QUICK CHECK IN - Fit Foods, Gym Body, and Weight Loss Goals

Here's a quick update on my progress. I'm still doing well on my caloric intake, keeping at around 2,200 calories per day and focusing on macros. I try to stick to a plan of getting 30% of my daily calories fat, 30% from protein, and 40% from carbs. I tend to eat more carbs in the morning, for energy, more fat in the mid-day, to keep me satiated, and more protein toward the end of the day, to help my muscles recover from activity and keep my metabolism going through the night.

FOOD NEWS

I prepare all of my meals at home and avoid eating out as much as possible - one meal a week is okay, but no more than that. Due to my being a novice home cook, I am finding that keeping my protein intake up while keeping my carb intake down is a struggle. Still, I am pretty much able to do it fairly consistently. 

Turmeric and garlic seasoned egg with avocado on whole grain rye

GYM BODY

I went to the gym today - joined Crunch in York - and met with a personal trainer for an orientation session. He gave me a body scan. I weighed in at 395 (Yay! I was 420 less than a month ago, so I'm doing something right.) Fortunately my muscle mass from working out and rigorous hiking in my younger days is still under all my blubber. Overall, my body composition is about 37 percent fat, which is better than expected given my weight. Apparently 247 pounds is non-fat and less than 150 pounds is fat. My BMI is about 52.

Given my current condition, I set an initial goal with the help of Crunch fitness trainer, Andrew, to get down to 50 pounds by April 20. Fittingly, since it will be 4/20, I will celebrate with a big spliff when I make it to my weight goal by that date! (I am pretty much straight edge these days, using no alcohol, marijuana, or an stimulants other than coffee, so this will be a nice celebratory treat!)

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS

Realistically, I think I'll be able to lose 60 by my April goal date, but 50 is definitely well within reach. It is going to feel amazing to be down to 345 again. I'll be able to fit into all my nice sports coats in time for Easter, and I will be feeling like a million bucks for sure! (I already feel like half a million now, just having started to see these early results from my decision to get fit.) The ultimate goal of course is to feel like a billion dollars when I get to 295 by Thanksgiving.

I would probably be able to reach 295 sooner, but in April I hope to be in the position to more aggressively increase my muscle mass as I continue to lose fat, so my actual loss of pounds will likely slow. I don't want to do things too fast, and I want to re-asses everything at 295. Eventually I would like to be under 250 - this would be healthier in the long run and also would allow me to not be held back by things like weight restrictions at water parks and such, and it would certainly give me the widest range of fashion possibilities, as I'd be at 1XL at that size. (I am currently 4X).

But, we shall see. When I lost nearly 200 pounds 10 years ago, I really did not feel like myself once I reached 255. I felt skinny, if you can believe it, and I really felt like a different person - and not in a good way. When I got back up to about 280 or 290, I felt a bit bad about gaining some weight back, but honestly I felt more like myself. So this time I will pause there to get used to things before continuing on with weight loss, if I so choose.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG MY JOURNEY!

YouTube: Brianopolis

Mindful eating, swimming and hiking in Palm Springs

I recently re-located to Palm Springs, CA, from Albuquerque, NM, in large part to jump-start my fit-life journey, which had become a bit stalled. I mean, I've been getting lots of exercise, so that's good. But I've been lax in my food mindfulness and my weight has gone up a bit since my low of 255 pounds last year. In fact, recently I weighed in at nearly 285. I quickly pulled in the reigns on my eating habits and am once again below 280. But I need to be more pro-active, and that's what I'm doing here in the low desert at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains.

Sitting on top of the world - San Jacinto Peak at 10,388 ft.

Obviously I love hiking. Yesterday I went on an 11-mile out-and-back hike from the upper tram terminal here in Palm Springs to the peak of San Jacinto. It was a wonderful excursion, and my body is thanking me for such a strenuous workout. But I need to do more than just hiking if I want to reach my goal of losing more than 60 pounds over the next 6 months. Once I hit that goal, I will have lost the 200 pounds I set out to lose when I first began this blog under the name The Fitness 400 Project in 2008.

So this means big changes to my routine. I'm back on a restricted calorie diet of no more than 2,000 calories (except on big hiking days when my body needs the calories for mere survival). And I'm also back to doing my medicine ball workouts and plank exercises daily. On top of this, just today I have added freestyle swimming to the mix. I did five laps (125 meters) in the pool in the community where I live. I will do another five laps tonight. For this week, I will continue to do 125 meters both in the morning and evening until I'm ready to increase the amount to seven or eight next week and then 10 within two week's time.

How can I NOT take up swimming with this practically in my back yard?

The hard part of swimming for me is that my lungs are not used to the staggered breathing required when freestyle swimming. This morning I had to rest and catch my breath after each lap. I wasn't bothered by this, but my goal is to improve so I can do all of my laps without resting between them.

Well, that's about it for now. I will post my new diet soon, so stay tuned for that. And don't forget to check out my other blogs - Man of Merit and HikeyHikey! - for more on hiking and other outdoors fitness activities. Fifteen pictures from the San Jacinto Peak hike can be found here.

Fitness and nutrition regime on point

This week I've been off work so I've been hitting the gym harder than ever. Three days of double workouts and three days of the regular fare. I'm getting more rest and eating more to compensate, and I feel great!

Today I got the materials for my correspondence course on fitness and exercise. I'm doing the certified personal trainer program through ACE - American Council on Exercise. Just flipped through the books and am thinking, wow, I have a sh*tload to learn!

I'm sitting at Panera having a cup of chicken noodle soup and Greek salad with grilled chicken. I love this meal, although I don't have it as much as I used to now that Khizer and I are cooking more at home. Our nutrition is on point, and I feel fueled at every moment throughout the day.

We have our protein-packed breakfast of Ezekiel 4:9 Golden Flax cereal and 2% milk, with a fried egg over a slice of Arnold Double Fiber toast.

Then for the mid morning snacks we have assorted nuts, dried fruits and seeds and 2% Cabot Greek Yogurt with frozen organic mixed berries.

For lunch we have quinoa and peas with some other main dish, like soup or curry packed with an assortment of leafy green and root veggies, and a couple of side veggies raw, like celery, grape tomatoes, carrots or broccoli.

The afternoon snack is usually an apple and a banana, and maybe some more quinoa if there's an afternoon workout thrown in. And dinner is a lighter version of lunch, usually just the quinoa with a bit of curry or cup of soup.

This routine has us feeling strong and with tons of energy throughout the day. We wake up early and try to get to bed before midnight, but admittedly our one nutritional weakness at this point is getting enough rest. Rest is just as important to the body and mind as the food we eat, so it's definitely got to be one of our resolutions in the new year to be more mindful of this.

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to be studying the ACE materials pretty hard over the next week or so. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the new semester, too. I'm teaching that Overcoming Obesity class and preparing my motivational talk. I also have a new class in the social sciences department at MDC starting - Seminar for Student Success. I'm psyched for the new year, and am so thankful that God has given me the strength to accomplish so many of my personal goals in 2010.

So close, yet so far away

After noticing for the past week that all of my clothes were getting loose I decided yesterday to go try on clothes at Rochester Big & Tall. A year ago when I weighed 417 I was pushing 5XL, although I never bought anything at that size (I would just squeeze into the 4XL, popping a few buttons along the way). Also, my waist size was 52. But I'm glad to report that now I'm fitting comfortably into 3XL and was able to slide into Ralph Lauren jeans with a 46 waist. They were a bit snug, but it boosted my confidence as well as my committment to this weight-loss regime I'm on.

That said, when I think about my goal of reaching 220 pounds it still seems so far away. I've lost about 40, but how long will it take to lose another 150? Will I be able to do it? I'm taking it one day at a time, but I'm setting some short-term goals that I hope to achieve while making it toward the big one. If I can lose five pounds a week until I reach 310 and then three pounds a week after that, here's what I'm working toward achieving:

By March 1: 350
By April 1: 330
By May 1: 310
By June 1: 295
By July 1: 280
By August 1: 265
By September 1: 250
By October 1: 235
By November 1: 220

At this rate I'll reach my goal by Thanksgiving. This sounds impossible, and I promise not to beat myself emotionally if I don't achieve this. But I really do believe I can do it if I continue the path I'm on and steadily ramp up the exercise along the way. What do you think? Can I do it?

My Diet and Exercise Plan

I've been paying attention to a lot of diet advice from books, magazines and afternoon talk shows lately, so I have a pretty good idea of the nutritional principles that will work for me. I plan to:

1. Eat six times per day and in smaller portions to avoid crashes that lead to cravings

2. Prepare meals ahead of time to make sure I have healthy food ready when I get hungry

3. Incorporate "power foods" like almonds, yogurt, berries, oatmeal and whole grains that will help me maximize my calorie intake for energy and stamina

4. Eat more fiber-rich foods to make me full faster

5. Eat foods that are rich in vitamins and nutrients, especially antioxidants

6. Reduce my salt and sugar intake, and eat more fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth while avoiding empty calories

I also plan on adding exercise to the equation by incorporating it into my daily routine rather than tacking it onto a to-do list, which has always failed me in the past. I commute from Albuquerque to Santa Fe on the new Rail Runner Express. My home is three and a quarter miles from the downtown Albuquerque train station, and my workplace is a little over half a mile from where the train stops in Santa Fe. As a result, I'll be riding my bike about eight miles every day - four miles at 6 a.m. and another four miles at 6:30 p.m.

Because of the hours I'll be traveling, I also have to plan my diet to fit my routine. Here's a sample of my planned diet for workdays:

5:15 a.m.
¾ cup oatmeal cooked in water
2 tbsp skim milk
2 tsp brown sugar
1 banana

6:30 a.m. - to eat on the train
protein bar

10:30 a.m.
10 almonds
1 banana
1 cup flavored yogurt

12:30 p.m.
1 can of tuna
2 slices whole wheat white bread (to make a sandwich)
1 tsp olive oil
1 hard boiled egg
½ avocado, sliced
1 leaf green or red lettuce
1 apple

3 p.m.
10 almonds
1 cup flavored yogurt

5:30 p.m. - prepacked to eat on the train
6 oz chicken cutlet
1 cup broccoli, cooked
2 leaves green or red lettuce
½ cucumber
½ tomato
¼ cup beans (navy, kidney, lima)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

7:30 p.m.
Smoothie with:
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
½ cup skim milk
¼ cup frozen blackberries
1 tbsp peanut butter or whey protein
1 packet Splenda

I'll also be taking supplements to help me be sure I'm getting all the daily nutritional requirements. For now I'm trying the Mega Men Performance and Vitality Vitapak from GNC. I'm no nutritionist, and I haven't counted the calories of this diet, but compared to the fast, fatty foods that have been the staple of my diet I think this plan will serve me well.

If you have any advice or tips for me, please leave your comments here. I'm going to need all the support and encouragement I can get!