FatBlogger

A FitDay!

I have been begun keeping a food and exercise journal of sorts, using FitDay. You can use the free version, and even publish to the web if you want (as I have done)  or you can download a paid version, with a few more bells and whistles. You can check out mine in the top right corner of the blog.

What I like about FitDay is that you can add your own "custom" foods, as long as you have a food label to look at. It totals up your calories eaten and even can give you a report to see if what you are eating is nutritionally sound, as in meeting the FDA requirements.

Of course, not many of us have the time to keep a food journal, let alone add information into a data base, but if you can find the time (it takes about 1 minute to actually input the information from a label), it could be well worth your effort, even if it is only a temporary thing.

Many of us who are over-weight simply do not understand how it could be. A common thing I read and here, even at times from my own lips is, "I don't understand how I got so fat, I hardly eat anything". Sure, your metabolism could probably use some tweaking, and aging plays a part in that, but many of us simply are not aware of what we eat. Consider this excerpt from an MSNBC article on weight-loss pitfalls...

If it's not a plate, it doesn't count

Think 25 calories a mouthful. Assume that's what every bite you take is worth, says Elizabeth Somers, a registered dietitian in Salem, Ore.

“So many people do well during mealtime, but forget about the extra food they’ve had along the way — the handful of nuts before dinner, the taste-testing of cookie dough, the food left on their kid’s plate," says Somers, who wrote “10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet.” "Every bite adds up.”

Four bites a day is 100 extra calories. In a month’s time, that’s nearly a pound of extra weight.

A journal helps to keep track of those extra bites. I don't know how long I will enter the information into my FitDay journal, but I intend to do it at least until certain foods and meals become routine. At the very least it is helping me to see if what I eat is covering my basic nutritional needs. If you are interested, go to FitDay.com and try out the free version, you don't have to publish to the web, that is optional!

WebMd and FitDay sign-up

Tonight I went through and gave everyone of my posts a category.  If another wayward soul like me wanders into my blog I want them to find something useful, or maybe just another kindred spirit.

I joined the WebMd Weight Loss Clinic, it costs about $5 dollars a month, no contract, I can quit anytime. The reason I did is because you go through a lengthy interview (on-line) about your eating habits and they prescribe a "diet" based on what you like to eat, allowing for a modest 1-2 pound fat loss per week. It is overseen by doctors, you get some neat tools, a daily newsletter with good info, a place to chat with others. They also give you a letter to give to your doctor should you want to go.  Once  I see what they have to offer, what they think is a good menu, I will probably quit it and go it alone.

I also signed up at FitDay. You can use the on-line version, which is free. They provide a ton of tools, charts, graphs.  For example, supposedly, you can enter whatever you eat, it will tell you the calories, what percentage of RDA it contains, the carbs, the proteins, the fat. You can also keep a activity log which tells you how many calories you have burned, keeps track of your weight, mood, measurements, every single thing you can think of. This is appealing to me because I spend a lot of time thinking about how I want to do the diet, how many calories this or that will burn, it is just an excuse really, but this way I have no excuses, it is all there for me if I need it. I will keep you up to date on how these two tools work out.

I have been keeping to the schedule that Jeff Galloway has sent me, keep in touch with him via e-mail and he is pretty good at getting back to me. It has been really hot here, so I have been exercising in the house on the treadmill and saving the long runs for Sunday at the park. Today I got his book "Galloway's Book on Running", a training journal and a nifty mesh running type t-shirt that no way in hell going to wear at the moment!

Of course, I have not lost any weight as of yet, but I continue to exercise and I am gearing up, I think my chances now are much better, and I am actually looking forward to getting "started" once again!

experiment with exercise

Another thing I did, while I was keeping the food diary, was to experiment with different kinds of exercises, for little amounts of time. My past attempts at weight loss usually involved a drastic cut in calories and tons of exercise, which I usually burned out on too quickly. This time I figure, why rush things, I mean, I have been fat this long, why not spend a little time trying to figure out what I enjoy. In the past I really liked doing yoga, jogging, but they seem really hard right now that I am heavier. I also wanted to try different times, like morning vs, afternoon, or night. 

I basically did what ever I had on hand. I have a 15 year old Life Cycle (still kicking), a treadmill, a weight bench and an old workout station with pulleys and weights. I also have a dog! I did a little of everything and came to the conclusion that I should probably do a little of everything if I can, to keep me from getting bored and to keep me from getting to sore in one area, thus getting discouraged.

Mornings are a drag to exercise, it feels like I am moving around with a cement block in my brain. It is nice to get it over with and can improve your outlook right away, but I need some serious coffee first. Late afternoons seemed to work out best for me at the moment, with a nice long walk later that evening with the dog.

I put in some different types of music too for motivation when I was pedaling my ass to nowhere. Music can make a huge difference between keeping you going or giving up altogether. I did not try anything to hard, basically just showed up, did a small bit, maybe 10-15 minutes then quit. I was not trying to lose weight here, just finding out what I liked to do and when.

It has been a week now on my program and I have worked out pretty regular. Tomorrow is my first weigh in to see how it is going, I will wait till then before I get into blogging about my actual new routine and eating habits, I want to make sure it is working first before I go mouthing off about it right?

keeping a food diary

It was very helpful to have written down everything I ate for a week. I recommend it for anyone wanting to start eating better. Sometimes we think we know where we are going wrong, or we don't understand how we can possibly be so fat. Keeping the diary and trying to add up the calories can tell you the who what when where of the mystery.

I found out that I was eating, on average, about 2400 calories a day, just about 300 over what I should. That is not really much, a can of coke, a handful or two of chips and before I knew it, it added up to over 50 extra pounds. I also found out that I was eating these extra 300 or so calories, mostly at night after 10 pm. That is when I usually unwind, watch a little TV or something, and like to snack. I am never usually hungry, but it is comforting, entertaining.

One of the things I decided to do was to do my blogging at that time of night instead, maybe when I have to post about how fat I am I might have to think twice before I begin to graze. Another thing, and this is harder, is to try and get to bed then. I think the best thing I have tried to do, and so far has been effective, is just counting my calories during the day, cutting back enough so that I can have a 300 calorie snack after 10 pm. That seems to be working so far.

When I was keeping the diary I did not hold back any eating, I just tried to do what I was normally doing and quickly jot it down in a small notebook that nobody would really take notice of. I wrote down what I ate, how much and what time. I also wrote down how I was feeling after I ate, was I hungry, did I feel stuffed, etc. This is not really important, but it gave me insight into the fact that I got full after about 400-500 calories at a single meal. If I ate over 600 I was uncomfortable. I think I was often uncomfortable, which is why I always seemed to hate myself so much.

Using the nutrition label info, or looking it up in a small calorie book I have, I was able to add it all up at the end of the night. Another thing I did, and this is important, was to weigh myself before I began the diary and after. This is important because you want to try and figure out how many calories it takes to support your weight, or what your metabolism is. That info was needed if I was going to try and figure out a workable plan. Like I said, I discovered I ate about 2400 calories on average, my weight stayed the same 220, so dividing 2400 by 220 I was able to figure out that my metabolism was about 11 calories per pound.

Okay, now as you lose weight your metabolism actually begins to rise slightly, so figuring that at 175 pounds my metabolism would be 12 calories per pound, my healthy weight would be around 2100 calories, only 300 less than what I was eating. That means if I could cut down the calories by only that much, I could eventually lose the weight. It also shows you how little is needed to gain and lose so much weight.

These numbers were pretty damn close to the estimate from the Webmd.com site, which I have included here for anyone who wants to check it out.  http://my.webmd.com/content/tools/1/calc_metabolism.htm?z=1671_00000_0000_tq_05

This should be the very beginning of anyones diet plans, you can gain great insight into your eating habits and give yourself a tremendous edge when you go to begin a another diet plan. Find out the what, when, where of your extra pounds!