There have been a lot of signs of how well I've done on my diet, and some have been very obvious (such as losing 60 pounds). Others are a lot subtler though, and one I caught myself looking at was how much I've improved my running times. Last night I ran at 6.5 miles an hour for most of an hour, before picking up the speed a bit at the end. Two years ago, my first treadmill attempt last 10 minutes or so at 4 miles per hour. It's not just the distance/time that has improved, it's also been the speed. Those 2.5 mph don't seem like much, but they translate to quite a few calories, and quite a bit of work.
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich (300 calories), small burger with fries (1100 calories), steak and homemade fries (1100 calories), no snacks on the day. Exercise was an hour on the treadmill (1039 calories).
Daily Food Total: 2500
Exercise: 1039
Points Earned: 1539
Total Points Earned: 5821
Points to go: 44179
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Day 3 - Back to Kickboxing
So just a quick post about Thursday. I was so wiped after kickboxing that I pretty much crashed after getting home. Otherwise, nothing really major happened on the day. Fortunately the candy bowls have been empty at work for the last couple days, so my willpower hasn't been tested. I did manage to avoid any other snacking though while at work, which is nice to see.
Kickboxing was definitely tough though. While my basic cardio stamina is still reasonably high after the last six weeks, my ability to do repetitive punches and kicks clearly needs to get back into shape. We'll be seeing how that goes over the next few weeks.
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), Subway 6-inch meatball sub for lunch (500 calories), snacks were an after work english muffin with peanut butter (300 calories), then dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise was a kickboxing class (500 calories)
Daily Food Total: 2100
Exercise: 500
Points Earned: 1400
Total Points Earned: 4282
Points to go: 45718
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Day 2 - The danger of leftover junk food
I think I've mentioned it before, but it's always dangerous to start a diet when you've still got junk food left in the house. I had half a bag of chips leftover from having friends over on Monday. After getting back from running though, I was craving a snack and happened to notice the bag of chips. Before long I was sitting on the couch, watching some Hulu and snacking on chips. I did cut it short of eating them all, but I still picked up a lot of extra, unnecessary calories because of it.
It's not the first time that's happened to me over the last six weeks, and I'm sure others have had a similar problem themselves. It ties a bit into the discussion of diet failure as well. A lot of times in the past I've ended saying, "Oh darn, I've pigged out too much today. Guess I'll start the diet tomorrow instead." Of course as everybody knows, when you think like that, tomorrow never actually comes. Instead, the next day you grab five Reese's Peanut Butter Cups out of the candy bowl at work, shrug and say, "Tomorrow's when I'm really going to start the diet."
So just like success and failure can't simply be a matter of how much weight you've lost or gained in comparison to an arbitrary reference, a diet can't fail just because you've pigged out on a day. This isn't to say it's okay to got to 5 Guys three times a week and still claim to be on the diet, but there's no point in losing hope just because you've given into a craving a time or two. The next time I go to the supermarket I'll pick up some healthy snacks, and I won't buy any more chips. The diet didn't fail today just because I ate some chips, but it will fail if I lose hope about what's going to happen "tomorrow."
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast (300 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), granola bar, a hershey's kiss and some chips as snacks (600 calories), lasanga and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories).
Exercise was a 3 mile run around Roger Willams Park (400 calories).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/232168763
Daily Food Total: 2400
Exercise: 400
Points Earned: 1000
Total Points Earned: 2882
Points to go: 47118
It's not the first time that's happened to me over the last six weeks, and I'm sure others have had a similar problem themselves. It ties a bit into the discussion of diet failure as well. A lot of times in the past I've ended saying, "Oh darn, I've pigged out too much today. Guess I'll start the diet tomorrow instead." Of course as everybody knows, when you think like that, tomorrow never actually comes. Instead, the next day you grab five Reese's Peanut Butter Cups out of the candy bowl at work, shrug and say, "Tomorrow's when I'm really going to start the diet."
So just like success and failure can't simply be a matter of how much weight you've lost or gained in comparison to an arbitrary reference, a diet can't fail just because you've pigged out on a day. This isn't to say it's okay to got to 5 Guys three times a week and still claim to be on the diet, but there's no point in losing hope just because you've given into a craving a time or two. The next time I go to the supermarket I'll pick up some healthy snacks, and I won't buy any more chips. The diet didn't fail today just because I ate some chips, but it will fail if I lose hope about what's going to happen "tomorrow."
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast (300 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), granola bar, a hershey's kiss and some chips as snacks (600 calories), lasanga and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories).
Exercise was a 3 mile run around Roger Willams Park (400 calories).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/232168763
Daily Food Total: 2400
Exercise: 400
Points Earned: 1000
Total Points Earned: 2882
Points to go: 47118
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Why does a diet fail? Day 1 of a new diet
So the question I've been asking myself for most of the last six weeks is "Why Does a Diet Fail?" Unfortunately there's not really any single, simple answer. Most importantly of course, before we can ask that question we have to determine what constitutes failure.
6 weeks ago my diet wasn't struggling, but it wasn't exactly succeeding either. I was maintaining my weight, and exercise plan, but I wasn't actually trying very hard either. Then I went on a three day vacation during which I couldn't post, and the entire process fell apart. So over the last 6 weeks I've eaten at 5 Guys multiple times, I've grabbed true fast food for dinner, bought pizzas, ate a lot of candy at work and generally ate junk food.
Some of the changes I've made over the past year did stick. Pasta used to mean a half pound of ground beef in the sauce and two plate-fulls of food. I've eaten a lot of pasta in this diet Interregnum but have kept it to what's become my current pasta dish (1 plate-full of penne and sauce). While I've skipped six weeks of kick-boxing, I've managed to at least keep running at least twice a week for most of it. Most importantly though is that my weight hasn't drastically changed in this time. As of this morning I was at 205.6 pounds. It's gone up from my personal best a bit, but it's still mostly within reason.
So have I failed? Not exactly, I've binged a bit in the last month and I've gotten careless about exercise, but I haven't seen any drastic changes in either behavior or weight gain as a result of it. In fact as Team Challenge training has picked up, I've actually been working towards a new personal best for my next half-marathon in December.
Failure can't just be falling off the specific plan of your diet. We're all going to do that eventually, it's inevitable. I like my diet, and I don't have any strong opposition to eating healthier but as any basic review of my last year's worth of posts will tell you, I have plenty of cravings for things that are "bad" for me. Failure needs to represent an inability to change behavior, or a return to older behaviors.
I structured my diet plan around cutting the amount of food I ate, and increasing my exercise, but I didn't drastically change the specifics of what I ate. One of the numerous articles on dieting I've read over the years pointed out that people who've used Jenny Craig or some of the other products that provide pre-prepared diet meals have had some of the highest "failure rates" of any diet plan. They defined failure as regaining the weight lost on a diet. By the same token Weight Watcher's had a significantly lower "failure rate" (though it should be noted that it's still very high by those standards).
One of the main points the article made was that one of the reasons for failure on the part of those who used the pre-packaged diet meals, was that they never actually learned how to eat better. I've seen it with one of my friends as well, who went on a medically prescribed diet, lost a great deal of weight and has promptly put it all back on. In his case, his doctor pretty much prescribed shakes for two meals out of the day, and then a small dinner. However once the diet ended, he just went back to his old eating habits because he hadn't learned how to eat what he liked in relation to a healthier lifestyle. Weight Watchers has had a higher level of success, because even though they provide pre-packaged foods, and other branded merchandise, they also train their members to think of foods in the context of their quirky point system. Even after a member leaves Weight Watchers, they're still looking at food in that context. With my diet I've changed the volume of food that I make. It doesn't help a ton out at restaurants, but I've managed to change my behavior at home and it's sticking.
So I haven't failed, even by the standards of regaining lost weight (I don't consider regaining 5-7 pounds a failure when I've lost 60 more, obviously). But the specific challenge failed. I didn't make it to a second 200K before coming off the diet. The biggest reason for that though is that it failed because it succeeded. When I started the first diet, it was a huge challenge and an even bigger accomplishment. When I started the second challenge, it was kind of old hat. Yeah it would have been nice to get down to 180 or something, but I knew I could complete it. So when it became a struggle to post, and dull to keep track of, it was really easy to quit.
So why am I restarting it? Mostly because I want to set my personal best in Vegas. To do that I want to also lose a bit more weight, since it would be easier to carry 190 pounds 13 miles rather than 205. The challenge and the blog gives me something to track my progress. So you'll probably see a few more posts about running in the next few weeks. I'm also not shooting for 200K this time. I'm just going to aim for 50K, and then get myself something small but rewarding, maybe a new game or something.
All in all, it's good to be back. Let's see if I can keep at it.
Food today: skipped breakfast due to a large dinner the night before, candy at work though accounted for probably 500 calories, lunch was a meatball sub and chips (750 calories), dinner was some lasagna and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise was an extra 2.5 mile bike ride, and a shorter lunchtime walk (100 calories), along with an hour on the treadmill mostly at 6.5 mph (1032 calories).
Daily Food Total: 2250
Exercise: 1132
Points Earned: 1882
Total Points Earned: 1882
Points to go: 48118
6 weeks ago my diet wasn't struggling, but it wasn't exactly succeeding either. I was maintaining my weight, and exercise plan, but I wasn't actually trying very hard either. Then I went on a three day vacation during which I couldn't post, and the entire process fell apart. So over the last 6 weeks I've eaten at 5 Guys multiple times, I've grabbed true fast food for dinner, bought pizzas, ate a lot of candy at work and generally ate junk food.
Some of the changes I've made over the past year did stick. Pasta used to mean a half pound of ground beef in the sauce and two plate-fulls of food. I've eaten a lot of pasta in this diet Interregnum but have kept it to what's become my current pasta dish (1 plate-full of penne and sauce). While I've skipped six weeks of kick-boxing, I've managed to at least keep running at least twice a week for most of it. Most importantly though is that my weight hasn't drastically changed in this time. As of this morning I was at 205.6 pounds. It's gone up from my personal best a bit, but it's still mostly within reason.
So have I failed? Not exactly, I've binged a bit in the last month and I've gotten careless about exercise, but I haven't seen any drastic changes in either behavior or weight gain as a result of it. In fact as Team Challenge training has picked up, I've actually been working towards a new personal best for my next half-marathon in December.
Failure can't just be falling off the specific plan of your diet. We're all going to do that eventually, it's inevitable. I like my diet, and I don't have any strong opposition to eating healthier but as any basic review of my last year's worth of posts will tell you, I have plenty of cravings for things that are "bad" for me. Failure needs to represent an inability to change behavior, or a return to older behaviors.
I structured my diet plan around cutting the amount of food I ate, and increasing my exercise, but I didn't drastically change the specifics of what I ate. One of the numerous articles on dieting I've read over the years pointed out that people who've used Jenny Craig or some of the other products that provide pre-prepared diet meals have had some of the highest "failure rates" of any diet plan. They defined failure as regaining the weight lost on a diet. By the same token Weight Watcher's had a significantly lower "failure rate" (though it should be noted that it's still very high by those standards).
One of the main points the article made was that one of the reasons for failure on the part of those who used the pre-packaged diet meals, was that they never actually learned how to eat better. I've seen it with one of my friends as well, who went on a medically prescribed diet, lost a great deal of weight and has promptly put it all back on. In his case, his doctor pretty much prescribed shakes for two meals out of the day, and then a small dinner. However once the diet ended, he just went back to his old eating habits because he hadn't learned how to eat what he liked in relation to a healthier lifestyle. Weight Watchers has had a higher level of success, because even though they provide pre-packaged foods, and other branded merchandise, they also train their members to think of foods in the context of their quirky point system. Even after a member leaves Weight Watchers, they're still looking at food in that context. With my diet I've changed the volume of food that I make. It doesn't help a ton out at restaurants, but I've managed to change my behavior at home and it's sticking.
So I haven't failed, even by the standards of regaining lost weight (I don't consider regaining 5-7 pounds a failure when I've lost 60 more, obviously). But the specific challenge failed. I didn't make it to a second 200K before coming off the diet. The biggest reason for that though is that it failed because it succeeded. When I started the first diet, it was a huge challenge and an even bigger accomplishment. When I started the second challenge, it was kind of old hat. Yeah it would have been nice to get down to 180 or something, but I knew I could complete it. So when it became a struggle to post, and dull to keep track of, it was really easy to quit.
So why am I restarting it? Mostly because I want to set my personal best in Vegas. To do that I want to also lose a bit more weight, since it would be easier to carry 190 pounds 13 miles rather than 205. The challenge and the blog gives me something to track my progress. So you'll probably see a few more posts about running in the next few weeks. I'm also not shooting for 200K this time. I'm just going to aim for 50K, and then get myself something small but rewarding, maybe a new game or something.
All in all, it's good to be back. Let's see if I can keep at it.
Food today: skipped breakfast due to a large dinner the night before, candy at work though accounted for probably 500 calories, lunch was a meatball sub and chips (750 calories), dinner was some lasagna and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise was an extra 2.5 mile bike ride, and a shorter lunchtime walk (100 calories), along with an hour on the treadmill mostly at 6.5 mph (1032 calories).
Daily Food Total: 2250
Exercise: 1132
Points Earned: 1882
Total Points Earned: 1882
Points to go: 48118
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Day 131
Today was an okay day. One thing I've noticed is that in the past week I've cut down on my caffeine intake a little bit (more due to having some bottles of soda rather than cans, so I drink a little less as the cans are "easier" to drink multiples of). Unfortunately I noticed today that I'm crashing a little faster in the mornings, feeling more tired, etc. I think I might be going through withdrawal a bit, which worries me as it must mean I have been drinking way too much caffeine lately. Not sure if it'll play much of a role on the diet, other than tempting me to snack a bit more.
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich again (300 calories), PB&J (600 calories), snacks included some chips with a couple Rolo's (200 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast again (1000 calories), exercise was a lunch time walk (100 calories) and 50 minutes on the treadmill (718 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2100
Exercise: 818
Points Earned: 1718
Total Points Earned: 153396
Points to go: 46604
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich again (300 calories), PB&J (600 calories), snacks included some chips with a couple Rolo's (200 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast again (1000 calories), exercise was a lunch time walk (100 calories) and 50 minutes on the treadmill (718 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2100
Exercise: 818
Points Earned: 1718
Total Points Earned: 153396
Points to go: 46604
Day 130
Tuesday was a pretty good day, but I ate a bit too much as the day wore on. It was another stair-climbing day and I did 187 flights of stairs (split between up and down). The best part is that meant I was number 1 in the office for the second day in a row. My standing still has more to do with one of the top people not participating, but still...number 1! That evening I hit the gym, and then went out to a Team Challenge info meeting. Afterwards we got dinner out, and that's when I had a bit too much to eat.
All in all a pretty positive day. Food: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), some chips and candy as snacks (250 calories), fish & chips for dinner (1200 calories). Exercise was stair climbing (160 calories), a lunchtime walk (100 calories) and running for 45 minutes (640 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2350
Exercise: 900
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 151678
Points to go: 48322
All in all a pretty positive day. Food: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), some chips and candy as snacks (250 calories), fish & chips for dinner (1200 calories). Exercise was stair climbing (160 calories), a lunchtime walk (100 calories) and running for 45 minutes (640 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2350
Exercise: 900
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 151678
Points to go: 48322
Monday, August 20, 2012
Day 127 to 129
This past weekend ended up being a little bit bad for me. Not so much on the food eaten, but because I didn't exercise for three days. Obviously not a recipe for success, and it may get worse over the next two days as well. One thing I did do successfully however is make sure to mostly keep the food I ate balanced. So while I had big lunches on Saturday and Sunday, I also had correspondingly small dinners. That kept things on track, even without the exercise I should have made time for.
Food on Saturday was an egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), fried chicken at lunch (1200 calories), and another egg and cheese for dinner (300 calories), snacks added up to another 200 calories. On Sunday I slept late, then went out to 5 Guys for lunch (2000 calories), later in the evening I had a granola bar as a snack (100 calories). Monday wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I had egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories) and PB&J for lunch (600 calories), snacks were bad though with 300 calories of candy, and pasta and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories).
Results:
Total Points Earned: 150128
Points to go: 49872
Food on Saturday was an egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), fried chicken at lunch (1200 calories), and another egg and cheese for dinner (300 calories), snacks added up to another 200 calories. On Sunday I slept late, then went out to 5 Guys for lunch (2000 calories), later in the evening I had a granola bar as a snack (100 calories). Monday wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I had egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories) and PB&J for lunch (600 calories), snacks were bad though with 300 calories of candy, and pasta and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories).
Results:
Total Points Earned: 150128
Points to go: 49872
Friday, August 17, 2012
Day 126
Friday was a little less intense, but I was a little proud of myself at dinner time. Every other Friday we get a 45 minute lunch instead of the usual half-hour. Largely unofficial of course, but it gives us time to go out and have a sit-down lunch rather than running out, grabbing a sandwich and bringing it back. Today we picked a decent place we've eaten at before called ROI ( http://theroiprov.com/ ). The food's decent, the atmosphere at lunch is nice, and it's in a different direction than most of the restaurants near work which means we don't often have to see co-workers. All in all I had a bigger lunch than normal. However at dinner time, I was able to choose to eat a small meal instead. Two years ago I would have simply eaten something big and not worried about it. Now I actually thought to balance out the big meal. A small accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless.
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich (300 calories), burger and fries for lunch (1200 calories), snacks were some M&M's (150 calories), dinner was another egg and cheese (300 calories). Exercise was 50 minutes on the treadmill (701 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 701
Points Earned: 1751
Total Points Earned: 147428
Points to go: 52572
Food today: egg and cheese sandwich (300 calories), burger and fries for lunch (1200 calories), snacks were some M&M's (150 calories), dinner was another egg and cheese (300 calories). Exercise was 50 minutes on the treadmill (701 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 701
Points Earned: 1751
Total Points Earned: 147428
Points to go: 52572
Day 125
Thursday went pretty well for the day all things considered. In the morning I did my Thursday stair-climbing for the contest at work. My department won the day as a whole, but even cooler, I was the day's #1 participant. Admittedly that was partially because the other folks who had scored the highest for the last three days all ended up missing their stair climbs for the day. Still I'm willing to take the win. In 15 minutes I went up and down 184 flights of stairs! That's a total of 2024 stairs, split evenly between going up and down.
Food for the day: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories), snacks included some chips and M&M's (250 calories). Exercise was the stair climbing (160 calories), a lunch time walk (100 calories), and a kickboxing class (500 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2150
Exercise: 760
Points Earned: 1610
Total Points Earned: 145677
Points to go: 54323
Food for the day: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories), snacks included some chips and M&M's (250 calories). Exercise was the stair climbing (160 calories), a lunch time walk (100 calories), and a kickboxing class (500 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2150
Exercise: 760
Points Earned: 1610
Total Points Earned: 145677
Points to go: 54323
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Day 124
Well, on the one hand today wasn't a great exercise day. On the other hand that was largely because I had our first informational meeting for Team Challenge after work. We've started a Rhode Island chapter for the fall season and we're going to be running a half-marathon on the Strip in Vegas! So while I didn't get exercise myself, I'm getting set up for a lot more down the line.
Getting back into the swing of weekly long runs is going to be nice. Even nicer is going to be the fact that I won't need to drive an hour to and from practice every week. Team Challenge remains one of the best experiences I've ever done, and I'm really excited to be a mentor this season. Of course I'd also like to cut some more time off my half-marathon pace. We'll have to see how we do with that.
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), snacks were some chips and a few cheese-its (250 calories), dinner was a steak and cheese with the leftovers from yesterday (1000 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk (100 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2150
Exercise: 100
Points Earned: 950
Total Points Earned: 144067
Points to go: 55933
Getting back into the swing of weekly long runs is going to be nice. Even nicer is going to be the fact that I won't need to drive an hour to and from practice every week. Team Challenge remains one of the best experiences I've ever done, and I'm really excited to be a mentor this season. Of course I'd also like to cut some more time off my half-marathon pace. We'll have to see how we do with that.
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), PB&J for lunch (600 calories), snacks were some chips and a few cheese-its (250 calories), dinner was a steak and cheese with the leftovers from yesterday (1000 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk (100 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2150
Exercise: 100
Points Earned: 950
Total Points Earned: 144067
Points to go: 55933
Day 123
Tuesday was a great day for exercise, though that came with a few more calories than needed. I've mostly settled into a groove, and that's showing in my weight measurements. I didn't lose weight since the last weigh-in, but I also didn't really gain weight either. I seem to mostly be settling into this weight. So since my goal is to keep losing it, I may need to make some more significant changes for the first time on the diet.
Weigh-in result: 199.8 pounds
Food today: peanut butter and toast for breakfast (400 calories), a PB&J for lunch (500 calories), snacks were a few pieces of candy and a Capri Sun juicebox after stair climbing (300 calories), dinner was a homemade steak and cheese sandwich (1000 calories). Exercise was stair climbing at work, a walk at lunch and 45 minutes on the treadmill (873 calories total).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2200
Exercise: 873
Points Earned: 1673
Total Points Earned: 143117
Points to go: 56883
Weigh-in result: 199.8 pounds
Food today: peanut butter and toast for breakfast (400 calories), a PB&J for lunch (500 calories), snacks were a few pieces of candy and a Capri Sun juicebox after stair climbing (300 calories), dinner was a homemade steak and cheese sandwich (1000 calories). Exercise was stair climbing at work, a walk at lunch and 45 minutes on the treadmill (873 calories total).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2200
Exercise: 873
Points Earned: 1673
Total Points Earned: 143117
Points to go: 56883
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Day 122
Monday got me back on track again, though it's pretty obvious I still have a lot of work to do if I want to hit my stretch goal of 180 pounds. I seem to have settled into a weight range and I will need to figure out ways to get ahead. There's obvious changes that could be made (in other words, not going to 5 Guys or other restaurants), and I could cut portion sizes a bit. Unfortunately at some level that requires as much a change as the entire diet has done up until now. The one thing I do know is that exercise by itself is probably not going to be enough, as I already have stretched out my workouts and while I will continue to do so there's only so much free time to spend on it.
Food today: skipped breakfast as I didn't have a complete meal in the house, at work I had a 6-inch meatball sub for lunch with chips (750 calories), snacks through the day involved a few M&M's and a granola bar (200 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise on the day was an hour at kickboxing, plus some push-ups and weight work at various points during the day (500 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 500
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 141444
Points to go: 58556
Food today: skipped breakfast as I didn't have a complete meal in the house, at work I had a 6-inch meatball sub for lunch with chips (750 calories), snacks through the day involved a few M&M's and a granola bar (200 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise on the day was an hour at kickboxing, plus some push-ups and weight work at various points during the day (500 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 500
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 141444
Points to go: 58556
Monday, August 13, 2012
Day 121
Today really wasn't a good day. I let myself get careless this week, and thanks to a busy schedule, didn't even exercise on the day. Starting on Monday we're going to have to get back on track. Food today: peanut butter and english muffin for breakfast (300 calories), burger and fries for lunch (2000 calories), pizza at dinner (700 calories). No exercise.
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 3000
Exercise: 0
Points Earned: 0
Total Points Earned: 139894
Points to go: 60106
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 3000
Exercise: 0
Points Earned: 0
Total Points Earned: 139894
Points to go: 60106
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Day 120
Saturday was slated for hanging out with friends all day, and as such resulted in a little higher calories than I would have wanted. Pizza and chips were the main meal of the day, but I did get to the gym and keep the rest of my food for the day on the light side. So no major challenges, but also no major successes on the day. The important point though was that I was able to keep up the focus on the diet. Even if I didn't gain much ground, I also didn't really lose any either.
Food: english muffin with peanut butter and milk for both breakfast and dinner (600 calories total), lunch was some cheese pizza (1000 calories), snacks were several handfuls of chips during the day (700 calories). Exercise was 50 minutes on the treadmill (682 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2300
Exercise: 682
Points Earned: 1382
Total Points Earned: 139894
Points to go: 60106
Food: english muffin with peanut butter and milk for both breakfast and dinner (600 calories total), lunch was some cheese pizza (1000 calories), snacks were several handfuls of chips during the day (700 calories). Exercise was 50 minutes on the treadmill (682 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2300
Exercise: 682
Points Earned: 1382
Total Points Earned: 139894
Points to go: 60106
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Day 119
It's always funny how little things can throw off your diet and exercise plans. In my case yesterday we got hit with a major rainstorm right as I was leaving work. My plan for the day had been to go to the gym, then head home and try and make a dinner with a slightly smaller calorie count than normal. Instead having to bike home through a monsoon wrecked that. I was soaked to the skin within a few moments, and I simply skipped the gym as a result (my gym clothes were also soaked, though slightly less so, in my backpack). After getting home I needed comfort food so I made pasta rather than the smaller alternatives I'd been considering.
The day wasn't really a total loss. After all, a year ago comfort food meant burgers and fries, a 2000+ calorie portion of spaghetti and meat sauce, or some other equally unhealthy food. The fact that comfort food now means, "carbs, but not a ton of them" is almost certainly a good thing.
Food on Friday: english muffin with peanut butter and milk (trying to make some alternatives to the egg and cheese sandwich, this one I kind of like, 300 calories). Turkey sandwich (500 calories), snack was a homemade cupcake that someone brought to work (250 calories), and dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). I did manage to get two walks in at work (200 calories total) for exercise.
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2050
Exercise: 200
Points Earned: 1150
Total Points Earned: 138512
Points to go: 61488
The day wasn't really a total loss. After all, a year ago comfort food meant burgers and fries, a 2000+ calorie portion of spaghetti and meat sauce, or some other equally unhealthy food. The fact that comfort food now means, "carbs, but not a ton of them" is almost certainly a good thing.
Food on Friday: english muffin with peanut butter and milk (trying to make some alternatives to the egg and cheese sandwich, this one I kind of like, 300 calories). Turkey sandwich (500 calories), snack was a homemade cupcake that someone brought to work (250 calories), and dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). I did manage to get two walks in at work (200 calories total) for exercise.
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2050
Exercise: 200
Points Earned: 1150
Total Points Earned: 138512
Points to go: 61488
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Day 118
So we've started a new wellness challenge at work. It's a competition between the two main divisions at work to see who can climb the most flights of stairs during a 15 minute break. It's a fun event, and a significant portion of the office is participating but climbing stairs is exhausting. By the time I was done with my 15 minutes I was soaked in sweat. The disappointing part though is that 15 minutes only tracks out to around 160 calories. During that time though I did 159 flights of stairs (a flight is about 11 stairs at work).
Food today: toasted roll for breakfast (200 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), snacks were a few mini-peanut butter cups and a slice of cheese at points in the day (250 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise was the stair climbing, a lunch time walk and kickboxing (760 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 760
Points Earned: 1810
Total Points Earned: 137362
Points to go: 62638
Food today: toasted roll for breakfast (200 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), snacks were a few mini-peanut butter cups and a slice of cheese at points in the day (250 calories), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories). Exercise was the stair climbing, a lunch time walk and kickboxing (760 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1950
Exercise: 760
Points Earned: 1810
Total Points Earned: 137362
Points to go: 62638
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Day 117
After Tuesday turned out to be pretty bad, Wednesday's focus was on being good. It mostly worked, though I did end up getting an unnecessary snack at one point in order to break a $20 bill. No major challenges on the day, but still am going to need to make some changes if I want to start doing more with my diet.
Food today: toasted roll for breakfast (200 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), and a smaller portion than normal of salmon, rice and green beans (700 calories). Snacks included a bag of chips and M&M's (300 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk and 50 minutes on the treadmill (762 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1700
Exercise: 762
Points Earned: 2062
Total Points Earned: 135552
Points to go: 64448
Food today: toasted roll for breakfast (200 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), and a smaller portion than normal of salmon, rice and green beans (700 calories). Snacks included a bag of chips and M&M's (300 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk and 50 minutes on the treadmill (762 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 1700
Exercise: 762
Points Earned: 2062
Total Points Earned: 135552
Points to go: 64448
Day 116
Tuesday was just a bad day. Felt like crap most of the day, then had errands and stuff later in the day. I also ended up eating too much as I chose to go to 5 Guys both to feel a bit better, and to celebrate the success of the 21 day challenge. Unfortunately that ended up with the worst day since October.
Food on Tuesday: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), lunch was a roll and some chips (700 calories), dinner was 5 guys (2000 calories). There was no exercise unfortunately on the day.
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 3000
Exercise: 0
Points Earned: 0
Total Points Earned: 133490
Points to go: 66510
Food on Tuesday: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), lunch was a roll and some chips (700 calories), dinner was 5 guys (2000 calories). There was no exercise unfortunately on the day.
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 3000
Exercise: 0
Points Earned: 0
Total Points Earned: 133490
Points to go: 66510
Monday, August 6, 2012
Day 115
So as planned, I got the reward for the second challenge a little early since the mini-challenge (oddly appropriate name, since the prize was a Mini Cooper) worked out so well. All in all it's been a pretty awesome run, and I still have two months or so to go before I finish this challenge. I'm really curious where I'm going to be at on October 19. That's going to be the one year mark and is going to really be an interesting chance to see how much has changed. That's probably when I'll end up doing the always fun "look at the clothes I used to wear" photo.
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), pasta and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories). Snacks were a little high again with some M&M's and a granola bar (call it 250 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk and kickboxing (600 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2050
Exercise: 600
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 133490
Points to go: 66510
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), turkey sandwich for lunch (500 calories), pasta and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories). Snacks were a little high again with some M&M's and a granola bar (call it 250 calories). Exercise was a lunch time walk and kickboxing (600 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2050
Exercise: 600
Points Earned: 1550
Total Points Earned: 133490
Points to go: 66510
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Day 114
So with the 21 day challenge done, I wouldn't be surprised to have a bit of a cheat day come along. Technically today involved a bit more food than I should have eaten, but as is often the case on Sundays that had to do with baking bread. I've had a few cravings this summer, and it's actually kind of impressive to me that I haven't gotten caught up in them yet. Other than an ice cream bar at work one day I've had no ice cream. Some of the other summer foods have had little or no play in my eating habits this summer (frozen lemonade, clam cakes, grilled foods, etc). Part of it is lack of opportunity, but in a real sense a lot of it has come from a change both in my habits but also my cravings. So in that regard I should probably thank 5 Guys. If I wasn't so busy craving their food, I might be having a harder time resisting other stuff.
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), a cheeseburger on a homemade roll for lunch (700 calories), steak, noodles and green beans for dinner (1000 calories), snacks included a couple other rolls (400 calories). Exercise was 45 minutes on the treadmill, with the speed starting to edge up (611 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2400
Exercise: 611
Points Earned: 1211
Total Points Earned: 131940
Points to go: 68060
Three Week Challenge (Day 21) Final Results:
Average Points: 1501
Missed Posts: 1
Food today: egg and cheese for breakfast (300 calories), a cheeseburger on a homemade roll for lunch (700 calories), steak, noodles and green beans for dinner (1000 calories), snacks included a couple other rolls (400 calories). Exercise was 45 minutes on the treadmill, with the speed starting to edge up (611 calories).
Today's Results:
Daily Food Total: 2400
Exercise: 611
Points Earned: 1211
Total Points Earned: 131940
Points to go: 68060
Three Week Challenge (Day 21) Final Results:
Average Points: 1501
Missed Posts: 1
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