ltross17, Author at Lindsay Ross Blog

Measuring your heart rate will help you lose/maintain your weight

When I was working to lose all my baby weight after having four babies (over 8 years–not all at the same time), I didn’t wear a heart rate monitor. But I should have. It would have made things a lot easier. Here’s why.

When I exercise, my body burns calories. There are a number of factors involved in how efficiently my body does this, but when I wear a heart rate monitor, it tells me exactly how many calories I burned during any given period of time. That’s important because if I want to lose weight, I have to BURN more calories than I consume (which isn’t easy because I really like to eat). So if I’m tracking the calories I eat (which I do loosely in my head), but not exactly sure how many calories I’m burning, it makes losing weight a guessing game.

When I was doing Insanity to get back in shape, the information packet said I could burn “up to 1000 calories” with one particular exercise DVD. “Up to” is pretty vague. And I really had NO IDEA how many calories I was actually burning. Fortunately for me it ended up working and I lost the weight. But it would have made my daily eating a lot easier to figure out if I knew exactly how many calories I had burned. (I have since worn my heart rate monitor during that exercise and I did NOT burn 1000 calories. It was closer to 600).

You can use Google to find out how many calories you should be eating in a day to maintain your current weight. Then if you want to LOSE weight, you subtract 500 from that number. If you eat 500 less calories each day, you’ll lose about 1 pound a week. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but generally slow and steady weight loss is more likely to KEEP the weight off.

So if I’m supposed to eat 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight, then I need to eat around 1300 calories to lose weight. OR, I need to burn those calories off during exercise. I prefer that method so I can eat more. I eat around 1800 calories, exercise to burn 500-600 calories off and each week I should lose about 1 pound.

If you’re already at the weight/health level you want to be at, a heart rate monitor can still be helpful. For instance, right now I’m trying to GAIN muscle. In order to do that, I NEED to eat enough calories (energy) to fuel my muscles. In order to do that, I have to know how many calories I’m burning each day and make sure I eat enough. Sometimes when I do a particularly hard exercise routine and I burn a LOT of calories, it’s hard to eat enough calories (the right kind of calories–from healthy food not crap food).

Wearing a heart rate monitor takes the guessing game out of how many calories I burn during any particular exercise.

So, if you want to try it out (I highly recommend doing so), I did a lot of research on different heart rate monitors. I finally chose the Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor (Purple/Pink). It’s waterproof and works great even when I’m moving around a lot. And, the band that wraps around your body is super comfortable (I’ve worn some that are really uncomfortable) and flexible so you really don’t even notice you’re wearing it when you exercise. Some of the exercise routines I do require a lot of up and down movements (hello burpees) and it stays on great and doesn’t dig into my ribs. Definite plus.

Below I am listing a bunch of different exercise routines I did and the amount of calories I burned during each one. I thought it was really interesting to compare the different exercises and the calories I burned with the time I spent on each one. With some I got more bang for my buck (burned more calories in less time).

Please note everyone will burn a different amount of calories than I did with each exercise. It all depends on YOUR personal heart rate. Which is why it’s good to wear one.

The Polar heart rate monitor will tell you exactly what your heart rate is, if you’re in the “target zone” (I’m never in the zone–always higher–something I need to get checked), and how many calories you burn.

{The pics below aren’t matched with each exercise. Just different photos I took to give an example of what the readout looks like.}

1. Pure Cardio–Insanity by Beachbody

32 minutes. 389 calories. I kept the monitor on after I was done and by 45 minutes I was up to 502 calories (your body continues to burn calories quickly even after you’ve finished an exercise).

2. Pump Revolution (weight lifting DVD by Beach Body)

53 minutes. 460 calories

3. Treadmill Shredmill (treadmill exercise by Jillian Michaels)

26 minutes. 365 calories (my treadmill said I burned 430 calories–heart rate monitor is the correct one)

4. Running while pushing a jogging stroller with 2 kids in it (not my favorite–I like to run alone)

52 minutes (including stops to pick up sippy cups, see the cows, and find more snacks to eat). 660 calories

5. Speed 2.0 —T25 by Beach body.

25 minutes. 331 calories

Then I did it again a few week later. 25 minutes. 303 calories. Same exercise, different day, different amount of calories. Must not have worked as hard the second time. Or my heart rate didn’t get as high because I was in better shape. We’ll go with the second reason.

6. Running outside

1 hour 5 minutes. 7.05 miles. 940 calories

7. Max Cardio–Insanity

44 minutes. 497 calories

8. Regular run on the Treadmill

52 minutes. 5.27 miles. 617 calories (treadmill said 790–monitor is more accurate).

And another time. 1 hour 10 minutes. 7.0 miles. 965 calories

9. 100 burpee challenge

Did 100 burpees. Took me 16 minutes. 220 calories.

10. Immortal Stair challenge by Brenda Vance (these will make you sweat. And all you need are some stairs)

47 minutes. 607 calories

11. Treadmill. Fast walk on an Incline (you don’t have to do high-intensity, high-impact exercise to burn calories)

40 minutes. Incline 6.5. Speed 4.0. 2.75 miles. 367 calories.

12. Runners world Iron Strength workout. This was super hard for me. And left me sore for days.

50 minutes. 563 calories.

13. Spinning class. This was the first spinning class I’d ever been to. It was hard. A good hard.

56 minutes. 709 calories.

I’m all about being efficient. Especially when it comes to exercise. Since I’ve started wearing my heart rate monitor, it’s easier to know how many calories I need to eat each day to lose weight, maintain weight, or gain muscle. And it motivates me to work harder to get my heart rate up and burn more calories. Go get yourself one here:

Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor (Purple/Pink)

{I don’t get paid by Polar or Beachbody (but I totally should). I just recommend their products because THEY WORK!}

The deep dark abyss of potty training

We started potty training 6 weeks ago. Because of his personality, I knew he would be my hardest one to potty training. He’s proving me right.

After 6 weeks, he has pooped in the potty 3 times. I’ll let you do the math on how many times he has NOT pooped in the potty. Pee isn’t a problem. Serious problem with the pooping.

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I am open to any and all tips you brilliant parents have on how we fix this situation. I’m not going back to diapers. We’re too far in. If you have a suggestion, leave it in the comments and I’ll love you forever. For the record, he is not motivated by treats or toys. I’ve tried. And he does not poop at the same time every day. Way more info than anyone wants.

And if you don’t have great suggestions and you just want to lament with me in the comments, that’s great too. It’s a lonely dark world in potty training hell.

from the daughter of an addict

If you haven’t read the first post I did about addiction, I recommend you read that first HERE so you understand why I’m posting these articles.

This is written by the daughter of an addict. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s honest. Her father unfortunately never permanently overcame addiction and it eventually took his life.

Here it is:

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“I’m the daughter of an addict.

That’s a pretty loaded sentence.   So, maybe I should start at the beginning.

I have exactly two, blurry pictures of my father and I before the age of 9. I was an infant at our first official meeting and I was wearing a pink fuzzy romper. Even though it is out of focus, I’m pretty sure my father was smiling. The first time I remember meeting him, I was nine. It occurred to me halfway through my flight that I would be meeting my father and stepmother and that maybe a recent picture of him would have been nice, because I had no idea who I was looking for when I walked off the gangway.   The reason it took nine years for me to really meet my father was because it took him that long to get sober. My father was an alcoholic.

Often, growing up, my friends would ask why I don’t have a dad. By the time my friends knew to ask this question, I knew I couldn’t tell them the truth, because I was ashamed that I was made of the same stuff as an addict. I would tell them things like, “he’s fishing in Alaska”, or “he’s a spy” (very original, I know).

From the lies, stemmed a need for perfection. Best grades. Best athlete. Best friend.  I was labeled “Type A”, and “competitive”. Most people said it would serve me well once I found “my” place to channel all that drive. Mostly, I thought that if I were perfect, no one would guess that my father was an alcoholic.   My father was sober for about five years. I visited him during the summer and winter breaks from school. He was smart, adventurous, funny, and the only other person I knew that could talk as much as me. He taught me some of my favorite lessons, and made some of my favorite childhood memories with me.

Then, when I was fourteen, I called him to wish him a happy birthday. Only, my step-mom informed me he didn’t live there anymore, and had started drinking again. Despite her and my mom’s words to the contrary, I was pretty convinced that I hadn’t been enough to keep him from drinking again.  The perfectionism continued, because I couldn’t let anyone know that I was the daughter that wasn’t enough to keep her father wanting her. My “drive” became my biggest weakness in high school and I struggled with depression my senior year. I took on too much, slept too little to make it all work, and never told a soul that I felt out of control. Thankfully, my appendix burst about halfway through senior year and after I was released from the hospital, my (incredibly smart) mother informed me I’d be pulling the plug on most of my activities and learning to “chill”. It was a good thing, and a turning point for me.

I never saw, spoke to, or heard from my father again. He drank himself to death a few weeks before I turned 21.  During his funeral I was angry. I was angry that there was so many people there that had so many stories to share about him and I had next to nothing. I was angry that I had spent so long being ashamed of his addiction – and there were so many people celebrating his life.

But mostly, I was relieved. I was relieved that I didn’t have to wonder where he was. Or wonder why he didn’t want to talk to me, or why he didn’t WANT me. I was also relieved that his troubles were over. One of my uncles (one of his brothers) said something very similar to me, the day after his funeral. It made me realize “Holy CRAPSTACKS! I’m NOT the only one who feels these things!”  It seems small, and trivial, and in hindsight, obvious – that I’m not the only one who feels ashamed of addiction. Angry that someone they know is an addict. Not the only one who feels like they’re obviously not enough to keep someone from addiction. And, for me, and the loved ones of my father, relieved that he’s no longer troubled.

I’m forever affected by the title “daughter of an addict”. But it’s better now. I can use it for good. I can have real and honest conversations with my kids about addiction. I can own me and my feelings better now. I’m more confident, secure, and able to give more to the world than ever before. That is why I said yes to Lindsay’s request to write about my father’s alcoholism and how it affected me. Maybe this can be the uncle that says “me, too” for someone. If not, well, it was good to get it all off my chest anyway.”

The best kind of newborn photography

Newborn photography is my FAVORITE. Especially when it’s a niece (or nephew).

If you’re having a baby, you NEED newborn photos. This isn’t a want. It’s a NEED. Like more than diapers. You’ll never regret these photos from the first weeks of their life. When they were sweet, and new, and smelled good, and slept all-day-long. Find a photographer with a style and personality you like and find the money for a shoot. It’s SO SO worth it.

My brother and his wife welcomed this little lady a few weeks early and by an unexpected c-section arrival in the wee hours of the morning. I was supposed to photograph the birth, but since it happened fast and in the OR, the docs wouldn’t let me in (some lame excuse about infection or something like that).

So I took pictures of the empty hallway until we got our first glimpse of the princess-to-be.

A few different slideshows below (click the arrows to scroll through the pictures).

The initial hospital photographs just moments after she was born.

Then we did a few at the hospital before she got to come home.

And then a newborn shoot at their home.

And just for the record, I don’t normally wrap newborns in lights, but she has enough pink to last a life-time and my brother likes to do weird stuff so we pinkified her just for fun. She didn’t seem to care.

EIGHT Photo Display ideas for your home

I’ve been working REALLY hard the past year to take more photos of our every day lives, get our photos organized, backed up, documented, printed, and displayed.

I posted a series about how I’ve been doing this called “Picture Display Movement”.

I’ll be the first to admit it’s not easy and it certainly takes some time. BUT. It’s a HUGE priority for me so I’m making time. Scheduling time. And making things happen.

And now the walls of my home are filled with photographs that make my spirit happy. And remind my children they are loved. And remind our family of how amazing, funny, (and sometimes heartbreaking and disappointing) life can be.

Here are EIGHT different ideas (and a bonus at the bottom) on how to display photos in your own home to hopefully inspire some of you to get them printed and displayed.

{For suggestions on where to print your photos, click HERE}

And if you want some great tips on how to immediately improve your phone photography, enter your name and e-mail in the side margin and I’ll send you TEN free tips you’ll love.

ONE. Print your photos on matboard and display them on a shelf. I like doing non-traditional sizes for my matboard prints. This is 20×26.

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TWO. Get a series of pictures (these are all photos I took at Lake Powell–my happy place) and put them in frames to hang on the wall in a row (horizontally or vertically).

I hung these on the wall using Velcro. There’s a sticky side that sticks to the frame and a sticky side that sticks to the wall and then it Velcro’s together. Easiest way to make sure the pictures are level and in line with each other.

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THREE. Print on matboard and display it on an easel.

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FOUR. Put all your Instagram prints on a print (using Photoshop or other photo-editing software) and display in a frame on the wall.

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FIVE. Use various sizes of matboard prints (can you tell I LOVE matboard prints) and attach them directly to the wall. The large picture on the left is attached using velcro in all four corners and in the middle. The bottom 4 pictures have velcro on the top and are resting on the shelf on the bottom.

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SIX. Use magnet boards (these are from IKEA) and print off various sizes (4×6, 5×7, and a few 8×10–you could also do square prints) and attach them to the magnet board. I just have plain rectangular magnets but you could get cool fancy ones.

Every six months or so I print off new ones and rotate them in.

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SEVEN. One of my favorite wall displays. These are printed on standout boards (stick 1/2 ” out from the wall) but you could easily do this on matboard. These are a series of pictures from my Funbooth session. Just grouped them together.

EIGHT. Printed 16 random pictures at Persnickety Prints in 2×2 squares. Attached them to a wall by our toy room using Washi tape I bought at Target.

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For a BONUS wall display idea, click HERE and see what I did with hundreds of my 4×6 photos to make a super call wall display in my office.

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For more info on how to Organize, Print, and Display your photos, click HERE to read the Picture Display Movement series.

And if you want to stay up to date on future photo tips and other great life stuff, enter your e-mail and name in the sidebar (under “subscribe here”) to stay connected and get TEN free tips to improve your phone photography.