Day 1

On weekdays, I'm typically up between 4:30 - 5am so I can take The Man to the train station, then back home for some quiet time until around 5:50 or so when I drive back over to the gym, which opens at 6am.  I've decided that morning workouts will be cardio since I know myself and if I get too far into the day, it won't happen.

I'm a big fan of the elliptical trainer. I'm doing a pyramid (resistance levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 5, 7, 5, 3 ,1 ,3). I start out on level 1, which is sort of a warm-up, then change levels every 3 minutes, going up in resistance on the front end to 3, 5, 7, flexing a little bit between 5 & 7 during the middle, then back down the stack on the back end of my workout. This is a 30-minute pyramid, with an extra 3 minutes for cooling down (grand total is 33 minutes).  And during those 3-minute blocks, I pedal/run forward for 2 minutes, then backwards for 1 minute.

Gotta say, I really don't know how people make it through elliptical/bicycle/treadmill without some distraction;  cardio machines are boring.  For me, it's my iPhone and my Pandora app. For those of you unfamiliar with Pandora, it's fantastic, almost like satellite radio, except that you can sort of customize what you're listening to by artist, songs, genre, etc. For example, one of my stations is "Led Zeppelin" and what Pandora does is play songs not only from Zep, but from other artists of like kind/era/style, so today was a mix of Zep, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd & I think Creed.  I also have some other "stations" for 90's Hip Hop and Big Band.  Check it out at www.pandora.com.

So what did I eat today?

• 33.8oz of water (and I'll have another 16.9oz before I go to bed).  I'm pushing to get my water intake up to a gallon a day.
• Multigrain oatmeal - this stuff is delicious.  I get it from Trader Joe's and it's oats with barley & some other grains, so it has texture to it.  A little bit of turbinado sugar and some evaporated milk . . . yum.  With my coffee, about 300 cals.
• Thai noodles with chicken & shredded carrots (also from Trader Joe's).  About 600 cals.
• Nut & berry snack.  About 170 cals.
• 1/2 a protein bar.  About 150 cals.
• Baked chicken with a medley of baby potatoes, baby bella mushrooms & baby spinach (do I have a theme going on?).  I'm guessing around 600 cals.

I'm ballparking around 1900 cals for the day.  Minus the 330 I worked off this morning, net 1570 cals.

Obviously, I need to up my veggie intake, so tomorrow I'll take a salad with grilled chicken for lunch & skip the noodles.  And concentrate on increasing my water intake.

Yes, I did weigh in today, but I'm still not going to tell you what the scale said.  And you're probably wondering how you'll know my integrity is intact when I make these posts?  Good question.  For those who know me, they know that whatever I say it is -- it is.  For those who don't, I'm going to enlist a friend to be the Keeper of the Weights.   

Because I can't fully expect you to support me and take this journey without some reward, I will reveal ALL the weights -- every weight from now until the end -- on May 29th, as well as whatever dress size I happen to fit at that time.  This I promise, even if I somehow go astray and gain weight.