3 1/2 months, 48 pounds

Hello all! Long time no post. Just a quick update to say that I am now down 48 pounds in 3 1/2 months. I dropped from size 40 jeans to size 36, from XL shirts to L, and a confidence level from a 5 to a 9! The best part is, I did it all while eating what I want and exercising none. The plan is to begin exercising now that I'm ready to start building some muscle and working my heart out - probably doing something simple like running. I ran one day about 2 weeks ago but a slight medical issue (trust me, you don't want to know) has kept me from doing much anything physical for the past week and a half.

Despite my success, here's what I keep hearing and reading that makes my blood boil...

• Comment: You shouldn't eat [insert delicious food here] because the sodium content is high!
  Rebuttal: 48 pounds, 3 1/2 months - plenty of sodium
• Comment: You shouldn't drink diet soda!  Artificial sweeteners make you fat!  Didn't you read that article??
  Rebuttal: 48 pounds, 3 1/2 months - Drink Diet Dr Pepper by the 2 liter.
• Comment: You should eat breakfast, it gets your metabolism going!
  Rebuttal: I keep my calories down throughout the day so I can eat like a king when I get home from work.  I skip breakfast and have a lunch of about 400 calories or less on most days
  Side note: Since when did everyone become a doctor?  Stop giving medical/health/weight loss advice if you don't know what you're talking about - and if you've ever said this, you clearly don't.
• Comment: Stop eating fast food!
  Rebuttal: Okay, I get this one.  Fast food is mostly horrible.  You can make a double turkey burger that weighs a pound more than a McDonald's double cheeseburger for just a few more calories.  A medium order of fries from McDonald's (or almost any other fast food chain, or sit down for that matter) is over 500 calories.  HOWEVER, it's bogus because you can absolutely eat fast food on a diet.  At McDonald's, opt for chicken McNuggets and a small fry.  At KFC, get grilled chicken, cole slaw, and mashed potatoes.  At Subway, get a 6 inch chicken teriyaki with veggies and baked Lay's chips (meal under 600 calories!).  At Chipotle Mexican Grill, ditch the tortilla and go for a bowl.  That alone will save you 200 calories (or more?).  If you really want to drop the pounds, skip the sour cream and cheese too.

Every time I try a counter point, people are stuck in their ways.  They are right, I'm wrong.  Despite the fact that I lost ... well ... 48 pounds in 3 1/2 months, people still refuse to listen.  People have preconceived notions about diets and weight loss and they are unwilling to listen.

Happy trails and good luck!

Why yes, you can still eat grilled cheese! - Eat this, not that #2

My wife and I were thinking of new dinner ideas, something different from our usually turkey-base.  She mentioned grilled cheese.  I mean, honestly - I don't think I ever would have been smart enough to consider something as delicious as grilled cheese being a healthy meal, but it certainly can be if you want.

THEN
For 2 sandwiches, 4 slices of bread.  For this example, we will say Bunny Bread, whose nutrition facts are available here.  Each slice is 70 calories apiece, making it a grand total for 280 calories for the bread alone.  If you are adventurous like I once was, you put 2 slices of cheese on each sandwich.  American cheese usually being around 70 calories per slice (such as Kraft - click for nutrition), that's 4 slices of cheese equalling an additional 280 calories.  That's 560 calories for 2 grilled cheese sandwiches...BUT WAIT...I almost forgot the third most important part of grilled cheese - BUTTER!  We used Country Crock (click for nutrition) which is a whopping 60 calories PER TABLESPOON!!.  I easily used 2 tablespoons across the 2 sandwiches, if not more - so chalk up an additional 120 calories.  That's a total of 680 calories for the 2 sandwiches alone.  Being honest with myself, I ate probably 2 helpings of chips (such as Lay's Sour Cream & Onion) - that's an additional 320 calories (160 calories per serving, which is usually about 16 chips - and I'm probably lying to you if I say I only hate 16 chips per serving).  This all makes for a 1,000 calorie dinner.

NOW
Thankfully, I decided to start taking care of myself.  I can now eat 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and portion my chips to get that meal under 500 calories!

First, use an alternative bread.  Don't buy the absolute rock bottom cheapest - spend the extra 30 cents and get something like WonderBread's Smart White (or Wheat, or whatever you prefer) for only 50 calories apiece - a 20 calorie per slice savings.  Or, try out the bread that's on my next must-try list - Healthy Life Original White Bread at ONLY 35 calories per slice!  Wow!  That's double the bread for half the calories over the above mentioned Bunny Bread white (not to pick on Bunny - its not any worse than any other regular white bread).  So, let's say you are using Healthy Life's at 35 calories apiece - that's 4 slices of bread for only 140 calories!  Then, and yes I know, cheeseheads, only use 1 slice of cheese - that's a 140 calorie savings between the 2 sandwiches.  70 x 2 rather than 70(2) x 2.  So far you've only used 280 calories.  Another major saving of calories is replacing that calorie-filled butter with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray - it tastes great, tastes like butter, and it has 0 calories!  Then, go ahead and treat yourself to a single serving of chips - whether it's just 16 greasy chips, 16 baked Pringles (they have some really awesome flavors now - such as Blazin' Buffalo, Ragin' Cajun, Hot Ranch, etc) for only 150 calories, or some steamed vegetables (my personal favorie - Bird's Eye vegetables in cheese sauce).  My personal favorite is Pringles, making this meal of 2 grilled cheese and a serving of Pringles only 430 calories!

CONCLUSION!
Again, just by making some simple changes that your kids and family won't even notice just saved you 570 calories.  That's pretty amazing!  In my past of eating 2-4,000 calorie days, I would have just slopped it all together and had a disgusting unhealthy meal.  Now I'm eating the same food with the same delicious factor for less than half the calories I used to eat.  Happy eating!


eatthisnotthat

Eat this, not that number 1 - Turkey Bratwursts/Hot Dogs vs. beef Bratwursts/pork Hot Dogs

I had just gotten the results of my blood test that again showed high cholesterol and again warned me that I was at risk of heart disease in the future.  Being only 26, it startled me, but considering it had happened the year before and I made no changes, it shouldn't have - and it didn't surprise me.  I was in the store, and if this shows you how little I know about eating healthy, I called up my sister who is a Physician's Assistant and sees people like me all the time.  "Eat more lean meats" she says.  My response - "What do you mean by lean meats?"  "You know, turkey, chicken...less beef and pork."  Voila.  Here I am today.  I started actually comparing the foods I was eating and was astounded at the differences that can be made just by making some wise decisions in the grocery store - you know, like...actually looking at the calorie content of the food.  I had been buying store-brand brats at my local Shop N Save grocery store.  I switched to Jennie-O turkey brats and it was a no-brainer.  Yes, they cost more - but I'll be eating less, so it makes up the difference.

Bratwursts
I had been eating these store brand pork brats that were an amazing 290 calories per link and switched to Jennie-O brats, nearly the same size (a little smaller than regular brats after cooking, but an amazing 170 calories.  That's a 120 calorie saving!



Couple this with 80 calorie Healthy Life Bread compared to standard (typical) 110 calorie buns, and you have an awesome saving of 150 calories per brat!

I also found that you can buy some sauerkraut that is 5 calories for 2 tbsp, while others have 0 calories! 

THEN
So, my old meal would have been 2 pork brats on bun (760 calories) and 2 hefty helpings of chips (320 calories - I'm being generous to myself by calling this only 320 calories).  That's a total meal of 1,080 calories - almost what I'm taking in per day now that I am in weight-loss mode (1510). 

NOW
My new meal would be a single turkey brat on bun (250 calories) and a portion-controlled helping of Pringles (baked, 150 calories for 16 "crisps"), or vegetables (steamed vegetables in bag - like Bird's Eye brand or Green Giant) at about 130 calories (if I ate almost the whole bag) - for a total of about 400 calories.  Yes, that's a 600 calories saved in a single meal.  600 calories that can be saved for a snack, or even another brat if I feel like it. 

Hot Dogs
Basically, same story for hot dogs.  I was getting uppity about my hot dogs, so I started buying Oscar Meyer.  More expensive than the store brand, but also a lot more delicious.  I bought some Jennie-O turkey dogs and again was amazed by the difference.  Oscar Meyer hot dogs contained 140 calories apiece, Jennie-O turkey dogs?  70.  Yes, 70 calories in a hot dog.  That means my old hot dog on a bun was 250 calories, and I dropped it down to 150 - 100 calories, took little to no hit on taste, and had that big of a savings.

THEN
Again, 2 hot dogs with bun (500 calories) and 2 helpings of chips (320 calories - again being generous to myself) - for a grand total of 820 calories.

NOW
Now, 2 turkey hot dogs with bun (300 calories), and 1 helping of Pringles (16 crisps = 150 calories) for a total of 450 calories.  That's a savings of 370 calories.


So, it's quite simple - I found delicious alternatives that if I had discovered 10 years ago, I probably wouldn't have to be so anal about what I eat today....in other words, I wouldn't have gotten as big as I had gotten.  Give Jennie-O (or any other brand, for that matter) a shot - you won't regret it, and your body will love you for it.

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eatthisnotthat

Calorie Calculator - if you really want to lose weight

If you've read anything of mine previous to now (considering I published my first post about 10 minutes ago, you probably haven't) you know that I have lost weight simply by counting calories - and not so much worried about <i>what</i> I'm eating.  To track my calorie intake, I use MyFitnessPal.  I found out how many calories I should be eating in order to lose weight by punching in my height and weight, and telling MFP I wanted to drop 2lbs/wk.  For those of you who don't use MFP because you don't want to sign up, or don't have a smartphone (MFP has a Droid, Blackberry and an iPhone app) and don't want to have to login to a website to log your calories every day, you can use FreeDieting.com's calorie calculator to find out how many calories you should be consuming per day in order to lose weight.  MFP is what I will always suggest, but I know that something like MFP may not be for everyone.  You should note, however, that as your weight changes (and it will!), so should your calorie intake - and when you enter your new weight on MFP, your calorie intake will automatically be updated.  If you don't use MFP, you should check back after you've dropped a few pounds to see if a new calorie amount is suggested.

MyFitnessPal - My Savior! ...or... If I can do it, so can you!

People are always shocked when they ask me how I lost my weight and I simply tell them "By counting calories....".  Many of them say "So you are just exercising now or...?" to which I always reply "Nope, not exercising at all - just counting calories.".  Of course, many "health nuts" out there wouldn't recommend not working out - and yes, I do fully intend on doing so once I drop more weight (more on that later) - but right now, I have made nothing besides counting calories my number 1 priority - and so far it has treated me quite well.  I began using MyFitnessPal on May 13 - at the time of writing this, I'm down around 25-30 pounds.  For those who aren't good with math or calendars, that's less than 2 months - about 7 weeks.  For those wondering if I'm 400lbs, no, I'm not.  The last time I weighed (which was extremely rare) before I started dieting (in April), I was 238 (fully clothed) - this was at my son's doctors office.  I just checked the other day and found out that I was actually 241 during my last doctor's visit.  Yesterday I was at 212 (again, fully clothed) - for a total loss of 29 pounds!  I can thanks this all to my newfound will power and of course, MyFitnessPal.
MyFitnessPal, or "MFP" as its abbreviated by it's many, many forum members, contains thousands of foods built-in so its easy to add the calories that you eat.  If you want to track other things like sodium, carbs, vitamins, cholesterol, and so on - you can do that too!  I spent the first few days, or perhaps even week, with a calorie allowance of 1800.  Then, I discovered that I had the default setting of losing 1lb per week set.  1lb???  No way!  I don't have 50 weeks to lose this weight!  If I don't start seeing some major changes quick, I'll lose my fire and will very quickly.  I changed the setting to the max (2lbs per week), and it dropped me down to 1630 calories.  Still very doable now that I have found some awesome snacks that are perfect for a calorie-counting-dieter.  Once I entered my first weight loss 2 weeks ago of 19lbs, it dropped me down to 1510 calories!  Fortunately at 1630 calories I very often had leftovers, so 1510 has not been too difficult for me, and it continues to work!  The doctor's office visit I mentioned earlier, I was down another 7-8lbs from only 3 weeks ago.  I am currently at around 207 (without clothes), but I won't be satisfied until I hit 185-195.  When I reach my goal, I will be the smallest I've been, literally, since I can remember.  I don't think I've fit into pants smaller than 38 since I've been 16 (I'm 26 now), and I do believe next time I try on some 36s they may just fit - and I may shed some manly, manly tears (not really).
I sincerely, sincerely hope FIRST, that I will actually stick with this whole blogging thing,  SECOND, I sincerely, sincerely hope I can inspire you to start taking care of YOURSELF too.  Trust me everyone - at the time of writing this, I am 26 years old - and have been overweight since I was about 13 years old.  Weight issues are in my blood - but it's time to stop making excuses.  I do not come from a family of fitness  nuts - I do not come from a family full of fit people in general (I'm just saying it doesn't come naturally, not that I don't have fit family members).  I saw everyone on TV who lost weight and thought "That's not me!" and I would literally go to the store and buy pants with "room to grow" in them so they would last me for a long time and I wouldn't have to get upset when I "grew" out of them within a few months.
You can do it, and we can do it together!  Booyah!

CNET article about MFP

MyFitnessPal iPhone app screenshot