Month: November 2007

One Track Mind

My mother lost a lot of weight last year.  She did it mostly with diet.  Her exercise came from work, not working out.  She has gained some of it back, but she’s still in decent shape.

I talked to her on the phone today about my weight loss plan.  She kept lecturing me about carbs.  She kept repeatedly telling me to buy “light” bread because it has fewer carbs.  This is despite the fact that I repeatedly told her I’ve had two slices of bread in the last three weeks.

My diet is rather low-carb.  My mother tells me I can eat an 8oz pork chop, because it’s just protein.  No carbs!  I really don’t need all the fat either, so I keep my meat portions smaller.

I’ve noticed that everyone has their own weight loss advice.  Most of it is valid, but most of those people don’t realize that there are other just as valid ways.

If I ever come off as preachy, or as close-minded as my mother, please slap me.

Busy

I am completely covered up in work, but I wanted to make a quick post.  I didn’t get a real workout today.  I really don’t have the time.  I did, however, go up 7 flights of stairs in a parking garage to get to my car.

My wife helped out today by running some errands for me.  I was at two client locations for a total of over 14 hours, and I might be up all night tonight working on some code.

I’ve also been asked to write a book review, once I read the book.  I love having stuff to do, but it needs to space out a little more.

Use the Tools

When I bought my elliptical, I also bought a separate heart rate monitor, but I put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

I’ve been struggling to do more than 10 or 12 minutes at a stretch on the elliptical.  I just get winded too quickly.  I know I’m fat, and out of shape, but I expected to be able to do more.

After doing a little research about target heart rates, it seems my maximum heart rate should be about 184, and my target should be about 80% of that.  I settled on 150 as a nice round number.  I put on the heart rate monitor, and started my workout.

Once I was into the workout my heart rate hit 160, so I slowed down and let my heart rate fall to 150, then started pushing it a little harder.  This worked well, and I was still working out at 31 minutes.  I could have went longer, but my legs were giving out this time.

I spent money on the heart rate monitor, yet didn’t bother to use it until today.  I could have made more progress, if I would have bothered to use the tools I had already bought.

Learning to Eat Dessert, Again

There was ice cream in the house.  My wife bought some vanilla ice cream to go with apple pie on Thanksgiving.  There was some left.

Before I got serious about dieting, I would have polished it off the very next day.  This time was different.

I really wanted some of that ice cream.  So I had one single scoop.  That was my treat for the day.  At roughly 140 calories, it certainly won’t kill my diet.  My wife and daughter finished it off, so I’m not tempted anymore.

Working Out

I haven’t really worked out since high school.  That was 18 years ago.  The last three days I’ve used my elliptical every day.  I get winded easily, but I like the “warm glow” that comes afterward.

I’ve lost 12.4 pounds in just over three weeks.  Most of that time I didn’t do any additional exercise.  Now that I’m eating better food, less food, and working out every day, I expect the weight loss to pick up.  I also know that it’ll plateau for a while, I just don’t know when.

Ahh.. Thanksgiving

One of the things that has always hurt me with weight loss, is the fact that I love food.  I love to eat a lot of good food.

My new plan is to ignore that, and eat only what I need.  Holidays throw a wrench into that plan.  I don’t want to insult my wife, or not enjoy the holidays, so I decided to eat a little of everything for Thanksgiving dinner.

I enjoyed the meal immensely, and although I overate, it wasn’t by as much as it would have been before.  Also, due to the amount of food I ate, I’m not trying to log the calories I ate for each item (as I usually do), but just estimating the whole meal.  It may not be very accurate, but there should only be a few days a year like this.

My Elliptical is Here!

My elliptical was delivered this morning.  I haven’t really used it, other than to test it out.  I’m rather busy.  I am committing to using it for at least 30 minutes today.

I’m going to start logging all pertinent data about my workout sessions, now that I’ll actually have workout sessions.

Edit:
I just did a 10 minute workout, burned 130 calories, with a distance of 1.13 miles.  I am beat.  I’m really in poor shape.

The Inconvenience of Eating Well

Being self employed, my work life is, um, different.

Some days I’m at a client site, and some days I’m at home.  My primary client expects me to work on-site most of the time.  Working there is similar to a regular job.  The location is in downtown Louisville, so there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance, including places where it is relatively painless to eat healthy.

However, today, I have to work at a different client site.  My options are more limited.  When grocery shopping I didn’t take this into account, so I don’t have a healthy lunch ready to go.

I did go overboard in buying bananas.  I have more than I can eat before they go bad.  I suppose I’ll bring two bananas, and eat one at around 12:00, the other around 3:00, and hope I don’t get stuck there past 6:00 or so.

How Many Calories Do I Need?

When I started counting calories, I did a little research, and settled on 1500 as my goal.  Although that is less that what I have been eating, it wasn’t a big adjustment.

I’m wondering if I still need to eat fewer calories.  I rarely get more than “a little hungry”.  It’s possible I’m not burning enough calories sitting in front of my laptop.  So how many calories would I need to survive?

Don’t think I’m going to go nuts and starve myself.  I’m actually planning on staying at 1500 for now.  I should have my elliptical on Wednesday, then I might need a few more calories.

Slow, Steady Progress

Although many days feel as if there is no progress, looking at things longer term help a lot.

Here are my weigh-in weekly averages for the three weeks I’ve been tracking it.

Startdate Enddate Weight
10/28/07 11/03/07 296.4
11/04/07 11/10/07 291.8
11/11/07 11/17/07 286.8

This shows almost ten pounds of weight loss over three weeks.  I’m happy with that.

Some Days You Fail

I’ve been sick for over a week now.  I figured that my low calorie intake probably isn’t helping.

I ordered more pizza, intending to eat half of a medium pizza.  I ate entire thing.  It was bacon and onion, and probably about 2100 calories.

I guess I’ll have homemade vegetable soup for dinner.

A Night a the Movies

My wife and I went to see Bella at the local theater today.  It was a good movie, but it felt wrong to not buy popcorn or drinks.  Eating junk has become so ingrained in everything we do.

It does feel good to change those habits, and I saved money.

Going to the gas station is much the same way.  I now pay at the pump to avoid spending more money and eating more.

Pizza!

My wife wanted pizza today.  This was to be the first time for me eating pizza since the new diet began.  I ordered a large (14″) with sausage.  It was cut into 8 pieces, and I ate two pieces.  That came out to 700 calories.  I hadn’t eaten a lot today, so my total calorie consumption is only 1214 for the day.

I used to work in a pizza place.  I drank a lot of Coke, and ate pizza whenever I could.  I was proud of myself today for limiting myself to two pieces, and drinking water.

My weigh-in tonight was 286.6, the same as yesterday.

Working From Home

I’m still sick today.  My sinuses feel better, but I have a headache, and an uncontrollable cough.  My sides are hurting from coughing.  I didn’t sleep much either.

I have a deadline at work so I’m working from home to get some stuff done.  My daughter is also sick today, and she’s sitting here next to me.  It’s not a bad way to spend time with her.

I skipped breakfast.  I don’t feel like eating.  I know that’s not healthy, but I am sick.  I’ve been drinking coffee, but that feels good on my throat.

I’ll probably go get a veggie sub for lunch.

Random Stuff

I got a call from Scheller’s today. I will have my elliptical on November 21st. That’s a little later than I’d hoped, but it should be worth it.

I found Jennette’s blog today. I am in awe of her weight loss. I believe she’s 9 or 10 years younger than I am, but I don’t have quite as much weight to lose. She has lost over 200 pounds. Oh, she’s a web developer also, but she actually has writing skills.

A guy at work (Thanks John!) has pointed me too traineo. I haven’t signed up, but several of us are talking about it to be each other’s “motivators”.

I’m still sick, and now I’m on antibiotics for a sinus infection. I hope it goes away soon, as it’s sapping my ability to sleep, and therefore my will to live 🙂

Depression

I have suffered with bouts of depression my entire life.  I just assumed there was nothing I could do, short of drugs, other than to just deal with it.

I started questioning that line of thought earlier this year because my depression took a much worse turn.  I knew I needed a change.  Seeking professional help was an option, but I wanted to find a better way.

For the last 15 years, my eating habits have been poor.  That is the main reason I hit 300 pounds.  Also, my diet did not include all nutrients that I needed.

A few months ago, I started taking a common multi-vitamin and fish-oil capsules.

Within a few weeks, it was as if a fog had lifted.  Not only was the depression not as bad, but It seems that I can think more clearly.

Deciding to lose weight was the natural next thing to do, once I was in the better state of mind.  It really wasn’t much of a conscious decision.  It just seemed to be what I should be doing.  I wish I had done something about the depression years ago.

Let the Embarrassment Begin

I don’t currently have a regular job.  I’m a freelancer working at a former employer.  I was out on Monday (I was quite sick), but was back in the office today.  News of this blog is spreading there, so it’s definitely time to make some progress.  If I don’t, the embarrassment will be for nothing.

There are a few other “fat guys” at the office, so at least I’m in good company.

I’m still not getting enough exercise, but my elliptical hasn’t arrived yet either.  I’m just lazy.

Tying My Shoes

I miss being able to tie my shoes without experiencing something between extreme discomfort and minor injury.

I’ve been wearing velcro shoes that last couple of years to make it easier, but my current shoes have laces.  I’ve been having my daughter do it for me a lot.  That’s sad.

I’ll tie my own damn shoes from now on.

Sick as a Dog

I rarely get sick.  When I do, I make up for lost time though.

I’m home sick today.  It’s bad enough that I made an appointment to see a doctor.  I also don’t care much for doctors, so I’m really sick.

I’m trying to decide if and how this will affect my diet.  I don’t feel like eating right now.

Ugh.

Counting Calories

I needed to make counting my calories as easy as possible.  I have a spreadsheet to keep track of everything, but I needed an easy way to look up calories.  Especially for food consumed at a restaurant.

I found CalorieKing.  I’m not signing up for there service, but I do use them to look up calories for various foods.

There is some guessing involved though.  Here’s a sample of my calories spreadsheet:

Date Meal Food Calories Daily Totals
11/07/07 Breakfast Kashi Strawberry Fields 120

2% Milk 61

Coffee – 2 cups 10

Lunch Skyline Chili reg 5-way 840

Unsweet Tea 5

Coffee – 1 cup 5

Dinner Salad w/chicken & dressing 300

Coffee – 2 cups 10 1351

11/08/07 Breakfast Kashi Strawberry Fields 120

2% Milk 61

Orange Juice – 6oz 84

Coffee – 2 cups 10

Lunch Subway Veggie – 12in w/mustard 460

— mustard 6

Coffee – 1 cup 5

Snack Yogurt – vanilla – 1 cup 190

Banana 105

V8 Juice – 8oz 50

Dinner Spaghetti w/ ground turkey 439

Coffee – 2 cups 10 1540

You’ll notice that I put 5 calories for a cup of coffee. I drink my coffee black with no sweetener, but I think there are a few calories from the oils.