I realized as I neared the gym tonight that I had forgotten my gym shoes. I entered and kept my head down, but I felt like everyone was looking at my feet. Who is this jerk, and why is he ruining our equipment with his salty shoes? I made sure to wipe off the elliptical's pedals (or whatever you call where you put your feet) when I was done, but I definitely cut my exercise session short.
I recently was informed about the 2010 Healthy Life Expo. I wanted to link to a website, but there really isn't one. Here's the information on the flier I picked up at the gym.
January 30-31, 2010
SAT, 10am-5pm - Sunday, 10am-5pm
Minneapolis Convention Center
They claim to have things like product samples, free seminars, live demos, live demonstrations (Seriously, they're both in there), great shopping, three stages of speakers, demos (ha!) and FUN Entertainment.
I don't know if I'll go yet. If I do, I'm sure I'll have plenty to report.
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Weigh In and Gym Results
Here it is, the much awaited (by me, many of you probably don't care) weigh in. I can't believe the results.
I was hoping for maybe 289, but HOLY CRAP. I don't know whether or not to actually believe this. I think I need to. I've been thinking for the past few days that 100 pounds was an unrealistic goal, but today's results are super encouraging. I might actually make it!
A co-worker told me about a website where you can make goals, sign a contract, and it will keep you on task. The thing that makes this website unique: you can set it up to donate money to an "anti-charity" if you fail to meet your goals. I could set it up to donate a dollar for every pound I fall short of my goal to the George W. Bush Presidential Library or NAMBLA (probably not NAMBLA, come to think about it). I did some research and the website is called stickK. The extra K in the name is legalese for contract (I asked my wife, a law student, she confirmed it). Now, you don't have to donate money to an anti-charity, but it would sure light a fire under your ass.
Lastly, I went to the gym tonight. 32 push-ups. A new record! I realized that I've never done 32 push-ups in my entire life. I'm so pleased.
In closing, I'm proud of myself but slightly skeptical of my results. I think I just need to take this victory in stride and focus on duplicating the results next week.
I was hoping for maybe 289, but HOLY CRAP. I don't know whether or not to actually believe this. I think I need to. I've been thinking for the past few days that 100 pounds was an unrealistic goal, but today's results are super encouraging. I might actually make it!
A co-worker told me about a website where you can make goals, sign a contract, and it will keep you on task. The thing that makes this website unique: you can set it up to donate money to an "anti-charity" if you fail to meet your goals. I could set it up to donate a dollar for every pound I fall short of my goal to the George W. Bush Presidential Library or NAMBLA (probably not NAMBLA, come to think about it). I did some research and the website is called stickK. The extra K in the name is legalese for contract (I asked my wife, a law student, she confirmed it). Now, you don't have to donate money to an anti-charity, but it would sure light a fire under your ass.
Lastly, I went to the gym tonight. 32 push-ups. A new record! I realized that I've never done 32 push-ups in my entire life. I'm so pleased.
In closing, I'm proud of myself but slightly skeptical of my results. I think I just need to take this victory in stride and focus on duplicating the results next week.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Top 10 Ways to Lose Weight in 2010
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It's now officially 1 hour and 22 minutes into the new year and I'm convinced it's going to be a good one. My plan is in place, and I'm expecting to see downward movement on the scale on Monday.
For each new year, people often resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, or get more exercise. For me, New Years' Resolutions have always seemed a bit unrealizable. New Years' Eve is some arbitrary date in the middle of winter on which we expect our lives to turn around. When it comes to weight loss, I've learned you have to be ready to change.
That being said, if you have resolved to lose weight in 2010, please don't let me dissuade you from starting today. Here are a few things I've learned on my weight loss journey that may help you. A lot of this information is covered in-depth in old posts on my blog.
1) Have a goal. Make it attainable. The goal I set for myself of 100 pounds in a year may seem steep, but I have to lose less than 2 pounds a week for a year to accomplish it. The reason I chose to bite off such a large goal is meaningful to me. Since the second grade I have struggled with my weight. I chose an end result where I feel I will not be "fat" anymore. I know I'll still be considered overweight at 196 pounds, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
2) Know how many calories a day you need to consume to lose the weight you want to lose. There are several websites for this. Weight Watchers has some very good online tools, but it comes at a price. I would suggest going to meetings if you join. Another website (this one free) pointed out to me recently is SparkPeople.com. I haven't fully explored this site yet, but I do have an account. It will actually create a meal plan for you based on your height, weight, and a number of other factors. You just need to eat what it tells you to eat. I would like to figure out if there is a way to synchronize two accounts for two people cooking for each other so you make exactly the right amount of food. It also has a neat grocery list function.
Update: I forgot to include the link for the site I've actually been using. WebMD has a great Food & Fitness Planner. It's like Spark People but more straightforward.
3) Develop an exercise plan. You don't need to start running marathons right away. Take it slow. My exercise plan started as only 20 minutes a day, four times a week. For those of you who don't go to a gym that gives new members a free consultation, feel free to steal this routine (note: Before beginning a routine, make sure you are in good health. I am not a personal trainer or a physician.). My routine varies every other time I go to the gym. On day 1, I spend 15 minutes on an elliptical machine at level 7. Then I move to the treadmill, set it at an incline of 10 degrees and walk at 3 miles per hour. The first time I did this, I thought I was going to die. As you get better at this, you can add time or increase the difficulty level on the machines. On day 2, I warm up for five minutes. I prefer the treadmill exercise explained above because it really gets me sweating. Then I do as many push-ups as I can do, do a variation of the plank exercise where I push myself up while doing the plank (I'll find a video of this one of these days) for as long as I can. Then I do an exercise where I push my arms out and try to touch my knee to my elbow. I have no idea what this is called. If you know, please let me know. Again, I do these until I collapse. Then I go get a drink of water and start over with the push-ups. 3 cycles total will do you.
If you don't want my exercise regiment, there are plenty available online. A simple Google search should yield tons of results.
4) Wear warm clothes at the gym. Your body works much harder when it has to exercise and cool itself at the same time. You get a lot more bang for your buck when you wear sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt to the gym as opposed to shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt.
5) Don't worry what anyone thinks of you when you exercise. Oh sure that guy over there has biceps the size of Mount Rushmore. The girl on the treadmill has a size i (for those of you who aren't math nerds, i is the symbol for the square root of -1) waist. I feel self conscious around those people too. But do you know what they are thinking about? Working toward their own goals. They're not at the gym to show off, they're at the gym to work. They didn't get to the point they are now by judging everybody else at the gym, they got to where they are now by busting their humps at the gym.
6) Pace yourself. So many of us (myself included) wish we could be thin right now. We tend to get down on ourselves for being overweight. The mere fact that I'm doing something about my weight lifts my spirits and improves my body image issues. I'm still fat. But that condition is temporary because of actions I'm taking.
7) Be accountable to yourself and others. A friend pointed out to me that when losing weight, it's helpful to be accountable to someone else. A spouse or significant other might not be the best option as reminding you not to eat that piece of pie or that you haven't been to the gym in two weeks might be legitimate, but may be interpreted as nagging. I know I've had my feelings hurt when my wife asked me if I really needed to eat that piece of chocolate.
I do need to be accountable to another person. That's something I'm still working on.
8) Don't make excuses. I'm terrible at this one. I've actually caught myself making excuses mid-sentence. The fact of the matter is I'm human and so are you. We all avoid cognitive dissonance by self handicapping, rationalizing things we've done, or employing any other defense mechanisms we have at our disposal. Awareness of these behaviors helps negate their effects.
9) Don't weigh yourself every day. Your weight fluctuates from day to day and hour to hour. Weigh yourself on the same scale, at the same time of day, once a week. I've had weeks where I supposedly lost 6 or 7 pounds only to find it had all returned a few days later.
10) Help others on their journey. If you offer encouragement to friends, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone else who is also attempting to lose weight, you not only energize them, you focus attention on your own goal as well. Losing weight is tough. Very tough. Those of us on this road need all the support we can get.
It's now officially 1 hour and 22 minutes into the new year and I'm convinced it's going to be a good one. My plan is in place, and I'm expecting to see downward movement on the scale on Monday.
For each new year, people often resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, or get more exercise. For me, New Years' Resolutions have always seemed a bit unrealizable. New Years' Eve is some arbitrary date in the middle of winter on which we expect our lives to turn around. When it comes to weight loss, I've learned you have to be ready to change.
That being said, if you have resolved to lose weight in 2010, please don't let me dissuade you from starting today. Here are a few things I've learned on my weight loss journey that may help you. A lot of this information is covered in-depth in old posts on my blog.
1) Have a goal. Make it attainable. The goal I set for myself of 100 pounds in a year may seem steep, but I have to lose less than 2 pounds a week for a year to accomplish it. The reason I chose to bite off such a large goal is meaningful to me. Since the second grade I have struggled with my weight. I chose an end result where I feel I will not be "fat" anymore. I know I'll still be considered overweight at 196 pounds, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
2) Know how many calories a day you need to consume to lose the weight you want to lose. There are several websites for this. Weight Watchers has some very good online tools, but it comes at a price. I would suggest going to meetings if you join. Another website (this one free) pointed out to me recently is SparkPeople.com. I haven't fully explored this site yet, but I do have an account. It will actually create a meal plan for you based on your height, weight, and a number of other factors. You just need to eat what it tells you to eat. I would like to figure out if there is a way to synchronize two accounts for two people cooking for each other so you make exactly the right amount of food. It also has a neat grocery list function.
Update: I forgot to include the link for the site I've actually been using. WebMD has a great Food & Fitness Planner. It's like Spark People but more straightforward.
3) Develop an exercise plan. You don't need to start running marathons right away. Take it slow. My exercise plan started as only 20 minutes a day, four times a week. For those of you who don't go to a gym that gives new members a free consultation, feel free to steal this routine (note: Before beginning a routine, make sure you are in good health. I am not a personal trainer or a physician.). My routine varies every other time I go to the gym. On day 1, I spend 15 minutes on an elliptical machine at level 7. Then I move to the treadmill, set it at an incline of 10 degrees and walk at 3 miles per hour. The first time I did this, I thought I was going to die. As you get better at this, you can add time or increase the difficulty level on the machines. On day 2, I warm up for five minutes. I prefer the treadmill exercise explained above because it really gets me sweating. Then I do as many push-ups as I can do, do a variation of the plank exercise where I push myself up while doing the plank (I'll find a video of this one of these days) for as long as I can. Then I do an exercise where I push my arms out and try to touch my knee to my elbow. I have no idea what this is called. If you know, please let me know. Again, I do these until I collapse. Then I go get a drink of water and start over with the push-ups. 3 cycles total will do you.
If you don't want my exercise regiment, there are plenty available online. A simple Google search should yield tons of results.
4) Wear warm clothes at the gym. Your body works much harder when it has to exercise and cool itself at the same time. You get a lot more bang for your buck when you wear sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt to the gym as opposed to shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt.
5) Don't worry what anyone thinks of you when you exercise. Oh sure that guy over there has biceps the size of Mount Rushmore. The girl on the treadmill has a size i (for those of you who aren't math nerds, i is the symbol for the square root of -1) waist. I feel self conscious around those people too. But do you know what they are thinking about? Working toward their own goals. They're not at the gym to show off, they're at the gym to work. They didn't get to the point they are now by judging everybody else at the gym, they got to where they are now by busting their humps at the gym.
6) Pace yourself. So many of us (myself included) wish we could be thin right now. We tend to get down on ourselves for being overweight. The mere fact that I'm doing something about my weight lifts my spirits and improves my body image issues. I'm still fat. But that condition is temporary because of actions I'm taking.
7) Be accountable to yourself and others. A friend pointed out to me that when losing weight, it's helpful to be accountable to someone else. A spouse or significant other might not be the best option as reminding you not to eat that piece of pie or that you haven't been to the gym in two weeks might be legitimate, but may be interpreted as nagging. I know I've had my feelings hurt when my wife asked me if I really needed to eat that piece of chocolate.
I do need to be accountable to another person. That's something I'm still working on.
8) Don't make excuses. I'm terrible at this one. I've actually caught myself making excuses mid-sentence. The fact of the matter is I'm human and so are you. We all avoid cognitive dissonance by self handicapping, rationalizing things we've done, or employing any other defense mechanisms we have at our disposal. Awareness of these behaviors helps negate their effects.
9) Don't weigh yourself every day. Your weight fluctuates from day to day and hour to hour. Weigh yourself on the same scale, at the same time of day, once a week. I've had weeks where I supposedly lost 6 or 7 pounds only to find it had all returned a few days later.
10) Help others on their journey. If you offer encouragement to friends, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone else who is also attempting to lose weight, you not only energize them, you focus attention on your own goal as well. Losing weight is tough. Very tough. Those of us on this road need all the support we can get.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Quick Note
Since I've been off from work, I've had a terrible habit of ignoring my bed time. It's almost 1:00am and I'm still up dinking around on the computer.
I've had a few pieces of candy today. I'm not too concerned because I went to the gym. Yesterday I ate at Chipotle and YIKES! Did you know a Chipotle burrito with rice, beans, meat, corn salsa, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce is around 1000 calories? Let me reiterate, 1000 calories! It's deceptive because their ingredients seem fresher than most fast food. At least nothing is fried. Anyway, I still managed to stay around 2500 calories for the day.
I've had a lot of people show me websites that may help me with my journey. Thank you. Any tools I can use on my journey I will take. Keep 'em coming.
Lisa suggested a website called Spark People. I signed up for an account but haven't delved in too deep yet. Liza suggested Healthy Wage. Does anyone know if this one is legit? I've started researching websites to train for a 5k, but I'd like to do that sometime next fall, so now I just need to focus on making my joints not hurt when I run.
I've had a few pieces of candy today. I'm not too concerned because I went to the gym. Yesterday I ate at Chipotle and YIKES! Did you know a Chipotle burrito with rice, beans, meat, corn salsa, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce is around 1000 calories? Let me reiterate, 1000 calories! It's deceptive because their ingredients seem fresher than most fast food. At least nothing is fried. Anyway, I still managed to stay around 2500 calories for the day.
I've had a lot of people show me websites that may help me with my journey. Thank you. Any tools I can use on my journey I will take. Keep 'em coming.
Lisa suggested a website called Spark People. I signed up for an account but haven't delved in too deep yet. Liza suggested Healthy Wage. Does anyone know if this one is legit? I've started researching websites to train for a 5k, but I'd like to do that sometime next fall, so now I just need to focus on making my joints not hurt when I run.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Back to the Weigh-In Schedule
Thanks to Julia for showing me the WebMD Portion Size Plate. It's a great visual guide for portion sizes. Through a series of pictures, it gives you a very good idea of how much you're eating. For instance, I had no idea I was eating at least 2 servings of chicken every time I had a chicken breast.
The site also has a Food and Fitness Planner that's very similar to the WeightWatchers online tools. It bills itself more as a meal planner. You input your weight, height, waist size, gender, age, activity level, and weight goal. It will tell you how many calories you should take in per day. You can then plan out a menu and it will show you how close you are to your calorie limit. You can also add exercise.
The site also has a Food and Fitness Planner that's very similar to the WeightWatchers online tools. It bills itself more as a meal planner. You input your weight, height, waist size, gender, age, activity level, and weight goal. It will tell you how many calories you should take in per day. You can then plan out a menu and it will show you how close you are to your calorie limit. You can also add exercise.
I weighed myself at 10:00 instead of at 8:00 like I wanted to but not much changed. I went to the gym today at 7:30 and grocery shopping after that. I noticed that the floor in my bathroom is not level and if I move the scale even an inch in any direction, the reading will fluctuate by up to 10 pounds. I taped the floor where I set the scale so I should be able to set it in the exact same spot from here on out. 291.7 may not be entirely accurate, but I'll take it. That means I've lost a total of 4.3 pounds. It's been a slow start, but hopefully the weight loss will pick up once I get things figured out.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thank You.
Yesterday, I posted a link to my blog on Facebook. Since then, I've gotten a bunch of positive feedback from all of you. Thank you. It's support from all of you that will keep me focused on my goal. I'm in my fourth week and blogging in a vacuum is tough. I'll keep posting links and hopefully, you'll keep reading.
I've added a spaghetti measure to my rewards (thanks Julia). It's not a wallet buster or anything, but it's really cool looking. It uses the same aperture technology that cameras use to regulate the amount of light that hits the sensor (or film). Find it at the A + R Store. They have some really cool kitchen and home stuff. Check out the egg poachers. I think I'll have to get a kitchen scale pretty soon too.
I went to the gym last night with my wife and mother-in-law. They had the weird elliptical machines, but it wasn't a bad experience overall. My mother-in-law spends about 20 minutes more than I do at the gym to finish her routine, so I got a chance to spend a little extra time on a treadmill.
Before I sign off, I'd just like to say thank you again. Feel free to follow my blog. There's a button you can click somewhere on the bottom of the bar on the right side of the screen. You can also get it as an RSS feed somewhere on the bottom of the page. You could also just bookmark the page. I guess you could also click on the links I post on facebook from time to time.
I've added a spaghetti measure to my rewards (thanks Julia). It's not a wallet buster or anything, but it's really cool looking. It uses the same aperture technology that cameras use to regulate the amount of light that hits the sensor (or film). Find it at the A + R Store. They have some really cool kitchen and home stuff. Check out the egg poachers. I think I'll have to get a kitchen scale pretty soon too.I went to the gym last night with my wife and mother-in-law. They had the weird elliptical machines, but it wasn't a bad experience overall. My mother-in-law spends about 20 minutes more than I do at the gym to finish her routine, so I got a chance to spend a little extra time on a treadmill.
Before I sign off, I'd just like to say thank you again. Feel free to follow my blog. There's a button you can click somewhere on the bottom of the bar on the right side of the screen. You can also get it as an RSS feed somewhere on the bottom of the page. You could also just bookmark the page. I guess you could also click on the links I post on facebook from time to time.
Monday, December 14, 2009
First Weekly Weigh-In
I just weighed myself. As you know, I'm pushing hard this week. I ate less dinner today, I just had an apple as a snack instead of something more delicious or substantial (or grazing for that matter). The result is my picture of the day.
Yes, that's my belly in the way. Hopefully, that will get a little smaller this week too.
Weight: 294.7
Pounds Left: 98.3
Weeks Left: 50
Weight: 294.7
Pounds Left: 98.3
Weeks Left: 50
Monday, December 7, 2009
I'm tired
I'm running on fumes at this point as I was up waayyyyyyyy past my bed time last night so I'll make this brief.
I got a phone call today saying I'd won a free month of gym dues. I think it's a sign. Success is on its way.
I went to the gym tonight and worked my butt off a little longer than normal. Half an hour on the machines rather than my normal 20 minutes. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm making progress.
I think I may want to try to run a 5k sometime in the future. I need to drop a substantial chunk of weight first, but maybe I can do it as I near my goal.
That's about it. I'm going to skip the weigh-in tonight because I just had a bunch of water and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like what the scale says. I'll weigh myself again tomorrow.
Good night.
I got a phone call today saying I'd won a free month of gym dues. I think it's a sign. Success is on its way.
I went to the gym tonight and worked my butt off a little longer than normal. Half an hour on the machines rather than my normal 20 minutes. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm making progress.
I think I may want to try to run a 5k sometime in the future. I need to drop a substantial chunk of weight first, but maybe I can do it as I near my goal.
That's about it. I'm going to skip the weigh-in tonight because I just had a bunch of water and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like what the scale says. I'll weigh myself again tomorrow.
Good night.
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