Up and Down

           Well February has been quite a rollercoaster month.  I lost, I gained, I lost again, and then gained again.  Not surprised at all by this, since my eating was a bit off this month (which is a nice way of saying I totally blew it on a somewhat regular basis).  So thankful for my accountability group, who reminds and encourages me to stay on track (or, in my case, to get back on track).

                I was given the opportunity to talk about my weight loss journey recently on the radio.  A friend of mine hosts a weekly program on Sport City Chefs, an internet blogtalk radio station.  She and her husband are both former world champions in arm wrestling for multiple years.  It was a great experience and helped excite me again for this journey I am on.  You can find the interview online at: 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sportcitychefs/2013/02/26/arming-champions-radio

                At the end of the program, Carolyn summarized the show by listing the below 11 points that were discussed in the interview.  I thought that would be an easy way to work in my blog post this month!  So here they are:

1.      We don’t need a program. We need a paradigm shift for the rest of our life

2.      Learn to own your decision to lose weight

3.      Eat less, move more

4.      Feelings follow form

5.      Still do what you’re called to do, whether you feel like it or not

6.      Give people you trust permission to meddle in your life- for your sake.

7.      Create a different way of looking at food

8.      Walk ¼ mile, jog a ¼ mile.

9.      Get a buddy to hold you accountable.

10.   Join my online weight loss accountability group by emailing me at  vicki.stormoen@gmail.com

11.   Don’t let the scale dictate your mood.

Okay, let’s talk food!

My newest favorite for breakfast:  Blueberry Protein Pancake

1 scoop protein powder (I use the Cookies and Cream flavor from Iso Pure)
2 egg whites
2 tble. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 medium ripe banana (mashed)
½ frozen blueberries (thawed)
¼ c. dry oatmeal

Mix the above together with a wire whisk.  Generously spray a dark coated pan with Olive Oil Pam spray.  Pour the whole thing in.  Not going to lie: this thing is really hard to flip.  Be sure you sprayed generously and don’t worry if it doesn’t look pretty.  It’s well worth it in terms of taste!  Top with Walden Farms calorie free (as in ZERO) Blueberry syrup.  

Calories:  370.  SO GOOD!

The below is a before/after shot of my husband and I at our daughter’s high school formal.  Such a fun night!

New Year, New Beginnings

Well I was waiting to lose what I gained through the holiday season before posting another entry, but then I thought that was probably cheating and I should be real and just admit that I gained 5 pounds .  I’ve lost two of them and am hoping the other three disappear shortly so I can at least be where I was back in November.  I’m still 28 pounds away from goal and working hard to hit my goal weight in 2013.

I knew I was going to need to do something different and motivating to get back on track and, on a whim, threw out the idea on Facebook of starting an online support/encouragement group for weightloss and/or exercise goals.  I now feel like I’m starting a new chapter in my weightloss journey, only this time with a great group of friends who are there to encourage and challenge me along the way.  It was exactly what I needed and I feel like I’m back on the right track with more motivation than ever. 

After a year of counting calories and tracking macros (protein/fats/carbs), I  think I’m finally getting the hang of it.  =p  I can pretty much gauge my meals calorie and macro-wise (as long as I’m cooking it), which makes the meal planning much easier.  I know that if I have a certain breakfast, I will need to cut the potato at lunch, or if I’m craving a peanut butter protein shake (which is pretty much always), I am going to have to pass on the morning snack.  Knowing these things off the top of my head is exciting to me because it means that I have truly learned some things this past year about diet and nutrition.  If you knew me well before all this, you would understand why that excites me.  It’s never too late to learn!

Below is one of my favorite lunches.  Easy to make (all in the electric skillet), and doesn’t take too much time.  You could substitute the brussel sprouts for any green vegetable, and add mushrooms, onions, or anything else that falls into the “practically calorie-free” category (of which I have a list, as everyone should!).

Use a 5 oz red potato.  Cut into strips.  Spray Pam on one side of the electric skillet.  The potatoes take the longest to cook, so put them in first thing.  Sprinkle with a dash of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or other “better for you” seasoning salt.  Lawry’s is a bit of a weakness of mine), and some parsley.  After the potatoes have about a 5 minute head start, spray the other end of the electric skillet with Pam and put the vegetables in.  Sprinkle with no more than 1 tbl. Balsamic Vinegar.  After another 5 or 10 minutes of both of those cooking, add 22 pieces of the Kirkland brand Tail-off Shrimp.  Take the potatoes out, stir the shrimp and vegetables together, just to heat the shrimp up and give it the flavor of everything else in the pan. 
Calories:  296. (You could easily add a salad to this for just a handful of calories more)

I currently have “runners knee” and am unable to run, which kills me.  And the fact that it “kills me” is hilarious, considering last January I was working on trying to get a consistent walking schedule down, with absolutely no thought of ever in this life being a runner.  After much Googling and talking to runners, I decided to take all of January off and, Lord willing, will start up again in February.  In the meantime, I’m at the gym six days a week doing various cardio machines and strength training.  Anxious to see how that first run on February 1^st goes!

Below is a “then and now” picture of me with my first grandson, Elliott, two years later.  Love that kid to pieces!

Wishing you all a happy new year, and hoping you too will hit your weight and exercise goals in 2013! 

One Year Anniversary

It has been one year this week that my daughter Rachel kicked off my weight loss journey by striking a deal with me that she would cook for me and I could only eat what she put in front of me (see http://busymomofnine.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-weight-loss-journey.html).  One year later and I have lost 60 pounds, 43.5 inches, and am down 8 pant sizes.  I went from not working out at all to now running 20 miles a week, and hitting the gym three days a week.  For the first time in many years, I can walk into a room and not have the passing thought that I am the largest person in the room.  I feel “normal” and am so thankful God has brought about this change in my life. 

I’m on the home stretch, with still 25 pounds to go.  The weight comes off much more slowly these days, but until I hit the magic number, I will continue counting those calories, tracking the macros (protein, carbs, fats - see http://busymomofnine.blogspot.com/2012/04/about-percentages.html), keeping up with all the working out, and holding back on certain foods I one day look forward to eating again.  I can’t wait to get there!

While doing the above is how I am losing weight, that is only the physical part of it.  So much of dieting is mental.  You have to really be at a place in your life where you really, truly, honestly want to lose the weight.  You have to be at a place where you are willing to give up things to get there.  You have to want it badly enough to do things you may even hate (like working out).  And you have to be ready to persevere through the plateaus and the temptations along the way.

You also have to learn to view food differently.  Food is fuel, not comfort.  Your body needs fuel, good fuel, to run properly.  But it doesn’t need to run on a full tank.  The recent gas hike we experienced in San Diego caused me to change my approach to fueling up our 15 passenger van (an incredible gas-hog).   We knew the situation was temporary, so rather than fill up, I would just put enough gas in to get us to the next event.  Once the crisis was over, I went back to filling up as usual.  Dieting is like that in some ways.  Each meal isn’t about “filling up”.  It’s about getting enough fuel in your body to get to the next meal.  You will leave each meal with plenty more room for additional fuel.  But you will have enough to get through the next three or four hours.  “Filling up” is for another time in my life, when I can "afford" it.  Until those last 25 pounds are gone, I’m still in “crisis” mode, putting enough fuel in my body to make it to the next meal.  No more; no less.  It takes awhile to get used to leaving the table still wanting more.  It takes even longer to stop trying to convince yourself you “need” more.  That’s a huge part of the mental challenges dieting brings. It took many months before my attitude towards food began to change.  But as you stay the course and weight starts coming off, it gets easier to truly want to lose more.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted any recipes, so here is my newest favorite snack: cinnamon crisps.

Heat oven to 400.
Cut up two corn tortillas into eight triangular pieces in a small bowl.
Mix with 1–1.5 tsp. olive oil
Add two packets of Stevia and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Toss to mix well.

Lay pieces out on a cookie sheet and bake on the first or second shelf in oven, roughly 5 minutes.  Flip and bake another couple minutes, or until baked to your “crispiness” preference.
Smells and tastes great! Yum!

I think I'll go make myself some as an Anniversary Snack.  What a difference a year can make! (Picture on right is a visual of the 43.5 inches lost.)

Another Milestone

After no weight loss last week, I was thrilled to get on the scale this morning and see a 2 pound loss.  This put me at minus 50.  50!  That just sounds so…well…50! 

I received a message from another large family mom asking me about how I handle eating so differently from the rest of the family.  It seems so “normal” now the question took me by surprise. But in the beginning, it was a little weird that I was eating often completely different meals from what the rest of the family was eating, even though we were all sitting down at the dinner table at the same time.  Because I have changed the way I cook, relying more on seasonings than sauces, I can often eat the main dish and salad or vegetable that everyone else eats, and just skip the side dish.  But there are still plenty of nights I throw together a tilapia filet or a chicken breast instead of whatever they eat.  The secret to getting the kids' food together, especially at lunch, is gum.  Often I have to chew gum while making their lunch or I find myself picking at whatever I’m making them. =O

I’ve really simplified my lunches of late, since after making their lunch, I don’t feel like making a whole separate elaborate lunch for me.  Often I have what I’ve nicknamed my BOWIN lunch:  Bowl Of What I Need.  When I plan my food journal for the day, I always start with breakfast and dinner.  Then, after I know how many carbs, fats, and proteins I have left over, I throw together a lunch that fits the need.  Often it’s a chicken breast, turkey sausage, lean ground beef or fish, with black beans, a heated-until-crispy corn tortilla, brown rice, wheat pasta or yam cubes, with an avocado or nuts, mixed with a sugar-free BBQ sauce or Balsamic vinegar, tossed in a bowl.  It’s quick (especially if some of it is already made ahead of time, see post http://busymomofnine.blogspot.com/2012/03/day-in-life.html ), it’s easy and it’s what I need.  Here is a picture of a typical BOWIN lunch.

My new absolutely favorite breakfast is Peanut Butter Protein Steel Cut Oats.  The biggest differences between steel cut oats and rolled oats are in the cooking time and texture.  Steel cut oats are more hearty and chewy, which makes it seem more filling (to me).  I add a scoop of my chocolate protein powder, along with 1 tble. Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter, and it makes a great tasting, well balanced breakfast.

And my latest find for a late afternoon, heavy protein snack is shrimp.  Shrimp is straight protein, no carbs, no fat.  It’s also very low in calorie.  I get a back of the Kirkland Cooked, Tail-Off Shrimp just to have on hand for snacks.  You get 11 pieces for 70 calories, so I usually have 22 pieces for a typical snack.  It gets my protein where it needs to be (which is generally hard for me to hit) and fits well with my calories. 

35 pounds left, which seems so doable.  I’m shooting for the second week in November, which would make the whole journey one year.  I bought my first pair of shorts in over 18 years last week.  I’ve stuck with capris and sundresses in the summer for the past 18 years.  I haven’t actually worn them yet, but the fact that I own a pair of shorts is a pretty big deal.  Amazing what a difference seven months can bring!

A Change in Attitude

A strange phenomenon is taking place.  I’ve been hesitant to say it out loud because I don’t want to jinx it, but, truth be told, I am starting to enjoy working out.  (I’m never going to hear the end of this from my family members).  I’m not sure when the change in attitude started, but I definitely no longer have the dread of the next workout  that I formerly had.  In fact, I kinda, sort of, just a little bit, even look forward to it.  =O

I’ve been on a pretty regular six days per week workout schedule for the past couple of months.  I run every other day, and go to the gym on the other days.  I rest on Sundays.  The runs are going great.  I run 3 miles for two of the days and work on time goals.  The third run is untimed and I’m slowly adding quarters to it.  I’m at 3.5 now.   The timed runs are going ahead of my goals.  I ran the first 5K at 12 minute miles.  I wanted to be at 11 minute miles by the 4^th of July 5K (which I just signed up for last week).  But my runs are pretty consistently under 11 minute miles now, so I may push for 10 between now and then.  (Notice the completely non-committal “may”, thus leaving me an out if I don’t make it).

I don’t know how long this non-aversion to exercise will last, but I am enjoying it for now.  This is a definite first for me.  And it feels great!

Recipes

Rachel made these pancakes last weekend and they were so good!  I just had to post the recipe.  They are now our Saturday post-run breakfast.  I have three, with ¼ cup Pure Maple Syrup, and add two scrambled eggs to it, since the pancakes are so low in calorie.

Gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

1 ¼ - 1 ½ oat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 c. apple juice
1/3 c. apple sauce
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl of melted coconut oil

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other.  Then mix together.  Spray bottom of skillet with a cooking spray (I use Olive Oil), and spoon out in ¼ cup servings.  Each pancake is about 70 calories.  Makes roughly 14 pancakes.

And I have found my new “candy”.  Peanut Butter Protein Balls.  Where have these been all my life?!

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use Isoflex)
¾ cup Kirkland Organic Creamy Peanut Butter
¼ cup honey
½ cup dry rolled oats

Mix into balls and freeze on a plate of wax paper.  Once frozen, move to a ziplock bag.  Remove from bag a few minutes to unthaw before eating.  Makes 14 balls. 1 ball = 122 calories

(If you are using Myfitnesspal, it is on the database as Stormoen Protein Balls)

Peanut butter and chocolate!  It’s like heaven in a ball!

45 pounds gone.  I finally cleaned out my closet and seriously have very few clothes left in there!  But since I don’t want to stay in this size very long, I’m just making do and waiting for a whole new wardrobe when I get to where I want to be.  Now that’s motivating!

Recipes

Here are two recipes , the first of which I just tried this morning and will definitely be repeating!

Peanut Butter Protein Pancake
1 scoop Whey Peanut Butter protein powder
2 egg whites
2 tble unsweetened almond milk
½ cup mashed banana

Mix the first three ingredients together with a wire whisk.  Add the mashed banana.  The riper the banana, the sweeter the pancake.  Spray pan very well a cooking spray (I use Pam Olive Oil).  It will be hard to turn if you didn’t spray well.  It’s a good size pancake so plan accordingly! 

Top with 1 tble peanut butter (which just slides right on since the pancake is warm) and then drizzle 1 tble Pure Maple Syrup.    YUM! 

Total calories is 457.  That’s a bit higher than I usually go, but I will only have this on “run” days.  It’s worth it!

Chicken with Sprouts
Actually, this is chicken with just about anything.  This is my “fast food” or “food on the go” meal.  Today I was out most the day, so I made it in the morning, put in Tupperware and had it for lunch.  It doesn’t take long to throw together and is filling.

1 chicken breast, cut into strips
frozen brussel sprouts (or broccoli, or whatever)
mushrooms
seasonings (I used garlic powder, sea salt, parsley)

Stir fry the above together until done.  Spices, for the most part are free, so spice it up however you want.  I had this with ½ (cooked) of Quinoa (pictured below).  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is sometimes called a whole grain, but is actually the seed of green plant in South America.  It is gluten-free, high in fiber and manganese, and is a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.  You cook it like rice (I cooked mine in the rice cooker), doubling the liquid with the dry amount used.  I made mine with Organic Chicken stock instead of water. 

I went back through all my prior posts and added a “recipes” label to every post that included a recipe.  So you should be able to just click “recipes” now on the left and get to just those posts.

What Have You Learned?

Rachel and I went to do the monthly grocery shopping at Costco today and on the way there, we had the following conversation:

Rachel:  You know, you should blog about stuff you’ve learned through this whole thing.
Me:  Learned?
Rachel:  Yeah, you know, like a post about why use coconut oil instead of other oils, that kind of stuff.

Awkward pause.

Me:  Um…If someone were to ask me why I use coconut oil instead of other oils, I’d just say, “Because Rachel said it’s better.”
Rachel:  (sigh)  Mom, don’t you want to know why you’re eating the way you do?

A good question.  In the beginning, the answer was “no”.  I honestly didn’t care why I was eating what I was eating.  Rachel was doing all the cooking and I was losing weight.  Everything was perfect.  In fact it wasn’t until I started this blog and asked her for a one sentence summary statement of what I eat that I discovered I don’t eat dairy!  How did that get past me?!  But now that I’m doing my own cooking and am realizing I’m in this for life, I really do need to spend time learning why I eat the way I eat and why it results in weight loss.  Yet another journey.  And I’m looking forward to it.

But for now….use coconut oil.  (Happy, Rachel?)

Oh, and for all you busy moms out there that are asking for quick and easy lunch ideas, here was today's lunch.  10 minutes to make, but it'd be faster if the turkey sausage was made ahead of time.

1 cup black beans
1 oz avocado (which is about 1/4 of a regular sized avocado)
1/8 cup almonds, chopped (makes it seem like there's more)
2 turkey sausage links, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Mix together.  Chill if desired.  

One is the New Two

Another week, another pound gone.  I think the days of losing two pounds a week have come to a close and the era of a pound a week has begun.  But I’m still losing and still committed to seeing the next 46 pounds gone.  Even if it’s one pound at a time!

I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for awhile and her first comment was that my face looked thinner.  That kinda surprised me, because of everywhere I’ve lost, that isn’t the place I would have pointed to first.  So I went back through some pictures just before I started all this and sure enough, my face does look thinner! So here’s a before/in progress shot of my face (notice it’s not a “before/after” shot, because I still have a long ways to go).

Speaking of food (yeah, there was no transition there whatsoever), below is my absolute most favorite lunch.  BBQ Chicken Tacos.  I’m only “allowed” to have this once a week, because of the tortillas, but I seriously look forward to this lunch each week!

Stir fry the chicken in Mrs. Dash Chicken and Pam Olive Oil cooking spray.  Add some sea salt to taste.  Heat the corn tortillas in the same skillet as the chicken (but re-spray the pan first) over low heat.  Mash up 2 oz. avocado (which is half of an average sized avocado), add a squirt of lemon juice and diced tomatoes, and a dash of Mrs. Dash Original.  Divide between the two tortillas.  Add 1 tble BBQ sauce to each tortilla.  The barbeque sauce I use is from Organic Ville, Original BBQ sauce (no sugar added).  The only place I’ve seen it is Sprouts, but I would guess you could also get it at Trader Joes or similar store.  Incredibly delicious!

Another staple dinner for me is tilapia.  There are so many good recipes for tilapia and I’m anxious to try them all.  This one is a quick, easy to prepare recipe when I don’t have a lot of time.  Use the Pam Olive Oil spray, season with garlic powder, sea salt, a squirt of lemon juice, and parsley.  Flip and do the same thing on the other side.  The brown rice is made with Organic Chicken Stock instead of water.  It’s a filling meal and, if the rice is made ahead of time and bagged, only takes about 15 minutes to make.

We finally changed my percentages to where they should be, and not so high in carbs.  I’m on the “traditional” 40/30/30 (protein, carbs, fat) percentages.  It’s not as hard as I thought it would be to cut the carbs back a bit.  What’s been hard is eating all the protein I’m supposed to eat.  I’m not crazy about protein shakes, but these Quest Protein Bars are pretty much my daily afternoon snack.  They are so good and have very few active carbs, but a lot of protein.  Highly recommend them!

Slow and Steady

     This week brought both exciting and not-so-exciting steps in my weight loss journey.  On the upside, I hit my 3-mile running goal!  I’m very happy about that.  I’m incredibly slow, but run the whole thing.  I was at the lake with Rachel when I ran it.  She was already done with her run and was waiting for me.  When I finished, she asked how far I went.  I was barely able to get out the word “three”, because I was breathing so hard.  She was very congratulatory and happy for me, but once I regained my breath, the first thing I said to her was, “So does this get easier and more enjoyable at some point?”  In other words, I still am not an exercise-fan, and I honestly don’t care that much for running.  But of all my cardio choices, this is the lesser of all the possible evils, in my opinion.  And I have to admit, the “post-run” feeling is pretty incredible.  And the fact that my husband and Rachel are also runners makes it fun as we all go to the lake together.

            On the not-so-exciting part, I only lost a pound last week.  I realize that isn’t supposed to be “not exciting”, but the reality is, after a week of planning, cooking, measuring, and exercising, I really would prefer to see my normal two-pound weight loss.  Now I know all the sayings I’m supposed to say to myself (and I have many of them pinned on Pinterest), but the brute reality is that sometimes the slow, healthy, safe weight loss route can be a bit…well, long.  But at least the scale is going in the right direction and in total that puts me at minus 38 pounds, which still amazes me.  Onward and upward, er, downward…you know what I mean.

            Here are a couple samples lunches from last week, since I keep getting requests for what I eat.  Why these two?  Because they are the only two I remembered to take a picture of!  But I have both incorporated in every week, so it’s a good sampling.

1.  Turkey breast and broccoli/cauliflower stir fry
I get the turkey breast at Costco and then cut it into 3 ounce slabs and bag individually.  Then I just heat it up on the day I want to use it, by heating up both sides in a skillet over medium heat.  I then take either 1/8 or ¼ cup of raw almonds (depending on how many calories and fat I can spare that day) and chop them up.  I heat 1 tablespoon of Kirkland Signature Organic Strawberry Spread with the chopped almonds and serve on top of the turkey breast. 

I do most of my veggie stir fries in Pam Olive Oil spray, seasoned with Mrs. Dash.  Sometimes it gets too dry and starts to burn, in which case I'll add a tablespoon or so of Organic Chicken Stock to give it some moisture. I always keep a carton of it in the refrigerator to use as needed. 

2.  Stir fried chicken, yam cubes, stir fried brussel sprouts and mushrooms
Since I already stir fried a bunch of chicken for the week (again in Pam Olive Oil cooking spray and Mrs. Dash Chicken flavor), all I had to do was re-heat the chicken (in some of the chicken stock for moisture) and sauté the already sliced brussel sprouts and mushrooms.  

The yam cubes are a favorite and I have them several times during the week.  Peel and cut the dark orange yams into cubes and put in a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Optional:  sprinkle a pinch of coconut sugar on top. Place on an aluminum baking sheet and bake at 450 for about ten minutes.  Turn.  Bake another 10 or so minutes. 

I'll post a couple of dinner recipes next week.  I'm anxious to see what this week brings!

A Day in the Life

This week marks the first week I am cooking for myself.  I started cooking my own breakfast and lunch last week.  This is day three of cooking everything.  I log several days worth of meals into Myfitnesspal and then Rachel goes on to make suggestions, changes, additions, deletions (grrrr), or, approves it as is.  So far it’s going okay, but the hard part is the part I never was good at….planning ahead so I “have time” to make a healthy meal.

I tend to get so busy with whatever it is I’m doing (mostly upstairs in the schoolroom) that by the time I’m hungry, I’m famished, and just want something quick and easy to make.  Unfortunately, most healthy options do not fall into the quick and easy category.  So planning ahead has become a necessity.  Since I already have several days worth of my meals logged, I know exactly what I'll need to have on hand, and what can be prepared, cut, shred, cooked, or prepped ahead of time.  For example, I have several lunches this week that include ½ cup serving of brown rice.  So this morning, I made 5 cups of brown rice in the rice cooker (made with Organic Chicken Broth instead of water) and bagged it in ½ cup servings.  I also have a few meals with brussel sprouts (my new favorite green vegetable), so I have a bag already washed and cut into halves.  Since I knew I’d be having stir-fried chicken a couple times this week, I went ahead a stir-fried 4 servings worth Sunday night. 

Just doing those few things above, makes putting together a healthy lunch very doable.  Today I had what is pictured below:  tilapia, brown rice, and broiled balsamic brussel sprouts.  Since the rice was already done, and the sprouts already cut, the whole thing took about 20 minutes start to finish and most of that was just the cooking time (during which I unloaded the dishwasher, did some dishes, and put in a load of laundry).  By the way, the balsamic brussel sprouts were from a recipe off Pinterest and were very yummy!  Plus I reheated the rice in the same pan I used for the tilapia and so it added just a hint of a lemony-garlic taste to it.  Lunch was 370 calories, breakfast was 375 (two scrambled eggs, plus one egg white, 1 piece of Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel 4:9 toast with organic whipped butter and honey, and an apple). 

Today started with another 2.5 mile run at the lake.  I’d really like to get that to 3 miles by the end of the week, but my body isn’t cooperating.  I’m just dead at 2.5.  We’ll see how that goes.  I was asked why I don’t log my exercise into Myfitnesspal.  The reason is that if I enter it, it automatically increases the calories I get for the day.  While that’s great when I get to the maintenance phase of my weight loss, it makes the weight come off faster if I don’t eat my exercise calories. And since I am mentally unable to see those extra calories sitting there and not use them, I just don’t log it.