Well, I am now at a bit over 5 weeks on the diet. I have been keeping a handmade chart that shows metabolism (top), weight (middle), actual calories, and calories minus cardio (bottom). I have two goals. One is to reach 160 which is wabout where I anticipate that I will feel the healthiest. If all goes according to plan, I should be there about the middle of July. My ideal weight is a secondary goal. It is supposed to be 143 pounds. However, I have seen way to many people look and feel terrible at the supposed ideal weight, so I will be experimentally losing weight form 160 to 140 and stop where it seems my health and appearance are at best.

You can click the chart I made of progress so far to see it full size:

I really expected with charting the data that I would clearly see some logic to trends, but alas a diet is not so predictable as you might think when you first get started. There were days when I didn't eat much and actually gained and days where I topped out to my caloire budget and actually lost weight. LOL. Even exercise was not very predictive. I went for round two with this flu and quit exercising for six days and lost at the fastest rate yet. sigh. Of course that was with fever and zero appetite plus my sluggish plumbing finally got in gear after nearly a whole month off. Yes, I went almost a whole month without normal activity down there. I lost 4 pounds in three days when it decided to get back to work.

Some of the things that I have learned from this diet it how many nutrients I have really been bad at getting. With the DietPower software I not only can track calories and weight but I can also track all the nutrients. My original menu option had me way low on fiber (hence the plumbing issue), potassium, folate, vitamin E, and iron. With learning this, I have sought out additions to make to my food menu that will give these a boost. Fiber One cereal is the highest fiber source I could find. One serving is 51% of the daily requirements!  Potasium is a bit harder. Supplements give you only 99mg by law which means if you don't eat potassium rich foods in great abundance, you have to take many pills to boost it. You need 4770 mg each day and except for seaweed one of the best sources is spinach. However, even a whole 1/2 cup of boiled spinach gives you only 419 mg. Raw spinach is 158mg for 1/2 cup. The folate and vitamin E are easy to supplement if needed. It has been an interesting thing to diet. It has led to a new awareness of nutrition that goes beyond just me because it impacts how I prepare food for the whole family.

Exercise is a new addition to my routine. I am soooooo computer-oriented that I end up sitting at the desk much of the day creating slides for the online classes, teaching online, creating digital artwork, and surfing. Obviously most of my kids are getting bigger to allow the luxury of that time. LOL. But, it takes its toll in that I don't get enough exercise. For the past four weeks I have taken up jogging. The weather outside is too cold for outdoor jogging so I have been jogging in place. Typically I aim for 40 minutes a day. Originally I jogged in ten minute stretches because that was about all I could do. Now I am doing two 20 minute sets per day. In the last week or two though my ankles have begun to give me trouble. They ache and get very stiff when I hold still for even a short time. That and the fact that John wants to begin exercising has led us to decide on getting an eliptical. John could never jog since his neck gets messed up at the slightest jar. The low impact design of the eliptical seems to be just the ticket. We ordered this one http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8145314. It should be here by the weekend. My ankles are excited. LOL