Skinnify Me!

Weekend, but...

2007-04-28T20:44:00.000-06:00

I suppose it's worth posting since I haven't in a few days. and I probably shouldn't leave that number in the ticker hanging...

Yup... hit 179.8 on Friday... a new low. However, I'm not really putting too much stock into it yet... we'll see how the weigh-ins go next week. Suffice it to say, though, I think Weight Watchers is working well enough for me.

The hand is on it's way back to normal; I have almost full use of it again. It still gets sore if I use it a bit too much, and the new skin at the scar (coming out from under the peeling dead skin around it... ew) is still a bit tender; also I still can't bear the full weight that I used to. But otherwise, good as new. That really is pretty amazing, considering it hasn't even been a month since the surgery.

So that's that for now, I'll try to check in early in the week.

posts? who posts?

2007-04-24T19:21:00.000-06:00

Yea, it's been a while. There've been a few reasons. The vicodin has a side effect of... backing up... and caused a slight weight increase. And you certainly didn't even want to read that, let alone see me complaining about it endlessly. Additionally, pain caused me to slip into "comfort foods" zone.

Needless to say, it was about two weeks or so of no real dieting. Tried to be smart when I thought about it, but didn't think about it all that often. This morning I was in the 184ish range, but I haven't changed the ticker because, well... I'm about 48 hours or so off the vicodin. That and I started counting WW points again yesterday (two days in a row, right on point count... go me). Maybe I'll update the ticker with tomorrow's weight, if I remember it.

As far as the hand goes... I had a bandage/half-cast on from the Thursday of surgery until the Tuesday that followed. That came off, and then I had to wear a standard wrist brace (but thankfully removable), and a large bandage over my stitches, for another week. Then, the stitches were removed, and I had to keep the brace on for another week. Which brings us to this morning, when the brace came off and I'm done with it. THANKFULLY. Not so comfortable.

Pain now is minimal... mostly just tender skin and some remaining weakness. But it isn't too bad, all around. I think the healing is coming on quick, and it's all good.

For those who aren't afraid to look, you can click here and here for a couple pics taken Friday - no stitches, mostly healed. Looks a bit better today, but not much different. The weird purple line crossing it was marker that the doctor used. It's gone now.

quick catch up

2007-04-05T20:30:00.000-06:00

short post today, and just saying no to capitalization. typing one handed, on vicodin.

yesterday and today were weird for dieting, so no real posts. stayed smart all day yesterday, but because of surgery today, could eat nothing after midnight until after 2pm surgery; so i ate another minor meal at around 11:30pm last night.

ate nothing until 3:30ish today, and though famished all day before, found myself not really hungry after. ate some, but mostly tired and have a headache. will probably go to bed after posting. have a bad feeling tomorrow morning's weigh in will badly skew the week's average (downward) to something that may be difficult to keep when back in normal life.. today's (182.2) was wonderful to see again, though.

will try to post tomorrow, depending on how im feeling. hand doesn't hurt so bad, though, so should be all good. g'night all.

p.s. huge thanks to cold bones for being my company and chauffeur today through this all. meant a whole lot to me.

Day 4

2007-04-03T18:27:00.000-06:00

Target points: 31

1st Breakfast:
Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats, 1 cup - 3
Skim Milk, 1/2 cup - 1
Coffee w/ splenda, 1 tbsp sugar free French Vanilla creamer - 0

Remaining: 27

2nd Breakfast:
Quaker Lower Sugar Peaches & Cream oatmeal - 2
Irish Breakfast tea w/ splenda - 0

Remaining: 25

Lunch:
leftover spinach spaghetti (1 cup) w/ sauce (1/2 cup) - 5
Dannon Fruit on the Bottom yogurt - 3
medium apple - 1

Remaining: 16

Snack:
Lower Sugar granola bar - Cookies & Cream - 2
Ginger Peach black tea w/ splenda - 0
Navel Orange - 1
Pretzel logs (5) - 2
Ghirardelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape chocolate (1 square) - 1

Remaining: 10

Dinner:
Fat free beef hot dogs (2) - 2
Hot dog bun (1) - 3
Raw carrots (1 cup) - 0
Steamed broccoli (1 cup) - 0

Remaining: 5

Dessert:
Low fat graham crackers (3) - 3
Weight Watchers Toffee Crunch ice cream bar - 2

Water: 40oz

Day 3 Weight Watchers

2007-04-02T19:02:00.000-06:00

I decided to carry over one thing with me in the transition from calorie counting to Weight Watchers... I never counted on weekends. I avoided over-eating nonetheless, but didn't count closely. I've decided to carry that over - I'm not counting points during the weekends. However, to compensate, I'm assuming that all flex points are spent between Friday evening and going to bed on Sunday. So, ignoring my beginning of a post on day 1, here's today.

Meals/Points for today:

Target points: 31

1st Breakfast:
Lean Pockets Sausage, Egg & Cheese - 3
Coffee w/ splenda, sugar free French vanilla creamer - 1

Remaining: 27

2nd Breakfast:
Lower Sugar Peaches and Cream instant oatmeal - 2
Irish breakfast tea w/ splenda - 0

Remaining: 25

Lunch:
2 cups chili - 8
small cup ~10oz Diet Coke - 0

Remaining: 17

White tea w/ splenda - 0

Remaining: 17

Snack:

Dannon Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt - 3
Medium apple - 1
Quaker 25% Less Sugar Cookies & Cream Granola Bar - 2
Earl Gray Tea w/ splenda - 0

Remaining: 11

Dinner:
Whole Grain/Spinach Spaghetti, 1 cup - 3
Red sauce w/ extra mushrooms, 1/2 cup - 2
1 slice (heel) whole grain bread - 2

Remaining: 4

Dessert:
Weight Watchers Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Bar - 2

Remaining: 2

Killing Points Snack:
Low Fat Graham Cracker (2) - 2

Water: 60oz (tea and coffee not counted... just good old tap water)

Weight is adjusted for today's fluxuation on the ticker. I know WW prefers the weekly weigh in, but I need my daily weigh ins. They keep me in line.

long time?

2007-03-31T08:04:00.000-06:00

I apologize for the delay in posting. I could not tell you how busy I have been. Dieting has been going well, and the weight has been slowly peeling off. Not a good job keeping you all updated though. Sorry.

My wife has begun Weight Watchers, which is good. Means more healthy stuff around the health. But sometimes I find it difficult with dinner. She makes recipes where she has the points all figured out, but all the info I need is not available.

So... I decided to start up with Weight Watchers. Unofficially though. I will track all my points here, hopefully, and with luck, it will make me post more often. The only thing that makes it difficult is that I would rather not post while I am at work, but I may use Fitday.com"s "journal" section to track at work, and then copy paste it here.

My wife is heading out to her weigh in now... she is going to find out for me how many points I get. Maybe I will update later with that total.

So without further ado...

Breakfast:
Quaker Lower-Sugar Peaches and Cream Oatmeal - 2 points
Coffee - 0 points

Oh - and p.s. - surgery for carpal tunnel release is this upcoming Thursday...a

edit: holy frijoles (yum)!!! I just weighted myself before I showered... 182.8! That's a new record low by almost two pounds... not only that, but when I crossed 184, that's an offial more than 30 lbs lost! WOO HOO!

wow...

2007-03-10T12:26:00.000-06:00

I had to re-weigh myself three times this morning to be certain. In case youre seeing this on a day where ive already changed the ticker (and it's fluxuated up, in all likelihood), I weighed in at 185.4 - two pounds lower than the previous all time low, which was Thursday this week. I don't really know what to think. Except that it's fantastic. Just a hair further to hit another five pound threshold... just half a pound and I'll be under 185...

So the doc says surgery. probably early next month, I'm guessing. Fun times. He made the recovery seem easy and quick, and I believe him because he showed me the scar on his hand from the exact same surgery. He said he was back lifting weights two weeks after surgery. Ok, sounds fine to me.

Anyway, just a short post today. it's Saturday, and I'm feeling lazy. Have a good weekend, folks.

I know, I know.

2007-03-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

I'm slow to post. Life gets busy, you know?

I keep up with my eating and such still, as always, and also as always, you can keep track at my FitDay account.

On the carpal tunnel news front, I received my referral for the orthopedic; my appointment is Friday. The results from the two procedures was there too, and I read the neurologist's description of the results - mild carpal tunnel in my right hand/wrist, and moderate to severe carpal tunnel in the left. Pretty much what I expected, but at least it proves I'm not just whining.

I donated blood today, so though I drank a little 4 oz. container of apple juice and a single serving bag of pretzels, I don't really count it that much. But I still payed attention - I could have easily grabbed the Oreos (and believe me, with the way today generally was, I kinda still want the Oreos), but I had the prezels. Though I could have had water, I kinda wanted the fructose, so I had the apple juice instead of the cran-apple juice, since the a.j. was 100% juice while the c-a.j. was more like 18%.

But then I had the giant raspberry and vanilla late. I couldn't turn it down, somebody else bought it for me. And they went to pick it up too... so I didn't get as picky as I usually would with asking for skim instead of whole, and knowing that they have sugar free vanilla, but I just didn't want to be that picky... beggars and choosers and such.

Weight fluxuation is proving to be very strange... I slowly drop all week until Saturday night/Sunday morning, or Sunday night/Monday morning, where I seem to pretty much gain it all back. Meh.

Busy, busy

2007-02-27T19:21:00.000-06:00

For those who make an effort to read my blog, I apologize for the time between posts. Life is busy... between the regular job (and the 1.5-2 hour total per day commute), the side job(s) (like the illustrations I'm doing for a book, as well as the t-shirt website and the book cover I'm supposed to be doing), a 6 month old, 3 animals, a messy house...

Excuses, perhaps, but just as well. I keep up with Fitday, though, so you can always check in on me there. And, as stated before, the ticker on this page is usually correct (I update it in the morning, even if I don't post that day).

I've been reading a lot here and there about various weight loss ideas, and have found a number of good ideas. Unfortunately, I haven't kept close enough track to recall them all here... I would, though, like to draw your attention to my side bar where I add weight loss blogs and such that I have found and enjoy. Give them a look. Also, the "fat fighter's blog" link will bring you to a very large number of weight loss bloggers. Good stuff.

So, I finally, after almost a week, heard back from the doctor's office about the results to the EMG and nerve conduction study (it only took around 4 or 5 phone calls since Thursday). I officially have been diagnosed with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, and am being referred to an orthopedic. Looks like surgery will likely be in my not too far future. I'll keep you updated when I find more.

Righto. <0> out.

I debated not bothering to post today...

2007-02-22T22:19:00.000-06:00

...but decided to go ahead and do so. I stayed on track and on course all day today, which I feel pretty good about. My weight spiked this morning though, which I don't feel so good about.

I decided that I'm just going to post my fitday journal instead of listing all my food intake here every day... mostly out of laziness. The one thing of note though - the nickname there is different than here, because it's a very old screenname that I used to use, and I happen to have been using fitday for quite some time (a couple years, more off than on). Anyway, that aside, you can keep track of my eating there:

FitDay

Happy Friday, everybody (or happy Thursday if you're reading this tonight).

BTW - hopefully I'll get some better sleep tonight. Last night I woke up multiple times from pain in my wrist/hand, the last time had me broken out in a cold sweat, and my unconscious moaning and heavy breating from the pain woke my wife up. I was trying to be quiet. Oh well. Stupid median nerve.

G'night. Or, perhaps, good morning. Or, something else.

I know, I've been slacking.

2007-02-21T21:14:00.000-06:00

Yea, it's been busy... so I haven't had much time to post. But (generally speaking), I'm not slacking on watching my food intake. Some quick takes:

-Saturday started out good, and then I got lazy and hungry, and ate WAY too much. Actually, that needs to be qualified... WAY too much for the diet, but I doubt I ate much more than ~2800 calories. A lot, but not as much as I would have in a different time.

-Naturally, in the wicked irony that my body likes to pull every now and again, my weigh-in Sunday morning (the day after...), I came in at 188.8, which I haven't been since October.

-Diet went well up until Tuesday, when I decided "hey, it's Fat Tuesday, time for a diet break." Oops. I ate around the same amount as Saturday came in.

-In further proof of the irony, this morning's weigh-in was 191.8, effectively putting my weight loss nowhere. Figures.

-Though I have been tracking the food I eat meticulously (except Saturday and Tuesday), I'm not going to bother posting it now because I'm lazy. And tired. I will give you this for today, though:

TOTAL CALORIES FOR TODAY: 1729
fiber intake: 32g
water intake: ~95 fl.oz.

So, I've been doing well. We will see what tomorrow brings.

-Another point to make: since I keep track of my weight daily, I've decided that I will plan to update the ticker at the top of this blog every morning, regardless of whether or not I actually post that day. So you will know that even if there is no new post, the weight at the top will be accurate for the day. If I remember. This will be more likely accurate on weekdays but not so much on weekends.

-Had a procedure done today for my wrists/hands (EMG and Nerve Conduction Study). It hurt... in an annoying way. Shooting electrical current pulses right into my nerve and making the muscles flex, meanwhile causing a... well... shocking pain. And, best yet, it made my wrists and hands hurt much worse the rest of the day. The doctor told me that would be the case, but it still sucks.

Righto. <0> out.

If you haven't been yet, go check out my designs.

I missed a couple days... but I'm still going!

2007-02-17T14:50:00.001-06:00

Sorry I hadn't posted the last couple days... it's been busy. My weight hasn't changed from 191.8 yet, so I won't bother mentioning that again. Here are Thursday and Friday:

Thursday:
water intake: ~38oz (I haven't been doing well here...)
fiber intake: 52g (!!!)

meal 1: oatmeal, coffee, 5 fiber capsules - 153 cal

meal 2: regular bagel w/ butter, coffee - 304 cal

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Deep Dish 3 meat pizza, 5 fiber capsules - 359 cal

meal 4: raw tomatoes, carrots, sugar free Jello, 1 small sugar cookie - 166 cal

meal 5: 1 slice toasted whole wheat bread w/ spray butter - 69 cal

meal 6: Chili's Black Bean Burger and steamed (and buttered) broccoli, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi - 734 cal

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1783

Friday:
water intake: 48oz.
fiber intake: 23g

meal 1: oatmeal, coffee, 5 fiber capsules - 153 cal

meal 2: coffee, granola bar, medium sugar cookie, 5 fiber capsules - 175 cal

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Delux pizza, small Diet Cola, 2 small sugar cookies - 459 cal

meal 4: raw tomatoes and carrots, Sugar Free Jello, beef jerky, coffee - 148 cal

meal 5: 2 barbecue country ribs, green beans, rice pilaf, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi - 949 cal

"meal" 6: coffee (managed to avoid some high cal sugar bomb and carb bomb foods there... just stuck with the coffee...) - 6 cal

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY - 1888

sigh...

2007-02-14T21:26:00.000-06:00

The last few days have been no good at all. I eat when I'm stressed. I've been fairly stressed since around Sunday. And thus, the last few days have been something akin to today:

meal 1: Quaker maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal, coffee, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 171

meal 2: large Granny Smith apple, mug of tea, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 136

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Orange Peel Chicken, two small sugar cookies. Total Calories: 476

meal 4: raw carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, two small sugar cookies (they were good the first time), 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 270

meal 5: little box of Nerds, little package of Runts, 1 miniature Laffy Taffy. Total Calories: 153

meal 6: HALF of a DiGiorno 4 Cheese Rising Crust pizza, can of Diet Cherry Pepsi. Total Calories: 934

meal 7: 2/3 cup Rainbow sherbet. Total Calories: 178

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 2317

fiber intake: 40g
water intake: 48 oz.

Started strong, and fell apart by lunch. And it shouldn't be surprising that this morning's weigh in was 191.8. Up only .8, but that's in just a few days. I'm struggling. I really need to get back on track. I'd like to blame the holiday, but I know quite well that I need to chalk it up as a few days of failure. Here's hoping I can pull it back together.

a good saturday

2007-02-10T21:13:00.000-06:00

I didn't pay a lot of attention to what I was eating today, but at least calorie-wise, I did fairly well. I kept myself busy though, which helps... I spent the day cleaning house (Valentines gift for my wife). Actually, I was only able to get through the first floor before my parents came by for dinner and the evening, so it'll be next weekend too. Oh well. Anyway, without further ado, today:

Today's Stats:
weight: ??? (didn't weigh myself this morning)
water intake: 42oz
fiber intake: 15g (yea, a bit low)

meal 1: granola bar (right after posting my last post, pre haircut). Total Calories: 90

meal 2: Dunkin Donuts ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on croissant (I asked for no cheese, but they didn't... but I wasn't going to drive back or anything... so I ate it anyway... it was good...), large coffee. Total Calories: 535

meal 3: wheat thin crackers, can of Campbells Healthy Request Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. Total Calories: 416

meal 4: big Roast Beef sandwich w/ sweet peppers, tamale, scotch whisky, coffee. Total Calories: 842

And when I finish posting, I'm going to have a can of Diet Pepsi.

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1922

Missed a day... here's for yesterday

2007-02-10T08:34:00.000-06:00

I ate too much yesterday. Not way too much, I didn't really fail for the day or anything, I just overshot my goal by a fair amount. Here's what, first:

Yesterday's Stats:
Weight: 191.0 (down 1!)
Water Intake: 68 oz.
Fiber Intake: 30

meal 1: Quaker instant peaches & cream oatmeal, coffee, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 153

meal 2: medium Granny Smith apple, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 90

meal 3: raw broccoli, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, Quaker low fat peanut butter granola bar, beef jerky, small bag prezels, mug of tea. Total Calories: 411

meal 4: graham crackers, prezels, tea, 5 fiber pills. Total Calories: 235

meal 5: Cheeze-its Air Crisps, cinnamon bread stick, can of Diet Pepsi. Total Calories: 273

meal 6: McDonald's Grilled Chicken Honey Mustard Wrap, hamburger, Diet Pepsi. Total Calories: 542

meal 7 (I know): lemon bread, tortilla chips w/ cheese dip, 3 slices pepperoni pizza, coffee, Diet Pepsi. Total Calories: 371

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 2073

Again, by no means was it a really bad day, I'm more just disappointed in myself for eating 7 times. Not to mention, the last "meal" was after 8pm, another of my broken rules. Oh well.

I can't post for long, I'm going to go get my hair cut this morning.

Man, my carpal tunnel is killing me right now. I woke up 4 times in the last hour of sleeping with my wrist, forearm, half of my hand, index and middle fingers on fire. It was bothering me last night, so I decided to put my brace on for bed. I slept with my brace on all night, and woke up to take it off at around 5am (this often happens... no matter how loosely I wear it, I end up in pain). I don't know what happened but the pain was ridiculous. Numb fingers, but fire underneath. I have an appointment with a specialist on Friday to do some kind of test for nerve damage or something... I don't really know. I'll report on that later.

I'm going to try to stay more on target today, and I'll try to post again tonight. Until then, adieu.

another day

2007-02-08T20:59:00.000-06:00

So the big deal I was talking about for my shirt site - it's moved. It's no longer blog based. The new site is http://www.cafepress.com/wearablewares I'm really excited about it! makes it feel much more real than the previous site. So, that's my news! If you're interested in being kept up on updates and new designs there, sign up for the newsletter there.

So, for today's stats:
weight: 192.0 (holding steady)
fiber intake: 22g
water intake: 68oz

meal 1: graham cracker (before work), coffee (on the way to work), oatmeal - blueberries & cream (at work), 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 212

meal 2: small piece of strawberry shortcake (totally worth it... sacrifice comes later...), 5 fiber capsules, coffee. Total Calories: 432

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 349

meal 4: Nancy's Pizza "garbage" salad (iceberg lettuce, mushroom, black olives, a tomato quartered, pepperoni, and canadian bacon) in a bread bowl w/ no dressing or cheese, ate half the bread bowl (the bread bowl is pretty much just a Chicago style deep dish pizza crust, and its stuffed full of salad stuff), 2 cans Diet Pepsi. Total Calories: 1003

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1995

A little high, but not bad - considering the pizza crust, and not to mention the strawberry shortcake...

feelin good today

2007-02-07T21:22:00.000-06:00

Yea, I feel pretty good. Wasn't too hungry all day, not too hungry now. I think my stomach has resized itself for the amount of food I'm eating each day now. If that truly is something that can happen. My weight didn't really change at all today, but the future may hold better.

Stay tuned for big news with my t-shirt site. Hopefully tomorrow, worst case scenario the weekend. Good stuff!

Today's Stats:
weight: 192
water intake: 28oz (hmm... I'm gonna go drink some water...)
fiber intake: 34g

meal 1: oatmeal, coffee, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 171

meal 2: 2 almonds (yes, 2 almonds. there were flavored almonds, and I wanted to try them. one was onion and garlic [tasty but a breath bomb], the other was hot and spicy [tasted exactly like an almond except it burned afterwards], 1 prezel log, coffee . Total Calories: 39

meal 3: two McDonald's Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken wraps, small diet coke. Total Calories: 525

meal 4: medium Granny Smith apple, raw broccoli, celery, and carrots. Total Calories: 132

meal 4.5: Cheez-its air crisps, diet caffeine free Dr. Pepper. Total Calories: 146

meal 5: Taco Bell pintos and cheese, bean burrito, chicken taco, peppermint bark for dessert. Total Calories: 886

TOTAL CALORIES: 1913

gotta be quick today

2007-02-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy one... I only have time to do a quick check in. I've been working on my t-shirt site - big changes there in the works! If you want to be on the mailing list to find out what those changes are, send an email to email.the.eye@gmail.com letting me know so.

In the mean time:

Weight: 192 (I was right about the fluxuation. Now, if only I could get the real weight down to 190)
water: 68oz
fiber: 25g

meal 1: coffee, Quaker instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal, 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories: 171

meal 2: Quaker chewy low fat peanut butter granola bar, 5 fiber capsules w/ water, beef jerky. Total Calories: 139

meal 3: Green Giant Wild and White Rice w/ Green Beans, raw broccoli, raw celery, tea. Total Calories: 285

meal 4: 1/2 roast beef sandwich w/ onions and green peppers (without bread), baby carrots, grape tomatoes. Total Calories: 162

meal 4.5: 1 serving of Cheez-its Air Crisps - Four Cheese after work before dinner. Total Calories: 140

meal 5: chicken and rice casserole-type dish, slice whole grain bread w/ Country Crock, bottle of beer, 2 full graham crackers for dessert. Total Calories: 900

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1798

back again

2007-02-05T20:25:00.000-06:00

A quick list of things that made my life difficult at work, both last week and today: a large box of Otis Spunkmeyer muffins (blueberry, chocolate chip, and bananna nut), a dozen doughnuts of various types, italian beef sandwiches, baked mostaccoli, kielbasa, m&ms, starburst, Hostess cupcakes, rice crispy treats, chocolate covered raisins...

I've been having a lot of trouble avoiding eating this junk... I find myself hungry after every time I eat, because I'm still not used to the small meals. I'm used to eating more when I eat. I know if I hold out, I'll get past it and the little meals will ultimately satisfy. But for right now,

I'M HUNGRY!

*Sigh.*

I was right about the weight fluxuation. Now it's fluxuated up. I ate a lot yesterday, but I definitely didn't eat 3.4 pounds extra food. I doubt I even ate 1.2 pounds (3500 calories/pound... no way I ate 3500 calories more than I burned...). We'll see where I'm at the rest of the week. I'm not worried about a gain quite yet.

Todays stats:

weight: 193.4
vitamin?: yes
fiber intake: 31g
water intake: 68oz

meal 1: Quaker instant Peaches & Cream oatmeal w/ water, coffee, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 153

meal 2: Dannon coffee flavored yogurt. Total Calories: 160

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Chicken w/ basil cream sauce, raw broccoli, raw celery, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 311

meal 4: baby carrots, grape tomatoes, medium Granny Smith apple, tea, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 177

meal 5: Digiorno cheese stuffed crust 4 cheese frozen pizza (half the pizza...), can of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Total Calories: 904

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1705

Probably too few, but it's too late in the evening to eat anything now. Besides, that half a pizza felt like 900 calories. I don't think I could eat something if I wanted to.

Here's hoping tomorrow's weigh in is more reasonable.

boooooooo.

2007-02-04T22:15:00.000-06:00

So not only did I (as expected) fail miserably at paying attention to what I ate today, but the Bears lost. It almost feels like a waste. But that's OK, life continues.

As stated, I really didn't pay attention to what I was eating. I reached for the veggies and stuff when I could, and actually generally didn't eat too much of the unhealthy foods (like cookies... I only had a couple). It was quantity that killed me today. Ate mostly semi-good stuff, but I ate a whole lot of it.

So, since I didn't keep track, there are no stats for today. I did weigh myself this morning, and I chimed in at 190.0, but I'm not putting much faith in it. Why? because I practically dehydrated myself yesterday, and ate very little. Not a legitimate weight loss by any stretch of imagination... just water-weight fluxuation. So after eating like a pig today, and getting a bit more water (though not too much more... a lot of Mountain Dew... and not diet M D either), I fully expect tomorrow to be a depressing number. Oh well, we shall see. Tomorrow, back on track!

Oh, and Mr. Rex Grossman, you make me sad.

Mr. Brian Urlacher, I'm not a running back, and I've never met you in person, but you still give me the fear.

And Mr. Peyton Manning, well... you still make me laugh. But you're not on my "A" list at the moment.

a strange day (for a diet)

2007-02-03T22:01:00.000-06:00

So I failed in a number of my goals today... only ate 3 times, didn't drink nearly enough water, was under on fiber, and ended up being WAY under for calories. Very strange for me... But at least now there will be a lot less guilt for my completely reverse day that tomorrow is going to be. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something else more interesting to say. Today, I'm just tired. Right now, anyway.

Two new tee shirt designs at my site for such things if you're interested. If not, well, here's the beef (or no beef, really)...

Today's Stats:
Weight: didn't weigh myself this morning. We will assume 192.2, as yesterday.
fiber intake: 23g
water intake: ~12 oz. (ouch!)

meal 1: Quaker instant oatmeal - regular w/ 2 tsp brown sugar (actually a couple well-solidified lumps), ~1.5 oz. sugar-free vanilla flavored syrup (like the kind you put in a capuccino... 0 calories!), and a graham cracker crumbled on top (I was feeling creative... and produced something rather tasty!), and coffee. Total Calories: 193

meal 2: half of remaining leftover chicken parmesan from the other night, 1.5 cups spaghetti w/ sauce, slice of whole grain toast w/ spray butter and a touch of garlic powder (which turned out to be a couple too many touches... and led to necessary gum, later), can of Diet Cherry Pepsi. Total Calories: 664

meal 3: Panera Black Bean Soup, half Panera Chicken Dijon Panini on french bread, medium sized apple, and a butterscotch hard candy. Total Calories: 605

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1462

I'm hungry. But it's too late in the day. So the day ends with me probably being under caloried in an unhealthy way... possibly causing my body to go into starvation mode. And of course, tomorrow's eating will shock the heck out of that.

Enjoy tomorrow, everybody.

GO BEARS!

still going

2007-02-02T22:34:00.000-06:00

Today was rough... I found myself hungry constantly. I did OK most of the day, but nevertheless, it was a tough one. I ate just a bit too much... still in a reasonable range, but... yea.

The Super Bowl is this weekend... and our Chicago Bears are in it... which means - Sunday is going to be A BAD DIET DAY. Even if I try hard. Weekends tend to be bad for me anyway, and it's gonna take all I have in me to make sure I keep track of what I'm eating and come back to post here... so wish me luck.

Today's Stats:

weight: 192.2
water intake: 68 oz.
fiber intake: 22g

meal 1: Quaker instant Peaches and Cream oatmeal w/ water, one full-sized graham cracker, coffee, 5 fiber capsules. Total Calories: 212

meal 2: Dannon Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt - cherry. Total Calories: 150

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Honey Dijon Grilled Chicken w/ green beans amandine, 1 full-sized graham cracker, beef jerky, 4 fiber capsules (bottles empty now). Total Calories: 326

meal 4: medium Granny Smith apple, Quaker Low Fat chewy granola bar - peanut butter, mug of tea. Total Calories: 173

meal 5: leftover taco pie from the other day, 46 grapes (yep, counted again). Total Calories: 777

meal 6: five tortilla/lunchmeat/cheese roll slices, around 8 baked tortilla slices w/ cinnamon & sugar, coffee. Total Calories (educated guess): 252

Total Calories: 1890

day 2... its on now.

2007-02-01T18:40:00.000-06:00

i thought of another thing that i like to do to help bring the weight down, though it may sound a bit strange... whenever im walking, i make a very intentional point of walking with a straight back, shoulders back and head high, and i flex my stomach (not "sucking it in", more like flexing your abs as if you were doing crunches... you should be able to breathe without difficulty). there are actually multiple reasons to do this too... it helps with the physical image you put out - its body language telling whoever is looking that you are proud and self confident. even if this is not the case, itll help put that out there. additionally, when you pass by a mirror or reflective window, youll see that image of yourself with you back straight and stomach clenched, and you will look thinner! thats a guarantee... you will look thinner... your stomach is going to look a lot flatter. that helps me feel like this whole weight loss near-torture im putting myself through is working. and in truth, you will notice the actual changes in things like your waistline, stomach, and chest as you lose the weight much easier that way than the way you usually walk. the main reason i do this - youre flexing muscles you wouldnt usually use, and thus burning a few extra calories that you should and will never count. its like they say, fidgeting while sitting helps burn off calories unconsciously, so does this, especially when you make it a habit. sometimes when im sitting at my desk at work, or whatever, when it occurs to me, ill flex my stomach and hold it as long as i can, or as long as i remember to keep doing so. just more calories burned half consciously, without taking any extra time out of your day. but dont eat more to make up for the calories! just pretend like you sat around and burned nothing. the benefit, while small, is none the less there. every little thing counts.

moving on... im finding that the hardest parts of my day are after meal 4 (afternoon snack), before dinner. this is probably because it is the longest span of time between meals - around 3.5 to 4 hours. the other difficult time is in the evening before bed. i try to avoid eating after about 8pm at all costs (its not good to still have food in your stomach when you go to sleep), and that can sometimes lead to hunger before bed. i ignore these, though, and stick to the plan. will power is what its all about in weight loss, ive found. you let the will power slack too often, and its all a failure. have to be strong! and thats why i have this... if i feel like i have support, or people expecting me to stay in the game, ill do it.

i added a couple little sections to the side bar - "goals" and "the rules", plus my "stats". ill keep adding to these as i see them, but its using mainly just these things to lose the weight... its what worked for me before, so im doing it again.

i do other little things from time to time (like the flexing thing above), but i dont consider them goals or rules... just things i throw in from time to time to help.

ok - todays stats:

weight: 192.4
vitamin?: yes
fiber intake: 30g
water intake: 68 oz.

meal 1: Quaker Weight Contol oatmeal - cinnamon, 5 fiber capsules w/ water, coffee. Total Calories - 178

meal 2: Dannon Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt - mixed berry, 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories - 159

meal 3: Lean Cuisine Thai Style Chicken, Quaker low fat chewy granola bar - peanut butter. Total Calories - 310

meal 4: large Granny Smith apple, beef jerky, tea, 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories: 176

meal 4.5: i got too hungry to wait for dinner, so i snacked on precisely 33 grapes. yes, i counted. Total Calories - 53

meal 5: homemade chicken parmesan, spaghetti, pasta sauce, 2 crescent rolls, can of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Total Calories - 957

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1784

score. im feelin pretty good too... tasty dinner. very impressed with my wifes homemade chicken parmesan. thats why i leave 1000 calories for meal 5!!! so good. im stuffed right now; the key is staying not hungry until bed. tough. very tough. if i get real hungry, maybe ill chew on a piece of sugar free gum. doesnt really supress the hunger, but it helps a little bit.

hey, that reminds me of another thing ive found that sometimes helps me. especially because i only go around 3 hours between eating each time. so after eating, its usually about an hour to an hour and a half later before the lowest level of hunger begins. the kind that its possible to ignore. another half hour after that, its not so easy to forget about. drink a good amount of water. like 10-20 oz of water. it will fill your stomach for a little while. not long, and not enough to necessarily take the hunger away, but enough to be able to ignore it again. then, about another half hour to 45 minutes after that, and you wont be worried about hunger so much as your very full bladder. and when you take care of that, time to eat!

weird, maybe, but it helps me sometimes.

<0>

update an hour later: what a supportive wife i have. on her way home from work today she bought this hersheys chocolate fudge brownie cake god thing, which she baked and is eating right now with a friend that we had as a guest for dinner and tv. loudly and overly enjoyingly. i know i made that word up, but now im distracted and proper grammar and vocabulary is out the window. hmm. she also purchased ingredients to make a recipe for "eclair cake" for a party at work tomorrow. grrrrr... willpower. im not having anything. but i will have another can of pop. and maybe ill find that gum...

lets start this out right.

2007-01-31T18:20:00.000-06:00

ok, ive decided that its time to get on the ball with this. i had a pretty good run of weight loss this past summer, and then it just stopped... i guess i feel like i need to know that people are really checking in on me... maybe it will also help me think twice before taking a second helping, or grabbing a snack i dont need. ive gained back a couple pounds since then, and i stopped losing a good 15 pounds or so from my goal. so, my intention here is to keep a log of my daily weight, food and fluid intake, activities (if any), possibly even a hunger journal. ill probably occasionally talk about things ive done that i feel helped with my weight loss, tricks that i like, etc.

for example, i just read about the hunger scale, and thinking i might consider giving it a go. but not yet. gotta start small... just this for now. lets see... what are some other things i try to do every day...

i try to eat 5 times a day - 3 small meals, 1 medium, and 1 big meal. i often end up with a 6th though. i meticulously keep track of calories (including liquids... even coffee!!! yes, coffee has calories... not many, but theyre there!) using a free website: http://www.fitday.com, which also helps keep track of all sorts of other stuff... i recommend it. pretty much all daily data i provide here for myself will come directly from there.

i get up ultra early in the morning (4:30 am or so), so usually small meal 1 is either before i leave for work (before 5:30 am) or shortly after arriving at work (6-7:30 am). this usually consists of cereal or oatmeal or the like. small meal 2 usually is around 9:30 am. this is usually oatmeal (if i didnt eat it for small meal 1), or fruit of some sort, or a granola bar, or the like. i usually eat my medium meal around 11:30 am (lunch). another small meal around 2 pm, and then my big meal is dinner, usually around 6. i try to avoid eating much after that, but sometimes thats difficult...

my small meals tend to be <200 calories each, my medium meal i try to keep <400. that means that optimally, by the time i leave work, with just dinner left to go, ive eaten <1000 calories. since ive been trying to eat <2000 calories, that leaves some wiggle room for how big dinner is.

now the tough thing for me right now is that i want to cut down to more like <1800 calories a day. since i have a bit more control over what i eat while at work, i think i am going to try to cut the extra 200 calories there, if i can. this may prove difficult. i am thinking that this is the route im going to go:
meal 1: <200 calories
meal 2: <150 calories
meal 3: <300 calories
meal 4: <150 calories
this will be difficult! consider: a large banana, a large apple, a fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt each alone would cover the <150 calories meal. not a lot of food... but it really should be enough to satisfy for a couple hours. anyway, i plan to keep closer track of meal 5 as well, and i may find that i am eating much less than 1000 calories after leaving work. i may readjust those numbers then.

i also keep close track of my fiber intake. i make sure i get around 30g each day (this is the recommended amount for a mid-20's male). most of this comes from food, but i also take metamucil-type caplets as well. i did research and found that a single dose of 5 capsules only provides 2.5g of fiber... this dosage can be taken 3 times a day (and i usually do), but is only a quarter of the total amount needed each day. so if you give it a whirl... dont think that youre getting enough just using fiber supplements!

another thing that i habitually try to do is drink between 65 and 80 oz. of water (and i mean WATER... not other drinks... plain old unflavored water) every day. i have a water bottle that holds 20 oz water, and i try to make sure i drink and refill it three times every day while at work. i try to drink another after i get home from work, but for some reason, i find that i pay much less attention to thirst while at home. something to work on.

i also take a vitamin every day. i use a generic version of one-a-day "weightsmart" vitamins (the walmart version, if i remember right, is only like $7 a bottle or something, and it lasts quite a while).

using pretty much that stuff helped me go from around 214 in mid-june of 06 down to 189 in mid-november of 06. very cool! now i just need to keep going to hit my next goal of 170... so, without further ado...

STATS:
note - goals are listed in the top of the side bar

weight: 192.6
vitamin? yes
water intake: 80 oz.
fiber intake: 34g

meal 1: Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal - cinnamon, one packet w/ water; 16 oz. coffee; 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories: 178

meal 2: Dannon Fruit-on-the-bottom Yogurt - raspberry. Total Calories: 150

meal 3: Taco Pie (leftovers from dinner last night... YUMM, but OUCH @ 699 cals/serving...), 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories: 708

meal 4: Large Granny Smith apple, mug of tea. Total Calories: 127

meal 5: Two all beef hot dogs in wheat buns w/ mustard and dill pickle spears, 1.5 cups mixed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots), another dill pickle spear, 5 fiber capsules w/ water. Total Calories: 720

meal 6: havent eaten anything yet...

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1883

so i pushed past my limit, but thats ok... not by far. lets see if i can keep this up.

<0>