82 pounds down...do I have a secret?....not really

So it has been a while since my last post. I currently weight 333 pounds and have a total weight loss of 82 pounds. I have been

getting asked almost everyday to post more often. I cannot guarantee that, but I'll try. So apparently Dale wants to know what "my secret" is to weight loss, if you can even call it that.

To be totally honest, I have completely changed my entire way of thinking about food and what I put in my body in general. I am

amazed when I look back at past years and realize what I used to eat and the quantity of it. I know people probably hear this a lot, but I'm not on a diet. I've changed my life, or like to think so at least.

So here is a basic day of the type of things I eat:

Breakfast - Oatmeal/Cereal (healthy types like Kashi and Special K/Fiber or Granola bar(Like Kellogg’s Fiber Plus or Kashi Cereal Bars.

Lunch - Usually consists of some type of lean cuisine meal (which tastes really good helps greatly with portion control, Also

almost everything is less than 300 calories). I usually accompany that with some type of fruit like an apple or banana.

Dinner - Well, this varies. When I am at home, we usually cook in and have things like grilled or baked fish and chicken.

Usually side dishes include steamed or grilled mixed veggies. We change it up and look for new recipes or seasonings so it’s not like the same thing every night. When I'm in Chicago, I have to eat out, but I'm extremely mindful of what I eat. But you also have to think like this: Breakfast and Lunch consist of no more that 600 calories. So if you are on a 2000 calorie plan (which I am currently on), technically I have about 1400 calories to make up. Now I don't necessarily strive to reach 2000 calories a day and very rarely go over. But I don't stress out about it too much. For the most part I eat what I want, just in moderation.

Now...Here is the main reason I think I have lost the weight like I have. All I drink is water. I will maybe drink some type of juice every now and then, but I have not any type of soda since March. I usually drink between 3 and 4 liters of water per day, sometimes more. Here is another trick I have learned. I usually down a bottle of water before I eat. This makes me fuller fast and stops me from overeating. If I get to a point to where I need something to eat in-between meals, it is something healthy and filling like an apple or fiber bar or something like that.

Another key is measuring my food. I can't really do that when I travel, but we try to do it all the time at home. For example when I eat cereal, if the serving size is 1 cup, then I measure out that much and put it in the bowl. I usually only put 1/2 a cup of milk, since I don't really need a full cup cause it is just wasteful, plus you don't have the temptation to drink all the milk. BTW, its skim milk which taste just fine to me and is only 40 for a 1/2 cup. We usually do the same with other foods.

We have a food scale that we weight our different meats with also. You don't realize how much 6 ounces of chicken or a cup of cereal is until you start measuring it all out.

A lot of people recommend starting a food journal, but I have not found the need for that. I keep a running toll in my head throughout the day of how many calories I have had. For the most part breakfast and lunch are usually the same types of foods everyday, so I know exactly how many calories I have consumed by dinner time. Therefore, I know exactly what I'm allotted for dinner. For now, that is what works for me.

Now for my workouts. I workout a lot and I push myself really hard. I usually burn about 900-1000 calories during my 1 hour cardio workout everyday, then whatever calories I burn lifting weights. I would say on an average day, my workout is at least 2 hours. This is what works for me but might not for someone else. I usually do an hour of cardio in the mornings, then another 1 - 1.5 hours of weight workout after work.

Timeline:

Here is a normal day's timeline:

5:00am - Wake up

5:30am - 6:00am - Get to gym and start cardio

6:30-7:00am - Get home and ready for work

8:00am - Get to work and eat breakfast.

11:00am - 12:00pm - Lunch

4:00pm - Snack (sometimes)

6:00pm - Leave work, go straight to gym

8:00 - 8:30pm - Get home, eat dinner

10:00pm - 12:00am - Go to bed and start it over.

........

Well I another 7 pounds and down to 358 for anyone how would like to keep track...

What is so hard about spelling my name

J O S E P H...What's that freaking spell people! I seriously get a few people each month that have no idea how spell Joseph. It's not joeseph josefh or josehp...arrrgghhh! How hard can it be.

First goal anyone!

So it looks like I made my first goal, i weight 365 today. That is about 5 months ahead of schedule. So let's try another 50 by September shall we!

Here's an update

I know, I am a bad blogger, but here is an update. I am in that 370-375 weight range right now. Still working out. I feel like I have gotten stronger and have more energy. I can workout harder and longer it seems like now.

Also, Sara and I went shopping yesterday and I tried on some pants, just to see where I am at. I have lost 3 pant sizes and could have probably squeezed into a smaller pair, but didn't try that. Anyways, there you go.

What a Wonderful Weekend!!

Well, the workouts continue. I did not "technically" go to the gym and workout Saturday or Sunday. However, there is a valid explanation.

So, I was suppose to leave Chicago and come back to OKC Friday night at 7pm. We got to the airport and got through security and found out our flight was cancelled. So at this point our only option was to try and get on standby for 2:55pm Saturday or fly to Dallas tonight(firday) and fly to OKC in the morning. We choose to go to Dallas. HAHA...good choice.

We boarding the flight for Dallas around 6:30 or so. We taxied off towards the runway. About 30 minutes later the captian said that the flight had been delayed until 9:20pm. He said he was going to go back to the gate re-fuel and do all this other stuff. Well another 20-30 minutes when by (we are still on the plane!) and he came back and said that if we go back to the gate, then the flight would be cancelled. So we were just going to wait on the tarmac for 2+ hours until take off. At this point it is like 7:30ish. He then comes on and says that a bunch of flights to dallas have been cancelled so, it bumps our take off time to 8:15pm. We thinking that is good. So we are still waiting and then we start to move and a few minutes later he comes on there and says that our take off has been pushed back to 9:45 or something like that. Everyone on the plane is just going nuts at this point! He told us that we were going back to the gate to get more food and water and that an agent would come on board to talk to us. Well that happened and they said the flight was cancelled and told us to get of the plane. So....all in all....we sat on a plane for like 2 1/2 hours for nothing. Horrible organizational skills! We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn (on American Airlines tab) and were not able to get another flight until 7pm Saturday night.

Now, where is the excuse for the workout. We went to the museum of natural history in downtown chicago and walked like 5 miles, literally. We walked for 4 or 5 hours straight. So I burned some calories if you know what I mean! Plus, Sunday is my usual off day.

Anyways, as far as an update goes, I have lost 27 total pounds.

6:30pm + Airplane = No OU game

Ya know, sometimes I have to wonder to myself if life is really fair. Is it total coincidence or do the NCAA gods just hate me. How is it that they could happen to schedule the Syracuse vs. OU game at 6:30 tonight....which also just happens to be the same time I am boarding my plane to go back to OKC. It's just one of the most important games of the season! It's just not fair I tell you! Not fair!!