<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The 342 Journey</title>
	<atom:link href="http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://342journey.com</link>
	<description>Documenting my journey to a healthy lifestyle...</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:36:53 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Week 16 Results: 1.0 Gain</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=255</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=255#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:36:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Journal Notes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=255</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 321.5 Current Weight: 322.5 Total Weight Loss: 19.5 Calories consumption was high this week. Gotta say, I still don&#8217;t understand how I can have a negative net burn and still gain wait. But, I think &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=255">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 321.5<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 322.5</strong><br />
<strong>Total Weight Loss: 19.5</strong></p>
<p>Calories consumption was high this week.  Gotta say, I still don&#8217;t understand how I can have a negative net burn and still gain wait.  But, I think I can correlate what my daily activity is vs calories consumed and how they drive weight gain vs. loss.  I had lower activity, higher calorie consumption&#8230;logic tells me that should be a gain.</p>
<p>More to come&#8230;</p>
<p><img src="http://www.342journey.com/Progress/Wk16_BodyMediaSS.jpg" alt="Week 16 Results" /></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=255</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mental Obsession</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=252</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=252#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:45:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Journal Notes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=252</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I felt the need to share that while I&#8217;m 15 weeks into this journey, I must admit that I still struggle with the mental side of obsessing about food. I don&#8217;t mean casual thoughts about what to plan for dinner. &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=252">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I felt the need to share that while I&#8217;m 15 weeks into this journey, I must admit that I still struggle with the mental side of obsessing about food. I don&#8217;t mean casual thoughts about what to plan for dinner. I mean obsessing. That constant mental thought that can not be shaken.</p>
<p>I could be working on an analysis at work <span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><strong>[ice cream]</strong><span style="color: #000000;">. Finishing it up and prepping for another meeting that I have in about 1 hour 15 minutes <span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><strong>[ice cream]</strong><span style="color: #000000;">, which is just after I get back from lunch <span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><strong>[there's ice cream in the freezer upstairs!]</strong><span style="color: #000000;">. I&#8217;m leading and I have to get an agenda out <span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><strong>[plus, there's that new ice cream shop that just opened down the street!]</strong><span style="color: #000000;"> before I leave for lunch. It would be good to <span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><strong>[hold it...they have a drive thru!]</strong><span style="color: #000000;"> jot down some notes about the discussion points.  Damn it.  I&#8217;m leaving for lunch.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p>I feel the need to put in a disclosure that while these thoughts do occur very similar to how I&#8217;ve outlined above, sometimes I succumb to them and sometimes I don&#8217;t. If I do succomb, I do log it in my food log / calories consumed. Granted, for the better part of the 15 weeks, I&#8217;ve been able to &#8220;ignore&#8221; those thoughts or distract myself with other tasks. I&#8217;m curious whether this will be a life-long habit that I will have to deal with. Because if it is&#8230;that sucks. I&#8217;m up for doing it. I&#8217;m just recognizing that it sucks.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve quit smoking. Haven&#8217;t had one in 7 1/2 years now. And I know that I will never have another because I understand that the first one that I &#8220;approve&#8221; will be the toughest and all my control over the addiction will be out the window. Granted, it is much easier now to say &#8220;no&#8221; to smoking than it was 2 weeks after I quit (infinitely more easier). But this obsessing is very much like that.</p>
<p>For anyone that&#8217;s fought and beaten (or worked with someone that has), any feedback on how you dealt with the mental aspect?</p>
<p>I can only speak to how I handled the smoking addiction and that was one day at a time. Not even that. I focused on very short term goals. &#8230;..5 minutes &#8230;..I can make it to the next 15 minute mark without a smoke &#8230;..I can make it through the drive home without a smoke &#8230;.I can make it in the house and change out of my work clothes without a smoke &#8230;..I can eat dinner without taking a break for a smoke &#8230;&#8230;ah, thank goodness, it&#8217;s bedtime</p>
<p>That&#8217;s how I handled a full elimination habit.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t full elimination though. This is like quitting smoking, but still buying cigarettes everyday. Having someone light it for me and handing it to me and saying, &#8220;Don&#8217;t smoke that&#8221;. Like I said&#8230;I&#8217;m not going to. But yes, this sucks.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=252</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 15 Results: 2.0 Gain</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=250</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=250#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Jul 2012 12:39:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Journal Notes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 319.5 Current Weight: 321.5 Total Weight Loss: 20.5 I&#8217;ve done well this week even if the scale doesn&#8217;t show it. Just as I said last week&#8230;. Feeling good. Feeling focused. Looking forward to continued success. &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=250">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 319.5<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 321.5</strong><br />
<strong>Total Weight Loss: 20.5</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve done well this week even if the scale doesn&#8217;t show it.  Just as I said last week&#8230;.</p>
<p>Feeling good.  Feeling focused.  Looking forward to continued success.  I&#8217;m optimistic that I&#8217;ve righted the ship.</p>
<p>FYI, I&#8217;ve had limited mobility this week thanks to a bout of Tendonitis in my foot and Dr&#8217;s orders.  Should be back to normal routines by mid-week.</p>
<p>More to come&#8230;</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot showing what my daily averages are in the various categories tracked by my armband. </p>
<p><img src="http://www.342journey.com/Progress/Wk15_BodyMediaSS.jpg" alt="Week 15 Results" /></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=250</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 14 Results: 6.5 Loss</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=238</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=238#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jul 2012 20:59:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Results]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 326.0 Current Weight: 319.5 Total Weight Loss: 22.5 Nice rebound. Feeling good. Feeling focused. Looking forward to continued success. I&#8217;m optimistic that I&#8217;ve righted the ship. More to come&#8230; Below is a screenshot showing what &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=238">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 326.0<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 319.5</strong><br />
<strong>Total Weight Loss: 22.5</strong></p>
<p>Nice rebound.</p>
<p>Feeling good.  Feeling focused.  Looking forward to continued success.  I&#8217;m optimistic that I&#8217;ve righted the ship.</p>
<p>More to come&#8230;</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot showing what my daily averages are in the various categories tracked by my armband. FYI, I track my food in an independent app that is much easier than the app they have, but the caloric values are plugged into the BodyMedia app.  Also note, I miskeyed the weight and can&#8217;t figure out how to correct it.  Body Media could really improve their Activity Manager app to be a bit more user friendly for these types of things.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.342journey.com/Progress/Wk14_BodyMediaSS.jpg" alt="Week 14 Results" /></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=238</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 13 Results: 5.5 Gain</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=233</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=233#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:42:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Results]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=233</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 320.5 Current Weight: 326.0 Total Weight Loss: 16.0 Ouch. I can&#8217;t say I&#8217;m surprised. I did log the food I ate. And, I know what activities that weren&#8217;t logged because I didn&#8217;t do them. I &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=233">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 320.5<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 326.0</strong><br />
<strong>Total Weight Loss: 16.0</strong></p>
<p>Ouch.  I can&#8217;t say I&#8217;m surprised.  I did log the food I ate.  And, I know what activities that weren&#8217;t logged because I didn&#8217;t do them.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t have much to say.  I could make excuses to rationalize how this happened (weighing in the evening vs the morning&#8230;lots of beer this week during my vacation&#8230;.extra 500-1,000 calories consumed daily&#8230;.little planned activity other than some yardwork&#8230;.&#8221;earning&#8221; that beer, or two, after the yardwork&#8230;.not exercising since &#8220;I&#8217;ve already done all that yardwork&#8221;).  It sounds like I&#8217;ve redone my entire landscaping in 1 week, when in reality, I&#8217;ve overstated and overjustified what it represented.</p>
<p>I think it&#8217;s ironic that I then read this today&#8230;..<a href="http://www.344pounds.com/2012/07/taking-back-control/" title="Taking Back Control">Taking Back Control</a></p>
<p>I also feel the need to state this and I want to state it with the sentiment that I&#8217;m trying not to be a jerk, but more of a stream-of-consciousness sentiment&#8230;.I am not posting this weigh-in in the vein of hoping to receive comments of &#8220;It&#8217;s OK&#8221; or &#8220;You can do it!&#8221;.  Nor do I want to scare anyone from posting a comment at all (I sincerely appreciate them!!!!).  I&#8217;m posting this so that I can stop thinking about it (purely selfish reasons).  I need to state it and move on.  This is part of the accountability I agreed to many weeks ago.  I do know that it&#8217;s OK and that I can do it.  Hoping to not sound like a jack ass, but I have heard it, know it, aware of it, and about half-assed believe it.</p>
<p>I will continue to give it a go and do my best to not be full of shit.  All past sins have been forgiven.  I&#8217;m moving on.</p>
<p>More to come&#8230;</p>
<p>(Now that I have had my armband back for a full week, I will post a screenshot of the week tomorrow)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=233</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 12 Results: 0.5 Loss</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=229</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=229#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:39:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Journal Notes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 321.0 Current Weight: 320.5 Total Weight Loss: 21.5 I&#8217;m back on track for sure. I&#8217;ve enjoyed some budgeted indulgences this week (ice cream with my brother&#8217;s family, etc) and given that one of the indulgences &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=229">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 321.0<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 320.5</strong><br />
<strong>Total Weight Loss: 21.5</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m back on track for sure.  I&#8217;ve enjoyed some budgeted indulgences this week (ice cream with my brother&#8217;s family, etc) and given that one of the indulgences was pizza last night, the sodium, etc in that is probably factoring into my weightloss not being more.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve really enjoyed reading the blog that Matt linked last week.  That page has some great insight on what to put into one&#8217;s body.  Good info.  Thanks for the link!  Any other sites like that, that you follow regularly?</p>
<p>Wishing everyone well going into picnics this week and weekend.  I&#8217;ve got some time off coming up this coming week and plan on doing a ton more yard work, landscaping, etc as my activity.  Though with it being 95+ degrees out, that tends to cause many breaks so I don&#8217;t pass out (safety first!).</p>
<p>More to come&#8230;</p>
<p>I will post this week&#8217;s body media log later today when I sync my device.  FYI, I&#8217;m going swimming with the family today&#8230;here&#8217;s to hoping I remember to take it off this time!</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot showing what my daily averages are in the various categories tracked by my armband. FYI, I track my food in an independent app that is much easier than the app they have, but the caloric values are plugged into the BodyMedia app.  Also note, I miskeyed the weight and can&#8217;t figure out how to correct it.  Body Media could really improve their Activity Manager app to be a bit more user friendly for these types of things.</p>
<p><img src="http://342journey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/underwater.jpg" alt="Week 10 Results" />f</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=229</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 11 Results: 1.5 Loss</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=223</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=223#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:03:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Journal Notes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 322.5 Current Weight: 321.0 I&#8217;m getting back on track mentally. Some days it is a challenge to remember, but I did take some of the comments to heart last week and did a bit more &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=223">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 322.5<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 321.0</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m getting back on track mentally.  Some days it is a challenge to <em>remember</em>, but I did take some of the comments to heart last week and did a bit more activity and cycled my calories (one day 1500, next day 2400, etc).  It appears to have paid off.  We will see how this continues this week too!</p>
<p>One thing I can attest to is that the BodyMedia CORE armband that I had (note the tense) is not to be worn while swimming.  It wasn&#8217;t until after about an hour at the pool on Father&#8217;s Day with the family that I realized I still had it on.  While it appeared to make some beeps and preliminarily appear OK, it died that night.  I was without it for the majority of this week.  I felt very out of sync from what my habit has been.  While I have been tracking my food with another app, I felt somewhat blind to how many steps and/or activity I&#8217;ve had that day.  Nothing that I think is detrimental, as I still evaluated it the old fashioned way, but still&#8230;.it&#8217;s nice having gadgets sometimes. <img src='http://342journey.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>More to come <img src='http://342journey.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>You can see the calorie deficit that is shown still shows improvement, but I attribute a lot of that number to the deficit achieved over the last two / three days of 2k (almost 3k).</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot showing what my daily averages are in the various categories tracked by my armband. FYI, I track my food in an independent app that is much easier than the app they have, but the caloric values are plugged into the BodyMedia app.  Also note, I miskeyed the weight and can&#8217;t figure out how to correct it.  Body Media could really improve their Activity Manager app to be a bit more user friendly for these types of things.</p>
<p><img src="http://342journey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/underwater.jpg" alt="Week 10 Results" />f</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=223</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Week 10 Results: 1.5 Gain</title>
		<link>http://342journey.com/?p=211</link>
		<comments>http://342journey.com/?p=211#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:40:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Results]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://342journey.com/?p=211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Weight: 342.0 Previous Weight: 321.0 Current Weight: 322.5 My head was not in it for the majority of last week, having slid back into some dark habits of self-loathing, self-defeating mindsets. While those may not be the most accurate &#8230; <a href="http://342journey.com/?p=211">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Starting Weight: 342.0<br />
Previous Weight: 321.0<br />
<strong>Current Weight: 322.5</strong></p>
<p>My head was not in it for the majority of last week, having slid back into some dark habits of self-loathing, self-defeating mindsets.  While those may not be the most accurate of words, it definitely hits the nail on the head with where my mind was.  I had lost focus.</p>
<p>On Thursday, I checked my weight, knowing full, well what my habits had done.  It was a moment of accountability.  It was a slap in the face, as I was faced with the unravelling of weeks of work.  I was up 4 pounds.</p>
<p>I opted to get off my ass and do something to stop this trend backwards into the madness.  I busted my ass doing yard work for the last two days.  Thankfully, I have seemed to have stopped my trend.  </p>
<p>I mentioned last week that I could see some habits creeping back in (remember my laziness posting the update on Thursday).  And I was right. </p>
<p>This weeks goal&#8230;.again&#8230;to stay focused. I need to focus on the success I have had and remember what&#8217;s motivating me to continue. This week, I just need to stay on target.</p>
<p>More to come <img src='http://342journey.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>You can see the calorie deficit that is shown still shows improvement, but I attribute a lot of that number to the deficit achieved over the last two / three days of 2k (almost 3k).</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot showing what my daily averages are in the various categories tracked by my armband. FYI, I track my food in an independent app that is much easier than the app they have, but the caloric values are plugged into the BodyMedia app.  Also note, I miskeyed the weight and can&#8217;t figure out how to correct it.  Body Media could really improve their Activity Manager app to be a bit more user friendly for these types of things.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.342journey.com/Progress/Wk10_BodyMediaSS.jpg" alt="Week 10 Results" /></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://342journey.com/?feed=rss2&#038;p=211</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
