$2 a day: day one

This morning I weighed in to start the experiment at 280 pounds, which if it isn’t the most I’ve ever weighed then it’s damn near. I’m 6′4″ and fairly broad framed, I don’t consider myself fat, but I’m for sure overweight. Tracking my weightloss will be key and I’m excited to see how things go.

As far as starting the experiment I woke up and made myself a pancake that was a bit thinner than I may of expected but it was still a solid pancake and tasted damn good. I woke up late so I didn’t eat before my first class like I wanted but it was a syllabus day so I got the meal in about 8:30am or so. I took a nap and woke up around 12:15pm when I made myself a tuna sandwhich. I don’t feel overly hungry at all yet, my stomach is definitely wondering whats up but it’s nothing ridiculous. Later today I’ll have some ramen, an egg sandwhich, and a bowl of oatmeal respectively. At some point I’ll probably cook up a batch of Spaghetti and keep it in the fridge for more variety.

My Pancake:

I need to go back to Wal-Mart and snag the Bagels I didn’t pick up yesterday (there was only one bag of the kind I wanted and there was a rip in it so I passed right away), and I plan on working out. I started the workout last week and I’m back to day one today. I’ll post an update of my workout with the weights I’m doing if anyone’s interested.

Also, here is the meals I’ll been choosing from and a slightly more detailed explanation of any preparation.

MEALS (182+)

• (19) Pancake
• (12) Bagel
• (36) Ramen
• (20) Tuna Sandwhich (1/2 can tuna, 2 slices bread, light mayo)
• (36) Egg Sandwhich (1 egg, 2 slices bread, light mayo, ketchup)
• (30) Oatmeal (1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 banana)
• (5+) Spaghetti (spaghetti, sauce w/ pork sausage)
• (5+) Rice and Cream of Mushroom Soup
• (5+) Hamburger Helper (hh box, extra box shells, ground turkey)
• (??) Peanut Butter Sandwhich
• (??) Peanut Butter Spoonful (just a heaping spoonful for protein/metabolism purposes)

132 slices of bread (22×6), 112 accounted for, 20 extra to be used between peanut butter sandwhiches, bread and butter with spaghetti, and peanut butter toast.

EXTRAS

• (~14) Apples
• (??) Peanut Butter Toast
• Any leftover peanut butter as far as just spoonfuls might go

As it seems obvious, I will be averaging at least one bowl of oatmeal, one egg sandwhich, and one ramen per day.

Day 1

This morning I weighed in at 203 (I’m 6′0″ tall); right around where I thought I would be. I was down to 190 a year a go and would love to shed this extra 13 lbs. I just had my oatmeal and pancake, and I feel confident I won’t be hungry until after work (2pm-ish). I’m still undecided as to what I will have for lunch; but I have plenty of time to think it over.

I will hit the gym around 4 today to concentrate on back, legs, abs, while also spending about 30 minutes on an exercise bike. The exercise I get is key to my energy levels over the next month, which I will take very seriously. My weight loss goal is 13 lbs for this experiment – to get back to 190.

I’m already feeling great about what Steve and I are doing, but it’s only been a few hours!  Check back to see how the rest of the day, as well as tomorrow goes. Thanks!

JUICEmcfly

meal and class schedule

Also, I made a graphic as far as when I plan to eat on average and have it in relation to the classes I’m enrolled in this semester. It won’t be like this everyday because things come up and I’m getting a job refereeing basketball at the local community center, but I made my target meal times and what meals I feel I will probably be eating at these times. Enjoy

JUICEmcfly’s Initial Thoughts

Things are looking up right now – my anticipation is at an all-time high. I am disappointed in one purchase though; blue bonnet spread (64 oz). This was purchased thinking I would buy eggs, which I didn’t. Consuming it all, which I do not think I will, would bring my fat per day to roughly 111 grams. Although this sounds like a fair amount of fat compared to the recommended daily intake, by comparison a double quarter-pounder w/cheese and a large fry from McDonalds has 72 grams of fat. Because fat is bad for the heart I will make sure I increase the intensity of my cardio workouts.

With this experimental meal plan I will be taking a multivitamin and a fiber supplement (for proper nutrients and regularity). These items are not included into the price because they are not a meal replacement/supplement, whereas protein powder would be. Even though the main purpose is to save money, I will be trying to lose as much weight as possible. This means eating smaller portions without starving myself.

Day 1 begins when I wake up in the morning. I plan on eating 3-4 meals starting at 9:00 a.m. Breakfast will more than likely be a pancake and a bowl of oatmeal. Lunch (2pm-ish) may include either spaghetti, a tuna sandwhich, a bologna sandwich, ramen, or rice with corn. These could possibly be spread out over 2 meals depending on how I feel. Dinner(6-7pm-ish) will be a peanut butter sandwich with some applesauce. Dinner will usually be the smallest meal for me because I do not want to go to bed on a full stomach. Midnight is my target bedtime.

To go along with this post I have uploaded images of my mealplan thusfar, even though it is incomplete because I am undecided on how I want to spend the remainder of my alotted money. I also included pictures of all of the things I purchased tonight at Wal-Mart along with a copy of my receipt. Any input on what more I could purchase with the remainder of my money that would keep the fat content low would be greatly appreciated.

In conclusion, I am excited for the experiment to begin and I hope many will follow along and learn with Steve and I. Tomorrow morning I will post my starting weight, my thoughts, and more about how I think the day will go. Thanks to all the supporters!

JUICEmcfly

And it begins…

Tonight I went and purchased my first round of groceries which is a large percentage of the materials I’ll need for the entire month. The general feeling is good and I’m happy with how things ended up.

Alongside this, I updated my mealplan graphic because I made a few last minute changes. I swapped out the Great Value Light Syrup for the Log Cabin Syrup, which is a bit less healthy but I’m getting a much better unit price and the more I thought about it I didn’t want to skimp on the amount of syrup I can have on my pancakes. I bought the Blue Bonnet Light Spread instead of the Great Value Light Spread, which is also very marginally less healthy, but again the unit price was a better deal ($0.68 for Blue Bonnett compared to $0.73 for Great Value Light Spread). Another big decision I made was the switch from buying the 18 packs of Large Eggs and decided to purchase the 12 packs of Medium Eggs. I’m obviously losing a bit of egg, but as I compared the difference in the eggs didn’t seem much, and this will obviously lower the amount of cholesterol I’ll be intaking for the month. The protein on the Medium and Large were the same, the fat is the same, and calories per egg with the Mediums were less by 10 calories (with the Large Egg having 5 more calories from fat). The first time I make an egg sandwhich I’ll be able to tell if the difference in size of the sandwhich made is noticeable enough to be a disappointment.

Another few solid notes is I picked out a bunch of 3 bananas that were a bit on the small side, and together the 3 of them didn’t even make a pound, costing me a mere $0.48 ($0.16 per banana, or $0.07 cheaper than I had predicted), and my sack of apples went down from $3.32 to $2.98, there was no sale marker in sight anywhere near the apple selection so I take this to be a reduction in price. Because the apples were slightly cheaper and switching to Medium Eggs over the Large Eggs I have enough money to add a second can of Del Monte’s Spaghetti Sauce, which the more I looked at the box of spaghetti I was concerned about needing.

What am I still concerned about? Not having enough Cream of Mushroom Soup for all of my rice, but I could always try eating the rice with a bit of butter.

I’ve uploaded my receipt from Wal-Mart and pictures of all the goodies so everyone can see what I got and how much this round cost, also the things I have yet to purchase are as follows:

• (2) Lenderg’s Bagels x $1.23 = $2.46
• (4) GV Sandwhich Wheat Bread x $1.32 = $5.28
• (2) Big River Farm 12 Medium Eggs x $1.78 = $3.56
• (1) Del Monte Spaghetti Sauce x $0.92 = $0.92
• (1) Ramen 12 Pack x $1.50 = $1.50
• (12) Bananas x $0.23 = $2.76

TOTAL LEFT TO BUY: $16.48 x 4.475% tax = $17.22
$42.60 spent on 14 Jan 08 + $17.22 = $59.82 ($0.18 under)