I'm addicted to Apps!

Okay, I admit it, I love finding new apps that provide even more reason for me to be addicted to my phone. A couple of years ago, I received an iPhone for my birthday and from that point on, I was hooked. Like so many people, my phone has become another appendage that is more or less attached to my body full time… Check out this picture… even during a family vacation to Puerto Vallarta this fall, I was hooked… fortunately, as you can see, I wasn’t the only one with a similar addiction problem!

Well, a couple of weeks ago I switched operating platforms… I am now an Android user and my intent for this post isn’t to tout one platform over the other (Apple vs. Android) because they both have some pros and cons, but more to the point, I want to look at a couple of the Calorie Tracking apps that I have personally used with each phone. I love having the convenience of my food journal in the same place that I keep everything else. I'm rarely ever without my phone (I feel naked without it), so I'm rarely ever without my food journal!

For the iPhone:

I was using an app called “Tap and Track.” It is offered for $3.99 and is created by Nanobit Software and like most apps of this sort, it tracks your daily intake of calories as well as your expenditure during exercise or activity. It has a feature that allows you to adjust how much weight you’d like to lose (or gain… as if!) each week up to two pounds and then it gives you the recommended calories for the day based on your gender and your weight and the amount of exercise you are doing. It graphically shows you where your RDA breakouts are falling for proteins, carbs & fats. It also can generate reports to show you your caloric intake vs. output over time. 

For entering food into your daily journal, it has a fairly comprehensive list including most major restaurant chains. You can enter serving amounts as well as partial serving amounts down to 1/8 of a serving. It also allows you to put in your own recipes for anything that isn’t already listed in their huge foods list. You also have the convenient option of pulling up recently eaten foods if you tend to eat similarly from day to day. There is also a quick entry feature if you don’t want to enter anything but the calories for an item and don’t want to look it up. With this feature, you need to know the calories and it’s just a quick add without any of the additional details. The other little bonus feature here is that for each day’s foods the app also assigns a “food value” which is basically the WW points for each food. The last time I used this app, the food value was still based on the old POINTS system, and I’m not sure if they have switched over to the new values or not.

For entering your exercise, the list of available exercises and activities is again pretty long. Most of the exercises are included and if you know your calories burned without having to look it up, there is a quick entry feature. 

Tap & Track has an online presence and they also have a feature where you can sync your phone app to your web-based account. On their website, they claim you can use this app with most of the diet programs out there, including Atkins, South Beach, and Protein Power. I cannot confirm this as the only thing I did was track straight caloric intake. They also have a Facebook page for those of you wanting to join their social network. Overall I found this to be a good app and would recommend it if you are on the iPhone OS and don’t mind the outlay of a little bit of money.

Pros:

• Like most things for the iPhone, it is very easy to use and has a quick learning curve
• You pick the amount of weight you’re aiming to lose per week, based on age, gender and current weight
• BMI calculation is one more measurement this offers

Cons:

• Partial serving sizes only break down as far as 1/8 serving, as long as it’s less than ½, it will break it down into small portion sizes, however above ½ serving, it only offers ¾ as the only other option available
• Calories expended during exercise don’t have enough offerings… if you run slower than the pace they have as “running” or walk faster than the pace they have as “Walking” your calories burned will be off. I often had to compensate by putting in 30 minutes of running and 15 minutes of walking for a 45 minute jog pace.
• The app costs $3.99 – not a huge expense, granted, but in the world of 1000’s of free apps, it is a consideration.

For tomorrow: Calorie Calculator – the Android App I’m currently using - stay tuned!

Today's Run
Miles: 6.17
Time: 1:15
Pace: 4.9 mph
Treadmill  Run

Very Useful Recipe Calculator

I know there are many different recipe calculators out there, but I just thought I'd share one with you today. I use the calculator at Spark People/Spark Recipes. I find it to be pretty comprehensive and it breaks out all of your nutrition for you, not just fat, protein, & carbs. It's a pretty easy recipe calculator to use and I find that they have most of the ingredients you could ever hope to need, plus they have a myriad of different measurement options available. For instance, I put today's green smoothie in the calculator and when I put in apple, it asks if you want it as one whole apple and what size, or if you want it measured in Cups of apple... it might even have the option for oz. too, I don't remember specifically. You can also change up the number of servings and you can then see how this affects the calorie and fat content.

Like I said, I was calculating my smoothie and was pretty blown away by the nutrient content in the smoothies. Just for those of you who have any doubts about the value of smoothies in your diet, here's the breakdown for today for just ONE approx 20 oz. green smoothie.

User Entered Recipe

  2 Servings

Amount Per Serving

  Calories                                   250.7

  Total Fat                                  3.9 g

      Saturated Fat                        1.2 g

      Polyunsaturated Fat              1.9 g

      Monounsaturated Fat            0.6 g

  Cholesterol                              5.0 mg

  Sodium                                    61.3 mg

  Potassium                               720.4 mg

  Total Carbohydrate                  53.7 g

      Dietary Fiber                         8.7 g

      Sugars                                 27.8 g

  Protein                                     6.2 g

  Vitamin A                                 67.2 %

  Vitamin B-12                            0.0 %

  Vitamin B-6                              16.6 %

  Vitamin C                                 41.0 %

  Vitamin D                                 0.0 %

  Vitamin E                                 9.4 %

  Calcium                                   6.0 %

  Copper                                    10.1 %

  Folate                                      17.8 %

  Iron                                          17.0 %

  Magnesium                              12.0 %

  Manganese                              30.6 %

  Niacin                                      5.4 %

  Pantothenic Acid                      2.9 %

  Phosphorus                             4.7 %

  Riboflavin                                10.1 %

  Selenium                                  1.9 %

  Thiamin                                    6.2 %

  Zinc                                         2.7 %

Today's Run
Miles: 9.01 (Holy Cow!!!)
Time: 1:51
Pace: 4.9 mph
Treadmill  Run

One of my (many) guilty pleasures

I have a confession to make here... and hopefully all of you, if you don't completely understand, will at least have some sympathy for my plight.

I seemed to have developed an addiction to television weight loss programs. I was actually a late comer to the Biggest Loser fan base. I didn't have much interest in the first several seasons and I didn't really understand the appeal. In fact, I've only been following it for just a few seasons, but now, I confess, I'm absolutely hooked. I don't ever miss a single episode... and while I rarely watch them live (since I don't have the patience to sit through all the commercials, the only exception is usually the finale), I DO watch them almost religiously, catching each week's episode within a day or two of when it airs, either with "On Demand" cable or online through Hulu.

I wish I could say that the fascination with weight loss reality shows stopped there, but it doesn't and there have actually been a couple of new entries to the weight loss reality show programming lineup: "I Used to be Fat" on MTV and "Heavy" on A&E. Both of which I also now watch with as much regularity as Biggest Loser and enjoy immensely as well. Fortunately, they are formatted quite differently than Biggest Loser and they each have their own demographic, so it's really not like you're watching a bunch of iterations of the exact same show.

I'm embarrassed to reflect too closely on why I might now be so hooked on these shows or even more to the point, why it has only been a more recent phenomena with me. I suspect that the recentness of it has something to do with my own weight loss journey and that up until a few seasons ago (with Biggest Loser), I wasn't willing to hold up a mirror to that reality which was my life... in other words, I didn't want to examine the fact that I significantly overweight with serious weight related health issues starting to peek up over the horizon. Why I like these shows so much now might be an even bigger mystery... Yes, I do like to see them succeed in their weight loss journeys, but even more, I perversely enjoy watching the struggles they have and seeing their personal trainers harassing them mercilessly. Does this make me a little sick & twisted? Probably... but like I said, I prefer not to examine it too closely. Just know that I DO like the fact that the contestants lose weight and I am amazed at their accomplishments when all is said and done.

Now, I can also say that these shows usually provide a huge inspiration for me to get off my still somewhat squishy backside and to get up & move. Often, I will wait to watch Biggest Loser until a non-running day (I work out six days a week, but only run three of the six) and then I will drag my aerobic step into the living room and watch BL while I step. Really, it's the only way I can watch these people lose 10 or 15 pounds in a week and not feel completely jealous or inadequate.

Another time I'll give you my whole diatribe on the unrealistic expectations this show sets up for those people watching it who want to achieve similar results in a similar time frame, but, no matter, that doesn't stop me from watching and enjoying Biggest Loser or any other weight loss show that comes down the line... 



Yesterday's Run
Miles: 4.5
Time: 56:27
Pace: 4.8 mph
Street Run

Are we warm yet?

Heather and I went out running this morning. Fortunately, it wasn't raining or even wet, however it was pretty darned cold! Okay, some of you may say, 31º isn't really that cold, but it was so foggy out this morning... and that has a significant effect on how cold it feels, never mind what the thermometer says. The cold on days like today sinks under your skin and down deep into your bones, then it seems like it takes forever to get warm.

Both of us were decked out in several layers of clothing, including both of us wearing jackets, which almost never happens. Plus we were also wearing ear coverings and gloves... again for both of us to be in this much gear, you know it's pretty cold... it seems like most of the time at least one of us is warm enough to go without some of the above listed attire... and it seemed like anytime we even thought about trying to take off the gloves or ear coverings today, it took almost no time to start freezing again.

Then, to make matters worse, I drove the 30 minutes home in wet (aka sweaty) clothing. Yes, I had the heat going almost full blast most of the way home, which helped, but the minute I got out of the car every ounce of reserve heat escaped. Fortunately, there was a nice hot, shower waiting for me at this end of the run! However, I must confess that my fingers haven't ever completely warmed back up. Maybe it's time to go find a fuzzy, warm cat to use for a hand warmer. They're usually pretty cooperative as long as they think they're getting petted... and who am I to tell them otherwise?!?

We're getting together for a run again tomorrow... twice in one week... unheard of... but who cares, it's always good to run with Heather. I feel like she pushes me a little more than I might if I were just out pounding out the miles on my own... and that's a good thing. I definitely feel like I've been getting noticeably stronger the past couple of weeks which is always a good thing... and I'm pretty sure that running with my sis-in-law is a big part of the equation.

Tomorrow's reward for a week of strong runs for us? Lunch at Bob's Red Mill! Definitely one of our favorites... always (relatively) healthy AND yummy... we won't rub it in with our DH's... at least not too much!

Today's Run
Miles: 6
Time: 1:11
Pace: 5.1 mph
Paved Trail Run

A-fartlek-ing we will go!

Yea! I did my first series of fartleks today! That being said, we're still trying to adjust around my house to saying the word "fartlek" with a straight face!

I didn't do a ton today, but I did 4x800m (about .5 mile) today. Ideally, when you do fartleks, you want to go at a pace that pushes yourself just a little beyond what you're normally comfortable running. For me, this meant keeping a pace up of around 6.0 to 6.2 mph, which I know to many runners would be their normal jogging pace, but for me, that's pushing it pretty hard. In between each one you can do a resting walk or jog. Jeff Galloway suggests about 2:30 to 3 minutes between each 800m fartlek, so I tried to stick to the 2:30. By the final (4th) fartlek I was feeling pretty beat up. However, if I think about it, the fact that I was able to continue running at my normal 5-ish mph pace for another 40 minutes after that means I couldn't have been TOO much the worse for wear.

Initially when I got done with my workout today I was a little disappointed with my seemingly average pace... as you'll see below, it's nothing special for any given workout for me. However, after I was completely done and off the treadmill (and the oxygen had returned to my brain), I remembered that today's 75 minutes included a 5 minute warm-up at a much slower pace... so when you take that into account, the other 70 minutes were actually pretty good. I think if I take out the warm-up my pace came out to about 5.1 mph, which is a little better than normal... yea! My pace wasn't so bad after all.

The main point of the fartleks is to try and bring a little speed into your endurance runs. Ideally, you would be able to carry this surge forward & fall back pacing into a race, which would ideally allow you to run the entire race at a little better pace than straight line pacing might. I'm not sure how rigidly I'll be able to adhere to that principle, but I think that doing these speed intervals is good for my training, no matter how much of the actual technique translates over to race day.

In the meantime, I think I will try saying the word "fartlek" at least 15 times a day in order to desensitize myself... no one in the running community will take me seriously if I can't at least fake a straight face when I say it out loud... no matter how much I'm cracking up on the inside!

Today's Run
Miles: 6.18
Time: 1:15
Pace: 4.9 mph
Treadmill  Run

Oh, my aching legs!

I skipped running on Thursday this week so that I could run with my favorite running buddy, my sis-in-law Heather, on Friday.

If you read Heather's blog "Will Run for Coffee" and hear her complaining about the hill she has to run that is behind her house. My recommendation... believe her when she says it's painful! We ran a four mile route yesterday around her house, including the killer hill directly behind.

Let me tell you, pretty much the entire run was a tough one. It's four miles of nearly nothing but hills - steep inclines, shallow inclines, little hills, big hills, some you go up, some you go down, but all in all, very little flat surface!

I can't remember the last time I ran such a tough four miles. Last night my legs were sore as if I had run a much longer distance... makes me think maybe I should be doing this kind of run a little more frequently. Yikes!!!

Fortunately, Heather was right there along with me and cheering me on the whole way. Although this might not make the hills any easier, it certainly makes them more tolerable (saying the word 'fun' here would definitely be overstating the matter) and makes them go by much more quickly. Thanks Heather!

Then, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Panera for lunch... a very good balm for my (invisible) wounds!

Yesterday's Run
Miles: 4.0
Time: 51:25
Pace: 4.7 mph
Street Run (lots of hills!)

Brr... I'm freezing!!!

Well, the last two long runs I've done I've noticed a new phenomenon that I've never encountered in my experience as a runner... I'll usually cool off for a few minutes after I've changed out of all my ultra-sweat-soaked workout clothes and then go shower. Well for the second time in as many weeks, I spend the entire length of my shower so cold... it seems like I just can't get the water warm enough to overcome how cold I am. Since I've only noticed this for the last two weeks during my long run days, I started putting two + two together today. Thinking about it, I realized that this is probably not a unique experience... after all they give marathon runners space blankets at the end of a run. So, I ended up trying to poke around online to see if I could come up with the answer.
 

Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. I'm probably letting myself get too dehydrated during a long run. I'm not sure of the exact physiology here, but everything I've read in different articles and in various forums suggests that, especially for long runs, you need to make sure you replenish your fluids during the run.
2. I'm probably not getting enough nutrition during long runs... again it affects your body's ability to regulate itself. Apparently, you should also not be having whole "natural" foods during or immediately after (w/in the first 15 minutes or so) a long run, it can be hard on your stomach. Hence, the need for energy gels & cubes. (Okay, I confess to having a kind of d'uh moment on this one...)
3. Your body heats up during a run, but then when you stop running your body immediately cools off, dropping several degrees rapidly... and apparently this can include dropping down to below 98.6º
4. Don't forget the problem of wet clothes. Tech clothes will help with wicking moisture away from your skin during the run, but after a run, wet clothes are still, ultimately, wet clothes whether they're 'tech' or not... and sitting around in them for too long can also lead to a reduced body temp. Like I mentioned above, I usually change out of my wet clothes immediately, so this most likely isn't where I'm getting chilled, but it is certainly something to keep in mind..

Now that I've learned a little bit more about long runs... stuff, I confess I probably should've known before setting out on one... I will take some extra precautions during next week's run and let you all know if I think it is helping me keep my body a little better regulated.

Today's Run
Miles: 8.56 (new personal distance record... you guys are probably getting sick of me saying this already!)
Time: 1:46
Pace: 4.85 mph
Treadmill Workout