Fitness Challenge -- How I've Lost the Weight

Some people have asked me how I've lost weight, and I thought I would share some notes on that here.

Began eating breakfast. This was nor the norm in the past. At the advice of my dietitian friends, I have made this primarily consist of high-fiber cereals. These include brands like All-Bran, Fiber One, and their generic counter-parts. Initially I was pretty hardcore about doing this and avoiding cereals that I had something other than bran flakes or nuggets. I would add blueberries to make it tastier. I found that I really did eat less cereal - I could fill up on one bowl - unheard of in the past. After a few weeks of that (You try eating "Bran Buds" for a few weeks), I switched to Muesli, which is still high-fiber but adds oats, nuts, fruit, that kind of thing. It is much more sustainable. The name-brand high fiber cereals can be expensive so I stock up when they're on sale.

Cut out sweet tea and non-diet soft drinks. When I'm not drinking water or milk, I sweeten tea with Splenda or order diet soft drinks.

Cut back on bread and other starches. Obviously this isn't full-blown Atkins, but I am more likely to try to choose eating some extra turkey bacon or eggs rather than eating another biscuit (as delicious as they are). I have largely avoided potatoes and really limit myself on eating extra bread with a meal, like croissants.

Cut back or eliminate sweets. I don't eat sweets very often now, but today, for example, I had a low-fat yogurt milk shake at Steak-N-Shake. A nice substitute! My replacement for snacking has been high-fiber granola/cereal bars. Fiber One and some other companies make good options here.

My beautiful wife supports me. Have I mentioned that Ashlee is a Pampered Chef consultant and a wonderful cook? She could be my downfall or my savior in all of this. She has scoured recipe books for healthy options that would still be appetizing. Mmmmm...

Replace or supplement meals with salads. I used to hate salads and eventually I grew to tolerate them -- with Ranch dressing. Last year, I believe at Thanksgiving, I had a fruit and walnut salad at Jeremy and Karissa's. I liked it! With a raspberry vinaigrette dressing and crumbled feta cheese over fresh spinach, it was actually good! It turns out I like spinach more than normal ice berg lettuce anyway, and I hear it's better for you. We buy lite dressing to cut out some calories. I don't mind eating this as a meal, or eating it before the "real" meal to make me eat less of the "real" food.

Avoid fried foods. This hasn't been too hard. Even when Ashlee and I went to B-Dubs a few weeks ago, I was able to get some very tasty "naked tenders".

Exercise. Admittedly, this has been my weakest area. I'm becoming more inspired as I am afraid I am getting closer to plateauing on the scales. My first week of the Fitness Challenge I was at Student Life camp -- I walked all over the campus! (And lost 13 pounds!) After that I didn't do so well. Ashlee and I walked together for about half an hour ~ 3 times during the next two weeks, and then not even that. A few weeks ago I began playing tennis once a week, until this past Sunday. As I wrote earlier this week, I went running. I continued doing that each day, Sunday through Wednesday, approximately 1.5 mi per day. I alternate between running and walking. I run until it's difficult for me to run further, then I walk until I have my breath back and system collected. (Sounds very scientific I know.) I'm hoping I will be able to slowly build up to more running and less walking. I've sought a running companion and my stocky Vietnamese friend Van is going to start running with me on Monday. So honk if you see an overweight white guy and a stocky Vietnamese fellow gasping for air running down Man O' War.

Well there's a quick run-down. As I look at the list, it seems like many of these things aren't terribly hard to do. I think the change in drinks alone saves me quite a few calories. Splenda is certainly not the same as sugar in tea, but I think it will be worth it.

Got any tips for me?

I'm all ears. Especially on the running -- I am such a nerd, I read web sites to learn how to run.