Week 7 – See Saw
Sorry for the delay – spent most of today working at my future brother-in-law’s house doing some serious painting!
For some reason, this week seemed extremely long. I felt like I ran the gamut of eating, from having top notch days of calculating and hitting my goals to letting go and having an extra slice of pizza or not tracking anything.
We spent the weekend in my hometown to celebrate my Gram’s 90th birthday and also my dad’s birthday (which happens to be today, so if you’re reading this, happy birthday dad!). Needless to say, it was a fun, food-filled weekend. I felt like I made some relatively good choices, but at times I knew I wasn’t. Pick your battles.
As for the rest of the week, things went fairly well. There was another round of chili (and I don’t think I can duplicate that recipe) and we splurged a little for Valentine’s day.
I really need to go to the gym. I didn’t see the interior of that place at all last week. Time to stop making excuses and get back there. It plays a major role in what I eat as I tend to pay attention more after a workout. Dinnertime is where I tend to over eat, so hitting the gym first will make an impact.
Weight Loss: +2.5
Total to Date: -17.5
Week 6 – Back on Track in a Big Way
Week 6 was a little different in the eating department. My fiancee was out of town for a conference and her brother is staying with us briefly until his home purchase is finalized. Guys week. So, we made a decision pretty early on in the week that we were going to have a salad every night for supper. Now that may seem pretty blah to sit down to a pile of rabbit food on a nightly basis, but it actually was awesome. We mixed up what we put on for dressings and different meats which gave it plenty of variety.
We also decided that for lunches we’d whip up a crockpot chili that would last us the rest of the week as well. I’ve gotta tell you, he makes a killer chili with ground turkey and chicken sausage. Healthy, spicy and delicious. Once I find out what his secret is, I’ll post it on here. Then again, he may never give it up!
I’d monitored my weight to see how I was progressing throughout the week, and it went really well. I actually only went to the gym once this week for a variety of bad excuses, but it didn’t hurt my overall weight loss this week.
On another note, I did find out I wasn’t selected for what I thought would be the next step in a career path I’d chosen. Instead of getting discouraged and either pigging out or boozing, I decided to sit down and write out a plan for myself to reach my goal in a different way. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with a great network of professional and personal contacts that always seem to be at the ready when I give them a call or send an e-mail. Certainly the end of this story isn’t written, but I hope it resolves itself in the coming months.
And I think in Week 6, it really hit me – Dr. Lou isn’t trying to get us to just participate in a weight loss challenge; he wants us to take an active role in good eating and exercise habits for ourselves. I realized that I’ve been working at this for about a month and a half now, and I feel that I’m making better decisions and it reflects in weight loss and overall mental and physical health.
This is the marathon of life; there isn’t any tape to break crossing the finish line, because there isn’t a true finish line (well, I guess death would be the metaphorical finish line). I’ve just always looked for a finish line when it came to diet and exercise. Flipping the mental switch will be a huge long-term help.
Ok, I’ll get off my philosophical soap box now. But all in all, I’d sum it up as a solid week.
Monday AM update: Really pumped about a double digit loss this week! Hoping this is the breakthrough.
Weight Loss: -10.5
Loss to Date: 20
Week 5 – Super Blow
Yeah, about that Super Bowl eating article that never came to fruition – I could’ve used it. This weekend I commenced in a binge of wing eating and beer drinking that would leave most people on the floor if attempted. So in a Cliff’s Notes version of the post that went unwritten, I should’ve done this:
1) Not gone out;
2) Grazed on some veggies and watched out for high calorie dips and apps;
3) Drank only a couple of beers and mixed in plenty of water in between beers.
Instead, I went out, feasted and paid the piper dearly this past week. After flirting with disaster in Week 4, I realized disaster in a big way this week with a GAIN of 5 pounds! Without question, I earned it. The number on the scale wasn’t at all surprising.
Reality is, I’ve been on this crash course for about three weeks, and there isn’t a defensible excuse for it. I’ve spent too much unnecessary focus on career, laying awake at night wondering who I’ll hear from next, playing out all of the scenarios in my head of what may or may not happen, and worrying about what I’ll do if I hear a ” no.”
I’m done worrying about it. If it were meant to happen, then it will. I’m a firm believer that you are where you are supposed to be at any given time in your life. Time to push those thoughts out of my head and get some much needed restful sleep.
Hey, but there is some good news in all of this – the gym has been going along quite steadily! I’ve increased my weight training per the guidelines that were set out in the program and I’m finding that I’m getting more in sync in cardio kick-boxing.
So this week it’s time to focus up, stop worrying about what’s out of my control and stop binge eating and drinking like it’s the last party I’ll ever attend. I also need to re-commit to tracking what I eat. If I’d written down everything I consumed last week, I don’t think I would’ve done nearly as much damage as I did.
It’s been just over a month of this journey and it has definitely had its highs and lows. All in all, a great life experience. I will say that the support and encouragement has been absolutely amazing which I truly appreciate and am extremely grateful for.
Bring it on Week 6!
Weight loss: +5 (ouch!)
Total loss to date: 9.5
Week 4 – Where’s my head?
The word “ugh” comes to mind when I think about this past week. Ugh, as in, “Ugh, I feel completely unmotivated to go to the gym on non-weight lifting days” and “Ugh, I really have to count these points?” Yep, that’s how my week went.
I can’t justify what I did last week. Not controlling portions, eating things that were out of my normal nutritional values and simply lacking any self-control blew things up in a big way in Week 4. I’m confident that I gained weight, which certainly doesn’t help the effort. To get back on track, we sat down and planned our meals carefully for the week and I did the grocery shopping tonight. I felt by doing that and making the grocery store choices gave me my willpower back.
In an effort to provide some variety in workouts, I’m going to try to mix up my cardio on non-weight lifting days at the gym. Kudos to my pal Lonnie for giving me some ideas to shake things up and keep it fresh in the workout department. I’m hoping my swim coach will be ready to go this week and we can get in the pool as well.
Honestly, my head has been out of the weight loss game for a couple of weeks. I’ve been distracted by my career and recent developments that have occurred. More to come in this department, but it is something that’s been at the forefront of my mind for a while. Hopefully the details will sort themselves soon so I can put my drive and passion behind the physical and nutritional portion of my life.
This is a shortened update as later this week I’ll be adding a “Superbowl Eating” post to give some ideas of how to navigate a Superbowl party you’ll be attending or hosting. Go Pats!
Monday morning edit: I somehow lost .5, which is a miracle unto itself. That was a confidence boost this morning for sure.
Weight Loss: .5
Loss to Date: 14.5
Recipe of the Week – Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
One of the tough things about trying to eat healthier is finding some variety in what we eat. There are a lot of things we like on a weekly basis, but we also realize that we need to incorporate variety, otherwise we risk slipping back into bad habits to break the monotony. Pinterest has become a fast friend in finding some great meals.
This week’s recipe comes from Free WW Recipes via Pinterest. When I started preparing the lasagna, I was a bit skeptical. The sauce seemed thin. There didn’t seem to be a lot of chicken. There’s no way all of these ingredients could fill a 9×13 pan. Well, all of those thoughts quickly vanished as soon as I pulled the finished product from the oven. Looked and smelled great, and tasted even better. Give it a shot!
Ingredients:
12 Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles, uncooked
1 lb. Skinless Chicken Breast, cubed
3 Cups Hunt’s Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce
1 Cup Very Mild Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 1/2 Cups Water
15 oz. Nonfat Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Cup Egg Substitute
9 Slices 2% Pepperjack Cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Cook chicken over medium high heat for 4 minutes or until almost done. Stir in sauces and water. In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese and egg substitute.
Spray a 9X13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 1 Cup of sauce in the bottom of pan. Arrange 4 noodles over the sauce. Spread more sauce, then a layer of ricotta mixture. Add another layer of sauce, and repeat the whole process until you end with a layer of sauce. Cover and bake 70 minutes. Uncover and place cheese slices on top, then bake for another 15 minutes uncovered. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
Makes 9 Equal Servings
Nutritional Info Per Serving: 285 Calories; 4g Fat; 29g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; Points Plus+ 7
Week 3 – The Focus Test
Just to give you an overview, I usually begin these posts on Sunday night and finish up my thoughts from the week on Monday morning after I weigh in. My brain is essentially the consistency of molasses at 10:12pm on Sunday night after a gut-wrenching Patriots win to head to Super Bowl XVI, but here goes!
Week three brought me back to reality. I know not every week was going to be as great as the first two (dropping six and five, respectively), but I was hoping that I wouldn’t have an off week for the first month or so. Well, it happened. Calories slipped through the cracks, my week was slightly more social in nature due to some networking meetings (which by the way were excellent, but meeting those contacts in bars probably wasn’t my best play) and we weren’t as steadfast at home in planning our weekly meals.
As I mentioned in my first post, I’m not going to dwell on the missteps I took in the past. I’m going regain focus and begin this week fresh and more prepared than I was previously. This isn’t just a week to week process – the overall goal is to lead a healthier lifestyle, not just make the change until you get to where you want to go, then reach your goal, then stop at the nearest Burger King. Discouragement is also not an option. Getting bummed about a crappy week doesn’t bode well for the next week. Move on, nothing to see here.
Outside of eating, I did have a good run at the gym. Four out of seven days once again with a Saturday snowshoe adventure mixed in, which was much better than my first experience. Yesterday at the gym really boosted my confidence in my workout experience. I jogged for a whole minute on a treadmill without stopping. Yes, I realize to some that may be a warmup for a 10k, but to me, this is progress. I’m not sure I’d actually accomplished that feat since high school. Weight lifting was excellent again, and it also made me feel great adding more pounds onto the stacks for each exercise.
So I ask you, loyal readers, what do you do to regain focus in your lives? It doesn’t have to be weight loss specific, but how do you collect yourself and get back on the bus?
Thanks again for reading, and keep an eye out for a new feature I’ll be rolling out on Wednesdays highlighting a healthy recipe I’ve tried or will be experimenting during the week.
This Week: 3
Total to Date: 14
Week 2 – The Social Eating Challenge
Week two presented a few new challenges during the week that certainly tested my willpower of eating. But with strength in numbers, those challenges were much easier for me to handle.
This week, I went back to Man Club, a group of friends that normally gather every Thursday night to catch up over the week that was while enjoying a few beers and dinner. This has been an event I’ve attended regularly for about five years. To provide some perspective on what my meals used to consist of, I actually took the time to calculate what I was eating and drinking over the course of one evening and the numbers were astounding. To my estimates, I was eating and drinking OVER 3,000 CALORIES IN ONE MEAL. That’s more than an average person’s diet for one day. Poor meal choices combined with a ton of empty calories in beer made it a dietician’s nightmare and contributed heavily (no pun intended) to my overall weight gain.
As part of my healthy goals set, I decided to cut back my Thursday night trips to every other week. I also carefully evaluated what I would be eating. This week, I had two Guinness draughts, roughly two cups of popcorn, a burger with a lettuce wrap (I got heckled for a good chunk of our time there) and a side salad. Fortunately, my hecklers were also my support group, as they enjoyed grilled chicken wraps and salads as well. The bar was super accommodating and graciously accepted our nutritional changes. I walked away confident that I can continue to eat well even in a guy’s night setting.
My second opportunity for pig out occurred Saturday night at a friend’s birthday party. This was my first situation since beginning where I’d be faced with platters of food for “grazing” throughout the evening. My support group was spectacular again and I found that a lot of friends are making strides to eat healthier. There were a variety of healthy dishes available which was very encouraging. I did have two slices of pizza, but mainly stuck with the healthier fare. I did pass on the birthday cake and toothpicked a few strawberries to soothe my sweet tooth. I brought beer (MGD 64) but didn’t drink any of them.
Overall, I felt a sense of accomplishment in both of those situations. We have a very social group of friends, so this won’t be the last time I face situations like those listed above. If anything, those moments will only increase as we approach spring. Mentally I know now I have what it takes to make the right choices in those situations. If you can make a few sacrifices in those situations and be mindful of what you do eat and drink, you can own social eating!
For exercise this week, I took Saturday took my workout outdoor and did some snowshoeing. I didn’t realize what an amazing workout it truly is. After returning home, I couldn’t believe that I’d nearly sweat completely through two shirts. Hopefully we’ll get some better snow for it in the next few weeks. Outside of that, I hit the gym with only two days of rest, falling on Friday and Sunday again. The two days of weight training and three days of cardio are still working excellent. The pool in South Portland has re-opened, so here’s hoping I can get in soon for a different kind of workout.
I’m continually feeling better and my aches and pains from exercise aren’t as bothersome. Building serious momentum!
This weeks loss: 5
Total to date: 11
How do you deal with social eating? Leave your advice below!
Week One in Review
I decided that to keep my goals fresh and track my progress I would provide a weekly update to note how things went during the past week regarding diet and exercise. I think this should also keep me honest and motivated toward one of my most important goals, overall health.
Week 1 was pretty interesting. We started using the Weight Watchers Points Plus system, which makes for counting things simpler than tracking every calorie. I was definitely surprised in how much of some items I could have (apparently I had never actually eaten a full serving size of some things) and what was limited (so, that’s what an ounce of pepperoni looks like?). Starting out, I wasn’t even close to reaching the total points I needed to eat in a day. After some minor adjustments to my eating, we were on track.
One issue I did have on the eating side and probably will continue to do so is gauging how much things are worth. For example, trying to figure out what an italian sausage at Fenway Park was sort of a frustrating task, but I know that over time I’ll be able to calculate without searching the internet roughly what I’m eating for points.
On the exercise front, I was very happy with my week. I hit the gym five out of seven days, and really feel like I accomplished something. I tried spin class (future classes may have to wait until I drop a few more lbs), cardio kick-boxing (which was pretty fun) and even planned out the next three months of a weight lifting program that I will ramp up slowly over the next three months. All in all, a great gym experience, and I can’t wait for more.
For our home weight loss “competition,” I weighed in this morning to a loss of six lbs. Of course, I was hoping for about ten, but I’ll certainly take the six and run with it. Continued effort this week focusing on eating right and maintaining my gym schedule.
Until next week…
It begins…
Hi folks! I finally decided that for 2012, it was time to get back into the world of content creation and really give it better attention than I did last year. It’s just one of a few goals I have for 2012, and I’ll reveal my list of goals and give them a little more backstory and detail below.
But first, a disclaimer.
This work will be roughly edited by yours truly. Anyone knowing my grammatical experience knows that I’m a far better numbers person, so this blog may not have optimum readability, but I’ll certainly do my best to keep it interesting. I just wanted to put all of my thoughts in writing, organically, without filtering myself too much.
Now, to the crux of my first post. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I mean, much like everyone I know, I used to. At some point in our lives, a change of the calendar year has inspired all of us to resolve to do something worthy or make ourselves better in some facet of our lives. Resolutions just seem too overzealous to me. They prompt us to act outside of our comfort zone which sends us quickly back to the comfort zone we came from within the first month.
The second thing I refuse to do is get soaked up in the past. Have I made some bad decisions in my life? You bet. Do I wish I could change some situations and how things are done? Sure, who doesn’t? But I will not tune up the violin for the “woe is me” and dwell on those regrettable moments. They were learning experiences, period. The future solutions are what I’m focused on, and that’s what you’ll see in my goals.
After some careful evaluation, I’ve started listing some goals and working to achieve them. Some of them I started previous to Jan 1, and some of them I began as soon as the clock struck midnight. Without further adieu, here’s my short list for 2012:
1) What’s up Doc? For the first time in who knows how many years, I’ll actually be seeing a doctor, optometrist and dentist in the same year for preventative care. I have all of those insurance incentives, so why not use them? I believe that will give me a great idea of where I stand, and what I can do to improve those different areas of health.
2) Battle of the Bulge For all of you who know me, this has always been a sticking point. This time around, I’ve got some key allies to wage war. My better half and I have made excellent strides in the food department by planning meals for the week, measuring our portions and tracking our daily intake. It really puts into perspective what can be good or bad and how quantities can skew the nutritional value.
The second comrade that has completely changed my attitude is my new gym. Lifestyles Fitness in Scarborough has fit like a glove. I have never felt so welcomed in a gym as I am there, and my workouts reflect that. I’m not exercising trying to look good doing it; I’m doing what I can and I feel encouraged by what I’m doing. I’ve also taken the time to plan workouts for the next three months which definitely helps too.
3) Pursue the Passion A lot of people are different than I when it comes to defining their passion. Some know early on as kids what their life calling is, and then there’s me, who just figured it out in the past couple months. My goal, which may take more than 2012 to fulfill is to work in financial planning.
Now there are certainly a few different avenues to take to get there and I’m exploring every one of them. I’m consumed by books dealing with customer interactions and marketing strategies as well as news feeds dealing with current events and issues in the industry. My continued diligence will be realized sooner than later. Also, be on the lookout for a blog by me focusing on topics surrounding financial planning as well once I make the transition.
If you’ve made it this far, you either have a lot of free time or a relative interested in how I’m doing. In all seriousness, thanks for reading. I’m going to try to post weekly updates on how I’m doing in each of those areas, so stay tuned!
