Day 77

There are dozens of different ways to lose weight.  One of my goals for this blog was to talk about some of the different strategies, and maybe even use some of them myself.  Of course part of the reason for that plan was that I have kept expecting my diet to stall somewhere along the line.  That hasn't happened for me, so the only real strategy I've advanced here has been the traditional calories-in/calories-out approach.

For me that strategy has worked pretty well, but it comes with some caveats that wouldn't apply to everyone's experience.  First, and most importantly, I started off with a lot of spare weight and a lot of extra daily calories in my diet.  Cutting 1000 calories out of my diet didn't require a major sacrifice, and increasing my exercise wasn't going to be all that hard.  For someone who's eating a 1500 calorie diet, and is looking to lose 10 pounds there may not be as much slack in the diet. 

Secondly, I'm okay with a "boring" and limited food selection.  As anyone can tell going through my posts, I tend to eat the same meal over and over.  For my friends who cook and bake, giving up on their favorite meals is going to make the experience harder.  For me, other than some junk foods, I haven't had to give up my favorite meals.  I've just had to modify some portion sizes, and limit some ingredients.  I've found some dishes that work and I'm able to stick with them without feeling limited.

Thirdly, I live close to my work and gym and don't have a family that I have to cook for or take care of activities for.  I can walk, or ride a bike to and from work.  After work I can stop at the gym when I want to, without worrying about schedules.  I'm not running kids all over the place and grabbing fast food to serve as a meal in between.  I'm not cooking for anyone else who's not on the diet and wouldn't appreciate my limited palate.

So this plan works for me, and for people in a similar position it might very well work for them.  However there are a lot of other strategies out there.  The one thing they all have in common though is that they're not quick, and they're not easy.  Plus, they all never let me eat an entire chocolate cream pie in one sitting.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich with milk (300 calories), turkey sandwich (500 calories), a cookie and a granola bar (200 calories), and penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories).  Exercise was a walk at lunch (100 calories) and 45 minutes on the treadmill at the gym (660 calories).

Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2000
Exercise:  760
Points Earned:  1760
Total Points Earned:  99298
Points to go:  100702