I tried to make a stir-fry for dinner tonight using this basic recipe. Now I know a whole lot about what not to do when stir-frying.
I didn't have any soy sauce or bullion, so I went without the sauce. I also marinated in vinegar and some homemade apple wine I have, which even I admit is pretty bad. And I don't mean marinating as much as I mean soaking. So why it came time to stir-fry, it was more like a boil. And I used fresh broccoli from a bag that I just dumped in the pan. These florets were huge. There was no way they were gonna fry. So I added some more apple wine and sort of boiled them too.
The end result wasn't inedible, but it was far from good. Oddly, I'm not at all frustrated and my belly is quite happy to be full of hot homemade, if not so tasty, food. Tomorrow I'm thinking rice and beans.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Week one
So after the first week I've lost 2.8 lbs, but I still don't feel that good about it. I'm happy that I'm ahead of my 1.3 lbs per week, but I feel like I could have done better. I was only really good about snacking between meals for a couple of days. I ate out a few times. I had some really bad snacking days. And since then I've had a huge prime rib dinner at my parents on Saturday and many snacks last night.
I shouldn't be complaining about coming in ahead of my goal, but I know I can do better. Tonight I want to cook something better than the Hamburger Helper I made last night. And I need to find a way to control the snacking between meals. That is a huge slippery slope for me that I either need to avoid, or find a long-term plan to mitigate.
I shouldn't be complaining about coming in ahead of my goal, but I know I can do better. Tonight I want to cook something better than the Hamburger Helper I made last night. And I need to find a way to control the snacking between meals. That is a huge slippery slope for me that I either need to avoid, or find a long-term plan to mitigate.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The first big step
Lifehacker had a great article the other day about eating healthier by cooking. The article says that learning 3 basic, easily modifiable recipes is the best way to start cooking without becoming overwhelmed. This is perfect for me because I've wanted to cook, but never knew where to start. My wife is supportive too. If I get her a list of ingredients, she'll buy them.
When my wife goes shopping now, you would never know it by the state of our fridge. It's pretty empty before she goes to the store and looks just as empty after we put the groceries away. Our freezer, on the other hand, is stacked to the gills with food in boxes.
A few years ago I realized that you can't get good healthy food by opening a box or a bag, even if it says "Lean" or "Healthy" on it. They may have smaller portions with fewer calories, but to me that's not sustainable eating. That's a diet, not a change of lifestyle. Real, healthy food, to me, comes from fresh or fresh-frozen ingredients that are cooked with a minimum of additives.
My only regret is that in a household with two working parents, I won't be able to cook for my kids. There's just not enough time in the day. If I get them home at 6:00 and take half an hour to cook a meal, they don't start eating until 6:30. That leaves no time for baths, homework, etc. before bedtime at 7:00. Maybe I'm looking too far ahead and need to walk before I run. I need to go find some recipes.
On a side note, someone brought a tin of cookies into work this week. I had 2 on Tuesday, none yesterday and like 5 today. I gotta be better.
When my wife goes shopping now, you would never know it by the state of our fridge. It's pretty empty before she goes to the store and looks just as empty after we put the groceries away. Our freezer, on the other hand, is stacked to the gills with food in boxes.
A few years ago I realized that you can't get good healthy food by opening a box or a bag, even if it says "Lean" or "Healthy" on it. They may have smaller portions with fewer calories, but to me that's not sustainable eating. That's a diet, not a change of lifestyle. Real, healthy food, to me, comes from fresh or fresh-frozen ingredients that are cooked with a minimum of additives.
My only regret is that in a household with two working parents, I won't be able to cook for my kids. There's just not enough time in the day. If I get them home at 6:00 and take half an hour to cook a meal, they don't start eating until 6:30. That leaves no time for baths, homework, etc. before bedtime at 7:00. Maybe I'm looking too far ahead and need to walk before I run. I need to go find some recipes.
On a side note, someone brought a tin of cookies into work this week. I had 2 on Tuesday, none yesterday and like 5 today. I gotta be better.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The motivation
The Motivation
It's great that I want to loose weight and eat healthier. Sure I'd like to not develop heart disease or diabetes down the line and live long enough to see my kids get married. But those ideas are too ethereal to be goals. I need more concrete motivators with immediate benefits. Like:
Fitting in the chair.
It's great that I want to loose weight and eat healthier. Sure I'd like to not develop heart disease or diabetes down the line and live long enough to see my kids get married. But those ideas are too ethereal to be goals. I need more concrete motivators with immediate benefits. Like:
Fitting in the chair.
- I broke the adjustable arms on my chair at work because my legs are so big. It's kind of embarrassing.
- I'm going to a hockey game with my father and my son later thins month. I don't know if I'll be able to sit in the seat in the arena.
- I can't fit on any good rollercoasters, and the only thing I love more than a rollercoaster is enjoying one next to my wife.
- Flying. As much as I hate the current state of security at airports, I want to have the choice of sucking it up and sitting in an airplane seat if I want to.
Having more energy
- My kids run circles around me and I never have the energy to even try to keep up.
- I barely have the energy to go to the basement and get another 6-pack to put in the fridge. How messed up is that!?!
- I shoveled for about half an hour after the last snowstorm we had and I was winded and sore. I felt pathetic.
Improving personal interactions
- My wife denies it, but somehow I think she'd be more amorous if I wasn't a big blob of fat.
- Sometimes at work, in the back of my mind, I feel like people are judging me because of my weight. Nobody has ever given me a true indication that they are, and it's probably all just in my head, but if it is,why not remove that doubt.
Monday, January 3, 2011
The plan
As I said before, my weight loss plan is to eat less and exercise more. Obviously I don't do that now. I know that if I want to loose weight and keep it off I can just diet, but need to change the way I do and think about things relating to food and exercise. I plan on tackling food first.
My biggest problem is that I eat things just because they are there to be eaten. Snacks I don't need, or I'm not even hungry for, leftover food on the kids' plates that looks like it might be tasty, food in the fridge that hasn't been touched in a few days, it all goes in for no better reason that it's there.
I really need to eat when I'm hungry, and for no other reason than that. The problem is that I've got almost 32 years of programming to go against. I can still remember my grandfather telling me, "you put that on your plate, you eat it." Now, I can't eat a meal without wanting to eat every last crumb off my plate. I don't remember my parents saying anything like that, but the other day my daughter's daycare had a half a day, so my parents helped us out by picking them up. At my daughter's daycare, the provide breakfast and lunch, but since it was a half day, we thought she was going to have a snack for lunch or nothing at all, so we told my parents that she would need lunch. Well they did end up having full lunch at daycare, and when my daughter got back to my parents house, she told them so. (She's almost 4 and very articulate). My mother didn't care. We told her that my daughter would need a lunch, so she fed her second lunch...whether my daughter wanted it or not.
I'm not blaming my mother or my grandfather for me being fat; they haven't forced food on me in 25 years or more. But now that I know why I think the way I do, maybe I can change it. You don't *have* to eat all available food. It's OK not to eat, and even throw food away.
My biggest problem is that I eat things just because they are there to be eaten. Snacks I don't need, or I'm not even hungry for, leftover food on the kids' plates that looks like it might be tasty, food in the fridge that hasn't been touched in a few days, it all goes in for no better reason that it's there.
I really need to eat when I'm hungry, and for no other reason than that. The problem is that I've got almost 32 years of programming to go against. I can still remember my grandfather telling me, "you put that on your plate, you eat it." Now, I can't eat a meal without wanting to eat every last crumb off my plate. I don't remember my parents saying anything like that, but the other day my daughter's daycare had a half a day, so my parents helped us out by picking them up. At my daughter's daycare, the provide breakfast and lunch, but since it was a half day, we thought she was going to have a snack for lunch or nothing at all, so we told my parents that she would need lunch. Well they did end up having full lunch at daycare, and when my daughter got back to my parents house, she told them so. (She's almost 4 and very articulate). My mother didn't care. We told her that my daughter would need a lunch, so she fed her second lunch...whether my daughter wanted it or not.
I'm not blaming my mother or my grandfather for me being fat; they haven't forced food on me in 25 years or more. But now that I know why I think the way I do, maybe I can change it. You don't *have* to eat all available food. It's OK not to eat, and even throw food away.
The tools
I have a spreadsheet I made up with calculations that show weight lost each week, total weight lost, expected weight loss each week, total expected weight loss, and how much I am under (or over) my goal.
I calculated my expected weight loss each week by taking my total weight loss goal and dividing it by the number of weeks until I am 35. I know that loosing weight is easier in the beginning of a plan, so I will drop weight faster, but this is a simple way to set up quantifiable goals for myself. My weekly goal is 1.3 lbs.I also have a digital scale that measures pounds in tenths (how convenient).
I am considering this blog a tool for weight loss as well. I come up with ideas and thoughts on how I should loose weight, but then I forget them. By writing them down, I hope I can remember them a little better. And if not at least I can go back and re-read them...if I remember.
I calculated my expected weight loss each week by taking my total weight loss goal and dividing it by the number of weeks until I am 35. I know that loosing weight is easier in the beginning of a plan, so I will drop weight faster, but this is a simple way to set up quantifiable goals for myself. My weekly goal is 1.3 lbs.I also have a digital scale that measures pounds in tenths (how convenient).
I am considering this blog a tool for weight loss as well. I come up with ideas and thoughts on how I should loose weight, but then I forget them. By writing them down, I hope I can remember them a little better. And if not at least I can go back and re-read them...if I remember.
200x35
200x35 is a blog about my weight loss experience. I am not a doctor and any suggestions or advice should be taken as anecdotal only.
I am creating this blog to organize my thoughts, strategies and observances as I loose weight so that I am 200 pounds by the time I am 35. This means that I need to loose almost 200lbs in over 2 and 1/2 years. My strategy for this is to *drumroll* eat less and exercise more. It sure sounds easy, let's see how well I actually do it.
I am creating this blog to organize my thoughts, strategies and observances as I loose weight so that I am 200 pounds by the time I am 35. This means that I need to loose almost 200lbs in over 2 and 1/2 years. My strategy for this is to *drumroll* eat less and exercise more. It sure sounds easy, let's see how well I actually do it.
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