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Tracking foods and progress

Yay… I fixed my BlogPress application so I can post from my iPhone again! That *should* mean that I post more regularly.

So, now that you know that i recently found out that I suffer from high blood pressure, let's talk about the steps I started to take to understand the problem better.

For starters, I needed to find out what we were dealing with in terms of me eating foods that were bad for me. The Doc said I needed to cut back on salty foods, lose some weight, and being more physically active would be good for me. On the salty foods, I figured I was over my limit, which he said to try and keep at or under 2,000mg (2g), but what I didn't realize was just how MUCH I was going over that. So I tried to use the "Lose It" app that I had for my iPhone for a long time. It allows you to track food and excercise for calories burned, the whole idea being to help you track your caloric intake and what you are burning off so you can lose weight. However, that app, while decent, didn't seem to track any of the nutritional values of the food I was eating, my main concern right now being to monitor my sodium intake.

Then I found "MyNetDiary" which has a pretty large database of foods with the main nutritional values on them (including sodium of course), and includes so much more (like also allowing you to track water intake, etc). There is a lite and a pro version, and after trying out the lite version and checking out the companion web site, I decided to buy the pro version for it's extra features.

My first day of tracking my foods, I decided to not watch too closely, but make sure I tracked everything. I also thought I was "being good" with the foods I was choosing throughout this first day. What I found out at the end of the day was that I was grossly wrong. Where I thought I would be around 2g of sodium, I had actually taken in 4,732mg!! Holy crap! And this was me being "good"?!? After doing some looking around and some math, I realized I was more than likely consuming 7-9g's of sodium a day previously. No WONDER my blood pressure was high!

The next day I started to watch the sodium I was intaking, and started to realize just how easy it is to go over 2g per day. SO many foods have a 3rd to half the daily allowance of sodium. Looking at portion sizes is part of the key. Take for instance sports drinks. There is generally 2.5 servings per bottle. Each serving may have upwards of 350mg of sodium (the idea being you need to replenish it because you are sweating it out). So a bottle of sports drink could be 875mg of sodium, or almost half your daily allowance. If you are drinking this when you are not sweating a lot, that sodium is WAY overkill! Another example is a HotPocket, not that it's good food, but some people may eat them because they are quick and easy. There is over 900mg of sodium in just ONE HotPocket! One is not usually enough to fill you up, so you have two. There went your daily allowance of sodium in one shot. See what I mean? What I started to find was that I would only be finished lunch and I was at my limit for sodium for the day, and should still have consumed close to 1,000 more calories just to hit a 1,900 calorie intake for the day. I guess my point is, the amount of sodium compared to the amount of calories in so much food is WAY out of line for a 2g limit per day.

More to come…

-- Post From My iPhone via Blogpress

Starting up... yet again... HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE ALERT

Well, this is almost embarassing. But, I know lots of people start and stop with working out and weight loss, so I don't feel too bad (still kicking myself though).

I recently (now about 45 days ago... started this post on my iPhone but couldn't get it to post) went to my doctor because I had a sinus infection, and left with blood pressure medication!! (and some antibiotics for the sinus infection) It turns out that I have high blood pressure, and I need to start watching my sodium intake and diet, plus working out could be helpful (duh). :-D

I will start to post about what I'm doing to lower my blood pressure, and I'm hoping it includes getting in better shape altogether. I will say this though... I was AMAZED at how much sodium I was taking in on a daily basis!! It is truly shocking once you pay attention and try and track it! You should only take in about 2,000mg a day... I was taking in anywhere between 7-9,000mg a day! Processed foods are the killer.

Hopefully I can figure out how to post from my iPhone again so I can get these posts more regularly without needing to get to a computer with internet.

Getting back on track

Well, shoot! I was hoping to have done better than I have been, or the fact that I stopped altogether, but I recently just got some new motivation from my wife to get back to it. Basically, she admitted that she finds me less attractive lately because of the weight I've put on over the years (which is mainly in my belly). Of course, she waits to tell me this when I nearly broke my left pinky, so I have to figure out things to do without using my left hand much at all.

I got rid of my bike trainer (the pedestals that you put a real bike in to make them a stationary bike), so I'm kinda bumming now since that's at least something I could be doing to burn calories. I just don't trust my hand strength for real world biking, and I've already crashed and broken an arm before… would rather not deal with that again. ;-)

I will probably work my legs out a bit (squats), possibly go for a walk.

It's still tough to get motivated though.

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Tough to keep it going

Unfortunately, it is tough to keep up with the P90X program, I think mainly because I have been either doing the full workout (generally about an hour long) or I just don't do it. But something TRULY has to be better than nothing... Right?!?!

I don't know... I think I need to fit workout wherever I can, even if it is only 20 minutes here and there throughout the day/week.

Wish me luck.


-- Post From My iPhone

Day 1.2, Core Synergistics (P90X Lean)... starting over

I'm posting this late, but I did this workout on Monday June 1st. It was tougher than I expected since I had been working out for nearly two weeks... but I guess stopping for nearly 5 days in a row really took away the benefits (or most of them) from my previous efforts. I'm sure it didn't help at all that I was eating crap and lots of it over those days. ;-)

I noticed my posture had started to slip again too... so my belly was hanging out more (or drooping... either way, it was more prominent again).

I got up earlier and was able to complete the whole workout... I was beat by the time it was over.

Starting over, sort of...

My wife and I have been pretty busy with other things (life in general) and have both kind of fallen off working out over the past week or so... however, we decided for me that I should sort of start over from the beginning of the workout starting Monday (which is today) and do a 6 day plan, taking the 7th day off for rest. The way I started last time was in the middle of a week, not that it mattered, but it was harder to keep track of where I was in my rotation, etc.

So I started this morning (post to come) and also tried waking up earlier (though still not early enough). I think I need to focus more on getting up by 6:30am and actually starting my workout at this time. Which really means, I will probably need to get up at 6am to wipe the grogginess off my mind and body, drink my coffee, etc, so I can actually START at 6:30am, which should mean I am done my workout by 7:30-8am and can still help out my wife with getting the kids ready for school, etc. This will mean I really need to start getting to bed earlier each night so I can wake up that early and be able to workout.

Another thing I have been trying to do is drink more water... say 100 ounces per day. So far I have missed that mark, but one day I got about 70 ounces in me. I actually felt better the next day (better than normal anyway), but the following day I stumbled a bit with remembering to drink more often.

Today I am also not off to a great start with drinking enough water... but I'll try. It's amazing how much proper hydration helps with your bodily functions like sinuses, aches and pains, joints, recovery. I've know this for YEARS, and I used to drink a lot of water... but when I get focused on work, I often forget to lift the glass.

Here's hoping I make a better go of this second round. ;-) Wish me luck!!