Week 1 Challenges! Here we go!!

I carry a gallon of water with me every where I go, even at work. I drink 2 glasses with every meal or drink as much as I can out of that gallon with every meal. I have even went so far as to set reminders into my phone to remind me to drink water, since my meals are not at the same time every day. I avoid cravings by telling myself that I work way too hard to eat that craving and a motto that I tell myself all the time is "you are stronger than your cravings". I also have learned that if I am craving some thing sweet then I did not have enough good carbs that day. I eat every 3-4 hours. I can do this because I spend Sundays preparing all of my food for the week. In my food journal I write down every thing for what I have eaten to what time I wake up and go to bed, along with my mood thought out the day. by keeping this journal I can see how what I ate or didn't eat affects me on a daily basis. my biggest meals are either my first 2 or my first and third, depending on what my exercise is going to be for the day. I hope this will help any of you that are new to fitness.

1200 seems low for calorie intake, but each person is different. I like quest bars also, but only eat them when on the run and no other alternative.  If you are eating 1200 clean calories, that is a large amount of food, but if you add processed foods into it, that calorie count does not go far.  I stopped stressing about calories and focus more on eating less processed foods.  I watch my carbs too.  It has helped me.

Hey Niki!! I know you're more of a pint-sized lil thing, but 1200 calories seems looooooowww. Scary low. I would bet you're not eating enough. Like Jeanette said, clean calories could be a lot of food - and calories are definitely not the be-all end-all. But for someone starting out or trying to get back on track, they're a good base line to gauge where you're at and where you should be. How tall are you?

Heyo stickniki! The fitness apps are great for lots of things - but I've found they shoot a bit low on the calorie intake.

My suggestion is to take this first week to eat pretty much like you normally would, but count your calories - just for this first week. That will help determine a pretty good baseline to see where you're at and make sure you have a better idea of what's going in your bod.

That said, I would shoot for closer to at least 1400 calories for you. Now I have no idea what your activity level is. I know you have your lil munchkin so I know you've gotta be somewhat active on that point alone, but sounds like you're also confined to a vehicle most of the day for your work. So I can't advise you much outside of knowing that your basal metabolic rate seems to be closer to 1300-1400 calories. Any activity you do, or if you're really muscular, your BMR will be higher (and therefore calorie consumption should be a little higher as well).

Hi everyone. I use the 32 oz water bottle to track my intake. I am happy to say I have been off soda for almost 7 weeks now and feeling good. The gallon of water a day was tough at first but think of it as double dipping.... Not only are you cleansing your body and fueling all the cells in your body but think of all the bonus walking you get with all the added trips to the rest room.

I did the push up test last night at the gym. Up to 21 now. just a month ago I was at 13. I guess I have to admit that Cassandra might know what she is doing.... Wow that was tough to type. LOL

I'm sure she will use that against me now.

Keep up the hard work everyone.

Definitely liking how easy the My Net Diary food journal is to use! Lesson number 1 I've learned in just one day of logging my intake is just how awful barbecue sauce is for you. Kind of negated the grilled chicken I put it on last night for dinner haha. What are some things you guys are using to add flavor to your dishes instead of sauces loaded with sugars and sodium?

So...honesty... I've definitely had some bad health behaviors for quite a while. I recently found out my blood pressure was high. Like dangerous, gonna have a stroke at 35 high. So went to the dr today and got some meds. Hopefully that will get it under control and I can get those assessments in by Friday.