Agreeing with Aaron - using the same scale all the time will give you a consistent reference point. As long as that number on that scale is going down if you want to lose weight or staying the same if you just want to maintain your current weight, that's the important thing.

My saving grace has been Clif Bars. My fast food habit has usually been due to the temptation to grab something on the way home from work because I get off work at 6:30 pm and feel lazy, tired and hungry. What I do now is that I eat a Clif Bar late in the afternoon and I'm not starving when I leave work.



If I am on the go, another trick I do is going to a convenience store where they have ready-made sandwiches. I know that they may not entirely be as healthy as Subway, but they aren't as unhealthy as a Big Mac either.

I really love your profile pic with your baby! Two really happy people!

Atkins takes a symptom (we eat too many simple carbohydrates in the form of processed sugars) and takes it to an unnecessary extreme (eliminate almost all carbohydrates from the diet). I personally don't know anyone who's had success keeping weight off on a low-carb diet. High protein diets are also supposed to be very damaging to the kidneys.



It is better in my opinion to cut unhealthy carbohydrates out of your diet, those in the form of sweet snacks, soda, etc. Ensure your carb intake comes from complex carborhydrates in the form of whole grains and fruit.

Mountain biking.

Hi Heather



If you have some cash, perhaps some of those freeze-dried food preparations that they make for hikers and campers?

Harish brings up a good point - if your gym is some distance from work, going in the morning could make you susceptable to extra traffic. I'm lucky in that my gym is only a mile from my house, so there is really no difference in traffic patterns.

I read in Men's Health a while back that working out in the morning is the best time from a physical perspective. It jump-starts your metabolism so that you are burning more calories throughout the day.



That being said, the best time to exercise is the time that works best for you. If for instance you get off work at 3:00 and you're not a morning person, then rather than getting up a 5:00 am to hit the gym before work, you can work out on your way home from work. Or you have a gym at your place of work and your co-worker is your workout buddy. Whatever time that gets you going consitently is the best time.



The only caution I have is working out late at night. I've done it a couple times when I've gotten off work late and it made it hard for me to fall asleep.

The really tough thing about trying to lead a healthy lifestyle is that the amount of effort required to gain weight (downing a piece of cake in a minute) is not proportional to the amount of effort required to lose that same amount (you'll probably need to spend a half an hour or more exercising to work off the calories in that cake.)



I agree with what other people have said when they say that it is far easier to maintain a regular habit of eating healthy than to occasionally binge and pick up the pieces afterwards. But if you do "fall off the wagon" it's important to pick yourself back up as soon as possible and continue on your way.

Hi Justin



Your situation was probably compounded by the guys from work that you were worth - they were probably encouraging you. I went out for dinner with a bunch of people from work Thursday night and they were all eating burgers and huge burritos and stuff. It was very hard to just eat my grilled salmon and rice, but I felt much better afterwards for doing so.



So you've been forgiven, get up, dust yourself off, and keep going.

While it's definitely a policy of "Cavaet Emptor" on the internet, there are plenty of reputable sites with useful information. There is certainly a lot of blog and forum spam going on. There is nothing that can replace the good advice of a doctor or nutritionist.

Hey Joe B, if that's what keeps you on the cardio machine longer, that's a good thing!

I gotta give special props to Justin, as I love Krispy Kremes. Good work.

"The Rising," Bruce Springsteen

"Discotheque," U2

"Ghettomusik," Outkast

Oatmeal is great and filling, especially on cold mornings. I usually have a Clif Bar with water in the morning.

I used to be a caffeiene junkie, but I have cut my intake down to one cup of coffee in the morning. I drink water throughout the day. I find that my general energy level is the same but I am not as antsy.

I'm in agreement with Eric - bring it to the office. It will be gone in a day.

Hey, let's celebrate some recent successes.



I actually got up at 6:00 to work out on Monday, something I haven't done in a dog's age!

Be patient with the traineo team as they explore these options, as hosting audio and video can cause bandwidth costs to skyrocket.

Most of the advice I have heard recommend a *healthy* breakfast. Right now because I suck at getting up in the morning I have a Clif Bar and a bottle of water.

Hmmmm - where to start lobbying for this? CES? IEEE?



I love your idea. The Training Data Microformat data could be used for things like "You can't play your Xbox until you accrue 90 TDM's for the day."

When I am doing cardio in the gym, I like upbeat music that gets me excited.



Weightlifting is all angry music, either rap or metal.



When I'm out cycling, it's either Tool or techno.

When I'm doing cardio, I listen to podcasts on my iPod, preferably humorous ones. My favorite has been Extra Life Radio. I also listen to This Week in Tech and Diggnation. In fact, listening through the archives of Extra Life Radio actually helped me get focused on my workouts, because I look forward to the next time I'll be able to do a workout and listen to a show.



If you like to listen to music to motivate you, the great thing about an iPod, as sabrina has pointed out, is creating custom playlists. When I was running, I worked really hard at creating a custom playlist that had pretty much the same beat per minute all the way through to help maintain my rate of speed.

Sorry for the "me too" but if you have access to a pool swimming will be an excellent low-impact workout for your body.



Once you start getting your weight down, if you want to get back into cycling, I would advise going to a bike shop and getting a professional fitting if you can afford it. That will enable you to do something that you enjoy without taxing your body too much.



And try to avoid thinking too negatively about your current weight - yes you want to change, but if you get into a negative loop you may give up. By coming here, registering and asking for our thoughts, you are making effort towards a positive change.

If you have a Trader Joe's in the area, I highly recommend their Citrus Green Tea for iced tea.

As a man, be sure that your choice of multivitamin does not contain additional iron - men don't need as much iron as women.

A good pork loin is relatively healthy. It is indeed bland if you don't season it, but if you put a nice mustard/pepper rub on it you'll get a great flavor.

Dude - you rock! Keep it going, that's awesome!

I've found that a snack with some protein in the late afternoon helps keep me from having too much to eat at dinner time or hitting the drive-through on the way home.

Any chance we can get a body fat percentage stat added to the stats section?