Day #86 - The Significance of March

As March comes to a close I wanted to take some time to reflect on the month.  I never really discussed it (probably out of fear of failure), but I sort of viewed March as a "do or die" type of month.  When I started this 180 in 360 journey I set 3 goals for myself... Quit smoking, Quit drinking, and Lose 100 pounds.  I've clearly made great progress on quitting smoking, and I've started to make good progress on the drinking, but until March I really made no progress on losing weight.

When I look at losing 100 pounds I figure the best I can safely hope to do is lose around 10 pounds each month.  Having made no progress in January and February, I only have 10 months left.  Knowing that it will only get harder as I lose more weight I felt like if I couldn't lose at least 10 pounds here in March then it was highly likely that I wouldn't make 1 of my 3 goals.

Yes, I understand that it would have still been physically possible if I didn't make it and I also realize the world won't come to an end if I don't get all the way there, but psychologically I think it would have really been a blow if I believed I couldn't hit my 360 day goal after only 3 months (and that's how I felt In my head anyway).

Thankfully I had a good March.  I dropped 11 pounds giving me the hope that I can still make it.  It's going to be tough, there's not a lot of room for error.  One really bad week could put me out of it, but I can't think that way.  Instead I have to keep pushing forward one day at a time.  March is over and it's on to April and (hopefully) another 10 pounds.  We'll see in just 30 short days, but for now, on to Day 87.

Stay Strong!

Day #21 - Measuring Progress

After completing my first 20 days it dawned on me that I really don’t have any way to measure my progress.  When you look at what I’m trying to do, my changes are so much more than just what the scale tells me.  I’ve had my ups and downs already; I’ve had some great days and some not so great days.  But how can I tell if I’m making progress?  How can I tell if I’m improving as time goes by or just stagnating at the same level? 

This is the year that I have chosen to make my health top priority.  I set out with 3 specific goals; Lose 100 pounds, Quit Smoking, and Quit Drinking.  But these are long term goals, how do I measure my progress towards them?  More importantly, there are so many daily factors that can impact my yearly goals, how do I capture that stuff.  In order to meet my goals I also have to keep my mental focus.

Sure I have my scale and weekly weigh-ins, but I could go on a starvation diet for 30 days.  During those 30 days if all I focus on is my weight then I would say that I'm doing great. 

I need something that will tell me how I'm doing each day because that's what I'm focused on; one day at a time.  I need some method of "grading" myself each day (objectively).  If I can record that grade everyday then I should be able to see some sort of a trend.

So that's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to develop a system of grading myself each night and then recording it.  In order to be successful I figure the system needs to meet these criteria:

1. It has to be objective - subjective grading won't work because it can be influenced by how you feel each day.  No, the grading has to be designed such that if I graded myself and my daughter did, we would come out with the same score.
2. It has to be quick, easy, and require nothing more than a pen and paper - If it's not quick and easy I won't do it
3. It has to have room for growth - Based on how I'm doing right now, I should be scoring probably around 50%.  That way as I grow, my score will have room to grow as well to show me the progress

I think what makes this process tricky is that item #3.  In order for me to design something with room to grow, I need to know what my future me should be doing each day.  I have to take some time and think this through. Expect me to write more about this later in the week.

Today was my unrestricted day so I won't go into much detail about how I ate.  Another big milestone though, today marks 3 weeks of no smoking; 3 weeks is the milestone when they say your cravings have reduced considerably.  I've still got a long way to go, but I take stock in what I've achieved so far.  Goodbye Day #21 and my first 3 weeks; let's head into week #4 and Day #22 with a bang!

Stay Strong!

Why Do We Blog About Weight Loss?

I recently read another blog where the blogger was reflecting about his 6 year anniversary as a blogger.  He wrote about writing from the heart, and being authentic and genuine.  He wrote about making sure you always write for yourself and no one else and how therapeutic it can be.

I agree with all those statements, most people can spot someone who’s not being authentic a mile away.  Usually their blogs are overfilled with drama and excuses.  Quite often they cater to the masses offering no real value.  I also agree you should write for yourself and no one else.  However, I believe that the only way to do these things, the only way to be genuine and to write for yourself, is to understand why you blog in the first place.  What is your primary motivation?  Is it to hold yourself accountable? To reflect?  To keep a record of your progress?  Or is it something different like being part of a support group or to seek fame and fortune (better go get some lottery tickets)?

Below you’ll find a few different types of weight loss blogs.  Now to be up front, all blogs are different and will display characteristics from any and all of these categories.  This is not meant to be a “pick from the list and blog this way”, but rather, something for you to think about.  We are all unique and there is no right or wrong way.

Dear Diary…

The primary motivation for a lot of bloggers is to have a journal to capture their thoughts.  These blogs are usually filled with daily activities, choices made, and a general expression of how the blogger is feeling.  Blogging is sort of like a therapy, a place where they can go to escape with their own thoughts for a while.

The dear diary bloggers don’t need a large audience; the act of blogging is their support structure.  They do visit other blogs and they do make comments but not as much as some other types do.  These bloggers also tend to blog quite regularly; usually every day, again, because it’s a form of therapy.

In my opinion a lot of blogs start out this way and then fail because it’s not the really what they needed to get from their blog.  If you find yourself constantly craving for more followers, pageviews, or comments, then you need to ask yourself why (see other possibilities below).  If you find yourself making exaggerations to add drama or writing things simply to get a reaction from others, then you are probably doomed to fail.  Journals are meant to be full of truth and personal emotion.

It is also quite ironic that these types of blogs can actually end up with quite a following if the blogger actually succeeds at losing a lot of weight.  Why?  That’s simple, because everyone loves a happy ending and we all want to believe we can do the same.  Because these blogs are so full of truth and emotion they are also quite inspiring!

Ultimate Accountability

Another primary motivation for weight loss bloggers is the need to be held accountable.  If you tell the world your story and you continue to provide updates on your progress, it can be a strong motivation to not want to fail.  These blogs usually contain a lot of numbers and facts, before and after pictures, and progress reports.

These bloggers need followers and pageviews.  They will comment and follow other blogs but largely to the extent that the want those blogger to follow them.  These bloggers are also very quick to point out when they fall.  They want you to see how they are doing and they need people to tell them they are doing well.

The one big problem with blogging for accountability is that you can always choose to stop blogging.  If you are blogging for accountability, then you need to maintain that commitment to post in both good times and bad.

Community Chest

These bloggers want to be part of a community.  Quite often they don’t have a strong support structure in the real world and they want to be part of something that will help them get better.  They are willing to share some personal stuff, but mostly they just want to interact with others.

These bloggers spend as much time at other blogs as they do on their own.  They don’t care so much about quantity of followers or pageviews; it ‘s the comments they want the most.  Community bloggers also post a lot of comments on other people’s websites and get email follow-ups in case someone responds and they can get a thread going.

Community bloggers have a tendency to post more about topics than their own personal journey.  Their goal is to get others thinking and engaged in the conversation.  The community is their support system.  They tend to post less often than the other types because they spend a lot of their time on other blogs instead of writing content for their own.

The big watch-out for community bloggers is that often they get caught up so much in being part of the community that they forget to focus on actually losing weight.

Don’t take my Fruitloops!

There's one more group that I call Wildcards.  Wildcards are unique, they don’t really conform to any style.  They tend to be very polarizing, some you might enjoy, others you can’t stand.  There’s not really any point to discussing a wildcard’s motivation because, after all, they are wildcards!  Seriously though, these folks entertain and quite often exposing the lighter side of things in a topic that's often depressing.  It doesn't have to be serious all the time!

Why I Blog… Confessions of a FogDog

When I started this blog I was searching for accountability.  I didn’t need support because I was very arrogant and already knew everything!  I followed other blogs and commented but only to the extent of trying to get followers and pageviews, I didn’t value what others wrote.  I did incredibly well losing weight for about 3 months and then I started to falter.  I had already built a reasonable following and I was ashamed to admit I was failing.  Since I am a truthful person, the simplest solution was to just stop.  See ya all later!

I came back almost 2 years later.  This time I was going to be a bit of a wildcard.  I was going to focus on writing about stuff you don’t see anywhere else.  I was still doing it for accountability but just with a little twist.  That lasted for about a month and I didn’t even have any good results.

Before I started again I decided that I needed to truly understand why I wanted to blog.  I already said that I love to write and I now also know that I blog to be part of a community.  I learned through coaching youth sports that I find it very rewarding to share my knowledge with others, but more importantly, I also found out that there's a lot to be learned from those you share with.  With this epiphany I learned that my true path to being healthy was never about using the limited knowledge I had, but rather about finding new knowledge and sharing it all with anyone who wants it.

So I don’t blog for self-reflection (I do that enough already).  I don’t blog for the shock value and I don’t really blog for the accountability anymore because I’ve learned that doesn’t work for me.  I blog to share and to learn!

Followers, Page Views, & Comments… oh MY!

Unless you’re running it as a business, you almost certainly started a weight loss blog for one ultimate reason… to help you lose weight.  Now we all want to be liked and we all want to have friends,   but I truly believe that in order for your blog to help you, you have to understand your motivations behind it.  In order to write it for yourself, you need to know what it is you need to get from it.

Many people that give up blogging about weight loss probably would say they didn’t get out of it what they thought they would.  To those I would ask this question “Is that true, or was it simply that what you wanted out of it and what you needed from it were two entirely different things?” 

Blogging can be a great tool to help you lose weight, but only if you are doing it for the right reasons. 

So… why do you blog about weight loss??

Acknowledgements - Congrats to Sean Anderson on his 6 year anniversary, his post today started my inspiration on this article.  I also wanted to call out Jack Sh*t; my favorite fruit loop.  Glad you're back as you keep us all sane!

[Photo: Flickr / Mike Licht]

Solving the Weight Loss Problem

I sat down this morning with the intent of writing a post about my new weight loss goals.  As I began to write (see my first sentence below) I was suddenly inspired to go in a different direction and what you see below is the result.  I hope you enjoy:

It’s funny, when most people start a blog about diet and exercise they put their goals in the very first posting.  If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out that I prefer to not be like most people.  I told myself when I first started this blog that I wasn’t going to just parrot what everyone else posts on a weight loss blog.  Sure there are some commonalities that we all want to discuss, but what I hope you get from me is a different perspective from everything else you’ve read out there. 

There are so many of us that are struggling with our weight; it’s clear that this is not a problem that’s easy to solve even though it seems like it should be.  I’m an engineer, and one thing I’ve learned in my career is that when I can’t solve a problem, quite often it’s because I made an assumption early on that led me down a wrong path.  We make those assumptions when we fail to look at different perspectives.  If you look at the blogs I follow, you notice that a lot of them have totally different views on how to lose weight.  I choose to follow them BECAUSE they are different from me.  I want to see different points of views because every once in a while you pick up one little nugget of information that moves you forward on your weight loss journey.  If there is one thing I’ve learned through my struggles, it’s that this problem with weight loss is so difficult because we are all unique and different things work for different people.  Dare to think differently as you create your own path and you might find a few of those little nuggets that help to craft your success.

So how do you solve the weight loss problem? 

1. Arm yourself with knowledge
2. Don’t be afraid of different points of view
3. Carve out your own path
4. Don’t Give Up!

In 2010 I started this blog with the intent on increasing my accountability.  After all my failed attempts at losing weight, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try something different.  While I was writing I was truly enjoying myself and I was punching out some articles that you don’t see everywhere (check out “Will you be happy after you lose weight”, “What’s your eating personality”, and “You don't have to starve to lose weight”).  I have a lot more to offer and look forward to continuing this journey with all of you.  I hope you all learn as much from me as I do from you, and please feel free to leave me a comment if you do pick up one of those little nuggets from my blog.  Stay Strong!

My New Weight Loss Plan

Ok so now it’s time to post my new weight loss plan.  I didn’t post it when I first started over because I was still working on it.  I wanted to have the first week to try it out and see if it needed any tweaks.  This plan is a little bit different than my last one, and some of you may be surprised at some of the items on my list.

The Usual Stuff – If you ran a search on Google for “Weight Loss Plans” most of the sites you would end up at would have some variant of these first 8 items on my list:

1. Exercise every day – No big shock on this one, you need to exercise to lose weight.  My plan is to get at least 30 minutes of exercise every single day.  It can be any type of exercise (cardio, strength, walking) as long as I am doing it specifically to get my daily exercise
2. Track calories and stay below my target – I debated this one quite a bit.  I hate keeping track of my calories, but the truth is I do much better when I’m recording what I eat.  My starting target is less than 2500 calories each day.  That might seem high to some people, but over the years I’ve learned that I don’t have to starve myself to lose weight.  I also have learned that if you try to restrict your calories AND increase your activity all at once, you can very quickly get overwhelmed.
3. Eat 5-6 Meals each day – It has become conventional wisdom that you are better off eating lots of smaller meals rather than just a few large meals.  It helps to keep your metabolism going and you are less likely to binge if you are getting something to eat every 3-4 hours.
4. Have some protein at every meal – Protein stays with you a lot longer than carbs and fat, plus it helps to rebuild muscle when you are strength training.
5. Limit processed and pre-packaged foods to once per day – Pre-packaged foods are full of stuff you really don’t need.  Though I’m not swearing off pre-packaged foods entirely, I am going to limit them.
6. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day – Besides being great for you, you can also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables for very little calories.
7. Set both Long and Short Term Goals – I’ll be posting my goals here in the days to come, but rest assured there will be long term and short term goals.  The short term goals will support the long term plan and all the goals will be SMART goals.
8. Regular Weigh-ins but not too often – I’ll be weighing myself every 10 days.  It’s plenty of time to at least see some sort of progress and not so long that I become obsessed and start sneaking peaks in between dates.

The Not-So-Usual Stuff – These next 10 items are more tailored to me and my personal style:

1. Establish a clear morning routine – This one might seem a little weird for a weight loss plan, but there is a method to my madness.  I will be writing a post in the near future about Keystone Habits, but for now you’ll have to trust me when I say this is probably one of the most important aspects of my plan.
2. Drink 100 ounces of water every day – You always hear how you should get 64 ounces of water every day.  I truly believe you need much more when you are trying to lose weight.  I know that 100 ounces sounds like a lot, but my most successful weight loss endeavors have come when I’m drinking lots of water.  It keeps me feeling full and helps flush out all the bad stuff from your system.
3. Eat a big breakfast  – This one might seem counterintuitive, but in order to get started on the right foot, you need fuel first thing in the morning.  Plus, if you skimp on breakfast you spend the rest of the day hungrier (my opinion anyway) than if you have a full meal.  My typical breakfast will be between 500-600 calories and will include protein, fruit, and complex carbs (such as oatmeal).
4. Post on my Blog Regularly – Submit posts on my blog at least weekly.  This helps me to stay accountable and connected to others that are fighting the fight.  It also keeps me thinking about being healthy.
5. Reduce Digital Entertainment – This one is designed to get at my evenings.  My typical evening involves me coming home, eating dinner, and then plopping my ass on the couch until bedtime.  My goal is to have no more than 2 hours of digital entertainment (TV, Wasting time on the computer, non-active Wii games, cell phone, etc.) each day.
6. Set Monthly Progress Reviews – I’m taking this page from work.  Every month I meet with my employees and we discuss their progress.  With these monthly reviews I can identify areas of concern and if I need to adjust my plan I can do that as well. 
7. Get Plenty of Sleep – You can find research just about everywhere that shows people who get enough sleep do better at losing weight, yet no one ever makes it part of their plan.  I’m going for at least 7 hours each night.
8. Prepare for failure – There will be times when I just completely fall off the wagon.  In order to be prepared for it, I have created a failure analysis form to fill out (taking another page from my work).  The idea is that if I sit myself down and go through the form right after a major failure, it will help me to prevent the same failure from happening again.  It’s also a way of holding myself accountable and getting myself right back on the wagon.
9. Allow Cheating – 1 to 2 meals each week can be anything I want.  This helps me to not feel like I’m being deprived of anything.  Note this is not considered a reward for healthy eating.  One of the biggest pitfalls in healthy eating is that sometimes people want to reward good behavior with bad behavior.  If you want to reward yourself, do it with something that isn’t bad for you.
10. Pay myself for success - One of my rewards will be cold, hard cash.  $10 will be going into an account for every pound I lose.  At certain milestones I will allow myself to use some of that money (no unhealthy purchases) to buy something and when I hit my ultimate goal, there will be enough in there for a pretty decent island vacation.
The last part of my plan isn't really about my weight loss, but rather about my life in general:
Enjoy Life and be Happy!  Afterall, what’s the point of being healthy if you are miserable?
 
Got an "interesting" item in your weight loss plan?  Leave a comment and tell me about it.

30 Day Challenge - And the winner is...

First, a review of the rules:  The purpose of the 30 day challenge was to see who could lose more weight in a month; me or my good friend known as Big D.  The idea was to create a challenge that was tough, motivating, and also allowed both players to be in control of their own destiny.  The result was setting a goal of 15 pounds.  If both players lost at least 15 pounds, then whoever lost more received $1 (for bragging rights).  If however the goal was not met, then the loser paid $20 for every pound short of 15!  The stakes were high but as long as you lost 15 pounds, the most money you could lose was a buck.  Both me and Big D. had advantages and disadvantages which made it an interesting bet.  Could my family support and stable schedule beat out Big D's youth and his advantage of not already being on a diet (everyone knows when you start a diet you get great 1st week numbers)?  The answer was discovered at 7:00AM this morning...

My performance over the month was very good.  My wife helped me to remain accountable for ALL my calories and I learned that in the past I have grossly underestimated what I was taking in.  For the duration I held my calories constantly at 2000-2100.  I did go out to eat twice during the challenge but on both occasions I behaved reasonably well.  As far as exercise went, I did start to slack off a little in the end.  In week 3 I missed a few workouts, but only in the name of doing other activities that required exertion.  In the last week I caught a nasty chest cold and didn't workout one bit.  I should probably cut myself some slack because it was a really bad cold, but I do think I should've found a way to get some exercise in.  The lack of exercise in the last week really had me nervous, but there were some signs of doing well such as people noticing I looked thinner and being able to adjust my belt in one notch.

Big D's performance was also very good.  He avoided fast food completely and also only ate out a couple times during the event despite making 2 trips to visit his girlfriend in NY.  He ate several small meals each day, got plenty of protein, drank lots of water, and avoided salt as much as possible (I did actually give him some advice before we started and was happy to see he listened).  For exercise he walked his dog every day and went to the gym as much as possible to workout on a bike (he even went to some spin classes with his girlfriend when he was out of town).  At the start of the challenge he was walking 3 miles each day and by the end he was up to 6!  I was actually amazed at how much Big D. changed his ways during the challenge.

When Big D. arrived at my house this morning we both talked about how we thought we might come out.  I thought maybe I hit about 10 pounds.  I had been sick all week and felt extremely bloated like I might be retaining a bunch of water.  Big D. thought he might hit about 12 pounds but said there was no way in the world that he hit 15.  Then he accused me of trying to mess with his head and he mentioned that several people at work had noticed I lost weight.  I did truly think that I only lost 10 pounds (12 max).  We flipped a coin and I lost so he made me get on the Wii scale first...

FogDog Starting Weight - 288.1
FogDog Final Weight - 270.9
FogDog Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 17.2 Pounds

You could have knocked me over with a feather!  Of course now Big D. was convinced that I had been messing with him (truly I was not), but he congratulated me on hitting such a high number. 

Next was his turn; after posting such a big number, clearly you could see he was really worried that he was going to lose...

Big D. Starting Weight - 256.4
Big D. Final Weight - 235.0
Big D. Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 21.4 Pounds

The winner by 4.2 Pounds ... BIG D.!

To be honest, I was thrilled to see how well he had done, and was happy to give up the dollar.  I had told him a few days before that he deserved to win.  Don't get me wrong, I worked hard to lose my weight, but I was already on that path; I simply amped up my efforts.  Big D. made a total transformation and to me that was quite impressive!  More importantly, I think Big D. recognizes what he needs to do to keep the weight off and that's a victory in itself.

Although I lost the bet, I still have plenty of things to celebrate and I am thrilled with the results.  This weigh-in brought me a bunch of victories all at once:

1. I met the 30-day challenge goal
2. I hit my mid term goal of 275 and now get my reward (bring on the mountain bike!)
3. I helped to inspire a friend to make some healthy changes
4. I have now reached a weight that I have not seen since before my freshman year in college
5. Finally (and this is the biggest one for me) I have now crossed over the half way point in my journey to 199!  I started at 349 a couple years ago so 275 was a big number for me.  I cannot, and will not be stopped!

So my hat's off to Big D. for a great race.  By the way, we've already started planning the next challenge and the first rule we decided on was when we weigh in, if our starting weight is higher than our current weight from this morning there will be severe penalties.

To my other friend DJ (whom I have a longer term bet with) I'll say this:

I might be way ahead of you now, but don't give up! All it takes is a spark to get it going again and I know you can do it.  If you need a little incentive, just start thinking about how much money you are going to owe me if you stay where you are at.  I'm going on vacation in Maine in July and if I can keep it going, I might just be stopping by your house to collect!

To all the rest of you out there, I hope this story inspires you to keep on going.  It may be hard and it may be slow, but the small victories are what keep us going.  Just keep chipping away at it and don't let the setbacks rule your journey.  If you don't give up, you too will get to feel what it's like to hit your halfway point.  Trust me on this, after hitting that mark, my resolve to see it through to the end has never been stronger!

Now I'm off for a vacation so I probably won't be back in the blog world until next weekend.  My goal is to not gain any weight while I'm gone and I will be resuming my normal weekly weigh-ins (and catching up with everyone else's blogs) starting next week.  Good luck and stay Strong!

30 Day Weight Loss Challenge

(Editor's Note - The original post had the goal set at 20 pounds in 30 days.  Originally the challenge started at 15 pounds in 30 days, but due to male egos, some last minute discussions caused the ante to be upped to 20 pounds.  Since then reality has set in and the original agreement of 15 pounds in 30 days has been re-instated)

Ok, I've talked about this in my last few posts and now it's time to share it.  A good friend and I have entered into a 30-day weight loss challenge.  The challenge is tough and the stakes are high.  What makes this one interesting is that my friend and I have quite a few differences that give us advantages or disadvantages in the challenge.  I'll go through some of them in a minute, but first let me lay out the details of the challenge.

The goal of the challenge is for both of us to lose 15 pounds in 30 days!  To make it more challenging, it's not even 30 days.  We weighed in Thursday evening and our final weigh-in is on the morning of March 26 so it's really 15 pounds in 28 days.  I know it seems like a lot but we will both lose 5 pounds in water weight this first week (I've put on 7 pounds this week but most of that is just water retention).  After that initial big loss, it will still be hard to get to 15, but certainly possible.  Also because of schedule problems we had to weigh in on Thursday evening and our final weigh-in will be in the morning so you can expect another pound or 2 just from weighing in at a different time of day.

Now of course we are men and a challenge isn't a challenge if money doesn't change hands.  If we both meet the goal and lose at least 15 pounds, then the only money to exchange hands is $1.  Whoever loses the most gets it.  However, if only 1 person meets the goal, the person who doesn't make it has to pay more.  If someone doesn't make it they have to pay $20 for every pound short of the goal.  This means someone has the potential to lose $300.  I like this style of challenge because you are in control of your own destiny.  Regardless of how well the other person does, as long as you do what you are supposed to do and reach the goal the most you'll be out is $1.  If neither of us makes it, then it's still $20 per pound but it's based on the difference between our losses.  So for instance if I lose 14 pounds and he loses 12, then he owes me $40.

So here's a little breakdown of the challengers:

Stats

	FogDog	Big D.
Starting Weight	288.1	256.4
Height	6'	6'5"
Age	37	28
Goal Weight	199	220

History

FogDog Background - Most of you know my story, but I'll offer a brief background anyway.  I'm married with 3 kids and have been overweight most of my life.  At my peak I hit 349 pounds and several years ago I started focusing on improving my health.  I've come a long way and I've learned a lot about losing weight, but have always seemed to struggle with the mental side of the weight loss equation.  Most days I eat a very healthy diet, but I'm definitely not as active as I should be.  My goal is to break the 200 pound barrier before I turn 40.

Big D. Background - Big D.'s story is in complete contrast to mine.  Big D. is single and lives by himself.  His girlfriend is in NY so he travels frequently to visit her.  He's young and very active and has one of those metabolisms that I would kill for.  Unlike me, Big D. has never been overweight, but the years of eating lots of junk food are starting to catch up to him and his metabolism is slowing.  In addition, he had major knee surgery about 2 years ago which has slowed his active lifestyle a little bit and presents some challenges as he starts to workout regularly. 

Advantages

Metabolism - Advantage goes to Big D.  He's younger and has a more active lifestyle.  Currently he eats a ton of junk and still manages to not gain a lot of weight

Experience - Advantage goes to FogDog.  I've been dieting my whole life and know a lot about what works for me and what doesn't.  Big D. has really no experience with dieting.  I have been coaching him a little to help him out a little, but he will need to find a plan that works for him.

Support - No advantage.  I'm married and have the support of my family.  Big D. is single and lives alone with his dog.  The reason why I give no advantage here is that having my family to support me can be as much a disadvantage as it is an advantage.  My wife can help make nutritious meals, but I also have to watch her when she decides to eat a piece of cake.

Lifestyle - Big advantage to FogDog.  I lead a boring lifestyle; I work Monday-Friday and have a very repetitive daily routine.  Big D. works 12 hour rotations, half on days and half on nights.  From day to day his schedule changes plus he travels regularly to NY.

Determination - I'm going to give a slight advantage to Big D.  I don't want to lose money, but honestly my head isn't into this as I would like at the moment.  I'm hoping that as I get into it more, my determination will also increase but right now I'm struggling in my head.

Plans

FogDog's Weight Loss Plan - My plan is fairly simple... Keep doing what I've been doing but make a couple small tweaks.  I currently take in about 2500 calories each day.  I'm going to adjust that down to 2000 calories (this has been harder to do than I originally thought).  I'm also going to increase my exercise levels to 1 hour each day 6 days each week.  It will consist of 30 minutes strength training followed by 30 minutes of cardio.  I will also be targeting 120 oz. of water each day as well.  I will still allow myself 1 cheat meal each week, but I will not be "taking it easy" on the weekends as I have been lately.

Big D's Weight Loss Plan - Big D's plan is centered around not eating junk food.  He's going to try to stay away from all the fast food joints and focus on creating healthy meals at home and buying pre-packaged healthy meals such a Lean Cuisine.  For exercise, Big D. will be walking his dog everyday for 45 minutes and he will doing cardio workouts at the local gym whenever his hectic schedule allows it.

So there it is folks, the 30 day challenge has begun!  I will not be posting weekly numbers for the next month as we both agreed that we would only weigh-in at the beginning and the end, but I will be posting regularly to let everyone know how I'm doing.  Based on what I've written, who do you think will win FogDog or Big D.?  Do you think either of us can reach the very tough goal of 15 pounds?  Got any advice for either of us?  Leave a comment and let me know. 

Want to Lose Weight? It's The Small Battles That Count!

Even if you don't follow football you've probably heard that the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl and are this year's NFL champions.  My hat's off to the Saints on a great season and an inspirational championship for a city that could use something positive.  But this is a blog about weight loss and I find myself thinking about the parallels between sports and the goal to lose weight.  There's something to be learned from the Saints, or any champion from any sport for that matter.

When people look at a team that has just won the championship, the focus tends to be on that last championship game and the great battle that was won.  But take a step back for a moment and really think about how that team got that big win in the first place.  In order to be able play in that game the Saints had to win the NFC Championship.  In order to win the NFC Championship game, they had to first win a Divisional Playoff Game and in order to even get to that game they had to win enough games in the regular season to make the playoffs.  Now let's dig a little deeper...In order to win every one of the 16 games they won, they had to win a lot of little battles.  Every game is made up of well over one hundred plays.  In every play there are 11 individuals that all have their own personal battle to play out.  Do some simple math and you can quickly see that their road to the championship involved hundreds of thousands of little battles over the course of many months that needed to be won.  Did they win every one?  Not even close, but it's a fair assumption that they won more of those battles than they lost.

It is the same thing when you are trying to lose weight.  All too often we focus on the end result.  The Super Bowl victory of weight loss means hitting that magic number you decided on in the beginning of your journey.  We tend to put a lot of focus on that big (small) number even though it is so far away.  We also put a lot of focus on meeting our weekly goals, but rarely do we look at all those little battles that must be won day in and day out.  It's OK to have those lofty goals and to think of them once in a while but you have to think small every day.  Do you think that football player lines up for a play thinking about how he's going to win the Super Bowl?  He's thinking about one thing and one thing only...How to win the little battle that's right in front of him.

So what should you do?

1. Try to put those end results away and focus on the job at hand.  If you don't win the daily battles you never will get to the playoffs, not to mention the championship.
2. Use your little victories to inspire you to more little victories in the hopes that stringing them together will help you win the game.  Most goals scored come from stringing together lots of little victories, not one giant leap.
3. Recognize you cannot win every single battle.  It's impossible, so don't even try.  Instead, when you get beat, pick yourself up off the ground, pull the grass from your helmet, and win that next little battle.  Just like a string of wins is uplifting, a string of losses is equally demoralizing.

There's one more thing to consider as well (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT).  Be aware that once in a while, one small victory can become the catalyst that ultimately hurls you toward your goal and gives you the boost you need to see it all the way to the end.  These are rare instances and there is no way to predict beforehand which one will cause it to happen.  History is full of stories of how one seemingly insignificant win changed things forever.  As I said, you have no way of knowing when this could happen, so the only way to improve your chances is to increase the number of victories you have.  Once you have it, it will instantly catapult you forward and the small battles you face will suddenly become so much easier to win. 

I'll end on a personal note that illustrates this concept.  Last night my family and I went out to dinner.  I ate reasonably well and actually saved half my meal for the next day (small victory #1).  On the way home my wife wanted to stop and get some chocolate cake for dessert and I was all for it.  When we got home I was excited about the chocolate cake but wanted to wait until after 8:00 so I could eat it while watching TV.  With an hour to kill (I promised I would avoid the TV and PC until after 8:00PM) I suddenly had this urge to do something useful.  I went into my basement and got on the elliptical trainer and knocked out 3 miles!  That's more than I ever have done at one time (small victory #2). 

After that, the chocolate cake didn't seem as appetizing.  I didn't want to undo the 3 miles that I had just worked my butt off for.  In the end I passed on the chocolate cake (small victory #3) and went to bed satisfied with the decisions I made.  Those 3 small victories are actually what inspired me to write this article.  Today I'm still feeling happy about those decisions; success can be infectious.  Who knows if somewhere down the road I might hit the scale at 199 and look back at my journey and think "I'm so glad I didn't eat that chocolate cake!"

I hope this article helps you to remember today so you can have a better tomorrow.  Win those little battles; you never know which one you may remember forever.

Finding Motivation to Lose Weight

You can try to lose all the weight you want, but you won’t get anywhere if you are not properly motivated. Motivation is one of those concepts that are unique for every individual. What motivates me might not motivate you at all. The key then, is to find things that will motivate you specifically to lose the weight. Below are some motivational forces that you might want to consider:

• Health – You would think this would be everyone’s motivational force for losing weight, but even some people that have underlying health issues still are not motivated to lose weight (even if it meant getting rid of those issues)! The problem with health as a motivator is that it is not guaranteed (people that are not overweight have health issues too). Also, it’s not a quantifiable trait either. You can’t lose 50 pounds and then say those 50 pounds have caused you to have 2 less health issues. Health is a great reason to lose weight, but it’s not much of a motivator. At best, you can tell yourself that if you lose weight, you will have less health issues than you did if you hadn’t lost the weight. That statement is as close to a certainty as you can get here.
• Vanity – This can be a powerful motivator for some. The idea of looking attractive to others can definitely motivate us to drop the unwanted pounds. Many goals and rewards can be derived from this motivational force. Being able to fit into a certain size outfit is often a strong motivator for some.  For someone who has always been overweight, this can be a very powerful motivational force. 
• Competition/Challenge – Competition or simply the challenge of accomplishing a certain task is a very strong motivator. Most people love a good challenge. Find some way to compete in something that requires you to be more active and you will have a good chance at staying motivated to drop the pounds. The big watch-out here is to look for competitions or challenges that are not just in your head. If you challenge yourself and you keep it to yourself, it becomes too easy to pretend it never happened. One suggestion would be to find someone else who needs to lose weight and challenge them to see who can lose the most weight in a certain period of time.
• Greed – What if I told you I would give you $10,000 if you could lose 50 pounds this year? Would that motivate you to do it? Greed is one of the strongest motivators out there. What’s interesting is that most people don’t even realize how much more money they would have if they weighed less. There are studies out there that show overweight people actually make less money than normal weight people. Think about the costs of weight related medical problems or simply the cost of all the extra food you consume. Over the course of your life you would save literally hundreds of thousands of dollars by losing the weight. Not enough of a motivator for you? Then look for ways to capitalize on your weight loss. Combine greed with competition and make a wager on that competition to lose weight.
• Fear – Fear is probably the strongest motivator out there. Have you ever watched “The Biggest Loser”? I’ve seen almost every season and in all that time, I’ve only seen 1 person show up at the finale without losing a ton of weight. Even those who are voted off in the first weeks manage to lose huge amounts of weight on their own at home when they could never do it before. What changed? They didn’t learn some magic spell while on the show, they just simply became motivated by both fear and greed. If you knew in 6 months you had to get on a scale on national TV, you would be motivated as well. You would be so afraid of failing in front of the world, you would do just about anything to succeed. Add to that a chance to win a bunch of money (greed) and your motivation goes through the roof! 

So what can you do about your motivation?

1. Recognize what motivates you most in life. Do you have to be the best in your job? If so, competition is probably a strong motivator for you. Want to get rid of those Type II Diabetes more than anything?  Health is probably yoour biggest motivational force.  Identify with what motivational force will move you the most so you can identify motivators for your journey.
2. Identify those key motivators. Come up with some motivators that are in line with your biggest motivational forces. Want some fear? Make a doctor’s appointment 6 months from now and see if that doesn’t motivate you to do a little more. Greed? Make a bet with someone on how much weight you can lose. Competition? Sign up for a 5K run.
3. Use your motivators often by thinking about them all the time. When you are thinking about eating that dessert, remind yourself that the buddy you’re competing against is behaving himself. When you don’t want to work out, ask yourself how your kids will feel when their father or mother dies of heart disease. The more you keep your motivators in your mind, the more you will be able to resist temptations.

Here are a few ideas on motivators that might help get you started:

1. Got an underlying health problem? Think about what you life would be like without it (Health). Figure out how much money you would save if you didn’t need the extra medications and doctor visits (Greed). Think about what your life will be like if your condition gets worse (Fear)
2. Find a picture of someone who you want to look like and post it where you can see it every day (Vanity)
3. Buy yourself an outfit you really want in a size that you want to get to (Vanity)
4. Challenge a friend or family member to a weight loss competition (Competition)
5. Add a wager to the competition (Greed)
6. Sign up for an event that requires physical activity (Competition, Fear)
7. If you haven’t been to a doctor in a while, make an appointment 6 months from now (Fear)
8. Offer yourself a huge goal for meeting a huge target (Competition, Greed)

Be creative when coming up with motivators and as I said before, think of them often. Motivation is a big key to success in losing weight. With proper motivation you can accomplish anything you set out to do. Without it, you will surely have a tough time.

What’s your motivation?

Weigh-in #10 - 1/16/10

Back on track!

Starting Weight: 297 lbs

Last Weigh-in: 287.5 lbs

Current Weight: 286.8 lbs

Weekly Loss (Gain): 0.7 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 10.2 lbs

Not exactly a home run, but I'll take it.  This puts me back to my lowest weight since I started and I've now crossed over 10 pounds lost.

Journal Update 12/18/09

It has been a while since I last made a journal entry. I have decided to start posting my journal entries at the end of the week rather than at the beginning. It was starting to feel like my journal entries were more about explaining why I lost or gained weight instead of actually writing about how I did.

From my last weigh-in you can see that I did not have a stellar week. Because of my previous victory in the week before last, I cut myself some slack over the weekend. Part of that slack included 2 trips out eat and one of those was to a buffet where I definitely ate more than I should have. Mind you, I’ve been much worse, but I definitely lost control on that trip. In my last journal entry I indicated that I wanted to start exercising and I set a goal to exercise at least 3 times during the week. Unfortunately that did not happen. Instead I put it off and put it off until there were only 3 days left. Of course as fate would have it, I ran into issues at work that required me to work 2 extremely long days leaving very little opportunity to get some exercise in. Thankfully, the busy end to my week is probably what saved me from actually gaining weight. I was on my feet most of the time and missed dinner twice settling for a small snack instead. I knew it would be tough during the holiday season and I am grateful to have remained at the same weight through last week.

This week, however, has been a different story. I have managed to get some workouts in this week. Though I have not finished hammering out my workout plan, I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer. I did three 30 minute workouts this week and am happy to have accomplished that goal. On Monday I did strength training and focused on my upper body and on Tuesday I did an elliptical workout. By Wednesday I was a little sore so I took a break but then on Thursday I did another strength training workout and focused on my lower body. I am a little sore, but I did take my own advice on exercising and started out slowly. Today I had planned on another workout, but mother nature had a better exercise plan. At this point we have received 10 inches of snow so I decided I better get shoveling as we are expected to get another 10 inches overnight. My driveway is about 100 feet long so I got a nice workout shoveling snow for about 90 minutes.

I also ate really well this week. We did go out over the weekend, but we ate at Subway and I just got a footlong veggie sub and water. I had my one cheat meal on Wednesday (we took the kids out for ice cream) and the rest of the week I’ve managed to stay on my plan. My wife has been a great help; she’s made some really good meals lately (including a great vegetarian dish this evening) and she only makes just enough for everyone to eat plus 1 meal for my lunch the next day. It’s good because if I want eat too much at dinner I don’t because then I won’t have enough food at lunch the next day. I also got 60-80 ounces of water in each day, which always helps me lose weight. All in all I have to say it’s been a really good week and I am looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow morning. Of course there’s always that chance that the scale won’t reflect the work I put in so I prepared for that. In the end I know I’m on the right track and right now that’s all that matters. Hopefully this weekend I’ll have time to complete my workout plan so I can get started on a regular routine. Wish me luck.

Getting Started Losing Weight

You’ve said it before time and time again… “On Monday I’m going back on my diet and lose all this weight”. But somehow it doesn’t happen. Monday rolls by, and then the next, and the next. Before you realize it, a month has gone by and nothing has changed. One of the hardest things about losing weight is just getting started. One of the reasons behind this is because most people treat the beginning of a healthy lifestyle as an end to enjoying life. Why? What was it that was so good about your life before you decided to be healthy? Was it the tight clothes you’ll miss so much? Was it that feeling of guilt after you ate that 5 gallon bucket of ice cream? The truth is we tend to believe that a change in our eating habits and leading a healthier lifestyle leads to being miserable all the time. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Below are some tips that you can use to help you get started on your own weight loss journey:

1. Make sure you really want to do it – Are you really sure you want to make this change. Often we say yes, but our minds and our hearts are not really into it. If you don’t have the right mindset you have failed before you’ve even started. Here’s a tip; stare into the mirror every morning for a week and ask yourself if you are ready to do this. If you can’t answer yes every day for a week you are probably not ready. Also make sure you are doing this for yourself. This has to be about you; if you are doing it for someone else, no matter how noble the thought, you will be doomed to fail.
2. Set a date – Don’t just pick next Monday, you need some time to prepare (maybe 2-4 weeks). It took you a long time to get this way, a few more weeks before getting started isn’t going to kill you. Besides, if you really want it (see item #1) then you should start building some excitement around it. If you get yourself ready and you find you still have some time to go, feel free to start early, but make sure you are all ready to go before you start.
3. Take some measurements – Record your weight, measure your body, and take “before” pictures. As you progress over time it will serve as reminder of where you used to be and where you never want to go again.
4. See a doctor – I know, this is the standard fare for anyone who has ever offered advice about losing weight, but you really should do this. I’m fortunate to have no underlying health issues to deal with, but if you have health problems you may have to adjust your plan to accommodate them.
5. Make a plan – Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it. Set some SMART goals and figure out how many calories your body needs daily. Make a plan for exercise and figure out what adjustments you need to make in your life to accommodate the changes. How often will you weigh yourself? I wouldn’t recommend any more than once a week. Don’t pick Mondays. Even though they represent the start of a new week, Mondays are generally bad as they come right after a weekend and weekends are typically the time most people don’t eat as well as they do during the rest of the week. I weigh myself on Saturday morning for a couple reasons. First, I tend to behave really well on Friday nights because I know I have to be accountable on Saturday morning. Second, Saturday tends to be my worst day in terms of eating. By weighing in on Saturday morning, I leave myself with the entire week to work off any indulgences I might incur on Saturday. Pick a day that works best for you.
6. Don’t forget exercise – Create 2 plans for exercise. The first should be a weekly routine that you plan on doing regularly. It doesn’t have to be a lot to start; you could plan 20 minutes of walking 3 times a week. As you progress you can add to it later or change it up to prevent boredom. The second plan should be activities you can do when you have opportunities. Like bike riding? Plan to take long bike rides once in a while. Play basketball, walk the dog, play some golf. The point is to identify activities you enjoy that can help you on your journey and then try to incorporate them as much as possible. Who knows, maybe you might find some new activities along the way that you never even thought about.
7. Have a plan for special events – What are you going to do when your friends want to go out Friday night? How will you deal with cookouts and holiday get-togethers? As important as it is to have a plan for your daily routine, you also need to know how you plan to deal with those events that are outside your routine. For me, I try not to have more than 1 event in any given week and I focus on having fun but trying to contain the damage. Being self aware of what you are trying to do before going in makes it more likely that you will be reasonable during the event.
8. Prepare for failure – You know that you will not lose weight every week; there will be times when you fall off the wagon. Rather than trying to trick yourself into believing this isn’t true, instead focus on how you plan on dealing with it. How many times have you fallen off the wagon mid week and then told yourself “I’ll get started again next Monday”? After that you proceed to pig out for the rest of the week making sure that you not only fell off the wagon, but then you laid there in the dirt while several other wagons drove over your bloated body. Learn to recognize that you are not and will not be perfect. Those people that pick themselves up the fastest will have a better chance of success.
9. Don’t throw out junk food – and certainly don’t eat it all in one sitting just to get rid of it! If you throw stuff out, your mind will instantly associate those foods with being “forbidden”. Instead just stop buying them, and let them run out naturally over the course of time. This is another reason why you need some time before you get started.
10. Don’t have “the last supper” – We’ve all done it in the past; you know your going to start losing weight so on the evening before the day you start you go on an eating binge to end all binges, eating every single one of your favorite foods. I’ve actually taken this concept to the extreme before going on binges for the whole weekend before getting started. See my posting on The Final Straw. Though my weeklong binge was not in preparation of a new diet (though it did drive me to change), it still illustrates the potential we have to do bad things in anticipation of change. Having that last binge just reinforces bad behavior. It gives us an “excuse” to behave badly in the name of something better. This is not a good way to start.
11. Plan to allow yourself to enjoy food – There should be no foods that are “forbidden”. Remember this is a change in lifestyle, you shouldn’t feel like you’ll never be allowed to taste a pork rind ever again. Once a week I allow myself 1 meal where I can have anything I want. I usually have it later in the week and I always try to remain aware of the quantity I consume. By doing this you won’t feel deprived and you will actually enjoy that food more when you eat it. One caution, don’t treat the meal like the “last supper” and pig out just because you only get it the 1 time during the week.
12. Make changes slowly - Make small changes over the first few weeks or months. People tend to go crazy and make huge changes when they get started. If you restrict your calories dramatically, drink 120 ounces of water each day, and exercise for 2 hours daily after years of doing none of those things, you will become so overwhelmed by the change that it will be hard to maintain. Humans are creatures of habit and breaking habits is a slow process. It takes 3 consecutive weeks (21 days) to create a new habit so don’t feel like you have to start everything at once. In my journey, I haven’t even starting exercising yet and my calorie counting has been sporadic at best. Start slow and add new habits over time for a better chance of success. Remember, this is a lifestyle change, start something slowly and build off it over time.
13. Look for accountability and find support - Don’t keep this a secret. Most people who decide to change keep it secret because then they don’t have to explain WHEN they fail. This is a self-defeating attitude. Let everyone know what you are doing. Tell your friends and family. Be accountable to yourself but to others as well. Some people will offer their support while others will be relatively indifferent to the whole thing. Identify those people that you can lean on for support, as there will be times when you need a little push.  
14. Identify the saboteurs - Just as important as finding support, you need to identify those who might sabotage your efforts. It should be mentioned that most of the people in your social circle will not intentionally sabotage you, but they will do it unconsciously nonetheless. Typically these people are usually highly resistant to change themselves and any change you make affects them as well. They also may have the same eating problems and don’t want to lose their “eating buddy”. You don’t have to give these people up in your life, but you need to be aware of those people, as they will make your journey tougher. Be especially on the lookout for those who offer their support but end up really being saboteurs!
15. JUST DO IT! – Like having kids or getting a dog, it’s never going to be the perfect time. So just begin and see where it goes. Once the momentum starts it will be a lot easier to keep it going. Along the way you’ll find some things don’t work like you planned. Change them! You need to be flexible to change the things that don’t work and enhance the things that do. Learn more as you go along. You might find new activities that you enjoy that fit your new lifestyle. Your social circle may change some; you might inspire others to change their lives or you might find new friends that fit your new lifestyle better. Get started today and see where it takes you. Good luck!

TEFFKXQU7PVE

Weight Loss 101

Losing weight is such a hard thing to do, but the formula behind it is not very complicated. The formula to losing weight is quite simple... take in less calories than your body burns and you will lose weight.


The problem with the formula has to do with how many calories you expend each day. You can track fairly accurately how many calories you consume and you can control it pretty well, but how many did you burn each day? That is where it gets really tricky. There are so many things that affect how many calories you burn each day. The body is a very sophisticated system and it knows how to react. That's why starving yourself doesn't work. The body isn't getting enough fuel so it reacts by slowing down your metabolism so you burn less. The same works with exercise. Exercise once and your body burns a small amount of calories. Exercise regularly and the body reacts by burning more calories in anticipation of the coming workload. It's really quite cool.

So the big trick is to try to keep your metabolism revved up while eating slightly less than your body requires each day (also known as creating a calorie deficit). No simple task indeed, but it can be done. In order to do this you will need to focus on 3 things; healthy diet, adequate exercise, and proper mindset.

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet revolves around balance. You should be trying to eat a wide variety of fresh foods from all the food groups. Any diet that prevents you from eating from a particular group is doomed to fail because the body will react to the restriction. How much food and in what combinations are a subject for another post, but the takeaway here is that you shouldn't be denying yourself of anything.

Adequate Exercise

When people think of exercise, they think of treadmills and stair steppers, but exercise is a whole lot more. Any activity that increases your body's need for energy can be considered exercise whether it's playing golf, walking up a flight of stairs, or having sex with your partner (the next time your wife's not in the mood tell her you need to get your exercise in). The point is your body burns calories based on the amount of activity you do each day. The only way to increase that burn is by increasing your activity level regularly.

Proper Mindset

You could maintain a healthy diet and get adequate exercise and still not lose weight without the proper mindset. Stress and other mind forces will kill your weight loss goals as easy as anything else. What makes matters worse is that an improper mindset not only affects your body, but it also affects your ability to maintain your diet and exercise routine. One bad day in your mind can hurt your weight loss plans 3 times! No one can maintain the proper mindset all the time but you have to remain conscious of your thoughts if you want to lose weight. Did you ever start a weight loss journey and then skip a day of exercise? Did you feel guilty later in the day because you skipped your workout so you bought some ice cream to feel better? Did you wake up the next morning and decide to give up because you felt so worthless from the previous day? Mindset is the most powerful factor in determining your success and I would argue it's the only one that's an absolute requirement for getting control of your weight. There are people out there who have lost weight by just eating better and there are those who have lost weight by just increasing their activity levels, but I doubt there's anyone out there who lost a lot of weight (and kept it off) without the proper mindset.

One last consideration for any weight loss journey should be time. It took a long time to get heavy, and so it stands to reason that the journey to take the weight off will most likely take a long time as well. As a society we do not handle time well. We want everything to happen now. Books on losing weight fast and TV Shows like "The Biggest Loser" only add to our desire to change instantly. You will find that most people that are truly successful at taking weight off (and keeping it off) did it over a long period of time. Keep this nugget about time in your mindset toolbox and you will be better off. Give yourself time to do it right.

Also remember this, even though it will take a long time...

"The journey of a thousand mile starts with the first step" - Confucius