31 August 2007

Day 13

Gained 1 lb. Not too bad for a caloric intake more than double my usual yesterday.

30 August 2007

Day 12

Lost 1 lb.


Food:
Oatmeal & Cashew Pancakes: 503 kcal / 15 g protein
Penne w/ Chicken: 33o kcal / 16 g protein
Doritos: 140 kcal / 2 g protein
Binge: 2280 kcal / 35 g protein (Upset? kill your feelings with food! A classic coping method for me. I did eat much much less than I normally would though. But then again I don't have loads of junk around me now either. I ate until I started to feel unwell, but didn't do that much damage. I think.)

TOTAL: 3253 kcal / 68 g protein

29 August 2007

Sweet Treats

My mother likes to send me home with food. Only it isn't homecooking (Mom doesn't cook much, dad's the chef). This weekend I came home with an assortment of Cheetos and Doritos, plus a candy bar. This is on top of a multi-pack of cookies (Nutter Butters, Oreos, and Chips Ahoy!) that my Aunt Bobbie sent home with me last weekend. Neither of them know that I'm trying to lose weight, so I can't say that they're trying to sabotauge me. And they aren't, either. I haven't even wanted any of the cookies. I've glanced at them, thought about it, then gotten something else. I haven't been wanting terribly sweet things.

That being said, I broke out the candy bar from it's hiding place (the fridge). I had one bite, then another. I savoured it. And then? I wrapped it up and put it back, because I was satisfied. I didn't want anymore. A mere 3 weeks ago I would've scarfed it down in less than a minute, then chased it with something else. Mindlessly eating. So that's an accomplishment that I hadn't even thought of yet.

Day 11

I've lost another 1.8 lbs in a day. I know that most of it is from water weight loss, and that the bigger you are, the faster you lose; but it is still encouraging.


Food:
Oatmeal Pancakes: 423 kcal / 12 g protein
Chicken Primavera: 250 kcal / 13 g protein
Cheetos Crunchy: 160 kcal / 2 g protein
Garlic & Ginger Chicken: 155 kcal / 27 g protein
Brown Rice w/ Peas & Carmelized Onions: 219 kcal / ???g protein
Reese Candy Bar: 87 kcal / 1.6 g protein
Apple: 82 kcal / 0 g protein
Bologna Sandwich: 120 kcal / 5.5 g protein
Cottage Cheese: 120 kcal / 14 g protein

TOTAL: 1516 kcal / 74.1 g protein

28 August 2007

Day 10

I lost 1.2 lbs in a day.

This is both good and bad. Good because I lost weight! and bad because it's most likely due to my being sick. Nothing tastes good and I don't want to eat anything (except for cough drops). But hey, it's still weight loss, and it puts me 1.2 lbs closer to my goal of 199 lbs. I also found a weight loss tracker, which will stay at the top of my blog.

I'll also start keeping track of what I'm eating here, since I'm back on the computer.


The more research I do, the more it seems that I need to increase my protein intake. Which means I'm going to start monitoring and listing that as well.

Food:
Leftovers scramble: 273 kcal / ??? g protein
Cashews: 170 kcal / 5 g protein
Cottage Cheese: 180 kcal / 21 g protein (I've never had this before, and I like it a lot)
Oatmeal pancakes with banana syrup: 553 kcal / 13.5 g protein
Milk: 150 kcal / 8 g protein


TOTAL: 1326 kcal /46.5 g (+???g) protein

27 August 2007

Updates

I'm sick. I've had a head cold since Friday. I've also been out of town visting relatives all weekend. I'll blog about how love = food later.

About eating less than 1000 kcal - I'm not starving myself or anything like that. I don't plan on not eating. Sometimes it just happens. I just try to write down everything I eat on a given day. I don't seperate it by meals or anything. So if I eat the same thing for lunch and dinner it will only be listed once. I know I'm rambling now.


I've been doing some digging on the internet today (in between blowing my nose and dosing myself with medicine). And now I have more of an idea of what I need to be eating. I grew up with Southern (Deep South, USA) cooking as a standard, which isn't the healthiest diet out there. So I'm branching out on my own here, trying to eat healthy and lose weight. And if what I'm doing is working, I'll try my best to get my dad to cook the way that I do. While both of my parents are at a healthy weight (my dad still does his exercises every morning and has the body of a man 20 years younger) neither my sister or I am. I know that I am morbidly obese (BMI = 42), and I am certain that my younger sister is obese type 2. She lost 20 lbs recently, but that was from illness, which is not the way you should lose weight.


During my adventures on the internet today, I happened across Wikipedia, as I usually do. After following a few articles around, I calculated my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and determined it to be 1816. That is the amount of calories I need to maintain my weight, if I were completely inactive. The safest diet restriction is 75% of your BMR, in my case that is 1362. So I will be eating at least 1362 calories a day.


I got a scale over the weekend, and was confronted with the sad and slightly shocking fact that I weigh 276 lbs - 11 more than I thought. I knew I'd been yo-yoing from 255-275 in the past year, but I'd thought I was in the middle at this point, instead of on the high end. I'm approaching my heighest weight ever, a fact that scares the living daylights out of me. So having the scale there to motivate me is really going to work.

23 August 2007

Cravings

I'm fighting them. I don't even know what I want, aside from the fact that it comes out of a drive-through window. Or carbs and sugar. I've been wanting cake since before I started this diet.
But these cravings are Hell. I exercised, I drank water, I ate filling food. And I still want more. but I'm not hungry. I can feel that I'm not. But I want to eat something anyway.

In The Begining...

...I weigh approximately 265 lbs. I'd be more accurate, but I haven't found a scale yet. But there is still KMart to look at, so hopefully there is one there.

EDIT: I have a scale now, and my starting weight is 276 lbs.

Measurements

Weight: 265 lbs (Note: My highest weight ever was 280 lbs, and that was approximately 3-4 years ago.)

Stomach(at widest point): 56 inches (WTF? I had no idea I was that big around.)

Waist: 53 inches (but I stuff myself into 42s and 44s)

Thighs (Both): 61 inches

Biceps (Both): 33 inches

Neck: 17.25 inches

Food Addiction

This was taken from Losing A Hundredweight.


If you answer yes to any of these, you might be addicted to food. My answers are in bold.


1 Have you ever wanted to stop eating and found you just couldn't? Yes, I talked about this only a few days ago.

2 Do you think about food or your weight constantly? Pretty much.

3 Do you find yourself attempting one diet or food plan after another, with no lasting success? Yes, I've been dieting since I was 11.

4 Do you binge and then "get rid of the binge" through vomiting, exercise, laxatives, or other forms of purging? I have before, but this habit is fairly uncommon.

5 Do you eat differently in private than you do in front of other people? Of course I do.

6 Has a doctor or family member ever approached you with concern about your eating habits or weight? No. That may be because I haven't gone to a doctor in 5 years.

7 Do you eat large quantities of food at one time (binge)? Maybe? Define 'large quantities'. I think the answe is yes, on occasion.

8 Is your weight problem due to your "nibbling" all day long? No.

9 Do you eat to escape from your feelings? Yes.

10 Do you eat when you're not hungry? Yes.

11 Have you ever discarded food, only to retrieve and eat it later? No.

12 Do you eat in secret? Yes.

13 Do you fast or severely restrict your food intake? I have before.

14 Have you ever stolen other people's food? No.

15 Have you ever hidden food to make sure you have "enough?" No.

16 Do you feel driven to exercise excessively to control your weight? No.

17 Do you obsessively calculate the calories you've burned against the calories you've eaten? I have before.

18 Do you frequently feel guilty or ashamed about what you've eaten? All the time.

19 Are you waiting for your life to begin "when you lose the weight?" Sadly, yes.

20 Do you feel hopeless about your relationship with food? A lot of the time.




Now, if you were counting, you'd see that I answered Yes or maybe to 14 of the questions. That can't be healthy.

Day 5

Food:
Turkey Sandwich - 240 kcal
Baked beans - 240 kcal
Hot Dog on wheat - 180 kcal
Cashews - 340 kcal
Burrito - 280 kcal
Bologna Sandwich - 120 kcal

TOTAL: 1400 kcal

Exercise: (Wow, really?!!!? I've been walking to school as usual, so this is only going to be 'extra' exercise.)

DDR - 35 kcal
Arm lifts - 100 reps

22 August 2007

The Unsuited Suit

So, my new suit arrived in the post today. It doesn't quite fit - I need to lose about 3 inches in the waist, and 2 in the stomach. But I think I can do that in under a month, particularly if I start focussing on my waist when I exercise.

Day 4

Food:
Bologna sandwich - 180 kcal
Gatorade - 180 kcal
Japanese shrimp & rice - 600 kcal

TOTAL: 960

21 August 2007

Day 3

Food:
Taco - 200 kcal
Chicken w/ pasta - 700 kcal
Burritos - 500 kcal

Total - 1400 kcal

20 August 2007

Day 2

Food:
Cereal & Milk - 240 kcal
Burritos - 400 kcal
Crackers - 300 kcal
Tacos - 410 kcal
Mt. Dew - 150 kcal

TOTAL: 1500 kcal

19 August 2007

Compulsive Overeating 1

Okay, I ate just enough to feel uncomfortably full. That almost always seems to be when I stop. So I really want to conquer this. I've tried to count the number of times I chew, but I'm afraid that this will exascerbate my tendancy to count things - normally just steps or ceiling tiles or cars. Things like that. So I did start counting when I was eating earlier, but then I forgot to do it and lost track of what I was eating. I've also tried to sip water in between bites, although I often run out of water before I'm finished and I end up cramming my mouth completely full and eating like mad. I can't seem to stop myself. I realized that I was doing it, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Day 1

Food:
Chicken & bean burrito - 400 kcal
Powerade - 60 kcal
Chipotle & cheddar crackers - 760 kcal (Shut up. I had to splurge on something. i just.... have to. I'm a compulsive overeater and I forgot to measure portions first and finished off the whole box. I'm portioning up the other foods that can be preportioned.)
Rasinets - 380 kcal
Ham Sandwich - 220 kcal (No more food today. Shouldn't of eaten this, but I was hungry.)

Total: 1600



Note:
I was just reminded of the fact that I'm going to my Nanny Rose's housewarming this weekend. That means Cajun food! Hell yes!! That also means goodbye sensible diet. But I will try to eat healthy except when confronted by the cajun food that I get a maxium of 4 times a year.

18 August 2007

Obligatory Introductory Post

Me llamo Alexander.

I'm not really hispanic, at least not enough to count. I just like the phrasology of that sentance - I call myself Alexander. It means something. Something which has nothing to do with what this blog's about, so let's wander away from that, shall we?

This blog is going to be about a section of my weight-loss journey. It's one I've been on for 8 years or more, and I want to come to the end of it relatively soon. I am 5'8. I weigh approximately 265 lbs. (I'm buying a scale tomorrow.) I'm going to update my stats on a weekly to bi-weekly basis, so I can keep up my motivation. This blog will log everything I eat, every exercise I do, how I feel. In short, everything about my weight loss.

I started this up again at the prodding of a friend, and I'm glad of it. Maybe this time I'll stick with it.