Morning Beach Views, Timucuan Ecological Preserve, and A Cronometer Explanation

Day 8 of 28 Day Refocus

After a quick trip to check that everything was okay on the ocean side, I took us up to one of the National Parks that is close by. Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve has a handful of trail options and includes Fort Caroline, Spanish Pond, and the Theodore Roosevelt area. You can get everything from river to woods to salt marsh, plus the only real elevation change that I have seen in the state. We didn’t get that far today, though. Something freaked Codee out and it was too buggy to try to convince him that something wasn’t going to come out of the forest to get him. He braved it for half a mile and then we retreated. The silver lining is that he kind of quickly trots back to the car once he gets his way, so he gets a little exercise on the return.

In The Gardens:

I think it might be chard for dinner tomorrow. These probably don’t have enough soil to get much bigger, plus, if I wait any longer, I am afraid that I will lose them to pests, sun, or wind. I love the different color stalks, though, and at this size, I bet I can almost cook both the stem and the leaves together. I might have time for one more round of Guitar Greens before we take off. I was trying to decide what to do with the case when I leave…likely it’s given its all, but we’ll see when I empty it.

On The Streets Where I Live:

Sweating It Out:

On The Plates:

I had my standard Green Drink at 2PM, but then I wasn’t really hungry until dinner. And then I made this dish…what was meant to be two portions became one and I feasted. I really didn’t plan it this way and I need to work on my portion control worst of all. Now that I got that admission out of the way…this way SO yummy.

Cronometer:

Let’s talk rest calories as they relate to Cronometer. Your “Calories Consumed” is obvious…whatever I have entered for the day. Most entries come from their really widespread database, but I can also add custom foods and build recipes if I have items that aren’t already listed. The middle one, “Calories Burned” uses some data that I give it in my profile and a formula to calculate my daily resting metabolic rate…mine is 1242 calories. Think of that as my account balance for the day. I can add calories by adding workouts manually if my Garmin isn’t working for whatever reason or syncing it. This way, it’s slightly…that’s a big key word here…more accurate because my Garmin tracks my heart rate which is related to the entire equation. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m not sure what algorithm magic goes on, but the two apps never end the day with the same calories burned, so take it all with a grain of salt. Tracking is really great for me, though, because it focuses my attention even if my body doesn’t always follow formulas. There is also an option to add the “Thermic Effect of Food” which is the calorie cost of my body digesting whatever I ate: protein costs a bit more than fat or carbs, whole foods a bit more than processed. I don’t include that one though, but it is a real thing, obviously. Instead, I think of it like the round up savings account that I have. You don’t have to worry about it, but over time, it adds up.
Moving on, they give my remaining balance for the day based on how much weight I want to lose a week. One pound equals a calorie deficit of 3500 calories, so at a pound a week, I need to spend 498 calories more than I consume, which means that, in the app, I begin each day with 743 calories. As you can see, today, I was over my limit by 169 calories and that’s because I am not really interested in eating less than 1200 calories a day and today was a really chill day. In general, I try to keep to what the apps tell me, but I am in charge, not them, so if I am still hungry and I am under 1500 calories five days a week and under 1700 calories the remaining two days, I am going to ignore Circle #3 telling me that I am “over”. I’m going to see how that plays out over the course of the next few weeks and I will adjust that goal if necessary. That’s enough talking for about that, for now.

Stay safe and moving, y’all!