I ate celery earlier. Hoorah.

And yes. We can arm wrestle. I'm not very good at arm wrestling though. There's actually techniques you can use to help you win, and I don't know any of them. There are friends of mine that can't life as much weight as me, and they can beat me in arm wrestling.

Heh, I just realized some great motivation for losing weight... a girlfriend. I've been flirting with this chick and she seems really into me, but I have like, no confidence because I'm so overweight. Also, I checked out my bank statement today and saw the charge for my gym membership... the one I didn't go to even once last month. That does it, I'm spending at least half an hour at the gym tomorrow even if it kills me.

There you go. Stick with it man, you'll be happy you did.

I emerge victorious, but my arms wish I hadn't :p

I find it really difficult to eat right, but I'm making a conscious effort to at least cut back on all the junk. I've been drinking water every day for a while (not as much as I should) and I've started bringing apples in for a snack at work instead of chips or something.

Anyone have any good suggestions for a healthy, QUICK breakfast each morning? Super emphasis on quick, like something I can grab, eat, and run. I don't feel like getting up any earlier than I have to. 4 AM is early enough, thanks.

Oatmeal?

And how about a good ol' fashion bowl of cereal? I start most days with a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal and some vanilla flavored soy milk. I HATE milk, and I find the vanilla flavored stuff to be great, and, it's healthy. And the Heart to Heart cereal is very tasty, and also good for you. These are both things that my girlfriend got me into, that I thought I would hate until I finally gave them a chance.

You can find either of these at any grocery store. The Heart to Heart may not be in the cereal aisle with the rest of the cereals. You may have to check the natural foods section. And soy milk is usually in the milk section.

a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit (apple, pear, orange, banana?) is a good start i think. and it doesn't take long to put together and eat a bowl of cereal, so don't bitch about getting up earlier :P

hmm my gut is getting flabby again. damn.

I'll have to look for that stuff. What about cinnamon toast crunch? ;)

Yep, that is about what my diet is like.

HELL YEAH!

w00t

Just stepped on the scale.

186.2 lbs.

I, am pleased with myself. Even if I cheated a bit on my diet tonight. When I'm home, I don't really have any meal schedule. My family doesn't eat meals together or anything, and our cupboards aren't exactly stocked with health foods. So tonight when I was with my friends, I ended up eating some beef jerky (which isn't too bad at all) and a Nutty Bar.

Oh well. It's not like I cheat every day. You're supposed to cheat every now and then. Keeps morale high.

This type of breakfast is going to vary amongst people. While some can get away with a piece of toast, some fruit and yogurt, I can't. I need a bit more fat and protein to carry me over until lunch--otherwise I'm starving at least two hours after breakfast. Try boiling some eggs ahead of time, and having two or three of those with toasted quality bread (wholegrain or something like it) and peanut butter/butter and jam, or a toasted bagel with cream cheese/butter and jam. I'd say top it off with a glass of milk (for the fat), but milk tends to put people to sleep. If you're one of those people, go for pulpy (for the "fiber") orange juice (if you like it). A great way to figure this out is to have seven different breakfasts for a week. Vary what type of breakfast you're having. The first can be fruit and yogurt, the second can be what I suggested, the third can be cereal topped with strawberries and a hard-boiled egg, et cetera, just be sure to go from super light to super greasy, and vary the amount of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, fat and other stuff you eat. Breakfast is a KEY meal to losing weight. Even if you start out it out eating sausage or biscuits and gravy like me, if you eat to sustain your energy levels, you're going to eat LESS later in the day. THIS IS KEY. While your breakfast may not be super-healthy, the fact that you're eating less because you're not as hungry (you're at your natural hunger levels, not your nocturnally-starved eat all I can levels) is going to lead to weight loss when coupled with exercise.

For sustained energy in breakfast and snacks, remember the PFF: protein, fiber and fat. Sugars and carbohydrates burn off quicker--which is why junkfood doesn't really carry you over. An apple is a great snack, because of the fiber in its skin; an apple with peanut butter is an even greater snack because it has protein AND fiber. Come up with a list of easy snack-ingredients that meet one or more of the PFF, and then switch out which you eat, so snack time doesn't get mundane. Because eating healthy gets old fast, and you've got to find ways to keep yourself doing it.

That's a lot of great advice. Thanks much, Stormy.

185.2 lbs.

I'll be a day late on my weekly pictures. I should have them up by later tonight.

On what stormy said: This is especially important for you if you're waking up at 4 am, subsy. I do that about 3 days a week, and I find that instead of getting hungry around lunch like most people, I'm hungry at like 10 am. A bowl of cereal alone doesn't usually do it for me, and Stormy's right, things like peanut butter and milk help a lot, plus the healthy snacks that you mentioned, like apples.

I have been so busy for like the past week I haven't been able to post. My exercise has struggled. Like I told you guys I was doing only elliptical and yoga last week because I hurt my knee so badly. I was doing my best to rest it up for my 16 mile run on Saturday, which, to my intense frustration, I only got a few miles into because BOTH knees felt like they were being stabbed in the kneecap with a serrated knife. I have runner's knee due to insufficient support in the beginning of my training. I've been doing everything I can to try to baby my knees--my marathon is only 5 weeks away and I HAVE to run it.

Updated my first post with this week's pics.

I want to get in better shape, eat better.. quit smoking, and all that good for you shit, but, I feel like I get more than enough exercise while working, everynight I come home feeling like a bus ran me over, back, shoulders, knees, all burning, lol. And this job can be stressful, so everytime I think "ok self, this time you will quit smoking.. or at least start to cut back progressively".. I realize, people could potentially suffer horribly if I quit right now. :)

I'm weak, I know.

i think i'm going to be stuck at 205ish forever now.

if i eat any less, im starving
if i work out anymore, im dead to the world

so yeah, i'm just gonna stay with the current plan, hopefully it will lead to a couple pounds here and there.

Do you get aerobic exercise at work? You need both aerobic and anaerobic to really benefit.

I have gotten about 5 total hours of sleep the past two nights, but I really want to go to the gym. I know I'll feel better, but I'm way too tired. :(