200by40.com - A Weight Loss Blog

My alarm went off at the usual time of 5 a.m. this morning. I normally lay in bed and slam the snooze button until 5:30 a.m. but today I decided to try something different.

I woke up, got out of bed, and went straight to the den for some Wii Fit. I did this for many reasons, mostly because lying in bed and slamming the snooze button for 30 minutes is just wasteful. It was also a way to kick-start my blood flow as I’ve been really tired at my work desk lately, and I wanted so see if this helped.

I did mostly aerobic workouts: Hula-Hoop, jogging (full island lap), step aerobics. (The yoga and strength will wait ’til tonight.) I went and took my shower shortly after the workout, which was nearly 30 minutes total.

So how do I feel? I’m munching on my traditional Thursday Subway Veggie Delite sandwich and I have to admit, I feel good. I think this change is going to work out just fine.

With the holiday around the corner, you know what that means: food-a-plenty. So stay focused, try to eat in moderation, and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

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Was this week really as tough as it felt? Let’s see the results:

• Weekly Weigh-In #15: 218.8 lbs.
• Last week’s weight: 221.8 lbs.
• Gain/loss of: -3.0 lbs.
• Weekly average lost: 2.3 lbs.

Victories and Milestones all around!

At today’s weight of 218.8 lbs., I have officially cracked the 210s. Happy? You bet. This was the one plateau that I thought would be insurmountable but here I am. It wasn’t so long ago when I felt stuck in the 230s but with a lot of hard work and proper diet, in a little over a month later I’m in the 210s.

The belt I bought not so long ago to replace my old Fat Guy Belt is up to its 8th notch. When I bought it I was on the 4th notch so there’s definitely some progress there. And being that there are holes all around the belt, it might be a while before I buy another one.

I actually fit into a size L shirt and shorts yesterday. Ann and Anthony went down to K-Mart and hit the clearance racks for some new clothes. Not only was I pleased at what they bought me, but I was also happy that it all fit! I’m slowly replacing my old wardrobe with new and smaller duds.

An updated progress photo will be coming soon since I bought Ann a nifty new digital camera over the weekend. If I can get her to take one I will post it later tonight. If not, I did my usual bathroom-mirror self-portrait shot earlier today.

As far as food goes, I continue to track my Points in the Excel chart which I have since placed on Ann’s outdated HP Jornada 520 handheld PC instead of my USB thumb drive. It’s ugly, old, slow and chunky, but it works great for this purpose as well as creating Word documents when I’m on the train to work.

Exercise: I continue to walk 1.5 miles a day and do between 30-45 minutes of Wii Fit each night. In fact, last night I achieved a score of 176% on the jogging exercise. My previous best was 101% but I put the Wiimote in my back pocket and it seemed to calculate everything better. (I usually hold it in my hand and pass everybody, end up with an uneven pace, etc.) Either way, my shirt is still fairly drenched by the time I’m done. Hydration! I needs it!

By the way, if you want to see my Mii show up on your Wii, my code is 6162 3298 6869 7586. Add me and I will add you!

That’s all for now. Stick with it, guys and gals. If I can, you can

UPDATED 10:37 p.m.: As promised, a new photo has been added to the Progress Photos page (scroll to bottom). So head on over there, or save time and see the new image here. Note my ubiquitous “look of concern” pose

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Ah, here’s another one of those South Beach Living product reviews! Today’s is about the Dark Chocolate Vanilla Marble flavor, seen here (click to enlarge; I know about the crumbs and whatnot on the countertop):

A good source of fiber? In a pudding? Is that even possible? Let’s flip it over (click to enlarge):

Well, I guess it is. So taking that into consideration, will this pudding pass the test? Before we find out, allow me to make a disclaimer here.

I’m from the Old Del Monte Pudding School. You know, the stuff that came in small tin cans and six per package? Yeah, that’s me. And it’s my belief that since the conversion over to plastic cups, the taste of pre-packed pudding has definitely lacked the substance it once had. This is especially true when it comes to “diet” varieties which I find too runny and, quite honestly, avoid buying.

Also, I despise dark chocolate. I will not eat it in most cases. In fact, I believe that dark chocolate only exists to complement other things such as caramel (mmm…Chocolate Riesen…) or as a glaze on donuts.

But South Beach Living pudding changed my mind about all of that. This is some delicious dark chocolate, made even better when combined with vanilla pudding. It’s definitely not as runny as the standard diet pudding or regular for that matter thanks to the addition of 3g of fiber. I thoroughly enjoyed eating these cups and had a smile on my face the entire time as I felt I was more than cheating on my program.

But was I really? Here are the Weight Watchers numbers:

• 60 calories, 1.5g fat, 3g fiber = 1 Weight Watchers Point

One Point. One lousy, stinking Point for such deliciousness should not be denied by anybody! While I wouldn’t recommend it, you could devour the whole pack for only 4 Points. And believe me, after the first cup I wanted to do just that.

Would I recommend: At one Point each, you bet I’d recommend these. In fact, stock up because once word of these gets around they might disappear fast. But if you stock up, you’re only contributing to the scarcity. So um…buy in moderation and leave some for everyone else to enjoy, okay?

Weekly Weigh-In #15 is tomorrow! Check back then and see how things went last week.

Stick with it, guys and gals. You can do it

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First, allow me to apologize for my recent absence. As you may have read on my other blog, there are problems in my neighborhood that need to be resolved and I’m doing what I can to help. As such, I’ve been really busy lately, so I’m sorry for the lack of posts.

Anyway…

I’m finally starting to notice some changes on me. First, I can actually see my clavicles which, to be quite honest, I don’t I’ve seen this clearly since…ever! While I’m by no means muscular or ripped, just by seeing them I get the impression that I am in much better shape than I had been before. It just feels good to see that.

My face is also considerably less chunky and it seems that I’m shaving more often than usual. Perhaps it’s because the hair doesn’t have that much skin to grow through, I don’t know. But I do know I’m shaving every other day as opposed to every third day.

My hands and feet appear more muscular and veins are more apparent in them and in my legs. Suffice it to say, this is nothing I could brag about when I wore size 48 pants!

Things are definitely looking up from this point and at my current weight on 220.9 lbs., I’m this close to cracking the 210s. I should be there for the next weigh-in, so I’m cool with all of that.

I hope this gets you moving, people. If this fat guy can drop his bad habits and start to brag about how great he feels and looks, you can do it, too.

The weekend’s here, so I’m done for now. See you Monday

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It was a busy weekend! Here are this week’s results:

• Weekly Weigh-In #14: 221.8 lbs.
• Last week’s weight: 225.7 lbs.
• Gain/loss of: -3.9 lbs.
• Weekly average lost: 2.2 lbs.

This week’s weigh-in results bring me to yet another milestone: 75 lbs. lost! (Well, 75.3 to be exact.) You can say I’m a little happy with the results. The pants I got at Christmas are now all too big and are now waiting for Ann so she can make some kind of blanket out of them.

I’m now at 221.8 lbs. You hear that, 210s? I’m coming for you–and soon!

The weekend was busy for us all so I made the most of it: yard work, laundry, running around with the kid…it all paid off with the results. Not to mention, I ate at Burger King and Carl’s Jr. for lunch on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

At Burger King I had their Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich and substituted the mayonnaise (tons of fat) with mustard and onions (no fat in either). I stayed away from the fries as usual.

Carl’s Jr. has a new Orange Chicken sandwich* that I tried. I made the mistake of thinking it was a chicken breast when it was actually one of those fried (aka crispy) chicken patties. Blecch. Because of the type of chicken, it’s something I won’t be trying again any time soon unless they change it to grilled chicken. But I survived, and even stole a Criss Cut fry or two from Ann’s meal.

On the exercise front, I continue to walk and do Wii Fit. In fact, it’s close to a month since my Wii Fit purchase and according to my graph, I’ve lost over 10 lbs. during that time. Would I have lost it doing sit-ups alone? Who can say, but I do know I sweat like mad with my regular Wii Fit routine.

That’s all I got for now. Thanks to all of you who have been watching my progress and I hope you continue to tune in. Less than 22 lbs. to go and I’m there!

Stay focused, guys. See you soon

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*Never heard of it? Well, Carl’s Jr. is based in southern California and it’s not uncommon for them to test-market new products out here first. There is no nutritional information about the sandwich on their Web site. And bring back my Pumpkin Cheesecake for Halloween, guys!

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In what could possibly something new to 200by40, I present a series of tips that have helped me change the way I feel about losing weight and keeping it off. Now I may have already said some of what you will read on the About page, but each of these posts will go a little further than that.

There’s an adage that goes something like, “Everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die.” Religious beliefs aside, that rings true for just about anything—and especially weight loss. You can’t get where you want to be without giving up something in return.

So today’s tip is simple: Don’t be lazy. I know it sounds obvious and laziness is a habit that’s terribly easy to fall into. But hopefully, by the end of this post, I will have kicked your butt out of it.

Think about it. Why do you wake up and go to work each morning? Why do you do laundry? Why do you do anything? Chances are you do those things because you either a) choose to do them or b) have to do them.

And what happens if you don’t? Bills go unpaid, clothes get dirty, things fall apart. That’s not exactly Heaven if you ask me.

When it comes to weight loss, I’ve learned that there’s no amount of carrot sticks or low-fat foods that by themselves will help you reach your goal. To realize maximum benefits, a proper diet—eating right, not following a magazine’s weight loss fad—must work in conjunction with a daily exercise routine which, if you think about it, can be of anything you choose.

Who likes to exercise? Lord knows I don’t, and there are days when I simply don’t feel like walking during lunch. If I don’t, what would I do? I’d sit at my desk for 50 minutes and not burn a single calorie. Talk about a waste of time!

But if you want to lose the weight and keep it off, you have to shift your thinking. You have to look at any kind of physical activity as forms of exercise: laundry, yard work, walking, etc. You should never think of them as being dreadful because you’ll never get them done. If you think of them as being ways to move, stretch and sweat, they instantly become alternate ways of exercising as opposed to going to the gym or whatnot. Not only that, you need to start thinking that with each move you make, whether you’re mowing the lawn or painting the walls of your bedroom, you are burning calories and are getting closer to your goal.

I’m in no way preaching that cutting the grass should replace normal exercises; I’m just offering an alternate view of what some consider arduous tasks. The reality is that you need to make daily exercise a part of your routine for life. Sure, a day off is fine now and then but in order to keep the weight off, nothing’s better than sweating off those calories on a regular basis.

To summarize today’s tip: eat less, move more. It just doesn’t get any easier than that!

By the way, I’m taking a blog break for the weekend. Hope you have a good one and keep things under control

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Keep in mind that this is in addition to everything else I do: eating right, walking, etc. That long stretch downward was the week I was sick; the sudden spike afterwards was Father’s Day when I obviously felt good enough to eat plenty. The red dot is a note: “I ate too much.”

Also know that the Wii Fit scale seems a bit off at times, nowhere near what my bathroom scale reads.

A nice investment so far. Now if I can only get my employer to reimburse me for it…

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This entry is a SimulPost and can also be seen at HolographicMeatloaf

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Hey there, it’s time for yet another food review of a South Beach Living product. On the slate today is the Ham & Swiss Hot Sandwich Melt, seen here (click to enlarge):

Again, it’s lookin’ pretty tasty from my standpoint. And the fact that includes a packet of Grey Poupon automatically gives it an extra boost. I dig Grey Poupon (in conservative amounts, that is) and you can guess by its name, it also includes a slice of Swiss cheese. Mmmm. So far, so good.

Let’s take a look at the back (click to enlarge):

The tale of the Weight Watchers tape is as follows:

• 320 calories, 11g fat, 8g fiber = 6 Weight Watchers Points

About my only gripe, if such a thing will matter in the world of off-the-shelf meals, is the same as usual: the high sodium content, which in this case is 950mg (or 40% RDA). Again, it’s for freshness and there’s not a lot you can do to avoid it.

Assembly of the sandwich is nothing unlike the Turkey Santa Fe: split the bread open, plop down the meat, dijon and cheese, place back into little tray and nuke for :45 seconds. (I learned from the first one that :30 seconds is not enough to make it very warm. Your microwave mileage may vary.)

Once warmed, however, it all came together to form a tasty l lunchtime meal that I truly enjoyed. Despite the Grey Poupon which can be overpowering even in small amounts, nothing was lost this time. The ample supply of sliced ham was delicious and the Swiss cheese and dijon mustard were the perfect complements. As with the Turkey Santa Fe, the bread was definitely wheaty yet tasty, and I noticed that after eating these sandwiches, my appetite was curbed for the remainder of the day. That’s a huge plus.

Would I recommend: If given the choice between this sandwich and the Turkey Santa Fe, I’d reach for this one without hestiation. The Ham & Swiss did not disappoint in the flavor category and held up nicely until dinner, so it’s got more than a few things going for it.

All in all I’d have to say this one is worth it. Thumbs up!

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A new photo has been added. Head on over to the Progress Photos page and check it out!

But if you can’t wait, here you go (click to enlarge):

That’s a Depeche Mode t-shirt from their 1988 Rose Bowl show, which I attended. I haven’t worn that shirt since…God knows when, so this makes me very happy…which could explain the huge smile on my face

Good news? Bad news? Let’s see.

• Weekly Weigh-In #13: 225.7 lbs.
• Last week’s weight (results from #11–was sick for #12): 228.9 lbs.
• Gain/loss of: 3.2 lbs.
• Weekly average lost: 2.1 lbs.

Although some would argue that I actually gained weight this time, despite my recent illness I’ll say that I’m happy with this week’s results. No, it’s nowhere near the 224+ lbs. I was when I was sick but then again my body was pretty much a filter for anything I put in it that week.

Now here comes the part where I sound like a broken record. (Kids, if you have no idea what that meant, go and ask your mom or dad.)

I feel stuck, and I seem to recall saying those exact words not so long ago when I felt stuck in the 230s. In fact that was about one month ago today. Either way, when you’re trying to lose weight, you will reach those points now and then. It just goes with the territory and rather than mope about it and throw in the towel, here’s where you need to work a bit harder. That big burger on Father’s Day definitely did little to help

That’s what I intend to do this time. While I could go on griping about it, I won’t. I’m not too far from my lowest point yet so with a little determination and sweat, I’ll get there in no time. And from there it’s only a few pounds until I reach the 210s. Some more walking, Wii Fit, whatever it takes till get me there.

One more thing: I added a bunch of RSS feeds to the right of the page. From there you can subscribe to ye olde blog and know exactly when it’s updated, and you can still bookmark any post with the links at the bottom of them.

Gotta run. I have a cup of South Beach pudding with me today so watch for a review on that later!

Have a great day, all.

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P.S. I’ve subscribed to a few weight loss blogs via Google Reader that haven’t been updated lately (May 28 and June 2 were the last updates). You folks know who you are. You started off gangbusters and then *poof* nothing. If you’ve quit blogging (which I can definitely understand as it is time consuming), I hope you haven’t given up on your weight loss goal. Stick with it! You will change!

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