It has been interesting to note that both my falling behind on my dieting and my blogging have both related to being more social, drinking a bit of alcohol, and eating a bit of food that isn't on my diet. This has served as a reminder of perhaps what I see as one of the biggest difficulties that dieters face - living their normal lives while losing weight and getting healthy.
If I were left to my own devices, with plenty of time to cook, work-out, and didn't have to be anywhere , I think that I would be able to stick to both my diet and my work-out plan with very little problem. However, that is not my life unfortunately, and a wide variety of things conspire to get in my way.
Let me start with a discussion about being social. I live in New York City. Here, being social often means going out to dinner, meeting up at a bar, or going out to an event. It is very hard to not drink, stick to my diet, eat when I am supposed to, and avoid the things that I am "not allowed" when I am far away from home. Plus, meeting friends at restaurants it is like watching food commercials on television when I am hungry, except that I can actually shove all of that delicious food in my mouth and gorge. Also, drinking water is great when I am moving throughout the day on my own, but when I am at a bar and everyone is having a beer, clinking their wine glasses, or doing shots, drinking water is a bit hard to do.
The other thing about living your life is that it makes it very hard to prepare the foods that you want to eat in advance. The appeal of processed food, which isn't so great even in terms of the healthier options, grows and grows as you get busier and busier. It is also easy to sit a table with friends and munch on chips or other appetizers that appeal, and it isn't like you can pull out your own stuff to munch on.
All of that said, I wasn't out of control, but I definitely was not on target this past weekend. A night of drinking on Thursday (only three beers), and a day at the movies (popcorn with no butter) followed by some wings and spring rolls did not necessarily help me on my path to 220 pounds, but I am not going to beat myself up over it. I may beat myself up over the bowl of macaroni and cheese I ate last night though - I figured since I had already had a bad day on the diet that I might as well.
This I think is the problem with eating one cheat meal - it makes the next one that much easier.
Other than that, I haven't lifted in a few days, although I did cardio on both Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully, this week gets a little better. I'm going to do a push workout in my apartment in a bit, take tomorrow morning off from cardio, and hopefully rock out on Tuesday.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Day 3: Staying Hungry... Literally
Well, my second day of cardio went better than my first, and I walked for a whopping 25 minutes today. However, unlike yesterday, I was able to walk with a little less pain, and honestly I felt like I could have walked another 15-20 minutes with very little problem. I suppose I should qualify that - I could have walked longer without my ankle hurting, but the thigh chafing is still an issue.
It makes me laugh to write about such a thing as thigh chafing, but I swear it is one of the biggest issues I am going to face in terms of getting back into the swing of things. I mean, there is nothing more annoying than having that kind of pain when you are already struggling to both get to the gym and to do your cardio to start with. It certainly does not help to encourage me to stay on the treadmill for any length of time, or to push myself to try to go that extra minute or two.
I guess my hope at this point is that I can train myself to the point of where my thighs shrink up a bit so that I do not have to worry about that anymore. Or, I suppose I could always hope to develop some calluses?
In terms of the diet, things are going okay. Breakfast is weird, as I am not very hungry when I start eating, despite waking up absolutely ravenous. However, a few hours later I get very hungry, as was evidenced by my urge to eat everything under the sun for lunch today. I am trying to stave off the hunger pains by drinking water and chewing some gum, but it is difficult. The thought of blueberry pancakes makes my mouth water, and some chocolate would be a perfect snack. I will not even start on the amount of ice cream that I am craving.
It isn't that I am going to limit myself forever and ever, but rather just that I am taking it day-by-day. I think when I hit 250 I will reward myself, and then keep on keeping on. Let's just hope that 250 gets here soon, or that these cravings ease up a bit.
It makes me laugh to write about such a thing as thigh chafing, but I swear it is one of the biggest issues I am going to face in terms of getting back into the swing of things. I mean, there is nothing more annoying than having that kind of pain when you are already struggling to both get to the gym and to do your cardio to start with. It certainly does not help to encourage me to stay on the treadmill for any length of time, or to push myself to try to go that extra minute or two.
I guess my hope at this point is that I can train myself to the point of where my thighs shrink up a bit so that I do not have to worry about that anymore. Or, I suppose I could always hope to develop some calluses?
In terms of the diet, things are going okay. Breakfast is weird, as I am not very hungry when I start eating, despite waking up absolutely ravenous. However, a few hours later I get very hungry, as was evidenced by my urge to eat everything under the sun for lunch today. I am trying to stave off the hunger pains by drinking water and chewing some gum, but it is difficult. The thought of blueberry pancakes makes my mouth water, and some chocolate would be a perfect snack. I will not even start on the amount of ice cream that I am craving.
It isn't that I am going to limit myself forever and ever, but rather just that I am taking it day-by-day. I think when I hit 250 I will reward myself, and then keep on keeping on. Let's just hope that 250 gets here soon, or that these cravings ease up a bit.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Day 2: First Day of Cardio
Day 2 started off a bit inauspiciously. I went to the gym after sleeping in for a bit, and was excited to get on the treadmill. I had visions of rocking out the cardio, burning the calories, and shedding pounds at a rate that would make Richard Simmons happy.
Unfortunately, I forgot that this little ankle injury from October is not exactly conducive to physical training that involves any type of pounding on my ankle joint. It was a bit discouraging to hop on the treadmill and not be able to run, or to walk very fast for that matter. The good news is that my ankle did not swell up very much after I walked for 20 minutes, even though it was very weak and my calf cramped up.
Let me tell you something else about getting on the treadmill when you are overweight - thigh chafing. Until you are carrying around a few extra pounds, you probably cannot relate to what it is like to have the mere fact that your thighs are rubbing together be the thing that forces you off of the treadmill. Also, the pain afterwards from the chafing is unbearable. It really makes me understand how out of shape I am to have that be the biggest cause of my agony after a mere 20 minutes on the treadmill.
So... and this is the awkward, embarrassing part for me today. I have decided to track my progress not only in terms of weight, waist measurements, and cardiovascular endurance progress, but also via pictures. Before I chicken out, I present me at 265 pounds.
It is weird to put such a picture up of myself - I mean, people like to be seen in the best possible light, and when I look at this picture I cringe. This being my first bathroom mirror picture, taken on January 16, 2012, I wish I was in a bit better shape. But, then again, this is the whole point of this right? I want to share my story, work on my own transformation, and hold myself accountable. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, and I guess in this case, my picture prevents me from hiding my obesity from myself.
On a positive note, the bathroom lighting in my apartment hides my 265 pounds a bit. LOL. Hopefully when I put up another picture in a month, I will be able to see some real progress.
Unfortunately, I forgot that this little ankle injury from October is not exactly conducive to physical training that involves any type of pounding on my ankle joint. It was a bit discouraging to hop on the treadmill and not be able to run, or to walk very fast for that matter. The good news is that my ankle did not swell up very much after I walked for 20 minutes, even though it was very weak and my calf cramped up.
Let me tell you something else about getting on the treadmill when you are overweight - thigh chafing. Until you are carrying around a few extra pounds, you probably cannot relate to what it is like to have the mere fact that your thighs are rubbing together be the thing that forces you off of the treadmill. Also, the pain afterwards from the chafing is unbearable. It really makes me understand how out of shape I am to have that be the biggest cause of my agony after a mere 20 minutes on the treadmill.
So... and this is the awkward, embarrassing part for me today. I have decided to track my progress not only in terms of weight, waist measurements, and cardiovascular endurance progress, but also via pictures. Before I chicken out, I present me at 265 pounds.
It is weird to put such a picture up of myself - I mean, people like to be seen in the best possible light, and when I look at this picture I cringe. This being my first bathroom mirror picture, taken on January 16, 2012, I wish I was in a bit better shape. But, then again, this is the whole point of this right? I want to share my story, work on my own transformation, and hold myself accountable. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, and I guess in this case, my picture prevents me from hiding my obesity from myself.
On a positive note, the bathroom lighting in my apartment hides my 265 pounds a bit. LOL. Hopefully when I put up another picture in a month, I will be able to see some real progress.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Diet: Day One
I am officially on a diet now, and even though it is only day one, I feel myself craving a bunch of junk food, acting irritably, and in general sick of the whole thing. I also feel very lazy, and the urge to push my start date out is already strong within me, which is the whole point of writing this blog. I need a way to hold myself accountable, to make sure that I do not quit, and hopefully also a nice way to motivate myself as I struggle a bit with losing weight.
The title of this blog is 'Losing Weight and Getting Healthy', and ideally that is just what happens for me. If things work out the way I would like, this blog will serve as motivation for myself and for others, and also provide me a medium to help others long after I have reached my weight goal.
Speaking of goals, I guess I should say a bit about where I am starting at. I weigh 265 pounds, and I am very unhealthy. My eating habits are enough to make the Surgeon General sweat at night, and fast food places around here know me on sight. Last night, I ate a box of 12 ice cream bars as a snack, and it was when looking at the empty box that I realized that I had to change my ways or else I was going to die at a relatively young age.
So today, I embark upon a weight loss journey, where I hope to regain my health, increase my activity levels, and get my weight down to 220 pounds. I have given myself a goal date of May 15th, which I feel is fairly reasonable in terms of dropping 45 pounds. It will require some dedication and commitment, but I think I can pull it off.
I have already had a reasonable breakfast, and instead of having the McDonald's that I normally would eat, I instead had some lean beef, black beans, and fat free cheese in a bowl. It was pretty tasty, and probably 1000 calories less than what I would normally have, so hopefully I am off to a great start. I intend to go join a gym in a few minutes, and hopefully things start progressing quickly.
So far, I feel just fine. I am a bit lazy, a little tired, and maybe a bit irritable, but otherwise I am feeling just fine. Day One, here we go - wish me luck!
The title of this blog is 'Losing Weight and Getting Healthy', and ideally that is just what happens for me. If things work out the way I would like, this blog will serve as motivation for myself and for others, and also provide me a medium to help others long after I have reached my weight goal.
Speaking of goals, I guess I should say a bit about where I am starting at. I weigh 265 pounds, and I am very unhealthy. My eating habits are enough to make the Surgeon General sweat at night, and fast food places around here know me on sight. Last night, I ate a box of 12 ice cream bars as a snack, and it was when looking at the empty box that I realized that I had to change my ways or else I was going to die at a relatively young age.
So today, I embark upon a weight loss journey, where I hope to regain my health, increase my activity levels, and get my weight down to 220 pounds. I have given myself a goal date of May 15th, which I feel is fairly reasonable in terms of dropping 45 pounds. It will require some dedication and commitment, but I think I can pull it off.
I have already had a reasonable breakfast, and instead of having the McDonald's that I normally would eat, I instead had some lean beef, black beans, and fat free cheese in a bowl. It was pretty tasty, and probably 1000 calories less than what I would normally have, so hopefully I am off to a great start. I intend to go join a gym in a few minutes, and hopefully things start progressing quickly.
So far, I feel just fine. I am a bit lazy, a little tired, and maybe a bit irritable, but otherwise I am feeling just fine. Day One, here we go - wish me luck!
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