Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Snacking

I need to knock it off.  I've been munching all day.  Given, almonds are a pretty healthy snack, but I couldn't stop shoving them in my mouth.  I ate half a container of them.  I'm experiencing the same thing now with some baked cheddar lays.

I don't know if my body is responding to stress or the cold (since I don't have any heat in my car).  Maybe I got a visit from the metabolism fairy overnight.  In any case, I need to quit munching. 

What do you do to curb your appetite?

Monday, November 29, 2010

Weigh-In Results

It's Monday, day 366 of my weight loss journey.  It's weigh-in time. 

2 pounds even.  That's a solid loss over especially over Thanksgiving.  If I can do the same for the next 25 weeks or so, I'll be a happy camper.

I just want to thank everyone who commented on yesterday's post or sent me a message telling me I'm doing a good job.  In fact, I need to thank everyone who has commented on my blog over the last year.  You've kept me going.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

100 Pounds in a Year?

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone.  I'll tell you more about my weekend a little later, but first, I have a bigger landmark I'd like to talk about.

Today is the 1-year anniversary of the beginning of my journey.  365 days ago I started this blog with a simple and incredibly ambitious goal, to lose 100 pounds over the course of a year.

So, a year later, how have I fared?  When I started 52 weeks ago, I weighed 296 pounds.  I was ashamed of my weight.  I felt unhealthy.  And I was extremely frustrated.  A year later, I weigh 245.7.  I've lost 50.3 pounds.  I didn't make my goal of losing 100 pounds in a year.

I started my first post by posing the question, "Am I being too ambitious?"  It's a year later and I know the answer.  No.  If I hadn't set the bar so high, I wouldn't have lost anywhere near the 50 pounds that I lost.  It doesn't matter that I missed my goal.  My health, my looks, and my self esteem are all 10 times better than they were a year ago. 

Where does this leave me now?  Well, I'm not giving up on my goal to lose 100 pounds.  I'm halfway there as it is.  In the next few days I'll put together a new time-line to reach my goal.  Over the next few months, I'm going to redouble my efforts and really work for weight loss.  It's very clear that I've done some coasting, but I'm going to change that. 

I'm also thinking of changing the name of my blog since I didn't lose 100 pounds in a year.  Any suggestions?

I have had a busy weekend.  On Thanksgiving, we went over to Claire's aunt and uncle's house.  I didn't restrict my eating but I logged everything I ate.  I noticed that even though I didn't restrict my diet, sometimes writing things down made decide not to eat them.  The extra step it took to eat food made me think twice about snacking.  For your scrutiny, I present my thanksgiving meal.

3 pieces of my mother-in-law's delicious s'mores fudge.  Yum!
3 servings of crackers
2 servings of cheese (cheddar and pepper jack)
1 handful of mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews, brazil nuts)
3 pieces of almond bark
1 brie and chive biscuit
2 cups of mashed potatoes made with sour cream and butter
2 cups of turkey
1/2 cup wild rice stuffing
3/4 cup bread stuffing
1/4 cup gravy
1 piece of dutch apple pie
2 tablespoons of whipped cream

I also had two blueberry muffins for breakfast that day.  The total calorie count was around 3500 calories.  That's almost 300 calories below the average American's daily caloric intake. *  It is kind of gross that the average American eats more on a regular day than I ate on Thanksgiving.

I woke up early on Friday morning to stand in line for a Black Friday deal on a printer.  I was extremely cold.  Extremely cold.  I think that here in the northernmost contiguous state, we should move Black Friday to August. 

After a morning of shopping, I headed to the gym to get the most intense workout I've had in a while.  Since the weather has turned inhospitable to my ability to stay upright on a bike, I've started to lose some strength and endurance. 

I performed "poor" on the treadmill fitness test.  Last time I scored "fair" (which sounds mediocre, but was really a big deal for me).  Afterward, I did bench press, curls, shoulder press, and lunges, then spent 20 minutes on the elliptical.  I thought the muscles I built in my legs from cycling so much the last few months would help with the lunges.  Nope.  I can barely walk now.

Yesterday, we went to my parents for Thanksgiving part 2.  We had a nice lasagna with wheat noodles, 93% lean ground beef, and cottage cheese.  Very healthy.  Thanks mom!

I'm really not sure what my weigh in is going to look like tomorrow.  I know one thing, no matter what the result, I'm proud of how far I've come in the last 365 days.  Let's see what I can do in the next 365.

*I was unable to find a primary source on this number.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm Back

Yes, I had a crappy weigh-in this week.  There were a lot of reasons, but it boiled down to three things. 

1.  I got sick.  This was a big one because I eat like crap when I'm sick.
2.  I quit counting my calories.  I did this in part because I got sick, but you saw what happened when I counted calories and you saw what happened when I quit.
3.  I didn't bike to work on Monday.  Whenever I bike to work, I lose a lot of water weight due to sweat.  It's been pretty clear since I started biking that I lose a couple pounds of water on my bike.

So what am I going to do?  I've logged my calories the past two days and I'll be doing it tomorrow.  That's right, I'm going to try to write down everything I eat tomorrow.  That's right, I'll be counting calories on Thanksgiving.  I'm not going to deprive myself of anything I want to eat, I'll just be logging how many calories I consume.

Wish me luck.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Cleaning Out the Closet

I've been sick for the past few days. You would think that being sick would make me lose weight, but I tend to take care of myself by shoving whatever I'm having even the slightest craving for directly into my face.

I can't take it back, but I'm eventually going to have to deal with this particular behavior.

I had a non-scale victory tonight. I cleaned out my closet and got rid of about 3/4 of my wardrobe because my clothes were too big. This I'd going to save me a ton of time in the morning.

I have a small problem now. I have no clothes.
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

It's My Life

I used to think there was nothing I could do about my weight.  I tried diet and exercise and even slim-fast.  I resigned to believing fat was something that happened to me.  It was out of my control.

Have you ever felt that way?

Time and time again I resolved to change my weight.  To become thinner.  To look better.  I would become determined and... very little would happen.

I concluded that nothing I did could really push the scale down.  I was just destined to be fat.  This mentality continued for years until I got so fat I got mad.  I was fed up (pardon the pun).  I hated how I looked, I hated how I felt, and I hated that I had to present myself to the world as a huge tubby.

Things are different now.  I look better, feel better, and feel as though I'm presenting a better me to the world. 

I'm not all the way to my goal, but I have definitely learned that I am in control of my weight and my life.