Calorie days

Calorie days

calorie counting calorie record how to lose weight lose 200 pounds Weight Loss

Another menu, another day and another pound lost (I hope) Yesterday was a bit of a struggle for some reason, I felt hungry at the end of the night but made it. I did go over by 160 calories partially because I grabbed a Greek yogurt from the fridge and didn't realize it was not a light yogurt until I took a bite and I didn't want to waste it so it is what it is.

Breakfast
2 slices light rye bread        100
.5 oz cheese        55
4oz ham        130
       
2 light Italian bread        80
2oz turkey pepperoni        140
1oz American cheese        110
               
Lunch       
2 servings pops cereal        240
8 oz 1% milk        110
       
2 Dannon light Greek yogurt        160
       
Dinner
2 La Tortilla factory wraps        200
2oz Light cheddar        90
1/4 cup black beans        55
onion/salsa       40
3 oz ground turkey        120
2 T light sour cream        40
1/4 cup white rice        50

Oikos Greek yogurt        150
       
4 Brazil nuts        90

Total calories 1960

Still trucking along and I am hoping (there's that word again) that I see a loss on the scale come Friday, either way, I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing and see where the wheel ends up. 

As Ever

Me

No sugar coating.

No sugar coating.

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Losing weight is not an easy task for many people, it takes time and it takes a lot of patience but if the time and effort is put in better health can happen for just about anyone if it can happen for me. I consider myself lucky to have what I do, I have a great family and I am afforded the opportunity to spend loads of time with my daughter for whom without I may not have started down the path that I have. I happen to be 211 pounds down the road but it wasn't always like that for me as I started off at over 500 pounds and unable to walk for more than 10 minutes at a time without pain, but I did it. Turning down treats such as Aunties peanut butter fudge, or my mother in laws plates of experimental cakes or cookies was once a difficult task but again, I did it. I am in the opinion that anyone can lose weight and I came to that conclusion because if I can do it the apparent slacker video game addict calling "I'm base" when a game of tag came up as a child, disk injury havin once 534 pound guy can do it why can't the next guy or gal?


I mentioned that I feel lucky to have what I have but that's the end of where I feel lucky, when my weight loss is the subject I don't feel lucky at all because luck had not an ounce of sway on the results that I've had thus far, I busted my ass for every one of those 211 pounds lost. This is the part that I believe fails to get through to many people that attempt weight loss, I have been guilty of it myself and I see it all too many times when someone tries to lose some pounds, much of my family has struggled with weight throughout my lifetime so I have seen lots of "diets" started. The gun shot goes off and off to a great start! a couple pounds come off and almost immediately slacking starts, "nah I won't exercise today" or "It's just one peanut butter cookie" and before you know it the "start" of the next "diet" is coming to a Monday near you, its just not going to happen without the effort.

All of that thought came from my off day that I had because of "stress" and I began thinking about when I was 500 plus pounds and I was walking with my wife to a park that was literally less than 2 blocks from our house at the time and how I felt. It was Jan 2008, I had just begun eating better and couldn't believe that I was sticking with this for 2 weeks so far, I had an apple in my hand and walking slowly towards the playground I felt like a new person. We got to the play ground and I said to my wife something along the lines of "I got my walk in for the day" and I was red faced and out of breath from walking less than 2 blocks, but I had my apple in hand and DID walk to the playground and at that point it was what I could do. Was it a little embarrassing that all I could walk was such a short distance? it was a lot embarrassing! and I played it off like I could have done more but the truth is that if I had to go any further I would have needed a break which in fact stopping to let the kids play was the break I needed to make it back home.

Currently I think that I am in the best shape of my life and that's kind of bad considering that I am still above 300 pounds but it is what it is, I have worked hard to get here and no one can take that from me, not even a bad day of stress eating. I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I once was physically and mentally because once upon a time I would be looking for the next Monday start date for my next attempt, but here I am. Tomorrow I will hop on the scale for the official blog weight and with the week that I have had eating wise and missing the gym for this past weekend in its entirety I am not really expecting much in the way of a new low in the am but I will report in what the scale says none the less. A trip to the gym this afternoon and some good choices with my intake for the day along with another 2.5-3 gallons of fluid should help me along with tomorrow weigh in but in the grand scheme my fumble will not make a difference at all.

You can lose weight, you can get healthy, you can stop dropping pity on yourself and get that ass up and do something about but YOU have to do the work, and YOU have to realize that its not a picnic to do so and there will be times that just plain old sucks ass but if YOU stop doing what needs to be done for your own health then there is only one person to blame...

YOU..

Fini

As Ever
Me

So ya wanna lose some weight, a beginners guide to losing weight by no one special.

So ya wanna lose some weight, a beginners guide to losing weight by no one special.

beginners guide to weight loss how to lose weight Weight Loss

I get asked all of the time "How do you do it? how have you managed to lose more than 200 pounds?" and my answer is always the same, I had a decision to make and it was my choice. At 534 pounds life is not a bowl of cherries but if I was asked that question at that weight my answer would have been "I am totally happy right now" mostly because of pride and not wanting to admit how weak I was in that time of my life, I was NOT happy. I was thinking about this a bit over the weekend and was going through all of the things that I did to get going down this road and thought I would write a "So ya wanna lose some weight" post for those people that may stumble on my blog that are thinking about starting down the same path and have that lost in the woods feeling.

Like most things I find the jump right in approach the best and I figured I had dipped my toes into many a "diet" pool throughout my life so this time it had to be different. Making excuses as to why we can't start just delays and stalls our progress so why do it? I happened to start on Jan 1st but honestly it was a long time coming and the 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's is what tipped me into the had too much category, here are a few things to consider when you start:

The start of things

1. Decide what approach will be taken - I chose to count calories but there are many different weight loss methods out there to choose from and each will mean purchasing a different variation or foods, so decide which path you will wander down and go from there with your shopping list.
2. Go shopping - This is extremely important because if you have cookies, cakes and the phone number to the local pizza house on hand it will be that much harder to eat healthy meals, toss that number out and get rid of the stockpile of sweets as they will only hinder progress and offer chances to fall off of plan.
3. Plan meals ahead of time - This is critical in the beginning, breaking the habit of grazing at the refrigerator is number one on your list of things to do right now, you are not a cattle so stop acting like one and step away from that fridge! if you have your day down on paper (or in my case an excel sheet) it is easy to anticipate when and what we will eat when you can see it written down.
4. Start a food diary ie a Blog - I did this step on a whim and as it turned out here I am still writing in it 650 days later. The importance of cataloging and preserving what has been done so that you can go back and look at where you came from in your own words and feel some of the same feelings I cannot stress enough. having a blog is like creating a mirror image of the way you felt and is a strong reminder on those not so strong days not to mention the accountability factor because you never know just who is having a peek into your struggles.

Now that you are started and we are chugging along slightly tired, somewhat aggravated and really craving some of aunt Maude's home made double chocolate chocolate chip cookies its time to pat ourselves on our backs because the first step has been taken. There is really a feeling of empowerment that comes across after we have made it through a few days of what seems like agony, furthermore you have just proven that it can in fact be done with minimal effort and you quite like the way you are feeling lately.

The first week

You've made it through an entire seven days and are starting to realize that this is not as hard as it once felt while all at the same time really wanting to tear into a double bacon and onion pizza, you are waking up less tired while feeling that this just might work this time around but boy do you miss that giant cup of joe with Cream and sugar. Now its time to start thinking about adding some exercise to your days and take a look back at what you have done this week and decide what could be better or if anything needs to be tweaked, did I mention that I can swear that the Ronald McDonald statue waved at me when I drove by this afternoon?

1. Exercise - You have to start somewhere, run if you can walk if its what you can do and crawl if you must but you have to start moving. At hyper obese weights 500 pounds plus it can be extremely difficult to exercise but it is a must so do it. I started off at 534 pounds and a walk to the corner felt like it was going to kill me but I did it because I had to, you can too. Of course talking to a doc before starting an exercise regimen is probably a good idea so I would recommend that step (even though I did not) but exercise is key to healthy weight loss so make sure its getting added in.
2. Weigh yourself often - I find that weighing myself often helps immensely, besides the fact that it is a gauge to let you know how your progress is moving along it can be a huge motivator whether you are up in weight or down, on the one hand if you weigh less its proving that the hard work is paying off and that confidence boost can throw you into hyper drive and you forget that you are "dieting" and the urges are lessened. The other side to that coin is that if the scale shows a gain you know that you have to look at what you are doing closer or in some (I would guess most from experience) cases you know that you did not do your part and it forces you to refocus, but whatever you do do not give up if you see a gain consistency is key.
3. Read other people blogs - I can obviously only speak for myself but when I first started down this road I made myself obsess over reading as many weight related articles and blogs as I could fit into my days. Seeing others struggle and conquer, obsess and fight with all of the same things that I was dealing with helped me realize that I was not the only fat dude on the block and that helped me stay focused, hearing about how they handled a situation or pushed through a hard spot can really keep things in perspective. I have since I started blogging met some pretty great people that have struggled through the same things that I have and having the support of like minded people huffing down the same trail is a very powerful thing.

We are now starting to get the hang of things and making better choices in our meals and snacking much less than we were, feeling pretty good about the whole process and most likely have dropped a bit of weight. Exercise is getting easier and shopping for healthy choices is becoming second nature, our confidence is rising and we are smiling more than ever because things are starting to feel good again, I might be able to stick to this you think and off you go for a walk around the neighborhood.

Month three

Now you're chugging along and have a few months behind you, you have certainly dropped some weight by now if you are doing your part and are feeling better. No more refrigerator grazing and you look for opportunities to get some exercise into the day all while noticing that your food tastes better when its not covered in salt, sugary sauces and fried batter, who wouldda thunk that chicken could taste so good without the greasy coating of bread crumbs on it? the pizza delivery guy cruises slowly past your home looking quizzically at the door wondering if you moved out of the neighborhood or were kid napped as you grill some chicken breast and veggies for that nights dinner.

By now things should be starting to get pretty automated and routine for you, walking past the cookie isle in the supermarket without craving a whole pound bag of Oreos is getting easier and soon enough will fade completely. Getting out for some daily exercise is no longer a chore but something you sort of want to do, before long you may even find yourself joining a gym and quickly becoming addicted to going there and working out, the whole world is yours again. No longer leashed to that dented couch You wonder why it took so long for you to get started and with just a couple months of success things start falling into place and the path to better health is clear and open for you to walk down as you taste the success of losing some extra baggage.

I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be one, I also do not claim to be an expert in weight loss so with a grain of salt this post is offered, always consult a physician before starting in on new exercise and or diet plans.

Thanks for reading along and I hope that you took something away from this that could help you in a positive way.

As Ever
Me