It hasn’t been a fast process, but I’ve lost about 20 lbs now.  I’m sort of stalled, but that’s because I’m not trying very hard!  I’m counting calories in my head now, since I have most of the counts memorized for things that I have often.

Coffee
Soy milk
Avocado, raw
2 Eggs
Onions, raw
Olive oil
Activia Light Fat Free Yogurt Peach
Chicken, breast, baked
Broccoli, cooked, from frozen
Almonds, raw
Mozzarella slice
Apple, raw

40 minutes walking

On the 9th of October, I tried to work out the calorie counts for stuff that I made myself. I kind of padded a bit because I wasn’t sure. So here goes:

Breakfast was coffee with soy milk @ 50 cal and 2 eggs with cheese @ 250 calories. (300 calories)
Mid-morning: clementine orange @ 25 cal
Lunch: brown rice with black beans, tomatoes and onions @ 483
Afternoon: banana @ 177
Dinner: Baked chicken, green beans, onions, tomatoes in chicken broth @ 600 (I just don’t know! I didn’t measure, so I’m padding it)
Later I had 4 clementines @ a total of 100 cal

Total for the day: 1685 calories

Exercise: 39 minute walk

I started increasing my activity the day before, but this was the first day of counting calories. I had a 30 minute brisk walk on the first day.

Food intake:

Breakfast was whole wheat high fiber toast and butter @ 402 calories
There was a mid-morning apple @ 144 calories
For lunch, I had 2 eggs with some cheese @ 262 calories
In the afternoon I had a banana @ 177 calories
Dinner was a brown rice, black bean/tomato casserole @ 585 calories

Exercise: 30 minute walk

I tried hard to control my portions. That’s my biggest problem, I think, so I hope I can get past it and make smaller portions a habit.

The doctor said I need to lose weight.  I knew that, and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard it.  I’ve decided to take it seriously though.  This time.  For now.  We’ll see how I do.

My doctor wants me to have no less than a 30 minute walk walk each day.  I usually walk every day, but just for about 20 minutes. Adding 10 minutes more isn’t too much of a problem.

The doc wants me to cut out a lot of stuff.  It looks like I’m supposed to be on a low carb, low fat diet.  I’m cutting out a lot of stuff, but have modified her list somewhat.  I’m counting calories and have cut out fast food and snack foods.  I’ll still have high fiber bread and a few other carbs.

You should know that in order to maintain this weight, I have to consume a lot of calories.  I’ve cut back my calorie intake by about 800 a day.  The more a person weighs, the more calories that person burns just staying alive.  I might burn 1800 calories just breathing and circulating blood and all the other stuff going on to keep me going.  That’s without any exercise.  After some weight is lost, that number will go down.  I’ll need to count calories more closely. Theoretically, what I’m doing now should help me to lose at least a pound per week.

If you like playing video games, a Nintendo Wii is a good way to play games and get off the couch.  I just got one, and love the boxing game that’s part of the Sports package.  I’m thinking about getting the boxing gloves to make it more fun.

This is a game that gets me moving and gives me a workout.  My arm muscles are actually sore!

I’m looking forward to trying out other games, like Dance Dance Revolution.  I’ll let you know what happens!

What IS the Gabriel Method?  I’ve seen the ad for it (Google Adsense) on this very blog, and thought I’d investigate it.

From what I can gather, it’s a motivational system through which people can lose weight.  There’s no dieting or forced exercising.  It’s about training yourself to make better food choices.   It’s around 40 bucks.  I’m really curious about it, so I have to check it out further.

Today I swam.  I usually move around the pool constantly, but not in a way that really tires me out.  I can stay in the pool for hours.  Today I thought I’d see how much continuous swimming it would take to make me feel tired.  It was 11 minutes and 20 seconds.

I also walked for 20 minutes.

The thing I didn’t do today was watch what I ate.  Well, I did watch it all while I was eating it.

I tried to do a food diary and made it 2 days. What’s the matter with me?  I can’t seem to carry anything out for more than a few days, and that’s especially true of a weight loss or exercise plan.  

Yesterday at work, Juanita brought in a tin of cookies, and guess what I did?  I ate at least 4 of them.  I finished them off today.  They’re gone, thank goodness.

How is it that some people can stop at just one?  How do some people seem to have no appetite for the things that are bad for them?  I really worry about how my behavior affects my health, but I seem powerless to stop it. Does this mean I need a twelve step program?  Am I doomed to a lifetime of overeating?

Agnes,

It’s true! The more you sleep, the less you eat!

I kept eating junk in the middle of the day to try to stay awake.

As soon as I got home this afternoon, I fell asleep. And, guess what???

I didn’t eat a thing while I was sleeping!

Just saying ….

lololol  (feeling witty)

Mildred