Monday, August 10, 2009

I loved all of the supportive emails, comments and facebook posts. I am thrilled that so many people think highly enough of me to comment. For those who've committed to lose the weight with me, welcome aboard. Let's be strong and fight this together!

Now, for the rest of my day, this had been relatively easy to start my lifestyle change, until the end.

I'm working a 3:00 pm to 11:30 pm schedule this week. That really messes with the eating schedule, which I would like to get on to help me make these adjustments. My problem is that I get home from work around 12:30 and by that time I am famished. I had wanted to not eat anything in the evening, but I had to break that due to the schedule. Next week, I'll start sticking to the goal of nothing after 7:00 pm.

A friend suggested that I keep a notebook handy and write down everything that I eat for the next couple of weeks. I think that's a marvelous idea, here is what I ate today.

Breakfast:
Bowl of corn chex cereal and 1 cup of milk

Lunch:
A HUGE salad, and I do mean huge. Here's what the salad had in it...

1/4 head of iceberg lettuce
1 cup chopped ham
1/4 cup chopped grilled chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 can of corn
10 baby carrots
1/3 cup croutons
3 tablespoons ranch dressing

Dinner:
Oscar Meyer Deli Creation Ham and Swiss

Candy:
1 hard candy mint (I had to freshen up my breath)

After hours:
1 bowl of 1/2 grapenuts and 1/2 corn chex cereals with 1 cup milk

So, before you go off on me about the late night meal or the processed food with the Deli Creations, let me tell you what I had in one day, just last week:

Breakfast:
2 Ham and Cheese sandwiches

Snacks: 2 brownies left over from the night before

Lunch:
3 cups of chicken, broccoli and cheese casserole

Dinner:
2 medium pizzas with extra cheese, sausage and mushrooms.

Now, this is very embarrassing that I ate that much in a single day, but I use it so that when you compare that to what I ate today, you should see a dramatic difference.

Now, enough of food. Let's move on to exercise.

My father in law, Roger, suggested that I exercise for 1 hour a day, three times a week. He has lost a lot of weight, even after being on a heart transplant list because of a diseased heart. He sets a remarkable example for me to follow. So, although I didn't go for an hour, I did keep my heart rate up by walking on the treadmill at work for 30 minutes.

Keep the comments coming, pipe in when you have suggestions or anything to say.

Steve

9 comments:

Teresa said...

Way to go Dear!! That truly is a small amount of food for one day, and there is nothing wrong with the deli creations. I think they are GREAT. Oh... and did you really eat two medium pizzas?? I have not know you to eat That much?.

Brooke said...

Well Cuz.. I got on my treadmill lastnight. Thanks for making me feel like I can do this too! I also am not eating anything after 7... SO HARD! Keep up the great work! xoxo

cognoramus said...

Steve, this is from a study by the National Institutes of Health:

The prevalence of diabetes and obesity is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide, and the causes of this pandemic are not fully understood. Chronic sleep curtailment is a behavior that has developed over the past 2–3 decades. Laboratory and epidemiological studies suggest that sleep loss may play a role in the increased prevalence of diabetes and/or obesity. Current data suggest the relationship between sleep restriction, weight gain and diabetes risk may involve at least three pathways: (1) alterations in glucose metabolism; (2) upregulation of appetite; and (3) decreased energy expenditure. The present article reviews the current evidence in support of these three mechanisms that might link short sleep and increased obesity and diabetes risk.

Sue said...

Great job! I think that you need more for breakfast. Figure out if protein (eggs, meat) or carbohydrates (cereal) keep you full the longest, then go with that. Corn chex don't fill me up, but wheat chex, grapenuts, raisin bran, shredded wheat do. Also, don't skip the sugar. One tsp of sugar has 17 calories but you feel like you really got breakfast. Weight watchers point system is a great way to learn food values, I eat about 1/3 of my points for breakfast. You can buy the book without joining (I think)

Sue said...

Roger does great exercising, the national guideline is to exercise at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

Kristin said...

Yep, going from nothing to 30 minutes is pretty dang good. I'm proud of you, bro!

Anonymous said...

Nice start, Steve. I lost weight when we were at Gordon by walking around the track three times a week. It was funny because I'd always figured that walking wasn't anywhere near as good as running, but it turned out to help a lot. Also, I second the food notebook idea. It helps you see all the snacks and drinks that you don't usually think about. Is you have an iPhone there is a great app called LoseIt! that I highly recommend. It keeps track of food and physical activity, and also helps you set and track goals. Finally, Will sends his best and says that he'll make you run... But how he'll do it is vulgar so I won't write it here! Linnea

Sue said...

I wanted to comment on the water comment. When you want food, you may be thirsty. Learn to tell if you need a drink or food, take a drink of water first. Sometimes I eat A LOT and find that a drink of water was all that I needed.

Roger said...

Keep going, but remember:
1. You can lose some battles and still win the war.
2. It does not matter when you eat - it is ALL about calories consumed.
3. Hard candy is a good way to deal with wanting something sweet.
4. If there was a diet that worked better than "Eat less, Exercise More" Oprah would be skinny.