A Stitch in Time, Day 49

A stitch in time saves nine. That maybe true. Eight stitches in your back however doesn't save anything... except for trips to the gym.

Last Tuesday I thought to myself "Hey, I haven't been cut up in awhile!" so I went to the doctor and had a few stitches put in my mid-back. Well there may have been other reasons for it, but the end result is I haven't been to the gym in a week unfortunately. I'm going to give cardio a try on Wednesday this week, but no stressful lifting for awhile more I think. The stitches come out next Tuesday, then after that I'll hopefully get back into full swing.

The important thing here, like in other diversions, is that I stay the course. Aside from being achey and craving comfort foods while recovering, I'm still doing great. Over the weekend I weighed in at 223.0 on two seperate occasions!

But some heavy celebrating on St. Patrick's Day & a lack of working out maybe causing some strange fluctuations. I'll try to get some more standard weight measurements in the morning this week to see where I'm really at. I'm coming up on the big TWO-OH mark though!

Oh, and another first. Last Friday at work, I got the first "Have you lost weight?" comment from someone who I haven't actually told that I'm losing weight. So it's officially noticable!

227.0 Pounds, Day 39

It took my brain a minute to realize what I was looking at on my scale. First thing that registered was the 7 at the end... I recognized it as a big number and for a second was confused... how could that have happened? Then I saw the 2 in the middle... and I was pleasantly suprised.

I'm officially into the 220's! Down 14.5 pounds in 39 days. I can see it in the mirror... I can feel it physically and mentally. And my eating habit changes aren't forced anymore. I went to lunch the other day and got a sandwich, it was served with a huge side of fries. I nibbled on a few, but after eating my sandwhich I felt full and I left most the fries on the plate... something I never would have done two months ago.

I don't crave fast food at all anymore. I'm rarely hungry but I eat on schedule and the smaller meals fill me up just fine. I still skip breakfast if I sleep in too long, which I need to stop doing.

230 Pounds, Day 37

Well actually I weighed myself yesterday... not this morning, today is the true Day 37. I need to give myself a little more time in my morning routine to take my weight & measure my body fat... but usually I over-sleep and rush out the door. I think I heard somewhere that for best measurements you should weigh yourself at the same time everyday, and that the morning is a good time.

Very happy with the results so far. A little over 11 pounds in a little over a month. No fad diets, no pills. I'm almost to the point now where I can go down a second notch on my belt since I started! I'm able to do much better at the gym and I can feel my muscles firming up nicely. Also my mental attitude is just so much better.

I'm definatley still chubby... by no means am I svelt... but to me, the improvements I feel... are miles away from where I started. It is more than enough motivation to keep doing the right thing.

Even if the weightloss slows down, I'm going to keep taking steps in the right direction. I can't wait until the first time I step on the scale and the first two numbers are 22 to show me that I've made it to the 220's... considering I started in the 240's its a big mental win.

The best laid plans, Day 31

Well the last nearly two weeks has been a bit of a challenge.

I tried to go to the gym right after having the cold but that was no good. Then due to other obligations I had a few missed gym days. Then last week, I was dog-sitting at my parents house all week and that just took me out of my element. I slacked a bit on the no snacking rule, and I missed more gym workouts.

Good news is, I didn't set myself back too far I dont think. I jumped on the scale last night and was still at 232.5... so hopefully I just lost some time and progress but did not have a setback.

I'll wait until later this week, after a few more gym sessions and back to more controlled eating and weigh myself at the same time in the morning again before I put an official weight number up.

The good news is even if everything didn't go as planned this month, I'm sticking with this. I didn't abandon it yet and I don't plan on it!

Roadblocks, Day 18

Speed bumps might be a better term than roadblocks.

This has been a rough week. I was sick with a cold over the weekend, but I stuck to my diet and made sure I ate all my meals. On Monday the 12th, I weighed in at 232.5 pounds! Down 9 pounds in two weeks!

Well I'm sure part of that was the funk my body was in and the energy it was burning fighting the cold off. I missed Monday at the gym while recovering which bummed me out. And yesterday, my regular Wednesday day session was cut short due to time, I only had time for cardio. Also I still felt slightly weak and my breathing was a little stressed due to left over congestion.

Last night I weighed in at 235, which is good even though it's not my lowest. I know its going to vary but it's headed in the right direction. I'm going to miss the gym again tomorrow, heading off to a cabin on Orcas Island with some buddies. Even with the missed workouts I'm still eating healthy, although that'll be a challenge this weekend on my short little vacation. But when I get back Monday it is business as usual.

Overall I'm losing fat and building muscle. I feel thinner even if I don't look it yet, and I just feel better. My neck doesn't get so sore anymore while at work. I got a body fat analyzer I ordered from Amazon.com yesterday, so I'm going to start monitoring that. While I build muscle, the weightloss might slow down, but the body fat analyzer will give me other ways to track my progress and stay positive.

238.0 Pounds, Day 12

Well, actually I weighed myself last night at that weight. At one point during the week I was at 237.5 which was cool... but these little fluctuations are bound to happen.

I'm making some adjustments... I've decided that I probably shouldn't eat these pre-made sandwhiches at work cuz they have mayo on them and I really dont need that. Plus they don't always have ones with wheat bread and white bread isn't worth much. I'll probably also adjust my workout schedule soon... I do about 25 minutes of cardio, then 12 different weight/resistance exercises. As I get a bit more tone, I want to expand my cardio... and I already spend nearly 2 hours at the gym 3 days a week so I'll cut back on some of the different machines I work on.

I ordered a body fat analyzer thingy online at Amazon that hopefully will arrive sometime next week. Since the weight loss is going slow due to muscle gain it'll help to have some data to give me encouragement.

I'm also tracking my progress on cardio and resistance training so I can see improvement. And I took a picture with my camera on a tripod so I can take how my appearance changes. Any little thing I can do to encourage myself and stay on track.

"Diet", Day 9

Things are going pretty well so far. I might not look different but I definately feel different. The weight training still leaves my arms and legs tired and a bit weak, but overall I feel like I have more energy. Motivating myself to go to the gym isn't so hard... its a little rough on workout days in the morning, but by the time I get out of the office I'm ready to go.

My diet isn't really isn't a diet, hence the quotes in the title. Really I'm just changing my eating habits. My old eating habits would go something like this:

Breakfast: Nothing
Lunch: China Express from the Safeway Deli (can't find nutrition info online, but I doubt its very healthy)
Dinner: McDonalds (probably averaging 1300-1400 calories based on what I'd order)
And I'd snack on whatever was available.

I ate that nearly everyday. In large portions too.

I'm still struggling to make breakfast a regular occurance... I sleep in too much and skip it sometimes, but I know for a healthy lifestyle I should eat it. I'd say now that each of my meals is averaging around 400 calories per meal, and that means that with breakfast I consume about as much calories all day as I used to just for dinner.

The best part is... I'm not starving myself or hungry hardly at all. Sometimes I get a little hungry right before dinner but it's dinner time, I'm supposed to be ready to eat. The biggest challenge so far is still mental. I see these smaller dishes and don't think they'll fill me up. My brain wants me to snack during the day.

Drinking water helps with the snacking urge. And as for the smaller servings? I eat slower and take smaller bites, so that by the time I'm done I can already feel myself getting full.

Temptation, Day 8

At the office it's pretty easy to control myself. No candy, no snacks, drink water. Well the office is easy most of the time. Last week we had three company functions with beer provided... add to the fact that this weekend was Super Bowl Sunday and I picked a bad week to try to start living healthier.

I did pretty well though... I skipped beer at the functions and had red wine at one of them instead. Super Bowl Sunday was a bit tougher though, and hosting a party at my place I did break down and have a couple Michelob Ultra's. Wine or Scotch just doesn't cut it with football unfortunately. I know these little breaks will slow down progression but as long as I keep hitting the gym regularly I'll continue to be in better health overall week over week.

My arms are still tender from gym sessions last week, but I'm looking forward to going again tonight.

239.5 Pounds, Day 5

Pounds aren't exactly melting off, but I'm not worried. I'm not on a super strict diet so I don't expect them to fly away. It is going to take a few weeks until my body gets strong enough that I can get a good work out at the gym. Sure I can walk on a treadmill, and I can use an excercise bike at low resistance... but until my body catches up and I have the endurance to hit those machines hard, it's going to be a slow process.

But during that process I'll build muscle and drop fat. And as my stamina increases, I'll be able to burn more fat. I was still sore today from Wednesday's workout... and hitting the gym again is just gonna make it worse. But the soreness isn't a horrible pain... its that "good hurt" if that makes sense... and as I get into better shape the duration and intensity will subside.

What's a gym? Day 3

Still haven't heard back from HR to confirm everything is okay with the athletic club. Hope to by end of day today though, have all my gear and I'm ready to go... I'm a little nervous cuz I haven't worked out in years.

Eating less & making healthier choices is going alright... I'm not really hungry I just feel like I should be eating more and more often. It's psychological so I just keep telling myself "You're not starving yourself, you're eating enough, don't pig out. What do you really want? Do you want to look & feel good with your shirt off in Waikiki this summer... or do you want a doughnut?" The answer is clear. Someday I'll be able to have that occasional unhealthy snack and make up for it at the gym... but right now I need to be very selective of what I take in.

Hope to have an official update after the gym tonight.

241.5 Pounds, Day 1

Today I've decided to make some changes in my life to upgrade to a healthier lifestyle. To start, I needed to know where I stood so I jumped on the scale... 241.5 pounds... it was the first time I've been on a scale in a few months.

I decided to start this blog, mainly to keep myself on track and motivated. It is taking longer than I had hoped to get my corporate discount at the athletic club figured out, hopefully I should be hitting the gym for the first time in a long time Wednesday after work.

Even though the membership isn't ready, I did start with some changes. No more fast food... at all. And instead of drinking 3 or 4 Diet Coke's at the office, I'm having one cup of black coffee in the morning (I do need SOME caffeine) and plenty of water. No snacks while working... hard to turn down all the candy dishes around here... and well sized portions of balanced food.

I'm going to start slow with exercise, and I'm not on some crazy impossible diet schedule. I'm going to focus on cardio exercises to drop some fat, and resistance training to tighten up the muscles.

Well that's enough for today, I'll do my best to keep this updated somewhat regularly... probably more-so during these first few weeks.