So what should I do about my caffeine addiction? Although I usually put a tiny bit of cream and Splenda in my coffee, I can probably drink coffee without those. I will probably have to cut it to a cup a day. I once tried to stop drink diet sodas and coffee completely and failed miserably. This time, I'm going to reduce gradually.

I can survive with a can of diet soda and a cup of coffee each day. I know many of you are laughing! but it is a big challenge for me. I usually drink a can of Diet Pepsi MAX (the best!) in the morning and one at night when I'm working on my computer (I need some boost). I can drink a can at night instead of morning.

Well, these are my plans on my diet soda and coffee addiction. I've already done this successfully yesterday and I'm sticking to the plan today as well.

I'm a bit depressed on the fact that I failed twice already with my weight loss journey. I was determined on each try, but couldn't sustain my determination for a long time. Here comes my third try. I'm not as motivated as I was, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Even if I fail once more, I believe it is better than doing nothing. Oh God help me :) I truly have respect for the people who have accomplished weight loss goals. And I now understand why people say "if you manage to lose weight, you can accomplish anything you want" It's hard!

My new week 1 begins today. Wish me a luck.

It was very frustrating, but I was keep eating healthy food, and exercise. I'm eating often. About 5 small meals each day. Over the past few months, I got myself back to 202. I got down to around 199 in the morning, but I think 202 is more accurate at this point. So I'm back to where I started in the first place.

It feels as if I can't get pass under 200 pounds mark anymore. I was hitting between 199 - 203 pounds a few weeks even with carefully watched meals and regular exercises. Losing a pound a week take so much patience. It's hard, but I will do it no matter how many times I stumble.

Thanks all for your comments and supports.

I think this is a great starting point for me.

I know I disappointed my friends and readers, but I'm not giving up.

But there's more challenge ahead. Because my wife is pregnant and I can't cook from home (at least for now) because of her morning sickness. We go out and eat and I gained even more weight than I started from. Shame on me!

Anyway, with more challenges, I'm restarting my 40 week diet plan once more. Will I fall this time? I don't intent to, but it will be challenging.

Please pray for me and keep following my progress.

So I'm going to cut my carbs little more and stick with protein drinks even after my workout.  I expect to lose more weight this way.

I will be out all day today with my wife hunting for some old mantels at architectural salvage yards.  To prevent myself from drinking too much soda, I will have to carry with me a big bottle of icy water with me.

I've been doing great with exercises.  I know I don't have to work out for 2 hours everyday, but I've been at the gym for at least 2 hours each day.   I had a full rest day yesterday.  So I'm going back to the gym tonight.   The only challenge is that I end up going to the gym in the night.  When I exercise in the morning, I feel little dizzy.

Ok, I'm heading out now.

Today,  I had a super shake that I came up with, and shrimp as my lunch.  The only food that I had outside of my plan was a Coke Zero... although it says there's no calorie in the drink, I think it's doing something bad on my body.  I need to find some information about diet drinks.  Are they ok to drink or what?  hmmm  if you know, please let me know.

I think I drink 1 Coke Zero per day although it's not in my diet menu.

Other than that, I did pretty well today sticking to my diet plan.  Again, no change in my weight or my waist line.  lol.

I was searching for some solutions for this today and found a podcast that does exactly what I need.  The podcast is called "Weight Loss and the Mind" by Shane James and Scott Paton.

I listened to three episodes so far.  Today, I will have to come up with my mission statement and start a journal.  Well, I've already started writing the journal online, so I can skip that part.  But I really need to come up with my own mission statement, which is the basic foundation of my diet.

Anyway, the podcast focuses on training our mindset to lose weight, which is what I really need.  I have like 50 more podcasts to listen to, how fun...

I used iVillage's health calculator to determine my numbers. I don't think it's very accurate, but good enough to start with.

According to result..
* Body Mass Index : 28.47
* Healthy Weight : 151-163 Lbs

I just remembered that I had a physical evaluation done by a trainer at Life Time Fitness in my area. There are lots of good information on the profile page that they gave me after the evaluation. My body weight was 200 pounds at that time. I guess I can still use that data for my new diet plan.

According to the evaluation profile...
Date : 5/31/2006
Body fat : 26.2%
Lean mass : 148 pounds
Fat mass : 52 pounds
Body weight : 200 pounds

And at complete rest, my body burns 2099 calories each day. So my (BMR - basal metabolic rate) is 2099. In addition to my BMR, I will burn approximately 630 calories by processing food and through normal daily activities.

So basically, it's saying that I'm burning about 2729 calories each day. I think.. correct me if I'm wrong lol. The trainer who did the evaluation gave me a plan to lose 22 pounds in 17 weeks. The plan was to take only 2100 calories each day. Well, if I took the advice, I'd be at least 10 pounds lesser by now.

There are so much information in this report. I can't believe I almost forgot about it!

With digging deeper... I found the following recommendations for me.

Optimal % fat : 13.1 - 18.0
BMI : 28.7 kg/m2 - Overweight
Max VO2 : 44.6 ml/kg min - Moderate - I have no idea what this is. I need to check.
Bicep Strength : 78 pounds - Average
Sit and Reach : 11.0 inches - Poor
Body Age : 32 - Ouch!
Optainable Body Age : 19

It's just embarrassing. I didn't take good care of my God-given body, and I almost feel like I ruined it. I really need to make my diet work this time, otherwise, I might lose so many valuable things in my life.

I've decided that my target weight is 160 pounds, which is 40 pounds lesser than now. I will try to lose 1 pound each week. No more than that. That will be about 4-5 pounds off each month. If I stick to my plan, I will achieve my goal in 40 weeks.