Week 2: Down 2 More lbs

Woo hoo! I lost 2.0 lbs on my second "official" week on my eating and exercise plan. While I gave myself Bs and Cs for the week (most notably because of the fact I have a healing broken toe and could not extensively diet,) I did manage to be very disciplined for 5 of the 7 days. I had a lot of fun at Buckeye and Blue Jacket Games on Saturday and Sunday nights. I lived.

To keep up this velocity and since my toe is basically healed, I'm going to add mild cardio to the mix this next week.

What went well last week

- I was disciplined 5 days and my two bad days, I was disciplined right up until my first beer and bite of bad food. 

- I ate an apple every day

- I cooked a lot of yummy, tasty food on Sunday which I grazed on all week, including roasted succotash, couscous, baked vidalia onion, polenta (Trader Joe's frozen thing.) I felt full and satisfied all week.

- There was pizza in the break room at work and I didn't eat any

- I didn't drink through the week at all

- I spent almost no money on food or drink (besides my two cheat days which were expensive) 

What I could have done better last week

- I should have only partied one night last week, not two

- I should have made the minestrone soup that I had intended to make (Instead I had store-bought soup.

- I should have made my 2.7k Nike Fuel Points goal each day

Satisfying Dinner

I've been happy with myself this week. Despite being very busy at work, (10+ hour days) I've been on my eating plan. Tonight, I had a series of homemade leftovers:

Starting at 12 o'clock: polenta with peas, baked vidalia with breadcrumbs, roasted succotash, couscous and roasted yellow squash and portobello mushroom. Total: 11 points (pre Nov '10 WW points)

Soup and Salad

I was working from home today and fixed this for lunch:

Homemade bean soup with chopped salad (cabbage, red onions, carrot, celery, cashews with peanut butter vinaigrette) topped with fresh avocado.  

New Eating and Exercise Plan

So, I was getting ready for work last week and I realized that one pretty standard pair of pants I wear was pretty tight. I jumped on the scale and was appalled. I had gained a considerable amount of weight over the spring and summer.

I'm not going to beat myself up. I've had a lot on my plate:

- Sprained ankle

- Moving apartments

- House sale in Cincinnati 

- New assignment at work that was extra stressful

- Financial concerns

- 5 weekends in a row of items

- Broken toe

So, that morning, right then and there, I decided that I'm going back on my eating plan. 

My official starting weight was 207 lbs on October 11. I have a goal to get down to 185 lbs by the new year.

So, I'm starting with packing a lunch for work like this:

This is my NEW 14 week contract for my eating and exercise plan:

General Rules

- The week begins with a weigh in each Friday morning.
- The week will last 14 weeks. From 10/11/2013 until 1/17/2014.

Eating Rules

- No meat or meat products. Barf.
- The plan encourages fresh, healthy foods over fatty foods and carbs.
- The plan will be loosely based on the "old" Weight Watchers points system to ensure proper mix of food and correct portioning. (I'll bucket breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner points to equal approximately 32.)

- No alcohol during the week.

- Dietary supplements.
- One "cheat evening" will be permitted per week, for mental health.
- Each Sunday, I will prepare several meals for the week (minimum one main dish or soup, and one side dish) to facilitate healthy eating.

Exercise Rules

- a Nike+ Fuel Band will be used to track general activity; the goal is 2,700 fuel points per day.
- Separate to the Fuel Band, I will workout a minimum of 3 times per week (minimum of 30 minute cardio activity or 20 min cardio/20 min weight training.)

Tracking 

- A paper journal will be used to track eating and exercise
- This blog will be updated regularly. Minimally, each Friday, this blog will contain: screenshot of scale, screenshot of diary for the week.

Motivational Tools and Penalties

This time around, I'm not going to focus on public humiliation and penalties. Instead, I'm going to attempt positive reinforcements, as follows:

200 lbs - "Union Jack Suit" - it's a kind of pajama thing

195 lbs- "Segno" tattoo  

190 lbs- Vacation trip to Toronto 

185 lbs- $500 shopping spree for new clothes