Fourteen hundred. That's right, people. I burned fourteen hundred calories in one day.
Before I get to the juicy details, let's start from the beginning of the week- or better still, a brief glimpse into the week before.
One thing I didn't mention last week- I'm walking through the wonderful world of menopause. Nothing was going on for a good three months, and while I contemplated the possibility of an additional family member, I also knew that I'm at an age where hormone changes happen.
I suspected something interesting biologically, because last week I was hungry. Really hungry. Like "Gimmie a cow and a fork!" hungry. The last time I was that hungry, I was on my way to parenthood. But then again I wasn't dieting at the time, so I had no idea what was going on at present.
Last week I found out I wasn't preggers- no tests strips needed.
Well, thank You Jesus for very large favors! That explained everything, and I didn't have to reveal to my teenagers that Mom and Dad are still intimate. The secret is still safe! (at least from the kids.)
That was last week. Resisting food was hard, hard, hard. And sometimes I indulged myself before I ate one of the kids.
This week was a great week calorie-wise, though there wasn't as much salad involved. I had oral surgery on Thursday; sutures and scaling, so soup was recommended. It's now Monday, and I haven't had a drop of soup. Soup just wasn't in the cards, but I did eat a lot of chicken- very slowly. I had to eat on the other side of my mouth. Did I mention there are only two "workable" teeth on that side? Try to eat chicken while only using two teeth- you'll lose weight no matter what because you have no choice but to eat slow.
My husband treated me to Chinese food, so I had to be really careful with the rice. And every meal took about thirty minutes to eat. There just wasn't time for snacks, because by the time I was done breakfast, it was lunchtime. Sorta. Today I'm making soup with everything cut so tiny all I have to do is swallow. Sutures in the gums aren't fun.
Now for the juicy part! How on God's green earth did I manage to burn fourteen hundred calories?
Volunteer work.
The women's Fellowship at our church went to SHARE- a group that helps poor families get fresh produce and food in the inner city. Every time we go we have different jobs to do- sometimes it's packing produce, or making boxes, but this time we were boxing up canned goods and cereals to make care packages. I was in charge of making boxes to fill. I was the beginning of the line. The anchor. The one who keeps everyone else going. If I stopped, the entire line stopped.
I worked for three solid hours making boxes, helping to stock one of the packers when I got ahead of myself, and broke down the empty boxes of used stock items. By the end of the shift, I'd made three hundred boxes and carried several hundred pounds of goods- and stacked empty pallets.
I was sore, but satisfied. I went home to see what I could chart in MyFitnessPal.
The closest thing that would compare on the list was light calisthenics. I put in how long (three hours) and hit the "enter" key. It calculated I had burned at least fourteen hundred calories. After deducting that from my daily intake, I'd only consumed two hundred calories that day! I think it was okay to go over one hundred calories that day- WOOHOO!
Weeding and planting my garden doesn't seem so bad now. I wonder how many calories I can burn doing that? I know housework won't be as dreadful if I know I can burn some serious calories!
Lessons learned:
If you're really hungry, plan ahead and make some grab and go veggie and/or protein snacks (like nuts or chicken).
Exercise around the house! Chores can be good calorie burners- especially those times when you want to eat a whole cow.
Knowing one is officially menopausal helps to stem panic attacks about buying baby clothes- it also helps to stop stress eating from said thoughts.
Doing three hours of hard work is good on occasion when limiting calories, but doing so regularly is not. If I start working harder regularly (oh hush- I heard you laugh!), I'll make sure to eat more on those days.
Plan on doing more outside of the house. Not only yard work but out in the community as well. It does a body good, and I feel like I can tackle the housework the next day. Gaining confidence doesn't hurt a body either!
Make soup when you get oral surgery. Make soup today.
That's it for this week! I go back to the nutritionist Friday, so I'll have a weight loss report for you next week! My spring wardrobe is a lot more loose than last year, and shirts that were tight now fit! I can't wait to see what the scale says- this could be the first time I've been under three hundred pounds in years!
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