My “FOOD LOG” Definition: This page will show a “week-in-the-life”, from morning to night showing all:
- scheduled workouts
- non-exercise activity (difficult to record all non-exercise activity throughout the day, but will attempt to record the activities that stand out),
- stretches
- food intake
- As a result of inputting this information, I have found that Day 3 so far has been less active than what a usual day might have been.
- NOTE: I don’t usually measure my food from day to day, I just have an idea of amounts that work for me, so once I put out my portion (for the purposes of this log) I then either measure or guess to the approximate measure of the quantity of each food.
- I found this log to be a good exercise in becoming more aware of food quantities.
FOOD LOG for: FOOD LOG for:
August 29, 2011 October 17, 2011
August 30, 2011 October 18, 2011
August 31, 2011 October 19, 2011
September 1, 2011 October 20, 2011
September 2, 2011 October 21, 2011
September 3, 2011 October 22, 2011
September 4, 2011 October 23, 2011
September 4, 2011: I have to admit that I am really glad that this was the last day of recording My FOOD LOG. It’s very time consuming and does shift the natural rhythm of things slightly. I hope someone out there found this useful. I will, however do another “Week-In-The-Life” sometime in October when the kids are in school full time to show how hectic a mom’s life can get with driving kids to and from schools and activities etc.
I wanted to show that I don’t spend my entire day ‘working out’. As you can see it takes up a very small portion of my time, but I am consistent with it. Eating well and staying hydrated is a priority. Living an active lifestyle comes naturally as result of being physical – the more physical one is, the more Non-Exercise Activity one tends to engage in.
Now that I’ve finished My FOOD LOG, I’ve compiled some pretty interesting and important information on Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, also known as N.E.A.T.
October 17, 2011: This week shows that once I get the kids off to school I have from 8:30 am -2:30 pm to get my jobs done without distraction from the kids (house maintenance, grocery shopping and food preparation). Something is always bound to come up, from an emergency visit to the vet, unexpected volunteer work to do for the school in the form of meetings or emails to send etc. They are all little things but they are all important and take time. In order to not fall behind (which I often do), I effort to stay organized and on top of my schedule. I often reverse engineer my day around my workouts. Because I cannot workout on an empty stomach (yet must be well digested), I have to ensure that I fuel myself and time meals accordingly.
ps – those micro breaks are amazing. i thought i had seen every stretch around until those.
i have IT band syndrome so, reading your log, knowing how often you stretch has been helpful. i need to stretch more. also, i forgot to mention, you look amazing! thank you for the info on your site. pps – how fun is the ugi ball? it’s totally changed my fitness level. j
thank you again for getting back to me! this is so reassuring. i am so glad to have found your site. and, bodyrocktv is just the best, isn’t it? i HAVE to do it. it makes me feel so great and my little boy loves to watch me do it. i think now that his sleeping is better, the weight will come off. and, you’re right, in time, i’ll be back to my pre-baby self. i can fit into all of my
clothes just fine. it’s more like i have a muffin top and stretched skin. and, yeah, my hormones aren’t the same yet and all that matters is the little one. i just compare myself to
other mothers who were toothpicks after giving birth so that is rough. as is LA for body issues. it’s more that i don’t want to be squishy when i sit! but, i am taking pilates for my posture so i hope that helps as well. i need to save my back.
thank you for letting me know about the measuring and such. so much more to say but, i will
write more soon, i’m sure….thank you and take great care!!!!
quick question – do you count calories???
thanks, jenny
Hi Jenny,
From years of studying food labels, I have a basic awareness of the calories in foods but I don’t formally count calories on a daily basis. I focus on variety as much as possible. You may have read my log in which, during a ‘week-in-the-life’ there is a lot of variety however, in one week I tend to have a lot of left overs. The next week I tend to work with different foods and carry those left overs through that week.
Calorie counting can be a very useful learning tool for people who have no idea about quantities, but not necessary to become fixated on it for the long term.
Your thoughts?
thank you for your response! i haven’t gone through your log entirely yet but, i noticed you
measure most things. do you believe you can eat all the veggies you want? i do! ha which may be my problem. i am caring for a 7 month old and am breastfeeding and doing bodyrock workouts so i am quite hungry all the time it seems but, i want to lose my last 8 pounds.
thank you for your blog. i will go scour it now…j
I am literally mopping the floor past my computer and heard your comment pop up!
Easy for me to say, but while breastfeeding, I would concentrate more on making hearty-rich milk for your little one. Those last 8 pounds will come off soon enough but the time you have for nursing is short and crucial for your baby’s future. I nursed both my kids for 16 and 19 months respectively. Like you, I was eating ALL the time. I felt that once my second child neared 2 years of age and I had been finished nursing for a while, my body responded better to exercise…with getting more sleep etc.
It’s great that you are focusing on your health and fitness now. I sure wish I had a BodyRock site to follow back then. When I was nursing I was back to my pre-baby weight but I was far from healthy. I had zero fitness, my muscles had atrophied and I spent next to no time on myself…I focused entirely on the babies. So, I do want to re-assure you that when given the chance, our body responds well to good eating habits and exercise. Because of being post-partum and nursing, your body is finishing off the job it started – your hormones are reacting differently and really you are a different person.
I’m in way better shape at 40 than I was before having my kids, so there is plenty of time to get your pre-baby body back and get even better!
I’m glad you brought up the ‘measuring-food’ question. I don’t normally measure my food when I eat. I only wrote it out in measurements for my log to make it clear. As it turns out the measurements are the amount which I have just simply eyeballed as the portion that I think will be filling or appropriate for me.
Let me know if this makes any sense to you?