Dieting is a struggle for me. I have never been able to lose weight without a struggle. The last diet I was on - under 800 calories per day and a minimum of 2 hours of exercise per day did help me to lose weight, but I had no life. You don't eat much - and while on that diet I was under the watchful eye of my dr. Also if "hubby" is on a diet that I know about, I gain weight with that knowledge even though I am watching my diet carefully. That has happened for years. Now with my body aging, I am really struggling. I know how to take smaller portions, avoid starches, and eat more fruits and vegetables. I have cut back on the meat portions for quite a while. I know the food chart quantities - they are too much for me in many categories. However, if I want to see my grandchildren grow up, I know I need to be healthier so I will keep trying to get a grip on my body.

My first post

This is my first post. Since having 2 babies I have noticed a trend in my weight. An incline that is not pleasing to me. My goal to lose weight started last year. I joined Weight Watchers with 4 friends. 1 is still going...and it is not me! I went to the meetings for a while and watched all that I ate. It did help me make some better food choices. I used the book they use for food points for about 6 months and did well. I lost 8 pounds! I thought that was acceptable...after all it was losing the weight as I should be and not by any crazy fad diets or just not eating. I tried to walk at least a few times a week.

Have you ever noticed that the weight that goes on in one area is not the weight that comes off!!! It seems to gather in one area and leave in another not so good area (as a woman that is!!)

Over the last 10 weeks I have increased my activity at work and home. Trying to go the extra miles to walk a little further and take the stairs. Nothing drastic, but noticeable changes. I am back to trying to make a better effort on my food choices as well. I am happy to say that I have lost 6 more pounds. That may not seem like a lot...but it was enough for me to fit into my old jeans and find that my other pants are actually loose around the waist!

I really need to start exercising but just cannot find the time (I know I know...lame excuse!) For now I will continue to walk to and from work to my car (usually about 4-8 blocks away). On the days that I work I am committing to briskly walking up 3 flights of stairs during both of my breaks at work. Its a start right?

On my days off I try to do some type of cleaning and blare the music and rock out while I clean.

OhCaptain and I have also been trying to increase activity as a family and get A and E involved in more active things.

I will continue to take many baby steps toward my goal. Since starting weight watchers last year up until now with the increase in activity and continuing to watch my eating ... I have lost 17 pounds!!! I am very grateful for this and have worked hard to lose this weight. I would like to lose an additional 13 pounds if that is realistic. I can't really say that I am focused only on weight. I really want to increase my muscle tone and not be or feel so "flabby".

Good luck to everyone!!! Remember to watch out for that Halloween candy!!!! It is so very tempting!

I Hate Running

Hi all!! This is my first post on the ol weight loss blog and I have decided that I hate running.

What sucks even worse is that it is one of the best ways to drop the lbs. So I started running again today and it went ok. Well, not ok, but it went at any rate. I ran a mile today and I am going to share my time. Don't laugh, although you probably should. My time was 15 1/2 minutes to run a mile. Utterly disgraceful. but hey, at least I got out there and did it!!

My goal is to be down to a 12 minute mile by the end of November.

I was asked by Tim to contribute to this blog and I totally plan on at least a post a week. My starting weight is 253lbs. I have never been this heavy in my entire life, and I am committed to a healthier life. My grandfather on my moms side died when he was 55 after 4 heart attacks, a triple and quadruple bypass surgery, and a very short life. This scares the crap out of me, and so I have made the choice to loose weight and get healthy.

Thanks Tim for inviting me to contribute to this blog and I look forward to tagging along on this journey with you!!

Greg

Ouch...staying healthy can hurt

Things are moving right along. I actually feel lighter although the scale has recently leveled off. I've been reading that this is normal. Each change you make will help you lose weight but your body will slowly adjust to the change and it will become the status quo. I've been looking for ways to upset that balance. It's time to mix homebrewed iced tea sweetened with cranberry juice and more fruit into the diet.

Through my employer, I have joined a few programs that really encourage you to get out of the office and move things. All of these programs started just this week. There is a lot of really good information I will try and share over the next week or so.

One little set back in the exercise front. My right knee is KILLING me when I walk stairs now. I'm not really sure why, but it seems the more time I spend on the exercise bike, the worse it gets. In honor of my knee, todays work out will be brought to by the letter 'U' for upper body.

I'm going to try to stick to walking and lifting weights for a couple of days and see where that takes me. I might even try seeing a doctor. This isn't the first time I've had trouble with my knees in fact they have been a problem since high school.

I've invited a couple more relatives to the party, hopefully, they start posting as well.

I'm Still Here! And my wife made an observation today

Yes...I'm still here and I'm on mission!

Sorry I haven't been posting much, our family life has been very busy. We recently attending a family wedding. That has to be one of the hardest things to do and stay on diet. 

Well, one of my goals with this diet is to not make myself miss food. I've been on diets before where I forced myself away from everything bad and then eventually just gave in and binged. I'm at a wedding, I think cake will be OK.

My choices for lunch have been significantly better. Would you believe that the soup selection at the cafeteria is fantastic? It is. This has even gotten me to try new ones. I'm thinking about naming my diet "The Soup for Lunch®" diet.

The biggest change I've made and stuck to was going to the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (DAHLC). This is an exercise and wellness facility run by my employer. 2 of my very good friends also work at the Clinic and we've gone at least 3 days a week for 5 weeks. I think there was 1 week in there we only went twice, but I'm not sure. We are using the buddy system in that you have to explain to the others why you aren't going. Peer pressure can be a very good thing.

At the DAHLC are the exercise bikes you see above. I'm really enjoying riding these things. They are made by Expresso Fitness and they work like this. There is an LCD display in front of you that shows a computer simulated bike course. There are also riders on the road/track/trail, one of these riders is your pacer. After you signed in a ridden a few days, you get a ghost rider. This is your best effort on the course. Your goal is to chase and beat your ghost. This is a so handy for a competition junkie like myself.

All of this effort seems to be paying off. Some really cool things have been happening. First, I just feel smaller. Second, my clothes are fitting better. This is awesome. Last, but definitely not the least cool thing is people have started making comments. That just feels awesome! I'll hopefully getting more Wii Fit content on here soon. I'm still using it and really enjoy it.

I still have the goal of adding more family members to this site. I think we are getting closer to have them join me soon. 

Here's to feeling lighter!