Today, I feel a bit discouraged.  I feel like I have done everything right so far.  I am at a point after only about 10 days into the contest where many people would quit.

I have hit a "plateau" and here's my opinion of why:

When you are heavy, your short-term day-to-day weight stays (or appears to stay) roughly the same.  This is regardless of whether you eat an extra slice of pizza or a few more chicken wings or drink another beer.  This is the lifestyle most of us experienced just a month ago.  A comfort zone with food.  Our body metabolism had adjusted to a steady-state condition.  And a BIG steady state. (like Texas)

Now, after getting immediate and significant results in weight loss the first week, my weight has stayed the same for about 4 days straight - give or take a half-pound.  Why is this a cause of concern?  Why is this a reason to quit?

First, I have been eating so well.  Nothing bad for me.  Nothing that would make me GAIN weight.  Why aren't I losing weight faster?

Second, I have been averaging 6 miles a day on the treadmill.  My sweaty T-shirt probably weighs 5 pounds when I'm done.  Pounds should be falling off of my body every day, right?

If nothing is happening, why not just return to my comfort zone?  (After all, I do miss pizza)

Realistically, I began this program in far-from-perfect physical condition.  High body fat, extra inches where they shouldn't be, not as much energy as I should have.

Since my energy has now increased and I am not tired after my workouts anymore, I have decided to forget thinking about the pure weight loss number, at least in the short term.  Continue to plug along on my plans with both diet and exercise and the weight number should drop.

Let's see if my sinister, diabolical experiment of simple patience works... [wrings hands]

As this program falls into place, I am feeling the immense benefits every day.

Yesterday, after 90 minutes on the treadmill - almost 6.5 miles because I ran a couple of 1/4 mile intervals in addition to my brisk walk - I went home and had a light dinner.  I don't have a big appetite late in the day because I "graze" all day on fruit, veggies and other healthy snacks - all before my 5 o'clock workout.

Dinner was nothing more than baked spaghetti squash, treated like "regular" spaghetti and served with a homemade, healthy marinara sauce.  (I still went light on the sauce)

Once dinner was over, a surge of energy hit me.  I packed up the balance of the triple-batch of marinara into one quart containers - eight quarts total!  I straightened up the kitchen, did the dishes, and did four loads of laundry.  No complaints from my poor, dear girlfriend who went to bed early.  Work has been making her exhausted.

I was keyed up until after 11 pm, all without any caffeine or other stimulant.  Not even an energy drink.

After my workout yesterday, I was thinking about how many calories I am burning.  After checking several sources of how to calculate this value, my conclusion was anywhere from 500 to 1,000 calories per workout.  This is based on my current weight, workout duration and distance traveled.  Since I know I am eating from 1,700 to 2,000 calories on an average day lately (and confirmed by Vitabot), there is only one variable left in the equation:  How much am I burning up during the part of the day when I am NOT exercising?  This is the Basal Metabolic Rate (or BMR) which is defined as:

"The rate at which energy is used by an organism at complete rest, measured in humans by the heat given off per unit time, and expressed as the calories released per kilogram of body weight or per square meter of body surface per hour." (Source:  Free Dictionary on-line)

There are numerous BMR calculators available online - from simple to complicated.  I tried several different ones on several different websites to see how consistent the results were.  A common result came out to be about 1,885 calories per day based on my current weight.

How, I can do ALL of the math:  If I can burn 1,000 calories a day, eat about 1,885 calories - which my BMR will cancel out, I will have a calorie deficit of 1,000.  A deficit of this value will burn a pound of fat every 3 and a half days -  or two pounds a week.

Remember what Jamie at LEAN said at the first weigh-in?  One pound of fat is about 3,500 calories.

This has me psyched up.  If I simply continue doing what I am currently doing for another six months, I WILL drop two pounds a week without any further changes.  Although I am eating healthy, I am never hungry.  I am working out in manageable, workout sessions that should be sustainable.  There is no way to trick the math.  The math does not lie.

Thanks to an article in Friday's News-Herald, I was especially inspired to do my miles today at the mall.  Although the mall walking program is voluntary, i.e. anybody can go there anytime and walk, I signed up at the Simon customer service booth anyway.  Joining gets you email notifications of mall events, typically health-related, and a few other perks (I think even a decoder ring).

Mall walking solved my bad weather problem.  Since I work 20 miles from my home, I really did not want to either skip doing my weekend miles nor drive all that way to work on my days off just to use the gym.

With yesterday being a somewhat low-activity day, I showed up at the mall at about 9 am and cranked out 7 miles taking just under 100 minutes to complete it.  My pace was as fast as I can walk, perhaps up to 4.5 miles per hour at times.  This was a welcome relief from the boredom of the treadmill.  Plus, I was a good boy.  I closed both nostrils passing through the food court and looked the other way when passing Victoria's Secret, stumbling into a potted plant or two while doing so.

There were a few dozen people there from all walks of life (pun intended).  There were old people, young people, and some people had obvious physical disabilities.  There were friends.  There were happy couples holding hands.  There may have even been some married couples, too.  No matter who they were, I applaud them for simply showing up.

Why not join us next Saturday and Sunday?

Although I am well on my way to getting in shape, the first assessment at the Lake County General Health District was quite sobering.  Both my BMI (34.3) and Body Fat Percentage (34.6) are ridiculously high.  So now the bar is raised AGAIN.

The goals I set prior to entering the contest were vague.  Now my goals are falling more into place.  I thought losing 50 pounds would really be something to shoot for, but perhaps that is not enough.

The BMI chart shows that I need to get down to 148 pounds to be healthy and not overweight.  Since the chart shows no method of increasing my height, which would be the easy way to go, I guess I shoot for 148.  This is a loss of 64 pounds!

After stopping in at Second Sole running shop last night, I came home with a beautiful new pair of Nike running shoes, my overdue treat.  When I can get down to what I call my "tipping point", about 180 pounds, running will be easier.  Training can be as tough as I want to be on myself.  Based on my mediocre distance running ability from my previous life, I compared what I think I can do to past race results by others.  I figure I should be able to finish in the top 5 in my age group (55-59) in the Johnnycake Jog which happens before this contest is over.

Finally, a great tool given to me today was the Vitabot Meal Plan.  Although I am not going to spend enough time to diligently plan all my meals using this system, I already checked my food intake for the last week.  From a nutritional standpoint, I have been dead on.  The only caveat is that I needed to set-up several custom foods to get accurate results.  The foods already listed in Vitabot that I chose, had incorrect nutritional values compared to my food's labels.  For example, I eat a lot of SteamFresh vegetables and rice because they are convenient and healthy and especially low in sodium.  Vitabot popped up ridiculously high sodium numbers and painted me as a walking heart attack.

Overall, Vitabot is s great program, if for no other reason than to give you a nutritional compass to follow.

Lao-tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher said: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

That got me thinking. [Light bulb over my head]  I've already made the first step, so why not complete the journey?

Today, I did the math.  With about 190 days in the whole contest, 1,000 miles is quite do-able.

It's just less than 590 furlongs per fortnight or in American money, an average of a little over five-and-a-quarter miles a day (5.2631578 miles per day to be as exact as my calculator will go without overflowing).

Another goal has now been set with a new column on my spreadsheet to track miles.  The tough part will be making up if I should happen to skip a day.  I guess missing a day is not an option... Come to think about it, when I was young, it wasn't an option back then, either.  I ran EVERY day.

UPDATE:  After writing this last night, I felt pretty strong, so I walked 8 miles briskly on the treadmill, getting my journey well on the way.  This took a few seconds under two hours - the time display reset after 99:59!  Although I was exhausted, this heavy workout and eating healthy is paying huge dividends.

Ignoring the heavy clothes weigh-in Saturday at 212.6 pounds, I am now under 200 pounds.  This weight loss pace won't be sustainable for too long.  These first pounds that I lost are the easy ones.

Last night, my treadmill plans went down the drain.  I was really looking forward to a hard workout, since Wednesday is my bowling night, but I had the night off.  We have a seven-man team, so we each get a couple of weeks off every several weeks.  I was scheduled off this week, but filled in at the last minute for one of my teammates who was ill.

Bowling was not as tough as I thought.  The passing up the beer part, not the actual bowling part.  I drank a couple of cups of water instead.  Another thing I passed on was meeting my team at Cleats before bowling for beer and chicken wings.  Instead, I went to the bowling alley early and ordered a new ball.

The fate of bowling instead of a real workout may have been my body doing some talking, since I have been pushing myself four days straight.  I got home around 10pm after bowling, was dog-tired and went straight to bed.

This morning I will hit the treadmill HARD - at least 4 miles but maybe as many as 6 if I feel good enough.

To all of my new friends, here is an encouraging food tip:  EAT!  Don't put your body in "fat storing mode" as I had done in my previous life.  The following (in no particular order) is a list of some of the goodies I have been eating this week and their estimated calorie count.  I have already lost about 6 or 7 pounds and have not been hungry yet...

Hard-boiled egg (75 calories)
Yogurt - Dannon Fruit on the Bottom (140 calories)
Chicken Breast - 5 oz grilled (240 calories)
Salmon - 6 oz grilled (280 calories)
Total cereal - 1 oz bowl (100 calories) with cup of 2% milk (add 125 calories)
Banana (105 calories)
Broccoli - 1 cup (25 calories)
Cauliflower - 1 cup (25 calories)
Black Beans - 1 cup cooked and drained (225 calories)
Cottage cheese - 1 cup (215 calories)
String cheese (80 calories)
Spinach - cooked - 1 cup (41 calories)
Spinach - baby raw - 2 cups - 3 oz (25 calories)
Apple (100 calories - depends on size)
Whole wheat wrap (150 calories)
Green tea (0 calories)
Walnuts - 1/3 cup (230 calories)
Almonds - 1 oz about 24 nuts (160 calories)
Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp (120 calories)

and last but not least...
Red wine - 5 oz (125 calories)

Balsamic vinegar / sriracha sauce / tabasco sauce and other spicy or tangy seasonings have zero or near zero calories.  I avoid "fat-free" dressings because they add sugar.  Many products also have significant amounts of sodium which I avoid.  This has kept my blood pressure fairly low my entire life, even in my heavier weight days.

It takes a lot of these types of food items to exceed 1,500 to 2,000 calories in one day, depending on your target calorie intake limit.  And these are all pretty healthy, so the calories are worth it compared to the equivalent "empty" calories in doughnuts, for example.  Spread eating them throughout the day and you will be surprisingly satisfied and never hungry.

RANT:  Come on people!  Outside of a few contestants, nobody (and I mean NOBODY) is posting any blogs.  If we are going to take this challenge seriously and help each other, you need to blog.  Not necessarily every day, but at least once in a while. (end of rant)

I'm happy to say, my dear and supportive girlfriend is jumping on the bandwagon.  I like to run.  She likes to swim, so she goes to the YMCA every day while I hit the treadmill in the gym at work.  She's on board (or overboard as the case may be) with my healthy eating plan.  Yesterday, she found a nice grilled fish taco recipe.  It was tilapia with a basil / lime marinade, which I cooked 2 minutes per side on a screaming-hot grill pan.  The pan has a ribbed, not flat bottom, so it gives killer grill marks to the food , just like my outdoor grill does.  She also made salsa with tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, corn, avocado, and cilantro.  The tacos were assembled with the fish cut in strips, shredded lettuce, salsa, and a few drops of sriracha sauce for some zing - all stuffed in a whole grain wrap.  No sour cream, no cheese.  (READ: no fat)

We also had plain black beans as a side instead of a heavy carb.  The beans alone were somewhat bland, but the salsa and sriracha sauce made up for it.

We ate at about 7pm.  I was gastronomically content for the rest of the evening, then went to bed at 10pm to get a good night's rest.

MY PROGRESS SO FAR:  As one of the few other bloggers mentioned, and I agree, the first weigh-in included about 2.5 lbs of jeans, not body weight.  Just by virtue of my "on-the-way-into-the-shower" weigh-in every morning, I was immediately a few pounds lighter.  So far, I have lost 9.6 lbs compared to the heavy jean weigh-in, but realistically more like 6 or 7 due to the clothes-weight "freebie".

After only three days since my first weigh-in, everything is on track.  MY FIRST GOAL:  Since skipping breakfast has always been my worst sin, I have been forcing myself to eat something for breakfast every day.  (I love Total cereal)

I'm snacking healthfully - fresh fruit and veggies, yogurt, a handful of nuts, or a hard-boiled egg.  I do not go two hours without SOMETHING to eat, usually 100 calories or so.  My meals have totally eliminated bad carbs and replaced them with salads and other veggies.  I love Balsamic vinegar and EVOO, so I splash just enough on salads to add some flavor.  No fried ANYTHING, especially french fried potatoes.  My starch is mostly brown rice so far, and a small amount of couscous.  No rolls or bread, although I plan to make my "sandwiches" with whole grain wraps.

After work, I stop in the gym and walk briskly for an hour - 4 miles on the treadmill.  I plan to keep this up through the end of this month, then speed it up to alternating run / walk.  If I feel good enough, I will add in some strength training.  My initial target from exercising is to lose some weight quickly - perhaps 10 or 15 pounds to give myself more energy before really cranking things up.

I set up a spreadsheet "on the cloud" so I can fill it in every day from wherever I may be.  So far, I include my weight each morning and ongoing amounts of weight lost and percentage of weight lost.  Columns are included to track my miles, list my physical activity (house chores count if they are rigorous enough), and even list how healthy I ate that day.  That column is really meant to list foods I may occasionally "sin" with.  So far, a nightly glass of red wine is my only indulgence, but if I treat myself to something not-so-healthy, it will go on the list.

It's only about five hours since the first weigh-in kicking off the Lighten Up in 2013 contest.  The first part of my first blog entry needs to be a big "Thank You" to all who make it happen, especially Laura Kessel of the News-Herald, and the sponsors including Jamie Brenkus of LEAN Living, Mike Good from Cabanas, plus all the rest.

After leaving the weigh-in (212.6 lbs OUCH), I stopped in at Giant Eagle to stock up my kitchen with REAL food.  I purchased a lot of fruits and veggies, some dairy (milk, cottage cheese, yogurt), black beans, and some eggs.

After dropping off the food at home, I went to the mall to check out running shoes as a treat to myself for joining this program.  On the way, I passed Second Sole, and thought I will patronize them instead, just for being a sponsor.  However, since Mentor Avenue was a traffic mess and Second Sole was still finishing up construction, I will save this for another day.

I still went to the mall and decided to do a brisk walk of about 45 minutes.  I walked pretty fast as I always do, probably at a 4 mph pace, so I did about 3 miles.  This made me break into a sweat.

After my walk, I stopped at Heinen's for some items that I forgot from Giant Eagle: Norwegian salmon (a whole 3 lb piece!) some Honey Crisp apples (my favorite, but only in season a short time), string cheese, and whole wheat wraps.

Now that I'm home, it's time to cook for the week.  Boil up some hard-boiled eggs, grill the salmon and some skinless boneless chicken breasts I had in the freezer.  Since it will be cold tomorrow, I want to get this out of the way, so I have good protein to last me all week for lunches and dinners.  Plus I love my grill.

My strategy is to overcome my worst eating problem first: skipping meals, then eating most of my daily food intake late in the evening.  My weapon: have plenty of low calorie food items, each of about 100 calories and graze all day between a rigid three-meals-a-day schedule.