[427pounder]

I've completed my first week of my lifestyle change and I feel great. I have a few days where I was really proud of myself, and a few that disappointed me as well. However, it was a learning experience and looking back at the numbers, there are a few observations that I need to address in my lifestyle change.

Water Intake

I'm trying to drink a minimum of 8 cups of water per day, or a total of 64oz. per day. 4 out of 7 days, I reached my goal and then some. However, on the other three days, I drank only about 50% of what I needed to. This week, I need to stay on top of my water intake, which from what I hear, will help suppress hunger cravings. I also hear that it helps keep your skin tight as you lose weight, which is very important so that there isn't so much loose skin.

The Elliptical

I refer to this machine as my arch nemesis. This week, with the exception of Thursday and the weekend (I don't work out on weekends), I accomplished 15 minutes per day on the Elliptical.

On Friday, I wasn't tired or winded at the 15 minute mark. I felt like I could keep going, so this week I'll push myself to go an additional 5 minutes. This additional time should help with my weight loss a great deal. Currently I burn about 223 calories per 15 minute session, so we'll see how this increase in time works out.

Weight Lifting

One of my goals while losing weight is to maintain and build the muscle mass that I already have. This week I'll be increasing all of the arm exercises I do by 10-20 pounds depending on the machine, and leg exercises by 10 - 20 pounds depending on the machine.

Weekend Eating

My eating was all over the board this weekend. For some reason, I just couldn't stay on top of my eating every 2 hours. I was out and about most of the morning, but had water in the car that I didn't drink, but should have. On Sunday I was in church from 11am - 1:30pm, so I'm going to start keeping a water bottle with me so that I don't miss my 1:00pm schedule.

On Saturday, I disappointed myself by ordering a huge burger instead of a salad or light sandwich at Claim Jumper. Next time around, I'm going to make the right decision and get something a little more healthy.

Before I started this journey, I already knew that I was going to eat at the buffet every Sunday with my wife and daughter. Its our Sunday thing we do after church. However, I did start off with a small chicken salad, which means I ate less of everything else.

I'm not sure if its a positive or a negative, but I only ate 2 times total between Saturday and Sunday. I want to keep giving my body nutrients every two hours so that I don't get hit by sudden hunger cravings, so this weekend, I'm going to juice instead of not eating anything. Let me also clarify that it was not my intent to eat only once, but I was out and time got away from me. I didn't even realize it until I started writing this. Starvation is never a good idea.

Juicing

Juicing is a lot of work, its time consuming, and there's always a lot to clean up. Therefore, what I did was go out and get additional juices to supplement my own juicing. So far Naked is a good brand that doesn't contain any additional sugar.

This week, in addition to buying more Naked, I plan to add V8, and carrot juice to the menu. Make sure you check back for this week's Weigh In Wednesday.

If you want to follow along on my personal blog, please go to mydietry.com

[HungryHungryHippo]

Hey, 427--welcome to 3FC!!!
Congrats on a good week under your belt!
Just a thought--save the time and mess of juicing, and eat the fruits & veggies whole. It takes longer, so you feel like you've eaten more.

[Fluffypuppy]

You seem to have a very clear plan. Good for you! Just remember, life happens and schedules sometimes can't be met. That is not the end of the world. Don't let it derail you. It's the big picture that makes the difference. I'm impressed by your exercise goals. You have me beat! Congrats on Week One.

[JohnP]

I don't know where you've been getting your information but your're doing some things that I believe are counter productive and making it much tougher than it needs to be.

Overall - to lose fat and keep it off you need to establish new dietary habits that you can live with forever. A couple easy ones...

Calories matter. Not when you eat them. There is no need, at all, to eat every two hours. It doesn't do anything for you unless you're a natural grazer and prefer to eat smaller meals more often. Since you're male, this is unlikely.

Don't drink your calories. Just stop. I don't know why you're juicing but if you're **** bent on juicing at minimum stop juicing fruit. Eat your fruit, eat your veggies. It is far more satiating to eat food than drink juice.

Don't waste your time with isolation exercises or cardio at the gym. Focus on compound exercises lifting weights. If you have time after lifting, then do cardio. Remember, you're establishing habits that are going to last a lifetime. Do you really expect you'll be going to the gym every day, forever? 3 x a week full body routine is what I would suggest. Beyond that, simple walking is good for exercise. As you start to drop the lbs try to find something you enjoy doing. When you're playing, you're not exercising ... you're having fun.

I would highly reccomend you read at least one article a day from Lyle Mcdonald's website.

[JossFit]

John beat me to a lot of these points, but the same thing initially jumped out at me;

Originally Posted by JohnP

I don't know where you've been getting your information but your're doing some things that I believe are counter productive and making it much tougher than it needs to be.

Originally Posted by JohnP

Calories matter. Not when you eat them. There is no need, at all, to eat every two hours.

At the risk of sounding harsh, at 427 pounds you are in NO danger of not 'giving your body nutrients' if you don't eat at regular intervals. Eating every 2 hours seems difficult with your schedule and actually hasn't been proven to do anything more beneficial than having 3 squares a day (or Intermittent Fasting, 1 meal a day, alternate day fasting, 38 meals a day -- the only thing that matters is what is easiest for you to adhere to in order to stick to your calorie budget.)

Originally Posted by JohnP

Don't drink your calories. Just stop. I don't know why you're juicing but if you're **** bent on juicing at minimum stop juicing fruit. Eat your fruit, eat your veggies. It is far more satiating to eat food than drink juice.

And if you are set on juicing for Heaven's sake DO NOT "supplement" with store bought juices. They're just concentrated sugar and I'm willing to bet that you don't need any more sugar in your diet.

Originally Posted by JohnP

Don't waste your time with isolation exercises or cardio at the gym. Focus on compound exercises lifting weights. If you have time after lifting, then do cardio.

I disagree with this only slightly; cardio IS important for your heart and overall health, however it doesn't necessarily have to be 'cardio' in the form that most people think of it; treadmill, elliptical, etc. If you lift weights with enough intensity and really get your heart rate up THAT is cardio as well. I think you'll be happier with your results if you incorporate weight training from the get-go.

Originally Posted by JohnP

I would highly reccomend you read at least one article a day from Lyle Mcdonald's website.

Yes! www.bodyrecomposition.com

[427pounder]

Originally Posted by HungryHungryHippo

Hey, 427--welcome to 3FC!!!
Congrats on a good week under your belt!
Just a thought--save the time and mess of juicing, and eat the fruits & veggies whole. It takes longer, so you feel like you've eaten more.

I actually just started buying juice instead. Only 100% juice blends with no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. I know I'm not going to just eat a lot of veggies unless its broccoli, spinach, or a salad. I eat those things, but juicing is working so far. You're right though, it is a lot of mess and time sometimes.

[JohnP]

Originally Posted by JossFit

I disagree with this only slightly; cardio IS important for your heart and overall health, however it doesn't necessarily have to be 'cardio' in the form that most people think of it; treadmill, elliptical, etc. If you lift weights with enough intensity and really get your heart rate up THAT is cardio as well. I think you'll be happier with your results if you incorporate weight training from the get-go.

Yes - what I said was poorly worded. Too late at night I suppose.

[427pounder]

Originally Posted by JohnP

I don't know where you've been getting your information but your're doing some things that I believe are counter productive and making it much tougher than it needs to be.

Overall - to lose fat and keep it off you need to establish new dietary habits that you can live with forever. A couple easy ones...

Thanks for the advice. That is my goal, to establish permanent good eating habits.

Calories matter. Not when you eat them. There is no need, at all, to eat every two hours. It doesn't do anything for you unless you're a natural grazer and prefer to eat smaller meals more often. Since you're male, this is unlikely.

A while back I lost 80 pounds when I did the exact same things I'm doing now. I wasn't juicing then, but everything else was the same. The reason I put my weight back on, and then some, was because I was in an accident that messed up my leg. I had 6 months in a wheelchair and about 6 months on a cane before I could really walk unaided. I had managed to keep my weight off for 2 years before the accident, but after got lazy and started eating a lot of junk, not exercising, and gaining weight.

Don't drink your calories. Just stop. I don't know why you're juicing but if you're **** bent on juicing at minimum stop juicing fruit. Eat your fruit, eat your veggies. It is far more satiating to eat food than drink juice.

I like juicing and I love juice. I agree that eating is more satiating, but I don't agree that I should just stop juicing.

Don't waste your time with isolation exercises or cardio at the gym. Focus on compound exercises lifting weights. If you have time after lifting, then do cardio. Remember, you're establishing habits that are going to last a lifetime. Do you really expect you'll be going to the gym every day, forever? 3 x a week full body routine is what I would suggest. Beyond that, simple walking is good for exercise. As you start to drop the lbs try to find something you enjoy doing. When you're playing, you're not exercising ... you're having fun.

I have multiple reasons for doing cardio at the gym. Mostly because I'm not going to get out and walk or run. It would be great, but I'm not going to kid myself.

I would highly reccomend you read at least one article a day from Lyle Mcdonald's website.

Thanks I'll check him out today.

[JohnP]

Originally Posted by 427pounder

I actually just started buying juice instead. Only 100% juice blends with no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. I know I'm not going to just eat a lot of veggies unless its broccoli, spinach, or a salad. I eat those things, but juicing is working so far. You're right though, it is a lot of mess and time sometimes.

This is exactly what you need to stop doing. Sugar is sugar. Fruit juice, no matter how natural, is sugar. Drinking your calories is only something you should be doing if you're trying to gain weight.

If you're not going to eat veggies ... then juicing veggies is an alternative I suppose.

[nataliegm]

I've tried the juicing thing. Its great for nutrients, healthy ones, but john is right. There is no point. You're going to make you skin and hair pretty and that's about it. I calculated one day for calories with juicing and you actually end up with way more than what you think you're getting and can end up gaining more weight that. Maybe one Juice a day just for the vitamins and because you say you like it but make it mostly veggies. Best of luck to you with your journey.