Water, Water, Everywh..glub glub

Ok, so I know how much water is good for me.  I've heard it all my life and it's the one thing I just could never stomach.  It tastes like eating paper and I've never had any desire to ingest it.  That said I've been reading more about the benefits of drinking the stuff and I decided to start giving it a try.  

The first thing I learned that was based on my weight, the calculations say I need to drink 4.5 liters a day.  Are you fricking kidding me?  That's like 8 and a half little 500 ml bottles.  I'd have to drink one every 2 hours to get there - that's insane!  Well, like all things, I decided to start slow late last week and at least stop drinking diet soda pop during my meals and drink bottled water instead.  3, 500 ml bottles per day seemed pretty easy. A few days later I had cut out soda pop all together and am now exclusively drinking water (except in my rum and diets).  After that, I figured it was time to try and drink what I'm "supposed" to drink.  Starting this week I tried drinking a bottle of water every 2 hours.  

Immediately I noticed I had to hit the bathroom every 15 minutes (that's not a joke, I literally had to piss every 15 minutes).  I thought - this is insane, I can't sustain that.  I started asking some questions and read a few articles and I've been told by the wise internet that this can be normal until my body gets used to the newly found water source and will stop hanging on to old water.  A few days later and I'm going every half hour to an hour now.  Hopefully I'll return to normal and still be able to keep drinking the stuff.  

Bit by bit I'm starting to like the taste more - and this is from a guy who would literally go years without a single drop of water.  The next thing I noticed was that after a day or two of drinking water like this, I gained about three pounds.  This was sort of a shock but I continued to seek the guru of the internet and was educated that this can be normal too and all things will balance themselves out.  This morning I discovered that this indeed happened and dropped another four pounds so it looks like I'm back on track.  Hopefully I can stop running to drain the one eyed snake every 30 minutes soon - it gets pretty annoying at work, though the walk to the can is a nice break.

Finally, I read that my skin will start to feel and look better as a result of the new found hydration and my wife has noticed that already given the Bedroom Olympics that I currently enjoy.  Anyway, if you're not drinking your water - get started on it!  I found a great iPhone App called Water Your Body that can help you keep track of your water intake and even remind you to drink it.

WEEK 5 - To Err Is Human (and Happy Valentines!)

WEEK 5 | February 14, 2012 | Weight: 292.4 lbs | Loss of 1.2 lbs | Total Loss 18.2 lbs

This week I lost 1.2 pounds and that is nothing to cry about.  Though I do feel a sense of guilt for my recent activities this past weekend and I consider this loss (that being my smallest loss since I began) to be a result of those activities.

On Friday, we had our typical eat out at the local Donair shop.  I had a Super size one instead of the regular.  This wouldn't have been too bad except for what came next.  On Saturday, we were planning on having some friends over which we had not seen in a very long time.  The plan was to go out to Boston Pizza for dinner and then home for a few drinks and some games.  I carefully planned my dinner at Boston Pizza to ensure I did not go over my calorie limit.  Everything worked out as planned until the drinks started to flow later in the evening.  I had budgeted a few drinks and a couple of finger food snacks but along came 4:00 in the morning and I had way more drinks and way more finger foods than I should have.  A great time was had by everyone all the same but I don't think my eating helped.

To further this weekends gorge fest, the very next day my wife and I went to the movies.  We saw "The Woman in Black" which by the way had a crappy plot but the scares were quite good.  At the movies I had a large movie fries with gravy and a large chicken tenders.  Yikes!  I fully believe I can still eat these things, but I should have had smalls and I should have also done it on a different weekend than one with BP's and a Donair!

So while I feel a sense of guilt about this weekend, I had a great time, I still showed a loss this week so To Err is Human!  Now I shall pick myself back up and chalk it up as a lesson learned!

Hootin and Hollerin

Losing weight to be healthy is an absolutely fantastic reason to make changes in one's lifestyle, but today, another reason came up that has a pretty dramatic impact on how you feel about yourself.  As shallow as it sounds, how one looks is just as important.

My wife and I were coming out of the local convenience store today.  I was picking up one of those large water containers for our water cooler so I was several paces behind.  As my wife walked out (she is on her own weight loss journey), I could hear several men whistle and holler at her as she walked by.

Now we're not spring chickens anymore but when something like that happens, you just HAVE to feel good about yourself and know that you're on the right track.  She's lost 15 pounds herself since we began this journey together and I am so proud of her.

I of course had a sense of pride and felt extremely lucky that it was me that was getting into the car with her.  So, I'll be marking this down as an additional reason for me to lose weight - to simply look great for me, for my wife and for the hooters and the hollerers!

Goals

I was cleaning up after dinner the other night and my kids were sitting at the kitchen table.  They have taken quite an interest in our lifestyle changes.  Of course they've noticed we eat less take out and we haven't gone through the McDonald's drive-thru in over a month!  They are quite supportive of the changes that are going on (my daughter being 10 and my son of 8).  They want me to be healthy but of course, they are naturally full of questions.

This night in particular they asked me "Daddy, how long are you going to be on your diet for?"   I responded that this wasn't a diet and that it was a lifestyle change.  I am changing the way I'm eating in such a way that I will be able to continue to happily eat this way for the rest of my life.  In a sense, I told them that my diet isn't going to end and that I will be on it forever.

They looked a little puzzled by this and continued in a second attempt to find out the answer to what was really on their mind.  "Daddy, how long until you are the size you want to be?"  I chuckled to myself - Did my kids just ask me how long till I won't be fat?  They are so cute and so careful not to hurt my feelings.  I responded to them, well it's probably going to take me about 2 years to get to where I want to be.

To this I got a couple of mouth gaping looks, a jaw drop and some, oh my goshes.  I paused for a moment, looked at my lovely wife who was smiling at me from yonder table, thought hard about what I had just said and followed up by saying.. "And you know what?  I'm not even unhappy about that..."

WEEK 4 - Chicken and the Egg

WEEK 4  |  February 7, 2012  |  Weight: 293.6  lbs  |  Loss of 2.8  lbs  |  Total Loss 17.0 lbs


This week I had a goal to lose 2.2 pounds and I'm happy to report that I lost a staggering 2.8 and yet again, with no exercise what-so-ever.  I am simply counting my calories and ensuring I stay at or near my daily limit.  I know I'm going to have to start working out soon but I am finding it sort of humorous that I've lost 17 pounds without doing a thing other than re-arranging my food intake and a bit of portion control.

This week I've been trying some new ideas with chicken.  I love boneless, skinless chicken tits and am coming up with new ways to cook them.  It gotten a little warmer here this past week so I've also fired up the BBQ.  This opens up lots of different cooking opportunities.  Chicken wraps, grilled chicken, BBQ chicken burger are all great meals.  I've also started to buy the cartons of egg beaters.  These are essentially egg whites that I can scramble up in about three minutes from flame to plate.  Tossing them onto a slice of whole grain toast and I've got a yummy breakfast for around 200 calories.  Because the eggs are a fantastic source of protein, I found that I stay fuller a bit longer in the morning.

I've started sizing up some treadmills as ultimately I'd like to be able to do some running but I know my body has quite a way to go before I can even run 20 feet without gasping but you have to start somewhere.  That said, my plan is to pick up a treadmill, a HRM and a pair of fat guy running shoes at the end of the month.

As for snacking in the evenings - I'm really digging strawberries and pineapple so I've been either cutting up some pineapple or having a bowl of strawberries in the evenings with a dollop of low fat whip cream.   I'm also shocked that I managed to avoid soda pop for the past week (except on the weekend where I mixed diet pepsi with some rum).  I've been drinking about 2 liters of water everyday.  It still tastes like crap but it's something I know I really need to do.  I wonder if I will ever come to actually enjoy drinking water?

Go Suck A...Pineapple?

I LOVE fresh cut pineapple.  It's so sweet and juicy and easy to serve, especially when the whole family enjoys it.  Each ring comes in at about 42 calories it's perfect as a side to a breakfast or just for an evening snack.  You do however need the right tool so I suggest picking up one of these.

They work great and only cost about $20 at most local grocery stores.  It's plastic and I've broken one already but totally worth it.  If I break this one, I'll be getting a stainless steel one next time which I can get for about $50 at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

It's pretty easy to use, you just cut the top off your pineapple, place the cutter on top and start twisting.  It drills into the fruit creating rings of pineapple.

Then when you reach the bottom (you can feel it through the skin of the pineapple about where it is) you just wiggle back and forth pulling it back out and poof, rings of pineapple!  The handle pops off and they just slide off.  Make one cut down the stack and you're done.  Add as a side to some toast with breakfast or just to snack on.

Scales, Scales Everywhere

I noticed the other day that my old, clunky kitchen scale wasn't working anymore.  This is a must have tool for anyone who is counting calories.  I'm not the type of person who can eyeball a piece of meat and be able to tell how many ounces it is - I must have my scale!

Yesterday, on the way home from work, I convinced my lovely wife to let me pick up a new one from one of my favorite stores - Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Woohoo!  I did some research earlier that day and discovered they all pretty much did the same thing.  I wanted one that was accurate and easy to clean.  After looking around, we chose this:

It's glass top makes it easy to wipe down with a lysol wipe and displays weights in fractions rather than decimal which is nice.  It also takes "AAA" batteries.  My last one took those strange round ones that you have to go to a special store to find so that's an added bonus.

If you're going to be counting calories, one of these is a must!