Trust me, I didn’t think I would be counting calories.  I started putting two and two together recently and realized if I am going to hit my weight loss goal by the end of 2007, I better be aware of what I am putting in my body so I get the results I want - lose 23lbs by the end of December 2007.

Right now I am eating a lunch of Progresso New England Clam Chowder.  The large can has 190 calories per serving and I am eating both servings, 380 calories.  I have already eaten an apple for lunch and have an orange for later.

This morning I had - and yes, I measured it out - a quarter of a cup of GrapeNuts, a half a cup of instant oatmeal and a quarter of a cup of skim milk and some water.  That small quarter of a cup of GrapeNuts has 100 calories and the instant oatmeal has about 100 calories (I think).

So far today, I figure that I have put away at least 600 calories.   If I remember, you would need to cut out about 500 calories per day to lose a pound a week, assuming a pound is 3500 calories.  The only problem with now counting calories is that I didn’t previously keep track of my calorie consumption, so I have no reference.  I can tell you that I am consuming less calories, but I just don’t know by how much.

Don’t forget that this month I am exercising every day for thirty days.  I have not missed a day this month (today is the eighth) and the increased exercising should also burn more calories.  If I keep up the previous eating style from December and just add exercise I should be losing additional weight.

But then there is me   Sometimes after I exercise, I want to eat because I am hungry.  I don’t know why that is true exactly because I can tell from experience that often I am not hungry after exercising.  There must be some scientific explanation that details why after exercise and in particular strenuous exercise, your hunger is diminished.  That’s what happens to me most of the time, I lose my appetite for food.

Thinking out loud now.  What do I need to do to keep the hunger and the urge to eat (read “gorge myself”) after exercising?  Should I drink a lot of water before or after exercising?  What about a sample fruit snack before or after exercising?  Should I exercise to exhaustion?   What is the best time of day to exercise?  I know that exercising just before bedtime doesn’t work for me - I’m usually amped up and can’t settle down right away.  Before dinner is a logistical challenge - getting home from work and getting outside before dinner isn’t easy, plus I usually end up late for dinner anyway.  Exercise after dinner and after the food has had a chance to settle seems to be OK.  The trick is to make sure I am not stuffed after dinner.

I have given up on exercising before work (see the previous discussion on “Dave Light Savings Time”).  Early morning exercise might resume when we return to day light savings time.  It might be worthwhile to throw in a “hell week” sometime in the next few weeks - exercise twice a day for seven days to toughen up the mind and body.

Looks like I have strayed from the calorie counting conversation I started with.  Let me just finish by saying that I am looking at the calorie count on the side of boxes and keeping a mental note of how much I have consumed throughout the day.  I really would like to have a more precise way of keeping track without having to eat the same thing every day.  But, hey, if that is what it takes …

Technorati Tags: calories, weight loss, diet, exercise

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I have a confession to make.  Friday’s are not a good eating day for me.

What I mean is that Friday’s are donut day at the office.  One person brings in bagels and cream cheese and donuts.  And I sampled all the goodies yesterday.

Now it is time to put that to an end.

On Friday’s, instead on munching on the goodies, I am going to bring an extra piece of fruit to work.  That will be my weekly treat at the office.

So why do I snack at work?  It’s not like I am hungry or anything.  I have the same breakfast on Friday’s that I have on any other work day of the week.  Maybe it is the idea of “free food” - the caveman instinct of eating when food is available in case nothing is available later.  I know that sounds far fetched, but is it?  I don’t now.  All I know is that when the email arrives stating that donuts are available at the normal location I feel this urge to get up and walk over and get something good to eat before everyone else does.

Even better is if I get the scoop on the arrival of treats before someone else does.  Then I feel like I scored big time.

Back to the question, why do I snack at work like this?  I think we can agree, this can’t be good for me.  Maybe I feel like I need to cheat on my efforts to lose weight.  Maybe its an escape clause on why I haven’t lost the weight I expect to.  It makes for a perfectly good reason why I wouldn’t lose 23 pounds in 13 months.

I have recently thought about the 23 pounds I am planning on losing.  Recall that I calculated I needed to lose about 1.77 pounds per month to hit my goal by the end of December 2007.  I also thought that the first few months I had better lose more than 1.77 pounds per month if I am serious about this.  I suspect that as time goes on and I lose weight that losing weight at the same absolute rate while weighing less will be more difficult.  Think of it this way, who do you think could lose one pound easier, a 200 pound person or a 100 pound person.  All things equal, the heavier person would likely be able to shed weight than the lighter person.

Let me let you in on some more personal information.  A couple years ago, I had my cholesterol level checked.  The results were not good.  My total cholesterol was over 220 and my LDL was 162. For reference, the maximum recommended numbers at that time were total cholesterol less than 200 and LDL less than 100.  Right away, I stopped eating any kind of cheese in slice form.  Sure, I still had cheese with a meal, like with a burrito or on a pizza, but I went cold turkey on eating slices of cheese.

I also started exercising more, bought myself a pedometer to keep track of the distance I walked each day - in case you can’t tell, I like gadgets.  Having the meter tell me how many steps and how much distance I covered each day works on motivating me to get a minimum amount of exercise each day.

Finally, I started eating oatmeal more often - as a replacement for breakfast and as an occasional afternoon snack.

Over the course of a year, I had my cholesterol checked four times.  That is an expensive thing to do, getting blood work done every time I visited the doctor.

After about a year, my cholesterol did improve, the total cholesterol dropped from 220+ to 188 and my LDL went from 162 to 124 - still high, but much improved.

I am telling you this because during the year after my first cholesterol test, my cholesterol readings improved every so slightly at each checkup.  To say the least, the marginal improvements were a little bit discouraging.  But I kept on with the cheese elimination diet, an increase in exercise, and oatmeal.  It wasn’t until the last checkup that I say the most improvement.

It won’t be a surprise if these first few months result in just a little weight loss.  My body (or mind) will probably fight me along the, trying to get me to eat some more.  But if I an consistent with my efforts to lose weight, then I see no reason why I won’t meet my weight loss goal of losing 23 pounds.

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Normally one would start the first post in a blog with an introduction of sorts. Not here. We will get to all of that in good time. Instead, I’ll start with talking about what I am getting rid of - candy. The picture you see is my current favorite candy bar, the Reese’s FastBreak. I love that milk chocolate, peanut butter, and soft noughts- yum, yum!

Did you get a good look at this? Because this is the last time I will be eating any of these for a good long time.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this candybar. But, it really can’t be doing me any good. This candybar has been my afternoon snack. The snack that occurs around 3 - 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Late enough after lunch that a few little hunger pangs start to kick in, but early enough that I know I won’t be spoiling my dinner. I found out about this candybar a few short weeks ago. My two sons brought home a few of these and that’s all she wrote.

Take a look at the picture on the left. That’s why I am cutting this little jewel of a candybar. Two hundred seventy calories and one hundred of those calories are fat calories. 44% of the calories come from fat, ouch.

I’m guessing that a grown man like myself is supposed to get about 2000 calories per day. 270 calories represent - hold on, let me get the calculator out - about 14% of the daily recommended calories. That’s a lot.

So what to do next? I have a canister of oatmeal at my desk at work along with some raisins. Starting tomorrow afternoon, probably around 2PM or later, I’ll fix myself a tasty - maybe add a little sugar and raisins - cup of oatmeal. I know from experience oatmeal is a “filler”. That should hold off my interest in the candy bar I so dearly enjoy.

Keep your eye on this blog as I’ll use it to post my progress on my weight loss. Notice that I have my weight posted on this site. Anyone want to take a guess on how much weight I would like to lose? Here’s a hint: what is the url of this site?

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