Beginning a New Chapter in Your Life: Get Fit and Sassy!
When moving from high school to college, research has suggested a college freshman will gain the ‘freshman fifteen’ pounds. But moving from college to the real world and your first job takes you living far from your family, on your own in your own apartment is yet another potential time to gain an additional ring around your waist unless you are not careful.
Today’s job market offers many the option of staying home and working rather than getting up and out of the pjs and into the office. It’s easy to fall into a day of snacks and high calorie beverages. So, head my warning, once you get 30 or more pounds of excess baggage, the additional weight gets harder to take off.
Use the following ROADMAP to LIVING THE LIFE instead of battling the bulge for the rest of your life!
Pitfalls of Working from Home
More and more of today’s workers are working from home. They don’t have to drive to work thus saving more on the high gas prices or take public transportation which is costly and maybe crime-ridden. But it also leads to isolation, loneliness and access to the refrigerator & snacks when the depression sets in.
Prepare for the problems by using the following strategies:
- Use the calorie calculator to determine how many calories you need daily.
- Divide those calories into 3 meals & 3 snacks or less within your allotted calories.
- Schedule meals at specific time & don’t deviate.
- Schedule snacks at a specific time as well.
- Schedule time to get up and move around taking a walk around your neighborhood or your apartment complex. You might meet some new friends.
- Sunshine & fresh air is good to help reduce depression and helps with mental restoration so you can get your work done more effectively.
STEP 1. Determine how many calories you need each day.
A way to determine how many calories you need each day is to use a Calorie Calculator. To determine how many calories, you need per day use the following calculator, if your child is 15 years of age of or older.
Step 2. How Many Calories Are You Eating Each Day?
The free calorie-counting app, Fat Secret.
includes a food diary, a very large food database, an exercise log, healthy recipes and a Barcode scanner you can use to track packaged foods. In addition, there is a monthly summary view which can be helpful to help track your overall progress. FatSecret is easy to use.
Calories in Calories Out
If you know how many calories you need each day and how many calories you are actually eating, you can get idea what might be making you gain weight.
An extra 3500 calories per week, will make you gain about a pound of fat. If you wanted to lose a pound a week, try burning at least 500 calories each day or burn 250 calories and eat 250 calories less each day which comes out to 3500 calories or a 1-pound weight loss.
Step 3. How Many Active Calories are you Burning Each Day?
Aerobic exercise, especially running and spinning are high-calorie burn exercises.
You can estimate how many calories you are burning during your workouts by putting in your weight using the following calculator.
*https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/healthtool-exercise-calculator.
Step 5. How Many Calories are you Drinking Each Day?
Let’s look at the calories just from daily RED WINE INTAKE:
One 5 oz serving of wine/day at 120 calories/365 days per year = 43,800 calories.
If you divide that number by 3500 calories which they say = a pound of weight
43,800/3500 = 12 ½ pounds of weight gained in a year.
Two 5 oz serving of wine/day at 240 calories/365 days per year = 87,600 calories.
87,600/3500 = 25 pounds of weight gained in a year
Note: who drinks wine without snacks so make sure you count those extra calories as well.
Alcohol Beverages Calorie Counts from National Institutes of Health
|
BEVERAGE |
SERVING SIZE |
CALORIES |
|
Beer |
||
|
Beer (light) |
12 oz (355 ml) |
103 |
|
Beer (regular) |
12 oz (355 ml) |
153 |
|
Beer (higher alcohol, craft beers) |
12 oz (355 ml) |
170 to 350 |
|
Distilled Alcohol |
||
|
Gin (80 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
97 |
|
Gin (94 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
116 |
|
Rum (80 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
97 |
|
Rum (94 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
116 |
|
Vodka (80 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
97 |
|
Vodka (94 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
116 |
|
Whiskey (80 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
97 |
|
Whiskey (94 proof) |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
116 |
|
Liqueurs |
||
|
Coffee liqueur |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
160 |
|
Coffee liqueur with cream |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
154 |
|
Crème de menthe |
1.5 oz (45 ml) |
186 |
|
Mixed Drinks |
||
|
Bloody Mary |
4.6 oz (136 ml) |
120 |
|
Chocolate martini |
2.5 oz (74 ml) |
418 |
|
Cosmopolitan |
2.75 oz (81 ml) |
146 |
|
Daiquiri |
2.7 oz (80 ml) |
137 |
|
Highball |
8 oz (235 ml) |
110 |
|
Hot buttered rum |
8 oz (235 ml) |
292 |
|
Mai Tai |
4.9 oz (145 ml) |
306 |
|
Margarita |
4 oz (120 ml) |
168 |
|
Mimosa |
4 oz (120 ml) |
75 |
|
Mint Julep |
4.5 oz (135 ml) |
165 |
|
Mojito |
6 oz (177 ml) |
143 |
|
Pina colada |
6.8 oz (200 ml) |
526 |
|
Rum and Coke |
8 oz (235 ml) |
185 |
|
Rum and Diet Coke |
8 oz (235 ml) |
100 |
|
Tequila sunrise |
6.8 oz (200 ml) |
232 |
|
Vodka and tonic |
7 oz (207 ml) |
189 |
|
Whiskey sour |
3 oz (89 ml) |
125 |
|
White Russian |
8 oz (235 ml) |
568 |
|
Wine |
||
|
White table wine |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Gewurztraminer |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Muscat |
5 oz (145 ml) |
129 |
|
Riesling |
5 oz (145 ml) |
129 |
|
Chenin Blanc |
5 oz (145 ml) |
129 |
|
Chardonnay |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Sauvignon Blanc |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Fume Blanc |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Pinot Grigio |
5 oz (145 ml) |
128 |
|
Dry dessert wine |
3.5 oz (90 ml) |
157 |
|
Red table wine |
5 oz (145 ml) |
125 |
|
Petite Sirah |
5 oz (145 ml) |
125 |
|
Merlot |
5 oz (145 ml) |
122 |
|
Cabernet Sauvignon |
5 oz (145 ml) |
122 |
|
Red Zinfandel |
5 oz (145 ml) |
129 |
|
Burgundy |
5 oz (145 ml) |
122 |
|
Pinot Noir |
5 oz (145 ml) |
121 |
|
Claret |
5 oz (145 ml) |
122 |
|
Syrah |
5 oz (145 ml) |
122 |
|
Red dessert wine |
3.5 oz (90 ml) |
165 |
But it’s Just Coffee
Black coffee does not have calories unless you add sugar, lots of additions like real or whipping cream, vanilla flavoring, etc. Check out the following lists if you drink coffee out at your favorite coffee shop. Note: It’s very hard to line the items in the table but you get the point.
Starbuck’s
Beverage Size Calories
Caffe Americano Grande (16 oz) 17
Cappuccino Grande 136
Cappuccino w/skim milk Grande 82
Café Au Lait Grande 126
Café Au Lait w/skim milk Grande 72
Caffe Latte Grande 223
Caffe Latte w/skim milk Grande 131
Caffe Mocha w/whipped cream Grande 363
Caffe Mocha w/WC & skim milk Grande 288
Caramel Macchiato w/vanilla syrup Grande 269
Caramel Macchiato w/vanilla & skim Grande 192
Vanilla Latte w/flavored latte Grande 284
Vanilla Latte w/flavor & skim milk Grande 199
White Chocolate Mocha/whip cream Grande 500
White Chocolate Mocha/wc skim Grande 424
Hazelnut Mocha w/whip cream Grande 425
Hazelnut Mocha w/wc skim Grande 356
Peppermint Mocha w/whip cream Grande 450
Peppermint Mocha w/wc skim Grande 374
Tazo Chai Tea Latte Grande 255
Tazo Chai Tea Latte w/skim Grande 204
Signature Hot Chocolate w/whip Grande 556
Signature Hot Chocolate w/wc skim Grande 505
Classic Hot Chocolate w/whip cream Grande 352
Classic Hot Chocolate w/wc skim Grande 277
Whipped Cream hot beverage Grande 72
Whipped Cream cold beverage Grande 114
Flavored Syrup 1 pump 20
Bar Mocha Syrup 1 pump 26
Iced Caffe Latte Grande 149
Iced Caffe Latte w/skim Grande 90
Iced Caffe Mocha w/whip cream Grande 332
Iced Caffe Mocha w/wc skim Grande 289
Iced Caramel Macchiato Grande 257
Iced Caramel Macchiato w/skim Grande 187
Iced Tazo Chai Tea Latte Grande 259
Iced Tazo Chai Tea Latte w/skim Grande 205
Iced Hazelnut Mocha w/whip cream Grande 469
Iced Hazelnut Mocha w/wc skim Grande 425
Frappuccino Mocha w/whip cream Grande 378
Frappuccino Expresso Grande 208
Frappuccino Caramel w/whip cream Grande 382
Frappuccino Java Chip w/whip cream Grande 456
Frappuccino Vanilla Coffee w/wc Grande 364
Frappuccino White Chocolate w/wc Grande 407
McDonald’s
Beverage Size Calories
Cappucino medium 160
Caramel Cappucino medium 260
Caramel Frappe medium 450
Caramel Macchiato medium 320
Caramel Mocha medium 380
French Vanilla Cappucino medium 230
Hot Chocolate medium 380
Hot Chocolate skim milk medium 310
Iced Caramel Latte medium 180
Iced Caramel Macchiato medium 250
Iced Coffee Mocha medium 330
Iced Coffee Hazelnut 21 fl oz 190
French Vanilla Iced Coffee 21 fl oz 190
Caramel Iced Coffee 21 fl oz 190
Iced Mocha 16 oz 310
Sugar Free French Vanilla Iced 21 fl oz 90
Caramel Iced Mocha 16 fl oz 300
Nonfat Caramel Iced Mocha 16 fl oz 230
Nonfat Iced Mocha 16 fl oz 220
Iced Vanilla Latte 16 fl oz 190
Panera Bread
Beverage Size Calories
Caffe Latte 16 oz 130
Caffe Mocha 16 oz 370
Cappuccino 16 oz 130
Caramel Latte 16 oz 390
Cinnamon Crunch Latte 16 oz 280
Vanilla Latte 16 oz 260
Resource: https://fastfoodnutrition.org
Bottom Line
Eat more of the best foods: lean protein, whole grain grains, lots of fruits and vegetables even if they have to be hidden in their foods or added to smoothies, low fat dairy products and less of the rest to make sure the foods you are eating a good mix of foods so you have lots energy to do all things you want and need to accomplish every day. Make sure you spend time outside walking or smelling the roses.
Be wise and exercise daily because exercising will make you feel good, give you confidence & help to drive away any depression you might have.
By Barbara Day, M.S., R.D. is a registered dietitian with a Master’s Degree in clinical nutrition. She is the Chief Blog Organizer for www.DayByDayLiving.net
Barbara worked as a research nutritionist with the military’s tri-service medical school & working as a performance nutrition consultant to Navy SEALS’ BUD/S Training Program and west coast active Navy SEAL Team. Barbara is the former nutrition performance consultant to the University of Louisville Athletic Department. She is the author of Fast Facts on Fast Food For Fast People and High Energy Eating Sports Nutrition Workbook for Active People used by the University of Louisville, University of Tennessee Lady Vols and the Tennessee football program, the LSU basketball program, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and by the United States Navy SEALs.
The former publisher of Kentuckiana HealthFitness Magazine, Kentuckiana Healthy Woman magazine and radio show host of Health News You Can Use, Barbara has over 30 years of experience in promoting healthy lifestyles to consumers. Barbara is a former runner who walks, a spinner, hiker a mother and grandmother to 13 grandchildren.
