Six Days, Four Pounds

Keeping Progress

As the title hints, I have lost four pounds in the last six days. This great early progress, but I also know that things will even out over the next one to two weeks to a more consistent one to one and a half pounds per week. I will certainly take this, though.

One thing that has been very eye opening for me is how out of control my caloric intake must have been. Given my weight, my target number of calories per day is 2,760; this target allows me to lose 1.4 pounds per week. My resting calorie target (that is, if I lay in bed all day) is 2,286 (this is call the basal metabolic rate, or BMR). To put into perspective how huge these numbers are (and how heavy I am), in order to lose one pound a person needs to burn approximately 3,000 more calories than s/he consumes, and most males are recommend to eat about 2,000 calories/day.

While it is incredibly easy to hit my calorie targets right now, I have to keep in mind that I need to make every calorie count. To do so, I'm going to start brown bagging my lunch. This will not only save me $20-$30/week in lunch money, it will also ensure that I know what I am eating and almost certainly reduce my saturated fat and sodium. Also, I work in a hospital; my food will taste better than the cafeteria's.

More Numbers

Not only will I measure my weight every Sunday evening, I will also have my girlfriend measure me; in space (or volume, if you may). Here are the numbers:

• Hip (what most people call their waste): 42 inches
• Waist (directly above my belly button): 47 inches
• Neck (and to think I'm cramming this into 17.5" shirts!): 18.25 inches

I'm a very analytical and numbers-driven guy, and while movement in these numbers will keep me on track the waist measurement is just plain scary. Specifically, a men's waist greater than 40" (36" for women) is an indicator for increased risk of heart disease. Given heart disease runs in my family, I need as few risk indicators as possible.

Keeping Track

As a quick update, I am on track from a nutritional standpoint. Every day this week but one I have consumed the requisite number of calories to hit my target weight of 180 by December 31, 2012, and that one day I was only over by about 300 calories (this was made up by other days in which I consumed fewer calories than needed). I have also learned two things about my diet:

1. I never thought I was a salt person, but my use of frozen meals (even the Kashi ones) tends to put me slightly over my daily sodium intaken; sodium, when over-ingested, is bad for the heart
2. While I do not over-eat fat (i.e. I stay under the 84 grams recommended for daily fat intake; note these 84 grams are based on my caloric intake, which is in turn based on my weight), my saturated fat tends to be high (20-27 grams/day); this, too, is bad for the heart, and I have not yet cracked the code on reducing it

I cheated and did a mid-week weigh-in and am down two pounds; the official weigh-in will be tomorrow night. I am also having my girlfriend measure my neck, girth, and hips tomorrow so I can start tracking to that, too (you can calculate rough body fat percentages with these numbers plus heigh and weight).

For those of you who have adjusted your diet to healthier decisions you likely went through the same thing I did this week: you constantly feel hungry. The good news is that I am starting to get over the constant hunger, and I will now have the energy to get back in the gym. Next week I will start tracking my workouts. For now it is just to increase my calorie burn, but in 4-6 months it will be to stop being flabby.

Here's to looking good naked!

Tools for Success

As the title to this posting suggests, I am covering what I deem as the tools for success in this life change. This is not intended to lay out the requisite mental and emotional tools; mental toughness and motivation are baseline requirements to be successful in an endeavor such as this. Instead, I am going to focus on the more pragmatic.

First, I bought a bathroom scale. I have not owned a bathroom scale in well over two years, and it certainly shows. Perhaps if I had this mechanism to help keep me in check I wouldn't have let myself go as far as I have.

Second, I bought a food scale. Everyone has their main struggle in maintaining a healthy lifestyle (be it smoking, living a sedentary life, etc.), and mine is by far portion control. It is amazing how full you can get on 5 ounces of chicken; it is equally as amazing how large chicken breasts actually are out of the package (10-12 ounces is common). On a side note, what do these chickens look like? I've seen a chicken, and 24 ounces of breast meat is just ridiculous. Anyways, weigh and measure everything; it is the only way to know what is actually entering your body.

Finally, and illustrating my tech-geeky-ness, I purchased an iPad and iPhone app called MyNetDiary. It is super easy to use (it is designed for Apple devices, after all), contains a food database of over 450,000 items, and it even tells you how many calories you should eat based on your goal and current weights. Finally, it also calls out when the non-primary nutritional elements (I include calories, fat, carbs, protein, and fiber as the primary nutritional elements) are out of whack, such as sodium and calcium (i.e. it not only keeps your weight goals on track, it also points you to healthy choices). The cost of this app is $9.99 (far less than most diet books), and it syncs across both devices and a web site.

Life Changes, Focus Changes

Two-hundred Fifty-six

That is where this story ends, but let me lay out some background as to how I got (back) here. Since my last post in January 2009 some pretty significant changes have taken place in my life, the largest of which being a divorce. I also went through a pretty rough period at work that ended in me switching organizations. Finally, in the last 15 months I have resided in five different addresses.

Each of these events are valid stressors, but the only reason why I put back on nearly all of the weight I worked so hard to take off is I took my focus off of taking care of my body. While I feel sick to my stomach (and in full disclosure, I am fighting back tears right now) typing these words, it is very important for me to acknowledge to myself that I lost my way.

One-hundred Eighty

The new story starts with a real goal. Despite not achieving this goal the first go-round (I did get down to about 210 pounds) I am as determined as ever to do it. For those who know me...well...at all...failure is not something with which I cope well. More importantly, I change those things necessary to prevent me from failing in the future.

The requisite changes I have made exhibit two major themes: stability and work-life focus. Regarding stability, I am committed to live in the same address for at least two years (for the record, I have changed addresses 26 times in the last 15 years). To help my work-life focus, I have accepted a position that allows me to sleep in my own bed every night, and I am committed to take at least one class on something this year.* Finally, and touching both stability and work-life focus, I will not do things in my work life that will disrupt the stability of my personal life (i.e. taking an assignment that requires unpredictable hours or time away from those things important to my personal life).

Finally, and I have not yet figured out how often I will post pictures, I do want to create a photo journal of sorts to help track progress. I will still track the numbers, but seeing my flabbiness posted on here will keep me motivated (lucky for you, I have a body-length mirror in my bedroom!).

*Note: I am stuck on taking a class on meditation, health care economics, or vocal lessons; I may end up attending all three.

I'm Back!

Recap of Numbers

Before getting into where I have been and what I have been doing, let's post some updated numbers:

Date	Weight
November 2007	267
June 16, 2008	229*
October 16, 2008	237
January 3, 2009	223

*Note: Judging by the parity between the bathroom scale and real scale I have most recently been weighing on, I am making the assumption that the bathroom scale is 10 pounds under.

So there you have it:

1. I lost 38 pounds over a 7 month period
2. I put 12 pounds back on in my first five months back on the job
3. I have lost 14 pounds since re-focusing on my weight
4. I am now 44 pounds lighter than I was just 14 months ago

Now about how I have re-focused...

Cliche, but hey, it works!

I started going to Weight Watchers on October 16, and, as you can see, it has worked wonderfully. I can't take credit for this decision, as it was my wife's idea. After skipping workouts, going out to eat one too many times per week, and totally pigging out on our honeymoon, she suggested that we try this program together.

This works for two reasons: I am being held accountable each week, and it idiot-proofs your diet. On the first front, I have a weigh-in every week in front of the same person. Even though the employees are completely professionaly and non-judgemental, I just hate failing in front of others (for those of you familiar with the book, I am an Achiever as noted in Now, Discover Your Strengths). Secondly, the points system is pretty easy to follow. I have also mastered the fine art of maximizing volume per point.

It is also very important to note that without Nicole and I supporting each other in this, neither of us would be seeing the success we have (she has also lost weight into the double-digits).

Plateaued...

Alright folks, it's time for me to plateau. I know that I haven't been writing on here as regularly, and, unfortunately, that has also been the case in my workouts. Over the last two weeks, I have worked out four times (compared to five times per week before), and I also ate a steak the size of my head. Here are the numbers:

	June 16	June 9	Nov 2007
Weight	219	219	267
Blood Pressure	127/80	Sunburn	160/115
Heart Rate	77	Hurts	103*

*Taken from March 10 reading

As a side note, Nicole and I went camping the weekend of June 6-8, and I walked around with a muscle shirt on all day on Saturday. I was quite sunburnt; very lobster-like.

Now back to the plateau thing. Over the past five weeks I have netted only one pound of weight loss. I blame no one but myself for it. I just need to make sure that I am getting in my time exercising while staying away from the cookie tray at work. It was certainly a lot easier to do this when I wasn't working.

I also went to the doctor on Saturday, and my blood pressure cuff might not be so accurate. Although a marked improvement from my November numbers, he measured me three times right around 148/90. I have an appointment in four weeks, and I am to bring my cuff so that he can double check it. I so don't want to be on blood pressure medication; this is yet another motivator to keep active and eat right.

Busy Times

Continued Progress

I have not gone anywhere, and I am just as focused as ever to continue down the healthy path. Here are this week's, last week's, and Novembers numbers:

	June 2	May 26	Nov 2007
Weight	219	221	267
Blood Pressure	126/82	133/83	160/115
Heart Rate	73	64	103*

*Taken from March 10 reading
I had a few Memorial Day bratwursts and burgers, and, combined with an inconsistent workout schedule, I did put on a pound from May 19 to May 26. This does not bother me at all, because the trend is still downwards.

The heart numbers are also holding strong. I still can not get over how much the blood pressure has dropped. I am almost at a healthy level!

Addition to the Equation

So now that my six month layoff is officially over, I have to manage my time so that I still can fit in workouts. This is going to be difficult because the gym does not open early enough for me to workout in the mornings, and I am going to be getting home around 6:30 every night. It is significantly easier to work out when you don't have anything to do during the day outside of watching King of the Hill on FX.

Now that I am talking through it, perhaps the challenge isn't time management so much as motivation and drive.

My motivations:

• An October 4 wedding
• Not having a heart attack way too young
  
• Actually, not having a heart attack at all
• Being able to buy more smaller clothes