you rolled with the punches and even socked out a few yourself...that is great. I bet you really did fit more comfortably in there...good job!

Great job with some tough challenges!

Hmmm, odd day...bit of a mixed bag

Fortunately I didn't have to be at my client until noon. So instead of waking up and eating breakfast first thing I ate a snack and went to work out. I guess I walked too much yesterday because my right knee was pretty sore this AM, preventing me from really going hard at the hotel gym. But I did a "light" workout, and 30 minutes on the elliptical actually helped loosen it.

Then I went to breakfast around 10:00, thinking that I could eat a decent sized meal and not be as tempted at my client lunch. I forgot to really pack adequate snacks like I was supposed to so decided to flirt with fire and eat at the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I there encountered a key nemesis, the all you can eat HOT breakfast buffet with my all time favorite breakfast food, biscuits and sausage gravy.

Old Choice
2 Biscuits smothered in sausage gravy with 6-8 pcs bacon on top. Calories???

New Choice
About a cup of canteloupe/pineapple with an egg white omelette with ham (no cheese). Calories???

Took my clients to lunch around noon and got a bit unlucky as we went to a local greasy spoon with really two choices: hamburgers or sandwiches. This might be an excuse but I do think it is harder for men to do all sorts of special ordering or coming across as picky when out with other males in a business lunch. I ended up having a club sandwich that was fantastic. Only good here was that I had green beans instead of fries (although not sure how good these particular southern style green beans with sausage and bacon actually were:)).

Mini Success
After my rental car (or lack thereof) fiasco I was left without a car. Instead of hailing a taxi or bumming a ride, I walked the 1.5 miles from my client back to my hotel. This was nice as it was cool out and was a peaceful way to end the work day. The only bad part was I was wearing dress shoes so not the most comfortable.

I really didn't feel like going to the gym again, so went out and walked around from about an hour, so burned a few calories there. But made a mistake in not really eating a good afternoon snack so I was STARVED by the time dinner came around. This is a huge mistake because it really magnifies the amount of willpower required when staring at a menu. I decided to go down to the nice hotel restaurant which was a small victory as I usually order a huge delivery meal.

Mini Success
I told the waitress to not bring the bread with this ridiculously good smelling garlic/chive butter. I would have eaten the whole loaf.

Old Choice
Another huge nemesis of mine, the seafood pasta platter, an all time favorite. It looked GOOOOD on the menu.
Lobster Bisque with Seafood Pasta and a mini loaf of bread and butter. Calories???

New Choice
A beautiful salmon with grilled asparagus. I'm sure the sauce on it wasn't great and it was a large piece of salmon. Calories???

Mini Success
Have a 6 am flight home tomorrow (have to leave before hotel breakfast). Got the restaurant to give me a banana so I can have something to eat when I wake up. Thinking ahead!


Not really sure how many calories I ate today, although it was WAAAY less than I typically would have consumed. I exercised, but it was kind of wimpy and mostly walking.

We will see how I deal with tomorrow when I have to get up at 4am and fly home.

omg, you had so many successes! The sauce on that salmon was NOTHING compared to the calories in that lobster Bisque. I guarantee you. Go Random!

Not an excuse...but it isn't just a male issue. I work in a male-dominated industry and I can't get away with special ordering either...would make me stand out against my colleagues and clients in a negative way. So you just do the best you can, which you did. So many potential pitfalls, and you navigated them all as best you could...and learned a lesson about packing snacks. :bravo:

Look at all the good things you did:

- You thought ahead about your foods.
- You tried to choose the better foods of those available.
- You passed on the foods that would help pack on the pounds (the bread, the biscuits w/gravy).
- You walked instead of riding.
- You took it easier when your knee started hurting, instead of just pushing through.

:bravo:

Jay

Well, it really takes TONS more discipline to stay on plan when I travel, cause it puts me so far off of a routine that it is just tough. But my first trip is over and I shouldn't have to travel again until 2010.

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, finally fell asleep around midnight which was problem considering I had to wake up at 3:45am for my 6am flight. That messed with my whole day. Fortunately I had thought ahead and at least had a banana to eat to get my belly going.

Made it home around 8, and was back asleep by 9am and slept until 2pm, which really is probably going to throw me off schedule for a couple of days. On the positive side I did make it to the gym this afternoon.

Exercise Observation
This week has been a lot tougher to exercise, I've felt more sore and haven't been able to do the intensity I want. I've chosen frequency over intensity this week (I've gone every day and done a lot of outside the gym exercise but haven't killed it at the gym). I'm on the fence about which is better, less frequent and more intense or vice versa (opinions?). My guess is that it's probably better physically to exercise less often but more intense, but I think psychologically and discipline-wise it's better to make it a daily habit, at least for now.

Had dinner at a friends house which we do once a week and is always dangerous. I did pretty good. We had barbecued chicken, broccoli, scalloped potatoes, and brownies. I had extra broccoli and went easy on the scalloped potatoes (I could have eaten sooo much of that it was fantastic) and skipped the brownies. I could have had one, but then again I don't think I could have had only one.

So ended up the day fine calorie wise and made it to the gym so overall success I guess. Very pleased with my overall success on my first trip on the new plan, but also realize this was a pretty easy trip since I wasn't working long hours and it was still pretty hard to stay on plan.

I'm not sure if I'll make it to the gym tomorrow as I'm going golfing all afternoon. I might just go ahead and let my body recover for a day since I'll at least be outside and moving while golfing so not sedentary.

Exercise: I was told that 5-6 days a week was needed to support weight loss. That doesn't have to be the gym, however. I did a combination of cardio (treadmill, exercise bike, etc.) and weight training (free weights, machines) being careful not to lift with the same muscle groups two days in a row. I also walked every day for half an hour. I only had time for an hour and a half a day for exercise/activity.

Think like a marathoner, not like a sprinter. You need an exercise program you can sustain for the long haul, not one that will wear you out too quickly or make you too sore to move.

That's just my opinion, of course! :)

Jay

Short post long day...

Didn't do the gym today, but spent 5 hours on the golf course so feel like I got in some good exercise. I did not eat well today, not in terms of total calories which were ok, but the quality and timing of those calories was not good.

By 6 pm I had only consumed about 400 total calories, entirely a protein bar and some sunflower seeds. Nothing green or fresh came near my mouth.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and poses several challenges. First of all I'm not sure I can make it to the gym since I have to "daddy-sit" all day and have an event that night. The event involves cookies and hot-chocolate for caroling.

There's a small chance I can hit the gym tomorrow but unlikely so I'll try for that, if not, I'll have to maybe go to the park with my daughter and at least do a lap or two. Need to be sure to fill up before the cookie/cocoa event so I don't eat a bunch of cookies like I easily could.

I might have to weigh Saturday since I'm using the digital scale at the gym as my reference. I'm hoping for 5-6.

random - I'm really enjoying your posts and the detail you're putting into the planning, as well as the thoughtful analysis about what's working and what doesn't. As a past road-warrior, I can certainly appreciate the travel challenges!

Regarding the exercise, I think the habits in the gym are just as important as the ones in the kitchen. Frequency will establish a foundation, and you can always build on the intensity later. And while JayEll's position on exercise is certainly supported by plenty of data ... I personally am not going to build in that much time "working out." My husband and I LOVE Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning program. Big pluses are that it's all functional strength - seriously - what GOOD does a bench press do for you in life?, it's fast because it's combination moves (20-30 minutes, tops, until you get really advanced), and it's incredibly portable because it's all body-weight exercises. Based on wrestling strength training and martial arts - builds a lot of flexible strength, and will still get your heart rate up quite thoroughly! My DS10 enjoys it too and it's helped his posture. I knew it was working when I saw him (57" tall) get a running start at a 5 1/2 foot concrete block wall and basically haul himself over it with just upper body strength - and he's only doing 20 minutes 3 times a week.

Anyway - keep up the great work! I'm looking forward to reading about more of your successes!

Thanks ICUWishing!

I might give that a try, I've been looking for things to keep my workouts mixed up. I definately believe in constantly doing different workouts, but it is hard as sometimes I just want to go to the gym and do something that is "easy" for me, which isn't the best.

Food Alert Today
I am in my house alone until 5pm with about 500 freshly baked Christmas cookies destined for a social event tonight. There is literally not a space free on any counter or table in my house that does not have a tray of cookies and my fridge has about 3 giant things of cookie dough.....

AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!! MUST SURVIVE!!!!!!

Friday 12/19

Another kind of mixed bag day, it's been a difficult week. I've seen a lot this week why I've struggled in the past, and that is simply that my life and job are very non-conducive to a regular schedule. This fact can be used for or against my goals.

I knew I wasn't going to be able to make the gym today. I had to Daddysit and was flying around doing a ton of things in advance of a night event. I probably could have put a little effort into doing something at my house and probably should have. On the positive side I was out moving most of the day and did a number of physical things as part of daily life.

So that makes 2 days Thu/Fri with no gym this week. That was not my original goal but I'm ok with it this week. Thursday I golfed and frankly was almost as sore after 5 hours of that as I usually am after the gym, and Friday was just one of those days it was impossible.

Eating wasn't great on Friday. First the positives

Mini Success
There were several hundred freshly made Christmas cookies of all varieties in my house today for an event tonight. I didn't have a singe one! It didn't take quite as much willpower as I thought. But my usual struggle is not to eat or not to eat, it's once I have the first one, the 10 that follow. So that was good.

I ate well all day (a little under calories)

Mini Success
I had a nice filling bowl of beef barley soup before this cookie event we had so I wouldn't be starved and eat a bunch. It worked and I didn't have any cookies, again I could have, but didn't really "need" them so passed.

Then the bad part, a bunch of friends wanted to go out to eat after this event and they chose Mexican. A big personal weakness of mine and not a lot of easy healthy options. I ate some chips, but made a conscious effort to eat them more slowly (ergo less) than usual. And I chose to have grilled fish tacos with a mexican slaw, charro beans, and this incredible sauteed cucumber side that was too good to be healthy. So I probably had one of the healthiest things on the menu but ate too much (3 tacos) and it was my biggest meal so far on the new plan.

I was under calories heading into the evening but it did put me a little over. I was glad I passed on temptation the rest of the day!

WEEKLY UPDATE - WEEK 2

Ok it is the conclusion of week 2. I had an "extra" day this week since I wasn't able to go to the gym on Friday and use the scale I'm using as a baseline.

Weight - 245
-6 last week
-15 overall through 2 weeks

I'm pleased with the 6, TBH it was right about what I was expecting so it was good to see that number. Overall I had a very successful week, not perfect, but it was also a much more difficult week than week one as I had my first business trip and several "unusual" days. It's encouraging to see results to back up effort.

I "feel" skinnier, but don't necessarily see it quite as much in my clothes as I might have expected (although definitely some).

Food Observations

Calories for the week
Sat - 2039
Sun - 1570
Mon - 1691
Tue - 2045
Wed - 1309
Thu - 1655
Fri - 2191

Good week eating wise. Had 2 meals out that could have been better but could have been a LOT worse. The calories were much healthier than they used to be, very protein heavy and low fat. I'm not totally eliminating anything at this point, although virtually no sugar.

I've been doing well in splitting up my meals, but on days where I can be perfect (at home, nothing weird), I'm having a bit of a hard time getting my calories split across the day as evenly as I like. Need to work on bigger breakfasts I guess. But the best thing is that for now it is workable and definitely livable. I've been more strict with avoiding temptation than I would like to whenever I get to maintenance, but only had a couple of really tough moments this week when it comes to food.

Exercise Observations

Exercise for the week
Sat - Gym
Sun - Rest
Mon - Gym/Airport Walking
Tue - Gym (2 short sessions)
Wed - Gym
Thu - Golf
Fri - None (although 2-3x normal activity for the day)

I expected this week to be easier than week one in regards to exercise but it WAS NOT! I think it was several factors. Burning up stores of energy intensely week one. Traveling which always always takes up more energy than you think it would, and overdoing it a bit on Monday when I had several hours to kill in an airport so walked 4ish miles AFTER going to the gym earlier that day.

So the net was I felt a little more lethargic and sore than I hoped to which impacted the intensity of my workouts, I didn't feel like I killed it in the gym as much as I might have liked. On the positive this was still TONS more energy that anything before the new plan.

Another positive is that I can't really think to many moments where I was tired throughout the week which is great, no real energy valleys which was one of my main goals.

Another positive was that the day I didn't go the gym (Friday) I really felt like I wanted to go to the gym, I wished I could go burn some energy.

I discovered "This American Life" podcasts this week which are awesome! I find that listening to speaking while doing long cardio sessions is better than music, while music is better while doing weights.

Planning For Next Week
The key to next week (which includes Christmas) is maximizing Sun-Thu as much as possible. I'm home all week and on vacation so should be no reason why I can't do some good gym sessions and eat pretty good.

I'm going to set my most modest goal yet for Christmas day. Simply don't eat until you can eat no more. That's it... I'll do that a lot on holidays, eat an entire plateful, be full and still go back for more. So I'm not going to restrict any food or beat myself up over eating a "large" meal, but want to keep it to being full and not that next step.

I still think 240 is pretty reasonably by the end of the year if I can minimize other issues (including family visiting the week after Christmas). We shall see!

Mini Success

Went out for some shopping etc. with the fam tonight around dinner. We decided to have dinner out and we settled on Chipotle.

Now bear in mind I love Chipotle and had the exact order below at least twice a week the whole summer while on a project up north.

Old Choice
Chicken Burrito (rice, black beans, tortilla, chicken, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, guac, cheese)
with Chips and Guac
--1765 calories

Today Choice
Chicken Salad - really the only difference was no tortilla or rice (add grilled veggies). Extra salsa instead of dressing and nix the sour cream and cheese.
--425 calories

Net Savings 1325 calories and really hit the spot!

Randomcards--excellent choice at Chipotle! I really like their food, and was happy to discover that one can "build their own." It helps a lot!

Keep making those better choices and trying to think ahead. Get those emergency snacks down to a habit. You might try keeping South Beach Living High-Protein bars with you--around 140 cals each, and great in an emergency.

Jay