Entry: 2/16/09

Weight: 236 lbs. Opps, I'm paying for yesterday!

Breakfast: Two poached eggs, 2 slices whole wheat toast, 2 cups of coffee with cocoa, sweetener, creamer. 2 fish oil capsules, vitamin, 1 DHEA tablet.

Are you getting enough water?
Your liver converts stored fat to energy. The liver has other functions, but this is one of its main jobs.

Unfortunately, another of the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, you're setting yourself up to store fat.

If you haven’t been drinking enough water when you start getting an ample amount each day, you could see a significant weight drop, 3-4 pounds. When you start getting enough water, your body gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly. You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn't need to save these stores anymore; it's trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing (of both the body and the potty) will cease, allowing it to return to a normal life. This is called the "breakthrough point."

In addition, it improves muscle tone. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective. Muscle is the major calorie burner. I refer to it as the fat burning engine.

You should drink at least 64 ounces a day. Eight 8-ounce glasses amount to about two quarts of water. This is okay for the average person, but if you're overweight, you should drink another eight ounces for every 25 pounds of excess weight you carry. You should also up this if you live in a hot climate or exercise very intensely.

This water consumption should be spread out throughout the day. It's not healthy at all to drink too much water at one time. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between. Don't let yourself get thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you're already becoming dehydrated. Drink when you're not thirsty yet.

When you drink all the water you need, you will very quickly notice a decrease in your appetite, possibly even on the first day! If you're serious about becoming leaner and healthier, drinking water is an absolute must. If you're doing everything else right and still not seeing results, this might just be what's missing.

Snack: 15 blueberries. They are really good. Bought them at Walmart. Best I've had in a looooong time. Can't eat blueberries without thinking about my sister, God rest her soul. She loved them. She raised them...had about 5 bushes.

Lunch: 3.5 oz. of sardines. (I can hear it now...yuke!)Sardines are high in omega 3 the good fat. Diet Dr. Pepper

I cover them up with Franks Red Hot cayenne pepper sauce. Sometimes I use green pepper sauce.

Snack: Medium apple

Dinner: Chicken breat, collard greens, grape tomatoes, and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Snack: Bowl of special K with skim milk.

Exercise: 45 minutes of weight. Moderate workout since I have missed working out for a few weeks. Walked half mile as cool down. Stretched for 10 minutes. That's good for the joints and reduces soreness especially if you haven't worked out in a while.
Max heart rate was 137 and average was 112. After each set I wait till my heart rate drops to 110-115 then I do the next set. In the beginning of the workout it drops quickly and I move from one muscle group to the next as soon as possible. When I get to the larger muscle group it takes longer between repetitions for the heart rate to get back down to 115.