Category: Health & Fitness

Well this is cool. Seemed like I got to 224 really fast and then couldn’t budge from there for a while. Kind of frustrated me for a few days. I was counting calories diligently and always under for the day, but I still felt bloated and the scales didn’t budge. Finally yesterday and today they did. That was rewarding. I started taking 30 minute walks with my dogs every day since Spring has sprung. That feels good to get some exercise. I want to gradually increase it until I’m doing full workouts at the gym. I want those coveted “ironing board” or “six-pack” abs. I just want to know what that feels like. So obviously losing weight is not the most important thing. It’s losing fat. Plus, I learned that the more muscle you build the faster your metabolism burns. It has to burn faster just to keep up with the overall increase in muscle, keeping that muscle built. But I think losing those first few pounds to get some momentum going is important for morale. Getting some feedback on the scales.

I think I went at it too hard in the beginning, hungry for results. I was only having about 1100 calories a day. Now I’m having more like 1500-1800.

Interesting thing about this app: When I first programmed my numbers it gave me a calorie “budget” of just over 1800 calories. Then as I’ve lost a few pounds my new “budget” has decreased to 1799. That’s cool if it adjusts automatically like that.

My diet has been pretty much the same. 3 boiled eggs and toast (whole wheat) at breakfast, half sandwich (freshly made at the Kroger deli and packaged) & apple for lunch, then one of those Stouffer frozen dinners at dinner. Those are usually around 400-450 calories. I’ll drink water, fat free milk or a Sugar free Verve with those meals. Then later at night I might have a Chocolate Myo-Plex shake with fat free milk and a banana.

Looks like I started this on March 10th. So I’m right at the 2 week mark and 8lbs lost.

Look at me! Give me attention! Isn’t that what it’s all about these days?

Well that’s the “shadow” part of what’s going on, but still, if something you are doing, some part of your story is of benefit to others, or even telling your story is of benefit to you, by recording it, writing it down (Don’t all the success books tell you to write things down?) then the benefits to society of the internet far outweigh the egotistical sides of it.

Well I’ve eaten about the same thing the last four days. If I get up early enough, boiled eggs, toast with sugar free strawberry jam, orange juice. Lunch is a half sandwich made at Krogers and packaged with an apple and a glass of at free milk. Dinner is one of those Stouffer’s frozen dinners. They are generally 400-450 calories with a Sugar Free Verve to drink or once again milk.

I’ve been averaging about 1100 calories a day, which is too little, and 4lbs in 5 days is too fast, but I haven’t been starving myself. When I’m hungry I eat, but simply conscious of how many calories in the meal.

The iPhone app certainly helps. Maybe it’s the key in getting me kick started. Forever I’ve been thinking, “I’ll start the ‘Body for Life’ program next week.” But that’s such a large undertaking of planning and getting everything ready it created a roadblock.

The app has got me started. Got me excited of success with immediate results. I feel like from here I can gradually move into more “Body for Life” features.

I can’t stress enough how I feel the value of a meal including a protein and a carb. Even in smaller portions it makes me feel more satisfied than just having an apple by itself, for instance.

I’m also taking advantage of those Myoplex Nutrition shakes in time limited situations. And the key there is they contain protein and carbs which keep me feeling satisfied and good to go for a few hours.

Well, I don’t know if I’ve lost 2lbs in 2 days, but this what the scale said this morning. My only insight would be, my sense is that if you’re just patient with your hunger pangs, after 20 minutes or so, your liver will release the stored up energy in your fat (I think it’s called glycogen) and they will gradually disapate. Now I’m not trying to starve myself. I’m eating, but just smaller portions (a half sandwich instead of a whole one for instance), and I really don’t feel hunger pangs in the day. Just late at night, when I’m ready to go to sleep. Maybe try a sleep aid (Make sure it’s safe! Check with your doctor!). I’ve taken Advil PM the last couple of nights because I have knee pain anyway, and it’s put me to sleep.

Also, when I’m eating my smaller portions, I tell myself, “If your hungry again, go ahead and eat again in 2 or 3 hours.” That seems to give me some subconscious relief, and also eating smaller portions but more frequently speeds up your metabolism and keeps your insulin levels (hence mood) more stable. When your insulin levels are more stable throughout the day it tells your body its okay to burn fat instead of trying to hold on to it.

So I’ve been overweight for a long time. I downloaded an app for the iPhone called “Lose It!” which made me enter my weight. So I went on the scales for the first time in a long time. It read 231lbs! That is crazy! I’ve never weighed this much.

This website, CaloriesPerHour.com, is useful. I entered in my dimensions and it spat back out, “Your Obese!” Wake up call! The only thing worse than “Obese” on their scale is “Morbidly Obese!”

The Livestrong App on iTunes may even be better than Lose It! but Lose It! seems to work fine for me now. It’s free. The Livestrong app is $2.99 I believe. I learned of Lose It! on Mashable.com so I trusted it was pretty good even for free.

Anyway, Lose It!, helps you keep track of calories. So now I’m going to count! My goal is 175lbs which is about the right weight for my height (5′ 11″).

Even though it’s embarrassing, I thought blogging it would help keep me on track.

Yesterday I had no breakfast because I didn’t wake up early. Lunch was HALF of a REUBEN sandwich which was something freshly made and packaged from Kroger’s, so I’d say it’s a little bit less fattening than ones you might buy at a fast food place or Oaklawn. Anyway a website said a typical Reuben, cheese and all is about 462 calories.

So for my first meal I had 231+95 (Half a Reuben and a whole Apple) = 326. I drank a Sugar Free Verve which is only 4 calories! I love that, because it feels like drinking a soda which are usually 100 calories or more. So make it 330.

A few hours later I had a Stouffer’s Fish Filet dinner with Mac and Cheese. The box says 400 calories. Normally I would eat two of those. I ate one.

So my grand total yesterday was 730 calories. (I had water with dinner) My budget of  calories in the app was 1839. It says that’ll lose two pounds per week if I budget 1839 or less per day. So I was under by a 1000 or more calories!

Going to bed I had hunger pangs. Definitely before the app I would have gone out and gotten something, but I drank two glasses of water. I think I drank half a verve too. The carbonation helps. Also I think I had a Vemma.

This morning, before eating, the scale said 229.5. Now, granted, when I weighed the first time, it was after I had eaten something. So let’s take a pound off of that, and make my starting point 230. (Assuming I would have weighed in at 230 that morning.)

Well, ok. Maybe I lost half a pound. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Today I’ve had so far (it’s about 7pm as I write) 1026 calories. I did take a mile and half walk today with my dogs even though my knee was hurting. Finally there was Sun and warmth (about 67F)! The app says that exercise burned about 126 calories. I can live with that. I was sweating by the end of it.

So my net for the day so far is 900. I can eat 936 more calories today and still be under my budget!

Allright. I may have something later. I’m not trying to get crazy or anything.

One thing I have noticed, and I’ve read this before is that when I have a protein with a carb, even if its a smaller portion, I feel satisfied. (The reuben had the meat, bread, and apple. The Stouffer’s meals always have a meat some kind of carb.)

So other than Counting & Keeping track, which according to Lance Armstrong, does work, my one little take away would be to make sure you have a protein and carb with your meal, even if it’s a smaller portion.

I’ll continue to weigh every day just because I like it, but I’m not worried about day to day results as much as weekly ones.

Oh another piece of advice: If you have those hunger pangs at night, it’s almost like the training that goes with quieting the mind in meditation. In meditation you gently nudge the mind back to quietness. With this, at least in my case, I have some water or a carbonated drink to quell them just a little. I’ve done this the last two nights actually, and it feels like they reduce in intensity over time. I think to myself while I’m laying in bed that I’ve got enough stored up energy for my body to sleep and dream peacefully. If my body needs more energy, at least at this point, there are plenty of reserves down there! That helps ease the mind a little that you don’t need anything late at night.

Although don’t think that a fantasy of an omelette plate from Waffle house hasn’t crossed my mind! Still, I be still, do some reading, and fall asleep.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

I think the tricky part is knowing just how many calories everything you eat has. Say you go to a restaurant, have one of there nice meals. Fine. You want desert, fine, but just how many calories did that meal have? Especially if you are on the go, this is a challenge. The web helps. It told me about the Reuben. But sometimes you’ll just have to make a rough guess if you are at a restaurant or something.

Obviously there is more to it than just calories. Fat is the most important thing. But, hey, I’m a numbers guy. An app like this that is on the phone, at least helps me get the ball rolling and focused in the right direction.