Born Squishy

Week In Review: 417

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:41:00 +0000

"Better late than never." ~ Unknown

The last few weeks haven't been easy... as you can imagine. Most of my time has been spent between preparing for my move back to Ontario (3500 km away), and trapped in my head with thoughts/emotions of the current situation. Even though we're the best of friends and the split was probably the most amicable in human history, there's a fair amount of stress and emotion that accompanies such a situation.

As far as my relationship with food/exercise and healthy living, my current self is coping FAR better than my former self would've, which is success in and of itself, and it's something that I can be very proud of.

Here's a condensed version of my review for last week.

By The Numbers:

Weight Loss/Gain = -2.5 lbs.
Body Fat % Loss/Gain = -.8%
Lean Body Mass Loss/Gain = Even

Overall Review:

Last week still managed to go according to plan. I maintained my routine with very little deviation and that is nothing short of spectacular considering my life at the moment.

I hope everyone else had a great week, and is currently having one (it is the weekend after all).

It's Time To Ramble On

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:29:00 +0000

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

It saddens me to announce that Sherri and I after 8 years are parting and heading our separate ways. Our break-up is completely amicable, with no blame to be laid, and probably years overdue, but that doesn't make it any easier.

It's taken me over a week to build up the courage to talk about this in my blog, which shouldn't be that hard since practically no one reads it. We both still love each other very much, but we both understand that it's the right decision to make. We've started the preparation for my return to Ontario. Leaving Sherri, her family and Newfoundland behind will undoubtedly be the hardest thing I've ever done, and it's only a few weeks away.

My friends Tera and John have graciously offered me a room at their house, which is great since I'm not sure where else I would have gone, especially since my job with Canada Post will be in limbo until the transfer papers go through... which might be measured in months as apposed to days or weeks.

Sherri made me promise that I would continue my journey on the road to healthy living, and reminded me about how far I've come. I was greatful that she did that, and I fully intend to honour that promise.

Remembrance

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Sat, 11 May 2013 04:04:00 +0000

"Tears water our growth." ~ Shakespeare

Two years ago this day my family, friends and I lost my father. It's hard to believe that two years have passed since that sad day. I continue to strive to make you proud.

You are never far from my thoughts pops. I miss you dearly.

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:01:00 +0000

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it."
~ John Ruskin

Well that and ice cream.

After lunch I went for my typical 6km walk. I put in an extra 36 mins on the elliptical during the Leafs game to burn 400 calories so I could enjoy a single scoop of Pralines & Cream ice cream from "Bergs Famous Ice Cream".

Single scoop, no cone.... Delicious and due to the extra workout.... GUILT FREE.

Week in Review: 416

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:13:00 +0000

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
~ Winston Churchill

~ Nick D. Kim (strange-matter.net) permission obtained.

By The Numbers:

Weight Loss/Gain = -2.3 lbs.
Body Fat % Loss/Gain = -.5%
Lean Body Mass Loss/Gain = -0.4 lbs

Overall Review:

What can I say besides I seem to be on a roll. The last couple of days during my weigh-in my BF% climbed by 1.5% for some unknown reason. Overall for the week I still achieved a BF loss of .5%, but my lean body mass took a hit of almost a 1/2 pound. If my BF% continues to trend high high my LBM could take a more significant hit this week. I'm not overly worried, but it's definitely something I'm keeping an eye on.

As for my guidelines, things were pretty much the same as the week before, with an extra red (and a few yellows) due to cheat meals. We ended up eating out 3 times this week, but I doubled my exercise on two of the cheat meal days to try and compensate for the transgression. Theoretically the bump in my BF% could be due to this, but the meals in question weren't incredibly bad for me (okay... higher in salt/fat, but not fast food), and I made up for it with extra exercise. I don't know... definitely something to keep in mind.

Another week down, another successful week to go. Have a great week everyone.

Goals and Guidelines:

As stated from the get go my overall goal is "To achieve mental & physical wellness by leading a consistent & healthy lifestyle". To be able to accomplish this goal I will have to focus on three key area's of my life:

1. Nutrition - 1st component of physical wellness
2. Fitness - 2nd component of physical wellness
3. Mental Health - the path to mental wellness

:Met/exceeded guideline
:Met or Almost meet guideline every day
:Failed to meet guideline

Here's how I did this week:

Nutrition Guidelines:

1. To log my meals and snacks daily. (Using BodyMedia "Activity Manager")
2. To drink +8, 8 oz glasses of water each day.
3. To eat 5-6 times daily.
4. To eat slowly, chew more and enjoy my food.
5. To consume 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetable each day.
6. To reduce sugar intake as a whole, with focus on reducing/eliminating refined sugars.
7. To reduce sodium intake to below 2300 mg/day.
8. To reduce/eliminate Saturated Fat and Trans Fats.
9. To reduce/eliminate MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated & Fractionated Oils, Artificial Flavours and Colouring, as well as any ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
10. To prepare and eat more meals @ home, while reducing dining out.
11. To eliminate visits to Fast Food Restaurants when dining out. (Banned List)
12. To find healthier alternatives to food I already consume.

Fitness Guidelines:

1. To upload my BodyMedia collected data daily.
2. To burn +2950 calories each day.
3. To burn +750 more calories than I consume.
4. To get +60 mins exercise each day (50 mins moderate & 10 mins Vigorous).
5. To walk +8000 Steps each day.
6. To purposely park father away from my destination.
7. To allocate 1 day a week to rest.

Mental Health Guidelines:

1. To get between 7-8 hrs sleep daily.
2. To allocate +15 mins daily to reading.
3. To listen to music often.
4. To research and start practicing meditation/relaxation techniques.
5. To take 2-3 mins every hour or so to take few deep breaths/stretch.
6. To organize and complete a weekly To-Do list.
7. To maintain my blog and relationships online.
8. To keep contact with my friends and family.
9. To have 1 cheat meal and desert each week.
10. To leave work @ work.

Don't Let The Lack of Posts Fool You.

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Thu, 02 May 2013 00:42:00 +0000

"I'm alive and doing well" ~ Five Man Electrical Band "Signs"

I'm on track this week... just haven't managed to post anything. Don't ever eat here:

Picture this anytime you start to think about the Golden Arches... BTW, I'm over 40 days without Fast Food and over 60 Days without Pop.

Week in Review: 415

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:04:00 +0000

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
~ Winston Churchill

~ Nick D. Kim (strange-matter.net) permission obtained.

By The Numbers:

Weight Loss/Gain = -2.0 lbs.
Body Fat % Loss/Gain = -.6%
Lean Body Mass Loss/Gain = Even

Overall Review:

Yet another successful week. Once again I accomplished what I set out to do. I managed to get a few red to yellow, and let a couple greens slip to yellows... not to shabby. I'm still doing a really crappy job of managing my time. I've been working pretty hard on trying to get my new website set up, and I've been pouring time into that when I could've spent some time posting on this one, and addressing other things like updating/completing my to-do list.

I changed the order of this review around a bit. I figured that most people only have a 30 second attention span, so I moved the "By The Numbers" and "Overall Review" up top before all the extra detailed stuff which everybody probably skips anyways.

It's actually Wednesday as I'm finally completing this, but through the magic of the internet I backdated it to Monday... Yay Interweb!

I hope everyone else had a great week! Keep on trucking.

Goals and Guidelines:

As stated from the get go my overall goal is "To achieve mental & physical wellness by leading a consistent & healthy lifestyle". To be able to accomplish this goal I will have to focus on three key area's of my life:

1. Nutrition - 1st component of physical wellness
2. Fitness - 2nd component of physical wellness
3. Mental Health - the path to mental wellness

:Met/exceeded guideline
:Met or Almost meet guideline every day
:Failed to meet guideline

Here's how I did this week:

Nutrition Guidelines:

1. To log my meals and snacks daily. (Using BodyMedia "Activity Manager")
2. To drink +8, 8 oz glasses of water each day.
3. To eat 5-6 times daily.
4. To eat slowly, chew more and enjoy my food.
5. To consume 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetable each day.
6. To reduce sugar intake as a whole, with focus on reducing/eliminating refined sugars.
7. To reduce sodium intake to below 2300 mg/day.
8. To reduce/eliminate Saturated Fat and Trans Fats.
9. To reduce/eliminate MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated & Fractionated Oils, Artificial Flavours and Colouring, as well as any ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
10. To prepare and eat more meals @ home, while reducing dining out.
11. To eliminate visits to Fast Food Restaurants when dining out. (Banned List)
12. To find healthier alternatives to food I already consume.

Fitness Guidelines:

1. To upload my BodyMedia collected data daily.
2. To burn +2950 calories each day.
3. To burn +750 more calories than I consume.
4. To get +60 mins exercise each day (50 mins moderate & 10 mins Vigorous).
5. To walk +8000 Steps each day.
6. To purposely park father away from my destination.
7. To allocate 1 day a week to rest.

Mental Health Guidelines:

1. To get between 7-8 hrs sleep daily.
2. To allocate +15 mins daily to reading.
3. To listen to music often.
4. To research and start practicing meditation/relaxation techniques.
5. To take 2-3 mins every hour or so to take few deep breaths/stretch.
6. To organize and complete a weekly To-Do list.
7. To maintain my blog and relationships online.
8. To keep contact with my friends and family.
9. To have 1 cheat meal and desert each week.
10. To leave work @ work.

Goals & Guidelines 2013

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:36:00 +0000

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." ~ Confucius Well here we are coming up on the 8th year of Bornsquishy... oh how time has flown by. Many moons ago I created some basic goals and guidelines, and I have built upon that foundation as the years have gone by. I realize that it's almost May, but it's still important to know what I wish to try and accomplish for the remainder of the year. The following are my updated Goals & Guidelines for 2013 which still focus on 3 categories: Fitness, nutrition & mental health (BALANCE).

At some point in the near future, I'll create a new post dedicated to each of the 3 categories outlining how I plan to accomplish the goals specific to that category using the S.M.A.R.T mnemonic.

Overall Fitness Goal: With my new job as a Mail Carrier for Canada Post, the need for improvement in my fitness level has become paramount. Being a Mail Carrier is a physically demanding job that will ultimately help me achieve my weight loss & fitness goals, yet it could also be my downfall if I don't lose weight to keep the abuse to my knee at a minimum. I need to increase my strength, stamina,

Fitness Activity Goals:
1. Complete the "One Hundred Push Ups Training Program"
2. Complete the "CIBC Run for the Cure"
3. To start rollerblading.
4. To start hiking (local trails).
5. To start Kayaking.
6. To start Snow Shoeing.

Fitness Guidelines:
1. To upload my BodyMedia collected data daily.
2. To burn +2950 calories each day.
3. To burn +750 more calories than I consume.
4. To get +60 mins exercise each day (50 mins moderate & 10 mins Vigorous).
5. To walk +8000 Steps each day.
6. To purposely park father away from my destination.
7. To allocate 1 day a week to rest.

Overall Nutrition Goals: I recognize that this is one area that needs to be completely overhauled in my life. The funny thing is that I actually well read and educated on the topic. My goal is to successfully use this knowledge and put it into action. Increasing my intake fruits and vegetables will be my biggest challenge.

Nutrition Guidelines:
1. To log my meals and snacks daily. (Using BodyMedia "Activity Manager")
2. To drink +8, 8 oz glasses of water each day.
3. To eat 5-6 times daily.
4. To eat slowly, chew more and enjoy my food.
5. To consume 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetable each day.
6. To reduce sugar intake as a whole, with focus on reducing/eliminating refined sugars.
7. To reduce sodium intake to below 2300 mg/day.
8. To reduce/eliminate Saturated Fat and Trans Fats.
9. To reduce/eliminate MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated & Fractionated Oils, Artificial Flavours & Colouring, ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
10. To prepare and eat more meals @ home, while reducing dining out.
11. To eliminate visits to Fast Food Restaurants when dining out. (Banned List)
12. To find healthier alternatives to food I already consume.

Overall Mental Health Goals: In the past I've allowed stress to build up without a means of coping with it beyond the comfort of food... I've always been an emotional eater. My new goal is a two pronged approach. Firstly I need to reduce the overall stress in my life. Secondly I need to create new coping mechanisms to deal more effectively with stress. Achieving/following my above fitness goals/guidelines would be a great start.

Mental Health Guidelines:
1. To get between 7-8 hrs sleep daily.
2. To allocate +15 mins daily to reading.
3. To listen to music often.
4. To research and start practicing meditation/relaxation techniques.
5. To take 2-3 mins every hour or so to take few deep breaths/stretch.
6. To organize and complete a weekly To-Do list.
7. To maintain my blog and relationships online.
8. To keep contact with my friends and family.
9. To have 1 cheat meal and desert each week.
10. To leave work @ work.

P.S: Sherri wanted to know where the "Sherri" category was and I had to explain to her that she was an integral part of the other 3 categories.... to which her response was "but where is the buy Sherri presents goal?". It's going to be a long year....lol.

I plan to update/modify this list throughout the year!

Blazing a Trail

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:33:00 +0000

"Yay me." ~ BornSquishy

I'm so proud of myself today. I went for my regular 5.9 km walk, but I decided to really push myself. I started off walking as fast as my legs would carry me. I didn't really intend to blast through the whole walk, but that's exactly what I ended up doing. My poor calf muscles and shins were screaming at me to slow down, but I dug down deep and power through the pain.

Here's what I have to show for my effort:

I managed to set an average pace of 6.75 km/h or 4.19 mph which is pretty dam quick for walking. I have no intentions of trying to beat this time for at least another 3-6 months. To be honest I don't think I can walk any faster unless I grow longer legs or start doing that crazy speed walking.

I didn't think it was possible to sweat sooooo much from walking. People watching me must of had a good chuckle seeing my arms pumping like mad, and the look of pained determination on my face.

Blast From the Past

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:59:00 +0000

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
~ Mother Teresa

One of the recent documentaries that I watched recommended gathering up photographs from a time where you were happier with your self image to help you visualize what you will look like as you progress towards your weight loss goal.

Easier Said than done.

It took me awhile, but I was able to dig up 2 photographs that I have always been happy with. Here they are:

1998 Photo: was taken the day my brother was getting married. I was 25 years old at the time and I had recently lost about 20 pounds. My self confidence was pretty high and although I still had a high body fat percentage, I was far more at ease in my own skin. This was also the only time in my life where my weight remained below 220 lbs. for an extended period of time.

1989 Photo: was taken on a trip to Virgina Beach. I was only 16 at the time. The picture is a bit blurry because the picture was taken from a long distance away, and in reality I'm only about 3/4" tall in the picture. I cropped the photo and zoomed in to obtain what you see above.

It was during my previous 2 years that I had put on a ton of weight, but by this point I had really started to come around. I was far more active and I had also near the end of my last growth spurt (I was only 5 feet tall when I started High School and I was probably about 5' 9" in this photo). This photo is the only picture I have without a t-shirt on past the age of around 8. This was also one of the only times I've ever gone shirtless in public. I can remember being surprised at just how athletic I looked in the image (remember I was only 3/4" in the real picture) and I felt good about myself.

Body Fat %: Although the listed weight is almost dead on, the body fat percentage range listed represents my best guess based on the many years I've kept track of my BF% since obtaining my scale, and from the following image found here:

I'm keeping both of these pictures at my computer desk to help me visualize what I will look like in the not too distant future. Visualizing a better you helps to break down the self image barriers that those of us who struggle with weight tend to have. Hopefully these pictures will help me do just that.

Week in Review: 414

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:20:00 +0000

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
~ Winston Churchill

~ Nick D. Kim (strange-matter.net) permission obtained.

As stated from the get go my overall goal is "To achieve mental & physical wellness by leading a consistent & healthy lifestyle". To be able to accomplish this goal I will have to focus on three key area's of my life:

1. Nutrition - 1st component of physical wellness
2. Fitness - 2nd component of physical wellness
3. Mental Health - the path to mental wellness

:Met/exceeded guideline
:Met or Almost meet guideline every day
:Failed to meet guideline

Nutrition Guidelines:

1. To log my meals and snacks daily. (Using BodyMedia "Activity Manager")
2. To drink +8, 8 oz glasses of water each day.
3. To eat 5-6 times daily.
4. To eat slowly, chew more and enjoy my food.
5. To consume 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetable each day.
6. To reduce sugar intake as a whole, with focus on reducing/eliminating refined sugars.
7. To reduce sodium intake to below 2300 mg/day.
8. To reduce/eliminate Saturated Fat and Trans Fats.
9. To reduce/eliminate MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated & Fractionated Oils, Artificial Flavours and Colouring, as well as any ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
10. To prepare and eat more meals @ home, while reducing dining out.
11. To eliminate visits to Fast Food Restaurants when dining out. (Banned List)
12. To find healthier alternatives to food I already consume.

Fitness Guidelines:

1. To upload my BodyMedia collected data daily.
2. To burn +2950 calories each day.
3. To burn +750 more calories than I consume.
4. To get +60 mins exercise each day (50 mins moderate & 10 mins Vigorous).
5. To walk +8000 Steps each day.
6. To purposely park father away from my destination.
7. To allocate 1 day a week to rest.

Mental Health Guidelines:

1. To get between 7-8 hrs sleep daily.
2. To allocate +15 mins daily to reading.
3. To listen to music often.
4. To research and start practicing meditation/relaxation techniques.
5. To take 2-3 mins every hour or so to take few deep breaths/stretch.
6. To organize and complete a weekly To-Do list.
7. To maintain my blog and relationships online.
8. To keep contact with my friends and family.
9. To have 1 cheat meal and desert each week.
10. To leave work @ work.

By The Numbers:

Weight Loss/Gain = -3.0 lbs.
Body Fat % Loss/Gain = -.5%
Lean Body Mass Loss/Gain = -2.9 lbs.

Overall Review:

Another successful week. I ate well, I exercised, I recorded my meals, and I was rewarded with a 3 lb weight loss and another .5% of body fat loss. I did however take a rather large hit to my LBM, but my hope is that it's more of a fluctuation rather than actual muscle loss. I'm not too concerned right now, but I'll definitely keep my eye on it.

As for the red X's above there are quite a few that were repeats from last week, but a couple I managed to move over to yellow. I'm not overly concerned about this right now as I don't want to try and change every aspect of my life all at once and overwhelm my efforts. Baby steps will get me there eventually and it's working well so far.

Full steam ahead... I hope everyone else had a great week!

Knee'd a Reason to Lose Weight? - "Did You Know" #1

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:47:00 +0000

Late Night Scramble

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:28:00 +0000

"Better late than never" ~ Proverb

Sherri's niece was over for the weekend and we had a blast. For the most part I was very careful about what I ate, and while I had a few minor deviations, I made up for them with healthy choices and extra exercise.

Today was my rest day, which is to say that I don't do anything strenuous, but I don't completely loaf out for the entire day. I like to at least get in some mild exercise. Well that's how the plan started. I made it until supper time without doing anything other than a few stairs to get to the bathroom. After supper our niece wanted to buy us some ice cream as a thank-you and only to be polite I agreed (okay... I wanted the ice cream). I ordered a single scoop of Pralines and Cream in cup to avoid the extra calories of having it in a cone, and I forwent the extra toppings.

We watched a movie while eating our ice cream and once the movie finished I decided to plug my body media device in to see where I was at for the day. I was only slightly over my daily target for calories consumed, but I was way below my calories burned target.

So at 10:30pm I put on a documentary called "Tapped" (will be added to the movie link soon) and climbed aboard the elliptical determined to not let the ice cream impact my stellar week. I ended up logging almost 70 mins, and spent another 5+ mins pacing behind the couch to cool down.

In the end I'm still going to fall a bit shy of my target of burning +750 more calories than I consume, but that's fine..... it is my rest day after all.

Product Review: Starfrit Kitchen Scale

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:23:00 +0000

"Guessing is no substitute for knowing." ~ BornSquishy

I have a pretty uncanny spacial ability. When it comes to packing up a vehicle I've jokingly refereed to myself as the "master packer". When I say a vehicle is full, it's full. When I need a wrench for a bolt I can usually pick up the right one for the job the first time. When I'm building something I can accurately guess how much lumber I'll need. When it comes to leftovers I can pick out the perfect container to hold it. Need a cup of milk I don't need to measure..... or do I?

Guessing the size of a wrench doesn't really matter. If you grab the wrong one you simply put it back and grab the next smaller or larger one, which also applies to the leftovers. Guessing the amount of lumber needed incorrectly can result in either another trip to the store or extra lumber for your next project.

When it comes to food guessing truly is no substitute for knowing. Being off by a little can cause you to consume far more calories in a day than expected and it can sabotage your efforts and ultimately discourage you from trying.

While measuring cups are useful and accurate, I find my Starfrit scale to be easier, quicker and indispensable.

Manufacturer: Starfrit
Product Name: Electronic Kitchen Scale
Model: 0930160030000
Size: W 5.75" x D 8" x H 2"
Weight: Less than 3 lbs
Manual: PDF
Cost: $29.99
My Rating: 10 out of 10

Description:
- Capacity : 5 kg / 11 lb
- Accuracy : 1.0 g / 0.05 oz
- Tempered glass platform
- Automatic conversion feature (imperial / metric)
- Zero and tare functions
- Uses one 9 V battery (not-included)

Warranty: 1yr with proof of purchase.

Buttons - There's only 3: "Unit", "Z/T", and "On/Off".

Unit - Changes the unit of measurement from kilograms (kg.) to pounds (lbs.), to ounces (oz.).
Z/T - Stands for "Zero / Tear" which simply zero's out the weight currently on the scale (explained in more detail soon).
On/Off - If I had to explain this button there'd be noway that you'd be reading this right now.

PRODUCT REVIEW

Ease of Use - This scale is REALLY easy to use. Turn it on, wait for it to zero, put something on it, choose your unit of measurement, done. If you want to weight something in a container or on a plate, either put the container/plate on the scale before you turn it on, and it will zero the weight out before you start weighing, or put the container/plate on the scale after it zero's out and press the "Z/T" button to zero the weight of the container/plate.

If I'm making a sandwich for work here's what I do:

Put 2 slices of bread on a plate.
Put the plate on the scale and turn it on.
Wait a few seconds for the scale to zero out.
Add some sort of meat and record weight.
Press "Z/T" to zero out the weight.
Add cheese and record the weight.
Press "Z/T" again to zero out the weight.
Continue the weigh/record/"Z/T" process for any number of ingredients.
Wrap up my sandwich
Wipe of the crumbs and put the plate away.
Turn off the scale and put it away.
Done

The process barely adds any time at all to preparing my lunch. I eluded to the fact that using this scale was easier than measuring cups, when I put peanut butter on my toast I'm able to simple spread it onto my toast and weight it as apposed to scoping it in and out of a measuring cup before being able to spread it on... and you still have to wash the measuring cup when all is said and done. Rating: 10/10

Power - I love the fact that you don't have to plug it in. It takes up less space, you don't need to wrap up the power cord, find an outlet, and it takes less time to put away. It takes a single 9 V battery and while I haven't used it a lot until recently, I've had the battery in it for over a year and it's still going, so battery consumption is pretty low. Rating: 5/5

Storage - Another thing I really like about this scale is that it stands up on it's side so it only takes up 2" worth of space. Not having a power cord also makes putting it away easier, and takes up less space too. Rating: 5/5

RATING TOTAL - 20/20

The good: Inexpensive, easy to use, does what it's supposed to do.

The bad:I honestly don't have anything bad to say about this product. If I come across anything I'll be sure to update this post and possibly the rating.

The bottom line: You really can't go wrong with this product. It takes all the guessing out of calorie counting and it's a fabulous product.

Here's a few other reviews that I managed to find:
http://www.amazon.com
http://reviews.homedepot.ca/1998/949796/reviews.htm

P.S - In regards to the quote "Guessing is no substitute for knowing", well here's a few examples:

Example 1 - 1 Tbsp of my 100% Peanut butter weights 15 grams and has 100 calories. A mistake as small as 5 grams puts you off by 33% which is over 33 calories. If you put 2 tbsp's on your toast like I do that's over 66 calories each breakfast, 466 calories a week, 1866 calories a month, which equates to more than a half a pound. All that for overestimating a tbsp of peanut butter.

Example 2 - 85g of the whole wheat pasta I use contains 310 calories. A mistake as small as 15g puts you off by 55 calories, and thats for only one ingredient of the meal.

Remember the guy with the uncanny spacial abilities? Well after using the scale religiously for the last few weeks, I can tell you that he was off by more in both the above examples. Using a scale and recording my meals/snacks is a big reason why I'm being very successful lately.

Week in Review: 413

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:05:00 +0000

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
~ Winston Churchill

~ Nick D. Kim (strange-matter.net) permission obtained.

As stated from the get go my overall goal is "To achieve mental & physical wellness by leading a consistent & healthy lifestyle". To be able to accomplish this goal I will have to focus on three key area's of my life:

1. Nutrition - 1st component of physical wellness
2. Fitness - 2nd component of physical wellness
3. Mental Health - the path to mental wellness

:Met/exceeded guideline
:Met or Almost meet guideline every day
:Failed to meet guideline

Nutrition Guidelines:

1. To log my meals and snacks daily. (Using BodyMedia "Activity Manager")
2. To drink +8, 8 oz glasses of water each day.
3. To eat 5-6 times daily.
4. To eat slowly, chew more and enjoy my food.
5. To consume 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetable each day.
6. To reduce sugar intake as a whole, with focus on reducing/eliminating refined sugars.
7. To reduce sodium intake to below 2300 mg/day.
8. To reduce/eliminate Saturated Fat and Trans Fats.
9. To reduce/eliminate MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated & Fractionated Oils, Artificial Flavours and Colouring, as well as any ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
10. To prepare and eat more meals @ home, while reducing dining out.
11. To eliminate visits to Fast Food Restaurants when dining out. (Banned List)
12. To find healthier alternatives to food I already consume.

Fitness Guidelines:

1. To upload my BodyMedia collected data daily.
2. To burn +2950 calories each day.
3. To burn +750 more calories than I consume.
4. To get +60 mins exercise each day (50 mins moderate & 10 mins Vigorous).
5. To walk +8000 Steps each day.
6. To purposely park father away from my destination.
7. To allocate 1 day a week to rest.

Mental Health Guidelines:

1. To get between 7-8 hrs sleep daily.
2. To allocate +15 mins daily to reading.
3. To listen to music often.
4. To research and start practicing meditation/relaxation techniques.
5. To take 2-3 mins every hour or so to take few deep breaths/stretch.
6. To organize and complete a weekly To-Do list.
7. To maintain my blog and relationships online.
8. To keep contact with my friends and family.
9. To have 1 cheat meal and desert each week.
10. To leave work @ work.

By The Numbers:

Weight Loss/Gain = -4.2 lbs.
Body Fat % Loss/Gain = -.9%
Lean Body Mass Loss/Gain = +1.3 lbs.

Overall Review:

I couldn't be happier with the success I had this week. The numbers speak for themselves, but more important than the numbers is how good I feel.... and look. My energy has increased, I feel lighter on my feet, I look slimmer, I sleep better, my stomach feels better, and I look forward to starting my day more.

I passed the dreaded 230 lbs. mark that I tend to bottom out at, and I've now 1.3% below my original starting body fat percentage all those years ago. Everything just feels right this time.

As for the red X's above there are a few that I didn't focus on enough and a couple that I just plain neglected. The only one that I made some improvement on was eating more fruit and vegetables. I really struggle on this one because I really don't enjoy many vegetables and I'm picky when it comes to fruit. This is one aspect that I can't change overnight, but I am trying to make changes daily. It's my hope that in a few weeks I might be able to move this over to yellow, and then continue to make additional changes to hit green. As for the other red X's, I'll be putting more focus on them this week.

A lot of my success has come from being diligent with recording my meals, and looking for healthier alternatives to some of my staples. It's amazing how much you can be off if you're guessing, which I plan to discuss soon.

I plan to keep things pretty much the same for the next week. I hope everyone else had a great week!

Lean Body Mass

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:20:00 +0000

"It's simple. if it jiggles, it's fat" ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

I've used this quote in the past, but it's relevant when discussing Lean Body Mass or LBM as I'll refer to it from here on in. The below post is long winded, but I promise it's chalked full of useful information.

What is LBM?

"That part of the body including all its components except neutral storage lipid; in essence, the fat-free mass of the body." ~ Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers

Or more simply put, LBM is everything else in your body other than fat. Skin, blood, bones, muscle, organs, these are all things that are part of your LBM.

Why is knowing your LBM important?

Knowing your current LBM can help determine your goal weight, and in my opinion it's far more accurate than using the Body Mass Index (BMI), which I loath and discussed numerous times, specifically in a past post "BMI can BMA" (Bite My Ass).
Knowing your LBM and keeping track of it while your losing weight can help ensure your weight loss is from unwanted fat and not from muscle.

Both of these points are discussed in more detail later on.

How do you calculate your LBM?

It's actually not very hard, but you do need to know your body fat % first. As stated in the past, I use a Tanita scale and have found it to be very accurate and reliable. To calculate your LBM use the following formula:

LBM = Your Body Weight – (Your Body Weight x Your Current Body Fat Percentage)

Here's how my current LBM was calculated:
LBM = 233.4 - (233.4 x 33.8%)
LBM = 154.5 lbs.

So if it was possible to strip every ounce of fat of my body right now, I would still weigh 154.5 lbs.

Determining your goal weight:

To do this you first need to know what a healthy body fat range is and then take into account how trim you want to be, or more importantly how hard you want/need to work to maintain that percentage of body fat.

This chart found here is based on data collected from a study called "Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index" conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72:694–701).

According to this chart the "Acceptable Range" is between 10 - 20%.

Obviously the lower your body fat, the more work you need to put in to maintain it. So with my LBM of 154.5 and my goal of 15% body fat the following formula is used to determine my goal weight:

Goal Weight = Current LBM / (1 - Goal Body Fat %)

Here's what my goal weight works out to:
Goal Weight = 154.5 / (1 - 15%)
Goal Weight = 154.5 / .85
Goal Weight = 181.76 lbs.
Goal Weight = 182 lbs.

Remember my mentioned disdain of BMI, well according to the World Health Organizations (WHO) BMI chart found here on Wikipedia, someone of my height (5' 10") would need to weigh between between 130 - 170 lbs to be in the "Normal Range". Based on my current LBM, 170 lbs would put me just under 5% body fat, which is a typical fat percentage of a fitness cover model... and that's just to get into the very edge of "normal".

The main reason the BMI fails to be accurate is because it never takes body fat into consideration which is even stated in the conclusion of the above listed study:

The developed provisional equations and tables in this report can fill an information gap because no comparable percentage body fat ranges exist for review for evaluation of potentially misclassified subjects referred for body-composition analysis.

Finally the scientific community agrees with something I've been saying since 2006.

Ensuring weight loss is from unwanted fat and not muscle:

Weight loss is great, but only when it's in the form of fat. Our muscles keep us strong and they burn more calories than fat. Changes in your LBM indicates one of the following 3 things:

LBM increases = muscle gain
LBM stays the same = no muscle loss or gain
LBM decreases = loss of muscle

Basically if you lose weight and your LBM is the same or higher it's safe to assume that your weight loss was from fat without sacrificing muscle.

Where does water fall into the equation between LBM and Fat?

This was something I found myself asking as well. Initially I assumed that water would be part of the LBM, but after some digging I realized my error... it belongs to both, but primarily LBM.

Up to 60% of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight, as is the brain; body fat contains 10% water and bone has 22% water. About 83% of our blood is water. - USGS

With fat only containing 10% water, the remainder of the water is spread throughout the body which comprises all of our LBM. It's safe to say that if your hydration level is off during your weigh-in that your LBM number will effected more than your body fat percentage will. Lets face it our hydration level can change significantly from week to week (especially for women), and will effect both weight and body fat readings, which are both used in our LBM calculations.

One thing to note is that muscle it not something we lose or gain quickly. It's pretty safe to assume that if your LBM is varying slightly week to week it's more often than not due to variations in hydration, where as downward or upward trends of your LBM over a longer period of time probably indicate that the loss or gain is due to muscle.

Additional Reading:

I happened to stumble upon a great article here from www.builtlean.com that helped me get a better sense of body fat percentages and what different percentages would look like on my body. Hope you find it as helpful as I did.

2 Documentaries Well Worth Watching

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:51:00 +0000

"You know what your problem is, it's that you haven't seen enough movies - all of life's riddles are answered in the movies." ~ Steve Martin

Over the last few days I've watched 2 excellent movies: "Hungry For Change", and "Farmageddon". Both movies are available on Netflix, and more information about them is available via the Movie button on my nav bar.

There is currently a ton of documentaries currently available that are relevant to this blog, so I might be watching a few more soon.

P.S: Food consumed via the T.V contains no calories, fat, artificial colours or flavours, MSG, Sodium, or any other scientific sounding ingredient.

P.S.S: I actually paced around the room while I watched Farmageddon to burn some extra calories.

Pain in the Shin

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:53:00 +0000

"Shin: Device for finding furniture in the dark" ~ Unkown

Went for 2 walks today for a total of 7.45 km. I seem to be getting shin splints a lot more frequently as the week has progressed. I'm actually hoping I don't get called in tomorrow so I can give my leg muscles a rest from walking. I might try to mix up my walking with the elliptical until I build up a bit more strength.

I have no less than 3 in various stages of completion. It seems my A.D.D has been taking me in a few different directions, but at least I'm working on my blog, and keeping busy.

Hope everyone is having as good a week as I am.

Walking in the Drizzle Ma Nizzle

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:18:00 +0000

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." ~ Dolly Parton

So far this week has been a huge success. On Monday I went for a walk in the morning and at night for a total of 5.73 km. Tuesday I went for a 6.17 km walk. Today I pushed myself even further and went for a 10.25 km walk.

I've been eating much better and everything is going according to plan. Here's a peek at todays walk:

I also watched a great documentary called "Hungry For Change". Great movie. To learn a bit more about it and watch a preview visit my movie page.

Week in Review

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:44:00 +0000

"Every day you wake up and your elbows don't hit wood, your in good shape." ~ Quincy Jones

Well I couldn't ask for a much better start. I lost 2 lbs and 1.2% BF which resulted in a 1.5 lb gain to my lean body mass. Pretty friggin' good if I do say so myself.

If you're wondering about the reference to lean body mass (what it is, why it matters, and why I'm watching it), I'll be talking about that in my next post.

Walkabout

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:03:00 +0000

"My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is." ~ Ellen DeGeneres

I had a very interesting and successful day today. It started out with a phone call early in the morning with great news. The phone call which I'd love to share with you has to do with the same reason I left my security job, and both will be reveled after April 15th.

Energetic from the phone call I got out of bed, had a healthy breakfast and took care of some minor stuff waiting for a call into work. Noon came and went without a call from work, so I figured it was safe bet that I wasn't going to be called in. Since I wasn't going to get any exercise from work I decided to go for a long walk, which turned into more of a walkabout, in the sense that I had know idea where I was going, or where I'd end up.

Here's a screenshot from my RunKeeper account:

The walk started with a planned stop at the post office which is the furthest spot south-west on my route map. Once I picked up my mail I decided to head back and over to the Manuels River. In the past I've taken a trail that heads along the southern part of the river and only takes about 15 mins to complete. I felt like a change so I figured I'd try out the northern section of the trail (knowing nothing about it). The trail is pretty hilly, but it's well maintained. Thankfully most of the climbs and decents were aided with timbre steps.

Around the mid-point between the 3km and 4km marker the trail came right down to the rivers edge, which was way higher due to tons of rain and melted snow. I had to carefully step and jump from spot to spot to avoid getting wet. Hurdle #1 cleared

About 5 mins later the trail started to climb up higher and I came to a fork in the trail. I had the choice of following the main trail that looked like it headed east and possibly back out to a road, or turn left and continue north towards the ocean. My hope was (A) that the left trail would go all the way to the ocean, and (B) that there was a way to cross to the other side of the river, and (C) find a trail heading back in the opposite direction. That was a lot to hope for, so naturally I chose the latter.

The side trail wasn't as well maintained or traveled, but it was still fun. At the 4km marker the trail ended at Worsley Park which I didn't even know existed until I arrived. The park led down to the ocean/beach*, and extended across to the other side of the river... well most of the way, which meant that both (A) and (B) worked out.

*Beach - For those of you not familiar with Newfoundland the majority of our beaches are rocky, although we do have a few sandy ones.

To get across to the other side I ended up removing my shoes/socks, rolled up my pants up to mid-thigh and waded through the fast running bitterly cold water. Luckily it only came up a bit above my knee's. Hurdle #2 cleared

Once I was successfully on the other side I sat down on a rock facing the sun and waited a bit for my legs/feet to dry off before putting my socks/shoes on. While I was waiting I took the following 360 degree (shaky) video which starts looking from over my left shoulder.

I had to climb up that big hill that was mostly loose rock/dirt and I managed to eventually find a very narrow overgrown trail that headed in the right direction. Hurdle #3 cleared

This is the trail before it got to narrow to take a picture

The trail started off high above the water, but shortly took a turn down a slope towards the water... actually into the water. I now had 2 options: (A) walk +4kms back the way I came, or (B) Head through the bush and hope I could pick up the trail somewhere further north of my present point. Since it was still early in the day, and I had both the sun and river to guide me I once again chose the latter and plunged into the bush.

To say that the tree's were dense was an understatement. If you take all the empty space out of the above picture and replaced it with trees that would give you a pretty good idea. I couldn't see anything in front, behind or to either side. Half the time I couldn't even see my feet. Good thing I'm not closterphobic.

Fifteen minutes into the bush I started to second guess my decision. I could no longer see/hear the water and what felt like a 1km trek was probably only 50m of progress. I was about to turn around when I managed to see this:

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that no one has ever taken a picture from this particular spot. With the tiny bit of open space and another glimpse of the river I plunged once again into the bush with renewed determination.

Another 15 or 20 mins later I came out of the bush and into back corner of someones backyard which was a huge surprise to me. I followed their property line out onto the road which was called "Smith's Place"(North of the 5km marker on my Runkeeper map). Disappointed as I was for being unable to locate the other side of the trail, I was relieved that Smith had built this Place because I was really fed up of eating trees.
Hurdle #4 cleared

I stopped for a few minutes to empty the pine needles out of my jacket, shirt, pants and shoes. Don't ask me how, but both of my shoe laces were un-looped and knotted... I really should've taken a picture.

With the pine needles removed and shoes un-knotted I made the much easier 2km trek home.

Work Pays in More Ways Than One.

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:48:00 +0000

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

I received a call for work around 11:30 am, started my shift at 12:10 and worked until 4:10 pm. In that 4 hr period I managed to walk over 12,000 steps, and burned over 1500 calories. Here's a screenshot from part my Bodymedia activity manager:

By the end of the day I burned a total of 4141 calories, by getting 3hrs 40mins worth of activity, which translated into 14,995 steps, and that's only from a half day of work and other normal daily routines.

I consumed 2205 calories which means I burned 1936 calories more than I consumed. There's 3500 calories in 1 lb which means I roughly burnt over a half of pound in one day.... not bad a bad day if I do say so myself.

Official Weigh-In

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:55:00 +0000

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." ~ T.S Eliot

Well my first jump on the scale gave me the following news: 235.4 lbs @ 35% BF. With just a bit over 24 weeks before my 40th birthday that means that I would have to lose 1.48 lbs & .42% BF each week to hit my goal of 200 lbs @ 25% BF.... very doable.

I reactivated my Bodymedia account and started wearing my armband again, which should help me enormously for keeping on track. I'll have more to share soon.... just wanted to throw out a quick update.

April Fools

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:16:00 +0000

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." ~ Samuel Beckett

As it turns out I'm the fool on this day... but with a renewed effort, maybe I can change that.

Well it's been a bit over 9 months since I last posted...... AGAIN. I know.... Big Surprise.

As it stands now there's only a bit over 6 months before I turn 40. The big 4 Oh no. In my minds eye I always envisioned myself being at my healthiest before hitting this landmark....being able to say I'm healthier than I was at 20.

40 yrs old has always been my line in the sand. I can stand idle no more.... I simply don't have the time left to do so.

My security job helped keep the weight off, but that all changed around the end of September when I left my job for reasons I will discuss at a later date. I did however manage to land a position with Canada Post as a letter carrier, which is awesome on a lot of levels. The Canada Post job is even more physically demanding than the security job, but since all Canada Post employees start off as temporary on call positions, which means my exercise became as sporadic as my work schedule..... and with that my old eating habits returned.

My new job does have advantages though. My pay is more than double, and I will have full benifits & a pension once I become part or full time. On average I'd say that I walk the same or more than the security job, and much of that walking is done up/down hills and stairs, carrying 5 - 35 lbs worth of mail. It's amazing how much of a difference working outdoors makes, even if the weather sucks 3/4's of the time.

Although I haven't weighed myself in a long time, it's safe to say that I'm no longer 226.5 lbs @ 32.4% BF. I plan to weigh myself tomorrow, so only time will tell, but I suspect that I'm back up to around 235 lbs @ 36% BF... we'll see... fingers crossed and hope for the best.

A few weeks ago I managed to work a full week, and man was I exhausted and sore at the end of that week, especially my knee. It made me realize that it's only a matter of time before my knee gives out for good, and at my current weight and fitness level that day will come sooner, rather than later if I don't do something about it.

With my 40th Just around the corner (Sept. 19th... less than 6 months), and the life expectancy of my knee I really am at a very important crossroad in my life.

Here are my 2 main goals that I want to hit before Sept. 19th, 2013:

Goal #1 - Weight 200 lbs
Goal #2 - Body Fat 25%

To achieve this I will have to lose about 1.5 lbs & .42% BF each week, which isn't an unreasonable target by any means. Exact numbers will depend on my weigh-in tomorrow.

The line in the sand was drawn long ago, and the timer is already counting down. This is it. I will succeed.

noreply@blogger.com (BornSquishy) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:29:00 +0000

"Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment." - Ross Perot

Although I've been slacking off on my posts, it hasn't been due to with a lack of success or self-discipline. With the exception of posting on my blog, everything is still going as planned. My new job continues to help me shed excess weight, and far exceed my daily fitness goals. I'm eating better than I ever have before and my energy level is much higher than I can remember for a very long time.

This week I managed to lose 2.2 lbs and .6% body fat, which I very proud of. After my similar success last week I decided to increase my protein intake, because I was worried that I might be metabolizing muscle due to the amount of calories I was burning each day. On average I consume around 2500 calories each day, and burn around 4300. I've made small increases to my protein intake via food, but the bulk of the increase is from consuming a whey isolate protein drink (2 servings), which I drink 1/3 of it with each meal.

Well that's all the time I have right now. I hope everyone is well & succeeding with your own personal goals.