Half Way

345 puts me at the halfway point.

Chana was gone for the week on business. Missed her obviously, but coming back led us into once of the best weekends we've shared in a very long time.

We started out the dog park at Long Beach and saw UFC 111 at Big Wangs in Downtown. Sunday started with a nice hike into Eaton Canyon and finished with a movie at the Americana in Glendale. The Americana was a really nice place by the way.

Right now, I'm tired. Sorry for this being so dry. Out.

Venice 347

Had a great day with Chana and Beans. We drove down to Venice and walked him up and down the boardwalk. Spent 2 hours in the process and Beans never once growled at a single person.

I hit 347 today. What's funny is, it took me well over a month and change to essentially lose 3 pounds. I guess that's what the cleanse will do to you. I'm hoping that things will finally even out from this point forward. I'd like to manage my calories correctly and thus lose weight just as a regular person should.

Good luck to that.

Limits

After about a month now with the Bodybugg, I've learned more than a few things about how my body works:
On average, I burn anywhere from 3200 calories a day when I do absolutely nothing but lie around the house to about 4000 calories when I run errands, clean the house, etc.

With that, I decided to try and maintain a 2000 calorie diet for myself which is surprisingly easy as long you take the necessary measures in order to aid in your success. We have grilled chicken in our fridge at all times since good protein is often the hardest thing to come by when you want a snack. Beyond that, we keep a healthy amount of fruit stocked, try to keep a good amount of Alternative Pitas, and Tortilla Factory Low Carb tortillas on hand. They're all ways of getting the things you might be craving (ie a burrito) without having to blow your diet in order to do so.

Funny thing is, learning just how much your body burns also raises the question- exactly how did I manage to gain 90 lbs over the course of 3 years? Now I understand that, living in the back house, I wan't the most active guy in the world. That being said, I had a job the kept me on my feet for 12 hours a day. I was going to school and walking a fair amount there. Chana and I were going out all the time, doing this and that. So just how much was I eating? What kind of calorie excesses was I going to? It's just mind boggling now that I start to think about it.


Note: running through some basic numbers last night, Chana and I came to the conclusion that one of my meals at Taco Bell likely ran from 1500 to 2000 calories every single time. So fuck them and anyone who believes those "healthy" Taco Bell diet claims.

Progressing

Dropped below 350 for the first time since the cleanse. I'm monitoring my daily caloric burn by using a Bodybugg, which is a hatefully overpriced piece of gadgetry from the good people at 24 Hour Fitness. If you can find the equivalent out there and are trying to manage/lose weight, then I'd highly recommend picking one up. For me, it's made all the difference. Now, I feel like I clearly understand what I need to do in order to succeed and you can't ask for much more than that.

The plan is simple (hopefully I haven't broken it down before): keep calorie consumption under my daily burn by at least 1000 calories, which is what doctors say is necessary to do in order to drop 2 lbs per week. At that rate, I should reach my goal weight by November 29th of this year... I can hardly imagine hitting my goal by before the end of the year. Sure it's not Alex as a thin guy. That's likely never going to happen, but it's still me being smaller than I've been in at least a decade.

Getting Back to Zero

This past month has been a tiring roller coaster of ups and downs in the weight dept. Apparently my body didn't take too well to the cleanse (or maybe this was just the first time I'd ever noticed) and my weight was all over the place. I essentially went down to 350 after the Master Cleanse. That went up to as high as 358.8 or something to that effect, which might not seem like much but when you consider my diet you start to wonder how it is I'm gaining.

Since the cleanse, Chana and I have been watching our diets very carefully. We're counting calories and with accurate ideas of what our daily intake should be at have created good meal plans that keep us both at a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Nutritionists say that's the way to lose an average of 2 pounds per week. Now, though those last couple of seconds might make it sound like we're living in a concentration camp, we're not. Controlling your daily intake is surprisingly not that difficult as long as you prepare 99% of your own meals. That means that fast food, hot pockets, and frozen dinners have been kicked to the curb in favor of fresh ingredients and good recipes. It's not that difficult to pull off either since Chana and I are the only two eating. We make one large dinner and pack up the leftovers to be eaten over the next day or two. Easy as pie if you ask me and when you have control like that, it's much easier to manage your daily caloric intake.

So back to the coaster ride- So I finish the cleanse and somehow, without going over my calorie allowance for most of that time (my birthday was in there mind you... But even then, you can't gain that much weight from one night's indiscretion) I manage to bounce all over the place weight wise and eventually settle damn near 10 pounds from where the cleanse sat me. It got to be so bad that I considered throwing the whole "healthy living" thing right out the fucking door. I was sick of minding my Ps and Qs all for the sake of an extra ten pounds. Shit, I could eat anything and everything I want and not gain that kind of weight. It's fucking ridiculous.

So about a week ago, my body finally settled and I dropped a quick five and half pounds over night. It made me feel great, like my efforts really counted for something and the progress has followed that same path since. I'm currently sitting at 351. I'm one pound away from getting back to zero and I couldn't be happier.

I know that this process is far from over. It's just nice have the work pay off, you know?