the plan

So Chubby Chick (her name for herself, not mine) asked in a comment yesterday that I explain my weight loss plan. So here it is.

Part I: eat less.

My food intake is based maybe 40% on Weight Watchers (I'm not an official member), 40% on the Abs Diet by David ZincZenko, and 20% on either my own theories or other sources.

I do portion control based on WW points. My current point allowance is 33, which is based on the old system, on the grounds that the new system just was way too lenient for my tastes (it would still allow me 44 points a day). I generally try not to use the flex points, and have managed to use none of them in 3 out of the 7 weeks I've tracked so far. I don't bother calculating any activity points (or whatever they're called... based on working out).

But that's just portions. My food choices are based largely on the Abs Diet's "power foods." Which is to say, look for each of these 12 different foods, and avoid at all costs high fructose corn syrup (the dreded HFCS I mention often in the blog) on the grounds it is more likely to cause diabetes, and trans fats, for, well everyone knows they're bad.

The weakness, in my opinion, in the Abs Diet is that they are so focused on assuring the reader that you can eat whatever you want as long as you avoid HFCS and trans fats, that they are fairly silent on portion control. Sure it says that with the extra fiber and protien you're eating you won't want to eat more than is ok, but that never really worked for me. Even when I was on a pure version of the Abs Diet back in 2005, I kept a calorie log, because I have a fairly week internal "full" sensor, and the calorie log kept my portions in check.

Another big way I deviate from the advice in Abs Diet is that it relies heavily on smoothies, and I just can't force myself to learn to like them. I've tried making myself eat a smoothy for breakfast, but I more often than not end up pitching it, skipping breakfast altogether, and then being too hungry to do self control at lunch.

Beyond that I incorporate advice that I read which makes sense to me, and other little tricks based on my own experience and understanding of my motivators.


Part II: Move More.

My exercise is pretty much a matter of personal tastes and pushing myself as hard as I can do. If I'm stuck at home on an upper body day, I still do the weight lifting routine laid out in Abs Diet, but most days I'm at the gym.

I do a treadmill every morning before showering (I have a Ironman treadmill that Liz and I bought about a year ago. Its in the dining room because we bought it refurbished, and therefore it came in one piece, and we couldn't even think about lifting it to get it up stairs.) I started out just doing walking, and pushing the pace and distance every day. Now I alternate .1 walking and .1 jogging. Currently I'm up to half a mile of each, 2.5 mph on the walking part, 4.5 on the jogging. Beginning October 1, I have also been keeping track of how far I've walked or jogged on the treadmill, and am up to 10.85 miles for the month.

Every afternoon after work plus Saturday I head over to the Y. I alternate days, one day doing all of the upper body machines, the next doing stationary bike and the leg machines. Sunday, since the Y is closed, I do a home version of the upper body workout from Abs Diet, or an extra treadmill session, depending on which day it is in the rotation.

Part III: Motivate better

I am a member of a e-mail group fall challenge, I post to the blog, I read other blogs, and I keep track of my eating and walking in Excel. So I have a lot of metrics and a lot of supporters. I think that last is the single most important element of the plan. It is certainly the biggest change from any attempt I've made before, and it seems to be doing wonders ;)