I finally lost the weight that I gained over the weekend. It took me 3 days to undo what I basically did in a day. If I had to guess, the culprit was the beer. I made the same mistake on Mother's day weekend and put on several pounds.

That is why you have to give up alcohol and sodas, if you want to lose weight. Drink only water and lots of it.

Today's official weigh in: 309.6 lbs. That puts me back where I started out this month so nothing lost for the month and 40.4 lbs lost for the year.

Yesterday I rode my bike 2 miles first thing in the morning and did 200 sit ups. I didn't have time to do anything after work because we went shopping and went out to eat at Sweet Tomato, the all you can eat salad bar. I ate 2 huge plates of salad and still managed to lose over a pound. Just goes to show you that you can still eat a lot if you eat smart.

Man the weight is just falling off of me, LOL. Yesterday I rode my bike 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles after dinner. I did my usual 200 crunches in the morning and that was all as far as exercise for the day. Evidently it was enough.

Today's weigh in: 309.6 lbs. That's 9.4 lbs for the month and 40.4 for the year.

I am less than 11 pounds away from my mid year weight loss target with 32 days to go.

Yesterday I had cereal for breakfast, an apple for mid morning and mid afternoon snack, I had a salad with raspberry walnut vinaigrette for lunch, and I had a bratwurst and baked potato for dinner. Notice that dinner was about as fattening as you can get. I even had butter on my baked potato. The lesson here is:

You can eat the things you like if you implement portion control and are willing to do 30 minutes worth of exercise everyday. It's simple common sense with a little self discipline.

I am still trying to wean myself off of the Hoodia Gordonii. I only take it once in the morning and so far I haven't had really bad hunger pangs in the evening. That has always been my biggest problem. Once I gave in to hunger, which would usually occur in the evening when I was watching TV, I would stuff my face right before I went to bed. Big No No!

I think that my body has grown accustomed to the small portions and I am going to go cold turkey beginning in June. I would prefer not to take any supplements, aside from vitamins, if I don't have to. The Hoodia Gordonii really helped me out when I began this program. I was used to eating really big meals a couple times a day instead of 5 or 6 small snacks. The Hoodia kept me from feeling ravenous.

My weight loss target that I need to achieve in order to lose 100 pounds this year is 8 lbs per month. I have just surpassed that and I still have a few days left in the month. Since I have started the early morning cardio, the weight has been coming off at a steady pace. I am still only doing about 30 minutes of exercise a day on average. Sometimes I do spend an hour at night doing the Yoga routine that I have mentioned, but only a few times a week. The Yoga is more of a stress relief thing than a workout.

Today's official weigh in: 310.4 lbs. That's 8.6 lbs for the month and 39.6 lbs for the year.

I have been compiling a list of foods that are conducive to weight loss. They are high nutrition, low calorie foods that are easy to digest. I am not sure what I am going to call the list yet. When I decide on a name, I'll post them on the blog. Last night I started to incorporate them into my diet. Ironically, I had to take off work yesterday morning to take my daughter to the doctor and take care of some business. We were short on time so we ended up eating at McDonald's for lunch.

So the first day that I want to start eating these super healthy foods, I end up eating fast food which is "the devil" ( Water boy reference). The truth of the matter is that 10 years ago, when I lost 75 lbs in 9 months, I ate fast food 2 or 3 times a week for lunch. It was just a thing of convenience. I didn't have my usual snacks yesterday. I had cereal for breakfast. For dinner I had a small portion of sirloin steak and 2 big bowls of collard greens.

Now for you collard green fans, I didn't cook them in bacon grease, which is an old Southern way of cooking greens that is absolutely delicious, but fattening as hell. I cooked them in chicken broth which is just as tasty but doesn't add a bunch of unnecessary calories into the mix. Collard greens is one of the "super" foods on my list.

The weight keeps coming off. I have been getting up and riding my bike 2 miles every morning for over a week straight. I have lost 4 lbs during that time and have lost almost 8 lbs for the month with a few days to go. It would have been closer to 15 lbs if I hadn't had a major breakdown of discipline on Mother's day weekend. That aside, I think at this point, that it is safe to asy that:

The theory that, "Doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach burns 300% more fat" is a true statement. Not only does it increase your calories burned, it energizes you for the entire day. There is something to be said about getting up and getting the heart pumping first thing. You warm up your muscles, break a good sweat, take a shower, and it's Carpe Diem!

Today's official weigh in: 311.2 lbs. That's 7.8 lbs for the month and 38.8 lbs for the year.

Yesterday, I had cereal for breakfast, an apple for mid morning and mid afternoon snack, carrot sticks for lunch, and a ham and cheese sandwich with baked beans for dinner. I put in 2 miles on the bike first thing in the morning and after dinner. I also did 200 sit ups in the morning.

It's the holiday weekend but I'm up early on Memorial day, thanks to my 3 year old daughter, so I thought I would give you a quick update in the continuing weight loss saga. I have put in 2 miles on the bike everyday this past weekend, even though it's a holiday. 15 minutes first  thing in the morning won't kill you. You will never even miss it. Actually, it's about 30 minutes for me because I also did my usual 200 crunches on the Ab Roller.

Today's official weigh in: 312.0 lbs. That's 7 lbs for the month and 38 lbs for the year.

The last couple of days I stuck to my usual eating routine. The only deviation was a trip to Sweet Tomato, an all you can eat salad bar. I stayed away form the baked potatoes and the bakery goods and only ate veggies with frozen yogurt for desert. So far I have resisted temptation. We went bowling yesterday and I didn't drink any beer or eat any greasy french fries. The true test will be how I do today. We are going to a cookout this afternoon. I have already sworn off the alcohol so I should do OK as long as I don't make a total glutton out of myself.

I have talked about this before but it begs repeating because it happens a lot when you first start out on a weight loss journey. Yesterday, I gained .2 lbs, even though I stuck with my normal routine and didn't deviate from my normal eating schedule. It just happens sometimes. I know that a quarter of a pound is no big deal but when people first begin a weight loss program the weight fluctuations can be a couple pounds or more in a day. This makes it easy for them to be discouraged. This is where most people fail. They don't see the immediate results and they give up.

Stick to your game plan, no matter what, and you will be rewarded in the end. The long term result is what is important.

I rode my bike for 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles after dinner. I did 200 crunches in the morning and 200 in the evening and I gained a little weight instead of losing. I didn't over eat. I eat almost exactly the same thing as the day before. The day before I lost a half a pound. That's just the way it goes. Don't let minor set backs get you down.

Today's official weigh in 313.2 lbs. That's 5.8 lbs for the month and 36.8 lbs for the year.

I have been sticking to my routine all week long and it is paying off. Yesterday I put in 2 miles on the bike when I got up and after dinner. I also did a total of 400 crunches with the Ab Roller. As always, I drank at least a gallon of water. I didn't get to do the yoga routine, it was getting late and I always get at least 6 hours of sleep.

The official weigh in for today: 313.0 lbs. That's 6 lbs for the month and 37 for the year.

There are still 9 days left in the month. I have a good shot to lose 10 lbs this month, but Memorial Day weekend is going to be tough.

Yesterday I had my usual. Cereal for breakfast, an apple and carrot sticks for my snacks and a big salad for lunch. For dinner I had 2 big sausage dogs and some green beans. For my evening snack, I had some popcorn.

I have surpassed the 35 lbs lost mark for the year. I am just a tad behind on my schedule to lose 100 lbs this year. I have not starved myself to death and on average, I only spend about 30 minutes a day exercising. The exercising has consisted of riding my bike and doing sit ups with and Ab Roller. I eat 3 small snacks during the day, usually consisting of fruit and/or raw veggies. I eat a normal dinner but with smaller portions than I used to eat and have a snack in the evening a couple hours before I go to bed.

Today's official weigh in: 314.8 lbs. That's 4.2 lbs for the month and 325.2 lbs for the year.

I was very good at the birthday party yesterday. I had one very small piece of cake and 2 pieces of pizza. I also snacked on a few Dorito's but nothing drastic. I continued to stay away from the sodas and drank water. I didn't ride my bike at all but I did 200 crunches while I was watching TV later in the evening.

I'd like to apologise for not posting in a week. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day sometimes. I won't even try to make any excuses. Mother's day weekend was a lot of fun but not good for my weight loss program. The celebration started early with a Friday night cookout at our neighbors house. Lots of wonderfully fattening food, 12 beers, and my share of a bottle of tequila, left me with a terrible hang over Saturday.

I ended up laying around the house all day asking myself why in the world I drank all of that alcohol. So Saturday was a total wash out. Sunday, I made the wife breakfast in bed, complete with pancakes, bacon, and a cheese omelet. Of course, I ate my fair share of it. The rest of the day was filled with more eating and a big chocolate cake to boot. I did manage to squeeze in 200 sit ups mostly out of guilt.

Monday morning I stepped on the scales and had gained almost 5 pounds. I was 321 even.

Needless to say I was seriously regretting my fun, lethargic weekend. All this week I have doubled my efforts and have been working hard with the exercise. I rode the bike 2 times every day and did at least 300 sit ups every day. I did the "Yoga For Weight loss" on Monday and Wednesday. Thankfully, my efforts have payed off. I lost all of the extra I had gained and managed to to surpass my mark from last Thursday morning.

Today's official weigh in: 315.4 lbs. That's 3.6 lbs for the month and 34.6 lbs for the year.

I should be back on schedule with things and will be able to continue making my daily posts again.

I really like doing the cardio first thing in the morning. It is tough to make myself do it but as soon as I get on the bike and start pedaling, I'm totally into it. It is normally nice and cool in the morning and not to breezy. When I finish, I feel energized and the feeling lasts pretty much all through the day. The best part is that I continue to lose weight.

Today's official weigh in: 316.8 lbs. That's 2.2 lbs for the month and 33.2 lbs for the year.

I rode the bike 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles after dinner yesterday. I also did a total of 300 sit ups. The eating routine was pretty much the same. Cereal for breakfast, fruit for my 2 snacks, I had celery sticks with peanut butter for lunch and homemade vegetable soup for dinner. I also had a real small piece of chocolate cake for desert and popcorn for an evening snack.