Weigh-In: Week 7 & 8

Been a busy couple of weeks... We've been occupied with the impending opening of our current community theatre production, as well as auditions for the following show! :)

Anyway, we've still been plugging along on the reduced-carb & sugar front, but still haven't jumped back on the exercise bandwagon just yet. Here's how we rolled...

Weigh In Week Seven [2/14/2011-2/20-2011]
Jay: 334.5 (+0.5 pounds for the week; -27.5 for 2011)
Dee: 213.0 (-1.0 pounds for the week; -15.0 for 2011)

Weigh In Week Eight [2/21/2011-2/27-2011]
Jay: 329.5 (-5.0 pounds for the week; -32.5 for 2011)
Dee: 211.0 (-2.0 pounds for the week; -17.0 for 2011)

We've been playing around with all sorts of new snacking ideas too, just to keep things interesting. I've tried to add one piece of fruit back into my daily eating plan, but we've also stayed on some of the lower carb ideas, such as little pizzas made with the melba toast we got at Trader Joe's... nachos using our flaxseed chips from Trader Joe's... yay for Trader Joe's. :)

We plan to stay good for the next few weeks through the run of our current show, then relax a little on the caloric front on a brief family trip, and come back and kick back into gear.

--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 6

Eh, a bit of a stall on the blogging front, as well as the weight loss front this week. We've been plugging along, watching calories, carbs & sugar. One downside of the lower carb & sugar shift is that we seem to be bringing a little more fat back in, and we've eliminated fruit completely. We're still not going over the recommended 65g of fat per day by any means though. I'm thinking to adjust a little more over the next few weeks so that ALL my numbers are in a good balance. :)

Weigh In Week Six [2/7/2011-2/13/2011]
Jay: 334.0 (-2.0 pounds for the week; -28.0 for 2011)
Dee: 214.0 (+0.5 pounds for the week; -14.0 for 2011)

Not counting Friday the 11th when we had a decent, semi-health-conscious meal out at TGI Friday's, Dee's carbs ranged from 100.8-133.0 and sugars from 17.52-27.42 for the week. My carbs were 110.2-161.8 and sugars were 15.85-36.25, mostly because I'm trying to finish off some artificially sweetened nonfat yogurt that we still having hanging around the house.

Rock it!
--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 5

All we can say this week is, "Thank you, Jorge Cruise!" We're not following the Belly Fat Cure to the letter, but we've re-evaluated our sugar intake, making sure what we do take in is mostly of the natural variety. Dee had a remarkable showing this week, and I did better than I have the last couple of weeks. Let's peek at it...

Weigh In Week Five [1/31/2011-2/6/2011]
Jay: 336.0 (-3.5 pounds for the week; -26.0 for 2011)
Dee: 213.5 (-6.0 pounds for the week; -14.5 for 2011)

The funny thing is, we both weighed in Tuesday morning, and hadn't lost a thing for the week. Dee started reducing her sugar intake drastically on Wednesday, and I joined her on Thursday. So these results seem to come from only 3 or 4 days of this new eating plan!

Here's how our carb & sugar intake changed this week:

Mon. 1/31 - didn't count carbs & sugar

Tue. 2/1:
Jay - 247.2 g carbs; 104.6 g sugar
Dee - 236.7 g carbs; 96.5 g sugar

Wed. 2/2: (Dee went full-force onto the new plan)
Jay - 240.7 g carbs; 108.1 g sugar
Day - 132.1 g carbs; 33.2 g sugar

Thu. 2/3: (I made some small adjustments)
Jay - 176 g carbs; 62.1 g sugar
Dee - 106.3 g carbs; 21.8 g sugar

Fri. 2/4: (We went healthy shopping, so I joined full-on)
Jay - 145.5 g carbs; 33.3 g sugar
Dee - 108.3 g carbs; 21.1 g sugar

Sat. 2/5:
Jay - 135.2 g carbs; 27.0 g sugar
Dee - 112.9 g carbs; 22.8 g sugar

Dee had 4 strong days on this new way of thinking, and I had... call it 2 1/2 days. :)

Not bad... not bad a'tall...
--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 4

Well, we're both still headed in the right direction, though I still didn't end up quite where I thought I would. Perhaps the lack of exercise did a little something, ha... :) Let's do this thing:

Weigh In Week Four [1/24/2011-1/30-2011]
Jay: 339.5 (-2.5 pounds for the week; -22.5 pounds for 2011)
Dee: 219.5 (-1.5 pounds for the week; -8.5 pounds for 2011)

Keepin' on!
--Jay :)

Shredded

Dee has officially completed the tenth and last day of Shred Level 1! She had a happy, emotional moment, because it was such an amazing feeling to have stuck with this thing and accomplished a huge goal. She kicked this thing for 10 solid mornings in a row, no breaks, no wimping out! Tomorrow is her first day of Level 2, and we're sitting here watching it right now, just to see what she's in for. :)

I've been extraordinarily slack on the exercise front this week, mostly due to the fact that we slept in late on Monday after being at the party the night before, then I was cooking a pot of chicken barley soup for our lunch on Tuesday morning this week, and the other mornings I was most likely just being lazy. Ah, laziness. :-D

Dee's scale results have started swinging back in a good direction, so we think her body is getting adjusted to the new exercise routine. Hopefully, kicking it into Level 2 tomorrow doesn't scare the crap out of her muscles again! I'm down about 3.5 pounds for the week thus far, and should fall squarely on my goal of 4 pounds per week. Awesomeness.

Rock it!
--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 3

Man, we woke up late this morning... well, later than we've become accustomed to lately. I think we slept until a whopping 9:45 or so! :)

We were hosting karaoke at a friend's birthday party last night, and didn't get home until about 12:30 am, so we needed that sleep! We were good though, not partaking of the foodstuffs at the party... Plus, we're hosting karaoke again tonight for the company I work for, at their annual "kick off the new year" party, and we intend to be just as good at avoiding the foodstuffs, or at least filtering them to find healthy options.

Anyway, it's the end of another week for us, and time for a weigh-in!

Weigh In Week Three [1/17/2011-1/23/2011]
Jay: 342.0 (-2.5 pounds for the week; -20.0 pounds for 2011)
Dee: 221.0 (+2.0 pounds for the week; -7.0 pounds for 2011)

The workouts seem to be having quite an effect on Dee, and it looks like she's in a muscle-building phase right now. Even I didn't lose quite as much as I thought I would, but we're both seeing little changes in our bodies already. They always say that the more muscle mass you have, the more fat you burn, so eventually I think we'll even out and start to see more significant losses.

Keep it up!
--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 2

We've reached the end of Week 2 back on the healthy eating plan, with a few substitutions here and there... Mostly, it seems that laziness set in again after we ran out of chicken barley soup for lunch, and I had no soup ingredients in the house! So on Friday & Saturday, I cooked up 1 cup of whole wheat pasta, took 1 can of tuna, and Dee & I split both. That, with some fat-free Italian and some salad veggies... worked out to be the same calories for lunch. Not too bad! :)

Weigh In Week Two [1/10/2011-1/16/2011]
Jay: 344.5 (-5.5 pounds for the week; -17.5 pounds for 2011)
~ [-101.5 overall since heaviest]
Dee: 219.0 (-2.5 pounds for the week; -9.0 pounds for 2011)
~ [-81.5 overall since heaviest]

Keep on' keepin' on!!!
--Jay :)

Weigh-In: Week 1

I guess we'll start the numbering all over again for 2011... yay! Being our kick-off week, the numbers are pretty nice. We know it won't keep up like this, but as long as we can settle into a nice, consistent downward slide, we shall be happy. Let's do it!

Weigh-In Week One [1/3/2011-1/9/2011]
Jay: 350.0 (-12.0 pounds for the week [-96 overall since heaviest])
Dee: 221.5 (-6.5 pounds for the week [-74.5 overall since heaviest])

Holy crow!
--Jay :)

The First Week is the Awesomest

Substitution...

Ah, the streak of laziness continues... This morning, we were down to one yogurt. I let Dee have it, and replaced my "dairy" serving with a sugar-free pudding! Hey... it's works! Dessert for breakfast! :)

For lunch, still no salad... back to spinach again! :)

Is Awesomest a Word?

We've also been too excited to wait until the end of the week, so we've been weighing in almost every day. The first week is always the most fun because your body is getting adjusted to new portion sizes, getting rid of all the bad stuff still in you, blah blah blah...

As of stepping on the scales this morning, I'm down about 10 pounds and Dee is down 6. It's always encouraging to get such a start, and we know that we can keep this up!!!

Official update in the morning...
--Jay :)

Life Is Like a Box of... Spinach?

Lazy is as lazy does...

Well, we're getting lazy. Not on the good-eating front! Just on the "hey let's get motivated and go to the grocery store" front. :)

Today is our first day off in a while... Sure, we just got done with the holidays, but there was a trip to Kentucky in there and a whole lot of other stuff. Today... we just relax. Plus, I found our old Sims 1 & 2 discs for PC and Dee & I have been having too much virtual fun on our laptops to leave the house in real life!

When lunch time came, we found ourselves desperately out of salad. This problem was solved by splitting a box of frozen spinach, which was a nice change of pace. :)

Calorie count yesterday: 1307 Jay, 1264 Dee
Calorie count today: 1419 Jay, 1349 Dee

Keep on countin'!
--Jay :)

The Amazing Shrinking Feet

Ah, back to the online world after a laptop format & reinstall... ugh...

Anyway, Dee made a fascinating discovery today when she went to squeeze on some shoes that were always on the tight side, and now they're falling off her feet! It's funny to think of all the places that the weight comes off of you. :)

--Jay :)

"We Are Here To Pump... You Up!" --Hans & Franz

Time to recap the exercise schedule for this past week...

Mon. 2/8
Dee did about an hour of her elliptical/treadmill combo. I was consumed with producerial duties for the upcoming community theatre production. :)

Wed. 2/10
Dee & I both took the 45 minute Basic Step class at the fitness center.

Thu. 2/11
I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, then gave it up so Dee could finish her set of about 45 minutes between the elliptical and treadmill, as there were no other machines free.

Woo hoo!
--Jay :)

Step By Step Aerobics

The exercise train rolls on... Dee and I hit up another exercise class at the fitness center yesterday afternoon, this time a step aerobics class with some light weight training. The class was about 45 minutes, and although I thought I might die at the beginning, it got better and we both felt invigorated after.

Of course, for dinner, we had the awesome sweet potato fries again, along with our healthy frozen meals and some "California blend" broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mix.

Today, we plan on moving the Gazelle exercise machine back into the den. That way, we can actually exercise while watching TV and whatnot.

Sweetness!
--Jay

Post-Party Depression?

Just got back from the overabundance of deliciously evil food, better known as my company New Year's party. Dee executed decent portion control, but I did go a little beyond. Crab dip, red meat, and a plethora of dessert options could not be resisted!

Upon returning home, I found a delightful e-mail from mi hermana-in-law (and current winner of our weight loss "competition") featuring lots of positive thoughts for Dee, and a crap-load of awesome healthy recipes, which will be tested (and probably blogged) very soon.

Looking forward to the continued "challenge"...
--Jay

Worth A Thousand Words (A Photo Journey)

Well, it's time for a blast from the past, and visit where Dee and I came from, got to, and then went back to. Here's five years, squished into four photos:


Click it. It makes it bigger. More easier to look at. Click it.

Photo #1 - The Wedding Day
We weren't keeping track of trivial things like weight back then!

Photo #2 - The Turning Point
Taken about two months before the decision to start our original healthy lifestyle plan, after I peaked at 446 pounds and Dee peaked at 296 pounds.

Photo #3 - Who Are Those Hotties?
Did I just call ourselves hotties? How embarrassing. Anyway, a nice shot of our skinny faces around the point of our healthiest, with me at 289 pounds and Dee at 200 pounds.

Photo #4 - Wrong Way Down A One-Way Street
A mere three months ago, after a little backtracking. Over the course of the holidays, we've actually gone up since this photo, but don't have any good current shots.

Photo #5 - Coming Soon
This will be the "skinny again" shot, hopefully posting within the next few months. :)

Rock on!
--Jay

Rule Number One: There Are No Rules

Rules to Eating Healthy and Losing Weight?!?

Well... we don't think of them as "rules"... more like "guidelines" really. Here's a quick look at our approach to building a healthy lifestyle and getting ourselves back to a decent weight.

Our approach is sort of a combination of things we learned from the Nutrisystem style of eating, combined with a little bit of Alton Brown's "four lists" from a recent Good Eats episode.

Our basic things to remember is that you don't have to stop eating out. It's all part of the balancing act. We usually eat in because it's cheaper and we have more control of what goes into our food, but when we eat out, no matter where we go, there's almost always something that can be found on a menu that won't kill our entire month! :)

The stuff we've gleaned from Nutrisystem are:
-MOST Important Thing: Eat breakfast. Every day. Whole grain, dairy, protein, fruit.
-Salads are great to eat before lunch and dinner, and help fill you up. Watch the dressings, and we lean toward non-fat Italian or Catalina/French style rather than creamy dressings.
-For lunch and dinner, vegetables should be in higher quantity than meat.
-Fiber is what keeps you full. An eating plan high in fiber leaves you more satisfied.

Common breakfast items for us are whole grain bagels, lean ham or turkey sandwich meat, egg substitute, and nonfat yogurt. Sometimes we rock a little fat-free cream cheese and strawberry preserves on our bagel. Lunches are usually a healthy microwaveable soup, a couple of large carrots, sugar free gelatin, an apple or orange, and either a serving of pretzels or a 100-calorie snack pack. Dinner is usually a frozen healthy meal, and a nice serving of a vegetable like broccoli, brussels sprouts, or spinach. For dessert, we lean toward chocolate fiber-type bars, sugar free pudding, or gelatin. A good snack item we used to do daily was a trail mix of things like almonds, pretzels, raisins, etc. And of course, water, water, water.

Recently, we watched Alton Brown's new philosophy on Good Eats, involving "four lists". From this, we've decided that we're going to start trying to incorporate these new ideas:
-Eat one or two pieces of fruit each day, typically an apple or orange.
-Eat at least one whole grain item each day.
-Leafy greens, every day. Spinach or brussels sprouts are our faves.
-We will have a small handful of nuts every day, usually almonds.
-Carrots every day, usually at lunch, which are great to make you feel full.
-Green tea, every day. We brew our own and sweeten with Splenda.
-Try to incorporate oily fish like salmon or sardines at least 2-3 times per week.
-Sweet potatoes, at least thrice a week. Mmm... I love sweet potatoes.
-Limit red meat, and any pasta above and beyond what's in our frozen meals.
-No fast food, no soda.

That's about the gist of it. We're excited to see how these new ideas may work!

--Jay