Calorie spiking isn’t a technical term. In fact, I’m not sure its a real term. But its the only term I can think of to describe what it is. I use this term to describe a day when you eat more calories than what you should. Some people call it a cheat day, but I generally don’t agree with a cheat day. To me, a cheat day is an indication that you are on a diet and not making healthy eating part of your life. But thats a different post for a different day.
3 Comments » I see people spending a lot of time on cardio equipment. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but weight lifting is just as effective to burn calories. As an added bonus, when you build muscle, you’ll naturally burn calories as muscle consume calories to remain strong. When I talk to people about weight lifting for weight loss, most people don’t believe that lifting weights can burn enough calories. I wear a Polar F1 heart rate monitor for every workout which helps me track my heart rate, duration of workout and calories burned. Below are some images from this mornings weight lifting workout:
I read a lot of weight loss blogs and I lurk on weight loss forums. I read as much as I can to learn from others, get new ideas and to get inspired. When reading about diet and nutrition I’ve noticed a trend in many of the forums and blogs. It seems many people get frustrated when it comes to keep their meals new and exciting. Many people complain about how they get sick of eating the same foods over and over. I used to be like that.
I used to hate eating chicken twice a day. I used to hate eating a can of tuna every day. I used to hate eating two pieces of fruit everyday.
I used to be fat.
I used to eat for pleasure. I used to eat just to eat.
Not any more.
My house is located in what I like to call “gym no-mans land”. There isn’t an affordable gym located near my house. I say affordable because there are a couple private gym/studios close, but I don’t have that kind of dough. The most affordable gym near my house is the corporate giant…24 Hour Fitness. I’m not a fan of the company in general, but its my best solution so I gotta make it work.
I used to really love going to the gym and getting a great workout in. While I go almost everyday, I find myself getting stressed out and anxious about my trip to the gym. There is just too many things wrong about this gym to really enjoy it:
This post is a bit random as its basically a dump of thoughts I have on exercise, weight loss and the use of Polar Heart Rate Monitor.
I was at a family gathering with my wife’s family over the last weekend where I saw many of her family members that I haven’t seen in a while. When I talked to them, they were fascinated with my weight loss. Every one that I talked to told me I look great (which made me feel good when they said that), but every one asked “what are you doing, exercising?” My reply to that question is that while exercise is an important part of my life, my weight loss comes from proper eating.
I’ve realized that I eat when I’m bored. This realization came to me while I was eating when I was bored. I came home from work and my wife wasn’t home yet. I checked the DVR to see if there were any shows recorded to watch, but there wasn’t. I looked around the house to find something to do and the only thing was to unload the dishwasher. After all the dishes were put away, I had nothing to do. I surfed around the internet for a bit, but got bored of that. I eventually found myself standing in front of an open refrigerator. Then the eating began.
I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis. I read mostly weight loss, fitness, healthy lifestyle blogs. I’ve learned so much from reading these blogs and I continue to learn everyday. There are two themes that seem to be present in each blog: 1) everyone has their own way of doing things and 2) you gotta do what works for you. This is very important and what this post is focused on.
I read blogs that run the gamut in regards to opinions about weight loss and health. There are a few blogs that I read that are primal/paleo diet focused. I commend these people for being able to start and stick to such an eating regiment…unfortunately, it seems these people are food snobs. I don’t mean to generalize, but all of the bloggers I’ve read on the subject present themselves as people who look down at calorie counters and try to explain why calorie counting doesn’t work. Take this “why calorie counting fails” article for example. In the article he states “…Millions of people each year decide to count calories to lose weight but they fail…” This is true, however, this is also true about any diet on the planet…including primal and paleo dieters. The key to success to any diet and/or lifestyle lies within the person applying the diet principles, not in the diet itself.
Them: “You look great”
Me: “Thank you”
Them: “You’ve lost weight. You look great!!”
Me: “Thanks!”
Them: “What are you doing”
Me: “Living”
Them: “I mean, what are you doing to lose weight”
Me: “Living”
Them: “How are you losing weight”
Me: “By living an active and healthy lifestyle”
When I first started on my weight loss journey, I viewed losing weight and getting healthy as a item on my to-do list. I think many people view it as that. Maybe that’s why many people gain back the weight they lose on a diet. They think that once they have lost weight that they don’t need to diet any more, check it off their to-do list and go back to what they were doing.
That perception changed for me after I lost about 30 pounds. I realized that losing weight, being healthy and being fit are not chores. They are not one time tasks. They are a way of life. They are a lifestyle. They are on my eternal to-do list.
Losing weight, getting healthy and fit are great in and of themselves. I feel great, I feel healthy, but I wasn’t sure how to find out how well my fitness has improved. If I took some sort of fitness test, I would be a baseline of where I am at now and wouldn’t give me any sort of indication of improvement. As I was in the process of figuring out a way to understand my improvements, an event was scheduled and took care of my concerns.
I’ve written many posts where I state that weight loss bloggers are 1) numerous and most importantly 2) there to help others on their weight loss journey. I’d like to use this post to create a small blogroll of the weight loss blogs that I read on a daily basis. These blogs have given me inspiration, motivation, ideas, suggestions etc. I truly enjoy reading weight loss blogs and I’d like to share with you the blogs I have enjoyed.
Note: this list is by no means a complete list of weight loss blogs. There are probably hundreds of weight loss blogs that I haven’t had the fortune to find yet. If you have a blog or know of a blog that isn’t on this list, I would love to read it and include it in my list.
RetroActiv
Bitch Cakes
344 Pounds
A Deliberate Life
Slimmin Sam
All The Weigh
Day One
Eating Journey
Jack Sh*t, Gettin’ Fit
Learn Fitness
Leaving Fatville
Living in the (k)Now
Log My Loss
Monster Soprano’s Weight Loss Journey
My Awkward Existence
One man’s trip to the half
Pounds off Playoff
Scale Junkie
The Anti-Jared
The Clydesdale Project
The Heavy Man’s Diary
Watch My Butt Shrink
Who Ate My Blog
Your Inner Skinny
Again, this list is not all-inclusive of all weight loss blogs. These blogs are the ones that I have stumbled upon and read on a daily basis (via Google Reader). Please contact me or leave a comment if you would like to add your blog to this list, or you know a blog that has inspired you in your weight loss journey.