Pedometer Challenge!

Yesterday, all of us in the company received pedometers from Fitbug—which are also known as Fitbugs—to take track of our daily steps. We're in the weight loss and well-being business after all, and it's only proper that we also live our trade. I've also been wanting a pedometer for years now (and even blogged about it a few years back), so I'm happy to finally have one. We're setting up a little friendly competition across our offices around the world, including Manila and Paris, through individual records, team records (3-4 members per team—Trina [check out her blog, she's still alive and she just updated!] and Chloe are my teammates), and league records. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet, and already, the banter (or even taunting) among co-workers is heating up. We're all posting our achievements on Facebook and Twitter, and we compare each other's figures when we run into each other in the hallway. Competition sure is the best way to get motivated!
 

Me, Chloe, Jerry, and Sarah holding up our pedometers (thanks to Trina and Tanya for the photo)


It's a cute little thing

So, I decided to take my pedometer to the test by forcing myself to do my usual 45-minute running routine first thing this morning, with the pedometer back at zero (it automatically resets at midnight). I do have to give credit to the Fitbug for getting me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning just to exercise.

At the end of my 45-minute workout, here are my results:

Total number of steps: 5149, before breakfast, at 5:34 in the morning.


This counts the aerobic steps and length of aerobic exercise. So, during my workout, I made 4930 aerobic steps within 42 minutes.


This is how many calories I burned when I got home from my run. 139 calories after a 45-minute workout. It may seem too low for some of you, but I actually expected my energy expenditure to be in this range—since I'm only 104 lbs and I've been exercising for several years, I'll tend to burn FEWER calories, compared to a heavier person who'll do the same activity I have. That's because my body has already adapted to regular physical activity and has become more efficient, using up less energy for an activity to which it has been accustomed (it's also the reason for occasional weight loss plateaus).


This is the distance and speed I covered. I jogged 3.63 km, at a rate of 4.81 km/hour. This is what I need to improve on, in the course of my 45-minute workout. It would be nice to go a longer distance at a faster rate, to really get my heart rate going.

And so, for my efforts, I treated myself to a breakfast of a greasy sugar-coated doughnut. Okay, I'll work on that too. I did have a headache after having this, so I'm not going to be ordering this again.

But to my credit, instead of succumbing to an Espresso Chip (340 kcal) or Green Tea Frappuccino (370 kcal) at Starbucks, I opted for a no-syrup green tea soy latte (160 kcal).

Wednesday and Friday's exercises
- 45 minutes brisk walk/run

Wednesday's meals
Breakfast: Whole wheat croissant  with Knotts Berry Farm black cherry preserves, Scharffen Berger hot cocoa, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: (at Omakase) Teriyakidon, hot tea
Snack: Roasted pistachios
Dinner: Roast chicken, chicken curry, brown rice
Dessert: Milk chocolate-salted caramel-macadamia cluster

Thursday's meals
Breakfast: Whole wheat croissant  with Knotts Berry Farm black cherry preserves, Scharffen Berger hot cocoa, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Whole-wheat spaghetti with tomato paste, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, basil, pine nuts
Snack: Roasted pistachios
Dinner: Pork barbecue, ginisang sitaw at kalabasa, brown rice
Dessert: Harry & David dark chocolate Moose Munch (1/3 bar)