Weigh in: 222.2.

I think I am on to something, I don’t know how long you can maintain this lifestyle, but if you can do it, it pays off big time.  Down another 2 pounds yesterday, I was totally happy with 1/2 a pound a day, this is awesome.  There is much to say about exercising away the same amount of calories you are taking in, then the calories your body burns daily for life supporting activities are burning more, and you are always in a caloric deficit.  Exercising this much can’t be sustainable over the long haul, but it doesn’t need to be.  You only have to do it until the weight is off.  Then you can go back to eating 2,000 calories a day and exercising and maintain that weight without issue.  Hmmmm.  Pretty good experiment going on.  Nice to see the weight coming off.

Weigh in: 224.4

I worked out with my trainer this morning, about killed me.  I think attempting to go with net 0 calories each day is not going to give me enough energy to work out hard. If you take in 1600 calories, but then exercise enough to burn 1600 calories, you have nothing left.  And I mean nothing.

Last night ended well, stuck to the diet, no treats or bad stuff yesterday.  Kind of showed with the 3 pounds lost I guess.  Today I have only had a half a grapefruit, I don’t like those things, way to sour.  Looking forward to a good lunch.

Weigh in: 224.4

I am embarrassed to admit I fell off the wagon a bit.  Had some stressful days at work, and my weight shot back up to 234.  I have since calmed it back down, got back in control of the caloric intake and weighed in this morning at 227.4. So about what I was went the I fell off the wagon.  Feeling more resolved than ever to get down to 199.  Did one hour on the bike this morning.  Plan another hour on the elliptical at lunch.  Figure if I stay at 1,600 calories a day, but exercise twice, then I will end each day at about a negative 1400 total calories.  The weight has to come off like that, HAS TO.  We shall see.  I much prefer exercising more, than eating less.  I need 1,600 calories a day just to stay sane.

Weigh in: 227.2.

I was not pleased with the weigh in this morning. I ended the day last night 745 calories below my max allowed.  So I turned up the intensity this morning on the elliptical, and went an extra 15 minutes. It is a process.  I always hate this stage, as the weight starts to slowly come off.  It is always great when you first start to lose the weigh, it flies off, then you body quickly adjusts, and it just becomes a long, drawn out battle to get anywhere.  So here we are, here is the start of the really tough period. You can’t afford to get discouraged, or weaken, just stay the course.  If you take in fewer calories than your body burns in a day, the weight will come off, but not in the rapid manner it was doing it before hand.

I ate breakfast today, but with my added exercise, I still have over 2,200 calories left in my calorie bank. That is a pretty good way to start the day.

Weigh in: 227.4

I can’t believe I missed the update yesterday, I was way low on calories, finished 800 calories below my budget.  Mostly due to skipping lunch because I had no help here at the office.  Just ate a cold chicken breast and called it good.  I am more and more convinced counting calories and then adding exercise to increase your caloric intake bank account is the best way to go.  I always thought it had to be harder than this, so I always had to have some plan. Not the case.  This has been the easiest and most fun I have had losing weight.  I don’t care what I eat, I only care how much I eat of it, to watch the calories.  I am learning a great deal about what is good and what is not by checking the caloric level of every food going in me.  I know that 9 Gobstoppers are 60 calories, but if I suck them until they are gone, they last almost 30 minutes.  Not a bad treat.

Worked out 60 minutes with my trainer this morning, after 10 intense minutes on the elliptical machine before he got there. We pretty much focused on legs, with some ab work at the end. Good workout. Good way to start the day.  I like the Tuesday, Thursday schedule better than the M, W, F.  There are fewer people at the gym, and it gives me 1 extra day to just work on the aerobics side of things, which for losing weight it great.  The trainer is more concerned with keeping my muscle mass, which keeps my metabolism up, and keeps me from looking odd as the weight comes off.  Coolio.

Good start to the day.

Lunch was an old faithful, the Gandolfo’s Hampton on wheat bread, no mayo, no cheese, no tomatoes. Just turkey, avocado, and bread.  I usually put a little mustard on there, should have done that today, it was a little dry.  I wonder if they have a little light ranch dressing, that could be tasty…  I think I will need some Gobstoppers soon, so with that 60 calories taken out, I will have 1,318 calories to eat for the rest of the day.  I need to save up, because not eating at home is killer.  It is much easier here around the office.  In fact I think I should eat a little more around here, but healthy stuff, carrots and things.  I’ll grab some stuff next time I am out.  I also got a freezer for the office, I think having some sugar-free fruit bars, and some healthy frozen meals in there probably isn’t a bad move either.  Just for those times when I can’t break away from the office, having a quick, decent meal is a good idea.  If I get to hungry, I head home and eat the world.  Not cool.

Weigh In: 230.8

One complete week in the books and weighed in at 230.  Very happy.  Started back up with my personal trainer today, we focused mostly on upper body, shoulders and back.  I left pretty beat. I had the standard Cheerios/skim milk for breakfast, then some soup and salad as Olive Garden for lunch.  I checked few Olive Garden menu items out for nutritional information in Lose It!  Good heavens.  My dad freaked out when I told him how many calories his Eggplant Parm was going to cost him.  He changed to the Minestrone Soup and Salad too.

I have enjoyed just watching calories, I think it is the only way to lose weight.  My wife has been preaching this to me, but I have tried every rotten program there is out there, to some success, but watching calories is the way to go.  The best part about it is you really start to understand how your food choices can make a differences, and what small things can really push you over the top.  So while you are losing, you are learning, and after the weight is gone, you will still have the education and knowledge to make better food choices going forward.  With some of those crazy diets, you are not eating sugar, or no carbs, or fist sizes of protein and a carb, or no fats, blah, blah, blah.  It sucks, you can’t live that way forever. I am just eating the same stuff I normally do, just eating less of the bad (sometimes way less), and more of the good, and it works out. If I want to eat more, then I better get more exercise in that day to compensate.  If I want a big greasy burger, better hit the gym hard to build up the calorie budget to a big burger withdrawal later.

Weigh in: 232.  Feeling pretty good about things, weighed in this morning at 232, so lost one pound over the weekend.  I got 50 minutes in on the bike this morning, looking forward to getting to work out with my trainer tomorrow.  He has been out of town for a week.  I am thrilled to be down a pound after the weekend, it is usually where I do a terrible job.  I didn’t do as well as I do during the week, but well enough to not have gained, which was really my goal.  Being in the office, and being busy, helps me forget food and hunger. At home it is not the case, I love to eat when I have down time.  Anyway, good start to the week.  Tomorrow morning’s weigh in will make is one week from the start of Health Kick 2009, the drive to 199.

Finished the day at a net 838 calories.  Really took in 1700 calories, but with exercise, bingo.  My wife introduced me to sugar-free Jello with Lite Cool Whip still frozen, I am a big fan.  Great treat, only 60 calories for quite a big bowl.  I must say I love Lose It!.  That program has made all this calorie counting very easy, excellent iPhone app.

Weigh in: 233  Not much to say, going to spend the rest of the day at a golf tournament.  Weekend has me worried, it is usually where I blow it, and eat my weight in junk food.  Going to try to do much better.

Weigh in: 236

Got up and exercised on the stationary bike for 60 minutes. My shins are killing me from the taking down the flags yesterday, we ran downhill a bunch, which did the trick.  I was incredibly thirsty this morning, so drank 32 oz of water while biking.  Weighed in right after and was a bit disappointed, coming in at 236, or one pound heavier than yesterday.  Maybe the water, maybe being completely backed-up, not sure.

Same old thing for breakfast, small bowl of Honeynut Cheerios and skim milk at 355 calories.  My budget today is 1293 calories, so with the exercise and breakfast included in the total I have 1,721 more calories in my daily caloric budget for the rest of the day.  I am going to try to munch a bit more through the day, see if I can avoid the lack of food headache.  If it is just a lack of sugar headache, then I am just going to have to learn to deal with it until I can work that out of my system.

Well ended the day at 1488 calories, but with exercise added in, nets out at 705 calories taken in.  Pretty low.  Probably too low.  I’ll do better tomorrow.

Weigh in: 235

I woke up feeling pretty good, no worse for wear.  I got up at 5:50 am and hit the stationary bike again.  Went 50 minutes, with 666 calories being burned.  I am switching my daily calorie intake, so my body doesn’t get too use to one set total.  Today my limit will be 1486 calories.  So I have 1,796 calories to take in for the rest of the day.  It sure makes exercise easier when you know you can eat more later, at least for me.

I really to like this Lose It! Apple App, makes keeping track of calories very easy.  I have the program set to help me lose 2 lbs. per week, but I have adjusted the suggested caloric intake down 400 calories a day to speed that up a bit. This morning I weighed in at 235, which isn’t too big a surprise.  When you take in as much food as I was taking in, and then shut it down for a day, that isn’t too uncommon for me.

Currently, my biggest concern is the weekend.  I have a golf tournament, with lots of good food being around.  In past weight lose programs I usually gave myself a day or two off on the weekends, which just makes the weigh in on Monday a real drag.  I am not doing that this time around.  I am sticking to the program, even on the weekends.  We shall see how that works.

Lunch was a sandwich from Gandolfo’s consisting of wheat bread, turkey, avocado and mustard. Currently I am at net 463 calories for the day, I have 1,023 remaining in the budget.  That should get me through dinner.

We took down the flags tonight, (with our church and boy scout troop, we put up flags in everyone’s yard in our neighborhood for each US holiday). So I am counting that as a 40 minute walk, and added that to my exercise total. Was about -130 calories.

Dinner was a burrito, which consisted of a tortilla, vegetarian refried beans, lettuce, salsa and light sour cream, for a total of 430 calories, for dessert I again had Cracker Jacks, good stuff.  I ended up with a net caloric intake of 1490 calories, so 4 calories over my budget, but close enough.  Good day.