FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

Right about now, the East Coast is gorging themselves on alcohol and fattening goodies all the while they are making promises to lose weight. The only way to eliminate that resolution is to do something about it.

If you make weight-loss a serious goal, you can work on eliminating the Fat Tax. The Fat Tax comes in many forms which you may recognize:

• Buy clothing and notice the sign at many of the retailers that says “Big/Plus Size Add $X”. That’s money you could be pocketing if you just lost the weight necessary to get into that smaller size (this won’t work for everyone since some like me have to wear the larger sizes due to shoulder width or chest size). Also, if your clothing no longer rubs together, it may last longer, too.
• No longer pay to “SuperSize” your meals when less food is enough (there will be a slight cost increase in choosing healthy stuff over cheap unhealthy items). You can also have more choices for restaurants when you no longer have to go to the buffet in order to eat enough to be full.
• Some insurance plans will reduce your premiums if you lose weight, stop smoking, etc.
• You may find it easier to get a better paying job when you look healthy.
• Some of you may be able to get a smaller, more inexpensive vehicle because you’ll be able to fit behind the wheel (not to mention the few cents you save because the car has less of a load).
• You no longer have to get first class airplane tickets to have the seats large enough to be comfortable.

I’m sure there are many other ways in which we pay the Fat Tax each day. What are you going to do this coming year to reduce your overall Fat Tax?

Sometimes we need reminders of just how it can feel to reach goal. I just did a quick review of some of the articles on CNN.com under Diet & Fitness. For us guys, the story of Tim can be encouraging as we know what it is like to be embarrassed and picked on for our size. For the ladies, Kelly’s story of changing her life to eventually run a marathon can be the spark that gets you to once again “eat for life”. Finally, for the couples out there, we can turn to Maggie & Andy who lost a total of 580 pounds together (and if they can do it, so can all of us).

Some of you will be wondering if you need to start losing the weight. Especially when midnight strikes on Monday and you realize that, once again, your resolutions include losing weight (something that didn’t happen last year). If anything, I hope these stories of success can give you the courage to take the first step and start being a better individual by treating yourself to a healthier lifestyle.  It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself.

We are here already on the road to being better people to ourselves and we are glad to help in the best way we know how, by becoming success stories, too. After all, this is what this website is all about and we can (and will) do it.

• I should have avoided ALL treats, not just the ones that I deemed ’sweat-worthy’.
• I should not have suggested we have salty ham for Christmas dinner.
• I should do more to dissuade my wife from stockpiling several metric tons of Christmas ‘crap’.
• I should stop making excuses.

Anton… a drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Today (Dec. 27, 2007): 319.8 lbs.
Current BMI: 42.2

Weight Change This Week: +5 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: -72.2 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: 311 lbs. Halfway to GOAL! (8.8 lbs. to go)

This post is cross-published on Rejecting Your Reality

There’s nothing like visiting a WeightWatchers location on Wednesday other than your usual one on Tuesday because the usual one happens to be closed Tuesday when you normally go (and they’ll be closed next Tuesday as well).  My wife and I had errands to run so we didn’t stick around for the meeting, but we didn’t skip on weighing in this week. 

Since we don’t keep Christmas, we didn’t have the huge family meal with tons of food and drink.  We saw a movie (no snacks, just bottled water) and had a drink at the one Starbuck’s we could find open on Christmas and then went home to a pot roast in the crockpot.  Thus, I still managed to lose weight this past week (though not as much as I hoped). 

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 286.6 lb
Current weight: 286.2 lb
Current loss/gain: -0.4 lb
Total loss/gain: -32.8 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Courtesy of the good guys at MensHealth.com

Remember last Christmas when the dog chewed the wires on your new PS3 and your nephew threw up at dinner? Here are five ways to head-off holiday disasters this year.

1. Forget about your diet. Want another twice-baked potato? Eat it. A slice of cheesecake and a few cookies? Sure. Don’t stuff yourself till you’re sick, but have a little bit of everything you love. And then get a jumpstart on your New Year’s resolution by eating right and working out tomorrow.

2. Skip today’s workout. Taking a day off helps your muscles grow. Get in a workout the day before and after Christmas with this 15-minute bodyweight routine that you can do anywhere.

3. If you receive a 5-foot tall wooden giraffe, say thanks for the thought and planning. Then deflect attention from yourself by asking how and where the giver found it.

4. Laugh at her family’s jokes. If a conversation falls flat, ask her parents about their recent trip to the Grand Canyon or share that you’re training for your first marathon. Stick to neutral topics and you’ll be fine.

5. Volunteer to run an errand and take her with you so you can get out of the house. Spending time by yourselves will get you away from your cousin’s poodle that likes to hump your leg and from Uncle Jim’s criticisms about your job. You’ll return saner, knowing you can make it through the last few hours

I am currently living in Christmas treat-hell.

Right now there are several dozen decorated/frosted Christmas cookies sitting just feet away from me. I know that there are buckets of fudge, peanut butter/chocolate balls, chocolate dipped pretzels in the freezer. Currently, my lovely bride is busy in the kitchen making caramel popcorn.

I have hinted, asked, pleaded and said some pretty mean things in order to prevent this circumstance. I would be happy if it could be dialed back a couple sweet decadent notches.

Why does she hate me?

216.2! That’s what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1 pound!

I am so looking forward to the holidays. I am excited about the break from work and spending some quality time with friends and family, but mostly I can not wait to see the looks on the faces of all those family members that I have not seen in awhile.

If you have a few seconds head here and scroll to the bottom of today’s post. There you can see a video of me from this summer and one from this morning. In the first I look and walk like I am nine months pregnant. It’s a great reminder of how far we’ve come in such a short time.

Have a warm, wonderful happy holiday everybody. Try not to stress the eating to much. You’ve all done amazing so far, you’ll keep it up in the New Year. One big holiday meal is not going to change that.

Tony
12/21: 216.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
2.2 lbs. to go

Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to actually be in the group.  It’s been fun the last several months just reading and keeping up with the success of all these other bloggers.  Now I am actually on the team and hope to contribute, not just to the team, but to everyone else on the sidelines or in the stands cheering all of us as we strive for our goals.

Now for an introduction.

My name is Charles Martin, I’m 38 years old, live near Fort Worth, TX, married to a wonderful woman, Amy, own a cat and a dog (Koko and Jack, respectively).  I work as a database analyst and web-developer for a Time Warner Cable.  I also manage several websites and love the Internet and all it does for those who feel alone.

I’ve been posting about my successes and stumbles for the last 18 months on my personal blog, www.webcudgel.com.  I’ve made some headway, but I really need to push myself harder.  I think that this will contribute to my motivation (it’s one thing to be doing this with my wife and family and a few friends, it’s another to be doing this in front of all of you).

And now about my journey.

For starters, I had never really been one to watch what I eat and just continued to balloon over the years.  My wife had been in Weight-Watchers for a few years, but lacking the success she had hoped to have, we had a serious discussion and I asked her, “what do you want me to do?”  That fateful question was followed by the equally important answer, “go to the meetings with me”.  I had been tolerant of the change in our diet at home, but I still picked up stuff at the grocery store that would “wreck” her plans to stay on track.

So, because I love her and would do anything to make her happier (and, thus, keep me happy too), I agreed.  It was originally for her that I went to my first meeting.  However, I realized later that, deep down, it was for me.  I had recently passed the 300 lb barrier and I was having some internal concerns, but not actually doing anything about it.  We went together and have been going ever since (in fact, I sometimes have to push her to attend when she doesn’t feel like it and I have even attended by myself when she was sick).

That was 18 months ago when I was at 319 pounds (the photo shown was taken just a few months before I started WeightWatchers).  At week 35, I lost my first 10% (32 pounds).  I’ve been as low as 34 pounds (just a few weeks ago and the 42 pound loss must have been a fluke with the scale that week).  However, since the 10% loss, I’ve fluctuated back and forth.  We switched from Flex plan to the Core plan about 4 months ago and saw some improvements, but we’ve been slacking on our commitment to keep to the core plan. 

This is where I’m at right now and now you get to come along for the ride as I continue down the road to a healthier me. 

One Year ago this week …

• I weighed 392 lbs
• I went to my Doctor to begin the process to get insurance to pay for gastric bypass surgery
• I would take 2 Aleve everyday before I went to work because of the stairs there.
• I wore 4xl shirts and size 58 pants that probably should have been 60’s.
• I wore a woven belt (so I wouldn’t have to punch a bunch of holes in it) that I bought over 10 years ago.

Today…

• I weighed 314.8 lbs (a total loss of 77.2 lbs) (-0.6 for the week)
• In June when I made the 10% goal, my Doctor told me that was a major benchmark to get the insurance to pay for the surgery, I told him to ‘forget about it’.
• I don’t take Aleve everyday and I can run up and down the stairs with the greatest of ease.
• I am down to a 2xl shirt that fits nicely and size 50 pants that fall if I don’t have a belt on.
• I had to buy new belts, and I am way past the need for a shorter size.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I get a queasy/giddy feeling when I think about what I will be writing on December 20, 2008.

For every 50 or so posts by women over on The Weigh We Were there is a guy. Such is the world of weightloss. It is so very difficult to find blogs & websites that are beefed up with MORE POWER!

I could really relate with today’s post, a 300+ lb guy who had always been fat and has a ‘come to Jesus’ moment when he has to walk into a cardiac ward to visit his mother. The weight of the stares was the impetus to shed the excess poundage.