Let's talk calories in beer...

I've realized, that except for a post about what I was doing for Cleveland Beer Week a couple of years ago, I haven't really talk about beer in the blog, even though it is such an important part of the blog.  So let's change that now!
One of the things that became apparent as I started tracking my calories, was that beer was full of them.  Not exactly an epiphany, but what was eye opening was the caloric difference between beers.  The other thing I noticed was that it appears to be pretty difficult to determine the true caloric content.  While a beer may be 8% ABV, residual sugars in the beer can impact the true number of calories in a beer.  So, since I am not a chemist, I looked for an easy guide. I found a simple one on the Beers of tomorrow website.  There is a chart you can download for reference. It makes it real easy to estimate the calories. I like easy.
So there you have it, and easy way to estimate your beers.  You can now know, based on the calories left in your daily budget, whether you should have that pale ale or imperial stout!

I never thought this would be easy....

When I started this little journey, I really didn't think it would be easy. However, in the first couple of weeks the weight seemed to melt off.  I was pretty excited. 
However, as I get closer to my first goal, the reality of weight loss has reared it's ugly head. Don't worry, I'm not giving up and going back to my bad habits, but it has not been as easy recently as it was in the beginning.

While the trend is going in the right direction, I need a couple of good weeks to get back on track. I'll admit, I probably got a little cocky as the weight came off.  Big mistake! Let me add an additional disclaimer here - We did get a new scale a couple of weeks ago which resulted in a 3 pound weight gain.  The good news is on this new scale, my weight is more accurately tracking. More on that in an upcoming post.
OK, so back to purpose of this post.  While hitting a bit of a road block, 1) I'm very happy with my progress on the treadmill and I'm actually looking forward to getting outside soon and running, 2) I can walk up stairs without getting out of breath and 3) my clothes are definitely looser on my body.  Three really good outcomes of my progress to date. Having said that, any suggestions on getting over this hump would be appreciated! Also, look me up on Fitbit if you have one to keep me moving (I may be competitive, and I may walk extra so I beat you!).

How did I get here?

Note: Apologies for this post, obviously I thought I was much faster that I actually was.  Thanks to my brother Joe for setting me straight!

When I graduated from high school in 1980 I weighed 145 pounds. I was a running machine.  If memory serves me correctly, I ran a 4:32 mile my senior year.  I probably ran a 4:50 something mile.

Me in my leaner HS days!


In college I was running sub 25 minutes for 5 miles in cross country.  Not shabby! Ok, I have no clue how fast I was in college, probably sub 30 minutes, but who the hell knows!

OK, so the rest of this is pretty factual!

My sophomore year I was plagued with some injuries and did not run competitively after that.  Of course I gained some weight and the last race I remember running was the Corporate Challenge in Central Park in the late 80's early 90's.  It just about killed me!  I was done as a runner.
When I got married in '93 I weighed 185 pounds. It's been a weight roller coaster ever since, and hopefully I'm on a better healthier path now.
The reason I mention my running past is I'm considering running a race this summer.  Nothing big, just a 5k, but for me it will be a huge accomplishment!

He's back....

My last blog post was almost 3 years ago. I was not successful in losing the weight I had originally planned. No excuses. I failed.

This will be the third time I have tried to do this (losing weight and blogging).  Since the last time I tried this, in addition to gaining back the 17 pounds I lost, I also managed to gain 5 additional pounds. On January 19, 2015 I weighed 230 pounds.  That is the most I have ever weighed.  I felt horrible, I was short of breath.  I had to wear clothes that didn’t fit anymore.


On January 26th, thanks to a program at work, I purchased a Fitbit Charge HR basically for free. Between the tracker on my wrist, and the ability to easily log the food I eat via the Fitbit app, I have managed to lose almost 20 pounds. I’m hoping this stupid thing on my wrist will help change my life.  I'm not back to my lowest weight from the last time I tried this (although I've lost more weight), but I think I have a better idea on how to do this.

I have decided to attack this in two phases. In Phase 1 I want to lose 30 pounds. That will bring me to 200 pounds. The last time I weighed 200 pounds was in August of 2007. (Edit: August 2010, still along time ago!) Today I’m eating better, I’m watching my portions and I’m exercising regularly. I'm relatively confident I can achieve my Phase 1 goal.

The plan for Phase 2 is to lose an additional 25 pounds.  I know that will be harder to accomplish.  I have not seen 175 since my college days. I’m hoping that between the exercise and the lessons I’ve learned with eating better, and controlling my portions, I can do this.  I’ve also decided that being a little hungry is not a bad thing. I know that in order to have a big, unhealthy meal every once in a while, I need to balance my calories throughout the day. Exercising everyday gives some wiggle room

The other thing is I love beer. Craft beer. An America IPA like Fatheads Headhunter has approximately 225 calories.  I’m not giving up my beer (that would not make much sense for a person with a blog called Craft Beer Loser) So I must decide daily, based on what I’ve eaten, and how much I’ve exercised, if I can have a beer (or 2) each day.  I can live with that…..

Today I feel better, my clothes fit better, and I don’t need to catch my breath after climbing a flight of stairs. I’m hopeful this third time is the charm…Let’s do this!

If any of you have tips that have worked for you to keep off the weight you have lost, please share!

It's been a while...

I'm obviously not the most consistent blogger of all time...I go months in between posts, then I try and keep it up...but life (and laziness) keeps getting in the way.  Historically, it has been the same with my weight loss...The good news is that while there will always be ups and downs, I have been able to keep the weight off that I have been losing and been managing a consistent downward trend.

I have now lost 17 pound (woo hoo!)

That is good.  Especially given the recent stresses of work, home life, family stuff and poison ivy.  Yes, poison ivy!  Back in June I got a nice rash and it is really uncomfortable when I get hot and sweaty.  That has meant no exercising.  Luckily, I been able to control my eating and have lost weight even though I have not exercised in 3+ weeks. (Today I did get on the treadmill and it felt great!)

The next couple of weeks should be interesting as I am going to Florida to help my MIL get through her second dose of chemo for colon cancer.  I will have to figure out a way to exercise away from my normal outlets.  I'll also have to watch out for my stress eating...wish me luck!

Success breeds success

Success breeds success.  Pretty simple theory.  If you are doing something that works, you continue to do it.  In my case it has been exercising. First of all, I feel great (OK, tired, but great) afterwards.  I really didn't think I would like it, but I'm addicted to the treadmill. Our very unseasonable winter (warm) has turned into an unseasonable spring (cold), which has prevented me from riding my bike as often as I would like. The treadmill has been a great backup.  Since it has been forever since I have run (1999 to be exact, well, unless you count that in day in March last year when I ran 3 miles, without training and almost died), I have been taking it slow.  The treadmill has a built in program, Walk-Run, that after the warm up has you walk for 90 seconds,  then run for 30 seconds.  Over time, I have been able to slowly build up my pace.  On Saturday, I walked/ran 5K in 40:20.  I'm not breaking any land speed records, but it is a good place to start from.  Who, knows, maybe one day I'll run in a race.  That would be something!
In the meantime, my weight is coming off slowly, but surely.  I'm back to 7 pounds lost.  A long way from 50 pounds, but I feel like I'm going in the right direction finally.  Like they say, success breeds success!

40 for 40 update

I've been "religious" (haha, get it?) about keeping to the plan.  Either on the treadmill or on the bike, I've done 40 minutes or more each day.  Unfortunately, I've only lost one more pound (for a total of 6 to date).  I've come to realize I don't have a craft beer drinking problem, but I do have an eating problem.  I can binge eat with the best of them.  And it is definitely triggered by stress.  I need to figure out how to work on that very quickly, because I can't exercise much more than I am, and most days I only have a beer.  So wish me luck as I try reduce the amount of food I'm eating.
In the meantime, there are only a couple of more days left in Lent, but I think this exercise thing is now part of my routine, I feel great afterwards, so I won't be giving it up (see what I did there?) anytime soon.