Beautiful Life of Zig Zag Zoom

Yesterday was the last day of week one and today was my official weigh-in day. I found out why I did not have enough energy. As I thought I was eating plenty of calories, I went on a online calorie calculator and found out most days I was in the 1200 calorie range. This is way to low for any man and it should be at least 1800-2000 and days I exercise, it should be even more.

I knew this and I should have done a better job of making sure I eat enough. This is one of the biggest downfalls when starting a diet. People try to cut but but end up cutting too much and they end up not losing weight or losing too much lean mass.

The key to success is to lose at a rate that keeps you healthy and does not lose your lean body mass. The most common recommendation is to lose at a rate of 1.5 to 2 pounds a week. I think a little more is OK but too much and you fail to burn mostly fat.

I have loss weight in the past but I have gained it back so this time I am hoping for the long term weight loss.

With that said, I lost 2 pounds the first week. I was hoping for a little more but this is a respectable number and I can live with it knowing I need to adjust to do better.

I met my goal for exercise. I did three days of cardio and two days of weight training.

I also met my goal for fiber and protein but failed a bit on the veggies and fruit intake. I still need to try to up those some. I also failed to eat enough which I will work on in the coming week.

From this point on, I will start just updating my weight loss diet diary once a week on my weigh in day which is Wednesday. As I discover something new I will add it to my weight loss category.

As always please add any comments that can help me or others who are trying to lose weight.

NEW WEIGHT: 202 LBS

Today I had no energy. I am not sure what is happening but I seem to have loss all my energy. I did do my workout but otherwise I did almost nothing. I am going to have to try and figure out what I am doing wrong unless it is just the winter blues.

Food Ate:

One egg

1/2 grapefruit

4 prunes

Thomas Light multi-grain English muffin

4oz of Venison steak

Green Salad mix with added carrots

Fit Smart Fiber 35 Strawberry Shake with skim milk

1 tbs of fat-free ranch dressing

Two slices of New York Style Pizza

One Snickers Marathon Nutrition Bar

Exercise:

30 minutes of weight training with dumbbells ( that is what the weights are called not talking about my wife)

Still trying to get all those veggies and fruit.

Today was another busy day and I took a day off exercise. We went to visit some family and that took a good part of the day. Karen and I ended up at the Chinese buffet which is one of our weak points. For the first time, we made the smart choices.

I increased my veggies today, of course most of it was in one meal. I have been feeling the effect of higher fiber. It caused a bit of bloating and gas but that will pass when I get use to eating better.

Karen did comment today that when you eat healthier, your taste buds improve and food starts having more flavor. I guess all the fried foods plug up your taste buds.

Food ate:

A bowl of Live Active Berry Cereal with fat free milk

Chicken and Broccoli  (mostly broccoli)

Peel and eat shrimp

A bowl of mixed fruit

Wholegrain high fiber English muffin with all natural peanut butter

Two cups of skim milk

One juice and sparkling water blend

Tomorrow’s goal:

Eat six small meals

More water intake

30 minutes of light weight training

Please share any tips you have on what I am or I am not doing right.

Today I had a busy day. However, I stayed on track. It is getting easier to eat healthier and I am already starting to feel the effect of healthier eating. I have decided to set  my cardiovascular exercises for three times a week and my strength exercises two days a week. One of the problems I had in the past was to go full force day one and then I wear myself out.  This time I plan to take more baby steps in the hope that the weight loss will be long term.

Food Ate:

A bowl of Live Active Berry Cereal with fat free milk

One Banana

Fit Smart Fiber 35 Strawberry Shake with skim milk

Two servings of whole wheat spaghetti with extra lean burger and Ragu organic sauce (two different meals)

One serving of Brussels sprouts (Frozen fresh out of my own garden)
Exercise:

31 minutes on the elliptical  machine

I am still working on increasing my veggies which seems to be the hardest thing for me to do. Karen has been off for a week so we have not been on the best schedule. I am hoping it gets better when we start a regular schedule again.

Today, I took a day off from exercise because I was a bit sore from yesterday’s weight workout. I did not get to spread out my meals as well as I would have liked because I slept in a bit this morning.

Food Ate:

A bowl of Live Active Berry Cereal with fat free milk

One Banana

One slice of NY Style pizza

Half of an antipasto salad.

A few nuts

One small sirloin steak

Mashed potatoes

A serving of pinto beans

A serving of corn

One Snickers Marathon Nutrition Bar

I still am working on improving my veggie and fruit intake.

I have noticed that  the number on the scale is going down but you will have to wait till the end of week one to see the loss. I also had my wife take pictures today for the future before and after pictures that I will post here.

Anyone else trying to lose weight out there? If so, do you have any tips for me? If so please leave a comment.

I read both the Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You To Know About and More Natural Cures Revealed: Previously Censored Brand Name Products That Cure Disease by Kevin Trudeau. I am into natural medicine and herbal cures so I was excited to order these books. I was watching an infomercial and they were both offered for $19.99 total including shipping.

I called and was on the phone for ever why they tried to get me to buy many additional products. I went through all the sales pitches and ordered the books.

As soon as I received them, I started to read them. They were interesting reads but seemed to focus on me going to their website for more information. Of course, the website was for members and you had to pay to be a member. Neither of the books give much in the way of true cures. The first book just alludes to cures but you have to go to the website to see more. The book reads like a government conspiracy novel between the FDA and the pharmaceuticals companies who are working together to keep the true cures from the public.

The second book was more of the same. However, it did include a list of some possible ways to treat some health conditions with natural cures.

Neither book was what the infomercials sold them as and neither helped me improve my health or cure any health problems. Maybe if I had shelled out more money for the membership to Kevin’s website, I could have learned the real cures.

In my honest review, the books were pure hype and they were nothing but sales promotions to sell you more stuff. After doing a search of Kevin Trudeau on Google, it seems that many others share my opinion. I feel that reading the books was interesting if I was looking for a novel but as a Natural Health Care Book, neither one was worth the read.

My advice, if you can get them for free or borrow them , you may find them interesting to read. I do not advice you buy either book, save your money and buy a bottle of Oregano Oil, it will do more for your health.

Well I am on day two of my weight loss diet. I am still fighting those late night hunger cravings. This has been my weakness lately so I am working on not eating anything after 8:30 PM. I am also trying to get some protein at every small meal. This is one thing that most weight loss diets agree on.

I started my strength exercise and it was a little hard to start up after so much time off. I did some intense weight training with light dumbbells. I could not keep up the pace or time I use to do. I guess at age 41, the body is started to weaken a wee bit.

Food Ate:

Two eggs with spinach, broccoli, half slice of ham, and a little bit of low fat cheese

One piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter

One Cup of Milk

One small Stony Field Farms Blueberry Yogurt with a small bit of walnuts

Grilled Chicken Salad at Buffalo Wild Wings

A all natural pomegranate fruit bar

A string cheese stick

Exercise:

4 minute warm up on the elliptical

10 minutes of weight lifting with two twenty pound dumbbells

As far as drinking, I have been only drinking water and plain iced tea except for the milk that was included in my foods list.

I still need to improve my fruit and vegetable intake but I am heading the right direction. Stay tune for future updates on my long hard road to getting fit.

I tried the Snickers Marathon Nutrition Bars for the first time today. I purchased one of the Dark Chocolate Crunch Bars. I have tried many high protein and high fiber bars before and I have never been very impressed. That was until now.

The Snickers bar contained 11grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber along with 4.5 grams of fat. It was also chocked full of vitamins including 100% vitamin B6, B12, C, Folic Acid, and Biotin. There were also many other vitamin and minerals of varying amounts. It had only 150 calories and nothing extremely bad in the ingredients like high fructose and hydrogenated oils.

I always try to include a lot of fiber in my diet when I am trying to lose weight but higher fiber bars normally mean chewing on hard cardboard like bars. Well that was not the case with this bar. It was like eating a candy bar. It had great taste and was a little more chewy than most candy bars but nothing like many other protein/fiber bars I have tried. It was not the gooey melt in your mouth candy bar like a real snickers but it did taste great. The price was reasonable. We paid 98 cents each at WalMart.

Both my wife tried the bars and they were very good and helped curb our appetite for a 8:30 PM  snack. We are heading back to the store tomorrow to stock up on these bars.

I can honestly say, Snickers impressed me with this tasty treat that is actually good for you.

Has anyone else tried the Snickers Marathon Nutrition Bar? What is your favorite protein/fiber bar?

I started eating right today. I also started to exercise for the first time in a long time. Here are my stats for day one:

Height: 5′ 7″

Weight: 204lbs

Goal weight: 155lbs

Food Consumed:

A bowl of Live Active Berry Cereal with fat free milk

One Banana

Half of a Subway Club Sub with cheese and lots of veggies (no dressing)

1 cup fat free milk

Baked Chicken (no skin)

Mashed potatoes with gravy

Apple sauce

One Snickers Marathon Nutrition Bar (Look for a review in my review category)

Exercise:

23 minutes on the elliptical

I think overall compared to how I have been eating, I done fairly well. I am not counting calories but I am trying to eat better and be more fit. As my diet progresses, it will get better and I am hoping to eat more veggies. I went out to eat and was hoping to get some good veggies but the only choice was mixed vegetables from a can and I hate those. I had to settle for apple sauce. Of course up till yesterday, I would have eaten fries.

If you have any added tips or words of inspiration, please leave a comment.

I have just started my new diet. Well it is not a weight loss diet in the technical term, it is just a plan for me to lose weight. I have not done any organized exercise in over a year and I need to get back on track.

I have read several weight loss diet plans over the years and I have not seen many that seem to have it all. My favorite so far has been the ABS diet because it seems to not focus on what you can’t eat but rather what you should eat.

My wife liked Weight Watchers but the overall program seems flawed to me. They change it so often that who can keep up. It also seems focused on secrets that you have to be willing to pay for to know them. I have read their forum and it seems that most of the people are so up and down that they never seem to lose long term. The plans we have tried seemed to be on the right track but the calories were cut way to low for most people. I can not speak for the newest plan but I tried the flex points system and was not impressed.

Atkins and South Beach weight loss diet seem to also be flawed because everyone I have known who have done these have lost some big weight. However, as soon as they stop the diet, they gain it all back.

Most other weight loss diets have some good points but are mostly made to sell books and products and not focused on the key point to lose weight. With these, I would lose some weight from my wallet being lighter.

The key component of any major weight loss diet is the fact that you should eat better and exercise. Eating whole foods and cutting out as much processed foods as possible is the key to long term weight loss. Eating small meals five to six times a day is also important.

Most people deep down knows what it takes to lose weight, spending your hard earn money on the next greatest weight loss diet is not the key. You can save that money and spend it on a gym membership or a piece of exercise equipment.

I will try to share everything I do to lose weight with you here on That Blozzz and it will only cost you a little time to read and the rest is free. I will keep you updated on my progress and what I did to get there. Hopefully in a few weeks my wife and I will be success stories.