Speaking of being healthy, let's get to the weigh-in.
Thanks to everyone who assured me my 8.2 pound gain last week was mostly water weight from all the Gatorade and chicken noodle soup I took in when I was sick. It seems you were right. I managed to take off 6.3 pounds of it this week even though I was too sick to work out almost the entire week.
Today marks the beginning of my second 21-day challenge of 2011. This time I'm logging everything I eat for three weeks. This has been my Achilles Heel since I started over a year ago. If I had managed to start out successfully logging my calories, I'm sure I would have made my one-year goal of losing 100 pounds.
I'm not sure how I'm going to be successful other than to have my wife, Claire (have I mentioned how impressed I am by her commitment to joining my weight loss journey?), try to help remind me if I've logged my intake that day. I'll be using Fat Secret Calorie Counter, though I may experiment with other apps for my Android phone. I think once I start seeing my results, I'll be more motivated. Do you have any advice on how to be successful counting calories?
I doubled up on the exercise today. First, I went to the gym and ran for a little over a mile. But the real work-out came at home. Claire decided to get the KettleWorx kettle bell with a six-DVD set of exercises. I decided to give it a shot. I figured I'm pretty strong, This 5-pound weight isn't going to be much of a challenge. I was wrong. It kicked my ass. I'll let Claire write the full review once she's done all the workouts. I'm definitely going to keep using it three times a week. It's good exercise.
One last thing. I'm doing the Polar Bear Plunge again this year. Now if you weren't around a year ago, let me tell you what it's all about. Up here in the colder climes, we do silly things in the winter like cutting into frozen lakes and jumping into them. "Why," you might ask, "would anyone do this?" It's simple. I'm jumping into freezing water in order to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota. I work with a lot of kids with special needs and the Special Olympics is a cause close to my heart. I'm also doing this in memory of my grandmother who died a year ago this week. Not that she would ever do this herself. My mom said it best last year when she said "Grandma would be proud. And nervous".
Last year I raised over $500. This year I'd like to beat it. Please help me raise money. I'll be incredibly grateful for any and all donations. Seriously, no donation is too small. To donate, click here. Thank you so much!
Im glad you're feeling better. The polar bear plunge sounds exciting. Sounds like it should be on a bucket list
ReplyDeleteGreat job this week. SOmetimes you win some.:) Sounds like the exercise is old hat, and you just need to really *focus* on the eating. I've used a kettlebell at the gym (30 lb one though!), but everyone's talking about routines with them. Haven't done it yet myself. I'll have to get some workout dvds from the library... Best of luck now that you're over your cold!!
ReplyDeleteHi!!! I love your blog. Counting calories is hard, especially if you eat out frequently. I use Fat Secret calorie counter as well, and its been working for me.
ReplyDeleteI also have tried to learn visually what size portions I should eat and how much of a food equals how many ounces or cups.
I do this by measuring out EVERYTHING I eat. If I eat a piece of grilled chicken breast I use a kitchen scale to measure out 3oz. If I eat steamed veggies I measure out 1/4 cup (or whatever the serving size is). I even do it with condiments like the low sodium ketchup I eat (also lower calories than regular), or vinaigrette dressing for a salad. It gets tedious. When I make a salad I will use my kitchen scale to measure each veggie in ounces.
All the prep work has taught me 2 things though:
1.) I can visually estimate how much of something I should (or shouldn't!) eat whenever I go out somewhere and
2.) has made it easier not to BINGE on food. I know this sounds crazy, but those extra 5 minutes of making myself wait for it has helped me to learn to control my cravings. So when I'm in between meals and I suddenly want to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a waffle smothered in syrup I can wait it out, and grab some pretzels or veggies instead.
Good luck, and keep posting!