1/22/2012

Weight: Didn 't weigh

Breakfast: Oatmeal with Smart Balance spread. Coffe with 3 tsp cream and 3 tsp splenda. Half cup Blueberries. Bottle of Dan Active. 7 oz. skim milk with 2 tsp Beneficial Fiber.
Lunch: Gloria's (Salvadoran food) in Frisco with daughter, Son n Law and friends. Had about 20 chips with Salsa and Bean dip, Carne Apodado (skirt steak marinaded in house marinade and barbecued) and brown rice.  Iced Tea
Snack: Pineapple wedge 
Dinner: 6 oz Salmon. Mixed vegetables microwaved 6 oz milk.
Snack: 10 walnut halves. 1 beer

Exercise: Walked 3.7 miles. Slowly got up to 70% of pulse rate and tried to stay as close as possible to that during entire walk. Cool down and stretch.  I was in the upper 70's so I went outside.

My Body Mass Index is 31.2
Use the BMI Calculator in the right sidebar to estimate your body fat.
Muscle weighs more than fat so I'm not too worried that my BMI puts me in the Obese range. My target is lower end of "Overweight Range".

Although BMI can be used for most men and women, it does have some limits:

• It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.
• It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle.

The BMI score means the following:

	BMI
Underweight	Below 18.5
Normal	18.5–24.9
Overweight	25.0–29.9
Obesity	30.0 and Above

Entry 1/21/2012

Weight: 226
Food 1/20/2012 :
Breakfast: Bowl of Cheerios, Coffee with 3 tsp creamer, 3 tsp Splenda, 10 blueberries, wedge of pineapple and 7 oz. Skim milk with 2 tsp of Beneficial fiber.
Snack: 4 almonds, 10 walnut halves
Lunch: Cup of beans, 1/2 cup raw broccoli and carrots and 6 oz. Skin milk
Snack: Medium Apple 5 walnut halves
Dinner: 2 baked small chicken thighs and drumsticks, 6 oz wild salmon, 2 cups mixed cooked vegetables, 6 cherry tomatoes (mostly broccoli, carrots, sweet peas) 8 oz Skim milk with 2 tsp of Beneficial fiber. 2 oz Rose' wine.
Snack: 20 blueberries

Got up to 228 from 214 in late October, after slowing down on exercise, when it turned too cool for me to walk outside. Exercise consisted  of maybe 1-2 weight lifting days with walking warm up and cool down each week. Not nearly enough for me since, I sit at desk for most of my day. Started back in earnest this past week after getting my blood work report. More on this later.

This past week , I'm back to my routine of 45 minutes weight lifting which includes ALL muscle groups with 15 minutes total warm and cool down walking; next 2 days walking (combination elliptical and track) for 35 minutes, with 10-15 warm up and cool down; and back to weight lifting the following day.

I wear a pulse monitor and during all workouts I warm up slowly to my 70% heart rate in approximately 5 minutes. On weight lifting days I move between sets so that my heart rate does not fall below 65% and peaks to 80% during most sets, sometimes 85% when working large muscle groups like back and legs. I follow with a cool down walk  of about 10 minutes to 65% and then stretch.  On the 1st day after weight lifting, after the warm up, I walk so that my pulse rate peaks at 80% and goes back down to 70% in intervals all during the workout. I then cool down to 65% in about 8-10 minutes followed by stretching. On the 2nd after the weights, I do essentially the same except during 1-2 intervals  I'll get my heart rate up to 85%. Studies indicate intervals are better than keeping a constant heart rate. I think that is especially a good idea as we get older.

Entry 8/4/2011

Sorry I've been off line for the past few months.

My weight today was 215 lbs. I've now lost 30 lbs. since we started the "Lard Off" contest at the office.

I reached a stubborn plateau about a month and half ago at 220-218. Appears that I've finally broke through about a week ago. It's amazing to me how the human body remembers these plateaus. This is the low point I reached last year and two years before that. Previously when I reached these, I would get discouraged after 2-3 weeks and start binging more often. Once the binging became more frequent I started gaining. Then food would begin to be the "medicine" to relieve the disappointment of gaining and other life problems. This time however I became more resolute. Partly because of the weight loss contest but mostly because of the significant health improvements I've experienced.

You might ask why were the health improvements not sufficient motivation in previous weight loss attempts. The difference is that I was not at the plateau as long then as I have been this time. Before I was at the plateau about 2-3 weeks. This time its been about 2 1/2 months. More time to recognize the changes.

In general, the higher a person's weight, the higher the body's metabolic rate.) Your weight-loss efforts result in a new equilibrium with your now slower metabolism. This means that in order to lose more weight, you need to increase activity or decrease the calories you eat. Using the same approach that worked initially will maintain your weight loss, but it won't lead to more weight loss.

(incomplete post. out of time. try to finish later in day)

Entry 3/26/2011

Weighed 223.4 today in shorts T-shirt and shoes. I've lost 21.6 lbs since Jan. 31. That's when we started the "Lard-Off" contest at the office. (see older post) Been losing steadily.

I have been on low-carbs since Janurary. Wasn't paying that much attention to the fats. my Cholesterol was LDL 107 and HDL 40 as of my physical last May. For the past 4 years my Cholesterol has been normal. Before it was not. Through exercise low carbs and daily intake of omega 3,mainly through fish oil capsules and walnuts, I am able to keep it in the normal range. I want to get my LDL below 100 and get the HDL up to at least 41. I've been lowering my fat intake. The only meat I eat is turkey, chicken and fish. Have cut out almost all red meat. Recently I've cut down on white meat. I will never be a vegetarian and I will eat a steak every now and then, but I haven't had one in 3 months at least.

Lifted weights today. If you look at the older post you'll see details of my exercise schedule. In summary I walk/jog 2 days and lift weights on the 3rd day. Rarely miss a day. If I do, I do the exercise I was suppose to do the day before.

Entry 3/14/2011

We started this contest at the office to lose weight. It creates another form accountability. You are going to lose weight only when you make up your mind to do it. But having another person to account to will help maintain discipline and multiply the pleasure of losing. We weigh in every Monday at 2 PM. I weighed 230 lbs today. We have a rule that the person who loses the most percentage of weight in a week does not have to put $1 in the pot. I lost 5 Lbs from last week. However there is another rule. If you lose more than 4 lbs in week you still have to put a $1. That's because its not healthy to lose more the 3-4 pounds per week.

Entry 3/13/2011

Well I haven't been doing a good job of posting. I hope to do better. I wieghed 232 lbs on Friday. I've lost 13 lbs since Jan. 31. That's a little over 2 lbs a week which is perfect. I'm back into a steady routine of walking/jogging 2 mi. 2days then lifting weights on the 3 rd day and repeating. As I've said before I have to exercise to keep my brain chemistry tuned to eat correctly. Beginning today I'm starting to cut back on meats. For the past 3 months I rarely ate red meat. Cutting back on chicken and fish now. Turkey will be the meat that I mostly eat.

Entry 3/1/2011

Weighed 238.2 yesterday fully dressed. That's usually about 3 lbs over my weight without clothes and shoes. We're having a weight loss contest at the office so I weighed there. That's extra incentive to strictly adhere to good eating and regular exercise.

Going to the gym tonight to lift weights so I'll measure in my gym shorts to get a reading there and record later.

Breakfast: coffee, two scrambled eggs with cheese.
Snack: Cheese, some apple wedges (about half of apple)
Lunch: 4 oz fish, spinach, and pinto beans.