Cheat meal

I'm in week two of my 12 week plan to get in shape. I got so used to posting on Instagram that I kept forgetting (and procrastinating) to post here.

Below is the link to my last instagram post entitled my cheat meal.

https://instagram.com/p/10jXQCxAjs/

Shopping

Quick summary.

Again playing procrastinator. I was going to update yesterday's entry, but ended up falling asleep. Now while my clothes are washing, I'll try to do a quick entry.

Yesterday, I did my morning jog with a light breakfast - banana (90cal), 8oz. orange juice (110cal),  and 4 prunes (100cal).  Headed to the mall to buy my usual meal at the Panda Express now called China Max...

I had to stop.  I couldn't finish on my tablet.  Whether it was me, or my tablet, it was more trouble than time saver.  Of course I will continue using my tablet, but probably not for blog entries (or at least not long entries.

Anyway, yesterday I had my usual meal at the mall.  The difference is that I counted the calories this time.  Each item was between 1 and 1.5cups:

Broccoli Chicken - 180cal.

Fried Rice - 570cal.

Orange Chicken 400cal.

Snapple Fruit Punch - 200cal.

In total, my single plate of food came to about 1,350 calories.  I was a bit annoyed with myself for the two steps forward, two steps back situation I seem to keep finding myself in.  To make matters worse, I went to another mall and being thirsty, I ordered a Wild Berry Smoothie (330cal) from MacDonald's. And I still hadn't eaten dinner.  To try to salvage my motivation and avoid finding comfort in a pint of Hagen Daz (with the false promise of starting again next week -- as I've done so many times in the past). I decided to walk part of the way home (30 minutes), and calculated the mall walking I did to add another 350 calories to my calorie bank remainder (157cal.).  So, I was able to go home with about 500 calories available for dinner.  I ended up eating Tuscan Vegetable Medley (80cal), a Greek yogurt(140cal), and a couple of fruit cups.

Today, there was suppose to be a rain storm, so I was a bit worried about not being able to do my morning jog.  Luckily, the rain held off.  It was windy and very chilly, but with my long underwear, sweats, and knit cap, I was very comfortable. 

I also went food shopping today (about $98) poorer.  The plan was to purchase food that I could create my own "single-servings" and see if that helps.  One of the things was a pack of baby carrots and a bottle of "0 calorie" ranch dressing.  I'm going to try to put 2 tablespoons of dressing in a snack bag, and I'll put a few carrots in another snack bag so that I have something to munch on tomorrow.  I also bought a few Health Choice Meals.  Next week, I want to try to having the Healthy Choice Meals for lunch instead of dinner, and see if I can lose weight that way.  Yesterday, I also want to drop the orange juice for a week and see if gives me a few extra calories to play with.  Lately, I've been buying the 8oz. 6-pack(110cal. each).  However, a single orange is about 70cal. each. 

I gave myself a two week commitment to jog in the mornings before work.  Hoping that I will be able to stick with a routine.  Next week will be the second week.  By May 1st, I want to take the workout routine up a notch.  The plan is to continue the morning jogs, but I want to start strength training.

I think that's enough for now.  Hopefully, I will be able to update this blog sometime during the week.

I'm going to attach a photo of my new lunch bag I bought at the mall yesterday (about $10 at Wal-Mart).  This new one is a bit larger than the green one posted here a few months ago, but not as large as the Polar Bag also posted here.  It is large enough to hold the full meal Healthy Choice, and my Klean Kanteen aluminum (1qt.) canteen with room for yogurt, fruit, and ice. 

Let's Try It Again

Hello Readers, if there are any here.

It has been awhile.  I've been a bit out of it.  This will be a ramble to get the ideas out as quickly as possible.

Braces
I've had the braces for a while, and I am starting to get used to them.  A few times I've needed the dental wax, but I think my mouth has adjusted to the scraping. I'm still annoyed at the cheese-grater like fell of these things.  It doesn't matter how careful I chew, food gets stuck so easily.  Pain, well other than the heavy-handedness of the dental assistant putting in the wires and ties, I haven't really felt pain, just discomfort.  My dentist told me a couple of days ago that she isn't ready to close up the gaps yet because my teeth still need to be repositioned. 

Philadelphia
I was lucky enough to be invited to an educational convention in Philadelphia.  It was a nice experience.  I upload some photos...eventually.

Hamsters
A colleague at work, had a litter of hamsters, one an impulse, I offered to take one.  I ended up spending about $95 dollars on equipment for the little guy (or gal).  We agreed that I wouldn't take one of the hamsters until after spring break.  I finally set up the cage, which was a pain in the neck to do. It looks really cool...from a distance.  However, up close, it has that cheap "Made in some third world" quality.  I'll need to buy some needle nose pliers and wire to secure the cage.  Well, in my excitement to make sure my hamster would have everything, I forgot the buy a water bottle, bedding, and a food dish.  So, with the pet store across the street from my dentist, I went shopping for the hamsters -- The hamsters had another litter of babies right before the vacation and again on an impulse I offered to take another one, so my hamster wouldn't be lonely.  When I left the store, with the few items (water bottle, bedding, food dish and a few chew toys), I spent another $50.

American Museum of Natural History
Basically, it was an informative experience. Not what I was expecting. The museum didn't do a very good job of providing information for the different events. Once paid for, the only information provided on the receipt was the "showtime" and a partial title. It turns out the "show times" were just times given for crowd control purposes. The extra exhibition fees were basically for the decorations accompanying the 5 ~ 10 minute video clips that repeated every few minutes. A greater attempt to let customers know the locations of the special exhibition would have been very helpful. Oh, and avoid the elevators if you can, they seem to be always crowded and move as slow as molasses.


Movies
I'm currently on spring break vacation/recovery.  I went to a couple of movies recently:
John Carter in 3D
The Lorax

Mirror, Mirror
It was a fairly entertaining movie. I didn't laugh as much as others did in the theater, but I did laugh a few times. I thought the movie was a great starring movie for Julia Roberts. I thought Julia was better in the movie than Nathan Lane. I don't know why, but his character really annoyed me. I also thought the actor playing the prince (Armie Hammer) did a very good job. I thought all of the actors really enjoyed working on this movie, I just think Roberts and Hammer did better jobs with what they had to work with. Lastly, I wasn't too fond of the evil queen's "ending", but I suppose when that queen is played by an internationally known movie star, They don't want to out right kill her off -- unless the actress wants the character dead.

Wrath of the Titans in 3D
 This was an enjoyable movie. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining. I believe there was a lot more action in this movie than in the first one. As long as you can suspend belief in what you're watching, I think you will enjoy the movie. My main complaint is the lack of consistency with maintaining the "god/human" balance in Perseus (Sam Worthington). Although, the movie tried to show that Perseus was human by the excessive amounts of moaning and groaning he was doing and the wounds he received.  After awhile, I lost count of how many superhuman feats Perseus went through. I can't even guess at the number of walls he was thrown against or through. A nice movie if you enjoy fantasy movies. After the movie, I was flying solo for dinner at Dallas BBQ across the street. The food was good. The service was also fast. When I was done there, I went across the street to the Venus Diner for a banana split and a slice of apple pie.

Exercise/Dieting
Until today, I was eating like there was no tomorrow, all the while with the idea (lie) that I would start exercising.  If you've been following me on FourSquare, you will know that for the last few months, I've had dinner at one fast food place or another.  And about 3 times per week, I would end with a pint of Ben & Jerry's or Haggen Daaz ice cream.  Today however, was the first time in almost a year, I went to the local park to do a bit of lite jogging.  I followed the plan from the book, "Run Your Butt Off".  It felt good to be back in the park, I'm going to try to keep it up this time.  Today, I did the walk for 4 minutes, and run for 1 minute for 30 minutes (Stage two).  I also ended up jogging for another 6 minutes afterwards.  Tomorrow, I'm going to modify Stage three (walk for 3 minutes and run for 2 minutes). 

Quick Entry

I was planning to call it an early night, but I decided to log onto the Loseit.com website to log in my calorie consumption and exercise.  So far, I am still on my double workout routine.  Yep, even in the heat wave we are in, I managed to do my two exercises.

Today was also the day of the professional development my school is providing....never mind.   I was goin to go into details of the program that probably cost...never mind.  I'll just focus on my workout routine. 

I weighed myself today.  I am now down to 210lbs.  I started this summer weighing around 232lbs.

I better go, so I can get to bed to do my morning turtle trot.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back...

Quick update.  Once again the title says it all.  Thursday morning started off rainy, but I didn't let that stop me.  I rode my stationary bike to keep up my daily morning exercising routine.  Unfortunately, I've had a couple of setbacks in the dieting department.  The day before,  I had a spaghetti dinner with a 5 piece chicken tender appetizer (with BBQ dipping sauce).  Friday evening I went to a retirement party for a couple of colleagues who will be retiring this year.  I ordered a baby back ribs and chicken combo plate (with a large piece of chocolate cake).  After returning home, I fell asleep on the couch and now I'm up at 2am.  Old habits die hard.  So far I haven't missed a morning of exercising since I started at the beginning of this month.  I'm about to head off to bed, and see if I have the strength to run in the morning.  If I do the run, I want to move up to a modification of Stage 9 (walk for 3 minutes/run for 12 minutes and repeat).  If I can keep up with the running routine, I should be able to run for a solid 30 minutes by next weekend.

 Later on today, I will be attending a social networking event that I planned.  The event is to see the Broadway show "Wicked" and see "X-men: First Class" afterwards.  Unfortunately, no one signed up, so I will be seeing the shows alone.

Quick Update

Quick update.  For those that are interested, I am still on my diet/exercise routine.  To keep with the new schedule, I haven't been going online.  In the past, a quick online visit would usually throw off my motivation, and a quick visit turns into several hours later.  Even now, I should have just prepped for bedtime. 

Quick Summaries:

I'm not doing my run/walk in the neighborhood park.  I walk/run around the two baseball fields.  My body has been adjusting to the walk/run a bit too quickly.  By the second day, I start to lose focus and motivation.  Now, instead of stickly with the book's pacing of one stage per week, I'm going to move up the stages every two or three days.  Tomorrow, I'm going to go to stage 4 (30 minutes of 3 minute walk, 3 minute run [or what I've been calling the "turtle trot"])

On an impulse, I visited one of the old social networking sites and replied to a profile that I've replied to before.  Much to my surprise, he responded.  It turns out the guy lives in the very next block.  We walked around downtown for a couple of hours, we had a lot in common.  It would have been cool to have someone in the neighborhood who shared similar interests.  Unfortunately, we had different ideas about friendship.  After my refusal to see friendship the way he did, I think he lost interest. After first planning to do another walk around, the epal ended the last text message with "have a great day".

My new black backpack arrived within about 3 days.  There was a bit of a mixup at the post office, but I finally have it.  The bag looks nice, however, I am a bit put off by the number of buckles and clips on it.  I'll try it out and see how it is.

Well, I better go.  I should have been in bed, but I thought I should do a quick entry letting the two or three people who read this blog know that I am still in the game so to speak.  I started my liquid diet on June 1st, and I still have managed to stick with it.  The problem?  Even though I am staying withing the suggested calorie intake of 1,784 calories per day, I don't seem to be losing weight.  The morning walk/run really isn't burning many calories (probably due to my body needing to adjust to the running.  I am going to try to use my stationary bike starting tomorrow in the evenings.  Once I'm able to do a consistant cardio workout for 30 minutes or more, I think I'll start to see the results.

Day 1

After a bit of a restless night, I was able to get up and start the running program.  Stage 2 (walk for 4 minutes and run for 1 minute, then repeat four more times).  I started about 5AM and finished about 30 minutes later.  I'm glad I started at Stage 2, I don't think I would have had the strength to do Stage 3 (walk for 3 minutes and run for 2 minutes).  Basically, I ran up and down the residential block I live on.  There is a small park very near me, but unfortunately, it is on the side of a mountain, so the whole park is basically built on a slope.

After the walk/run, I decide to relax by soaking in the bathtub.  With a full day to go, I didn't want to stiffen up.  After the bath, I was moving slow, but I wasn't in any pain.

I also started my new liquid diet today.  My goal is to use the liquid diet to break old eating habits.  After the two weeks is over, I'm hoping I'll be able to retrain myself to better portion controls.  In total today, I drank about 1,140calories today.

It is getting late.  I need to end this entry now, so I can get to bed to repeat the workout for day two.

The Night Before....

This will have to be brief. Well....

Tomorrow is June 1st. I am suppose to start a new exercising and dieting routine. Today, I picked up my order from the post office from Amazon.com. See the attached photo to get a sneak peak at my new exercise routine....

Yep, that's right. I'll be trying to run. Also,....

My plan is to do it in the morning before work. Too many times, I've had false starts with waiting until the end of the day. However, I'm always too tired. Actually, the main reason for doing the running in the morning is to minimize the embarrassment of running at 230lbs. Hopefully, I'll have the strength to get out of bed early to follow the program. AND...Be able to arrive to work early.

Basically, the running plan is a 12 step program that combines running with walking. By the end of 12 weeks, a participant should be able to run for 30 minutes. Stage 1 is walking for 30 minutes. Since I don't have any problem with walking long distances for an hour or two, I'm skipping Stage 1. I would like to skip Stage 2 (Walk for 4 minutes, Run for 1 minute. And repeat for four more times), but I don't want to over do it. So, I'll be starting with Stage 2.

The little red pad in the photo will be the notebook I'll use to help me keep track of the food and exercising so that I can put it onto the diet website mentioned in the previous blog entry.  I'm not really good at counting calories, but I will try.  The site computed that I will have to stay within about 1,780 calories per day if I want to reach my targeted goal of losing 60lbs by December 27, 2011. 

I gotta go.  I also need to be in bed by 10PM.  Changing my bad sleep habits is also a goal I'll need to work on.