Half of Phil

I guess this late posting thing will occur more often. I've been tracking my intake and walking regularly for over a month now. I've surprised myself by sticking with it.  I've learned a lot about how I got this way now, just this week we went to Carolina Ale House one of my favorite spots.  The wings and fries I used to have at least once a week are over 2,100 calories.  That's nearly 90% of my daily intake need!  Wow!  Also a cookout strip tray is 1500 calories, that used to be my lunch nearly everyday for years. The walking has been good.  My back feels better than it has in a long time.  I have some pain in my left knee.  Of course I'm not using a cane like the dr told me I would by 30 if I didn't let him cut on it when I was 17!!!  That surgery may happen someday but hopefully I can coax a few more years out. Weight wise I'm down nearly 20 lbs, I had hoped I would be 25 by this week, but I'm glad to be where I am.  The scale...

Crazy hectic week for us!  It was soccer club tryout week.  Our son has a  sprained foot so he couldn't tryout.  We weren't sure how it would work out. The club he played with last season had light turnout the first night and I freaked out that they might not make a team his age.  Straight up first world crisis!  We visited other clubs but in the end wound up exactly where we had planned at the beginning of the week. I got all my walks in this week. I surprised myself walking a couple mornings in the rain.  Ok drizzle but still.  I've always thought walking in the rain was ridiculous.  But I wanted to be sure I had it done and with the 'soccer crisis' going on I think I needed to know I had something go right with the day. Last weekend I tried the scale again and I'm very excited to have it read a number.  I've checked all week and it's dropped some all along.  I lost 4 lbs this week!  I'm down to 404!  I've lost at le...

Wow I checked back at the blog. Seems like I've been doing this walking thing forever at this point, at least a month or so. However this is only the end of my 3rd full week. Really feels like longer, but it is what it is. I had been walking some at work in the weeks before so maybe in my mind I'm tying that in. Doesn't really matter in the long run, just a thought I had today. Even if it's only 3 weeks in I feel much better, I did skip my walk yesterday morning. I hadn't slept well and when the dog woke me up at 5 I thought let me move my alarm up so I can at least get an hours sleep before work. Guess how that worked out? Anyway I kinda justified it because I was planning to mow after work and that's walking too right? It's a cop out no doubt. I did however track my walk while mowing. (Special shout out to my wife for encouraging me to do that, and also encouraging me over the last 3 weeks as I've started this journey.) Interestingly enough...

The past week was tough. I didn't get any exercise in on Wednesday. My legs were on fire all day Tuesday and I just couldn't make myself get out of bed. Overall I did pretty well with activity though I've walked 8 miles this week. I'd have lost a bet if someone had told me that would happen this time last year. So that is a win. I'm doing well tracking my food. Below is a snap pic I took of the info on myplate. I had a wake up call on Wednesday (tough day all around I guess) because I made 'breakfast dinner'. Who the hell knew homemade biscuits have over 200 calories each? (ok apparently that's common knowledge I either never heard or chose to ignore over the years.) I went to bed hungry and still went over my calorie goal. Oh and I'd have never thought a small piece of sausage would be equal to a nice pork chop in calories. I suppose that is the point of tracking so that you can learn to make better decisions. Still haven't broke...

This past weekend I was out of town on a soccer club trip so I definitely got some walking in but didn't track food. Monday I started tracking my food. All week I've tracked everyday and been at least 600 calories under what myplate says I should be to lose 2lbs a week, except Wednesday, I was 30 calories over. Apparently a bag of microwave popcorn is 500 calories!!! So much for my favorite evening snack. Which really I shouldn't have. I've walked 2 miles each day this week. I haven't gotten any bike riding in, but maybe this weekend. Lunchtime walking hasn't been working well. It's stupid busy at work and so hot I've been in a full lather. Tuesday I got my walk in while my son had soccer practice in. Since Wednesday I've gotten up early to do my walking. I've done the stairs the days I'm in my main office, one day after a luncheon I even did them a second time. My manager and some coworkers went up with me. My legs were pissed ...

So it's been over 5 years since I started this blog. How did that go so quickly? Anyway I suppose it's an accomplishment that I'm still the same size as I was 5 years ago, but it sure feels like a hollow victory. I need to find a way to start making some incremental progress. It's going to be a long process I'm sure of. I turned 40 years old last October and I seriously don't know that I'll live to see my kids graduate HS at this point much less know my grandkids. My short term approach increase my activity level and cut down on my food intake. The intake is the key to losing weight, my head knows this but it doesn't stop me from snacking or over indulging at meals. Activity level is a little easier for me to tackle, most days I take the stairs up to my 5th floor cube in the mornings. I've been taking a nearly 2 mile walk at least 3 times a week. It makes a huge difference, I feel much better. I got a bike for father's day last yea...

I created this blog many moons ago, but never made the first entry. The purpose was to document my Journey to lose weight. I have had some moderate success at it. My goal for 2011 is to lose 75 lbs. I'll check in here from time to time to post my progress. The most valuable tool so far has been to use MyPlate to log my meals, which was recommended to me by a friend Jeff Wilson, owner of Coaching Balance.