Monday, Feb 22, 2010

Introduction

Ok, I'm starting this new blog so all my Facebook friends and friends and family who aren't on Facebook can keep track of my progress and hold me accountable. I'm not planning anything major with this blog. It's just going to be like a little personal diary or log book to help me keep track of my progress as well as anyone else who might be interested. There will be no fancy writing or heavy politics here, just things from my heart and what's going on in my life regarding my weight, diet and exercise.

I know there are millions of blogs and websites about dieting and exercising and losing weight and living better etc. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here. I'm not trying to create the next diet fad or exercise fad. I'm just letting people see for the next few months or maybe years, what I'm up to, in trying to improve my health.

Actually, my health is not all that bad. I recently had a physical and the doctor said I'm in perfect health. I have been exercising off and on for years and right now I've been off. But my blood pressure was 120/80 which is good, my sugar levels were normal, about 90 - they say less than 100 is good. And my cholesterol is down from 260 a couple years ago to 219. So things are pretty good, I just need to get my weight down now and eating is my biggest problem. So lets get started with day one.

DAY 1

So to begin, I start things off by weighing myself this morning and I'm 215lbs. For me that is very heavy because I'm only 5'8". That is almost the heaviest I've ever been. 218lbs is my record and that was back last year.

But this year I am determined to lose 40lbs or more. I'd like to get down to 170. That would be just a bit more than high school weight. My plan is to start by attacking my biggest problem area and that's my eating habits. I love carbs. Not only because they are delicious but because most stuff that is processed comes in a box that is easy to make and quick to clean up. I love to cook, but I'm no chef. I like to make quick easy meals that taste great. In that department I think Rachel Ray is my hero. I'm not one for cutting up a bunch of ingredients that takes an hour just to prepare.

So my first goal is to eat healthier. That does not mean I'm going to cut out all carbs just a lot of them and a lot of sugar. This means no more chips, pretzels, popcorn, butter, ice cream or soda or McD's, Wendy's, KFC or BK - You know I'm crying as I'm writing this - no more potato's, rice, bread or pasta unless its for lunch. From now on dinner will only be meat and veggies. Snacks will be only fruits, veggies, nuts or cheese, which I do love but oh! I'm going to miss my pretzels and chips with cheese dip. :(

Menu

Here is what I had to eat today:

• Breakfast: 3 Scrambled Eggs, 1 mug hot tea with a little honey.


• Mid Morning Snack: 1/2 dozen baby carrots and a couple handfuls of Cashews.


• Lunch: Bowl of rice with some leftover chicken breast butter and salt mixed in.


• Mid Afternoon Snack: 1 Banana.


• Dinner: 3 meat salad and unsweetened iced tea at Woody's Barbeque.

Today I did not exercise at all. Too busy with work.

So here's where I start. Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 and we'll see if I can lose any weight and not have a heart attack.