FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

I had a chance to visit with one of the Trainer-ettes (we don�t have any male personal trainers at my gym) this week about my lifting routine and the plateau of sorts I have found myself in. She gave me a new routine that would �shock� my metabolism into action again with the added benefit of being more new, and less routine.I am getting to the gym 4x per week, so she suggested that I have one dedicated cardio day and bust out the following fat-burning juggernaut.

10 min. on the elliptical (moderate intensity)
Bench Press (Chest) 12/10/8 at 125 lbs/130 lbs/135 lbs
Seated Row (Back) 12/10/8 at 120 lbs/130 lbs/140 lbs
5 min. Balls to the Wall on the bike
Leg Press (Quads/Hams) 3/15 at 260 lbs.
Ab Machine (Abs) 4/25 at 130 lbs.
5 min. Balls to the Wall on the bike
Barbell Curl (Biceps) 12/10/8 at 75 lbs/80 lbs/90 lbs
Triceps Press (Triceps) 3/15 at 95 lbs
5 min. Balls to the Wall on the bike
Standing Calf Raise 3�15 at body-weight
Overhead Shoulder Press 12/10/8 at 75 lbs/80 lbs/85 lbs
Finish up with 10 minutes on the elliptical at an easy intensity.

I guess it paid off�

Anton, a drum roll if you please�

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Today (Sept. 27, 2007): 320.8 lbs.
Current BMI: 42.3

Weight Change This Week: -2.8 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: -71.2 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: the 75 lb. magnet (3.8 lbs. to go)
WeightWatchers Challenge: 302 lbs. by Thanksgiving

231.4! That’s what the scale said this morning. A loss of 2.8 pounds.

And yes that is a dirty diaper in the background. We were in a hurry this morning…what are you going to do.

I am really excited to be back on track!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
9/28: 231.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
11.4 lbs. to go

It’s Dinnertime. Where do you usually eat? (112 participants)

54% on the couch or EZ chair
34% at the dinner table
10% at the desk
8% over the sink
4% at a restaurant
2% in the car

Apparently, only 1/3 of us have healthy eating habits.

New poll posted…. vote!

You may have missed it, but this last Saturday (Sept. 22), marked the beginning of the final 100 days of 2007.� I stumbled upon a blog called, Hundred Day Head Start. The author goes on the premise that we shouldn’t wait until 01/01/08 to make a change in your life, do it now and get a 100 day head start!

264 down… 100 to go… are you better off today than you were 9 months ago? One year ago? Or will you be ’surviving’ the holidays, hoping that you keep your weight gain UNDER 15 lbs? Only to be one of the many that clog up the gym and WeightWatchers meetings in January?

Start today and get a 96 day head start! The gym is remarkably uncrowded.

Well, it’s been an eventful few weeks on the weight loss journey for me.� I was thrilled when I got below 250 pounds last month.� That was a big mental barrier for me.� I guess I thought getting past that point would make it easier to continue on down the scale.� I’m afraid what I actually did was let down my guard, just the tiniest bit - and that was enough to keep my weight hovering around 250 for much longer than I had anticipated.� It was getting pretty irritating actually, and guess what happens when I get unhappy about my weight loss progress?� That’s right, a snack here, a snack there, daily calorie intake steadily higher each day.� It’s such a vicious cycle.� Get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, ad infinitum.�

The worst week was the week I spent away from home, outside my comfort zone.� I had access to Mom’s Home Cookin’, and many wedding-related feasts on which to gorge myself.� That week I gained a spectacular 7.2 pounds.� That freaked me about a bit, so as soon as I got home I jumped back into my normal routine, and was quickly rewarded by the weight loss gods - 8 pounds lost that week.�

So what the heck were those two weeks about??� It doesn’t seem very possible that I actually gained and lost 8 pounds of fat over two weeks.� I’m not going to try to analyze it too much.� I’m really glad the gain was only a blip on the radar and not, to put it dramatically, “the beginning of the end.”�

During the trip back to my family of origin, I saw some things from a new perspective.� For example, the excessive pushing of second servings at big family meals.� On some level it is considered rude to decline seconds.� If I had any doubt about this, I was reminded after dinner when my mother mentioned to me in private in the kitchen that the fish she had prepared wasn’t very good.� I thought it had been very good, and told her so.� “But nobody had seconds… I was watching,” she responded.� Of course I told her that was ridiculous, but sadly I don’t think she was really convinced.� On this diet I’ve had to retrain myself about what a normal amount of food to eat is, and for the first time, I’m seeing my previous training as unusual.�

I’m closing in on the next weight loss target - my entry into the Century Club - 100 pounds lost!� As of today, I’m 8 pounds away from that goal.� That will be very happy day for me.� This time though, I won’t let down my guard and ride around on that annoying rollercoaster for a month!

Cross-Published on Sucks to be Fat

I closed my post More Signs of Dedication from tonight with the words “I almost feel like I can do this.”� That may sound strange to people because by some definitions of success I have shown I can do this weight loss thing, logging a total of 13 pounds lost since August 1st.� Not a rapid loss, but just at about the scheduled pace and something I should be happy about.

But I am not there yet.�

Most of the success I recognize to date pertains to my exercise programs where I have seen measurable improvement.� And since I am keeping lot of stats it is easy to follow along and gauge that as a success.

While I am happy to be down to 282 instead of the 295 I started at (and the 298 which I believe was the highest I ever saw my scale at before that) I simply won’t feel like the weight loss is a successful result until I get it to 279.� That’s because the range I have seen my scale over the last 6 years or so has been between 280 and 298 with only once dipping into the 270s and that was after a week of high altitude skiing in Colorado; in other words, an aberration.

So right now even though I have made drastic changes to my eating, added strength training and cardio programs, and just in general have completely embraced this fitness program, I don’t feel successful because I am still in that range I have found myself in over the years.� Getting to 279 would signal to me that all the hard work is starting to pay off because the aberration is now based on long-term efforts I have put in place.

I’ve spent a lot of time discussing the importance of focusing on decisions rather results, but eventually you’d like to see those good decisions be rewarded with success.� My first phase of success will be marked when I cross into, and stay, in the 270s.�

I’m this close.

I have two recommendations from this weekend.

Recomendation #1:
See the movie I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With

It’s written by, directed by and starring Jeff Garlin, who is probably most famous for his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm… or his co-starring role in Daddy Daycare for those of you without HBO.

It is very rare to see a love story with an overweight guy as the lead love interest. It’s even rarer for that overweight guys struggle with weight to be a central part of the story. Most rare of all is this movie which handles it all with great care and affection.

Instead of turning the movie into a bunch of fat guy jokes and put down humor, Jeff Garlin shows us a real guy, having a real struggle with where his life is headed… and being overweight is a part of that struggle.

You can tell that Jeff Garlin has been there. In the opening scene we see him sitting on the hood of his car in the parking lot of a convenience store eating Ding Dongs and chocolate pudding. He’s eating in the parking lot to hide his eating from his mom. It’s a moment that was very poignant to me. It’s a moment I have lived hundreds of times.

The movie is well written. It’s endearing, it’s funny, it’s a real joy and it is full of actors you know you know even if you can’t remember their names. Sadly these are the actors who should be household names.

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With, is in limited release in art house theaters, but it is also available on demand from Comcast and some other cable providers. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Recommendation #2:

Steve and Barry’s!

Steve and Barry’s is best described as Old Navy meets Wal-Mart, but with a lot more style .

One of the great things about our weight loss journey is going through the closet and getting rid of all those “fat clothes”. Unfortunately it starts adding up when you have to replace all those “fat clothes”. It adds up even more when you have to do it again 5 months later because the new clothes you bought have become “fat clothes” as well.

After my closet purge last month I was left with 1 pair of jeans. I hit the local outlet mall two weekends ago and spent nearly a hundred bucks on three pair of jeans that hopefully will not fit me come Christmas time. A lot of money for some pants that may only last 4 months.

Then, I rediscovered Steve and Barry’s. They have some great, stylish clothes for dirt cheap prices. Jeans were on sale for $7.99!!!!

The clothes might not be the best quality, but for those of us who are truly dedicated to shedding the pounds, they only need to last a few months. So wait until you meet your final goal weight to hit the expensive department stores and head over to Steve and Barry’s for some closet restocking.

Tony
9/25: 234.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
14.2 lbs. to go

p.s. I swear I am not a paid shill for either of these things. Just a fan!

234.2! That’s what it said on the scale this morning. Which makes this weeks total a gain of .2 lbs. My 14-week weight loss streak has been broken.

I can’t complain too much though. For one thing, 14 weeks was an amazing run. Now that I am getting closer to my goal, I know it will be harder to keep putting up big numbers week after week. And I only missed having a loss by .2 pounds!

It helps that I knew the gain was coming. Last night I had a work sponsored bowling outing at this greasy little dive down the road. There was lots of beer and lots of good, greasy bar food including deep fried macaroni and cheese. Yum! I had made the decision ahead of time that I was going to go and enjoy myself and not worry about the calories. I thought about it long and hard and here is my rationale.

This whole weight loss journey is all about changing my lifestyle not just dieting to lose weight. This is my diet not a diet. If I had avoided food and beer just so I could have a weight loss, then that is dieting. I knew this was going to jeopardize my “streak”, but I figured it would be hypocritical of me not to have a good time.

I still did pretty good last night. I had two beers and a lot of greasy fried food including the aforementioned deep fried mac and cheese, along with some hot wings, tatter tots and waffle fries.

Here is the major difference between last night and a year ago, and the reason I can say I did pretty good last night. Last night I stopped eating before all the plates were empty. Sure I ate a lot, but I didn’t eat as much as I could have. Sadly that is a really big step for me. Like I have said before, up until 6 months ago if there was food around, I ate.

Today starts a new chapter in this weight loss journey. Lets see if I can beat the 14 week streak!

Tony
9/21: 234.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
14.2 lbs. to go

Since I last checked in; I ’survived’ Round-up, only made it to the gym one time and work is getting increasingly stressful as our State Site Review is getting closer (one week from today). Since I missed weigh-in night on Tuesday due to The Boy’s football game (they won), I was mildly optimistic that I wouldn’t have too LARGE of a gain when I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning. More on that in a moment.

Our All-wise and All-knowing leader, Jan rolls out mini-goals for the group to use as a motivational strategies. Regular readers will know that I met my summer goal of losing 25 lbs. with one week to spare! Her new challenge, How much can� you lose by Thanksgiving? I figured mine by taking my weekly average (holding steady at 1.8 lbs.) and multiplying by the NINE WEEKS (really?!) until Thanksgiving. I discovered that if I add just three pounds, I will have the goal that I was planning on attacking next… 302 lbs. or dropping below 40 on the BMI scale. It will be pretty amazing to go home for Thanksgiving weighing less than I have in 15+ years.

Anton, a drum roll if you please�

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Today (Sept. 20, 2007): 323.6 lbs.
Current BMI: 42.7

Weight Change: -0.2 lbs. (inspiring, huh?)
Total Loss: -68.4 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: 75 lbs. (6.6 lbs. to go)
WeightWatchers Challenge: 302 lbs. by Thanksgiving

Cross-Published on I Reject Your Reality�

Hi gang, long time no post.  I’m still out here, and definitely follow the blog quite a bit, but it’s been tough to find time to post anything these days.  Here are some random thoughts about my current maintenance state:

• I have no idea how much I weigh.  It’s probably only up a little since I went on maintenance, but my pants mostly fit the same.  That’s how I’m going to gauge things for the time being.
• I haven’t been to Weight Watchers since July. 
• I wish I could need to find more time to ride my bike.   Winter’s a comin’.
• My standard breakfast:  Grape-nuts with honey and 1% milk. 
• I haven’t been to fast food in months.  Since like last March, before I started all of this.
• I occasionally have a Snickers.  Or a small vanilla cone.  I don’t obsess over it, nor do I overdo it.
• In the past, I’ve had some bouts of anxiety that would trigger over-eating.  I’ve got the source of those taken care of, for the most part.  The rest of them just kind of took care of themselves.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  Guys, don’t be afraid to confront some mental health issues that you might be facing.  Address them, take care of them however you need to, and losing weight will be that much easier for you.  Which will, in turn, help you with the mental health issues. 
• I feel better now than I have in the last 8-9 years.  I believe I’m getting a handle on this as a lifestyle.  Moderation is a good word to use here. 

Hope this post finds all of you well.