More Energy, More Progress, More Motivation

I weighed yesterday for the local Home Depot "Biggest Loser" and I am excited that I can report that I weigh 287 (286.8) pounds. I can attribute that to many things, but here is a partial list:

1) I am drinking only water (and an occasional cup of coffee). Let me tell you, going without Diet Coke was extremely challenging for the first few days, but I am over it, and it is helping with the finances as well.

2) I have kept my portions (and therefore, calories) under control. I have even gone as far as figuring my Base Metabolic Rate and subtracting 1,000 calories from that to get my daily calorie allotment. If you take in 1,000 calories less than you burn each day, at the end of 7 days, you will have a deficit of 7,000 calories, or two pounds.

3) I am exercising on the bike for a longer duration. I had a bike ride of 45 minutes on Friday since I had pizza at our food day at work. I survived, and I will now be able to go for longer.

4) I am focusing on what I can do, not on what I cannot do. I have long been a disciple of positive mental attitudes, but seeing that come to a productive fruition is rewarding, to say the least.

5) I haven't eaten out for a few weeks. This allows me to control the calories and portions without leaving it to somebody else.

6) I have become extremely focused on intake and calories burned. I have set up a spreadsheet that calculates to the tenths how many calories I ingest and expend. Numbers don't lie and I like the truth that they are reporting.

Have a great day, the book outline is done and should be complete by summer.

It's March, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Okay, it has been over five weeks since I was on here, and I weighed 304 pounds. I wasn't really all that fired up about it, but there has been some change lately. I have been doing a lot of soul-searching lately and plenty of research and picking up ideas from other areas.

Now I am motivated.

I started in earnest on Ash Wednesday. Now, let it be know that I am not Catholic, but since I have been 18, I have given up something during Lent (which represents 40 days (minus Sundays) of the Passover). There were times that I have given up meat. There were times that I have given up dessert. These were fine, but it usually vexed my parents because my birthday is during Lent and they like to have dinner, along with a cake, on my birthday.

This year it is soda. I don't drink the sugared ones, I have always had a taste for diet, be it Tab, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet 7-Up, etc. I realize that although there isn't sugar, the carbonation affects the calcification of your bones and can make them more brittle as you age. It also costs money.

Since Ash Wednesday, I have become a bit more anal in that I put everything onto a spreadsheet that I put into my mouth. I figured by BMR (base metabolic rate) and how many calories I would need to ingest in order to lose 2 pounds a week.

I have stuck with that.

I weighed on the scale at my day job this morning and I am down to 294! To many of you, that still makes me morbidly obese, but I also exercise at least three times a week, and my pants are not as tight as they were.

I also have begun a book about this that will share tips for others to lose weight and achieve their goals as well.

More on that as it develops.

I hope that you are having success, and if I can be of any assistance, you can always post on here and I will get the message (or I am on Twitter at philippwilson or email at philippwilson@aol.com).

Have a GREAT day!

Oops, My Bad

When I reported my weight on Tuesday, I stated that it was 305, it was actually 304. I was just so excited to have actually lost the little weight that I did that I rushed through the post and subtracted 3 pounds from the beginning weight.

I still haven't been eating out on a regular basis, especially during the week. There has been a great deal of diligence in taking my lunch to work and eating leftovers for dinner. Tonight I will prepare some beans and rice to take for a while (I like beans and rice because they are low-fat, low-calorie, and cheap). At my day job, I often ask how little lunch costs. When the cost rises above $0.50, there is usually a gasp and a question of my sanity for spending so much.

Such is the frugal life.

I will have another recipe for you by Sunday posted on here, thanks for all the questions.

Have a GREAT day!

That's More Like It

Since yesterday was a holiday (Martin Luther King Jr birthday), I was not able to weigh at my day job. I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed this morning and the scale read 305. That's 4 pounds in two weeks. At this pace it will be the 100 pounds that I have set as my goal.

It helps that when I ate out this weekend, it was two bean burritos from Taco Bell and a few slices of Papa Johns pizza (that lasted 3 meals for me and 1 meal for my wife). It also helps with the budget.

It was nice that I was able to take our dog out for a walk (she loves walks, the longer the better) yesterday afternoon since I was off. I won't be able to this week since I don't get home until after dark (and the dog is blind).

Have a GREAT day!

Let The Games Begin

I drove from my day job on lunch hour to weigh in for the Biggest Loser contest at our local Home Depot. I was mildly surprised to see that this scale was not on the same calibration as the one at my day job. I weighed in at 301 pounds, which is six pound lighter than what I weighed on Monday. I seriously doubt that I would have lost six pounds in two days. I will still use the weight from Monday (although for the Biggest Loser contest, I have to stick with Home Depot's "official" scale.

Still no eating out, but I took the last of the black-eyed peas (along with a cup of rice) for lunch and we ate spaghetti leftovers for supper. My wife and I used to almost never eat leftovers for supper: in fact, we used to eat out for nearly every evening that I wasn't working at Home Depot or she didn't have a work activity. I know that eating out ruined my waistline as well as ran up my credit cards to unbelievable heights (you can read about that here).

I will be riding the bike for 15 minutes as soon as I get home this evening.

Have a GREAT day!

Renewal

Yesterday was a much better day. Supper was homemade stir fry and not as much butter or oil was used (plus I made smaller portions), so the meal was not as full of calories as it could have been. Plus...

...the bike was ridden for 14 minutes (yes, I know, it doesn't seem like much). My goal is to add a minute a day that I ride until I am up to 30 minutes (and it will qualify as aerobic activity). Once that point is reached, I will as a minute for every week, so that by end of summer I will be up to one hour of riding. The great thing about the exercise bike is that you can manually enter resistance and it has a heart rate function that will ensure that you are staying within the aerobic target zone.

I am also stoked because I get to weigh in at Home Depot for the beginning of our own Biggest Loser contest. This will give me a little "extra" incentive to succeed. Of course I appreciate all the support that you send me as well.

Have a GREAT day!

At Least it is Progress

When I came into work at my full-time job, I immediately stopped by the fitness center and weighed. I was disappointed, but not surprised that I had lost one pound.

It is a start.

There are several reasons why I did not lose more:

* I only exercised four days (Monday through Thursday). It got more difficult as the weekend came, but I will do better this week.

* I ate lunch out one day instead of just what I brought. My trainer treated, and it was more calorie and fat-wise than I normally eat for lunch.

* I fixed dinner for my in laws last night (spaghetti and home-made rolls). I usually tend to eat a lot when that meal is prepared.

* There was a bit of stress when the pipes froze in the bathroom and the kitchen. I tend to overeat when I am stressed.

Thanks for all of your support and here's to a GREAT week!