Planning? What planning?

I cut my calorie intake from ~2200 to ~1600 on Sunday. I'm only two or three days into it and I can see that my meal planning is going to take... uhhh... some actual planning. :)

Yesterday I consumed a little over 1600, but I did burn 400 in a workout so it brings it well under my limit. That was a good day. I didn't starve myself, and I got to enjoy food I like. (FYI... a Lick's hamburger patty alone has 300 calories!)

Today, which is supposed to be one of my non-workout-break days, I'm already down to just under 500 remaining for supper if I want to keep it under 1600. I guess that's not bad — it works out to almost a third of the daily total for one of three meals. But, there's talk of fajitas for supper. I may have to get in some unplanned workout time before that, just in case.

I really hope I see some good progress by Friday's weigh-in. It'll be a huge motivator to let me know that I'm back on the right track. I already told my wife that even though there's a Sen's hockey game on TV Thursday, which can mean homemade "hockey pizza" night, I'd prefer that we skip it and have pizza for Saturday's game instead.

Kickin' into overdrive... or something — Week 20 progress

UGH.

Another fail this week. Fuck.

I think I finally figured out what I'm doing wrong, aside form enjoying weekly pizza and wings which I refuse to give up. ;)

On the LiveStrong.com site where I track my calories, the "level of activity" that I had specified is probably set to higher than it really is, therefore allowing me to consume more calories than I should. So, when I get close to my maximum for the day, I am probably over. I had it set to the second lowest because I took my workouts into account. I suspect that they're referring to your activity not including workouts. Looking back on my progress, it makes sense. When I was losing, my caloric intake was well below the max and I lost weight.

I fixed it and it reduced it by about 600 calories per day. That brings me into the same range as when I was losing.

I wish I had figured this out sooner.

Another milestone reached — Week 18 progress

This morning I weighed 240 lbs. So now I'm 27 lbs down from what I was when I started.

That's a big milestone for me. Not because I lost 3 lbs since last week (that's great too!) but because every pound I lose from here on basically puts me at a weight I haven't been in about 25 years.

I also reached the #2 spot on the Your Shape Fitness Evolved leaderboard for Canada earlier this week. :)

I really need to go buy some new jeans.

Back on track... again — Week 16 progress

I must be losing my mind.

First, I forgot to write my week 15 progress. Second, I'm sure I started writing my week 16 progress — including something for week 15 — twice now, and yet, I still have nothing posted. Ugh.

So anyway, despite the fact that I had gained about 1½ lbs for week 15, that's not why I didn't write it. I simply forgot. I think the fact that I had a cold that weekend was a contributing factor.

The good news is that for week 16 I lost the 1½ lbs I gained and a bit more, putting my weight at the lowest it's been in about 6 or 7 years. In 3½ lbs, and every pound after, it'll put me at my lowest in about 25 years.

That's going to be a major milestone for me.

Plateau? What plateau? — Week 14 progress

I not only broke through the plateau, I killed it, shedding 3½ lbs this past week.

From what I can tell, it was a combination of using my hand weights with all of the Cardio Boxing routines, instead of just the slow ones, reducing my increased water consumption a little to something more easily managed (without making my bladder want to explode), and maybe the 2-day break from working out that I took earlier in the week? I'm not entirely sure, but I won't argue.

We'll see how this week goes.

Back on track? — Week 12 progress

I'm not entirely sure whether eating a little more more or changing my workout fixed it, but I did manage to get back to losing this week. Not much mind you, but it's not a gain.

And then on Saturday, out of curiosity, I stepped on the scale and noticed I had lost a bit more. As of this morning, I was down to 248lbs. Keeping my fingers crossed for this week.

Plateau — Week 11 progress

A not-so-happy weigh-in this morning.

I was good with keeping the calorie intake low this week — better than in previous weeks — and yet, there was no loss this week. In fact, there was about a 1 lb gain.

That brings up two possibilities.

The first is that I have officially hit a plateau.

The second possibility that crossed my mind, one that my wife also mentioned, is that maybe I haven't eaten enough and my body is going into storage mode. It makes sense. In past weeks, I would occasionally slip and consume more than I should on a day or two, or get pretty close to my max, and despite that I was still able to lose. My max calculated intaje is supposed to be around 2100-2200. In the last seven days, I was over 1500 calories once, and the rest were in the 1200-1300 range, after subtracting workout calorie burn. Maybe there is some logic to that.

I guess I'll focus on eating a but more for this week. I'm also going to change my usual workout program in YSFE to something with a little more cardio and see how that pans out.

Holding steady – Week 10 progress

Friday's weigh-in had me at 248.4 lbs. My progress this past week has slowed down. My calorie intake wasn't beyond the limits, but my workouts were few and far between as my time was a somewhat limited most days.

Anyway, it continues, that's all that matters. :)

Milestones - Week 9 Progress

A day early, but I'm feeling a little bored.

I passed a personal milestone on Friday; I weighed in below 250 lbs for the first time in 6 or 7 years, at 249.8 lbs. At that time, when I last made an attempt to lose weight, I got down to 240 lbs before I hit a road block.

240 lbs is my next milestone. I don't remember the last time I weighed less than 240. I suspect it was some time back in the mid-80s, right afer I left the military.

I am less than 10 lbs away from that milestone.

Stready as I go - Week 8 progress

I was down to 252½ lbs this past week, but in the last two days I put a couple back on. It's not like I went crazy and over my calorie limit, so I'm not entirely sure what happened. I guess stuff like that will happen anyway. I'm not going to be too concerned about it, for now. :)

My workouts are still once every two days. I find I have way more energy this way. Perhaps that parts of why I put a couple of pounds back on...

I'm still doing the cardio boxing as my main workout, with a 3lb weight in each hand. I'm noticing that they're getting easier than when I first started using weights, which is pretty cool.

I took my measurements a at some point this week and also managed to find the measurements I took in mid-December. Neck, waist, chest and hips were all down anywhere from a ½ inch to 1½ inches. More progress. :)

No excuses now - Week 7 progress

I survived the Christmas and New Year indulgences.

Overall, it wasn't anywhere near as evil as I expected it to be and I managed to say somewhat on track. My weight this morning was just under 257 lbs.

I managed to break the 9000 calorie mark at the end of December and I'm just over 500 calories away from reaching 10,000 calories. 10,000 is the last calorie achievement on Xbox Live. When I started this, it seemed so far away.

So anxious to get below 250 lbs. :)

More than just the turkey got stuffed - Week 6 progress

I should have seen it coming after the Christmas morning breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and hash browns exceeded half of my daily calorie intake.

Despite switching from working out daily to every two days, I had to work out yesterday to counteract the evil to come in the form of Christmas dinner. On the plus side, the workout yesterday was the biggest calorie-burner for me this month at 459 slayed calories.

Dinner came and went. It was damn good, but I paid for it adding ~2000 calories to the ~1400 I ate at breakfast. And that doesn't even include the 7 or 8 beers later in the evening. It sure adds up quickly. It's no wonder I am the weight I am.

Anyway, the weigh-in this morning turned out to be no worse than yesterday's weigh-in at around 258. This leaves me at around 2lbs over my lowest so far, so all things considered, I'm not in bad shape (no pun intended). Since I'm off work for the Christmas holidays, I have a week to work it off -- again -- before New Years Eve arrives.

My wife bought me some 3 pound weights for Christmas to use with my workouts. I tried them yesterday when I did my YSFE cardio boxing. They even recommend using hand weights with some of the workouts. What a difference. It's too bad that there's no way to account for using weights in the workouts. I'm sure more calories are being burned and not counted.

Weigh in - Week 5 progress addendum

As I said I would be, I was under 260lbs this morning at 259.2. :)

I must have jinxed myself in the process, as I was unable to get my workout done this evening due to unpredictable people traffic in my house around my usual time. Had I known there would be people in and out of here, I would have done it in the afternoon. Not a huge deal. I was still under my 2000 calories for the day -- by around 25. :)

I think my brain is being reprogrammed when it comes to food.

First, I was out Christmas shopping with my kids this afternoon. When we were done, they wanted ice cream from Laura Secord. I bought them each a single scoop in a waffle cone. I didn't have any. Just as we were about to leave the mall, I thought about picking up some onion rings from A&W because that's what we did last year when we were finished shopping. Then I thought about what that would do to my daily calorie intake... not to mention the sodium. I quickly scrapped that idea.

There was a lot of baking going on in my house this afternoon and this evening, in preparation for the Christmas holidays. My wife likes to make all kinds of goodies for her co-workers and family, and for when we have friends over. Despite the awesome smell in the house, I didn't indulge in the yummy treats. At one point, my wife even offered me some, holding it within reach and I declined.

It seems to get easier the more I refuse to give in to the temptation(s).