Rules of the Road #1 - Weigh Yourself Daily
By Fred | January 4, 2008
This is the first of what will be a handful of weight loss rules that hopefully, when I’m done, will describe a system for weight loss.
Rule #1 is somewhat controversial. Weigh yourself every day. Many experts will tell you that the scale is counterproductive, that weight fluctuates, and the weighing every day will only regles du poker holdemdes règles du jeu pokerbwin pokerpoker online texasregles poker texas holdpartie poker gratuitesjeu en lignepoker holdem gratuitespoker en ligne sans argentpoker en ligne gratui7 card stud gratuitesgagner poker en ligneregles de jeux pokerjeu poker reseaujeu de poker pc gratuitesworld class pokerles regles du pokerjeu de poker gratuicomment télécharger jeu pokerjeux pro poker toursites de poker en lignejeu de poker pour macpoker a telecharger gratuitement,telecharger gratuitement jeu de poker,poker gratuitementworld championship poker 2acheter un jeu de pokerкомпютри втора употребаpoker games netbien jouer pokersites de poker onlineregles tournoi pokerjeux comregles de jeu pokerjeu pc poker gratuitessexy poker onlinefull tilt pokerjeu de cartejouer au poker en francaisle poker téléchargement gratuitesencuentros pokermejor juego de pokerstreep poker on linedados poquercaribbean poker paginas webpoker gratis descargarjuegos streep pokerbwin pokercard gamblingstrip poker gamesbunny pokerpai gow poker pagina internetpai gow poker paginas internet depress you. Well, I think we know that the flip side of that is that not weighing yourself one day leads to not weighing yourself the next, and maybe then we don’t weigh ourselves because we subconsciously know that we’re going to have slipped a bit. No, it’s not daily weighing that’s the problem. It’s how we interpret the numbers.
So weigh yourself daily, and if the number is up or down a pound or two don’t sweat it. It’s the overall trend that’s important. However, if you’re up for a while, or you continue to climb, then you know that something needs adjusting. The scale is just one tool in your arsenal, but use it.
~Fred
Topics: Weight Loss Philosophy | 1 Comment »
Another good day…
By Fred | January 4, 2008
(260-261=-1) I did very well yesterday, ate well below my calorie allowance, drank plenty of water, lost a pound. A good day. I made Quick Chicken Gumbo, a South Beach Diet recipe, for dinner. I liked it, and the family didn’t complain. I also managed to record everything on sparkpeople.com, which is one of my goals.
One failing for the day was exercise. I just didn’t get it in. I had a meeting to go to in the evening, and when I got home I just vegged in front of the TV watching the election results come in from Iowa. I realize today that I could have watched a half hour of that while walking on the treadmill, but somehow I have a difficult time getting up and going when I’m at those low energy times of the day. It might be a catch-22 of sorts. I know that when I’m lighter I have more energy.
Have a great day on the road. Watch out for big trucks.
~Fred
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
One Good Day at a Time
By Fred | January 3, 2008
(261-261=0) Yesterday was a good day on the road. I ate pretty much what I intended. I exercised a bit (both my body and self-control). Granted the exercise consisted of walking the dog, but it’s a start, and it’s something I wanted to work into my daily routine.
One area of improvement would be lunch, a weak area for me anyway. Yesterday was my weekly lunch date with my 90 year old grandfather, and we went to a fish place. I had a cup of chowder and the salmon caesar salad. I should have skipped the chowder. The salad was more than enough food, and the chowder, though I love it, added excess calories and a lot of sodium.
I’m logging my food intake over at sparkpeople.com, a free site with lots of great diet and fitness tools. Vigilance! Monitoring. Weighing. Logging. It all has a part to play. It is depressing though to chart out what it’s going to take to lose the weight I need to in a year, but what is is.
Have a good day on the road. Try to keep it between the lines.
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
I’m Back!
By Fred | January 2, 2008
(261 - 261 = 0) Happy New Year! I’m back, in more ways than one. Back writing this blog and back to the weight at which I’ve started. But, I suspect I’ve got plenty of company with people who’ve been here. It wasn’t the diet and exercise program that failed per se. It was my failure to follow it! 
So have you made the usual New Year’s resolution? This is the year you finally lose the weight? Well, even though it’s a perennial goal, and the source of entire industries selling diet junk and exercise equipment clothes hangers, I’m there. Seems I took a wrong turn on the road and wound up back where I started. Well, hang on. Here we go!
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
Update - Aug. 21, 2007
By Fred | August 21, 2007
(260-261=-1)
No time to write something
profound today, but I wanted to post an update anyway. The weekend was a diet disaster, and I’m in the process of recovering.
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
Vampires and Fat People
By Fred | August 16, 2007
(260-261=-1)
What do fat people and vampires have in common? Neither one shows up in a photograph. Do you avoid having your picture taken as if the camera would steal your soul? Do you tell yourself at some level that you don’t want pictures to exist of you at your present weight? Maybe it’s part of fooling ourselves into thinking things aren’t so bad. You can fool a mirror to some extent. Don’t you find yourself always looking in the mirror in such a way to highlight your best angle? Then sometimes you catch a glimpse of yourself from a bad angle and it’s quite a shock. Photographs are like that. There’s no fooling the camera most times.
So, what’s different about the My Road to Weight Loss pages today? Yes, I finally put a picture at the top of the page. Now you know what I look like, so if we pass on the street, feel free to say hello!
It was so hard for me to put that picture up. I hate to have my picture taken. I’ll have to say that the one at the top of the page is at least a little better than the original photo from which it came. First, it’s a lot smaller. A full screen version is enough to make me barf. Second, it’s cropped. The more of me that’s cut out of the picture the better I like it I think.
Hopefully, the photo will be motivational. When my alternate personality, Fat Fred, rears his ugly head to take over and allow me to overeat, I’m going to think about that picture. (More about my split personality in a later article.)
Have a great day on the road.
~Fred
Topics: Weight Loss Philosophy | 1 Comment »
A Plan is an Invitation for God to Remind You You’re Not in Charge
By Fred | August 15, 2007
(259-261=-2)
Time management is an issue for me. I’m a procrastinator and a chronic time waster, and the only thing worse than that is also being busy with lots to do. So I was pretty happy on Monday when I finally realized that, aside from a couple of non-flexible time windows during my day, how I organize my time is basically up to me. I’m self-employed, but I think I still have traces of 9 to 5 mentality. (Ya. When was it ever 9 to 5?) I had to exercise either early in the day or late in the day because otherwise once I got into the work day there was no time.
Then suddenly it dawned on me that I could get up, work a while, have breakfast, work out, shower; and then go back to work. It worked for two days. Then today just sort of went kablooie. (That’s a scientific term meaning “to hell in a hand basket.”) Problem is, I think, that on Wednesdays I have a standing appointment to go out to lunch with my 90 year old grandfather. We started doing this a couple of months ago and I like to keep that appointment.
So I got up, had breakfast, did some work, found that we had a lot of orders, a few things went wrong, I got on the treadmill, some more stuff went wrong so I had to get off, and before I knew it I realized that I needed to shower and get dressed or I wasn’t going to make that lunch. There went my exercise window.
Oh well. One of the reasons I plan to workout 6 days a week is in case it only ends up to be 5 or 4. Plus even with the occasional day off I’m still doing better than last week. The key is to get in that workout tomorrow, and not get sidelined by an unplanned day off. That’s the “glass is half full approach,” and I think I’ll stick with that.
Speaking of the glass being half full. Summer is waning here in the northeast. There’s a maple tree in our back yard that is always the first to change color, and even though the calendar says it’s only the middle of August, wouldn’t you know I looked out yesterday to see that tree touting yellows, golds, and even a bit of orange. I pointed this out to my wife, suggesting that a chain saw might be in order, when she reminded me that this maple tree is also the first one to bud and leaf out in the spring. I guess the price of its giving us our first taste of spring after a long winter is that it also gives us our first sign that summer is ending. There’s a lesson there somewhere. Maybe it’s that there’s most often a positive side if you look hard enough.
Things I Did Right Yesterday
- I exercised. A half hour on the tread mill, albeit at a pretty slow walk, and a half hour of weights, followed by some crunches. I’m happy with that.
- I didn’t falter too badly food-wise. Cottage cheese for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Grilled chicken over salad for dinner.
Things I Could Have Done Better
I did pick on a few high calorie items. I should have stayed away from those.
Such was my day on the road. I hope yours went well. See you again soon.
Cheers,
~Fred
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
Update - Aug. 14, 2007
By Fred | August 14, 2007
(261-261=0)
Day two of the new effort. No signs of progress yet, but that’s understandable.
What I Did Right Yesterday
- I exercised. Treadmill for about a half hour and then weights for another half hour. I’m deliberately starting out slow, but it’s a start. I did the same today. Of course since I’m lifting every day I’m working different muscle groups on alternating days. The key will be making this a habit.
- I had a correct breakfast of cheerios with milk and ground flax seed. Lunch was salad with some cheese.
What I Did Wrong Yesterday
- I picked on crackers and stuff left over from our vacation. Not good
- I had two sausage and pepper sandwiches for dinner, breaking my no seconds rule.
Today I hope to do better.
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
Can we start again please?
By Fred | August 13, 2007
(261-261=0)
I apologize for not blogging for so long. The end of summer is fast approaching and I’ve been busy with with lots of business related issues, as well as fitting in a nice vacation. Moreover though, I guess I’ve been hesitant to write because I’ve been failing miserably at my weight loss efforts. Over vacation I didn’t even try, and frankly have had numerous little eating binges along the way.
So here I am exactly the weight I started. That’s even an improvement. I was 3 pounds heavier at the end of last week, for a new personal record! But I’ve been reasonable for the last few days. Watching portions and seconds, getting a little exercise. I even started a new exercise program this morning. (That’s 1 day. Let’s see about tomorrow.)
I suspect I’m not alone in having fallen off the weight loss wagon. Many reading this will probably have similar experiences. Today, I rededicated myself to my health, and I’m making my weight loss a top priority. Part of that will be write here much, MUCH more often. I don’t really expect many people to be following my experiences on this road at the moment, but as the weight goes down, I hope to gain fellow travelers on my road to weight loss.
Topics: Fred's Personal Road | No Comments »
It’s OK sugar!
By Fred | July 2, 2007
(216 - 261 = -5)
Saccharine, Nutrasweet, Stevia, Cyclamate, Fructose, Splenda… Over the years artificial sugar substitutes have come and gone, going in and out of popularity, and sometimes being found to be plain harmful to you. Most dieters I know avoid sugar like it was arsenic. We even have diets named Sugar Busters and the No Flour, No Sugar Diet, which are probably great diets, don’t get me wrong, but they do seem to express our national demonization of table sugar.
It will probably not surprise you to learn that I’m not the first in my family to have a weight problem. I had a great aunt growing up who was a lovely, albeit pretty overweight Italian lady. Auntie had a real sweet tooth, or to be more specific, she had a real fondness for Italian pastry. One of my vivid childhood memories is of sitting down many times at family gatherings with my aunt, and watching her eat multiple helpings of cannoli, or rum cake, or those great Italian cookies. However, when it was time for coffee, my aunt invariably grabbed a few tiny little pills from a bottle in her purse to put in her cup. They were saccharine tablets. After all, after eating all of that sugar and fat laden pastry, at least she was honoring her diet by not having sugar in her coffee!
Well, here at My Road to Weight Loss, we’re into reality. Do you know how many calories are in a teaspoon of sugar? The answer is 16. Yes, there are 16 whole calories in a teaspoon of table sugar. That’s not to say we should all forget about sugar and load up on it, but it’s important to put it into perspective, and not be like my aunt. Let’s remember that a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee or tea adds about as many calories as four and a half cherry tomatoes.
The problem with sugar is that it is both highly soluble, and ubiquitous. It’s one thing to have a teaspoon of sugar in your hot tea, but you could dissolve many teaspoons of sugar in that tea, and in fact that’s what we do in many baked goods, soft drinks, etc. Plus many processed foods are absolutely loaded with the stuff. So we can’t forget about sugar totally. It’s definitely a weight loss issue. If you were to have two teaspoons of sugar in your tea, three times a day, in a year you would have consumed an extra 17,520 calories, which is equivalent to about 5 pounds of body weight (roughly every 3500 calorie reduction below your maintenance calories equals one pound). However, next time you’re thinking about which laboratory creation you want to put into your coffee or tea, or maybe to sprinkle on your unsweetened bran flakes or grapefruit, have some perspective. As for me, I don’t take sugar in my hot coffee, but in the summer, I occasionally like a teaspoon in my ice coffee, and you know what? I’m not going to worry too much about that.
Have a great day on the road!
~Fred
Topics: Diets, Weight Loss Philosophy | 2 Comments »