I had a great weekend. Saturday we had family over for a cook-out to celebrate my upcoming birthday, so Saturday was my blow-off day. I had a sensible breakfast and lunch and enjoyed my dinner! I had a hot dog, a cheeseburger, macaroni salad (my sister-in-law makes the best macaroni salad!), loaded baked potato salad, a slice of apple pie and a scoop of butter cream ice cream! Later in the evening I had a slice of peach-berry pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I really like pie...
My sister made the loaded baked potato salad, but I forgot to tell her that I blow off one day a week. This salad is loaded with sour cream and she knows that I'm losing weight so she cut back on the sour cream and it was a little dry. It still tasted great though. It was even better the next day when I mixed a little light ranch dressing into it!
I got a couple attachments for the weight machine, specifically a tricep rope and a double D handle for low rows. I also got some cash which I'll use for a new lat bar and flat bench. These and a set of dumbells will allow me to rotate through 3 different strength routines. Three different sets of exercises that still allow me to work all the same muscle groups.
Sunday we finished off the left overs, but I cut back my serving size, added a big fresh salad and stayed in my calorie count.
All it takes is patience and work!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday Weigh-in
I lost 1.4 pounds this week. I only exercised twice and that's the result.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with that. Any loss is a loss. I just need to push myself a little more.
I can definitely do that.
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 367.0
Today: 365.6
19.4 lbs in 7 weeks
All it takes is patience and work.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with that. Any loss is a loss. I just need to push myself a little more.
I can definitely do that.
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 367.0
Today: 365.6
19.4 lbs in 7 weeks
All it takes is patience and work.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday and Thursday recap
Tuesday's walk really did a number on me! My legs were sore Wednesday and Thursday.! Unfortunately, it kept me from exercising. I stayed within my calories those days so I should be o.k. My wife had to get ready earlier than normal today, so it through me off my game and I forgot to weigh myself. I'll update that tomorrow.
I was looking at my stats for the week and I am a little high on my fat intake and I'm curious to see if it had an impact on my weight.
Yesterday I went out for lunch with friends instead of packing. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I was able to do some research. I had to have potato wedges, because they are great and I really like their Asian zing sauce, so instead of boneless wings, I ordered naked tenders. It was a good lunch and only about 500 calories, which is around my average lunch total.
Saturday will be my blow off day. We're having a small cookout for my birthday and I plan on having all the good cookout foods and pie (I like pie better than birthday cake!) and ice cream and yum!
I'll check in tomorrow with a weight update!
All it takes is patience and work!
I was looking at my stats for the week and I am a little high on my fat intake and I'm curious to see if it had an impact on my weight.
Yesterday I went out for lunch with friends instead of packing. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I was able to do some research. I had to have potato wedges, because they are great and I really like their Asian zing sauce, so instead of boneless wings, I ordered naked tenders. It was a good lunch and only about 500 calories, which is around my average lunch total.
Saturday will be my blow off day. We're having a small cookout for my birthday and I plan on having all the good cookout foods and pie (I like pie better than birthday cake!) and ice cream and yum!
I'll check in tomorrow with a weight update!
All it takes is patience and work!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday and Tuesday Recap
Nothing much happened on Monday. We forgot to take meat out of the freezer to thaw, so there wasn't anything to make for dinner. I went up and exercised while my wife ordered us salads and pizza. Exciting, huh?
I mentioned earlier that we had a sick dog last week, so we've been monitoring her. We noticed that she hadn't done anything more than pee since Sunday morning. We figured if nothing happened by Wednesday, we'd take her back to the vet. I thought a good walk might help her, so I plotted a 2 mile trek using i-fit.com and used that for my exercise last night. I'd like to get an i-fit module for my treadmill, it lets you plot a route based on the terrain from any location. It will adjust the incline of the treadmill to match.
Anyway, I plotted a 2 mile trek and off we went. I noticed a big difference. When I walk on the treadmill, I set the speed, and I go. I work up a sweat and my heart rate is up and all is good. When I was walking last night, I could feel the difference in my legs. I was walking slower than the treadmill, which I expected, but I think I got a better work out. I'll have to try and do that once or twice a week. I hate walking outside, so it'll be tough to get the motivation. The dogs will appreciate the effort though.
All it takes is patience and work.
I mentioned earlier that we had a sick dog last week, so we've been monitoring her. We noticed that she hadn't done anything more than pee since Sunday morning. We figured if nothing happened by Wednesday, we'd take her back to the vet. I thought a good walk might help her, so I plotted a 2 mile trek using i-fit.com and used that for my exercise last night. I'd like to get an i-fit module for my treadmill, it lets you plot a route based on the terrain from any location. It will adjust the incline of the treadmill to match.
Anyway, I plotted a 2 mile trek and off we went. I noticed a big difference. When I walk on the treadmill, I set the speed, and I go. I work up a sweat and my heart rate is up and all is good. When I was walking last night, I could feel the difference in my legs. I was walking slower than the treadmill, which I expected, but I think I got a better work out. I'll have to try and do that once or twice a week. I hate walking outside, so it'll be tough to get the motivation. The dogs will appreciate the effort though.
All it takes is patience and work.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Weekend update
Friday was a pretty good day. I stayed home from work in case I needed to deal with something at the vets. All was quite on that front - the dog is home and doing much better - so I exercised and then went out and cut the lawn. After finishing and cleaning up, it was late afternoon and I hadn't eaten lunch. This is where I get in trouble. Do I eat something small to carry me over until dinner, or do I eat a full meal, call it an early dinner and then have something light later in the evening. Either way, I end up hungry at some point and have to fight blowing my calorie limit.
Anyway, I decided on a grilled chicken salad from the local pizza place. Whenever I order a grilled chicken salad, I always want to order bread-sticks, and end up eating the full order which is probably about 1200 calories in bread. That kind of defeats the purpose of the salad. I really wanted the bread-sticks. I thought about asking them to make a half order, but I'm not a special request person. It bugs me when people start ordering like that. One time we were having a casual family get together, and were ordering pizzas. My sister told me to order her pizza and this is how the order started. "Order a large, with extra sauce on half. On the half with extra sauce, order 2 pieces with pepperoni, 3 pieces with green pepper, mushrooms..." I stopped her at that point and told her to place her own order. Same thing with drive-thrus. When you pull up to a drive thru, there should be no special orders. It shouldn't be more than "Gimme a number one with a coke, a number 3 with a diet coke...." If you want a big mac with no special sauce, or are ordering for 5 people and they all need to be separate bills, park the car and walk your ass inside! Sorry... getting off track.
I ended up ordering the bread-sticks but as soon as I got home, before eating my salad, I pulled two bread-sticks, and then wrapped up the balance of the order into two packs and put them in the freezer. Then I ate my salad with the two bread-sticks and didn't blow my limit for the day. I did have the munchies later, but a bowl of cereal carried me through.
Saturday was normal and Sunday was my day off. I didn't eat anything special, but I still went over my limit by about 700 calories. I just ended up munching all day and it added up.
All it takes is patience and work.
Anyway, I decided on a grilled chicken salad from the local pizza place. Whenever I order a grilled chicken salad, I always want to order bread-sticks, and end up eating the full order which is probably about 1200 calories in bread. That kind of defeats the purpose of the salad. I really wanted the bread-sticks. I thought about asking them to make a half order, but I'm not a special request person. It bugs me when people start ordering like that. One time we were having a casual family get together, and were ordering pizzas. My sister told me to order her pizza and this is how the order started. "Order a large, with extra sauce on half. On the half with extra sauce, order 2 pieces with pepperoni, 3 pieces with green pepper, mushrooms..." I stopped her at that point and told her to place her own order. Same thing with drive-thrus. When you pull up to a drive thru, there should be no special orders. It shouldn't be more than "Gimme a number one with a coke, a number 3 with a diet coke...." If you want a big mac with no special sauce, or are ordering for 5 people and they all need to be separate bills, park the car and walk your ass inside! Sorry... getting off track.
I ended up ordering the bread-sticks but as soon as I got home, before eating my salad, I pulled two bread-sticks, and then wrapped up the balance of the order into two packs and put them in the freezer. Then I ate my salad with the two bread-sticks and didn't blow my limit for the day. I did have the munchies later, but a bowl of cereal carried me through.
Saturday was normal and Sunday was my day off. I didn't eat anything special, but I still went over my limit by about 700 calories. I just ended up munching all day and it added up.
All it takes is patience and work.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday recap and Friday weigh-in
This has been a rough week for exercising. I wasn't able to exercise last night either. One of our dogs is sick. My wife took her to the vet yesterday afternoon and after some tests, they recommended we take her to a vet hospital with an overnight staff. I left work early, picked up my wife at home, we went and picked up the dog at the vet and drove across town in rush hour to the vet hospital. After waiting for a couple hours, we were told that it wasn't as bad as we feared, but she would have to spend a couple days there. All for the low low cost of a Myrtle Beach ocean front vacation! It's worth it though, anything to keep my doggies healthy. By the time we got home and ate dinner, it was too late.
Even though I stuck to my calories all week, I only exercised once so far and my loss was a little lower than average. I'm thinking about starting to exercise before dinner. I'm less likely to blow it off if I do it before I sit down. Come home, change clothes, exercise and then eat, at least on the days I do strength training. I'll have to think about that.
This week I lost 2.6 lbs this week. That's almost a pound less than last week. Regular exercise definitely makes a difference. (Shocking, I know!)
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 369.6
Today: 367.0
18 lbs in 6 weeks
All it takes is patience and work.
Even though I stuck to my calories all week, I only exercised once so far and my loss was a little lower than average. I'm thinking about starting to exercise before dinner. I'm less likely to blow it off if I do it before I sit down. Come home, change clothes, exercise and then eat, at least on the days I do strength training. I'll have to think about that.
This week I lost 2.6 lbs this week. That's almost a pound less than last week. Regular exercise definitely makes a difference. (Shocking, I know!)
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 369.6
Today: 367.0
18 lbs in 6 weeks
All it takes is patience and work.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday and Wednesday recap
I'm still staying on track with my calories and I exercised on Tuesday, but blew it off again last night. Last night wasn't intentional, I just lost track of time. After dinner, a neighbor knocked on our door and we spent a half hour or so chatting, and one thing led to another and it was too late to go up. I should explain that. My wife gets up really early (around 3:00) so she goes to bed early. They 'gym' is right next to our bedroom and I don't like to go up too late because I don't want to keep her up.
I noticed something the other day when I was logging my Tuesday exercise in my food journal. Most journals break up the speed on a treadmill by .5 mph, so it's either 2.5 or 3.0. When I'm walking at speeds between halves, I record it at the lower speed. So Tuesday night, I walked 45 minutes at 2.6 mph. I recorded it at 2.5 and noticed that they have 2.5 listed as "leisurely-pace". Let me tell you something, when you weigh over 300 lbs, 2.5 mph ain't leisurely! Although I won't be able to go at a less leisurely pace until I figure out how to tighten the belt on my treadmill. It's starting to slip a little at faster speeds.
Tuesday night, I caught the end of the Biggest Loser. I watched the show for a couple seasons early on and thought it was good. Now I think it's about how much they can demean the contestants. I don't want to take anything away from the contestants that are on the show and do the work and lose weight. They bust their butts and do great. It's the show concept that on the first show of the season, the trainers have to push the contestants until they make them barf. Really? That's the only way to exercise? I wonder how many fat people think that the only way they can lose weight is to go to camp and exercise for 12 hours a day, every day, and eat in a controlled environment. Also how many people watch the show, see contestants lose 10 or 15 pounds in a week and then go on a diet and are upset because they "only" lost 1 or 2 lbs. I guess reality tv can't get too real...
All it takes is patience and work.
I noticed something the other day when I was logging my Tuesday exercise in my food journal. Most journals break up the speed on a treadmill by .5 mph, so it's either 2.5 or 3.0. When I'm walking at speeds between halves, I record it at the lower speed. So Tuesday night, I walked 45 minutes at 2.6 mph. I recorded it at 2.5 and noticed that they have 2.5 listed as "leisurely-pace". Let me tell you something, when you weigh over 300 lbs, 2.5 mph ain't leisurely! Although I won't be able to go at a less leisurely pace until I figure out how to tighten the belt on my treadmill. It's starting to slip a little at faster speeds.
Tuesday night, I caught the end of the Biggest Loser. I watched the show for a couple seasons early on and thought it was good. Now I think it's about how much they can demean the contestants. I don't want to take anything away from the contestants that are on the show and do the work and lose weight. They bust their butts and do great. It's the show concept that on the first show of the season, the trainers have to push the contestants until they make them barf. Really? That's the only way to exercise? I wonder how many fat people think that the only way they can lose weight is to go to camp and exercise for 12 hours a day, every day, and eat in a controlled environment. Also how many people watch the show, see contestants lose 10 or 15 pounds in a week and then go on a diet and are upset because they "only" lost 1 or 2 lbs. I guess reality tv can't get too real...
All it takes is patience and work.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday recap
I almost blew my calorie limit yesterday. After lunch, I had a bad craving for a chocolate bar. My boss is selling Andy's candies, but as near as I could tell, they are all over 300 calories. I decided to check the vending machine and saw there were Three Musketeer bars, I know they are around 200 calories. However I hit the wrong button and ended up with a Milky Way for 270 calories. Doh!
Instead of cereal, I had a bowl of cantelope and strawberries after dinner and stayed under my total by about 20 calories.
I blew off exercising last night. I'm feeling a little guilty about it now.. I need to cut grass tonight, so that should cover my treadmill work. I don't think I'll have the time to do both tonight. I really need to start training myself to get up at 5 AM and exercise in the mornings. It was always easier. I got it out of the way, and it gave me a good boost of energy for the day.. The funny thing is, I normally wake up every day at 5. I just look at the clock and think "Good! Another hour!".
All it takes is patience and work!
Instead of cereal, I had a bowl of cantelope and strawberries after dinner and stayed under my total by about 20 calories.
I blew off exercising last night. I'm feeling a little guilty about it now.. I need to cut grass tonight, so that should cover my treadmill work. I don't think I'll have the time to do both tonight. I really need to start training myself to get up at 5 AM and exercise in the mornings. It was always easier. I got it out of the way, and it gave me a good boost of energy for the day.. The funny thing is, I normally wake up every day at 5. I just look at the clock and think "Good! Another hour!".
All it takes is patience and work!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Weekend update
I've come to the conclusion that a daily rehash of what I eat is boring. Go figure. You've seen a weeks worth of meals and can see that I'm eating regular food and staying within my calories. From this point on, I'm only going to post the exceptions. If I can figure out a way to link my "myfitnesspal" profile, I'll do that.
Friday and Saturday I stayed within my range, as a matter of fact, I was under by 128 on Friday and under by 201 on Saturday. Saturday's total is impressive because we had take-out chinese food for dinner. It took me a little research to figure out what to order. Our usual place has a steamed diet menu, with sauce on the side which isn't bad, but I wanted something different. The problem is that when you google healthy chinese food, you get a bunch of websites that say order from the steamed menu and stay away from General Tso's. They also mention to stick with foods that aren't fried or come with a heavy sauce. The problem is that I don't know how many of the dishes on the menu are prepared... I eventually found a site that listed dishes and calorie counts. And I forgot to bookmark it. Anyway, I settled on shrimp with chinese vegetables and a small wonton soup. It was about 500 calories total.
Sunday was my blow-off day, and I came in at just under 3000 calories for the day. I did o.k. with breakfast and lunch (cereal and subway). However we ordered ribs for dinner, with fries and macaroni and cheese. It was really good and that meal was over 1400 calories! Well worth it! The strawberry cheesequake blizzard from dairy queen was an extra treat!
All in all, a good weekend! Plus, the Bucs finally won on the west coast! The Pens shit the bed, but I'm not much of a hockey fan, so I don't really care about that!
All it takes is patience and work! (and the occassional dairy queen blizzard!)
Friday and Saturday I stayed within my range, as a matter of fact, I was under by 128 on Friday and under by 201 on Saturday. Saturday's total is impressive because we had take-out chinese food for dinner. It took me a little research to figure out what to order. Our usual place has a steamed diet menu, with sauce on the side which isn't bad, but I wanted something different. The problem is that when you google healthy chinese food, you get a bunch of websites that say order from the steamed menu and stay away from General Tso's. They also mention to stick with foods that aren't fried or come with a heavy sauce. The problem is that I don't know how many of the dishes on the menu are prepared... I eventually found a site that listed dishes and calorie counts. And I forgot to bookmark it. Anyway, I settled on shrimp with chinese vegetables and a small wonton soup. It was about 500 calories total.
Sunday was my blow-off day, and I came in at just under 3000 calories for the day. I did o.k. with breakfast and lunch (cereal and subway). However we ordered ribs for dinner, with fries and macaroni and cheese. It was really good and that meal was over 1400 calories! Well worth it! The strawberry cheesequake blizzard from dairy queen was an extra treat!
All in all, a good weekend! Plus, the Bucs finally won on the west coast! The Pens shit the bed, but I'm not much of a hockey fan, so I don't really care about that!
All it takes is patience and work! (and the occassional dairy queen blizzard!)
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday Recap and Friday Weigh-in
I was able to stick to my plan yesterday and it worked out well with only one minor glitch. I emailed my wife yesterday and told her to go ahead and eat dinner whenever she wanted to since I was going to exercise first. She thought I meant don't cook dinner and didn't. It wasn't a big deal though. I pulled out a couple salmon fillets to thaw and hit the treadmill. I did 45 minutes, which is the amount of time I should do when I'm not doing any strength training. I guess it's the amount I should do period, but I shave off 15 minutes when I lift weights.
After the treadmill, I took a quick shower and went and got my hair cut. When I got home, I made my dinner. Two 4oz pieces of salmon with an apricot/soy sauce glaze - 240 kcal. Some steamed mixed vegetables - 30 kcal and 3 small baked yukon gold potatoes - 330 kcal, with butter and low fat sour cream - 134 kcal..
For breakfast, I had the usual peanut butter, apple and English muffin - 420 kcal.
For lunch, I also had the usual sandwich, pretzels and string cheese - 510 kcal. I added on a small salad with lite Italian dressing for - 70 kcal.
I actually just remembered the salad this minute and it wasn't logged last night when I fixed myself a bowl of cereal. I had a double serving of cinnamon Chex with skim milk - 320 kcal. The cereal put me over my quota by about 50 calories. Had I remembered to log the salad, I would have had a normal portion of cereal. Not a big deal though.
For me, this isn't an exact science. I don't weigh my food and I make honest estimates on portion size. Like I said, I used to measure things out and have a good idea on portion sizes. I'm only hurting myself if I call a heaping bowl of cereal one serving or take a 10oz steak and call it one serving and I won't do that. I know that I'll always have to think about my food choices, and that's fine, I can do that. I don't want to have to go through life with a scale and measuring cups in my pockets. I want to apply basic knowledge and common sense and live a healthier life.
I weighed in this morning, first with the original batteries and then with new batteries and the weight was the same. I lost 3.4 lbs this week.
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 373.0
Today: 369.6
15.4 lbs in 5 weeks
Just for shits-n-giggles, I counted out that there are 37 weeks left in the year. If I keep averaging 3lbs per week, I'll lose another 111 lbs by the end of the year. That would put me around 258 lbs. I haven't weighed that in about 15 years. I know that's putting the cart before the horse, but still...
All it takes is patience and work.
After the treadmill, I took a quick shower and went and got my hair cut. When I got home, I made my dinner. Two 4oz pieces of salmon with an apricot/soy sauce glaze - 240 kcal. Some steamed mixed vegetables - 30 kcal and 3 small baked yukon gold potatoes - 330 kcal, with butter and low fat sour cream - 134 kcal..
For breakfast, I had the usual peanut butter, apple and English muffin - 420 kcal.
For lunch, I also had the usual sandwich, pretzels and string cheese - 510 kcal. I added on a small salad with lite Italian dressing for - 70 kcal.
I actually just remembered the salad this minute and it wasn't logged last night when I fixed myself a bowl of cereal. I had a double serving of cinnamon Chex with skim milk - 320 kcal. The cereal put me over my quota by about 50 calories. Had I remembered to log the salad, I would have had a normal portion of cereal. Not a big deal though.
For me, this isn't an exact science. I don't weigh my food and I make honest estimates on portion size. Like I said, I used to measure things out and have a good idea on portion sizes. I'm only hurting myself if I call a heaping bowl of cereal one serving or take a 10oz steak and call it one serving and I won't do that. I know that I'll always have to think about my food choices, and that's fine, I can do that. I don't want to have to go through life with a scale and measuring cups in my pockets. I want to apply basic knowledge and common sense and live a healthier life.
I weighed in this morning, first with the original batteries and then with new batteries and the weight was the same. I lost 3.4 lbs this week.
Starting weight: 385.0 lbs
Last week: 373.0
Today: 369.6
15.4 lbs in 5 weeks
Just for shits-n-giggles, I counted out that there are 37 weeks left in the year. If I keep averaging 3lbs per week, I'll lose another 111 lbs by the end of the year. That would put me around 258 lbs. I haven't weighed that in about 15 years. I know that's putting the cart before the horse, but still...
All it takes is patience and work.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday Recap
Yeah, I totally blew off exercising last night. My elbow hurt and after I finished my blog post, I just didn't feel like it. That means I can't blow off tonight and I have a hair cut appointment, so I'll need to change things up a little. I'll have to exercise and then shower as soon as I get home. Then I'll be able to eat dinner and walk up to the barber. Unfortunately, the walk to the barber isn't enough to count as exercise, so it will just be bonus walking.
Actually, the reason I use the treadmill and don't just walk outside is that I don't push myself enough when I'm walking outside. I tend to stroll. I remember years ago, when I was still in highschool, I was walking back to a buddy's house when another friend (RIP Tony) caught up to me. He was out for a run and said that he knew it was me from 3 blocks away just from my walk. Apparently I have the most laid-back walk he had ever seen! With the treadmill, I set a speed and have to walk that speed. I'm planning on getting an i-fit module for my treadmill that will allow me to program street walks and the treadmill will adjust the incline based upon the actual terrain.
With the exception of Easter Sunday, I've been doing really well with caloric intake. I've only exceeded 2000 calories a couple times and each time it hasn't been more than 100 calories.
Yesterday I had an egg white omelet with 2 slices of bacon, peppers, onions and a little bit of cheddar - 250 kcal, a piece of whole wheat toast with a little margarine spread - 150 kcal and a side of fruit salad - 84 kcal.
Lunch was leftovers from Tuesday's dinner - 295 kcal, a side of cantelope - 100 kcal and two Aldi's fruit snack gummy candy things - 90 kcal.
For dinner my wife made baked chicken with a French's Fried Onion coating - 360 kcal for one boneless breast, Stove top stuffing - 150 kcal and steamed broccoli - 57 kcal (with a pat of butter) and more cantelope - 80 kcal.
I had a bowl of cereal for a snack - 300 kcal and a cheese stick before bed - 80 kcal. This put me right at 1994 calories for the day.
You may notice that we eat a lot of packaged side dishes. Yes, I know all about whole foods and how they are so much healthier for you. However, my wife and I both work and on weeknights we want dinner to be quick and easy. Eventually I would like to start eliminating processed foods from my diet, but that is not a change that I'm worried about right now. When I'm under 200 pounds I'll start thinking about changing things up but until then, I'm eating my potatoes au gratin with real imitation cheese powder. Deal with it.
All it takes is patience and work.
Actually, the reason I use the treadmill and don't just walk outside is that I don't push myself enough when I'm walking outside. I tend to stroll. I remember years ago, when I was still in highschool, I was walking back to a buddy's house when another friend (RIP Tony) caught up to me. He was out for a run and said that he knew it was me from 3 blocks away just from my walk. Apparently I have the most laid-back walk he had ever seen! With the treadmill, I set a speed and have to walk that speed. I'm planning on getting an i-fit module for my treadmill that will allow me to program street walks and the treadmill will adjust the incline based upon the actual terrain.
With the exception of Easter Sunday, I've been doing really well with caloric intake. I've only exceeded 2000 calories a couple times and each time it hasn't been more than 100 calories.
Yesterday I had an egg white omelet with 2 slices of bacon, peppers, onions and a little bit of cheddar - 250 kcal, a piece of whole wheat toast with a little margarine spread - 150 kcal and a side of fruit salad - 84 kcal.
Lunch was leftovers from Tuesday's dinner - 295 kcal, a side of cantelope - 100 kcal and two Aldi's fruit snack gummy candy things - 90 kcal.
For dinner my wife made baked chicken with a French's Fried Onion coating - 360 kcal for one boneless breast, Stove top stuffing - 150 kcal and steamed broccoli - 57 kcal (with a pat of butter) and more cantelope - 80 kcal.
I had a bowl of cereal for a snack - 300 kcal and a cheese stick before bed - 80 kcal. This put me right at 1994 calories for the day.
You may notice that we eat a lot of packaged side dishes. Yes, I know all about whole foods and how they are so much healthier for you. However, my wife and I both work and on weeknights we want dinner to be quick and easy. Eventually I would like to start eliminating processed foods from my diet, but that is not a change that I'm worried about right now. When I'm under 200 pounds I'll start thinking about changing things up but until then, I'm eating my potatoes au gratin with real imitation cheese powder. Deal with it.
All it takes is patience and work.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday Recap
I had a pretty good day yesterday. Breakfast was my normal English muffin, apple and peanut butter - 420 kcal.
Lunch was almost the same as Monday. A turkey sandwich for - 270 kcal. There's a difference in the calories from Monday because of a different type of bread. A bag of pretzels - 160 kcal, a string cheese - 80 kcal and a pudding cup - 80 kcal.
Dinner was supposed to be a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Unfortunately Wal-mart was out of rotisserie chickens, those rotten bastages... Instead my wife picked up one of those Hormel heat and eat roast beef packs. Other than high sodium, they aren't bad and a serving is 110 kcal. The mashed potatoes were 140 kcal and the green beans were 72 kcal including a pat of butter.
This was a pretty low calorie day. I had plenty of calories left over. Even with a hard boiled egg - 78 kcal, for a mid-afternoon snack and a double serving of Lucky Charms in the evening - 300 kcal, I still had about 190 calories left over.
My wife had taken her mother shopping and was late getting home and I realized that if I waited to exercise until she got home and we ate, I probably wouldn't exercise at all. Instead, I walked on the treadmill while I was waiting for her to get home. By the time I was done, I was able to start cooking the side dishes, we were able to eat soon after she got home and I could relax the rest of the evening.
As I sit her writing this, I realized my elbow hurts. I think I might have to skip my strength training and just do cardio. Although it would be nice to just stay here on the couch for the rest of the evening. I better not though. All day I've felt pretty good, like I'm going to have a good number on the scale on Friday. I hope to lose a pound a week. So far I've been averaging 3 pounds per week and I'm very happy with that.
All it takes is patience and work.
Lunch was almost the same as Monday. A turkey sandwich for - 270 kcal. There's a difference in the calories from Monday because of a different type of bread. A bag of pretzels - 160 kcal, a string cheese - 80 kcal and a pudding cup - 80 kcal.
Dinner was supposed to be a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Unfortunately Wal-mart was out of rotisserie chickens, those rotten bastages... Instead my wife picked up one of those Hormel heat and eat roast beef packs. Other than high sodium, they aren't bad and a serving is 110 kcal. The mashed potatoes were 140 kcal and the green beans were 72 kcal including a pat of butter.
This was a pretty low calorie day. I had plenty of calories left over. Even with a hard boiled egg - 78 kcal, for a mid-afternoon snack and a double serving of Lucky Charms in the evening - 300 kcal, I still had about 190 calories left over.
My wife had taken her mother shopping and was late getting home and I realized that if I waited to exercise until she got home and we ate, I probably wouldn't exercise at all. Instead, I walked on the treadmill while I was waiting for her to get home. By the time I was done, I was able to start cooking the side dishes, we were able to eat soon after she got home and I could relax the rest of the evening.
As I sit her writing this, I realized my elbow hurts. I think I might have to skip my strength training and just do cardio. Although it would be nice to just stay here on the couch for the rest of the evening. I better not though. All day I've felt pretty good, like I'm going to have a good number on the scale on Friday. I hope to lose a pound a week. So far I've been averaging 3 pounds per week and I'm very happy with that.
All it takes is patience and work.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday recap
I expect most of these posts are boring to anyone that might be reading this blog. Let's face it, a guy telling you what he ate the day before isn't all that exciting. My goal is to use this as a means of peer pressure. I'd like to have enough people checking in and willing to beat me up if I start slacking! Also, I'd like to show that you can lose weight eating regular food.
Yesterday, I had my normal breakfast; english muffin, apple, peanut butter - 420 kcal.
For lunch, I had a turkey sandwich - 380 kcal, a cup of home-made beef vegetable soup - 106 kcal, pretzels - 160 kcal, and string cheese - 80 kcal.
For dinner, my wife made chicken enchiladas. It's a recipe she got from a Kraft foods mailer or something and it's pretty simple and really good. The only problem is that we had the wrong tortilla shells. The shells we had are 210 kcal each. Added to the filling, each enchilada was 650 kcal. However the enchilada was very large and one was more than enough. It made me realize that I still have a mental hurdle to get over. I ate the one enchilada and was satisfied. However I wanted a second. I wasn't hungry, I enjoyed the taste and wanted more. I need to start eating slower and paying attention to what my stomach is telling me, not what my eyes are telling me. Instead of seconds, I wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the freezer and had some cantelope - 80 kcal. Oh, I had some lite sour cream with the enchilada - 35 kcal.
After exercising, I was a little hungry and had a bowl of cinnamon chex with skim milk - 160kcal. This put my total at 1991 for the day.
Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays I do strength training and cardio. I stretched out for about 5 minutes, then I did 10 minutes on the treadmill at 2.0 mph to loosen up. After that, I did my strength routine. Currently I do one set of 25 reps of the following exercises: Chest press, seated row, bicep curl, lat pull down, tricep pull down, seated crunches, leg curl, leg extension, leg press and calf press. After that, I did 30 minutes on the treadmill at 2.7 mph. I know this may seem slow to some of you, but it is a workout for me. I started out at 2.3 mph and have been increasing it weekly. Once I get the speed up to 3.0 mph, I plan on adding an incline, a percent at a time.
A couple years ago, when I lost 90+ pounds, I did it by joining a gym. The trainer there, who had also set me up with the strength routine mentioned above, used to do his cardio the same time I was there working out. He would do 30 minutes on the treadmill at 4.0 mph at the steepest incline possible on the treadmill. He would do this while reading the newspaper. It amazed me that he never held on or slipped. I know if I had tried it, I would have slipped and the treadmill would have shot me across the gym!
Anyway, I've been doing the strength exercises for about 4 weeks now and in another 4 weeks, I'll switch routines. I used a website called Beeble's fitness to come up with alternate routines. The site has a large exercise library. I would search for one of the exercises in my routine and the website would show the muscle groups that were worked by the exercise. I searched for other exercises that worked the same muscle groups and was able to come up with 2 additional routines. I will have to buy a set of dumbbells and a flat bench for some of these exercises though. I can get both for around $40 each. I've also added them to my Amazon wish list if there are any people wondering what to get me for my birthday!
All it takes is patience and work
Yesterday, I had my normal breakfast; english muffin, apple, peanut butter - 420 kcal.
For lunch, I had a turkey sandwich - 380 kcal, a cup of home-made beef vegetable soup - 106 kcal, pretzels - 160 kcal, and string cheese - 80 kcal.
For dinner, my wife made chicken enchiladas. It's a recipe she got from a Kraft foods mailer or something and it's pretty simple and really good. The only problem is that we had the wrong tortilla shells. The shells we had are 210 kcal each. Added to the filling, each enchilada was 650 kcal. However the enchilada was very large and one was more than enough. It made me realize that I still have a mental hurdle to get over. I ate the one enchilada and was satisfied. However I wanted a second. I wasn't hungry, I enjoyed the taste and wanted more. I need to start eating slower and paying attention to what my stomach is telling me, not what my eyes are telling me. Instead of seconds, I wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the freezer and had some cantelope - 80 kcal. Oh, I had some lite sour cream with the enchilada - 35 kcal.
After exercising, I was a little hungry and had a bowl of cinnamon chex with skim milk - 160kcal. This put my total at 1991 for the day.
Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays I do strength training and cardio. I stretched out for about 5 minutes, then I did 10 minutes on the treadmill at 2.0 mph to loosen up. After that, I did my strength routine. Currently I do one set of 25 reps of the following exercises: Chest press, seated row, bicep curl, lat pull down, tricep pull down, seated crunches, leg curl, leg extension, leg press and calf press. After that, I did 30 minutes on the treadmill at 2.7 mph. I know this may seem slow to some of you, but it is a workout for me. I started out at 2.3 mph and have been increasing it weekly. Once I get the speed up to 3.0 mph, I plan on adding an incline, a percent at a time.
A couple years ago, when I lost 90+ pounds, I did it by joining a gym. The trainer there, who had also set me up with the strength routine mentioned above, used to do his cardio the same time I was there working out. He would do 30 minutes on the treadmill at 4.0 mph at the steepest incline possible on the treadmill. He would do this while reading the newspaper. It amazed me that he never held on or slipped. I know if I had tried it, I would have slipped and the treadmill would have shot me across the gym!
Anyway, I've been doing the strength exercises for about 4 weeks now and in another 4 weeks, I'll switch routines. I used a website called Beeble's fitness to come up with alternate routines. The site has a large exercise library. I would search for one of the exercises in my routine and the website would show the muscle groups that were worked by the exercise. I searched for other exercises that worked the same muscle groups and was able to come up with 2 additional routines. I will have to buy a set of dumbbells and a flat bench for some of these exercises though. I can get both for around $40 each. I've also added them to my Amazon wish list if there are any people wondering what to get me for my birthday!
All it takes is patience and work
Monday, April 9, 2012
Weekend update
My weekend went pretty much as planned with only a few exceptions.
Friday, we decided to order pizza instead of fish. Like I said, I planned on a high calorie dinner, so I was prepared. When we are watching what we eat, and order pizza, we only order a small pizza and we load it up with vegetables. We'll typically get pepperoni on it too, but the bulk will be veggies. In addition to the small pizza, we'll each get a side salad. This is plenty for a meal and it keeps me from over eating. If we order a medium or large, I'll end up eating 3/4 of the pizza throughout the night. Every time I go into the kitchen, I'll grab a piece. There's a local place that has a thick crust sicilian style pie that is really good, but only comes in a 16 slice square. The nights we order that, I end up eating 2000 calories worth of pizza! (This would be clue #1 as to why I'm fat...)
Anyway, a side salad with dressing is around 70 calories and 3 slices from a small pie are around 660 calories. My breakfast and lunch totaled 680 calories, dinner was 728 calories which means I had enough calories left for a small oreo cheesequake blizzard! BONUS! Add those 580 calories to my total and I came in at 1988 for the day.
Saturday, I went fishing, so I was eating fast food all day, but I still stayed within my quota. My buddy and I stopped at Sheetz on the way to the lake and I got a ham, egg and cheese shmuffin for breakfast - 410 calories. I also ordered a 6" roastbeef sandwich for lunch, all the veggies, provolone and ff italian dressing - 415 calories - and a bag of baked chips, which I only ate 3/4 of - 120 calories. I bought a bag of sunflower seeds to chew on while fishing -180 calories.
As a sidebar - it was a cold windy day on the lake, and I only caught one perch, but it was a great day! My boat is my happy place and I love being on the water in it.
On the way home, we stopped at Wendy's, 3 minutes after a little league team walked in... It was the longest I've ever waited for fast food. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, lettuce and tomato only with bbq sauce on the side - 350 calories because I didn't get my bbq sauce. At that point, I was just happy for food and didn't go back for the sauce. I also ordered a small fry - 320 calories and a Ceaser side salad without croutons - 170 calories. That put me at 1965 calories for the day.
Yesterday, I overindulged and had pastry, bacon, fresh kielbasa, ham, potatoes au-gratin, pasta, nut-roll and more. I didn't keep track of it, enjoyed the day with family and I am back on track today.
I firmly believe that when dieting, you should have one day a week off. I don't mean that it should always be a day of excess, but one day that you should allow yourself to indulge in any cravings. Say I get a craving for pancakes, I can tell myself that I'll have them Sunday and I'm not depriving myself of anything. If I'm still craving them on Sunday, I have pancakes and eat sensibly the rest of the day. The trainer at the gym I used to belong to loved BK whoppers. About once a month, he would go to Burger King and get 2 Whoppers a large fry and a milkshake. If you eat sensibly 99% of the time, you can indulge cravings 1% of the time. My problem is that I want to do the reverse!
I hope you all had a good weekend/holiday!
All it takes is patience and work.
Friday, we decided to order pizza instead of fish. Like I said, I planned on a high calorie dinner, so I was prepared. When we are watching what we eat, and order pizza, we only order a small pizza and we load it up with vegetables. We'll typically get pepperoni on it too, but the bulk will be veggies. In addition to the small pizza, we'll each get a side salad. This is plenty for a meal and it keeps me from over eating. If we order a medium or large, I'll end up eating 3/4 of the pizza throughout the night. Every time I go into the kitchen, I'll grab a piece. There's a local place that has a thick crust sicilian style pie that is really good, but only comes in a 16 slice square. The nights we order that, I end up eating 2000 calories worth of pizza! (This would be clue #1 as to why I'm fat...)
Anyway, a side salad with dressing is around 70 calories and 3 slices from a small pie are around 660 calories. My breakfast and lunch totaled 680 calories, dinner was 728 calories which means I had enough calories left for a small oreo cheesequake blizzard! BONUS! Add those 580 calories to my total and I came in at 1988 for the day.
Saturday, I went fishing, so I was eating fast food all day, but I still stayed within my quota. My buddy and I stopped at Sheetz on the way to the lake and I got a ham, egg and cheese shmuffin for breakfast - 410 calories. I also ordered a 6" roastbeef sandwich for lunch, all the veggies, provolone and ff italian dressing - 415 calories - and a bag of baked chips, which I only ate 3/4 of - 120 calories. I bought a bag of sunflower seeds to chew on while fishing -180 calories.
As a sidebar - it was a cold windy day on the lake, and I only caught one perch, but it was a great day! My boat is my happy place and I love being on the water in it.
On the way home, we stopped at Wendy's, 3 minutes after a little league team walked in... It was the longest I've ever waited for fast food. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, lettuce and tomato only with bbq sauce on the side - 350 calories because I didn't get my bbq sauce. At that point, I was just happy for food and didn't go back for the sauce. I also ordered a small fry - 320 calories and a Ceaser side salad without croutons - 170 calories. That put me at 1965 calories for the day.
Yesterday, I overindulged and had pastry, bacon, fresh kielbasa, ham, potatoes au-gratin, pasta, nut-roll and more. I didn't keep track of it, enjoyed the day with family and I am back on track today.
I firmly believe that when dieting, you should have one day a week off. I don't mean that it should always be a day of excess, but one day that you should allow yourself to indulge in any cravings. Say I get a craving for pancakes, I can tell myself that I'll have them Sunday and I'm not depriving myself of anything. If I'm still craving them on Sunday, I have pancakes and eat sensibly the rest of the day. The trainer at the gym I used to belong to loved BK whoppers. About once a month, he would go to Burger King and get 2 Whoppers a large fry and a milkshake. If you eat sensibly 99% of the time, you can indulge cravings 1% of the time. My problem is that I want to do the reverse!
I hope you all had a good weekend/holiday!
All it takes is patience and work.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Week 4 cont...
I forgot to get new batteries yesterday, but I weighed myself and I got a different weight, 373.0. I still need to replace the batteries, but I feel better about the accuracy of my numbers so far.
At first I was expecting a challenging weekend in regards to sticking to my calorie limits, but as I thought about it, I realized that I'll be fine. I'm off today and I shouldn't have a problem. First, I'll have one of my favorite breakfasts: a toasted english muffin with peanut butter and apple slices. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is so good. An english muffin is around 110 calories, depending upon the brand, 2 tbsp peanut butter is 180 calories and an apple is around 80 to 100, depending upon the size. It's important to use the right kind of apple. I like either Honeycrisp or Fuji. They both have a sweet spice background flavor that goes great with the peanut butter.
I've pulled out a couple tilapia fillets for lunch, I'll probably brush them with a little italian dressing and grill them. They'll go well with a salad. The fish fillets are around 100 calories each and the salad with a little balsamic vinagrette is about 150 calories (35 for the salad and 120 for 2 tbsp of dressing).
That'll put me at around 800 calories with 1200 left. That's good, because it is fish fry Friday! A 4oz serving of fried cod is around 200 calories and a typical piece from a church is around 8 or 10 ounces. Add another 230 calories for an order of fries, and 200 calories for coleslaw and I can top 1000 calories easy.
I'm going fishing tomorrow, so I'll hit Mcdonalds for an egg mcmuffin which is about 300 calories. I'll hit sheetz or subway for a sammich (roast beef on wheat, provolone, everything except black olives and jalapenos, oil and vinegar) 420 calories, baked lays @ 140 calories. I don't know about dinner yet, but I'll have plenty of calories to spare.
Sunday is Easter and I'm not going to attempt to count. I'll watch my portion sizes and not overdo it on the finger foods and I'll enjoy the day with my family. I hope you will too!
Please note that the calories I post are approximations based upon information found on the web, calorie counts on packages, and my best guess on size and weight. I don't measure out or weigh my food. I've done this in the past and have a good idea on what constitutes a serving. I may be off a little, but not by much and I'm not going to go through life measuring everything I put in my mouth. I recommend that you start by measuring until you get a feel for it. Be honest with amounts (don't fill a plate with pasta and tell yourself "that's about a cup") and you'll be fine. The more you do it, the easier it will get.
All it takes is patience and work.
At first I was expecting a challenging weekend in regards to sticking to my calorie limits, but as I thought about it, I realized that I'll be fine. I'm off today and I shouldn't have a problem. First, I'll have one of my favorite breakfasts: a toasted english muffin with peanut butter and apple slices. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is so good. An english muffin is around 110 calories, depending upon the brand, 2 tbsp peanut butter is 180 calories and an apple is around 80 to 100, depending upon the size. It's important to use the right kind of apple. I like either Honeycrisp or Fuji. They both have a sweet spice background flavor that goes great with the peanut butter.
I've pulled out a couple tilapia fillets for lunch, I'll probably brush them with a little italian dressing and grill them. They'll go well with a salad. The fish fillets are around 100 calories each and the salad with a little balsamic vinagrette is about 150 calories (35 for the salad and 120 for 2 tbsp of dressing).
That'll put me at around 800 calories with 1200 left. That's good, because it is fish fry Friday! A 4oz serving of fried cod is around 200 calories and a typical piece from a church is around 8 or 10 ounces. Add another 230 calories for an order of fries, and 200 calories for coleslaw and I can top 1000 calories easy.
I'm going fishing tomorrow, so I'll hit Mcdonalds for an egg mcmuffin which is about 300 calories. I'll hit sheetz or subway for a sammich (roast beef on wheat, provolone, everything except black olives and jalapenos, oil and vinegar) 420 calories, baked lays @ 140 calories. I don't know about dinner yet, but I'll have plenty of calories to spare.
Sunday is Easter and I'm not going to attempt to count. I'll watch my portion sizes and not overdo it on the finger foods and I'll enjoy the day with my family. I hope you will too!
Please note that the calories I post are approximations based upon information found on the web, calorie counts on packages, and my best guess on size and weight. I don't measure out or weigh my food. I've done this in the past and have a good idea on what constitutes a serving. I may be off a little, but not by much and I'm not going to go through life measuring everything I put in my mouth. I recommend that you start by measuring until you get a feel for it. Be honest with amounts (don't fill a plate with pasta and tell yourself "that's about a cup") and you'll be fine. The more you do it, the easier it will get.
All it takes is patience and work.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Week 4
Things are rolling right along. Last weekend, my wife and I started spring cleaning. As part of that, I decided to scrape the old caulking from around the master bath and redo it. Unfortunately, this meant I had to spend a considerable amount of time kneeling on a tile floor. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I could barely walk. I had recovered some on Monday, but thought it best to rest my knees another day, so I didn't exercise. I have exercised the last 2 days and will continue to do so today and tomorrow, so I'm still on track.
Also, I have been packing lunch and breakfast to work all week, except today. I feel much more confident with my calorie counts for the week. I didn't pack today, so I'll have to be careful on choices and really consider what I'm ordering. Breakfast will be easy. I can get an egg-white omelet with veggies, bacon and a little cheese. I'll get a side of fruit salad and a piece of whole wheat toast. Lunch will be a little harder, but I know they offer turkey burgers and turkey dogs, or I can just order a sandwich with a side of raw veggies.
I've stayed on track with my calories all week. I went over one day, but I was still under the total after the program added in the calories I burned from exercising. That's the one thing I don't like about the tracking programs. When you add in your exercises, it adds those calories to your daily total. I want my daily calorie intake to be 2000, within 50 calories either way. I've taken to adding my exercises a day later, just so I won't lose track.
I haven't told many people about this blog, just my wife and 2 or 3 close friends. Essentially, I've been talking to myself. That's going to change. I'm going to include it in a Facebook status update and add a link to my homepage.
I've noticed a pattern in my weigh-ins that is disturbing. All my weights have ended in .8 pounds. I meant to change the batteries on my scale before this started, but didn't, Now I wonder if they are dying and I'm not getting an accurate reading. I know I lost weight. I can tell by the way my clothes feel, I'm down 2 holes on my belt and I'm wearing pants that didn't fit a month ago. I just wonder how accurate the numbers are. I'll get new batteries today and weigh myself again tomorrow to see the difference. Actually, I'll weigh myself twice tomorrow, once with the old batteries and once with the new.
Regardless, the scale said I lost 3 pounds this week, so I'm happy! 373.8 and 11.2 pounds in 4 weeks.
Or not, depending on the batteries...
All it takes is patience and work.
Also, I have been packing lunch and breakfast to work all week, except today. I feel much more confident with my calorie counts for the week. I didn't pack today, so I'll have to be careful on choices and really consider what I'm ordering. Breakfast will be easy. I can get an egg-white omelet with veggies, bacon and a little cheese. I'll get a side of fruit salad and a piece of whole wheat toast. Lunch will be a little harder, but I know they offer turkey burgers and turkey dogs, or I can just order a sandwich with a side of raw veggies.
I've stayed on track with my calories all week. I went over one day, but I was still under the total after the program added in the calories I burned from exercising. That's the one thing I don't like about the tracking programs. When you add in your exercises, it adds those calories to your daily total. I want my daily calorie intake to be 2000, within 50 calories either way. I've taken to adding my exercises a day later, just so I won't lose track.
I haven't told many people about this blog, just my wife and 2 or 3 close friends. Essentially, I've been talking to myself. That's going to change. I'm going to include it in a Facebook status update and add a link to my homepage.
I've noticed a pattern in my weigh-ins that is disturbing. All my weights have ended in .8 pounds. I meant to change the batteries on my scale before this started, but didn't, Now I wonder if they are dying and I'm not getting an accurate reading. I know I lost weight. I can tell by the way my clothes feel, I'm down 2 holes on my belt and I'm wearing pants that didn't fit a month ago. I just wonder how accurate the numbers are. I'll get new batteries today and weigh myself again tomorrow to see the difference. Actually, I'll weigh myself twice tomorrow, once with the old batteries and once with the new.
Regardless, the scale said I lost 3 pounds this week, so I'm happy! 373.8 and 11.2 pounds in 4 weeks.
Or not, depending on the batteries...
All it takes is patience and work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)