As I travel along this weight loss journey I am learning the value of supportive friends and family.  I am truly realizing I DO need their help if I am going to be successful.  I can’t do this by myself.  Support has come in the form of:

 

-          Workout partners.  They push me much further than I would push myself and truly do want to see me succeed.  They push me to work out on days when I “don’t feel like it” and could easily just skip another workout.

-          My spouse.  She works with me to get the right foods to eat.  We shop together and she “talks me down” from bad purchases or enlightens me on how I could make better choices or substitute healthier items.  She also does much of the cooking and cooks the stuff that will be better for my diet.  She also helps me with potion control.

-          Friends.  After seeing the Lighten Up contest in the News Herald they have been cheering me on.  Asking me how I am doing and encourage me to do more.  They notice when my clothes fit better or I look like I lost weight and give me the recognition that helps motivate me.

-          Cabanas.  They have been a generous supporter and have menu choices that will help me stay on track.

-          Other participants in the contest.  They have an attitude that we are all in this together and sincerely want everyone to succeed.

 

I am a lucky person to have such support and I am very appreciative of it.  I don’t want to disappoint them and they are literally perched on my shoulder to look out for me and help guide me down a healthier lifestyle.

 

Kenneth Kukral

Thankful Loser (weight loss)

Being extremely busy, and having a jam packed schedule the one area that get the short shift is sleep.  I can normally function on 5 to 6 hour sleep but in reading more about this subject I might be making it tough to lose weight.  I just read information about a study that said the true prescription to losing weight is eat less, move more and sleep more.  They also found that sleep more suppresses your appetite.  In one study the group that slept 5.5 hours versus the other one that slept 8 hours lost less body fat during a weight loss study.

 

As the Lighten Up Contest goes forward I am going to focus more on getting the proper amount of sleep.  I need to schedule in 7 hours or better yet 8 hours and take the time away from things such as watching TV.  I have a bad habit of trying to be optimistic that I will get up at 5AM, get ready and get to work early so I can get more done.  This will allow me to not feel the need to bring as much work home and then say up late working on it. What I end up doing is hitting the snooze button till 6:30AM or 7AM and then feel tired. Why is it now, I am just figuring this out?  LOL    I think if I concentrate on this one thing it could have a significant impact on my weight loss.  It starts tonight!  Bed at 11 up at 7!!

 

Think about it…. All I have to do to help is sleep more?  How can I go wrong?

 

Kenneth Kukral

Sleep deprived in Mentor

Losing weight has gone high tech.  The options are endless but let me give you an idea of how technology has become a part of my weight loss:

 

-          Bathroom scale.  No longer just the spring activated scale, they weight you out to the tenth of a pound, can store your weight reading and provide other readings such as your Body Mass Index.

-          Weight Watchers online – No more meetings (unless that is what you need to stay on track and network with other weight loss warriors).  I can track my food and exercise via my smart phone and know instantly how many “points” I have left for the day.

-          Bar code scanner for Weight Watchers.  Now I can scan a bar code on a food item and get my number of “points” instantly.  No searching for the item and I can get much more accurate measurements.

-          Nike Fuel Band – Measures your everyday activity and turns it into “Nikefuel”.  Tracks steps and calories burned also.

-          Treadmill – Working on a certain speed level and distance.  It also measures steps, calories burned and pace.

-          Elliptical – Same deal.  I can crank up the resistance to burn more calories.

-          Lighten up has also given us the ability to use Vitabot to track our calories, set goals, measure our vitamin and mineral intake and to help plan meals.

-          Last but not least….. the numbers I get from the doctor to determine if my health is improving and by how much.  I am looking to have my blood pressure down, cholesterol in line, weight down and blood sugar in the normal range…

 

With all this technology, how can I fail?

 

Kenneth Kukral

Gravitational Warrior