Day 9 -- Too much fat, too little protein...

As you can see from the fact that I'm posting what should be a TUESDAY blog at midnight on Thursday, about to flip over to Friday, I'm running way behind this week -- work, and writing at home, and working out is pushing me further and further behind, it seems.

I also haven't done the best job with my meal planning and eating, you'll see from the food I've eaten these next few days. My overall calorie intake has been okay, but the actual make-up of my calorie break-down has been pretty bad.

So, with that, let me jump right in.

Breakfast

Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites

Ham -- 1 ounce

Lean pork -- 5 ounces

Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup

Yogurt

Snack

Yogurt

First dinner

Chicken breast -- 6 ounces

Fire roasted tomatoes -- 1/4 cup

Sweet potato -- 5.5 ounces

Second dinner

Some sort of beef/veggie/noodle mixture my wife made -- 1 cup

Snack

Turkey patty (no bun, just the meat)

Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup

Total for the day

Calories 1,400

Fat -- 69 grams (told you it was high)

Protein -- 104 grams (and that was LOW)

Exercise for the day

Stationary bike

36 minutes

13 miles

565 calories burned

That's about it for a quick rundown of Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by!

Day 7 Blog -- Eek! Hamburgers are EVIL

It's sooooo innocent looking.

Sitting there, beckoning you. It's almost as if you can hear its sweet, sultry voice, calling your name.

Of course you say no, how could you? You've made a commitment, a promise to change your life, to be different.

Still, it calls.

You step over, examining it. Oh, look, you think, it's lower fat. Surely that's okay, right? And you can grill it, cook away a quarter, or more, of the fat that's there, right?

What his this siren of temptation?

The plain old, juicy American hamburger.

And it is evil, I tell you, evil. 

But first, let's take a look at my Day 7.

Sunday, of course was another weekend day, which meant the schedule of eating and working and all of that was off a bit. What that means is that earlier in the day, I was a little off in my eating, not taking in nearly enough, and I probably more than made up for it later in the day.

Today was also cardio day.

So, here was the line-up

Breakfast
Greek yogurt

Lunch
Last of the grilled chicken -- 4 ounces
Salad of mixed greens and lettuce
Edamame 1/2 cup

Latte (K-cup kind, not tooo many calories)

Hamburger (6 ounces, lower fat beef)
Bun
Cheese
Ketchup/onion/tomato
Mashed potatoes (instant, 3/4 cup)

Snack
Lean pork  -- 2.5 ounces
Mashed potatoes (instant, 1/2 cup

Totals for the day:
Calories: 1,430
Fat: 54 grams
Protein: 104 grams
Diet soda: 36 ounces
Water: 80 ounces

Wow, when totaling that up, I'm really surprise how low I was on protein. My goal is to be in the range of 160 to 200 grams each day. Part of what threw me off today was the weekend schedule thing and not eating every three or so hours.

The other thing was the aforementioned hamburger, that little grilled vixen. Even with low-fat beef, ground beef is a relative high-fat, moderate-protein meat. That hamburger, with the cheese (but it's LOW FAT cheese, so it's okay, right?) and bun, accounted for more than half the fat I had today.A whopping 29.5 grams of fat in one food -- 545 total calories, once  you count the ketchup, onion and tomato (heaven help us if I'd included mayonnaise. But I resisted, even turning away the low-fat mayo).

See, even one meal -- one part of a meal -- can wreak havoc on your weight loss if you're not careful. Of course, because I had been fairly strict all week, it's not like it destroyed my efforts, but it sure didn't help! Good thing I did a little longer cardio today...

For cardio, I did stationary bike.
48 minutes
16 miles
585 calories burned

Day 6 of 60 in 60

Today was Saturday, the first weekend day I've had since starting this little diet and exercise program, which means my whole eating schedule is off from what I'm used to. Still, wasn't a bad day, really.

We also did the weight workout that was scheduled for Friday.

Food
Breakfast
Eggs - 2 whole
Turkey bacon -- 2 slices

Lunch
Protein Drink (made from protein powder, skim milk and a banana)

First Dinner
Chicken breast -- 6 ounces
BBQ dry rub

Second Dinber
Chicken shish kabobs (chicken breast, peppers, squash, onions, marinated in Italian seasoning)
I had a lot of shish kabobs, but there was very, very little on each one. So, overall the breakdown comes out about like this
Chicken breast - 6 ounces
Veggies -- 1 cup
Corn on the cob -- 1 ear
Low-cal butter -- 1 tablespoon

Snack
Latte (one of those k-cup kinds, with no added sugar, cream, none of that stuff)

Snack again
Popcorn (that diet popcorn!) -- 2 bags

Total for the day
Calories: 1,655
Fat: 55 grams
Protein: 135 calories

Well, way too high on the fat, mostly because of the oil used to marinate the kaboobs. Next time, need to go with reduced fat.

Workout
Weights

Bench press
135 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
185 pounds -- 1 set, 8 reps
225 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
205 pounds -- 1 set, 20 reps

Incline bench press
115 pounds -- 1 set, 12 reps
115 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Machine, seated chest flyes
100 pounds -- 2 sets, 12 reps each

Shoulders
Seated barbell press
65 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
95 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Front dumbbell raise
30/25 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps, split 5 and 5 with the weights
25 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Standing dumbbell side raises
15 pounds -- 1 set, 15 reps (I have to use light weights here because of my forearm/grip. that's why I often do these with the machine, so my grip doesn't come into play)

Shoulder shrugs
90 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Triceps
Seated overhead dumbbell extension
60 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps

Seated triceps machine pressdown
245 pounds -- 2 sets, 115 reps each

Abs
Machine crunch
100 pounds -- 2 sets, 15 reps each

Day 5 of 60 in 60: Coordinating workouts

I've been doing my weight workouts with my sons, which has taken some coordination since my oldest works nights and goes to school, while my youngest is working mornings. I, of course, work all the time.

Because my oldest son, who shall be known in this blog as Son No. 1, had to work on Friday night, I was under the impression from Son No. 1 that he and Son No. 2 would head to the gym early Friday and work out on their own, and I'd go down by myself when I got off work. I was under that impression because Son No. 1 told me that's what they'd do.

I ended up working late, but still would have time to get to the gym and do a quick workout with the weight machines, only to learn the boys hadn't gone to the gym, either. And given that my legs were pretty dead from the previous night's stationary bike ride, I figured there was no way I was going to do cardio tonight.

So, Friday ended up being an off day regarding workouts.

But not for the food!

So, here's my diet for the day.

Breakfast
Skipped it -- got up late

Lunch
Some of that taco meat mixture from last night:
5 ounces meat
1/2 cup kidney beans
Salsa and the greens/lettuce salad
Mozzarella cheese (1/4 cup)

Snack
Yogurt (regular, light, fat free)

First dinner
Chicken breast -- 6 ounces
Fire roasted tomatoes -- 1/2 cup

Second dinner
Taco meat (low-fat ground beef) -- 4 ounces
Salsa and lettuce/greens
Mozzarella -- 1/8 cup

Third dinner
Taco meat -- 3.5 ounces
Mozzarella -- 1/4 cup
Salsa -- 2 tablespoons

Snack (okay, I stayed up really late and got hungry)
Popcorn (that diet popcorn, that's only 110 calories per bag) -- 2 bags

Totals for day
Calories: 1,270
Fat: 37 grams
Protein: 139 grams
Diet soda -- 48 ounces
Water - 60 ounces

A little low on protein, but as you can see the whole day was off eating-wise. Woke up late, missed breakfast, didn't have time to properly pack food...

Day 4 of 60 in 60: Still at it, even if my blogging is waaaay behind...

Yep, I'm still hard at it, trying to drop that fat weight, I'm just running waaaaaay short on blogging time. So, here's the scoop, I'm going to post three quickie blogs, not making any comments or sharing any of my witty jokes or life observations (well, maybe a few), just to catch you up to what's been going on.

So, without further adieu, here's Day 4, Thursday, April 6.

Today was cardio day. So here's my food, followed by my exercise.

Breakfast
Eggs -- 2 whole ones
Lean ham -- 1.5 ounces

Lunch
Some of that taco-style mix my wife made last night, which consists of:
Lean ground beef - 5 ounces
Kidney beans -- 1/2 cup
Salsa, salad (mixed greens and lettuce)
Mozzarella cheese - 1/8 cup

Snack
Low fat cottage cheese -- 2/3 cup
Pineapple -- 2/3 cup

First dinner/Lean pork -- 7.5 ounces
Carrots -- raw baby carrots

Second dinner
Grilled chicken
Salad (mixed greens, lettuce, tomato)
Black beans -- 1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese -- 1/8 cup

Snack
Baked baby red potatoes cooked in olive oil

Totals for the day
1,535 calories
48 grams of fat
163 grams protein

Diet soda -- 48 ounces
Water -- 70 ounces

Workout -- Cardio
Stationary bike
38 minutes
12.5 miles
460 calories

60 pounds in 60 days?

Yep, that's what I've been looking for -- the perfect diet and exercise program, the one that has the weight just melting off of you.

It's out there, right? Every yahoo who's read a nutrition article or taken an exercise class thinks they have the perfect plan, it can't be hard to find, right?

Okay folks, I'll admit, my idea of a 60-pounds in
 60-days plan may be just a taaaad extreme.

Sorry folks, it ain't out there. I've searched high and low, Googled, Yahooed, WedMDed, I even Binged (we'll keep that just between the two of us, okay?). I've checked out bodybuilding sites, running sites, diet plans. I even made a visit to Oz (the doctor and the wizard),

Best I can find are a few plans that promise 8 pounds in two weeks! Up to 20 pounds in two months!
Up to two dress sizes in two weeks! (Um, not that I'm into, you know, dressing in dresses -- though, if it would get me 60 pounds of fat loss in two months I'd be tempted to slap that thing on and just call it a full-body kilt).

Of course, I knew going in there's no such thing as a 60-pound in 60-day plan. So I'm going to put together my own nutrition and exercise plan, with the goal of dropping 48 pounds in 60 days. Not exactly 60 pounds, but still -- 48, that's a HUGE challenge, you have to give me that.

Think I can do it? One of my kids has already weighed in saying no. We'll see.

Here are my weekly/monthly goals.

Week 1 -- lose 11 pounds
Week 2 -- drop 5 pounds
Week 3 -- drop 5 pounds
Week 4 -- lose 5 pounds
That leaves me two more days until a full 30 days are up, and I'll drop one more pound those days, for a grand total of 27 pounds the first month.

We'll take a look at setting weekly goals for the second month at that time.

Here are the ground rules I'll go by:

1. No drugs or supplements that screw around with your metabolic rate, heart rate, or anything like that. The ONLY supplements I may take will be protein powders/drinks, possibly some fish oil for achy joints, and maybe a few vitamins, though that would be a first for me, and a potassium supplement. The potassium is probably a must -- I've been down the road of severely low potassium levels before, and believe me it ain't pleasant (and it's far worse than a few cramping calves).

2. No days below 1,000 calories, and probably none below 1,200 calories.

3. Hold or increase strength over the two months.This is a key -- I want to exercise and eat in a manner that retains, or increases, lean body mass and strength. The weight loss has to be all fat!

Well, that's about it. All-natural, no ultra-starvation diets. Other than that, I'm pretty much anything goes.

I've already got a pretty good idea of what I'll be doing -- high protein with lots of lean meat, moderate carbs with lots of veggies, and low- to moderate fat, spread over five or six meals a day. Combine that with lots of water intake, three to four cardio sessions a week and three weight training sessions and it ought to be simple, right?

We'll see.

Anyway, that's the plan. Tomorrow morning -- Thursday. March 30 -- I'll do the official weigh-in and measurements. Every day, as I have time, I'll blog, telling you about the day, outlining what I ate for the day, what exercises I did that day, maybe tell you a little bit about what's going on at work, with my kids, my writing, whatever.

And each week, on Thursday, I'll weigh in and report the results.

Of course, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop them off here and I'll respond. Heck, go head and put in the comments whether you think I'm crazy or not....go ahead....

Ready?

Let's roll!