Since I've written, things have gone well. On Tuesday, we were in such a hurry that I picked up a couple of pizzas for the family. It was kind of another test for me - I know that pizza really can be a trigger food for me.
So I ate eight pieces. And that is a good thing, when you are actually eating two pieces cut into four each. I know it's stupid, but the psychological trick actually worked this time.
Turns out my calorie deficit for the day that I brought home pizza was 2,309.
I weighed this morning. I'm at 273.6, making in total 26.4 pounds down in almost 5 weeks.
Maybe I ought to plan a trip to Hawaii more often.
-Silas
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Flying colors?
So there was a significant test over the weekend, as per my last post. Going on a road trip can be a difficult thing in regards to weight loss. You're basically guaranteed to be eating out the entire time.
So I planned ahead and made quite a few decisions ahead of time. That, I think, made all of the difference.
So before talking about the trip, I wanted to note that on Friday, I did a weigh-in, and I was at 279.5. Good starting point, and over 20 pounds down in a month!
So the trip went pretty much exactly as planned. On the way there, I got a small sandwich at a gas station. It was 330 calories, but I took off all of the nasty cheese, so it probably dropped to 300 or less. (I counted 300). For dinner, I had more calories left over than I thought, so I asked the nice Denny's waitress for the nutritional info sheet, and chose a fajita skillet. (I can't remember the name, but that's basically right.) It SAID it was 940 calories with everything included, and the more I think about it, the more I think it was right - but with the tortillas, I added 300 more calories than it said.
Saturday, I had about 200 calories for breakfast, a 6" turkey breast and ham sub for lunch (290 calories as built), and another good dinner - it was about 950 calories, and I ate about a quarter of my wife's fries (400 calories for the batch, 100 for me). What with the swimming and walking around at a dance competition all day long, I burned over 4200 calories. So it was a good deficit for the day. :)
Sunday, I had about 300 calories for breakfast, about 600 for lunch, and another 6" sub for an early dinner on the road, so when I got home, I actually had a few calories left over for a small meal. (You can't eat too few, you know, or it causes problems!)
Throw in just a few little treats that were around to keep the little ones quiet (we're doing WAY fewer for the kids than in the past, trying to get them to be more healthy as well), and it was right where I wanted it to be.
The result?
I was at 276.7 this morning. I lost almost three pounds on a road trip.
And I couldn't be happier!
-Silas
So I planned ahead and made quite a few decisions ahead of time. That, I think, made all of the difference.
So before talking about the trip, I wanted to note that on Friday, I did a weigh-in, and I was at 279.5. Good starting point, and over 20 pounds down in a month!
So the trip went pretty much exactly as planned. On the way there, I got a small sandwich at a gas station. It was 330 calories, but I took off all of the nasty cheese, so it probably dropped to 300 or less. (I counted 300). For dinner, I had more calories left over than I thought, so I asked the nice Denny's waitress for the nutritional info sheet, and chose a fajita skillet. (I can't remember the name, but that's basically right.) It SAID it was 940 calories with everything included, and the more I think about it, the more I think it was right - but with the tortillas, I added 300 more calories than it said.
Saturday, I had about 200 calories for breakfast, a 6" turkey breast and ham sub for lunch (290 calories as built), and another good dinner - it was about 950 calories, and I ate about a quarter of my wife's fries (400 calories for the batch, 100 for me). What with the swimming and walking around at a dance competition all day long, I burned over 4200 calories. So it was a good deficit for the day. :)
Sunday, I had about 300 calories for breakfast, about 600 for lunch, and another 6" sub for an early dinner on the road, so when I got home, I actually had a few calories left over for a small meal. (You can't eat too few, you know, or it causes problems!)
Throw in just a few little treats that were around to keep the little ones quiet (we're doing WAY fewer for the kids than in the past, trying to get them to be more healthy as well), and it was right where I wanted it to be.
The result?
I was at 276.7 this morning. I lost almost three pounds on a road trip.
And I couldn't be happier!
-Silas
Friday, March 23, 2012
This is only a test...
So this weekend is my big test. Or one of the many big tests that I am going to encounter for the rest of my life, no?
We're heading on a road trip! Daughter 2 has a dance competition in a city 4 hours away. We're leaving this afternoon and getting back on Sunday afternoon/evening. What, you may ask, am I going to eat?
Denny's Menu
What will save me...
There's a significant amount of things on the Denny's menu that I can eat - that will be healthy, and actually taste good. And even better, fit within my calorie count.
Subway's Turkey Breast and Ham sub, footlong, on italian bread, with no cheese, tons of veggies, and honey mustard is less than 600 calories. I can do that.
Also, the hotel has a gym that I shall use.
Test?
I'm prepared.
-Silas
We're heading on a road trip! Daughter 2 has a dance competition in a city 4 hours away. We're leaving this afternoon and getting back on Sunday afternoon/evening. What, you may ask, am I going to eat?
Denny's Menu
What will save me...
There's a significant amount of things on the Denny's menu that I can eat - that will be healthy, and actually taste good. And even better, fit within my calorie count.
Subway's Turkey Breast and Ham sub, footlong, on italian bread, with no cheese, tons of veggies, and honey mustard is less than 600 calories. I can do that.
Also, the hotel has a gym that I shall use.
Test?
I'm prepared.
-Silas
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Monkey on my back
He's always there, you know. He's lurking. Right there, peering over my shoulder. He's been mostly quiet over the past month or so, but I know he's there.
He sits there, taunting me, mocking me, making me wonder if I'll ever be rid of him.
This is the monkey that so many of us know so very well.
I'm not the only one who has turned to food. And I know that I will not be the last, either. But that monkey is always there, and I know that he always will be.
So? He's there. He's not going away. Not anytime soon, anyway. Life goes on. And I have the choice - to either listen to him, or to ignore him. Recently I've been able to ignore him. Through a work party which I help cater with rather terrible food, to the grand opening of a new cafe on the first floor of my building (at least they are ATTEMPTING to serve healthy food...). Through it all, I have lost weight. 19.4 pounds of weight, to be rather exact.
I know that last week I said that I wasn't going to weigh in as much. Well, I was sorely mistaken. Unless I lock the scale up, I weigh in each morning, with some exceptions. Today was NOT an exception, and I saw 280.6 on the scale.
Did you know that in .7 pounds, I will just be simply obese? That's pretty cool. Another blogger wrote a post about something similar, and it made me add the BMI calculation onto my spreadsheet. I like it.
Anyway, still dropping, still WORKING HARD AT DROPPING...which I think is the key.
-Silas
He sits there, taunting me, mocking me, making me wonder if I'll ever be rid of him.
This is the monkey that so many of us know so very well.
I'm not the only one who has turned to food. And I know that I will not be the last, either. But that monkey is always there, and I know that he always will be.
So? He's there. He's not going away. Not anytime soon, anyway. Life goes on. And I have the choice - to either listen to him, or to ignore him. Recently I've been able to ignore him. Through a work party which I help cater with rather terrible food, to the grand opening of a new cafe on the first floor of my building (at least they are ATTEMPTING to serve healthy food...). Through it all, I have lost weight. 19.4 pounds of weight, to be rather exact.
I know that last week I said that I wasn't going to weigh in as much. Well, I was sorely mistaken. Unless I lock the scale up, I weigh in each morning, with some exceptions. Today was NOT an exception, and I saw 280.6 on the scale.
Did you know that in .7 pounds, I will just be simply obese? That's pretty cool. Another blogger wrote a post about something similar, and it made me add the BMI calculation onto my spreadsheet. I like it.
Anyway, still dropping, still WORKING HARD AT DROPPING...which I think is the key.
-Silas
Monday, March 19, 2012
Dropping, and happy.
Weigh-in on Saturday was great - down to 282.9! It makes for just about 17 pounds since starting this three weeks ago. I can't be more happy with where I am.
Yes, this flies right in the face of what I was saying the other day - about how impatient I was getting. I don't always have to be completely consistent, do I? :)
Seriously, though, I'm right where I want to be right now. There are still those times that I just want to say "screw it all" and eat whatever I want to - which is everything in sight. But then I think about the beaches of Hawaii, and snorkeling, and new clothes just before going...
Something is making it stick this time. I wish I knew what it was, and how to bottle it for later. I'm wanting to be near goal by the time I go on my trip. I know that I will not lose on the trip - and I don't want to gain a lot - but what scares me is what is going to happen afterwards.
Frankly, I'm not going to be so concerned about a 2000 calorie per day deficit when I get back. Right now I'm attempting to lose as much weight as possible before a trip, but when that trip is done, I want to lose for the LONG term. I think I'll cut my deficit to either 500 or 1000 per day. It will take me between 20 and 40 weeks, most likely, to hit goal after that.
From there? I just have to remember that it's OK to splurge every so often, so long as every splurge is tempered by the rest of the week that lets me even out the calories - less the rest of the days, and exercise.
Oh, and never stopping the exercise.
Well, time to get to work. Let's get out there and move today.
-Silas
Yes, this flies right in the face of what I was saying the other day - about how impatient I was getting. I don't always have to be completely consistent, do I? :)
Seriously, though, I'm right where I want to be right now. There are still those times that I just want to say "screw it all" and eat whatever I want to - which is everything in sight. But then I think about the beaches of Hawaii, and snorkeling, and new clothes just before going...
Something is making it stick this time. I wish I knew what it was, and how to bottle it for later. I'm wanting to be near goal by the time I go on my trip. I know that I will not lose on the trip - and I don't want to gain a lot - but what scares me is what is going to happen afterwards.
Frankly, I'm not going to be so concerned about a 2000 calorie per day deficit when I get back. Right now I'm attempting to lose as much weight as possible before a trip, but when that trip is done, I want to lose for the LONG term. I think I'll cut my deficit to either 500 or 1000 per day. It will take me between 20 and 40 weeks, most likely, to hit goal after that.
From there? I just have to remember that it's OK to splurge every so often, so long as every splurge is tempered by the rest of the week that lets me even out the calories - less the rest of the days, and exercise.
Oh, and never stopping the exercise.
Well, time to get to work. Let's get out there and move today.
-Silas
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Ho very much hum.
Just another day. A good one, as well.
My daughter and I started week two of the couch to 5K yesterday. She did it, I'm quite proud of her! She said it wasn't that much harder than week one.
When we finished that, went two more miles. It was awesome. Running/walking, but it was in there.
Yes, after yesterday's post, I did weigh myself this morning. I can't seem to help myself! Down to 285.7. Awesome.
-Silas
My daughter and I started week two of the couch to 5K yesterday. She did it, I'm quite proud of her! She said it wasn't that much harder than week one.
When we finished that, went two more miles. It was awesome. Running/walking, but it was in there.
Yes, after yesterday's post, I did weigh myself this morning. I can't seem to help myself! Down to 285.7. Awesome.
-Silas
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Why I am impatient.
Sometimes I wonder how I can be so impatient when things appear to be going so well. I think I figured out what's going on.
I read a story last week that said that people who lose a significant amount of weight tend to keep it off better if they weigh themselves daily. I guess I can see why - if they see the creep up daily, they may be more likely to keep on top of things. Weekly sometimes just isn't enough.
I believe it would have helped me to keep the weight off.
So I've been weighing daily. The problem is that I will get disappointed almost every single day, with here and there an AMAZING loss. Intellectually I know that it all evens out. But somewhere inside of me there is the feeling that even though I'm doing well on the plan, I'm eating what I should and exercising, and yet I weigh basically the same as yesterday, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less!
No more. I think I may have to put the dang scale away except for Saturday mornings, and just pay attention to how dang loose my pants are already.
Sounds like a plan to me. One that I can follow, too.
-Silas
I read a story last week that said that people who lose a significant amount of weight tend to keep it off better if they weigh themselves daily. I guess I can see why - if they see the creep up daily, they may be more likely to keep on top of things. Weekly sometimes just isn't enough.
I believe it would have helped me to keep the weight off.
So I've been weighing daily. The problem is that I will get disappointed almost every single day, with here and there an AMAZING loss. Intellectually I know that it all evens out. But somewhere inside of me there is the feeling that even though I'm doing well on the plan, I'm eating what I should and exercising, and yet I weigh basically the same as yesterday, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less!
No more. I think I may have to put the dang scale away except for Saturday mornings, and just pay attention to how dang loose my pants are already.
Sounds like a plan to me. One that I can follow, too.
-Silas
Monday, March 12, 2012
Bleary, but here.
Blah blah blah, daylight savings complaint, blah blah.
So I did well over the weekend, even including last Friday. I mean, I ate more calories than usual on Friday, but I also burned more than usual as well!
Being a geek, I enjoy when numbers work out. Based on how many calories I've burned, here's where my armband would predict I would be right now:
289.0
Here's where I am as of this morning:
287.7
With the normal ups and downs, I have to say that it's fantastically accurate.
More numbers? Average daily deficit so far has been 2392 calories. (No, I'm not starving myself, but I AM making sacrifices. No, not enough sacrifices to kill my metabolism, either.) If I continue this pace (which is possible) where does my geekery predict that I will be come time for the big anniversary trip?
Somewhere between 225 and 230 pounds.
To be 15-20 pounds away from GOAL? I will MORE than take it.
What's the more likely scenario?
I would say to be around 240. Why? Well, as I lose weight, my BMR will go down, which means that I will not burn as many calories, either just by existing, or through exercise. So it will get harder and harder to keep the burn average up.
But that's OK. I'm burning. That's what's important.
Anyway, right now my personal weight predictilator is keeping me on track this morning, I have a good plan for burning some calories today, and everything is good.
Now to get to work...
-Silas
So I did well over the weekend, even including last Friday. I mean, I ate more calories than usual on Friday, but I also burned more than usual as well!
Being a geek, I enjoy when numbers work out. Based on how many calories I've burned, here's where my armband would predict I would be right now:
289.0
Here's where I am as of this morning:
287.7
With the normal ups and downs, I have to say that it's fantastically accurate.
More numbers? Average daily deficit so far has been 2392 calories. (No, I'm not starving myself, but I AM making sacrifices. No, not enough sacrifices to kill my metabolism, either.) If I continue this pace (which is possible) where does my geekery predict that I will be come time for the big anniversary trip?
Somewhere between 225 and 230 pounds.
To be 15-20 pounds away from GOAL? I will MORE than take it.
What's the more likely scenario?
I would say to be around 240. Why? Well, as I lose weight, my BMR will go down, which means that I will not burn as many calories, either just by existing, or through exercise. So it will get harder and harder to keep the burn average up.
But that's OK. I'm burning. That's what's important.
Anyway, right now my personal weight predictilator is keeping me on track this morning, I have a good plan for burning some calories today, and everything is good.
Now to get to work...
-Silas
Friday, March 09, 2012
Dutch ovens going...
I passed up a Krispy Kreme donut this morning, did you know that? Even two weeks ago I would have gladly helped myself. I think there were enough for two each. Passed it up.
I've had 100 calories today so far, almost all of that milk. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Usually I don't skip breakfast, but on a day like today, it's probably for the best.
Dutch Oven cooking is interesting - it's a very social thing to do. I like to do it around a lot of people, so that most of the food can be eaten by others. Why? Well, while it's POSSIBLE to cook healthy food in a dutch oven (it's just a cooking vessel...) it seems that all of the recipes are just terrible. YUMMY, but terrible.
Part of that is because of how good the dutch oven is at taking cheap, tough cuts of meat, and turning them into very tender, juicy things.
Note that the cheap, tough cuts of meat are so much fattier than their lean, more expensive cousins.
So the food today I'm cooking isn't good food. Baked beans and a dessert. BUT...
...can I eat it? Yes. Can I eat ALL of it? Absolutely not. If I take my portion, and give the rest away to my team here at work, I think I can work this.
I will let you know how it goes. So far so good.
So far today, I've taken over 4200 steps (up and down stairs, cooking and all of that), and burned over 1900 calories. I'm tired, and it's not even noon.
Oh...and one more little thing...
287 pounds, now 13 pounds down. Woo!
-Silas
I've had 100 calories today so far, almost all of that milk. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Usually I don't skip breakfast, but on a day like today, it's probably for the best.
Dutch Oven cooking is interesting - it's a very social thing to do. I like to do it around a lot of people, so that most of the food can be eaten by others. Why? Well, while it's POSSIBLE to cook healthy food in a dutch oven (it's just a cooking vessel...) it seems that all of the recipes are just terrible. YUMMY, but terrible.
Part of that is because of how good the dutch oven is at taking cheap, tough cuts of meat, and turning them into very tender, juicy things.
Note that the cheap, tough cuts of meat are so much fattier than their lean, more expensive cousins.
So the food today I'm cooking isn't good food. Baked beans and a dessert. BUT...
...can I eat it? Yes. Can I eat ALL of it? Absolutely not. If I take my portion, and give the rest away to my team here at work, I think I can work this.
I will let you know how it goes. So far so good.
So far today, I've taken over 4200 steps (up and down stairs, cooking and all of that), and burned over 1900 calories. I'm tired, and it's not even noon.
Oh...and one more little thing...
287 pounds, now 13 pounds down. Woo!
-Silas
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Stalling, work trap, and moving on...
OK, so "stalling" is a little misleading - I'm up from the ridiculous 289.7 weight (to 290.7) which is right where the little device on my arm says I should be. I say ridiculous, because frankly, I hadn't burned that many calories. So I have the two voices in my head, one telling me that I've gained weight, and the other telling me to remember - I can fluctuate 5 pounds between any two given days...this day is the up, in three days when I'm at 285 or so, I'll be happy.
9 pounds in 12 days? Not only will I take it, I will run with it as fast as I can go. Which, if you've seen me, is not fast.
Work trap...
My brother and I work together. It's pretty cool - we get along well, and we work together well. Both of us are unashamed geeks. And we have this reputation (not undeserved) of being Dutch Oven cooks. At my previous place of employ, we had a semi-annual Dutch Oven cookoff. I was a part of four of them. The first one there were no actual prizes, but my side dish was voted best by the cooks. The second time, I won first place. The third time, second place. And the fourth time? I think they called it Grand Champion - pretty funny stuff, they even gave me a chef's hat with the company logo embroidered on it.
Fast forward...tomorrow I've been asked to help out with a dutch oven lunch for the team. Do I mind? Nope! Is it going to be a time to be careful?
I can do this, I'm certain of it. The menu is half good, half horrible. I'll just eat some of the good, minimal of the horrible, eat a light breakfast and dinner...it should work out.
Fingers crossed? Nope. I'm going to move on from this one. I can do this. I know. I've done it before.
-Silas
9 pounds in 12 days? Not only will I take it, I will run with it as fast as I can go. Which, if you've seen me, is not fast.
Work trap...
My brother and I work together. It's pretty cool - we get along well, and we work together well. Both of us are unashamed geeks. And we have this reputation (not undeserved) of being Dutch Oven cooks. At my previous place of employ, we had a semi-annual Dutch Oven cookoff. I was a part of four of them. The first one there were no actual prizes, but my side dish was voted best by the cooks. The second time, I won first place. The third time, second place. And the fourth time? I think they called it Grand Champion - pretty funny stuff, they even gave me a chef's hat with the company logo embroidered on it.
Fast forward...tomorrow I've been asked to help out with a dutch oven lunch for the team. Do I mind? Nope! Is it going to be a time to be careful?
I can do this, I'm certain of it. The menu is half good, half horrible. I'll just eat some of the good, minimal of the horrible, eat a light breakfast and dinner...it should work out.
Fingers crossed? Nope. I'm going to move on from this one. I can do this. I know. I've done it before.
-Silas
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Another day, another 2200 calories GONE.
Well, 2,210, to be slightly more accurate. Love it.
Want to know why I am a believer that information is power?
To get halfway to my goal weight before my trip, I have to average somewhere around a 1300 calorie deficit until June.
To get to my original goal, it's around 1500.
To get to where I was HOPING for, it's around 1850.
To get where I thought I had no chance, it's around 2400.
Likely? The hope. Possible? if I average around 2200 calories under per day (doable, at least for now...) then I will end up only 25 pounds overweight, out of obese, and feeling AWESOME.
So it's easy to sit here right now, and talk about losing 2200 extra calories per day, when I'm burning somewhere near 4000 calories burned per day. Days I get a good workout in, it's around 4200 - 4500. Days I don't, it's around 3500-3700. I try to get a good workout in.
So when I'm down 50 pounds, is it still going to be as easy to burn the 4000 calories? Obviously not. So I'm either going to have to step up the exercise (which would be easier, except for the time thing) or cut down the calories, but you can only cut down so much without hitting the law of diminishing returns.
So I'm hopeful, yet wary for the future. Looking forward, time to get my burn on!
-Silas
Want to know why I am a believer that information is power?
To get halfway to my goal weight before my trip, I have to average somewhere around a 1300 calorie deficit until June.
To get to my original goal, it's around 1500.
To get to where I was HOPING for, it's around 1850.
To get where I thought I had no chance, it's around 2400.
Likely? The hope. Possible? if I average around 2200 calories under per day (doable, at least for now...) then I will end up only 25 pounds overweight, out of obese, and feeling AWESOME.
So it's easy to sit here right now, and talk about losing 2200 extra calories per day, when I'm burning somewhere near 4000 calories burned per day. Days I get a good workout in, it's around 4200 - 4500. Days I don't, it's around 3500-3700. I try to get a good workout in.
So when I'm down 50 pounds, is it still going to be as easy to burn the 4000 calories? Obviously not. So I'm either going to have to step up the exercise (which would be easier, except for the time thing) or cut down the calories, but you can only cut down so much without hitting the law of diminishing returns.
So I'm hopeful, yet wary for the future. Looking forward, time to get my burn on!
-Silas
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
The world, back to normal.
I got a happy email yesterday from the new website where my exercise data gets uploaded...my data is going to be recovered on Thursday! Relief. I'm happy about that.
In other news, the scale said 289.7. Um...what the heck? Not that I'm happy, but HOLY COW...10 pounds in 10 days is pretty cool.
This means that the weight loss will stall for a bit, because I haven't burned that many calories, but with the normal ups and downs, it will be just fine.
Happy day, busy morning, hope to post more later!
-Silas
In other news, the scale said 289.7. Um...what the heck? Not that I'm happy, but HOLY COW...10 pounds in 10 days is pretty cool.
This means that the weight loss will stall for a bit, because I haven't burned that many calories, but with the normal ups and downs, it will be just fine.
Happy day, busy morning, hope to post more later!
-Silas
Monday, March 05, 2012
Goal two within reach, and STUPID TECHNOLOGY.
Interesting how weight can fluxuate. By the time I weighed on Saturday (my OFFICIAL weigh-in day), I had gone up just a little, back up to 294.5. Still a 5.5 loss for the week, so I'm quite happy with that!
However, yesterday, I was back down to 293.1, and this morning I was 291.0. HOLY COW that is cool!
So as of right now, I have somewhere between 143,000 and 213,000 calories to burn, above and beyond what I eat, between now and June.
Ridiculous would be 266,000 calories, at a 2892 per day deficit, not going to happen, but I want the outside case.
Not as good would be 108,000 calories, at a rate of 1107 per day. MORE that certainly going to happen, so it's the OTHER outside case.
More than likely is 1821 per day deficit. Currently, since February 25, I've averaged 2352 calories per day. If I stick with that (which will get increasingly harder, by the way...as you lose weight, your BMR goes down), I'll be at 225 by my trip. Mentioning that my GOAL weight is 210 makes that sound incredible.
So there's my geeking out with numbers. I'm shooting for the 240 pounds, with the 1821 calorie per day deficit. That makes for 51 more pounds in 14 weeks, at just over 3.5 per week average. This can be done.
Now on to the stupid technology portion.
The website where I log all of my information, and the one that holds the key to me knowing how much I'm losing, decided over the weekend, to upgrade. Which meant that the information was not available for two days. And when I attempted to update the server, the info apparently got lost somewhere! I'm a bit ticked off.
But what can you do? Complain, yes. But other than that, not very much. Just keep going. So the info that I logged for Friday to Sunday (Saturday and Sunday especially) is approximate.
*GRUMBLE*
I've called the technical support, and I'm hoping that in the near future they can get their act together, but for the moment, I'm irritated.
Yeah, I know. First world problems. Good news is that life doesn't entirely suck, I'm EXACTLY on plan, and nothing, not even the work lunch coming up on Friday is going to ruin that.
-Silas
However, yesterday, I was back down to 293.1, and this morning I was 291.0. HOLY COW that is cool!
So as of right now, I have somewhere between 143,000 and 213,000 calories to burn, above and beyond what I eat, between now and June.
Ridiculous would be 266,000 calories, at a 2892 per day deficit, not going to happen, but I want the outside case.
Not as good would be 108,000 calories, at a rate of 1107 per day. MORE that certainly going to happen, so it's the OTHER outside case.
More than likely is 1821 per day deficit. Currently, since February 25, I've averaged 2352 calories per day. If I stick with that (which will get increasingly harder, by the way...as you lose weight, your BMR goes down), I'll be at 225 by my trip. Mentioning that my GOAL weight is 210 makes that sound incredible.
So there's my geeking out with numbers. I'm shooting for the 240 pounds, with the 1821 calorie per day deficit. That makes for 51 more pounds in 14 weeks, at just over 3.5 per week average. This can be done.
Now on to the stupid technology portion.
The website where I log all of my information, and the one that holds the key to me knowing how much I'm losing, decided over the weekend, to upgrade. Which meant that the information was not available for two days. And when I attempted to update the server, the info apparently got lost somewhere! I'm a bit ticked off.
But what can you do? Complain, yes. But other than that, not very much. Just keep going. So the info that I logged for Friday to Sunday (Saturday and Sunday especially) is approximate.
*GRUMBLE*
I've called the technical support, and I'm hoping that in the near future they can get their act together, but for the moment, I'm irritated.
Yeah, I know. First world problems. Good news is that life doesn't entirely suck, I'm EXACTLY on plan, and nothing, not even the work lunch coming up on Friday is going to ruin that.
-Silas
Friday, March 02, 2012
Goal one reached, working for the second...
So I'm now down 6.1 pounds - passing the first milestone! Since I have them every 5 pounds, they should come pretty fast and furious for the next little bit.
It's fun seeing a negative deficit left on my spreadsheet, though. Pretty cool. Cool enough that if I eat an EXTRA 38 calories per day between now and my trip, I'll be back where I began.
And considering I've had an average daily deficit of almost 2400 calories, that would mean a LOT more calories per day!
Yesterday I also got in 11,698 steps. 2,000 of them were from walking to Subway at lunch, and the rest were on the treadmill. I'm still quite slow, but I spent an hour between walking/jogging slowly, the first 30 minutes of it on an incline. WHICH also goes to why I had a good deficit yesterday. :)
Speaking of Subway, they have this cool thing on their website - you build your sandwich exactly how you will ask for it, and it gives you all of the nutritional information! That's how I know that a footlong Turkey Breast and Ham sub on Italian bread, no cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, and honey mustard, is only 590 calories. For the footlong. Much better than the more than 1200 for the meatball sub that I used to get. And still better than the 950 for the Steak and Cheese.
Sheesh. I sound like a commercial. I just like knowing EXACTLY how many calories is in my food.
Oh, and exactly how many I burned going there. :)
It's weird - sometimes it's worth it to me to eat less. Sometimes it isn't. I guess I'll take it when I can get it.
-Silas
It's fun seeing a negative deficit left on my spreadsheet, though. Pretty cool. Cool enough that if I eat an EXTRA 38 calories per day between now and my trip, I'll be back where I began.
And considering I've had an average daily deficit of almost 2400 calories, that would mean a LOT more calories per day!
Yesterday I also got in 11,698 steps. 2,000 of them were from walking to Subway at lunch, and the rest were on the treadmill. I'm still quite slow, but I spent an hour between walking/jogging slowly, the first 30 minutes of it on an incline. WHICH also goes to why I had a good deficit yesterday. :)
Speaking of Subway, they have this cool thing on their website - you build your sandwich exactly how you will ask for it, and it gives you all of the nutritional information! That's how I know that a footlong Turkey Breast and Ham sub on Italian bread, no cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, and honey mustard, is only 590 calories. For the footlong. Much better than the more than 1200 for the meatball sub that I used to get. And still better than the 950 for the Steak and Cheese.
Sheesh. I sound like a commercial. I just like knowing EXACTLY how many calories is in my food.
Oh, and exactly how many I burned going there. :)
It's weird - sometimes it's worth it to me to eat less. Sometimes it isn't. I guess I'll take it when I can get it.
-Silas
Thursday, March 01, 2012
The tools you use...
So I have this wonderful little device on my left tricep called an Exerspy. If you've ever heard of a Bodybugg or those kinds of devices - yep, this is one of those. It tracks my calorie expenditure, and the company says that they are accurate to within 10%.
From what I can see, they are within 1%. Ever since last Saturday, I've been meticulously tracking all of my calories (by logging them into the website that the Exerspy connects to), and it is correctly predicting my current weight within half a pound, and has been every day. It's just plain AMAZING.
The website that goes with it is cool - you give it a start weight, you give it a number of pounds to lose, and you give it an end date, and it gives you the number of calories to eat and the number of calories to burn so that you can get there by the date that you specify.
Paired with the exerspy is the watch that comes with it. It tells you three different things - the number of calories you have burned so far, the number of steps taken, and the amount of "moderate" exercise that you have completed. For example - so far today, I have burned exactly 1204 calories, taken 599 steps, and have 6 minutes of at least moderate activity. Since it's 9:00 AM, and I want to get in a 4,000 calorie burn today, that means that sometime today I'll have to get in some good exercise. Of course, I already have that planned...
I could go on and on about this thing, and if asked, I will, but the point of this blog post isn't to evangelize this device. It's to say that we have tools - I have ALWAYS had tools (albeit not necessarily this COOL) - but any number of tools won't help you if you don't use them.
Why is this on my mind? Well, I got this thing last October. I used it religiously until about halfway through November. And then for some reason, I stopped logging food, or even paying attention to it. Yes, it was on my arm, but I didn't really USE it. And what was my reward?
15 lbs gained over the holidays through Valentine's day.
Idiot. Instead of being 15 lbs heaver, I could have been 15-30 lbs LIGHTER. That's a 30-45 lb swing in weight! I could have been over halfway to my goal!
But what is, is. I am not dwelling on that to beat myself up, I am mentioning it as a reminder to myself, just for today, that I am either going up or down today. And in another three months, will I be happy that I used the tools, or sad that I let yet another opportunity go by?
I have the choice, today. For today, I choose to use the tools at my disposal to my benefit.
Just today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
-Silas
From what I can see, they are within 1%. Ever since last Saturday, I've been meticulously tracking all of my calories (by logging them into the website that the Exerspy connects to), and it is correctly predicting my current weight within half a pound, and has been every day. It's just plain AMAZING.
The website that goes with it is cool - you give it a start weight, you give it a number of pounds to lose, and you give it an end date, and it gives you the number of calories to eat and the number of calories to burn so that you can get there by the date that you specify.
Paired with the exerspy is the watch that comes with it. It tells you three different things - the number of calories you have burned so far, the number of steps taken, and the amount of "moderate" exercise that you have completed. For example - so far today, I have burned exactly 1204 calories, taken 599 steps, and have 6 minutes of at least moderate activity. Since it's 9:00 AM, and I want to get in a 4,000 calorie burn today, that means that sometime today I'll have to get in some good exercise. Of course, I already have that planned...
I could go on and on about this thing, and if asked, I will, but the point of this blog post isn't to evangelize this device. It's to say that we have tools - I have ALWAYS had tools (albeit not necessarily this COOL) - but any number of tools won't help you if you don't use them.
Why is this on my mind? Well, I got this thing last October. I used it religiously until about halfway through November. And then for some reason, I stopped logging food, or even paying attention to it. Yes, it was on my arm, but I didn't really USE it. And what was my reward?
15 lbs gained over the holidays through Valentine's day.
Idiot. Instead of being 15 lbs heaver, I could have been 15-30 lbs LIGHTER. That's a 30-45 lb swing in weight! I could have been over halfway to my goal!
But what is, is. I am not dwelling on that to beat myself up, I am mentioning it as a reminder to myself, just for today, that I am either going up or down today. And in another three months, will I be happy that I used the tools, or sad that I let yet another opportunity go by?
I have the choice, today. For today, I choose to use the tools at my disposal to my benefit.
Just today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
-Silas
Friday, February 17, 2012
Life, on purpose.
So I was watching some sort of TV show, and I heard a statistic that it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert. Interesting concept.
Reading around the interwebs, it apparently came from a book called Outliers by some guy that I don’t care so I won’t go look it up. I believe that he didn’t just say 10,000 hours of doing something, but 10,000 hours of directed practice.
I believed that a bit more. It is too simplistic to say that just by doing something over and over again will you become an expert. I really like the phrase “directed practice.” It implies intentionally making yourself better - looking at something that you are doing wrong, and working at it until you are no longer doing it wrong. No matter how long that takes. And then finding the next thing. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Take music, for example. I don’t know as I would be called an expert at playing the clarinet - I did play from 5th grade through my first year and a half of college. I did a significant amount of directed practice, but I don’t think I ever got 10,000 hours in. 4 hours a day, day in, day out, would take nearly 7 years. Oh, I probably (in all of that time) got in well over 5,000 hours, maybe 6,000. I got pretty good. In fact, I can still pick the thing up and play a lot of what I used to play. But I never got to be an expert. Any wonder why I don’t play for a living? (Although maybe I could have, if I had gone that route. I just didn’t see making enough money to support a family.)
Now take the guitar. I’ve recently started playing, at the end of November. I’m rather off-and-on with it, as I really am pretty busy - life just kicks in that way. But sometimes I’m frustrated with how slow it is going. I can’t just pick the thing up and play, as I can with the clarinet, or the wooden recorder. Why is it taking so long, I have wondered. It’s been over two months now!
Why? I’ll tell you why. I’ve spent an estimated time of 20 - 25 hours playing it. And I’ve taken exactly two private lessons. (Hey, they were free.)
Why am I not doing well? Because I’m not doing directed practice. Oh, I’ve got a method book, and I’ve got some songs, and I’m learning, but I don’t think that I’m doing any kind of directed practice. I’m just fiddling around.
Oh - and it’s also because I’ve spent next to no time doing it. Compared to 6000 hours on my first instrument, 20 hours is nothing. It’s a drop in the bucket. It’s noise. It’s nothing.
Yet.
So the end result of all of this ruminating is that I have decided three things:
1) I am never going to become and expert at the guitar. One hour per day would take the next 27 years. Half an hour per day would take me 54 years. Could it happen? Yes. Will it? Not probable.
2) What I really want is to become proficient at playing the guitar. I want to be able to play almost any relatively easy song, a lot of moderate songs, and even (with sufficient practice) a few very hard songs. How long will this take? How many hours? I don’t know. More than 100, I suspect. More than 1000. 2000? 2500? Who knows. But I want to find out.
3) Finally, I have decided to track how many hours I practice, to see how long it takes me to learn new things. I’m going to start at 20, because I think that’s a fair assessment of what I’ve done so far. I will post milestones, probably every 50 hours, with how I think that I’ve been doing, just to keep track. At the milestones, I’ll post what songs I have learned, and what things I think I have “mastered.” And where I think I need to go.
Ambitious? Freakin’ absolutely. But overriding all of this is a single principle that has been nagging at me recently, and which I think I need to start living by. And that principle is this:
I need to start living my life way more deliberately. Becoming someone else. Someone better. On purpose.
I spend a lot of my life, going from moment to moment, letting things pass me by. It’s not a bad way to live - really it’s not. I’m getting along. And I could probably do just fine in my life by doing this. And I could probably even be happy doing it.
But I know that there is so much more that I could be doing. I could be more fulfilled. I could be more creative. I could be more…well, who I want to be.
So there it is. I know who I am, and I know who I really want to be, and the only way to get there is to actually get up, and take that first step on the road to becoming that person. After the first step comes the second. And then the third. (Astute readers will notice the pattern that will arise from that).
“The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet.” -Lao Tzu
The more often quoted one has to do with a single step, but I like this more correct translation even better.
So here is to a new step, a new way of doing things, and being deliberate. I want to become. So I will take the steps to do so.
-Silas
Reading around the interwebs, it apparently came from a book called Outliers by some guy that I don’t care so I won’t go look it up. I believe that he didn’t just say 10,000 hours of doing something, but 10,000 hours of directed practice.
I believed that a bit more. It is too simplistic to say that just by doing something over and over again will you become an expert. I really like the phrase “directed practice.” It implies intentionally making yourself better - looking at something that you are doing wrong, and working at it until you are no longer doing it wrong. No matter how long that takes. And then finding the next thing. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Take music, for example. I don’t know as I would be called an expert at playing the clarinet - I did play from 5th grade through my first year and a half of college. I did a significant amount of directed practice, but I don’t think I ever got 10,000 hours in. 4 hours a day, day in, day out, would take nearly 7 years. Oh, I probably (in all of that time) got in well over 5,000 hours, maybe 6,000. I got pretty good. In fact, I can still pick the thing up and play a lot of what I used to play. But I never got to be an expert. Any wonder why I don’t play for a living? (Although maybe I could have, if I had gone that route. I just didn’t see making enough money to support a family.)
Now take the guitar. I’ve recently started playing, at the end of November. I’m rather off-and-on with it, as I really am pretty busy - life just kicks in that way. But sometimes I’m frustrated with how slow it is going. I can’t just pick the thing up and play, as I can with the clarinet, or the wooden recorder. Why is it taking so long, I have wondered. It’s been over two months now!
Why? I’ll tell you why. I’ve spent an estimated time of 20 - 25 hours playing it. And I’ve taken exactly two private lessons. (Hey, they were free.)
Why am I not doing well? Because I’m not doing directed practice. Oh, I’ve got a method book, and I’ve got some songs, and I’m learning, but I don’t think that I’m doing any kind of directed practice. I’m just fiddling around.
Oh - and it’s also because I’ve spent next to no time doing it. Compared to 6000 hours on my first instrument, 20 hours is nothing. It’s a drop in the bucket. It’s noise. It’s nothing.
Yet.
So the end result of all of this ruminating is that I have decided three things:
1) I am never going to become and expert at the guitar. One hour per day would take the next 27 years. Half an hour per day would take me 54 years. Could it happen? Yes. Will it? Not probable.
2) What I really want is to become proficient at playing the guitar. I want to be able to play almost any relatively easy song, a lot of moderate songs, and even (with sufficient practice) a few very hard songs. How long will this take? How many hours? I don’t know. More than 100, I suspect. More than 1000. 2000? 2500? Who knows. But I want to find out.
3) Finally, I have decided to track how many hours I practice, to see how long it takes me to learn new things. I’m going to start at 20, because I think that’s a fair assessment of what I’ve done so far. I will post milestones, probably every 50 hours, with how I think that I’ve been doing, just to keep track. At the milestones, I’ll post what songs I have learned, and what things I think I have “mastered.” And where I think I need to go.
Ambitious? Freakin’ absolutely. But overriding all of this is a single principle that has been nagging at me recently, and which I think I need to start living by. And that principle is this:
I need to start living my life way more deliberately. Becoming someone else. Someone better. On purpose.
I spend a lot of my life, going from moment to moment, letting things pass me by. It’s not a bad way to live - really it’s not. I’m getting along. And I could probably do just fine in my life by doing this. And I could probably even be happy doing it.
But I know that there is so much more that I could be doing. I could be more fulfilled. I could be more creative. I could be more…well, who I want to be.
So there it is. I know who I am, and I know who I really want to be, and the only way to get there is to actually get up, and take that first step on the road to becoming that person. After the first step comes the second. And then the third. (Astute readers will notice the pattern that will arise from that).
“The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet.” -Lao Tzu
The more often quoted one has to do with a single step, but I like this more correct translation even better.
So here is to a new step, a new way of doing things, and being deliberate. I want to become. So I will take the steps to do so.
-Silas
Monday, January 10, 2011
Aaaaand...why not.
I know I'm an errant blogger. But it's hard to maintain a weight loss blog (see my clever word play???) when you are steadily gaining weight.
Well, thanks to my cousin, I'm a part of a nice friendly Biggest Loser challenge! I sent her $20, along with I don't know how many others, and the top three will split the money in some as-yet-to-be-determined fashion.
It's not about winning right now. It was worth the $20 to be motivated.
Last week's weigh-in (Wednesday) was 298.5. This morning I was at 293.1. Down 5.4 in 5 days? I will take it. I will take it and run with it.
You know, I was worried about my weigh-in after the holidays. I lost weight over Christmas (not much, but a tiny bit), regardless of my concerted efforts to the contrary. Truly, I did NOT do well over the holidays. But SOMEHOW, I was down a tiny bit, like half a pound or something.
I was worried that it was an anomaly.
Not any more. Right now I'm just going to thank my lucky stars, and RUN WITH IT.
OK, not literally RUN, not just yet, but maybe a brisk walk on the treadmill?
-Silas
Well, thanks to my cousin, I'm a part of a nice friendly Biggest Loser challenge! I sent her $20, along with I don't know how many others, and the top three will split the money in some as-yet-to-be-determined fashion.
It's not about winning right now. It was worth the $20 to be motivated.
Last week's weigh-in (Wednesday) was 298.5. This morning I was at 293.1. Down 5.4 in 5 days? I will take it. I will take it and run with it.
You know, I was worried about my weigh-in after the holidays. I lost weight over Christmas (not much, but a tiny bit), regardless of my concerted efforts to the contrary. Truly, I did NOT do well over the holidays. But SOMEHOW, I was down a tiny bit, like half a pound or something.
I was worried that it was an anomaly.
Not any more. Right now I'm just going to thank my lucky stars, and RUN WITH IT.
OK, not literally RUN, not just yet, but maybe a brisk walk on the treadmill?
-Silas
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Here we go a'blogging!
Just stopping in to post today, mostly because I want to keep in the habit. Slept in today, didn't yet make it to the gym. I really have to get back into the habit! It's weird - when I'm in habits, they're easy. I just do them. I wake up on time. I get my stuff ready the night before. Everything just falls into place, and I find myself scanning my card!
So here's to getting back into the habit. Working on it, folks. Working on it.
So here's to getting back into the habit. Working on it, folks. Working on it.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
And just when I thought all was lost...
Here it is!
I somehow forgot that I even had this blog. Yes, my last post was a little hissy-fit kind of post, but I was cranky. Or at least, I think so. It was two years ago, you know.
So I am in serious need of getting back into some mojo. I went looking for my old journalspace blog - the old silas crutherton blog...and lo and behold, it turns out that the guys running journalspace are a bunch of morons, and it's a good thing that I wasn't there when all of the crap went down!
Regardless, I somehow remembered blogger, typed in the URL, and TWO YEARS LATER it remembered me! Holy crap...
Anyway, I'm back, head hanging low...after gaining about half a pound a week for two years, it does that to you.
But it doesn't matter where I have been - only where I am going. I do know that I haven't been pointed in the correct direction for a couple of years now. So it's about time to turn things around. Mojo is back.
I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in a while. Good news is that I had a good time. Bad news is that my heel is being extra stupid. Still, it was a good thing.
Good news about the heel thing - it is just a skin cracking thing, not an internal thing. Some sort of salve should do the trick, and I'll be back on my feet (hehe!) in no time. Tomorrow, in fact.
I've also started a video blog. At least, I've started recording myself while driving to and/or from work. I have a few videos, but I'm not sure what to do with them yet. I doubt blogger has a place for them (but I will poke around a bit!), and I'm wary of youtube. Either way, though, it will be a good thing to keep a video record of how I am doing.
What the heck! There's the little "Add Video" button up there! Looks like I may be in business after all...
Anyway I will be back soon. Time to get things going.
I somehow forgot that I even had this blog. Yes, my last post was a little hissy-fit kind of post, but I was cranky. Or at least, I think so. It was two years ago, you know.
So I am in serious need of getting back into some mojo. I went looking for my old journalspace blog - the old silas crutherton blog...and lo and behold, it turns out that the guys running journalspace are a bunch of morons, and it's a good thing that I wasn't there when all of the crap went down!
Regardless, I somehow remembered blogger, typed in the URL, and TWO YEARS LATER it remembered me! Holy crap...
Anyway, I'm back, head hanging low...after gaining about half a pound a week for two years, it does that to you.
But it doesn't matter where I have been - only where I am going. I do know that I haven't been pointed in the correct direction for a couple of years now. So it's about time to turn things around. Mojo is back.
I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in a while. Good news is that I had a good time. Bad news is that my heel is being extra stupid. Still, it was a good thing.
Good news about the heel thing - it is just a skin cracking thing, not an internal thing. Some sort of salve should do the trick, and I'll be back on my feet (hehe!) in no time. Tomorrow, in fact.
I've also started a video blog. At least, I've started recording myself while driving to and/or from work. I have a few videos, but I'm not sure what to do with them yet. I doubt blogger has a place for them (but I will poke around a bit!), and I'm wary of youtube. Either way, though, it will be a good thing to keep a video record of how I am doing.
What the heck! There's the little "Add Video" button up there! Looks like I may be in business after all...
Anyway I will be back soon. Time to get things going.
Monday, March 26, 2007
FYI and Where's My Mojo?
The last post that I put here was about losing my interest in blogging. That's the biggest reason that I moved.
http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/silascrutherton
I like blogger, but there is no sense of community for me.
There is a sense of community at weightwatchen. I got more comments in two days than in almost three months of blogger.
It's the format over there - it's a COMMUNITY, not just a blog place.
Anyway, my Blog Mojo is back, just not here.
-Silas
http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/silascrutherton
I like blogger, but there is no sense of community for me.
There is a sense of community at weightwatchen. I got more comments in two days than in almost three months of blogger.
It's the format over there - it's a COMMUNITY, not just a blog place.
Anyway, my Blog Mojo is back, just not here.
-Silas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)