Day #33 - Oooooh..... Body...... Why Must You Mess With my Head

I now understand why most weight loss programs instruct you to weigh in once a week. Weighing in once a week is better for the mental aspect of any diet. Weighing yourself everyday can be very frustrating and sometimes can cause you to second guess what you are currently doing with your weight loss program. There are so many variables that can come into play with your body weight everyday.

When you wake up in the morning, your body weight tends to be less then it would be at the end of the day. The reason is because your stomach is empty and your body has totally digested any food from the night before. Your body is also rested and has the tendency to be dehydrated in the morning. During the day, you constantly eat food to replenish the nutrients that your body loses during the course of the day. However, it takes a little time for your body to digest food after you eat, so you tend to weigh a little more after eating meals. Also, take into account that you can gain muscle mass if you are constantly working out every day. Muscle mass does weigh more then fat mass and that can be a reason why you weigh more some days even if you are taking the right steps to lose weight and burn fat. Which brings me to an interesting question, when is the best time to weigh yourself during the day for the most accurate reading? I usually weigh my self at night before bed time but I am willing to change the time of day if it works better. Please comment if you have a good idea.

By weighing in everyday, I can see these changes happening constantly to my body. It gets a little frustrating to me because I some times do not understand why I weigh more at different parts of the day. Or why I weigh more on Tuesday then I did on Monday. I now realize that these are the natural phases that a human body goes through everyday. I keep on reminding myself that if I stick to the plan and keep working hard, then I will eventually reach the overall goal regardless of how my weight fluctuates during the day.

I am also going to continue weighing myself everyday. I think it is important that everyone sees how your results are going to vary on a day to day basis. And you are not going to always get results you are looking for on a day to day basis. However, don't let it stop you from working towards the main goal. I have been back and forth for the last few days between 280 and 281 lbs. I know that is going to happen quit frequently during the course of my mission for the reasons I mentioned just before. So, in order to off set the results of weighing myself everyday, I am going to record my body measurements once a week and share them with all of you. This is to show that even though my weight loss is not going to be much every week, my body is still changing in a healthy way. I want to make sure that I stay focused on losing a healthy 1-2 lbs a week. Each day is a battle that I might win or lose but achieving a healthier life is definitely a war that I am looking to win.

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 3 egg whites on 2 slices of Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with a slice of Borden's Fat Free American Cheese = Points 3
Snack - 2 chocolate rice cakes = Points 2
Lunch - 6'' Tuna sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of white american cheese, a bag of baked chips, and a side of apple slices (Subway) = Points 15
Snack - 2 chocolate rice cakes & 1 serving of "Smart Ones" Bite Sized Pizzas = Points 7
Dinner -  1 Serving and a 1/2 of home made Beef & Vegetable Cheese Casserole (Weight Watchers Recipe) with a side of 2 slices of Weight Watchers bread = Points 11
Dessert - 1 Chocolate Fudge Sundae Cone (Weight Watchers) = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 40 Points (1 under my limit)

Exercise

I woke up this morning at 7:45am and made my way to the gym. At the gym, I ran on the elliptical machine for 30mins and then I did half my core body workout because I ran out of time because I was running a little late for work. Tomorrow, I will run for about 20 mins and I will do my second upper body workout of my new routine.

Day #33 - Weigh-In = 279.6 lbs

Day #33 Weigh-In

Day #33 Front Shot

Day #33 Dinner
Weight Watchers Recipe

Day #32 - Making Adjustments for Month #2

Have you ever stopped to think of how a number can have two different meanings. Well, the number I am thinking about is the current weight I am right now 280 lbs. Let me explain to you how this number can have two different meanings as well as cause to different emotions. For example: a few months before I started my "Mission to Healthy," I stepped on a scale and the weight that was displayed on the screen was 280 lbs. I got down from the scale and stepped on it again to make sure I was seeing the number correctly. And for the second time in a row it said 280 lbs. I immediately became depressed and was in shock that I reached that weight. Now, back to the present day. I stepped on my scale at home a day ago and the screen displayed 280 lbs again, but this time I was jumping for joy. With the weight that my scale was displaying, meant that I had officially lost 22 lbs in 30 days. I am sorry if this was boring to anyone. I just thought it was interesting how a number can have two different meanings.

Anyway, it is the start of Month #2 and I am has motivated today as I was on Day #1 of my mission. I have noticed that I have been stuck around the 280 - 281 lb mark for the last 2-3days. I was curious to see if I was stuck at a plateau, so I went to my computer and conducted a little research. I found on http://www.weightwatchers.com/ that in the beginning of a diet, around the first 3 weeks, a person will lose a good amount of weight that can be described as water weight. Usually after the initial 3 weeks have been completed, a normal & healthy amount of weight to lose a week is between 1-2 lbs. The website also said that if you have been around the same weight for about a week, there is no need to worry. You are not caught in a plateau, you are just losing the weight at a healthy pace. After reading the information, I went back through my records and noticed that in the first 3 weeks I did lose 17 lbs and after the 4th week, the one that just passed, I lost around 4 lbs. Now, I am currently in the middle of week #5 and I am on pace to lose between 1-2 lbs for the week. That means I am right on target for a healthy weight loss pattern.

However, a month / 4 weeks has officially passed and I am aware that your body can get complacent with a meal and workout routine. So, I have decide to switch things up a bit to shock my body. From what I have heard and read, that when your body is shocked, your metabolism can speed up because your body has to readjust to new things, thus making the fat burning process come back into play. As far as switching up my meal routine, I am going to take my 41 points a day and spread it out more evenly across the day so that I am constantly feeding my body but with smaller portions. This method will constantly fuel the fat burring machine that my body can potentially be. I am also switching up my exercise routine. I have been attempting to build a morning workout routine since Day #1 and have come up short, thus making me have to workout at night. I am going to concentrate more on working out in the morning and playing a sport at night. I was thinking basketball, tennis, and of course continuing to play softball. I hope, that the switch up routines, is enough to shock my body and keep the healthy weight loss going.

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 rice cakes, Egg whites on a whole wheat roll with a slice of american cheese and a side of fruit = Points 12
Lunch - 5 oz of sliced deli turkey on a multi grain bagel with a slice of american cheese and lettuce, and a bag of baked Doritos = Points 14
Snack - 2 chocolate rice cakes = Points 2
Dinner - 2 Boca Veggie Burgers with 2 slices of Borden Fat Free American Cheese on 2 pieces of Weight Watchers whole wheat bread, and a side of Alexia Sweet Potato Fries = Points 9
Dessert - 1 Chocolate Fudge Sundae Cone (Weight Watchers) = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 39 Points (2 under my limit)

Exercise

Today I ran for 10 mins on the elliptical machine and then did my new chest and bicep upper body workout (put together by my friend who is a personal trainer) that consisted of: Dumbbell Chest Press (4 sets that consist of 8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps, & 15 reps), Incline Smith Press (3 sets that consisted of 21 reps, 15 reps, & 12 reps), Incline Cable Chest Fly (3 sets that consisted of 15 reps), Straight Bar Curls (4 sets that consisted of 8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps, & 15 reps), Incline Alternating Dumbbell Curls (4 sets of 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, & 6 reps), Low Pulley Hammer Curls (3 sets until tired). Each time I did an exercise that went down in reps, I went up weight by 5 lbs. For each exercise that went up in reps, I went down in weight. Tomorrow I will be doing cardio and my new core body workout.

Day #32 - Weigh-In = 280.8 lbs

Day #32 Weigh-In

Day #32 Front Shot

Day #31 - One Month Down, A Life Time to Go

Can anyone believe that it has already been a month since I started my "Mission to Healthy" on Monday, May 31, 2010? I know I have been saying this a lot lately, but I really have all of you to thank. Without your support, I would have probably given up at the start of week #2 just like I have done on several occasions in the past.  I strongly believe that having a support group around you not only to lose weight but to get through any struggles in your life is a very big help.

Now I am not saying that the last month has been a cake walk. There have been some very tough obstacles that I have had to over come. For example: my cravings for junk food, the saga I went through when my scale broke, and who can forget the on going struggle of attempting to wake up in the morning to start a morning workout routine. But for every dark cloud there is a silver lining. I am in the process of building an amazing support group not only for myself but for everyone who is struggling with weight issues. Because of my great support group, I have not strayed from the weight loss program with the fear of letting everyone down. I have learned  to express my feelings through words. I have developed a new found confidence in not only my physical features but in myself as well. My clothes are slowly becoming baggy on me. I finally was able to wake up this morning to workout after 30 attempts. Don't forget the most important silver lining so far, I have lost 22 lbs to date and have got that much healthier since Day #1!!!!

I am very happy with how this mission has started. Well what else can I say then , "One Month Down and a Life Time to Go."

Victory!!!!

Well folks, I finally did it. I managed to wake up this morning and got my butt to the gym. It was a little easier then yesterday I can tell you that much. I had set my first alarm last night for 7:30am and placed it on the other side of the room. I then set my second alarm for 7:30am and placed it on the desk right next to my side of the bed. Well, 7:30am rolled around and I got up out of bed and shut it off. I then rolled back into bed and slept for 15 more minutes. Once the clock hit 7:45am, I jumped out of bed, got dressed and went to the gym for a nice hour of cadrio and core body workout. I tell you what, after this morning's workout, I felt energized and ready for the day. Working out however, did make me hungrier during the day. I one today's battle but there still is a war.

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone who just started following the blog, I am currently following the Weight Watchers Point System)

Breakfast - 3 scrambled egg whites on 2 slices of whole wheat Weight Watchers Bread with a slice of Kraft Fat Free american cheese = Points 3
Lunch - Foot long chicken teriyaki sub on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese, a bag of baked potato chips, and a side of apple slices (Subway) = Points 19
Snack - 3 chocolate rice cakes = Points 4
Dinner - Grilled tuna steak with a side of steamed green beans and a 1/2 a cup of chicken rice = Points 9
Dessert - 1 Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar (Weight Watchers) & 1 cup chocolate ice (Weight Watchers = Points = 5


Total Points Eaten Today = 40 Points (1 point under my limit)

Exercise

This morning I woke up at 7:45am and went to the gym!!! I ran on the elliptical for 30 mins and then I did my core body workout: Crunches (2 sets x 15 reps), Lying Leg Lifts (2 sets x 15 reps), Cable Side Chops (2 sets x 15 reps - Lower, Middle, and Upper from the left and right side). Tomorrow I will run for about 15-20 mins and then I will do my upper body routine.

Day #31 - Weigh-In = 280.6 lbs

Day #31 Weigh-In

Day #31 Front Shot

Day #30 - You Win Again Pillow

Last night I was determined to get my butt out of bed this morning and to start the first day of my new morning workout routine. Let's just say this morning didn't go quit as planned.

I was given a great tip yesterday from a friend for getting up out of bed in the morning to workout. I setup to alarms last night. The first alarm was across my bed room on my dresser top and it was set for 7:30 am. The second alarm was setup for 7:45 am right by my head to assure that I would be woken up if I didn't hear the first alarm from across the room. The next set of details is how my fiancee describes the comedy show that took place in my room this morning. And when I say comedy show, I mean me being half asleep while attempting to get up in the morning to workout.

The first alarm went off at 7:30am like planned. My fiancee nudges me a couple times. I sit up in bed, half a sleep. I roll out of bed and head over to the dresser to turn off the first alarm. Not knowing where I was exactly, I pace about three times back and fourth at the foot of the bed mumbling to myself. I finally sit down on the bed while my fiancee was talking to me and slowly fell back a sleep with my head on her leg. About three minutes later I wake myself up trying to get comfortable and realized that my head was on her leg. I slowly sit up and she tells me several times to get up and go workout. The second alarm then proceeds to go off. I don't even remember this part I am about to tell you next. I then point at the second alarm, then the first alarm, and then my fiancee and say you are all against me. After that little outburst a crawl back into bed, tell her that I need 5 more minutes and then fall back asleep. I woke up at 9:15am, realized that I was going to be late for work, jumped out of bed to get ready, and then left for work.

While on my way to work, she told me the details of the comedy routine I put on for her. She then tells me that I have no idea what she had to go through this morning to try and get me out of bed. I explained to her that I did not remember anything and that I was sorry for putting her through all of that this morning.

I ended up going to the gym after work today and completed the routine I had setup for today. I will try once again, to get up tomorrow morning. I am going to have to try a little harder, because I am obviously not a morning person. At least I still went to the gym today and didn't give up on the mission.

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone who is new to the blog, I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - Egg whites on a whole wheat roll with a slice of american cheese and a side of fresh mixed fruit = Points 9
Lunch - 1 piece of grilled chicken on a whole wheat roll with 2 slices of american cheese and a side of 40% reduced fat kettle cooked potato chips = Points 16
Snack - 3 chocolate rice cakes = Points 3
Dinner - My fiancee made a great home made Beef Stroganoff Meal (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 11
Dessert - 1 cup of Chocolate Brown Ice Cream (Weight Watchers) = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 41 Points

Exercise

I went to the gym tonight after work and I ran on the elliptical for 15 mins. I then did my lower body routine with the weight machines: Leg Press (4 sets x 15 reps), Leg Extensions (4 sets x 15 reps), Leg Curls (4 sets x 15 reps), and Calve Raises (4 sets x 15 reps). Tomorrow I will be doing cardio as well as my core body routine.

Day #30 -Weigh-In = 280.8 lbs

Day #30 Weigh-In

Day #30 Front Shot

Dinner Shot - Beef Stroganoff
Weight Watchers' Recipe

Day #29 - If at First You Don't Succeed, Try Again

I did not make it to the gym this morning. It wasn't because I slept through the alarm like usual, it was because I hit the snooze button, rolled over, and fell back asleep. Yes, I totally ignored the alarm and chose to go back to sleep. That was my fault.

However, I received a cool message this morning from one of my friends from high school. In her message, totally by coincidence, she was talking about how she over came her issues with trying to wake up in the morning to workout. She explained to me that she puts her alarm in a separate room. It is still close enough for her to hear it, but she has to get out of bed to turn it off. When she gets up to turn it off, she says to herself, "I am already up, I might as well go to the gym." I think that is a great tip to help force yourself to workout in the morning. I like it so much that I am going to attempt it tonight. I am hard of hearing as it is, at least that is what my fiancee says. So, I am going to try it out by putting my alarm on the other side of the room. I am determined to try anything to help me build a morning workout routine. Wish me luck.

Anyway, I did make my way to the gym today after work. Even though I did not make it this morning like I wanted, I was still going to make it to the gym like planned. While walking to the entrance of the gym, I noticed a nice looking lady walk in right in front of me. Now, I am human people, I will take notice to nice looking people. As I walked in right behind her, it was like I was walking into a photo shoot for the cover of a health magazine. I mean come on really, I was the only out of shape person there. I usually go late at night around 10:30pm because I have things to do right after I get home from work. I wanted to get in early tonight because I didn't want to be up until 1am again writing my blog. Also, I want to make sure that I can wake up tomorrow morning for attempt # 30 at starting a morning routine. Needless to say, I felt like I worked out in a photo shoot for a calendar featuring hot people. I hope they make me "Mr. July."

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone who is just starting to follow the blog, I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - Scrambled egg whites on whole wheat toast with a slice of american cheese and a side of fruit = Points 9
Lunch - Foot long chicken teriyaki on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese and sweet onion sauce and a bag of baked chips from Subway = Points 18
Snack -  2 chocolate rice cakes = Points 2
Dinner - 2 cups of steamed chicken and broccoli with a cup of brown rice = Points 10

Total Points Eaten Today = 39 Points (I was 2 points under my limit)

Exercise

I ran on the elliptical today for 30 mins. I then attempted to do my core body workout but my abdominal muscles were still soar from Saturday. I would get into the third crunch and my stomach muscles would start cramping. So, I did 12 sets of body twists on the cable machine at different angles. Hopefully I will be able to do crunches again by Wednesday. I will be running tomorrow for 15 mins and then I will do my lower body routine.

Day #29 - Weigh-In = 281.2 lbs

Day #29 Weigh-In

* I purchased a newspaper this morning but forgot it at work. That is why I am not holding one in tonight's picture.

Day #29 Front Shot

 

Day #28 - Family and Fun is a Must

Before I get to today's post, I just want to announce that I have officially lost 20 lbs since the start of my mission!!!

I just recently saw a movie that many of you might have seen already.  That movie is called, "Click" and it is staring Adam Sandler. "Click" is a movie about a man who is so tied up with his job and getting a promotion, that he neglects to pay attention or spend anytime with his family. One night while searching for a universal remote control, he runs into a gentleman that gives him a special kind of remote control. When using this remote control, the man was able to fast forward through the personal parts of his life he did not want to deal with. To make a long story short, the man ends up fast forwarding through important parts of his life and gets a promotion, but ends up missing everything that would be special to him. Because of decisions to to fast forward through all of the bad stuff, he ends up losing his wife, he misses his children growing up, and ends up alone and very unhappy. At the end of the movie the man realizes that it was all a dream and decides to change his life around by spending more time with his family and not so much time working and avoiding personal issues.

I have mentioned several times before in previous posts that I too, have a job that requires a lot of my time. I have been so wrapped up in work lately, that I didn't call sooner to see how my grandfather was doing after he was in the hospital just recently. I love you grandpa and I hope you feel better. I have said it before and I will say it again, family is the most important thing in my life.

I also admit that I have to take some time off of work for myself as well. So, keeping that in mind for today, I took my fiancee to "Six Flags Great Adventure" in Jackson, NJ. We started out the day of fun by visiting the, "Wild Safari." Now if you have never been to a drive through safari before, I would highly recommend it. It was amazing to see all of the wild animals come right up to your car and look in the window to see you. The Giraffe section of the safari was awesome, they walked right onto the street and was chilling with all of the cars. After we got through the safari, we made our way to the main theme park. We walked for a good 3hours, ate healthy food at one of the restaurants, and went on a few rides that we had never been on before. Even though it was very hot, it ended up being a perfect get away place.

The only issue I had with the park, was that some of the roller coaster seats were not built for people of my body size. Because I was to big, I wasn't able to go on the "Batman" ride and I was barely able to fit into the seat for the "Nitro" roller coaster. Experiencing this misfortune was only adding motivational fuel to an already growing fire. Mark my words, "I will fit into those rides by the time mission is complete."

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone who is new to the blog, I am currently following the Weight Watchers Point System)

Breakfast - 3 egg whites on 2 slices of Weight Watchers multi grain bread with a slice of fat free american cheese = Points 3
Early Afternoon - Grilled chicken sandwich on whole wheat chibata bread with a side of apple slice from Burger King = Points 11
Late Afternoon - Turkey on a 2 slices of whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese and a side of fruit (Carnegie Deli at Six Flags) = Points 14
Snack - 2 rice cakes = Points 2
Dinner - 2 grilled cheese sandwiches (Weight Watchers Bread and fat free american cheese) with a side of fresh mixed fruit (7-Eleven) = Points 8

Total Points Eaten Today = 38 Points (I was 3 points under my limit today)

Exercise

I woke up at 10am this morning and went to the gym. At the gym, I ran for 15 mins on the elliptical and then I proceeded to do my upper body routine. Today I worked my back, shoulders, and triceps. I did: Lat pull downs (3 sets of 15 reps), shoulder press (3 sets of 15 reps), back rows (3 sets of 15 reps), front/side dumbbell raises (3 sets of 15 reps each), triceps extensions (3 sets of 15 reps), and over head triceps ext with the ropes (3 sets of 15 reps). I will be doing cardio tomorrow as well as my core body routine.

Day #28 -Weigh-In = 281 lbs (I officially have lost 20 lbs!!!)

Day #28 Weigh-In

Day #28 Front Shot