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jakebe
Weight: 190.8 lbs.
I am very close to the 190 threshold that I can never seem to get to. I'm pretty confident that I can make it, though; between the playful but serious bet I've got going with a friend (Hi Laz!) and the noticeably changing palate, I think I'm in good shape.
This last weekend I tried to go off the reservation and found (with a bit of delight) that I couldn't do it. Cheeseburgers aren't nearly as satisfying as they were; instead of salty and filling and delicious, they're heavy and greasy. Junk food makes my stomach feel heavy and sour, and before too long I'm lusting after fresh vegetables and fruit to 'clean myself out'. Even the cravings for sweets have diminished somewhat. Instead of Skittles or chocolate bars, I'm starting to think about grapes and apples.
That doesn't mean I still can't scarf down an entire bag of puffy Cheetos. I love those things. :) It also doesn't mean I'm not going to grab a bag of chocolate Skittles whenever I see them. The important thing now is that these dalliances are the exception rather than the norm. Cookies for me were a foregone conclusion; now, at the very least, they're not an everyday occurrence.
Now that the cravings for terrible food have subsided, and my palate is being trained towards lighter meats and fresh produce, I'm wondering about moving on to the next phase of the plan. Namely, fixing my own menu instead of eating out nearly as much as I do. With a little bit of preparation, I can actually make myself a lemon chicken salad with, say, raspberry walnut dressing to split over three or four days. I can take some baked chips or pretzels with me, some yogurt or grapes, and I'm all good. It's actually not a bad idea, if I can get into the habit of doing it regularly.
The exercise is still a work in progress. Talking it over with Ryan, I've settled on a two-day-a-week weight training regimen that I can use to supplement my running; chest and triceps on one day, and then back and biceps on another. Combine that with running three to four times a week, and I'm not doing too badly.
There's a small wrinkle here, though, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. Lazarus (hi again!) turned me on to this e-book called The Hacker's Diet. It reminds me a lot of The Philosopher's Diet in that it tries to tackle the idea of weight loss and health in pragmatic, sustainable terms. Both books assert that losing weight and keeping it off takes nothing less than a complete lifestyle change, and they both attempt to offer you tools for doing just that.
The Philosopher's Diet offers advice that sounds a little extreme, but goes in line with its premise: anything worth doing is worth doing well. It recommends that you devote more time and attention to cooking, that it's OK to become obsessed with food to make sure you're getting your proper nutrition, and that you run no less than four miles a day. The Hacker's Diet tries to take an even simpler approach. Weight loss (and gain) is simply determined by how many calories you take in vs. how many calories you burn. So, watch your calories. One of the fascinating things about the latter book is it offers a theory on why people get fat in the first place (from a roughly scientific point of view) and builds its premise on correcting the particular piece of malfunctioning machinery in your body.
Both books don't mince words. Losing weight and maintaining a proper diet is not easy. You will be hungry. You will try to talk yourself out of it. It will require sacrifice and discipline. But the style of both authors implies that you're more than enough for the challenge ahead of you. They both treat you like an equal, trying to solve a common problem. I kind of like that.
Anyway, the advice in The Hacker's Diet is a lot easier to follow. Calorie counting is something I've been doing for a while now, and the exercise regimen outlined there isn't nearly as intensive as four miles a day. It's a list of bodyweight exercises designed to be done in 15 minutes. As you grow more fit, you increase the number of reps and the intensity of each exercise until you find a level of fitness that keeps you happy. Best yet, it's designed to be either your primary method of exercising *or* a way to build a good foundation for anything else you might want to do. Want to weightlift? Go for it! Eyeing a run? No problem! I've been looking for a while to develop a simply bodyweight exercise routine, and this looks like one that'll do me nicely.
If you're looking for The Hacker's Diet, it's available for free online here. The Philosopher's Diet is, alas, not free anywhere, but you can still buy it at Amazon. I recommend them both!
This week, I'll see if I can't refine my palate further, and work on keeping sweets and snacks to a minimum.
I am very close to the 190 threshold that I can never seem to get to. I'm pretty confident that I can make it, though; between the playful but serious bet I've got going with a friend (Hi Laz!) and the noticeably changing palate, I think I'm in good shape.
This last weekend I tried to go off the reservation and found (with a bit of delight) that I couldn't do it. Cheeseburgers aren't nearly as satisfying as they were; instead of salty and filling and delicious, they're heavy and greasy. Junk food makes my stomach feel heavy and sour, and before too long I'm lusting after fresh vegetables and fruit to 'clean myself out'. Even the cravings for sweets have diminished somewhat. Instead of Skittles or chocolate bars, I'm starting to think about grapes and apples.
That doesn't mean I still can't scarf down an entire bag of puffy Cheetos. I love those things. :) It also doesn't mean I'm not going to grab a bag of chocolate Skittles whenever I see them. The important thing now is that these dalliances are the exception rather than the norm. Cookies for me were a foregone conclusion; now, at the very least, they're not an everyday occurrence.
Now that the cravings for terrible food have subsided, and my palate is being trained towards lighter meats and fresh produce, I'm wondering about moving on to the next phase of the plan. Namely, fixing my own menu instead of eating out nearly as much as I do. With a little bit of preparation, I can actually make myself a lemon chicken salad with, say, raspberry walnut dressing to split over three or four days. I can take some baked chips or pretzels with me, some yogurt or grapes, and I'm all good. It's actually not a bad idea, if I can get into the habit of doing it regularly.
The exercise is still a work in progress. Talking it over with Ryan, I've settled on a two-day-a-week weight training regimen that I can use to supplement my running; chest and triceps on one day, and then back and biceps on another. Combine that with running three to four times a week, and I'm not doing too badly.
There's a small wrinkle here, though, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. Lazarus (hi again!) turned me on to this e-book called The Hacker's Diet. It reminds me a lot of The Philosopher's Diet in that it tries to tackle the idea of weight loss and health in pragmatic, sustainable terms. Both books assert that losing weight and keeping it off takes nothing less than a complete lifestyle change, and they both attempt to offer you tools for doing just that.
The Philosopher's Diet offers advice that sounds a little extreme, but goes in line with its premise: anything worth doing is worth doing well. It recommends that you devote more time and attention to cooking, that it's OK to become obsessed with food to make sure you're getting your proper nutrition, and that you run no less than four miles a day. The Hacker's Diet tries to take an even simpler approach. Weight loss (and gain) is simply determined by how many calories you take in vs. how many calories you burn. So, watch your calories. One of the fascinating things about the latter book is it offers a theory on why people get fat in the first place (from a roughly scientific point of view) and builds its premise on correcting the particular piece of malfunctioning machinery in your body.
Both books don't mince words. Losing weight and maintaining a proper diet is not easy. You will be hungry. You will try to talk yourself out of it. It will require sacrifice and discipline. But the style of both authors implies that you're more than enough for the challenge ahead of you. They both treat you like an equal, trying to solve a common problem. I kind of like that.
Anyway, the advice in The Hacker's Diet is a lot easier to follow. Calorie counting is something I've been doing for a while now, and the exercise regimen outlined there isn't nearly as intensive as four miles a day. It's a list of bodyweight exercises designed to be done in 15 minutes. As you grow more fit, you increase the number of reps and the intensity of each exercise until you find a level of fitness that keeps you happy. Best yet, it's designed to be either your primary method of exercising *or* a way to build a good foundation for anything else you might want to do. Want to weightlift? Go for it! Eyeing a run? No problem! I've been looking for a while to develop a simply bodyweight exercise routine, and this looks like one that'll do me nicely.
If you're looking for The Hacker's Diet, it's available for free online here. The Philosopher's Diet is, alas, not free anywhere, but you can still buy it at Amazon. I recommend them both!
This week, I'll see if I can't refine my palate further, and work on keeping sweets and snacks to a minimum.
