Diet update, end of week 1

Today marks the start of week #2 of the Weight Loss Challenge. I have to say, I’m quite pleased with myself! I’ve kicked several of the bad habits I’ve had for so long and honestly, I don’t miss them a bit. So far, here is what I’ve done:

• Stopped drinking soda
  This is by far the longest stretch of time I have ever gone without a soda. I was fully expecting to get headaches from the lack of caffeine, but that just hasn’t happened.
• Stopped eating late at night
  This is another one I’m famous for. I’ll be sitting at my desk working late at night and polish off a bag of chips, pizza, hot pockets or whatever else I bring up to snack on while I’m working.
• Exercising more
  I’m still not exercising as much as I would like, but 6 out of the last 7 days, I have either gone rollerblading or taken a decent sized walk with my wife. Yesterday I did several stomach crunches, too. I plan on kicking up the amount of walking I do each day. I’m trying to figure out the best way to alter my daily schedule in order to add an extra 40-60 minutes of walking time.
• Cut way back on the carbs
  I was a carb junkie! Everything I used to eat was overloaded with carbs. I’m not doing a ‘no carb’ diet, but I’ve basically cut out eating the “empty” carbs. Mainly bread and potato chips.
• Drinking tons of water
  This is a tough one for me. I don’t mind drinking water when nothing else is available, but 99% of the time there are 2 or 3 other options and water doesn’t usually win the battle. But, this week has been different. I’ve probably drank more bottles of water in the past 7 days than I have in the past 6 months. It’s sad, but very, very true. Part of my being able to drink mostly water this week can be attributed to Shannyn. She turned me on to these pour-in packets that you add to a 16 ounce bottle of water. They come in several flavors and are really quite good. The ones made by Crystal Light have 5 sugar-free calories. However, if you head over to Wal-Mart, they have a generic version that has 0 calories.

There have been some interesting temptations this week that could have easily thrown me right off track. For example, the monthly poker tournament at my house. We always order 4 or 5 pizzas and it’s not uncommon for me to eat 2 or 3 pieces during the game and another piece or two after. However, we planned ahead and grilled up some salmon steaks just before our visitors showed up for the game. When the pizza arrived, I had a pretty easy time skipping it. Then, on Sunday we had a house full of guests and we cooked a turkey and pork chops. This was definitely the biggest meal I ate this week, but I had only a spoonful of stuffing, a few pieces of the chopped potatoes and I kept the amount of gravy I used to a minimum. Then, after we had dinner and played some cards, we went for a walk around the neighborhood to work it off.

I’m QUITE happy to say that I have made noticeable (to me) progress. When I started the diet, I weighed 220 pounds. This morning, I weighed in at 211.6. A pair of shorts that would have been uncomfortable for me to wear 2 weeks ago were a little loose on me when I wore them on my walk yesterday.

I meant to take a “before” photo so that I could take an “after” photo in a few months. I, unfortunately, forgot to do that last week. However, we took one Sunday night. That’ll have to do. I’m sure I don’t look much different yet, so hopefully the difference at the end is quite noticeable. I’ll take a photo each week and I’ll post them all when this crazy trip is over and I’ve reached my goal.

This is as good as I’ve felt in quite some time. I’m enjoying the feeling. I can’t wait to see how I feel when I break the 200 pound mark!