Friday Food Check In

Breakfast: Veggie Sausage Sandwich and glass of skim milk – 270 calories

Lunch: Boca burger w/cheese and Nabisco 100 Sweet & Salty snack mix – 350 calories

total – 620 calories

I have two of the kids tonight for fun night so we’ll either do McDonalds or pizza. I will watch what I eat accordingly.

New Pants

I bought two new pairs of jeans last night. They are size 42. This is important to me because I have been wearing size 46 jeans. They were literally falling off of me, even with my belt on, so I had to do something. I like these types of milestones. They remind me that I am heading in the right direction.

Looking For Food Options

I have been on a fairly strict Special K breakfast for the past two months. I love it but I am hoping to try some different options. This morning I found one that I will use again.

MorningStar Maple Flavored Veggie Sausage Patties. 80 calories (25 from fat) each.

Nature’s Own Whole Grain Sandwich Rounds. 100 calories (10 from fat) each.

Tropicana Trop50 Orange Juice. 50 calories per 8 oz.

1 sandwich and a glass of O.J. came up to 230 calories. It was tasty too.

I did lower body and ab weight machines this morning, jogged/walked 1 mile, and did 30 minutes (8 miles) on the bike. I’m going to try to go back this evening and do another 30 minutes on the bike.

328 lbs today.

Happy Tuesday

I just got back from my second trip to the gym today. I went this morning before work and did the lower body weight machines, jogged a mile, and did the bike for 30 minutes. I went back tonight and rode the bike again. That’s a total of 1 hour (16.5 miles) on it today. I may start doing it twice every day. I enjoy getting on it. I may look into buying myself a real bike and do some on the road riding in the near future.

I have consumed about 700 calories today and burned a little over 600. I guess I need to do some research and find out if that is healthy or not.

I weighed in tonight at 331.5 lbs.

Slowly and surely I’m heading in the right direction.

A Typical Day For The New Me.

I try to get out of bed by 6:30 AM and leave home by 7:00 at the latest. I get to the gym and get started on my workout between 7:15 and 7:30 depending on the actual time I leave home and school bus traffic.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are the days I use upper body weight machines. Currently there are seven machines that I use…but they have some more I want to learn.

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are lower body weight machines. There are five that I use right now.

I “ride” the bike for 30 minutes every day. Most of the time it equals about 7 miles. I also try to do at least 2 miles on the indoor track 2-3 times a week as well. I just started the Couch to 5K program as well. I do that three days a week in the afternoon at the church parking lot by my house.

I am currently eating around 1700-1800 calories a day.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Update

I apologize for not getting back in here before now. Weekends tend to get crazy with family, church and work.

I weighed in at 334 lbs this morning. I honestly don’t know what my starting weight was, but I do know that I weighed just over 350 lbs at the end of January. That being said…I have lost about 16 pounds since I began working out at the beginning of February.

I have been watching my calories and fat intake and have been pleasantly surprised. I personally believe this method will work best for me because there really isn’t any “forbidden” food. I just have to make allowances for when I want that yeast roll or ice cream sandwich.

I am already facing a welcome problem. My clothes are starting to fit loosely. I have typically worn pants that were a little loose in the waist and now I’m finding that they are almost too big…even with my belt hitched tight. My t-shirts are fitting differently. This is a good thing.

The Beginning

I know this is a weird time to start something like this. Usually people start this sort of thing at the beginning of a week, or a month, or a year. Today is Wednesday, March 16 and it makes no sense to start now…but that is exactly why I am doing it.

My name is Lee and I will be 41 years old in June. If the scales at the local YMCA are correct (and they should be) I am 6’4” and weigh 339 lbs with my sweat pants, t-shirt and Asics running shoes on. That’s what it said this morning anyway. I have been going to the YMCA six days a week since the first of February. In that time I have lost about 9 pounds and have noticed that my clothes are starting to fit slightly different. That is why I have decided to do this. I want to be able to look back on today and remember what it was like to be a middle-aged, obese man. I also want to use this to record what I do and to hold myself accountable. Eventually, I will post some photos…but I admit…I’m not ready for that yet. I am still self-conscious about the way I look and I am frightened to be that open…especially on the internet.

I currently do weight machines, walk the indoor track, and ride the stationary bike. I am starting to get a feel for the things that I like doing and am trying to educate myself so that my time in the gym is effective. I still struggle with eating properly and probably will for the rest of my life. Once again…I’m trying to educate and discipline myself. Hopefully this blog will be one more tool to help me along.

I will write more tomorrow. I just wanted to make a start tonight. Like I said…this is only the beginning.