Getting myself into a weight loss midset was difficult after the holidays, but the steps I have taken since then have really gotten me into the zone!
Step 1 – Be real with where I’m at
Step 2 – Find my motivation
Step 3 – Establish weight loss goals
Step 4 – Acknowledge what has stopped me from losing weight
My final step was to create a realistic plan!
Metabolic testing gave me a thorough understanding of the calories my body burns at rest, thus helping me to understand how many calories I needed to take in and how many additional calories I would need to burn a day. But how was I going to track that?
I have long heard about the benefits of using the Bodymedia On-Body Wellness Monitor and knew that this was my time to us it as part of my method for losing weight.
Bodymedia Fit “monitors your calories, activity and sleep throughout the day and night, giving you the power to reach your goals”, which was exactly what I needed! I needed to know exactly what my body was burning and exactly how many calories I was consuming in a given day.
I decided to use the CORE armband and the digital display, though there is an armband (LINK) which syncs to your devices via bluetooth.
You wear the armband on your left arm, which the sensor resting on the back of your triceps. Though a little weird at first, after two weeks of wearing it, I don’t even realize it’s there most of the time.
Throughout the day I can sync the armband to my display to see just where my numbers are at. The display tracks calories, steps, activity (moderate and vigorous), and the time. You can also view today’s numbers, yesterday’s numbers, your goals, and specific a trip.
Currently my goals are to burn 2800 calories a day…
to take 8000 steps…
and to do 30 minutes of moderate activity a day.
At the end of the day I plug my armband into my computer and it syncs with the Bodymedia website to give me all of my stats. This is also how the device charges, so I kill two birds with one stone.
The Bodymedia CORE tracks my calories burned through multiple sensors, my physical activity, steps taken, sleep duration, my calories consumed, and my calorie balance. For the calories consumed, I track my food intake in My Fitness Pal (CoffeeCakeCardio) and it syncs directly with the Bodymedia website.
The idea is that if I burn 2800 calories a day and consume 1800 calories a day that I’ll be left with a 1000 calories deficiency each day. 1000 calories times 7 days equals 7000 calories or 2lbs.
Here’s a look at this past week…
This week wasn’t as solid as my first week on my new plan, but I was happy to have lost weight! My loss is completely dependent on the accuracy of my food tracking and the calories I burn each day.
Starting Weight: 233.0 lbs (weighed in at the doctor’s on 2/14/13)
Last Weigh-in: 228.2
This Weigh-in: 227.2 lbs
Difference: -1.0 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -5.8 lbs
Though I met my deficit most days, the breakdown of what I was eating wasn’t all that great. My meals were very carb heavy, which is something I’ve wanted to get away from. My downfall was not spending a good amount of time prepping food last Sunday (aka defrosting all the frozen meat I had). I wasn’t prepared for the week and thus had to make last minute food choices. They weren’t horrible, but my protein to fat to carb ratios weren’t ideal.
The other downside to the Bodymedia armbands is that I can’t wear it during football practice. The armband will just get ripped off, so for this past week, Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday did not include the calories burned at football practice.
My other complaint was that it didn’t track my activity during spin class since it was on my arm, but thankfully Sara said I can wear it on my calf. Last night I took a spin class at Revolve in Arlington and that’s just what I did. I was THRILLED to have been able to track that activity and that my stats for yesterday reflect it.
I am VERY pleased with the Bodymedia CORE armband and am grateful to be able to use it as a tool in my weight loss efforts. My goal is to lose 6 pounds a month, reaching a 45 pound weight loss by October 2013… Here we go!!
