Tracking Trek

If you are familiar with the LDS church at all, it's likely you have heard of the history, where the pioneers pulled handcarts across the plains until they reached Utah. One summer activity many in the church do every few years, is a small reenactment of said trek with the youth. They wear pioneer clothing, pull hand carts and walk and walk and walk.

My 17-year old was participating in our pioneer trek this year (my 15-year old was also eligible, but didn't want to and we didn't force him). #2 grabbed some plain pants and a couple long sleeve shirts at the local thrift store, and donned "the hat" that Daddy and older brother had worn on previous pioneer treks and packed the few things allowed ...

One duffle bag, a bucket (with water, scriptures, gloves, suncreen, etc.) and a sleeping bag.

Silly kitty didn't actually get packed ;)

I made sure his Fitbit was charged and ready ... 

They left Tuesday (July 26) and traveled by bus to Wyoming. This was the Martin's Cove trek. They walked a few miles that night, and then camped (and did some square dancing, which my son said was surprisingly fun!) Wednesday there was quite a bit of walking. Just over 26k in steps. But Thursday ... that was the big day (Fitbit snag pictured above). Just a bit of walking Friday then the bus ride home (and apparently he wasn't too tired, because he went and played basketball with his buddies for a couple of hours that night). 

My Zumba buddy Suzanne also went on trek (a number of leaders go as Ma/Pa/Uncle/Aunt "family" members, plus more to help with food, organization, etc. 

Tuesday morning was when Suzanne usually joins us for Zumba, but that doesn't look like Zumba workout wear!  I am very glad I have boys, they are so much easier to outfit than trying to find appropriate dresses or skirts (and bloomers, bonnets and aprons). That Tuesday morning, the church gym was FILLED with pioneers! They cleared out and we had our Zumba class there a couple hours later.

When my son got back home, I had him sync his Fitbit, and even with that huge day, he hadn't quite caught me in steps (although he was close). I remember watching and waiting for Suzanne to sync ... normally she syncs every day, but they were without internet access for the four days. She had the ChargeHR, and said that her battery lasted (I would have been worried about that, as I put mine on the charger every night. My son has the Zip, which has a replaceable battery that lasts about six months, so he was set). 

Here's a couple more pictures the group historian shared with the parents ...

 Square Dancing (probably no Zumba songs, right?)

On the trail.

I've never been on a pioneer trek myself.  I was 13 when our church did trek back in the day. The age cut-off was 14 years old, and I have to admit, I was relieved I didn't have to go. My two older brothers and older sister went (my future husband was 14-years old, and on this same trek). They said it was a great experience ... that they never wanted to do again! I think most of them HAVE done it again (as ma/pa/leaders), and I think it's a little easier now than back then (they worked the "starvation" experience a little on those older treks, but they don't do that now). Even with my crazy steps ... I'm not sure I'd want to do a trek now. I HATE shoes! This requires hours upon hours of wearing shoes/sneakers/boots (which I NEVER do ... I'll wear them for Zumba, but I elliptical in slippers). When I was discussing trek with Suzanne  the following Tuesday at Zumba, she said that was the first time she had put on sneakers since her return five days earlier!

Comparisons

Apples to Apples.

My son LOVES that game!

Personally, I know better than to try and compare myself to others. There are so many variables at play. But I DO compare me to myself. One workout to another. Various estimates on different devices. How I do and feel day to day. I'm a bit of a numbers nerd. I collect and compare my stats, steps, calorie counts, weight ... almost anything I can assign a number to.

Looking back on the past few days, 

my workouts and numbers have been quite similar.

 Monday

 Tuesday

Wednesday

Each day in the morning, I had an hour of Zumba. I also had some small sessions on the elliptical throughout the days (10-20 minutes at a time. 40 minutes on Monday, and hour on Tues/Wed). All three days I spent 37 minutes reading while riding the stationary bike (10miles).

I felt really good about Mon and Wednesday, 

but felt like Tuesday was an off day. Why?

So much of it is perception. Expectation also. Tuesdays are normally really good days for me (often 30k in steps).  I started out strong, hitting my 10x10 and then ... I had some lazy hours. Also, after really keeping calories controlled on Monday, I caved to cravings and went way overboard. In the evening during my little guy's basketball practice, I usually walk while I wait, getting in 5000 or more steps. I did do some walking, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. I'd worn bad shoes, my other son who had come along too decided he didn't want to shoot and took my ipad mini that I'd been reading while I walked. Even in non-exercise attitudes, I just felt better about Monday and Wednesday (getting more "mommy" stuff done).

Another little "perception" ... if you notice on the graphs above, on Mon/Wed, the vertical axis extends to 3,000. On Tuesday, I didn't quite get enough steps in a 15min period of time to warrant that little graph increase. That actually affects me mentally! It just throws off the graph perspective. I really try to make sure I have ONE workout in the day that pushes the graph axis up, and on Tuesday I just didn't make it.

I was just thinking back on this past week, finding it ironic how I had some good days, and a bad day, when the numbers were so similar. Well ... the eating calories weren't similar on those day. I know the eating is where it's at more than the exercise. I wish I could get as much control and routine in my food as I do my fitness. It's a constant challenge!  Just thinking out loud ... and linking up late with Workout Wednesday.

Workouts, Weigh-In and Wonderful Weather

The weather has been wonderful this week. I've seen many friends across the country commenting about it, so it seems this nice forecast is fairly widespread ... except in New York, where Hubby and the boys are on vacation. Chilly with some rain there. With the warmer weather, I see MANY of you joyously jogging outdoors. Me? I'm still an indoor exerciser, regardless. In fact, this warmer weather can be a bit of a detriment to my workout routine. I feel the urge to go outside, stick my lower half in the sunshine and get a little color on my legs; happily reading and relaxing under the blue skies. Sing with me ... "I'm gonna soak up the sun" ...

I was a bit of a bad mommy today. My little one came downstairs early this morning as I was on the elliptical saying he didn't feel well. My first thought was "you can't be sick, I have Zumba today!"  Now ... not that I really think he's faking, but the last couple times he was "sick" and I let him stay home, he really didn't seem bad at all during the day. And there was a miraculous recovery right around the time school let out. I really have been one to err on the side of caution. So much so that last year I got a nasty letter from the elementary school saying my child had missed too many days and any further absences would require a doctor's note. So today ... I "encouraged" him to try school, saying he could call if he still wasn't feeling well. He was pretty much normal by the time I dropped him off, and I haven't got a call. And I got to go to Zumba *Ü*

I wear my HRM during Zumba. It was misbehaving a bit today, I don't know why. Not showing a heart rate, telling me to check the transmitter. Sometimes I need to stop and restart when that happens, but I really didn't want to do that, as then I wouldn't get an accurate reading of the full class. It did finally start registering again, but I know I missed out on it recording for a few minutes. These gadgets, they can be fun and motivating, but very frustrating when they decide not to work.

 

My Zumba stats today ... HRM and Fibit

(I keep stats from every Zumba workout here). 

I really like seeing the stats from the HRM ... but I don't always like to wear the HRM. It's just a bit of a pain to put on. It's tight around my chest, not super uncomfortable, but I'm always quite conscious of having it on. When I put it on ... brrrr, it's COLD (maybe I'll appreciate that more in the hot summer). If I put it on a second time during the day (as I do multiple workouts throughout the day), sometimes it's still sweaty. Ewwww.   I did go ahead and wear it for an elliptical session, and a bike session, just to keep tabs on its information for those activities ...

 30 minute bike ride.

20 minutes on the elliptical 

The problem with the elliptical ... if the HRM is correct (or closer to correct) in its calorie estimate, then my Fitbit is over-estimating by over 50 calories. Not a huge deal, but that is per workout, and I do three-five elliptical sessions a day. So then, that's a difference of  250+. That is a little high. I do try not to eat back all my calories. I attempt to leave an extra exercise calories as a buffer (in addition to the 500 deficit I'm already calculating in), but ... I'm not always successful. I've discussed my exercise estimates before (Trying to be Truthful, Exercise Estimates). I'm just a numbers gal ... I like to crunch the in and out and hopefully work it out so that I lose some weight.

Speaking of weight (and linking up with Weigh-in Wednesday) ... this is NOT going to be an "under 150 all week" week like I did a couple weeks ago. I'm just barely over this morning, and have been all week long (check back on Friday for a full report). My body really seems to like 150! I'm ok with it, I'd just like 145 a lot more. Goal is 135. I know if I paid less attention to numbers and just ate better, I'd probably have better success, ahhhh, just can't quite get to the "eating healthy" part. Of course, many years ago I would have said there isn't any exercise I like either, so ...

Linking up with Workout Wednesday and FitFoodRuns.

How's YOUR hump day?

My Steps Was Counted

Yesterday started great, ended ... not so great. I got up and got in my first session on my elliptical. Then I got the kidlets to school (carpool x2, middle school and elementary) and then stopped off at zumba. As I mentioned a few weeks ago (I Hope You Dance) this is a fairly low-key class ... not that I have anything to compare it to, but everyone else seems to get mega calorie burns. But it's close, convenient and free, and I do get in quite a few steps and it's a decent, different workout from my usual elliptical/treadmill/bike. I am actually looking forward to it each week at this point. My HRM and Fitbit were over 100 calories different on their estimations ... you know I'm a bit OCD about my numbers.

For the past three Tuesdays, I've hit 10K by 10 a.m. 

That actually used to be one of my goals. I don't hit it very often anymore, as the mornings are often busy with other things, but on Tuesdays ... with 20 minutes on the elliptical and then an hour of zumba, I do.

I joined Gym Pact (now just Pact) at the start of this year, when they incorporated auto-syncs with Fitbit (10,000 steps count as a workout). I had stayed away from Pact previously, knowing I usually did smaller, 20 minute workouts, and that I'd probably forget to log in and out to register my workouts. But 10,000 steps a day? I can do that no problem! Yesterday, I was happy to see my sync register so quickly. I do have to laugh a little at the grammar, as "Fitbit steps" is substituted for the normal "workout" wording. My steps WAS counted ...

It was a good thing I did get my workout in early (I still did additional elliptical, treadmill and bike later in the day) as the afternoon and evening ... well let's just say they did NOT go according to plan. I've got my baby boy home today with a fever. It kicked in last night. Both hubby and I have had the horrible flu (I think mine was the seasonal, his the H1N1) which laid us low for a solid week. I'm sure hoping baby boy doesn't have either version. That was one thing. There was also an accident involving #3 after school during pickup. He's ok, but really banged up and bruised but we're lucky it wasn't worse. Between the two issues, I really had a hard time focusing last night! Luckily, instead of stress-eating, I lost my appetite completely.

Not sure how today will go ... #5 is home sick. My folks are running out to watch him while I go to the middle school for a college/career class for #2. I'll make a quick run to the store for additional bandages/supplies for #3 while they are around. But this does perhaps open up my evening, which previously had been booked with a basketball game (that #3 is now not up for playing) and a basketball event (Junior Jazz Player Appearance, which #5 is too sick to attend). 

Checking in with Weigh-In Wednesday, weight was actually down this morning (about at last Friday's weigh-in weight, which is nice after the 3.5 gain after Superbowl Sunday's smorgasbord) ... check back in on Friday for a full week recap and my official weekly weigh-in.

How is YOUR week going?

More Exercise Estimates

How do you calculate you calorie burns from your workouts (or do you not worry about the numbers?) If you've been following my blog at all, you know, I'm a numbers gal. But getting a correct calorie count is tricky. Who do you trust?  I addressed the issue once a couple months ago (Exercise Estimates) and I've continued to try tracking the different variations from workout to workout, and from the different gadgets and machines. 

The picture above is from a 30 minute/2.25 mile treadmill workout. 

The treadmill said 303 calories. 

My Fitbit said 242. 

My HRM said 225. 

I love my elliptical, and I usually get in five 20 minute sessions a day. I do always mark down the numbers from my machine itself. I do NOT always put on my HRM, or start/stop my Fitbit to get a specific reading.  But last week I did try to do just that, so I would have three different estimates for the same workout. It was interesting to see the results.

Machine readouts ... 209, 201, 211

HRM estimates ... 149, 147, 155

Fitbit calculations ... 191, 186, 182

Oh course I had to get the counts for a bike workout again too ...

30 minutes/8 miles

Machine ... 211

HRM ... 192

Fitbit ... 319/158

the Fitbit overestimates when worn on my sock

the second number is my  manual entry using Fitbit's online calculations.

Not really "exercise" ... but I thought I'd compare a 40min Lawn Mow.

The numbers came in pretty darn close!

I do always wear my HRM for my Jillian workouts (30DS, Ripped in 30) and it always comes in significantly higher than the Fitbit - which makes sense, as Fitbit can't calculate for many of the movements during those routines. It is interesting to watch how it can still vary from workout to workout (even when I am doing the exact same video), and how quickly my heart rate can change, going up and down, and which exercises make it go up ...

It was a good exercise for me. While the numbers may "only" be off by 50 calories or so, when you add that up over multiple workouts ... it's a LOT.  Generally for my elliptical workouts, I've just been going by the Fitbit estimate (knowing that the machine was probably overestimating, but not bothering to put on the HRM every single time).  I'm going to continue to try and track and watch for trends and make adjustments in my calorie calculations so that as I look at my numbers, they are as correct as I can get them.

Linking Up with

Workout Wednesday & Weigh In Wednesday 

Numbers

I have a little notepad sitting on the treadmill downstairs in my gym (J&G'sGym).  At the top, I always put the day of the week, and the date. Then, as I complete a workout, I write down my stats. Time spent, distance, calories burned (I do write down the machine "calorie burned" readout even though I think the machine readouts are too high, see my Exercise Estimates post).  You can see so far today, I've done 20 minutes (2miles) on the elliptical ... 

At the end of the day I make one final trek downstairs to grab the top sheet. I then sit down at my desk and pull off my Omron pedometer and write down my total steps, aerobic steps and aerobic minutes. I write down my sleep stats (time I went to sleep, time I woke up, and number of hours asleep ... according to Fitbit) and my daily weigh-in. 

The next morning I grab my calories in and calories out (Fitbit adjustment) from MFP and write those down, along with my Fitbit numbers (total steps, total burn, very active minutes).  These are changing up until midnight, so that's why I wait on them until the morning. 

Sometimes I forget to throw away my old "numbers" in a timely manner. 

I get a BIT of a pile up on my desk. 

I keep everything in an excel file (although I've actually switched to Google Docs after a recent computer update invalidated my excel license). I also write down all this info here in my Day to Day Doings. I copy that info to Walker Tracker and update my Daily Miles. 

Redundant? Obsessive? Crazy?
A Little OCD?

I admit it. It's true.

Linking up with

• Workout Wednesday (instead of tracking food numbers, some try a photo journal of food). I'd like to try this ... well in addition to tracking my food numbers on MFP. 
• Weigh In Wednesday  (my weight today is higher than last Friday, but down from the last couple of days ... I have a few more days before my "official" weigh-in to try and at least get back to where I was last week).

...well enough time on the computer this morning. Time to get back down to the gym and add more entries on my little numbers sheet ... I plan to get in five 20min sessions on the elliptical, some Jillian (Ripped in 30 Level 1) and ... maybe some bike or treadmill. It's early out for the elementary today. A basketball game in the evening (a late one ... doesn't start until 9:00).

What numbers do you track? 

How do you organize your numbers?

... a little OCD

I've been trying to incorporate a little more running (ok ... jogging, my measly 5mph pace can't really be considered running) into my exercise routine. Running/Jogging is NOT my favorite exercise. Running requires me to wear shoes, I hate shoes ... I wear slippers for my elliptical and stationary bike.  But I've committed to trying to run one whole mile each day, without stopping. You read that right, a WHOLE mile. Without. Stopping. 

So ... the other day I actually went above and beyond. An additional 1/4 mile. Aren't you impressed? As I hit the 1.25 number for mileage, I figured I'd continue for just a few moments more to get a nice round number for my time.15 minutes. But then I noticed the calories ... 194. Hmmmm. I probably should keep going until that hits 200, right? A nice round number. But then the time would be an odd number, and the mileage would be even odder. WHAT TO DO??? An OCD moment. I wonder, if I just kept going, would the numbers ever line up so that all three were nice, even numbers? Or something ending in a 5 or a 0 ... you know what I mean, right? I'm not the only one ... am I?

I called it at the 15 minutes (I'll just drop those extra five seconds when I write down my numbers). I think my machine is over-estimating on the calories anyway (HRM and Fitbit were closer to 125 calories).

• Do you feel the need to finish a workout with a round number? If so, which number count is most important to you? Time, Distance or Calories ... Do you round your numbers or keep them exact?
• Weigh-In on this topic with a comment below, and post your own weighty topic for this week's Weigh In Wednesday link up.
• Check out Skinny Meg's Workout Wednesday for links to other bloggers and their workouts. Any other OCD exercisers out there?