Back on Track with healthy choices

Six weeks ago when we moved from Goose Creek to Johns Island I determined that I would take advantage of having a safe place to walk and get more exercise. My goal was and still is to lose a minimum of 1 lb per week. As of today I have lost 5 lbs and while I have not kept my goal of 1 lb pe week I am going to be happy about the weight loss. I have discovered that as I increase my exercise levels the better I feel and I have more energy. I am also finding that the increased activity has helped me to manage stress during the week as well. As the hashtag in Twitter #backontrack suggests I am “back on track” with my health related goals and seeing some small but marked improvements. Every day I have a choice to “start over”. Every day I have to choose to make healthy choices when it comes to my body. I can eat garbage and not do those things that I know I need to do or I can educate myself about the things I do need to do and DO IT. You know the saying, “JUST DO IT!!!!”

One of the things I have been doing is going to www.calorie-count.com and logging all of my calories each day. Every time I eat a meal or snack I try to remember to go there and log what I am eating. If I forget to do it one day I go back and think about what I ate and add it to the list for the previous day. I also log my exercise and weight there as well. Keeping track of all my calories makes me aware of exactly what I am putting in my mouth and it keeps me from eating emotionally. I read the other day that my mindset about eating should not be that of entertainment but rather to think of eating as using food as fuel. I am eating because I am hungry and I am eating the right things so that I can give my body the fuels it needs to burn calories. One of the pitfalls of eating because it is entertaining is that I get into the habit of thinking “I am sitting in front of the TV so I must have a snack”.

I have found that it is too easy to use eating as a way to make me feel better when I find myself suffering from situational depression. I might be upset about this or that or a circumstance out of my control so I will go rummage around in the refrigerator and look for something to eat that I “like”. When I am doing this I am redirecting my attention away from that thing that has me depressed or angry and I am focusing on food instead. The only problem with emotional eating is that I am doing myself a disservice by packing in the calories and pounds when I do this. I am happy to say that my wife Katy has hopped on the #backontrack band wagon with me and she has the same goal as I do, to lose weight and be more healthy. I think that she realizes that I am serious about “JUST DO IT” and that her being a partner with me will give me the added encouragement that I need to keep on keeping on. We can encourage on another and have the same goals. There is nothing like having an accountability partner that can help you stay on track.

One of the struggles with losing weight is to change how I think about eating but also to change what I eat. One of the low country bloggers mentioned to me in a comment on my blog that we should not have junk food in the house. If you do not have it you will not eat it. There is a lot of wisdom in that thought process and thanks to our budget being as lean as it is we have not had a problem with having a bunch of junk around the house. We have found some low calorie ice cream that we like so we get some of that from time to time to share. We have been eating more salad and baked chicken and boiled eggs as well. I know that we need to get better about drinking more water. We have been drinking tea with splenda and diet Dr Pepper. Katy has actually slacked off of drinking regular Coke and I am proud of her choice to sacrifice the sugar and calories that comes with drinking that.

My goal this week is to walk each day for at least an hour and to eat less than 2200 calories per day. Thus far I am averaging around 1850 calories per day and I am burning somewhere around 450 to 650 calories with exercise. Hopefully if I can keep this up and not let anything discourage me from this then I can stay #backontrack with the rest of you good folks out there that are doing the same thing. We will only be better off and healthier because of good choices.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Beautiful weekend

On Saturday a couple from church introduced me to a new hobby called Geocaching. I had heard them talk about it a couple of times but really did not have my interest peaked until I spoke to them again on Saturday morning when I was showing my friend some pointers on her new Blackberry Pearl.

One thing led to another and I told them that I needed to get out and walk and was going to try and get my wife to join me which caused my wife to roll her eyes and sigh. LOL... My friends said that I could get plenty of exercise by joining them on their geocaching expedition. Not onlly did I get some exercise but I also became very interested in a new hobby. I was out in nature enjoying a beautiful day and killing two birds with one stone.

Saturday was a good day as far as calories and exercise is concerned. Sunday I worked 11.5 hours trapped in my office doing server maintenance however around 4 pm while I was waiting on some processes to finish I escaped the five story building I was trapped in and walked down to the Aquarium and back. I remember how when I did this the last time I was worn out when I got to the water front and had to ride the bus back to the college. This time I had plenty of energy when I got there and was able to walk back without any problems. I was tired of course but not so physically tired that I did not think I could do it.

Slowly but surely I am making better decisions about what I eat and drink and I am trying to find better ways to get exercise plus have fun doing it. I think I will stick with that much longer than trying to force myself to go to the gym day in and day out. This week I want to lose one more pound. That means I will need to make sure and climb stairs here at work, get exercise on my non bowling days and eat the right things. I can do it!!




James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
james.moffitt@comcast.net

Weight Loss

December 2007 is almost gone and I still have not lost much weight. I have this 20 lb window that I yo yo up and down in all year long. I have weeks where I have tons of will power and determination and I eat the right things, the right amounts and find a way to get some semi regular exercise.

Apparently those moments of energy and determination are few and far between. I think I finally gave up on trying to find someone in my life that had the same desire and could help me with my motivation during times when I needed help being motivated. If I am going to do this then I am going to have to do it. No one is going to do this for me.

During Christmas I managed to lose 5 lbs instead of gaining. That is only because FAT BOY had gained four pounds BEFORE Christmas even got here. I went walking on Monday afternoon and today at work I walked up five flights of stairs several times in an effort to get the heart pumping some and to burn a few extra calories. Why do I need to go to the gym when I have an opportunity to walk several flights of stairs in the course of my work days. The answer is because my flesh is tired and lazy and just does not want to put out the effort. It is what it is and boy howdy it is just freaking ugly huh?

I am going to try to do the stairs routine at work as much as I can. I take my time and walk up one or two flights and then stop and catch my breath. I can walk up about 2.5 flights of stairs before my lungs start begging me for more oxygen than normal so when that happens I stop and take a break.

I have slim fast at work in the fridge and I have been telling myself I need to drink one of those for breakfast. I have not had much luck at that thought becoming reality.

My goal for 2008 is to lose one pound per week.
I have not given up. I am not a quitter. I still want to be successful at this. I think I can do it. I want to try harder. I want to be accountable.



James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net

Starting over

I am starting over today with counting calories. I made the mistake of stepping on the scales yesterday and I gained 10 lbs. I was off work for six days and so my activity level decreased and I probably ate about the same amount of food which equals to gained weight. I can also tell that I feel worse because of the extra weight I am not used to carrying.

I had Katy get me a six pack of slim fast and fruit for me to eat for breakfast. Thus far today I have had 660 calories between breakfast and lunch. My problem has always been at night when I am sitting in front of the TV or my laptop and I get the munchies late at night and think I need to eat. I also need to motivate myself to go to the gym once per day and do 20 to 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical trainer. Any exercise vs no exercise is beneficial. I need to do this for my health. I spent 3 months at the gym this year and lost 20 lbs and then I guess I over did it a little bit and my knee and shoulder started hollering. The pain kept me away from the gym for the rest of the year save a trip or two.

My goals for 2007 are simple. To take one day at a time and keep counting calories and getting exercise and try to eat the right things. We are also going to continue on working on our credit and increase our FICO score so we can eventually buy a home of our own. Phillipians 4:13 will have to be our battle cry as we put our noses to the grindstone and take these goals on one step at a time. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Help us dear Jesus to make a committment to do those things we know we should and give us strength and perserverance to make the right choices one moment and one day at a time.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net