My first set back

So I weighed myself this morning and I was 1.5lbs heavier then yesterdays weight.  In analyzing yesterdays meals and exercises I don't think I did anything majorly wrong.

I started, just yesterday, to track my food intake with fitday.com and if we look at the macronutrient breakdown the only thing I am high on is my carb intake it should break down idealy to 20% Fat, 40% Carbs and 40% Protien.  40% protien at my weight is pretty high so I'll settle with 30%.  Also I haven't started any major weight lifting program to be in need of that much protien.

Also I'd like to point out that my calorie intake yesterday was 2345, and after figuring out my BMR for my weight and activity level for yesterday I needed 3035 calories just to maintain my weight. I still managed a ~700 calorie deficit yesterday. (2345 is still a rough guess, but I'd like to point out it is very close.  All nutrition is gained from labels as well as fit day's database of nutrients for raw ingredients like onions, tomatoes etc.)

So how did I gain a pound and a half in one day?  There are a lot of factors.  I had a full plate of wheat pasta with vegatables last night so in my opinion I am still retaining that meal.  More then likely I am retaining water from that meal.  Did I gain back 1.5lbs of fat?  No! Keep in mind the scale tracks total weight which includes fat and lean mass.  And lean  mass is not just defined as muscle either.  You need to account for access water, food still in your system as well as the muscle and bone weight you are carrying around.

Either way I am not going to let this minor set back discourage me.  This is the normal fluctuation of weight.  One of the sole reasons not to check your weight daily.  I did get down to a yearly low at 233.8 yesterday so that was very encouraging.

A Quick update on my diet

Wow, what a busy weekend, I didn't get a chance to get online once.  I haven't had a chance to write about the cardio and weight exercises and I appologies.  I did want to come on and announce that I have reached 10 lbs of weight loss.  I am down to 234lbs.  I feel great and I am definitely noticing where I am losing it.  Still haven't reached my first weight goal of 220lbs but now I am only 14lbs away.

I had a rough weekend trying to stay on track with natural meals but I think I did very well considering.

Two meals in particular, lunch Saturday (ramen) and lunch Sunday (greasy pizza).  I managed to eat in moderation for those meals and I didn't over do it.  I came away not feeling stuffed and engourged like I usually would have.

I spent alot of time this weekend doing manual labor so I didn't get a chance to do any formal exercises but I felt I got enough exercise from the work I did.  I did make plans with Hope to lift some weights tonight.  Even though she doesn't think she should lift weights, building a little muscle for her will be a huge benefit for her in trying to lose weight.  Because the more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn at rest.

More on my diet

I didn't want to overload yesterday's post with all the details of my diet since it's probably a lot to take in.  Once you understand it though it all makes sense.

I originally got interested in this diet, which is basically a bodybuilders diet, but it works great when wanting to cut fat.  Last year at this time on digg there was a post about John Stone who took monthly pictures of his transformation for a year.  That was very inspiring and I went to his site and started learning.  His forum has thousands of members all working on the same goal and are very helpful and knowledgeable. 

One of the links he advocates on his site is FatLossTips.com this is basically the blueprint for the diet I am following (among a few well written forum threads that are also fat loss guides).

Key points:

1. Increase to 5-6 small meal evenly throughout the day: this increases your metabolism thus making your body more efficient in burning through your calories.
2. Eat fewer calories: this is a given but you really need to figure out what your body needs to maintain your weight,  when I figured it out I was about 2700 calories a day to maintain my weight, now if I pull back the number of calories by 500 a day I should be able to lose a pound a week from diet.
3. Increase your protein intake: this helps rebuild muscle after working out and it jump starts your metabolism.  Foods high in protein: chicken, turkey, fish, eggs (esp. the egg white). I also take a protein shake after a workout, this will aid in muscle healing.
   
4. Eat more fat: WHAT?! That doesn't mean eat any kind of fat you have to know to eat the right fats.  Foods like Fish, Avocados, flaxseed, peanuts are all good fats with omega-3's.  Looking at the nutrition label look for foods that have low to none Saturated fats if the food has fat listed (by all means stay away from Trans Fats!) These fatty acids not only help increase testosterone production, they aid in the prevention of muscle breakdown, help to increase your HDL level (good cholesterol) and assist in hormone production.
5. Take a Supplement: I have a Men's daily vitamin that I take in the morning.  This just adds to the good nutrition I am already taking.
   
6. Switch to water: Cut out all the soda's and juices that are loaded with sugar and switch to water.  This is the biggest change you will see in the beginning when you switch to water your body will lose a ton of the "water" weight it has stored from the sugary sodas and juices you've been drinking.

This diet is not all that hard.  Just eat naturally and avoid the highly processed foods and stick to vegetables, chicken and lean meat and you'll do fine.

Tomorrow, I'll discuss Weights and Cardio workouts.

Time for a lifestyle change

So I've been watching my weight on the scale for a while now and it eventually topped out at 244lbs.  HOLY SHIT!!!  That's the biggest I've been in my life.  That was last Monday (3/24) at the doctors office.  I was going to the doctor for some issues and the issue of my weight came up and that I would benefit from losing some weight.

Today I weighed in at 238.4.  In a week and a half I've lost 5.6 lbs by switching to a healthier more natural diet.

Here's what I am doing.  I am not on some fad diet like south beach or atkins.  In my personal opinion I think those diets are unhealthy.  I am looking to try to eat as naturally as possible.  So that means cutting processed foods out of my diet as much as possible.  I've also switched to drinking water.

The great thing is I have the support of my wife and we aren't telling the kids that what they are now eating is healthy for them.  So far they haven't noticed and during one dinner (wheat crust pizza with low fat cheese, red pepper, red onions and chicken) they said it was really good. 

Last year I was doing this same diet but way more extreme (I was counting every calorie and measuring myself every week, etc.) and I got down to 226.  But I eventually got frustrated. My wife was eating South Beach and we weren't making the kids eat what we were eating so that meant 3 different meals a meal we were cooking.  It came down to me only able to do my diet at work and then coming home and eating crappy.  Finally I caved and just went back to eating whatever.

I think I'll create a new category called 'fitness' and use this blog to  talk about my progress and my plan.  Hopefully being open about what I am doing will be a good kick in the butt to show progress to someone.