Onesville - getting down to 199 pounds

Gained a few beer and chicken wings

2012-02-12T16:22:00.001-05:00

Argh. It doesnt take much ti put it back on. I HAVE HIT THE FIRST PLATEAU. N problem it is just a matter of keeping track of calories and not letting stupidness in food kreep in. Just because I have lost ten pounds. I THINK IT MAY BE A GOOD THING TO lose about ten pounds and then hover there for a few weeks. Then go back on losing another ten. So this is the new concerted effort to get down to 260 this next month or four weeks.
Thanks
Onesvilee

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2012-02-05T11:22:00.001-05:00

Last week I didnt send a picture to the blog. Let us just say that the weight loss from to weeks ago was not a linear progression and I had to work extra hard rhis week swimming. This morning I was goin to walk but there was fog so I walked six mile in two hours around the 262' Loop in my driveway!
thanks
Onesville

2012-02-05T11:10:00.001-05:00

SWEET! It is working. Walking swimming and writing down my food.

2012-01-22T09:17:00.001-05:00

Well. I have figured out what works for me. First of all I don't have to be obsesive on carbs. Just watch out not to go overboard on them. Workout in the morning before I eat some great big meal. And if I am a little bit hungry while working out then that is grear. I am trying to think of hunger as a positive while working out. Where else can my body get the energy from but fat if there us nothing to digest. It has to take it from my long term storage of energy and fat. So even if I eat later a bit too much it is still harder to convert it to fat. Walking seems to take it off faster than swimming and like swimming it is two things a net user of calories and keeps me from eating at the same time. Pkus I have more energy and oxigenating my system. Same with swimming.
It is working again. I HAVE LOST A SOLID TEN POUNDS OF FAT SO FAR. 12% of the way to Onesville.

Big Bones and 199 lbs is 23.8 BMI

2012-01-10T12:51:00.002-05:00

Ideal Body Weight for a large framed person. I AM, I have always been and always will be. So when I talk to people and tell them how much I weigh, they are generally surprised by alot. If I ask someone to guess my weight, they are generally off by as much a 40 pounds. I do tell them, " Want your honest opinion and tell them I will not be offended if you say something too heavy so as to negate the niceness factor that most people embody.

Here is a great blog post for figureing out your correct BMI if you have a large frame.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/243072-ideal-body-weight-for-large-framed-people/

It is one of the first that seems logical to me. About twenty years ago I got down to 188 and I felt great, I looked great, and I was at the top range for what was acceptable for a weight to height range for a job I was trying to get. Didn't get the job but I was on a starvation diet for 60 days and worked out like crazy all day other than college courses. It was brutal. I lost 35 pounds and not in a healthy way either. But I did it. You can too, but if you are like me you want to keep it off.

I reversed calculated my BMI at 199 pounds and it came up 23.8 at 199. That's doable and that seems healthy to me. So for a little while I thought it would be cool to tell people that I lost 100 pounds, but what the hell for?????? I want the health not the merit badge for weight loss. Once I lose it I want to keep it off and forget that part of that chapter of my life. Not wear it as a badge of honor. So the goal still remains 199 lbs. I am well on my way, I hope you follow along and join me.

277 in the morning!

2012-01-10T12:14:00.002-05:00

I don't have a picture, but I have to tell you I got my Mo Jo back and I am going to keep it. I have lots of fire in the belly so to speak. I have been walking alot. I know this works for me for some reason since everytime I have successfully lost weight, walking was part of the plan. Proud of myself since yesterday I knew I could only get in about a 15 minute swim, but I did and then it motivated me to do other things like not eat so much. Don't let yourself weasel out of things because you don't have much time.

only 15 minutes to walk, or only a few minutes to get to that meeting? Well, do it and then if you can park as far away from the front door to the meeting, restaurant, store, your house, etc. as you can. That extra 500 steps maybe not much but then I am guessing you didn't gain that extra 50 pounds at one sitting at the table, just a little too many calories that day, then a few hundred extra calories the next day, then just right, then 200 calories the next... you get the idea.

So start making those little deficits in any and all ways that you can, so that you start to not even notice it, except the weight coming off.

Without going into great detail, I have heard that the great industrialists of the early 20th century commissioned a study on how to get the most labor out of one man in a days work. They had people shoveling coal all day from one pile to the next, then when finished they would shovel the tons and tons and tons right back to where they started. There were two groups, ones with big shovels and constant work and were not allowed to take breakes in the work other than to eat lunch, and then another guy with a smaller shovel (read, impossible to take great big shovels full of coal) and was instructed to take breaks very often to rest. Who won?

There are several points to the results

The guy with the smaller shovel won the competition
The guy with the smaller shovel was not as tired as the other guy at the end of the day
The guy with the smaller shovel did three times the work as the guy with the big shovel!

So you ask, why am I discussing this? Well, take this approach to weight loss, small, barely perceptable changes that you allow to become habitual for you, so that it is not a sacrifice in your concious mind, and you are always moving toward your goal, while doing other things. If you try too hard that is all that you are about, and we all know you are much more than a normal sized person with extra weight to lose. You have a life, bills, jobs, loved ones, a home to attend to, not the only goal of losing weight.

Very Best to you

Onesville.

So this is an old picture but it is close to my weight

2012-01-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

Whoa! 284.6 new max weight, gotta get it trending the other way!

2012-01-02T11:44:00.001-05:00

About January 1st, 2012

284.6 lbs

OK. New, worst, biggest weight. NO MORE I am going to lose it all this time. Doesn't matter that it didn't work, in fact worked against me, in the past. I got the fire lit under me again. Just because my previous weight was a struggle does not mean I should give up, if anything it is just cause to re-double my efforts to get to my supposed perfect weight of 178. Personally, I think that may be a little too small for me. Even my doctor says he would never have believed that I would weight that much. I just guess that proves that I am very dense. LOL (pun intended).

In all fairness to me. It was the end of the Holidays, I can cook very well, and I probably had way too much salt in my system and retained quite a bit of water and I was drinking a fair amount of beer the night before full of calories and water that needed to get out of my system. It will happen quickly in time. Oh yeah, the sedentary nature of the holidays for me is also a factor.

Very Best, in the new year to you and yours,
Onesville

Thats it. Wayyyyy too much. Time to get back to what worked.

2011-12-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

Walking daily. Marking down everything that I eat. Swimming when possible. South Beach diet. Basically very low carbs.

A great start again. And again and again.

2011-11-28T06:26:00.001-05:00

Every day is a new start. Trying to ose weight... Neigh trying to be healthy is a daily journey. Discontent with just satisfactory results is what keeps you moving forward.

Going in the right direction. Swam a bit and will continue.

2011-11-07T09:58:00.001-05:00

I did well this week eating sensibly and swimming. I had to laugh Friday night went out for a few drinks with friends and the next morning woke up with a hangover. But later in the day I realized it was not a hangover. I swam over a mile and I was sore from swimming! So what should I do? Drink more and workout less!?! I KNOW.... workout more.
Thanks Onesville.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Starting over at my max weight. It is time to take this seriously.

2011-11-01T10:56:00.001-04:00

2011-09-08T13:47:00.001-04:00

We are starting swimming again. It is not a start and stop agenda... It is a swim when I can. The pool was closed all last month and it is reopened. The schedule is much better than it was before so I need to make ir happen. Sincerely Onesville. Back on track again.

Here we start again. I AM GOING TO FLY THROUGH TO 199 POUNDS!

2011-08-08T07:23:00.001-04:00

Here we start again. I AM GOING TO FLY THROUGH TO 199 POUNDS!

2011-08-08T07:20:00.001-04:00

2011-02-27T08:37:00.001-05:00

I bounced around alot this week and gave a break to the heavy duty carb restrictios for two days but now back to induction phase. A bit of a plateau for a week. Bur up for another two week and maybe five bound reduction in weight.
Thanks.
Onesville

2011-02-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

Going back up but had a few low carb beers last night. Still down five real pounds in about two weeks. Onesville

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

7 pounds in 4 days!

2011-02-13T10:55:00.005-05:00

Unbelievable! 263.0 In just four days. That's the most I have ever lost so quickly. Carbs are not my friend and the low carb diet seems to be working for me. Onesville.

Steep learning curve on Carbs

2011-02-12T15:28:00.004-05:00

So today, I didn't know what to do, I was invited with some friends to a bar and I thought, what am I going to drink, Alcohol is out of the question on Atkins, well, I drank 5 "Select 55" and it really felt like I drank 2 real bears. In that there was about 1.9*5 so about 10 grams of carbs and I had a big steak with minuscule amount of carrot shreds on top of it so, prior in the day I had about a 1/3 pound of sausage and 5 eggs total. So I think I finished the day with about I am guessing about 15 grams of carbs and plenty to eat, I had a 12oz steak for dinner and everybody else was eating the fried food sampler. I had a steak that was really big and good with Worcestershire sauce. I didn't need it because the carbs are in the Worcestershire sauce.

It seems to be working.

Onesville.

Starting on Atkins

2011-02-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

So my Mother and sisters have been doing Atkins new diet and have succeeded. We are all built the same and what we are figuring out is that our family genetics and heritage foods are first of all not tolerant of a skinny body, let alone slim.

I am going to start this process and have bought and started reading Atkins

New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great. by Eric C. Westman, Stephen D. Phinney, and Jeff S. Volek (Mar 2, 2010).

Starting on January 9th, 2011

2011-02-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

Starting again.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

News year day

2011-01-01T19:12:00.001-05:00

New years day

2010-11-15T12:11:00.001-05:00

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

2010-11-09T12:37:00.001-05:00

Moving in the right direction

2010-09-02T09:35:00.001-04:00

Let's start again. If you fall off that horse (Or eat it) get back on and try again.

2010-08-20T07:27:00.001-04:00

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

2010-07-18T06:07:00.001-04:00

Try, Try Again!

2010-01-25T08:28:00.002-05:00

Here we start again. "IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY,TRY AGAIN."

Well, it looks like the Easter 2010 date is not going to make it, I would have to lose just over 1 pound a day. Not a healthy idea, at least not for getting this to stay off. I actually had peaked at 277 a couple of weeks ago, but it was really mostly water weight.

I have been back in the pool this past week. I hurt my shoulder last summer raking leaves and it hasn't been right ever since last summer, until now. Let's get back at it.

As far as the Date when I am going to lose this weight... this is now to be determined. Thomas Edison found 1000 ways how NOT to make a light bulb, but when he got it to work it changed the world.

It feels like I have tried a 1000 ways to lose weight and have succeeded marginally, only to put it back on. Maybe I should try to put weight on and then I will succeed but then keep losing the weight! No, that is a defeatist attitude,

I DO NOT CONCEDE TO DEFEAT, I will get up and try again, it is the only way, unless I want to lay down and get to 300 pounds. I do not.

Thank you,

Onesville

I swam for one hour

2009-09-08T15:50:00.001-04:00

I swam for one hour straight today. At a 65 Second 50 yard. That equals about 2500 yards. Gotta keep it up.
Onesville

2009-08-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

Back in the correct direction. I decided to watch what I was eating. But the real power is haing a food diary of sorts. I just saw something on tv that the people who kept a food diary were much more likely to be succesful in their efforts to lose weight. Also there is the old maxim of "anything measures improves."
Thanks Onesville

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-08-23T11:16:00.001-04:00

Back onto the lifestyle. I am realizing that my initial success and then going back up is really a necessity of a lifestyle change. I was so proud that i had lost the first ten pounds so easily. So when I get down to 260, 250, 240, OR 175 For that matter. I need to stay on track. Thanks.
Onesville.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-08-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

Starting over. Ot at least I am heading the right direction. I will be on vacation in the coming week so I have to concentrate on staying away from carbs and walking swimming and actuvity to keep the matabolism going. Our local pool closes for the month of August for maintenance. So hopfully when I get back I can get back to swimming laps again. Swimming doesn't seem to take the weught off but it does help on endurance to do other things like crosstraining. Also helps to strengthen my core muscles doing kickboard training in the water.

Very Best,
Onesville

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-08-05T07:14:00.001-04:00

Starting over. It is so easy to slip back up to an old weight. I can see how the weight managemant will be harder when I get to my goal.
Sincerely, Onesville

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-07-12T08:26:00.001-04:00

I slipped backwards. Time to start over. Never give up.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-06-29T15:17:00.001-04:00

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-06-09T09:46:00.001-04:00

It is so easy to slip backward without paying attention. I must get back to monitoring my daily intake. I just got lazy several weeks ago and see what quickly happens. I do not feel like i have been glutenous about eating but i certainly have been not watching my intake. Obviously! Jus

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

2009-05-26T08:54:00.001-04:00

I have slipped backwards

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Hack analysis of my caloric needs

2009-05-19T12:17:00.005-04:00

OK, below, I did a very, very rough analysis of my caloric needs. I am sure there are many flaws in this, but here were the calculations I used.

On average calories/day the top number is the actual data points plus 3000 calories per day in the unknown slots, I did this to account for the likely nature that I ate more food that day. The lower number is the actual data points and averaging just the amount of days with the data points. Both of these a flawed in the analysis, but it is closer than no knowledge at all, so I am using it for what it is worth.

"Measured with a micrometer, marked with a grease pencil and cut with an ax."

Days on Diet
32

Average Calories/day
2747.81
2615.71

Avg caloric deficiency/day
1093.75
1093.75

Est. Basal Caloric need/day
3841.56 Calories
3709.46 Calories

This last weigh in Analysis

2009-05-19T11:23:00.006-04:00

As you can see, I started out averaging out less in week 1-3 and have allowed about 500 calories more a day in the past few weeks, slowing my weight loss down. So I need to get it back down to about 2200-2400 calories a day and maybe start walking or swimming a little bit.

Here is the graph that shows my weigh in at 259. I made my 1.4 pound goal but I can see now, that my initial weight loss was easier and it is slowing down. So I did a very amateur analysis of my caloric need per a day. Basically I have been writing down about 70% of the days total estimated caloric intake. Even though I am not taking every single days calories like I want, and even though I would suspect that the days that I am less vigilant to write this down are the days I am eating more food than normal, I can get a good estimation of what I am eating, and knowing that I devised a calculation. But it just does not add up.

Read this. It is an add, but it does explain a bit about the process of limiting calories and the limits of weight loss on just using calorie limits only, (ie I need to start doing more excercises)

After I did my hackney analysis, it is showing me that at this weight loss, I have a need of about 3500 calories a day just to maintain weight. It seems very high, considering what the apps at the bottom of this blog state that I need much less.

I am thinking that in restricting calories for a month, my body has been burning protein (muscle), and dropping some water weight. I know that this initial ten pounds have been easier than the rest of the journey but I have made some changes in my life:

I usually am eating much less volume/calories per a day
I am much more conscious of what I am putting in my mouth
I have a better feeling about my body self image and am going in the right direction
I am learning new things everyday on my weight management

All good things. Starting to walk more, and being more active with the less burdensome body weight helps me move more. And there are side benefits already.

On a side note, I weigh 259.5 this morning, what I would expect after a day of cookies and what I discussed on the last weigh in day. So I think I am correct in saying I was actually 259.0 on 5/17/09, not 258.0 .

Have a great day,

"Onesville"

Update on a Tuesday

2009-05-19T10:58:00.007-04:00

Good Morning,

It is a Tuesday, and I just weighed myself even though it is not my Sunday weigh in, I like to see how I am doing through the week. As I just posted in the last entry, my scale makes me suspicious.

I did splurge last night, and made some chocolate chip cookies for the kids, but the fact is I ate about 1000 calories of them myself. It suggests to me that I do not buy a cookie jar, fill it with cookies and sit it on the counter... I have some self discipline, but not that much.

A fun pic for dieters

Anyway, not "a cookie" does a fat man make... several thousand "a cookie" does a fat man make.

So this morning I of course put on a half a pound upto 259.5 can't complain, the cookies are good. But it does lend to the fact that the cravings don't go away magically, and I can see that the goal may be easier than the maintenance of a goal weight. I am far from there but making progress toward my goal.

"Onesville"

I am suspicious of my Scale 258-261, 259 it is.

2009-05-17T09:48:00.003-04:00

Wacky scale says 258 but I am clocking in at 259 this week.

My postings have become a little less frequent as of late. I need to turn that around for no one other than my own personal gain (in the form of weight loss of course). For the few of you that may be using this blog to inspire yourself as I was inspired by another weight loss success story's blog, thanks for being patient with me.

I am starting to wonder about my scale, like any scale, it is not 100.000% correct. Obviously, I have lost about 10 pounds from the start of this weight loss project. Not bad, that averages out to a little under 2.5 pounds a week. Considering my goal is 1.4 pounds a week, I am ahead of the schedule, but that by no means I can start slacking. This is where the rubber hits the road, metaphorically speaking. My home scale is something I am learning how to game. Certainly if I lean a little to the left and put more weight on my heal, I can make it read lower. But that is not my goal. The accuracy, helps me understand the reality of my true weight loss that week.

For sure I can not game this scale for 10 pounds, I have lost that weight. The pants that I couldn't wear a month ago, now fit again. That, my friend, you can lean one way or the other on a scale all day long and it won't affect how those pants fit!

The day before I weighed myself and it read 258, then it read 261 then a bunch in between. I did weigh 258 yesterday and I didn't eat or drink anything in the meantime, so how the heck did I gain 3 pounds? I try to use the exact same regiment when I do my official Sunday morning weigh ins. I get up, don't eat or drink anything, and get on the scale. I put my right foot big toe in exactly the same spot, try not to lean and stand perfectly still for about 5-10 seconds before I look down. I do weight myself several times and try to get the average. This says 258 but I am really thinking it is 259. How do I know? I just know.

We'll see next week

"Onesville"

Not too much time today

2009-05-10T13:45:00.003-04:00

I was a little worried about the weigh in this week, but made my goal. The weight loss is slowing down after the first couple of weeks.

Lower than 260, Happy Mothers day

2009-05-10T13:15:00.002-04:00

Don't have time but to tell you my weigh in was 261 this morning, but yesterday, before we made a homemade pizza I got down to 259 in the morning, so this will be the one day set back.

I'll come back with the graph when I have more time.

Gotta go see mom, Happy Mothers Day

I scream for ice cream

2009-05-06T12:28:00.002-04:00

It has been a month already since the beginning of theis diet. This does not impress you but it impresses me and I am beyond the goal weight for this time period. The biggest hurdle for me is just the conscientious continuation of a slow to moderate rate of weight loss.

Between this blog and writing down my approximate caloric intake by putting it on a handy and easy post-it note every day, this is a winning approach.

Not having to go to my computer and entering every item on a spread sheet makes it practical and easy. Am I exactly correct on my calorie intake? No, but no matter what the real calories are, and I do look at the packaging, the real advantage is that I am focusing on what is going into my body. And no matter how true I am to the actual calories, and how close I am most interested in is seeing my percentage gain or loss of daily calories. So even if the estimate is off by a factor of 1 or 1000, the percentages will be more accurate and tell the story of what is going into the stomach.

The intake of calories have dropped by about 30 percent, and my want of large quantities of food has gone by the wayside. I don't look at a pizza and think that I could eat 1/2 of a large. I put several pieces on my plate (small side salad plate) and it looks full. Before the last bit of food, I try to leave at least a few bites and think to myself, "I am full, I don't even want that last bit." So when I push away from the table, my mind says to itself, "that was a satisfying, filling meal."

Last night, I had a very light morning for food and then had probably one of the biggest meals I have had in the past month. We had a great steak, and I ate probably 800 calories in steak. Then for the first time in a month I had any real appreciable amount of sugar in an ice cream cone, with a sugar cone. It made me crash! I fell asleep on the couch about 20 minutes after dinner, and I slept for three hours. My body just is not as used to sugar as it once was, and that is a very good thing.

I am guessing that my weight loss is going to get a little harder as my body shrinks and I need less overall calories, but this plan seems to work.

As a side note, I got on my digital scale this morning and it wobbles back and forth before it settles on the exact weight, and for the first time in a long time it wobbled into the 250-260 range. That means I am getting closer to the next set of ten pounds. It feels good!

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Basal Metabolic Calculator

2009-05-03T09:28:00.004-04:00

At the bottom of this blog there area some tools, or aka widgets, on here to help you figure some things out. One of them is the Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator (BMC). Now I don't know how accurate it is but it does show something that may contribute to diet plateaus that I never thought about.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment, in the post-absorptive state (meaning that the digestive system is inactive, which requires about twelve hours of fasting in humans). The release of energy in this state is sufficient only for the functioning of the vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, brain and the rest of the nervous system, liver, kidneys, sex organs, muscles and skin. BMR decreases with age and with the loss of lean body mass. Increasing muscle mass increases BMR. from Wikipedia

As you can see at 270 my BMR was at 2372, and now at 262 pounds, just a mere 8 pounds less, my BMR is now 2322. That is 50 calories a day less input I need just to maintain my weight. So I am going to put into the calculator that I lost 25 pounds and see what it is..... OK I'm back. It said that if I lost 25 pounds, then I would be 245, my BMR would be 2216 calories a day. A full160 calories a day less needed, therefor making it harder, not impossible, to lose the weight further. So I just have to be mindful that as time goes on, I will still need to further reduce my calories, or increase my activity to make up the difference.

OK, I am curious as to what it would take at my goal weight of 199 pounds.... It says 1921 calories a day, I upped my age one year to account for that. So that means, I will need a full 450 less calories a day, just to maintain my weight. That is something to think about. I can now see why maintenance of weight once you get to your goal weight is still hard. But I can and I will do it.

Thanks for reading this blog.

"Onesville"

Sweatin' it, but I actually made it plus some.

2009-05-03T08:44:00.003-04:00

Alright! This was a good week. I followed my diet, had a few days where I wasn't super strict. One night a friend of mine came over and we had a few beers (not in my diet plan) and then having had a few I was hungry at about midnight and had about another 1000 calories more food. I would not have done that otherwise. So the next day, I showed it on the scale.

I was sweating that I wasn't going to make my "at least 1.4 pounds per a week goal... at minimum" goal. But here it is Sunday morning at weigh in and I lost 2.0 pounds. Whew!

It feels good to make the weight and to be able to bank an extra .6 pounds.

I have set up a spread sheet to keep track of my weight, and my advances.

I'll post them at the top of the weigh in dates, possibly post them by themselves, that way I can just pull up the results by using the Labels mode of blogger.

Well, I posted a screen shot, and it looks good enough, not great, can't see it unless you have 20/20 vision, but it is there for posterity. Plus I have it on my computer anyway.

See you at 260.6 (260.5 because my bathroom scale only measures in .5 pound increments.) Next Sunday, if not before.

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Mike Ditka Quotes

2009-05-01T12:52:00.003-04:00

I really like inspirational quotes:

I need to exercise more, but my eating habits are pretty good. Yesterday I had about 3 beers with a buddy and it made me go backwards a bit. But I am still on track to do my 1.5 pounds this week at a minimum.

Here are the quotes from Mike Ditka:

"So, when it comes to eating healthy, it's just doing the right thing. And it's not something you have to do 365 days a year, but I think it's something you have to do 25 days a month. Let's put it that way. " -Mike Ditka

"You see people who have been very heavy in their life who have taken that body, trimmed it down, firmed it up through discipline, exercise and being able to say no. Eating properly, that all comes into it." -Mike Ditka

"You're never a loser until you quit trying." -Mike Ditka

Something to think about,

Have a great weekend, see you on Sunday.
"Onesville"

The cup is here, the cup is here!

2009-04-28T11:13:00.017-04:00

My "Onesville" cup has arrived from Zazzle.com. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is to me. I have been doing very well on this diet, so far. In fact I am ahead of the weight loss schedule because the self tracking of all that I eat and thinking about being proactive about the weight loss.

Designing this cup was very easy and putting it together took a grand total of about 30 minutes from the time I came up with the idea (as I was drinking my latte, writing one of the first blog submissions) until I hit the order button.

Visual motivation and completion of a plan are very important for me in doing this, or any goal for that matter. By having this cup stare me in the face (as well as having this graphic on my computer as my desktop image), almost every day as I drink my morning cup of Latte helps keep me motivated. The questions I pose are these:

Is $20.00 too much to pay for a single coffee mug? Answer: Yes, $20.00 is wayyy too much!
Is $20.00 too much for a tool to motivate you daily to lose weight that will save your life and make your life much, much more enjoyable for the next 20-70 years? Answer: That my friend is an incredible bargain

So choose your question carefully to see what the true value of something is to you.

If you want a little bit of inspiration, consider making something like this for yourself. It can be as simple or complicated as you like. You could spend nothing on it and make it with crayons and paper or you could have the local city bus have it plastered on the side in a screen printed advertising sign. Maybe ask for the bus that goes past your house every morning as you walk out your front door.

Possibly, take a picture of the scale, like I have in other posts, and print it out, and stick it to the wall near your scale, so that when you get on the scale and maybe, perhaps, just possibly, you have let that extra pound slip back on, you have a visual reminder that you have lost that pound before and you can do it again. Call it self accountability if you will.

This may work for you, it works for me.

Very Best,

"Onesville"

2009-04-26T08:31:00.004-04:00

Who-hoo 264!

Working hard at keeping it off and figuring out that I need to be at a deficit of 700 K/cals per day to make my weight. I know that the beginning is going to be easier and there will be plateaus so I am trying to keep the accelerated weight loss going for now.

I also have been keeping a detailed, but very simple system of keeping track of my daily caloric intake. I put them on post-it notes and as soon as I eat, I write it down and estimate my calories taken in. It does two things at least.

I have cut down my intake from about 3200 calories a day to about 1800, just by being mindful of what is going in my mouth. It has helped my focus on not just putting food in my mouth if I am even the slightest bit hungry.

Start Weight: 270.0 lbs.
Last weeks Weight: 270.0
Today's goal Weight 267.2
Today: 264.0
Lost last week: -3.0 lbs.
Total lost: -6 lbs.

Ahead of schedule -3.2 lbs

Eeee-gads, double whammy today.

2009-04-22T16:40:00.005-04:00

Well, about two days ago, the little lithium battery in my bathroom scale went dead, so I have not had a scale in a few days. I have been good on the food and at the very moment I know I am hungry and let's just say the water table is low. In other words when I put the new battery in the scale I was expecting that I should be around 266 or possibly 265 if I was lucky. I guess I wasn't lucky, the new, fully charged scale says that I weigh about 268, not that much of a gain, but a gain all the same. I don't really want to weigh in so to speak until Sunday, but you know about curiosity and the cat.

So, earlier today, I found an interesting plug in to do a countdown to Easter 2010. I couldn't remember the exact day so I looked it up, it turns out it is April 4th, 2010, not April 12th, 2010, about a week earlier, so I have a little less time to lose the weight.

I know this seems trivial, and it is but hey, I was moving along well, and these two speed bumps show up. Not to worry (as if you would be worrying... ) I just have to recalculate the spread.

Turns out that I now need to keep the pace of almost exactly 1.4 pounds per a week. I can do this. No, I will do this.

That works out to having a calorie deficiency of (-3500*1.4lbs)/7 days= -700 Cal/day

Totally doable with a fairly good diet and either walking, biking or swimming on most days.

Here I come 199!

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Time to stretch

2009-04-21T09:12:00.005-04:00

I am a late to bed, late to rise kind of person. I have been most of my life. When I was young my sister bought me a little plaque that said "The early worm gets eaten by the bird." I thought it was so funny. In thinking about it I would say that staying up late is the time when it is most peaceful and the time that I am able to spend with my lovely wife, even if it is only sitting on the couch watching TV.

Now the thought of staying up late is starting to dawn on me (pardon the pun) that this could be part of my weight issue. I watch too much TV, and in doing so, I don't use my body and keep myself limber. IF I were to get up much earlier, even before my family and use the time to workout, time would not be taken away from them and the chance to workout would be there.

One of the reasons I am so motivated in losing this weight is that in the past year I have seemed to lose some mobility in my back. Swimming could help me in that department. I enjoy swimming, it is low impact and if you do it correctly can really get your heart rate up.

Last night there was an infomercial about how the spine works, ruptured disks, degenerative disk issues and the use of Spinal Decompression Therapy. The doctor "interviewed" spoke about how when we get older, it is very important that the spine flexes in order to get nutrients to the spinal disks.

Here is the video online if you are interested.

Dayton Spinal Decompression Therapy, Dr. T.J. Poelking
	30 min - Feb 11, 2008 Dayton Spinal Decompression Therapy. Dr. T.J. Poelking is a guest expert interviewed on the nationally syndicated television show, Incredible...all ... video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2741320636036272632

There was some great information about the workings of the spine.

Some things I surmised from watching this. Any extra weight on a persons midsection is going to do to have ramifications on your spinal, and therefore, overall health:

excess body fat will add extra pressure on the spine
excess body fat will constantly pull your spine in directions that it probably shouldn't be pulled
if you are out of shape, by definition, wouldn't your core muscles of your stomach not be in the shape that are holding the lower back in alignment?
proper nutrition (while losing weight) will help any part of your body in healing.

Having had back pain since I was young due to stupidity in picking things up, my children and wife now get harped on whenever I see them picking something up the wrong way.

( just searched on Google to give you a link on how to properly pick things up, and all I got was sights trying to explain how to pick up "girls" or people writing about picking things up with their toes. Looks like you will have to do your own search on the subject.)

One of the things the video was explaining is that as you get older the spine does not get it's nutrition from a blood supply but relies on bodily movement to basically squish out the waste products and suck in the new nutrients, so if you are less mobile, then it is a good possibility to have the disk degenerate due to the nutrition not getting to where it needs to go.

I would think that anything that includes movement, be it stretching, or activities or working out in the proper way is going to help you spinal health. Yet another good reason to lose a great deal of weight for me or anyone else for that matter.

Very Best,
"Onesville"

First Official Weigh in

2009-04-19T10:56:00.002-04:00

Good Morning, I am going to set the schedule to weigh in every Sunday morning. and I exceeded my first expectations.

Why Sunday mornings, my theory is that my most likely time to blow of my diet is on Friday and Saturday, so hopefully this will keep me thinking about it knowing that Sunday morning will be the weigh in and it might just give me that little bit of extra will power.

Unfortunately, that was not the case last night, because I stayed up late to watch SNL and started eating about another 1200 calories I didn't need at all.

I recalculated how much weight I must lose to reach my goal of 199 pounds by Easter morning, 2010. It turns out it is actually 1.365 pounds (1.4) per a week.

Start Weight: 270.0 lbs.
Last weeks Weight: 270.0
Today's goal Weight 268.6
Today: 267.5
Lost -2.5 pounds

Ahead of schedule 1.1 lbs

I have decided that I am going to try very hard to keep ahead of schedule, because I am sure that I will hit a plateau of weight loss. That way I can stall a bit. and it not be de-motivation. But at the same time I am going to try to lose that 1.4 pounds no matter how far I am beyond the schedule, also I am going to try to lose whatever weight I can, without it being drastic, making 1.4 the minimum I am going to lose per a week.

That's all for today, looks like a good start and doing the blog thing really works for me. I hope some others read this blog, but if I do nothing else but use it as a measure for myself and put some effort into the blog, it will keep me in the moment of my goal.

Thanks if you are out there reading it, please leave a comment so I know somebody is out there!

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Watch what you eat

2009-04-18T01:49:00.003-04:00

I love crab legs, and I started buying the fake crab at the store. If you ever taste the two together, you know they are not the same, but I still like the fake crab and it is reasonably priced. It is usually made from fish and formed. So I thought, "Hey, good source of protein, I'll eat that" Well, I got about half of the package down, that is how much I was planning on eating, and then I looked at the package. It turns out that since they use lots of other stuff to make it, it is mostly carbohydrates, and only 6 grams of protein.

Maybe I will read the package before I eat, next time.

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Carbs, the addiction to them

2009-04-18T01:34:00.004-04:00

I have picked up several books over the years and one of them was a best seller about being addicted to carbohydrates. It seems when you have metabolic syndrome that your body probably has a tendency to crave carbs.

When you succumb to eating carbs, especially the kind that hit your bloodstream quickly, like corn syrup in cola drinks, orange juice, white bread, and mashed potatoes to name a few, (don't expect the exact details here) your body's cells take and make the insulin too quickly and you end up storing it more as fat, and seems at least for me to accumulate around my torso, I don't think I have fat legs but I do have a beer belly. But since I don't drink that much, it is from food more than anything else. It is much more complicated a process than I am explaining here, but then at the end of the day, your body craves MORE carbs, not less. The simple answer, focus on a lean source of protein to give you energy, maybe a little Olive Oil to add some good fats that help your body, instead of a saturated fat like animal fat, or a hydrogenated fat, or transfat like the stuff in most margarines.

Today I have been good, I ate a modified South Beach Diet meal. I did eat grapes, that definitely is not on the diet. I am doing good, until later in the day.

I walked about a 3/4 mile very leisurely this afternoon and then came home and ate too much ham and a piece of bread and cheese. I don't have my calorie counting down yet, but I think I stayed below 1700 calories today.

I promise you, I will not try to make this blog about what I eat, every day for the next year, but it is helping me think about what and when and why I am eating.

One help is that I use my small salad plates and I am trying to always plate my food before I eat it. Put it on a plate, sit down, have a drink, and slow down on the eating. It is allowing my brain to think "I have a very full plate of food" and not have 2000 calories on one huge plate.

Just a short side note. I was furnishing an office, and there was a small kitchen in it. So I went to wall mart to buy some cool plates to use. I brought them back and when I went to put them into a normal sized dishwasher... they barely fit! These were the standard sized plates. The next day, we made lunch at the office and filled it with spaghetti. Neither of us big guys could finish our plate full of food, and on the plate, it just didn't look like it was that much food since it was on these enormous plates.

The moral of the story, find some smaller plates, plate your food, slow down and your brain will start to allow you to eat less and not feel cheated.

Any comments on the Carbs? Please post a comment.

Getting my Joe on the way to Onesville

2009-04-17T03:54:00.003-04:00

Is there nothing you can't make on the Internet? I figured if I had my morning coffee in this, it would keep my mind thinking in the right direction.

Less than 20 bucks manufactured, packed up and delivered to my front door step. Probably in less than a week.

If you want one, I think there is a way for me to make it available on Zazzle, but I am not sure.

Here's to you and me keeping on our goal. If you are going to try to get to Onesville, let me know in the comment section below.

Very Best,

"Onesville"

A Picture is worth a thousand words

2009-04-17T02:40:00.002-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. 267.5 Pounds

Thanks for the props "Slim Cache"

2009-04-17T01:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I have done lots of things online, but never have I had such a quick response as this.

Slim Cache did a nice, and very humble post about my new journey to 199 lbs., or as I have heard it called, "Onesville" (probably on Jason's blog)

"On the way to Onesville"

It is sometimes hard to understand how we impact others lives, and yes Jason, you know about this one because of my new blog. But I would suggest to you, that for every person you know about that you have impacted in some way, there are dozens or hundreds that would never mention it to you. If you are lucky, sometime in the future you will find out. So my best guess is that I am not the only one you have inspired to work toward better health.
Very Best,
"Onesville"

268 on a Wednesday.

2009-04-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

Well I am starting off a bit irregular. I think I will put this in and tell you that I am down to 268.

I told you on the first post that I would tell you about the best weight loss for me ever was 15 years ago. I did an extreme diet trying to drop 30 pounds in about 2 months, I did it, but it was all consuming and I had a very good reason to do it, besides good long term health.

I would never suggest anyone to do this kind of diet, it just is not healthy. It drained my body, I lost the weight but it was also partially from muscle loss, much too rapid, and it was not good for my health. When I went for my physical (the purpose of my weight loss) I still looked heavy for what I needed to be at, but I met the top of the qualification just by 2 pounds on the high side of the scale. So the tech was not expecting much from me in the physical side of the evaluation.... I blew their minds because after a 2 minute jumping jacks session, my pulse went up 2 beats a minute from my resting rate. I was in fighting shape, I just didn't look it.

At that time I ate probably 500-700 calories a day, swam, jumped rope, ran, (thought about food all day and all night long) and then drank prodigious amounts of water. I ate a horrible diet, but it got the final (albeit temporary) results I needed quickly.

When the final doctor saw me and looked over the extensive testing results, he said everything looked great except that my "keytones" were too high, very high.

I had no idea what that meant so I asked politely, "May I ask what that means" I was worried. His response was a question to answer a question. He asked me "Son, do you eat at Taco Bell alot?"

I was stunned" as it turned out that was where I would eat almost everyday, a chili-cheese burrito mid day (what a diet, thank God I was still young and didn't end up starving to death).

This doctor is good I thought to myself. What the hell do they put in taco bell stuff, is it the cleaner for the grill, some exotic chemical? Before the age of google where you can find out prodigeous amounts of information quickly, I had no idea what that meant, and didn't for another almost ten years. I finally realized that because I was losing so much weight so quickly that I was also losing muscle weight, not just fat, and when your body breaksdown muscle, it leaves a chemical keytone, a condition known as Keytosis, not horrible, but not great for you either (BTW, I am not a doctor so I can not say for sure that this is all medically correct).

So after all that experience, I think that losing approximately just over 1.3 pounds a week for a year is very doable and very healthy, assuming I eat correctly.

I have thus far lost 2 pounds, mostly water weight I am sure, getting me going in the right direction, but I ate too little yesterday, making me very hungry and before I went to bed I ate too many chips and salsa, at least it was a vegetable but I am sure my body could have done with out the carbs and salt from the corn chips.

I did very well with my South Beach diet last year, so I think I am going to start with that process in mind but modify it. I don't really have a great plan but I believe in the quote.

Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. -Napoleon Hill

So I will do that, plus I need to start walking, swimming and doing some strength training.

Right now, I think I will get my kids to do a short bike ride.

Dinner, I think I will try to concentrate on vegetables and a little protein from fish.

Start Weight; 270, today 268, -2 pounds so far.
Goal Weight; 199 pounds by 4/12/2010= 69 pounds to go.

I will try to weigh myself on Sundays from now on and report back here.

Anyone have suggestions at weight loss goals or the pacing of doing it?

If I get ahead, should I allow my self to stabelize, or back off, or should I go for the 1.3 pounds a week, no matter what?

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Easter is the start, 270 and counting down to 199 lbs.

2009-04-12T15:18:00.000-04:00

Hello,

I have been very inspired by the gentleman who lost over 100 pounds between his birthdays, Which happen to be on Easter Day, April 12th. He achieved the weight loss and recording it on his blog called "slim cache" Check it out.

He really went all out to do the right thing by getting down to a proper weight, in the past year he reached his goal weights on time and did a photo journal of himself. I suggest you check out his website.

As everybody else in the world has seemed to be on the yo-yo diet, so have I, back and forth, but the forth, as in moving steadily heavier over the years and has seemed to prevail by a couple of pounds every time.

Time to turn the tides.

I am also going to do an Easter 2009 to Easter 2010 weight loss, On Easter Day I weighed 270.0 lbs. and I hope, No scratch that, I will be at 199 pounds by next Easter morning, while my children, wife and I look for Easter Eggs, on Easter Morning 2010.

How am I going to do it? The best weight loss for me was 15 years ago. I did an extreme diet trying to drop 30 pounds in about 2 months. I'll tell you more about that on the next post.

Last year I dropped about 20 pounds down to 250 and felt great, lots more energy and lots of enthusiasm. But I put it all back on this last year and was about to keep going... time to stop. I have a ton of great clothing that would fit at 250, so I can lose that weight and have the nice clothing until that will become too big, then I can buy some nice clothing and get rid of all this old worn, way too big (but getting smaller on me) clothing.

So here is a start. I am a not too much of an exhibitionist so I think I will keep this to text and void of any real personal information. At least for now.

Male, early 40s, mildly athletic, or at least used to be, have great endurance but doesn't like running but likes walking and love to swim.

Swimming has been very easy for me as I was training for 4.0 mile outdoor swim. I trained all winter and the week before I did a 5.0 mile swim in 3.5 hours nonstop (and I mean to say, I stopped one time to adjust my goggles, that's it) I was in great shape but for some reason I couldn't drop weight. Swimming has challenges to be used for weight loss, but I'll touch on that in a later post.

On April 12, 2009 I weighed 270.0 Weight loss goal 199.0 (to get me to "Onesville")
Goal weight date is 199.0 on April, 12, 2010.

Some other benign stats. My waist 40 pants are getting very tight. I wear an XL shirt and they are tight. My fitted Shirts are getting tight around the belly, and that has never been a problem for me before.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Very Best,

"Onesville"

Testing video capture from phone to blog

2008-04-17T01:42:00.000-04:00

Yes it was meant to be green, I turned on a filter to check it out.

Nothing to see here, just a dancing vermin singing "I'm all right" by Kenny somebody.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Just testing the capabilities, nothing to see here.

2008-04-17T01:35:00.002-04:00

Really, it is just amazing what we can do with cell phones these days.

I took this pic and within 4 seconds it was posted on the net.

I'm allright

Totally unrelated stuff

1978-05-22T13:35:00.003-04:00

Onesville - getting down to 199 pounds

Gained a few beer and chicken wings

SWEET! It is working. Walking swimming and writing down my food.

Big Bones and 199 lbs is 23.8 BMI

277 in the morning!

So this is an old picture but it is close to my weight

Whoa! 284.6 new max weight, gotta get it trending the other way!

Thats it. Wayyyyy too much. Time to get back to what worked.

A great start again. And again and again.

Going in the right direction. Swam a bit and will continue.

Starting over at my max weight. It is time to take this seriously.

Here we start again. I AM GOING TO FLY THROUGH TO 199 POUNDS!

Here we start again. I AM GOING TO FLY THROUGH TO 199 POUNDS!

7 pounds in 4 days!

Steep learning curve on Carbs

Starting on Atkins

News year day

Try, Try Again!

I swam for one hour

Hack analysis of my caloric needs

This last weigh in Analysis

Update on a Tuesday

I am suspicious of my Scale 258-261, 259 it is.

Not too much time today

Lower than 260, Happy Mothers day

I scream for ice cream

Basal Metabolic Calculator

Sweatin' it, but I actually made it plus some.

Mike Ditka Quotes

The cup is here, the cup is here!

Eeee-gads, double whammy today.

Time to stretch

Dayton Spinal Decompression Therapy, Dr. T.J. Poelking

First Official Weigh in

Watch what you eat

Carbs, the addiction to them

Getting my Joe on the way to Onesville

A Picture is worth a thousand words

Thanks for the props "Slim Cache"

268 on a Wednesday.

Easter is the start, 270 and counting down to 199 lbs.

Testing video capture from phone to blog

Just testing the capabilities, nothing to see here.

Totally unrelated stuff