No. Calories Needed

It’s that time, my friends.  It’s time for good old NCN to give it “one more shot” and lose some weight.  Football season is just around the corner, and I plan on coaching my sons team.  I want to be in better shape, so that I can keep up with him, and provide a better example.  Here’s the plan -

Obviously, I need to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated.  For me, that means two things.  First, I have to give up (once again) sodas.  Second, I need to increase water intact.  This is actually pretty simple to do, especially once I put my mind to it.

Eating, I need to focus on eating real foods in sensible portions.  I’m going to completely skip the gimmicky diet plans, with tons of restrictions.  Instead, I plan to eat lean meats, lot of vegetables, plenty of fruit, and healthy nuts.  Again, this isn’t difficult – but it does require proper planning and dedication.  I usually “fall of the wagon”, not because I love to eat junk, but because it’s easier to eat junk.  That’s a pretty lame excuse, and one I’m tired of making.

When it comes to exercise, I really miss my gym membership.  When we moved to the new house, I let the membership lapse – and I’ve failed to rejoin.  I know, I could just exercise in my home, but going to the gym (and knowing that I’m paying to go) is a big motivator.

I plan to weigh-in (officially), once a week.  I’ve tried various methods, weighing-in every day – and weighing-in once a month, but weighing-in once a week seems to work best.

Speaking of exercise and weight, I have two, very simple, very specific goals.  I want to run in a 5k and I want to lose 40 pounds.  These are both realistic goals, especially considering that just a year or so ago, I was running 2 to 3 miles per day.  I just need to get back on track, focus, and make these things happen.

Which brings me back to “why” I’m dusting of No. Calories Needed in the first place.  I need accountability, and blogging about my weight loss helps, as long as I actually, you know, blog about my weight loss.  So, that’s what I’m doing.

Thanks for visiting, and for those who have yet to do so, follow me on Twitter and say “Hi!”

Tomorrow, it’s up at 5:30 am and off to the gym.  Rock on!

I have a new goal.  I want to lose 100 pounds by October 10, 2010.

I had a great day today, calorie-burning wise.  According to the GoWear Fit armband that I’m now wearing, I have burned over 4,500 calories today!  This is awesome – even if the device is “off” by a couple hundred calories – that’s still a lot of calories burned!

I’ve gone to the grocery store and stocked-up on healthy foods.  I’m going to use a modified low-carb diet – eating lots of lean meats, nuts, green vegetables, and fresh fruits.

If you’ve been reading this site for even a little while, you know I’m prone to “starting over”.  Well, I was motivated by a recent post over at ManVsFat.  So, here I go.  I’m going to give this thing an honest and open try.  Will it work.  Only time will tell.  All I can say is, I have the information, I have the platform to tell my story, and I now have some added motivation.

My goal is 100 pounds.  I’m 5 feet 8 inches tall.  If I reach my goal, I’ll weight 155 pounds.  That’s what I weighed when I graduated high school.  Can I do it?  We shall see.

No more excuses.  No more whining.  Time to get serious.

Rock on.

Starting weight (10-11-2009) – 255 pounds

Over at No Credit Needed, I’ve begun a series on Setting Personal Finance Goals.  I’m also giving away debt reduction books, so you might want to check out the site and put your name in the hat for a free book!

While writing about goal setting, I was reminded of the fact, that for some silly reason, I have been writing about weight loss, but I haven’t created any short-term or intermediate-term goals.  Sure, I’ve created a long-term goal of losing 90 pounds, but I haven’t broken that goal down into measurable, smaller goals.  So, here are my goals, for this week, and for today.

Goals For This Week -

I want to exercise six days this week, with four days of intense cardio (running) and two days of intense weight training.

I want to eat a balanced, vitamin-rich diet, avoiding starches, sugary foods, and sodas.

I want to consume several glasses of water, each day.

Goals For Today -

I am going to go to the gym today.

I am going to work as hard as I can, as smart as I can, for as long as I can.

I am going to focus, for the entire time I am in the gym, on creating a healthier body.

I am going to run two miles, without stopping, and then I am going to swim several laps in the pool.

I am going to stay hydrated, before, during, and after my workout.

I am going to eat four or five small, high-density, low-carbohydrate meals.

I am going to eat plenty of healthy protein.

I am going to take my multi-vitamin.

Man, that looks so good, there “on paper”.  Now, all I have to do is do it.  Take last week for example.  I started out strong, and then I got sick.  I was sick Monday and Tuesday, I felt a little better Wednesday, but then I felt terrible Thursday and Friday.  Sunday, I started to feel a little better, and now I am prepared for a much better week.  I’ll do my weigh in Tuesday, giving myself one day to get back in the groove of things before I step on the scale.