We're Official!

The Chicken Scoop has moved!  It is official!!!  It now has its own domain name!  You can find me here now:

The Chicken Scoop (http://thechickenscoop.net/)

Right now, I have it powered by Wordpress but I had 2 other bloggers options too.  It is a work in progress as I try to move everything over.  I will start adding new pages (About Me, My Workouts, Nutrition, etc.)  I would LOVE to hear any suggestions you guys have for it! 

So from now on, I guess I will be posting my blogs there so switch over your shortcuts!

New Fitness Gadget: The FitBit

The FitBit

My friend Lauren (over at Dimples Does It) has had this little contraption for a while now so she is much more experienced with it.  I just got it on Sunday and used it for the first time yesterday but I will tell you what I know so far!

Basically, its a little clip on tricked-out pedometer that you can wear anywhere on your body (I wear it on my bra, TMI?  LoL).  I have the FitBit Ultra which tracks steps, calories, distance, and stairs climbed (not on regular one).  It syncs wirelessly with your computer to upload data to the FitBit website where you can see all your data (OMG graphs!!!) and log your food and other activities throughout the day.  You can make goals and have friends on the website also.  It costs $99 and I believe is available at Best Buy.

Food Log

When you start your day, it gives you a baseline calorie target for the day based on if you were to lay in bed and not move the entire day.  My target intake for the day is shown at the top here.  It shows how much I have eaten so far (178) and how much I have left (1386).

Then as you begin moving around and logging activities, it will increase your calorie intake for the day as shown in the second box.  So far today, I have moved around enough to increase my calories by 52.

Additionally, I have mine set to have a weight loss goal of 0.5lbs per week until I reach 140lbs.  "Easier" is the 0.5lbs per week.  It shows the date I should reach my goal all the way on the right.




Sleep

One really cool thing about the FitBit is that it will monitor your sleep. It really just watches how much you move around but it is still pretty cool.  Apparently I don't move at all when I'm sleeping!

I think this feature will really come in handy!  Only issue is, when do I charge it then???  Well, this morning, I put it on the charger while I was in the shower and then just tracked "Standing - preparing for bed" for 10 minutes.  LoL!

Activities & Steps

This one is pretty self explanatory.  You just track what you were doing during a certain time.  You can track everything throughout your day including things like sitting at your desk, cleaning the house, etc.  If you click on the picture to the right, you can see where I tracked standing this morning.  I will probably only track major workouts in this.  I guess it just helps to give a more accurate picture of the calories you burned throughout the day.  It works with the readings from your FitBit for better accuracy.  Below, you can see my Calories Burned chart for today so far.  You can also view steps, floors and your "active score".

Ok, now you guys can all see why I love this thing already!  Lauren has been just raving about it for months.  I wanted it but didn't want to spend the money and find out I didn't like it.  Of course I love it!  Look at all those charts and graphs!!!  But seriously, this is really going to help me get back on the band wagon.  I have been struggling a lot lately.  Here comes confession time.

I've gained 2% Body Fat and 6lbs  (7 yesterday but I lost 1 since yesterday)

This summer was emotionally rough.  Then the moving, then school started.  I just haven't been able to get into a groove.  I'm finally feeling more like myself now though and armed with my new gadget, I am totally ready to tackle this weight loss thing again!  I took my measurements immediately when I set up my FitBit yesterday morning:

My tactic is going to be the same one I used to lose the weight the first time.  I'm going to think about my calorie differential (difference between how many calories you burn during the day and the calories you ate, i.e. calories in, calories out).  And the FitBit basically does all that for you with the way it increases your calories intake the move active you are.  I'm going to concentrate a lot on building muscle so I'm going to make sure I eat at least 1500 calories per day (under 1400 and you break down muscle) and take my measurements every few weeks, not just weight.

Also, I'm just going to use the FitBit website to track everything and not Spark People.  I know!!!  I love Spark People but now its just going to be to check in with friends and maybe do some team stuff (been too busy for that lately).  I will always love Spark People but I've got to pick one place.  I am really excited though!  How many people do you know get excited about fitness and weight loss??  Here we go!

Atlantic City Half Marathon!

Yet another crazy weekend!  In case you missed it, the Atlantic City Expo report was posted on Friday.  There are tons of new product reviews on there so you should check it out!  It was definitely a good expo for the first year!

Anyway, Saturday was my usual with Rugby all day.  But I love Rob so its ok!  The team got demolished because we were playing a really good team and its almost all new players on our team this year.  Anyway, it is always fun to go though!  It was away so like usual, we went to the Bards afterwards.

Now you would think I would eat super healthy for my race the next day, right?  Nope.  Beer (only 1), onion rings, fries, and chicken tenders.  It actually worked out well for me for the race.  I didn't have a single stomach problem like I usuall do but I don't plan on making this a regular habit.  We got home around 9 but I still hadn't gathered my race things.  I couldn't find my spie belt so no camera for the race but I did bring my phone in my fuel belt.

The morning of the race, we got up around 6 to get ready.  I had cereal (Kashi Autumn Harvest - yum!) and 2 eggs scrambled (cooked in the microwave).  I also made sure to have some gatorade to hydrate.  Of course, I had to pee like 5 times before the race (but didn't have to stop during, yay!).

I really wasn't in the mood for this race and the whole morning seemed off but I felt much better once I got started.  Rob sent me off and I let him go find a Starbucks and putz around.  Well, what happens when I leave Rob unattended?  He buys me presents! (I'm not complaining).  More on this later...

The weather was absolutely PERFECT.  The shirt I wore was a little too thick but I didn't get too hot so its ok!  The wind was a little rough for the day.  There was one point where I had to walk because the sideways wind kept pushing my foot into my other leg.  LoL.  Otherwise, it was just a beautiful day for a race.

We start off on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in front of Ballys and head down into the streets.  We got onto the highway for a minute and then headed down into the connector tunnel.  What fun!!!

The best part of the race was that during mile 9, you pass by the start/finish line again.  I called Rob to let him know when I was getting close and I stopped for a kiss!  It was a real pain though running in that area because everyone was getting in the way of the runners (since by now, its spread out and we were at the back of the pack).  I will put that in my comments when they email me!

At that point, it was just an out and back on the boardwalk.  I saw the #1 male marathon finisher and the #1 wheelchair too (only wheelchair?).  I also saw a friend from high school run by!  Ha!  I finally crossed the finish line only a few minutes longer than the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half!  Not bad for not running all month!

The best thing about the finish line... They had ice cream sandwiches!  I couldn't figure out what I wanted after the race but this was exactly right.  They also had Rita's Water Ice, chicken broth, coffee, beer, water, solf pretzels, oranges, bananas, etc.  But the ice cream sandwich really hit the spot. 

About 10 minutes after finishing, the pain started.  This was not an easy race for me.  I was sore most of the race but nothing that would make me think I would get injured so I just kept going.  Today, my calves are killing me!  Oh, and I figured out why I was having problems sleeping, I had a shoulder cramp.  I get these bad knots in my shoulders sometimes and I had one all week!  It started spazming after the race and I had to have Rob rub it out.  It is much better now!

Overall, I'm really happy with the way the race turned out!  I was in a much better mindset yesterday too.  In Philly last month, I really didn't feel like racing.  Yesterday, I didn't either but I just kind of set my mind to it.  I was more whiney last month I guess.  I was just plowing through yesterday, accepting when I needed to walk and pushing myself to run when I knew the walking was just because I was being lazy!  I even ran the last mile completely because I knew I could.

Basically, this girl is back in business!