My weight loss/food journal...

[Moondance]

My "research" has been a lifetime of reading and learning. I've always had to deal with my weight. Luckily, I don't have any health problems to deal with. I've tried about every diet out there with mixed results. The best I've found is portion control. Weight Watchers is the best system for this. In my food journal, I actually write down my calories and my WW points. Unfortunately most of these "diets" and "systems" are based around women. For me, I don't have a problem sitting in a room full of 30 women and I'm the only guy at a WW meeting.

Weight Watchers is definitely one of the best plans out there now. Back in the 70s they used to have some really screwed up plans, but as with everything, they finally came around and got their act together. The nice thing about WW is that it's not a diet. It is an every day doable plan that is just merely a lifestyle change. And keeping a food journal is probably the most humiliating thing to do at first, but it makes you realize just what you have been putting into your body. When you start actually being accountable for what you put in your mouth, you realize that the "little bite" of something was actually 3 or 4 servings. Keep up the good work.

 

[Cannibal]

Good work! Keep it up.

Since I am going on vacation this weekend for a while I am cutting way back this week because I know I am going to be drinking and eating a LOT.

I also have finals this week so my working out will be limited.

I will say.....I have cut WAY back on my beer consumption and it does make a difference...even going from a few on the weekends to nothing.

the last 2-3 months I have barely been drinking. Now next week...it is ON :Banane25:

I am also on my third "jug" of water for the day already.

Vacations and events are the hardest. Especially holidays. Too much good food.

We are hosting the National Night Out Block Party for our block tomorrow and I'm cooking hamburgers. I AM having a burger tomorrow. Burgers are one of my favorites, but I'm going to plan ahead and eat a little lighter so I have "room" to splurge a little for dinner.

Just FYI, Livestrong.com has a section called daily plate that works well for tracking calories. It also has a good reference library for food calories and what exercises burn how much.

I'll check that out. Thanks!

Het Emm the chicken with croûtons was a lot better than corn flake chicken. We had it Friday night for dinner, very crounchy.

Mark44

I had them too. Very good. And it does not take much croutons to make the crust.

Weight Watchers is definitely one of the best plans out there now. Back in the 70s they used to have some really screwed up plans, but as with everything, they finally came around and got their act together. The nice thing about WW is that it's not a diet. It is an every day doable plan that is just merely a lifestyle change. And keeping a food journal is probably the most humiliating thing to do at first, but it makes you realize just what you have been putting into your body. When you start actually being accountable for what you put in your mouth, you realize that the "little bite" of something was actually 3 or 4 servings. Keep up the good work.

Ya, it worked well for me before our wedding. I lost somewhere near 30lbs.

We have an old WW book and some of the recipes are pretty interesting. Especially the part where they tell you to add 2T MSG to the dish.

 

[Cannibal]

Oh ya, another rough day at the gym. I felt a little better running, but then we started doing the squats and lunges and bunny hops, and frog jumps and....

Running back was torture. My muscles were basically at the point of failure.

 

[Emm]

Oh ya, another rough day at the gym. I felt a little better running, but then we started doing the squats and lunges and bunny hops, and frog jumps and....

Running back was torture. My muscles were basically at the point of failure.

I think squats and lunges were invented by the devil:saevil:

I do my weight sessions in the morning and afterwards I dread walking up the stairs to my office!


Keep it up!!!!

 

[Gainera2582]

If you really want to kick the weight loss into gear faster, consume zero alcohol, very little if any grains(only oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc...), tons of fruits and vegetables, and wild game for your protein(fish, beef, chicken, etc...).

I would also add a good amount of cinnamon in the diet. It helps control blood sugar levels, and adds a zing to your oatmeal or protein shake.


Remember, good water intake, nutrition plan, exercise program, and sleep do wonders for the body. Negate any of these 4 areas makes it harder to progress to your goals!!!!

 

[Emm]

If you really want to kick the weight loss into gear faster, consume zero alcohol, very little if any grains(only oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc...), tons of fruits and vegetables, and wild game for your protein(fish, beef, chicken, etc...).

I would also add a good amount of cinnamon in the diet. It helps control blood sugar levels, and adds a zing to your oatmeal or protein shake.


Remember, good water intake, nutrition plan, exercise program, and sleep do wonders for the body. Negate any of these 4 areas makes it harder to progress to your goals!!!!

I take Chromium to help regulate my blood sugar....it works...it helps with hunger as well.

 

[Cannibal]

Great input. Thanks!

I think I'm going to drop alcohol all together. I only have 3 weeks of Boot Camp, and want to get the most out of it, so I can go without for that long at least.

We have no bread in the house, but I do on occasion make a small batch of pancakes (Fiber One mix). I was thinking this AM that I could experiment with sweet potato pancakes. That might be interesting and healthier. I also use organic syrup, none of that flavored sugar water.

I mixed up some ranch last night. Uncle Dan's mix (2 packets) with light sour cream (16oz tub) and water to thin it. The sour cream has 35 cal per 2 T, so once I add the water, it's probably down to around 25-30. Makes the veggies more tolerable. I had a nice big salad last night with a little ham, mozzarella, sunflower seeds and the ranch. 305cal salad for dinner, and I was full.

Yesterday's breakfast was old fashioned oats (kind you have to cook), flavored with cinnamon and stevia. Problem with stevia is that it has an odd flavor. It tastes like those artificial sweeteners (which I hate). I like having no calories though. Might go with a touch of honey. Would add some cal, but honey is good for you. We have some fresh local honey which is really good.

I notice I'm not nearly as sore today as I was the day after the first workout. My lunges are looking better too. My muscles are still giving out though and I have to really fight to make it to the end

I'll have to grab some Chromium and add it to my ritual. I've taken it before, and didn't "feel" anything, but I know it has been reported on as having those properties for many years now.

I was a bit bad on Tuesday, but saved calories up for it, but not enough. We hosted the neighborhood block party and I grilled burgers. I love burgers, so had to have one. I did put it on a whole-grain (not "wheat") bun and used light mayo, but even then, a patty is like 300 cal, so it was a 500 cal burger. I only had a little fruit salad and some carrots with dip. I had to try some of the stuff the neighbors brought, so I had some great zucchini bread and about 1/4 of a chocolate chip cookie (they looked, and were, so good, normally I would have eaten like 3 or 4 of them). I refrained from things like cream puffs and potato salad, but it was tough. Though at the end with everyone sitting around a fire pit, I ended up having 2 Coors Lights, 2 Blue Moons, and 2 glasses of wine. It's hard when everyone's drinking and as soon as you are done, someone hands you something else. I had more calories in alcohol than I did in food. That's why I'm cutting it out all together. I'll just grab a glass and fill it with water.

Steve

 

[Cannibal]

Oh, ya, weigh in tomorrow evening. I started on the Y's scale at 240.3lbs (clothed with shoes on) last Wed 7/29. My home scale says 2-3 lbs, but it's not very accurate, so I don't know. I'm hopping for good results, but 1-2 lbs would make me happy. I understand there is 3500 cal per lb, so I'd need 500 cal per day deficit to get 1lb/week. I'm sure I'm there with the eating, probably more like 700 cal/day, and with the workouts, I probably burn another 500, so 1500/week. If all that is true, it brings my weekly deficit to 6400 cal, so close to 2lbs/week.

 

[Cannibal]

Weighed in tonight at class. Lost 3lbs in 9 days. Not too bad.

Made some turkey chili that turned out pretty good. Mixed everything in the crock pot and cooked it for a few hours. I added up the total calories for the pot and divided it by how many cups. Ended up being 160 cal/cup. I had 3 cups of it and 15 lightly salted 'saltine' crackers for dinner. I'm stuffed. I didn't need to eat so much, but it was so good and I had calories to spare. I should have stopped at 2 though.

Steve

 

[Gainera2582]

I take Chromium to help regulate my blood sugar....it works...it helps with hunger as well.

Chromium is fine, but watch super high does(800mcg and above). Most people have experienced hair loss with too much chromium in the body. Only have to worry about this if your taking too much chromium in supplement form.

 

[Cannibal]

Well, the Y workout on Friday was held at my high school track, so I didn't get to weigh in. On my home scale, looks like I lost a lb or two. That workout was crazy. Hardest by far. Trip around the track, some calisthenics in the infield, then it was up into the stands for trips up and down the stairs. Then we started a circle pattern, up the stands, down the stands, run around the stands, back in to the stands and then lunges down the seating rows. Then the circle again, followed by squats down the seating rows. Then around the circle again, followed by side shuffle down the rows. This killed me.

After that, we did some circuit training with the "body band" (basically an elastic rope with handles on the ends) and medicine ball. That let me catch my breath for our next exercise, sprints. We did 50 Y dashes, all at the same time, each in our own lane. I kicked everyone's a$$. I beat everyone to the finish line all 3 times we did it. Everyone was amazed I could move that fast.

I used to be fast for short periods of time. I could always do lots of work for a little time, but never good at a little work for a long time.

I'm still eating well, but find that I end up repeating the same foods over and over. Which is fine, because they are foods I like.

I did try something new, I love string cheese, and I love mozzarella sticks (you know, those breaded and fried sticks of heaven?), so I was making some of the chicken tenders with the crushed croutons, and thought about making some cheese sticks the same way. I cut each stick of string cheese in half, egged it, and rolled it in the crust. Turned out really good and each 2 sticks are 80 cal plus about 30 for the egg and crumbs. I made a couple chicken strips with 4 half cheese sticks. Pretty good to cure that 'fried food' craving. It still feels like a guilty pleasure, but is not bad for you at all.

My wife's been wanting to go out for dinner, so Friday was it. After boot camp class and showers (we both do boot camp) it was decided we are going to local Chinese place. She of course gets the spicy chicken and veggies with no rice and extra veggies. I hate those kind of veggies, so I get General Tso's. Probably one of the worst things on th menu for you. Oh well, they say you should have a 'cheat' day every now and again, and for the most part, I've stayed under my calorie goal for the entire previous 2 weeks.

We went out last Saturday too, but I knew we were and saved calories for it. Ended up we went to a Mexican place, but both got the grilled chicken salad which was pretty much grilled chicken on top of lettuce. That's it. Of course, we shared a bowl of chips and I had ranch with my salad, but over all, it was a pretty light dinner.