Last night was our company party. It was at a place called Cafe Roka. Very tasty, great atmosphere. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And the best part is that, even though there was a LOT of really good food, I managed to not gorge myself! It was set up as a buffet, so while I could have gone back for seconds/thirds/fifths, I didn't. I can't take too much credit for that, though, because nobody else at my table did, and I didn't want to be "the guy who ate a whole lot of food." So I sampled everything (all was very tasty), and actually had a bit of self-control. Well, at least until dessert, when I think I crammed more food onto my plate than during dinner. Oh well.
Today I weighed in again. It came to 251.3, for about .5 pound loss from last Wednesday, or about 2 pounds from last Sunday. So there we have it.
Now, as far as my challenge goes -- We need to figure out when to start. Last week? Today? Let me know... if I use today's weight, then my target will be 238.75, which is lighter than I've been since Aren's transplant, I think.
Let me know what you think, Rody.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Challenges
My brother called me this morning. Apparently, he actually read my blog the other night. That means I'm up to two confirmed readers! Including my wife, who is obligated to read.
Anyway, he mentioned reading how I'm gut-hacking, and told me he's working on his weight, as well, but he needs a bit more motivation (heart attack avoidance just wasn't doing it for him, I guess). So he offered me a challenge. We're racing in losing weight. There are about 7 pounds' difference between us, so we're looking for percentage of body weight lost, rather than a target pound range.
So here's how this first leg works: Whichever of us loses 5% of their body weight first (for me that will be just over 10 lbs), will receive a new Wii game from the other. I've also added him as an author for this blog, so he'll be keeping everyone updated on his efforts, too.
So, there you have it. I guess now I just need to figure out which game I want... :)
Anyway, he mentioned reading how I'm gut-hacking, and told me he's working on his weight, as well, but he needs a bit more motivation (heart attack avoidance just wasn't doing it for him, I guess). So he offered me a challenge. We're racing in losing weight. There are about 7 pounds' difference between us, so we're looking for percentage of body weight lost, rather than a target pound range.
So here's how this first leg works: Whichever of us loses 5% of their body weight first (for me that will be just over 10 lbs), will receive a new Wii game from the other. I've also added him as an author for this blog, so he'll be keeping everyone updated on his efforts, too.
So, there you have it. I guess now I just need to figure out which game I want... :)
Friday, December 12, 2008
A bit better...
So I haven't been perfect this week, by any stretch of the imagination. But I'm doing better (or I was, until I had pizza for dinner tonight... but only 3 slices! That's good, right?) I've been splitting my dinners and saving half for lunch. I've consumed maybe a total of 700 calories of candy/other carbs this week, and I have walked home from work three times this week. (It's about 2 miles.) As of Wednesday, I was down another pound and a half. I'm not quite to my pre-Thanksgiving weight, but it's moving in the right direction. If I'm careful tomorrow, I may even beat that at my Sunday weigh-in. Here's hoping.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Off the Rails
Last week was not good. My one-day planned Turkey Day splurge quickly evolved into six days of not strictly adhering to the rules. And that, of course, makes it difficult to accomplish goals like, oh, say, losing 50 or so lbs.
BUT, it was not a completely unmitigated disaster. For starters, I only gained 0.1 lbs from last Sunday until yesterday, so it's not like I have tons of weight to make up for. More importantly, I've learned a few interesting (and hopefully valuable) lessons.
First, I discovered that it is nearly impossible to follow any kind of healthy diet without proper planning. And by proper planning, I mean ALWAYS knowing what you're going to eat two or three days in advance, and ensuring that you have food for those two or three days at least one day in advance. If the planning falls apart, or you allow the pantry to empty, it becomes much more difficult to resist the temptation to just run out for a burger or order a pizza.
Second, I think I've learned something about my own physiology. The first couple of days I was on the diet, I felt "snacky" a lot. I wasn't necessarily hungry, but I always wanted to eat. After the cravings died down, I was able to eat a lot less. And as a bonus, the acid reflux-level heartburn (which sometimes found me choking in the middle of the night) vanished as well. Since I started my binge, however, it has all come back. I have also found myself less able to resist cravings (again). And though I've tried to keep them in check, I have had a harder time getting them in control this week.
Which brings us to the next thing I've learned: It is much easier to justify breaking the rules if I've already done it. I don't know why that is, but I think it's a pretty common response to "cheating," especially if you think you are hurting only yourself -- and even more so if you don't feel accountable to anyone. (Hence this blog, even if nobody ever reads it.)
So, with that last lesson in mind, I'm going to try to outline every way I've "cheated" over the past week. Here goes:
Wednesday -- I had a (small) bag of Fritos for lunch because I didn't bring anything to eat. At dinner time, I had three slices of pizza, which was even worse than it sounds because two of those slices were double-decker slices. Twice the crust = twice the carbs.
Thursday -- The big day. Mashed potatoes & gravy, two types of stuffing, fruit, two (I think) slices of french silk pie and one (or two) slices of pumpkin pie. And a couple of crackers, too. And a small amount of fruit. That's it. Except for the rolls. Yikes.
Friday -- had pie for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch. Potstickers for dinner.
Saturday -- I don't know if I cheated. If I did, I was too much in a sugar coma to remember. Probably from the pint of Moose Tracks Ice Cream I shared with my wife as we watched four straight episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Sunday -- I had leftover bean soup, so that was good. Then I had Hunan Beef, which is deep-fried then drenched in a sugary-spicy-sesame-chicken-type sauce. Very tasty, but not healthy. And that's not counting the MSG, which supposedly has the same effect as sugar on insulin levels.
Monday (today) -- I ate way too much lunch. (More leftover bean soup.) It wasn't unhealthy, but there was a lot more in my bowl than I thought there were. Add to that the fact that it is more "bean" than "soup," and you understand why I've felt full today. And that was before the chili which we had for dinner. In big bowls. Not really cheating there, but I still feel bloated. And I had two biscuits, on top of it.
Wow. I suck. But tomorrow (and the rest of this week) will be better...
BUT, it was not a completely unmitigated disaster. For starters, I only gained 0.1 lbs from last Sunday until yesterday, so it's not like I have tons of weight to make up for. More importantly, I've learned a few interesting (and hopefully valuable) lessons.
First, I discovered that it is nearly impossible to follow any kind of healthy diet without proper planning. And by proper planning, I mean ALWAYS knowing what you're going to eat two or three days in advance, and ensuring that you have food for those two or three days at least one day in advance. If the planning falls apart, or you allow the pantry to empty, it becomes much more difficult to resist the temptation to just run out for a burger or order a pizza.
Second, I think I've learned something about my own physiology. The first couple of days I was on the diet, I felt "snacky" a lot. I wasn't necessarily hungry, but I always wanted to eat. After the cravings died down, I was able to eat a lot less. And as a bonus, the acid reflux-level heartburn (which sometimes found me choking in the middle of the night) vanished as well. Since I started my binge, however, it has all come back. I have also found myself less able to resist cravings (again). And though I've tried to keep them in check, I have had a harder time getting them in control this week.
Which brings us to the next thing I've learned: It is much easier to justify breaking the rules if I've already done it. I don't know why that is, but I think it's a pretty common response to "cheating," especially if you think you are hurting only yourself -- and even more so if you don't feel accountable to anyone. (Hence this blog, even if nobody ever reads it.)
So, with that last lesson in mind, I'm going to try to outline every way I've "cheated" over the past week. Here goes:
Wednesday -- I had a (small) bag of Fritos for lunch because I didn't bring anything to eat. At dinner time, I had three slices of pizza, which was even worse than it sounds because two of those slices were double-decker slices. Twice the crust = twice the carbs.
Thursday -- The big day. Mashed potatoes & gravy, two types of stuffing, fruit, two (I think) slices of french silk pie and one (or two) slices of pumpkin pie. And a couple of crackers, too. And a small amount of fruit. That's it. Except for the rolls. Yikes.
Friday -- had pie for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch. Potstickers for dinner.
Saturday -- I don't know if I cheated. If I did, I was too much in a sugar coma to remember. Probably from the pint of Moose Tracks Ice Cream I shared with my wife as we watched four straight episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Sunday -- I had leftover bean soup, so that was good. Then I had Hunan Beef, which is deep-fried then drenched in a sugary-spicy-sesame-chicken-type sauce. Very tasty, but not healthy. And that's not counting the MSG, which supposedly has the same effect as sugar on insulin levels.
Monday (today) -- I ate way too much lunch. (More leftover bean soup.) It wasn't unhealthy, but there was a lot more in my bowl than I thought there were. Add to that the fact that it is more "bean" than "soup," and you understand why I've felt full today. And that was before the chili which we had for dinner. In big bowls. Not really cheating there, but I still feel bloated. And I had two biscuits, on top of it.
Wow. I suck. But tomorrow (and the rest of this week) will be better...
Monday, November 24, 2008
Week 1 Results
As of yesterday morning (Sunday being official weigh-in day), I have lost exactly 5 lbs. I'm pretty happy about it, too. It definitely seems that my cravings are much smaller than they were early last week. In fact, yesterday MB & I (mostly MB) made sugar cookies. Ordinarily, that would have spelled doom for any type of healthy eating, but we didn't even touch them! Not even the dough! What makes this more amazing is that we were both in less-than-pleasant moods yesterday afternoon -- probably a combination of high-maintenance kids and having the AZ Cardinals get pretty badly beaten. We were primed for an emotional eating binge, but stayed away!
So, total resuls: Beginning of week 2 -- 250.8
So, total resuls: Beginning of week 2 -- 250.8
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Day 3
So I've been doing this for three days now. Yesterday was, by far, the worst. I just felt hungry from the moment I got home until I went to bed, practically. Today was better, but only after I ate three large bowls of soup. (Mostly broth, some chicken and kidney beans in it, too.) I've also drunk a lot of water tonight, so that might have helped. The problem is, now I feel a bit waterlogged. Hmmm...
Suggestions?
Measurements
So, apparently you can't have a weight-loss/fitness blog without putting some stats in. Eventually, I will put in some more measurements (waist, neck, etc.), but until then, here's my weight.
I started South Beach on November 16. At that time, I was 6'1" and weighed 255.7 lbs. Weigh-ins will be on Sundays. I'll see if I can find a tape measure and take some other measurements (and calculate body fat) later this week. If I can, I will post those once each month, say on the 20th.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Gut-Hacking
I was trying to decide on a name for this blog. I thought about "I'm too damn fat" and "Roly-Poly Me," but they just didn't sound right. Then I thought about the whole purpose behind this particular blog. I don't just want hypothetical readers to keep me accountable. I want to keep track of how I'm doing for myself, too. I'm going to try different things, and I want to see how they work. It's a bit like life-hacking, but I'm not trying to make myself more productive (at least not directly). I'm trying to become more healthy. I'm gut-hacking.
About Me
Well, this is my first post on this blog. If you are reading this, I apologize -- it probably means your life sucks and you have nothing to do. Being that bored is rough.
I am obese - at least, that's what Wii Fit says every time I come within ten feet of the balance board. I like to imagine that I have more muscle than average and that, while I am by no means svelte, I don't have quite as much body fat as my BMI indicates.
I suppose, though, that exactly how tubby I am is a bit beside the point. I have lots of health reasons to try to lose weight, anyway. I have high cholesterol, both of my parents are diabetic and my mother is a survivor of colon cancer. On top of all that, I am just uncomfortable. Not just with the way I look, but physically uncomfortable. I feel out of breath often -- when I'm sitting down. I think that's because of fat deposits beneath my abdominal muscles which are pushing my guts up into my rib cage, where my lungs usually like to hang out. I am also the proud owner of a slightly herniated belly button, which is tender to the touch at lest for a couple of hours each week. My slacks don't fit, and if I have to buy even-larger pants, I'll have to punch myself in the face. I've had two back surgeries.
I'm tired of all of it. I don't think that losing a lot of weight will fix all of those problems, but I hope it will make some of them better, at least. So, I'm starting (again) on my journey to become less rotund. I started this blog not so much in the hope that people will read it, but in the hope that the fact that people might theoretically read it might (theoretically) keep me on the straight and narrow a bit more than I might otherwise be inclined to do. So, here's my plan.
My wife and I are going on the South Beach Diet. Today was our first day, and we've managed not to screw up too much. I've done it before with some success, but this is the first time that we've both tried it at the same time. I'm not going to exercise too much to begin with, but I will set weekly goals for physical activity, which will increase over time. I'm going to post every few days to update all you theoretical readers on my progress, and eventually, I'll actually reach some fitness goals. It'll be great!
I am obese - at least, that's what Wii Fit says every time I come within ten feet of the balance board. I like to imagine that I have more muscle than average and that, while I am by no means svelte, I don't have quite as much body fat as my BMI indicates.
I suppose, though, that exactly how tubby I am is a bit beside the point. I have lots of health reasons to try to lose weight, anyway. I have high cholesterol, both of my parents are diabetic and my mother is a survivor of colon cancer. On top of all that, I am just uncomfortable. Not just with the way I look, but physically uncomfortable. I feel out of breath often -- when I'm sitting down. I think that's because of fat deposits beneath my abdominal muscles which are pushing my guts up into my rib cage, where my lungs usually like to hang out. I am also the proud owner of a slightly herniated belly button, which is tender to the touch at lest for a couple of hours each week. My slacks don't fit, and if I have to buy even-larger pants, I'll have to punch myself in the face. I've had two back surgeries.
I'm tired of all of it. I don't think that losing a lot of weight will fix all of those problems, but I hope it will make some of them better, at least. So, I'm starting (again) on my journey to become less rotund. I started this blog not so much in the hope that people will read it, but in the hope that the fact that people might theoretically read it might (theoretically) keep me on the straight and narrow a bit more than I might otherwise be inclined to do. So, here's my plan.
My wife and I are going on the South Beach Diet. Today was our first day, and we've managed not to screw up too much. I've done it before with some success, but this is the first time that we've both tried it at the same time. I'm not going to exercise too much to begin with, but I will set weekly goals for physical activity, which will increase over time. I'm going to post every few days to update all you theoretical readers on my progress, and eventually, I'll actually reach some fitness goals. It'll be great!
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