Running the Numbers Math in the Life of Jen

Thomas and Abby These are my children. Now that they are getting a bit older, I have been able to find some time to focus on me. To better myself, and be a good role model for my kids, I strive to stay fit and eat healthy. This does not come easy for a working mother taking graduate classes on the side!

Measuring Fitness The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of height compared to weight and gives you an indication of whether you are at a healthy weight for your height.

Setting Personal Goals My starting BMI is 25.7, landing me at the high end of the normal weight range for my height. MY GOAL: Lose 20 pounds Drop BMI to 22.3

How much is a pound? 1 lb = 3500 Calories It is safe and reasonable to set a goal of losing 1 pound per week. The approximate number of calories needed to equal a pound is 3500.

Taking it Day by Day To lose 1 lb per week, I need to eat 3500 LESS calories each week. I DIVIDE 3500 by 7 days to determine that I need to reduce my daily calories by 500 to meet this goal. 2 Strategies: -Eat less -Exercise more

Calories per Serving ¾ cup of Grape-Nuts 312 cal ½ cup whole milk 75 cal 387 cal How many calories am I really eating at breakfast? ½ cup Grape-Nuts = 208 cal 3/4 cup = ? 208 x 1.5 = 312 cal 1 cup whole milk = 150 cal ½ cup = ? 150 = 75 cal 2

Cutting Calories A simple breakfast change really adds up! 1 cup Kashi GoLean 140 cal ½ cup skim milk 40 cal 180 cal 3/4 cup Grape-Nut 312 cal ½ cup whole milk 75 cal 387 cal Kashi GoLean with skim milk saves 207 calories!

Healthy Choices: Vitamin C Daily Recommended Allowance (women) = 75 mg Vitamin C helps to fight off colds and boosts resistance to germs by helping to maintain the immune system. Vitamin C is also an important dietary antioxidant, and aids in disease prevention and treatment. Broccoli (1 cup) = 123 mg Medium Orange = 70 mg (123 divided by 75) 164% Daily Recommended Allowance (70 divided by 75) 93% Daily Recommended Allowance

Diet & Exercise Eating a high protein, high fiber cereal with skim milk helps me cut 207 calories from my daily calories. If my goal is to reduce my daily calories by 500, how many calories do I need to burn through exercise each day? 500 – 207 = 293 Calories

Reading Labels In addition to watching calories and fat, salt intake is also important to monitor. For a healthy adult, the American Heart Association recommends daily salt intake of less than 2300 mg. Progresso Traditional Chicken & Wild Rice Soup Sodium: 650mg per serving Progresso Reduced Sodium Chicken & Wild Rice Soup Sodium: 470mg per serving The Traditional recipe contains 28% of the recommended allowance ( 650 / 2300 = ), compared to the Reduced Sodium recipe, which contains only 20%.

I LOVE chocolate ice cream. To save on calories and fat, I buy Edy’s ® brand, which has 1/3 less calories and 1/2 the fat of regular ice cream. If ½ cup of Edy’s ® chocolate ice cream contains 100 calories and 4 grams of fat, how many calories and fat grams are in the regular? Regular Ice Cream 100 divided by 2/3 = 150 Calories 4 divided by 1/2 = 8g Fat Weighing in on Ice Cream

Exercise I love running because I get the best “bang for my buck!” To accurately determine how many calories running burns, I need to know how fast I run. 3 miles = miles/minute 29 minutes 60 minutes = 6.20 miles/hour Running 35 minutes at 6.2 miles/hr = 375 Cal

Early Training When I first began running again, I started out slowly and carefully. Weeks #1 & 2 Warm up 3 minutes Run 1minute, Walk 2 minutes I would run every time the minutes on my watch were DIVISABLE by 3.

Spring Training VT Dairy Festival Milk Run June 7, miles I am advised to increase my mileage slowly to avoid injury. If I increase mileage by 10% each week for 7 weeks, will I be ready for race day? Yes! Week miles Week miles Week miles Week4.40 miles Week miles Week miles

Mama needs a new pair of shoes Running in old or worn-out shoes is one of the most common causes of running injuries. A good rule of thumb is to replace your running shoes every 300 to 400 miles If I run miles per week, how often should I replace my running shoes? I should buy new shoes approximately every 6 months 400/15 = weeks

Running the Numbers Which is the better deal? $89 Asics 20% off $89 x 0.20 = $17.80 $89 - $17.80 = $71.20 $79 Asics 15% off $79 x 0.15 = $11.85 $79 - $11.85 = $67.15

Making Calories Count Which is a better choice? Daily recommendations for my height and age: Fat - 55 GramsProtein - 50 grams Peanut M&Ms (220 Cal) % Daily Allowance 12g Fat 22% (12/55 = 0.218) 4g Protein 8% (4/50 = 0.08) Zone Bar (210 Cal) % Daily Allowance 7g Fat 13% (7/55 = 0.127) 16g Protein 32% (16/50 = 0.32)

Buying in Bulk Buying in Zone Bars from Costco saves me $24 each month ($ $23.70) 24 Zone Bars at Costco $18.99 = $0.79 per bar 30 Day Supply = $23.70 ($0.79 x 30) 1 Zone Bar at Hannaford $ Day Supply = $47.70 ($1.59 x 30)

Saving for a Rainy Day I love to run outside, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate. How much do I need to save each month to buy a $599 treadmill by December? April to December = 8 months $599 DIVIDED BY 8 months = $74.88 per month

Time out! I get 48 hours (six 8-hr days) of Personal Time Off (PTO) each year. If I had previously used 18 hours of PTO, and used 12 more hours this week, how many full days off do I have left for the year? The dreaded stomach virus hits our household like a tornado! I have to take 1 ½ days (12 hours) off of work. Yikes!

Sale! Buy one, Get one 50% off! My favorite sneakers are on sale! How does this deal compare to others? 1 st pair = $89.99 This ends up being the same as buying 2 nd pair = $ pairs at 25% off, and since I am saving for Total $ a treadmill, I’ll pass on this deal. Each pair = $67.50 ($ / 2) Savings per pair = $22.49 ($89.99-$67.50) Percent Saved per pair = 25% ($22.49 / $89.99)

Tracking My Success I’ve charted my weight loss progress over a 2 month span. In 8 weeks I have lost 6.8 pounds, for an average of 0.85 pounds per week. I have lost 52% percent of my goal!

Measuring My Success Starting BMI = Goal BMI = Goal: Reduce BMI by 13.23% (3.4 divided by 25.7 = 13.23%) 8 Weeks Later BMI = 24.5 (25.7 – 24.5 = 1.2) (1.2 divided by 25.7 = 4.67%) Progress Report: After 8 weeks, I am approximately 1/3 of the way towards meeting my goal. (4.67/13.23 = 0.35 = approximately 1/3)

Hitting the Trail It takes me about 2 minutes and 45 seconds to run to the Rail Trail from my house. If I average 9.67 minutes/mile, approximately how far is the Rail Trail from my house? 2 minutes, 45 seconds = 2.75 minutes (45 / ) 9.67 min = 2.75 min 1 mile X (9.67)X = 2.75 X = 2.75 / 9.67 = The distance from my house to the Rail Trail is a little of ¼ mile.

Making better time To beat last year’s time of 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 8 minutes, how fast does my average mile need to be? 6.2 mi = minutes/mile 68 min

Getting to the Race on Time If the race is 18 miles away and I drive an average of 45 miles per hour, what time do I need to leave home? 45 miles = 18 miles 60 min X 45 X = 1080 X = 24 minutes I need to leave by 7:40am. The race starts at 8:30 am. I want to get there no later than 8:05 to register, warm up and relax.

Sweet Rewards Based on my weight and running speed, running burns approximately calories per mile. After finishing this 6.2 mile race, I will have burned about 579 calories. No guilt in having ice cream!