End of a Good Year

Today is the last day of 2010 and it also marks 4 months of weight loss doing Atkins. I started at 262 lbs. and I am currently 220 lbs. I was able to lose on average 10+ lbs. @ month. Not bad! My new goal is to get to 200 lbs. This New Years weekend I'll cheat a little by eating more carbs but I'll be back on track by Monday. HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY WEIGHT LOSS!

Christmas Weight Gain?

This is the first Christmas in over 25 years that I have not gained any weight! Currently I'm at 220 lbs. a weight which I was at 22 years ago when I married. I have to give credit to the low carb diet I'm on. With all the sugary temptations during Christmas I only indulged on Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Controlled Carbs!

Well doing more exercise and eating less fat and sugar has just kept me at my current weight of 262 lbs. This is very frustrating so I made a decision. I'm going ATKINS! I did this 7 years ago and it worked but I just didn't take time to find my Controlled Carbohydrate level and went off the wagon. I started the Atkin's diet yesterday, August 31st, 2010. My weight was 262 lbs. Since I drive a bus with people's lives in my hand I had to make sure that I wouldn't have any sugar imbalance in my blood stream. This type of imbalance could cause fainting and other symtoms. Fortunately I didn't have much trouble with the sugar but I really did miss the caffienne. During the first part "induction", one is supposed to stay off caffienne. Staying off caffienne for a bus driver is tough. Yesterday was a slow rainy day which gave me time to think about how much I missied coffee. I hung in there and made it home. Carmen made me a great salad with tomatoes, feta cheese and romaine lettuce. The dressing was excellent as well.

Spring Holidays

I'm on two weeks holidays and know that losing weight on holidays is nearly impossible. My goal is to not gain any weight. Today I'm 258 lbs.

Exercise = Use it or lose it

Without exercise weight loss would seem to be not as effective. But joining a workout club just doesn't fit with my lifestyle. For me to exercise on a consistent regular basis it has got to be convenient. Well fortunately while on Christmas holidays with my family I read an newspaper article on exercise using the japanese "Tabata" method. This was revolutionary to me, and it works! It was designed specifically for the Japanese Olympic speed skating team. Tabata is effective because the body continues to burn calories at a high rate during recovery period.

It works this way:

5 minutes warm up
8 intervals of 20 seconds all-out intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest
2 minutes cool down

My exercises during the 20 seconds include running on the spot, squats, sit ups etc.
If you do this truly with high intensity you have had a great workout without any gym expense and you will feel the difference, all in about 11 minutes a day!

This is what I've been doing the last month and will continue to do. But I know I have to do more and eat less to reach my goal of 210. Exercise More & Eat Less!

Starting Over and Over and Over . . .

I guess this is the dilemma of most fat people, "starting over on a diet". I can remember losing over 30 pounds on the "Atkins diet". I felt great but staying with more protein menu was not something my whole family could do. I gained it all back. I went through a career change which meant I was sitting most of my working day and I went up to 280 pounds May 17, 2009.

Today is May 11, 2010 and I weigh 260 pounds. Actually I have hovered between 255 and 260 pounds for the last 2 months. How did I lose 20 pounds over 1 year? Easy I just stopped eating alot of fast food. My problem was that between my regular 3 square meals a day I'd slip in a burger and fries and Cola. When I stopped slipping in the "fast food" between meals the weight slowly came off. But now I'm as a sready 255 - 260 pounds. So I'm guessing if I was already at my goal weight of 210 then my present diet and exercise would allow me to stay there. Now I just got to get there.

Ode to being fat

Let me just say that I was not born a fat baby. Any fat that accumulated on my body over the years was my own doing. No one put a gun to my head and said, "eat or die". I'm also not the kind of person who hides behind excuses.

"I eat therefore I am!"

I know there are programs out there that promote fat loss. But from my way of thinking I can't depend on a program to keep myself at a healthy weight. I know that I've got to change, nobody else, just me.

To change one's habits sometimes takes a little coaxing or some major catastrophe. I find find myself somewhere in the middle of coaxing and catastrophe. The warning signs are out there. I've got high blood ptressure and I'm getting closer to being a diabetic. I've got high cholesterol and high triglycerides. The great thing is that I can change this . . . I will change this . . . I will lose 50 pounds!

The doctor has prescribed blood pressure pills for me. But these have side effects I don't like. The next thing is prescription pills for high cholesterol and so on. I don't want to rely on this stuff so my "slogan", "battle cry" is LOSE IT OR DIE!