Adventures in Weight Loss: Introduction

9:14 AM 10/14/2009

One of the hardest parts of losing weight is finding a system that works and is easy to stick to. All too often, people jump into a weight loss routine that requires more effort than they are willing to put in, or a routine that is very much out of sync with their daily life. I know this because I am a victim (culprit, more likely) myself. In fact, the only true weight loss method that ever worked for me was the heartbreak/ end of relationship diet (girl breaks heart/ breakup causes dieter to stop eating)!

This past summer was the best I've ever done with losing weight. I found that by tracking different stats, I can keep myself interested in losing weight. This worked well for a few months, but I fell off of the wagon. I found that the constant trying to remember what I had done and for how long seemed to take up a lot of my time.

Another thing that I had not done was set up a system of rewards and accountability. The only goal I had was to lose weight. This in itself is a fine goal, but it is to broad.

Accountability wise, I really had none. If I didn't exercise, I wasn't letting anyone down but myself. Which is where this blog comes in.

I have decided that I am going to share my trials and tribulations with the world. If I have people listening, I'm less likely to let them down. I may not have many followers yet, but the few that I do have will be enough.

MY WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

Accountability

I plan to blog each week on how well I did the previous week. I will update the world on my diet, exercise, and general mood. As previously stated, I hope this helps give me the feeling that I am doing something for more than just myself, I'll have other people waiting to hear my progress.

Tracking

The Internet is a big part of my life. I'm a Computer Networking major, so I'm nearly always in front of a computer. This sounds like a lazy negative, but it's something that I can turn into a positive.

Websites like Traineo.com and mapmyrun.com will help me keep track of things like calorie intake and running progress. hundredpushups.com is an excellent resource/ method to help you get into a pushup routine that will eventually lead you to doing 100 pushups straight. Similar methods twohundredsitups.com and twohundredsquats.com will come after I reach the 100 pushups.

One tracking method that I am eager to test is the nike+ distance tracker. I will be doing the couch to 5k running program, and having this little piece of gadgetry will help me automatically track my progress (tracking without effort is always a bonus!)

The Nike+ system works in tandem with an ipod to track steps, speed, and distance traveled. A small transmitter is placed in your shoe. Nike shoes come equipped with a spot for the transmitter, but pouches for other brands can be purchased cheaply online. The transmitter sends the information to your ipod (nano, touch, or iphone) via a small dongle that attaches to your data port (nano), or by wifi. All of this information is then uploaded to the Nike+ website the next time you sync your ipod. As an added bonus, mapmyrun.com can download your Nike+ workouts directly into your training log! Convergence technology in fitness, awesome!

Traineo.com comes in handy to track other stats like progress in weight loss and calories taken in/ burned.

Speaking of calorie tracking, if anyone knows of a good windows mobile app to keep track of intake, let me know. As it stands, I will be using a plain .txt file to keep track of everything that I eat during the day. Evernote would be a wonderful tool for this, but I am lacking a data plan on my phone to take advantage of their service. Once I spring for the data plan, I do believe that this will be my preferred mehod.

Motivation

To keep myself motivated, I will do simple things, like photo taking of weight loss and the aforementioned blogging. I have also found that by just simply putting on workout clothes, I am much more likely to go through with the actual exercise. I also plan on purchasing a bike in the future, which will help me vary my cardio workouts to keep interest.

Well, there you have my weight loss plan. If you have any tips or suggestions, please, comment away! See you next week!