For Janet :)

Janet, a new reader of my blog, has requested more information on my diet and exercise plan. So, I will post the whole shebang below. To answer some of her questions: I don't know how much weight I've lost because for years and years, I never weighed myself so I didn't have a starting point. I honestly didn't think I would lose weight this time when I started working out earlier this year. I mainly started working out because Polly and Scarlett, my friends from work, were partcipating in their office's health fair stuff, and I thought I would work out too. And then when my jeans started getting looser I just decided that this was not something to squander away so I really dedicated myself to following through with it. Chances to actually lose weight come so rarely to me that I was taking full advantage. I can say that I started out a size 14 and now I'm pretty much a size 4. I may have to go to a size 2 to be totally happy (aka to get rid of my fat belly, which I still have even though I am an unbelievable size 4). As of Monday, I weighed 131 pounds at 5ft. 2 inches. So, I've lost 5 dress sizes since early June.

Many other times I've tried to lose weight through exercise and diet and for some reason it just didn't work. I tried measuring my workouts on the treadmill by distance and time with no results. So, this time, after reading the statistic that there are 3500 calories in one pound, I decided to measure my treadmill workouts by calories burned, since my treadmill counts that. I aim for 300 calories a day on the treadmill. I also read on the internet that there is carryover calorie burn that occurs after you stop working out. That, if you burn 300 calories in your workout, then for the next hour, you'll burn 150 calories, and the hour after that 75 calories. It diminishes by half each hour after your workout ends. I really think measuring calories burned is what did it for me.

As for the diet - I'm a very picky eater. Which means, the only vegetable I eat is a potato. Unfortunately, I've banned potatoes and white bread from my diet. So, my diet is very restrictive and tailored mainly for me. But it's basically the Slimfast plan. I try to eat something every 2 or 3 hours to keep my metabolism up. And I think I added up the calories one day and it's about 1200 to 1400 calories per day. I think. I really believe that you could subsitute Healthy Choice dinners for the Slim Fast stuff and still do this diet. There's no magic in Slim Fast. It's my choice because it has chocolate and sugar in it.

I also keep a spreadsheet that logs my workout stats: distance, time, calories burned. As of today, I've walked a total of 233.66 miles, burned 30,051 calories and walked off 8.59 pounds based on just what the treadmill has calculated. I know I've lost more than 8.59 pounds thanks to the diet, the carryover calorie burn and the extra outside walking I do that isn't included in the stats. I find that when I reach 2 pounds or so with the treadmill stats, then I've lost a dress size.

I caution anyone reading this to check with your doctor before starting any diet and exercise plan. I know if I went to the doctor, he or she would have a heart attack to see this kind of diet. What, no vegetables? LOL!

So, here's the plan in a nutshell:

I mainly just do the treadmill 5 or 6 days a week. I aim to burn 300 calories a day on the treadmill. It takes me about 40 to 45 minutes. On my days off, I switch to weekend warrior mode and double the workouts. And of course there's the slimfast diet. Here's what a typical day looks like:

5:05 AM - 5:30 AM - Pilates workout and 4 pound weights. This is mainly just on work days. Days off I sleep in until about 7:30am and skip this workout.

6AM: Slimfast meal on the go bar, 8 ounces 2%milk, One lunchbox snack-size container of applesauce. Weightsmart Multi-vitamin and 1000 mg of Vitamin C (I take the vitamin C because I believe it might help prevent colds, not so much for diet purposes. Although studies have shown that it revves up the metabolism.)

10:30AM - 4 Reduced fat Triscuits, water

12:30PM - Slimfast meal on the go bar, water

3:45 PM - 5 Reduced Fat Triscuits or a Special K cereal bar, water (I eat right before leaving work because as soon as I get home, I get on the treadmill. I can't work out if I'm hungry so I eat a little something first.)

4:30PM - Treadmill, water

5:15PM - Lean Pocket or homemade dinner*, water

7:00PM - Small bowl of low fat ice cream (Krogers has FMW half gallons for $0.99 each)

8:00PM - 6 Reduced Fat triscuits w/low fat melted cheese, water

9:30PM - one lunchbox snack-size container of mandarin oranges

10:00PM - Bed.

Sometimes I change the evening snacking to low fat popcorn or an 8oz glass of chocolate milk. I try to stay away from the popcorn though because people say your body doesn't break it down well - I don't know if it's an old wives tale but it doesn't hurt to listen to it and vary my snacking options.

* right now dinner is shredded baked chicken and low fat shredded cheese melted between two corn tortillas, but it could be Barilla whole grain pasta (the kind with the omega 3 added in) with low fat italian dressing or spaghetti sauce, or healthy choice dinners. On the weekends, I sometimes switch and eat the dinner for lunch and the slimfast bar for supper. When I'm at home, I tend to munch more so if I put more calories (and more non-sugar calories) in the middle of the day, it might keep me from munching during the day.

Sprinkled throughout the day is the munching of Gobstoppers hard candy or Sweetarts. This doesn't mean a whole box full of candy in one day, however. I get by on one piece now and then.

On the weekends and days off, I try to do more than 300 calories on the treadmill.

And while I drink water with everything - I don't think I get the 8- 8oz glasses a day like they say you're supposed to have. I drink about a liter at work every day and a couple of 8 ounce glasses at home. I do drink caffeine free diet soda on the weekends, but I also try to get in some water if I'm working out.

So, that's what's helping me lose the weight. I hope Janet and anyone else who's interested also have success in their weight loss no matter what plan they decide to use :)