 ounces of dry pasta. In most cases one box of pasta has one pound of dry pasta in it. 16 ounces. Sixteen divided by two is eight. Eight times 210 is....1680 calories in a box of pasta. No fucking joke. That's more then I eat in one day now--I don't know how I was putting that all down. IN ONE SITTING.
Suggestions on a nice pair of measuring cups/spoons--I like my All-Clad sets from Amazon. Their heavy and they will last forever--though anything stainless steel is great.
Food scales? Don't go crazy. I got mine from IKEA almost two years ago for $10 and that sucker still trucks along. For US measurements, generally you can go with straight ounces--though my IKEA version does both grams and ounces. Also remember, when you're weighing your food and it's in a bowl of sorts, WEIGH THE BOWL/PLATE first, then add your food. That way your not figuring in that bowl weight to your calorie intake--it sounds simple, but I've had to explain how to do this to a few people.
That's all for this late night--Go Fork Yourselves :)
Krispy
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
How to avoid blowing your wad on Easter
Happy Easter, ya'll.
Now, I'm not religious in any sense--but my family has always celebrated Easter. A lot of people make it an excuse to shovel as many jelly beans and chocolate bunnies into their mouths. Rightfully so, though, marketers have done a great job at constantly pushing that shit in our faces.
I'm not saying don't have Easter candy/food--trust me, this bitch is going to have some fucking some jelly beans and mini Reese eggs. What I'm saying is be mindful of the intake.
I did some Easter shopping for breakfast and dinner yesterday--and you totally can make good decisions when it comes to the entrees.
My husband wanted to make a 'big breakfast' tomorrow: Pancakes, ham, eggs, bacon. He pretty much let me make up how we were going to do this. After a long time in the supermarket with some hardcore label reading this is what I've picked out:
Whole grain pancake mix--Buying whole grain will up your fiber intake from 'less than 1g' in most regular white mixes, up to 3-4g per serving. You'll lose about 2g of fat per serving with the whole grains. Feeling fuller with less fat? Yeah, I'm about that.
Sugar Free Syrup--Obviously, you lose tons of added sugar, fat--leading to a ridiculous amount of calories less. 1/4 cup of sugar-free Mrs. Buttersworth syrup is 20 calories. 1/4 of cup of the regular ol' Mrs. Buttersworth? A whopping 220 calories.
Lean ham steak--Just look for 'LEAN' on the label--you'll save yourself some fat grams. For an extra plus, look for low sodium.
Egg whites--one large egg white is about 17 calories, 0.1 fat grams, and 5 gram of protein. One large whole egg- is 70 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein. The other thing to take into account is cholesterol. An egg white has NO CHOLESTEROL--a large whole egg has about 200 grams of cholesterol.
Turkey bacon--This is a big one for people. Some people just want regular bacon--I get that, so portion wisely. Personally, I love the taste of turkey bacon. The caloric intake is pretty similar in most cases--however the extra-lean, low sodium Jennie-O version of turkey bacon I found was only 20 calories a slice. Again, here--either should be enjoyed in moderation, but the turkey bacon will save you some cholesterol here.
As far as candy goes, here a little chart on some popular candies:
Candy Calories Fat (g) Carbs (g) Sugar (g)
5 Marshmallow Peeps 140 0 36 34
1 PeepsChocolate Egg 420 24 54 52
1 Cadbury Easter Bunny 890 48.6 101.2 97.1
1 Cadbury Creme Egg 150 5 25 22
12 Cadbury Chocolate Eggs 190 8 28 26
1 Dove Choc. Easter Bunny 230 13 25 24
1 Nestle Crunch Choc. Bunny 692 36.2 95.6 79.1
1 Snickers Cream Sports Egg 140 6 18 16
1 Reese's Peanut Butter Egg 180 10 18 16
1 Reese's Reester Bunny 798 42 88.2 75.6
1 Chocolate Marshmallow Egg 43 1.3 7.8 6
5 Brachs Malted Easter Eggs 180 5 31 27
35 Jelly Belly Asst. Jellybeans 140 0 37 28
Like I said, I'm going to eat some candy, but I'm going to track all of it so I'm aware of my caloric intake. If I overdo it, I will feel guilty--and that's worse than any awesomeness the ears of a chocolate bunny will taste. All in moderation, folks. You'll feel better for it.
What's your Easter weakness? Mine--those little candy shelled chocolate eggs by Cadbury, I think they're called 'Mini Eggs'. When I was a bigger gal--I would eat one of those ginormous bags by myself. In one day. I kid you not. Twelve of those will cost me 190 calories. You're sure as shit I'm going to count out twelve of those puppies--and make a little for a hike down in Austin with my husband and brother :)
Happy Easter, again folks--and as always-Go Fork Yourselves.
~K
Now, I'm not religious in any sense--but my family has always celebrated Easter. A lot of people make it an excuse to shovel as many jelly beans and chocolate bunnies into their mouths. Rightfully so, though, marketers have done a great job at constantly pushing that shit in our faces.
I'm not saying don't have Easter candy/food--trust me, this bitch is going to have some fucking some jelly beans and mini Reese eggs. What I'm saying is be mindful of the intake.
I did some Easter shopping for breakfast and dinner yesterday--and you totally can make good decisions when it comes to the entrees.
My husband wanted to make a 'big breakfast' tomorrow: Pancakes, ham, eggs, bacon. He pretty much let me make up how we were going to do this. After a long time in the supermarket with some hardcore label reading this is what I've picked out:
Whole grain pancake mix--Buying whole grain will up your fiber intake from 'less than 1g' in most regular white mixes, up to 3-4g per serving. You'll lose about 2g of fat per serving with the whole grains. Feeling fuller with less fat? Yeah, I'm about that.
Sugar Free Syrup--Obviously, you lose tons of added sugar, fat--leading to a ridiculous amount of calories less. 1/4 cup of sugar-free Mrs. Buttersworth syrup is 20 calories. 1/4 of cup of the regular ol' Mrs. Buttersworth? A whopping 220 calories.
Lean ham steak--Just look for 'LEAN' on the label--you'll save yourself some fat grams. For an extra plus, look for low sodium.
Egg whites--one large egg white is about 17 calories, 0.1 fat grams, and 5 gram of protein. One large whole egg- is 70 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein. The other thing to take into account is cholesterol. An egg white has NO CHOLESTEROL--a large whole egg has about 200 grams of cholesterol.
Turkey bacon--This is a big one for people. Some people just want regular bacon--I get that, so portion wisely. Personally, I love the taste of turkey bacon. The caloric intake is pretty similar in most cases--however the extra-lean, low sodium Jennie-O version of turkey bacon I found was only 20 calories a slice. Again, here--either should be enjoyed in moderation, but the turkey bacon will save you some cholesterol here.
As far as candy goes, here a little chart on some popular candies:
Candy Calories Fat (g) Carbs (g) Sugar (g)
5 Marshmallow Peeps 140 0 36 34
1 PeepsChocolate Egg 420 24 54 52
1 Cadbury Easter Bunny 890 48.6 101.2 97.1
1 Cadbury Creme Egg 150 5 25 22
12 Cadbury Chocolate Eggs 190 8 28 26
1 Dove Choc. Easter Bunny 230 13 25 24
1 Nestle Crunch Choc. Bunny 692 36.2 95.6 79.1
1 Snickers Cream Sports Egg 140 6 18 16
1 Reese's Peanut Butter Egg 180 10 18 16
1 Reese's Reester Bunny 798 42 88.2 75.6
1 Chocolate Marshmallow Egg 43 1.3 7.8 6
5 Brachs Malted Easter Eggs 180 5 31 27
35 Jelly Belly Asst. Jellybeans 140 0 37 28
Like I said, I'm going to eat some candy, but I'm going to track all of it so I'm aware of my caloric intake. If I overdo it, I will feel guilty--and that's worse than any awesomeness the ears of a chocolate bunny will taste. All in moderation, folks. You'll feel better for it.
What's your Easter weakness? Mine--those little candy shelled chocolate eggs by Cadbury, I think they're called 'Mini Eggs'. When I was a bigger gal--I would eat one of those ginormous bags by myself. In one day. I kid you not. Twelve of those will cost me 190 calories. You're sure as shit I'm going to count out twelve of those puppies--and make a little for a hike down in Austin with my husband and brother :)
Happy Easter, again folks--and as always-Go Fork Yourselves.
~K
Saturday, April 7, 2012
BMR-What the hell it means, and why it's good to know
BMR. It wasn't that long ago that I had no idea what this was.
BMR=Basal Metabolic Rate
Aaaaand in non-medical jargon, the amount of calories your body needs to function if you did NOTHING all day. What your organs need to pump blood, secrete oils, digest, breathe, and filter toxins--you know basically just be alive.
How exactly is that calculated? Basically, the equation takes your height, weight, age, and gender into account. That's the BMR--or, like I said the amount of calories you need to do not a damn thing all day.
Once you get that number, you take into account how much activity you do--whether that be completely sedentary, lightly active, or fucking super hardcore. To be all technical, this is called the 'Harris-Benedict Formula' These are the calories you need to take in depending on your lifestyle--to MAINTAIN your current weight.
Check it out--calculate yours...
Of course, now these are estimations, but there are pretty accurate calculations since they do take in a lot more values. However, it does not take into account those who are exceptionally short/tall/have lots of lean muscle mass--so keep this in mind if you fall into any of those categories, especially those with lots of lean muscle--lean muscle on it's own burns a lot more calories, so knowing that you probably need to increase the amount of calories you take in given your BMR above.
So, how does that relate if you want to lose weight? That number you calculated above--take 15-20% of that away from it( Take BMR and multiply by .15 (for 15%)) That's the number you should take in to LOSE weight.
Remember now that 3500 calories = 1 pound. To lose one pound a week, you can either:
1) Shave off 500 calories from your BMR each day.
OR
2) Shave of 250 calories from your BMR, and exercise enough to burn 250
calories each day.
**NEVER, EVER, EVER go below eating 1200 calories(women)/1800 calories(men) a day. Your body will go into 'starvation mode' and hold on to everything you've got on you. It works against you--trust me--I'll tell you in an upcoming post.***
Trust me, I'm fucking AWFUL with math, but you can figure this out, I promise you :)
There you go, BMR decoded. Use it to your advantage. These are the calculations that some of the most successful dieting (I hate that word) programs advertised use--and if you can do some quick calculations, you can save some moola in the meantime!
Go Fork Yourselves!
~K
BMR=Basal Metabolic Rate
Aaaaand in non-medical jargon, the amount of calories your body needs to function if you did NOTHING all day. What your organs need to pump blood, secrete oils, digest, breathe, and filter toxins--you know basically just be alive.
How exactly is that calculated? Basically, the equation takes your height, weight, age, and gender into account. That's the BMR--or, like I said the amount of calories you need to do not a damn thing all day.
Once you get that number, you take into account how much activity you do--whether that be completely sedentary, lightly active, or fucking super hardcore. To be all technical, this is called the 'Harris-Benedict Formula' These are the calories you need to take in depending on your lifestyle--to MAINTAIN your current weight.
Check it out--calculate yours...
Of course, now these are estimations, but there are pretty accurate calculations since they do take in a lot more values. However, it does not take into account those who are exceptionally short/tall/have lots of lean muscle mass--so keep this in mind if you fall into any of those categories, especially those with lots of lean muscle--lean muscle on it's own burns a lot more calories, so knowing that you probably need to increase the amount of calories you take in given your BMR above.
So, how does that relate if you want to lose weight? That number you calculated above--take 15-20% of that away from it( Take BMR and multiply by .15 (for 15%)) That's the number you should take in to LOSE weight.
Remember now that 3500 calories = 1 pound. To lose one pound a week, you can either:
1) Shave off 500 calories from your BMR each day.
OR
2) Shave of 250 calories from your BMR, and exercise enough to burn 250
calories each day.
**NEVER, EVER, EVER go below eating 1200 calories(women)/1800 calories(men) a day. Your body will go into 'starvation mode' and hold on to everything you've got on you. It works against you--trust me--I'll tell you in an upcoming post.***
Trust me, I'm fucking AWFUL with math, but you can figure this out, I promise you :)
There you go, BMR decoded. Use it to your advantage. These are the calculations that some of the most successful dieting (I hate that word) programs advertised use--and if you can do some quick calculations, you can save some moola in the meantime!
Go Fork Yourselves!
~K
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
A Bear In Heaven Inspired Workout!
My treadmill workout from today, playlist featuring the new Bear In Heaven album 'I Love You, It's Cool'. Obsessed? Oh god, yes. Just started listening to them after I heard about them at this year's SXSW.
I kind of love interval training so here goes, enjoy--and sweat away.
Track 1- Idle Heart
0-1:00: Walk at 3.0 mph
1-2:00: Bump up speed to 3.5 mph
2-4:00: Bump to 4.0 mph
4:00-track end: Start the run/jog at 5.0 mph
Track 2- The Reflection of You
Track 3- Noon Moon
Pump up to 5.5 and run that shit out through both songs.
Track 4-Sinful Nature
Bring the speed down to 3.5-4, and bring the incline up to 10 for the entirety of song.
Track 5-Cool Light
Incline to 15 for this song--oh yeah, this is great for the ass.
Track 6-Kiss Me Crazy x 3
Drop the incline all the way to 0 and run at 5-5.5 mph, repeat this song three times because it's that awesome and couldn't help myself.
Track 7- World of Freakout
Track 8-Warm Water
Keep running--you can do it, almost done!
Track 9- Space Remains
0-2:00: Drop the speed to 3.5-4, incline to 15
2-3:00: Drop incline to 10
3-3:30: Drop incline to 5
3:30-track end: Drop incline to 0, drop speed to 3 mph.
Track 10-Sweetness & Sickness
Stretch your fabulous ass out, rehydrate, and walk to your car.
Not for nothing--but being a big girl at heart, it felt fantastic and ever so embarrassing when my medium sized shorts kept falling down my butt while running, totally exposing my plain tighty whiteys. I'm not trying to brag, but it wasn't too long ago these shorts were a ridiculous dream.
Calorie burn= ~550...nice!
~K
I kind of love interval training so here goes, enjoy--and sweat away.
Track 1- Idle Heart
0-1:00: Walk at 3.0 mph
1-2:00: Bump up speed to 3.5 mph
2-4:00: Bump to 4.0 mph
4:00-track end: Start the run/jog at 5.0 mph
Track 2- The Reflection of You
Track 3- Noon Moon
Pump up to 5.5 and run that shit out through both songs.
Track 4-Sinful Nature
Bring the speed down to 3.5-4, and bring the incline up to 10 for the entirety of song.
Track 5-Cool Light
Incline to 15 for this song--oh yeah, this is great for the ass.
Track 6-Kiss Me Crazy x 3
Drop the incline all the way to 0 and run at 5-5.5 mph, repeat this song three times because it's that awesome and couldn't help myself.
Track 7- World of Freakout
Track 8-Warm Water
Keep running--you can do it, almost done!
Track 9- Space Remains
0-2:00: Drop the speed to 3.5-4, incline to 15
2-3:00: Drop incline to 10
3-3:30: Drop incline to 5
3:30-track end: Drop incline to 0, drop speed to 3 mph.
Track 10-Sweetness & Sickness
Stretch your fabulous ass out, rehydrate, and walk to your car.
Not for nothing--but being a big girl at heart, it felt fantastic and ever so embarrassing when my medium sized shorts kept falling down my butt while running, totally exposing my plain tighty whiteys. I'm not trying to brag, but it wasn't too long ago these shorts were a ridiculous dream.
Calorie burn= ~550...nice!
~K
Open wide/why BMIs are complete horse-shit.
**Disclaimer--I'm not a doctor, nor do I claim to be. I'm a well-versed clinical assistant/student of health and human services, so I just call things I see/know. Any sort of diet/exercise/wellness endeavor you wish to check out, please check with your physician first to ensure you are healthy enough to partake in. I hold no responsibility for your individual healthcare--AGAIN--I am not a doctor. Thanks!!**
Hi everyone--how's it going?
Just wanted to begin my first post in this blog kind of like we were in mid-conversation. Is that cool? Awesome.
So, I wanted to start off with something that I deal with everyday with my patients. Something many of us are confronted with when we go to the doctor's office--and in most cases shamed about.
Body Mass Index(BMI)-a key index for relating weight to height.
That's all it takes into account. Not muscle mass, bone density, not fat percentage. Seriously. Someone who is 5'5" and 160 pounds falls into the overweight category--what if this person is a triathlete with tons of muscle volume? Then again, what if they aren't? Nor does it take into account gender...which is kind of a big deal. A woman who is 5'9" and 200 pounds looks a lot different from a man who is 5'9" and 200 pounds.
I mean just check this out.
If you came across some of these people on the street, there is no way you'd think 'overweight' or 'morbidly obese.' People take too much to heart when it comes to this number. This calculation was something developed by a mathematician (not a doctor) sometime mid-1800s for social and governmental reasons. It's antiquated, missing other vital measurements, and honestly is an easy cop-out for private health/life insurance companies to charge you much higher premiums.
Hence, why using BMI as a standard in determining whether or not an individual is underweight/normal/overweight/obese/morbidly obese is complete horse-shit.
Now, please--don't take this as 'Well, my BMI says I'm overweight--but I'm so not, so I'm not going to exercise and eat a ton of shit."
That's not what I'm saying--but if you're truly trying to live a healthy lifestyle (eating well, exercising, generally aware of your well-being) and your BMI has calculated you as overweight--take it with a grain of salt. Your doctor can check your sugars, cholesterols, thyroid/kidney/liver function tests, blood pressure to see where you stand (an upcoming post on these and their importance) and what you need to be concerned about.
Questions? Concerns? Comment below or e-mail--and go fork yourselves ;)
~K
Hi everyone--how's it going?
Just wanted to begin my first post in this blog kind of like we were in mid-conversation. Is that cool? Awesome.
So, I wanted to start off with something that I deal with everyday with my patients. Something many of us are confronted with when we go to the doctor's office--and in most cases shamed about.
Body Mass Index(BMI)-a key index for relating weight to height.
That's all it takes into account. Not muscle mass, bone density, not fat percentage. Seriously. Someone who is 5'5" and 160 pounds falls into the overweight category--what if this person is a triathlete with tons of muscle volume? Then again, what if they aren't? Nor does it take into account gender...which is kind of a big deal. A woman who is 5'9" and 200 pounds looks a lot different from a man who is 5'9" and 200 pounds.
I mean just check this out.
If you came across some of these people on the street, there is no way you'd think 'overweight' or 'morbidly obese.' People take too much to heart when it comes to this number. This calculation was something developed by a mathematician (not a doctor) sometime mid-1800s for social and governmental reasons. It's antiquated, missing other vital measurements, and honestly is an easy cop-out for private health/life insurance companies to charge you much higher premiums.
Hence, why using BMI as a standard in determining whether or not an individual is underweight/normal/overweight/obese/morbidly obese is complete horse-shit.
Now, please--don't take this as 'Well, my BMI says I'm overweight--but I'm so not, so I'm not going to exercise and eat a ton of shit."
That's not what I'm saying--but if you're truly trying to live a healthy lifestyle (eating well, exercising, generally aware of your well-being) and your BMI has calculated you as overweight--take it with a grain of salt. Your doctor can check your sugars, cholesterols, thyroid/kidney/liver function tests, blood pressure to see where you stand (an upcoming post on these and their importance) and what you need to be concerned about.
Questions? Concerns? Comment below or e-mail--and go fork yourselves ;)
~K
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