223 Pounds. Chili Day.

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So Calacanis posted my fat pic on his blog yesterday. Nice. I hope he’ll follow up a few months from now when I have a nicer pic to show off.

Calacanis seems to be on a toned down version of the Atkins diet. He’s trying to replace bread and other sugars with protein and fish. I think it’s a healthy way to go. But when it comes to losing weight, I believe it’s just the calories that matter.

I hear that most of the weight loss associated with a low carb diet actually comes from a reduction in calories. However, a low carb (or rather high fat) diet supposedly makes you feel full on fewer calories. So that’s good I suppose. Studies suggest that Atkins dieters can eat more calories and still lose more weight. Thermodynamics buffs say this is impossible, but people are fighting it. If there is any truth to the “more calories, less weight” proposals, I’ll say it has something to do with the fact that eating carbs puts me to sleep (where I burn fewer calories). Here are a couple interesting reads on the subject:

In any case, my goal as stated is to lose weight without having to change the quality of the food I eat. Just the quantity. I really enjoy food, and think this is the way to go for me without burning out on this diet.

Yesterday was rough. So I wanted to start the day off right. I skipped breakfast and got right to work. I was at the gym from about 12-1… some bball again, curls, and some jogging.

Kim made the most incredible chili I’ve ever tasted today. It was made with ground turkey meat, black beans, onions, tomatoes, some other super special stuff. We also topped it off with a little bit of cheese and some avocado slices. Avocado is really awesome with chili. If you take anything away from this blog, it should be to try avocado with chili.

So after the gym I had a couple bowls of Kim’s chili. I think I’m over-estimating things a bit, but at 300Cal per 1cup of chili I’d say it’s about 900Cal there. Add 100Cal for the cheese, 200Cal for the Avocado, and another 300 for some bread and butter, and I’m at 1500 Calories for lunch. Wow.

For dinner, I toyed with the idea of eating the left over pizza from yesterday, but it wouldn’t heat up well anyway. So I passed on pizza and instead had another, slightly smaller, bowl of chili. With cheese, I’d say 400Cal there and another slice of bread at 100Cal. That’s 2000 for me, and I stop there.

Kim’s out to dinner after a networking event. I hope she’s not in the mood for wine when she gets home cause I’ve got no room for the calories. I’m planning on writing a piece about wine calories at WineLog soon. (Actually, I think one of our bloggers already did… nope, couldn’t find it. So I’ll have to write it.)

One of the easiest things one can do to cut calories is to stop drinking high-calorie, low-nutrition drinks… so-called empty calories. I only drink diet soda. I drink diet green tea from Wawa (great stuff). And I drink water during the day. The only drinks I typically have with calories in them are milk, wine, or the occasional glass of OJ. I find myself drinking quite a bit of wine “for work”, and it’s calories I wish I could pass up on.

That’s it for today. I’m going to put my full attention on American Idol now and then get back to work on some exciting stuff for WineLog. Cheers.

A Better Picture of Me

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I needed to post another picture of me to balance out the one from my last post. I look a bit better in this one. I’m not sure if I weigh any less, but I have looser cloths on and a nicer haircut. I’ve got a bit of a double chin there, but at least I have a neck in this one.

My guess is that I am closer to my current weight in this picture. This is from Maine last August. I had just left Accenture and my project in New Jersey. While in NJ, I was going to the gym pretty regularly at the apartment I was staying at and doing well with this crazy rice diet (rice + scrambled eggs + broccoli + Goya adobo seasoning = good eats).

Smooth Me

223 Pounds. Olive Garden.

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‘tipped the scale at 223 pounds this morning. Was at the gym from about noon to 1:30. The walk over and back takes about 15 minutes. I shot some hoops for about 45 minutes and lifted weight for 15 minutes. Nice.

And it’s been down hill from there. Kim and I had our first dance lesson today, which was awesome (and probably burned a few calories too). But I had the bright idea to go to Olive Garden after the lesson. My motivation was to try a wine they got there called Principato Rosato. The Olive Garden exclusive wine is one of the hottest pages on the WineLog site. We get a ton of traffic from folks Googling that wine.

The plan was to have just the wine, salad, and breadsticks. But neither Kim and I were both pretty hungry, so we decided to have dinner. I ate 3/4 of a Chicken Alfredo pizza. It was good. Now I’m going to find out what kind of damage it did to my diet.

Here’s what I ate today. Olive Garden items are bolded. I used Calorie numbers from this website for the bread sticks and salad and took a guess for the pizza.

  • 1 cup of milk = 100Cal.
  • 2 eggs = 200Cal.
  • A bit of shredded cheese = 50Cal.
  • 2 slices of toast, butter = 300Cal.
  • 2 bread sticks = 280Cal.
  • 2 bowls of salad = 250Cal.
  • 3/4 of a Chicken Alfredo pizza = 1500Cal??
  • UPDATE: ~2 glasses of wine = 300Cal.

Today’s total Calories: 2680. (forgot my wine which puts me at almost 3000 Calories… sigh) Not too bad considering. My extra long day at the gym will help keep this from becoming a total disaster. Although I’m a little upset that I had a break in discipline just one day after starting to blog about this.
Anyway, let me leave you with this picture. I don’t have all of my pictures on my new desktop, but here is the most unattractive one I could find. Jason Calacanis keeps posting pictures of him from when he was more in shape. I’m much more motivated by pictures of me looking like a slob. Enjoy.

Fat Me

225 Pounds Makes Me a “Fat Blogger”

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Wow, so my last post here was before the Super Bowl. I didn’t even blog anything about how sad I was that the Bears lost. What a great great first quarter. After that, I’m just sad that the Bears played so predictably: good defense, no offense.

So I’m inspired by Jason Calacanis to start blogging about my weight and diet in an effort to inspire some discipline in myself. I use blogs to make promises like having WineLog Mobile live by Valentine’s day, and it works there. So why not use a blog to help me lose weight? I’m hoping it will prove a great motivator because if I don’t lose any weight, I have to cope with the embarrassment of having all these posts out here and nothing to show for it.

Peak Weight: 234
Current Weight: 225
Goal Weight: 210

I’m getting Married on May 5th and hoping to weigh about 210 by then. That gives me about 12 weeks to lose 15 lbs. I was down to about 222 and on track to lose 1lb per week and hit 210 by wedding day. But a couple weeks of fewer gym visits and reckless eating have stalled my progress.

Now usually 3 pounds is nothing to lose sleep over. My weight can fluctuate 3 pounds or more day to day. However, I’ve been tracking my weight’s 15-day moving average, using a handy little Google Gadget called “the Google 15“. The moving average smooths out the day-to-day fluctuations and let’s you keep your cool when you’re still on track. On the other hand, it also helps me be confident that I should actually be losing my cool. Because not only am I heavier than I was two weeks ago, I’m above my moving average. And anyone who reads my blog at InvestorGeeks regularly will know that being above the moving average is a bad sign if you are short a security (in this case we want to be short Jason’s weight).

So what else am I doing to lose weight? The main thing I am doing is limiting my calorie intake. I am a huge fan of the Hacker’s Diet (completely free to read online). The main points of that work are:

1. It’s all about calories in (eaten) vs. calories out (burned). If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight.

2. It is generally easier to forgo food than workout to lose weight. For instance to net 300 less calories in a day, you could either run for 30 minutes or pass on that 2-serving bag of chips. Which is easier? For some it’s the running. For busy folks like us it is often to pass on the extra food.

3. There is a reason some people are naturally thin. Simply put, they are only hungry when they need to eat and stop being hungry once they’ve eaten enough calories. It’s as if they have a watch on their wrist telling them when to eat and when to stop. Overweight people have defective watches, and so they might stay hungry even though they’ve already eaten enough (my problem). The key point to take away from THD’s graphs on metabolism and hunger is that to lose weight you must be hungry.

That’s it. That’s the secret. I’ve done well by changing the way I think about a diet. Instead of trying to game the system by finding foods that I can be sated with but still lose weight, I acknowledge the fact that I’m going to have to make a sacrifice. I have to be hungry to lose weight. And so my hunger becomes a good thing instead of a bad thing. When I get those pangs in my stomach, I know I’m losing weight and embrace it.

Based on the expected caloric intake of a moderately active 25-year 6’2″ male, I should be eating about 2500 Calories a day to maintain weight. This is pretty consistent with how much I would typically eat and maintain weight. One pound of fat is roughly equal to 3500 Calories. And so to lose 1 pound per week, I need to cut my caloric intake to about 2000 Calories a day. That’s the number I shoot for every day.

And I don’t cheat myself. It’s very easy to use some fuzzy math to hide 500 Calories in my diet. Here are two recaps of what I ate today.

Today I had a bowl of Chocoalte Cap’n Crunch with 1% milk. That’s 2 serving of cereal at 150Cal per serving plus about 100Cal of milk. 400Cal for breakfast. I then had a turkey and cheese sandwich on a pita, with mayo and lettuce. That’s about 150Cal for the pita, 200Cal for the cheese, 200Cal for the turkey, 75Cal for the Mayo and a negligible # of Cal for the lettuce. That’s 625Cal plus about 1.5 servings of tortilla chips for 225Cal. 900Cal for lunch. For dinner I had 1 and 1/2 quesadillas with black beans, red pepper, and cheddar cheese. 200Cal for the quesadilla tortillas, 50Cal of beans, 200Cal of cheese, negligible red pepper. I also had another 1.5 servings of tortilla chips, with salsa this time. That’s about 450Cal worth of quesadilla plus 250Cal of chips and salsa. 400+900+700 = 2000. Go me!

Now here is an equally plausible calculation.

Today I had a bowl of Chocoalte Cap’n Crunch with 1% milk. That’s 2 serving of cereal at 150Cal per serving plus about 150Cal of milk. 450Cal for breakfast. I then had a turkey and cheese sandwich on a pita, with mayo and lettuce. That’s about 150Cal for the pita, 250Cal for the cheese, 250Cal for the turkey, 100Cal for the Mayo and a negligible # of Cal for the lettuce. That’s 750Cal plus about 2 servings of tortilla chips for 300Cal. 1050Cal for lunch. For dinner I had 1 and 1/3 quesadillas with black beans, red pepper, and cheddar cheese. 300Cal for the quesadilla tortillas, 50Cal of beans, 200Cal of cheese, negligible red pepper. I also had another 2 servings of tortilla chips, with salsa this time. That’s about 550Cal worth of quesadilla plus 350 Cal of chips and salsa. 450+1050+900 = 2400. Not so good.

It’s hard to be honest when counting those calories. Now, I’m not going to break out the scale and measuring cups every time I eat. But I am going to be conservative (towards higher numbers) in my estimates and make sure that I am really eating less and not just practicing fuzzy math. Plus, I know that I ate too much if I wasn’t hungry for a substantial part of the day. For the record, I think my numbers are closer to the first calculation.

I’m also lucky enough to live right across the street from my alma mater, which has a nice new gym. I can workout there for free, and Kim and I have been going pretty much every other day or so for a while. I’ll run for 10-15 minutes or shoot a basketball for 30 minutes, then lift some weights or do more cardio. It’s not an incredible amount of exercise, usually just 30-45 minutes. But I probably burn about 200-400 Calories and am building up some muscle, which should help with my metabolism.

So that’s the regiment so far. I’ll try to post an update, no matter how brief every day. Good luck to all the other fatties out there trying to get in shape.

Colts vs. Ravens

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Before the we get too far into the game, I want to make a prediction. The Colts are going to win this one, despite being a large underdog. I think the Ravens D is too hyped up. If there is any offense that could shut those guys up, it’s this one. You heard it here first.

Philosophy. Getting Things Done. Celebrating.

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So what have I been up to lately?

Well, I’ve been doing a lot of philosophical thinking. This line of thought has risen out of a necessity to understand my current situation. One question, a paradox, has me in deep thought:

How can I simultaneously be getting so much done and yet feel like I’m not getting anything done at all.

I have a form of ADD. I haven’t looked it up in any medical journal (yet), but I feel it is related to ADD and a common affliction. Like many people, I need more than just the task in front of me. At all times, I need that next thing (or next 5 things) in the back of my head to think about.

So while I’m doing a lot of stuff and getting a lot done, I’m not getting anywhere on that next thing. It’s like reading a book, but thinking about something other than the words your eyes are consuming. For once in my life I want to get to a point where I honestly have to ask myself, “What’s next?” Or I just want a clean slate so I can think back and appreciate the work I’ve done.

Perhaps my problem is that I see myself as a creative person. And I give too much emphasis to the creation of the things I work on. And once something has been created, the fun part is over. Time to move on to the next thing.

So here I am, creating and creating. But never finishing before I’ve got my pen down again. How do I get the focus to follow through?

I’m scared of an end state. Is it the nature of the things I’m working on or the nature of myself that causes things to get bigger in scope just as they are about to be completed? WineLog was meant to be a database to track wines. It does that, but now it needs to be an online community, it needs to have avatars for users, and a way to import data from spreadsheets, and a better recommendation engine. By the time those things are finished, I’ll have 10 more to take their place.

My advice to project managers on projects that have gone a few months without clearing a major milestone… no no, my advice to me:

Make something up to celebrate about. Chances are that if you think back on the work you’ve done, and leave behind the thoughts of what still lies ahead, you’ll realize that you have accomplished something you can be proud of.

People like me are often too busy thinking about the next task, project, or big idea to enjoy the work we’ve done already.

So this New Years I will take a moment to forget what lies in store for me in 2007 and congratulate myself on all I’ve done in 2006. Congratulations, me.

One Month Has Passed – I Need to Write

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It’s a little over one month since I left my day job to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams, where I decided to give myself six months to see if I can make it as a self-employeed entrepreneur.

As I sit at my computer at 12:23AM Monday morning, finishing up some work for a Stranger Studios client, I realize there’s never going to be “a good time” to hit the blog. I’ve been neglecting this part of my [whatever you call this] waiting for a quiet moment that will never come. So I just have to write. Right now.

I want to talk about time management. When I set out on this journey, I told myself I would divide my time evenly among my various interests: 1/3 for Stranger Studios client work, 1/3 for WineLog development and expansion, 1/3 for InvestorGeeks writing and development, and another 1/3 for smaller internal projects. (Yes, I know that adds up to 4/3. Why not continue to give 133% to my work?)

I’ve so far been over-weighted with “client work” (aka “pays the bills” work) and not spending enough time working on my own projects (see the right sidebar there). I’m wondering if I have really managed to escape “the man” or if I have just traded down for a different kind of “man”.

Still, I have to confess, that things are still much much better started working for myself. For instance:

     

  1. I see Kim and the cats nearly every day now.

    2.  

  2. I’m working from home. Regularly sleeping in until 9am, going to the gym more often (mid day), and eating better (Kim’s cooking).

    3.  

  3. I have actually spent more time working on personal projects over the past month than I have in previous months. Even though I’m not working on things as much as I had hoped, this is an improvement.

    4.  

  4. I’ve had one of the best vacations of my life a few weeks ago in Maine. With -3 personal (PTO) days at the old job, I never would have been able to go to Maine this summer. Other bonuses include mid-week trips to the dentist and barber shop. And equally important (ok, more important) are the extra trips I’ve taken to see family and friends.

    5.  

  5. Upon further thought, working for my new clients is by far more rewarding than the work I was doing before. So while I’m not exactly building my empire with every waking moment, I do get to put my own personal badge on the work I’m doing through Stranger Studios and the work is generally more interesting to me too. I can’t wait until some of my more recent projects are finished, so I can start writing about them on the Stranger Studios blog.

    6.  

What are some things I had hoped to accomplish by now (and will strive to accomplish by the end of the next month)?

     

  1. I had hoped to have new health insurance by now. After applying for one plan, I was turned down because they had my address wrong and after fixing it realized that they don’t service residents in my county. I’ve applied for another plan, but it’s taking forever for the paper work to go through. Also, I thought I had cancelled my old insurance, but just received a bill for it on Friday. I don’t know if I should be happy of the fact that I was indeed covered for this past month or upset that I have to pay for something I tried to cancel.

    2.  

  2. No new blog yet. I’m still running this old (if sentimental) custom CMS engine. Besides writing for the Stranger Studios blog more, I wanted to move this personal blog to a WordPress setup. All that’s keeping me from doing this is wanting to preserve these old posts (sniff sniff) and knowing that I will be required to put in a decent chunk of time making the design of the new blog kick ass enough for public consumption.

    3.  

  3. I still haven’t written something which has not or will not end up on a blog. A poem, a short story, a book… anything. Bonus points for fiction. Bonus points for including material from the stuff I wrote in college.

    4.  

  4. I actually haven’t yet returned my old work laptop and security badge. No one has contacted me yet; although I stopped reading company emails a couple weeks ago. The laptop’s come down with a pretty bad virus and I still haven’t backed everything up yet. In general, I’ve been pretty lousy to my ex-coworkers, who haven’t received a proper good-bye email from me. Some who deserve it haven’t had a call from me yet. Bad friend!

    5.  

So that’s it (or part of it). Month 1 of my 6 month experiment is through. I’ve learned that this style of living is worth pursuing. I’ve also learned that I need to get my act straight, get my priorities in order, get my routine down (although a flexible routine is one of the bigger reasons for choosing this path), and continue to work hard so I can enjoy this life I’ve chosen.

On Vacation Until 8/13

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I will be on vacation in lovely Maine until August 13th. I’m a little worried about being disconnected from the net for so long, but I am also looking forward to enjoying the outdoors and maybe doing a little writing. Look for an update when I return.

Stay cool.

Will I Ever Get a Real Blog?

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As Kim and I move closer towards going full time with our web design and development business and other projects, I’ve been considering getting a “real” blog. You know, the kind with ping-backs and comments.

While this custom-brewed baby has served its purpose well (I even added RSS!), I’m feeling like I need to move into the modern age. For one, it would be really sweet for people to be able to comment on my posts, and I just don’t feel like programming that or any other blog feature that I could just get from WordPress.

This project has been fun. And I’ve definitely learned a lot putting this site together. The blog has accomplished exactly what I intended it to: it got me to write and produce.

So a new blog may be in the works when I get a little more free time. Until then, we’re it keeping real.