A semi restart

This past weekend was PAX East, and so the diet and the blog got put partially on hold.  As of Monday morning I weighed in at 282.2.  So I'm still down from the start, but the weekend could have gone a bit better food wise.  I didn't really pig out (beyond some overeating on Sunday), but I didn't think too hard about what I was eating either.

I'm not going to restart the days or anything.  But starting this weekend I have to get serious about this.

Days 8 to 10

So actually tracking my food hasn't been a challenge.  But trying to keep the blog up to date has been.  I've mostly been eating reasonably (though I've exceeded the daily food goals a bit thanks to some lasanga this week).

Food this week has all looked pretty similar:  breakfast has been bowls of honey nut cheerios (400 calories each morning); lunch was grilled cheese on sunday, and meatball subs monday and tuesday (600 calories and 500 calories respectively); while dinner has been lasanga and garlic toast (1300 calories total probably).

I've been hitting my step goals, but haven't done other exercise.  After PAX this weekend I'm hopeful I can pick up some other exercise..  I am down 7 pounds off the start of the diet though.  So hopefully I can keep that up.

Days 6 and 7 - Keeping on Track

So the one thing I've learned this week is that exercising, outside of the walking I'm doing for work, is a habit I'm completely out of.  Basically, other than last Sunday I haven't gotten on the bike even once.  On the other hand, the most important part of the diet is eating more healthy portions and that has been working.  Other than Tuesday I've been garnering around 900 points every day.  That continues with the last two days.

Food for friday:  breakfast and lunch were pancakes...really needed to go shopping (450 calories each), dinner was penne, sauce and garlic toast (1000 calories)

Food for Saturday:  no breakfast, as I slept in; lunch was a chicken patty, light hamburger roll and baked beans (600 calories), dinner was lasanga and garlic toast (1300 calories)

Steps for today:  14,400 so far

Totals
Food eaten:  2000
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1000
Weekly Points:  5676
Total earned: 5676

Days 4 & 5 - Average days

So my big challenge now is to start exercising regularly.  The last few days have not been good for that.  I'm doing my walking, but getting on the bike has been an issue.  Part of this weekend's goal is to make it a habit.

Food Wed:  pancakes for breakfast and dinner (450 calories each); lunch was a burger and fries (1200 calories)

Food Thurs:  pancakes for breakfast (450 calories), lunch was chicken tenders (500 calories), dinner was a frozen pizza and some garlic toast (1200 calories)

Day 3 - A complete failure

We had a mardi gras party at work today.  It was not good.  If it had just been the fried chicken, I would have been fine.  Even the biscuits...I could have stopped.  The addition of desserts and sides though...yeah that was too much.

So for today I'm just going to call it a blown day, and award myself 0 points for it.  I don't think I went completely nuts, and breakfast and dinner were both small-ish.  Still, the walking alone wasn't going to be enough.

Steps today:  11,550

Totals
Food eaten:  3000
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  0
Weekly Points:  1826
Total earned: 1826

Day 2 - No cheating yet

Today was merely the second day of the diet.  I'll consider myself reasonably successful if I can make it at least one week without cheating completely (there's a fried chicken Mardi Gras thing tomorrow at work...so I'll be cheating a little).  For now though I'm reasonably on track.

For now though I'm doing okay:  breakfast was pancakes again (out of other breakfast options) (450 calories), lunch was a meatball sub, chips and soda (750 calories), dinner was penne with sauce (800 calories) and snacks was a little peanut butter (100 calories).

Steps today were 15,128.



Totals
Food eaten:  2100
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  900
Weekly Points:  1826
Total earned: 1826

Starting Over Again

Last May I broke my foot, just as I was starting to get into shape.  It blew up my plans for the summer, but worst of all is it took me out of the habit of exercise completely.  I not only didn't recover after healing, I got worst.

So now my weight is the worst it's been in ten years.  I have to end that trend.  So I'm going to be starting to work my way back into the habit.

My starting weight this time:  289.6 pounds.

Today I ended up eating more than I initially planned (largely due to a couple granola bars I decided to have as snacks during the evening), but I got back on the exercise bike and walked quite a bit.  It isn't a perfect start, but it's a start regardless.

Food today:  pancakes for breakfast (450 calories), a Newman's Own pizza for lunch (900 calories), penne with sauce for dinner (800 calories) and snacks were the two granola bars (300 calories)

Exercise today:  rode the exercise bike for 40 minutes or so (376 calories) and also walked 14,788 steps.

Totals
Food eaten:  2450
Calories Burned:  376
Daily Points:  926
Weekly Points:  926
Total earned:926

Week Eight Weigh-in

This week has in many ways been the opposite of last week.  Last week I was pretty sure I wasn't going to lose weight, and then did my best week in a while.  This week, while the specific food eaten was a little crappy, the total points was pretty good.  I had no reason not to expect to lose at least some weight (and possibly break 250).  Instead I actually regained weight

Last week's weekly total:  10,825 points

So the week 8 weigh-in result:  253.0 pounds.

I regained 1.8 pounds.  I'm sure there's probably a lot of reasons for it, but it's really frustrating.  While I didn't necessarily expect to lose another 2 pounds or anything, I had hoped to see some progress.  Just means I have to keep working at it this week.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast (247 calories), subway turkey sub (a real change), chips and a drink (490 calories), two hamburgers on reduced calorie buns and homemade french fries for dinner (900 calories).

Exercise today:  10,000 steps, but nothing point worthy.

Totals
Food eaten:  1637
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1363
Weekly Points:  1363
Total earned: 79081

A Busy Sunday Spent Sitting

Normally a Sunday spent sitting on my butt would generally represent a pretty lazy day.  Today however I basically filled the whole day.  In large part this was due to going to a baseball game.  Between traveling to and from the game, as well as sitting through the game itself, I probably sat for six hours today.  However it wasn't particularly restful.  I ended up with quite a few steps, and had to stand quite a bit (on the train particularly) even when I wasn't working.  Food eaten today wasn't particularly healthy, but it also wasn't too terrible as far as calories went.

Food today:  toast with peanut butter for breakfast (270 calories), lunch was Aramark's chicken tenders and fries with a diet coke (828 calories), dinner was grilled hamburgers, and some homemade french fries (890 calories).  No snacks on the day.

Exercise today:  11,000 steps.  Nothing point wise.

Totals
Food eaten:  1988
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1012
Weekly Points:  10825
Total earned: 77718

Dieting on a roller coaster

The last three days have been somewhat crazy in terms of my diet.  Some days I mostly stick to the diet but edge out the calories a bit.  Other days I go over on my calories but make it up with exercise.  All in all I've been at this for a while now and I'm starting to feel a little burned out.  Unfortunately I'm no where near any of my major goals for the diet yet.  This week I'm going to really need to rededicate myself.  It's getting a lot easier to justify cheating...but "just a little bit."

Food today:  egg and cheese for breakfast (272 calories), lunch was chicken patties on reduced calorie buns (615 calories), dinner was lasanga with garlic toast (1214 calories), snack was some peanut butter (100 calories).

Exercise today:  2 hours and 15 minutes on the bike, going 27 miles (1823 calories).

Totals
Food eaten:  2201
Calories Burned:  1823
Daily Points:  2622
Weekly Points:  9813
Total earned: 76706

Being an "Expert"

I always think it's funny when I'm the one giving health advice to other people.  Particularly when those people are in generally better shape.  It rarely happens, but if it does it's usually centered around aerobic exercise.  My history of running and biking means that I do actually have some expertise in those areas.  So my advice on hydration, exercise planning and other related topics actually carries some weight (no pun intended).  It's just kind of funny to hear sometimes.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich with lemonade and multivitamin (272 calories), lunch was a cheeseburger and burger from the grill and some french fries (805 calories), dinner was lasagna with garlic toast (1214 calories), snacking was some peanut butter (100 calories).

Exercise today:  20 miles on the bike in about an hour and 45 minutes (1595 calories estimated).  Additionally I made 11,545 steps.

Totals
Food eaten:  2391
Calories Burned:  1595
Daily Points:  2204
Weekly Points:  5195
Total earned: 72088

Another Average Day

No spectacular successes or failures today.  In some ways I probably ate a bit too much, but overall it wasn't horrible.  I also took today off from exercise so I didn't get to take advantage of any extra burned calories.

Food today:  egg and cheese for breakfast (257 calories), lunch was a cheeseburger and fries from G-Pub (1000 calories), dinner was some grilled hamburgers and steak fries (720 calories), snack was some peanut butter (100 calories).

Exercise today: 12,000 steps, but nothing point worthy.

Totals
Food eaten:  2077
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  923
Weekly Points:  2991
Total earned: 69884

Week 7 Weigh-in

Weirdly I had a generally bad week...yet I somehow finally broke that 1.8 pound trend.  Weird, but it may have simply been that scuba training is a lot more calorie intensive than I thought.

Last week's weekly total:  8,486 points

So the week 7 weigh-in result:  251.2 pounds.

I lost 2.6 pounds this week.  That's actually a quite respectable total.  I still haven't crossed the 250 pound threshold, but it's within sight now.  Of course the long term plan is to get back down into the low 200's so I've still got quite a way to go.

Today was a pretty good, if standard day.  Walked into work, had my usual Subway trip and then cooked up some real food here at home.  Still not a super healthy combo of meals (and honestly a bit too much meat) but otherwise pretty good.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast (257 calories), subway meatball sub, chips and a drink (690 calories), steak from the grill, no yolk noodles and green beans for dinner (1010 calories).

Exercise today:  went out for an hour and a half on the bike and did about 19 miles (1025 calories).

Totals
Food eaten:  1957
Calories Burned:  1025
Daily Points:  2068
Weekly Points:  2068
Total earned: 68961

Avoided the balloons

Phew...that was going to be awkward on Tuesday.  It was a bit tough to get in the necessary exercise today but I did manage to find the time.  Thanks to a forgotten event I had planned though I wasn't able to eat as well as I hoped I would today.  Still under 2000 points for the day, but the quality of the food in terms of health was a little low.  My big contribution though was the two hour bike ride I took today.  Only got 20 miles in but it was a huge challenge.  The wind was so horrible, on the second half of the ride, that I had to pedal just to go downhill.  All in all it was a productive diet day.  Just wish I'd eaten better foods.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich with a multivitamin for breakfast (257 calories), a small D'Angelo's steak and cheese sandwich with chips for lunch (695 calories), dinner was another Newman's Own Thin Crust Pizza with a multivitamin (910 calories).

Exercise today:  a 20 mile bike ride (estimated at 1381 calories, though considering the difficulty it might be higher) and 13,000 steps.

Totals
Food eaten:  1862
Calories Burned:  1381
Daily Points:  2519
Weekly Points:  8486
Total earned:  66893

Water balloons are now a real possibility

Today's points are a little bit deceptive.  I ate poorly (though not horribly so), but the real issue here is that despite having a fair amount of exercise today there's nothing I can really count points for.  I did a reasonable amount of walking (getting up to 14,000 steps by the end of the day) but all of that falls under the pre-diet "normal" classification.  Additionally I spent two hours in the pool during scuba class today.  By the end of the class I was fairly exhausted and definitely burned some calories.  Unfortunately there's simply not any real way to estimate the calorie expenditure.  I'm sure I burned a few but without a way to estimate it, I can't assign a point value to the activity. 

Because of all that however my weekly total is still shy of the 7,500 points for the week.  If I'm not able to eat reasonably healthy tomorrow and get out on the bike...I could be facing water balloons on Tuesday.

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich with multivitamin for breakfast (257 calories), lunch was a steak and cheese sandwich and potato chips from Jersey Mike's (900 calories), dinner was a bacon cheeseburger and fries at a restaurant near Gilette (1250 calories).

Exercise today:  14,000 steps and two hours in the pool.  Nothing to count for points though.

Totals
Food eaten:  2407
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  593
Weekly Points:  5967
Total earned:  64374

Tough Week

It's been a tough week for the diet (as yesterday's missed post indicates).  I haven't had a chance to exercise in a week, though I've at least mostly kept in line with the calorie goals for the week.  I'm still averaging above 1000 points a day this week...but if I don't find time to exercise on Sunday I could find myself facing water balloons.

Yesterday was generally okay, but I ended up eating a little too much thanks to popcorn at the movies.  Today though I was largely good food wise.

Food today:  egg and cheese for breakfast (257 calories), lunch was a burger and fries at the diner (764 calories), dinner was two chicken patties on reduced calorie rolls (600 calories).  No snacks today.

Exercise today:  10,000 steps, but no special exercise.

Totals
Food eaten:  1621
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1379
Weekly Points:  5374
Total earned:  63781

A Day of Errands

Today was my day to drive up to Boston, then drive my sister around.  It's the kind of day that in the past would totally have been an excuse to pig out.  "Hey I can stop at 5 Guys on the way home...ooh plus Erin and I should go someplace good for lunch, etc."  Fortunately I kept under control.  I did end up snacking a bit more than I might have otherwise, but overall it was a good day.

Food today:  Special K for breakfast (305 calories), lunch was two slices of cheese pizza (460 calories), dinner was a Subway meatball sub and chips (720 calories), snacks were some mcdonald's fries and a bowl of special K (478 calories).

Exercise today:  9000 steps, but nothing for points.

Totals
Food eaten:  1963
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1037
Weekly Points:  3170
Total earned:  61577

The Challenge Of Finding Time To Exercise

For the second day in a row I haven't been able to plan time to actively exercise.  I have my usual step counts for the day, but no period of biking or running to add points to my goal.  There are just days when life gets in the way.  My problem this week is that the next few days are all going to feature the same scheduling problems.  I might not have the free time to jump on the bike before Friday...and with my luck Friday's going to be bad too.

Food today:  Special K and multivitamin for breakfast (305 calories), Subway meatball sub and chips for lunch (690 calories), a Spike's hot dog and fries for dinner (767 calories), and a handful of special K as a snack (100 calories).

Exercise today:  12,000 steps.

Totals
Food eaten:  1862
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  1138
Weekly Points:  2133
Total earned:  60540

Week 6 Weigh In

Another week down.  It's been a slow process but I keep consistently losing 1.8 pounds.  I guess I can't complain about that.  Just wish it was faster.  I do think I have let my day to day activities wear me down a bit.  Tonight was scheduled to be an exercise night and I'm just not really in the mood.  It's going to mess up the week a bit, as I'm not going to have as much time to exercise this week, but if the weather holds I'm going to try and add a few longer rides this week outdoors.  Hopefully that will make up for it a bit.

Last week's weekly total (including the info I forgot to post yesterday):  10,670 points.

This morning's weigh-in result:  253.8 pounds.  Another week, another 1.8 pounds lost.  It's kind of weird how specific that is.

Food today:  special K and milk with a multivitamin for breakfast (305 calories), lunch was a Subway day (690 calories), dinner was a Newman's Own pizza with a multivitamin (910 calories), snacks were some handfuls of special K (100 calories).

Exercise today:  14,000 steps, but no points towards the goal.

Totals
Food eaten:  2005
Calories Burned:  0
Daily Points:  995
Weekly Points:  995
Total earned:  59402

Another Quick Post

Mostly because it's late.

Food today:  pancakes with syrup and multivitamin for breakfast (430 calories), lunch was fish sticks and french fries (572 calories), dinner was lasanga and garlic toast (1204 calories).

Exercise today:  16,000 steps.  Additionally I did 24 miles on the bike along with some walking for the last mile (as I blew a tire)  Calorie estimate from Myfitness pal is 1855 calories.

Totals
Food eaten:  2206
Calories Burned:  1855
Daily Points:  2649
Weekly Points:  9605
Total earned: 57342