Recently in Health-Wise Category

I thought it would be a great time to update you all on how I am doing, health-wise. As we all know, I have made it a goal to:

a. Eat healthier
b. Lose fat to gain muscle tone
c. Gain more stamina to say I've done 1,000 Steps
d. Look sexier and/or irresistible

This is my progress courtesy of Wii Fit (Amazon Link). It doesn't really give you a good impression of where I've been or how much I have lost really but I'll put that into a table or two at some later date when I am less lazy. (I can't be too lazy because I'm about to lift heavy iron and probably injure something.) These results are from today/yesterday. Not much has changed from one day to another. I was always told that you shouldn't weigh yourself everyday, but oh well.

OK, so yes, it says I weigh 70.6 kg now. For those who are clueless what that means, let me teach you a little something. If you multiply that by 2.2, you'll get my weight in pounds which is 155 pounds.

There are a few points you must remember. I came to Australia weighing roughly the same. At a point a few months ago, I weighed about 75 kg/165 pds if not more. For those who are interested, my goal weight is 68 kg/150 pds which means that I must lose about 2.3 kg/5 pounds to meet my goal. (It's actually a little less than 68 kg/150 pds because I set my goal to be a BMI instead.

What is BMI? It's your Body Mass Index. It's basically a weight-to-height ratio, calculated by dividing one's weight in kilograms by the square of one's height in meters and used as an indicator of obesity and underweight. So, to be super-advanced nerdy:

The ideal range is from 18.5 to 25. A BMI that is over 25 is considered to be overweight. If it is over 30, then it's considered to be obese and if it's over 40, then the person is considered morbidly obese. And here is mine:

Anyway, enough of that. I'm having a lot of fun with Wii Fit and spent over 45 minutes exercising today with it. It keeps me motivated which is pretty cool. My point I am trying to prove is that it doesn't take a lot of money to make a healthier choice, in fact, the stuff that I do with the Wii, I could have done on my own easily.

But that's how it is going! I'm making progress but the damned thing told me today that I'm not going to meet my goal in 2 weeks. That was today so I had to adjust it. My new BMI goal is 20.99 so I guess the picture that says "Goal" on it isn't right and the information I gave you above might be a little off.

So that is the update for now. And before I go, I'll recommend that you drop drinking any carbonated beverages immediately. Don't drink anymore and you'll start losing weight. Especially if you're used to drinking 1-2 bottles of it a day. 240 calories adds up. FAST! Stop and I guarantee in about a few weeks you'll feel better. (You'll be pissed about a week after because of the caffeine withdrawal. You'll want to kill me for that, but that's how they hook you. It's like cigarettes but not as bad for you.)

Another freezing ass day and another post I need to get done in 30 minutes. I'm still lying here in bed with the air feeling like I'm in the refrigerator. Gilbert left this morning to go back to Sydney.

I guess the weekend was alright. It was a bit boring but we sat around watching movies most of the time. The rain was freezing cold so we stayed in. I was expecting it to be raining this morning but it's not (yet).

Good news is that I have started implementing my plan to get more healthy. I have already lost about 1.6 kg which is about 3.6 pounds. For a few days I gained quite a bit. My BMI is about 22.22 now but my goal is somewhere around 21. The Wii Fit stuff has actually helped out quite a bit!

So yes, I will be working on that and gently removing myself from junk food. It's not easy, I'll tell you that. I guess people aren't really expected to just change like that. I have not eaten as much chocolate which is a great thing. Since I've cut that, I have definitely cut my sugar consumption. When I need a soft drink, I just get something with the fake sugar in it. You know, like Diet Coke or Pepsi Max (which I admit is pretty good).

I've started drinking more water (again) and running everyday.

My main goal was to get healthier with the least amount of money possible. Well, $120 was spent on the Wii Fit and there was a weight bench I got for around $70. Really and truly, I could definitely do the things without the Wii Fit. I am not taking anything special, not getting special bread, pills or anything like that and it's going decently.

My next goal is to make a schedule to keep myself in-line. I made it, but it needs tweaked a bit.

Anyway, that's it from me. I just wanted to update you guys on what the hell has been going on.

Hello, everybody. Yes, I need to be sitting down at my desk actually working on an essay that was originally due today. I am just not feeling it. I don't really feel like working on it, honestly. I'm sure it would take me about four hours maximum to finish, but... why would I do that when I can find something else to do that is at least nine times more amusing?

I have had a slow start to my diet and have cut down significantly on the amount of sugar I have been eating. Unfortunately, that's after eating a big chocolate chocolate chip muffin late this morning. My classmate was eating one right next to me this morning and it's my favorite kind of muffin. Is my self-control that bad where I can't give up a muffin for a day?!

You'll be proud to know that I haven't drunk a single carbonated beverage for days. I have gone back to water and juice and though it's a small step, I feel a tiny bit better. I haven't really bothered writing anything down with what I have been eating. Why? Because calorie-counting, sodium-counting and fat-counting is just way too involved. I figure that if I eat enough veggies and don't add salt, I'm good to go. I'm also limiting meat but I am feeling quite hungry all the time and I think that's why. I definitely don't have much meat in my belly these days. This diet stuff is just a lot of trouble... no wonder why people can't stay motivated. But I am going to do this.

Oh and the working out thing isn't working out. It's like I have no time to do anything though I admit I do walk a lot. I need to run a bit but I have crappy shoes... I need to do something with that weight bench I have... which, oh yes, I did. I lifted up the bar (with weights) about 10 times. I think I really did my arms in because sometimes they hurt when I extend it. I need to be careful and should know what I am capable of.

One of the major misconceptions among my colleagues (WHEW!!!) is that I am doing this to lose weight. I understand that I don't need to lose weight unless it's fat. People are concerned that I'm anorexic because I don't eat much. Well, little do they know that when I get home I raid the refrigerator for cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes. (I absolutely love all those things in salad.) That, and I have been forgetting my lunch on accident almost everyday. I do have to leave the house a few minutes after 6 am.

I'm also not looking to be some kind of gym junkie or body builder. I'd be happy with a belly button like I used to have but I'm afraid that I will not be able to get that back, but we'll see. In a week or two I'll post some photos of how it's going. Remember, this is what I'm working with:

Yeah... exactly. :) Toned would be good. Chest muscles would be good. Then maybe the ladies will like me a little bit, if that's even remotely possible. I don't think any of them that read this would be interested in the least bit. Especially with all the baggage. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier.... uuuuhhhh there I go questioning my sexuality again. :)

So that's it for now. My diet is... um, going. Now if I could only get my essay headed in the same direction. Heh heh. Oh, and speaking of beautiful women, Rozella has been sweet enough to be commenting and leaving me stuff. So thank you, sorry you got put in the same weblog entry as my shirtless picture. You probably weren't expecting that in a million years. :)

Ok, so today I wrote down what I ate to see what exactly is going into my body. Instead of writing down all the vitamins and minerals, I focused on the calories (kiloJoules), protein, sodium, fat, saturated fat and carbohydrates. I was actually expecting to go through a lot more fat than I did.

I know making a journal of what you've eaten everyday isn't a fun thing. I figured that out today because if I cook something myself, I am not really too terribly sure how accurate it would be. And I know for sure I'd be going back and saying, "Oh, God, I ate a pickle today. I forgot that."

So how did I do? (To see the FULL chart, you will have to click here... sorry.)

Ah yes. That might not mean much to you now. This is what I ate all day. A lot of the times it's worse or consists about half of this. Just how many food groups am I reaching? Not many. And what I'm about to tell you is based on Australian requirements. They're a bit different from the USA but I couldn't be bothered. So this is how it went.

1. Energy - You're supposed to have 8700 kJ of energy. Didn't meet or exceed that. With the calories, the normal is 2000... same thing.
2. Protein - You're supposed to have 50 grams. Didn't do that at all. Only had about 66% of what I really need per day.
3. Fat - You're supposed to have 70 grams (or can have up to). I had 80% of what I can have. That's OK.
4. Saturated Fat - You can have up to 24 g of this per day. I pretty much got that from the stuff my friend got for me from McDonald's. 90% there. Not good.
5. Carbohydrates - Up to 310 g is okay. I got about 75% of them as I am allowed. My food has way too much because I eat a lot of sugar. (Remember, this isn't a typical day.)
6. Sodium - It gets ugly. 2300 mg is allowed per day and I had 2558.9 mg. A lot of that is from the "just add water" soup I had and the McDonald's junk. I had 111% of what I'm supposed to have, meaning I went over 11%!

What was junk? The custard danish and the berry scroll (it's like a cinnamon roll with raspberry jam) I had to have from the baker. Oh, and the meat I had wasn't enough too.

What's funny is that eating habits like this make a quick and easy road to having high blood pressure like 95% of my family. So it's time for a change.

WHY did I get this information? I'm doing a project on hypertension (high blood pressure) for health education. I can see what kind of garbage I have to inject in my body in 1 day. There are days where I eat two KFC Twisters, mashed potatoes with gravy, french fries, a Coke. And that is for 1 meal! For a while I was going out to eat 2-3 times a day! It's time for a change.

I began by taking "before" pictures. Then I realized that I'm really not fat but I would love to see my transformation so here are the photos:

Not so bad, right? And the first person who giggles about the hair is getting punched right square in the mouth. And if you're family, I know you didn't need to see this, so sorry. :)

Over the next few days, I am going to be posting my health goals and achievements on here. I will be changing my exercise habits (which amounts to walking mostly now) and dietary habits (low-fat, low-sodium, more veggies, etc). I will not be weighing myself regularly because weight is NOT what I am going after. My main goal will to be to get rid of the little fat I do have and trim up. That's it. My plan gets put into motion next week.

I will be discussing a lot of my progress in my podcasts. (And here of course.) Please listen to them and share them if you find them useful.