What a crazy week!

This last week has been completely Insane. I never imagined just how much it would take to get everything done to move to Korea. But today is the day! In 8 hours I will arrive at the airport and go to Korea.

It has been impossible to keep any semblance of my normal schedule. From having my house put into PODS to all the travel and now staying with family, it just has not been conducive to my workout routine. Now, while I may not have been able to work out, I was able to watch what and how much I ate.

This proved harder than I though it would be too though. This being the last week in America for at least a year, if not several, I have wanted and have been bombarded with all of my favorite foods.

Food is a social centerpiece in my family.
I have no idea when I may eat any of this again. So, While I have myself a pass to eat just about anything for meals, I did not just jump off the wagon and go crazy. I still stuck to water and unsweetened tea. I watched my portions. I still tried to stay under my BMR for the day.

End result? By allowing myself to enjoy time with family that I won't see for up to 4 years, but still maintaining the basics of my diet, I only gained 1 pound this week.

That's a number I am ok with. Next week, I get back to my core diet and working out. However, I will have a partner now! My amazing and beautiful wife will be joining me on this journey and restarting her own.

By setting small goals I was able to deal with and handle a week of disruption and family saying goodbye without sacrificing my efforts or progress. I still feel great about myself and all that I have accomplished and I am looking forward to getting back on my routine and continuing forward with my goal to loose 100 pounds!

Keep setting small goals! Stay positive! Do SOMETHING! You CAN live a healthy life without it taking over the rest of your life and you can do it no matter what situation you are in!

As I get settled into Korea I will get back to more regular updates.

Moving to Korea!

Today is final packing day. Tomorrow the POD arrives and my house gets loaded up for storage. While I will miss this beautiful house, I am so very ready to leave OK behind. It is almost impossible to fit workouts into the schedule this week so it will be even more Important to make healthy choices with meals.

Travel always seems to be a big challenge when you are regulation your calorie intake. Many restaurants do not list calories for menu items. Eating on the go also tents to mean fast food or processed food.

With proper planning though; much of that headache can be mitigated. Make sure to pack enough healthy snacks for long drives. Have plenty of water or other no calorie drinks. Remember to try and stay away from artificially sweetened drinks.

Don't kill yourself for going over your calorie goal during the trip. But do stay under your BMI. That way you make break your weight loss goal a day or two, but you didn't over indulge and won't be packing on more weight.

Just because you may be forced into eating fast food, it does not mean you can not still make healthy choices. Pick the salad over the Bigmac or triple quarter pounder. Apples over fries.

Stick to your plan, continue setting small goals and set yourself up for success!

Week 2 Weigh-in: Stick to the Plan!

 

Week 1 vs Week 2 weight tickets

The results are in, and it looks good! 5.6 pounds overall lost. BMI is down 0.8 and my overall obesity level is down 3.5%!

What went into this weeks results?

Continued calorie counting using MyFitnessPal app, Continued P90X training (modified to fit my disabilities), and just being active throughout the day now due to increased energy levels and an improvement in mental attitude.

I can not stress enough how much my mental state has changed and become so much more positive due to an improved feeling of self worth and self image. Not only am I improving my body, but my mental state as well. It is an amazing feeling to feel good about one's self again.

I would like to note that just because I am very strictly monitoring my calorie intake, that does not mean I am not eating a balanced diet and being healthy about it. Make sure you get proper levels of each food group. make healthier choices when you plan your meals though. Use whole grains, wheat pasta, fruits in a low sugar syrup, and so forth.

               Just because you are being healthy does NOT mean you have to give up taste!

Spices and herbs can add a lot of flavor to food without adding calories. If you like spicy, remember, most hot sauces are 0 calories!

What about in between meals?

I personally like pickles and lean meat slices. Clausen pickles are 5 calories per spear! Depending on the type and size of slices, deli meats can be low calorie as well. In my case, 4 slices of ham equals 50 calories. This makes for a great snack. Also, delmonti fruit cups are 50 calories each. Also a great snack.

As the weight comes off, you start feeling better about yourself, and your energy levels come up, you will start being more active throughout your day. This will result in passively burning more calories depending of course on what your doing. But trust me, just being up and about doing SOMETHING is better than sitting inside and doing nothing!

Let me know how your fitness plan is coming along. Whats your progress? having trouble with something? Leave a comment or send me a message! Also don't forget to visit and support Healthy Vets on Facebook!

Staying on Target

Staying on Target with your plan and goals can be a real challenge sometimes. Life likes to mix things up and it can be hard to balance it all together. My house is in boxes at the moment as I get ready to have it all put into a POD next week. Finding the drive and motivation to continue working out in the midst of moving has proven a challenge for me this week. Next week will not be any easier as I leave almost everything behind and go to Florida for 3 days to see family before getting on a plane on the 21st and going to Korea for the next year.

While that is my biggest hassle right now, it is also my motivation. I want to look good when I get to Osan AFB and see my wife. I want her to see the changes I have worked so hard for and to be proud of me. My integrity is on the line in my mind. So I continue to get up and work out and I stick to my calorie goals. Tomorrow is weigh in day! I am excited to see the progress I have made this week and to hopefully be under 260lbs!

The point? Life will always hand you curve balls and test your limits. Stay true to yourself and remember: Small victories. Make a plan, break the end goal down into smaller attainable goals so as to set yourself up for success. This small victories add up to larger ones that pave the way to your end goal. As long as you take i one piece at a time, you can be successful and do it without stressing yourself out!

Keep positive and make healthy choices!

Don't forget to visit Healthy Vets and give them a like on Facebook!

Just do "something"

For many people with disabilities, or whom have completely given up hope, or whom have lost control of their weight control; the simple act of just doing "something" can have a monumental impact on their life.

I will use myself as a case in point here. I was pushing 300 lbs. I had given up hope of ever being under 200lbs and feeling sexy or even good about myself again. That depressed the hell out of me. It effected my marriage the most. To the point that I have almost lost the love of my life.

The simple, yet hardest, act of my life was simply doing SOMETHING! That something for me was changing how I ate first. Over the course of 5 weeks I cut portion sizes. I went from eating 3-6 times what a normal person ate per meal to 1. That was no easy feat. Those first few weeks sucked hard. But my body responded quickly. I started eating more frequently. From 2-3 times a day to 5 or 6. The difference was I was eating much, much smaller meals and snacks.

I then decided to weigh myself to see if I had even made a difference. To my surprise I had lost 14lbs! Now, most of that was stored bile waste in the intestines, but it resulted in one of the biggest paradigm shifts in my life.

Suddenly I thought "You CAN do this!" "You can loose the weight, you can make this happen even with a messed up leg and busted joints."

And thus started this journey. Now into week 2 of adding exercise, I feel better than I have in years. The way I look at myself is completely different. I am able to love myself and because of that, those around me. I am a happier person.

It does not matter what your something is. Make a point to just do something beyond your normal. Start small with something you can reasonably accomplish. Relish in your small victories because they start adding up to larger victories that build a path of success to your end goal.

Have a great day people! Don't forget to check out Healthy Vets on Facebook and give them a like.
Also, please leave comments. I would love to hear your stories or answer your questions.

Artificial Sweeteners: How they can be counter productive to your goals

Today I would like to hit on the importance of natural foods in our diet. Most important to me in this regard are eliminating artificial sweeteners from my diet.

"But, artificial sweeteners are good for me and allow me to eat and drink things with zero calories! It must be healthier!" you say.

While there is some benefit from the use of artificial sweeteners to combat obesity and diabetes, long term they can fundamentally change the way the brain registers sweets and actually achieve the opposite affect than that which was intended.

"How so?" you ask.

When we put something sweet into our mouths, it signals the brain with a checksum. The brain registers sweets incoming and because it associates sweets with calories which equal fuel, it is set to process them and limit their intake to reasonable amounts. Now when that sweetness hits our stomachs, the stomach sends a second checksum to the brain confirming the intake of sweets and also how much fuel or calories was received. The brain figures out how much is enough and either tells us MORE or to stop. So to illustrate this exchange:

Mouth to Brain: "Hey, we have sweet calories incoming, get ready."
Brain to Mouth: "Rodger that, prepping for incoming calories."
Stomach to Brain: "Sweets received, Calorie report is as follows: X calories delivered. How to proceed?
Brain to Stomach: "Direct X calories to Y parts of the body, store X calories in reserve (fat)."
Brain to Mouth: "Continue consuming sweets." or "No more sweets, needs met."

Now, when we start introducing artificial sweetener to this process, this start to go wrong.

The brain sees the sweets incoming. The stomach reports them as received, but now the stomach is reporting no calories. Over time the brain starts to associate sweets as no longer a calorie source and the body's natural limitations on our intake for sweets are fundamentally changed.

"But Nathan, how does this affect me?"

When your body stops associating sweets as a calorie vessel, it also stops naturally limiting our intake of sweet foods. Sweeteners seem to stimulate parts of the brain that produce pleasurable effects without stimulating those parts that make people feel full. Now that the brain no longer limits sweets due to caloric intake, the gates are set wide open.

So the next time we go to eat foods without artificial sweeteners, or even ones with them, the body stops telling us when enough is enough and we tend to over indulge in something that is not good for us. That bag of oreo's, chips, cookies, ice cream, soda, etc, etc. This unconsciously builds unhealthy habits of over eating over long periods of time.

It takes making conscious choices and actively watching and counting what we eat to change the habits we have developed  over the years. It was the hardest thing for me to do personally. I was taught to clean my plate and not leave left overs as a child. I love the taste of what I eat. By recognizing how my body works, I was able to change how it responded to what I was feeding it and it also allowed me to change how I fueled my body.

It has been 5 weeks since I started changing not only what I ate, but HOW I ate it. With a solid plan, small obtainable goals that lead to and end result, I have been able to set myself up for success and so can you!

If anyone has questions please feel free to comment. If you would like help setting up a plan and goals to meet your life style, leave a comment or contact me through Google+ or Facebook.com/HealthyVets

Various sources for this information and additional information about artificial sweeteners:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=artificial-sweeteners-confound-the-brain
http://www.drbriffa.com/2008/06/20/artificial-sweetener-fails-to-fool-the-brain/
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-free-but-at-what-cost-201207165030
http://www.livestrong.com/article/163629-effects-of-artificial-sweetener-on-the-human-brain/
http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_brain_damage.htm

Week 1 results: How you can get started

I am excited! Week 1 weigh in! And the results are in: (Drum roll please!)

Week 1 weight slips

Not bad at all! I am very pleased with this week’s progress. 2.4lbs overall loss, 1.5% decrease in fat or 5 lbs of fat, my BMI is down 0.4 and the degree of my obesity is down 1.5%.

I did not have to starve myself, sacrifice foods I love or anything else some fad diets have you do. The method to the madness is quit simple.

1. Find your BMR (base metabolic rate)

This is how many calories you specifically will burn to maintain your body at rest for 1 day.                For example my BMR is now 2238kcal.

2. Set a realistic and healthy daily goal. My max daily goal is 1600. 

3. Get an app or some way to track your calorie intake. I personally use MyFitnessPal for Iphone.

4. Be honest! Track everything that goes into your mouth.

5. Do this for a few weeks to get used to the change in diet and to adjust to how often you eat. When you start eating 200-400 calories for breakfast instead of 1500, you get hungrier quicker. That is OK! You will get used to eating 4-6 times per day, but much smaller portions.

6. After acclimating to the new way you eat it is time to start adding in exercise! Why so excited? Oh you will be after 4 weeks of eating healthier and you see the weight difference. Then you think, but I did not do anything other than change how I ate. Hmmm. If I actually got active and started burning calories, I can accomplish even more! You should be excited and motivated here!

It is important to note here:

What kind of exercise you choose to do will greatly depend on where your body is at when you start this journey. Me personally, as a former US Army soldier, I carried my weight quite well, but 280lbs is still 280lbs. Add to that a lower leg injury and weak joints, I had no exercise or cardio in 13 years. For me just getting off my butt and walking around my neighborhood was a huge step forward. I then eased into more progressive cardio and am still moving forward. If you have questions about were your should start please consult your Dr or a personal trainer.

Do not try and run before you walk here. It is better to start slowly and build up to more intense workouts than to hurt yourself trying to keep pace with people who are at a more advanced level of fitness.

7. Keep track of your workouts. Count your reps, how long you ran or walked and try and improve on those numbers weekly. 

8. Record workouts in your calorie counting app or program. The calories you burn count against your daily goal and result in a NET count for the day. 

Lets say my goal is 1600. I eat 1450 calories for the day. I estimate that I burned 600 calories for the day. My NET calorie count for the day is now 850. My BMR says 2238. Thats a huge deficit and I should probably eat more so I would add something else and try and get myself to my NET goal of 1200 calories per day. That is a deficit of 1038 calories per day which is a healthy number.

Do not set over realistic goals. Make a plan that is broke down into, small, obtainable victories that create a path to and end result and will set yourself up for success. 

For myself, I am moving to Korea at the end of January. My immediate goal is to break 250lbs before I leave. That is 11 pounds in about 4 weeks. If I maintain my current diet and exercise routine I should hit 251+/- 2 lbs.That is a reasonable goal on my way to getting to 180lbs.

Take it 1 week at a time and never give up! We CAN get there!

Share your stories with me! I want to hear from you guys. If you have questions please leave comments. If you have suggestions, leave a comment!

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