Downtown Drunk Update

So two weeks ago, I wrote about having gained a bunch of weight by way of eating and drinking too much. I have been on a path toward self-improvement over that period and wanted to give a status update.

Last weekend, I weighed in at the gym. 204. So, I lost around nine pounds in a week.

This morning - 201.

That's right - in two weeks I lost around 12 pounds. I cannot report any magic or special diet, but can tell you about my regiment.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise
One thing that I wanted to do was curb my late-night snacking. With a bowl of cereal here, some cheese and crackers there, maybe some chips, snacking could easily add up to over 500 calories. All of that was cut out.

The second benefit was that I was getting up early and getting moving. More movement = burning more calories.

Do Away with Drinking
Of course, I chose a weekend to challenge myself. Right in the middle of my two-week detox was Labor Day weekend. The most challenging day was Sunday. Had a party in the late afternoon that featured an open bar and many of my good friends drinking all afternoon. That was followed by my brother and sister-in-law sleeping over. They continued drinking. I abstained. That was hard.

I did cheat by having a couple of glasses of red wine on Rosh Hashana this past Thursday. God didn't seem to punish my lack of commitment to my regiment.

Nutrition
For breakfast, I cut down on the volume of cereal in my bowl and my mid-morning snack. A couple of days, I did an omelet instead of cereal. One day I had a smoothie featuring non-fat strawberry Greek yogurt, a banana, some ice, and some 1% milk. It was pretty good and I am not a fan of yogurt, Greek or otherwise.

Lunches consisted of leftovers.

Dinner was one of the things that I didn't change. Wife and I eat pretty healthy at dinner time every week night. We have a good pool of low-cal recipes that are arranged for the week on Sunday or Monday. All of the recipes are less than 400 calories and some are closer to 200. Add some bread, brown rice, and extra veggies and it's still a healthy number. The leftovers go to lunch and that keeps the calories down then, too.

Finally, I have continued my running regiment in the morning. It's nothing spectacular - I run to preschool drop-off which is 0.70 miles, though I usually extend that to 1.25 - 1.5 miles if we leave early enough. Then it's a 0.5 / 0.6 mile sprint to elementary school for JD. Since I'm not going long distance, I go at a pretty good pace (for me,) usually under 8:30 / mile (and that often includes hitting a red light and some stop sign traffic.) I may have mentioned doing the 50-50-10 that we were supposed to do for sophomore football practice. Well, I have yet to get all 50 sit-ups or push-ups. However, I have done some ab work and push-ups during that time. Winter hockey season started this week and that will add to my workouts. Unfortunately, many calories burned during the game will be offset by beer(s) after the game. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

So, how did I manage to lose 12 pounds in two weeks? The magic of:

DIET AND EXERCISE. It's not complicated, friends. A healthy lifestyle will lead to a healthy body. Understand portion control. Break a sweat. Feel the burn. But nothing loses weight like food portion control. If you can consistently eat between 1500 and 2000 calories per day, you'll likely lose weight or maintain if you're already at a healthy number.