Bo's Diet Journal » Progress

Everybody Fitness – Increased Exercises

Bo — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:33:55 +0000

Hi, here is a quick update. Since my last post, I joined a fitness center called "Everybody Fitness" which is located at Fairfax, VA. Everybody fitness center is about 5 minutes from where I live. The best thing about this fitness center is that it is open 24 hours. I usually go there between 1am - 3am due to my work schedule.

When I get there at 1 am, I see only few people or no one at all. It feels as if I'm at my private fitness club. It's awesome :) Also, it is a few facility with brand new equipments. Price is reasonable and I really like how quite the club is. They don't play any music so I can listen to my own. I noticed on some nights some person bring a radio and plays the music really loud. It was really annoying, but I haven't seen them for a while. So that's ok.

Anyway, with my new membership to Everybody Fitness center, I now able to not only cardio, but also work on my muscles. Hopefully this will help my lose weight effort.

Some Progress

Bo — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:06:24 +0000

I've been losing about 1 pound per week consistently since January. It is much easier for me to exercise from home now with my new pro-form recumbent bike. It is really quiet so I can exercise early mornings and late nights. I'm just glad I don't have to worry about waking up my baby :)

I adjusted my exercise plan slightly. I used to do cardio on Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sundays only, but I will be doing it on Tues, Thurs, and Saturdays as well in addition to weight training.

2010 is Almost Here and I Still Weigh 210

Bo — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:22:33 +0000

When I started this blog about a year ago, I thought I had the will power to reach my goal, but apparently I haven't. I know you are tired of seeing me fail once more but I feel worse. One good thing out of my last attempt was that I was able to reach 193 pounds and stayed there for almost four months and I gained back all weight lost in last two months. That's 17 pounds in two months. Not good.

I'm really tired right now to be honest. I'm tired of me not being able to stick with the plan and giving it up when I reached a plateau at 193 pounds.

2010 is almost here and I still weigh 210. I'm not so motivated like I was back in February when I got back to the diet plan. Will I able to reach my goal in 2010? I'm not so sure at this moment. I haven't given up yet, it's just that I feel like I'm going in circles.

I'm tired, but not depressed. I don't know how many times I will fail again, but I just have to try again and again. I have no other choices here.

Failed, Depressed, and Recovered

Bo — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:43:38 +0000

In December of last year, I lost roughly 10 pounds and kept it there for weeks. I thought it would be a permanent change unless I go back to the way I used to live. I was motivated and on it. I felt better and I was more confident than ever. Even my wife noticed the difference in my attitude.

In January of 2009, my elliptical broke. I stopped working out and gained back everything I lost and some more. I was so depressed I almost abandoned the blog and gave up on the weight loss journey. Back in September, I weighed at 205 pounds but now I'm 210. It's amazing how easily the weight can come back. It's even scary.

Yes, I'm 210 pounds, probably one of the worst moments in my life. No one failed me, I failed my self. I discovered that I lack self-discipline when it comes to weight loss. That's the most important thing that I need to work on. When the exercise equipment broke down, I could've found different ways to exercise. But I made excuses and got lazy.

I know I failed once again. I think it's third attempt since I started this blog. I'm ashamed, but I have to admit my failures and move on. I'm going to start again and try my best this time. I really want to make it happen, but if I ever fail again, I will stand up again.

Thanks for your emails and encouragements while I was down. I really appreciate your thoughts and support.

Lost 10 Pounds

Bo — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:34:14 +0000

Wow, it's been more than a month since I've written my previous blog post. I've been keep journaling on my notepad, it's just that I didn't have the time to update my blog. Since then, as usual, I've struggled because of many many dinner invitations from family and friends. It was really challenging. Rather than refusing the food, I had to stick with portion control.

The Thanksgiving dinner wasn't that bad because my family understands that I'm working on weight loss. I ate healthy and ate only a small amount. I even ate fruits and vegetables before I went for the dinner so I don't binge. It worked!

The most challenging day was when we had a group meeting at a chinese buffet. It is "the" biggest buffet in town. I knew I was in trouble. As usual, I ate first at home so I don't binge again. It sorta worked. I ate only two dishes, but still, I'm sure I ate more than 1,500 calories from the two dishes I've emptied.

But I want to point out that Tyson Buffet, where we had the lunch, actually provided some healthy food. Unlike other Chinese buffets where they serve American-Chinese cusines, Tyson Buffet serves more Chinese-Chinese dishes with less sugar. I don't know if you know or not, but the Chinese food that you see in a typical Chinese buffet isn't really Chinese food. Real Chinese food is less sugarly. Anyway, I had a good time there. I don't think I've gained any weight from that lunch, but my weight loss progress isn't anywhere near "fast" It's slow and boring.

Someone emailed me and convinced me that I should record other measures of changes in my body. Because I'm also doing light weight training I could be gaining more muscle mess plus I could be losing some inches near my belly. Maybe that's why my weight loss is slower than I've expected. I really expected that I'd lose more than a pound a week even though it was my goal to lose a pound a week. But as I progress, I've noticed losing a single pound a week is really really hard! (at least for me)

I've actually increased my exercise level gradually, doing more jump ropes, doing more weight training, increasing the resistant level on my eliptical, and yet, my weight loss is slower than ever. Not discouraged or anything, but I say to myself over and over again, when I lose all the weight, there's no way I'm going back to where I am right now. It's just TOO HARD. A lesson learned. I'm going to post some pictures taken from our Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house as I end this post. Thanks for reading.

Finally Under 200 Pounds

Bo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:57:17 +0000

Finally!

I'm officially under 200 pounds! My weight stayed under 200 lbs last 3-4 days consistently. Looks like it's real. I'm ahead of my weight loss schedule by a fraction, but I know I can ruin it ten times faster if I'm not sticking to what I'm doing right now.

It feels really good to see the number "1" in the front of my weight again. Gosh, I don't remember the last time I saw "1" on my scale. This morning, I weighed at 196-7, but I know I tend to weigh less in the morning hours. But I do understand that my weight loss is here to stay, not a temporary loss.

When I break 15 lbs weight loss mark, it will be a greatest achievement for me because I've never successfully lost over 15 lbs from my previous attempts. I still have over 30 pounds to lose, so it's not the time for a celebration.

October Weight Loss Review

Bo — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:13:56 +0000

October was tough. But it was a great start. To be honest, I started without a clear plan. I thought I would just start my weight loss journey once again anyway and figure out the plan as I go. I'm not regretting that I didn't have a clear plan at the start. I still feel that it was a huge step for me to stand up again and just walk a step at a time.

Now that we are approaching November, I'm ready to implement a few more steps to my weight loss plan. In October, I realized that every calorie counts, even veggies and fruits. I've started counting every single calorie I eat. For example, I ate exactly 353 calories this morning: 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, mixed veggies, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 2 slices of mini pita, and a cup of detox tea.

I will be using my food journal until I get a clear sense of what I'm eating constantly. So in November, I will try to be more systematic with my weight loss plan and hope to cross my 200 lb borderline for the first time in many years and stay under 200 lbs.

Two weeks ago, I lost 5 lbs and I gained a little bit last week. I was worried that 5 lbs that I lost was temporary, but looks like it was real. Although I didn't meet my goal by a pound in October, I have high hopes for November.

Day 13 – Mall Food

Bo — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:37:40 +0000

13 days have gone already since I re-started my diet. So far, I'm doing OK. Not losing weight fast, but I see some progress with my eating habits. To start with, I didn't plan on drastically reducing my daily food intake. I was more focusing on replacing unhealthy food with more healthier food.

Today, I visited the Tysons Galleria in Norther Virginia with my wife to exchange a gift that we've received. We planned on eating out. We ended up eating at the food corner in the mall. Fortunately, because Tysons Galleria is a upscale shopping mall, there was plenty of gourmet food available.

I ended up eating Gyro platter with Greek salad. It wasn't bad at all. Gyro smelled like...hmm Gyro.. if you know what I mean. Anyway the food looked healthy and my stomach was full! When I left the house, I was really concerned about the lunch, but it worked out pretty well today.

Day 3 – Canned Food for Dinner

Bo — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:09:19 +0000

My wife and I had absolutely no time to work at the kitchen today because of baby, Candice. She just wouldn't sleep much today, demanding us to be right next to her almost all day long. I was working in front of my PC most of the day, but my wife had one of the worst days so far.

I didn't want to make noise or ask Sunny to cook my dinner tonight. Little noise can wake our baby up. If I wake her up, Sunny will kill me. Anyway, I had a canned-food dinner tonight. It wasn't that bad.

DelMonte Mixed Fruit Lite : 50 Calories
Trader Joe's Whole Kernel Corn : 210 Calories

Hmm... I'm still hungry :(

Day 2 – Daily Diet Wrap-Up

Bo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:58:16 +0000

We had to visit IKEA again today because we forgot purchase a curtain for our baby's room. While we were there, my wife and I ate ice cream! $1 each, non-fat yogurt, to be exact. It was non-fat, but I believe it had a few hundred calories. Anyway, I skipped my usual soda and coffee today because of that ice cream I ate.

Today was a successful day with my diet plan except the ice cream part. For my lunch and dinner, I ate beans and steamed vegetables with Bragg's Amino Acid. Steamed vegetables tasted much better! Ah... almost forgot, I drank a cup of soy milk around 7 pm and that will be my last food for the day.