FatBloggers.net

Cross-Published on The Anti-Jared

My chef is on vacation this week, so I have the honor of playing chef all week long.It is not a big deal since it is what I have done the last six years of my life! I am usually in the kitchen helping all of the time anyway, but today I decided cook side by side with the guys and show them a couple of things I have seen wrong, and how to fix them.
I got promoted to Partner earlier this year, but before that I was the chef. I helped design a lot of menu items, and I also was able to run very good financial in my restaurant as well.
I also gained a lot of weight.I mean a lot of weight! I have been in restaurants for over 12 years, and the one thing I did was eat. I was good at it! Now, I have always been a big eater, but being in the kitchen all of the time did not help the cause. Snacking, picking, and cooking were the demise of a 420 pound man.
As a matter of fact, I got so big that I could not wear chef clothes anymore. I was in 5x clothing, and it took to long to order jackets and pants from the distributor. I would wear a dress shirt and slacks instead, from the Casual Male XL. I also got to a point where I was not able to cook on the hot line because of my size.

I remember one year on mother’s day, I worked on the hotline. I worked for an hour, and I had to go outside because I was about to pass out. I actually started throwing up outside because of my heat exhaustion. I was so large, it was tough. I needed to cool down so I went in the freezer. Steam was coming off of me because I was so hot. It was not a good time!

I got to a point where I really could not do much of anything. I was always good with numbers, but I could not move around, or cook anymore.
It was sad. I felt horrible, like I was not worth anything in my career anymore. I was scared, because I felt like I could not do restaurants anymore. At 420 pounds, I really felt like I could not do anything anymore. It was the lowest part of my life.
I lost all of the weight while being a Chef/Partner at the same restaurant. I really think that is what truly makes my story special. I did not go to a ranch to lose the weight, nor did I go on disability. I looked my fear in the face and said ‘Listen Chicken Parmesan, I am going to beat you!” I have lost 193.8 pounds so far by going day in and day out into a restaurant, and having the courage to say no to a lot of unhealthy foods!
Today I am a partner, and I do wonder if I would be successful in another career. I have heard everything from personal trainer to motivational speaker. I do not know if I would do so great in another industry. Yet…..
I think I could do anything I put my mind to!

But for today, you can call me “Chef!”

Cross published on PickonTheFatKid.com

I’m kind of disappointed with myself these past couple days. I haven’t really fallen off the wagon or anything when it comes to eating. I have ate more food the past 2 days than normal, but it has all been lean proteins, veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc. The same stuff I have always been eating these past few weeks. However, I’m mostly disappointed in myself because I have just been lazy. Heck, I sat in front of my computer doing my “Black Friday” Christmas shopping yesterday morning. I didn’t even put pants on until almost noon!

I have still been doing my exercise, but just because I felt like I “had to” instead of because I “wanted to”. The results were less than stellar. I didn’t go as far as I usually do. Plus when I got back to the house, I pretty much plopped back on the couch or in front of the computer.

The previous few weeks, I haven’t been able to sit down on the couch for extended periods of time. I would get antsy and just start doing stuff like clean the house or do laundry. These past few days off, that hasn’t happened. I guess it’s the holidays or whatever, but I don’t like it.

So I’m back to normal today. I got a good night’s rest and feel good this morning. I jumped out of bed early this morning, made my breakfast and had a great walk. I went much further and much faster than I have the past 2 days. I even broke a good sweat this morning trying to make up for the past couple days.

I do have one semi-obstacle in the road coming up today, though. The family wants to go out to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. I’d prefer to stay away from there, but family is family. Plus this place has some healthy options on the menu. I’ll stick with the grilled chicken and probably have a salad.

Other than the Mexican restaurant, I expect to have a good day. No WVU games on the TV to keep me glued to the couch. I also have to do some laundry and work in the yard a bit. I’m going to break out some power tools as well and continue working on my arcade machine I’m building.

Lastly, while I was doing my Christmas shopping yesterday, I found something I’d really like to have: A heavy bag. I love the sport of boxing. I even tried training a LONG time ago with the guy that ran the pool hall where I spent most of my adolescence. He was a Golden Glove boxer and would train people (free!). Even to this day, that is the most strenuous activity I have ever tried. Beating on the heavy bag for just a minute really works up a sweat. I thought I could start with a few 1 minute rounds and then just work myself up. It’s fun and great exercise for both cardio and really works a lot of muscles too. I know all the basics to get started right and if I ever get into it anymore in the future, I know where to go for the additional training.

So it turns out my Thanksgiving was surprisingly fun. I’d been dreading it as this marks the first time I’d be without family on the holiday, but it turns out that hanging out with a friend and avoiding the stress and hassle of air travel is pretty okay. Though I’d still rather see my parents next year than do this again.

On Wednesday night I went out for pizza and beer, then yesterday for Thanksgiving I had a bucket of KFC. lol! I also didn’t work out yesterday, nor today. I’m not skipping – it’s a planned absence. Though truthfully I’m missing the gym right now. Guess it’s just part of my routine and things seem ‘off’ without it. And that’s a *really* good sign.

I’m also up 1.6 pounds this morning, at 290.0. A bit is real, a bit is sodium-induced water weight gain. I’m a tad concerned, if only because of my typical weekend weight gain. I can’t be setting myself back like that this time.

First of all, I would like to thank John for inviting me to this wonderful site.  I really appreciate it.

My name is Wes.  My weight loss blog is called Pick on the Fat Kid.  I’m 31 years old and have lived in Southern WV all my life.  I think my story is a little different than some of the others on this site, but on a broad spectrum it’s still the same.  I have been overweight all my life.  I used to be an active kid all the way up through my teen years. I never really gave “dieting” a shot until 5 or 6 years ago.  I joined Weight Watchers because I was tired of being fat.

I did very well with Weight Watchers.  I remember the first day, I thought I had a pretty good idea of my weight.  I had been weighing at home and was staying around the 300 lbs mark.  However, when I stepped on the Weight Watchers scales, it read 396 lbs.  I thought they did something wrong and had them weigh me again.  Yep 396 lbs.  You see, the scales I had been using at home only went to 300 and I wasn’t aware of that until after my first Weight Watchers meeting.  After several months on the program, I lost around 100 lbs.  I felt great!  I was doing cardio and weight training at the gym.  I was even playing racquetball.  What a fun sport!

Something happened along the way though.  I lost my way and fell into the path of drug abuse.  My drug of choice was marijuana.  I loved it.  No hangovers, no real side effects.  Well, no side effects but one.  The munchies.  When I was stoned, I could never get full.  When I moved out into the real world, I spiraled downward even more.  I was smoking on a daily basis and poisoning my body with fast food.  Whoppers, Double Quarter Pounders, Chicken McNuggets, lots of fries, and tons of soda were my main diet.  

After several years of this pattern, I had gained back the 100lbs I lost plus another 65 for good measure.  I was a miserable person with a dismal outlook on life.  One day, I just had enough.  I came to terms with reality.  If I continued down this path, I figured I would have maybe 2 to 3 years left in my life.  I was so depressed one day at work, I banged out a post on 2+2, an online poker forum.  Originally I expected the majority of the people to start cracking fat jokes at me.  I thought this would cheer me up.  What I got, though, was support.  These anonymous poker players pushed me into taking the path that I am taking now.

I decided that very day to change my ways.  I flushed the bag of marijuana I had in my house down the crapper and started researching healthy eating.  What I found was what I would call “Information Overload”.  There is so much info out there and a lot of it is contradicting.  I needed help, but I wasn’t happy with the way my local Weight Watchers handled a few things previously.  I didn’t want to go that route again, but I needed something to hold me accountable for my actions.  So I started a blog.  That would help with the accountability.  But I still didn’t have a good game plan beyond that.  Enter Adam Gilbert.  His services were suggested to me by another fellow poker player.  Adam lives to help people lose weight.  His whole program focused on accountability and not allowing yourself to make excuses.  He set out an exercise and diet plan for me that would be easy to stick with.

Basically, my diet consists of a lot of lean proteins (chicken, fish, turkey, egg whites) and complex carbs in the form of veggies, fruits, and whole wheat/whole grain foods.  I usually eat 6 meals a day.  Every evening I send Adam my food journal and every morning he sends me feedback on what I ate and also includes an inspirational post along with it.  He is great at keeping me motivated.  In fact, I’m just as motivated today as I was a month and half ago when I decided to make this change in my life.

At my last weigh in, I had lost 27.5 lbs in 42 days.  I don’t think of it as a “diet”, but just a way of life.  Things were difficult in the beginning, but planning for the bumps in the road that life throws at you is half the fun now.  My outlook on life has completely changed.  I’m no longer a miserable person.  In fact I’m happy.  I jump out of bed and I’m ready to sieze the day.  Nothing seems out of reach.

I hope you follow along as I embark on this journey.  I have a long road ahead of me.  My overall goal is to lose 261 lbs.  For me, writing is therapeutic.  Writing about my weight loss journey helps me stay accountable for my actions.  The more people that pull for me to succeed, the less chance of me losing focus.  I don’t want to let myself down and I’ll be damned if I let down the people that are cheering for me!

I’m looking forward to reading what this Mountaineer has to say. The name of his blog certainly hits home…

Pick on the Fat Kid
Welcome Wes!

First of all, let’s just say it was an awesome day for a run. We left the house this morning at 8am and got downtown to a very crowded set of streets trying to find parking. We managed to find something and get over to City Hall where the action was. I thought it was busy when I went to the Freedom Run, but that was nothing compared to this event. I later overheard that there were 31,000 people who preregistered for the event. My best friend, Brent, waited until today to register and he was assigned the number 37653, so there were a LOT of people there. I have never been involved in any event with that many people except for a few baseball games.

We managed to find Brent just after he had registered (he had taken the DART rail line to downtown so he was there ahead of us). After initial preparations (dropping off everything except the essentials with my wife), we ran a short jog around City Hall to warm up. He proceeded with a few stretches while I looked on and then we made our way over to the starting area (I prefer to stretch afterward, but I ended up forgetting anyway). By this time, the 8 mile runners had already left and it was only 10 minutes until the 3mile Fun Run began.

Once the run started, it was such a slow start with thousands of runners/walkers/strollers/dogs, that we didn’t cross the starting line until the race had been going 10 minutes. We ended up weaving through the crowds to keep a decent pace (probably putting in more distance than just the three miles). We passed a few bands performing on the side (including one Mariachi band playing “Feliz Navidad”) which prompted my comment to Brent that most everyone running hasn’t even had their Thanksgiving Turkey yet.

We finished strong and then sought out Amy to get a final picture together and then get something in our stomachs. We found yogurt smoothies, bananas and water. I had brought along a Clif bar for the occasion (appropriately Pumpkin Pie flavor). Brent turned to me and announced that next year, we should do the 8 mile run. At that point, I agreed and so we plan on doing it. I am looking forward to it so much.

We wandered over to the 8 mile finish line to watch dozens crossing the line and then made our way to the “official” photographer station to get a photo together. We then left and walked over to where we finally parted ways, Brent to return to the Dart Rail Line to go home to Thanksgiving with his family and ourselves to our van to go visit my parents. Photos from the event can be found here.

Cross-Published at The Anti-Jared

Thanksgiving is almost over. My phone did not ring one time today, and I am most thankful for that. It was an incredibly relaxing day!
My wife and I went to a family members house today for Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there, everyone was very worried that I would not have anything to eat. People worry about that a lot. It is super flattering, but it is my responsibility to decide the food options I can have. Take a look at the menu we had. Do you see that on the bottom, I have my own little exception menu. It was very kind, but I do not want anyone to go out of their way for me.
It is my job to go out of my way. I had two apples in my pocket, and I made this vegetable dish for the group (Really for me!). It was an assortment of red peppers, mushrooms, onions, carrots, and broccoli. I steamed it with a touch of vegetable broth, garlic, and salt. It came out really good!
And as I expected, no one else really ate it. They had cranberry sauce, and pecan pie, and other delicious foods. But I was more than content with vegetables, apples, and turkey. As a matter of fact, I ate a lot of it, so I was not hungry at all afterward. I actually felt like every other Thanksgiving dinner, stuffed.
After the meal, the topic of my weight loss came up. Most of the people at the house have not seen me since last Thanksgiving, when I was 420 pounds. They asked me if I was tempted by the food, and if I have struggled during the time of my new lifestyle, and if this was a phase.
The truthful answer to all of this was no. I really was not tempted by the food. I sat next to my wife, to remind me why I eat the way I do. I have not struggled, because I do see good results, and this is not a phase. I want to live my life like this. I enjoy it now!
Before we left, I heard the comment “Don’t get cocky. Don’t you dare get cocky! You have lost all of this weight, and you will slip up and ruin all your hard work if you are over confident. I care about you! Don’t get cocky”

The reason I am not cocky about it is because I think about this every minute of every day! I can not go back. I will not fail! I am confident about that.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I’m sitting here in my Seahawks Tatupu jersey watching my Hawks get embarrassed on national TV (just like every week), waiting for the turkey to achieve its turk-a-licious goodness. I’m aslo checking out new and potential FatBloggers. There are some great ones out there! I want to thank Tony P for pointing out You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat… Good Stuff!

The score is 34-9 (at least they’ve made 3 FG’s)… against Dallas!

I’d like to welcome Andrew of Waste the Waist … More Good Stuff!

Stuff?  mmmm Stuffing… I gotta go!

btw… go check out a VIDEO blog at JumokeTV (he’ll be joining us soon)

Cross-Published at The Anti-Jared

Today is Thanksgiving! I am so happy I am off from work where I will be left alone. There is no need to call me today, the store is closed. Home office is closed! It is a real nice day to relax. Ahhhhh.
I am going to go a couple of hours away to eat Thanksgiving Dinner at a family member’s house, but before I left, ! wanted to give thanks to a few bloggers who have helped me with inspiration and hope for the future. It might be some good reading today before your meal! I have written about a few in the past, but just in case you did not see the post, i will do it again in more depth!

Pamela was the first blogger I ever read, and is probably the nicest blogger out there, even though most bloggers are nice. She will leave positive comments for you if she reads your post, and she is totally a “silver lining” type of gal.
The most impressive thing for me about her is that she has kept off over 150 pounds! 150 pounds, WOW! She beats herself up a lot, but the way I look at it, she has lived in “onederland” for quite some time. She loves movies, and books, and she really loves her family.
Lately she has been going through some hard times, but still is very optimistic. This will be a person who will keep the weight off. I think she is great!

Carlos was the first person who ever wrote me a comment on my blog. I do not know how he even found the blog, I only posted once a month. At the time, I lost 40 pounds, and he was down 73 pounds. I was so jealous! He would encourage me in the beginning, and he would always do it with humor.
His blog is funny, and very real. He swears like a sailor, and loves the ladies, but you get a sense that he has passion for his family, wife, and life.
So now, I have lost 193.8 pounds, and I think he is down 71.8 pounds to date. He has been struggling as of late, which everyone struggles. He writes in humor how he can not understand why he gained 7 pounds while eating Slurpees, Encased Meat, Pork, and Beer. I love ya Carlos, but it’s not the sodium

Mizfit is super cool as well. She has her own website, and is pretty popular in the weight loss blogging world. She writes fun poems, recipes, quirky comments, and she also has videos where she is exercising in a supermarket with motor oil. Can’t get much cooler than that!
But here is why I really, really respect her! She has left me a comment on every post I have made for the last month. Every time she leaves me a comment, it is at 6am EST. Always! To me, I take that as she is so organized with her life, that she sets time aside every day to go on the computer. It is amazing. 6am every time!I really envy that type of organization!

Those are three bloggers that really inspire me. Trust me, there are many, many more. I think every once in a while, I will write about those who have helped me out, three at a time!

What blogs have inspired you! Where are the “hidden jewels”!

Oh, before I go, and I will post tonight after my meal, check this post out. I really liked it!

Cross-Published at The Anti-Jared

Tomorrow is the big day! It is the start of the month long eating extravaganza. We begin with Turkey tomorrow, Ham on Christmas, and finished off with Champagne on New Years.
But I will not talk about food today. It is not right. It is like making someone feel bad about gambling before they go to Vegas. People are going to eat what they want to eat tomorrow, the last thing anyone needs is to feel guilty. Just try to make it a one day affair!
No, today I just want to put in a quick blend of items that are of interest to me, and maybe to you as well!

1. I love blogging. It helps me stay focused, and I have gotten a good amount of feedback from people. The best part is that most of the feedback has been positive!!! I recently put my blog on another site called Fatbloggers.com
Before I go on, I do have to say one thing. I HATE the word fat. I think it is just a mean, disgusting word to call someone. I have been overweight my whole life, and I have been called every name in the book . Pig, Chubs, Pork Chop, Peter Griffin, Dump Truck, Jerk (Well, maybe that is not part of being heavy), and House are just a few. I do not mind being called anything. I have thick skin. Actually, I have loose skin now, HA!
But, when I think of fat, I think of a disregarded piece of meat that no one wants on their plate. I think of a slimy, sloppy greasy item that is just foul. That is not what a overweight person is. That is not what anyone is.
I like the term “Overweight” because that is what I am. I am over the weight desired. I can deal with that. And yes, I can deal with being called a pig as well, because I eat out of a trough, and I am a touch sloppy!
Okay, I am off my soapbox. Anyway, this website is really cool! Very nice people, all struggling with everyday weight loss, and really interesting posts. You should check it out!

2. I also love friends! I have these social clubs (Myspace and Twitter) where I would love to be your friend. Please look me up anytime. I do not turn people down! I also have Facebook!

3. So I did something yesterday that I never thought I would be able to do. During my boxing class, I did a sit-up. Yes, a true sit-up. No one held my feet. It was not a crunch. It was a true 100% sit-up! I actually did six of them. I was quite pleased.

4. That you all for your comments. I love comments! I live for them. I try to respond to as many as i can. If I have not responded to any comment you have had, please let me know.

This is just a short post today! I hope everyone has a great holiday!