Blogs > Lighten Up With Kenneth

Kenneth Kukral of Mentor is a contestant in The News-Herald's Lighten Up in 2013.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Success !!!!

Success!   After all the anxiety, extra workouts and clean living, I cleared the hurdle by 4 pounds!  Now on to the next threshold!  It helps with the warmer weather to get outside and be more active, do more walking and not be cooped up inside.  It does feel like I am breaking through the plateau I have been stuck on for a while and has been discouraging to say the least.

 

Super busy week and I will just have to make time to work out.  No backsliding now!  Getting over this hurdle has added a layer of motivation I wasn’t expecting.  I need some of the success to show in the mirror soon and that will provide some additional pride and motivation.  Out of neutral and moving forward.

 

Kenneth Kukral

 

 

Friday, April 26, 2013

Sprint to the first hurdle

Less than 24 hours away!   Feel like I am on TV with the show Biggest Losers.  The pressure is on!  Trying to be extra active, extra good on the food….  Giving myself a C+ grade.  It will all be determined tomorrow if I reach the first threshold needed to stay in the Lighten Up Contest.

 

With a number of people far out front, it is no longer about winning, but is a matter of personal pride.  I know I need to lose the weight and there is no time like the present.  Keep your fingers crossed

 

Kenneth Kukral

 

 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Motivation

The biggest daily battle I face is the motivation issue.  It is almost where I have to ask myself every day if I want to lose weight that day.  Do I want to work out, do I want to eat what will help me lose weight, do I want to be more active, do I want to get a decent amount of sleep where my body can recover.  Most of the time the answer is yes.  But not often enough.  It is such a long road that the daily motivation is tougher to muster up.  So I am taking it a day at a time.  Weigh in Saturday rests heavy on me and provides a lot of motivation.  Knowing there is no reason I should be cutting it so close…. 

 

Wish me good luck…

 

Kenneth Kukral

 

 

 

Monday, April 22, 2013

First Hurdle

This weekend is the first hurdle that must be reached to stay in the contest.  By weigh in this Saturday we have to be down 5% of our body weight.  I am right on the cusp of that so I need to have a good week.  Time to tighten up the workout schedule, be good on food plan and make sure In have some “breathing room” since the scale for the contest tends to weigh me in higher than my home scale.

 

My personal report card so far?  Fair at best.  My hope was to food journal every day ( has been extremely tough for meet to get into this habit), work out a minimum of 5 times a week (has been more like 2) and eat properly (this has been ok).  I was going to concentrate on getting more sleep (doing so, so on this), reducing stress (not happening) and being more active (slowly getting this implemented).

 

Today is a new day and I am back on track… (I hope)…. Now off to work out and make sure I clear the first major hurdle…

 

Kenneth Kukral

Loser in limbo

 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Stress and weight loss

The battle lately has been stress.  In doing some research I am finding out that it is tough to lose weight when undergoing a lot of stress.  Some of the things I found out:

 

1.       Stress can cause food cravings.  A lot of this is emotional and you end up eating things you shouldn’t or eating more than you should

2.       When you are stressed, your body releases hormones that are linked to abdominal fat.  So even if you are eating the right amount of food your body holds on to the fat.

3.       Stress can slow your metabolism.  It will reduce the amount of calories you burn off.

4.       Stress can increase your appetite.  You end up craving foods and giving in to those cravings.

 

What can be done about it?

 

-          Walking can help reduce stress and can help increase your metabolism.

-          Eat slower at meals.  When you let your body give you the signals that you are full, you will eat less.

-          Stay away from “strict dieting”.  Your body reacts to the low calorie intake and tends to hold on and conserve energy so you burn off fewer calories.

-          Give in to cravings in a small way.  It will help reduce the craving and get you over it quicker

-          Reduce caffeine.  That alone will help reduce stress levels.

-          How more of a power breakfast.  It will jump start your metabolism and help you burn more calories

-          Get more sleep.  If you are more rested your body will recover better and you will be less stressed.

 

Hoping some of these tips will help get me past the weight plateau I have been on.  Fingers crossed.

 

Kenneth Kukral

Hoping to be a bigger loser