Starting weight: 342.0
Previous Weight: 330.5
Current Weight: 324.0

I think I had a lot of focus on my calorie burn rate vs calories consumed this week. Also, using my new CORE Armband from Body Media, I’ve been able to get accurate information on my burn rate and activity monitoring, so that I can then make smart decisions on my consumption. I’ve been wearing it for a little over two weeks now, and I must say that it provides some great information to review and it helps feed the competitive side of me (trying to out-do yesterday’s step count, burn rate, etc).
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Life had a bit of catching up to me this week, and I’ve wanted to be sure I keep active where possible and not allow other things (like “I have to do a blog entry tonight!”) as an excuse to reprioritize the now and sabotage the future.

Some examples of things that I got caught up in this week:

• Cub Scout Camp (Fri through Sunday) – Provided a huge opportunity to integrate activity with some awesome fun with my son.  I target a 4,000 calorie burn target each day, while also averaging about 6-7,000 steps daily.  On Saturday alone, I burned little over 5,200 calories and took 17,930 steps throughout the day.  This was primarily due to walking to everything on campus, and consistently volunteering to be the “go-to” guy for things
• Baseball Coaching – Got an opportunity this week to coach a game and spent about 2 hours at a high-energy level, running on and off the field, etc and helped burn enough calories that equated to a half-hour on the treadmill (and it was much more fun, to boot).
• Mowing the lawn – Sure, I sat on my duff (tractor) for most of it, but I opted to put off a whole lot more to do with the push mower and even more to the trimmer than I normally do.

As I a venture through this journey, I am getting confirmation from a principle I have heard many times before. Information is a vital component and is likely directly relational (I can’t prove this…yet) to the success of one’s journey.

Easier ability to make decisions. By tracking the amount of calories that you put into your body, you can better decide what your consumption for the day will look like. If you’ve eaten 800 calories for breakfast, you should then know the you do not have a lot of leeway to just consume anything throughout the rest of the day. On the flip side, if you are heading into dinner and still have 900 calories left in your daily target, that provides room to indulge in most any type of food.

Easier ability to evaluate success. By tracking the calories consumed and calories burned, you can decide if you have had a successful day. If you are looking at a deficit of 1,000 calories (more calories burned than consumed), then you know you are on track to lose 2 pounds that week. If you are looking at a 100 calorie deficit, maybe you should pass on that cookie until tomorrow (or go for a walk and increase that deficit).

Keep in mind that, I believe calorie counting doesn’t have to be exact (at least to start out anyway).  It should be enough to provide information to evaluate where you are at and react to it.

Don’t get me wrong. Information and calorie tracking is not the end-all, be-all solution, but if you are going to have any chance of success, you will need to have a defined plan of how you will get and evaluate the information available to you. Sometimes it is other factors that will drive your success (perseverance), but understanding and reacting to information will get you farthest on your journey.

That’s what I want to happen. 3-4 weeks from now, I want to look back and remember how tough this week was. Mid week (and even up to about an hour ago), I show a gain. And not just a small gain, but a couple pounds up (332).

Let me preface this with the fact that, I have not let this change my habits, my focus, or my committment to my new lifestyle. Activity remains a consistent part of my life. According to my new gadget (more to come in another post on this), I’m burning a calorie deficit of 1,500-2,500 calories per day, so I know I’m continuing to do what’s right.

But this sucks.
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Below is what I ate during Week 2 up to the weigh in day (I weight in Sunday morning as soon as I got up).

Feel free to review and comment.

Sunday

• Breakfast – 485 Calories – Oatmeal, Banana, Coffee w/ Crm & Sugar
• Lunch – 650 Calories (Panera) 1/2 Meditterranean Veggie Sandwich, Chicken Noodle Soup, Baguette
• Dinner – 502 Calories – 5 oz Pork Tenderloin, Broccoli, Pasta Side
• Snacks – 407 Calories – 12 oz Beer, Crackers, Popcorn

Monday

• Breakfast – 359 Calories – Oatmeal, Coffee w/ Crm Only
• Lunch – 673 Calories (Isaac’s Deli) – Roast Beef Sandwich, 1/2c Red Potato Salad, Side Salad
• Dinner – 630 Calories – Meatloaf, Mixed Veggies, Peanut Butter Cup (1)

Tuesday

• Breakfast – 420 Calories – English Muffin, Morningstar Sausage, Greek Yogurt
• Lunch – 666 Calories – Perogies, Grilled Chicken Breast, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Peanut Butter Crackers
• Dinner – 453 Calories – 1 Serving D’Giorno Pizza, Side Salad, Ranch Dressing

Wednesday

• Breakfast – 361 Calories – 3 Egg Whites, Canola Oil, English Muffin, Salsa, Morningstar Sausages
• Lunch – 492 Calories – Arugula, Fennel, and Orange Salad, 4 Oz Beef Filet, Greek Yogurt
• Dinner – 635 Calories (Hoss’s) – 7 Oz Sirloin, Mashed Potatoes, Side Salad, Thousand Island Dressing

Thursday

• Breakfast – 397 Calories – 3 Egg Whites, Peppers, English Muffin, Butter, Coffee w/ Crm & Sugar
• Lunch – 768 Calories (Momma Spriggs) – Salad, 3 Oz Beef, Blue Cheese Crumbles, Blue Cheese Dressing, Brownie
• Dinner – 587 Calories – Meatloaf, Fennel, Arugula, Olive Oil
• Snacks – 187 Calories (Massey’s w/ Cub Scouts) – 4 oz / Single Soft Serve on Cone

Friday

• Breakfast – 544 Calories – 3 Egg White w/ Mushrooms & Cheddar (Canola Oil), Morningstar Sausage, Greek Yogurt
• Lunch – 450 Calories (Subway) – 6″ Turkey Sub w/ Double Meat, Baked Chips
• Dinner – 748 Calories – 10 oz Grilled Chicken Breast, Peppers, & Onions on a Hoagie Roll, 5 oz White Wine

Saturday

• Breakfast – 507 Calories – 3 Egg White w/ Mushrooms & Cheddar (Canola Oil), Dinner Roll, Greek Yogurt
• Lunch – 406 Calories – 7 Oz Grilled Chicken Breast, Tostitos Bite Size, Radishes & Baby Carrots (Raw)
• Dinner – 565 Calories – 1 Hamburger w/ Red Onion, Lettuce, Tomato and Cheese on a Bun, Corn on the Cob, 1 oz Macaroni & Cheese

It’s easy to be accountable if no one is looking. If have a goal and you tell no one about it. What happens if you fail? You don’t have to worry about telling someone that you fail if no one is watching. There is no reason to try your best because…no one’s going to know if I make it or not. If I stated I would post progress pictures on the blog and then opted not to or “forgot”…if no one knew about the blog, there would be no one to call me out on it.

Of course, the downside, what if you make it? What if you win? What if you’ve hit a goal that you’ve been aiming at for months / years? If you told no one, there would be no one to pat you on the back and be your cheerleader as you continue on your journey. Who would be there to say “Good Job!”? Who would be there to ask you about your next goal?

It’s easy to be accountable if no one is looking. It’s time that I start looking.

I came to this acknowledgement earlier this week, hence I sent out the note to most friends / family about my endeavor here.

Accountability can play a huge part in one’s ability to be successful. If someone is watching, you will do your best. You will try to have the best form. You will pay attention to what you’re doing. You will be aware if you start to go off-course and make the necessary corrections. If someone is watching, you’ll ask for feedback on how you’re doing. If someone is watching, they will be there to push you along, even without words….just being there.

Being accountable for your actions in a public manner helps keep you on-track to being accountable to yourself. Someone commented to me this week that while accountability does play a part, YOU are ultimately accountable to yourself. I know with people watching and wanting to give feedback, this will certainly help me on my journey.

While I don’t expect everyone to start their own blog about it, I’d love to hear how you share your message with friends, family, or co-workers. How will you be accountable on your journey?

So, I had stated previously that last week wasn’t an “overly challenging” week.  This week, while it has been much of the same, it has presented many challenges.  Challenges in the forms of temptations.   Temptations to indulge in things I’ve earned.

“What’s wrong with having another 200 or 300 calories in snacks today….I’ve earned it!”.  The reality is that I haven’t earned squat.  I can say that I have earned the weight I carry with me everyday.

Too many times, I was putting off exercising until later.  “I have had a long day…I worked so hard at the office….I’ve earned a break today!”  This brought out my internal Bob Harper each time, who promptly starting jumpin on my case about putting off my exercise for the day.  Good thing I realized what was going on mentally and seized the opportunity to suck it up and do what must be done.

If you find yourself in my shoes, facing this lifestyle change, I can only recommend to embrace the change.  Stop trying to justify the extras with the same excuses that have gotten you into this position.  It’s no longer a choice.  This is what must be done.

FYI, to coordinate some reporting, etc, I have moved weigh-in’s to Sundays.  More to come!

I got a new pair of shoes today. Man, do shoes make a difference. I remember when I got my last pair of shoes and how they made me feel like taking off….just go running! Now, they’re beat down and ready to retire. I got my new pair on tonight. While they didn’t give me that “gotta run” feeling, they sure were light years better than my old pair (sorry guys). Did a 1/2 hour on the treadmill and my feet are happy still. Sometimes, new equipment will help shake things up.

I’m going to continue to keep my eye out for some new ones that will give me that “wow” factor that I’m looking to find. If anyone’s interested, the ones I did get were some Asics GT2170. They are comfy and nice sneakers in general.