I've already mostly cut out the fast food. It's maybe once a week tops. two times on a hyper-busy week. Pop consumption has gone up just a little bit lately, but we're almost out and we had only bought it for company, so within a day or so it (at least for me) will be back to basically zero... just diet kool aid and when I'm out on a ride, a bottle of gatorade.
Angela: ...and milk. We haven't been drinking much milk lately, and I'd like to make an effort to drink more.
Hi, I'm Brian's wife. I might pop in and add my comments every once in a while.
Anyway, back to my health comments. I've been making lunches and bringing them to work instead of eating in the food court. My luch usually consists of a sandwich (made with wheat bread), apple sauce, baby carrots, and some sort of little dessert (like a few jelly beans or gummy bears.) Starting soon there's a Monday dinner ride every week that Brian and I are going on. It's only 5-15 miles to bike to a restaurant and eat dinner with other club members, but it's a start. If I get into it and the saddle sore stops bothering me so much, I might join Brian on some more rides. Also, once the weather warms up and our apartment complex opens the big pool again, I'll start doing some laps. (Maybe even let Brian teach me the proper technique.)
One important thing for me, being of the laid-back youngest child mentality, is a schedule. I need structure. I need a plan, otherwise I won't stick to it. Say, Mondays I go on the bike club ride; Wednesdays I swim; and Fridays I do the pilates DVD I have. I don't know that I'll ever be an "ironwoman" but I'd love to at least be not so flabby. Now, back to your regularily scheduled blogger. :)
Thanks sweetie. Probably my biggest downfall is salty stuff. Whether it's the midday mini-bag of microwave popcorn at work, or the potato chips that were 'for lunches' but have disappeared into my gullet at too many other parts of the day. I have a snacking habit that I need to curtail.
Anyway, that's our plan. Now we need to figure out how we're going to accomplish it. But having a goal is the first step.
8 comments:
Way to go. It is so much easier to reach a weight loss goal when you have someone to keep you accountable. Keep each other honest and it will work that much faster!!!
Very cool! As I am also trying to lose some weight I am hoping to use your stories for motivation and tips!
Well here goes...
In the most basic sense a caloric deficit must be created. This simply means the calories in (or food you eat) must be less than energy out (calories burned). Do not fall prey to fad diets or gimmicks.
If your weight has been going up then you know your calories are more than your energy expenditures. If your roughly maintaining the same weight then equal in/out.
First, and most importantly, you both must know how much your really putting in your mouth. Keep track of all the food you eat for 4-5 days. This includes tracking calories. And I mean everything- 2 chips, handful of nuts, 6 gummi bears, 8 oz. Crystal Light. All of it. This gives you a good bench mark of your total daily caloric intake.
Once you have that you figure out a way to remove 500 calories a day. If through food, it comes in exchanging regular sodas for diet or small frys instead of super size, or just eliminating junk food and late night ice cream kind of stuff. This 500 can also be created through exercise. Many websites can estimate expeditures for you instead of you doing all kinds of machinations.
If you create a 500 calorie deficit each day you will burn 3,500 calories a week or one pound.
Eat many small meals throughout the day, at least 4, perferably 5-6. Just take your estimated Calorie intake count and divide by total meals.
The exercise is a good thing obviously, and Brian has a good foundation to maintain and a program to build on. Ang will probably see more dramatic results from starting a exercise program from essentially scratch but will be best for her to focus on the good eating habits.
If you have any more questions and I hope you do, have Brian email me off-blog and I will do everything I can.
good luck you guys! i'm trying to lose about 30lbs that i put on in the last year, also.
ya gotta admit, though - if angela hadn't been breathing over your shoulder, you would have spilled to the world how much she weighs. women are so sensitive about that... in fact, i'll bet that you actually typed it in, only to remove it after you got slapped! kudos for trying, though!!
actually I wrote Ang's weight down like that as a joke... and I got the intended response when she laughed as she sat down to write her part of the post. She's really not all that self conscious of her weight... and even more so after finally getting around to watching Shallow Hal. If anything can make you feel better about your body weight, it's that.
It made ME feel better about my tail.
This is Angela again. I just figured I'd add that I'm not self-conscious about my weight because when people guess how much I weigh, they guess about 30-40 lbs less than my actual weight. Part of that is probably because I tend to have more muscle than some other girls I know (see: I can open jars that my co-workers can't.) So I figure if I can get to the weight that people think I weigh now, I'll be in good shape.
Cool! Everyone is buffing up for the summer :) You guys might like a book called Eating for Life by Bill Phillips.
It's a cook book and the recipes are easy, fast and great. When I was trying to lose the baby weight it helped me knock off 30 pounds!
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