Weight Loss

Week six is finished.

Even though I didn't keep my current weight loss attempt in the fore, I did manage to lose 1 pound. I am now at 253.5. This is a long cry from 200 but at least I am moving in the right direction.

Weight Loss Snack Foods

Your on a diet, attempting to lose weight, attempting to change your lifestyle when all of a sudden you get overwhelmed by the munchies; what do you do?

If you are truly looking to change your lifestyle then you have already ensured that you are stocked with some healthy snacks ready to help you fight the current craving.

What? You say all you have around are the snacks you add to your kids lunches. Cracker Jacks, cheezits, honeybuns, doritos, chips but nothing healthy that will help you get past this craving.

The key to successfully getting past these cravings is to be prepared for them. Know what you can substitute and have those items on hand.

I personally love red radishes with salt or Vlasic Kosher Dill Pickles, both are high in sodium so obviously we need to be aware of many other items. Here is a list of some items that might come in handy. Remember that there are currently many low calorie condiments also available that can be used with these snacks, salad dressings, salsa, mustards, horseradish etc...


Almost No Calories

• Celery sticks
• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Green peppers
• Mushrooms
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
  

25-30 Calories

• 1 small tangerine
• 1/2 cup watermelon
• 1/4 cantaloupe
• 1 small tomato
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 cup popcorn
• 12 pretzel sticks

35-40 Calories

• 1 medium peach
• 1 medium nectarine
• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 3 saltine crackers
• 1/2 small banana

50-75 Calories

• 1 small apple
• 1 small orange
• 15 grapes
• 12 cherries
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 4 small shrimp
• 1 Popsicle or fudgesicle1 piece of fresh fruit
• 1 cup sugar free gelatin with 2 tablespoons whipped cream
• 1 cup raw vegetables such as sliced peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes with 2 tablespoons humus or diet salad dressing
• 2 saltine crackers with 2 teaspoons peanut butter
• ½ cup dry cereal

100-125 Calories

• 2-3 cups of popcorn *
• 1 large apple
• 1 large orange
• 1/2 ounce of nuts
• 1 large banana
• 1 8-oz. glass skim or 1% milk
• 6 to 8 oz. fat free yogurt, artificially sweetened
• 1 hard-cooked egg
• Small bowl cereal with 1/4 to 1/2 cup skim or 1% milk *
• 1 pear
• 1 piece string cheese
• 1 piece whole-wheat toast spread with 1 teaspoon spreadable fruit
• 1/2 to 1 cup fruit canned in light or extra light syrup or its own juice *
• 1 bunch grapes
• 2 whole cups strawberries for 100 calories!
• Small bowl of broth or tomato-based soup *
• 1 ounce soy nuts *
• 1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon jelly
• 3 fig Newton squares
• ½ cup cottage cheese with ¼ cup berries
• 1 slice of toast with ¼ cup 1% cottage cheese, sprinkled with cinnamon
• Fruit shake! Blend ¾ cup plain nonfat yogurt and ¼ cup fruit. Add nutmeg, ginger or sugar substitute as desired
• ½ small pita with 1 tablespoon Neufchatel cheese and ½ cup cooked or fresh vegetables
• 1 box Cracker Jacks®

150-200 Calories

• 4 cups of light popcorn *
  
• ¼ cup nut and raisin mix *
  
• 1 small banana spread with ½ tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt with ½ cup berries or chopped fruit
• 1 baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon and 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 cereal bar or reduced fat granola bar
• 1 slice bread with Dijon mustard, 2 slices turkey breast and a slice of tomato

*Check Label for portion size

Weight Loss Week Five

This week was a wash.

I didn't gain any weight.

I didn't lose any weight either.

Weight Loss Report Week Four

Well I finished week four. So far I have dropped from 260.5 to 254.4 That means that I have met the first of my ten 6lbs goals.

I feel that I haven't been taking this as seriously as I would have liked. It is time to investigate good snack foods that I can go to when I have a craving.

I figure I have to cover the sweets and salt snacks. If I can discover snacks that are low calorie and high fiber that fill the void I think we could all benefit from the information.

I'll report back what I find out later, wish me luck.

Sunday Wrap-up Moves to Wednesday

Well it has been another week. This week has been a draw but I decided that from now on my official weekly weigh-in will be each Wednesday when I wake up. This is the last workday for me each week. I work Sat or Sun through Wednesday 7pm-7am. This means that I get off work Wednesday at 7am then go to sleep around 9am and get up around 3pm in time for a weekly meeting (which fortunately I am allowed to call in for.

Moving the weigh-in day to Wednesday will allow for a more consistent measure of where I'm at for that week. This being said the thermometer won't be updated until Wednesday.

Calories Needed to Lose Weight

How do I figure out how many calories I need to maintain my current weight?

I wrote earlier in Journaling To Success that you had to track everything you ate or you wouldn't know where you stood and would have no chance of reaching your goal.

The post featured an article by Marc David. I noticed that an assumption was made in that article that many of you may not know how to figure out. The article assumed you could figure out how many calories you required to maintain your weight and what you would have to decrease that amount by to lose the weight successfully.

There are many places where they spell out the formulas to figure out what you need to maintain your current weight. But most of them are too wordy or complex and I know I want things simple. With keeping it simple in mind I found this link - Healthy Body Calculator - via FNIC's Interactive Toolbox.

This calculator let's you input some minor information and how much you want to lose a week and it spits out a complete worksheet outlining nutrition facts to lose weight, including your healthy weight range. For me it said my healthy range is from 166lbs to 202lbs. This range bodes well since my goal is 199lbs.

I hope this takes some mystery out of how many calories do I need to lose or maintain my weight.

Weight Loss Wrap-up

Well this past week wasn't my best effort. Since my scale was dead I felt that I was taking a break. Who knew if the new scale would be anywhere close to the old one. This weeks weigh-in might be a new baseline.

I started off the week with that large veggie pizza I talked about here.

I also entered things like "stuff" for my food entries in my journal of what I ate for the week. Despite that I came in at 255lbs this week. Down another two pounds. I have adjusted my goal thermometer in the sidebar accordingly.

While I'm on the subject. The thermometer in the sidebar isn't just one goal it is a series of goals. Ten small goals total. With any luck I will hit my first goal this coming Sunday.

Of course there is still the possibility that this coming week I will hit the post, but I have my fingers crossed.

What The Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway?

I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I do wish to try more meals centered around this choice. Wait a minute that's amazingly arrogant of me. Maybe vegans are born that way and there is no choice. It is all so confusing... carnivores, vegans..... I have to admit publicly that I'm Bi. That's right I swing both ways. Sometimes I even combine meat and vegetables in (shudder to think about it) one dish.

Somehow I drifted off of the topic. What The Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway? is blog that I came across and thought I would share it here. If your interested in a variety of vegan dishes, Mike Crooker dishes out his daily meals for all to share.

Weight Loss Support

Whenever anyone takes upon themselves any long term project a good support system is key to their success. There are many support systems out there.

I'm going to talk about a program that many people overlook or are too embarrassed to think about attending. When I was in the US Navy we had to pass a fitness test twice a year. Part of the test was being below a certain bodyfat percentage. Toward the end of my career I came in above the limit for the second time. The Navy is a family so they have programs setup to help you succeed in your career. One such program was designed to educate the sailor in healthy eating, nutrition and fitness. I was enrolled in this program.

The Fat Farm.... OK it isn't a fat camp or fat farm per se, but we have always joked about it as such, now I get the chance to experience it for three weeks in person.

I had heard the horror tales from years past. The fat suit with extra weight sewed into it to help with fitness or the very heavy bike that you are forced to ride for endless hours. Visions of sweat soaked days and aching muscles filled my thoughts.

The truth is that the Navy program was excellent. I didn't actually go to a camp I reported to another building on base for the training. Those horror tales were either rumors or a very old program because what I experienced was a very modern, well structured, highly beneficial program. The goal of the program was "To increase the number of active duty who are living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy body composition."

Each day started with a group exercise activity (most played Wallyball), this was important to bring these relative strangers together as a functioning team. The educational periods were conducted in groups. In between educational periods group therapy was conducted (twice a day) so everyone could learn they weren't alone in there experiences or feelings.

This program covered the four main areas you need to understand to maintain a new and healthy lifestyle:

Nutrition
Fitness
Psychology
Support

This brings me to the item that I started this post about Support. During my three weeks in this program I was required to attend OA meetings twice a week.

What's OA? Overeaters Anonymous aka OA. Overeaters Anonymous offers a program of recovery from compulsive overeating. Their website says:

Unlike other organizations, OA is not just about weight loss, obesity or diets; it addresses physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. It is not a religious organization and does not promote any particular diet. To address weight loss, OA encourages members to develop a food plan with a health care professional and a sponsor. If you want to stop your compulsive eating, welcome to Overeaters Anonymous.

I was in a small Maine town and was able to find meetings to attend. These meetings were very enlightening. No one was there preaching at you or trying to help you find god. These were people, who like many of us, ate too much. They shared their experiences, what worked for them and where they failed. Many had been part of the group for years and there were many successes to gain strength from.

Are you a compulsive overeater? Go here and review their checklist.

This organization doesn't charge a fee and there are no weigh-ins that sometimes are a source of stress. If you are looking for help on a budget you can't find a better group of people.