It's all good so far

I have been doing fairly well on the calorie count even though the daily allotment keeps slipping downward. Its 17.5 % lower than when I started out on this diet. I have busted the limit a couple of times but continue to knock it down with exercise. I only see one round (Super Bowl Sunday) where I actually have been over the Calorie goal.

The goal started around 2100 calories per day and is down to 1745. My average intake is 1670 and when you factor in the exercise, I am averaging 1388 calories per day.

The weight is coming off, not as dramatically as it was at first. Looking at about 22 lbs off so far but have a way to go.

Today was another round on the treadmill. Pushed the grade to 12% and walked most of it at 3 mph. Totaled 3.5 miles and 1025 calories burned. Sat in the sauna to do some heat relief. Right now even with the aleve in my back is sore.

I was on the treadmill on Thursday after a meeting at the Church and again this morning. Thursday was 3.1 miles in 55.11 minutes at 3.5 mph with 10 % grade for the most part and burned 786 calories.

Today with similar settings 3.5 miles in 66.53 minutes for 906 calories. Since I am listening on the Iphone, I can shoot a picture of the treadmill screen so I don’t have to remember the distance, time and calories. Some variation in the routine based on how long it takes to warm up. Right now the knees are holding up but I have an ankle to watch.

The diet has had a couple of challenges recently. My calorie goal has dropped almost 16% since the 8th of January. Part of that is covered by recalculating total calories based on my weight loss and on the amount of activity not logged to generate my desired weight loss.

The current daily calorie count allowed for a 2 lbs per week weight loss is 1787. My average calorie intake since I have been tracking has been 1695. Exercise has helped – bringing the net calorie average to 1478 per day.

There are days that I bump right up to the limit, challenged by lunch with a vendor rather than a soup & salad at Panera Bread. Yesterday it was PF Chang’s for lunch and while I cut out the soup and rice, the portion plated is equivalent to 3 x their published calorie count for the serving. Sometimes its best guess based on comparable recipes or similar items to a competitor’s published menu with nutrition information.

Sometimes the dining out challenge yields new discoveries. Breakfast this morning was a naked eggs benedict (no hollandaise sauce, no potatoes – just eggs & spinach on an english muffin) with a side of bacon. I enjoyed it (wished they would have trimmed the stems off the spinach and served regular bacon instead of peppered bacon) and the calorie estimate was ~370 calories. I am still -540 calories for the day.

Weight Loss is happening. Still a ways to go. I feel that I have been able to make some changes that are helping. Sandra is helping too with the shopping menu. I feel confident that I will get to my target weight this year. The journey continues.

Saturday 1/30/10 back on treadmill today. Average 3.5 mph grade varied but most 10% and burned 886 calories. Ankle sore.

The good news, on Saturday I weighed in on the club scale 252 pounds and the good news is that the club scale matches kitchen scale total and showed that I have lost 14 pounds since starting this endeavor. I was worried at Thursday am weekly weigh in with only 1 pound lost since the previous week, but when I got on the kitchen scale Friday morning and saw that I has lost another 1.5 pound loss, keeping me on my 2.5 lbs/week goal.

My goal has a planned calorie intake along with level of exercise. I may have overestimated the amount of exercise I get when I don’t go to the club. I reset daily calorie goals on livestrong.com to 1800 calories per day decreasing from 2000 calories per day. It is challenging but doable. The rate drops anyway as my weight does.

It calls form more menu watching and looking for more opportunities to get some exercise in. I tend to look at the menu more and google a lot of nutrition data, estimating servings etc. It appears to be working.

Monday was a treadmill day. 4 miles in 73 minutes. Inclines ranged from 3 to 10 and back down at 3.5 mph. I like having negative calories before dinner.