ksylvan's Journal

I weighed in at 158.4 this morning. A slight up-tick from yesterday but 3 lbs less than last week.

It's going to be a very busy day today.

To all my friends: Expect the best in life!!!

----Kayvan


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I did about two hours on the elliptical trainer yesterday, so I didn't feel like working out today. I also felt like I wanted some sort of snack (but I had run out of the baby mini carrots I've been eating).

I went to the break room. The usual suspects stared me in the face. Fig Newtons. Sodas. Granola bars. Lay's Potato Chips. String Cheese. Nothing looked appealing. Well, to be more accurate, *everything* looked yummy, but imagining what my stomach and body would feel like afterwards made those choices a lot less attractive.

There's a grocery store about a mile from where I work. So I grabbed a water bottle and walked there, purchased a bag of mini carrots, a carton of light vanilla soymlik, a box of Nature's Path FlaxPlus cereal (I didn't even know what this was like) and walked back.

About 45 minutes after the initial craving, I was back at my cubicle, having the cereal with soymilk, and I had refilled the bowl that sits on my desk with mini-carrots to munch on. That was a satisfying snack.

P.S. The FlaxPlus cereal tasted good.




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A quote for the day:

"When we are happy, we are less self-focused. We like others more. and we want to share our good fortune even with strangers. When we are down, though, we become distrustful, turn inward, and focus defensively on our own needs. Looking out for number one is more characteristic of sadness than of well-being." --- Martin E. P. Seligman in "Authentic Happiness"



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Hi everyone. Happy Advent!

Yesterday was an extremely busy day for me. Between everything I had to do, I just kept going from task to task, barely taking the time to eat breakfast.

By the time evening arrived, I found that I had only eaten about 600 calories worth... But the weird thing was that I was not hungry. In five minute snatches of time, I had been munching on pieces of fruit and veggies and drinking water all day long. I knew that I would have to put some food into my system (at least another 600 calories) later.

At this point, I felt very hyperactive (fidgety, moving fast, high energy). So I got dressed, grabbed a bottled water and walked the twenty minutes to Church. After Mass, I walked back home and went back to working on Christmas preparations (getting ornament boxes out, starting to set up for stringing the lights, etc.) before I remembered that I had to eat some more today.

Still, no appetite. Okay. I forced myself to eat a couple of pieces of bread and some tuna and cheese and went back to what I was doing. Total calories for the day was 1200 and I had to force myself to eat it.

This morning, I woke up in the same state. High energy. Fast moving. Almost "buzzing" in my own skin. I weighed myself and I was down to 157.6 (almost two pounds in one day???!!!).

I ate breakfast, but I was not all that hungry... I went through my morning routine in double time (usually I am a bit slow) and got out the door to go to work about ten minutes earlier than usual.

I'm a little worried about the almost two pounds in one day, combined with the fact that I have no appetite and am experiencing this surge of energy (without caffeine... I quit caffeine about the time I started with calorie-count.com).

Should I be worried?

---Kayvan


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I am up at dawn to vaccuum the house and make my wife breakfast this morning before her clients show up (she is a music teacher). Then I am planning on making the rounds and picking up and cleaning the bathrooms while she gets on the computer and relaxes.

I actually enjoy all the domestic stuff I do for her... I know, I know, I am probably breaking some unwritten male law by even saying that... The most we men should do is some form of grudging foot-dragging "okay, fine, honey" grunting when doing domestic chores.

Weight update: I am at 159.4 now! Woo hoo! Firmly in the 150's now...

Best regards,
---Kayvan



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Everywhere else in life, I believe that in order to gain control of and improve anything, you need to be able to track it.

We balance our checkbooks and keep track of income and expenses.

We track milestones at work and make project plans.

In order to improve software performance, we need to first measure it, then change variables and re-measure.

Somehow, all my life, I had thought that my weight and eating habits were somehow different --- that it wasn't necessary to keep track of my weight or my food intake --- that it would somehow take away from my enjoyment or was just plain too much trouble. How wrong I was!

Since I joined calorie-count in early November, I have consistently logged my food, my weight and my activities. I even have an auxiliary spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my calories on a daily basis.

During the past 30 days, I have shed a bit over 6 pounds. That works out to 1/5  of a pound (0.2 lbs) per day, which is the daily pattern I am seeing at this point.

With the aid of this web site, logging everything could not be easier, and I get a daily feeling of accomplishment from keeping to my targets and from getting those "A" grades in the nutritional analysis!! :-)

Thanks to the developers of calorie-count.com and thanks to all my friends here who have made this lifestyle change so natural and "easy"... I put "easy" in quotes, because the change still takes effort, but it has not been a struggle.

Best regards,

---Kayvan


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I got to get up late today. 6:30AM for me. :-) I usually get up at 5AM.

I made a big breakfast for my son since he is going hiking today. His breakfast was a three-egg ham and cheese omelete, a large glass of orange juice and some protein pancakes.

I told him that he needs to load up on a combination of fast and slow fuels so that he won't get hungry too quickly and maintain his energy.

I'm driving him to the rendezvous point with his Boy Scout Troop next and then I'll be back home again.

I haven't weighed myself yet this morning. I'll do it when I get back.

I hope all of you are having fun today!

---Kayvan


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It's Friday. I'm feeling positive. I am still losing. 159.8 this morning. I should give myself a big treat at 155. Not sure what, though.

Work is crazy. Family life is good, but also busy. I've blocked out some time in my (company published) calendar to go and work out in the exercise room. This keeps people from making meetings with me at that time and makes it special "me time".

I hope everything is going well for you all!

---Kayvan


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Watching movies is one of my favorites things. When I am watching a movie, I am transported and time ceases to exist. So... I got this idea...

At work, we have a workout room with a TV that has an attached DVD player.

Today, I went into the office an hour early. I took one of my NetFlix movies that I have not had a chance to watch, put on a pair of headphones with a long wire to attach to the TV, and got on the Elliptical.

I watched an hour of "Silence of The Lambs" while doing one of the hill-climbing programs, drinking several bottled waters during my exercising, took a ten minute break to make sure that there was nothing that needed my urgent attention, drank more water, and went back for the remaining hour.

Fun! Time certainly flew by fast.

To reward myself, I ate one piece of my delicious banana bread with lunch (a few slices of turkey with some bread and a serving of vegetable lasagna) and for snacks throughout the day I have had carrots and strawberries.

As an aside, if someone can give me some suggestions for modifying my banana bread recipe to make a lower calorie version, I'd appreciate it. The way I make it and slice it now (16 slices), it's about 125 calories per slice, and I want to see how I can improve on that.

My energy level and alertness have been very high since the early morning workout. I don't plan on doing this sort of routine every day, but I think I can do it 2-3 times a week. The rest of the days I'll be playing with free weights.

I feel full and satisfied and I have only eaten 900 of my 1600 calories. If I can continue to incorporate this sort of activity into my routine, I'll see a few more movies while either losing weight or toning up.

To the numbers on the scale, I say: "Onward and downward!" :-)

Best regards,
---Kayvan


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Yes!!! I stepped on the scale this morning and I am at 160 now.

Of course, I can't let my emotions be ruled by numbers on a scale, so I'll pretend that it's just cool... no big deal... nothing to see here... move along, move along. :-)

---Kayvan


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