Day 41 (426-8) Staying On Course And Planning Ahead

I haven't weighed myself but I don't feel like I've lost any weight since Saturday.  I guess this feedback is coming from the way my clothes are fitting the past few days.   I've been eating between 1700 and 1900 calories per day which I feel should be a good range for me.  I've been doing is shooting for 1700 and usually ending up around 1850.  Maybe I need to go back to 1500 which what I was eating when I was losing weight at a healthy clip back in 2010.   But my dilemma is that I wasn't able to sustain that behavior.  Does 200 or 250 calories really make a difference?  Not sure really but I guess I'll find out Saturday.  All I'm sure of is that I want to lose weight and I want to lose it as fast as possible.

I know it's a pitfall to start dropping daily calories because it will likely throw my metabolic rate into starvation mode but I feel like I need to do something to get things going.  I've been getting a little walking in just about every day but it's not more that 10 minutes per session.  I need to step the exercise up.

My concern is that we're coming into the summer months and that means traveling for summer baseball.  I love it but it brings with it constant food decisions because due to timing we have to eat on the road a lot.  It's mainly dinner choices because usually the games are over in the evening, we're hungry and a hour or so away from home.   This season there won't be any over night trips so that will limit restaurant eating.  The reality though is that I have to get use to making good choices when eating out as well.  I can always pack a cooler!

It's really amazing to me that I have to think so much about food.  But I guess it's a good thing that I'm planning meals and eating in a sensible fashion.   I have to admit though.. it is a grind.

ETL

Day 3: The Stone Keeps On Rolling

Some say the early days of a lifestyle change are the hardest.. for me they're the easiest. I'm fresh full of commitment and resolution. I woke up today eager to weigh myself.. lost another 1.5 pounds down to 432, 2 pounds total loss. Ok.. it mostly water weight but it shows that the caloric level (2300) and breakdown (40P/30C/30F) seems to be working. Need to give it some more time.

I resisted going to the convenience store for a snack again today telling myself that I have to be honest with myself first. That's a challenge but I feel like I'm winning the daily battle. I feel great too. Looking forward to hitting the 10 pound loss mark.

I've been surprised each evening with how many cals I have left for dinner. Each meal I'm eating is very satisfying. The key is I'm not eating crap in between (high sugar and carb). Like tonight i'm having 8 oz of grilled chicken, 1/4 cup of low carb pasta, broccoli, 1/4 cup of walnuts and a PowerBar Plus Vanilla Yogurt for dessert. Not bad.

Proves the point that if you manage your nutrition you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. I'm a believer.

I also began reading Sean Anderson's book "Transformation Road". Only through the first few chapters and so far it's very good. Hits home in a lot of ways.

Taking it one day at a time.

ETL

Tracking Calories and Exercise: Key To My Plan

Before I started my journey I ate without thinking. Mindless munching and grazing on snacks, breads, juices, ice cream, pasta, cookies, etc. with no thought about how many calories or what nutritional elements I was consuming. I knew I had to turn that around if I was going to be successful. Part of my strategy had to be keeping exact track of my caloric and nutritional intake.

For the first few days I did this in my head and kept a running count of calories. This was a good first step but I knew I needed more detail and accuracy. Plus I wanted to know more about my nutritional intake. Then the light bulb went off... "I have this Blackberry Storm, maybe there's a calorie tracking app for it". I check it out and there are a number of them.

I looked at all the free apps and they were well intended but not as detailed and easy to use as I wanted. I wanted an app that I could weave into my daily lifestyle. Something that would allow me to quickly track the foods I eat and the exercise I do. Something that had both web based and mobile access.

Enter MyNetDiary.com. Exactly what I was looking for. A web based service with an easy to use mobile app. It's not a free ($60 per year) but it has all the bells and whistles you would want. I figure $5 a month is well worth it if it helps keep me on track.

I've been using it for a few days and I'm very impressed. For each meal you do a search on the food you eat (thousands of foods), enter the amount you ate and whamo... it's logged. After you exercise you enter that into the Activity section and that gets figured into your daily calorie burn. You can track your weight loss, nutritional intake, get reports and charts... on and on. It also can post updates to Twitter about your meals, activities, weigh ins, etc. Look to the side bar on the right to see a sample.

While entering info is easier on the web interface, the Blackberry Storm interface is pretty darn good. I believe it works with both IPhone and Blackberry. You can check it out at http://www.mynetdiary.com/. I feel good that this will help me. Hope it helps you too.

ETL