How much volume should a person consume?

These last few days I have been eating while on vacation. I am able to put away a whole burger (large size burger), fries and a large glass of water. Then on top of it all eat a third of my wifes burger, some of my children's fries and some of their grilled cheese sandwich. A person should not be able to put that much away and then 1 hour later be just starving.

The sweats are killing me this time.

Last time I wanted to lose weight I had a little trouble staying away from the sweats. This time, it is just killing me. So I am going to create a list of the sweats that I have missed so I can come back and revisit them once I lose the weight that I want to lose. I need to lose 10 pounds before I can have sweats again. Once I have done that then I will eat whatever is on that list and enjoy each and one every one of them. UNTIL THEN...NO SWEATS AND LATE NIGHT EATING.

I have been doing pretty good about the late night eating but most of my focus is on the sweats.

Importance of Omega 3 Video

I received a comment from a reader yesterday about the Omega 6: Omega 3 ratio post stating how she thought I would be interested in this video...I was and it was very cool to show an Omega 3 nourished rat over an Omega 3 malnourished rat. Comes to show how eating your greens and the proper meats really will go a long way with human development and maintenance. I have recently started adding crushed flax seed to my eggs after I cook them in the morning to make sure that I get a good dose of some Omega 3 right away in the morning. I also eat tuna and salmon regularly because it is such an important fatty acid that most Americans lack.

With our kids, we have always been concerned with their diet especially with getting the right amounts of Omega 3 and that is why we nursed them both till they were two years old. World average for nursing is in the area of 4 years and national standard for US has now been bumped up to 2 years...it is about time.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did...short and to the point.

Thank you very much Susan Allport for the video and good luck with the book. Susan Allport is the author of "The Queen of Fats" and if you wish to learn more, please go to her website www.susanallport.com to read more about Omega 3.

What is the proper dose of Omega 6 : Omega 3

Studies have shown us that taking the proper dose of omega 6 and omega 3 is beneficial for our health. In many cases, it has been shown that these two fatty acids can help in the fight against obesity.

Sounds great right, wrong. Omega 6 and Omega 3 are very good fatty acids but with the improper ratio of the two, can actually cause obesity and cancer. The magical ratio to try to maintain for weight lose and general health is 3-4:1 Omega 6:Omega 3.

Today Americans are taking in about 15-20:1 due to the oil used in our fried foods and other cheap oils. People are eating to much which is the cause of our on growing obesity and cancers. Studies have shown that the balance of these two fatty acids are very important and to those who wish to live a healthy good life need to keep this ratio in mind.

Here is an article which helps explain this a little further.

My Wife and I are doing it again, and I don't mean sex.

My wife has been saying how she is not happy with her tummy. I m also unhappy with my weight loss progress. So starting tomorrow. Her and I are watching what we eat again down to a caloric intake. I have also be taking out coffee from my diet for a whole month and also sweets like ice cream and candy. I am just going to take it out all together so I don't have any temptations. Wish us luck and I will keep you all posted.

First Day back on the Wagon...I suck!

I am currently on my first day back on the wagon. I have so far failed, miserably. After going through the whole day, I finally had two burgers and later on at 10:00pm I had some Eggo waffles, but the good thing is I am not gaining anymore weight. I have kept off what I have lost thus far. I will do better tomorrow. I am thinking about not having coffee in the morning but having it at night so then I can take in more water throughout the day instead of lacking on water like I did today.

I will try to do better tomorrow.

Engineering My Weight Loss

I was asked how I am losing the weight so I though I would share to you all what I said.

-My Article-
I have lost over 30lbs since January 1st of 2008.

In December I looked at myself in the mirror while I was at the YMCA getting ready to go swimming with my kids and I saw a large man with large love handles and a large gut. Even though I am an avid lifter and can gain muscle easier than anything, I have always had a hard time losing the fat. That night I thought for a long time, “How am I going to lose the weight in the way that works for me?” I then came to the conclusion to look at things in the manner as an engineer, which I am. I sat down and started creating my project plan with no dates, I just wanted milestone because if I had dates, I would fail due to inconsistencies found in the human body. Every person’s body is different so no date plan can be successful. I know if I missed a date, I would just give up on the whole thing. After creating my milestones, I then created and FMEA (Failure Mode Effect Analysis). This document allowed me to list out all of the possible means of failure to my weight loss. I had listed out several items that will keep me from losing the weight. A couple of them being my habit of eating at night, eating sweats, and also making sure that I stay at around 2000 calories a day. Now, I did put one more thing down as a possible failure and that was the adaptation of the human body. The human body will adapt to your lifting schedule and cardio schedule in time, so why would calorie intake be any different. I did some research on this and my theory was correct so I cycle my calorie intake of five days at 2000 calories and two days at 2600 calories, give or take an ice cream sundae.

After my FMEA and project plan was created, I then created a data sheet which will track my FMEA occurrence and avoidance, weight training and cardio occurrence and avoidance, weight for that day, and also a little journal spot to document any event or reason of inconsistency (Birthday Cake, Holiday Cookouts, etc.).

The last thing that I created was an IPO (Input Process Output) diagram to show how this all ties together to my body and goal. My inputs are food, workout routines, and environment. My processes are digestion, eating (chewing and eating slowly), and exercising and lifting. And as far as the outputs are…I don’t think you want to know the outputs…or care.

How it feels in comparison to how it should be.

I was working out during my lunch period and lady and I were talking about diets and workout routines. She went on telling me about the meal plan that she is on and she doesn't like the food, but she is losing weight...not feeling really great. She also continued telling me about the strict cardio routine that they spelled out for her. This routine was someone taking their best guess as to how all of this is going to work for her and not how it is suppose to be for her.

I told her that she should take some of the advice from the person training her but to also listen to her body. I have yet to find a book that tells you how to listen to your body to know how the cardio is working or how the meal plan is working. Your body will tell you. My body tells me after I have a burger from a fast food restaraunt that that is not going to make my body feel good. Or if I have some ice cream before working out, I feel like crap and my workout is totally tainted.

I told her as far as a meal plan goes, eat what you like but eat in small portions and eat slowly. A coworker told me to chew 25 times before swallowing....yeah right. Who in their right mind is going to count everytime they chew...not me. I told her to try to taste at least three ingredients when eating, that will make her enjoy her food longer.

Eat when you are mad

DO NOT DO IT! I just got done eating a lot of peanuts and it did not make me feel good even though I wanted to do it so I can feel good. I will talk more about this in the future.

Lost 22lbs since January 1st.

It has taken me 2.5 months to lose 22lbs and I feel great and everyone tells me that I look like I have been losing weight. Before I took on this challenge to lose the weight I was afraid of losing my strength during the process. I have lost zero strength throughout this entire thing. I actually had a great heavy day on Monday and increased my dead-lift by 75lbs. I was amazed that I had that much of an increase even though I have cut down my quantity of food. I eat 6-7 times a day and eat a lot of protein, but at no point have I lost any strength or muscle. I love it.

Stay On Track!

It is hard to lose the weight (currently 20lbs lost) but it is even harder to stay on track and not enduldge in sweets and junk foods. My grandfather-in-law past away and we came back home to see all of the family and be around for the funeral. While coming up, we stopped at Arby's and I almost justified the fact of getting a burger or at least some kind of roast beff. I ended up turning both of those down and got a salad with no dressing...but it was hard. My wife actually helped a little with keeping me on track even though she got a roast beef sandwhich. But I tell ya, you really need to avoid all of this if you want to make it easy to stay on track. It is almost impossible to stay the coarse with these obsticles in the way.

Just remember your goals and try to reach them with no excuse.

Using Products To Lose The Weight Part 2

I keep seeing and hearing people say that “Oh I drink this stuff for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I lose the weight.” How is that a way to live? I mean, I count my calories to help me lose the weight and I am eating fine. Once I am down to the weight that I want to be I will stop the extreme calories count and go to just maintenance of my weight. Because I now know what to do I am not worried about it. But this “not worrying about it” will only happen once I have reached my goal weight.

The reason why I am talking about this is because I over heard a lady at work here say that she is drinking Advantage Supplement Drinks so she can lose some weight. She would not eat a banana, orange, or apple which was provided at our training session because she said that she doesn’t want to ruin her diet and that there are too much sugar in the fruit. WHAT THE HELL!? Fruits and vegetables have natural sugars that, I think, should be used instead of actual sugar. I was eating oranges and bananas and I was satisfied with only 240 calories taken in for those two items. It was a great source of fiber and also a good sweet satisfier. Because of the fruit, I didn’t eat the pastries that were there.

I wish more and more people would just think about how things were when we did not have “Drinks” and other products to help us lose weight. Go cave man when you are eating and you will realize how sweet fruits are and how great tasting veggies are.

Losing Weight Like an Engineer Should

I am now down to 251lbs which is one pound away from my first goal of 250lbs. The reason why I have been losing weight so consistantly is because of my food selection, counting calories, eating 6-7 times a day, cycling my calories, exercise and weight trianing.

As you know I am an engineer and in being one I analyze my numbers everyday, from my calorie intake (total and portion size) to my weight that I am lifting. I make sure that I also supply the demand as it is necessary. Because I eat 6-7 times a day, I make sure that I have consistant numbers for my calorie intake per portion per meal. Now, their is one varient that I look at that is not consistant to engineering practices and that is cycling my calories. Because the human body is so adaptive, I change my calorie intake for a couple of days and then go back to my normal intake. This allows the body to ramp up the metabolism and then use that momentum to burn on the days that I am at my low calorie intake days. This allows the body to then burn the fat and nothing else which is evident after two days of eating at high calorie rates and then dropping down. About one to two days later I will lose another pound or two...awesome.

I will be talking more about using lean six sigma on weight lose and also JIT processes for food intake.

Using products to lose the weight

I was talking to a guy at the gym and he was talking to me about all of the stuff that he wants to buy and currently using to lose weight. He rattled off three things that he is taking which he relies on everyday and I just thought to myself that if he spent that money on healthy foods and more natural alternative, he would lose weight. So many people are dependant on chemicals to do the job quicker and easier with little to no work. Sometimes this makes me sad to know that the world will eventually become weaker body and mind and become the end to our world.

Eating Slower for Smaller Meals

After eating seven meals a day, my stomach has shrunken down so much that I cannot at all eat what I use to. So what I suggest is to eat slower and enjoy the taste of the food when you are out. This way you will fill up on less food like you are suppose to.

Eating Out and Feeling Like Crap

After eating healthy and whole foods, a couple of days of eating out only made me sick to my stomach. We went on vacation which lasted for 7 days. I enjoyed every bit of it but eating out can really take a toll on a person’s stomach which is used to eating whole foods and not fatty greasy food.

Calorie Cycling

I am still learning about calorie cycling but it seems almost straight forward enough. You want to start this cycle by eating over the maintenance calories that will allow you to maintain your body weight. Then after those ten days are done, go five days on 500 calories under your maintenance range. Then after those five days are done, eat two days at above your maintenance range. The reason why this works is because your body ramps up the metabolism when you are eating above your calories range and then when you go down in calories your body is still ramped up and using your fat as fuel. But don’t stay under calories to long or your metabolism will stop and start storing calories which turn into fat.

So to keep this simple, eat whatever you want for ten days. Then on Monday to Friday, eat 500 calories under your maintenance range. Then on Saturday and Sunday eat above your calories range but not to much.

Having the Energy

While being on this diet, I have had so much energy. Before I could easily could take a nap. Now I find it hard to be tired duing my childrens nap. I also have had a sense of hyperactivity do to my amount of energy.

FYI: I am on vacation and I have been eating as I should and eating my six plus meals is really making me feel like crap. Tomorrow I am going to eat more sensible.

The Plateaus Will Subside

I have been at 257 for the last week time frame. I have been noticing that the decimal point is coming down as I weigh myself everyday. I understand the difference in weight from day to day but I have been so consistent in weight that I can see the recession in weight as time goes on.

I am staying true to my diet with the occasion of a treat which is well deserved. I have been keeping my calorie intake to the same day-to-day and still lifting and doing cardio. I have a fat monitor coming to see what my progression is in fat loss. I want to make sure that the fat % goes down and the muscle % goes up. If I am able to maintain that scale then I will keep to what I am doing. If not then I will have to do something with my diet because my workout is mostly maxed out.

I saw an article on calorie cycling and I am very interested in that. My wife found a site that can give you the day-to-day cycle of calories for the weight loss that you want to see. Everything is going well so I am staying on track and keeping it together. After my first 10 pounds I went out to dinner and did not count a thing. I lived to eat that day. The next time I lose 10 pounds, I will do the same thing (7 more pounds).

Eat to live. Not, live to eat.

I am currently at 261lbs. I have been having a moto that has helped me get through my diet. I am eating to live and not living to eat. I eat plain oatmeal, plain tuna and potato, and plain salad. I am only eating the food that is necessary for me to live and be energized for my kids and diet.

I have increased my calories throughout the day so I am not taking in so many calories at night. It seems to help with my hunger and also with the energy that I need for my workouts. We went out to dinner the other night and mywife and I had steak and fish along with our salads which I just pigged out on. I put a little bit of oil and vinager so I was pretty well satisfied by the time out dinner arived.

This weeks goal:
Reach 259 for weight. I have not weighed that much since I was in college and that was over 5 years ago. This means I will have to lose 2 pounds this week. I think I am out of the water weight loss stage and am in the fat weight lose.