I had to weigh myself 5 times this morning because I couldn't believe my eyes. Either my scale needs new batteries, it's broken, or the momentum I was talking about yesterday is beginning to snowball.
Official weigh for today: 327.4 lbs. That is a 1.8 lb drop from yesterday. I have now lost 9.6 lbs for the month for a total of 22.6 lbs. for the year.
If I can keep this up for the next few days I will not only meet my target goal, I will exceed it. I changed my routine up a little yesterday by accident. I got to work and realized that I had left my lunch sitting on the kitchen counter. So I decided to go to Subway for lunch and get a club sandwich. I didn't have anything to eat for my morning and after noon snacks so I did without. My luch plans got changed with a phone call.
I am an electronics technician that works on automated welding machines. I recently started working for another company and am cuurently in the process of upgrading their machines with newer technology. The salesman that works for the company where we buy this technology just happened to be in the neighborhood and gave me a ring to ask if I wanted to go to lunch on his dime. What perfect timing! So I ended up eating grilled mauhi mauhi, wild rice, and green beans at Bahama Breeze instead of Subway. For dinner I had vegetable soup and plantains with white cheese, a Venezuelan specialty. I also had my usual popcorn snack in the evening. You need to also keep in mind that I drink at least a gallon of water everyday without fail. This is very important and I sometimes fail to mention it.
I did my usual 400 situps yesterday and the wife and I walked 2 miles. I had a nice 15 minute stretching session before going to bed and burned up a few calories before I went to sleep. (If you get my drift)
I am starting to feel the effects of my exercise program. I am not just talking about the weight loss. I am talking about the way I feel when I get up in the morning. I am talking about the way I feel when I get home from work. I actually look foward to my exercises now. Part of it is a pscological high that comes from seeing the weight come off when I step on the scales in the morning. The rest is a physical feeling that comes from my increased energy levels which are a result of my evelvated metabolism that is brought about by my healthy eating habits and most of all the exercise itself. I am really feeling good this morning because…
Today's official weigh in: 329.2 lbs. That is 7.8 lbs for the month and 20.8 lbs for the year.
I am only .2 lbs short of my monthly target, but I am 3.2 lbs behind for the year. I slipped a little in Febuary but I think I will gain a little of it back this month. You will find that as you get a few months into your program that the weight will start to come off at a faster rate. This is due to an elevated metabolism and the process of turning fat into muscle. Muscle burns more fat, so as you increase your muscle mass by exercising, your body begins to burn more fat. I will probably end up losing about 9 lbs. this month. I would guess that will increase to about 12 or more in April. Like I mentioned earlier, I am starting to noticably feel the difference in my energy levels which is a sure sign of increased metabolism.
I am also going to start a yoga routine in April. I watched the "Yoga For Weight Loss" dvd last night and I am going to give the work out a try this weekend. I am going to have to make an adjustment in my schedule because the routine takes about an hour. It appears that before bed will be the best time to do it. It looks like an excellent stress relieving cool down. I will give you my impressions this weekend after I try out the workout. I am also going to reveal my secret weapon this weekend so make sure you check back.
Yesterday I had cereal for breakfast, a banana for mid-morning snack, a ham and cheese sandwich on wheat for lunch, and apple for mid-afternoon snack, a bowl of minestrone soup for dinner, and popcorn later in the evening. I did what is now my normal 400 situps, 200 before work and 200 in the evening. The wife and I walked to the grocery store and back which is a total of about 3 miles. That was it for the exercising. I was supposed to do my total gym, but just ran out of time. I am getting ready to launch an internet marketing product online and it is eating up most of my spare time.
I have broken a barrier this morning with another record setting weigh in, despite going to the "Sweet Tomato" all you can eat salad bar. This time I actually showed some restraint although I think I owe that to my secret weapon, which I will reveal on Sunday…promise. Aside from the 2 plates of salad and the small bowl of frozen yogurt that I had for dinner, the rest of the day was normal. Cereal for breakfast, celery w/ peanut butter for mid morning snack, a bowl of chicken noodle soup for lunch, an apple for mid afternoon snack, and nothing for an evening snack. I skipped the evening snack because my son Alejandro had soccer practice until 7:30, then we took my desktop computer to Best Buy and I let the Geek Squad check it out. Thank goodness it was only the power supply and not the mother board. We then went to eat and it was almost 10 by the time we got home.
Today's official weigh in: 329.8 lbs! I broke into the 20's. Only 3.8 lbs left to reach my goal for the month.
Despite my busy schedule yesterday, I still managed to do 400 sit ups. I do 100 straight on then 50 on each side. If you are using an Ab Roller like me, you can roll your hips to either side until your knee touches the floor and do crunches. This targets the "external obliques" which are the muscles that run down the sides of your body. I have just started to incorporate these into my routine. You will find that as your body becomes accustomed to working out, you will always be able to add a little more to your routine over time.
I didn't get to ride the bike and it is was my day off for the total gym, which is the same as lifting weights. Remember to give your body a days rest if you are working out with weights. The only time you want to lift weights everyday is if you are working different muscle groups, like working upper body one day and then your legs the next.
I hit it hard yesterday. 300 situps, 3 miles on the bicycle and 2 sets on the total gym; bench press, curls, and butterflies. The result…
Official weigh in: 330.2 lbs. a new record since what I like to refer to as "the swell up".
I am going to continue to double my efforts so I can make my target for the end of the month. I still have 4 lbs to go and only 6 more days. I am confident that I can do it especially if I ride the bike everyday. I have noticed that I usually drop weight when I use the bicycle. I did some research and found a reasonable explantion for this.
I mentioned earlier in this blog that muscle burns fat. Well, your leg muscles are the largest muscles in your body and therefore require more calories to operate. Calories are the bodies fuel. When you work your legs, its like driving a car with a big V-8 engine. You will burn a lot of fuel. With that in mind…
The weight loss secret tip of the week: "Work you legs often for quick weight loss."
I will put this to the test these last 6 days of the month to see if I can drop the 4 lbs in order to reach my target of 326 lbs. I also mentioned earlier that I have a secret weapon that I have been using. I will reveal it at the end of this month so stay tuned in. I keep forgetting to add the email subscribe form to this blog, but for now you can subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking on the orange button at the top of the page.
Yesterday, I had cereal for breakfast, a pear for the mid-morning snack, a can of clam chowder for lunch, an apple for my mid-afternoon snack, and homemade vegetable soup for dinner. I forgot to buy popcorn so I had a polish sausage for my evening snack. I also had a special cool down yesterday. The wife gave me a massage that lasted about an hour. Remeber that stress plays a huge role in weight gain and you need to make an effort to perform some sort of stress relieving activity on a daily basis.
I purchased the yoga dvd that I was looking at and it should arrive in the mail by the end of the week. I will give it a try this weekend. It is supposedly designed with weight loss in mind. We will see. If it works for me I will drop the name and recommend it. Just like I am about to do with my secret weapon. It now has my official seal of approval.
Ok, I broke down and ate some chocolate. I just couldn,t help myself. Although I didn't go crazy. I am going to try and double up on the exercising this week because there are only 7 days left in the month and I am 5 lbs. shy of my target weight of 326 lbs.
The official weigh in: 331 straight up. Another slight gain. Weekends are tough.
I did manage to do 200 situps and bicycled about 4 miles at the park. I would have gained a couple pounds after all the chocolate I ate if I hadn't hit the exercising hard. Aside from snacking on chocalate all day long, I pretty much stayed with my normal eating routine. Cereal for breakfast, an apple for mid morning snack, 2 sausge dogs for lunch and leftover turkey and vegetable soup for dinner.
We didn't have a big Easter dinner. My Mother and the rest most of my immediate family live in Atlanta and we didn't make the trip up. We had a big dinner on Saturday and didn't worry about Sunday. The kids are happy because they got their candy and could care less about Easter dinner. The wife and I are trying to lose weight so we decided to skip the big dinner.
