FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

so that whole “tomorrow, tomorrow…” thing didn’t work out so well. not that i’m using any of this as an excuse, but between christmas, working for christmas, moving, multiple trips… it was just too crazy and it fell by the wayside so stinkin’ quick.

i’m back now though. really. for realz. i’ve set a goal of losing 75 pounds this year. i’m honestly hoping i can lose even more than that, but i figure 75 is a reachable goal and good start.

this morning i started using sparkpeople.com again. it’s like returning to an old friend whom i’ve neglected for far too long. an old friend who gave me so much, and i just turned my back on. it’s a little guilt-ridden really…

i’m not quite sure what i’m going to do about exercise just yet. but i’m committed to no more than 2,000 calories a day, and while i’m not necessarily watching fat intake… i plan on getting back on track with eating healthy (for the love of all things holy, no more pizza.). it’s time to step up…. take a crap or get off the pot…

i know this is a responsibility i must bear on my own… i do. but i would be lying if i sat here and said that this is easier without you all chiming in now and then. i’m making even more of my journey transparent now. you can click here and actually see my food intake for each day. i do this every day (have in the past, and will start again today), and it helped beyond belief to keep track of everything i eat. if for some reason you see that page, and don’t see things entered, please call me on it. if you and i go out to eat, be a jerk if you must — don’t let me buy a double cheeseburger. i’m beginning to believe that as much as i wanted to do this on my own (my wife is onboard with me of course), i can’t.

for anyone interested, the link to my main sparkpeople.com page, with my weight tracker, is here.

it’s back on baby.

2008 starting weight: 364.0

out of curiosity, what method(s)/website(s) are you using in your journey to cut the gut?

[cross-blogged on ...love is the movement]

There is an article over on SavingAdvice.com about “There’s no such thing as Free Exercise“.  It is an excellent discussion of the costs of entering an exercise program of ANY kind.

Everything you choose to do that is healthy may have a way of affecting your wallet.  It is not limited to exercise, as it includes diet as well.  It is cheaper in most cases to eat unhealthily than to choose the right foods.  Healthy foods cost more.  Prepackaged foods cost less.  Salads and other good choices in restaurants cost more.  Combo meals and larger portions cost less.

However, despite all this, can we really put a price on our extended life and health?  What price would you pay to see your kids graduate or get married or have grandchildren?  What price would you pay to have a clean bill of health when you see the doctor?  How much money will you save on insurance?

It may hit our pocketbook early on, but the long-term effects of gaining a healthy lifestyle far outweigh (pun intended) the dollars we pay now to get there.

Not a bad first week back on Weight Watchers.  Drum roll please, Anton:

Starting Weight: 260

Weigh-in:  257

Pounds lost:  3.0

Goal Weight:  245

Pounds to go:  12

Healthy You Challenge:

I wanted to put a couple tools in place to keep me motivated in the New Year. I didn’t want to make a ‘resolution’ because people seem to roll their eyes at those, myself included. But if you set a reasonable goal and put a plan into place to achieve it, good for you!

To mark the end of my first week on the Healthy You Challenge, I would like to post a follow-up to a post I made earlier in the week. I am mildly annoyed by the people that are clogging up the gym. These people that are making thier 896th ‘resolution’ to lose weight, change thier bad habits, 75% of them won’t be clogging the gym in a few weeks. They don’t have a plan. They see some info-mercial or read a magazine article that proclaims that they will lose 25 lbs by swimsuit season. Oh, and check out the 75 ways to make a decadent dessert on page 93.

Take it from me, if you have more than 20 lbs to lose, you need to have a plan to get you through the boring gray days of March and the gorgeous days of June & July when you would rather be sitting someplace air conditioned than sweating it out on the stationary bike. Make a plan… slow and steady wins the race.

• HYC Starting Weight - 317 lbs (1/3/08)
• Week 1 Weigh-In - 315.4 lbs (1/10/08)
• Weight Change - 1.6 lbs lost

Now, back to my regular weigh in…

Anton… a drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Today (Jan. 10, 2008): 315.4 lbs.
Current BMI: 41.6

Weight Change This Week: -1.6 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: -76.6 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: 311 lbs. Halfway to GOAL! (4.4 lbs. to go)

AND…

I am wearing new smaller sized pants!
Thanks WebCudgel!

This post is cross-published on Rejecting Your Reality

Well, in spite of my best intentions, I did manage to have a gain this week. However, though I had mentioned before that I don’t keep Christmas (thus, meaning that it would not have a negative impact on my weight like most people), I had two parties to deal with this past weekend.

The first was the reason for the extra housework over the last two weeks. It was a 50th birthday party for one of my wife’s sisters. We had a total of 22 guests and a ton of food since we had decided on a potluck style which allowed for a lot of variety.

There was one bright side of this party. I had not eaten as much as I might have had I not been conscious of my choices. I loaded up my plate first with garden salad, pasta salad, one fried chicken wing (the smallest in the pan) and one strip of brisket. Thus, I was already filling up on healthier choices before getting something else. In the end, my second plate had a small bowl of chili and a variety from the veggie tray and some potato salad. All in all, I avoided the heftier items. My drinks, on the other hand, could have been better, but also were not as bad. I had one soda, a small glass of wine and a glass of champagne & cranberry juice. After that it was water the rest of the night.

The second party was on Sunday evening which was thrown by a friend of mine who was celebrating his 40th (minus 1) birthday by having a poker party. I had never played Texas Holdem before so I “crammed” by playing some free games on Pokerstars.net to bone up on the general play action. It was only after we started a practice round for real that I learned what big-blind and small-blind meant. I ended up coming in 2nd place on the first “real” game (with a $2 buy-in, that meant the winner won $12 in the first game and $14 in the second game when my friend’s wife joined in after delivering the food).

He and his wife provided fajitas from a local Mexican restaurant. Again, my choices could have been much worse than in the past. I got a few chicken fajitas in the flour tortillas with a lot of the onions and bell peppers, a little sour cream and pico de gallo. No cheese, no refried beans, very few tortilla chips and a little rice to round out the meal. I’d had one Smirnoff Ice and then water the rest of the evening (there might have been one soda, but I cannot remember exactly).

All in all, I did make better choices, but not the best choices and I paid for it on the scales. Thankfully, that should be the last major event/celebration for a few months.

I do want to leave you with this quote from a member at our meeting tonight (it applies to a lot of things in life, not just weight-loss):

Slow in the right direction is better than any speed in the wrong direction.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 285.8 lb
Current weight: 287.8 lb
Current loss/gain: +2.0 lb
Total loss/gain: -31.2 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Loss (not) since last weigh-in: +26.2 lbs (wow!  That’s some serious emotional eating folks!!)

Total loss:  6.4 lbs.

At least I still weigh less than when I started.

Happy New Year.

<< 1 pound of fat

My Weight Watchers leader tracked several things in 2007; how many members made thier 10% goal, how many made goal and lifetime, and most importantly, how much weight was lost. Between the Tuesday night group and the Thursday morning group, over 4,200 lbs was lost! That’s over TWO TONS!

How much weight did you lose in 2007?

Make a comment with the answer.

220.4! That’s what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3.2 pounds.

I’d call that a great start to the New Year. I still have 4 pounds to go to get down to my pre-holiday low and 6 pounds to reach overweight status, but that will come quickly enough.

This has been an amazing year for me, and again all I can ask myself is why did it take so long to do this. Sure it has been some work, but not nearly as much as I expected. In fact once I got into the groove of things I would say the whole thing has come pretty easy. I guess you just have to be at the right place in your life to make the change.

So lets look back at who I was a year ago.

One year ago I weighed 288 pounds.
I regularly consumed over 3500 calories a day.
I couldn’t run more than 1 minute at a time.
I wore a XXL shirt.
I wore size 46 pants.

Today I weigh 220 pounds.
I eat less than 2000 calories a day on average.
I work out 5 days a week for 45 minutes.
I can run more than 34 minutes at a time.
I can run a 5k on a treadmill.
I wear a L shirt.
I wear size 36 pants.
I feel great.

I am really proud of what I have accomplished, and I am really excited to see what new accomplishments I will be able to achieve this year.

As always I thank all of you for the help and support and encouragement.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/4: 220.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
6.4 pounds to go.

Then - May 2007 - 360 lbs
Now - January 2008 - 317 lbs.

Anton… a drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Today (Jan. 3, 2008): 317 lbs.
Current BMI: 41.8

Weight Change This Week: -2.8 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: -75 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: 311 lbs. Halfway to GOAL! (6 lbs. to go)

This post is cross-published on Rejecting Your Reality

Last March, I began Weight Watchers at 301.6 pounds, and finished up in July at 243.6.  After that point, I was able to keep up a reasonably healthy lifestyle, avoid fast food joints, get some exercise, etc… I’ve found myself getting a little more lazy the last month or so, and I felt like it was time for a return trip.  My first meeting was just tonight.  I haven’t gained as much as I thought I did, but I still need to stick with the program for a while to get down to last summer’s weight.  Anton, drum roll please…

Starting Weight:  260.0

Goal Weight:  245.0

Lbs. to go:  15.0

I’m back in the game, boys.  See y’all next week.