That's right, it's Wednesday so week 2 is finally over. This was filled with ups and downs - I was real nervous about because I didn't get to work out today. I woke up with a bad head cold and it really kicked my butt. After getting the kids off to school I fell asleep on the couch.
Now I'm feeling much better than I was this morning - Hopefully with some more medication and a good night's sleep I'll be 100% in the morning.
So onto the important part - the weigh in, well I am happy to report that my new weight is 257.5, which is 6.5 pounds less than last week for a total weight loss of 13.5 pounds or 5% of my starting weight. Yeah!!
At this rate, I might have a bikini body by mid-summer... Ha..
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Terrible Tuesday
Oh I did everything wrong today. After getting my daughter on the bus, I headed to the gym. On the stationary bike I have typically been achieving 7.5 miles in 30 minutes. And its getting easier as my muscles are starting to adapt to it. However, today was different at the 15 minute mark, I was hurting - my legs, my thighs, my back - something was not right. Then I realized that I didn't have breakfast. I normally make sure I eat first so that I have the energy. So I pushed and pushed and made it to 20 minutes and had to get off. I did go and lift some free weights, jump rope, did crunches, etc before leaving the gym. I still put in an hour, but I'm disappointed that I didn't get my 30 minute bike ride in.
The rest of the day seem to fall into place fine - I managed to eat healthy with regular portions and be full. This is a positive side-effect of eating smaller portions, now smaller portions are actually filling me up.
We are migrating our diets from flour products to whole wheat products. For dinner I made whole wheat spaghetti with spicy turkey brats and steamed green beans. YUM - The kids really liked it too. Another thing I've learned is just because there is a whole box of pasta or a jar of sauce doesn't mean you have to use it all. Our youngest was eating dinner at a friends so there were only 4 of us, so I made 4 servings - no leftovers, no seconds, no temptation. Now we have 2 servings of uncooked pasta and sauce that the Wife & I can have on pizza night.
After dinner I sat down, and played in my weekly online poker league - tough competitors took 8th out of 27 not bad. Then I had to get back to work - starting my marketing consulting firm - its going very well, but as the wife pointed out I will have quarterly taxes due in a couple of weeks. So I needed to get my finances into a financial software - so I spent 4 hours adding this years numbers into the software. As I was doing this I felt my throat was getting really soar, and I couldn't breathe through my nose. I was sore all over. A real mess.
I'm feeling pretty rough right now - tomorrow is weigh-in, but if I feel like this I may in the morning I may not even make it to the gym - would be kinda stupid to just go in to weigh-in and leave. But we'll see in the morning.
The rest of the day seem to fall into place fine - I managed to eat healthy with regular portions and be full. This is a positive side-effect of eating smaller portions, now smaller portions are actually filling me up.
We are migrating our diets from flour products to whole wheat products. For dinner I made whole wheat spaghetti with spicy turkey brats and steamed green beans. YUM - The kids really liked it too. Another thing I've learned is just because there is a whole box of pasta or a jar of sauce doesn't mean you have to use it all. Our youngest was eating dinner at a friends so there were only 4 of us, so I made 4 servings - no leftovers, no seconds, no temptation. Now we have 2 servings of uncooked pasta and sauce that the Wife & I can have on pizza night.
After dinner I sat down, and played in my weekly online poker league - tough competitors took 8th out of 27 not bad. Then I had to get back to work - starting my marketing consulting firm - its going very well, but as the wife pointed out I will have quarterly taxes due in a couple of weeks. So I needed to get my finances into a financial software - so I spent 4 hours adding this years numbers into the software. As I was doing this I felt my throat was getting really soar, and I couldn't breathe through my nose. I was sore all over. A real mess.
I'm feeling pretty rough right now - tomorrow is weigh-in, but if I feel like this I may in the morning I may not even make it to the gym - would be kinda stupid to just go in to weigh-in and leave. But we'll see in the morning.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday - and going strong
Well, its Monday again - weather is beginning to turn more spring-like and I'm looking forward to getting out in the yard and even hitting a few golf balls. I am really looking forward to getting back to sports - individual sports for now, maybe next year I will look at joining a softball league or something like that.
I had a conversation with my trucker buddy who is joining me in our efforts to return to fitness. He had previously had great success using the Weight Watchers program and one of the things he was telling me was that it is necessary to change your work out routine. In fact it shouldn't become a routine because your body will get used to it and figure out ways to store fat. So my question is how different does the exercise plan need to be in order to keep my body from storing fat?
Anyway, my wife & I have been doing very well at keeping our portion sizes in check - even when eating out - can you believe that you can actually eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and not blow your diet. We both had for the first time the Grilled Chicken Buffalitos with a side salad. It was surprisingly tasty and very filling. Big change from our usual of boneless wings and bufallo chips.
We're both using the gym and for now we have been cycling 30 minutes followed by 30-40 minutes on the circuit training.
I had a conversation with my trucker buddy who is joining me in our efforts to return to fitness. He had previously had great success using the Weight Watchers program and one of the things he was telling me was that it is necessary to change your work out routine. In fact it shouldn't become a routine because your body will get used to it and figure out ways to store fat. So my question is how different does the exercise plan need to be in order to keep my body from storing fat?
Anyway, my wife & I have been doing very well at keeping our portion sizes in check - even when eating out - can you believe that you can actually eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and not blow your diet. We both had for the first time the Grilled Chicken Buffalitos with a side salad. It was surprisingly tasty and very filling. Big change from our usual of boneless wings and bufallo chips.
We're both using the gym and for now we have been cycling 30 minutes followed by 30-40 minutes on the circuit training.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
First Day Off
Last night, my youngest got sick - too much excitement in combination with the pizza sauce probably didn't sit well. But anyway, she's home with me cause you just can never be too sure. Fortunately she woke up feeling fine - but with the sad news that she had to stay home today because she got sick last night.
Nevertheless, I did not get to the gym today, instead I focused on eating right and taking care of my little girl. I consumed less than 1600 calories today including 2 slices of Aunt Millies Light 100% Whole Wheat bread - which is only 80 calories per 2 slices, as compared to the 70 calories in 1 slice of white bread.
When making our lunches my daughter told me she did not want the "brown bread", so I told her it was not for her it was for - it's diet bread. Her face looked puzzled "Diet Bread?" she asked. So I said well I can have 1 slice of white bread or 2 slices of brown bread and they are about the same calories - which would you chose? She pointed to the brown, I asked, "do you want the brown bread?" She firmly refused. Oh well more for me.
Now - I've never been a fan of wheat bread, especially whole wheat - but with 1 Tbsp of mayo and some mustard - I really liked it. I would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for bread that is more healthy and tastes good.
Nevertheless, I did not get to the gym today, instead I focused on eating right and taking care of my little girl. I consumed less than 1600 calories today including 2 slices of Aunt Millies Light 100% Whole Wheat bread - which is only 80 calories per 2 slices, as compared to the 70 calories in 1 slice of white bread.
When making our lunches my daughter told me she did not want the "brown bread", so I told her it was not for her it was for - it's diet bread. Her face looked puzzled "Diet Bread?" she asked. So I said well I can have 1 slice of white bread or 2 slices of brown bread and they are about the same calories - which would you chose? She pointed to the brown, I asked, "do you want the brown bread?" She firmly refused. Oh well more for me.
Now - I've never been a fan of wheat bread, especially whole wheat - but with 1 Tbsp of mayo and some mustard - I really liked it. I would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for bread that is more healthy and tastes good.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Start of a new Week
Well, talk about motivating - getting on the scale and seeing that my efforts are paying off Big Time. I know it will be a challenge to replicate this past week, but I'm going to try. I'm eating better, working harder.
Today, I only consumed 1500 calories and that included Pizza. Wednesday is Pizza night at the Powers' house, well with 3 kids, they are used to it and we can't let them down. So Pizza it is with breadsticks even. I know my mouth is watering. Along with the pizza and breadsticks I ordered a family sized greek salad for my wife & I to split. That was delicious, but holy cow the amount of sodium. The pickled beets and feta cheese in the Greek salad really drove that way up. so now for the pizza; I had a yummy Lean Cuisine Pizza, not the best but an adequate substitute.
After dinner, we decided to head out and find some geo cache. This is a new hobby that we as a family has picked up - for those of you who have not heard of it, it's basically a big scavenger hunt using GPS. People hide canisters, called cache, all around and log the coordinates. They then enter the cache into the online database where people like us can enter the coordinates and find the cache. Sometimes we're able to drive to within 20 feet of it, and others we have to hike up to a mile through fairly rugged terrain. We're walking and talking and finding them as a family. Great for exercise and teamwork.
Tonight, we searched for 3 cache that were within 5 miles of our home, we found the first one rather quickly, then we moved to the next - we were in the location, but could never find it. It's possible that someone removed it. And finally, the last one we were in behind a tire shop and within 25 feet of the cache when we stumbled on a pile of bones. At first I thought animal, but then I noticed the thick vertebrae and one bone appeared to have been clean cut. So being safe, I contacted the authorities and they came out and looked it over and decided further investigation was needed. I was told that we could leave and if anything turns up that they will be in touch. Kinda creepy.
Today, I only consumed 1500 calories and that included Pizza. Wednesday is Pizza night at the Powers' house, well with 3 kids, they are used to it and we can't let them down. So Pizza it is with breadsticks even. I know my mouth is watering. Along with the pizza and breadsticks I ordered a family sized greek salad for my wife & I to split. That was delicious, but holy cow the amount of sodium. The pickled beets and feta cheese in the Greek salad really drove that way up. so now for the pizza; I had a yummy Lean Cuisine Pizza, not the best but an adequate substitute.
After dinner, we decided to head out and find some geo cache. This is a new hobby that we as a family has picked up - for those of you who have not heard of it, it's basically a big scavenger hunt using GPS. People hide canisters, called cache, all around and log the coordinates. They then enter the cache into the online database where people like us can enter the coordinates and find the cache. Sometimes we're able to drive to within 20 feet of it, and others we have to hike up to a mile through fairly rugged terrain. We're walking and talking and finding them as a family. Great for exercise and teamwork.
Tonight, we searched for 3 cache that were within 5 miles of our home, we found the first one rather quickly, then we moved to the next - we were in the location, but could never find it. It's possible that someone removed it. And finally, the last one we were in behind a tire shop and within 25 feet of the cache when we stumbled on a pile of bones. At first I thought animal, but then I noticed the thick vertebrae and one bone appeared to have been clean cut. So being safe, I contacted the authorities and they came out and looked it over and decided further investigation was needed. I was told that we could leave and if anything turns up that they will be in touch. Kinda creepy.
First Weigh In
Well, typically I only blog once a day, but this is pretty important. So I figured today, of all days, is worth a double post.
So here goes...
I got to the gym this morning and after about 30 min on the cycle, I decided to meet my fate. I step up to the scale - dialed in my previous weight 2-7-1, and stepped on the scale. At first I was perplexed because the scale didn't move - then quickly I realized "that's a good thing" if it moved that would mean I weighed more.
So then I began to slide the weight to the left. My goal is 1.7 lbs per week to hit -100 by 5/7/11. So I'm sliding; well I met my goal as I'm sliding past 269 - 267 - 265 to my current weight 264! I lost 7 pounds in 7 days. Seven pounds represents 2.6% of my body weight. Now I know that I will not likely have this success every week - but if feels great to get off to a great start.
Now, my journal at everydayhealth.com wanted me to recalculate my calorie intake based on my new weight and activity level - HOLY COW - they want me to eat MORE!! I think I'll stay at my 2000 target - I have yet to hit it anyway.
Anyway - the Thin Man can see there's light at the end of this Tunnel.
So here goes...
I got to the gym this morning and after about 30 min on the cycle, I decided to meet my fate. I step up to the scale - dialed in my previous weight 2-7-1, and stepped on the scale. At first I was perplexed because the scale didn't move - then quickly I realized "that's a good thing" if it moved that would mean I weighed more.
So then I began to slide the weight to the left. My goal is 1.7 lbs per week to hit -100 by 5/7/11. So I'm sliding; well I met my goal as I'm sliding past 269 - 267 - 265 to my current weight 264! I lost 7 pounds in 7 days. Seven pounds represents 2.6% of my body weight. Now I know that I will not likely have this success every week - but if feels great to get off to a great start.
Now, my journal at everydayhealth.com wanted me to recalculate my calorie intake based on my new weight and activity level - HOLY COW - they want me to eat MORE!! I think I'll stay at my 2000 target - I have yet to hit it anyway.
Anyway - the Thin Man can see there's light at the end of this Tunnel.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
What a Day
I am exhausted and sore from today's activities. I started off by hitting the circuit training. I did 2 sets of each machine until I got to the vertical press and I felt a little pop in my right shoulder. It doesn't hurt now, but I didn't want to press it. On my way out of the gym, I noticed an open elliptical trainer (I have never used one) so I thought I'd jump on and knock out 30 minutes.
Keep in mind, I just finished lifting weights with every major muscle group for the past hour... Oh My God! First thing was that it was such a weird motion, I didn't know if I was walking, climbing or just rocking. I found it difficult to maintain a speed, I'd get going then I'd be running, or I'd slow down, and it'd want to go backwards. I felt like a toddler learning to walk. At about 8 1/2 minutes in, I realized there is no way I can make it 30 - but I wanted - but my body just couldn't push any harder. So I pushed myself to complete 10 minutes and got off. My right calf began to hurt. I think I'm pushing my body too hard too fast.
Tomorrow is Weigh In Day - the first since I started (271 lbs), one week ago. I'm feeling good, feeling more energetic - and I feel like things are toning up a bit. Hopefully, this will be affirmed tomorrow at the weigh in.
Wish me luck!
Keep in mind, I just finished lifting weights with every major muscle group for the past hour... Oh My God! First thing was that it was such a weird motion, I didn't know if I was walking, climbing or just rocking. I found it difficult to maintain a speed, I'd get going then I'd be running, or I'd slow down, and it'd want to go backwards. I felt like a toddler learning to walk. At about 8 1/2 minutes in, I realized there is no way I can make it 30 - but I wanted - but my body just couldn't push any harder. So I pushed myself to complete 10 minutes and got off. My right calf began to hurt. I think I'm pushing my body too hard too fast.
Tomorrow is Weigh In Day - the first since I started (271 lbs), one week ago. I'm feeling good, feeling more energetic - and I feel like things are toning up a bit. Hopefully, this will be affirmed tomorrow at the weigh in.
Wish me luck!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Just another Manic Monday
Good evening. Wow what a day.
Consumed 1500ish calories, and burned 900ish calories through exercise. I feel great. Had a Klondike Slim a Bear ice cream after dinner (100 calories). It is a lot easier than I thought.
I had a phone call from a friend that I've kinda lost touch with - he said he read my blog and became inspired. He explained to me how he could relate to the issues I faced growing up and in the most recent years leading up to an unfit body. He has committed himself to becoming more fit. Congrats!!
He faces some additional challenges that I would like to help him with. He's an over the road truck driver, which means he's in his truck driving many hours and finding healthy meals & snacks may be more difficult. If any body has any ideas to help him please post a comment.
Consumed 1500ish calories, and burned 900ish calories through exercise. I feel great. Had a Klondike Slim a Bear ice cream after dinner (100 calories). It is a lot easier than I thought.
I had a phone call from a friend that I've kinda lost touch with - he said he read my blog and became inspired. He explained to me how he could relate to the issues I faced growing up and in the most recent years leading up to an unfit body. He has committed himself to becoming more fit. Congrats!!
He faces some additional challenges that I would like to help him with. He's an over the road truck driver, which means he's in his truck driving many hours and finding healthy meals & snacks may be more difficult. If any body has any ideas to help him please post a comment.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Weekend is Over
Well, It's Sunday night - technically Monday morning, but who's counting. We had a very active weekend, felt like I never had a minute to sit and "think about food" which is such a struggle for me working from home.
We are finding new ways to get exercise that really doesn't feel like exercise. Saturday we went out on our first Geo Caching exposition. And for those of you who don't know what geocaching - it's basically a scavenger hunt using GPS. We found ourselves hiking into the woods as a family looking for these canisters, just to say we found them. I know, kinda geeky, but when we were done, we realized - we hiked almost 1/2 mile in somewhat rugged terrain and it felt good. We plan to do more of these.
As for the meals, there were not as many as during the week while I'm sitting in my home office. Both days managing to keep our intake below 1400 - which is still 600 below our budget for our loss goal. I guess I can't complain.
This included having a Hula Salad from Max & Erma's. First time there, and well, its a gourmet burger place. So the diet-friendly foods were limited. I found a salad with greens, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and grilled chicken with low-fat honey mustard dressing and a glass of water to do the trick - 563 calories for dinner.
We've stocked up the fridge with lots of different veggies and melons and berries. Looking forward to a little more variety in our menu this week as we start to explore new low fat options.
We have become obsessed with the sodium intake - according the daily recommended values - we should not exceed 2400mg with a 2000 calorie diet, but this seems almost impossible. What can we do to maintain our calories without exceeding our sodium OR is this really important for us to maintain?
We have stocked up on veggies and melons and berries. W
We are finding new ways to get exercise that really doesn't feel like exercise. Saturday we went out on our first Geo Caching exposition. And for those of you who don't know what geocaching - it's basically a scavenger hunt using GPS. We found ourselves hiking into the woods as a family looking for these canisters, just to say we found them. I know, kinda geeky, but when we were done, we realized - we hiked almost 1/2 mile in somewhat rugged terrain and it felt good. We plan to do more of these.
As for the meals, there were not as many as during the week while I'm sitting in my home office. Both days managing to keep our intake below 1400 - which is still 600 below our budget for our loss goal. I guess I can't complain.
This included having a Hula Salad from Max & Erma's. First time there, and well, its a gourmet burger place. So the diet-friendly foods were limited. I found a salad with greens, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and grilled chicken with low-fat honey mustard dressing and a glass of water to do the trick - 563 calories for dinner.
We've stocked up the fridge with lots of different veggies and melons and berries. Looking forward to a little more variety in our menu this week as we start to explore new low fat options.
We have become obsessed with the sodium intake - according the daily recommended values - we should not exceed 2400mg with a 2000 calorie diet, but this seems almost impossible. What can we do to maintain our calories without exceeding our sodium OR is this really important for us to maintain?
We have stocked up on veggies and melons and berries. W
Friday, March 19, 2010
It's Friday
Today I must say was a great day emotionally. Lots of encouragement from friends and family. I am trying to keep focus on my objective.
Today I had a simple breakfast - oatmeal & yogurt
Snacks included celery & carrot sticks
Lunch - tried something new - Tuna w/ Salsa (not bad - a lot less calories than mayo)
along with flatbread on the side and a garden salad
Dinner - I tried to make up some calories - we grilled burgers and I had one - so needless to say I exceeded my protein and fat intake - but still way short on my calorie budget.
I feel like I'm eating all day - but now that could just be because I'm watching everything I do now.
I rode the stationary bike for 7.4 miles in 30 minutes then was introduced to the circuit training - then I spent the next 30 minutes doing reps, finding my starting weighs on each machine. Man, am I out of shape, but that is the main reason I'm doing this.
Anyway, I feel really good after today's workout - I think this will be my routine 3-4 times a week. Going to be taking the kids to the pool tomorrow - going to get some laps in, along with some errands.
I hear that we're expecting snow, after a week in the 60's, this is not very nice.
Today I had a simple breakfast - oatmeal & yogurt
Snacks included celery & carrot sticks
Lunch - tried something new - Tuna w/ Salsa (not bad - a lot less calories than mayo)
along with flatbread on the side and a garden salad
Dinner - I tried to make up some calories - we grilled burgers and I had one - so needless to say I exceeded my protein and fat intake - but still way short on my calorie budget.
I feel like I'm eating all day - but now that could just be because I'm watching everything I do now.
I rode the stationary bike for 7.4 miles in 30 minutes then was introduced to the circuit training - then I spent the next 30 minutes doing reps, finding my starting weighs on each machine. Man, am I out of shape, but that is the main reason I'm doing this.
Anyway, I feel really good after today's workout - I think this will be my routine 3-4 times a week. Going to be taking the kids to the pool tomorrow - going to get some laps in, along with some errands.
I hear that we're expecting snow, after a week in the 60's, this is not very nice.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day 2 - Busy Thursday
Today was very busy (work related). But I still got it off to a great start with a balanced breakfast.
Breakfast:
Quaker Weight Control - Cinnamon
1 Pear
Dannon Lite N Fit Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
2Tbsp French Vanilla Creamer
316 calories
It was delicious and filling, I used an apple core/slicer to slice the pear, and I took Jillian Michael's advice "don't eat standing up". So I sat down and actually enjoyed my meal - seemed like so much food. I've never been much of a breakfast eater but man what an energy boost.
I headed out for business and was in a meeting right up until lunch - Note, I missed my snack. Hunger was beginning to set in. But I had my water. So on my drive home I thought where can I stop that would not kill my plan. Then I thought of Jared from Subway - Yes! So I was on a mission, I knew of one along my way home and I stopped in and got a 6" Turkey Breast & Black Forest Ham on Wheat - I had lots of veggies, a slice of Provolone, salt/pepper, oil/vinegar & mustard. I made it a combo with some Baked! Lays & a Coke Zero. My best estimate of calories for the meal about 410. Still not too bad.
With all the choices you can have at Subway - a great iPhone app would be to build your sandwich and then have it calculate the nutritional value.
I leave Subway and run some errands - spending about an hour walking around stores, then I head home. My afternoon snack consists of a cheese stick & 2 WheatThin Flatbreads. 142 calories.
For dinner, my wife & I decided on salmon patties - we love these and they are a healthier alternative to hamburgers. We grill them on each side for about 4 mins at 400 degrees. I chose to have my as part of my salad with a couple Wheatthin Flatbreads (I really like these). My wife chose to roll it all up in a Garden Spinach Lawash (green tortilla) like a burrito. We both enjoyed our variations and left the dinner table satisfied having only consumed about 400 calories.
After dinner, my wife & I, along with our 7 yr old daughter took our dog for a walk. We walked for about 30 minutes, it was rather slow pace but it was consistent. My pedometer, which I had picked up earlier in the day from Walmart for $5 showed that we walked just under 1 mile. It sure didn't feel like it. We will probably build in a 2-3 mile walk a couple nights a week into our fitness plan.
Now, I'm at the same point as I was yesterday. I've made it through the day and only consumed 1260 calories of my 2000 budget. So I again have flexibility in my evening snack. It might have been closer if I was home for my morning snack and lunch but I made due. I was not about to eat 740 calories but I wanted to close the gap a bit.
My wife bought the Lawash Flatbread (basically healthy tortillas). She picked up spinach which we both like, she had it with her dinner and I wanted to try in as part of a snack. So I spooned out 2Tbsp of Garden Veggie Philly Cream Cheese onto one of the flatbread, and rolled up like a "cheese roll-up". It tasted great, it was filling and was only 150 calories.
Total calories for the day are about 1500, and I burned off 184 for the 30 minute leisure walk. Still going strong.
Breakfast:
Quaker Weight Control - Cinnamon
1 Pear
Dannon Lite N Fit Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
2Tbsp French Vanilla Creamer
316 calories
It was delicious and filling, I used an apple core/slicer to slice the pear, and I took Jillian Michael's advice "don't eat standing up". So I sat down and actually enjoyed my meal - seemed like so much food. I've never been much of a breakfast eater but man what an energy boost.
I headed out for business and was in a meeting right up until lunch - Note, I missed my snack. Hunger was beginning to set in. But I had my water. So on my drive home I thought where can I stop that would not kill my plan. Then I thought of Jared from Subway - Yes! So I was on a mission, I knew of one along my way home and I stopped in and got a 6" Turkey Breast & Black Forest Ham on Wheat - I had lots of veggies, a slice of Provolone, salt/pepper, oil/vinegar & mustard. I made it a combo with some Baked! Lays & a Coke Zero. My best estimate of calories for the meal about 410. Still not too bad.
With all the choices you can have at Subway - a great iPhone app would be to build your sandwich and then have it calculate the nutritional value.
I leave Subway and run some errands - spending about an hour walking around stores, then I head home. My afternoon snack consists of a cheese stick & 2 WheatThin Flatbreads. 142 calories.
For dinner, my wife & I decided on salmon patties - we love these and they are a healthier alternative to hamburgers. We grill them on each side for about 4 mins at 400 degrees. I chose to have my as part of my salad with a couple Wheatthin Flatbreads (I really like these). My wife chose to roll it all up in a Garden Spinach Lawash (green tortilla) like a burrito. We both enjoyed our variations and left the dinner table satisfied having only consumed about 400 calories.
After dinner, my wife & I, along with our 7 yr old daughter took our dog for a walk. We walked for about 30 minutes, it was rather slow pace but it was consistent. My pedometer, which I had picked up earlier in the day from Walmart for $5 showed that we walked just under 1 mile. It sure didn't feel like it. We will probably build in a 2-3 mile walk a couple nights a week into our fitness plan.
Now, I'm at the same point as I was yesterday. I've made it through the day and only consumed 1260 calories of my 2000 budget. So I again have flexibility in my evening snack. It might have been closer if I was home for my morning snack and lunch but I made due. I was not about to eat 740 calories but I wanted to close the gap a bit.
My wife bought the Lawash Flatbread (basically healthy tortillas). She picked up spinach which we both like, she had it with her dinner and I wanted to try in as part of a snack. So I spooned out 2Tbsp of Garden Veggie Philly Cream Cheese onto one of the flatbread, and rolled up like a "cheese roll-up". It tasted great, it was filling and was only 150 calories.
Total calories for the day are about 1500, and I burned off 184 for the 30 minute leisure walk. Still going strong.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
First Day Towards Fitness
Today's the day, time to transform into the Thin Man trapped inside. Now, over the past 8 years, I've repeated said to my wife and to myself - I'm happy with who I am. And that's true, I am. But, with family history of heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer - I want to reduce my risk and become a more fit person.
I will continue to enjoy the things I enjoy (mainly my family), but I will hopefully have more energy and feel better about my overall fitness level. My kids are very active and I don't want to miss out on any of it because I'm too tired or just don't have the energy any more.
First off, I want to give credit where credit is due. I purchased the book "The Biggest Loser" and after reading it, I realized that I can do this. Surprisingly, it's not that difficult (especially now that I am committed to this change). Thank you Maggie Greenwood-Robinson, PhD & Bob Harper - the book really inspired me. And for those of you out there that don't know where to start or think it may be too hard - this book shows you how simple it really can be to achieve your goals. Remember, right now I'm still trapped in the fat body (also new to blogging - If i can figure out how to post a picture I will get my before photo up -- YUCK!! ) well I've got some work to do.
Anyway - my first day went like this:
After getting my daughter off to school, I realized I'm supposed to have 6 small meals a day rather than the Breakfast Lunch & Dinner that I've been so used to. So I opened "The Biggest Loser" book (TBL) and checked out the sample meals in the back - egg whites... mmm for my caloric goal which is 2000/day I can have 4 egg whites cooked in 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil with Basil and grated Parmesan. Now I didn't have any basil so I just did without - the cheese & oil made it taste pretty good. I had a handful of cherry tomatoes, a pear, and 1 Tbsp of French Vanilla creamer for my coffee and it came to 330 calories - not bad.
Now off to the gym, now this is not something I've done a lot - so I really don't have much in the way of "work out" close. I'm not one for sweats and I typically wear my pajamas around the house; but I was able to dig out one athletic set (it became my summer pj's). So I guess I need to make a trip to the store to get some clothes - will do another time. Anyway, I get to the gym at about 9am and with lots of energy and enthusiasm I step up to the window and say "I'd like to enroll in the Weight Loss Challenge". They inform me that it was cancelled due to low enrollment. What?!? Oh no, now what... Hey, I just saved $5 for the contest and I'm still committed so I ask for some help to get started.
The fitness center attendant, we'll call him Bob, is on site and I introduce myself and tell him that I'm looking to lose some weight and I think today I'd like to start with a cardio workout. TBL talks about cardio and circuit training - so I figured that's where I'll start. I had the choice of treadmill, elliptical or cycle - I chose cycle. I also chose to cycle for 60 minutes. Bob explained the levels and I decided that I should stay on the lower settings until my fitness improves - so I planned to stay at about level 3.
It only took about 5 minutes for me to realize that level 3 was too hard for me so I kicked it down to 2, that was much better - I was able to maintain a speed of 14mph for 60 minutes. It was tough at times, and I thought ok, maybe I'll stop at 30, or 45, but I kept telling myself that I've committed to 60 minutes today and I will complete the 60 minutes. I now know what 60 minutes feels like. So I got off the bike and I felt pretty good, worked up a bit of a sweat. So now it was 10am and time to head home to do some work.
I found it difficult to really focus on anything because I felt so energized, I ended up walking around the yard, picking up trash - moving rocks and bricks, playing with the dog, repairing the sod where some animal dug it up apparently looking for grubs. Then when I finally did go inside I wanted to find a place to track my calories online and I found that www.everydayhealth.com has a great online tool for counting calories you eat and counting calories you burn through exercise. It makes it very easy to see how your intake compares to your goal. To my surprise, when I entered my cycling into the website I found out that I burned off 860 calories for my hour on the cycle - FANTASTIC!!!
So I started filling out my profile on everydayhealth.com while having my snack of a mozzarella cheese stick and an orange (142 calories); I might also add, I also was drinking my 4th water bottle of water. My wife & I each got new bottles they are transparent with some ridges for grip, a locking top and a bottle counter to help keep track of your intake. Each bottle holds 24oz of water (3-8oz glasses) It's called the Intak by Thermos. One thing I learned from The Biggest Loser book is that the water needs to be as COLD as possible. I've heard cold, then I've heard it didn't matter either way, I've never heard a scientific theory as to why it should be cold, until now. Apparently, your body has to warm the water to be able to process it, well if the water is cold your body is working harder to warm the water, hence you're burning calories GENIUS - I love it. See I told you it is simple.
At this point my day begins to normalize and I get back to work, which I won't get into. But its not long after my snack that it's time for lunch - seems like I just ate - I wasn't really hungry, but it says 6 small meals, and I'm committed so I crack open TBL again for ideas. Well, I ran into my first challenge - the suggestions for lunch either - I didn't have the ingredients or didn't really appeal (mostly because I wasn't really hungry). So I started doing something dangerous - I was looking through the cupboards for something that appealed to me. But what I found was tuna - I love tuna salad sandwiches. Now I knew that I couldn't go all out like I have in the past so I read the label. The can of tuna had 2 servings for 50 calories each - I can eat both servings and still only have used 100 calories NICE. Now I want Mayonnaise... uh oh 90 calories for 1 itty-bitty tablespoon *sigh*. Okay I'm committed, so I grab the measuring spoon and a butter knife, I fill the spoon with mayo and level it off with the knife and drop it into the tuna - now I'm at 190 calories, still not bad and it actually tastes good without all the gobs and gobs of mayo I used to put in it. I added a large salad of iceburg lettuce, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes and 2 Tbspns of a light Raspberry Viniagrette and a Dannon Lite N Fit lowfat Yogurt for a total calorie intake of 451 for lunch.
Now, it is St. Patrick's Day - and I am Irish. I passed on the green beer, but I could not pass up on the Corned Beef & Cabbage. 2.25oz of corned beef & 2 cups of cabbage, 2 WheatThin Flatbreads, and 1 small canned potato, the total for my yummy St. Patrick's Day meal was 325 calories. I weighed my corned beef on our new nutritional food scale, gives the calories, fat, carbs, fiber, and other measurments with pre-programmed data based on the weight of your food. It is a must have if you are truly committed to better eating habits.
At this point, my "Weight Tracker Dashboard" on everydayhealth.com showed that I still had 1500 calories that I could consume - now I had no intention of eating 1500 calories for my evening snack, but I knew I had a lot of flexibility. So I looked at some of my snacks that I used to enjoy - One of my favorites is tortilla chips and salsa. So I looked at the nutritional values and noticed that 6 chips (these are big chips) are 120 calories, so 9 chips (1 1/2 servings) would be 180 calories. And to my surprise - Salsa has very few calories, 2 tablespoons of salsa is only 9 calories, so I had 4 tablespoons and my snack came to 200 calories. Now I do feel guilty eating all that sodium -and I will work on controlling that - but I still ended up only eating about 1400 of my 2000 calorie daily budget - PLUS I burned off another 860 calories so my net intake for the day was only 540 calories.
I drank 5 bottles of water - 15-8oz glasses, that's a lot of water.
What I learned today, is that I need to plan out my day a little better, I'm getting most of everything I need, but I don't want to become counter-productive and jeopardize my health for the sake of fitness. I will continue drinking lots of water, it keeps me feeling full and its much more refreshing that drinking pop. So other than my morning coffee, I have had only water to drink today. Day 1 was pretty easy, I know that it will become more challenging as we move on but I'm committed to this change.
I will continue to enjoy the things I enjoy (mainly my family), but I will hopefully have more energy and feel better about my overall fitness level. My kids are very active and I don't want to miss out on any of it because I'm too tired or just don't have the energy any more.
First off, I want to give credit where credit is due. I purchased the book "The Biggest Loser" and after reading it, I realized that I can do this. Surprisingly, it's not that difficult (especially now that I am committed to this change). Thank you Maggie Greenwood-Robinson, PhD & Bob Harper - the book really inspired me. And for those of you out there that don't know where to start or think it may be too hard - this book shows you how simple it really can be to achieve your goals. Remember, right now I'm still trapped in the fat body (also new to blogging - If i can figure out how to post a picture I will get my before photo up -- YUCK!! ) well I've got some work to do.
Anyway - my first day went like this:
After getting my daughter off to school, I realized I'm supposed to have 6 small meals a day rather than the Breakfast Lunch & Dinner that I've been so used to. So I opened "The Biggest Loser" book (TBL) and checked out the sample meals in the back - egg whites... mmm for my caloric goal which is 2000/day I can have 4 egg whites cooked in 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil with Basil and grated Parmesan. Now I didn't have any basil so I just did without - the cheese & oil made it taste pretty good. I had a handful of cherry tomatoes, a pear, and 1 Tbsp of French Vanilla creamer for my coffee and it came to 330 calories - not bad.
Now off to the gym, now this is not something I've done a lot - so I really don't have much in the way of "work out" close. I'm not one for sweats and I typically wear my pajamas around the house; but I was able to dig out one athletic set (it became my summer pj's). So I guess I need to make a trip to the store to get some clothes - will do another time. Anyway, I get to the gym at about 9am and with lots of energy and enthusiasm I step up to the window and say "I'd like to enroll in the Weight Loss Challenge". They inform me that it was cancelled due to low enrollment. What?!? Oh no, now what... Hey, I just saved $5 for the contest and I'm still committed so I ask for some help to get started.
The fitness center attendant, we'll call him Bob, is on site and I introduce myself and tell him that I'm looking to lose some weight and I think today I'd like to start with a cardio workout. TBL talks about cardio and circuit training - so I figured that's where I'll start. I had the choice of treadmill, elliptical or cycle - I chose cycle. I also chose to cycle for 60 minutes. Bob explained the levels and I decided that I should stay on the lower settings until my fitness improves - so I planned to stay at about level 3.
It only took about 5 minutes for me to realize that level 3 was too hard for me so I kicked it down to 2, that was much better - I was able to maintain a speed of 14mph for 60 minutes. It was tough at times, and I thought ok, maybe I'll stop at 30, or 45, but I kept telling myself that I've committed to 60 minutes today and I will complete the 60 minutes. I now know what 60 minutes feels like. So I got off the bike and I felt pretty good, worked up a bit of a sweat. So now it was 10am and time to head home to do some work.
I found it difficult to really focus on anything because I felt so energized, I ended up walking around the yard, picking up trash - moving rocks and bricks, playing with the dog, repairing the sod where some animal dug it up apparently looking for grubs. Then when I finally did go inside I wanted to find a place to track my calories online and I found that www.everydayhealth.com has a great online tool for counting calories you eat and counting calories you burn through exercise. It makes it very easy to see how your intake compares to your goal. To my surprise, when I entered my cycling into the website I found out that I burned off 860 calories for my hour on the cycle - FANTASTIC!!!
So I started filling out my profile on everydayhealth.com while having my snack of a mozzarella cheese stick and an orange (142 calories); I might also add, I also was drinking my 4th water bottle of water. My wife & I each got new bottles they are transparent with some ridges for grip, a locking top and a bottle counter to help keep track of your intake. Each bottle holds 24oz of water (3-8oz glasses) It's called the Intak by Thermos. One thing I learned from The Biggest Loser book is that the water needs to be as COLD as possible. I've heard cold, then I've heard it didn't matter either way, I've never heard a scientific theory as to why it should be cold, until now. Apparently, your body has to warm the water to be able to process it, well if the water is cold your body is working harder to warm the water, hence you're burning calories GENIUS - I love it. See I told you it is simple.
At this point my day begins to normalize and I get back to work, which I won't get into. But its not long after my snack that it's time for lunch - seems like I just ate - I wasn't really hungry, but it says 6 small meals, and I'm committed so I crack open TBL again for ideas. Well, I ran into my first challenge - the suggestions for lunch either - I didn't have the ingredients or didn't really appeal (mostly because I wasn't really hungry). So I started doing something dangerous - I was looking through the cupboards for something that appealed to me. But what I found was tuna - I love tuna salad sandwiches. Now I knew that I couldn't go all out like I have in the past so I read the label. The can of tuna had 2 servings for 50 calories each - I can eat both servings and still only have used 100 calories NICE. Now I want Mayonnaise... uh oh 90 calories for 1 itty-bitty tablespoon *sigh*. Okay I'm committed, so I grab the measuring spoon and a butter knife, I fill the spoon with mayo and level it off with the knife and drop it into the tuna - now I'm at 190 calories, still not bad and it actually tastes good without all the gobs and gobs of mayo I used to put in it. I added a large salad of iceburg lettuce, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes and 2 Tbspns of a light Raspberry Viniagrette and a Dannon Lite N Fit lowfat Yogurt for a total calorie intake of 451 for lunch.
Now, it is St. Patrick's Day - and I am Irish. I passed on the green beer, but I could not pass up on the Corned Beef & Cabbage. 2.25oz of corned beef & 2 cups of cabbage, 2 WheatThin Flatbreads, and 1 small canned potato, the total for my yummy St. Patrick's Day meal was 325 calories. I weighed my corned beef on our new nutritional food scale, gives the calories, fat, carbs, fiber, and other measurments with pre-programmed data based on the weight of your food. It is a must have if you are truly committed to better eating habits.
At this point, my "Weight Tracker Dashboard" on everydayhealth.com showed that I still had 1500 calories that I could consume - now I had no intention of eating 1500 calories for my evening snack, but I knew I had a lot of flexibility. So I looked at some of my snacks that I used to enjoy - One of my favorites is tortilla chips and salsa. So I looked at the nutritional values and noticed that 6 chips (these are big chips) are 120 calories, so 9 chips (1 1/2 servings) would be 180 calories. And to my surprise - Salsa has very few calories, 2 tablespoons of salsa is only 9 calories, so I had 4 tablespoons and my snack came to 200 calories. Now I do feel guilty eating all that sodium -and I will work on controlling that - but I still ended up only eating about 1400 of my 2000 calorie daily budget - PLUS I burned off another 860 calories so my net intake for the day was only 540 calories.
I drank 5 bottles of water - 15-8oz glasses, that's a lot of water.
What I learned today, is that I need to plan out my day a little better, I'm getting most of everything I need, but I don't want to become counter-productive and jeopardize my health for the sake of fitness. I will continue drinking lots of water, it keeps me feeling full and its much more refreshing that drinking pop. So other than my morning coffee, I have had only water to drink today. Day 1 was pretty easy, I know that it will become more challenging as we move on but I'm committed to this change.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Step One: Commit Myself To Change
I am now 38, and only a couple months til I turn 39. According to the BMI standards, my ideal weight range for my height is 118-159lbs. Which means I'm 112-153lbs overweight. If I lost 135 lbs - I'd weigh 135 lbs (I'm two people in 1 body)
Now for just a bit of history: I had weight issues while in High School and was constantly reminded by my father how fat and lazy I was. As a teenager, I learned to "ignore" the comments, but it set inside my mind that I was not good enough and that I had to lose weight. But, I was not active and I loved junk food. The summer after I graduated from high school, I spent almost every morning playing tennis with my friend Mike Hall (I've lost touch with him over the years). Mike was a freshman my senior year, but with both of us in the band we hit it off. Besides my additional experience made up for my lack of athleticism and it made the tennis challenging for both of us (he was in very good shape).
That summer I lost over 40lbs and dropped from 188 to 145. But I never felt "thin". I always thought I was still overweight. I didn't know. I look back at photos of me between 19yrs old and 30yrs old and I'm amazed at how fit and healthy I looked. But I don't ever remember being fit.
My 30's have been very busy. I got married to my lovely wife who also will be working right beside me to become more fit. I finished my bachelors and went on to complete my master's degree both in marketing. My wife & I had a daughter. We were awarded custody of my 2 older children. And I've started my online marketing consulting business.
But I'm not prepared to let it stop there - by the time I turn 40, which is only 13 1/2 months from now I plan to have lost 100 lbs. Roughly 60 weeks or I need to average 1 2/3rds pounds per week in weight loss.
So I am committed to losing the weight through proper diet and exercise to achieve much higher level of fitness. My first step was getting a gym membership.
At the high school, there is an attached "fieldhouse" this is a shared facility between the high school students (athletes & Physical Education) and the community membership. They have a complete fitness center with treadmills, elypiticals, cycles, circuit training, and a complete assortment of free weights and other equipment that I hopefully will get to use over the course of my makeover. They also have a lap pool and a leisure pool - this will be great for the kids and getting that low-impact workout. Fortunately my schedule will allow me to visit the gym 3-4 times a week, plus a couple times to the pool with the kids or alone. Any membership fee would be worth it, but I found that this offers more for either less or about the same as a standard gym and it's less than a mile from our house - it's the right fit. So we purchased a family membership on 3/11.
What was even better; was that they had a "Weight Loss Challenge" that was beginning on 3/17 to run for 6 weeks - my wife & I thought what better way to start our path to total fitness. So that was the plan. On March 17 we will begin our quest. But we already had our membership - So we took the kids swimming. It was very nice, we experienced all that both pools had to offer. We had a great time and the kids are looking forward to many days playing around in the water, becoming better swimmers and ultimately improving their overall health.
Now for just a bit of history: I had weight issues while in High School and was constantly reminded by my father how fat and lazy I was. As a teenager, I learned to "ignore" the comments, but it set inside my mind that I was not good enough and that I had to lose weight. But, I was not active and I loved junk food. The summer after I graduated from high school, I spent almost every morning playing tennis with my friend Mike Hall (I've lost touch with him over the years). Mike was a freshman my senior year, but with both of us in the band we hit it off. Besides my additional experience made up for my lack of athleticism and it made the tennis challenging for both of us (he was in very good shape).
That summer I lost over 40lbs and dropped from 188 to 145. But I never felt "thin". I always thought I was still overweight. I didn't know. I look back at photos of me between 19yrs old and 30yrs old and I'm amazed at how fit and healthy I looked. But I don't ever remember being fit.
My 30's have been very busy. I got married to my lovely wife who also will be working right beside me to become more fit. I finished my bachelors and went on to complete my master's degree both in marketing. My wife & I had a daughter. We were awarded custody of my 2 older children. And I've started my online marketing consulting business.
But I'm not prepared to let it stop there - by the time I turn 40, which is only 13 1/2 months from now I plan to have lost 100 lbs. Roughly 60 weeks or I need to average 1 2/3rds pounds per week in weight loss.
So I am committed to losing the weight through proper diet and exercise to achieve much higher level of fitness. My first step was getting a gym membership.
At the high school, there is an attached "fieldhouse" this is a shared facility between the high school students (athletes & Physical Education) and the community membership. They have a complete fitness center with treadmills, elypiticals, cycles, circuit training, and a complete assortment of free weights and other equipment that I hopefully will get to use over the course of my makeover. They also have a lap pool and a leisure pool - this will be great for the kids and getting that low-impact workout. Fortunately my schedule will allow me to visit the gym 3-4 times a week, plus a couple times to the pool with the kids or alone. Any membership fee would be worth it, but I found that this offers more for either less or about the same as a standard gym and it's less than a mile from our house - it's the right fit. So we purchased a family membership on 3/11.
What was even better; was that they had a "Weight Loss Challenge" that was beginning on 3/17 to run for 6 weeks - my wife & I thought what better way to start our path to total fitness. So that was the plan. On March 17 we will begin our quest. But we already had our membership - So we took the kids swimming. It was very nice, we experienced all that both pools had to offer. We had a great time and the kids are looking forward to many days playing around in the water, becoming better swimmers and ultimately improving their overall health.
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