Different kind of workout

Today we did a different kind of exercise.  Tilling gardens and putting in flower beds, putting up sheds.  If you look real close you can see about 10 deer and if you listen real close they are asking each other, "hmm when do you think the garden will be done."  : )



Brea doesn't like this kind of exercise as much.

 Alot of work and alot of fun, not sure the calories burned but we worked from 7 am till about 1 so who knows but it was a beautiful day and that is all that mattered.

Motivated after all

I was dissapointed in myself because I didn't make it to the gym this morning.  Stressing for a test and studying takes it out of me sometimes.  Good news though I finished my test early enough to be able to change clothes and get a 2 mile run in over the dinner break.  Eating today was not the best again and I will be ready for school to end so my diet will be back on track.  Breakfast was leftover hamburger gravy, lunch a Hardee turkey burger (I needed someplace to study that had a restroom and free refills and subway would have been to crowded) Dinner was a protein bar.  Snack was a protein bar, baked chips and a half peanut butter sandwich when I got home from school.  Once again I will not win the diet award of the year for nutrition but will really work hard to make it up over the weekend with lots of fruits and veggies.

Thanks just Jenn and to everyone who is encouraging me along the way.

My bodies doing it again

Today was peanut butter and jelly day for breakfast after weight lifting at the gym.  Lunch was half a porksteak from BobbieToms in pevely (no not super healthy) and baked chips.  Dinner was breakfast of eggs and lean hamburger and gravy with skim milk and wheat flour. Snack consisted of a protein bar.  I feel like my body is going through a change this week even though I can't explain it I know the feeling when my body is shifting.  I hope it is finally burning through the 250 mark and building muscle but we will soon see.  If your following my blog and trying to better yourself then do not follow my meal plan for today as it would soon get you in trouble. : )

Knocking it out one day at a time

Alright another Monday down and I am sure this will be the week that I drop below 250.  I found myself being hungry again today and couldn't fill up.  I am learning now on those days to go ahead and eat because it is genuine hunger.  If it was an everyday occurrence or if it started putting weight back on me I would be concerned but I'm finding that it doesn't.  Yesterday after my morning workout burning about 400 cals I ate a protein bar.  For an early morning snack I cooked an extra lean pork tenderloin and with the help of my daughter we devoured the whole thing about 400 cals.  Lunch consisted of a ham sandwich and baked chips with salsa.  Dinner was at school and was baked italian chicken, broccoli and little baked potatoes.  Two more protein bars later and a 8 oz cup of chocolate milk and my day was through. On to bed to get ready for my Wednesday morning workout.

Better get to blogging

I was hoping to get the pictures of our Easter dinner before I blogged but will post later instead.  We changed our Easter dinner and it seemed to work well.  Instead of a full buffet of every food you can think of we kept it simple.  My mom cooked a ham and then for sides we made a zucchini, pepper, onion, casserole and then fat free cheese and broccoli.  Although it looked a little more bare than usual it really was quite filling and very healthy.  I did learn something about myself though, at home we always put away the food immediately after dinner but on Easter it remained out like it does every holiday.  I found myself grazing all day which can kill a diet quick.  If food is put away I don't even think about it again but if left in front of me watch out.  The dinner was topped off with an angel food cake with fat free whip cream and strawberries.  No candy for me this year but that is ok because the scale appreciated it.

7th week weigh-in

7 weeks of this maybe it has become a lifestyle change after all.  I did not meet my goal but considering it was a long rainy weekend and a holiday I am thankful for a loss of any kind.


Last week  253
This week  252

One pound lost this week (better than one gained)  

Total:  28 pounds  (pushing hard for 30)

5k practice run

Well my daughter tried to kill me by making me run a practice 5k today.  We actually ran faster than I thought we would but I will wait to post the time until I run the real race.  I would love to run the race in under 30 minutes but that would really be an improvement from today.  I hope that I will be 10 pounds lighter by race day and in better shape.  Today for breakfast I had low cal waffles with sugar free syrup and a slice of turkey bacon and snacked on a light yogurt and 3 strawberries.  Lunch was a tuna sandwich with sugar free relish, light mayo on 35 cal wheat bread and baked chips.  I put some hot pepper on my sandwich to help boost my metabolism.  Haven't decided on dinner yet but may eat another tuna fish sandwich.

DID YOU KNOW?
A study was done and people that ate light yogurt everyday lost 81% more abdominal fat than those who did not eat yogurt.  Great motivator I would say.

Week 7 in review

Yes that is right 7 weeks and once again I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of this journey.

Things I have learned

1.  I am way to caught up on my weight.  Posting on Monday's is encouraging but I need to focus on eating healthy and know that my weight will follow soon enough.

2. I enjoy posting a lot more when I have time and I really enjoy posting with pictures and recipe's hopefully this week I will get my act together.

3.  I actually was longing to go out and take a jog the other day when I was working so many hours, actually wanting to go running.  (What is happening to me)

4.  I never really thought we would ever be one of those homes with a fruit bowl on the counter instead of chips and junk but to my surprise we are and the fruit is being ate before turning brown. : )

5. The more weight I lose the more unsatisfied with myself I become.  I really want to get myself in shape.

Back at it again.

Finally back at it again, the blog I mean I never stopped the workout although it would have been tempting.  My schedule was very crazy and stressful the last few weeks but I survived.  I have to wonder if I would have responded different if I would have been eating the old way.  Now I want to confess I did cheat yesterday.  I had to drive my daughter to Cape to talk about college and about noon we were starving and the song going through my head was "love that chicken  from Popeye's" I pulled in and grabbed the $2.99 two piece meal and had a feast.  After I got home my wife asked me if it was worth it.  It definitely was, I know it was unhealthy and greasy but yet oh so good.  Ok got that out of my system and now to get back on track.  Today I had low fat waffles for breakfast 140 cals with sugar free syrup and turkey bacon 30 cals, then I went and lifted weights at the gym.  Lunch was a third of a subway sandwich loaded with veggies.  Haven't planned out dinner yet but have some work to do before I get to that point.  My goal of 250 before Monday will be pushing it especially with Easter Sunday.  Now we are planning Easter dinner and have decided on ham, broccoli, a zucchini casserole and rolls.  We decided a full buffet would be kind of crazy especially with all of us trying to eat well.

One more day

Tomorrow I finish my preceptorship and get my life back.  Working at the hospital has really cut into my exercise routine, the only good thing is I am to busy to eat.  I cannot wait to finish up and get on with life.  My wife made me a salad with chicken breast to take for lunch and made me a potabella mushroom sandwich to take for dinner.  By Thursday I should be back on schedule and so will my blog.

6th week weigh-in

A little better week this week especially considering the schedule that I had last week.

Beginning Total  280

Last week         255

This week         253

Total for week      2

Total 27 pounds

Next weeks goal to be below 250  let's see what happens

Week 6 in review

Six weeks into this and not even batting an eye.  This is my year and I thank the Lord and all the people who have been encouraging me along the way.

What I have learned this week:

1.  To have a BMI in the healthy category I will have to lose another 80 pounds (I have not been that weight since jr. high school, we will see if I can really go that low, I am shooting for 200)

2.  I have always said my car shows the kind of diet I am on, especially when really busy or a lot of test. It used to have BK wrappers, DQ, McDonalds, Casey pizza, etc.  but know my floor board has small bags of baked chips, protein bars, water bottles.  Kind of nice really.

3.  My wife definitely enjoys me losing weight, It will be worth getting in great shape just for her.

4. My wife is also eating right and losing weight she has dropped almost 10 pounds just by eating healthy.
 (She called me to bring her lunch last week because she could not justify eating the hamburger cheesy meal they were eating at work.)

5.  When people ask how much weight I have lost when they hear 25 pounds all of a sudden they are ready to talk about it and want to know how I am doing it.

It finally happened

Something must have finally shifted in my body because people are beginning to say things about my weight loss.  The last several days people I have seen are asking if I have lost weight and I love the look on their face when I tell them yes 25 pounds.  Last night at the gym I ran 1/2 mile at a 10 minute mile pace and barely broke a sweat and that was after a good workout.  It is really amazing how good my body is feeling and that is after just 14 hours sleep for the week.  I hope to make up some sleep tonight after a dinner of pork tenderloin, mushrooms and veggies.  Good night and see you all tomorrow.

One last midnight

Tonight will end my midnight session of clinical's.  Nothing like another day of 3 hours of sleep.  Thank goodness for my mom and my wife covering me at work or I would have not got as much sleep as I did.  Yesterday we tried a recipe of marinated portabella mushrooms.  I will post a picture and the recipe this weekend.  They turned out really good I wish I would have made more but since I need a picture of them I will get to make them again this weekend.  My eating has not been great this week.  It is not really unhealthy with fats and calories just not balanced meals with fruits and veggies the way I need them.  It has been more of grab a turkey sandwich and run this week.  The good thing is I am getting my workout in every night before going to the hospitals and it is actually helping to keep me awake.  I apologize to those who read to get tips this week because I know the post have been sloppy and weak but next week should be a lot better.

Something to think about

I have really been wondering about something lately, if you weigh yourself at night before going to bed and then weigh yourself the next morning your body can fluctuate up to 3-4 pounds.  Now my question is where does that weight go in the middle of the night?  I mean really if I weighed my mattress would it weigh 3-4 pounds more in the morning? (If that is the case please don't tell me it would just gross me out.)  I know it's water weight but where does it go.  I admit I get up and pee in the middle of the night but 3-4 pounds that would be almost 2 liters so I don't think that is it.  I'm sure somebody on the Internet has done a study on it and one of these day when I really bet bored I'll check it out.  Happy Wednesday.

DID YOU KNOW?
Drinking 3-4 glasses of green tea a day can help you burn 50-100 calories more a day.
(How come Coca-cola hasn't invented a soda that would do that?)  : )

3 hours of sleep in two days.

At 3:00 a.m. this morning I finally crawled into bed after just 3 hours of sleep since Monday morning at 5:00.  I did good considering but must admit I enjoy it better when I sleep.  Tuesday I had a Fiber one bar for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch and had to eat dinner at school which was meatloaf, baked potatoes and a veggie mix. I had to be at the hospital again last night and with such little sleep I left class 45 minutes early to workout at the gym before going to the hospital.  Although my body was very tired during the workout I pushed through hit the weights hard and after a nice shower sprung to life.  The nurse at the hospital couldn't believe how wide awake I was. (the gym did the trick)  Considering the craziness of the week my eating has been under control. Now 6 weeks ago if I was running this kind of schedule I would have already hit McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Snicker's candy bars just to survive so all in all my eating is alot different today at I think I hear my heart saying THANK YOU.  :  )

The crazy week begins

This week will be a struggle to keep my diet and my life straight.  The blog might take a backseat but if it does I can assure you I will be back to writing by next week.  I am doing preceptorship for nursing school which requires 72 hours of working in a hospital on top of going to class, studying and working.  Not counting family time or other items on the agenda.  This week my instructor is working midnights so that means I am too.  Yesterday worked out at 5:00 a.m. went to work part of the day, came home studied and headed to preceptorship in St. Louis got off this morning, went to work at the day care came home and slept for a short while and later it's on to class to the gym and then to work.  This week will be a major challenge but I plan on surviving and will keep you posted.

new measurements & new weign in

The stressful week, lack of sleep and weight-lifting really affected my weight loss this week but I ate well, worked out hard so I know I treated my heart in a healthy way and that is what this is all about.

Weight last week 255
This week           255  (bummer)
Total so far           25 pounds

First number is measurement at beginning
Second number is measurements as of 4-11-11                                                                      

Weight  280
             255                                                             
B/P 140/88  ( it has been higher)                              
        125/85 (after caffeine)
BMI   37.8                                                              
          35.6
body fat 35.4                                                             
             33.
Measurements  (sad but true)
Neck 18                                                                  
          18
chest 52                                                                  
        49 1/2
upper abs 47 3/4                                                    
               44 3/4
lower abs 51                                                           
                48
waist 46 1/2                                                           
         45
r forearm 15 1/2                                                     
               14 3/4
l forearm 14 1/2                                                    
              14 1/2
r wrist 12 1/2                                                        
           12 1/4
l wrist 12                                                                
          11 3/4
r thigh 23 1/2                                                           
          24           
l thigh 24 1/2                                                           
          24
r calve 17                                                                
          17
l calve 17                                                                
          17

Week in review 6

Wow 6 weeks who would have thought it. It has really been a good journey so far. I really don't know why this time is so much easier but I am really thankful it is. 

Things I learned this week:

1.  Weight lifting although will slow down the pounds will actually burn calories up to 48 hours later.

2.  They ran out of xxl pants at clinicals and I was able to squeeze into the x-large pants.  Two months ago this would not have happened.

3.  My wife made me give away all my pants yesterday because they were to big. ( I have never had that said to me before.)

4.  Healthy eating takes work but my heart is thankful.

5.  I actually ate brussel sprouts and liked them.

Fighting with my body.

I know it sounds crazy but I can tell when my body is fighting against me.  I decided to step on the scale this morning and check (I know it's against the rules) but I am weighing heavier than when I weighed in. Even though it is not official till Monday morning it is still discouraging but alot can change before Monday.  It is at these times I will have to realize it is not about pounds but about health.  I know that I am eating healthy, working our and not cheating myself so no matter what the scale shows the end result is what really matters.  I woke up yesterday and worked out before work 30 minutes cardio 400 cals burned, breakfast was a protein bar and orange, lunch was turkey sandwich and baked chips, dinner was whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce with artichoke and brussel sprouts (I know I can't believe it either). There was no snacks today and I did stay full and did not have those hunger pains.  I will keep at it and know that the scale will eventually catch up. It has been a very stressful week with clinicals, school, test, grades, car trouble, etc. and that is probably playing a role in my weight but I can happily say I did not find myself stress eating. Things are improving.

Shock Treatment

I have read in several different health books about something you need to do for your body every once in awhile when trying to lose weight.  It is basically a shock treatment.  You can have a free day of eating and your body will respond by thinking the diet is over and will relax.  Today was my shock day but I found out I am not very good at it.  I did eat different and more calories but the only thing I allowed myself to cheat on was a Sam's pizza, thin crust with meat (I would have got a veggie but they were out).  4 squares later was my shock treatment.  I learned something though that this is no longer a diet but is really becoming my way of life.  I can honestly say I did not enjoy taking a day off of eating right and would have felt better by staying true to healthy eating.  I am hoping this will help break the nagging hunger pains that have been nonstop this week no matter what I eat.  I can honestly say I have really enjoyed my eating change and the extra fruits and veggies along with trying to get creative in the kitchen.  Tomorrow I hit the gym and back to good eating (even though those 4 squared probably weren't the end of the world) but we will find out Monday how it worked.

busy week

With studying and clinicals I have a long week ahead of me.  Even though I needed to be at Shriner's Hospital at 7:00 a.m. I still was able to get up at 4:30 and get my workout in.  My body is starving all of the time.  I feel like I could eat and eat and not get full.  I know this is not just mental, but I am starving but I also feel like my weight is peeling off of me in high gear.  I am not cutting myself short and am trying to eat every two to three hours but it's not helping at this moment.  I did read that if you workout before eating you will burn more cals throughout the day and keep your glucose under control.  Since I have begun the morning workout my body is screaming for food.  Not sure about the solution for this yet but will keep working on it.

Monday here we go again

Actually for Monday it was not a bad day.  I will look forward to Monday's coming around once I finish school.  I will never understand while we are learning to make people healthy they are killing us in the process.  They keep us so busy there is no time for planning meals, you have to sit for hours and study without exercise and then they stress you out to the max. What a really dumb plan someone came up with.  With that off my chest I worked out at 5:30 a.m. and then ate a protein bar and orange.  Lunch was some left over ground beef (very lean, from a cow we had butchered) and some baked string fries.  For dinner my wife made some chicken breast with lime sauce and a veggie mix.  Snacked on 1/2 of a lite ice cream sandwich 80 calories and a fiber one bar.  Overall stayed under 1600 cals and burned 450.  It is exciting to see the weight still dropping. I figure after about 10-15 more pounds people will begin to notice.

5th week weigh-in

Better blood pressure, more energy, Feeling real good.

Beginning:         280

Last week:       258

This week:       255

Total:  25 pounds

Week in review 5

258 pounds

What I missed this week:  I think I am going to get rid of this part because now that I am settling into my new lifestyle there are very few things that I am missing.

What I have learned this week:

1.  No one reads my blog on the weekend (although several do during the week)

2.  Other people are reading my blog and it is encouraging them to get healthy

3.  I am still not passed the temptations that fall my way.

4.  It is still harder to squeeze fruits and vegetables into my diet. (even though I like them)

5. I can really feel the results my energy level is beginning to soar through the roof.

No meat Friday and I'm not Catholic

I'm beginning to think I have gone crazy.  No meat all day today, what is happening to me.  I do feel like I may not be getting enough calories now and have gone into a continuous hunger mode.  This is not an emotional hunger or imaginary this is real and consistent.  For breakfast I had a Fiber One bar and orange, this used to hold me over until about 10:30 but by 8:00 in the morning I am now starving.  For my second breakfast I ate 2 whole wheat waffles, sugar free syrup and a piece of veggie sausage.  Lunch was a veggie hot dog and baked chips and dinner was what you see in the picture black bean burritos with green peppers onions in whole wheat tortillas and some fat free refried beans.  The whole plate was less than 500 calories and very filling.  Had a protein bar after I burned 550 cals on the stair stepper.  Still under 1800 cals for the day and burning of 550 is probably not the greatest of ideas. 

DID YOU KNOW?
Regular syrup can have as much as 300 calories for 1/4 cup compared to 35 calories of the sugar free brands.  The brands I use are made with Splenda instead.  That is a lot of difference per meal.