I know I'm not alone in our little group here of trying to lose some weight so let's talk about it! Who else is working on a weight loss goal? What methods have you tried or are planning on it? What tips do you have for others? What has worked for you?
For me I started in earnest August 9th, 2018, following a trip to the local ER on August 7th. The 'Cliff Notes' version of the incident is that I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and literally on the edge of being prediabetic. An A1C level of 5.7% to 6.4% is considered prediabetic; starting at 6.5% is Type-2 Diabetes. Results of a blood test for me came in at 5.7%. I knew that I had been gaining weight since my Mom's death in 2016 but I didn't really appreciate just how much additional weight I put on until the trip to my doctor's office; getting on that scale and seeing the number was a wake-up call like none I had before. It was time for action.
After talking with Mrs. Kevin we realized that we both needed to change our habits. Mrs. Kevin just wants to lose a few pounds, she doesn't really need to, but having her onboard with the effort has been a big help. Being a tech geek I ended up buying two gadgets, a wi-fi enabled scale and a Fitbit Versa.
With the Fitbit I'm using it for calorie tracking and activity tracking. Thanks to the backend database of food items and being able to scan package barcodes it has been really easy for me to track calories. I configured it to have a goal of a -500 daily calorie deficit and, for the most part, I've been achieving it. It took a couple of weeks to get used to wearing a watch again and now it feels weird when I'm not wearing it. With it also being able to show me incoming text messages and email from my phone it is a feature that I didn't think I'd use that much but now I really like it as it makes life a bit easier. You can install apps on it, like Pandora and news headlines, and while there is a bunch of things available it isn't a "smartwatch" like an Apple Watch or an Android Wear device so no Facebook, no Twitter, and so on. It can do a lot of things so maybe it'd be best categorized as a "dumb smartwatch"? Anyway, the important thing is that it helps to motivate me to track my physical activity. By doing "challenges", like most steps on a weekend or during the work week, it adds a bit of fun competition with family & friends.
I've been weighing myself daily since the day I started using the scale. Besides weight it does a bunch of fancy stuff like measuring body fat, muscle mass, water weight, and BMI. I went with a wi-fi scale instead of a bluetooth scale so that I didn't have to have my phone or other device close to me when using it. Hooked to the home wi-fi my measurements are automatically synced with the scale's app on my phone. Now the neat part is that the scale app can integrate directly with the Fitbit app. The end result is that I'm never having to get on the scale and then manually entering the weight in a log, I just step on the scale and within a few seconds it automatically shows up in the Fitbit app. It literally couldn't be any easier.
I am not following any particular diet. I know myself all too well and I don't have patience or willpower to strictly adhere to something like Weight Watchers or Atkins or other programs. My brother, who is also working on losing weight, went with a Keto diet (no sugars, no carbs, high fat). I personally don't think a strict Keto diet is sustainable in the long run. Instead I'm going with strict portion control, counting calories, and cutting back on carbs like bread. Speaking of portion control, the Trident Fish Sticks from Costco.... a "serving" is 3 sticks! 3! At the office I'm keeping stuff like banana chips in the drawer for snacks and popcorn, no more pretzels. Snacks at the house is now mostly pineapple, watermelon, and grapes.
So far at about 6 weeks in the results have been pretty good to the point that I'm pretty happy with myself. There are some days I go up a bit, like after having fajitas at our favorite local Mexican place, and there are days that I see a bigger loss than others but the trend is definitely going in the right direction. Between the increased physical activity and dietary changes I'm confident I can sustain this till I reach my weight goals.
OK, enough of me rambling, how about you guys?
For me I started in earnest August 9th, 2018, following a trip to the local ER on August 7th. The 'Cliff Notes' version of the incident is that I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and literally on the edge of being prediabetic. An A1C level of 5.7% to 6.4% is considered prediabetic; starting at 6.5% is Type-2 Diabetes. Results of a blood test for me came in at 5.7%. I knew that I had been gaining weight since my Mom's death in 2016 but I didn't really appreciate just how much additional weight I put on until the trip to my doctor's office; getting on that scale and seeing the number was a wake-up call like none I had before. It was time for action.
After talking with Mrs. Kevin we realized that we both needed to change our habits. Mrs. Kevin just wants to lose a few pounds, she doesn't really need to, but having her onboard with the effort has been a big help. Being a tech geek I ended up buying two gadgets, a wi-fi enabled scale and a Fitbit Versa.
With the Fitbit I'm using it for calorie tracking and activity tracking. Thanks to the backend database of food items and being able to scan package barcodes it has been really easy for me to track calories. I configured it to have a goal of a -500 daily calorie deficit and, for the most part, I've been achieving it. It took a couple of weeks to get used to wearing a watch again and now it feels weird when I'm not wearing it. With it also being able to show me incoming text messages and email from my phone it is a feature that I didn't think I'd use that much but now I really like it as it makes life a bit easier. You can install apps on it, like Pandora and news headlines, and while there is a bunch of things available it isn't a "smartwatch" like an Apple Watch or an Android Wear device so no Facebook, no Twitter, and so on. It can do a lot of things so maybe it'd be best categorized as a "dumb smartwatch"? Anyway, the important thing is that it helps to motivate me to track my physical activity. By doing "challenges", like most steps on a weekend or during the work week, it adds a bit of fun competition with family & friends.
I've been weighing myself daily since the day I started using the scale. Besides weight it does a bunch of fancy stuff like measuring body fat, muscle mass, water weight, and BMI. I went with a wi-fi scale instead of a bluetooth scale so that I didn't have to have my phone or other device close to me when using it. Hooked to the home wi-fi my measurements are automatically synced with the scale's app on my phone. Now the neat part is that the scale app can integrate directly with the Fitbit app. The end result is that I'm never having to get on the scale and then manually entering the weight in a log, I just step on the scale and within a few seconds it automatically shows up in the Fitbit app. It literally couldn't be any easier.
I am not following any particular diet. I know myself all too well and I don't have patience or willpower to strictly adhere to something like Weight Watchers or Atkins or other programs. My brother, who is also working on losing weight, went with a Keto diet (no sugars, no carbs, high fat). I personally don't think a strict Keto diet is sustainable in the long run. Instead I'm going with strict portion control, counting calories, and cutting back on carbs like bread. Speaking of portion control, the Trident Fish Sticks from Costco.... a "serving" is 3 sticks! 3! At the office I'm keeping stuff like banana chips in the drawer for snacks and popcorn, no more pretzels. Snacks at the house is now mostly pineapple, watermelon, and grapes.
So far at about 6 weeks in the results have been pretty good to the point that I'm pretty happy with myself. There are some days I go up a bit, like after having fajitas at our favorite local Mexican place, and there are days that I see a bigger loss than others but the trend is definitely going in the right direction. Between the increased physical activity and dietary changes I'm confident I can sustain this till I reach my weight goals.
OK, enough of me rambling, how about you guys?