Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Food Pictures!

I love Al, you guys know that. I also love looking a pictures on other blogs.

In following the spirit of the new challenge, I'm going to play along, only not get criticized along with it. ;) (although you guys can feel free to bash me about my eating.)

This is lunch! For inquiring minds, it's a crap-ton of broccoli, 1/4 of a large-ass potato (no butter), and 1/2 cup of pulled pork. (AKA: Leftovers) Yes, I count "crap-ton" as a measurement when dealing with veggies.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Weigh-In 4/26/2013

Previous: 167.6
Current:   165.9
Loss:           -1.7

Why hello there, lowest weight of my adult life. You sure are lookin' mighty fine....

I have been out of town for business this week, so I haven't managed to comment or email as much as I wanted. :( Sorry about that!

Vacation in less than 2 weeks... it can't get here quick enough...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

What Have I Learned?

Due to a project I’m working on, (and rather excited about but can’t share quite yet), I have been asked to share the most influential things I’ve learned on this lifestyle change. I was put on the spot, so it was tough to narrow down 2 years of information gathered in a thirty minute conversation, but I decided that the things that came to my mind first were most likely the biggest items to mention. They were – in no particular order:
·         I weigh daily, and I track my food daily. If I go on vacations longer than 3 days (long weekend), I take my scale. If I see greater than a .2 gain, I go back to my food log and evaluate the day(s) prior. Was it too much sodium? Too many calories in general? Did I eat some funky new foods that I’m not used to eating? Did I eat past 6PM? I can say with 99.9% accuracy what went wrong. And then what do I do? Fix it, of course. It’s easier to make up one day of problems than a week.
·         The reason I think it worked this time? I am on no diet. I am on something that I just do, every damn day, just like I brush my teeth every day or I take a shower every day. Do I mess up sometimes? Just like I get too busy/forget (lazy) to take a shower or brush my teeth, I have slip-ups sometime, yes. I am human. The difference is, the next day – I brush my damn teeth. The next day, I eat what I’m supposed to, what I know is right.
·         I pre-plan my success, I never pre-plan my failure. Usually by Sunday, I know my schedule for the week. For example, I know that every day this week but Tuesday I can fix dinner at home, and I know what I’m going to eat. On Tuesday, if I’m going out, I either scan the menu of the restaurant, or I will resign to agreeing in my head what I am going to eat (vegetarian only, as an example). NEVER EVER EVER say: Well, it’s a special occasion on Thursday, so I’m going to eat the fucking lasagna with garlic bread and salad with full fat ranch because BY GOD I DESERVE IT! No. That’s a big no. Suck it up people; quit being whiners about not planning to eat lasagna. Does it happen sometime? Sure. But don’t plan on blowing it before the fact.
·         I am a bigger proponent of requiring the food industry to put their nutritional information out there than I thought. Do I think the government should tell me that I can’t have a 44 ounce big gulp? Hell no. That’s my decision. But when I make that decision, I should be informed about the calorie content in that big gulp. For any “chain” restaurants (over 20), I believe they should post their nutritional information somewhere. Now will that happen? I don’t know – so until that day, I will continue to choose to only visit restaurants that do give me the nutritional information. (Thank you, Outback, for finally jumping on board.)
·         To be successful for the long term, you must not only learn about how to lose weight, but also about what you are putting into your body. Your body is a self-healing miracle, and if you feed it and take care of it (aka: diet & exercise), it will respond in a marvelous manner.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

What Time Do You Eat?

I'm such an article geek.

According to this article, not only is it important that you eat well (within your calorie & nutrition range), but also making sure you eat at the right time is important, too. After two plus years of experimenting, I can honestly say this is my exact eating schedule just about every day.

Breakfast: within 1/2 hour of waking, usually by 7AM.
Snack: 10AM, after I walk for 10 minutes (weather permitting)
Lunch: 12PM, usually aim for 30 minutes of walking
Snack: 3PM, again after walking 10 minutes
Dinner: 5:30PM, definitely try to get all my eating done by 6PM

Basically, 12 hours of eating & 12 hours of fasting. Do I have any scientific proof this works? No, but it seems to help me. It sometimes get screwy on weekends, but most weeks this is my schedule (I'm an obvious schedule geek, very OCD.)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Weigh-In 4/16/2013 & More

Previous: 168.7
Current:   167.6
Loss:           -1.1

Let's just say it's not coming off like it used to, but I am losing, and that's a welcome thing.

I have some exciting things going on in my life, and it is because of this weight loss. So from a former anxiety-ridden, stage-fright lovin', anti-social person, I want to tell you this: You can do this, and when you do this, amazing things will happen. You will find out that you aren't as anti-social or scared as you thought you were.

And you will realize it is not because of the fat, but it was because of your self-image to the fat you. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but your view of who you are is skewed because of your fat. So get rid of it, so you can finally realize that your worth is not tied to your fat. You are not less of a person because of your fat.

I recently was recognized for my weight loss, and I thought I'd show a picture. YOU CAN DO THIS. I know because I did, and I would have never thought it possible.



Thursday, April 4, 2013

Food Pron of the Day


Supposedly... only 360 calories.  The donut-bun must be smaller than their regular donut, since a regular donut is 260 calories.

It's being test-marketed in Massachusetts.

Monday, April 1, 2013

April Fool's Day Weigh-In

Previous: 170.8
Current:   168.7
Loss:           -2.1

Only it's not a joke! Finally back to weighing in, now that I actually have a weight loss to show. Or any weight change for that matter.

I figured out why chia seeds are a super food - it takes you half the morning to get them unstuck from your teeth so you don't even think about food.