I think that the main reason people stop losing weight (especially if they’re still committed to doing so) is that their body gets used to the routine and starts to adapt.  After all, our bodies are genetically programmed to store energy in times of plenty for when things are scarce.  For many of us, the times of scarcity never come and so our bodies just continue to store the extra energy and we get fatter each year.

So what do we need to do when our weight loss levels off but we’re not quite where we want to be yet?

Don’t Give up!
This is the most important aspect of any life changing behavior. We have to work very hard to condition our bodies to adapt to the new habits and to drop the old bad habits. When I was a baseball player, my coach used to tell us that it takes 300 correct attempts IN A ROW for a new habit to replace an old habit. I’m not sure if his method was based in research, but the point is valid. It’s hard to change. Stick with it, deal with the setbacks, praise the successes and concentrate on them. They’ll come more often and things will get easier!

Shock Your Body!
I’ve been doing some reading online and there’s a new buzz word out there in the fitness and exercise world called “muscle confusion.” If you’ve seen one of those infomercials for the P90X program, you’re familiar with the term. Basically it’s a way to get better results from your fitness routine by not allowing your body to get used to what you’re doing. You shock your muscles and they respond faster and you get better results. So if you can afford it, or if you’re creative, totally change up your routine. Get a new weight training circuit or hit the elliptical instead of the stairmaster. Go for a run outside instead of the treadmill or try a jump rope. This is the reason that I’m thinking of getting a new workout every other week from a personal trainer at the gym. I want to force my body to get stronger, faster, and fitter and keep it from resting on its laurels.

Tweak Your Diet!
Just like your body can adjust to its exercise plan, it can also adjust to its calorie reduction plan. Whenever I’m being really successful counting calories, not only am I tracking my caloric intake, but I’m also eating many of the same foods each day because it makes calorie counting easier. Unfortunately, your body can also adapt to this system. It’s best to vary your intake of foods while keeping your calorie deficit about the same. This makes more work for you if you’re a fitday user, but it may be worth it. Another thing you may consider is taking a 2 week hiatus from calorie tracking. Still eat mindful, but don’t worry so much about what you’re eating. Then after two weeks, maybe your body will respond to your diet again. Finally, you may have to readjust your caloric needs if you’ve recently lost some weight. Now that you’re lighter, you may not need as many calories to maintain your weight so you might have to further reduce your calories to keep losing the weight.

Try A Supplement?
I’m not a big fan of supplements any more. I’ve used them, both the “over the counter” and the medically prescribed types, and have had some success with them. There are tons of “thermogenic” over the counter supplements out there. My biggest problem with them is that very few, if any, of them are FDA approved and therefore haven’t been subjected to the same rigorous testing procedures that the medically prescribed solutions have undergone. My advice here, take it for what it’s worth, is to avoid anything over the counter and only seek medical treatment for weight loss if you just can’t lose large amounts of weight on your own.

Everyone can lose weight. It’s a simple matter of arithmetic. Burn more calories than you eat and your weight will decrease. It’s not easy, but you CAN do it!

—
Related Articles at Get Fit Slowly:

• Weighing In For Wednesday
• It’s Hard To Raise Healthy Kids
• Stalled–But Not Discouraged

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When I decided to take control of my finances, I began to track my spending. When I biked extensively from 1997-1999, I kept a complex spreadsheet containing all sorts of data. When I started running last spring, I logged my miles. And, in the past, I’ve managed to lose weight by counting calories.

I’ve steered clear of counting calories this year (though I’m not sure why — it hasn’t been a conscious decisions really), but recently I began logging my weight. Every morning when I get out of bed, I stop on the scales to check my weight and body fat.

I thought about constructing a spreadsheet with this data, but then I remembered several Get Fit Slowly readers have mentioned Physics Diet. I have no idea what the “diet” part of the site’s name means (perhaps I should look), but I do know that it does a great job of tracking stats for a geek like me.

Using the Physics Diet fitness log, users enter their daily weight and body fat percentage. Physics Diet then tabulates this info, adding some derived numbers like BMI (body mass index), RMR (resting metabolic rate, which estimates your base caloric needs), and TEE (total energy expenditure, an estimate of your caloric needs based on activity level). Here’s a look at my current log:

I like that Physics Diet computes moving averages for both weight and body fat. That’s the sort of thing I do in my spreadsheets because I feel like it provides more meaningful information than a single snapshot. In fact, Physics Diet provides graphs of this information, incorporating both the daily snapshots and the moving averages:

The above chart vividly reveals that which I already know: At the end of August, I was deep in my booze-swilling Warcraft-playing state of self-pity. My weight was rising — rapidly. On Septemeber 7th, I confessed everything to Kris, and promised myself to change direction. On September 8th, I returned to the gym. In the past two weeks, I’ve been exercising regularly and working to improve my diet. Those lovely spikes on the 14th and 21st come the mornings after my “free days”.

The good news is that — shocking — changing my habits has not only made me feel better about myself, but is leading to weight loss.

From what I can tell, there’s not much else to Physics Diet. For some people, it won’t be worth the time or effort to visit. But for me, it’s a simple tool that does one thing well: log and graph my weight.

Note: Check out the site creator’s mini-history in what should I eat?

The five foods are:

• Whole Grains: He specifically calls out millet, a type of whole grain that is non-glutinous, over 10% protein, with significant amounts of fiber and B-complex vitamins.
• Asparagus: Asparagus is rich in folate, vitamins A, C, and K, and fiber, which is great for helping you feel full. Asparagus also has a carb called inulin that promotes healthy bacteria in the large intestine.
• Pomegranates: Pomegranates, along with other fresh fruits, is valuable for its antioxidants. Go with the fresh fruit and not so much the juice because you’ll get more fiber and drink fewer calories.
• Pine Nuts: Chinese medicine believes pine nuts can improve digestive functions and the oil is often used for appetite suppression.
• Green Tea: I didn’t know this but apparently coffee and caffeine in large amounts can lead to food cravings, I’ve always found that coffee suppresses my appetite in the mornings. Either way, Green tea provides both a little caffeine and beneficial antioxidants.

Other tips? Learn to graze by eating five smaller meals, chew more slowly, and avoid processed foods.

5 Essential Weight Loss Foods [Yahoo! Health]

Since I’ve started biking and working out more, I’ve noticed that my weight hasn’t really changed too much but my athleticism has increased. Running is easier and I run faster. I feel healthier and more active, two things that mean more to me than seeing the number on the scale.

I am quite pleased with my 3.3 pounds lost for the last week. However, over vacation and the following week I managed to put on 0.6 pounds to go with the 2.4 pounds from the previous week and all and all I had a month of August with 0.3 pounds lost. I am not sweating it… As the doctor said you went on vacation and ONLY gained 0.6 pounds. I did a full body analysis at the last weight in and I actually gained muscle and lost weight over the previous scan so I think I must be doing something right.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So what is the plan?

While I am still not able to exercise as I would like (the ankle just won’t heal as fast as I would like it to), I need to focus on staying fit while injured and snacking without ruining my diet.

There it is…. short and sweet.

It’s easier to be sedentary than to make time to exercise every day..  It’s easier to eat at Sonic, Outback, Denny’s, and Taco Bell than it is to shop for and cook healthy food for your family every day.  And it’s definitely easier to go with the flow of the group that is doing these things than to stick to your guns and make the right choices when you’re out of your routine.

This is the situation that I found myself in this past weekend.  Every year for as long as I can remember, the men in my family–my dad, uncles, and cousins–spend a few days on a bird hunting trip in Arizona.  We get up REALLY early, stop at Circle K for coffee and doughnuts (I had a powerbar instead) and hunt until around 11:00.  On the way back to the hotel, we stop at one of those aforementioned restaurants for a VERY healthy meal.  Then, we take a nap, eat dinner at another one of those restaurants, go to bed early and do it all again the next day.  Oh yeah, there’s lots of beer involved  and an occasional trip to DQ for a blizzard.  Of course, there’s no exercise in sight, unless you count walking from the truck to the place where you set up your stool in the field for the morning shoot.

It’s really hard to make good choices when everyone around you is making bad ones.  None of the men in my family are skinny, a few might be considered normal weight, but most of them are overweight or worse.  It’s easy to see where I got my eating habits and body weight issues.  Unfortunately for me, my problems started earlier in life than the people in the generation above me.  This is why it’s so important for me to get my lifestyle under control.  So that my kids see a two healthy weight parents every day for as long as they can remember.  So that they know being inactive is not a choice.  So that they know that eating healthy is very important and something that can be done most of the time instead of only when life cooperates.  These are the things that I must continue to work on and can never give up on.

So, after a summer of moderate exercise, moderate diet control, and lots of time spent away from the house, I have allowed myself to gain a few pounds.  I’m back up to 192 this morning.  Eating and exercise is a struggle for me right now.  I’m allowing myself to make poor choices in both arenas.

We’ve got one more small trip planned for this weekend.  Pam’s running the McKenzie River 50K trail run this weekend.  The whole family is going down to support her.  We’ve got a cute cabin booked for the weekend and then next week, it’s back to school.

I’m looking forward to getting back into the routine of school and kids’ activities that start up again next week.  My diet and exercise habits thrive when we’ve got the daily schedule made up for us in advance.  I’m excited to get down to my goal weight by the new year.

Anyway, the walk isn’t what I would consider exercise because it doesn’t leave you tired, sweaty, and panting; it’s just a nice walk that helps you enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful weather… but it is exercise. It burns calories just as if we ran it and doing something active each day helps improve your health even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Think about it, it’s like the reverse of drinking a soda each day. A soda has about a hundred calories in a 12 oz. can and one of the best ways to lose weight, if you drink soda, is to stop. Stop snacking, stop drinking soda, etc. These are all small things that you can stop, here’s a small thing that you can start that can pay off in the long run.

It certainly doesn’t beat running, biking, or hitting the weights at the gym, but it’s something that you can do with a friend or a loved one that can help you two connect better. It’s harder to chat on a bike or while you’re running, especially if you’re not a runner, but by walking you get to chat and sneak in some light exercise.

Do something active each day and you’ll see the benefits.

The following is a guest post from ToughMoneyLove.com. You can subscribe to his RSS feed here.

I am 57 years old. I am 6 feet tall. In high school and college, my weight fluctuated between 165 and 170 pounds. I am careful with my money.

But……

On January 16, 2008 I weighed 218 pounds. I work in an office (I am a patent attorney) and was spending on average $7.50 per day eating lunch out. I owned three pair of pants that I could barely squeeze into. Hundreds of dollars of pants and suits hung in my closet – neglected – because they no longer fit. I couldn’t stand to look at all of my belly fat in the mirror any more. I kept reading that abdominal fat is a strong marker for bad health in the second half of your life.

I had enough. I decided on that day that the weight had to go. I set a goal of weighing 175 pounds on May 31, 2008, the unofficial beginning of summer. Being a technology guy, I also decided that I needed a highly structured, mathematically sound plan for getting there.

My 1500 Calorie Eating Plan

I did some research and learned that for an average person, a 3500 calorie consumption deficit will result in a loss of one pound of body weight. I found a free website, Fitday, that allowed me to enter in my weight loss goal. It then calculated and tracked how much weight per week I had to lose to reach that goal. I determined that I could reach my goal by a combination of a reasonable amount of exercise and eating no more than 1500 calories per day.

Fitday had other important helpful features. After entering in my personal data and activities, Fitday calculated my daily baseline caloric expenditures. It added extra calories burned each day based on the specific exercise (walking, weight-lifting) and other activities (yard word, household maintenance, etc.) that I selected from pull down lists. As I weighed myself each morning and entered that weight into Fitday, it re-updated what I needed to do to reach my goal.

Fitday has an extensive built in database of food items with nutrition data. You can also enter and save custom food items if you can’t find them in the database. All of this data is saved online so that you can access it from any internet-connected computer. That is important. Between January 16 and May 31, not a single morsel of food passed my lips without being entered in Fitday. No cheating. None. That required easy access to my data which Fitday provided.

What and How I Ate

My basic rule was this: I ate until Fitday said I had eaten 1500 calories that day. Then I stopped. During the 136 days, I went over 1500 calories approximately 6 times but my worst day was only 1780 calories. Did I eat out? Yes – I even traveled to my nephew’s wedding out of town – but I managed to eat to my calorie goal. On the few days I went over, I either did extra cardio that day or cut back on the eating the next day.

It is not easy for a 6 foot baby boomer to limit himself to 1500 calories and not feel like he is starving. What I did to handle that was to eat something every 2-3 hours during the day with each little meal in the 150-300 calorie range. The work part of the day was critical because believe me it is hard to concentrate on the job if you are starving.

My typical workday eating went like this:

• Breakfast: – fat free cottage cheese with fruit or 1 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal or 6 oz. cup fat free fruit yogurt.
• Morning snack: – 1 ounce raw almonds (very healthy for guys my age and an awesome appetite killer).
• Lunch: – 19 oz. can of Healthy Request Chunky Soup (gotta be chunky or you will not feel full) or 1 can tuna plus a few multigrain, high fiber crackers.
• Afternoon snack: – Balance Gold protein bar (the caramel nut blast is great) or Trail Mix fruit and nut bar
• Dinner: – Grilled chicken breast/grilled fish plus a salad with low fat dressing or a steamed vegetable High fiber bread (one serving)
• Evening snack: – Red grapes or raw cut carrots/broccoli and a low fat dip or a handful of Kashi GoLean Crunch
• Bedtime Dessert: – Fruit popsicle

This routine kept me satisfied and within my 1500 calorie goal. I was surprised about not being hungry but it worked.

My Exercise Plan

I did cardio almost everyday. Usually this was 30 minutes on a treadmill, 4 MPH at varying elevations of 4 to 8 degrees. (Education bonus benefit: I usually did this first thing in the morning while watching the History Channel. I learned a lot.)

I also did circuit training (upper body, lower body, core) three days per week at the local public recreation center, 30 minutes each day with stretching after.

That’s it.

My Money Savings

My work lunch routine cost me about $2.00/day compared to the $7.50 I was spending each day eating out. I ate lunch out a few days (but I didn’t eat much). Over the 136 days of my plan, I saved $5.50 per day over 96 workdays, for a total of $528.00. Not bad. I am still eating soup and tuna for lunch each day. I enjoy visualizing five dollar bills in my head when I do that.

The Results

I actually hit my 175 pound goal on May 13. I decided to keep going because there was still some loose stuff around my midsection that I did not like. I went down to 166 pounds. The loose stuff was still there so I figured that is extra skin that is not going away. (No lipo for me!) I went off the diet. Now I watch what I eat. I probably average 2500 calories per day. I still weigh myself everyday. My weight fluctuates between 166 and 169. That’s where I intend to keep it.

Other benefits: I am sleeping much better. My nasal allergies seemed to have disappeared. (Can’t figure that one out but I am not complaining.) My energy levels in the evening and weekends are way up. Unfortunately, I still don’t have a lot of clothes that fit me because my waist is now a 32. All of my old clothes were 34. I’m not complaining about that either.

My wife compliments me. (’Nuf said about that.)

My 40 year high school reunion is next summer. I have challenged some of my high school buddies to match me. I hope they do.

If you want to contact me about what I did, or learn some hard truth about money and personal finance, you can find me at ToughMoneyLove.com. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed here.

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While walking on its own is very beneficial, there are ways that you can ramp up your efforts without making it overly difficult. Let’s go over just a few great walking exercises that are easy to implement and even fun to do.

1. Adding weights. This is perfect for those who’ve been walking and found that they may have hit a plateau when it comes to weight loss. By adding small weights either around your ankles, or even little hand weights that you can easily carry, you can add a little extra resistance and work harder without really feeling the difference. It is best to start out with smaller weights and work your way up especially if you are not used to carrying them.

2. Step it up. Although walking in and of itself is not difficult you can make little challenges for yourself. Whether it is walking an extra block to seeing how far you can go before you get tired, or simply walking longer, sometimes it is very beneficial to challenge yourself. Consider purchasing a pedometer and using the amount of steps you take to create challenges.

For example if you are currently walking an average of 2500 steps during your walking session, try to make it 3000 the next day. Gradually increase the amount of steps you take and you may find that before long it is easier than ever to walk 10,000 steps. By making gradual changes it is much easier to get accustomed to the amount of exercise you are doing.

3. Involve a friend. Working out with someone else can be a lot of fun and it is a great way to stay motivated. It is always nice to have someone to talk to and you may even find that the time flies by. Whether you pick a family member or close friends, having someone with you while you walk is the only fun but it can be a way to challenge yourself. Try to set up little challenges with a reward at the end and see who can accomplish them first.

These are just a few ways you can get even more benefits from walking. Try brainstorming and see how many new ideas you can come up with for your own walking routine. Try changing them up for more variety or these tips to Keep Walking Programs Interesting. The more you walk the easier it will be and you will be that much closer to reaching your fitness goals. Don’t let bad weather slow you down if it’s raining or snowing you can always take your walk inside.

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It’s time to give away the big clothes so that I have nothing to fall back on. I understand that. I will never let myself buy a pair of pants bigger than 34 again. But that’s not the real problem here. I still plan on losing 10 to 15 more pounds between now and 2009. So, when Fall rolls around and the gloom returns to Oregon, I’m going to have to find some type of solution.

I’ve already done a little home improvement project on my belts. I put a few new holes in them with my trusty drill so I can cinch them up a bit tighter. But now they flop around at the end because they don’t reach the next belt loop on my pants.

I don’t really want to buy two new wardrobes, so unless you all have suggestions, I guess I’ll just make do with the clothes I’ve got now and have something to look forward to and some incentive to get there faster. For now, I’ll stay in wardrobe limbo and think of some other creative alteration techniques. Perhaps I’ll wear two pairs of underwear?

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So what is the plan?

I will be out of town during my next weigh in and so this plan will be in effect for two weeks prior to the next results.

I will swim a significant amount in the next week and the week after my rehab is allowed to begin in earnest. The doctor increased my dosage of phentermine to help with the portion control in the evening meal. I am going to redouble my efforts to watch my portion sizes. I will be weighing my food again using a food scale to remind myself of the correct portions for the diet. I will continue taking my blood pressure medication and I will try to avoid excessive salt.

My goal for the next two weeks is a total of 10 pounds.

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Despite the fact that most of us understand that losing weight is the product of fewer calories in and more calories burned, it doesn’t mean that we don’t wish weight loss came in an easy pill form. Alli is one of the first over-the-counter medications for weight loss that has been approved by the FDA. As always discuss this pill with your doctor before taking it to ensure safety. Truth be told, I thought about taking it 18 months ago when news of it’s approval came out.

What is Alli

Alli isn’t a completely new face on the market. It’s a new brand name for a low dose treatment of Xenical, which is a prescription medication. By reducing the amount of Xenical in each pill, the new formula was approved for sale without a prescription. Since so many people have experienced significant weight loss with Xenical, the availability of Alli was big news.

Potential Alli Results

While it is not a magic pill, the results for those taking Alli have been very good so far. When combined with a low calorie diet and exercise plan, those taking the pill have the potential to lose 50% more weight than those that do not take the pill, according to GlaxoSmithKline. This is can be pretty significant for those who have a lot of weight to lose. For those that are frustrated with their seeming inability to lose weight, this may be a great tool to add to your arsenal.

Recommended Use of Alli

The manufacturer recommends taking three 60 mg pills a day, each one with a meal. Each meal should be composed of less than 15% fat. This may be difficult for a lot of people however, especially if they are not used to reading labels or paying attention to the fat grams in their food. Calculating may be tough for some, and this may be the biggest barrier to the pills acceptance.

How Alli Works

The main premise behind the pill is that it blocks the absorption of fat, and thus calories, in approximately 25% of the food you eat. For example, if you are eating 1200 calories and taking this pill, it would be similar to actually eating 900 calories. The fat that is not absorbed by your body is then eliminated through the natural process.

Alli Side Effects

As with Xenical, this “natural process” can be a problem. Common side effects are listed as uncontrolled urination and bowel movements. Since the dosage is still pretty high with Alli, these side effects are still present. It is a good idea to still check with your doctor to see if you need to adjust your dosage before taking the pill. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not go through life worrying about uncontrollable urination or bowel movements, so it is vital to read the instructions carefully and make sure that you follow them to the letter.

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With the news that Japan will now begin measuring waist lines, in an attempt to force their citizens to lose weight, it has never been more important to compare the cost of being heavy or healthy. Part of Japan’s plan is to begin charging employers for their overweight employees and many of these same tactics are making their way into the Western world as well (example Clarian Health of Indianapolis). In an effort to recoup their costs, some businesses are even moving to dock money from an overweight worker’s paycheck. While most of these new cuts are not expected to take place until 2009, it is obvious that big changes are coming.

While you can debate the fairness of these tactics, or talk about discrimination, the fact remains, being overweight can be costly. A recent study from two Stanford health economists found that, “obese workers are paid less only when they have employer-sponsored health insurance.” Indicating that employers were recognizing the risk and compensating employees acordingly for the very real risk of increased health care costs.

We’ve long known that being overweight does end up costing more. The cost of food aside, clothes are more expensive and harder to find, automobiles may not get optimum gas mileage and the costs for insurance are incredibly high. Is this forcing the population to get healthy? As of now, the answer is no. American’s waistlines are still ballooning. However, if BMI and waist size suddenly has an effect on our weekly paychecks that may change.

While companies may see small changes in revenue if their workers lose weight, the industry that will continue to profit is the diet industry. Currently, more than $40 billion is spent annually on diets, diet programs and materials every year. If thousands of workers were suddenly forced to lose weight, that number could easily double or even triple.

Since many of us won’t change until the news really hits home, let’s look at just 2 of the ways that being overweight can affect you right now.

1. Job Advancement — First, the overweight are typically not as secure in their jobs as their slimmer counterparts. Promotions are passed over, and wages are lower. The risk of losing your job due to the fact you are overweight is very high, especially if your employer simply cannot afford the health insurance.
2. Productivity — Secondly, the overweight may not be as productive in many instances. No one is discounting the fact that you have to feel good in order to work well. The secondary health conditions that many overweight people face may also begin to affect not only their job performance, but also their time at work.

The bottom line is that being overweight costs more money. If you’re looking to free up extra cash each month, and gain more job security, losing weight may be very beneficial. It is a tough situation that is facing the millions of people whose waist sizes may not be optimum, but as many of us know, life isn’t fair. Right now, there has never been a better reason to shape up and get healthy. Your wallet will definitely thank you. Besides, personally I am tired of being overweight… Aren’t you?

This article was submitted by a Weight Ladder, author of Weight Loss Journal. Here are his weight loss pictures. Follow and encourage as he climbs down the weight ladder.

I get to start rehab next week (3 days a week) starting Monday. I am very much looking forward to working out again…

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

I am within 5 pounds of crossing the hypothetical midway point in my journey. I have made it this far in the journey by taking one day at a time. Celebrating my accomplishment without getting complacent. 66 pounds is an enormous amount of weight to have lost and yet I have a long journey ahead. I hope you are enjoying the ride.

Until next week… Enjoy the articles and keep the comments coming…

I didn’t even think about this while I was at the doctor’s office weighing in and I was quite upset… Thoughts like WTF do you mean I gained 9 pounds. The scale cannot be accurate. If I am going to gain weight why am I paying for the privilege?  And other such pleasantries… (My apologies for not writing up my weigh in last week, I wrote the post, but I was unable to come to grips with it until I proved it was indeed water retention.)

The bottom line is that I am close to being able to go off the blood pressure meds, but I am not quite there. So I started taking my meds again and this week I lost 10.9 pounds… Much of which is surely the water I was retaining while off my meds, but some is also fat…  

I did the entire body composition test this week and my ratio of extracellular water to total body water was .392 (it was .390 in the 2 previous tests). So I feel primed for another outsized gain next week (although maybe not 10+ pounds) as my water ratio comes back into balance… Regardless I feel much better having identified what caused the previous weeks weight gain because I knew it wasn’t from cheating… I am also proud of myself for sticking to the diet in the face of adversity…  I am going to be thin and stay thin for the rest of my life…

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

This week marks my drive for 50% of my final goal… 70.2 pounds is exactly 50% of the way to my final goal… (In reality my goal is not weight based, but BF% based. I want to get below 20% body fat. So the approximate weight goal of 250 pounds is being used as an easy measuring stick.) To reach that milestone I need to lose 8.7 pounds… I think between the water and the psychological carrot of 50% done I can make it…

Until next week… Enjoy the articles and keep the comments coming…

Number one on the list is a fruit that has been gaining popularity, especially in the alcoholic beverage market, and that’s pomegranate juice. The other day we picked up a bottle of pomegranate liquor on a whim and we’ve had Pom brand pomegranate juice in our fridge a few times. Pomegranate itself is quite fun to eat, you crack it open, suck on the little pomegranates and then spit out the seeds.

For those vino lovers, red wine makes in at #2 and even MLM-favorite Açaí juice slides inot the #6 spot. I joke about the MLM-favorite status only because it’s this juice that is pushed by Mona Vie.

Pomegranate Juice is Packed With Antioxidants [Health.com]

If you want to lose weight, your body needs to run at a deficit. If you eat 3500 fewer calories a week, you can expect to drop a pound of fat. If eating 3500 fewer calories seems unreasonable, especially if the typical diet is 2000 calories a day, you need to figure out ways to burn an additional 3500 more calories a week. How can you do that?

First, let’s break it down per day. If you can burn up 500 calories a day extra, or eat 500 less, or any combination of the two; you can cut out one pound a week. That seems much more manageable than the 3500 number right? So, think of ways you can cut out 500 calories a day. If you drink a can of soda, that’s 100 calories. Can you skip it? If so, you only need to burn an extra 400 calories. Take one less bite of lunch and save it for tomorrow. Go low calorie and eat lots of fiber. Eating one fewer calorie is far easier than burning it.

But, let’s talk about burning it. The typical benchmark is that a 150 lb. person will burn 100 calories for every mile they walk on level ground. If you weight 150 lb., simply walk five miles a day and you’ll have burned out 500 calories and well on your way to losing a pound a week. Doesn’t that sound really easy? If you weigh more, you’ll burn more. You don’t burn more by running that mile, though you do improve cardiovascular health.

If you are more ambitious, hit the gym and ride the bike, walk the treadmill on incline, or do the elliptical machine. All those will burn calories far faster than walking on level ground, but require more effort. You could always start walking and then move to the gym. Or simply walk on an incline at the gym while watching TV or something.

Remember, 3500 calories is a pound of fat.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So while I was not able to do many of my normal exercises (basketball, volleyball, and walking) I have been participating in the 100 pushup challenge training program…  The goal of the program is to be able to do 100 consecutive pushups. While only 3 days of exercises it was more than zero. In the end it was 195 more pushups this week than I did last week (or the week before or the week before that ).  With my ankle/foot injury I am not able to do full pushups, but even so 100 consecutive knee pushups will be an incredible accomplishment.  Plus maybe by completing the 100 pushup challenge with knee pushups I will then be able to complete it again with either 1 handed knee pushups or full pushups depending on the status of my ankle.

Also on the food front… Once my dad left I got back on the straight and narrow.  Perhaps going just a touch overboard on the calorie restriction, but I did eat 4-5 small meals through out the day with the main staples of the my diet being nuts, eggs, and organic chicken hot wing sausages.

Also there is news about my ankle injury (see the next post) which I think will enable me to increase my exercise level a little this week in the form of swimming… 

So emboldened by my successful week, which was 4 days (Fri-Mon) of slight to moderate overeating (including 2 pieces of chocolate Father’s Day cake my biggest diet sin to date) and 3 days of straight and narrow, I will be setting a 5.5 pound goal for next week. 

Yesterday at my personal finance blog, I wrote about the importance of ignoring daily stock market fluctuations. Daily movements are meaningless. What’s important is the long-term trend. The same is true with fitness and weight loss.

As regular readers know, it’s very easy for me to get wrapped up in the day-to-day minutia of my diet and workout. I stress over little things. My wife calls me Overanalytical Man, and she doesn’t mean it in a good way. I spend too much time focusing on the details sometimes so that I miss the Big Picture.

There’s been a lot about my fitness regimen that makes me unhappy. I’ve done a good job lifting weights, and during April and May I did several hours of cardio work each week. I’m proud of these accomplishments. But since my thigh injury two weeks ago, I’ve managed just two hours of aerobic activity, all of it on the stationary bike. Until the past few days, my weight had plateaued. I was eating too much, and often not well. I even bought a pack of Sno-Balls last week.

If I wanted to be crazy overanalytical, I could let these setbacks get me down. I’m not going to do that. I want to focus on my achievements instead:

• I’ve lost seventeen pounds.
• I’ve discovered a love for running. I ran 12.62 miles one day. I ran a 10k race. I’ve run 114 miles this year, which is two miles more than I’ve biked!
• I’ve made slow, steady progress with the weights. I’m mostly doing upper body now, having abandoned lower body workouts because they seemed to be interfering with my running. But these upper body workouts are progressing well. I’ve learned to enjoy the long plateaus (and even occasional setbacks). I know that the repetition will make me stronger.
• With Mac, I’ve made a tentative start to this site, sharing what I do and learn with you. Your feedback has been awesome, and has had a tremendous influence on what I’ve done.
• I’ve begun to learn about healthy lifestyles, and how they can be incorporated long-term.

I’m nowhere near perfect. Far from it, as my recent Sno-Ball snack will attest. But I’m making progress. And I have goals.

In the short term, I have an appointment next Monday to have somebody look at my leg. Though I want to be out running, I’m able to take the long view — I know that I need to take care of my body in order for it to continue to be of use to me. Tomorrow this blasted nine-month Oregon winter is supposed to end, which means I can soon focus on cycling. Finally, I’ve spent the past two days re-dedicating myself to small portions of healthy foods.

Although I have bad days, when viewed as a whole my fitness is progressing well.

And today I weigh 190.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

What happened? Oh boy is this a long story (to be told over multiple blog posts)… I played full court basketball for the first time this week. Great! What a workout! My week was going great full court on Saturday, more basketball on Monday, and playing volleyball on Tuesday when it happened…

My teammate passed the ball to the setter and I was backing up to position for the approach for the spike… When I changed directions (not even a very athletic move) there was loud pop and I thought who just throw a rock at the ground at my foot. I stopped playing and spent the rest of the week figuring out what had just happened… But this being the post about my weigh in I will stop there…

And I ate a little too much the night before the weigh-in and I did not exercise for the remainder of the week after the incident at volleyball…

I am sticking to the diet, but I am reducing my expectations (4.8 pound goal for next week aka end at the same goal weight as last week) given that I will not be able to work out at the same intensity…

So with less chance to work out my new plan is to continue to stick to the diet and to look for opportunities to work out… Given that I am currently non weight bearing and on crutches I am hoping that crutches alone will be good exercise….

Having over-achieved my goal of 6.5 pounds (the previous goal was set to 6.5 to make up for missing a 5 pound weekly goal several weeks ago.)  I am setting a more modest goal this week of 5.4 pounds.  Why 5.4?    My weight at this weight was 344.4, so if I succeed I will weigh an even 339.  Here’s to a great week in the past and a great week upcoming.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

I didn’t get a chance to work out as much as I would have liked because of work consideration… I didn’t swim, play volleyball, or golf this week.  I did play basketball twice and go on several walks…  I am going to try and get to the gym for volleyball or basketball 5 times this week, I plan on playing (walking carrying my golf bag) at least 1 round of golf, and I would like to swim more than a few laps.

I plan to continue trying to eat less fat free cheese and more lean protein.  I have been getting my dairy with a double tall non-fat no-foam latte from Starbucks.

I have not tried to stop my intake of caffeine, but my consumption of caffeine is drastically curtailed from where it was.  (I need that morning java and coffee with skim milk just isn’t the same.)

Good luck to all that are working on losing the weight…

Not really sure I have the answer as to whether it would pay off for my blog, but it seems like an interesting way to get leads for a business.  I suppose even then it comes down to conversion rate and cost.

What do you think?  Worthwhile experiment for a blog?

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss. Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in the weigh in. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 350 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.

My plan to accomplish the goal is to stick to the diet, reduce my fat free cheese intake and replace those proteins with more lean meat. My plan to address the lack of a normal movement is to continue to consume a 2 regular servings of sugar free Metamucil.

I had a good week for an exercise perspective… I played almost 2 hours of basketball twice and almost 2 hours of volleyball twice. I went for a short swim and several walks. My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.

In talking with the doctor about my long term goal, he was hesitant to talk about a final weight number. Instead he focused on Body Fat percentage. At this week’s weigh in we did the electroanalysis again and my body fat percentage was 36% (down from 39% when I started). He thought he first goal is to get the BFP below 25% and ideally below 20%. At that point my actual weight is irrelevant. So, even though I have a number in mind for my final weight (230-260), I am now officially making it my goal to get to under a 20% body fat percentage. If I can continue to lose 5 pounds a week I should be able to reach my goal by the end of the year.