Monday, June 30, 2008

Burning Off Donut Calories

As we continue in this saga, TheBigRuski Goes Healthy...and eats a donut along the way, we ask: How do we burn off the calories from an old-fashioned chocolate covered donut?

More specifically, how did I? How did I burn off 250 calories.

I did not, as the TheDailyPlate.com "recommends," do steel mill work, removing slag for 11 minutes. Nor did I play music on a guitar, standing for 39 minutes. I was thinking about officiating a basketball game for 17 minutes...but I thought that might interupt the flow of the game if I faked an injury at the 17-minute mark.

Nope, today I walked 30 minutes at a fairly slow pace. I'm nursing a bad back and can not really pound it out without being in some pain. So, that's what I did...walked for 30 minutes slowly.

Did I burn off the donut calories?

Well, not exactly, according to the TheDailyPlate.com, I burned off 130 calories. That's 120 calories short!

Am I going to cry? No. I will just carry on...you should, too!

TheBigRuski's Marketplace Notes: I finished my bottle of MonaVie tonight. I take 2 ounces in the morning and night. It might not be the "miracle juice," but I tell you what, it works for me. I'm not a big fruit eater and this makes up for it! Find out more about the 19-fruit blend at MonaVie.

I Ate a Donut

I've got a good news/bad news story for you. Which one do you want to hear first? Well, actually, now that I think of it, I did tell you the bad news one yesterday...I ate a donut...the old-fashioned chocolate covered kind.

And, as promised, I'll give you a nutritional breakdown on the donut...

Calories 250 Calories from Fat 100

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 11g (17%)
Saturated Fat 4.5g (22%)
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 5mg (2%)
Sodium 190mg (8%)
Total Carbohydrate 36g (12%)
Dietary Fiber 1g (4%)
Sugars 23g
Protein 2g (4%)

Do I feel guilty? Yes, well a little bit. But, afterall that was so yesterday, and today is today.

So how can I burn off these donut calories? I could burn off the 250 calories from this Old-Fashioned Glazed Chocolate Donut in a variety of ways:

Steel Mill Work - removing slag for 11 minutes

Music - playing guitar, standing for 39 minutes

Officiating - basketball for 17 minutes

source: TheDailyPlate.com

Hmmmm...wonder where I could find steel mill work in Orange County, Calif.?

Now the good news. I had a protein shake for breakfast. I always feel lighter for most of the day after starting my morning like that. I'm going to give you the recipe for this great tasting shake packed with protein later.

Sunday ended being a wash as far as counting calories. I did some counting, but it was at the Barn Dance BBQ I attended that I gave up. However, I will say that I did not have seconds on anything! Believe me, it was tempting. Afterwards, I took a 1/2 hour walk by the pier. Awesome summere evening!

Have a good Monday...and a great week!

BTW, what's slag?

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TheBigRuski's Marketplace

Someone say nuts? Get almonds, healthy and delicious, in over 40 varieties at NutsOnline.com.

Almonds, healthy and delicious, in over 40 varieties at NutsOnline.com.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I Ate a Breakfast Burrito

Part of the deal here on my journey to get in better health and lose weight is counting my calories. I hate counting my calories! However, a friend of mine recommended going to TheDailyPlate.com and that's what you do there...count calories. Only I'm finding it really fun on this site...you can do a search for ANYTHING you eat and you'll see not only your calorie breakdown, but your nutritional numbers as well.

One other thing...you can have your daily suggested calorie intake calculated as well. Mine stands at 2,933 per day. My weight, height, and goal of losing 1.5 pounds per week is calculated in.



So, I promised you earlier to give a breakdown on my homemade breakfast burrito (and 1/2 glass of fruit punch) I ate this morning...well, duh...breakfast! I'm not going to get into anything else but calories for now.

This was a really basic breakfast burrito. I did not have time or the ingredients to make it fancy. Here it is:

3 eggs scrambled: 280
1 7" corn tortilla: 70
3 oz. of shredded lite cheese: 210
1 tbsp. ketchup: 20
4 oz. fruit punch: 35

TOTAL: 615 calories

Not bad, huh? Especially considering I had 2,318 calories remaining to eat for the rest of the day. Speaking of which, my day went kind of funny with what I ate in addition to the burrito so far. I will not get into particulars right now, but let's leave it at telling you that one of the items was an old-fashioned chocolate donut. (get you the calorie count later)

Hey, I still have the rest of the day to just chill and do good!

I'm not into country, but I'm going to a Barn Dance and BBQ tonight sponsored by a local church I used to attend. I pray I eat in moderation!

Lose weight with The Daily Plate

Forget the Cheeseburger, Drop Resentments

There's so many things tied into your health. Yesterday, I mentioned how wonderful music is to your health. We can listen to music that calms, and even music that gets us pumped up to do something like climb a hill. The song I shared in the post helped me remember what's most important...and that is a healthy thing as well.

Last night, as I was reading my Life Recovery Bible, it occured to me how resentments can be so unhealthy. Holding onto resentments, especially for too long, can weigh you down as if you are carrying 1,000 pounds on your back.

So, in my journey to lose a bunch of weight I'm awakening to the fact that our desire for good health is about an overall package of doing the right things. One of them being the fact that we need to shed resentments ASAP!

This is the part that struck me most about my reading last night:

When we look at all that God has forgiven us, it makes sense to choose to forgive others. This also frees us from the torture of festering resentment. We can't change what others have done to us, but we can write off their debts and become willing to make amends.

Yes, torture! How healthy is that? So, not only am I going to eat better (forget the cheesburger), listen to music more, exercise more...I'm going to get rid of resentments!

An uncle of mine once told me that our lives are like art. There's a lot we have to create as we go. It's great that not only do we have so many "artists" among us, but we have a life manual as well...the Bible!

One other thing I want to mention about resentments. There's books and more books about how to deal with resentments. One that you might consider is by Max Lucado...and I love the title - Traveling Light:Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear. While reading, you'll see how important it is to drop the suitcase of resentments.

If you are interested in getting a copy of the Life Recovery Bible, you can get it at Amazon just by clicking here.

I haven't weighed myself yet this morning. I plan on having an egg burrito with lite cheese in a corn tortilla...I'll let you know the calorie breakdown in my next post. (And of the cheeseburger I'm NOT going to have today!)

Go have an awesome Sunday!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Healthy Music and You

As I get serious about getting healthy I'm reminded this evening about all the different things available to us to help us get healthy. One of them being music. There's been so many studies done on the benefits of listening to music.



I'd like to recommend a visit to another site of mine and an encouraging post that includes a music video. Alexander is a blog of devotions from famous and not-so-famous authors.

Third Day has been rockin' for several years now...and thought you might enjoy God of Wonders.

Oh, BTW...I have yet to eat dinner....I'm surviving on those 2 ounces of almonds just nicely, thank you! I'll be taking a shot of MonaVie as soon as I finish posting.

Have a blessed rest of the weekend!

I Ate Almonds

So, begins my journey to a healthier and less-weight me. Today, I weighed in at 287. I'm 6'3"...and wear it well...BTW!

A few hours ago I ate about 2 ounces of almonds. That's about 340 calories...270 which are fat calories, or 30 grams of fat, or 46% of my recommended daily fat intake.

Wow! Should I be discouraged? No...I'm not going to be. The journey is just getting started!

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TheBigRuski's Marketplace

Someone say nuts? Get almonds, healthy and delicious, in over 40 varieties at NutsOnline.com.

Almonds, healthy and delicious, in over 40 varieties at NutsOnline.com.

Want to be a part of my journey? Start out by trying Boca Java!

Boca Java Signature Sampler