Day 332 - Soccer, Spring & Surprise

Yesterday I got in 2 miles on the elliptical and kept the calories to around 1700; fairly even split as far as nutrients go. So a decent effort getting this mission re-saddled and on the path again. Could be better, and that is what today's goal is.

How was your Monday eating & exercise?

After my wife & I exercised yesterday (she did treadmill while I did elliptical) we caught our breath and headed out to attend my daughters first soccer game of the spring season. Bbrrrr, spring my @$$... at 34F there was no spring to be found. She is a senior, so this is the last year we have to endure soccer starting before spring officially gets here and before Momma Nature gives us a break. Everyone was dressed for ice fishing, as pictured above (my wife in red coat center-right), even the players. Sadly, we lost 1-3, which made the game colder.
 
Speaking of my wife she has a birthday coming up in May. Plenty of time yet to get the birthday party planned and gift figured out, but I've known for a while what she was going to get got her fortieth. She's been drooling over these ever since they came out a few of years ago and were pumped up in the Transformers movies. This weekend I figured it'd be a neater surprise to give it to her a couple of months early...

 


Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 306 - Do You Prefer This Or That?



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 One thing that blogging has certainly reinforced for me is that no two people are alike. Some similar, some as different as coffee and vodka; but none alike. We may have the same general desire for being healthy and happy. Yet when looking at the many different traits of how we exercise, eat, or do anything non-health/fitness; the differences between our preferences are many.


Lets look at a few...



Do you prefer to Strength or Cardio train?
Me: Strength

Do you have/admire Tattoos or No-Tats?
Me: No-Tats

Do you prefer to eat Lo-Carb or Lo-Fat?
Me: Lo-Carb

Do you find it more relaxing to work on a Jigsaw-Puzzle or Play Chess?
Me: Play Chess

Do you prefer to walk/jog/run Inside or Outside?
Me: Outside

Do you prefer to wear your socks Ankle-High or Calf-High? 
Me: Calf-High

Do you prefer to Count or Not-Count Calories In/Out?
Me: Not-Count

Do you prefer to dip your chips in French-Onion or Guacamole?
Me: Guacamole

Do you believe that for weight loss/maintenance success Water Intake is Key or a Non-Factor?
Me: Water Intake is Key

Do you favor Disney World or Universal Studios?
Me: Disney World

So there are just 10 of 34,487,395,431,879+ traits that make each of us who we are.

I am of the type that likes Strength Training, No-Tats, Lo-Carb, Play Chess, Outside, Calf-High, Not-Count, Guacamole, Water Intake is Key, Disney World!
 

Anyone else identical to me on just those 10?

What about your list of 10? And your Spouse/Lover/BFF/Whomever, is their 10 identical to you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 268 - 55% Progress

It's weigh-in day, weigh-in day, weigh-in day... that would be the day I weigh-in.

Feeling good about this weigh in too as I've dropped 2 pounds this past week. Cool, that is 2 pounds closer to my goal weight of 199! Since starting this mission last April I've dropped 55% of the weight I have set out to drop. Oh Yeah!

This past week I have been vigilant about tracking my calories & exercise. In part inspired by Bobbie over at Anonymous Fat Girl who gave us THIS amazing post last weekend. I've been using the Lose It! app on my iTouch and this week I calculated a calorie deficit of 6,809 calories. That calculates oh-so close to 7,000 which is the calories one needs to burn to lose 2 pounds. So Bobbie, thanks again for that post! Check it out folks if you missed it.
Big temptation challenge today; family birthday party. We'll be convening the families over at Bill's Pub to celebrate those who turn a year older this month. Bill's is known for it's pizza and also serves up an dang-good bacon-cheese-fry appetizer which I will have none of. I will have some pizza, but very little. I've been here a few times over the past year and have done well to restrain myself. I expect today to be another such day of restraint.

Let me close this post by giving another shout-out. This guy is a blogger who had allot to do with me getting off to a great start on my mission. I recall receiving great advice from him on topics such as how to restrain yourself when going to parties, brunches, etc.. 

Over the past few months he has become largely absent from the blogs and as is true with so very many who fade from the blogs, his progress with his own mission to be healthy has faded. He has allowed himself to justify poor habits and put back on a chunck of weight. But, he did grace us from his blog last Monday where he owned up to just that (how else would I have known his state) and he let us know WHY... I have no doubt Kyle has what it takes to rebound and hope to see him posting that he is doing just that soon. 

Have a Great Sunday everyone!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 264 - Seriously, Do Not Take It

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Calorie advice is not always best taken seriously such as that shared yesterday. Some days, we get advice such as the below, and know it out to seriously not be taken...

Food you do not order has far less calories. Therefore eat guilt free off of the plate another person has ordered.

Food passes through the stomach four times faster when eaten while standing, thus we absorb a quarter of the calories. Eat while walking, six times faster. While running, eight times. Unfortunately while driving fast calories don't pass through a dozen times faster, oh well.

If you slice your pie and cake portions neatly then you will be less tempted to trim those poorly left edges and inhale them. But, even if you do, everyone knows that trimmed dessert edges have nearly zero calories.

Calories on seconds are raised to the 2nd power, on thirds to the 3rd power; and so on. Therefore do not go back for more, instead get it all plated the first serving.

Those mini sausages and cheeses served with toothpicks have less calories as some escape when the appetizer is stuck. Thus always look for those stuck with multiple toothpicks if you want to enjoy more appetizers.

Remember to have SERIOUS FUN when getting healthy, you & and everyone around you will Thank You for it!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 227 - F-18 Flyover Accomplished

Monday was owned. Food near perfect, Exercise nailed!

Queue the anthem and the F-18 flyover... Ok, maybe the fly-over would be a bit much. But that feeling of accomplishment where your are brimming with pride for a job well done, that is how my Monday came off for me. Of course you really can't get the full effect of that feeling until you wake up the next day when there is no longer any opportunity to ruin yesterday.

One key to yesterday's feel-good, how I balanced the days food. The picture there is of my lunch for Monday. Where Monday was spot-on for me is that the calories on my lunch plate exceeded those of my dinner plate. Why is that a big deal?

For so very very long (yes 2 very's) that has not been the case. Even while on this mission which has been largely successful I have struggled to avoid eating 40-50% of my days calories at dinner.

What you see there is garden salad with egg splashed with a bit of sesame oil & ranch accompanied with a bowl of veggie chili; this meal rang in at about 625 calories. My dinner (not pictured) of turkey breast (yes leftovers from Thursday) & fruit salad rang in at about 350 calories.

Over the past several months I have come to know my body fairly well. And I know it feels better, performs better, and maybe even looks better (underscore maybe) when I eat in better balance and when my mid-day meal is larger of the three meals. This I need to remember and strive for daily for what I hope are obvious reasons.

Now I am writing this post read as if such feelings of accomplishment are rare for me. Not the case, they are far more a regular part of my days these past 7+ months than ever. Such feelings of accomplishment can motivate greatly and ought to be recognized and sought after; my opinion.

Hit me with what gave you your last F-18 flyover feeling of accomplishment.

Oh, and for those who may not know what I mean by F-18 flyover, then for crying out loud get yourself to a big time football game, or better yet to a Nascar race; stand, salute, cheer & hang on... Until then just watch THIS.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 199 - Vote & Fruit Me 199

Lanie shared this comment with us yesterday, "Tomorrow is day 199 of responsibility 199. I think we should throw a party. A fruit party. Maybe we, as a Patrick's fans & friends should eat a total of 199 pieces of fruit minimum. Who's with me? Then on Wednesday we can have a potty party." YES, Today is Day 199 of Responsibility 199...

Ok, I am game - spread the word to all that if you eat fruit today let me know and lets see if we can get 199 pieces of fruit consumed. I should be good for a trio myself.

BEARING is my word for today.

Setting forth with purpose and certainty in the direction I have chosen to proceed.

In my post yesterday I outlined how I will SEE my way to achieving my goal for November.

 I believe this has me set on the bearing I need to do just that.

In support of my November goal I have chosen to count calories for a few days just to reinforce my belief in my bearing. Those of you that follow me know I do not regularly count calories. The fact that I have chosen to do so should signal that I am determined to succeed in November and that I also am not leaving anything to chance, not even my comfort with not needing to count calories as a rule.

Up top there you see my dinner; a broiled salmon salad w/ stewed tomatoes & chilies. Dinner is often a tough challenge for me as I am usually at my most hungry at night and that meal is usually the most tempting to go over board with. Having shared that on twitter last night, how cool is twitter, Carla (MizFit) wasted no time jumping in to help me with that. At the end of out tweet chat I walked away with a tip from her, Thanks Carla! Oh, Carla shared some exciting news with all of us yesterday, if you missed it, then get on scoot'n over her way and check out one of Austin’s Fittest Mamas!

Her tip, simply since I usually cook dinner, and since I tend to nibble a bunch of extra calories as I cook; she suggested that if I must nibble to nibble away at the veg. Such a simple solution but yet one that has evaded me. Last night I chomped down a raw carrot while the salmon was cooking and I whipped up mashed potatoes for the rest of the family.

My daily target is between 1800 & 2000 calories a day on average. Yesterday I was pleased to see my days eating did just that; I calculate it all at the end of the day so I do not know for sure the numbers as they add up through put the day. Here is what I did yesterday calorie-wise using FitDay as a reporting tool...

The error in yesterday would seem to be too much fat. That is simply going a bit heavy on the almonds and also almond butter. If I cut that almond butter snack out then I'd have been at 40/35/25, which would still be too heavy in fat. All good to know, today I get to do better!

It is Election Day in the USA... Jody reminded all of us yesterday to get out and vote today. I scribbled this comment back at her and figured I'd link to her and re-scribble my own words here today as further reminder to all Americans to vote in this election. My scribbles, "I voted a couple of weeks ago, I love early voting. Yes, VOTE people. My friends in Chicago, I know you will vote often too. Have fun with it, when filling in the circles on the ballot use your non-dominant hand and see if you can stay with-in the lines. Or, if you vote via touch screen take a rubber band with you and see it you can shoot it from a foot away accurately at your preferred candidates; be careful, you wont want to miss. And if you still vote with a punch card, laugh out loud when they hand you your ballot and shout Viva 2000! Just Vote People!"

Did you Vote America?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 194 - Courageously Burning Lettuce

To shed the darkness of obesity for something better is Courage necessary? If you consider embarking on a mission to get healthy to be very challenging, to be unknown in some respects if not many, or to be one where you success is at risk from the start; then you likley also consider courage to be a necessary attribute to embrace. If you disagree, please share with the class.


Good day yesterday, no great day. Had a follow up visit for my cheek scar and all is healing as it should at this point so says the doc, excellent. Got in the cardio I mentioned yesterday in the morning and followed that up with solid eating through to the end of the day. Let's see if I can follow that up with a repeat today.

For those that asked to see the new clothes, I am here to make your requests reality; feast your eyes to the right... clashes withe sea-foam'ish green walls doesn't it?

How many are a fan of the show Burn Notice? My kids love the show so I see it on from time to time, thus I am familiar with it. I win't go as far as to say I am a fan as if there aren't goals being scored or checkered flags being waved I have a hard time giving the television time.

That said, this not a post about a television show, rather it is sort of about calories. Each day we take in calories and burn off calories. Most if not all reading here understand how the math works. Knowing the math is important. No, it is critical for understanding the basics of health if I may dare say so.

Breathe easy, I am not going to bore you with a caloric math lesson. If you want that, there are a zillion websites, try this one. Or better yet, Allan over at Almost Gastric Bypass has written some great posts on the math, give his site a search.

Knowing the math, I am interested in how to make it a fun ride on the caloric teeter-totter? Why make it fun? Well, because I like it fun, and fun it will be. If that is not reason enough then consider my (or maybe your) dozens of previous missions to get healthy. Myself, many times I just plodded through focusing on the math, and just the math. Sadly, I quit each of those missions.

A common and key learning from all of those attempts; if you don't enjoy what you are doing, your chances of success are a skosh above zero. Accepting the mission to become healthy is hard enough, particarly mentally; why make it harder still by accepting that it has to be boring? Not me, not this time. Here is one way I try and keep it fun...

I wake up, and while attending to the 3-S's I ask, What will I burn off today?

Yesterday, I committed to burning off not exercising the day before, at least 400 calories.
Today, I committed to burning off a piece of birthday cake since I will be avoiding three birthday cakes this weekend. I do not plan on eating any, not one bite, but I am going to burn one off anyhow!
Recently, I committed to burning off 10 heads of lettuce. Figuring 75 calories per; 750 was my target that day.
Once, I committed to burning off all the carbs I ate the day before. Figured a target burn of 200 carbs or 800 calories; the biggest culprit in that number were the 150 carbs of spaghetti with bolognese from dinner.

Sound goofy? To some it will. To others it won't.

Getting healthy ought to be fun! So get busy having fun & fit.

What will you burn off today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 148 - 43% Progress

Good morning fellow bloggers, hope your weekend is going great thus far.

This weeks weigh in is not one I am jumping up and down about. Although in keeping perspective I should be just fine with it. Giving it further thought I suppose I am just hungry for more.

Exercise wise I have had an off week. Not so much due to the docs orders I received Friday to limit exercise to walking for a week. Rather a flare up of gout mid-week has had me way to sedate. Gout is something I have issues with 2-3 times a year. I don't like moaning about injury or illness so I didn't mention it earlier in the week.

If you don't know what gout is, that is good. It means you don't have issues with it & I sincerely hope you never do. Long gout story short it has taken me until this morning to flush the gout out and get back to walking. My wife & I arose this morning and went for a good walk before doing some errands. Felt so good too.

After you've been exercising regular for nearly five months when you take a break you feel it when you aren't getting the exercise in. You miss it, and get frustrated especially when you can't. Which, is actually a positive change. Six months ago if someone told me I can't go exercise today I would have shrugged it off and probably would have smiled too. What difference five months and 50+ pounds can make in ones attitude.

Today I am holding at 43% of the weight lost I have set out to lose.

That's 52 pounds lost over TWENTY weeks; 0.5 of them this past week.

Today I weighed in at 268 pounds.

Reflecting on this past week I have come to this conclusion. I simply did not adjust the eating enough to account for my inactivity. No matter how many calories I eat, I need to strive to keep the intake 500 or more calories less than what I burn whether I am just burning calories sitting and working,or,whether I am getting in exercise.

I'm looking forward to a better week; how about you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 139 - My D'Oh Tonic

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Up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday and went out for a walk on my neighborhood 2 mile loop. I don't know if itis walking first thing in the morning that makes a difference, or if I'm just on a performance up-tick, or what, but I obliterated my PR's for that loop & my 1-mile walk time, 31:53 and 15:30 minutes respectively. The loop time was more than 1-1/2 minutes faster than my previous best. Maybe it is the darkness and that my eyes can't wander off as far & lose focus. Whatever it was, I aint complaining.

When do you exercise, a.m., noon, p.m.? Have a preference? Liz posted yesterday on the pro / con of when we exercise; I enjoyed this read and am sharing it here for you to enjoy as well.

Wedding day today for our friends Eileen & Brian. Have the day off work, leave about noon'ish to get my wife where she needs to be, then the wedding with the full one-hour plus Catholic mass, then a reception complete with dinner and dancing and all the typical reception stuff. Perhaps home by midnight at the earliest. Wish me luck in my upcoming fight against today's food temptations.

On Sunday I reported a 2 pound loss for last week and my pleasure with it. Indeed I was pleased. But, I know I left something on the table. No, I'm not talking about an extra serving of pork chops; I did leave that on the table on purpose. However I also made a mistake that saw me leave on the table the opportunity to lose more weight last week.

What did I do, I drank tonic water. I usually drink a 20-24 ounce glass three or four nights a week. I like tonic water, always have. About a month ago I was looking for an alternative to diet soda, and water, and remembered tonic water so I scooped up a few 2-liter bottles and have been working on them.

What's wrong with tonic water? Myself, I thought nothing at all, I mean; it's just carbonated water right? Enter my wife. She comes home Saturday morning from the grocery store with DIET tonic water. Huh? What do you mean diet, it's water with bubbles and quinine; how much more diet can you get?

For validation I go check the nutrition facts on the bottle I've been drinking, ARGHH! It is loaded with high fructose corn syrup - WHAT!!! An 8 ounce serving is 100 calories. Yikes, on nights I've enjoyed a glass I've sucked in an extra 250 - 300 calories. D'Oh!

Down the drain that bottle went, and I thanked my wife. She saved me sooner rather than later; imagine if I hadn't discovered this for say 3-6 months from now? Perish the thought.

So, had I not been so dim-witted I may have had a hair better progress in the bank. Oh well, I am really not mad, not at all. Over the past 136 days you may have picked up on that I am very calm headed; not easily upset or put off. Live and learn, love and laugh; and laugh I did at my tonic water error.

Have you made any diet errors?
Please say you have, I can't be the only one; can I?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 95 - Attitude Maturation (Food)

I've chatted up my recent exercise a good deal & I feel real good about it. The new PR's are nice, but those are just numbers really. The importance of them is not having set new PR's but rather the fact that I have gotten out there and not only exercised but pushed myself. That's the real PR, the fact that I have moved my butt one more time than I had before. Hey, I steal nothing; that attitude about PR's is one I learned from someone who has been with me my entire journey here & whom I respect; Kyle.

Oh I do talk about PR's like they mean the world to me perhaps, but know that I do so only to motivate myself. No matter how much I may talk of PR's understand I know that what matters is the exercise getting done - period!

Food, food is really what I want to talk about today. Others have done reviews of their changes in eating habits comparing their before meals to their after starting to get healthy meals. I think of this as more than just changing how you eat, but adopting a new attitude towards how you approach food as a whole. So now it is my turn, a reflection of my old attitude of food vs. my new attitude.

Breakfast @ 615 a.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Apple Fritter & Sausage Biscuit
(Oh how I love apple fritters! Someday I will treat myself to one but no longer are they typical breakfast fare for me)

NEW ATTITUDE: Greek Yogurt w/ Fruit & dash of Granola
(I thought of this post idea right after breakfast, so I had to surf for a similar dish; this is quite close)

Snack @ 845 a.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Snickers Bar
(I miss these; the best candy bar ever!)

NEW ATTITUDE: Carton of Skim Milk (Moo...)

Lunch @ 1145 a.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Burrito, Rice & Refried Beans
(I like my refried beans triple refried, and I wondered for so long why I am obese)

NEW ATTITUDE: Garden Salad (salad bar) w/ Tuna (canned) & Sesame Oil

Snack @ 245 p.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Rice Krispie Treat
(Perhaps the best 'tasting' energy bar sold in our cafeteria for a mid-afternoon boost to the finish line)

NEW ATTITUDE: Apple

Dinner @ 645 p.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Steak & Potatoes

NEW ATTITUDE: Grilled Chicken Breast, Fried Rice w/ Veggies & Fruit Salad
(I forgot to take a picture of my actual dinner so I had to surf and whack a similar dish together)

Dessert @ 745 p.m...
OLD ATTITUDE: Ice Cream Cone

NEW ATTITUDE: Grapes
(When I have a dessert which is now rare) 

Tale of the Scale
OLD ATTITUDE: 4,200 calories (40% fat, 40% carbs, 20% protein)
NEW ATTITUDE: 1,700 calories (30% fat, 40% carbs, 30% protein)
(calculated using a FitDay account I use for reference when needed)

Huh? Would you look at that. I've said it a few times since starting my blog that I do not count calories and certainly not the energy breakdown. I did it just for this one post, and I am somewhat surprised at what I see there.

I would have thought my diet change would have seen my fat & carb intake drop and protein rise. I didn't expect to see carbs stay the same. Perspective, let me keep perspective. This is just one days eating, so I wont analyze this too much. I am eating more fruit than ever before so maybe that is why my carb intake is the same. Hopefully the carbs I am taking in are better than before. And I am eating better proteins so that should account for the rise in protein and drop in fat intake.

You can analyze the numbers until you have a brain freeze. The part of this comparison that takes just seconds to tag as cause for my losing weight is the calories themselves. Roughly 40% the caloric intake of the old gluttonous me, that is the core of my overall new food attitude which has me on my way here.

How is your attitude today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!