FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

I fought back this week and succeeded.  I ate less on the weekend than I normally would and did more yardwork.  I wasn’t perfect, but I was better.  Amy and I have decided to really push hard to do more “core” foods instead of the breads and sugars.  I’ve had a few sodas more than usual, but I can count on one hand the number I’ve had in the last month.  That alone is quite an accomplishment.

I had to switch back to the elliptical this week.  My knees were giving me too many problems from doing the running.  Well, at least I think that’s the cause, though I really would not be surprised to find out that it was another gout attack (they can affect more than just the feet).  So today I took some gout medication and if I start seeing immediate results, then I know what else I need to do to get the gout out of the way.  If not, then it was the running and I need to slow down on that.

In spite of my knees, I still did a workout (I had not had one in about 6 days so it was rough getting back into the routine).  I gotta keep this up.  I lost this week, but I had lost two weeks ago too and had a gain in between.  I want to make 50 by summer and I’m running out of time.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 279.0 lb
Current weight: 276.4 lb
Current loss/gain: -2.6 lb
Total loss/gain: -42.6 lb
Distance to 50: 7.4 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 26.4 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Update

I woke up this morning and for the first time in almost two weeks, my knees and wrists are not hurting.  Unfortunately, that means it was almost definitely a gout attack I’ve been enduring.  I didn’t pay attention to the signs because I was rather skeptical about it being new joints (instead of the usual big toe or ankle joints).  I’ll take one more dose of my medication to be sure it is on its way out, but I also now know what I can’t eat for a while to be sure it goes away completely (hello, it was stupid to have the margarita this past Sunday).

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Sorry I missed the weigh in last week. It was a good one.

WEIGH- IN WEEK 45: 216.2! A loss of 4 pounds.

WEIGH-IN WEEK 46: 215.4. A loss of .8 pounds.

This was week two of my goal to lose at least one pound a week for three weeks.

Missed it by that much!

I am a little disappointed that I didn’t make the extra .2 pounds to keep the goal, but in the spirit of the goal this was still a decent loss for the week. Especially considering I started out the week with a massive gain from bad eating over the weekend.

The intention of setting a goal of losing 1 pound a week for three weeks was to stop the cycle of loss and gain that I have been in lately. I feel like I am still on track to stick with that goal. If I can post a loss three weeks in a row, I’ll be feeling pretty good.

I’d also really like to get to a new low by my birthday at the end of this month. Which means I have to continue to lose or maintain for the next four weeks.

This should be a good weekend for maintaining the healthy lifestyle. I have my 2nd 5K race tomorrow and then I am hoping to get some yard work done. Sunday, if everything works out, I might even get in some softball practice. So it should be a good active weekend.

Wish me luck for the race tomorrow, I feel like I am going to need it. I am not to confidant about living up to my time from the first 5k. I plan to let my Dad set the pace tomorrow and then I’ll do my best to keep up

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
05/02: 215.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7.4 lbs. to go

P.S.
Anybody have any idea when Spring is going to arrive? Stop with the snow already!

I love some of the articles in the Men’s Health RSS in the sidebar. This morning, this one grabbed my eye…

You’re Hereby Sentenced to Lose Weight

Please read the entire article, but this is what caught my eye…

Broderick Lloyd Laswell, an inmate, is suing the Arkansas jail he’s been held in for 8 months–because he’s lost 105 pounds since being booked. Laswell, who’s gone from 413 pounds to 308, says he’s being starved.

Starvation at 3,000 calories a day? If we were the jury, we wouldn’t be convinced. The average guy needs about 2,500 calories a day. Sure, this is an average, so it varies, but still, 3,000 calories isn’t lettuce leaves and tea.

Well, I had expected a gain last week and was surprised… however, my gain this week was a surprise too, but I should have seen it coming. After all, as I said before, this past week requires consumption of foods that are higher in fats sometimes. Now I can refocus since the week is over.

I still had several personal successes including doing a workout without having transportation to the weight-room (I work about a 1/2 mile from the building where I do my workouts). When I was off work Friday, I still did a shortened workout including 1.59 miles running (mostly). Today’s workout included a total of 1.34 miles (in two parts) where I was running the entire time.

I’ve really stepped up my workouts, but I need to get in some variations. I’m glad I took up the running. Maybe some day I’ll being joining in some 5K runs (of course, they’re almost always on Saturdays and I do believe Saturday to be the sabbath, a day of rest). It’ll be a while, but I do want to have some small goals in mind.

As for the gain, if you look at the graph, there seems to be a definite pattern emerging… Big loss, big gain, small loss, repeat.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 276.4 lb
Current weight: 279.0 lb
Current loss/gain: +2.6 lb
Total loss/gain: -40.0 lb
Distance to 50: 10.0 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 29.0 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

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During this week (Sunday-Saturday), our congregation is observing the Days of Unleavens (yeah, old testament torah stuff; we observed Passover back on Friday night). During this time, we do not consume anything made with leavening products, primarily yeast, baking soda and baking powder.

The reason this concerns me is that most unleavened breads (which we are required to consume daily as the Israelites did as they left Egypt) are higher in fat and calories (especially since they’re not fluffy, they just take up space the amount of the dough). So naturally I expect the scale to show a significant increase during this time period.

I couldn’t be further from the truth. Though I missed a workout yesterday, I still got in three since the last weigh-in. I also changed it up today and replaced the 20 minutes of Elliptical machine with 20 minutes of 5 laps around our Call Center building (about 1.25 miles total) running one full lap and then about 70% of the rest running.

Though we had a Passover dinner Friday night (not a Jewish Seder, but roasted lamb, bitter herb salad, and unleavened bread), normal after-church small meal on Saturday and then a potluck on Sunday (the first Day of Unleavens), I still tried to limit my sweets intake, increase my veggie intake, and just have unsweet tea and water to drink.

All of this still resulted in me losing 3.2 pounds this week! This put me at a new record low since I started and only about 7.4 pounds away from my goal of 50 pounds lost. I just hope I can keep this up for next week’s weigh-in after these days are over.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 279.6 lb
Current weight: 276.4 lb
Current loss/gain: -3.2 lb
Total loss/gain: -42.6 lb
Distance to 50: 7.2 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 26.4 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

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Aw, shoot!  I really blew it this past week.  Had pizza, chocolate pudding pie, and other goodies.  Bad stuff and the scales told the story.  A gain of 1.8 pounds.  I am back to where I was three weeks ago (a gain then too).

The problem?  Telling myself that I’ve been good so I deserve a little treat.  While this is true, telling myself that for a few days in a row is NOT good.  I’ve stuck to the workouts.  I’ve been having more healthy foods, but I gave in on the unhealthy stuff too.

Unfortunately, I also didn’t write it all down.  I really was too embarrassed about it to admit to what I had done.  However, I promise not to let that happen again.  Either I write it or I don’t eat it.  I need to set a better example.  I can do this.  I know I can.

On the plus side, I managed to lift 175lbs on the benchpress (only two reps, but that’s pretty good considering I was lifting 45lbs less than two months ago).  My workout buddy still pushes me to do more (weight, reps, sets, time, etc.) and I keep doing my best to meet his expectations.  I do have to balance that with what I read about in reputable magazines and websites and try not to overdo it.

Also on the plus side was the 42×32 jeans I wore on Friday.  Man, that was an accomplishment all its own.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 278.2 lb
Current weight: 280.0 lb
Current loss/gain: +1.8 lb
Total loss/gain: -39.0 lb
Distance to 50: 10.0 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 30.0 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

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As I mentioned on my blog, I had some positive feedback about my weight-loss and that was a boost I needed. I didn’t lose as much this week as I had hoped, but maybe it is because I am gaining muscle. I notice it more and more each week and so I know I’m still doing pretty good when I can gain muscle and still lose 0.6 pounds.

I also missed a day of exercise last week and I really missed it (though the feeling is quite different for the next couple of hours after a session). I’m really enjoying the exercise sessions and the results I’m seeing in the mirror and on the scale mean a lot to me.

I’ve got a ways to go, but I’m almost halfway to my personal goal and that is pretty cool.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 280.4 lb
Current weight: 279.8 lb
Current loss/gain: -0.6 lb
Total loss/gain: -39.2 lb
Distance to 50: 10.8 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 29.8 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

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so I decided to go to the gym instead of weight watchers today. It turned out that it had to be one or the other so I hit the gym and will go to WW in Friday or Sat. I weighed myself on the scale at the gym which is usually higher than the WW scale and I did it after my workout which usually seems to be higher than before I work out. The scale said what I was afraid of… 260. I am going to work very hard and hopefully the WW number will be a pound or two less than that. I wanted to see as high a number as possible so that I will be as motivated as possible. It’s always hard for me to get going again after taking time off. But I’m eating very well today and have already worked out so this is going to be a + day!

On another note… i have like 2 pairs of jeans that I wear most every day. One of them is a bit too small and the other is wearing out (my big toe got caught in a hole this morning and made a minor problem a bit bigger). So I have decided that I’m not going to buy any new jeans that are the same size as the ones I am wearing. I will wear these until I can fit into the next smaller size (which I think is a 36). So either i am going to drop a size pretty quick or I am going to wear increasingly deteriorating jeans along with my uncomfortable ones… or I will lose weight and my other jeans will fit better and I can buy some new ones that are smaller. Just another step in making health more comfortable than habit.

Yes! This has been one heck of a week with many struggles, but many positive experiences as well.

Food: I only had one drink that was not on the core plan (a couple of glasses of wine last night). I managed to cut back on sweets and increasing fruit and vegetable intake. I took my lunch three days out of the five. I did not have any food at the movies Saturday night (Fool’s Gold was a fun movie).

Exercise: I did one more day of walking 2.2 miles during lunch on Wednesday. Yesterday and today, I finally got to exercise with my workout buddy, Jason. Both days involved 20 minutes on the elliptical (aka the torture rack for my quadriceps), 20 situps, 15 leg lefts, and then 30 minutes on free weights, machines and bench press (Monday and Wednesday on one group of muscles, a different group on Tuesday and Thursday). My legs and arms were Jello yesterday. Today, they were just plain sore.

I mentioned in my last weigh-in that I would post my menu. I’ll list it below after the “more” link.

Although one weigh-in months ago took me to the 40 pounds lost mark, I consider it a fluke as it dropped back down almost 9 pounds the following week. So, in my books, today’s weight loss of 36 pounds is my personal lowest.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 285.2 lb
Current weight: 283.0 lb
Current loss/gain: -2.2 lb
Total loss/gain: -36.0 lb
Distance to 50: 14.0 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 33.0 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

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Did anyone else notice that the gravity field was stronger today? Well, if only it were that easy to blame my gain on anything but me. However, we all know the fault here lies completely on me. Lemme see… just what did I do?

Oh yeah… I guess I should’ve skipped the Celtic Kiss I fixed for myself one night. Oh, and the several brownies I’ve had over the week. Plus other sweets and stuff. Good grief. I knew I had a bad week when I had a minor gout attack hit me Sunday evening and finally go away last night.

Of course, on the upside, I did situps 3 nights, pushups 2 nights, leg lifts 1 night, a 20 minute slow walk with my wife and our dog on Sunday followed by a 30 minute fast walk by myself and a 20 min walk today at lunch. My workout buddy got the flu on Friday and had to miss the last two days. Hopefully he’ll be back tomorrow to start in on our workout plan.

I’ll just have to push myself harder to stick to core and avoid the sweets. They are really my downfall right now. I have been enjoying more fruits and veggies, but I haven’t avoided the chocolates and desserts either.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 284.8 lb
Current weight: 287.6 lb
Current loss/gain: +2.8 lb
Total loss/gain: -31.4 lb
Distance to 50: 18.6 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 37.6 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Update 2.6.2008:
My workout buddy finally came back to work today after the flu, but was still too weak to deal with working out.  So our plans are postponed until Monday when we attempt to start fresh (again).  He also already signed us up for a 2 mile fun run on March 8th.  Unfortunately, I don’t do any work or exercise on the Sabbath and can’t seem to convince him of that.  So we’ll see how I can get out of this without hurting him.  After all, I’ve always wanted to do a charity run, but they’re almost exclusively on Saturdays when I observe the Sabbath.