Sometimes, It's The Small Things

Today was my “Upping Your Metabolism” class, where I got my metabolic test results.

The good news – my RMR has increased! I went from 1472 back in September to 1711 this month. I learned today that every pound of muscle could increase your RMR by 35-50 calories. So this means the strength training has been paying off, right?

But then there’s my increased weight and body fat. Which probably, in the end, comes down to poor eating habits.

Hello. My name is Charla and I’m a carb addict.

Bread, pasta, potatoes, and don’t forget the cake and ice cream – I love all the stuff that’s bad for me.  I don’t eat enough fruits and veggies. I don’t drink enough water, lately.  As I type, I’m eating a bowl of pasta for lunch.

Let’s focus on the positives. Today’s class felt better than the one I took back in September when I first did all this. The instructor seemed more knowledgeable, and like he actually wanted to be there, teaching us this stuff. He’s a former body builder, so he knows something about the struggle with weight (mentioned an injury as the end to that hobby). He made sci-fi movie references, and used metaphors that made it easy to understand. He wasn’t boring. I like him. I would love to have gotten him as my “personal trainer” for all of this (that’s their term, not mine).

While the dietician wasn’t there today, we received prints of her slides, including the number to call for an appointment. Also, the teacher that was there highly recommended seeing a dietician. He said that the ones to visit the dietician have the highest success rate.

I would like to take a moment to thank the Army for doing this. It’s a great resource and tool for Soldiers, and they didn’t have to make this available to dependents as well. I am so glad they did. It would cost me hundreds of dollars to get all this elsewhere.

I also want to thank my friend Jessica Bergin, who started doing MyFitnessPal and has been simply “liking” the things I do, like workout and complete my tracking for the day. I was rather surprised at how motivating I found it. I may not be good at reciprocating, but I’m going to try. Just knowing that someone else is following it, that someone else cares, has kept me tracking for a few days. I like seeing that she’s on there and paying attention. So thank, Jess, and keep up the awesome work on your own health!

Back to the post. It’s time to go into MyFitnessPal and change the calorie settings for my new recommendations. I’m going to give it a try the way they suggest – just track my food. I might still log exercise, just to see how much I’m burning and make sure I’m getting my weekly goals, but the focus is on the calorie amount they suggest. And it really is a suggestion, not a set number I must reach every day, no give or take.

I’ll head back for the VO2 test in 2 days. I’ll call the dietician office and get an appointment with them. And I start work soon, which will keep me on my feet more.

OH yeah, one last thing. I’m on week 4 of my 6 week challenge. I missed 2 days total: one in week 1 to a 10K run, and one in week 2 to a migraine. I like most of the workouts, and have been doing them in the afternoons, around the time I usually get sleepy. It’s keeping me awake and allows me to do yoga or run with pup in the mornings. So far, so good.