Starting Weight - 260 lbs
Current Weight - 208 lbs
Loss This Week -2lbs
Total Loss - 52 lbs
Well I was pretty excited to lose another 2 after hitting such a major goal last week. With the amount I have lost I thin a 2 each week is about perfect when I am reasonably on plan.
Overall it was a decent week, good nutrition and weak on exercise. Really really worn out from 4 straight weeks on the road. It is super draining. I let that get the best of me a couple of times in regards to the gym, but didn't let it transition over to poor eating.
I've finally learned to accept compliments which have been coming in fast and furious from all quarters. It's starting to make me feel good instead of uncomfortable. There has also been a marked shift from "You look good are you losing weight" to "Wow you've really lost a LOT of weight, you look great".
While this is a pessimistic outlook, the fact that so many people have noticed makes me realize that a lot of people probably noticed the weight gain, but obviously wouldn't say anything.
Diet
Another M-F on the road, did a great job of shopping for groceries and eating pretty good all week. Also had a few fantastic pretty healthy different lunches. A grilled trout with an asian slaw and cilantro rice one lunch. A take out dinner of seared tuna with edamame. Some nice variation from salads for lunches out.
Hmm there was the night where I had bought a 6 pack of those new 60 cal Chocolate Mousse jello things....and proceeded to eat 4 one night. Oops. I guess it was better than other binges but still out of line.
Only other slight negative is dealing with the size of salads at restaurants. I've found a couple of unbelievable chopped salads close to where I have been working, but they are HUGE. Which is great as they are super good, but more calories than I need for a single meal. But I can't really picture the day where I as a 210 lb guy leaves a portion of a freaking salad on his plate, that'll be the day haha.
Huge success to survive this weekend (see previous post) which was soo full of temptations. Currently I am resisting a half gallon of leftover ice cream from my kiddo's birthday party and a whole bag of sour cream and onion chips less than 10 feet from where I type Grrrrr
Exercise
Huge fail here. Really only got in 2 good gym workouts this week. Crushed with work and travel is my excuse, but should have reasonably gotten in at least 2 more. Gotta watch that, fortunately I'm at home now and it's easier when I am home.
I've been trying to run more on the treadmill, and often start my workouts after warmup with a "warmup" mile. I've been trying to run at 7mph, is that too fast? Seems like most people are going slower than that but I like pushing it. But I can really only do a 1 to 1.5 miles at that pace, and am not sure what I could do at a slower pace.
I've been keeping up off and on with my soccer ball juggling trying to get back to >100 from back in high school. Made it to 65 juggles this week!
Looking to the future
Well I am home now for probably 4-5ish straight weeks. Should be able to get more consistent gym time. BUT I'm about to be faced with an even greater challenge. My 2nd child wil be born in the next couple of weeks. This means less sleep, lots of food cooked by others, less time to exercise, etc. etc.
To be honest I have no idea how to handle the first 4-6 weeks with kiddo #2. I clearly don't want to abandon the plan, but the plan just frankly isn't going to be in the cards for a little while. Need to figure out some hybrid solution.
I found myself at the railway station this morning with 20 minutes to wait for the London train. Suddenly, a picture of you doing laps of the airport popped into my mind. I had on my hat, gloves & scarf & the sun was shining. I cranked out three laps!
Now I'm on the train for 3.5 hours but I've got 20 minutes in the exercise account already! (More walking to come - say an hour - before the day is out.)
I found myself at the railway station this morning with 20 minutes to wait for the London train. Suddenly, a picture of you doing laps of the airport popped into my mind. I had on my hat, gloves & scarf & the sun was shining. I cranked out three laps!
Now I'm on the train for 3.5 hours but I've got 20 minutes in the exercise account already! (More walking to come - say an hour - before the day is out.)
Thanks, RC!
Haha, that's amazing. I was surprised when I tried how far I could actually walk in 20 or 30 minutes. Plus feels good to get the blood flowing if you're going to be sitting for the next several hours.
1. Been having a great workout week this week after epic fail in this area last week. 4 straight days of gym workouts. Even managed to run 2 miles today, one of which was going 7mpg on the treadmill. I think it's weird how I don't lose weight when I work out a lot after several days. I know it's from water, but's it's odd to go for 4 straight days and see the scale exactly the same. Then I'll take sat and sunday off and the scale will drop several lbs by
Monday, or at least that's been the previous pattern. I know it's all that hard work in the week that earns it, but doesn't feel like that sometimes
2. Had friends over last night and the 2 nine month pregnant ladies insisted on an after dinner walk to a local place to get an ice cream shake. I was proud I abstained, after having a bit bigger than typical dinner I knew I needed to lay off and was able to!
3. I just finished for some random reason watching 4 episodes of Man vs. Food. I'm pretty sure I gained about 5lbs just from watching that epicness.
4. My dad has recently been asking for advice in regards to weight loss. It's really weird for me to give advice to my dad, it doesn't happen really often. I don't really feel like I'm "worthy" of giving advice, especially after reading so much great advice from long time maintainers here, but it is fun to share different tips and techniques that have worked for me.
5. My wife is due at the very beginning of April. I still think I have an outside shot of hitting 200 by the time my 2nd kiddo is born. That would be momentus. While I didn't weight I know I gained at least 15-20 lbs or so during my wife's first pregnancy, losing 60 during the last 4 months of this would be an amazing 360. I'm also growing really nervous about eating the first 4 weeks after the birth, it's going to be TOUGH. I think losing that month might be almost impossible, but I am hoping to at least stay in maintenance mode at whatever weight I end up being by the birth.
Last night I was playing poker with some buddies at a restaurant/club. Some of us were hungry and ordered food while we were there. One of my good buddies who is about the size I was before I started this process ordered a plate of loaded nachos, it looked very close to this...
I ordered a nice ahi tuna appetizer (which I love), looked very close to this...
So as we are eating and playing somebody made a comment about my weight loss. The guy eating the nachos asked, "So how'd you do it"...
Then it's hard to describe (it was funny with guys, might not have been with girls), but before I answered he kind of looked at his plate and looked at mine and said, "Oh nevermind, answered my own question".
Starting Weight - 260 lbs
Current Weight - 206 lbs
Loss This Week -2lbs
Total Loss - 54 lbs
Another nice and steady week. Was home all week, which meant I did a much better job of working out, and was glad to lose another 2. I'm starting to smell the 100's!
I'm now racing my wife to see if I can get to 200 before she has our baby (due at very beginning of April). I'm still super nervous about being on plan after the baby comes for a lot of obvious reasons
Diet
Solid week in regards to nutrition. One small victory, I've had this box of Olive Oil and Pepper Triscuits in the cabinet for a while and would have a serving every once in a while when I was really craving. I used to be able to polish off a box in a day or two. Well I went to have a few last night and actually had to throw away the last bit in the box because they were stale! So that's encouraging about my improving ability to resist temptation. I also managed to make it through 2 birthday parties this weekend and ate pretty healthy.
Made a new creation this week, coleslaw package and seasoning with light miracle whip, tuna, corn, lots of pepper and hot sauce...yummy and very filling for the calories.
I'm still having an ongoing debate with myself about cereal. I don't eat it for breakfast, but about once a week I really want to have it for dinner (400-500 cals worth). I'm on the fence about this, it really hits the spot, but doesn't do much for me nutritionally.
Exercise
Well after a really poor week last week, got back on the horse very well this week. Had full good gym workouts 5 days. I've started to run (at a 7pmh) a mile at the beginning of each workout as a warmup. Pretty crazy to think that 15 weeks ago, I couldn't run a tenth of a mile without feeling like I'm going to die.
Huge exercise NSV this week also. I've mentioned soccer juggling before (keeping the ball in the air without hands), and that I've been working on getting back to my high school form of being able to do 100+ consecutive juggles. It's a good combination of endurance, agility, and coordination, and a fun occasional part of my workouts. Anyway today I hit 107! This might seem silly but it really means a lot to me, physically achieving something that I haven't done in 13-14 years.
Looking to the future
The big thing is obviously the birth of child 2. It will be a massive test in several areas.
1. Having to practice better portion control - I'm still not great at this, much better at choosing healthy food. The problem is that a lot of the food we eat for 6-8 weeks will be brought by friends/family and will consist of mostly unhealthy things like lasagnas, etc, and they tend to bring desserts. This will be very tough for me.
2. Getting to the gym despite lack of sleep - for various reasons I will not be taking a lot of official time off of work in the first 8 weeks, so I will be dealing with lack of sleep and an almost full workload. This is going to make the gym very hard. Lack of sleep leads to a lot of other problems with weight loss. Pretty nervous about this also.
1. I seriously live on in-shell sunflower seeds for my afternoon snacks. I get these 160 calorie bags that take 2+ hours of casual munching to eat, are super filling, and keep my mouth occupied. I also have been relying on these when going to parties, I'll munch on them on the way and at the beginning of a party and it makes it a lot easier to avoid all the junk food around.
2. Sugar snap peas are also an incredible snack food. Crunchy and sweet at the same time. I'm not a huge raw veggie fan, but these are fantastic.
3. 98% Fat Free Hot Dogs are my friend --- I like hot dogs...so sue me. While they are processed, high in sodium and probably other things they are very helpful to my diet as someone who doesn't cook much (only 40 calories!). A can of turkey chili with a couple of these and I'm a happy camper.
4. Sam's Club just started carrying these 16 calorie frozen bars that are like strawberry and orange creamsicle. They are fantastic! Now I have another sweet option to add to my repretoire besides the 60 cal puddings and 10 cal jellos.
5. I love salads, but hate all the prep work involved I wish they were easier to eat at home, but instead I usually only eat them when I'm out.
6. Those 100 cal sandwich thins are also awesome. Slap on some deli meat (50-60 cals) and a little light mayo (20-40 cals) and you've got a very satisfying sandwich for <200 cals.
7. I miss chips moreso than any other food item I significantly restrict.
8. This is going to sound really really dumb, but I've started to use my toddler's silverware whenever I eat something I'm really tempted to pig out on (like a dinner casserole or the like). The smaller bite help me slow down while tricking me into thinking I'm eating more
You'd still need to do some prep, but it would be faster. Toss some spinach or baby greens in a bowl, chop some veggies or apples with the mandoline, throw on some chickpeas, and you're all set.
Yeah, 1200 calories is seeming to be kinda hard to do. But, have already done 3 days of it successfully and find that it's becoming scary to eat now because of fear of re-gaining the three pounds I've lost so far. Hey, you got a great idea about using ur toddler's silverware. That's so cool! Also, triathlons are easy if you do the mini ones. A super sprint is like, a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run or something like that. I dog paddle the entire swims, bike slowly (and whistle while doing it!) and walk/jog the runs. I've done about 7 triathlons and have come in last 6 times. And you know, the farther behind you get, the louder the crowd cheers. It's a great motivational sport and social outlet. You are doing great in your journey. In no time you'll be running your two kids ragged!
Great job!!! You hang in there, maybe stock up on things a coupel days before the baby gets tehre, like healthy stuff, and when you are looking at a dessert have an apple or something by it, just a thought. I am working out harder then i have ever, i feel great, notcieable change in endurance, and recovery time, biked 7 miles yesterday and felt great!!!
Thanks for the inspriation, good luck with the child birth and after maintaining!!!!
You got through the holidays I think you can get through this
You'd still need to do some prep, but it would be faster. Toss some spinach or baby greens in a bowl, chop some veggies or apples with the mandoline, throw on some chickpeas, and you're all set.
And I feel your pain about the chips.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayEll
Hey! Two words: bag salad.
No, really. I'd rarely have a salad at home if it weren't for these.
Jay
Both great ideas, I think part of my problem is that I'm spoiled from eating really "fancy" salads on the road while on expense account so I get a little bored with the bag salad. I had some last night though!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rottiedog
Also, triathlons are easy if you do the mini ones. A super sprint is like, a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run or something like that. I dog paddle the entire swims, bike slowly (and whistle while doing it!) and walk/jog the runs. I've done about 7 triathlons and have come in last 6 times. And you know, the farther behind you get, the louder the crowd cheers. It's a great motivational sport and social outlet. You are doing great in your journey. In no time you'll be running your two kids ragged!
Rottiedog
That actually sounds really fun, I think that I'm reasonably close to being able to get through that, especially if I don't push my pace too hard. I should see if there are any close, that would be a fun exercise goal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tuckr
Great job!!! You hang in there, maybe stock up on things a coupel days before the baby gets tehre, like healthy stuff, and when you are looking at a dessert have an apple or something by it, just a thought. I am working out harder then i have ever, i feel great, notcieable change in endurance, and recovery time, biked 7 miles yesterday and felt great!!!
Tucker, that's really funny because the same day you wrote this was the first time since I've started this that I got on the bike at the gym (I'm not a big fan of biking). I actually did exactly 7 miles on a resistance of 8. Weird coincidence.
It's good to hear that the physical activity is paying off, while it is less of a contributor to loss than what you eat, I find that the exercise is more motivating because it pays quicker dividends in how I feel and the energy I have.
Last night I did 5 pushups with 3 toddlers on my back, one 38 lbs, one 31 lbs, and one 27 lbs. I felt like superman lol. Until they all fell off and 5 minutes of bawling ensued
I have a new mantra when faced with challenges that I know will put me off plan...what would a maintainer (specifically me) need to do.
I'm really worried about maintenance when I get there and know I have to think differently about things, I can't just lose a bunch of weight and then go back to the old way I used to eat.
Anyway I had another very very challenging and tempting weekend that I am pretty pleased with how I tackled.
Saturday
First off, I knew Saturday was going to be really messed up. We had pictures in the morning and my wife insisted on going to a famous pancake house on the way (who's going to argue with 39 weeks pregnant. Then I knew we also had a nice evening alone planned at a nice restaurant we had a gift card to as well as show tickets.
We get to the pancake house and the menu is about what I expected. I was pretty tempted to have something I've really been missing (biscuits and gravy) but since I knew we had a nice dinner planned I couldn't afford it. So I went with an omelette (no cheese) that was actually really good. I was a little mad that the restaurant refused (even for a charge) to substitute fruit for the bread side of pancakes, muffin, or biscuit. But it worked out because I gave my toddler the pancakes and ended up saving having to buy her a meal. Who would have ever thought that I'd split a meal with my kiddo?
Then I did really good by eating a very light, low calorie lunch since it was my only meal at home.
Then we had dinner out at one of my favorite cajun seafood restaurants. And it was a treat so I had already decided to not be the best I could, but I also wanted to make some "new" decisions almost as more of a psycological thing than anything else.
So instead of a fried calamari appetizer, I had some raw oysters on half shell. Then I skipped the bread entirely. I had my favorite meal, sauteed crabfingers with dirty rice, but only ate about a third of the dirty rice. Then I only had a bite of my wife's ridiculously good bread pudding.
All in all I ate probably 30-40% less volume than my normal meal there, and made some good substitutions. And the best part was I was still quite full, I definately cannot eat as much as I could several months ago which is encouraging. However also frustrating because this restaurante doesn't have nutritional information available online so not really sure how much I saved.
Sunday
Sunday's big challenge (other than the every week amazing church breakfasts I have to just skip) was going out to lunch with the in-laws. Of course the only restaurant open in their tiny town was a country-style buffet restaurant. The type with platters of chicken fried steak/catfish, mashed potatoes, cream spinach, etc. I figured I was just going to be flat out screwed but was pleasantly surprised at the choices. In addition to the normal fare (really hard to pass up the things mentioned above) they had grilled pork, assorted grilled veggies, and sauteed mushrooms.
So I made wise choices there and actually ended up doing pretty well.
Then the final temptation was on the way home, we were all starved on the drive back after 7 and we were really tempted to go through a drive thru, but I stuck to my guns and we made it home and had a more healthy meal there.
PHEW!!! Seriously I feel sometimes like I'm in the scene from the Matrix where the guy dodges the bullets in slow motion. I've found that I really have to stay focused, think about options, think about future meals, etc. And don't try to overdo the healthy thing to the point of being misearable. I don't look back at this weekend and think that I "missed out" on anything which is really really impotant!
Starting Weight - 260 lbs
Current Weight - 202 lbs
Loss This Week -4bs
Total Loss - 58 lbs
Well a 4 is obviously a huge humber since I am getting close to goal and haven't had a number this high in 2 months. That said without getting into too much TMI I was definately a bit emptier this morning than an average day. And I didn't work out Fri-Sun so water a bit lower than average maybe. Still undeniable progress, but I won't be surprised to see a 0 or -1 next week.
Diet
Boring boring boring week. Nothing fun or exciting to say. This part of life when I'm at home is becoming somewhat routine (which is great) and I already made a post about this past weekend which was really the only interesting stuff.
Ooo one interesting thing. Based on a post I saw on here I got a case of these things called Popchips from Amazon. I got salt and vinegar which is my favorite chip flavor. I decided to get the little bags (0.8 oz) the size of a normal single serving you might get in a store. But they are really light so seems like more than the weight. Only 100 calories and very satisfying, not quite the same as normal chips, but a very very good alternative. I recommend them for chip fiends (assuming you can avoid eating 5 bags at a time which is why I got the little ones).
Exercise
Pretty boring here as well. Worked out M-Th then took Fri-Sun off. I could have gotten in a workout on Friday but passed, and Sat-Sun weren't going to happen.
One cool thing from this week. I left my house to go to the gym this morning and my car wasn't there (and my wife was running errands in our other car)! Then I remembered that I left my car at church yesterday and we forgot to go back and get it. My first inclination was to say "Well too bad guess I can't go to the gym (I actually workout at our church) today. But it was really nice and I had the time so I decided to jog to our church which as I found out later is 2.4 miles away. So that was a nice little victory.
Looking to the future
Still no kiddo 2. I now think I have a more legitimate chance of getting to 200 officially before he comes!
Thank you so much for your updates and inspiration. If you can do it we can do it right? And if we can do it someone else can. And it is so nice to read about your week and know that whatever is going on, it gives us something we can relate to or look forward to doing,..whatever.
Grrrrr
I found myself at the railway station this morning with 20 minutes to wait for the London train. Suddenly, a picture of you doing laps of the airport popped into my mind. I had on my hat, gloves & scarf & the sun was shining. I cranked out three laps!
) and I already made a post about this past weekend which was really the only interesting stuff. 
