Hello there!

Today I would like to show how I figure my target heart rate when I'm exercising in order to make sure I am getting the most benefit out of my workouts. I am going to be using the information available on the American Cancer Society website, but you can use any preferred source.

It's really simple. Once you click on the main link for this website (I provided the link on the previous post), scroll down to the More Interactive Tools section, then click the Target Heart Rate Calculator option.  You will be asked to put in your age and then press the calculate button. In my case, I got a range of 93-138 beats per minute.

The website further explains how to count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply this number by 6, giving you your heartbeats per minute. I usually do this a few times during my exercise to make sure I am in the suggested zone to get the most benefit out of my workout.

On average I will do aerobic exercise 3 to 4 times a week for 25 mins. I prefer to do the elliptical because it is easier for me. This level of exercise together with my daily amount of calories consumed allows me to strike a healthy balance between my exercise level and caloric intake to maintain a stable and healthy weight for me. When I start to gain weight over my normal, I either increase my exercise or I make healthier food choices, or I do both.

Another useful feature found under the More Interactive Tools section is the Calories Burned During Exercise estimator. Just click the down arrow and select a type of exercise. It will give you the number of calories you will burn if you do that exercise for one hour.

I use the elliptical, and since this is not on this list, I simply use the figure for what I feel is a comparable type of exercise- that being biking. Hope you find this information helpful.

As always, consult your medical physician first before you start a new exercise or diet routine, or before you make changes to your current one.

Until next time, be healthy and take care of yourself. And if you would like to contact me, don't hesitate.

How to use a calorie counter to figure our daily calories consumed

Today I'd like to briefly show those who may not have used a calorie counter before how to use one, in order to figure out the calories you consume in a given day. I have chosen "calorieking.com," one of the calorie counters I found online and listed here already--but you can use any counter you prefer and find easier to use. Of course, you can also buy a calorie counter booklet and find the calories in various foods that way, or you can read the label on the food items themselves. Either way, it is really simple, you just have to drill down under the food category you are looking for until you find the food item you need.

Okay, so here we go. When you first come to the home page of CalorieKing.com, you will find on the bottom right a section where you can put in your height, weight, age and gender. Once you input this information and click the "Go" button, you will be asked to select the level of activity that best describes your daily activity level. I chose "light." Now you will be given a range of daily calories recommended for three different goals: to maintain your current weight, to lose weight and to gain weight. In my case, I chose the maintain range, and it tells me I need to consume anywhere from 1500 to 1700 calories in order to maintain my weight. If you will notice, it also gives you a suggestion for a healthy weight range to maintain; it does this based on the information you provide.

The next step is where we find the number of calories in various servings sizes of different foods. I will now use an example menu I put together which provides approximately 1500 to 1700 calories per day. Breakfast: 3/4 c of oatmeal with 1% milk and a cup of coffee (330 calories). Snack: power bar (210 calories). Lunch: 2 chicken burritos (flour tortillas) with refried beans and green chili sauce (478 calories). Dinner: turkey sandwich with slice of cheese, mustard, light mayo, tomatoes (270 calories). Snack: 1 c of Special K cereal and 1 cup of skim milk (210 calories).

To find this information, I used a combination of the website, my handy calorie counter book, and also got the information from the product label itself.

Now we are ready to do our research. Go to "Tools" on the website and click the down arrow. You will see that you can browse by Category or you can browse by Fast Food restaurant. Lets browse by Category and select "Bars and Breakfast cereals," then select "Breakfast Cereals" and "Breakfast Cereals to be cooked." Now scroll down to about the bottom 1/4 of the page and look for the category "Breakfast Cereals to be cooked-Quaker" and you will find "Oats, Old Fashioned, dry." Once you click on this you will see that 1/2 c has 150 calories. Since I had 3/4 c, then my total calories would be 225. With all my meals and snacks I drink water. I try to have 8 glasses of water a day.

To find the calories in the cup of coffee, I do the same. Under Food categories, find and select "Beverages," "Coffee" and drill down until you get to all the various types and brands of coffee.  On the left column you will find "Brewed with Coffee-Mate powder-1 tsp." This shows that a cup with 1 tsp. has 12 calories. I used 2 tsps. so I rounded up to 20. Plus I also double checked the label on the outside of my coffee and creamer containers.

I am sure you see the pattern. You can look up the other food items I listed above and practice, if you wish. You simply have to select the correct food category and drill down until you find what you are looking for. You can find just about any item here. Also, remember to look at the serving size, and in the event your serving differs from the one provided, you will have to do a little math to figure your calorie intake.

One last cool item to point out! When you browse by "Popular brands," you can search food items on the menu of popular restaurants. If the restaurant you are looking for is not listed, just search for it by typing the name in the "Search brands" box. In my case, I was looking for the trio fajitas at Chili's and all of its condiments. Under the "Meal Components" you find, for example, the calories per serving for the sautéed mushroom, rice and beans and sour cream. Under "Fajitas" you find that the trio has 650 calories (without the tortillas or condiments). This is my favorite dish here, and one I enjoy on weekends.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions, please write me. And just click away and you will find much more. Notice how this site also gives suggestions right next to the Nutrition Facts labels of how many calories one can burn by doing various exercises for a given amount of time.

Until next time!

So, I totally understand that now days not too many people use a calorie counter in print form...like I personally used in the olden days. For that reason, I went out to the Internet in search for more modern tools.. After investing some minor effort, I came across various websites that help you figure out how many calories you should consume per day for your age, gender, height and current weight. And if you would like to lose weight, it tells you how many calories to eat per day in order to lose a given amount (and it gives you the amount!). It goes further to tell you how many calories you can burn by doing a given exercise activity for a certain length of time.
Just check them out, play with these and see which ones you like best and would add value to your goals. Or simply find your own website that you prefer to use.
On a future post, I can discuss how to use these by giving an example. Here are a few of the many I found when I searched for online calorie counters. I am not a member of any at this time. I simply clicked and clicked and found out lots of good info for free.
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/
http://www.fitwatch.com/caloriecounter.html
http://www.cancer.org/healthy/toolsandcalculators/calculators/app/calorie-counter-calculator:
http://caloriecount.about.com/
https://www.my-calorie-counter.com/

Good luck!

Who is Laura?

Laura is the main character of the book. I created her as my fictional character to tell various stories that are meant to teach a lesson, perhaps to inspire, and perhaps to make the reader think about making changes, doing some things differently or not doing some things at all.
Laura is who I want her to be, at times being many people all rolled up into one, and at times being...you guessed it!

Welcome to my blog: Girlunity.blogspot.com!

I am Margaret Vence. Do you know what Vence means? It means to win or to overcome.

This is a blog for girls/ladies/women to empower one another, for girls/ladies/women to help one another during stressful and difficult times. This blog is for us to take a stance again girl bullying. It's for us to help change those behaviors and speak out against this hurtful type of bullying. The blog is also meant to provide ideas and information on how some of us have personally overcome various challenges in our lives, from eating disorders, to leading a healthier life, to believing and loving who we are.

I wrote the book "Valuable Lessons from a Thing Called Life" because it felt good to talk about these topics and let them out. I did so for my benefit and for that of my friends but, most important, I did it because I know I am not alone and know that somewhere out there someone can benefit from reading these very real experiences about trials and how to begin to change things for the better.

I want "Girlunity.blogspot.com" to be available for those who would like to talk to other ladies of any age about any struggles and get ideas on how others have overcome them. I want this blog to be a medium of help for those who visit.

If I can start a girl to girl conversation that can be healing, life-changing and uplifting to those who visit my blog, then we are helping one another...and we are to help one another. It is all about girls helping girls here at girlunity!
TTYL-Margaret Vence.