Day 203 - Candy Go Away

Fruit Count: 129 - We have collectively eaten 121 pieces of fruit the past three days. Mandy and Lanie are leading the way having eaten 7 & 6 pieces respectively yesterday alone. Our goal of 199 is being reeled in slow and steady, excellent. Keeping reeling it in folks; in, chew swallow and shout out how many pieces you eat today!

Here you go, here's some candy! I got candy... come on, you know you want some. Ugh, wrong. Bags of candy like this popped up all over the office last week. Parents bringing in leftover halloween candy they didn't give out, or, the candy their kids brought home just to get it out of the house. A brilliant idea really, and one that works as people of all shapes, heights, colors and smells flock to these bags and empty them in no time flat. Hopefully next week this phenomenon will abate.
 

There is my caloric intake for Friday. Liking those percentages much better than earlier in the week. The total calories consumed are lower than desired, especially for an exercise day. And I had an hour'ish before bed of noticeable hunger. Usually when I hunger, I eat. But this time I chose to just accept that hunger in fear that if I went for a final snack to quench it I may over indulge. Not sure why I felt unsure of myself, but I'm glad I recognized it and made a decision versus ignoring it all and just diving into a vat of ice cream. Accepting hunger is definitely not a behavior I can embrace for a lifetime, that I understand.

Exercise, as I said I got that in. Put in a 2.25 mile walk after work on a crisp 40F late afternoon. Chilly! Didn't time time the walk. I just set out  to get in the miles, and enjoy the peace while I ran down the battery on my ipod.

Saturday already... on the docket this morning is weight training and maybe some more cardio. Then later this afternoon/evening a great date is planned with my wife. We'll be going to the rifle range and then out to dinner and perhaps a movie. Looking forward to it!

What does Saturday have in store for you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 58 - Change #8

As I noted yesterday I did order my new laptop computer back as my reward for attaining & holding 20% progress, it should arrive in a week or two tops. It slipped my mind last week to mention that I had posted my progress pictures for hitting 20% progress. So far so good, I see a bit more progress in these latest pictures. Next set will come when I get to 30% progress.

Want to see a real cool before and after set. Just Look HERE at John's before and after! I read a few articles about his loss, none go into any detail on how he did it other than stating it was diet and exercise that helped him lose more than 100 pounds.

The word diet can mean many things; was John on a certain diet program or regimen? Perhaps a FAD diet of pre-boxed foods, pills or anything other commercial product we'll soon see him as a spokesperson for? Or was good ole eating balanced, portion controlled meals John's method of success? How about John's exercise, did he just get out there and move his body? Or did he Tae-Bo his loss away?

Celebs who have rapid body transformations and do it without surgery usually have allot of help getting it done. Generally they can afford to hire the best trainers, nutritionists, personal chefs, etc. to get the job done. Good for them for being able to do so. Certainly I wish I could dump a bunch of dollars, and added time, into getting this done smarter and faster. But we know that is not necessary. A slow, steady, disciplined approach to exercise with balanced & portion controlled eating will get the job done. I'm just curious what John did. Oh, and King Ralph is still one of his better movies in my silly opinion.

Changing subjects to the subject of change. It is time for another change to be added to the list of those I intend to commit to. This latest change...

Change 8...

• Drink 2 liters of water a day

Really, is this really necessary? Honestly I have no idea how much water one should drink or whether or not increase water intake really helps shed weight. Recently I read that you should take in 1/2 ounces of water per pound of body weight each day. Yeah, sorry but I doubt I have ever drank over a gallon of water a day which is what the math here would come out to for me.

This change makes sense to me because I have found on days I drink a liter during the day at work and then another in the late afternoon through the evening I have better days. With the water in the gut those voices that would have me believe I am hungry are not as loud. Yes, I am in the USA, so why liters? My water bottle is a 1 liter bottle. Fill from the Brita UltraMax dispenser I purchased just for this & placed in our refrigerator each morning before I leave and then again when I get home, that's the plan.

Do you drink a predetermined amount of water daily?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 19 - Supplement It?

Yesterday was a great day as it was my wife's birthday. We had a good time celebrating her notching of another year even though we each included a slice of birthday pie in the celebration. Got a work out in yesterday which I hadn't planned as time made itself available, cool. But today, today I am feeling more hungry than I have in many a day. Could it be that slight slip off the health-wagon with piece of pie that has my system hearing to the hunger pains more today? That is my guess. Whatever the cause they can make all the noise they want, I am not listening though.

Been pondering what else I might need to consider down the road to help my progress, or maintain it, or in general improve my health period. Nutritional supplements seems to be a gaba-gazillion dollar industry which means people are buying and using. Myself, other than a multi vitamin a couple times a week ( I rarely remember to take one ) and the recent use of a protein shake or bar as I've started my mission here, other than that I am not making the supplement industries stock tick upwards. I did some reading on the what's out there to see if I am missing the boat and I really can't tell. Seems more support for using them than not, but no real consensus on what to use and when or really why. Part of the confusion, at least for me, is that there are so many different supplements. Thousands of vitamins, minerals, oils and combinations of them. Powders, liquids, gels, oh my! Some of my favorites as I read, Ginkgo biloba; sounds like what I order in a Chinese restaurant. Chondroitin, wasn't that one of the monsters in those bad Japanese films that battled Godzilla?

Not sure any of these are really needed if I eat balanced meals. But then maybe my diet isn't as balanced as it should be at the vitamin & mineral level. How about you, do you take supplements routinely to shore up your diet?

Thursday is here; does anyone ever care about Thursday? We all look forward to Friday. Then Wednesday, hump-day, gets some cheer as it is the halfway mark to the weekend. But Thursday, which could be seen as Friday Eve, gets no real love does it. No idea why I thought of that and no more reason why I thought to jot that down here. Good mood I guess.

Happy Friday Eve to all!

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!

Day 11 - Hunger, Not!

We're not quite two weeks into this mission and I have noticed a handful of changes in myself. None is a noticeable as my reaction to hunger pains. This realization came to me last night while waiting for my son to find his way to the truck after soccer practice. While waiting I could hear my hunger pains over the rumble and roar of a freight train passing nearby. What got me thinking is that I didn't pay this cry from my belly much notice. Why is that? Could it be I've become more tolerable to these pains? Could it be they have less influence on my decisions now that eleven days ago? Yes seems to be the answer although I am not sure why exactly.

A couple weeks ago hunger pains hit me like a chorus of loud screams from the depths below and succeeded in grabbing my attention fully. When they shouted, I jumped; usually into the refrigerator or a nearby fast food drive thru. But last night, and I presume going forward too, my hunger pains screams are fading to that of a raised voice that is growing frustrated in its attempts to maintain its once grand influence. Now I can put them in the back of my mind as I know when I am going to eat next and what. I am in control of fueling my own engine, not the phantom behind my hunger pains.

Today is an exercise day. Planned is a walk around Lake Andrea after work with my son, about a 2.25 mile affair we've done before. Looking forward to it.

Hope you too will get a charge out of your Wednesday.

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!