Weight Update and Food Forum

Today was my first official weigh-in for the Summer Challenge.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....I lost 1 pound!  I could look at the idea of losing 1 pound as a failure for week one, but I choose instead to be happy with the fact that I am one pound lighter this week than I was last week.  It is not the most exciting news to report and I know that I most definitely can do a much better and more consistent job during the week, yet if I truly want to focus on the long term aspects of this life choice, then I choose to be happy with one pound...not satisfied....happy!  Next week starts today!

Now for something new....I would like to create a forum for people to share their healthy culinary ideas about specific food topics each week.  I will begin by sharing a story and a meal idea I prepared and then open the floor for questions/comments/discussion/idea sharing etc...  Please feel free to jump in and post/share your thoughts about the weekly topic. 

This Week's Topic:  SALMON

Last week, I had the opportunity to work with one of my closest friends in the kitchen at the conference center she runs and it was a blast.  Getting back in the kitchen grind, even on a small scale, really got my culinary juices flowing.  I love cooking!  It is one of my greatest passions and I relish the opportunities I have to reclaim some of the old feelings I use to get when I worked in numerous seafood restaurants in high school and college.  After cooking for others all week, I had the opportunity to cook for my favorite customers...my family.  I put together a Salmon dish that I was very excited about and really enjoyed.  

The dish included:

Serrano Lime Baked Salmon

Cajun Sauteed Shrimp

Homemade Panko Crusted Okra

Curry Ginger Mushrooms

Corn on the Cob

Sauteed Broccoli

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

The Salmon was the focal point of the dish.  I seasoned it with salt, pepper, mango lime seafood seasoning and baked it with sliced Serrano peppers (seeds included) and lime twists.  The flavor of the lime and chili pepper infused nicely with the fish and was not overpowering to the palate.  I really like the combination of citrus and chili when cooking seafood of any kind, but especially on a meaty fish like Salmon.  The texture of the fish holds up nicely with the boldness of the flavor combinations.

What are some of your SALMON ideas?

"BodyMedia" Week One Wrap-Up: (June 21 - 27, 2011)

I completed my first official week with the BodyMedia FIT Armband system and I must say that I thoroughly enjoy it.  I have been intrigued by the functionality of the system and find myself very interested to see what comes up when I download my daily totals.  I particularly like the sleep duration assessment.  It is interesting to see how long and at what percentage I get real sleep each night.  There are a few things I have found during the week that I will need to keep an eye on to see how truly accurate the data that is being processed turns out to be.  First, I have been imputing my caloric intake each day, or as close an approximation as I have been able to figure it during the week and have kept an eye on the system's calculations for caloric deficit numbers.  According to the numbers for this week, I should be at around an 11,440 calorie deficit mark.  This deficit would indicate a 3 pound weight loss for the week...I shall see tomorrow when I make my official weigh-in.  If the numbers do not add up, I will keep a track of the discrepancies over the first few weeks and see where the differences are falling.  As far as the other categories, I feel like I am getting a pretty good indicator of my total steps, activity rate and sleep percentage.  I realize that the numbers may not be completely perfect, but the data is at least a step in the right direction to see when I am most active and how that activity translates to my overall daily routines.  One thing that keeps the data from being entirely correct is the fact that the armband is not waterproof, so I do not get credited for any steps or activity minutes when I am playing at the pool with the kids.  Again, I am not that concerned with the missing data, because any information is helpful.

So, for my first post I will give my totals and averages for Total Steps, Activity Rate (moderate to vigorous activity) and Sleep Duration/Percentage.  I am also including a product endorsement, completely personal, with no reimbursement being thrown my way.  I just want to include some things that I am finding to be helpful in my continuous journey to a healthful life.  Please feel free to include products that you enjoy and find beneficial.  Thanks again for the support and I will be back tomorrow with a weight update and a dinner discussion....topic: SALMON!

BodyMedia Week One Stats: (6/21/11 - 6/27/11)

Total Steps: 50,167
Average Daily Steps: 7,167

Total Activity Rate: 307 mins.
Average Daily Activity Rate: 44 mins.

Total Sleep Duration: 42 hrs. 44 mins
Nightly Sleep Duration Average: 6 hrs. 6 mins
Weekly Sleep Percentage Average: 86%
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Product Endorsement:

UNCLE SAM: Toasted Whole Wheat Berry Flakes & Flaxseed

I have only tried the "Original" version of the cereal, but it is a great find.  First, it has 4 ingredients: Whole Wheat Kernels, Whole Flaxseed, Salt, Barley Malt.  Second, it is loaded with nutrients: 190 calories, 5g fat, 0.5g sat. fat, 10g fiber, 7g protein and less than 1g sugar per 3/4 cup serving. Third, it is affordable: $2.15 a box (@ Wal-Mart). Finally, it is full of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.  I eat a bowl drizzled with honey in the morning and find it tasty and fulfilling.  For more info visit http://www.attunefoods.com/

The "BodyMedia" Summer Challenge

Hello everyone.....I am finally back.  I am sorry that my hiatus was longer than it should have been, but life does sometimes take over and the last few weeks have been filled with lots of closures and transitions.  Another school year ended, my 12th to be exact and I said goodbye to yet another great group of seniors who blessed me considerably over their 4 years at school.  I have also been swamped with driver's ed, spending some days from 7:30 am - 9:30 pm at school working in both classroom and driving settings.  We also had a very busy start to June...my wife, mother and middle daughter celebrated birthdays, my wife and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary and my oldest daughter is just two weeks away from finishing kindergarten.  BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, but such is my life.

Now, to the business at hand!  Since my last challenge, "21 Days of Full Disclosure", I have done quite a good job of maintaining my weight without gaining an excessive amount in the past 2 1/2 months.  On the other hand, I have not done a great job at losing anymore weight either.  About a month ago, I established new goals for myself and I have been trying to meet those goals as much as possible, but the initial excitement surrounding those goals faded rather quickly and I have not been trying as wholeheartedly as I should be to meet the goals I established for myself.  In a recent session with Dr. Wynns, we decided that I do the best when I am faced with a singular challenge that combines a specific goal, exciting ideas and some accountability.  Following that session, Dr. Wynns gave me the assignment of establishing a new challenge for myself designed around the official SUMMER season.  I have researched it and summer technically begins tomorrow, 6/21/11 and ends on 9/23/11.  This time frame gives me approximately a three month challenge window to excel and achieve some of the goals I have had established for some time now.  The assignment was to design a challenge that would focus on exercise, meal planning and accountability.  I had to plan something that I could sustain for three months and that would utilize the blog as a way to keep others informed of my progress.  I was racking my brain trying to come up with an idea when my amazing wife presented me with a great gift on our anniversary. I have wanted for some time now to get a weight/calorie management system that would keep track of my metabolic functions, such as calories burned, steps taken, sleep patterns, rates of activity and allow me to plug in my calories eaten during the day.  The system helps you manage the various aspects of life that are essential for sustained weight loss.  It also acts as a reminder that you can't be slack and hope to make a difference in your life.  My wonderful wife made this desire a reality when she gave me a "BodyMedia FIT Armband" system. 



www.bodymedia.com



This system is great and it gave me the vehicle to design my summer challenge.  I have decided to do The "BodyMedia" Summer Challenge.  The system comes with 3 months free website use of the support system. (You then sign up for a certain amount of subscription time.  I chose the 12 month plan, because you save money with the longer plan activation.)  So, during the 3 month summer season, I am going to track my food intake, exercise program, caloric deficit and sleep patterns in hopes of meeting the goal of reaching 250 pounds by 9/23/11.  Each Monday, I will post a week in review, which will chronicle my total caloric deficit, exercise totals, sleep percentages, total step counts, activity levels, as well as, a general review of my week including interesting health ideas I come across.  I would also like to create a discussion forum on the posts for anyone who would like to talk about a specific topic I post, or just share victories or concerns in your own lives.  I am beginning to get a clearer picture for this blog and I want it to be more interactive.  I really would like to get your opinions, suggestions and ideas on various topics that concern/excite me.  By opening a dialogue, I feel we can all benefit from this challenge and assist each other along this journey.  Thanks again for your patience with my lengthy absence and remember to look for the first "Week in Review" next Monday.

THE HURT LOCKER

In 2009, The Hurt Locker was released in American theaters to rave reviews.  The compelling story of an United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team working to clear Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq was so intriguing and well received that it was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year.  The movie follows a group of soldiers whose job places them in high-risk and extremely perilous situations.  These men worked in the most stressful conditions imaginable with no concern for themselves, but were dedicated to the safety and well-being of others.  The title of the movie is taken from the large protective outfit worn by the squad member whose job it is to disarm the bombs once they have been located.  It is with utmost respect and thanksgiving that I honor these soldiers in the metaphor I am about to present.....

I have never served in the military.  I have never faced an enemy who is determined to kill me before I kill him.  I have never been called upon to leave my family at a moment's notice to go around the world to protect the freedoms that I so humbly cherish.  I have never faced that kind of enemy....but I have been that enemy.  Of course, I am not an enemy to the freedoms of this country or its people, but in my own life I have caused pain, frustration and placed people I love in situations that are wrought with emotional IEDs!  The number one target of many of these IED attacks has been my loving and devoted wife.  Let me make a quick aside to this point of discussion...it was not until recently that I even realized or recognized that my actions were creating these various situations within my relationship.  I, of course, had been quite ignorant to the fact that my own emotional roller coaster was affecting others.  In recent weeks, I have started to look outside of my own little bubble and actually see the amazing people in my life that have quietly and bravely lived through many tense moments.  In the midst of the various episodes I viewed as being the end all, be all of importance, my wife stood by me with love and support.  Each time I "raged against the machine" and complained about how wounded I was and how no one truly realized what I was going through, she suited up.  The times when my anger took over and I lashed out at the world that most certainly was against me, my wife approached the hidden explosive, wrapped her arms around it and held on in hopes that her love and concern would be enough to diffuse the situation.  Most of the time, her knowledge and skill led her to success and yet, on occasion, even her superior knowledge was not enough to overcome the nature of the BOMB!  It was on these occasions that my wife truly exemplified the essence of Walking in Love towards others.  No matter how many times I had emotional eruptions, no matter how many times I wavered on what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be, no matter how many times I blamed everything under the sun for my displeasure and disillusionment....she was there.  She bore the brunt of the shrapnel and just stayed...arms firmly wrapped around me...repeating to me that I was "God's Best" and that I was "Completely, Complete" and that I should view myself the way God views me.  She withstood all the sadness, all the pain, all the frustration, all the ignorance, all the baggage, everything I threw at her and she did it without complaint!  She stood firmly beside me while I took the time I needed to figure out exactly what was at the root of my unhappiness and when I began to come out of the shadows, she was still there!  We have all heard the old saying that the people we hurt the most are the people we love!  I see that now.  I know that my wife withstood the hardships and never wavered in her love for me. Now, The first thing she will say about reading this post is that the things I have described made up only a small portion of the life we have shared over the past 15 years.  She will point out all of the happy times and the abundance of blessings that we have enjoyed and look at the difficult moments as drops in the bucket of a life filled with joy and excitement and she would be correct.  Our life together has been and continues to be incredibly blessed.  We share a wonderful home with 3 amazingly beautiful and talented children.  We laugh together often and love each other deeply.  Today, I am healthy enough and strong enough to acknowledge my shortcomings and seek forgiveness for those actions that have caused others to feel sorrow, stress and pain.  Today, I am brave enough to talk about the realities of myself that have been hidden in many ways from others.  Today, I am humble enough to accept myself for who I am and strive to continue working on who I can be.  Today I am blessed to be a Son of God and to share in all the abundance that comes with that and today, I am lucky enough to be married to my best friend, my greatest cheerleader and one of the most amazing women I know.  T...I love you a Circle! Thanks for never giving up on me!  I pray that the remainder of our life together is filled with continued abundance and is free of any further IEDs....but, I know if one of those horrible little hidden devices is found in the future, you will climb right back in that HURT LOCKER and face the challenge...because that is who you are and that is why the people you love are so thoroughly blessed to have you on their side and in their lives!

Setting Goals.....

Unfortunately, my hiatus from the blog was a little longer than I expected.  I have realized in the past couple of weeks that I am a very goal driven individual.  When I set a tangible goal, I tend to keep a much stronger focus on that goal and consequently my success rate is much higher.  During my 21 days of focused food logging, I accomplished a great deal.  I lost 22 pounds, fell below 300 for the first time in years and came to some pretty amazing realizations.  Since then, I have found myself in a similar pattern of floundering around, making a bunch of excuses and holding pretty steady on the weight front.  The past cycle of set goal, work to reach goal, reach goal, become satisfied, turn satisfaction into laziness, turn laziness into excuses, use excuses to avoid further goal setting and accomplishments has been in full effect.  For the last 3 weeks, I have been sitting around, enjoying my success and convincing myself that everything has changed....and you know how the saying goes, "the more things change, the more they stay the same!"  Today I am finally making an effort to move beyond the "glory" of my previous triumph and push past this wall of excuses to begin what I am calling ROUND 3!  In ROUND 1, I came to grips with the reality that I needed to seriously do something with my life to try and prolong it as much as I possibly can...Presto, the blog was born.  In ROUND 2, I set a goal to fall below 300 pounds during a strenuous and detailed look at my eating habits...Mission Accomplished.  As I step back into the ring for ROUND 3, I will confront the endless excuses that I have continued to make throughout my life and fight back with a series of small, attainable goals that I hope will keep me going for a lot longer than in the past.  I have broken these goals into 4 categories and will share them with everyone here on this post.  Along with my goals, I have also established some rewards for myself to act as a bridge between milestones that will allow me the opportunity to celebrate my accomplishment, without derailing my determination to forge ahead.  As always, your prayers, support and love will be most helpful in this next ROUND.  I know at times I have been inconsistent, but I am still fighting and this is a fight I intend to win!
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GOALS

Daily: Keep Food Log, Workout (including a 1-2 mile run), Help around the House, Read with the Kids, Play with the Kids, Talk with my Wife, Read Bible, BLOG, Facebook a Friend.

Weekly: Workout 5 out of 7 days, Lose 2 - 4 pounds, Keep Food Log 6 out of 7 days, Blog 3-5 times, Call Family, Call Friends, Write a Letter, Mow Grass and do Yard Work, Contact Former Students.

Monthly: Write for a possible Book, Lose 15 - 20 pounds, Take my Wife on a Date, Take each of My Kids Out Individually at Least Once, Workout 20 out of 30 days, Blog 12 - 20 times, Read 1 - 2 Books, Have Friends over for Dinner.

Yearly: Get a Physical, Run (2) 5K races, Lose 100 - 110 pounds, Read 15 - 25 Books, Complete a Home Improvement Project, Travel with My Family, Visit Family, Complete a Draft of a Book.
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REWARDS

* Download (1) iTunes track per (2) pounds lost 
* Take a fishing day or play a round of golf per (20) pounds lost
* Purchase a Calorie Management System when I reach (250) pounds
* Go to a choice sporting event (i.e. baseball, football, hockey, etc...) per (60) pounds lost 
* Go to the Biggest Loser Ranch for a week after (85) pounds lost
* Take a weekend trip with my Wife to NEW YORK after breaking (200) pounds
* Chaperon a School Trip to Europe once I reach my goal weight of (185) pounds
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COMING SOON:

(A Glance at Future Posts)

The Hurt Locker
21 Days of Revelation: Part 1 (Physical Healing)
21 Days of Revelation: Part 2 (Financial Healing)
21 Days of Revelation: Part 3 (Emotional Healing)
Beyond the 21 Days: Forgiveness and Love

Thanks Mom...I Love You!

This past weekend, to kick off our Spring Break vacation, I loaded up the van and headed south with my wife and 3 kids to visit Grandma and the gang.  Now, to give you an idea of how my family is situated, my Mom and her husband live approximately 1000 steps from my older brother and his family, another 500 steps from my twin brother and his family and about 1/2 mile from my older sister and her family.  Needless to say, our family is what you might call CLOSE!  Taking the trip down to the beach to spend the weekend is a wonderful opportunity for my children to see 10 of their cousins, their aunts and uncles and to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa.  Our visit this year was great!  We spent four wonderful days hanging out with family, riding the ferry, visiting the Aquarium, fishing in the lake and sharing many meals together.  It is such a blessing as a father to see my kids enjoy the town in which I grew up.  I love those moments when I can share a bit of my childhood with my kids.  One of the biggest treats this year was the effort my Mom made to make healthy, whole grain snacks and fresh fruit available while we visited.  Now growing up, my family would not have been confused with health food activists.  Don't get me wrong, vegetables were readily available, but so were lots of sugary snacks, soft drinks and traditional "Southern Fried" fare.  Our culinary world was very typical of a 1980's southern family.  These days my Mom does a much better job of watching what she eats and prepares, but Sun Drop and other guilty pleasures are hard habits to break.  In the past I headed south with the knowledge that I would eat what was available and enjoy the company of my family, however, like I said earlier, Mom had a surprise in store.  This trip, we enjoyed grilled meats and veggies, whole wheat pasta, fresh fruit, multi-grain snacks, no sugar added ice cream cones (snack size), turkey bacon, roast with carrots and potatoes and many other wonderfully healthy treats.  The one time we did indulge in a guilty pleasure was on the final day of our visit when we went to lunch at a local Mexican Restaurant that serves exceptional cuisine.  I ordered my meal, consumed half of it, boxed the rest up and left it in the fridge when we headed home.  What a great trip and what a wonderfully caring and loving Mom I am so blessed to have.  Thanks Mom for the effort you make to provide me with healthy options that fit with my new life choice.  Thanks for always loving me with no strings attached and for being there to pick me up and dust me off when life threw me a challenge I found difficult to overcome.  Thanks for sharing movie nights, phone calls, tears, laughter, joy and sorrow over the years.  Thanks for being proud of me and the person I have become.  Thanks for helping make me the man I am today and thanks for being a shining example of the love of God here on earth.  You are...to borrow your favorite word....an "AWESOME" Mom and words cannot do justice to the love I feel for you in the depths of my soul.  I am so blessed to call you my Mom and so honored to call you my friend.  I LOVE YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON AND BACK!   

Under 300....

Sorry for the recent absence from writing....the past couple of weeks have been filled with tennis matches, school trips and Spring Break vacations.  As I posted in the FINAL WRAP UP, I lost 19 lbs during my 21 days of disclosure.  It was such a motivating time and one filled with incredible revelations for me as an individual.  I plan on creating a separate post about that at a later date.  For this post, I want to focus on something equally as motivating and encouraging and something that I have yearned for and desired now for over 2 years.  As of Friday, 4-8-2011, I am no longer in the 300 club.  When I weighed that morning, I came in at 298 lbs, bringing my 28 day weight loss total to 22 lbs and moving me under 300 pounds for the first time since March of 2009.  It was such a relief and exciting moment to get on the scales and not see a three at the beginning of the flashing red digits.  Thanks for all the support and well wishes over the past month.  Hopefully, this is just the beginning and I can stay focused on reaching my goal of weighing 250 lbs by July when my family and I take our annual beach trip,  So long 300....I don't plan on visiting you again anytime soon!