Stay Focused…Hey is that a Bear?

Almost because of pure convenience I had some chicken and raw broccoli from Trader Joe’s the other day. I’m not sure whether its the fact that chawing of the raw broccoli requires mental focus and thus makes me more present and thus more satiated or the fact that my GI tract just can’t push  6 oz. of raw broccoli through that quickly because it is not ‘mushy’ at all…but, I it makes me very, Very, full.

Night feeding is still my down fall. Last night I ate like a champ, and was extremely full. My wife ordered a pizza and I ate half of it. I really need to just knock myself out after I get my evening meal into my stomach…that or get out of the house!  

I have tried MAX-OT training out over the last few weeks, and I have to say that I have both enjoyed it and it has made my body feel much better than the way I was doing things before. I am trying to lean out and so had been doing several sets of 12-25 reps. MAX OT prescribes a couple sets of 4-6. My core muscles seem to get a workout just from swinging dumbells into position. As long as my joints hold up I think i am going to stick with this for awhile!

Well after a few days I think I have figured out an eating plan that works for me. When I say it works I mean that I don’t really feel hungry until the end of the day, I eat dinner and I am fine until just before bed when I get hungry again. Just before bed I have an herbal tea with Splenda and it satisfies my craving for sweet enough to get to sleep. I’m not super thrilled with how I feel at night but it feels mildly uncomfortable as opposed to unbearable. I’m not white knucking it. It has been a week and I am down 2 lbs. I know that I ought to be satisfied but its tough to feel like I have changed my lifestyle only to see a 2 lbs change! I know I am only at the start, but ugghhh I am so impatient!!

I figure that 2 lbs a week is fine as long as I keep losing. I will get to where I want to go eventually!

I have been on track for the last few days but I had a business lunch, and a few other commitments which prevented me from eating my normal foods. Honestly with planning I probably cold have managed to only deviate on one meal but I did not plan. It seems like a basic ‘no duh’ lesson for me but obviously I still need to learn it. I had chicken and vegetables at lunch, and a vege eggwhite omlette for dinner. Good choices but there was some cheese involved that made me suspect I would be up for the day. When I got home at about 8:30pm I was feeling hungry. I thought to myself, ‘well I’m going to be up tomorrow anyway, why not eat something that feels good?’ Then it occurred to me just because I am going to be up 0.5lbs why make it 2.5 lbs? I had some herbal tea and went to bed.

So I ended up being up 0.4 lbs this morning but felt very good that I didn’t just eat the world when I got home because I deviated from my plan. Despite and incremental gain yesterday was a big win for me because I didn’t use it as an excuse to derail my process completely.

I saw a MadTv video yesterday on BodySpace called ‘Eat Less, Move More.’ Hysterical. It seems like for me its as much about habits as

Now I got on the scale this morning and thought…damn!..only 0.2 lbs. Two lbs per week means about 0.3 lbs per day. So the difference is 45g between 0.2lbs and 0.3lbs. It seems like if I cut 45g of fat out of my diet today and maintain everything else I ought to be down by an additional 0.1 lbs tomorrow.

So I go to my refrigerator to grab the 10oz. of pre-cooked chicken breast for lunch and its not there. DId I eat it yesterday? Did my wife eat it? WTF!? Ok don’t panic there is some uncooked chicken breasts in the back of the fridge, in 30 minutes I’ll be all set….Damn! They are expired. Just then it occurs to me that this is where I typically crew myself. Great excuse to just grab whatever is handy, like chilli, or pasta or something else that is tasty but not on my list of approved foods. Fortunately I had some frozen Tialpia filets in the freezer. Three 4 oz. fillets later with some sour cream and salsa and I am a happy guy. The Sour Cream is a little fatty but I am more carb and calories focused right now than fat intake focused. I feel very, very staisfied. Topping it off with a little herbal tea with some stevia…sweet =)

So I go to my refrigerator to grab the 10oz. of pre-cooked chicken breast for lunch and its not there. DId I eat it yesterday? Did my wife eat it? WTF!? Ok don’t panic there is some uncooked chicken breasts in the back of the fridge, in 30 minutes I’ll be all set….Damn! They are expired. Just then it occurs to me that this is where I typically crew myself. Great excuse to just grab whatever is handy, like chilli, or pasta or something else that is tasty but not on my list of approved foods. Fortunately I had some frozen Tialpia filets in the freezer. Three 4 oz. fillets later with some sour cream and salsa and I am a happy guy. The Sour Cream is a little fatty but I am more carb and calories focused right now than fat intake focused. I feel very, very staisfied. Topping it off with a little herbal tea with some stevia…sweet =)

I have stuck to my eating/nutrition plan for two days now. I find myself asking the same questions I did at the start of the year…am I fit yet, did I lose 10 lbs yet? I am not good at all with waiting a week to do measurements. Intellectually i get that there are ebbs and flows with weight loss and I need to give my body a chance to change. I will say that my body felt good this morning after I shook the sleep from my eyes. I think what went through my mind was that ‘if I feel this good I must have lost at least 0.5 a pound!’ Ok not quite. But I suppose I can be happy with my body feeling good =). 

The last couple days I am fine during the day but as I get to dinner time I start to get hungry and a little foggy headed. I think that I am probably at the greatest risk for not complying to my plan at this time. That is good information for me. Probably I need to make sure that I have a tasty dinner planned (and prepared) and ready to go.

Slow steady progress is all I need. I just need to keep repeating that to myself!! 

I have been having trouble getting back on track after falling off the horse a few (several) months ago. BodySpace is such a great resource because it reminds me that lasting change can be made.

So as I am struggling with working out more than I’m capable of, and making meal plans that I can’t stick to beyond lunch, it occurred to me that at the beginning of the year I made steady progress for two months. Fortunately I kept a journal of everything I ate every day. Its seems like if I just repeat those same steps I ought to get the same result.

It seems like for me that my two biggest issues are: 1) I am both afraid of being hungry and hate the feeling of being hungry; and 2) When I get pissed off I want to eat. I think I can take care of the first one with good planning, and figuring out over time which foods I find to be the most satisfying. The second issue probably requires me to figure out a better way to cope with my anger. It has been hard for me to admit that I eat to make myself feel better, but if I’m honest, that is just the way I behave right now.

That’s all for now. Best of luck to you all with your work outs and nutrition plans!

The last couple weeks I have been passive about getting in shape. Specifically I did not set any goals or give myself any guidlines other than stay active and eat healthy. My thinking was to be low key and non-judgemental. I like the idea but it just wasn’t working.

Being extreme has worked for me in the past so I am going to do the following:

1. No carbs other than vegetables, almonds, salsa, and one lattee a day. Stay under 2,300 calories.

2. 2 hrs of working out everyday

3. Take a status pick at every 5 lb. increment

 I know that if I stick to the above I will absolutely lose weight.