Week 3

Well I am pretty excited that I am still showing postive results. I have cheated some, ate a few unhealthy things. I fully realize that the first few weeks are the easiest and tougher sledding is ahead. I will be constantly fighting my urges to eat less savory food.

Day 1- no workout today after 3 straight days of 4, 5, then 6 miles. Breakfast was a banana, lunch was some unhealthy chinese food, and dinner was lean pork chops pan fried with fried potatoes (fried in extra virgin olive oil as opposed to the typical butter).

Day 2- Granola bar breakfast, can of soup for lunch, baked chicken breast with an ear of fresh sweetcorn for dinner. Before dinner I did run 4 miles. It was one of the smoothest workouts to date. I could have ran much further, but I anticipate doing more tomorrow so I took it easy.

Day 3- Yet another Friday is upon us, and I am dreading another weekend of trying to stay on track. Breakfast was a granola bar. For lunch i went to Taco Bell. I know, im sure you are all screaming “WHAT?” Well Taco Bell actually has a healthy menu. I ate two grilled steak fresco soft tacos.

300 calories for lunch really isnt too bad. It could be a lot worse going out to eat at a fast food restuarant. A lot of those menu items are nasty too, but this grilled steak soft taco is surprisingly good.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/best-and-worst-restaurants-america
Day 4
Well maybe one of my best +/- calories days is followed by one of the worst. I started the weekend off with a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. Then we went up to Grant City and I hung out with my father-in-law all afternoon. Inevitably we ended up driving around and of course drinking beer. I think I had about 5 Miller Lites. Miller Lite is one of the more healthy beers to drink, but no alcohol is good for someone on a diet. I finished the night off with one large slice of Pizza from Casey’s and a Gatorade.
Day 5
Well the Chiefs officialy suck. They were blown out again today, this time by the Detroit Lions. I definitely didnt think we would lose the first two games by wide margins. Losing Jamaal Charles for the season on top of Eric Berry and Tony Moeaki has me throwing in the towel already.

No breakfast today, and then we picked up KFC for lunch. I ate one original thigh and one grilled thigh. I actually liked the grilled chicken alot more then i thought I would. It is quite a bit healthier too according to the KFC website. I didnt include the nutritional information, but I also had some mashed potatoes and gravy.
I did run 3 miles Sunday evening. Dinner was a bowl of plain white rice, mixed with some browned sausage.

Day 6
Back to the week and hopefully I can get back on track. Breakfast was the staple granola bar and coffee. Lunch was a plain grilled chicken sandwich. Dinner was leftovers, 1/2 rice & sausage plus a KFC grilled breast, minus most of the skin. I also ran 4 miles after work, prior to dinner.

Day 7
Granola bar breakfast, a bowl of soup for lunch. I ran 5 miles after work. Dinner was grilled pork chops and fresh sweetcorn.

This week wasn’t as successful as the past week, but I still moved in the right direction. I was down .8 lbs to 206.4 total. I’m fully aware that diet is my issue. I don’t mind the exercise at all, I just need to get a better grasp on the eating and drinking.

Week 2

Day1
Each weeks day 1 (wednesdays) is also the day I meet with my buddy John to weigh in for our personal weight loss bet. As my loyal followers know, I had a very successful first week. Much to my surprise, John lost over 1 lb more then I did. I can say that i was absolutely shocked. I worked hard, and lost 5+ pounds. Im not mad though. We started this bet as a friendly wager, with the ultimate goal of us both losing weight.
After a strong first week, I wanted to do something to reward myself. It was just one week so i wasnt looking to do anything too grandiose. I had thought for a few days how i would reward myself if i had a great first week. After tossing around a few ideas I finally settled on one; I bought myself a new truck!
2011 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 extended cab 4X4.
I had a pretty full last couple of days, so there was no exercise today. I also ate a somewhat unhealthy lunch, but limited myself to about 1/2 of what i would normally eat. Dinner was a grilled lemon pepper chicken breast on a bed of rice. After a fantasy football draft, I had a snack of tortilla chips and fresh salsa. The salsa was very good, shoutout to Jessica Roach!
Day 2
Even though this was a Thursday, it was my first full day of work for the week! Breakfast was the standard granola bar and coffee. Lunch was another staple, a can of soup with a bottle of water. Dinner was a very delicious baked ranch skinless chicken breast with an ear of fresh sweetcorn. Thanks Darcie!
I pounded out 4 miles on the treadmill before dinner.
Day 3
Another standard day. It is Friday so i am a little nervous about my weekend willpower. Granola Bar & coffee breakfast, Subway sandwich for lunch (low fat turkey & ham, all vegetables, no chipotle), and a bowl of cereal for dinner. Darcie has been telling me for awhile that frosted mini wheats mixed with Cheerios is pretty good. I always thought she was crazy (not just for this reason solely, but it added to it anyways). For dinner i chose to have a nice bowl of frosted mini wheats. I tip up the box and dump them into the bowl. Much to my disgust, there was only a 1/2 bowl left. I figured i might as well finally see what she has been talking about. Turns out she is right, its actually very good. Being healthy is just a side benefit!
Also I did run another 4 miles on the treadmill after work. The 2nd day in a row of 4 miles and I cant say that today went smooth. It was definitely a willpower run the latter half.
Well hopefully this weekend goes well. We shall see!
Day 4
No breakfast, Subway sandwich for lunch. I did cheat and have 1/2 chipotle sauce which i have said i would not do. I tried it without any earlier in the week and the sandwich was just so blah!
Anyone who knows me very well knows that I like to play poker. A once a month poker game that I always attend was played this Saturday. Poker games are never the best place for a person on a diet. This game is probably worse then most. Mike, the game holder, always provides a very nice spread. Not only does he provide fresh baked cookies, but his specialty is always a large cheesy hamburger dip. He also always has a crockpot full of meatballs. Maybe the best dish this side of the Mississippi is a plate of those meatballs slathered in the cheesedip. Beer, soda, etc is also provided. Typically I would have 3-4 beers, maybe 1 soda, and 2 plates of the meatball/sauce combination. A few fresh chocolate chip cookies would also have been eaten. Though I wasnt able to stay as strong as I would have hoped, i did hold myself in check. I had one medium sized plate of the meatball combo. I did not drink any beer or any soda. I also did not eat any cookies. All in all, I think i did ok.
Day 5
I awoke Sunday morning to the smell of a fresh cooking breakfast. My lovely wife had made bacon, eggs, hashbrowns. Though not the most healthy breakfast, I ate it and enjoyed it. As i have been doing from the outset when eating less savory foods, i ate a much smaller portion then my old self would have. I also rarely get the opportunity to eat much for breakfast, so I wasnt passing this up.
Lunch consisted of some chips and salsa. Dinner was a bowl of plain white rice with a leftover baked chicken breast. I also ran 3 miles in the evening. My Chiefs got destroyed today on opening day, but i was strong and didnt eat any comfort foods!
Day 6
I started the day off with a banana and a cup of coffee. Lunch was a bowl of soup, Campbells Select Harvest Italian Style wedding. I put in 5 miles on the treadmill after work. Dinner was Orange Chicken and a bowl of plain white rice.
Day 7
Last day of week 2! Breakfast was a banana and a cup of coffee. Before lunch John called and wanted to weigh in a day early. I met him at our weigh in location. I jumped on the scale and was pleasantly surprised by my results. John then jumped on the scale and had lost 3 more pounds then i did this week, putting him 4 pounds ahead total in our weight loss goal. Im sure that he will be hitting his plateu soon as he has lost a significant amount of weight in 2 weeks time. After weigh-in we ate at Hy-vee, fresh fruit and salad.
After work, and armed with the added motivation of being down 4 pounds to John, I pounded out my longest run to date on the treadmill, 6 miles. If my treadmill is accurate I burned just over 1,000 calories on that workout alone. Needless to say, I was exhausted after that. I showered, then weighed at home (my home scale is what I have been using on this blog, trying to keep consistent). I had already weighed earlier in the day so it wasnt like it was a surprise, but i was still happy to see 207.2 staring back at me!

All in all it was another pretty good week. I lost another 3.8 pounds to push my total to 9 pounds lost in 2 weeks. Im sure this has to level off very quickly. Ultimately my goal is to lose 1 pound per week total, so im well on my way.

Week 1

Day 1
I started off the challenge strong with a 3 mile run on the treadmill. Dinner consisted of a plain bowl of rice, with soy sauce and a cherry limeade.
Day 2
Even better day today. While waiting for a work car to get done at Midas, I walked to Hy-eve for lunch. It was about a mile each way, 2 miles round trip. It was nearly 100 degrees today so I’m sure the office staff was happy with me when I returned after lunch. Hy-eve will become a preferred lunch spot I believe. They have a $5 salad bar with fresh fruit. It is very good, very convenient, and cheap.

After work I was feeling a little tired but decided I should run anyways. Much to my surprise I churned out 4 miles on the treadmill. I’m very happy with 6 miles worth of exercise today. I had a simple bowl of grape nuts for dinner.
Day 3
My first Friday which will lead into my first weekend, a holiday weekend at that. Nothing like being challenged right from the start! I started the day off with a granola bar and a cup of coffee. I know I haven’t mentioned it much but thats pretty much what I have every day for breakfast. For lunch I met Darcie and we went to get some Subway. On a sheer coincidence we ran into John, my buddy whom I am having the weight loss bet with. John and I ordered the same sandwich but he got cheese and light mayo on his. Mine was healthy I thought, topped off with chipotle sauce. I obviously busted his balls about the cheese and mayo, sure I had a leg up in this battle. Well when I got back to the office I decided to see if I could find out the nutritional content of our sandwiches. On www.subway.com they allow you to build your sandwich and it will give you all the information. Well chipotle sauce is worse thn light mayo! My sandwich was slightly better because John also had cheese. Needless to say I will be cutting out the chipotle sauce in the future. We headed to Grant City for the evening. We ate dinner at The Shed obviously. I was proud of my choice of a 1/2 taco salad. It appeared at least semi-healthy. I didn’t have any sour cream or extra add-ons either. I also drank just one Miller Lite, which I would typically have many more!
Day 4
I started off my first Saturday with a bowl of frosted wheats. After lunch I decided to go for a little run. I ended up running about 2 miles through the streets of Grant City. I have been using a website called Mapmyrun.com to track how far I have ran. Its a wonderful site because it will track you anywhere, on roads, trails, etc. Dinner wasnt so healthy (grilled out at brother-in-laws house), but i did feel like I cut down on my portions.
Day 5
Day 5 brought me my first “opportunity” to eat out at a restaurant. Obviously its pretty much common knowledge that restaurants are the best place to be for someone looking to shed a few pounds. I reluctantly opened the menu at IHOP, having a nice breakfast with the in-laws. I settled on a choice off of their Simple & Fit menu called the 2x2x2 (or dosxdosxdos as the menu had everything in Spanish as well). It was 2 scrambled egg whites, 2 strips of turkey bacon, and 2 pancakes. The menu claimed the meal was a mere 400 calories, but i have a hard time believing that. Nonetheless, it was all surprisingly good. I really liked the turkey bacon, it tasted kind of like ham to me.
After breakfast we went to a Royals game. Obviously this was yet another opportunity to blow the diet. Again i didnt eat the best foods, but i felt like I did a good job of eating alot less then I normally would. At the stadium I had one Shocktop beer and one Sheyboygan sausage. The IHOP and sausage are all I ate for the day, so i really dont think it was a horrible day. I also mowed my yard and the neighbors yard when i got home, so there was a little exercise there.
Day 6
Another day, another restuarant experience. This time it was Cheddars. I stuck to my no soda plan and just ordered water. I ate the grilled catfish fillet with rice and steamed broccoli. It was again surprisingly good. I am finding that I really enjoy eating different foods. I was so trained to eat the garbage stuff (chicken strips & fries etc) that I was missing out on all this good stuff. I havent had a single day yet where i felt like I was “dieting.”
I put in 5 miles on the treadmill, then ate a bowl of plain rice for dinner.
Day 7
And week 1 is coming to an end! I had no breakfast today, and then a bowl of soup for lunch. Soup has often been a staple lunch for me in the past when i have been trying to eat healthier. I anticipate that will continue this time around as well. I typically stick with the Campbells Healthy Request soup. They have a few I like but my favorite by far is the Italian Style wedding. Under 200 calories, filling, and easy.
4 more miles on the treadmill this afternoon. Dinner was plain skinless chicken breast sauteed in extra virgin olive oil couple with some tomato parmesean noodles (out of a package of course). Dinner was still under around 700 calories by my guess (the noodles had nutritional info on the package, Im just guessing about the plain chicken breast).

SUMMARY
After working out today, I weighed on my home scale. I was even surprised when it read 211.0. I stepped off, back on and tried it again. Again it gave me the same numbers. So for the first week my summary is 20 miles of exercise = -5.2 lbs! Obviously i dont anticipate that rate continuing. The first week is always going to be the easiest. Im really hoping to lose right around a pound a week consistently. All in all, a great start in my opinion! I had a lot going on this week, both personally and at work. My schedule was all jacked around, not considering I purchased a new vehicle which is always a struggle. Nonetheless I ate well, exercised a bunch, and i feel like im right on track 🙂

Weight loss, day 1

Today was the first day of my year long weigh loss initiative. My long term goal is to lose 40 pounds over the next year. I will be breaking this year down into 4 quarters, hoping to lose 10 pounds per quarter. I think this is a very reasonable and obtainable goal. My beginning weight is 217 pounds according to my home scale. It’s a cheap wal-mart version but it will give me a decent estimate at least.

Plan
Well I will be dieting and exercising of course. I plan to do some pretty intense cardio only for about the first six months. I need to shed some of this weight before I can worry about toning or building muscle.

My diet will consist of mainly obviously healthy stuff. Fruits, vegetables, salads, rice, grilled chicken, etc. I will try to avoid soda, and mainly drink water for the most part.
Motivations
There are a variety of reasons I am setting off on this long journey. First is that I recently turned 29. I made a promise to myself and my wife that I would be in much better shape on my 30th birthday.
Secondly, I recently trained and ran in a 5k race with a few of my buddies. I was extremely disappointed in my performance. I would go as far to say that I embarrassed myself. That is not something that I enjoyed at all. I don’t plan on allowing that happen to me again.
Lastly, and as part of this goal, I have made a wager with a buddy of mine. We will be making a small monetary wager, around $100 and some public shaming. This will encompass my first quarter, about 3 months. It is a simple weight loss bet, whomever losses the most wins!
Day 1
I got this started today with a 3.5 mile run on the treadmill. My dinner consisted of a bowl of plain rice.
I am honestly looking forward to this journey. Hopefully this blog will keep me honest and motivated!