The Plan

I've had a few people ask me what it is that I'm doing as my weight loss program, so I thought I'd throw up a post with the info. The 411. The skinny, if you will.

First up is the diet. I'm sticking to a 2000 calorie a day diet that includes about 5 to 6 smaller meals a day. I try to have 5 fruit and/or vegetable servings a day as well as a lot of protein. What I've noticed is that sticking to a diet is all about preparation. I take my lunch and several snacks to work mainly because it's a lot harder to grab a burger for lunch when you already have lunch made. It help cut down on the impulse eating. Plus, it's also a whole lot cheaper.

Moving on to exercising. Now, here is where it's going to get a bit embarrassing. I've been using two exercise DVD's for my main workout, which carries with it certain stigmas. Whenever I heard about "working out" to an exercise video, I would think of some old person wearing spandex and sweat bands sitting in front of a TV watching aerobics with 80s music playing in the background. And not the good 80s music. But when I started this process, I decided I would give one of these a shot. I went with The Biggest Loser: Cardio Max DVD (http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Loser-Workout-Cardio-Max/dp/B000WEVGHA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1241799367&sr=8-1). I did this for two reasons. First off, The Biggest Loser kind of specializes in getting people that need to lose weight to lose weight. Also, most everything that I've read says that you need to do cardio to lose the pounds, so going with a name like Cardio Max HAS to be good, right? Because it takes it to the MAXimum? Anybody coming with me on that?

So, I bought the DVD, took it into my room and locked the door. The last thing I wanted was someone walking in and seeing me exercising with a video. I fully realize how silly people look while they are doing these and I'm already self conscious as it is. But as I started going along with it, I found that it really was an incredible workout. They recommended that you have a few weights for the workout, so after the first time, I went and bought 2 ten pound weights. It's a half hour workout and I do this about 5 times a week. And it feels pretty good.

So, there it is. Yes, I use those silly exercise videos. And contrary to popular (read: my) belief, it works. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my spandex and Kris Kross tapes.