Sorry I didn’t update Monday or Tuesday. On Monday I forgot. On Tuesday, just plain busy trying to catch up. Sunday’s birthday dinner was postponed to Wed. (today) because my dad was sick. That didn’t stop me from eating badly on Sunday. I didn’t keep track but let me just say, brownies and fried mozzarella (my favorite hot food!) were involved.

I didn’t walk Sunday or Monday and I felt like crap. Got back on track yesterday, though and will make sure I walk extra tonight following the Big Birthday Dinner!

Food Diary for Tuesday:

Breakfast: Cheerios and 2% milk – 350 calories

Lunch: turkey sandwich, mustard, whole wheat bread – 195 calories

Dinner: white rice, cream of chicken, chicken breast – (est. 450 calories)

Snack: 2 bananas – 210 calories, 1 granola bar (100 calories each) – 520 calories

Total calories 1,515

The weekly weigh-in stats: David Wright

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 329 lbs.
• Weight today: 328 lbs.
• Amount lost this week: 1 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 22 pounds

Tara’s Weekly Update:

The countdown is on to our holiday and instead of stepping up the exercise, I’ve had to cut back! How ridiculous I hear you cry, but I’ve got so much work to do so I’m free to, you know pack and float dreamily around the house in a pre-holiday haze, that exercise has had to take a back seat.

That said, I have taken posession of a new personal trainer who I’m hoping will whip me into shape.
OK, so it’s not some athletic gym bunny who’s going to get me jogging up and down my stairs. It’s an EA Sports Active Trainer for the Wii which I’ve been asked to test and, given my history of fitness classes and hate of all fitness videos, I thought it would be an interesting trial.

I’m going to give it a go this week and next, but will probably have to wait until my return to really get into it.
And I think hubby would divorce me if I told him I was taking it away with us . . .

The stats: Tara Cain

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 162 lbs.
• Weight today: 160 lbs
• Amount lost this week: -2lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

Let’s get something straight, okay?  I have a horrible diet. I’ve NEVER eaten what most people consider healthy foods. I despise most vegetables and don’t eat any meat other than chicken (yes, that means no seafood). So, my diet had always been very bland and made up of starches and junk food. Cooking for me is not fun because I’m also very picky.

A picky fat guy? Imagine that.

I have asked a friend of a friend, a chef, to create a sample menu for me, which I will be experimenting with once he’s got it ready for me. But in the meanwhile, don’t expect to see lots of posts with words like salad, boiled salmon, and water chestnuts. I don’t even know if the last one is healthy, but it sure sounds unappetizing.

While turfdad suggests I am either all in or all out, I would disagree – slightly. I understand what you’re saying. However, I believe the first thing I need to do is stay under the 2,000 calorie mark and weight will come off even if I am eating Cheerios, which are actually better than most breakfast foods, not to mention better than previous foods I indulged in. While choice of foods does play into body functions there is no doubt that limiting my calories WILL cause weight loss – if I am able to stick to it.

I understand why my lack of variety or truly healthy foods causes concern. Part of it may be that I will grow bored of this and go off the wagon. I get that and I AM going to do my damndest to ensure that doesn’t happen.

While ideally, I should be eating healthy foods, the change to a healthier diet will have to be gradual. I know me.

What this means:

• I am going to eat better foods as I experiment and add new items to my menu.
• I am still going to snack on things like Cheerios and granola bars, but I will also add fruit such as apples and bananas.
• I am going to eat less packaged foods and cook more meals at home, store some in the fridge for later.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: chicken sandwich, mustard, 2 slices of wheat bread – 280 calories

Lunch: Pasta w/ light parmesan sauce 450 calories

Dinner: 6 cheese raviolli’s and marinara – 400 calories

Snack: banana (150 calories), Fiber One bar (140 calories)

total 1420 calories

Thanks to everybody who has joined me this week. Keep the comments and suggestions coming. If you have any recipes for foods that even a junk food junkie will enjoy, feel free to share them (keeping in mind my no beef, seafood or pork policy). Now you see what my wife has to put up with!

Oh yeah, I went walking yesterday, too. Half an hour. Look to increase it this weekend.

One warning: Sunday is my birthday, so don’t expect a great update on Monday. My dad is making some good food and I plan to enjoy it.

So, what did you do today? What will you do tomorrow?

Day Two went better than Day One.

I walked for a half hour and will do so again tomorrow. Actually, I hope to walk longer tomorrow. Thanks to everybody who is cheering and/or working out alongside me!

Food Diary:

Breakfast: Cheerios and 2% milk – 350 calories

Lunch: 2 turkey hot dogs, bread mustard – 225 calories

Dinner: Elbow macaroni and marinara sauce with grated cheese – (est. 500 calories)

Snack: banana – 105 calories, 3 granola bars (100 calories each) – 405 calories

Total calories 1,475

The weekly weigh-in stats: David Wright

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 329 lbs.
• Weight today: 329 lbs.
• Amount gained this week: 0 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 21 pounds

Tara’s Weekly Update:

I have no idea why, but I suffered a big ole set back last week. I just lost it – lost the motivation, lost the drive, lost the will to put one foot in front of the other and actually MOVE.

Thankfully it seems to have only been a blip as I’m back on track now. In fact, I ate 3 biscuits after last night’s dinner (tuna steak and salad) and I felt uncomfortable and queasy. Which just goes to show, if you keep off the crap for a couple of days your body simply doesn’t want it any more – and it tells you so.

PS: Sorry for the delay in this post. DW updated the site and I couldn’t get back in! I was there on the front door banging my fists, shouting: “Lemmi in, lemmi in.”

The stats: Tara Cain

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 161 lbs.
• Weight today: 162 lbs
• Amount lost this week: -2lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brunocorrea/3787515104/

There is a path I need to follow. Both literally (on a walking trail) and metaphorically.

I am familiar enough with both of the paths I need to take. I’ve traveled them, though I’ve yet to arrive at my destination. I have always gotten sidetracked by that enemy of us all, time. Today was no exception.

Today was not only the first day of my new commitment to eating better and exercising, it was also Day One of our potty training adventure. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, I can only compare it to locking yourself in a room with a rabid wolverine and attempting to get said wolverine to use proper utensils when eating.

My wife’s and my nerves were worn and raw by nightfall, as our son is proving to be more defiant than I would have guessed.

Soon, the entire day was down the drain and I didn’t have make time to exercise. Both my wife and I were frustrated beyond our normal limits and I found myself desperately craving something sweet at 10 p.m. I felt like a drug addict craving my next fix, eying the door, anticipating the moment I could break free and get to my connection.

While I had kept my calorie count fairly low during the day, it was all undone in five minutes at the McDonald’s drive-thru.

So, Day One was not a success. However, this blog is to keep me in check, and I need to update the post with exactly what I ate, so I can see where I went wrong. It’s not hard to figure out…

What I ate today:

• Breakfast: Turkey sandwich, two slices of white bread, mayo – 310 calories
• Lunch – Bowl of pasta w/ cheese sauce – 340 calories
• Snacks – 3 granola bars – 300
• 1 Large McDonald’s milkshake – 1,160 HOLY CRAP!
• Dinner – 2 turkey hot dogs, bread, mustard – 225 calories
• Total – 2,335  (1175 without the shake!)

Okay, now let’s analyze…

First, all of this food is quick-to-eat and surprisingly high in sodium. Lots of empty calories, leaving me unfulfilled and still craving more food at the end of the day. Secondly, NONE of it is healthy.

So, what will I do differently tomorrow?

Eat some fruit, eat a more complete meal, and no milk shakes!

And exercise. I MUST exercise.

So what did you do today? What will you do tomorrow?

Like this post? Please consider tweeting it.

I recently wrote about a post about fear over at Blogger Dad, asking if fear is keeping you from living? A reader, Trina, responded to the post, saying that fear was holding her back. The post inspired the anger necessary for her to start a walking routine which she had not done prior.

Meanwhile, back at BlogToFit central, yours truly was sitting on his ass eating junk food. And I thought to myself, something is very wrong here.

I am writing about fitness but I am the last person in the world who should be giving fitness advice.

I’ve talked about this issue a few times here and how it has been difficult to stay motivated. I also talked about how I’ve just been going through the motions lately. So I decided that I need to hold myself more accountable. Publicly. Hence, the changes to this site, which I will detail below.

The biggest of changes will be daily posts each weekday. Tara and I have been so busy with our online work efforts, we’ve barely had time to regularly post or comment here. We created a home which we rarely visit. When you don’t visit your family, you begin to feel guilty and you stop by even less because you can’t bear to confront the fact that you’ve been too busy, a bad blogger, a horrible fitness inspiration, etc…

So the first change is that you can expect daily updates (M-F) from me. The posts will usually be on the short side, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but will always tell you at least two things.

1. What I did today (exercise-wise) and
2. what I ate today.

I realize that this isn’t exactly the most scintillating stuff and most people really won’t care what I ate or did. That’s cool. However, others of you may want to use the posts as a way to account for your own actions. Consider this blog your fitness friend.

Wednesdays will still be our usual Wednesday Weigh-In.

Fridays will feature links to some of the best (and worst) diet and exercise or motivational stories of the week.

Additionally, we will reach out to more guest posters to present more voices and experiences.

Before we go, I want to point out the most obvious of changes – the site design. Blog To Fit is now rocking the Frugal theme by Eric Hamm, a super clean and amazingly flexible theme which runs on Wordpress. I will be tweaking the site a bit more as I experiment with Frugal’s back end, but I hope the new design breathes as much life into the site as does the content.

Thank you to the loyal readers who have stuck around this long. We look forward to the coming months!

So, what did you do today? What will you do tomorrow?

I was visiting one of the Blog To Fit faithful today – Carolyn at Scrapping Servant - and was really impressed with
a. her dedication
b. her enthusiasm and
c. the photos showing her weight loss.

Wow, she has lost 16.5 lbs and boy can you tell!

I know photographs are a great motivator (I talked about how horrified I was when I saw a photo of myself and didn’t recognise this person staring back at me) but it has really worked for Carolyn.
Seriously, go over and take a look.

I have been using my fabulous upcoming holiday as my motivation. Or so I thought, but it’s just not working. I just don’t get that drive for success.

So I wonder, what do you use to drive you on to reach your weight loss/fitness goals?

The stats: Tara Cain

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 161 lbs.
• Weight today: 164 lbs
• Amount lost this week:+3lb (WTF?!)

The stats: David Wright

I varied this week. At times, I was incredibly good. Other times, I was pigging out. I have come to an important decision regarding my ‘diet’ and this blog and what its going to take to push me to the next level. I will update you all next Monday.

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 329 lbs.
• Weight today: 329 lbs.
• Amount gained this week: 0 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 21 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

Do you suffer from that affliction of not actually looking how you think you look?

I recently did the unthinkable and met up with a bunch of other bloggers who live in the same region of the UK as me.

I could no longer hide behind fancy text and headlines – I was out in the open and exposed and they could all see me.

And then I saw a photograph we took on the day as a reminder of our meet up.

Ye gods, I thought, who is that girl on the end? I don’t recall her coming along for the meet up.
And then cold realisation trickled down my back and stuck in my guts – it was me! I hardly recognised myself.
I think it was the jolt to the system I needed because I haven’t stopped walking (and with a slightly quicker step I might add!)

I know it seems like a cliche, but sometimes that photograph on the fridge door really can motivate you to make that change.

The stats: Tara Cain

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 162 lbs.
• Weight today: 161lbs
• Amount lost this week:1lb

The stats: David Wright

Thanks for all the support in the comments section last week. I ate much better and have tried a few new healthier items, including beans, which I’ve never cared for before. However, with the right spices and some ground turkey, they are not bad at all in a taco soup mix that my dad gave us a recipe for.

Didn’t work out much, however. I’ve been so busy, I’ve not made the time to do so. The only way I will get it done is if I involve my family, and exercise with them. Walks with my son are always good and I am spending lots of time with him, anyway, so we may as well do something healthy.

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 329 lbs.
• Weight today: 328 lbs.
• Amount gained this week: 1 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 22 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

I am out of control. The past week has been a food tornado. As stresses in my life mount, I find myself eating way too much junk.

MM will be pleased to know that I ate even more ice cream sandwiches and drank even more diet soda this week. And here I am writing about what? Losing weight?

I’ve got to tell you, I sometimes wonder why the few who come here keep doing so. I am not leading by a good example and I’m feeling like a fraud half the time. How’s that for motivational content?

I keep searching for whatever motivation pushed me to lose a good chunk of weight when we started this blog. I know Mike Goad will suggest I not search for motivation but simply get my butt out there and do what I need to do. So, thanks Mike, for your past advice. I intend to do just that.

And thank you to the rest who continue plugging away and stopping by.

The stats: David Wright

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 327 lbs.
• Weight today: 329 lbs.
• Amount gained this week: 2 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 21 pounds

Tara Cain

I have been feeling the same way DW. I think the beauty of this site, however, is that it’s real. We are real people with the real problems of life and show that even though we are intelligent people who know how to lose weight and that the crap we are shovelling in to our bodies is bad for us, we still find it hard to stop.

I have a major major holiday coming up with a whole bunch of swimwear to get into – failure is not an option!

The stats: Tara Cain

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 162 lbs.
• Weight today: 162lbs
• Amount lost this week:0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

I’ve been out pounding the beat with my mother in law at least three nights a week.
I’ve incurred the wrath of a local farmer when we turn a wrong turn and ended up in his wheat field.

I’ve incurred the wrath of hubby when MIL took me on an ‘ooo I’ve found a new walk for us to try out’ only for it to take an hour longer than normal and he’s sat there waiting for his tea (I know! You’d think the fool would at least learn where the fridge is for such occasions).

I’ve also incurred the wrath of my children who moan ‘don’t go walking again mummy, we miiiiiiiss you’.

But I haven’t given up. I’ve pulled on those training shoes and gone walking – rain or shine.And I think it’s starting to work. I can feel myself changing shape (even if the numbers aren’t dropping).

So why by all the things that are holy, won’t my bust size reduce?

Seriously, if I could just shift a handful of pounds from there I’d probably look like I’m succeeding.
Is life going to be so cruel as to make that the last place I lose inches from?

Other than that, I’m very happy!

Tara Cain

Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.

• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 162 lbs.
• Weight today: 162lbs
• Amount lost this week:0lb

David Wright

Leave it Tara to post such a titillating topic without photos! Again.

At any rate, no changes this week for me. Which is actually a good thing because I ate like a monkey on a rampage, downing ice cream sandwiches like water. Well, if I drank water, that is. Okay, more like Diet Soda. At any rate, I was bad, and I felt like crap. I righted the ship yesterday and hope to steer clear of the foods I can’t control myself with.

The stats: David Wright

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 327 lbs.
• Weight today: 327 lbs.
• Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 23 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

Watching my two year old son has given me a new lens to look at my own life through.

Quite simply, he has SO MUCH ENERGY.

Of course he does, he’s two! He doesn’t have the years of bad eating and lack of exercise weighing him down figuratively and literally. He is in essence, a blank slate – a prime example of what the human body yearns to be before we destroy it.

ACTIVE!

I am trying my best to shake off my lethargy and do more active things with him to quench his thirst for movement. There is only so much you can do in the house, after all. I don’t want him to ever have the sorts of problems I’ve had with weight and the best thing I can do now is to make sure he eats normal foods and stays active.

And I need to be his example.

David Wright

The stats: David Wright

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
• Goal weight: 250 lbs.
• Weight last week: 327 lbs.
• Weight today: 327 lbs.
• Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
• Total lost since Nov. 19: 23 pounds

Tara Cain

I hear you loud and clear with the active children thing DW. My 6 year old is active with a capital A.
He plays cricket and football at afterschool clubs, he has swimming lessons and he plays rugby with his dad every Saturday morning.
I think children are an inspiration to us all. The greatest joy to him is if we come home from school and play tig in the backgarden together.

And you are right, that is something we as parents should embrace and join in.
What better way to keep fit and bring a little sunshine to our children’s lives?

Today has been his school’s sports day and it’s hot and sticky and he’s all sweaty and dishevelled. Boy he looks SO happy.
So much so, I’m not even going to fret over the lollipop sweet they will all be bringing home in their bookbags as a treat!

• Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
• Goal weight: 140 lbs.
• Weight last week: 162 lbs.
• Weight today: 162lbs
• Amount lost this week:0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments – and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS – like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.