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!

Weigh-in Day...Uh Oh....

Well, Day 8 is the first weigh-in day,  my first full week at this.

Remember, I initially tried to start this on Thursday, March 30, when I weighed-in at a nice, rotund 288.6
pounds, but those first four days were a bit of a start-stop-kinda restart experience. So I restarted for good on Monday, April 3. Even with the up-and-down experience of those first four days, I still was down to 282.8 then, with a goal of dropping 11 pounds the first week.

So Monday morning I hopped out of bed, ran to the scales because I was sooooo excited to see the results. Okay, maybe not. Maybe I hit the snooze a couple of times, then gradually crawled from bed, went to the coffee maker and started my morning routine before remembering this was weigh-in day.

I kinda wish I had forgotten, because the results simply weren't what I was hoping for.

My one-week weigh-in? I tipped the scales at 277.6 pounds, far off of my 11-pound goal. I have to say, I was disappointed.

Not crushed, because that was a 5.2-pound loss. And I suppose I should feel pretty good, because if you go back to my original weight, I had dropped 11 pounds in 11 days, and no matter how you slice it, 11 pounds is a decent little start. Heck, the "official" first full week loss of 5.2 pounds is nothing to sneeze at. Still, I was hoping to be about 6 pounds lighter than that.

Boy, that idea of dropping 48 pounds in 60 days might not work out quite as well as I had hoped.

So this week is about analyzing what I did last week, where I may have made mistakes (eating popcorn at midnight two consecutive nights, even if it is "diet" popcorn is probably a good guess for one big mistake).

There's a program called Body For Life that is, in my opinion, one of the most sound, science-backed weight loss and fitness programs out there, developed by a guy named Bill Phillips. One of the things he says regarding weight loss efforts is this: It's about progress, not perfection.

That's what I have to keep in mind now. Last week was far from perfect, but it was progress.

This week? Well, it'll be better. Next week maybe I'll go for perfection!

Anyway, here's what I did on Monday in terms of eating and working out.

Breakfast
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Turkey bacon -- 2 slices
Coffee (with a little Splenda and 1/4 cup almond milk in it)

Lunch
Low fat taco meat -- 5 ounces
Kidney beans -- 1/2 cup
Salsa, lettuce/mixed greens -- 1 cup
Mozzarella cheese -- 1/8 cup
Yogurt

Snack
Greek Yogurt

Dinner (just one today)
Chicken Parmesan, consisting of:
Chicken breast cooked in olive oil -- 6 ounces
Provolone cheese -- 1 slice, diet version
Spaghetti sauce -- 1/2 cup

Snack
Turkey patty
Slider bun
Tomato/ketchup/onion

Totals for the day
1,480 caloris
40 grams of fat
137 grams protein
36 ounces diet soda
80 ounces of water

Okay, the fat's a little high for that amount of calories, and the protein is low again. I guess I'm eating a few too many foods that are high in carbs and low in protein, such as regular yogurt and the bun with the turkey burger. Eliminating those things would definitely drop the carbs and a tiny bit of fat, but I'd need to replace them with something high in protein.I'll watch that in coming days.

For my workout, I did weight lifting, back and biceps today,

Seated Row -- narrow grip
130 pounds -- 10 reps
180 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each
Wide grip
160 pounds -- 3 sets, 10 reps each

Lat pull down
100 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps

Curl bar curl
40 pounds -- 10 reps
70 pounds -- 1 set, 8 reps, 1 set, 6 reps

That back machine
80 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each

Seated machine ab crunches
100 pounds -- 2 sets, 15 reps each.

Okay folks, that's all for weigh-in day. Thanks for stopping by!

Ready, set, GO! Day 1 of 60 in 60...

My scales on Day 1, this morning.

Well, day one of my 60 in 60 program is coming to a close, so I figured I'd log on an let you all know
how it's going.

First, I know, I know, I said my goal is 48 pounds in 60 days, and that remains the plan. But you gotta admit, 60 in 60 sounds better than 48 in 60. Right?

Okay, I started out day 1 with measurements, to see just where I am, and I'm telling you it's bad. I tipped the scales this morning at 288.6 pounds.

Wow.

And I'm not about to tell you the rest of the measurements. Later, after I've lost a bunch of inches, we'll revisit what day 1 was. For now, I'm targeting 11 pounds in seven days. That's all that matters -- 11 pounds the first week.

The way I'll do this is I'll go through my day's eating, give totals for calories and certain micro-nutrient counts, then I'll give you the scoop on my exercise for the day.

This is Day 1, and I'm still feeling my way through this some. After completing the day, I realize my fat content is high, though the total calories aren't so bad. Still, that's something to work on.

Here's how my day went in terms of nutrition.

Breakfast
2 whole eggs
1.7 ounces lean ham

Lunch
Boiled chicken breast, 6 ounces
3/4 serving whole wheat penne noodles
3/4 cup mixed veggies
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce.

Snack 1
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup canned pineapple

Snack 2
Fat free Greek yogurt

First Dinner
5 ounces ground chicken
3/4 cup mixed veggies, onions, papers

Second dinner
Two hamburgers (low-fat meat, 2.5 ounces each)
Two whole wheat buns
Super-thin cheddar cheese on the buns, along with tomato slices

Totals for the day
1,640 calories (not bad)
52 grams fat (kinda bad)
170 grams protein (okay)
Diet soda -- 48 ounces
Water -- 54 ounces

Okay, not a bad first day. More than half my fat came at second dinner. I had planned on a lower-fat meal, but when I returned home from the gym my wife had already cook the burgers on the grill, and they were made with low-fat ground beef, so I went ahead and ate them.

Tomorrow I'll do better.

As for the exercise, this was a cardio day. I'm not that big of a cardio fan, and you have to realize I'm starting from ground zero here with cardio -- I haven't done any real cardio in close to a year, so this will be pathetic, at least in the beginning. I enjoy the weight training days, and even through my fatdom, I've been doing a bit of weight work here and there with my sons, so I'm not actually starting as a beginner there.

Anyway, for today's workout:

Stationary bike (levels 3 and 4)
32 minutes
10 miles
365 calories burned.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. It's late -- nearly 11 -- and I have about an hour's worth of proofreading to do on a novel. Actually, a lot more than that, but that's all I'm going to get done tonight.

Any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here and I'll answer.

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

Well, this wasn't in the plans...

Today was a bit of a struggle, with a bad cold. Actually, it started yesterday, and by the end of the day I was feeling pretty bad, and it only grew worse overnight and into today. Bad sore throat, stuffed up sinuses...you know the drill. Haven't felt like eating as much either, though I forcing it down.

Anyway, as you can imagine, the workout wasn't the greatest. I had already decided to forgo cardio this morning because of the knee (which is doing much better), but I went a little lighter with weights tonight as well -- fewer reps in some cases, fewer less weight in others, and just not as much as I normally do. I thought I'd be able to do a regular workout, but about two-thirds of the way through the chest portion of the work, I was already feeling like I was running out of gas, so not a great day with the weights.

I did weigh again today -- 246 pounds, or THREE more pounds lost since Sunday (well, 3.5 to be specific)!

That's about it for the day. Here's my workout and eating:

Weight training -- chest, shoulders and triceps.

Chest

Dumbbell bench press

60 pounds -- 1 set of 10 reps

90 pounds -- 2 sets 8 reps each, plus 1 set of 7 reps

Incline barbell press

135 pounds -- 2 sets, 8 reps each

Machine seated chest flye

125 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each

Shoulders

Seated Barbell press

115 pounds -- 1 set, 6 reps

95 pounds -- 1 set, 10 reps

Seated machine side raises

110 pounds -- 2 sets, 10 reps each

Triceps

Press down 

150 pounds, 2 sets, 12 reps each

Abs

Seated weighted crunch

125 pounds -- 1 set, 15 reps

Food for the day

Breakfast

Coffee

Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites

Southwestern hash browns -- 2/3 cup

Lunch

Ground chicken -- 2 ounces

Kidney beans -- 1/2 cup

Cheese -- 1/8 cup

Salsa and corn

All on a mixed green salad

Snack

Fat Free Greek Yogurt

First Dinner

Lean pork -- 4.3 ounces

Brown rice -- 2/3 cup cooked

Second dinner

Baked chicken breast -- 3.75 ounces

Red potatoes baked in olive oil -- 6.5 ounces

Totals for the day

Calories -- 1,220 (plus whatever might be in Dayquil and cough drops)

Fat -- 31 grams

Protein -- 120 grams

Water -- 85 ounces

Diet soda -- 24 ounces