It's been a while since I posted anything. Between work, increased training, and now this evening class (that includes a surprising amount of homework!), I barely have time to do much but log onto PT and report my food and exercise.
So let's see... when we last left off, I was going through the assessment period with the Philips DirectLife activity monitor. I was assessed at a Level 3. This equated to "Elizabeth", who is moderately active and plays tennis for an hour twice a week. I thought the monitor grossly underestimated my activity. Vigorous exercise for 1 hour twice a week?? In reality, I'm doing about 14.5 hours per week of exercise with maybe 30% of that being high intensity.
Based on that information, the goal set for me was to increase my daily activity rate to 975 calories/day in 12 weeks. I will gradually increase the calories burned weekly. I'm 2 weeks into the program now and the first week's target was to burn 829 calories/day and the second week's target was to burn 843 calories/day.
Week 1 I burned on average 995 calories/day which was 122% of my target and week 2 I burned 1124 calories/day which equalled 136% of my target.
Hah.
It's not much of a goal if I've already surpassed the 975 calories "ultimate goal" in the first 2 weeks! It hasn't been too difficult to make the daily calorie goals. Though I don't always meet it, I end up burning huge amounts on longer training days which makes up for it since they take the average over a 1-week period. I admit that carrying the monitor around is somewhat motivating. I take it out at various times in the day to check my progress. However, since I know I won't have any problems meeting my quota for the week, I'm not particularly motivated to increase my daily activities, which I think is the point of the program.
I corresponded with my DirectLife coach, Erin, via email. I discussed my goals (Ironman + lose 10 lbs) but she didn't seem much help there. The coaches don't provide any nutritional or even weight-loss specific advice. They are just there to provide suggestions to increase your daily activities. I am mildly disappointed.
Now if I could find a similar device that works with monitoring food intake instead, I'd be set...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Accountability Tenfold
Peertrainer is a daily accountability website used for diet and exercise. They have just launched a "Spotlight", which is a team of 16 members who support each other and agree to have their logs viewable to everyone. This particular Spotlight is sponsored by Philips, who is promoting their new DirectLife fitness coaching system. The DirectLife system consists of a small device you add to a necklace, belt, or pocket and wear everyday. The device connects to your computer where you can periodically upload your data to a website which will gather your activity data.
What makes this sponsored spotlight unique is that not only will the other team members support and hold one another accountable, but Philips will provide real coaches from DirectLife that will also review their activity and offer feedback. Accountability is a powerful motivator. When you know that people are watching your food and exercise log, it (usually) changes your behavior in a positive way.
Why am I telling you about the Philips Peertrainer Spotlight?
Because I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the participants!
We received the Philips monitor in the mail last week and I set mine up the other day. The first week is the "assessment period" where you're supposed to wear the monitor with you at all times. It magically calculates your movement and by the end of the assessment period, you're supposed to be given a plan used to get you to your goals.
I am on day 3 of the assessment. Now I hardly notice that I'm wearing the monitor, but initially I was confused on the proper placement. I have it set for "pocket" which means I'm placing it in my pocket, but I don't always have pockets on me when I swim, bike, or run. I emailed the support team at Philips and they responded promptly (a definite plus) and said I could put it in my sock while biking. Not sure how that will work but I'll try it this weekend.
You can view my log and follow me on Peertrainer here. I'm lacia.
What makes this sponsored spotlight unique is that not only will the other team members support and hold one another accountable, but Philips will provide real coaches from DirectLife that will also review their activity and offer feedback. Accountability is a powerful motivator. When you know that people are watching your food and exercise log, it (usually) changes your behavior in a positive way.
Why am I telling you about the Philips Peertrainer Spotlight?
Because I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the participants!
We received the Philips monitor in the mail last week and I set mine up the other day. The first week is the "assessment period" where you're supposed to wear the monitor with you at all times. It magically calculates your movement and by the end of the assessment period, you're supposed to be given a plan used to get you to your goals.
I am on day 3 of the assessment. Now I hardly notice that I'm wearing the monitor, but initially I was confused on the proper placement. I have it set for "pocket" which means I'm placing it in my pocket, but I don't always have pockets on me when I swim, bike, or run. I emailed the support team at Philips and they responded promptly (a definite plus) and said I could put it in my sock while biking. Not sure how that will work but I'll try it this weekend.
You can view my log and follow me on Peertrainer here. I'm lacia.
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