Don't Break the Chain - Sticking to Your Goals

I have a wall calendar in my den, and I mark a big red X with a sharpie every day I meet my daily goals, my "Keys to Weight Loss" (see My Methods page).

Supposedly this is a goal-setting technique used by Jerry Seinfeld. The idea is to see how long a "chain" you can make without having a break - then just don't break the chain.

Keep it simple though, don't try to be perfect and track 20 different things using this method.

Here's a free online version: Chain Calendar

Joe's Goals - Online Goal Tracking

Joe's Goals is a pretty cool (and free) goal tracking site.

It lets you track daily goals, you simply click whether you did each goal or not. You can check a goal multiple times in the same day, and it also has negative/bad goals you can track.

You can also have it send you email reminders when you haven't logged anything for a day or two.

Not a perfect site, but useful and free. I recommend keeping it simple though, I don't find it helpful to include lots of detail and a long list of goals, but whatever floats your boat.

My plan is to track daily goals, my "Keys to Weight Loss" (see My Methods page).

Everything else is gravy (and I like gravy).

BMI

Calculated my BMI (body mass index) for my weight at the start of this blog - 340 pounds, 5 ft 9 in tall.

50 - Super Obese!

Yea.

Oddly enough, it's the same calculation for men or women. Not entirely accurate (doesn't account for muscle, etc.), but still a good general indicator.

I used this CDC government calc.

However, I use this ranking found elsewhere on the interwebs (CDC doesn't differentiate above Obese):

Daily Plate - Online Calorie Counting

I use Daily Plate (LiveStrong) to track my calories - it's great (and free).

You can track fitness/exercises as well, but it subtracts burned calories from your total for the day (which is why I don't use that feature).

I used to use FitDay, but prefer Daily Plate. There are a gazillion others out there, it's about personal preference I guess.

I dig their weekly calories bar chart and macro-nutrient pie chart, cool stuff. There's a simple line graph that tracks your weight as well.

What do you use and why? Post a comment here.

Week 2 - Progress

Ugggh!

Bad week, already slipping back into bad habits (eating out). Super stressed trying to find work, also somehow I slipped and fell and sprained my ankle bad. I thought for sure I had broken something, but it's getting better. As I was going down I could feel every pound and every year crushing my ankle, not a good feeling.

But I won't give up. I will eat better this week, get some sleep, get a new job, and start working out (was supposed to do that last week).

Upward and onward.

Stats:

Starting Weight: 335

End Weight: 334

Pounds Lost: -1

Calorie Goal: 2000

Actual Average Calories: 2690

Exercise: none

Daily Plate (LiveStrong) Calories:

Joe's Goals:

Week 1 - Progress

Week 1 down (ok, 5 days actually)!

Not too bad - I am eating better (though not perfect), and lost some weight. I need to start exercising and getting better sleep though.

Stats:

Starting Weight: 340

End Weight: 335

Pounds Lost: -5

Calorie Goal: 2000

Actual Average Calories: 2288

Exercise: none

Daily Plate (LiveStrong) Calories:

Joe's Goals:

First Post

Firsties!

Booyah - first day of the new year, first day of the new me, first post of my new blog.

This is a weight-loss blog. My current weight is 340, my goal is to lose 50 pounds in 90 days.

More to come...