Doug's Exercise Life Blog

Hey, there's that wagon.

2009-03-26T18:42:00.003-04:00

Well, Mandie and I started dieting again on Tuesday. We started off doing essentially the "LA Weight Loss" quickstart/flush your system thing-a-ma-jig. Since LA Weight Loss is no more, we've started using the "Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet" drink stuff and then stick to the rest of the plan - unlimited proteins and green vegetables. No carbs (other than the drink). And limited condiments (butter, low-fat salad dressing, mayonaise).

On Tuesday, I weighed in at 257 lbs. and this morning I weighed in at 254.5 lbs. We do eat more than usual on the quick-start, but not extreme by any stretch of the imagination.

Last night, a few of us went for drinks and food at Chevy's. I stuck with diet coke, water and got a chicken cesar salad without taste (no salad dressing). I did cheat by eating 2 fajita nachos - but, I skipped the sour cream (and eww- guacamole). I consider it a big win.

Today someone dropped of cookies at our round-table. Food on the round-table is open season for our cubicle row (and really- entire floor). It's a HUGE weakness of mine. But, so far I've avoided them - they call to me and I stare at them when I walk by. I might have to move them down to the kitchen.

Today we're back on the LA Weight Loss plan. It's wonderful having Mandie do it with me. I'm my lowest (down 13.5 lbs.) since I started this most recent weight losing extravaganza some 2 months ago.

Friday the 13th

2009-03-13T16:22:00.000-04:00

I had hoped to exercise at work yesterday and today, just go into the gym and do 15 minutes on the bikes. It's just not happening. (I didn't realize how much having coworkers do it with me was a motivator!) Paige and I will be going to the pool again tonight- that should be fun and exercise-ful.

I weighed-in again this morning, 255.5 lbs for a total of 12.5 lbs. I'm hopeful that this loss will give me a motivator to make it through the weekend. We'll see!

Some exercising, that's good

2009-03-12T18:21:00.003-04:00

I worked out two and a half times this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was aerobics in the gym with a coworker. Wednesday was 10-15 minutes on the stationary bike and then lifted weights. The "half" was that Paige and I went to the pool and played. It was quite high activity for what I'm used to.

The downside to all of this is that I've been hungry and losing the willpower fight more than I'd like.

I weighed in this morning at 258 lbs. for a total of 10 lbs. lost now.

Paddling is exercise!

2009-03-09T16:57:00.001-04:00

My eating still has gone to heck in a handbasket. Though, yesterday - I opted to take grapes, an orange and some other fairly healthy things as paddling snacks, rather than candy and/or fattening snacks. Which leads me to - I exercised yesterday by paddling! Honestly, I could careless about the exercise as my main goal was to just enjoy the warm day and get out on the water. BUT- it was exercise, none the less.

I weighed in this morning at 258.5 which is a net loss of 9.5 lbs. My goal is to stick to an eating plan this week and continue my Tuesday/Thursday exercise regimen. I'd like to see me at or below 250 lbs. by the end of March. It's 22 days in about 3 weeks. That works out to about 3 lbs. per week.

Exercise went better

2009-03-05T18:02:00.003-05:00

Myself and 2 coworkers exercised today and this time I did not almost pass out. A win! I did opt out of a 2nd set of jumping jacks and I made sure to take sips of water between each different exercise.

I'll talk more later about the actual exercises that we're doing.

And, I weighed in today - I'm at 260 lbs. I'm not happy about that, but it's a reflection of what I've been eating. It's been quite a bit of high sodium foods, so my guess is that it's quite a bit of water weight. But, we'll see. Today I've eaten right and plan to keep it up.

Well, I didn't actually pass out.

2009-03-03T16:39:00.002-05:00

I went into our gym here at work with a coworker to do part of an aerobics workout that she's been doing lately. We went through the warm up and part of the 1st cycle. We had 2 other coworkers for a peanut gallery. I did as much as I could- apparently a little too much and ended up quite light headed after we stopped. I sat for a while, got my breathing under control and used water & towels to cool myself down.

I'm not so embarrassed about getting woozy in front of my coworkers. I'm more frustrated with the little bit that took me to the point of being breathlessness.

I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 257.0 lbs.
Loss: 12 lbs.

I'm going the wrong way, but I'm also not eating right. The weekend had a baby shower and dinners out. Today (post-weigh in), was my anniversary at work and we went out for lunch. Just have to batten down the hatches and get back to it.

Still going, doing OK

2009-02-27T14:43:00.001-05:00

Now that the challenge isn't going on, I'm finding it hard to find time to blog about how I'm doing. That and I haven't been doing as well as the first 2 weeks. I've found that I'm getting quite hungry at night and have been giving into the cravings more than I should.

Overall, I'm doing pretty well with the eating plan, like I said snacking after dinner a bit too much. Finding time to exercise is still incredibly difficult - I'm not a morning person and when I get home from work, it's time pretty close to time for dinner. After dinner is playtime with Paige, put her to bed, put us to bed and sleep. Oh well, I'll figure something out - I really can't wait to be able to get the kayak out and get exercise that way.

I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 256.5 lbs.
Loss: 11.5 lbs.

Day 12-15 & weekend #2, recap

2009-02-24T14:54:00.000-05:00

In short, BadDad Ate It. Paige has a book called "Bagdad Ate It". In the book, a family gets a dog; the dog gets fat; the dog is put on a diet; the dog continues to eat everything in sight. That comes close to describing my dinners all weekend long. I was like Batman -- during the day, I did quite well - sticking to a diet, eating portions and eating the right things; but, at night... well, it was less than stellar. On Friday night was our company dinner at a fancy restaurant - yummy and no concept of a diet. On Saturday night was a silent auction fundraiser for my daughter's school - so many picky-appetizer-y things. And Sunday night, due to lack of motivation- dinner was from Uno. I showed a tiny bit of restraint by not getting the super-fattening Numero Uno and instead I opted for the BBQ Chicken flatbread pizza. [Note, those numbers are per serving and each "individual" portion contains 3 servings.]

I haven't kept up with the food diary. I'll start that back up today.

Same story with the exercise - I haven't been doing it. My free time has gone to working on the kayak.

I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 254.5 lbs.
Loss: 13.5 lbs.

I'm glad to see that I was able to get back on track on Monday again. Hopefully I can keep a bit better on track on the weekends and not have slides backwards.

Day 11, recap

2009-02-20T10:43:00.002-05:00

Day 11 was a pretty quiet day all around.

My food log/diary yesterday was:

Meal	Food	Type
Breakfast	Orange	Fruit
Lunch	Chicken (~6 oz.)	Protein
Lunch	Tomato	Vegetable
Lunch	Salad	Vegetable
Lunch	Salad Dressing (~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Hot Dog Roll	Starch
Dinner	Pork (~4 oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Salad Vegetable
Dinner	Salad Dressing (~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Green Beans (~3 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Cheese (~2 oz.)	Dairy

Exercise yesterday was non-existant; I napped after work, but if I hadn't, I would have been out working on the kayak.

I have more challenges coming:

tonight is a big fancy company dinner;
and... Saturday is a day full of events.

I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 256 lbs.
Loss: 12 lbs.

I've been waiting all week for the proverbial shoe to drop from last weekend's way-off-diet eating-- mostly in the form of a weight gain from one day to another. Instead, it's more snuck up on me and kept this week's weight loss pretty low. However, at this point - it's been about 2 lbs; I really can't complain about that.

Day 10, recap

2009-02-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

Day 10 - I whooped-up-upon the dinner with friends. I did NOT have chips, potato salad, macaroni salad and cake. They were there. I wanted them. I resisted and won! Apparently there's something to being on home turf.

I found out that 2 of my friends are doing Weight Watchers. I'm proud of them and hope for the best. It was interesting - dessert came out and the one friend grabbed a piece of cake. His wife (err, "significant other") hounded him a bit and ended it with a hearty, "Would Andrew eat that?" I don't know who "Andrew" is, but it sure whipped him into shape - he called her a nasty name (in good humor) and pushed the plate away. The whole exchange got me thinking- having accountability in this dieting, food consumption/life change-aram is huge. For these past 2 weeks, knowing that I'd have to admit things to my coworker has definately been a motivator. I wonder who my stick will become next week...

My food log/diary yesterday was:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Yogurt (low-fat)	Dairy
Lunch	Chicken (~6 oz.)	Protein
Lunch	Carrots (~1 1/2 cups)	Vegetable
Afternoon Snack #1	Kiwi	Fruit
Afternoon Snack #1	Orange	Fruit	Extremely large, almost grapefruit size
Dinner	Burger (~8 oz.)	Protein	2 patties, 1 w/ roll & 1 w/o roll
Dinner	Cheese (2 oz.)	Dairy	Cheese on each burger
Dinner	Hamburger Roll	Starch
Dinner	Mayonaise	Fat
Dinner	Ketchup (~4 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Mustard (~2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Lettuce	Vegetable
Dinner	Tomato	Vegetable	On burgers and by itself
Dinner	Red Onion	Vegetable
Dinner	Hot Dog	Protein
Dinner	Hot Dog Roll	Starch

Exercise yesterday was non-existant from working late and having friends over. That's OK, there's always today.

I have more challenges coming:

tomorrow night is a big fancy company dinner;
and... Saturday is a day full of events.

I get a bit scale-obsessed and snuck onto the scale this morning. It showed no change from yesterday. I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop from my weekend's splurges. We'll see tomorrow.

Day 9, recap

2009-02-18T07:51:00.001-05:00

Day 9 started with me getting up and out late. This threw off my eating by essentially pushing everything back. All in all, it mostly worked out - but, I ate dinner after 8pm. I was still hungry when I finished dinner, so I had a "snack" (ok, it was really an extension of dinner) of approximately 3 oz. of milk and approximately 1 1/2 oz. of (reduced fat) cheese.

I was glad to see that my weekend's "festivities" of not eating right haven't carried into yesterday. The results on the scale were a huge motivator in that.

My food log/diary yesterday was:

Meal	Food	Type
Breakfast	Banana	Fruit
Lunch	Hamburger (4oz.)	Protein
Lunch	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Lunch	Carrots	Vegetable
Lunch	Tomato	Vegetable
Lunch	Cheese (~< 1 oz.)	Dairy
Lunch	Salad Dressing (~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Lunch	Brocolli (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Chicken (~7 oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Carrots (~1 1/2 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Cheesy/Brocolli Noodles	Starch/Fat
Evening Snack	Milk (3 oz.)	Dairy
Evening Snack	Cheese (1 1/2 oz.)	Dairy

Exercise yesterday was non-existant from working late. The closest that I came was carrying big boxes of scrapbook-stuff upstairs.

I have more challenges coming:

tonight we're having friends over for dinner;
this Friday is a big fancy company dinner;
and... Saturday is a day full of events.

Finally, I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 256.5 lbs.
Loss: 11.5 lbs.

My expectation is that the sodium and fat overload from the weekend are going to catch up to me - I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't happen today, so lets see how Friday's weigh-in goes. That's how it used to go- splurge and 2-3 days later, I pay for it.

Days 5-8 & first weekend, recap

2009-02-17T16:29:00.001-05:00

Days 5-8 were Friday through Monday (President's Day)- this meant that I had a long weekend included. Long story short- I lost, both in the eating right perspective and from a weight perspective.

Friday was the most normal of the days, though - I splurged slightly at dinner with having 2 taco shells when I should have just had 1. Saturday was incredibly challenging as lunch was served by my grandmother. Fortunately, it was homemade hamburgers and some fixins. I was able to avoid the chips, but I went way too heavy eating some sliced up cheese they had sitting out. Saturday evening, we crashed my dad and his girlfriend's Valentine's Day dinner. It had to have been incredibly romantic to have son, daughter-in-law and grandchild there for dinner. It was good and horribly fattening throw back to a favorite childhood meal - fettucine with alfredo sauce, bacon and shrimp. I stand by that it was all-natural fattening, so it wasn't a lot of nasty chemicals, BUT- it was still a huge fail and wonderfully fattening. Once I'd failed that horribly, the temptation of cupcakes whooped up upon me, I had 4. Sunday was a day of running and therefore was eaten while out and about. We ended up at Wendy's for lunch where I was able to limit myself to a chicken sandwich, shared a small french fry and 2 bites of Mandie's Frosty. (An interesting excuse- I figured the small & shared fry was as fattening or even less so than the cesar salad with it's ultra-fattening salad dressing. I need to vet that out to see how I did.) For dinner, I was at the mercy of my sister and her crockpot. And finally, Monday- I regain some control, though lunch was eaten out. We did a salad bar where my worst offenses were eating too much salad and putting some of the fattening stuff on it; my actual lunch was a grill chicken "cheese" steak. Dinner was whatever was in the house, which turned out to be some frozen homemade brocolli cheddar soup and a salad. I was hungry when I went to bed, but I ignored it.

My biggest problem is once I go offtrack is that I tend to stay offtrack - each thing sending me spiralling out of control. All weekend long, I kept trying to pick eating out at Taco Bell, or getting a big dessert or... well, you name it and I thought about it. While my actual diary doesn't show much restraint, I still tried where I could and did OK.

I had tried to be prepared for the busy weekend and packed a cooler of food on Saturday. Unfortunately, I didn't get into it nearly like I wanted on Saturday (though, we did break out grapes once) AND I then let it get warm and nasty on Saturday night; double fail- I lost my snacks for Sunday and Monday AND I wasted money in the form of food. Sucktabulous.

Friday (2/13) Diary:

Meal	Food	Type
Morning Snack	1oz. Reduced fat cheese stick	Dairy
Morning Snack	Cucumber (1/3)	Vegetable
Morning Snack	1oz. Reduced fat cheese stick	Dairy
Lunch	Hamburger (4 oz.)	Protein
Lunch	Cheese (1 oz. slice)	Dairy
Lunch	Ketchup (~2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Lunch	Mustard (~<1 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Taco Shells (2)	Starch
Dinner	Chicken (~10 oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Lettuce (~6 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Tomato	Vegetable
Dinner	Cheese (~3 oz)	Dairy
Dinner	Sour cream (~6 tbsp.; fat free)	Condiment
Dinner	Salsa (~6 tbsp.)	Condiment
Evening Snack	Raisin Bran Cereal (~ 1 1/2 cup)	Starch
Evening Snack	Milk (~3 oz.)	Dairy

Saturday (2/14) Diary:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Oatmeal	Starch
Morning Snack	Grapes (10)	Fruit
Lunch	Hamburger (~8 oz.)	Protein	2 patties, one in a sandwich; one on it's own
Lunch	Bread/Sandwich roll	Starch
Lunch	Onion	Vegetable
Lunch	Cheese	Dairy	Way too much cheese
Lunch	Ketchup	Condiment
Lunch	Mustard	Condiment
Lunch	Pickle (2 spears)	Condiment
Dinner	Fettucine Alfredo	Starch/Fat	Way a lot of fat
Dinner	Bacon	Fat
Dinner	Shrimp (~4)	Protein
Dinner	Breadstick	Starch
Dinner	Cake Dessert	Fat
Evening Snack	Cupcakes (4)	Fat

Sunday (2/15) Diary:

Meal	Food	Type
Breakfast	Oatmeal	Starch
Morning Snack	Chicken Noodle Soup	Starch/Protein/Fat
Lunch	Bread/Sandwich roll	Starch
Lunch	Chicken	Protein
Lunch	Lettuce	Vegetable
Lunch	Tomato	Vegetable
Lunch	Ketchup	Condiment
Lunch	French Fries	Starch/Fat
Dinner	Noodles (~4 cups)	Starch
Dinner	Beef Strogenoff	Protein/Fat

Monday (2/16) Diary:

Meal	Food	Type
Lunch	Lettuce (~3 cups)	Vegetable
Lunch	Carrots	Vegetable
Lunch	Tomato	Vegetable
Lunch	Cheese	Dairy
Lunch	Salad Dressing (~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Lunch	Hard-boiled Egg	Protein
Lunch	Ham	Protein
Lunch	Croutons	Starch
Lunch	Bacon Bits	Fat
Lunch	Bread	Starch
Lunch	Hoagie Roll	Starch
Lunch	Chicken (~6 oz)	Protein
Lunch	Grilled onions	Vegetable
Lunch	Cheese sauce	Fat
Lunch	Ketchup	Condiment
Dinner	Brocolli Cheddar Soup	Vegetable/Dairy/Fat
Dinner	Bread	Starch
Dinner	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Carrots	Vegetable
Dinner	Tomato	Vegetable
Dinner	Cheese	Dairy
Dinner	Salad Dressing (~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment

Exercise for the weekend was playing vigorously with Paige (running, jumping, dancing, etc.) and all of the walking while shopping on Saturday. I've come down with a cold, so that's made it a bit harder to get motivated and stay active.

I have more challenges coming:

this Wednesday, we're having friends over for dinner;
this Friday is a big fancy company dinner;
and... Saturday is a day full of events.

Finally, I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 258.5 lbs.
Loss: 9.5 lbs.

My expectation is that the sodium and fat overload are going to catch up to me either in tomorrow's weigh-in or Friday's weigh-in. That's how it used to go- splurge and 2-3 days later, I pay for it.

Day 4, recap

2009-02-13T09:57:00.002-05:00

Day 4 is now officially Groundhog Day - it was another incredibly hectic day. I didn't stop for my morning oatmeal nor did I stop for my tuna fish for lunch. Both of these worked to my favor, as my dinner at Champs was not nearly as filling as I'd hoped. So, I had "second"-dinner, otherwise I may have chewed my own arm off.

Speaking of Champs - I did pretty well. I did not have any beer, drank diet-Coke and water and, as a group, we didn't have any appetizers (mostly because of me bailing out on the idea). I ordered their BBQ Chopped Salad with the salad dressing on the side an no avocado (1, I don't like it; 2, it's quite fattening). For salad dressing, I used maybe 1/8^th of what was served. That all said, I was quite disheartened today to see the nutrional information on the salad and dressing. The salad (which includes the avocado) is billed at 41g of fat and the dressing is 33g itself. I'm convincing myself that a lot of fat came from the avocado (based on this nutrional fact sheet) and I truly only ate a small portion of the dressing. BUT still - eating out SUCKS! Next time I'll hopefully plan ahead and review the nutrion information before going to the restaraunt.

My food diary was:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Reduced fat cheese stick	Diary
Lunch	Cucumber (1/3)	Vegetable
Lunch	Applesauce (1 cup)	Fruit
Lunch	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Lunch	Carrots	Vegetable
Lunch	Cucumber (1/6)	Vegetable
Lunch	Croutons	Vegetable	This was a treat in my salad, but I only 1 starch for the day
Lunch	Cheese	Diary
Lunch	Salad Dress (Fat free; ~2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Afternoon Snack (at work)	Grapes (10)	Fruit
Dinner	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable	BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad
Dinner	Black Beans & Corn Salsa	Condiment
Dinner	Tomatos	Vegetable
Cheese	Tomatos	Diary
Dinner	Chipotle Ranch Salad Dressing (~<1 tbsp.)	Fat	On the side
Dinner	BBQ Chicken	Protein
Dinner	Tuna Fish (1 can)	Protein
Dinner	Maynaise (1 tbsp.)	Fat
Dinner	Mustard	Condiment
Dinner	Pickle Relish (~1 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Reduced Fat Wheat Thins (12)	Starch (x2)	6 wheat things = 1 starch
Dinner	Kiwi	Fruit

I finally also did a bit more exercising when I got home with Paige. We ran around the house, playing tag for a bit. It's frightful how quickly I get winded. After that, we did some exercises:

I lifted her 3 x sets of 10 times slowly, like she was wiggly weights;
We did 3 x sets of 10 crunchs;
We did 3 x sets of legs lifts;
We did 1 x set of 10 jumping jacks;
And another 15 minutes of various exercisey-like things.

I have challenges coming:

this weekend is a long-weekend that will be spent away from home;
next Wednesday, we're having friends over for dinner;
next Friday is a big fancy company dinner;
and... next Saturday is a day full of events.

Finally, I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 261.5 lbs.
Loss: 6.5 lbs.

Day 3, recap

2009-02-12T08:10:00.002-05:00

Day 3 was another incredibly hectic day. This time, I did eat all of my food during the day at work (well, OK- I had grapes in the car on the ride home). In the evening, I snacked on an orange and then kept busy by giving Paige a bath before dinner. Dinner was scrumptious cheeseburger - sans bread because I had a starch in the morning (oatmeal) and wanted the croutons treat on my salad.

Each night, I've gone to bed hungry. Last night, I thought about grabbing an orange of kiwi. But, by the time I was going to get one, it was after 9pm. I didn't want the extra sugar right before bed. So (gasp!), I went without.

My food diary was:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Reduced fat cheese stick	Diary
Morning snack	1 packet oatmeal (French Toast)	Starch
Lunch	Chicken (~6oz)	Protein
Lunch	Cucumber (1/3)	Vegetable
Afternoon Snack (at work)	Grapes	Fruit
Afternoon Snack (at home)	Orange	Fruit
Dinner	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Carrots	Vegetable
Dinner	Cucumber (1/3)	Vegetable
Dinner	Croutons	Vegetable	This was a treat in my salad, but I only 1 starch for the day
Dinner	Cheese	Diary
Dinner	Salad Dress (Fat free; ~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Hamburger (4oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Cheese (1oz. slice)	Diary
Dinner	Ketchup (~2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Mustard (~<1 tbsp.)	Condiment

I finally broke my lack of exercise rut. We finished up with dinner around 7:20 and then we went for a walk. It was probably only about a 1/2 mile and it was at a snail's pace because Paige walked- BUT, we walked. We had flashlights to play with and did a short "around the block" walk. I had also wanted to do aerobics with a coworker, but that was killed again by a long 3pm meeting. It's not going to happen today because I don't want to be gooey and sweaty for drinks with my friends.

One of the "rules" of the LA Weightloss Program is that you shouldn't eat red meat 2 days in a row -- so, for Thursday, Feb. 12, I couldn't pack lunch from left-over dinner. I thought about going out for lunch, but with drinks with friends Thursday evening, I didn't want the extra sodium. Mandie came up with the idea of taking tuna fish.

I have challenges coming:

tonight is drinks with a couple of friends;
this weekend is a long-weekend that will be spent away from home;
next Wednesday, we're having friends over for dinner;
next Friday is a big fancy company dinner;
and... next Saturday is a day full of events.

Day 2, recap

2009-02-11T07:58:00.004-05:00

Day 2 was incredibly hectic. I didn't eat all of my food during the day at work. In the evening, I spent time on the computer which kept me from snacking before dinner. After dinner was "fun" with Paige being cranky (apparently no nap makes her as cranky as me dieting). Once she was taken care of, we turned in pretty early.

My food diary was:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Reduced fat cheese stick	Diary
Morning snack	1 packet oatmeal (French Toast)	Starch
Lunch	Chicken (~6oz)	Protein
Lunch	Brocolli (~ 3 cups)	Vegetable
Afternoon Snack (at work)	Kiwi	Fruit
Dinner	Lettuce (~2 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Carrots	Vegetable
Dinner	Cucumber (1/3)	Vegetable
Dinner	Croutons	Vegetable	This was a treat in my salad, but I only 1 starch for the day
Dinner	Cheese	Diary
Dinner	Salad Dress (Fat free; ~2 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Dinner	Chicken (~6oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Grapes (10)	Fruit

Again, my big disappointment yesterday was lack of exercise. I had planned on trying some aerobics with a coworker, but a 2 hour meeting plowed right through the time that we would have gone into the gym. At home, with having work on the computer and Paige being Ms. Crankypants - nothing happened there. Oh well, here's to hoping for today (with a late afternoon meeting already scheduled).

I have challenges coming:

tomorrow is drinks with a couple of friends;
this weekend is a long-weekend that will be spent away from home;
next Wednesday, we're having friends over for dinner;
next Friday is a big fancy company dinner;
and... next Saturday is a day full of events.

Finally, I weighed in this morning:

Current weight: 262 lbs.
Loss: 6 lbs.

Day 1, recap

2009-02-10T07:12:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was my official diet-start. There were some challenges and some things that went fairly easily. The main challenges where when I was at home - we have all sorts of snack-crackers, pretzels and even chocolate brownies with peanut butter chips (a true weakness of mine). The easiest part was going out to grab lunch, we went to Chick-fil-a and I was did not have any urges for my favorite things there (their fries and a milkshake).

My biggest disappointment was a complete lack of exercising. In the evening, I spent time on the computer and even playing with Paige was pretty subdued.

My food diary was:

Meal	Food	Type	Comments
Breakfast	Reduced fat cheese stick	Diary
Morning snack	1 packet oatmeal (French Toast)	Starch	Flavored oatmeal is not ideal; but is what was available
Lunch	Chick-fil-a Grilled Chicken Sandwich (only 1 slice bread)	Protein Starch	Fast-food chicken is higher sodium than home cooked but I hadn't prepared lunch on Sunday night
Afternoon Snack (at work)	Grapes (20)	Fruit Fruit	10 grapes = 1 fruit
Afternoon Snack (at home)	2 oz. Milk	Diary
Afternoon Snack (at home)	Tomato (small)	Vegetable
Dinner	Chicken (~6oz.)	Protein
Dinner	Brocolli (~3 cups)	Vegetable
Dinner	Ketchup (~1 1/2 tbsp.)	Condiment
Evening Snack	Orange	Fruit	I was not enthusiastic about having sugar right before bed-time, but it was better than most alternatives

My time to eat is in the afternoon before while I'm at work and while dinner is being prepared - typically I'm snacking on everything from crackers to chips to baked goods to... well, you name it. My other time that I've gotten accustomed to a snack is right before bed time; a nightly bowl of cereal or some kind of sweets/goodie was normal. I managed these by keeping fruit and some vegetables on hand and planned for these times.

Riding the Rollercoaster, again.

2009-02-09T08:11:00.004-05:00

Today is the official start of (yet another round) of my diet. It's painful, frustrating and sucktabulous. But, this diet starts with a twist - it's a competition/challenge of sorts. My (quite skinny & fairly atheletically fit) friend told me that he didn't understand, "What's so hard to lose weight? Just eat right." Easy for you to say...

In the past 6 months, I've stutter-started dieting probably as many times. I keep telling myself that I'd like to (insert losing weight & getting fit goal here). But, in the end - I start, I do OK for a day, a week, maybe even 2. A few things get me - it might start as something little, a big dinner out; or, it might be a weekend 'off the wagon'.

My goal is to stick with the LA Weight Loss plan that worked so well for me years ago (in servings per day: 2 protein, 4 veggie, 3 fruit, 2 starch, 1 dairy, 1 fat). In addition, once I'm past this 2 week challenge, I'll add 1 snack bar. I'm going to cut out peanut butter entirely (it's a huge weakness and I tend to WAY over do it anytime I open the jar). I'd like to have some kind of daily physical activity: walking, swimming, vigorous play w/ Paige, etc.

To start, I have the agressive goal of being 10 lbs. lighter by the end of February.

Today's weigh-in:

268 lbs.

Exercise Log - 9/21/2007

2007-09-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

Friday

Stairmaster, 5 min; level 3
Pectoral Fly, 3 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns, 3 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Shoulder Press, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Rear Deltoid Fly, 3 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Dumbell Side Bend, 3 set of 10; 25 lbs.

Comments: that stairmaster is some work!

Weight: 270.5 lbs.

Today's food:

Strawberry light yogurt, 1 container
Tomato, 1/2 whole
Chicken tenders, 2
Shrip stuffed with crab, 2
Bread, 1 roll
Carrots, small baggie
Cauliflower, small baggie
Dinner is TBD.

Overall - frustrated! After going up 3 pounds in a day, I've finally got to get serious about weight loss and proper eating. I plan on digging out my LA Weight Loss literature and matching up with that eating plan.

Exercise Log - 9/20/2007

2007-09-20T18:11:00.001-04:00

Thursday

Treadmill, 18.5 min; 3.0 - 3.5 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1.5 min; 5.0 (MPH) jog
Treadmill, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Stairmaster, 5 min; level 3
Dumbell Side Bend, 3 set of 10; 25 lbs.

Comments: that stairmaster is some work!

Weight: 267.5 lbs.

Today's food:

Blueberry light yogurt, 1 container
Rice cake, 1 - carmel flavor or something
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Tuna, cooked with italian dressing & a can of tomatos
Rice, ~ 1 cup
Carrots, ~ 2 cups cooked
Tomato, 1 1/2 whole
Boost Protein Drink, 1 bottle
Orange, 1
Pretzels, 2 1/2 pretzels
Peach, 1
Carrots, small baggie
Tacos, 2 (tortilla, hamburger, lettuce, tomato, cheese, catsup, salsa, sour cream).

Exercise Log - 9/19/2007

2007-09-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday

Treadmill, 19 min; 3.0 - 5.0 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 3.0 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Stairmaster, 3 min; level 3
Pectoral Fly, 3 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns, 3 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Shoulder Press, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Rear Deltoid Fly, 3 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Dumbell Side Bend, 3 set of 10; 25 lbs.

Comments: I increased the weight on my lat pulldowns intentionally and felt pretty good. The triceps pushdown was unintentional, but after the first rep. it felt OK. (update 9/20: still feels ok)

Weight: 268.0 lbs.

Today's food:

South Beach Diet Cookies - Oatmeal & chocolate chip, 1 pack (2 cookies)
Rice cakes, 2 - carmel flavor or something
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Chicken breast, BBQ
Tomato, 1 whole + 2 cherry
Boost Protein Drink, 1 bottle
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Pretzels, 2 pretzels
Tuna, cooked with italian dressing & a can of tomatos
Rice, ~ 2 cups
Carrots, ~ 2 cups cooked
Crab dip, ~ 2 tablespoons (night-time snack/struggle)

I've still got the night-time struggle. For tomorrow (9/20), I'm going to plan on having 2 of the South Beach Diet Cookies with a glass of milk. They're diet-like and the milk is OK.

Weigh-ins and extra pounds

2007-09-19T07:30:00.000-04:00

As I go through this experiment of losing weight - I'm finding some interesting trends in non-obvious things that affect what the scale says. All of the signs point to the need for a consistent time, process and clothing for weigh-ins.

For me...

weighing in before versus after my shower shows a 0.5 lb. difference;
wearing underwear doesn't affect the scale
clothing is heavy (but not as heavy as I try to justify bad weigh-in's)
update: my after-shower damp towel weighs 1.5 lbs.

Exercise Log - 9/18/2007

2007-09-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Tuesday

Treadmill, 20 min; 3.0 - 3.5 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)

Comments: today and exercising was a huge victory - I had to leave work early and couldn't exercise in the gym there - but, after getting back from dinner, I did my treadmill walking at home. Per my schedule, I should have done crunches - but, I completely forgot about them.

Today's food:

Boost Protein Drink, 1 bottle
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Rice cakes, 2 - carmel flavor or something
Chicken breast, BBQ
Flavored noodles, 1 cup
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Pretzels, ~ 2 cups (picking out of bag, in the car)
Crab dip appetizer, shared with Mandie
"Shrimp Crusted Mahi Mahi", @ Phillips Seafood Restaurant
Root beer, 2 1/2 glasses
Cereal + milk, 2 cups cereal/1 cup milk (2%)

Dinner out was pretty successful. My food choices were very mindful of dieting (is that what I'm doing?). I did have some crab dip, but taking Mandie's lead - we both stopped before we had eaten all of it. And, I was surprised after the fact to realize I had drank 2 1/2 glasses of Root Beer.

I'm struggling at night with being hungry and eating - hence, the night-time bowl of cereal. I want to get some fruit in the house and maybe plan on eating that instead.

Exercise Log - 9/17/2007

2007-09-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

Monday

Stationary recumbent bike, 15 min; ~70 (RPM)
Pectoral Fly, 3 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 3 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.*
Shoulder Press, 3 sets of 10; 40 lbs.*
Rear Deltoid Fly, 2 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Dumbell Side Bend, 1 set of 10; 25 lbs.

Comments: this weekend's food wasn't bad, but definately could have been better (cake and goodies @ a b-day party, big-momma breakfast and some ice cream on Sunday).

* this was just a touch too heavy, by the 7th rep., I was ready for it to be over.

Weight: 269.5 lbs (in my skivies).

Today's food:

South Beach Diet Cookies - Oatmeal & chocolate chip, 1 pack (2 cookies)
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Rice cakes, 2 - carmel flavor or something
Raisins, 1 snack-box
Turkey sub, 1/2 subway (turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomato, pickle, honey mustard, salt & pepper)
Salad (lettuce, tomato, blue cheese dressing)
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Celery, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Boost Protein Drink, 1 bottle
Chicken breast, BBQ
Flavored noodles, 2 cups
Cereal + milk, 2 cups cereal/1 cup milk (2%)

Morning exercises are better fat burners?

2007-09-15T12:31:00.000-04:00

I was chatting with my friend, Cesar, about exercising and what's best (he's kind of my go-to guy, as he's roughly the size of a house). He mentioned that morning exercises burns the most fat, and then went on to explain it as:

... when you sleep, your body uses up all your reserve sugar and food storage. It taps you out, thats why most people feel hungry in the morning. If you work out first thing when you get up without eating, you are tapping into the fat reserves. That is the ultimate way to lose the mid-section.

To find proof, I went to (my best friend) Google and searched for "why exercise in the morning". The pages found had responses that were to the tune of, "it makes you feel better", "you'll do it", blah, blah and happy horsesnot. But, nothing really spoke of the real reason that it's more beneficial. In one of the pages that it found, it had a reference to some study, that sent me on another Google search and I ultimately found, "A.M. Fat Burn". This article talked about the same things as Cesar, as well as the controversy of the theory.

So, now given another tid-bit of information in my quest to become less-fat - I'm considering starting a morning routine of a quick 20-30 minute cardio workout and leave the afternoons for weight-training, ab crunches and the like.

While I accept that I don't really have a peanut gallery, but does anyone have any thoughts? opinions? witty sarcasm?

Exercise Log - 9/14/2007

2007-09-14T16:00:00.000-04:00

Friday

Treadmill, 19 min; 3.5 (MPH)
Treadmill galomphy jog, 1 min; 5.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns, 2 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 2 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Rear Deltoid Fly, 2 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Dumbell Side Bend, 1 set of 10; 25 lbs.

Comments: So, week number 2 is down. I feel like my walking is getting harder - I wonder if my (less than 1) minute of running is bothering my legs. We'll see how next week goes; maybe I'll try out the bike or stairmaster thing.

Weight: 268.5 lbs (in my skivies). I'm going to stick with morning weigh-ins in my skivies.

Today's food:

Pretzels, 1 snack-baggie
Raisins, 1 snack-box
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Special K snack bites, 1 bag
Turkey BLT wrap
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, ranch dressing)
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Celery, 1 snack-baggie
Brocolli, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Hot Dogs & Mac and Cheese, 1 plate
Onion Bagel, 1/2 bagel

Exercise Log - 9/13/2007

2007-09-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

Thursday

Treadmill, 20 min; 3.5 (MPH)
Treadmill galomphy jog, 1/2 min; 5.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Crunches, 2 sets of 10
Decline Crunches, 2 sets of 10
Dumbell Side Bend, 1 set of 10; 12 lbs.

Comments: I need to figure out what I'm doing with my crunches, my neck hurts again.

Today's food:

Pretzels, 1 snack-baggie
Mozarella cheesestick, 1
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Brocolli, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Orange juice, 1 box
Boost Protein drink, 1 container
BBQ Chicken Breast (skinless/boneless), 1 minus tenders
Angel hair pasta noodles, 2 cups-ish
Salad (lettuce, tomato, bacon bits, croutons, blue cheese dressing)
Wheat Thins, handful

Exercise Log - 9/12/2007

2007-09-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday

Treadmill, 20 min; 3.5 (MPH)
Treadmill galomphy jog, 3/4 min; 4.6 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns - front of head, 2 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 2 sets of 10; 20 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Rear Deltoid Fly, 2 sets of 10; 20 lbs.

Comments: my arms were still sore before lifting, but it didn't seem to affect my lifting. I did determine that I think my biggest pain came from the triceps pushdown, so I backed off on that weight. I also dropped the behind the head lat pulldown.

Weight: 270.5 lbs (in my skivies); 272.5 lbs clothed.

Today's food:

Pretzels, 1 snack-baggie
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese, 1000 island dressing)
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Brocolli, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Mozzarella Cheesestick
Meatball Sub (lunch)
Meatball Sandwiches, 2 sandwiches (dinner)
Loose meatballs, wild and running loose (lunch & dinner)

Exercise Log - 9/11/2007

2007-09-11T15:30:00.000-04:00

Tuesday

Treadmill, 20 min; 3.0 - 4.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)

Comments: my arms are sore, really sore.

Today's food:

Orange juice
Pretzels, 1 snack-baggie
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese, 1000 island dressing)
Mozerella Cheesestick
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Brocolli, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Hot Dog & bun
French fries
Cake things, 3 small square
Beer, Budweiser (ugh!)

Final comments, this is so much easier when it's done the same day.

Lat Pull Down - Behind the head bad?

2007-09-11T08:14:00.000-04:00

I started doing a couple of searches so that I could add links to the various exercises. I was interested to read that a few different web sites said that the "behind the head" (posterior) lat pull down should not be done (here [on page 2], here [says it's bad and prone to hurting yourself] and here [actually says it's not as beneficial as the anterior lat pull down]). I also read an archived e-mail exchange between the author of the 2nd link and another person - the other guy said that the exercise was fine, but the exercisee and their bad form was the issue.

Because my initial plan with weights is to simply not hurt myself. And, that I have no one actually watching over me, I think I'll skip the behind the head lat pulldown from here out.

Exercise Log - 9/10/2007

2007-09-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

Monday

Treadmill, 20 min; 3.0 - 4.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.5 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1/2 min; 1.5 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1/2 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 10; 50 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns - front of head, 2 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns - behind of head, 2 sets of 10; 40 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Triceps Pushdown, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Vertical Bench, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.
Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 10; 30 lbs.

Comments: this weekend was full of beyond-bad eating; Mandie did a scrapbooking crop for charity, all of the food was donated and I didn't even make an attempt at eating the vegetables. But, it's good to feel guilty about what I'm eating again.

Weight: 271.5 lbs (I guess the weekend hasn't caught up yet).

Today's food:

Pretzels, 1 snack-baggie
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese, 1000 island dressing)
Baby carrots, 1 snack-baggie
Brocolli, 1 snack-baggie
Cauliflower, 1 snack-baggie
Root Beer, 1 can
Uno Pizza, 5 slices (3 for lunch, 2 for dinner) deep dish pizza (weekend left-overs)
Pudding, 1 container
Cheesecake, ~1 piece
Peanut butter & chocolate cake thing, 1 small square

Final comments, I'll never understand this "good" feeling of your arms being worn out... even typing this feels funny.

Exercise Log - 9/7/2007

2007-09-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

Friday

Treadmill, 25 min; 3.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 2.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 1 min; 1.0 (MPH)

Comments: well, I made it all week, doing something each day. I thank Katrina for motivating me and Barrington for making me go on Friday.

Weight: 272.5 lbs (well, that's frustrating. It was an evening weigh-in, but still - I had hoped to see something. I need to start tracking what I'm eating and adjust from there).

Update: Weight on Saturday, 9/7 (morning): 272.0 lbs (yes, I weighed myself 2 days in a row - I needed some motivation for the weekend)

Exercise Log - 9/6/2007

2007-09-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday

Treadmill, 25 min; 3.0 to 4.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 2 min; 1.0 (MPH)
Decline Crunch, 2 sets of 5
Pectoral Fly, 2 sets of 5; 40 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns - front of head, 2 sets of 5; 40 lbs.
Lat Pulldowns - behind of head, 2 sets of 5; 40 lbs.
Biceps Curl, 2 sets of 5; 30 lbs.

Comments: today, I tried to do more of a "high intensity interval training" - as much as I could. Off and on, for 1 minute, I would increase the speed from 3.5mph to 4.0mph and then back off for 1 to 2 minutes at 3.5mph (or 3.0mph, depending on tiredness).

Crunches suck.

Adding the weights were interesting - I'm afraid of hurting myself.

I think next week, I want to get into the gym each day with the schedule of:

Mon, Wed, Fri - Treadmill + weights
Tues, Thurs - Treadmill + crunches

Exercise Log - 9/5/2007

2007-09-05T19:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday

Treadmill, 18 min; 3.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 2 min; 1.0 (MPH)

Comments: hey! 2 days in a row, it still has that novelty factor.

Weight: 272.5 lbs

Exercise Log - 9/4/2007

2007-09-04T18:30:00.000-04:00

Tuesday

Treadmill, 18 min; 2.0 and 3.0 (MPH)
Treadmill cool-down, 5 min; 1.0 (MPH)

Comments: it's a start...