Beautiful Life of Zig Zag Zoom

Losing weight is one of the hardest things to do. To have a complete weight loss diet, you must combine both proper eating and good exercise. To do both you have to be in proper physical health.

I was super excited to start my weight loss diet and even more excited to share it here on That Blozzz. Well I had to use the motto of this blog because I was dealt a big life slap the last few days. I mentioned last week that I was having back problems. I finally hit the real brick wall and went to the chiropractor Monday. I have a slipped disk in my back. Not only does this mess up my everyday activity, it puts a big dent in my exercise plans.

The doctor says I should be down and out for at least 10 days but I am hoping it will get better faster. I have been doing OK with eating but that by itself does not get the job done.  I really need to exercise but since I can’t I have to be extra careful with my eating.

The good news is, even without exercise, I did lose one more pound and my new weight is 199.5 lbs. I am not losing at the rate I prefer to but I guess any loss is better than no loss or a gain.

The one pound loss does mean even if you are injured or down and out, you can still adjust your diet to be able to lose weight. Though it is slower, it is still possible.

If you are on a weight loss plan, please share your experience here by leaving a comment.  If you have any advice you would like to share or want to be part of my weight loss diet reporting, feel free to jump in and be part of the That Blozzz community.

Well I just did my week two weigh in and it was OK but not great. I am down 1.5 pounds. I had a good eating week but a bad exercise week. I was very active this week but I did not do any organized exercise. The middle of week two I threw my back out and that stopped me from doing much.

The back is still hurting which is one of the reason I wanted to lose weight. I hurt my back about 13 years ago and when I gain weight, I have more problems with it.

I have been very good with eating and avoiding all deep fried foods and high sugar snacks. Thursday will be my first cheat day because it is my mother’s 80th birthday party and I plan to have a little cake and ice cream.

I am hoping my back gets better in a couple of days so I can get back on track with my exercise. I guess as long as the weight is decreasing I should be happy. However, next week, I am looking for a better number.

Old weight 202 lbs new weight 200.5 lbs.

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.

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.