Hmmm...nothing clever for a headline today, but I'm still at it!

Yes, I made it to the end of Day 2 of my return to the healthy eating and weight loss.

But it's late, I'm tired, so I don't have a lot to say today, other than I'm on my way to 199!

Now, for my day:

Exercise
Cardio
Stationary bike
47 minutes
16 miles
575 calories

Food for the day

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Lean ham -- 1.5 ounces

Lunch
Ground Turkey -- 3.5. ounces
Rice -- 1/4 cup (nothing magic about a quarter-cup, other than that's all that was left)
Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Snack
Blueberries -- 1/2. cup
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Dinner
Ground Turkey -- 4 ounces
Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup

Chicken -- 3 ounces (just a little snack)

Lean turkey patty
Sweet potato -- 5.5. ounces
Diet butter

Totals for the day
1,420 calories
55 grams fat
128 grams protein

Water -- 70 ounces
Diet soda -- 24 ounces

My Tuesday Blog on...Wednesday?

Okay, I know I said in my early "Miss Me?" blog yesterday I said I'd be back on later Tuesday to update that day's eating, exercise, and maybe say a thing or two about the rest of May. You know how it is, I got busy (doing some writing), and the next thing I knew it was late and I was simply too tired to stay up and blog.

So you get a short little Wednesday-only version of my Tuesday blog, to let you know what I ate yesterday and what workout I did. Nothing big.

For the workout on Tuesday:

Cardio -- stationary bike
60 minutes (known in some parts of the world as an hour).
21.75 miles (that's an odd figure to stop in, but remember, the gym bike is now measuring in kilometers, and I stopped at 35K).
800 calories burned

Eating for the day
Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs (1 whole, 2 whites)
Lean Ham -- 1 ounce

Lunch
Lean ground turkey -- 3 ounces
Bakes potato -- 4.5 ounces
Kidney beans -- 1/2 cup

Snack
Salad (1/2 cup kidney beans, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons salsa, on a lettuce/spinach mix)
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

First Dinner
Tilapia -- 4 ounces
Rice -- 1/2 cup cooked
Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup

Second Dinner
Eggs -- 2 whole
Lean Ham -- 1 ounce
Whole Wheat Tortilla
1/2 tablespoon spicy mustard

Total for the day
1,340 calories
37 grams fat
118 grams protein

Water -- 60 ounces
Diet soda -- 28 ounces

And that's about it for the day, folks. Well, for yesterday. Back later with the Wednesday Blog on Wednesday.

Still Around, Still Working Out, Still Losing Weight

Everyone miss me? Wonder where I've been?

Well, I'm still hard at it, eating healthy, working out, and...well, mostly anyway.

I decided to take a few days off, but not from everything. On Friday, which was May 13 I believe, I was just really, really tired, so I skipped the workout that day, and did no working out on Saturday, either, but that's normally an off day for me.

Saturday and Sunday I took a bit of a break from the healthy eating. I didn't pig out or anything, but I ended up with some pizza, and a little food from Taco Bell, as well as just general stuff from around the house.

As for the blogging? Well, I took what's amounted to a four-day break on that, so let me bring you up to day.

I did do a regular leg workout on Sunday, even though my eating that day might not have been the best. And yesterday, which was Monday, I was back at it with the regular healthy eating, cardio in the morning and a back and biceps workout at night.

So, let me bring you up to day quickly on my eating and working out these past two days, and then I'll be back on later with my regular Tuesday blog to talk about some things coming up this month.

First, Sunday's workout, which was legs. And let me say I may have discovered something, or at least rediscovered something I recall from years ago. I've been doing legs on Sundays now for a while, and you may recall I've complained about being a little sore and stiff the next day or two afterward. With the graduation and Mother's Day weekend throwing the schedule off, I did a full leg workout the Sunday before Mother's Day, then another leg workout the Thursday before Mother's Day, then another leg workout the Wednesday after Mother's Day, followed by one this past Sunday.

No soreness to speak of, and that reminds me of years ago, when I was working out regularly. If I did squats every 4 to 5 days, I rarely had any soreness or stiffness, unless I went really heavy. If I waited a week between workouts, I was always sore. So, unless I want to continue to deal with stiffness, I may have to do TWO leg workouts every week. Hmmm....avoiding pain by inflicting more pain. Something doesn't sound exactly right about that. Anyway, I'll let you know what I decide. For now, Sunday's workout:

Squats
135 pounds -- 10 reps
185 pounds -- 8 reps
225 pounds -- 8 reps
275 pounds -- 6 reps
245 pounds -- 8 reps

Leg Press
400 pounds -- 2 sets, 8 reps each

Leg Curls
90 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
100 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
100 pounds -- 1 set, 8 reps

Standing Calf Press
450 pounds -- 2 sets, 12 reps each

Seated Crunch, 125 pounds
1 set, 20 reps
1 set, 15 reps

And now for Monday's workout, back and biceps

Seat Row
130 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
200 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each

Wide-grip seated row
160 pounds -- 3 sets, 10 reps each

Lat pulldown
100 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps each

Dumbbell Bent-over row
60 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Curl-bar curls
40 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
50 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
60 pounds -- 1 set, 6 reps (that forearm issue reared it's head again, with some significant pain there starting on about rep #2, so I decided to quit at 6).

Seat Crunch (abs)
125 pounds -- 20 reps
125 pounds -- 15 reps

Cardio
Stationary bike, 52 minutes
18 miles
650 calories burned

Now, for Monday's eating (gotta cut back here a bit to make up for the weekend!)

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Lean ham -- 1.5. ounces

Lunch
Lean ground turkey -- 4 ounces
Rice -- 1/2 cup cooked
Veggies -- 1.2 cup

Snack
Salad, consisting of 1 ounce lean ham, lettuce and spinach mixture, fat-free Thousand Island dressing
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

First Dinner
Talipia -- 4 ounces
Rice -- 1/2 cup cooked
Veggies -- 1/2 cup

Second dinner
Salmon -- 4 ounces
Baked potato -- 9 ounces (kinda big)
Diet butter -- 1-1/2 tablespoon

Totals for the day
 1,275 calories
31 grams fat
121 grams protein

Water -- 90 ounces
Diet soda -- 28 ounces

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have more later tonight!

I did it -- 30 consecutive days of eating clean!

Yesterday, Wednesday, May 11 was my 30th consecutive day of eating clean.

Some of you may recall the blog I mentioned when I started this. For a quick recap, I had just completed my first month of the weight loss efforts, and had lost a little more than 21 pounds and was doing a little bit of a happy dance. Actually, if you count the weigh-in just two days before I started my diet, my loss was closer to 23 pounds. That was about 23 pounds in 32 days.

I did that mostly through restricting calories a fair bit, eating mostly healthy foods, working out with weights consistently and doing cardio three or four days a week. On the eating front, I had maybe three off-days (and an off-night), when I didn't count calories or worry about what I was eating -- I just chowed down on whatever I wanted.

I decided to change things up just a little at the conclusion of those first 30 days. After a day off of eating whatever the heck I wanted, I dove into Month Two, this time determined to eat clean every single day, not even taking off or a bad snack. Never in my life had I eaten absolutely clean for more than two weeks at a time, so I felt like this was a pretty significant challenge, although once in the midst of it I found sticking to the plan surprisingly easy. Even though I had the occasional stray craving (hot wings, pizza, Big Macs), I was never really tempted to go off the 30-day plan.

I had also decided to actually increase my food intake on a daily basis, all in the form of more lean protein, more complex and healthy carbs, and more veggies, with very little in the way of processed food. That's the one area I fell down a bit -- not eating enough. Overall my daily average of calories was a little higher the second month, but there were a few days where I simply didn't eat more than 1,200 to 1,300 calories, and there were quite a few where I didn't go over 1,500 calories.

Still, i can't complain too much. In addition to really dropping the weight, I continued making improvements in my weight workouts, adding a fourth day each week to the weight training, and I experience strength gains in the weight room, as measured by being able to do more weight, for the same number of sets and reps, in most of my exercises.

I've also experienced increases in how hard and how long I can do on cardio workouts, so I'm guessing the calorie restrictions haven't hurt me too badly, while allowing.

The most amazing part of the second 30 days? Continued weight loss at a pretty good rate. As of yesterday, I was at 238.2 pounds, down exactly 18 pounds from the weigh-in at the end of Month 1. After dropping 23 pounds the first month, I really didn't expect to lost more than 12 or so pounds the second month.

I attribute that fast second-month loss to lots of working out and staying absolutely clean in my eating for the full 30 days.

Other changes I've noticed from 30 days of eating clean?
- My blood pressure has dropped. That first month it fell just a bit, but over the course of this second month it's dropped quite a bit. That could simply be the cumulative effect of all the weight loss, but I suspect it has a lot more to do with eliminating bad food, eating healthy, and cutting out most sodium from my diet.

- Headaches have disappeared. I've been plagued with the occasional migraine headache off and on over most of my life, since I was a teen-age. In recent years, those headaches had become much more frequent. I don't mean to suggest every day, or even every week, but they had become part of my life, sometimes lasting two or three days. Some were from lack of sleep and I suspect some were blood pressure related. Other than the one that came with my cold a couple of weeks ago, I don't know that I've had a single one this month, and I didn't have many last month.

- More energy, higher level of focus. I've written several times that I have many bad habits to change, and one of those is staying up far too late, getting far too little sleep. I'm making some progress in this regard, but i still don't get a healthy amount of sleep. However, I've found that I have more energy, more focus at work, and can more readily go on less sleep (not that I should). This might be a result of the overall increase in fitness or the cumulative effect of the weight loss, but I also have to believe it's from fueling up the body properly.

- Just a general better feeling all the time. I don't ever have that "too full" feeling, or never feel listless or bloated or any of the things that can sometimes follow a big meal, or bad food.

I'm sure there are others, but man -- these alone are reason enough to stick with clean eating on a consistent, long-term basis, even without the weight loss.

So, what's next? I don't know. I was going to write that I'm going to finish out the week strict and clean in my diet, but my wife showed up tonight, just about the time I walked in from the gym starving, with Pizza Hut pizzas. I, of course, had not planned anything for dinner and there was nothing within an hour of being ready, so I went ahead and broke the consecutive clean eating streak at 30 -1/2 days.

We celebrate my youngest child's birthday this weekend -- her 15th! -- so there will probably be some cake and ice cream involved. And my middle child has his 21st birthday ten days afterward, so there might be some more cake and ice cream and bad food on the menu. Outside of that, I don't know that there's any reason to change my eating from what it's been until Memorial Day. That'll be up to three off days between now and the end of the month. Other than that, I'm going to stick with the clean eating.

Why would I do anything else, with the results I've seen?

Anyway, that's my really looong post for today. Now, for my workout and eating today:

Workout
Cardio
Stationary bike
36 minutes, 15 minutes at level 6, the rest at level 5
12 miles
425 calories burned

Today's eating

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs 1 whole, 2 whites
Lean ham -- 1 ounce

Lunch
Boiled chicken breast -- 4 ounces
Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup
Fat free Greek Yogurt

Snack
Fat free Greek Yogurt

First dinner
Boiled chick breast -- 4 ounces
Mixed veggies -- 1/2 cup

Snack
Power bar

Rest of the evening -- Pizza!

Totals WITHOUT the pizza
835 calories
16 grams fat
100 grams protein

Water -- 80 ounces
Diet soda -- 24 ounces

With the pizza? Who the heck knows. Anyway, tomorrow it's back on the wagon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Yet another milestone, and so much to say!

Over the past few days I've had a great deal I wanted to write here about my weight loss, a few articles I've read about weight loss in general, and a study that shows a bleak future for those of us who are a little more rotund than we'd like.

My biggest obstacle in all of that is simply time. Long hours at work, writing at home, working out, doing things with the family, and trying to squeeze in a little sleep tends to leave the blogging time in short supply.

So today I'll just tell you I've reached another milestone in the long saga of the belt. Yep, that little leather strip meant to help hold my pants up, the one I couldn't even come close to wearing just nine short weeks ago, the one that even the wise old Mr. Miyagi thought had no significance, is now holding my pants in place while buckled on the fifth hole (with the sixth and final hole being the tightest setting).

I've had this belt for a couple of years, ever since I outgrew the last one, so it's kinda fun to see myself actually shrinking to the point I might not be able to use it much more.

Of course, with every milestone, there's a reminder I still have a long, long way to go. Remember when I talked about the Danger Zone of Dieting (also known as The Delusional Zone)? You can click on the link to see what I'm talking about, but in short, that's the time when you start to feel really good about your weight loss, you're noticing differences, seeing major progress, and you start to think you're thinner and more fit than you really are.

That's why I call it the Delusional Zone. It's also a dangerous time, because it's far, far too easy to figure you'll just skip a workout because, you know, you're tired, you want to do other stuff, and you've done so well it's not going to be a big deal. Or, you might decided to take an extra meal off the diet, or an extra day -- again, because you're doing so well, dropping all that weight, have gotten so skinny.

Well, I've felt that little bit of delusion creeping in here and there lately. It's been easy enough to hold it at arm's length because I had committed to 30 days of clean eating, with no off meals or days, so going off the eating plan simply wasn't a temptation. And other than altering plans for the weekend of my daughter's college graduation and Mother's Day (which actually turned into taking care of the sick wife day), I had determined I'd do workouts of various sorts at least six days every week during the 30-day period. So, in that respect, it was also easy to avoid falling off the workout plan.

So what's the little fail-safe now?

Pictures.

Let's face it, when you drop 40 pounds, that's a lot of weight, and I'm closing in on the 40-pound mark. When you have clothes that you couldn't wear because they were too small that are now actually too big, that's a lot of positive change.

But, when you're 40 to 50 pounds overweight, that's just awful. I mean, who wants to carry around an extra 40 pounds of fat every day? Who wants the damage that does to your heart, you joints, and the other issues that come with being that far overweight?

And there's nothing like seeing pictures of yourself for a really good, semi-objective view of what you really look like, and how far you still have to go.

So, yeah, seeing myself in the mirror and how much I've lost, feeling the clothes get loose and knowing I'm making progress is great, but for now I'm still trying to focus on where I really am in relation to where I need to go -- and I'm still a long way toward really being able to get comfortable with my weight and fitness level.

Now for today's action:

Workout
Cardio
Stationary bike -- 53 minutes, all on level 5
18.5 miles
730 calories

Eating for the day

Breakfast
Coffee

Lunch
Lean ground beef -- 3 ounces
Bake potato -- 4.5 ounces
Mixed veggies -- 3/4 cup

Snack
Lean ground beef -- 2 ounces
Cheese -- 1/8 cup
Salsa -- 1 tablespoon
Salad

First Dinner
Lean pork -- 4 ounces
Mixed veggies -- 3/4 up

Second Dinner
Lean ground beef -- 1 ounce
Kidney beans -- 1/2 cup
Cheese -- 1/4 cup
Salsa -- 2 tablespoons
Two whole wheat tortilla wraps

Totals for the day
1,100 calories
42 grams of fat
107 grams protein

Water -- 80 ounces
Diet soda -- 24 ounces

Thanks for stopping by!

Eating Clean Isn't Always The Same As Eating Healthy

Today didn't go anywhere near as planned.

As you may know from past blogs, we had planned a big Mother's Day celebration with my wife and most of our kids (our oldest and her husband were going to be gone, but the rest would be here).

That changed about 3 in the morning, when my wife woke up sick ... REALLY sick, as in losing throwing up, fever, aching -- all the bad stuff.

So, Mother's Day celebration in our house, including eating out at one of my wife's favorite restaurants, has been put on hold. We still had the crew in, and I grilled chicken breasts, hamburgers and hot dogs, along with baked potatoes. I, of course, passed up the hot dogs, and I had a hamburger, but it was that super-lean, 95-percent ground beef, with no mayo, no ketch-up, none of the bad stuff. Just a slice of tomato.

I have to say that made it a little easier to stick to the cleaning eating plan, but it certainly was not the way I'd want. 

Even though I stuck with the clean eating both yesterday for my daughter's graduation, and today with the muted Mother's Day gathering, I can't say I ate exactly healthy. Eating healthy means regular, small meals, every two-and-a-half to three hours. Healthy meals with lean protein, veggies, complex carbs. And it means a heck of a lot more protein than I took in.

Saturday I took in more calories than any other day since I started the 30-day clean eating program, and the bulk of that was in one meal. Again, today, I actually only ate twice. Not exactly the way I should be eating, I know, but I can still honestly say I'm still on my 30-day healthy eating plan (just three more days to go as I write this)!

Anyway, here's the scoop from the past couple of days. No working out either day, as planned, although, I bet I walked a solid 30 minutes, at a decent pace, before and after my daughter's graduation -- most of it before. Walking from the parking lot to the building where the ceremony was held; walking from there afterward across campus to the building where a "little" reception was planned, but we skipped it after seeing a line a mile long; followed by walking to the campus Starbucks because we have two Starbucks addicts among our family;  then walking all the way across campus to get back to our car. So maybe, just maybe that counts as a teeny tiny bit of cardio?

Saturday, May 7.

Breakfast

Coffee

Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Lunch

Small, tiny, little burger of lean meat

Bun

Tomato/lettuce

Dinner

New York Strip Steak -- 5 ounces

Rice -- 1-1/2 cup

Veggies -- 1-1/2 cup

Shrimp -- just a handful

All cooked in sesame and soy oil

Chicken broth soup with mushrooms

Salad (tomatoes, lettuce, onions)

Salad dressing -- 2 tablespoons

Snack

Raisin Bran

Soy milk

Totals for the day--1,730 calories

56 grams fat

90 grams protein (way, way too low.

Water -- 65 ounces

Diet soda -- 24 ounces 

SUNDAY

Breakfast -- nothing, skipped it

Lunch

Super-lean hamburger meat -- 5 ounces

Whole wheat hamburger bun

Provolone cheese

Baked potato -- 6 ounces

Diet butter -- 1 tablespoon

Dinner

Lean pork -- 4.25 ounces

Provolone cheese

Rye bread (2 slices)

1,035 calories

38 grams of fat

90 grams of protein (again, far too little)

Water 60 ounces

Diet Soda -- 24 ounces

WOW...I rode a lot of "miles" today...

Well, after all the excitement of showing off my before and in-progress pics yesterday, today's blog is ... well, probably kinda lame.

I did head off to the gym early this morning for cardio, only to find the stationary bike is even more broken today than it has been. The way the bike works is you plug in your weight, and then you take off. Based on how fast you're pedaling, how high the resistance, and how long you go the bike gives a rough approximation of how many calories you've burned. I don't know how accurate it is, but I figure as long as it's using the same standard from day to day, it should be good for comparison purposes.

Until today.

First, the weight would not go any higher than 180 pounds. So, according to the bike, I've long-ago met my weight loss goals -- imagine that, 99 pounds in just 7-1/2 weeks.

Second, once I started pedaling, I noticed the mileage was really moving along quite nicely. Too nicely. I'm still not entirely sure, but I think it was counting in kilometers. When I clicked to the screen that showed my speed, it definitely was registering in kilometers per hour, so I'm guessing that 34 I finished at was kilometers, not miles -- particularly since I've never done more than 22.5 miles in an hour before today.

Of course, no one there had a clue how to reset the bike back to miles, or even knew it could be set to kilometers. The most promising answer I got was "Well, we'll have new equipment here some time in May."

That's been the pat answer to most everything in recent months. As cardio equipment and weight equipment breaks, rather than get it repaired, we hear about some nebulous date that no one can actually pinpoint when everything will be replaced with all-new stuff.

That's great, I suppose, but for those of us who used the equipment that keeps breaking, we're left with fewer and fewer choices. Wonder if they'll take fewer dollars for our membership during these months when everything keeps breaking?

Nah, didn't think so.

So, I guess that's my rant for the week. Just frustrating, especially when combined with the fact that about half-way through the biking my knee really started giving me some pain, and it's been a little off all day since then, so I fear I may have to skip cardio tomorrow. That'll be twice this week.

Other than that, things have gone just peachy!

Now, for my day...

Workout
Cardio
Stationary Bike -- 1 hour (55 minutes at level 5, 5 minutes at level 40
21 miles, I'm guessing
785 calories

That's it -- no weight training today.

Food for the day
Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Southwest hash browns (no oil, nothing bad)

Lunch
Taco soup -- 1-1/2 bowls
A few tiny little corn chip strips in the soup
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Snack
Powerbar Triple Threat (not the best choice, but I was out of protein bars)

Dinner
Taco-flavored ground chicken -- 5 ounces
Kidney beans -- 3/4 cup
Cheese -- 1/4 cup
Salsa -- 2 tablespoons
Corn -- 1/4 cup

Snack
Ground chicken -- 2 ounces
Kidney beans 1/4 cup
Cheese 1/8 cup
Salsa - 1 tablespoon
Corn -- Not much


Totals for the day

Calories-- 1,500
Fat -- 45 grams
Protein -- 130 grams

Water -- 85 ounces
Diet soda -- 36 ounces

I'm getting a little slack in my eating, not eating anything that's not clean, but simply not planning to ensure I'm higher on protein. I think I'll have to make sure there's more chicken breast and fish showing up in the diet over the next few days.

That's it for the day. Thanks for stopping by.

The Cravings Have Hit!

Any of you who have been reading my blog over the past couple of months knows that I started this thing on March 9, and for the first month I concentrated on working out and restricting overall calories each day as a means of losing weight.

I was happy with the results -- 21 pounds lost that first month -- and after taking a couple of days off from the diet, decided to change things up for the second 30 days. Instead of making it about total calories and taking an off day every week or so, I decided to simply eat clean for 30 days. No sweets, no high-fat food, a minimal of processed food. Just clean eating.

Yesterday (Friday) was day 12 of that, and for the first time I found myself really, really craving the junk food. I kept thinking of Big Macs, pizza, hot wings (and yes, a long time ago I extolled the virtues of tacos, even calling them my favorite food, but the truth is there is NOTHING I like better than good hot wings. In my mind, the perfect restaurant would be a combination of East Coast Wings and Taco Bell).

It was even worse last night. We were at the grocery store and I saw boxes of popcorn, and suddenly was craving popcorn. When my son put a pizza in the oven, I really, really want a piece (or five).

I didn't eat any of that stuff, but it's been along time since I had food cravings that bad.

My son thinks that will get worse as the 30 days goes forward, I'm wondering if it'll get easier -- the further out from having eaten anything like that, the less I should want it, right?

I suppose this is the very reason many weight loss programs include an off day. I know the old Weight Watchers (when it actually promoted healthy food choices instead of calories and points) always suggested an off meal each week. Body For Life suggests an off day each week.

I understand the psychology of that idea -- if you can have anything you want once a week, or for a whole day each week, that makes it more likely you can stick with a strict diet plan the rest of the week.

That makes sense. But from a practical standpoint, it can wreak havoc on your hopes to lose weight and get healthy. It really doesn't matter how strict you are the rest of the week, a really bad off day can destroy half of your work. What do you think three or four Krispy Kremes, a Big Mac and large fries, a big bowl of buttery popcorn, and a dozen hot wings (or three pieces of Pizza Hut pizza) do for your weight loss goals? That might sound like a lot, and it is, but it's not really too extreme. I suspect there are a lot of folks who eat that way several days a week. I know, as an off-day from a diet, I could pack all of that away, and then some.

Like I said, all of that hard work in the gym, the discipline in sticking to a healthy eating plan for six days, and then you do that? There goes half your weight loss for the week. Even forgetting the fat loss, do you know how bad each of those things are for you?

In my case in particular, not only can an off day be a disaster, but on many of my past weight loss efforts, I'll find myself taking an off day one week, then the next week (particularly if I'm doing well with the fat loss) I take another off day, but expand it a little. I might start eating badly on Friday night before an off Saturday, or take off half of Saturday before a Sunday off day.

Going strict for 30 days, while a little harder when it comes to not satisfying those random cravings, certainly makes life easier in many ways. A slice of pizza? Just one? Nope. Just a handful of popcorn? Sorry, does't fit. Just a taste (or two, or maybe three) of the mashed potatoes? I mean, it'll still work for total calories for the day. Sorry, that doesn't fly either.

See, it's easy. There's really no gray areas -- it's either part of the eating plan or it's not. Once committing to 30 days of clean eating, certain foods just don't fit, no matter what the total calorie intake is, because the 30 days isn't about total calories, it's not even solely about a certain amount of fat loss, it's simply about sticking to a healthy, clean eating plan.

Okay, enough of my soapbox for the day I suppose.

On Friday, I did no cardio (a planned break), but did back and biceps

Workout
Back
Seat machine row
130 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps
180 pounds -- 2 sets, 8 reps each

Wide-grip seated rows (first time I've tried these)
150 pounds -- 2 sets, 8 reps each

Lat Pulldown (with nautilus machine, less stress on the forearm)
130 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each

Bent-over barbell rows
60 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps each

Biceps -- Okay, I'm still not really doing anything here because of the forearm issue. I did one token set that wasn't so much about working out as it was just making sure I haven't forgot how to do them.
Curlbar curls
40 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Abs
Machine weight crunch
115 pounds -- 2 sets, 15 reps

Eating for the day
Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Banana -- 1/3 of a banana (leftovers)

Lunch -- a big salad
Seasoned chicken breast (no sodium seasoning) -- 3.5 ounces
3 olives
1/4 cup cheese
Mixed lettuce/spinach
Fat free Greek yogurt (no, that wasn't part of the salad).

Snack
Banana

Dinner
Taco soup -- 2 big bowls
Note: My wife makes this with black beans, chicken breast, tomatoes, corn, and some seasonings. We got the idea from Applebees. Thing is, Applebees' version has more than 240 calories in a small bowl. Our version has just 95 calories in a big bowl. Another example of how eating at a restaurant is almost always gonna be bad for you.

Snack
Taco soup -- a big bowl (this stuff's really, really good)

Totals for the day
1,260 calories
26 grams fat
143 grams protein

That's it for the day. Thanks for stopping by!

Blogging A Day Late Again...

Well folks, I may have to change up my blogging schedule. Now that I'm getting up earlier to do cardio each morning, staying up late and blogging just isn't working so well. Yet, I hate to come on and write about what I did YESTERDAY, seems too old. Then again, posting late at night means most of the folks reading are doing so the next day, right?

I don't know, I'll have to give it some thought.

I will say that Sunday's leg workout and cardio session seem to be lingering with me this week. Monday I had a lot of leg soreness and was really, really tired. I went ahead and did Monday morning's cardio on the stationary bike, but my legs felt so fatigued Monday night I decided I wouldn't get up Tuesday morning to do cardio, so I put it off until Tuesday night.

That worked out relatively well, given that I had probably my best cardio workout yet, both in duration and intensity -- though I'm feeling it this morning. Of course, doing the workout that late on Tuesday meant no cardio this morning. (Wednesday).

Other than that, the workouts are going relatively well. The eating has been interesting. I'm on Day 10 of 30 straight days of eating clean. When I started, I had some serious doubts about it -- I've never gone 30 consecutive days of truly eating clean in my life. Even when eating healthy and dieting, there's always an off day or an off night or an off meal. Ten days in, I'm feeling pretty good, the weight has continued to drop, but I'm not feeling weak or tired or even hungry all that often. And, I'm not nearly as tempted as I expected to be to cheat -- though I had to confess my mouth was watering a bit when one of my dear sisters posted something about Krispy Kreme doughnuts being on sale (KRISPY KREME!)

I guess it's the mindset. When just watching calories, it's easy to slip in something bad here and there as long as it fits, but once I decided to eat clean, I just don't think about taking a bite of something that doesn't strictly adhere to the diet. (I wrote a little more at length about this on Sunday's blog).

Anyway. here's what I did on Tuesday.

Workout
Cardio -- stationary bike
1 hour, 5 minutes
23 miles
725 calories

Diet for the day

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs (1 whole, 2 white)
Oatmeal (1/3 cup when dry)
Banana -- 1/2 of a small one

Lunch
Boiled chicken breast -- 6 ounces
Baked sweet potato -- 5 ounces
Veggies -- 1/2 cup

Snack
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Dinner 1
Bake tilapia -- 5 ounces
Veggies -- 1/2 cup

Dinner 2
Spaghetti (1 serving whole wheat noodles, 3/4 cup sauce, mozzarella cheese)

Snack
More spaghetti (3/4 serving whole wheat noodles, 1/2 cup sauce, mozzarella cheese)

Totals for the day
Calories -- 1,425
27 grams fat (lower than I would have thought)
131 grams protein (too low)

Water -- 75 ounces
Diet soda -- 32 ounces

Belts, Shirts, & Missing Meals

Sometimes, when you're trying to lose weight, you get all kinds of little signs or indications things are going well.

I got a couple of those today.

This morning I noticed my pants were kind of loose around the waist and hanging funny. Mind you, these are the pants I couldn't wear two weeks ago. Anyway, I soon figured out it was my belt -- it was too loose! That means...I'm down to hole 3!

(For those of you who may not understand the significance of that, or you don't realize how lucky you are I'm not breaking out a snippet of an old 80s movie, see my posts Mr. Miyagi Was Wrong, It IS About The Belt and Eventually, Even Mr. Miyagi Agrees...The Belt DOES Matter).

Just a quick recap: When I started this five weeks ago, I couldn't wear my belt. Couldn't even come close to buckling that thing. Over the past five weeks I've managed to squeeze into it, then tighten it down to the second hole, and today I comfortably fit on the third hole!

Then, near the end of my day at the gym, I was taking a quick little breather between sets and I noticed my shirt was kinda loose. This shirt I could wear when I started, but it was quite snug. Now, it's actually hanging on me loosely.

So, yeah, I had a good day.

Except I missed another meal. I'm finding this idea of eating every 2-1/2 to 3 hours getting difficult to do, especially when the meals are larger than I have grown accustomed to. I had my lunch at noon, and at 2:30 I just didn't feel like eating again, so I put it off a bit, got really busy at work, and next thing I knew it was a few minutes after 4;30. So, I was eating what should have been my 3 o'clock snack at 4:30, and I sure as heck didn't feel like eating again at 6. That meant I was running low on calories and protein, and allowed myself to get far too hungry, so I probably ate a little much for my last meal -- though it was still all well within the "clean" eating category. 

Here's what I did today:

Cardio

Stationary Bike 55 minutes (47 minutes at level 5, the rest at level 4).

19 miles

610 calories.

Weight Training -- today should have been a back and bicep day, but I'm still taking it easy on the forearms. It's much easier to do a full chest, shoulder, and triceps workout without straining the forearms -- most of those lifts are pushing-type lifts, when you really don't have to grip the weights too tightly. With back and biceps, you're doing a lot more pulling and curling motions, requiring a harder grip and more strain on the forearms. As a result, I went a little lighter on weight and reps for the back work, and didn't do any bicep work today to avoid that.

So, my workout for the day was:

Back

Seated rows

130 pounds - 1 set, 10 reps

200 pounds - 2 sets, 8 reps each

180 pounds - 2 sets, 8 reps each

Lat Pulldown on the Nautilus (which is easier on the forearms than the regular lat pulldowns)

125 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps

Straight-arm pulldowns

100 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps each

Abs

Seated machine crunch

110 pounds - 2 sets, 15 reps each

And that's about all folks. Without the curls, it was pretty short,so much so I felt guilty about not doing more.

Now for my eating today

Breakfast

Coffee

Eggs (1 whole, 2 whites)

Oatmeal (1/3 cup dry)

Lunch

Lean pork -- 5 ounces

Baked sweet potato -- 7 ounces

Snack

Half a protein bar (left over from last night)

Fat free Greek Yogurt

Dinner

Ground chicken breast, flavored with cumin and peppers -- 4.5 ounces

Tortilla wraps -- 1 corn, 1 flour, 1 flatbread (no, it wasn't some screwy taste test)

Mozzarella -- 1/4 cup

Salsa -- 3 tablespoons

Totals for the day

1,485 calories

45 grams fat

153 grams protein (a little low)

Water 95 ounces

Diet soda -- 12 ounces (so that balances out yesterday!).

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be glad to answer any comments or questions you leave behind.

Day 28: Hungry, Anyone?

The weight loss continues, but I've noticed over the past couple of days I've felt hungrier. For a while I was able to get by on 1,100, 1,200, sometimes, 1,300 calories most days without really getting hungry, but so far this week I've been feeling hungry. I don't know if it's because I've increased the cardio, or what's behind it, but my calorie count has risen a bit as I've been eating a little more.

That's got me thinking a little about modifying my eating plan some, but I'm going to give that a little more thought and maybe blog on that later this week, once I hit the 30-day mark.

For today, everything went relatively well, both in eating and working out. It's late, and I'm overdue for bed, so I'll make this one a short post as well.

Today's workout -- cardio.

Stationary Bike

50 minutes: 27 minutes at level 5, 10 minutes at level 6, one-minute each at levels 9, 8, and 7, ten minutes at level 4 (warm-up and cool-down).

17 miles

570 calories burned.

My eating for the day

Breakfast

Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites

Ham (regular) -- 1 ounce

Lunch

Boiled Chicken thigh -- 4 ounces

Veggies -- 1/2 cup

Snack

Salad (Lettuce/4 olives, Lean ham -- 1 ounce, Boiled egg -- 1 whole)

Fat-free Greek Yogurt

First dinner

Bottom round steak -- 3.4 ounces

Rice -- 1/4 cup

Veggies -- 1/3 cup

Second Diner

Tilapia -- 5 ounces

Canned Baked Beans -- 3/4 cup

Homemade baked fries -- 1/2 service

Snack

Granola 2/3 cup

2 percent Milk -- 3/4 cup

Total for day

1,610 calories

47 gram fat

154 grams protein

Water 80 ounces

Diet Soda -- 24 ounces

Thanks for stopping by!

Day 21...Tired, But Doing Well

Today is actually Day 21 of my diet and exercise plan, my attempt at losing weight, getting health and in shape.

So far, it's gone well, and I'd love to write more at length about some of the changes I've made, but it's late and I'm really dragging -- a long, hard cardio workout will do that for you.

So tonight I check in only to give an update on my workout and my eating plan for the day.

Workout

Cardio
Stationary Bike
46 minutes (37 minutes at lvl 5, the rest at lvl 4)
16 miles
535 calories burned

Eating for the day

Breakfast
Coffee
Fat-free GreekYogurt

Lunch
Denver steak -- 5 ounces
Veggies -- 1/4 cup

Snack
Salad (boiled egg, 1.5 ounces lean ham, lettuce and stuff)
Low Fat Greek Yogurt

Dinner
Lean pork chop -- 6/5 ounces
Baked red potato-- 4 ounces
Diet Butter -- 1 tablespoon
Small slice of French Bread

Totals for the day
1,025 calories
41 grams fat
145 grams protein

Water -- 75 ounces
Diet soda -- 24 ounces

Thanks for stopping in. Catch you all tomorow!

Words Every Dieter Wants to Hear: 'You've Gained Weight, Haven't You?'

Yep, that was the question posed to me today, which was great timing since I was starting to feel pretty good about this dieting thing -- yesterday I stepped on the scales and I had lost 19 pounds.

My reply?

"Yeah, I've picked up a little."

Okay, let me give some context here. I was at a family Easter gathering, and the gentleman who asked me his was asking if I could still fit into some shirts he had given me a couple of years back, shirts that had grown to large for him. At the time he gave them to me, I could fit into most of them, and I did wear them -- they were nice shirts!

But over time I had grown out of them. Remember back in my first blog when I talked about how much weight I had been gaining? Well, even though I was plenty big back then when he gave the shirts to me, I was probably 10 to 15 pounds lighter than I am now.

So yes, even though I have lost 19 pounds in the past two-and-a-half weeks, I am still heavier than I was when he gave me the shirts.

While no one wants to be told they look bigger, particularly when they are in the middle of a weight-loss program, this was a good thing for me.

A very good thing.

Here's why. I've had some success with this. I still have sooooooo much further to go, but 19 pounds is nothing to sneeze at. And that's the problem When you're losing weight relatively easily, when the exercise is consistent and you see increases there, it's far too easy to back off, to take it easy.

Just like me this weekend. Friday night, if you'll recall from that day's blog, I skipped my workout. Not because I was lazy, but simply because I wanted to catch Virginia playing that night in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen tournament game. Just one workout, right? No harm, right?

Besides, Saturday morning I went down to the gym and rode 17 miles on the stationary bike, by far my best day so far in cardio.

Now, today, Easter Sunday, was an off-day. It was a scheduled off day. No trip to the gym, and eating whatever I want at a family gathering. No biggie, right?

Well, Saturday night I decided to start that off-day a little early. I didn't eat much Saturday -- two chicken sandwiches (boiled chicken, low-fat mozzarella cheese and rye bread), and a Greek yogurt. That's all, until Saturday night, when I started Sunday's off day a little early. I didn't pig out, but I did eat two bowls of left-over chili, with a little cheese in it. Later, two small Cadbury creme eggs.

Now, missing the weight workout Friday really isn't a major deal. Having an off day Sunday isn't either. Heck, starting that off day a few hours earlier on Saturday night really isn't a problem, either.

But when you combine them all?

That's a bad weekend, and a recipe for disaster when you're trying to lose weight and get in shape, and it's far to easy to justify that in your mind when you're dropping weight and meeting with some success.

So yeah, I was glad someone asked me today if I've gained weight. That was a good reminder of where I am, contrasted with where I need to be and want to be, and that helps me focused just a little bit harder, maybe avoid these sorts of lapses in eating healthy or working out consistently.

There's not a lot to report for the weekend. I didn't eat great Saturday -- I didn't pig out or anything but not entirely healthy. Today I wouldn't say I really, really pigged out, but I did eat too much, and I did eat unhealthy choices.

As for the exercises, nothing today, here's what I did Saturday;

Cardio
Stationary Bike
50 minutes (35 minutes at lvl 5, rest at lvl 4)
17 miles
525 calories burned (that takes care of one bowl of that chili!)

That's it for the weekend folks. Happy Easter!

A Day Off? What's This?

Well, Day 12 is coming to a close, and I decided to take the day off, both from exercising and dieting.

Many weight-loss plans suggest an off day or meal here and there. The old Weight Watchers, way back before they started the point system, suggested a meal off each week. Body for Life, which I happen to think is the best, most complete nutrition and fitness plan around (if you ignore all the attempts to sell the mostly worthless supplements that you really don't need), suggests a full day off each week.

I had thought about waiting until Easter to take an off day, but decided now, after 11 solid days on the program (and about 16 pounds lost), to take an off day, and then take another one on Easter (big family gathering and lunch planned that day). Afterward, I'll probably do two weeks or so before another one.

Why are off days important?

Well, for a number of reasons. On the exercise front, this would have been a cardio day today. My plan was to do cardio today, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. Now, I'll do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So, overall, I won't be doing any less cardio.

My legs were a little fatigued after this past week, and I know from experience (remember, the KING of yo-yo weight loss and gain), that it's okay -- even good -- to be worn out and sore from hard work, but when you start to feel that fatigue that comes from repeated use over days, it's time to take a break. Besides, even the best workout programs will tell you that the rest and recovery from exercise is as important, if not more important, than the actual exercise. And, since one of my sisters thinks I need to take it easy because I'm old (even though I am the baby of the family), I'll now be able to tell her I took her advice.

As for the food, when you say off day, a lot of people immediately think "pig-out" day. An off day can be that, but you have to be careful about pigging out -- you can undo a lot of hard work if you really, really go overboard.

As much as an off day is a time to eat a little more, or some bad stuff you can't eat on the strict healthy days, it's also a time to just relax. On my eating routine, I plan out my meals, measuring and weighing the food, keeping track of what I'm eating, when, how many calories, how much protein, and so forth. That will get even stricter a month or so down the road, once the initial weight loss has slowed.

So an off day can just be a break for you mind as much as anything -- not worrying about planning the meals, measuring everything out. Just eating.

Did I eat too much today? Yes. Though today's too much was far, far less than I would have eaten in a normal day just a couple of weeks ago. My off day for food consisted of a few cookies, a couple of pieces of pizza, and a trip to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Along with a banana for breakfast, that's all I had today. I have to say, though, even though I got a smaller meal at the restaurant than I usually get there, I was still STUFFED afterward -- I've gotten used to eating smaller meals!

But, off day is over. I'm cooking and planning out the food for the week, and tomorrow morning I'll be at it again.