Meal Plan Week 3 update

Okay, so this week has been a complete fail. It was almost as if I wasn't on the diet at all, but not quite that far. I wasn't eating as many meals as I wanted to when I wanted to, and it didn't always have as much protein as I wanted (like only having cereal with milk for breakfast). I also went over my budget in alcoholic drinks (not by much) and ate 4 Godiva truffles in one sitting. I think the big problem was running out of diet compliant food and not finding a lot of time to go out and grocery shop for more. So I was really unprepared this week, hence more opportunity to fail.

However, I still feel like my will power is pretty good (besides the few slip ups of course). I've had plenty more opportunities to drink and such, but I didn't. I'm also generally very more conscience about what I'm eating so that's a plus also. I think part way through my week I knew I was slipping, so I got into the wrong mindset of "Well this week is already a fail, why bother getting back on track." Toootally wrong to think, I know. But at least I recognize it and admit it, so I can take steps to correct it. After all, it's a new week. Time to get back on track!

Week 2 Progress Stats

Beginning weight: 190 lbs
Week 2 weight: 185 lbs
Difference of: -5 lbs

5 lbs isn't much, but at least it's going in the right direction! Hopefully this number will start declining more rapidly once I start actually working out. My goal for the next 2 weeks is to get under 180 lbs. I plan to achieve this with not only exercise, but with better eating habits as well. I am eating a lot more but I have to better mind the portion size. Overall I think this a good start. I wish I knew exactly where these 5 lbs were lost (and if you're thinking clothing, I was wearing the same thing I wore when I first got weighed): is it fat? muscle? water weight? Hard to tell just after 2 week, but maybe in the weeks to come, a change in physical appearance will assure me that I'm losing the right weight.

Meal Plan Week 2 update

So this week was a little more of the first: general keeping to my diet but still eating out, healthy albeit. I did however use my 2 alcoholic drink maximum (vodka redbull friday night and a beer sat night). But considering that, I didn't drink at all at the Mos Def concert, and not a sip of any alcohol during the SuperBowl! A win for my will against temptations. I did snack a little on some Lay's chips (not much though) and had BBQ ribs for dinner. As for my SuperBowl meal? Tuna Burger on Whole Wheat thin buns with spinach, tomato, grilled onions and an aioli made with light mayo, lime juice, dijon mustard and sriracha.

Generally, I feel like this week was a little more of a fail from the first week, but i've had some big successes. I still need to get on a track where I have more control over what I eat, so that will be my goal for the following weeks. It's all about preparation.

Meal Plan Week 1 Update

Ugh. So I didn't post as much as I wanted to, updating everyday on what I've been eating. Maybe one day I'll get there, but it's hard to find time throughout the day to get on my blog and post it. Perhaps I should just document what I eat then post later? But with that in mind, I can at least update on my diet this past week.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of diet progress. I've haven't been following a strict plan like I wanted to, but my general changes have been good. I have been really good about eating smaller meals and snacking healthy, drinking a lot of smoothies, and making sure that almost everything is Abs Diet compliant. Where I have faltered though is that I have been eating out a lot. Not as much control as I wanted, but in doing so I have found some good eating out alternatives. At Toast, a restaurant by my work (the one with the cute hostess), I get the Chicken Apple salad and it's pretty tasty: Grilled Chicken with slices of Fuji apple, walnuts, blue cheese, fennel with a vinaigrette on mixed greens. At Pasta Moto (also by my work), I get the Mama's Meatballs: Turkey meatballs with a red tomato sauce, roasted mixed veggies and a little ricotta cheese. And for breakfast, Starbucks has a good choice with the Low Fat Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich: Turkey Bacon, egg white and white cheddar in a whole grain english muffin. Also eating out for lunch the other day, I got a grilled salmon with sauteed spinach and lentils... really delicious and healthy.

So overall I feel pretty good. Where I'm most proud is my will against temptations (oh and they're there). Last Tuesday I went to a concert and Friday we had a small party at work with free beers, and I didn't drink anything. I know I'm not completely restricting it from my diet and I could've had a drink or two, but why not just cut it out if you have a choice? I also declined a chocolate truffle and some tres leches. Again, I'm not completely cutting this out of my diet, but the diet is more than just eating right... it's about testing my will power against these tasty temptations and having control over what I eat. So far, it's been surprisingly easy. I'm not missing these things that much, but it might have to do with my diet. I'm keeping my tummy satisfied and eating plenty of berries and fruits for my sweet tooth. Not as readily satisfying as a chocolate truffle, but once I see results, then it will be all worth it. Then, as I see results, I'll reward myself with these yummy yum yum's. Always in moderation though.

Check back on Sunday when I post my Week 2 Meal plan update, as well as a physical progress report! (sorry ladies.. and Chad.. no shirtless photo's this time. Just weight and BMI).

Page Update

Sorry, I didn't realize that I had commenting disabled for everyone but members. I fixed it, so now anyone can comment, and anonymously if you feel like (though I encourage you to at least put in your name).

Meal Plan Week 1.1

So the nutrition part of the program is already proving to be a little difficult, for the fact that I'm temporarily staying at my parents house. 1) There is no room in the fridge for my stuff! I wanted to plan and shop for the week, but I'm unable to buy a week's worth of food. Only a few days at a time. 2) My commute has gone from 10 mins to about 60. That means I have to eat much earlier, shifting all my meals a little early thus making it harder when I'm working OT hours. But thinking about it now, seems easier to take this thing one at a time, with a little bit of planning ahead. I know roughly what I want to eat throughout the week, buy the things I need for that, then I have the flexibility to change it day by day. But definitely HAVE to think at least a day ahead and plan and make what you're going to eat. So 3/4's of the way through my first day of dieting and it hasn't been too bad. There was not one time today that I was aching in hunger and it was easy to wake up a little early this morning to prepare my breakfast and lunch.. so i think I'm on the right track! Here's what my meal plan looks like for today:

Breakfast: Abs Diet Power Smoothie
Snack 1: 1 Tbls Peanut Butter, Cup of strawberries, 1 String Cheese
Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread, with glass of 1% Milk and an apple
Snack 2: Ounce of Almonds and a bunch of baby carrots (which I am currently snacking on)
Dinner: Sushi (most likely Spicy Tuna Roll with Seaweed Salad and some Salmon Sashimi)
Snack 3: Leftover smoothie

So for dinner, I didn't prepare anything =T. Already off to a bad start right? So I had to find a smart and healthy alternative to eat out, and I chose Sushi. If you know what to get, you can form a low fat, low carb and high protein dinner. And at my sushi restaurant in Novato, I can choose the multigrain rice option which makes the carbs good carbs. I don't see how I can lose with this dinner. Just can't make it a habit to go here all the time when I forget a meal cause it can be $$$ over time. There must be other great options out there. Any suggestions?

My Goals

So as I said before, I'm more worried about the body composition stuff than anything else at this point, so my goals are going to be focused there (and also to work a little more on core strength training, which the fitness test shows as my weakest muscle group). So I want my numbers to look a little more like this:

Weight: 175
BF%: 10-12%
BF (lbs): 17.5
Hip to Waist Ratio: .90

So this means I want to drop my body fat percentage by about 9%, which comes out to about 20 lbs of body fat. When do I want to hit these numbers by? My next fitness eval, in 3 months. It's going to take a lot of hard work, but I'm excited for it. Just have to keep my goals in mind. For those curious of what that might look like visually (or physically), picture above pretty closely resembles my starting physique (though i'm more fit than this guy was) and my goal physique.