Weigh-In Results

Happy Monday!

I'm nearing the end of day 8 of 21 of counting calories.  I've been hungry all week.  I've been very anxious about whether or not I lost weight this week.  My brain has trouble with things like logging calories so this week has been a real victory for me. 

Let's see if my effort has paid off at all.

That black blob in the upper right is a curious cat.

5.4 pounds!  YEAH!!!  If you have any question about how to lose weight quickly, you need to count your calories.  And be honest with yourself.  Seriously, I may have worked out hard this week, but I would have seen a big goose egg in the loss department this week without calorie counting.

I'm stoked and I'm optimistic.  After months of not being able to move the scale the way I wanted to, I feel like I found a recipe that works.  I'm on the road to big losses.  196, here I come!

Calorie Counting: Day 7 of 21

I'm a third of the way there! Just two more weeks of logging my calories every single day. Actually, the more I do it, the more I see the value of continuing the habit. I'm eating less and only went over my self-imposed limit of 2400 calories one day. We went to see my parents and they fed us dinner. Now, I may be able to resist a lot more than I could a couple years ago, but Mom's cooking is still Kryptonite. She is very good at making sure the meal isn't too fatty. I just eat too much because her food is delicious.

Today was the Super Bowl. Now I'm not a big sports fan, but GO PACK! My wife, Claire, is a cheesehead through and through. I guess you can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl.

Anyway, we needed a healthy Super Bowl worthy dinner. I came up with a way to make low-fat boneless buffalo wings. Now keep in mind these aren't what you would find at the bar, but they sure hit the spot.

I coated some boneless chicken breasts in Frank's Red-Hot Buffalo Sauce and pan seared them. That consists of frying the breasts in a little olive oil for three minutes on a side and popping them in the oven for six-seven minutes. Then I cut them into boneless wing sized strips and coated them with more of the Frank's. Then I served them with a hefty side of cauliflower and some low-fat bleu cheese dressing. I'm making myself hungry again just describing it.

I doubled up on work-outs today. I did the kettlebell resistance workout today, which in my opinion is the easiest of the three I've done, but it made me the most sweaty. Then Claire and I went you the gym and I tran for about half an hour.

Any guesses as to a weigh-in result for tomorrow? Winner gets their weight in chocolate covered bacon (i hear it costs the metabolism... or something.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Lacklustre Weigh-In

I'm just going to cut right to the chase.  I gained 1.4 pounds this week.  I can make as many excuses as I want (I've been sick, I'm tired, it's been a long week at school, I've been worried about my mom and her broken wrist), or I can just 'fess up to it, suck it up, and work harder for next week's weigh-in.

I'm trying to look at this positively.  I was still able to lose over six pounds for the month of January.  My hope is that I can continue that in the following months.  Because that still averages to a 1.5 pound weekly weight loss.

Also, as Andrew mentioned in passing, I have completed the first week of the KettleWorx six-week challenge.  It is probably the best work-out I've ever done.  The three best things from the work-out are:

1.  The work-outs are only 20 minutes each, but you're sweating the whole time.  You really feel like you've accomplished something.

2.  Of the six-week series (18 work-outs), they are all different work-outs.  So I don't need to worry about boredom or repetition.

3.  I'm able to do them in the privacy of my own home.  So I don't need to worry about being judged by others.

That's it for me tonight.  It's been a long week.  I'm gonna go hit it hard.

Workin' it,
Claire

Calorie Tracking: Day 3 of 21

I did a good job counting my calories the last three days, but now my body is begging me to feed it.  It seems the worst time is about 9:00 in the morning.  Maybe I need to move a little calorie consumption to breakfast and away from dinner or lunch.  One of my co-workers pointed out to me today that I was walking funny.  I'm still sore from Monday's foray into the kettlebell DVD adventure. 

It still feels like a big chore to count my calories, but I'm trying to stay dedicated to it.  I have to keep telling myself that this will pay off on Monday's weigh-in. 

I'm a little frustrated that I'm re-losing weight.  I worked so hard to get this weight off in the first place and what happened?  I got complacent.  I still exercised, but I didn't push myself.  This kettlebell program is reminding me that exercise should be work.  I don't mean work as opposed to play.  You can get some great exercise playing.  Think of basketball, not chess.  Lots of fun can be had while getting really intense exercise.

That's it for me tonight.  I'm worn out from too much everything.  In what ways do you have fun burning calories?

Calorie Tracking: Day 2 of 21

I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had.  It turns out the kettlebell workout I did yesterday kicked my ass (and my abs and my legs and my back) much more than I realized.  Now, I understand that the soreness I'm experiencing is muscle activation and I won't hurt this much every time I exercise.  It's still going to be tough to put in the DVD tomorrow and hit it again.

So far so good in the calorie counting department.  I came in about 150 calories under my 2400 calorie goal today.  I made the mistake of packing too small of a lunch, so I was redonkulously hungry until the Chipotle burrito bowl I had for dinner (I would have eaten a whole second one if left to my own devices).  After I added that to my food log, I realized I had enough extra calories for a dessert, so I had one of those 150 calorie microwave brownie bowls.  They're really nice for me compared to regular brownies because I don't eat 5 brownies worth of dough before they go in the oven.  Anyway, I feel really balanced now.  Happy I got Chipotle, and happy I'm not filled to the brim with snack food.

Weigh-In Results

Happy Monday!  I was sick all through the weekend.  Again... Blech.  I'm sick of Winter and I'm sick of being sick.  Things seem to be much better now.  Here's hoping I stay healthy for a while.

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!

Measurements

It's been a long time since I've posted measurements.  But my wife, Claire, has been doing them weekly since she started guest posting on my blog.  Well, she inspired me to get back in the habit of taking measurements.

The last time I took measurements was almost 8 months ago on May 3rd.  Since then, I've only come down in weight 5.3 pounds.  I've been really down on myself recently for stagnant scale readings after such an amazing start.

Below are the measurements I took using instructions from this website.  In red, are the changes since my last measurements in May.

Neck: 18" -1"
Shoulder: 51" -3.75"
Bicep: -1"
Chest: 47.5" -3"
Waist: 45" -0.5"
Hips: 44.5" -2"
Thigh: 23 -5.5"
Calf: 18" -0.5      

I lost 5.5 inches from one thigh!  That makes me very happy.  On Monday I'm going to start counting calories again.  Hopefully, that will help push my weight down.  I've made progress.  I'm happy.

Oh, one more thing.  Do you want sexy legs like mine?  Hop on your bicycle.