It's been about three weeks since my last fitness update and despite a four day Vegas binge, I'm pleased with my progress.

More on Vegas...we decided to skip logging food and to eat whatever we wanted for our trip. We may have gone a little overboard. After over a month of relatively "clean" eating, my body freaked out when I had cheeseburger sliders and fries at Steak and Shake. I had eaten about a 1/4 of my meal, when I felt complete nauseated from the greasy food. This didn't stop me though. The weekend was filled with pizza, tortilla chips, guacamole, chocolate based desserts, chili-cheese dogs and loads of alcoholic beverages. In fact, the only healthy meal we ate was sushi.

What was the damage?

I gained about four pounds over the Vegas trip.

We have mostly eaten healthy since the trip, with a few desserts and some wine thrown in. My overall weight loss is at 10.3, which I'm pleased with considering the Vegas binge. In a few weeks, we have another mini vacation coming up, this time to Big Bear for Dan's birthday. I'm hoping to off-set the eating with a lot of planned physical activity. The great thing about Vegas is all of the walking, which I think kept the damage to a minimum.

We have done really well with fitness. The big change has been getting into a routine of waking up at 5:50 every morning to go on a long walk together. It's not always easy and we seem to sleep in on the weekends. I've never been a morning person. However, we are trying to get our 10,000 steps in early to beat the heat.

10,000 steps has been a very easy goal and most days we far exceed it with minimal effort.

I've also added in 20 or more minutes a day with a weighted Hula Hoop. I watch television on my Ipad while hooping in the garage. It feels like an easy workout, but I can see results in my abs. My abs are my weakest area and they seem to be getting tighter. Plus my shorts and jeans are falling off. I foresee a shopping trip in my future. The Hula Hoop is fun, but it has left massive bruises on my torso. It was painful the first week, but I've toughened up.

We have varied our walks on the weekends by going to the beach and to Griffith Park.

Dan took this beautiful shot in Griffith Park.

Griffith Park has been especially great because it gives us the tougher workout of walking on an incline. We go slower and can't go as far, but it's a better workout.

Our shadows at the top of a hill in Griffith Park.

We may not be going to Griffith Park again, because we had a bit of a scare last Friday night. We were in the park at dusk when all of the creatures start to stir. First, we saw a young coyote weaving in front of us and then we saw a fox darting into the bushes. We saw some cute rabbits, four of them.

It was getting very dark, very fast...

We heard lots of howling.

And then, in the middle of the road we saw Dan's biggest fear...an enormous rattlesnake all curled up enjoying the hot asphalt. Admittedly, it didn't make a move or rattle, but it was huge and scary! I'm not even frightened of snakes, but encountering it on the path made me a little freaked out.

I guess we will be sticking to the beaches for alternatives to our neighborhood walks.

Last night, we went to Sports Chalet and bought a few things to add to my exercise routine.

I'm starting with three pound weights. I did an bunch of free weight exercises this morning and am a little sore. I'm sure that I won't be at three pounds for long, but I wanted to build it up slowly.

I also did 200 jumps ( not without a break) with the Go Fit Pro Cable Rope. It was not easy. How did I do so much jump roping as a kid? My heart was racing. It's a workout. Hopefully the stamina won't take too long to build.

I'm continuing to love the BodyMedia Fit. The band is getting a worn and the velcro needs replacing. However, I wear it all of the time and still find it to be a big motivating tool. I have a huge tan line from wearing it.

I'm still getting used to the website and I'm finding out the pros/cons of the system. For example, there is no section on the BodyMedia online site to make notations. I would have loved to note my progress on the Hula Hoop. They do list various exercises that are not walking or running, but Hula Hooping is not in the database. BodyMedia has partnered with apps from other site to make up for what they lack, but it's confusing. I don't want to use multiple sites, I want it all on one. I need to explore it more though, as I have not taken the time to really utilize all of the functionality of my BodyMedia Fit.

On Memorial Day, Dan and I decided to reboot our health kick with the help of a new gadget, the BodyMedia Fit. Last summer, we went on a several month health stretch with the Fitbit. It faltered around the holidays and we both packed the weight back on.

The Fitbit was a good motivator, but as it clips on to your clothing, it kept falling off. We still have the Fitbits, but wanted a more substantial gadget this time around. We read the reviews and finally settled on the BodyMedia Fit.

I wear my BodyMedia Fit on my right upper arm and it's on all of the time, except when in water or when it's charging.

It measures my sleep at night. The Fitbit also measured sleep, but it was nowhere as slick as the BodyMedia Fit. When using the Fitbit, you need to tell the machine when you were going to bed and then tell it when you have woken up. The BodyMedia Fit has sensors that know when you are lying in bed and when you have fallen asleep. There is no need to alert the machine.

It turns out, I don't get much sleep most nights. I take forever to fall into an REM state and don't frequently stay there. I have one good night of solid sleep about once a week. I'm often tired, but had no idea that it was so bad. Hopefully I can figure out how to fix this problem.

As with the Fitbit, The BodyMedia Fit tracks distance and speed. With both devices, this was one of keys to getting me active. I love having charts and statistics. I like having specific goals.

The BodyMedia Fit has a great website and app that keep me on top of my progress. If anything, it has made me a little OCD with checking my distant count. The daily distance challenge is 10,000 steps. This has been very easy to meet. Most days, I am well over the 10,000. I hate going on my daily walks alone, which I often do in the morning. However, I enjoy my after dinner and weekend walks with Dan. It's great to get out and spend time together. The walks have given me a lot more energy.

The other key to weight loss has been tracking food. I always lose weight when tracking. In the past, I have been very successful on Weight Watchers. We considered Weight Watchers this time around, but the reasons that I was successful with the program (tracking food) can be met through the BodyMedia Tools. I am not an emotional eater and did not respond to the meetings. It's a good program for people who need the extra help.

BodyMedia has me on a plan to lose half a pound a week while eating around 1400 calories. I've smashed this and made my rate of loss higher. Most days I find it very easy to eat less than 1400. I'm more mindful of what I am eating and of the portions, but I'm not eliminating everything. I've had several cupcakes, ice cream cones, cheese burgers, helpings of potato salad, et... It's summer and there are a lot of parties going on. I'm not skipping them. I drink alcohol several times a week with no problems.

The BodyMedia tracking is great, but there are a few things that I would change..

1. The date base seems to have a lot of junk food, including specific fast food entrees. This is okay, however it's often difficult to find basic food items. I've been mostly eating unprocessed foods and have been frustrated to not easily find certain vegetables or basic prepared foods in the database.

2. I wish that there was a function where Dan or I could input our meal and then send it to the other person. We often eat the same lunch or dinner and it's a pain to both have to input it. I'm sure lots of families are using the BodyMedia Fit together and this would be a huge time saver.

A huge plus for the BodyMedia Fit is it calculates your fat/carb/protein intake and your vitamins. It sends alerts if you are too high or lacking something in your diet. It's very important to input information into your tracker as complete as possible, not just the calories, so that these alerts are accurate. A few times I've received alerts for too much sodium or too little carbs. It's good to be aware of everything that is going into your body. I find this to be a huge motivator to keep me making good choices.

Overall, I've been very happy with the BodyMedia Fit. I've lost just shy of ten pounds in a month and Dan is down twenty. We both feel and look better.

Looking towards July, I plan to add some weight training and maybe pilates to my 10,000 steps. I also want to start using that fitness hula hoop that I bought last year. Hopefully Dan and I will go on some great local hikes or find other ways to shake up our exercise routine.

Onward and upward! Stay tuned for future progress reports.

Fitness Reboot- Derailed by Vegas

Fitness Reboot - BodyMedia Fit Review