25th day I Tested Some Fast Food

So after 25 days of not drinking soda and trying to stay away from fast food I decided to get some Wendy's to see what I was missing. I really didn't like the taste of cherry coke after all that time with out it and fast food doesn't taste nearly as good as I remember

Points breakdown:

+1 Fruit smoothie(strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
+1 Banana mid morning
+1 Two Clementines
+1 Bowl of fruit salad from the can the now sugar added kind
+2 Paddle tennis
-1 Glass of Red Wine
-5 Fast food Wendy's Baconator double with small fries and a cherry coke


Grand Total: -1


Notes: 

If last night is any indication I will be continuing my trend of cutting out soda and fast food going forward if I could just cut back on the drinking and the social life I might end up with 6-pack abs by summer. not enjoying the taste of foods that use to be killing my diet and replacing them with quality foods might lead to good things once i leave the holidays behind.

On a side note I am attempting to figure out what the next life Hack I am going to be doing I might try to come up a few ideas tomorrow and post them.


Add Your Site for Free

Day 24

Points Breakdown:

+1 Fruit Smoothie (milk, strawberies, blueberries, blackberries)
+1 Banana mid morning
+1 Two Clementines with lunch(turkey sandwich with american cheese and mustard)
+5 Workout with the personal trainer
-5 Six beers
-1 Shot of liquor
-1 Glass of champagne
-5  Bacon Cheesburger and french fries


Grand Total: -4

Notes:

Big event last night consumed a lot of alcohol and had a burger at dinner these are the marathon nights that kill my diet and that is why I am still stuck at 7lbs. of weight loss. after the holiday's i hope to drop a few more pounds but we will see.

Day 23 Still Surviving

Points Break Down:

+1 fruit salad for breakfast
+1 banana mid morning
+1 Two clementines Mid afternoon
-2 Bag of Honey BBQ Frito's
+5 Gym work out Lifting and cardio(10 min on argodyne bike, 20 min on arch trainer)
-2 Two beers with dinner

Grand Total: + 4

Notes:

 Its amazing how on this system a few small things can crush your positive scores. While I don't think it is reflective of my positive scores overall I think I am far healthier then I have been in a long time do to the fruits and occasional vegetables that I have been consuming and the reduction in the soda, fast food, and unhealthy snacks. I regret not doing a control week where I ate whatever I want and just recorded that to get a sense of where I was on the average day -10?, -14? My usual lunch would have put me at least down -5 and add two vending machine runs thats -4. A dinner that is 50/50  healthy add another -2 the occasional drive thru breakfast another -3 to -5. beers a couple time a week adds -2 to -5

Monday day 22

Points break down:

+1 Fruit smoothie at Colie's on park with lunch (Mango Pineapple)
+1 Two Clementines
+5 Hockey game
-2 Chicken Parm sandwich

Grand Total: +5

Note:

Bought bananas, strawberries, blueberries, black berries, more clementines today should be the start of some nice plus numbers to counter these negatives i have been racking up.

Sunday Day 21

 I have been taking a little break from the writing but hopefully this week I can get back consistently having something to say every day and I should be back in the plus range this week with lots of fresh fruit purchased monday.

Points Breakdown:

+5 Worked out lifting + 30min on arch +15 min warm up on bike
+1 Two Clementines
-4 Four beers at Magpie's on Park

Grand Total: +2

19th Day on The Diet

Didn't do a very good job of tracking this day not gonna lie and I did end up with a little soda unfortunately.

Points break down:

+1 Fruit salad at lunch
+1 Two clementines late afternoon
+5 lifting and half hour of cardio (15 min on bike, 20 min on the arch trainer)
-1 Stella at Lento
-4 Two captain and cokes at a Christmas party
-1 One shot of blue raspberry vodka at same christmas party

Grand Total: +1


Notes:

Ended up having some soda on this day in mixed drinks which is disappointing but I think i have broken the habit of having/ allowing myself to had my one soda a day.  
 I will be doing some food shopping Sunday night so I will have new fruits and vegetables to start the week and the only nights I will be drinking are hopefully Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

The 20th day

Had a bunch of parties this day which lead to more alcohol then should be consumed in a day

Points breakdown:
-4 Beers at a pig roast at the country club
-2 Serious over eating of pig and stuffing and ice cream
-1 Glass of eggnogg at holiday party 1
-1 One raspberry wheat shock top at holiday party 1
-1 Blue moon at a friends party 2
-1 Peanut butter and Hershey kiss cookie at friends holiday party 2
-2 Two shots at holiday party 3
-2 Raspberry wheat Shock Top at holiday party 3

Grand total: -14 

Note: 

The worst day I have had in a very long time but a night where you have a lot of parties to go to I think it could have been a lot worse and I am all but out of fruits and vegetables so I was limited in the plus points I
could get and the buzz I picked up at the pig roast made it very tough to grab any workout points. This was the first all negative day I have had yet. Going to try and have a strong week this week to make up for this week that is now in the books. 

Day 18: 2,500 Calories Less From Soda

18 days with out a single drop of soda that's about 2,500 calories less of soda then any other month since I was about 15. Cutting out my one can of soda a day is a big part of the 7 pounds of weight loss I have experienced so far.

Points break down:

+1 fruit salad with lunch
+1 Bowl of carrots
-2 Two Italian sausage patties before paddle
+2 Paddle tennis game(another loss)
-2 Buffalo chicken sandwich after paddle
-3 Beers after paddle with at the bar

Grand Total: -3

Notes:

Debating whether I want to see how long I can go with out soda or have one and start holding myself to only one soda per week. 
 

Day 17 the Christmas Season is Killing Me

This Christmas season has lead to me being out every night for some event or dinner the negative numbers are going to ruin this week I have to do better with my diet during the day starting to cheat a little to much.

Points break down:

+1 Two clementines mid morning
-1 Cesar salad not sure how unhealthy but probably very unhealthy
+1 Bowl of carrots
-1 Vodka wedge(orange juice, fresca, vodka) at a meeting at the Country Club
-6 Beers at various bars downtown
-2 Wings at Mcgregger's  

Grand total: -8

Note:
I think this is my second worst day so far which is a bad thing but expecting Saturday to possible beat the -13 from two weeks ago. way to many events for one man to handle.

Day 16

Points breakdown:

+1 Two Clementines
-5 Bacon Cheeseburger and side of fries (couldn't help it we stopped at a burger place on the way back from a meeting)
+ 1 bowl of Carrots
+5 30 minutes hard cardio
-2 sausage brick oven pizza
-4 1 beer with my pizza, 3 beers at a bar afterward.

Grand Total: -4

Notes:
Not a great day gonna be next to impossible to increase my average this week I think.

Guessing this is a fall back week for me on the weight loss front.

Day 15 Start of the Third Week

Points Breakdown:

+1 Fruit Smoothie(strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, to much silk soy milk yuck)
+1 Fruit salad at lunch
-1 One Small Chocolate chip cookie (I have to avoid free cookie day at the deli)
-1 Piece of Chocolate birthday cake
+1 Bowl of baby Carrots Afternoon snack
+1 Two clementines after work
+1 Side of Corn with Dinner
+5 Hockey game
-1 Two Chicken wings with bleu cheese(should I take a -2 for this)
-2 Two beers 1 Stella and one red ale

Grand total: +5

Notes:

Its amazing how the little things add up quick. a +10 day can instantly become a -5 just by being in social situation.

End of the Two Week Drill

Its been two weeks so far and sad to say I haven't been as good as I would have liked to be. Even though I have already lost 7 pounds roughly. I created a new stat that is called perfect score designed to show how many points I would have if I stuck perfectly to the diet, and I created a % of perfect. Which tells me where I actually stand in relation to perfection.

The points Breakdown:

+1 fruit smoothie
-2 two Genny lights at Thirsty's
-3 One garbage plate wrap (so good and yet so bad)
+1 two clementines
+1 Bowl of peas


Grand Total: -2

Notes:

 My scores after 2 weeks look something like this
Total points: 9
Average points per/day: -0.11
perfect score(days*highest point total): 154
current % of perfect score: 5.8%


Goals:

Second Week Stats:
Best day:  +11
Worst Day:  -5
2 out of 7 days were negative

Goals From Last Week:
3 or less negative days (completed)
A new high + day (completed) +11
A worst day of -5 (completed)
First day with out a single negative (Completed)

New goals:
Increased average for the week.  Last week average 2.43/per day

Day 13

Points breakdown:

+1 Clementine
+5 Workout weights and 30 minutes on the Arch Trainer. (503 calories burned)
+1 Fruit Smoothie (silk, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
-1 Beer (Saranac)
-3 Burger and fries (at Label 7)
-1 Beer (blue light)


Grand Total:  +2

Notes:

Weekends are a pain in the ass for my diet blog, Its where most of my beers come from and I am out to dinner alot where I haven't mastered the healthy restaurant meal selection yet.

We Have Made it to Day 12

The points breakdown:

+1 Fruit Smoothie (silk, raspberries, strawberries, Blueberries)
+1 Multivitamin
+1 Two Clementines
+1 Bowl of Baby Carrots
+5 Lifting and half hour of cardio(elliptical, spin bike)
-2 Buffalo chicken soup over rice
+1 Banana and Clementine
-6 Six blue lights
- 1 Chocolate covers Oreo

Grand Total: +1

11 Days With Out a Soda

Nothing crazy happened today but we still went negative thanks largely to my mother and her great food gifts.
The breakdown:

+1 Fruit smoothie(Silk, Strawberries, Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
+1 Morning multivitamin
+1 two clementines with a turkey melt wrap(turkey, pepper jack cheese, lettice, tomato, light mayo)
+1 Banana mid afternoon
-2 Two chocolate covered Oreos (Its like my mother is trying to kill my diet)
-2 Buffalo chicken soup over rice (mom's leftovers)
+1 Big bowl of peas
+1 Banana strawberry smoothie with dinner little chocolate to taste
+2  Paddle Tennis (= to 15 minutes of cardio, we lost all three sets)
-4 Two glasses of wine after paddle
-2 two small pieces of a meatball mozzarella thing? (RJ made it)

Grand Total: -2


Notes:

Thursday is my Day off from the gym. I play paddle tennis instead, which I don't count as 15-30minutes of cardio. I missed my afternoon multivitamin I am out of my multivitamin after my morning dose on Friday. As they are rather expensive I asked for the platinum package from Pro Grade. Its the multivitamin, protein powder and an omega-3 supplement so hopefully the three will boost my healthy habits.

Day Ten on the Diet Blog

Another barely positive day as I enter into the double digits and I have weighed in to see where I am at so far. Its amazing how much of an impact my diet seems to have on my weight.

The day ten break down:

+1 fruit smoothie (silk, strawberries, blackberries)
+ 1 morning multivitamin
+1 Two Clementines with my turkey sandwich at lunch
+1 Bowl of baby carrots
+1 Afternoon Multivitamin
+5 One hour workout with personal trainer
-1 beer before dinner
-1 Small glass of champagne with dinner
-1 beer with dinner
-5 Dinner(quarter of a cheeseburger, handful of fries, small slice of pizza margarita, couple pieces of porterhouse steak) family style meal at Good Luck

Grand Total: +2

Notes:

Sugar free jello is a new diet friendly snack that should help kill my cravings.
Sadly last night after working out with the trainer I went out to grab more fruit and decided I was starving...so I bought a 12 pack of sugar free jello. I guess I am fully committed to this thing.
I seem to have slight issues sleeping , my stomach growls, I get light headaches, as my body adjusts to the serious restrictions on calories.
Also the eating unhealthy in social situations is another big help.



Starting Weight: 180lbs

Current weight: 174lbs

Weight Senior Year in High School: 165lbs

On the 9th Day of Life Hack I Gave to Me!

The first day of no negatives and a new high water mark!
Check out the breakdown:

+1 Fruit smoothie (Silk soy milk, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
+1 Multivitamin my morning dose
+1 Two clementines at lunch
+1 Bowl of carrots mid afternoon
+5 Lifting and half hour cardio at the gym (15 minutes on the bike, 10 min treadmill, 15min arch trainer)
+1 Big Side of snow peas at dinner
+1 Smoothie with dinner (1% milk, Banana, dash of chocolate sauce for taste)


Grand Total + 11

Notes:
From here on out I am adding the hip exercise that my physical therapist recommended it will have a +1 value not sure what they are called but I know how to do them :)

Day 8 Already-Start of the Second Week

The points breakdown:

+1 fruit smoothie (water Lots of blueberries, Strawberries, a few blackberries to taste)
+1 multivitamin
+ 1 Banana with lunch
+ 1 bowl of baby carrots (the first vegetable on this blog!)
+1 Second multivitamin
+1 One Clementine after work
-1 One Blue light at the half pint
 +5 Hockey game (we won in a blow out 11-2)
-3 Three beers after The hockey
-2 Chicken wings

Grand total: +5

Notes:

Introduced the first vegetable serving on day 8
At +11 this was the most +'s so far

First Week Stats:
Best day +8
Worst Day -13
4 out of 7 days were negative

Goals for This Week:
3 or less negative days
A new high + day
A worst day of -5
First day with out a single negative

Sunday First Day of the New Week

Here is the breakdown:

-5 2 Dunkin Doughnuts white cream doughnuts (had to be at work at 7 on a Sunday)
+1 Fruit smoothie (water, Lots of blueberries, strawberries)
-3 Three Beers at Thirsty's  in Pittsford
+1 Clementine as a side to chicken at dinner
+1  Banana late night snack during the Walking Dead


Grand total: -5

Notes: The start of the new week we are gonna see more fruit and vegetables and hopefully less beer for a few days but we will see. Sunday I purchased Peas, corn and carrots and will try to work them in with the rest of my diet with the hope of adding another point or two on the Plus side of the ledger.

Saturday Back to My Old Ways Sadly

The first time since the start without a positive point all day. This was the kind of day I had before I started. Had to work on Saturday for end of the year inventory. 

Heres the breakdown:

-1  Cream cheese danish
-2  Four pieces of sheet pizza
-4   two beers at the how pregaming before the ugly sweater party
-6  Six beers at the Ugly sweater party (each beer is -1 at a party because its a social setting)

Grand Total -13

 Notes: Not a single plus yesterday and hungover all day from Friday.

 

Breakdown of the First Friday

Here is the long over do breakdown from yesterday:

+1 Fruit smoothie (milk raspberries, blueberries, strawberries,)
+1 Multivitamin first thing in the morning
+1 Multivitamin at the end of day
-2 birthday fruit tart at work. 
+5 For going to the gym
-4 4 beers at a cocktail party
-4 beers at the Half Pint new bar I checked out for the first time
-1 beer at Murphy's Law
-1 Vodka tonic at last call


Grand Total: -4

Note:  Weekends are going to be a serious problem for me.  Saturday is the first time since the start that I will probably not get a single positive point the whole day. Next week will have to be a bigger improvement on the + side of the ledger or the competition is gonna crush me in our weight loss competition. 

Day 4 and Still Hanging in There

Here is the Breakdown:

+1 morning Fruit smoothie (Milk, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
+1 Morning Multivitamin
+1 Afternoon Banana
-2 After work bowl of goldfish crackers (the last in the bag)
-2 Mild Sausage patty sandwiches on english muffins(only form of bread in the house)
-1 Blue light at paddle Tennis match(another loss)
-1 Glass of Red wine

Grand Total -3

Yesturdays's Notes:
Scoring for alcohol do to the fact that beer and wine is unhealthy they are a negative -2 if i am having one in a non social situation. they are only a -1 in social situations. (why ruin your social life for your health.) 

I talked to people about my new efforts to eat healthy and everyone has said to drop the milk from my smoothie every morning and replace it with water. Apparently more healthy just isn't healthy enough for the world.

Purchased the 4-Hour body with the hopes of picking up some added knowledge.
 

Three Down no soda yet!

Well this is the lowest mark so far but lets see why in today's breakdown:

+1 Another fruit smoothie (milk, banana, strawberries, blueberries)
+1 multivitamin right when a arrived at work
- 2 Bag of Herr's cheese popcorn
-2 Chocolate chip Cookie (damn the hot blonde at the deli on free cookie day...I couldn't say no)
 +5 One hour with the personal trainer
+1 Banana

Grand total +4

Days notes:
I need to work on getting those vegetables, I am also considering picking up a cartoon of silk soy milk to replace the milk in my smoothie every morning and maybe add some flack seed for additional benefits.

Tracking so far seems to be doing a good job of making me resist the urge to snack outside of my one allotted cheat points a day  for week one  and I see what I am missing on the healthy side from my diet.

An Epic Day Two!

Well the results are in from day two of my little hacking experiment. So lets get to the breakdown:

The day starts with
+ 1 Fruit smoothie (milk, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
+ 1 multivitamin right after I got to work
+1 Banana as a Mid afternoon snack
+1 Second multivitamin of the day (Pro Grade for men)
+5 Gym session Weights plus Half an hour on the bike and 15 minutes on the elliptical.
-1 Bowl of pizza flavored Goldfish crackers(no point always being healthy)


Grand total +8

Notes:

Formerly breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal before work. in a rush dunkin doughnuts or mcdonald's breakfast sandwich probably once a week.
Snacks included  mid morning and mid afternoon vending machine runs (chips or Popcorn) frequent pretzels and candys from a lot of different offices around work.

Lunch was alway picked up somewhere two pieces of pizza and a 20 soda, medium value meal at wendy's, Mcdonalds or Burger King, a sub from a deli, buffalo chicken wrap maybe. couple times a week a small sandwich and chips. and there was always atleast 12 ounces of pepsi(#1 guilty pleasure) with every lunch.

Dinner was a crap shot but usually high in calories, big plates of pasta, subs, take out,   with some snacks and beer most nights between work and bedtime. but I have always worked out 3-5 times a week. whether its a hockey game, working with a personal trainer or going to the gym myself.

not many fruits and vegetables on that list they were few and far between

New Strategy:
Start the day with a smoothie of mixed fruits that way I get some healthy early, then move that oatmeal to 9:45am to prevent the morning snacking,

At lunch making the move to replace my can of Pepsi with more water and trying Mio to replace the taste while reducing calories. also more sandwiches on sandwich bread instead of a sub and no side of chips.

Mid afternoon a banana for a snack maybe string cheese in the future.

Dinner home cooked meat and a side this might be where I find my first vegetables. Haven't had one in days apparently...

First Days Results Are In!

On the first day of my new life hack experiment I ended up with a  positive number, here is the breakdown:

+1 for morning fruit smoothie (milk, strawberries and a banana)
+1 for a multivitamin as soon as I got to work
-2 for left over pizza for lunch
+1 for late afternoon multivitamin(this multivitamin is supposed to be taken  twice a day...not cheating)
-1 for a bowl of Pizza flavored goldfish crakers
+5 for playing a hockey game-We lost

 Grand total +5

Interesting fact of the day:
1 12 ounce can of soda per day + about 1 extra can per week (total 450 cans pr year) is 63,000 calories which is the equivalent to 18 pounds of fat. That's a lot to have to burn every year just to maintain your weight.

Weight at the end of day one life hack:                                      180lbs.
Weight senior year in high school:                                              165lbs

Introduction and Backround

I am creating this blog to post my results for a life Hacking experiment, That I am starting tomorrow November 26 2012. Everyday I will be tracking two statistics the first is a diet/health statistic in which I have built a list of foods that I currently eat that are unhealthy or high in calories if not both. These foods will have negative point values ranging from -1 to -5. There are also a few things such as Fruits, vegetables and multivitamin's that have a +1 value and two levels of cardio that are worth +2 points(15min) or + 5 points(30min) to off set the bad with a little healthy food and activity. Over time the hope is to reduce my intake of empty calories lose a few pounds and become healthier overall.

There will also be a missed opportunities statistic which will be a combination of opportunities that might be  social financial or anything that I feel like I should have done yet at the time decided to do nothing. This statistic will probably be hard to track and biased towards opportunities missed but we will see if over time I make more of an effort to take chances where in the past I have avoided the risk. My hope is that with this statistic I will start pushing myself to take more chances and see where that takes me.  

"If they didn’t measure their performance, how would they know if they improved? " -Todd Smith