Managing is Harder than Losing

I thought that once I hit my goal it make life easier but it hasn't.  Before it was all out doing everything to lose weight now I have to walk the fine line between losing and gaining.  My new strategy is as follows:

I will weigh myself every Monday night.  Depending on those results I will adjust my eating habits for that week.  My goal now is to stay +- 2 lbs of 160 lbs.  I am going to continue with the cartio and weight training.

I have started trying to mix some running into my walking.  Saturday I walked a mile, ran a mile, walked another mile.

Set Back

Yesterday I ate:
Fiber 1 bar - 150 cal
Apple sauce - 50 cal
Lunch at Mi Pueblo Beef enchilada, taco rice nad beans and of course chips - 600 cal?
Pasta with light cream sauce peppers peas corn and sausage - 620 cal

My workout consisted of:
300 curls 5lbs
60 lateral raises
60 front presses
60 shoulder presses
Walked 3 miles ( in the blistering FL sun)
Cycled 4 miles
Walked/Ran 1 mile with my dog

My result:
+.2

I new it was not going to be a productive way when I heard that we were going out to mexican food for a work lunch meeting.  Mexican food it my weakness.  I felt pretty good just gaining the small amount that I did.  I am confident that today I will be able to overcome that and finally get below my goal of 160lbs

Almost There

After losing 1.5lbs yesterday I am within .5 lbs of my goal.  I am working out more and have started eating more.  My 2.5 months of hard work are going to pay off.  I am looking better than I have looked in years.  I am feeling better than I have felt in years.  I am stating to enjoy activities that I have not done for years.  We are now raching the maintenance stage.  this is where it changes from a diet & exercise program to a life style change.  The great thing is that I am not following anyone elses orders and I dont have an official set of rules.  This means that there willbe no feeling guilty if I go to Outback and have a half order of cheese fries, because there is no program to cheat on.  The key from here on out is to be sensible.  If I overindulge one day I will expect negative results, and I will know that I will have to work harder in the following days to get back to where I want to maintain.

I thnk I may have messed up a little by decreasing my caloric intake so far.  i think in hte last couple of weeks my body has gone into starvation mode, my metabolism has gone to a slow crawl and I have had a harder time losing weight.  Now as I stat to increase my food intake I am going to have to watch carefully and not increase too quickly.  If I increase my calories dramatically before my metabolism gets going I will risk adding weight back.  I have purchased some green tea extract which my research seems to indicate is one of the few natural metabolism boosters.  I am going to take this over the next week or so while I increase my food intake.  My goal is to be planning 1500 calories  a day in meals which will give me some room for unplanned snacks and drinks without exceeding 2000 calories per day.  I will monitor this for a few weeks and then adjust as needed in order to maintain a weight of 160lbs.

Yesterday I ate:
special k bars - 3 for a total of 270 cal
Apple sauce - 50 cal
Baked Potato with light butter and bacos - 370 cal
Raspberry sorbet - 70 cal

My workout consisted of:
275 curls 5lbs
60 lateral raises
60 front presses
60 shoulder presses
80 crunches
Walked 3 miles ( in the blistering FL sun)
Cycled 4 miles

My result:
-1.5

A New Look

Yesterday was a good day.  I am having a lot of trouble getting these last 2 lbs to stay off but I think it is because I am startingto work out so I am gaining muscle and I am having more of an appetite.

Yesterday I ate:
 Soup and crackers for lunch (170 cal)
Spagetti and meat sauce for dinner (450 cal)
I also had a few Special K bars throughout the day (2 bars total 180 cal)
grape juice (2 bottles total 240 cal)

My work out consisted of:
300 curls 5lbs
60 lateral raises
60 front presses
60 shoulder presses
60 crunches
Walked 4 miles ( in the blistering FL sun)
Cycled 4 miles

My result was not at all what I had hoped for but it was positive:

-.4 lbs
I am starting to see some results of my upper body work outs.  My arms are starting to get bigger and I have having some definition in my chest.  I still have a lot of work to do in my abs but I am seeing slight progress.  My wife told me she use to do 1000 crunches a day.  I have a ways to go to catch that.

I am going to try to post some before and now pictures in the next couple of days.

A New Chapter

I am within one pound of my goal of 160 lbs.  I am planning to go down to 158 lbs just because I am going to my parents house the end of this month and I always over eat there.  My plan then is to come back home and still be very close to my goal weight of 160lbs.

Since I am reaching my goal it is time to start thinking about a transition from weight loss to weight mantenance and muscle toning.  I have started doing a lot of upper body lifting with light weight and many reps.  Some examples are 200 curls a night, 100 shoulder presses, 100 front presses, and 100 lateral raises.  I am doing these with 5 lb dumb bells.  As I get to a point where I can do these easily  I will raise the weight.  I am still doing cardio by continuing to walk 3 mi/day, cycle 5 mi/day, and I am also stating to train for a 5K run which I will participate in at the end of May.

Of course I will still watch my calorie intake and try to stay below 1500 calories for now and watch how my weight does.  If I continue to lose weight I will up my calories to 2000.

TGIF

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday.  It was too beautiful outside so I spent extra time walking and riding.  My new eating regiment worked out pretty good.  I lost 1.5 lbs Thursday, and .5 yesterday.  Besdies eating my snacks every 2 hours i had a decent lunch and dinner yesterday.  Lunch was 2 egg ranchero burritos and dinner was a pasta dish that I am going to give you the recipe for.

Pasta with sauteed peppers and meatballs
this is one of my favorite new creations

2 servings of pasta.  Anything will work.  I like to use spagetti
1/2 a red pepper chopped
1/3 cup chopped celantro or a tsp dried celantro
2 Tbsp margarine.  I use I Can't believe Its Not Butter Light
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 small frozen italian meatballs

Bake the meatballs in the oven for about 16 min
Make the pasta and set to the side.
Sauce
   put about 1/2 of the margarine into a hot sauce pan add the peppers and sautee until soft
   Add in the heavy cream and the rest of the margarine
   Let it simmer for a few minutes stirring gently
   Add in the celantro
Presentation
   Put pasta on a plate
   Pour sauce over the pasta
   Put meatballs on top of sauce

Makes 2 servings at 490 calories per serving.

I hope you enjoy the new dish.  It is low calorie but it still tastes rich and nice.  I LOVE IT!

Change of Plan

I have been going at this intense diet for a while now and I think my body has caught on.  I am eating less food than ever trying to drop these last few lbs but I can't seem to lose them.  I believe it is because my body is feeling starved so it is slowing down my metabolism in not burning calories at it should.  I have decided to try a different aproach for the next couple of days.  I am going to eat small snckas every 2 hours for the entire day.  I will start at 6am and have my last one at 8pm.  I am hoping to raise my metabolism back up this way and still not have too many calories.  The snacks will be around 100 calories each.

I am back up to 164 today so I have 4 lbs to lose.

Wish Me Luck!

Little by Little

Yesterday was a tough day for me.  I lost 1lb but it was not easy.  I had to use a lot of self control.  I have been craving McDonalds for the past couple of days.  Its not a big deal when I am home because McDonalds is not convenient and I have other food to eat.  When I leave work I have to drive past McDonalds on the same street as my office.  i am also usually very hungry when I leave work so it hard for me not to pull in.  To fight this I keep some of my snacks in my desk.  If I get too hungry I will have some applesauce or a Special K bar before I leave.  If I make it past the McDonalds entrance I will make it home, which is what happened yesterday.  I walked 2.5 miles yesterday in the heat (80 degrees) and I went to the outlet mall and walked a bit more after dinner. 

I changed my menu for dinner yesterday.  I actually had -
Bubba Burger reduced fat hamburger on a sandwich bun with cheese light mayo mustard & pickles.
Baked Lays

Todays Menu is going to look like this:
Lunch
Bean beef and reduced fat cheese burrito. I use 3/4 can of traditional refried beans, 1/4 lb lean ground beef, 1/4 cup reduced fat cheese and tortillas.  These amounts should make enough for 4 burritos,and each burrito will be around 280 calories.  Be aware that tortillas can very greatly in calories so be sure to check the package.
Dinner
Spagetti with meat sauce (see yesterdays post for specifics)

A New Week

Yesterday was a tough day.  I went to a polo match with a group of friends so we ate a lot.  Fortunately I planned ahead and curbed my eating Saturday and also ate light last night.  The net result was that I stayed even for the weekend.

Just so you know that I splurge now and then I will list what I ate at Polo. 1 Colombian style hot dog, 1 bratwurst, a hand full of Doritos, 5 crackers each topped with pepperoni and pepperjack cheese, 2 big helpings of layerd salad, 1 brownie, 3 beers.

I still have 5 lbs to lose and I am hoping to get them off by the end of this week.  I will have to work hard but I should be able to do it.

Todays menu is going to look like this

Lunch

• Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Natures Own Has a whole wheat bread that is only 35 Calories per slice.  I also use I Can't Believe Its Not Butter light spread which is 45 calories per tablespoon.  Add a 60 calorie Kraft single and the sandwich is 175 Calories. 
• Unsweetened Apple Sauce - 50 calories

If you are a big eater like me it may sound like that is enough but trust me it will get you by until dinner time when you will be able to indulge a little.

Dinner

• Spagetti - 200 Calories
• Meat - 1/4 lb lean ground beef 200 calories
• Sauce - 75 Calories I use Prego Traditional and add a little garlic and red wine
• Garlic toast - 80 calories

Add it up for a combined total of 780 calories today.  I try to keep my calories below 1000 when I am in weight loss mode.  By planning meals that are less than that you give yourself room to snack if you have to and still stay below 1000.

Dont forget to maximize your weight loss today by doing some exercise.  Even a walk around the neighborhood will help.

We all new this part was coming

Exercise.  It is necessary if you want to lose weight.

If you are interested in only eating 1 stalk of celery every day, you may be able to get away without exercising.  If you are like me and you want to enjoy good food everyday, you are going to have to put in a little extra effort.

Here are some ways to exercise and make it less like work.

1. When my wife calls me at work on my cell phone, I go outside and walk around the building.  One lap around our building is roughly 1/4 mile.  I can usually get 2 - 3 laps in during a conversation.
2. My son and I go for a walk every afternoon.  This is great because my 1 yr old gets restless staying at home so a walk helps him relax.  We get to enjoy time togeather, great weather and exercise all at one. We walk 2 1/2 - 3 miles
3. After dinner my wife, my son and I load up on the bikes and ride around the neighbor hood.  this works great because again my son it relaxed and occupied with checking out the surroundings.  This gives my wife and I quiet time to talk about the day.  We ride about 3 - 4 miles

You should try and come up with some other things to do that involve exercise but also help you accomplish something else.

I would love to here your ideas.

Tomorrow I will start adding some of my food ideas, recipes, and the menus I follow.

Drink Water

Not vitamin water, not flavored water.  Drink water.  Anything else is just packing on unnecessary calories.  By the way if you haven't figured it out, I am a calorie counter.  Simple math of calories in vs calories out.  We all know that drinking Coke makes us fat.  Next time you grab a juice, vitamin water, or bottled iced tea check the label.  Don't just look at the calorie #.  You have to look at the # of servings in the bottle as well as the # of calories per serving.  They can be tricky.  You will be suprised at how quickly you can ruin a decent meal by what you drink with it.  I drink one celsius first thing in the morning.  I drink water the rest of the day.  My plan is to stop drinking Celsius once I reach my goal weight of 160 lbs.

if you are going to drink anything other than water, account for it.  Don't ruin a decent meal by adding an unnecessary drink.