Eat More to Lose Weight

So, the last time I discussed my endeavor to lose weight and eat healthy, I was making some adjustments due to my inability to sleep and subsequent exhaustion. I'm happy to say that problem has been remedied. The main culprit was the B complex vitamin I had been taking. I had taken the same type of vitamin before and never had any problems, so I don't know what was up this time. I took it first thing in the morning, and 18 hours later was still unable to sleep. Forget caffeine. The other problem was my schedule. On Mondays I was getting up at 6:30 to hit the gym/pool while Cory was in class from 8:30-9:30 then I'd go home and try to sleep until I left for work at noonish. I was rarely ever able to sleep, so I'd then be starting off my week on the wrong foot with about 5ish hours of sleep, and it would just go downhill from there. Now I'm going to the gym on my way to work, so I get about 7-8 hours of sleep to start the week. That's working out much better.

For a couple of weeks, my workouts were lacking. I was struggling to do the same stuff I had been doing with ease. A couple of days I literally felt like I was going to pass out or puke after finishing. Not good. It took me a little time to realize what the problem was. A few weeks ago I cited the livestrong.com calorie tracker as awesome. It is awesome, if you're not like me. I am often times an over achiever. When the calorie counter tells me I need to consume a net 1400 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week, I see that as my absolute maximum number. After a couple of days when my net intake was about 750-1000 calories followed by the pukey-pass outey feelings, I realized I wasn't eating enough. I decided to stop counting calories, since I know generally about what I should be eating by now. Ever since then, my workouts have improved, I haven't felt like I'm going to die, and I'm losing weight at a healthy, steady pace. I am now down 15 pounds over 7.5 weeks. Do the math...it's 2 pounds a week which is my goal. :)

Relating to diet and exercise, while surfing the net I found this fascinating blog:

Fed Up With School Lunch

I know some of you have kids in school, and I will eventually be entering the education profession, so I thought I'd share this with you. Reading through some of these meals and seeing the pictures was fascinating. Everything is pre-packaged. What the hell has happened to schools? Back in my day, our lunches may have been very processed, but it at least came to us freshly heated up and on a plastic reusable tray. And what is up with them giving six tater tots? SIX??? That is unacceptable. If you're going to feed kids crap, at least do it right. I believe that tater tots were created by the hand of God. So you better give me more than six. If I'm going to clog my arteries, I want to enjoy it. So as crappy as I thought our school lunches were, this school's is even worse. And to think I might have to be subjected to eating school lunches on occasion in the near future. It just makes one realize that our government is setting up our kids for failure. Why would they want to eat fresh produce, lean meats, and whole grains when they have the ability to choose their food for themselves when they've been feed uber-processed pizza, "bagel dogs," and cherry icees their whole lives? The term "freshman fifteen" is popular for a reason. I'd rather pay $1.50 for a burrito from Taco Bell than $7 for a salad with wilty iceberg lettuce (note: This is not an exaggeration. This is the reason I got fat after high school). The whole food system in the U.S. needs to be fixed. I know it has to do with government subsidies and that whole mess. I don't really care. It just needs to be fixed. I personally think high fructose corn syrup needs to disappear. There's nothing good about it.