Viraj's Weight Loss Journal

I know I have been lazy about keeping this up.
I went to the gym everyday this week, as usual. Been doing the normal 222 stories on the stairmaster in 50 minutes. Hovering around 220 pounds.

Today, I decided to step up the cardio. I increased the level on the stairmaster from 8 to 9.
Keeping the same 50 minutes, I know climb 240 stories, and burn 734 calories.

I also did a little weight training during lunch today.

I ate a banana and a peach for breakfast. Ramen for lunch. Some wheat and cheese crackers for a snack. Possibly cat fish for dinner.

I was in Columbus, and so missed the gym for the past 2 days.
Cut the lawn on Wednesday, so that sort of counts.
Went out last night for several games of pool.
Finished the 2nd Harry Potter book, and am on my way through the 3rd.

I had a vegetable omlette for breakfast. I thought about putting meat in it, but just the thought of it made me completely sick. Since I was at the airport early, I read most of my newspaper while slowly eating. Definately a nice way to start the morning.

Lunch was a little bit of chinese food. I wasn't really feeling it.

Got to the gym this afternoon, weighed in at 219 lbs. Not really sure how I did that. I sort of blame my recent stomache bug, but I feel like I've been eating semi normal since then.
50 minutes on the stairmaster, 222 floors, 670 calories, and I was completely out of breath. Not really sure why. Its been a long time since that has happened. I thought I had built up my stamina a lot, but it was all I could do to not give up.

Went to an Ironbirds baseball game at Ripken Stadium. Cute. I really liked the atmosphere. Nice family entertainment. Ate a footlong hotdog, and about a quarter of the bun. Also got a fresh squeezed lemonade

Back to potter :)

For breakfast, I at an apple, and half a granolla bar about an hour later.

I decided to go to the gym during lunch since I needed to get out of the office for a while. Jogged to the gym as a warm up, and then just did some incline dumbells and bicep curls. Walked back to the office.

Lunch was some indian cauliflower and a bowl of ramen.

After work, went to the gym, and did my 50 minutes on the stairmaster. 222 floors.
Today, the scale said 223.

Dinner was some indian zuchini and a bowl of plain yogurt.

I also got in a chapter of Harry Potter, book 2. (I know, this isn't a good start to my reading of the classics, however I had already decided to read the harry potter books since everyone I know seems to be a fan of the series.)

Got to bed at a reasonable hour of about 11. Woke up wednesday morning very tired at around 6. I need to work on getting that extra hour of sleep in.

In the past 5 months, I have been keeping this weight loss journal and in those 5 months I managed to lose 44 pounds. My starting weight was recorded at 267 lbs. Today, I am down to 223 lbs. I have decided that even though weight loss is still a goal, it is not as high as a priority as some other things. For example, every day for the past 5 months, I focused on lots of cardio to the point of ignoring muscle toning and building. At this point, I believe that working in the muscle toning is an important change to my workout schedule. I will not be giving up the cardio that I do, but instead of getting on that stairmaster every day and pounding out 200+ stories, I may start switching it up a bit. Also, I am not going to be following the diet as strictly as before, however that does not mean I will be going off it completely. In fact, I may stick to it for another month just to get me down to 210, the upper limit of what I think my ideal range should be.

This journal will also keep track of what I do to be a healthy person mentally as well. I used to be an avid reader, putting away books as fast as I could check them out of the library. In the past several years, this has gone downhill. I know my reading choices used to be on the science fiction/fantasy side, and I feel like it is time I should start reading the classics, the books that are always refferenced in our culture.

This journal will keep track time I give to myself, time where I get away from work and stress and just relax under the trees, or hike in the woods. Healthy living isn't about spending an hour at the gym every day. Its about balancing all aspects of life, taking pleasure where one can, finding calm in this hectic world, and living the life we want to.

Anyway, enough of the introduction. (I know I am starting this off with a lot of goals, but I feel like the beginning is going to be very similar to the last 5 months of this journal. Bear with me while I actually get my life moving in the direction I want it to.)