Commitment and Recommitment

I have been very impressed by the way my personal commitment affects my fitness. I’m sure there are many of you who may think “duh, Boston,” but I guess I just didn’t recognize it until now.

Over the last three weeks, my weight loss has been less than stellar. Since the end of February, I’ve stayed the same weight (or even gained a pound or two). I’m tempted to offer a plethora of reasons as to why that is, but as I reflect on them, I realize they are nothing more than poor excuses. And those excuses hinge on one thing: my commitment.

Because I haven’t been committed to my goals, I haven’t been living a “weight-loss lifestyle.” I’m more willing to rationalize eating bigger portions or more unhealthy items. I find other things to do than go to the gym. And these feeligns gets easier and easier as the days pass.

There have been a couple times in the past few weeks that I told myself I would start again, but I didn’t really have the conviction. I wasn’t committed. Thus, it didn’t happen.

My dad once gave me a wonderful gold nugget of wisdom: you become what you think about and commit to. Such a simple statement, but very profound. In essence, when we commit our lives to a task or goal, and when that end becomes the focus of our thoughts, nothing can keep us from accomplishing it. So, when video games, movies, pizza, unhealthy snacks and laziness are what occupy my mind, I tend not to lose weight.

That doesn’t mean I cannot think of those things. But it means I have to be more committed to my fitness goals, and whenever those above mentioned items (or any other distractions) start to crowd out my commitment to fitness, they need to be removed and set aside.

So, here’s to recommitment and moving forward. I hope if anything, my (hopefully short-lived) lapse in commitment will be of some worth to those of you who may find yourself struggling with your own commitment, whether to fitness or anything else. And if/when those times come that you struggle with commitment, I hope you’ll remember that it doesn’t mean you’re through. Just pick yourself up, recommit and move forward. 

New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year.

Like many people, I am starting the new year with a resolution to lose weight, get fit and be healthy. This is due to the fact that I did terribly at keeping up with my diet and exercise during the holiday, and sadly, even gained back weight I’d previously lost a couple months ago.

To be honest, that’s mostly why I haven’t kept up my fitness blog here.

Embarrassment.

But I’m doing it, and that’s what’s most important. So today is again DAY 1. I’m starting anew, with a desire to set fitness goals and make plans to reach them.

So, for those of you who may be in a similar situation: welcome to 2012.

New year, fresh start.

Good luck.


Feel free to leave a comment about your New Year's fitness resolution.

Tips to Drinking More Water

Drinking water is an integral part of staying healthy, and is especially important when trying to lose weight. While there are differing ideas on how much water a person should be drinking, the Mayo Clinic has posted the following advice:

So how much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

Everyone has heard the advice, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's about 1.9 liters, which isn't that different from the Institute of Medicine recommendations. Although the "8 by 8" rule isn't supported by hard evidence, it remains popular because it's easy to remember. Just keep in mind that the rule should be reframed as: "Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," because all fluids count toward the daily total.

Based on these numbers, eight 8-ounce glasses of water may not be enough for many people, and that’s for those who aren’t active! If you’re active, trying to lose weight, or have a job that requires a lot of physical movement or activity, you will have to be drinking more than the 3 liters (for men) or 2.2 liters (for women).

That’s a TON of water!

And let’s be honest, drinking that much water can be tough. The first few glasses aren’t that hard to get down, but after a while, water starts getting bland and undesirable. But we still need to get more water into our bodies. What are we do to?

Well, I have a couple tricks I’d like to share about how I make sure to get the water my body needs:

1. Give water taste. I do this with the travel packets of Crystal Light. These are a great choice because they don’t have any calories and give flavor to the water, making it easier to drink more. I may just be making this up, but I recall an ad by Crystal Light claiming people drink 15% more water when using Crystal Light. With taste, I drink more water, keeping me hydrated.

2. Eat salty snacks. One thing I do to drink more water is keep salty snacks nearby, which keep me thirsty. My favorite are nuts, primarily pistachios. I can eat about four or five pistachios, and the salt from them make me thirsty, which causes me to drink almost a whole glass of water. As I do that throughout the day, I find I am drinking a whole glass of water ever 30-60 minutes. As a side note, this is also a good idea to keep from eating too much at lunch or dinner. Right before you eat your meal, throw down a handful of nuts, and drink a glass or two of water afterward. All that water will cause you to feel less hungry.

Have any other ideas for making sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day? I am interested in any tricks or thoughts you have. And as always, I love comments.

Post Just for Men, No Ladies Please

HA! Gotcha!


You just had to look, didn't you? 

While you're here, I'll give a quick update. I moved my exercises from mornings to nights because it's easier. And I’ve been going every day (except Sunday) and have been much happier with the arrangement.

I am starting to see my weight go down. I have found an eating regimen I am happy with, and am keeping my calories at a healthy, weight-loss level.

I’ll keep you updated. Check out my side bar for my progress!

Time for a Quick Update

Okay, time for a quick update:

As you can see, I didn’t gain or lose this week. This is mostly because at the end of last week, I stopped doing INSANITY. I realized I was just hurting myself, and wasn’t feeling very exercised. Then, over the weekend was General Conference.

For those who read this and aren’t LDS (Mormon), General Conference is like a twice-a-year Mormon Super Bowl. Twice a year, members of the LDS church gather in chapels and homes to listen to our prophet and apostles speak to us about how to more fully life the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can learn more about General Conference here, and about Mormons there.

And because this event is like the Super Bowl, that means lots of high calorie, tasty food. So any weight I started losing last week was quickly recovered, and then some. In fact, I had to work hard Monday and Tuesday just to get back to square one.

So here I am: square one. Again.

But the good news is I haven’t given up. I have started going to the gym every morning at 5:00 AM, and have burned at least 600 calories per visit, doing both cardio and weight lifting. I have also started using MyFitnessPal (I’ll write another post about this resource soon) to track my calorie intake.

Hopefully this will be the last time I’ll have to give the sad report of no weight lost (or of weight gained). 

Um... Two Weeks and No Weight Lost - Time to Revamp

Okay, this is embarrassing, but I realized today is the second week of my weight loss journey, and I am back to 205 pounds.

That's sad.

I know it takes a little time for my body to get used to my exercise and diet plans, but as I look back on the past two weeks, I can see that while I have implemented some great changes, there are a few more I need to make.

Like to stop eating out. And snacking on crap (i.e. potato chips, chocolate, candy, chocolate milk).

So, even though I have ended my second week with no weight lost, I think I am still moving forward because I have found what I have been doing wrong and what I need to do better. Part of progress is finding and correcting our mistakes. So that's what I will do.

Find and correct my mistakes and shortcomings with my fitness.

I appreciate your support and comments. I definitely need them.

So here we go.....

Again....

A Snack a Day Keeps the Doctor Away... Maybe

Healthy eating is hard. I know, because I’m trying to do it right now. And for many people, including me, the hardest part about healthy eating is the snacking.

As some of you know, I have started drinking green smoothies. When I set out on the green smoothie journey, I wanted to make those the biggest part of my diet. But I’ve run into two struggles with that: 1) In order to get enough calories in my day, I have to be drinking green smoothies constantly, and I don’t have the money or taste for that. 2) It is hard to pass up snacks throughout the day, especially since my green smoothies are all liquid and I want something solid.

Passing up snacks is especially hard when I am at a desk for eight hours a day. I’m not complaining about my job, in fact I love my job. But I get hungry at my desk. And snacks are so easy.

As I thought about this predicament, I realized I am probably not the only one who feels this way. So I decided to look up some good snack choices for work, which are not only healthy (ish) for us, but are also low in calories, so they don’t destroy our diets (and I’m using the term “diet” here to mean “a particular selection of food, especially as designated or prescribed to improve a person’s physical condition or to prevent or treat disease*” and not just a diet to lose weight).

Here’s my list:

Fruits: Fruits are a wonderful snack idea because they are high in nutrients and usually have low calories. They are also good because they are normally easily carried. Some great, and classic, examples are Apples (95 calories), Bananas (105 calories), Oranges (62 calories), Kiwi (46 calories) and Grapes (62 calories in one cup).

Vegetables: Like fruits, vegetables are a great source of nutrients and low calories. And they can also be easily carried or transported. Examples are Carrot Sticks (4 calories per stick), Celery (1 calorie per strip) and Cucumbers (14 calories for one cup sliced).

Nuts or Seeds: Nuts and seeds are a great snack because they can keep your hands and mouth busy, while providing healthy fats and good proteins. While you may not be able to eat as much if you’re on a weight-loss diet, they are still a great source of good nutrients. Try eating Pistachios (80 calories for around 24 nuts – my personal favorite), Roasted Peanuts (6 calories per nut), Almonds (80 calories for 12 nuts), Cashews (156 calories per oz), Sunflower Seeds (135 calories per half cup with shells), Pumpkin Seeds (57 calories per tablespoon).

100 Calorie Snack Packs: Finally, I know there may be many of you who, like me, just have a hard time giving up your chip and cracker snacks. It is so easy (and relatively cheap) to buy a bag of chips and just work on those as you go. But sadly, you are consuming not only more calories per snack, but also a lot of saturated fats. Not good. But if you still need them, I would recommend the 100 Calorie Snack Packs you can find at the grocery store. These offer fewer calories, and are helpful with portion size. I can’t tell you how many times I have purchased a bag of potato chips with the intention of eating a little at a time, then finding, after an hour, that my hand is hitting the bottom of the bag and all I’m getting is crumbs.

Too many 1,500-calories-from-a-bag-of-chips-in-one-hour experiences to count.

Finally, there is actually great benefit in snacking, as long as it is done in a healthy manner. By making sure you are consuming food every 2-3 hours, which you can do with three square meals and a snack between meals, you are keeping your metabolism working. This means it is constantly burning something, helping your body have energy and (if you’re dieting) lose more weight.

And don’t forget the best snack of all: Water! Whether or not you’re using any of these other snack ideas, be sure to drink plenty of water each day. A good standard for daily water intake is eight or nine glasses of water per day. And you should be drinking more if you have an active day (from work, sports, exercise, etc.).

If you have any other healthy snack ideas, I would love to hear them. I also welcome any recipes you may have for healthy snacking. If you comment or send me a recipe I like, I’ll be sure to blog about it!

*From Dictionary.com

Changing My Lifestyle - Starting Today

I have started my weight-loss journey. Again. For the fourth time.

My experience with weight loss has been like a roller-coaster. I get pumped to lose weight, I make the commitment, I start exercising and eating well, and I start to see progress. I keep it up for about a month or two. I feel good about my progress, so I decide to eat a slice of pizza. And a hamburger. And donuts. Every day. And there goes my progress.

That’s a problem.

I have discovered that my problem lies in my attitude towards health and weight loss. I decide I want to lose weight, so I change my habits in order to do so. But when I reach my goal weight, or get close, I go right back to what I was doing before: gaining weight. And I often over-compensate, eating way too much unhealthy crap to make up for the months I missed it.

And after a few months, I weigh more than I did when I wanted to lose weight.

That happened to me this summer. Just like I have done three other times, I spent a couple months eating healthy food and hitting the gym five or six days a week. I lost 19 pounds. Then I went to New York City for an internship, ate like I would never see food again (because it was so good, and often paid for by the kind folks I was living with), avoided any exercise and put on 25 pounds. Ugh.

Right now I am about two or three pounds shy of being the heaviest I have ever been.

(Quick note: people have different ideas of “fat.” I guess according to current health science, I am not “fat,” but I am definitely overweight. But more importantly, at least to me, I am not as healthy as I have been before, and I would really like to see my six pack come back one day – I know it’s hiding in there somewhere, just pleading to make another appearance.)

Over the past couple weeks, I found a solution to my problem. And interestingly, it doesn’t have anything to do with any particular product. Instead, I realized my problem lies in my attitude.

In order to be successful at losing weight, gaining muscle and maintaining both once I’ve reached my goal, I need to make a complete lifestyle change.

What I’ve discovered about lifestyle changes is they aren’t as scary as we sometimes think. We may think a lifestyle change means giving up everything we love for things we hate, or strongly dislike. But that just isn’t the case. It means finding a proper balance.

For me, that means eating healthy food 95% of the time, and enjoying crappy, unhealthy food 5% of the time. It also means giving up soda and drinking lots of water.

Now the good part: I have tried making changes in my eating habits – going from pizza to salad, but let’s be honest, that is hard! Especially if you’re like me and you like pizza way more than salad. But this past week, my wife took me to an event where I discovered another way, a tasty way, to get the raw, healthy foods I need, and actually enjoy taking them in.

Smoothies!

Yep, that’s right. My wife asked me to attend a Green Smoothie Girl event, and because I love my wife, I went. But I went with the intention of spending my time there actually doing something productive: getting to and beating the final level of Angry Birds.

But while I was there, I was intrigued by Robyn (the Green Smoothie Girl), and began to listen. I was inspired by her story and research. I decided to try her green smoothies (which are made up of mostly greens like kale and spinach, and a little bit of berries and such), and to my utter amazement, they were good. And each smoothie contains something like 10-15 servings of vegetables! It’s all raw and void of man-made crap.

I was hooked.

So this week I begin my transformation. And this blog is my way of sharing with the world what I discover along this journey of health. At first I thought it would just be a blog about losing weight, but I see now that I am not just losing weight. I am making a lifestyle change. A change to health.

I will share what I learn from my experiences and research (and by research, I mean the things I learn from other blogs and from whatever books or magazines I read on health), so feel free to leave comments, ask questions or pay me money (I don’t really have a good reason for you to pay me money, but I most likely won’t turn it away if you just want to give it to me…).

And hopefully, just maybe, you may be inspired by my experience to make lifestyle changes of your own.