Progress Report

After 10 days I have lost a few pounds. My weight as of this morning was 227.2.

Not bad considering I'm still not excercising, but I don't really feel any difference yet.

I thought I'd take the time to tell you (if anyone is out there) what I've done differently these past 10 days.

First I bought a fancy digital scale so I can get precise readings. I also bought a food scale, measuring cups and a pedometer just to get an idea of my activity level throughout the day.

Second, I have pretty much kept with my plan of eating healthier foods and in somewhat smaller portions.

Last night for example I decided to actually measure the amount of pasta I was having for dinner. I made it one even cup of pasta and compared to what I would have served myself before, it was about half. This is significant because I didn't feel hungry after dinner.

Heres a comparison of an typical old meal versus a new meal:

Old meal: 2 cups pasta + 3 scoops meat sauce + 3 small meatballs + 2 small pieces of garlic bread

New meal: 1 cup pasta + 2 scoops of meat sauce + 1 meatball +half a flat bread (made into garlic, parmesan style)

I drank a diet iced green tea with dinner.

As I think about it now, I believe that eating smaller portions helps you feel full over the long term. Maybe my stomach is tightening up a bit.

I also am eating a snack between meals when I feel hungry. I try to keep the snacks healthy (fruit, yogurt, wasa crackers) and under the old "100 calories" rule. If I'm close to a regular meal when I get hungry I'll just wait or eat my regular meal earlier.

I've discovered I actually like soy milk and the light or nonfat version has about half the calories as milk so I haven't had milk in 10 days.

I'm also taking a multi-vitamin and some other supplements (fish-oil Omega-3, glucosamine for my joints)

Finally I've been weighing myself every morning before my shower and logging it along with which meals/snacks I have that day (in Google Spreadsheet BTW). I don't log the actual food I eat, just whether I had the meal or snack. See a sample of my weight tracking spreadsheet online.

Tracking my progress serves as a great motivator.

Thats all for this update. Until next time, this is the Lazy Loser signing out.