SparkDad

You can read the rest of the weight loss challenge posts here.

Last week was a rough week for me in my weight loss challenge. First of all I only went to the gym 2 times last week. I did get a workout on the elliptical at the house, but I find that it is a lot less of a workout. I burn fewer calories during a 20-30 minute workout than I do on the treadmill.

Secondly, my diet was terrible. I succumbed to temptation and ate several cup cakes left over from the Dia de la Candaleria. Our neighbor Veronica made these cupcakes which where carrot cake with cream cheese topping. Oooh! They were good! So after devouring 4 of them I gave them away to another neighbor : ) In addition I had Chick-fil-a a couple of days. Granted I had grilled instead of fried it was still not homemade.

In addition Mama and I went out for an early Valentines night out. We ate wonderful food at Mark’s restaurant in Houston. We both had seafood, but it was all very rich. Add cocktails and a bread pudding for desert and you have a recipe for diet disaster!

So this morning when I was schedule to weight in I was very worried. I woke up and took care of all bodliy functions and then stepped on the scale…..

199 pounds! I broke 200 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!

180 here I  come!

- Spark Dad

I am happy to report that I have managed to lose another 1 1/2 pounds this week. This puts my total loss since December 18th at 11 pounds!

Now I had reported that my goal by April was 170 pounds, but today when I was calculating what I still needed to lose I realized that 30 pounds by April puts me at 180. So I need to correct that, which I have done.

This leaves me at 2.3 pounds per week from now until April 1. We are celebrating Valentines on February 6th, which is 2 weeks away, so I am setting my goal for February 6th at a little higher than the 2.3 pounds. I am shooting to take off 6 pounds by February 6th. Which would put me under 200 pounds!

What I did well:

I exercised 4 days. I did pure cardio with a spattering of weights.

What I did poorly:

I ate 3 candy bars and had about 4 diet cokes. (I know ouch!)

Changes for the next 2 weeks to facilitate the 6 pound goal:

1) Cut out cheese

2) Cut sodas to 1 per week

3) Add upper body / lower body weights to circuit

Good luck to anyone else who is trying to get healthy!

Follow my progress and Tweets at www.twitter.com/sparkdad and follow the hash #sparkdadchallenge

- Spark Dad

Over the past 7 days I have managed to lose another 1.5 pounds. Not tremendous but slow and steady. This is not on track with my goal of 30 pounds by April first, but I would rather miss the April goal and keep off the weight than to lost the weight really quick and get it all back within six month!

You can see the chart and data for my weight loss here.

My diet is not totally stringent. I am simply eating 6 times per day, but when I eat a meal I eat smaller portions and my snacks are health snacks such as this Orange with chili lime salt on it.

My exercise program is simple treadmill work. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill. I started today to track my times. I will post the spreadsheet when I get a weeks worth of data.

Watch my Tweets for updates while at the gym!

- Spark Dad

Big to Slim! Well I am not there yet, but I did manage to shave off a couple of pounds last week. On Friday when I weighed in I lost another 4 pounds, so I am down to 206. This is of course buck naked and after a visit to the throne! ( I am sure you all loved the visual on that one!)

I have been going to 24 Hour Fitness and doing 30 minutes on the treadmill. I am trending upwards doing about 2 miles in 30 minutes which is weak I know. My goal is to do 3 miles in 30 minutes by Feb 10th.

My diet has been good,except over the past weekend. I have been eating light and having healthy snacks between meals.

My soda intake is down about 2 per week. Speaking of which I am craving a diet coke now!

I have actually found that when I get hungry if I will brush my teeth it helps.  I think it gets any food particles out of my mouth and makes me forget about eating.

Onward I charge! 30 Pounds. April 1st.

- SparkDad.com

OK. If you read my Weight Loss Challenge page you will see that I am trying to lose 30 pounds by April 1.

I have done well so far over the Christmas holiday I lost a few pounds. This week has been good so far, except last night when I ate cake : ( Oh well! If am going to stick to a healthy lifestyle I will have to deal with eating badly occasionally.

So yesterday AND today I went to the gym. I only used the treadmill, but that is a start. Yesterday I did 1.7 miles in 30 minutes. Today I pulled off 2.6 miles in 30 minutes.

I am making progress and remember that you can do it too!

- Spark Dad