January Update

I started this journey weighing in at 304 lbs. and as of January 31st I weighed in at 298. Well ok, this is not what I wanted to weigh in at the end of January. But that is ok, remember that every pound lost  is a great thing. Sometimes it will be 1 lbs sometimes it will be 10 lbs. At the end of the day concentrate on the work of losing weight.

So I did lose 6 lbs in January and I am happy that I lost the weight, however I could have done so much more to lose even more. So should I be obsessed that I did not lose more or should I be happy that I lost 6 lbs? Always be happy with your loss but keep an eye on what you can do better to lose more. So how did I lose 6 this month? Easy, when going to the mall I would park at Dillard's instead and walk down to Target. Now many of you may not understand why that is a big deal, but Dillard's is the furthest point from Target as you can get (i.e approximately a 1/4 mile away). I did eat some what better, and  if you are a follower of the Cool Dads Cook blog you have seen some of the great tasty recipes that I have made over the last month. Yes, changing your lifestyle in the eating department means changing your taste buds at the same time. I even did Yoga for the 1st time in my life. Yes, I said I did Yoga and I am glad that I did. I have been enjoying it all.

Now what could I have done better? Eat out less. It is so easy to come home and say there is nothing to eat when you get home, so you just go out and grab something to eat. I am not sure if you have noticed there are very few things out there at restaurants that are healthy to eat. But the desire to eat is real and therefore you get what tastes good. I should have also done Yoga more than what I did; I only did yoga twice in the month of January. This is sad because I felt so good after doing it. So why did I only do it twice? Because I allow other things to get in the way of what I should be doing. Like everyone else there is so much to get in the way, between my son being out of school for a week because of weather, interviewing for a new job, working, Cub Scouts with my son, and, and, and. Everything is there just like it is in everyone else life.

But what has this taught me? Like Nike says, Just Do It. Get off my rump and just do it. There are ways to be a father, or a mother and lose weight at the same time like take a hike around the local lake with the family. The weather has been nice enough here in Arkansas to do that. Or play a little sports with your child like basketball or baseball. What about doing a little yoga with your child. There  are child yoga videos on YouTube. There is plenty to do and all we have to do it Just Do it. Ok I know what I should have done differently in January so now let's make the change and do it different in February. 

Sorry / Technology that helps

So the new year is not even a month old and already I am slipping on my promise to keep up with my weight loss journey. All I can say is sorry. Between the week of snow and rain (yes my son's school was closed for a day and all it did was rain, no snow and no ice, but plenty of video games) that caused my son's school to close for almost a week, and interviewing / working on paperwork for a new job I let something slip and the blog was it. Again I say sorry.

One of the best things in life right now is technology, yes you still have to put in work to lose the weight but technology helps keep track of the work you did. 

Fitness bands like the Apple watch and the fibit offer to keep watch over your steps, sleep, and calories burned. And with numerous apps out there, there is no shortage of information for you to have at your finger tips.

As for me I enjoy using my Garmin Viviofit, it has the information that I want at my finger tips along with an easy to sync app that is on my phone. I also use (when I can remember to) the myfitnesspal app on my phone to log calorie intake, plus my calorie burn stat from my Viviofit also syncs.

Now you may be asking, do I actually need these things to lose weight? And the answer is NO. All you need is motivation and determination to lose weight. The gadgets or technology are nice and depending on who you are, enjoyable. But they are not necessary.

If you use myfitnesspal please add me DouglasDavis77. Another great app that Under Armor has come out with is UA Records. This is more of a Facebook feed but for fitness. It is a great place to ask questions and to get praise when you have hit the mile stone you are looking for, or motivation for when you are having trouble getting your body going.


* This is not a paid advertisement from any brands list; these are items and apps that I use and as of right now will continue to use.

My 1st Attempt at Yoga

As I have said before in this blog, this is not about a diet but a lifestyle change by eating healthier, getting off my BUTT and moving while having fun. Well the 1st thing you have to do is eat healthier; but let's not go crazy and forget that it has to taste good also. I am not about bland food, and I am not a big fan of eating fish or eating the same thing every day. I believe the quote goes "Variety is the spice of life." My wife and I found a Slow Cooker Pork Loin with apples, onions, carrots, and rosemary. This recipe will be featured on Cool Dads Cooks next Wednesday. We had it Sunday night for supper and it was delicious and only 65 calories per serving. 

So my last post stated that the 1st thing one has to do to lose weight is to get off your BUTT, well yesterday I finally did just that. I was home with a sinus infection, acting like a child wanting someone to comfort me. However, a friendly voice kept ringing in my ear "Suck It Up Buttercup." Thanks Rebecca for that. So I did a little research for some beginning Yoga on Youtube. Yes you read that right Yoga. For anyone that thinks Yoga is easy needs to try it. So there were two that I found that I believe were the best for a beginner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdpRLanG6s 

I really like this one because it was very informative as to if you can not do a pose do this instead, very easy to understand, and very well put together.

However this is the one that I did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpFV5afUrwU 

Like the one above it was very well put together, easy to understand, and gave an option for you if you could not do a certain pose. However what pushed it over the edge is because it was Star Wars Yoga. Now before you get to hyped up they did not change the names of any of the poses to make it more Star Wars than any other yoga (that I saw) but any thing Star Wars I am ok with. So this is the one that I did. 

It's a lifestyle change

Ok so a lot of people are saying I need to get into shape so I will go on a diet, or start using Plexus, Advocare, or Body by Vi. But what happens when you stop dieting, or using the supplements? You gain the weight back and sometimes a little or a lot more. This is a big reason why my wife and I say that we are going to eat healthier instead of dieting. Now if you are using the supplements and they are helping, great, I just don't feel they are right for me.

As of January 1 I weighed in at a whopping 304 pounds. 304 really, really that is the heaviest I have ever been. My goal is to be 250 by June 1 that is approximately 50 pounds in 5 months. This is extremely doable but it will take work and a good eye on a lifestyle change.

So what is the big secret to losing weight? Easy, eat healthier and get off your BUTT, get moving. Yes, this is something new for you. I am writing this blog and I struggle with it. Yesterday I hurt my back and let that be my excuse for not doing anything. But guess what today is a new day and a new opportunity to do a better job. So what is it going to be today? It could be a walk or run or a treadmill, a walk through the mall with family (yes I count shopping at the mall as exercise), or a workout routine from a video or youtube. The choice is yours so let's do something. Let me know what you are doing.

Getting ready for Disney

Ok, so it is New Years Day and everyone is making resolutions to lose weight because it's what you are supposed to do. I know that I am making this post on New Years Day but I am not making a resolution to lose weight because of what day it is. I am making a resolution to lose weight because I just found out that I am supposed to be going to Disney in June, and after some reading I have learned that you have to be ready to walk 6 - 13 miles a day while there. When you are over 300 lbs and looking at walking that much for 5 days straight, I realized that I need to get in shape and lose some weight. So over the next 5 months I will post the exercise routines and food here, and the recipes for some of the foods at Cool Dads Cook, a food blog that a friend and I contribute to. Please join me in this adventure.

The one thing that I hope to accomplish with this blog is to show that you can exercise, eat healthier, and feel better on a budget. By buying the right foods on sale, finding exercises online that can be performed at home, and fun family outings that will get us all in shape. If you have any suggestions or support please share here.