Bad (Food) Day
2008/03/31 at 2:55 pm | Posted in Food, Life, Thoughts | Comments OffBeing that yesterday was my son’s 4th birthday, I fell into the festivities and eat cake and ice cream. Lunch consisted of a tuna salad sandwich that I made with low-fat mayonnaise and dinner, well…I didn’t have dinner primarily because I snacked here and there throughout the day.
The scale was not kind to me this morning but that’ll change for tomorrow’s Weekly Weigh-In, the results of which will naturally be posted here along with my thoughts on the week or the program in general. As a result of yesterday’s festivities I feel like I did when I weighed 297 pounds–really fat. Yeah, I know I’m still not the thinnest buy on the block but today I feel jumbo whereas on Friday I didn’t. I should just be glad I rode nearly two miles in the morning to fetch the Sunday paper, otherwise I think I’d feel even more blimpish.
I think I will either do two one-mile laps or my usual one-and-a-half miles today for my lunchtime walk to make up for it. We’ll see.
To make matters slightly more challenging, we’re having another party for our son on Wednesday at the local Chuck E. Cheese’s (mostly for his friends to go and run a muck). There will be pizza and I’ve decided that I will have only a few slices. The rest of the time I will be running around taking the kids’ pictures with a teenager in a giant rodent costume, and making sure everything goes well.
Wish me luck!
Victory #2
2008/03/30 at 1:22 am | Posted in Inspiration, Victory | Comments OffI fit into my Depeche Mode concert from their 1993 Devotional Tour:
I haven’t worn this shirt in years, so it makes me happy to know I can wear it again–even if it is a little beat up. And because I took the image sans flash (which would have flashed in the mirror and washed things out), the color was poor so I made it black-and-white. I also reversed it so the shirt doesn’t look backwards.
Now if I could only get rid of that double chin…
Food and Sleep
2008/03/28 at 7:44 pm | Posted in Food, Health, Life, Thoughts | Comments OffI decided to treat myself today so I walked down to the local Robeks Juice for a smoothie. Very satisfying.
Now that I’m in the 240s I find myself questioning if I’ve really made that much progress. It sounds stupid, I know. It’s probably because I’m in the high 240s that I think this way; perhaps once I get down to the low end I’ll feel better about everything and focus on the 230s.
If anything I’m still on pace to be at my goal, thanks to my doctors’ recommendations. For my weight loss plan, both of my doctors suggested the same things:
- Aim to lose between 1-2 pounds per week
- Weight Watchers program
- Avoid fast food
- Sleep at least 7 hours a night
About the only ones I don’t adhere to religiously are the last two. I still eat fast food but NOT burgers and fries. I’ve been to two restaurants in particular recently that serve “healthy” fast food.
Del Taco has their Veggie Works Burrito and not only is it good, it’s 9.5 Points* and very filling. Jack In The Box’s Chicken Fajita Pita is 6.5* Points and that’s including the cheese. They also have Grilled Chicken Strips that are 4 Points (for 4 pieces). Considering I usually have more than 10 Points reserved for dinner at the end of the day, either one of these do me fine. Note that I only buy the main course and not the meal with fries and a soda. I do without the fries and drink water at home.
And the weight still comes off.
About sleep. Yeah, I wish I got more. I usually head to bed about 11 p.m. and wake up (during the week) at 5:30 a.m. Not exactly 7 hours but I’m seeking ways to improve that. Besides, sometimes my son doesn’t get to bed until 9 p.m. or later.
I may take the weekend off from the blog as it’s our son’s 4th Birthday on Sunday! Lots of preparation and whatnot. I might also add some more stuff to the blog so keep an eye out.
See you around 
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*Information courtesy Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone
Milestone #2
2008/03/27 at 3:07 pm | Posted in Exercise, Food, Health, Inspiration, Life, Milestone | Comments Off(Today’s weight has nothing to do with the Weekly Weigh-In which will be considered my “official weight” and the one that will be tracked.)
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, another milestone has been reached.
Today I weighed in at 249.4 which means I’m officially in the 240s. I will celebrate by having a few donuts for lunch.
Just kidding. Although I would really want to, now is not the time to start resting on my laurels. In fact it’s time to kick things up a notch and I’ve already begun by dropping my daily Weight Watchers Points count from 26 to 28.
Speaking of Points, losing weight takes discipline. I have an Excel chart that I created which helps me plan my meals each day and calculate my Points as well. When I get to work I open up the chart and enter the Points value for each item; this way I know exactly what I can or can’t have for dinner. (Note: I had a Veggie Works Burrito from Del Taco last night. I had the Points to do it and yes, it was delicious.)
I calculate my Points each day so as not to disturb my plan. Each day, people. That means no faltering or excuses of any kind.
On the subject of daily routines, here’s my daily exercise plan.
I take the train to work and as such I do a lot of walking: to and from the train station and work, up and down stairs at the stations, etc. I take the escalators only when the stairs are flooded with people running at me.
Once at work I walk up two flights of stairs—no elevator for me. During my one-hour lunch I walk between one and one-and-a half miles around beautiful corporate El Segundo. The area is very pedestrian and many people do the same thing since, like me, they probably take the train to work and can’t do much of anything else during lunch.
At home I do the following:
- 15-20 minutes of weight training
- 50-100 half sit-ups or crunches, whatever you want to call them
- 30-60 minutes of Wii Sports when the mood strikes me
Sometimes, however, I alternate between Wii Sports and weight training. Tonight may be one of those nights as I am pretty sore from last night’s weight session. (Note: I have a home gym of similar to this one. It’s nothing fancy but it does the job.)
Keep in mind that between my commute and workday, I’m away from home at least 11 hours. Even so, I find the time to do all of these things, maintain two blogs and still do my fatherly and husbandly duties.
So what’s my point?
Don’t be lazy. There are 24 hours in the day. If you’re trying to lose weight, make the most of each day handed to you because the pounds won’t fall off by themselves.
Stick with it. I know you can.
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Not My Kind of Motivation
2008/03/26 at 7:45 pm | Posted in Commentary, Motivation | Comments OffOkay, alright, I admit that every now and then I need that little boost to carry me through this journey of mine. So last night I opened up iTunes and searched for “weight loss” in the podcast section.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when I realized that were so many out there it was hard to narrow my choice down to one.
So I ended up selecting one in particular which shall remain nameless (as long as I can bite my tongue). From the preview it sounded interesting. Then again, I was listening to the prologue to the podcast which explained what would be covered. Anyhow, I subscribed to it in the hopes that it would bring me the necessary words of wisdom to succeed while out for my walk.
I continued listening to the prologue at work and yes, it still sounded like it was going in the right direction.
Then the psychobabblish mumbo-jumbo began and the rest was lost on me.
Maybe it’s because I’m a guy. Maybe it’s because I can be an arrogant, stubborn bastard at times. Or maybe, being the creative type of person I am, the message that the author was trying to convey was a bit more complex than it need to be. The truth is I’m willing to give just about anything a shot at least once but these so-called motivational podcasts? No thanks. I’ve learned my lesson and will unsubscribe when I get home.
Additionally, it seems that mostly everything about weight loss, whether periodical or podcast, is aimed at the female crowd. This was apparent when the author started to talk about “fitting into my favorite bikini by summertime.” It’s as is if every man is perfectly accepting of their physical stature and desires not to change it.
Some of us beg to differ.
I came to the conclusion that if this kind of rhetoric is what carries you through your progress, that’s entirely fine. Be happy and go with it. But I guess the only things I need to get me through all of this, even in my darkest hours, should be those that inspired me to do it in the first place: my wife and son.
They are who I live for, who I would die for, and who encourage me to push harder—whether they know it or not. On those days when I don’t feel like walking or want to buy that pack of Pop-Tarts from the food machine, all I have to do is look at their pictures on my desk and my mind shifts immediately.
Thanks, guys. You are indeed my motivation.
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