A day of change.  

Ok, I have not done a progress report in a few weeks.  I thought today was a good day to post a little update.  I am making a change to my diet

I am making a change to my diet.  I have hit a little roadblock, and I am not making as much success as I would have liked to make a change to improve my success.  Starting tomorrow, I will make the following changes:

1. Eat a healthy diet.  For me, a healthy diet means a diet that’s rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans and low in refined grains, sugary foods, and saturated fats.  I will include fish, poultry, and other lean meats, and dairy foods.  I will aim to eat foods containing 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day and about 500 calories per meal.  
2. Keep an eye on portions.  The goal is to watch my portions, but in particular, I need to look at the portion size in all energy dense foods.  I can always eat as much broccoli as I want, but for calorie and dense carbohydrate foods will require a limiting portion size.  Check serving sizes on food labels—some relatively small packages contain more than one serving, so you have to double or triple the calories, fat, and sugar if you plan to eat the whole thing.  Popular “100-calorie” food packages do the portion controlling for you (though they won’t help much if you eat several packages at once).
3. Eat adequate levels protein.  Protein, like fiber, promotes satiety.  Protein intake can limit muscle loss during weight loss.  
4. Limit alcohol to one drink per week or less.  Alcohol is empty calories.  I will reduce it.  I am not a heavy drinker, but I have 2-3 a week.  
5. Exercise 3 days a week.  I will add cardiovascular exercise on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Although, exercise is less important in attempts to lose weight because all calories count.  
6. Eat regularly and avoid meal skipping.  Skipping meals is not the right way to go with weight loss.  I plan to eat three meals per day and one snack.  My goals are for three meals of 500 calories a meal and one snack of 200 calories which should come to about 1600-1714.
7. Avoid or reduce indulgences.  I have to avoid the candy bowls and cake at work.  The enemy of weight control is grazing.  The sugar and fat in these babies are quite addictive.  
8. Get more sleep.  Poor sleep increases your cortisol and central abdominal weight gain.  I am going o try to get 6 hours of sleep.  
9. Daily weight.  I will weigh myself daily.  

Currently, I weight about 210 pounds and 22.4% body fat.  I would like to lose about 10 pounds.  I feel better at that weight and I am sure I will be more healthy.  I am absolutely sure I am going to meet this goal in about 5-6 weeks.