FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

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.

starting 2008 weight: 364
this week’s weigh-in: 358.6
total weight loss this week: .2 pounds

well, my laziness finally caught up to me. only lost two-tenths of a pound this week. it hasn’t helped that i’ve been sick most of these last few days, but i am not making excuses. honestly, i almost didn’t even post this because i’m just so sick of it.

i’m sick of trying to live up to this… what seems to be impossible, standard i’ve set for myself. i’m sick of feeling obligated to tell the world (by my own commitment) of my failure, and i’m sick of not having the intelligence, willpower, courage, whatever you want to call it, to do what’s right.

for crying out loud, it’s not like we’re talking about cocaine or some other hard drug… it’s one slice of pizza, one chip, one order of chinese food, one cookie, one decision…

and i know, what is considered as a habit to junkies (smoking, drugs) can be also be attributed to people who are obese and their food, but you know what, i don’t care about that. i should and can be stronger than that. i will not sit here and blame my failures on “addiction.” why? because i’ve succeeded in the past. big-time. it wasn’t too long ago i was losing between 6-10 pounds a week. it wasn’t a fluke, and i haven’t hit a plateau, so don’t come to me with that crap. i worked my tail off and watched every single calorie that went into my body.

that’s how you lose weight. you cannot do it without sweat and sacrifice. if you think you can lose weight and eat whatever you want and in whatever portion you want, you’re a moron who probably is making people who come up with these ridiculous diets rich. really, this is the most simple and true form of weight loss in the world; find out how many calories your body burns in a day, eat less than that (way less if you can, but no less than 1600 if you’re male), burn some calories on top of that by exercising (which in turn raises your metabolism so you lose even more weight) = weight loss. period, end of story. nothing else really matters. someone needs to pay me for that advice. all these people that talk about carbs, fat, sugar, organic, raw, vegan… it’s all built on the same principle i mentioned above. 3,500 calories is a pound. that’s all you need to know.

people want to tell me i set myself up for failure, because i made it too difficult on myself. “counting every single calorie is crazy” they say… well, for three months of my life it wasn’t crazy and i was achieving crazy results. i don’t believe for a second that it cannot be achieved again… i just need to find my way back to that point. somewhere along the line i became lost, i forgot about the fire within to change my life. the tinder and the wood (the knowledge) is still there… i know what i must do, i just need to find the motivation (fire) to do it again.

so i guess the question is…

anyone got a match?

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

One more step forward in spite of the previous week I’ve had. Yes, I’m over my spite at losing the job opportunity. Yes, I’ll try to work on my personal development. Yes, I’ll try not to have pizza two days in a row over a weekend (but it was SO good).

In all, I had one of those weeks where I should have gained a ton just because of my anger, depression and poor choices. But mixed in there was a lot of good choices. In fact, had I not done most of the bad, imagine the good I could have accomplished. So I know I have to focus more on the good. I only had soda one day in the last week. Though I ate out a few times, almost all of the choices were healthy (love me a tuna sub-of-the-day at Subway on Fridays with no mayo or cheese and lots of veggies).

I’ve got someone at work who now wants to be my workout buddy. He can help me with a workout regimen (he used to be in the military) and it’ll keep him on a schedule since he’s now accountable to me. I can’t tell you how much it means to have someone you are accountable to.

At least I won’t suffer the temptations this Sunday that most people will since I don’t watch any sports.  So my wife and I can get some housework done and other errands without having to sit in front of a television munching down on more calories than any single athlete will be burning on that field (just think about that).

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 285.6 lb
Current weight: 284.8 lb
Current loss/gain: -0.8 lb
Total loss/gain: -34.2 lb
Distance to 50: 15.8 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 34.8 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Here’s me, taken about a year ago or so, at about 300 pounds. I hated having my picture taken back then because I was, well, fat. My oldest son just happened to have a camera with him when he snuck this shot. I’m glad he did, too; I need a reminder somewhere about how I looked back then. I have no idea how many calories I took in each day, but it was a boat load. And I had the stomach and ass to show for it. No way I’m going back to that look again within my lifetime. Sadly, the Oregon State retro shirt headed for Goodwill after I lost all that weight last year, but that seems to have been the only casualty. I’m much happier where I’m at right now.

As you may or may not know, I’m back on WW after packing on a few pounds over the holidays. I’m on my third week now. Last Friday, I went to a great Mexican restaurant, and another evening my fiance and I enjoyed a really good bottle of red wine together. I’m not a bit regretful about either of those eating incidents. Moderation is the name of the game here, and I’m learning to balance enjoying food without constant overindulgence. So this week, I may not have lost much, and I may even have gone up and ounce or two. We’ll see how it goes. I’m just not worried about it. Weigh-in tonight, then off to a nice dinner with Susan sans kids.

What’s your fat story?

Two steps forward, one step back… at least it seems that way. I had a gain this week.. Though I could contribute it to choice of clothing (heck, it’s cold here in Texas for once) or any other excuse, it’s still a gain and I need to adjust accordingly. In this case, prepare my meals ahead of time (instead of going to the local Chinese place for takeout like I did today) and get started on a workout regimen (I have none at this moment).

I still spent most of my week making the best decisions I could about my menu. However, we didn’t do enough to eat at home as much as we should. We’re already making menu plans for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, we know that this weekend won’t be good (spending time with friends on Saturday night and then family on Sunday all day). So we have to really get hard core (yes, the pun about the core plan is intended) the next few days to counteract what is coming up.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 284.2 lb
Current weight: 285.6 lb
Current loss/gain: +1.4 lb
Total loss/gain: -33.4 lb
Distance to 50: 16.6 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 35.6 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

I finally feel like I’m getting my mind going in the right direction. In reference to the quote from last week, the Vice President of Finance told me that the quote (which I had also written up on my marker board in my cubicle at work) reminded him of another common quote from the President of our division, “It takes both thrust and vector”. To get to your goal requires both motivation and proper steering. I think I’ve got the right vector and the thrust is improving.

Naturally, you can probably guess that my weigh-in concluded with a positive result. I had lost more than I anticipated. In the last week, I ate even more fruit and veggies than I had the previous few weeks combined. With a couple of pieces of fruit, celery and carrot sticks and some other assorted veggies and salads, I got real results.

We celebrated by going to Boston Market where I proceeded to order the whole (not half) Rotisserie Chicken Carver Sandwich and the large Market Chopped salad. Before you start telling me that it doesn’t sound like the right direction, it does when you consider the following: I did not get any fountain drink and only had water, I consumed half of the sandwich and the salad. I did not consume the bleu cheese and I did not pour the dressing on the salad (I dipped my fork in the dressing and speared said veggies). I left the restaurant carrying the half sandwich and the half salad (and half dressing) to be consumed at lunch tomorrow.

In a related note, I went forward with what I had read in an article I also blogged about on here. I completed step one, which was to “commit your resolution to writing” or, in my case, a short term goal to reach on my way to long-term success.

As shown in the picture above, I’ve decided on the phrase “Make 50 a Reality By Summer”. To me, this is to be at a goal of 50 pounds lost before June. At one pound a week, this is completely do-able. With my loss today, I’m already a few weeks ahead of the game, but I have to keep those reminders up. Now I’ve got to work on the second step which is to visualize your successful results (in Weight-Watchers, this is known as “Winning Outcomes”).

The whole process actually involves several different methods taught by Weight-Watchers which can obviously be applied to any goal, not just weight loss. Of course, I will focus on this use because this is the most critical to my health and future. Hrm.. already sounds like I’ve got a start on step 2.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 287.8 lb
Current weight: 284.2 lb
Current loss/gain: -3.6 lb
Total loss/gain: -34.8 lb
Distance to 50: 15.2 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 34.2 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Loss This  Week - +.2 lbs.

Total Loss - 6.2 lbs.

It appears that I’ve almost got the bleeding stopped, however, there is a positive this day.  My attitude and mood are as good as they’ve been in weeks.

 Here are some potential reasons for my mood, in no particular order:

1.  My 5th grade students are on a field trip this morning, so I have no lessons until noon.  3 1/2 hours to myself (and progress reports).

2.  Great weekend of worship @ The Orchard.

3.  I’ve taken my “happy pills” everyday for the last 10 days, without interruption.

Whatever it is, I’ll do my best to hang onto it.

There are many challenges to losing weight, but I have some unique obstacles on my road to success that make this much harder than for others.  Most of these obstacles deal with what I cannot or choose not to eat or drink.  I’m not the only one faced with these issues, because the need to eat healthy crosses all sorts of ideological borders.

First of all, based on my religious beliefs, I will not consume the following foods:

• Any pork product (ham, lard, bacon, prosciutto, and other products containing pork by-products which can include most cheeses).  This means, for replacements, I have turkey bacon/ham, sausage from chicken/turkey/beef, cheeses made from vegetarian products, etc.  I have to usually avoid many Italian sauces, pizzas, etc.

• Any shellfish or bottom-dwelling sea creatures (thus, no shrimp, crab, lobster, catfish, shark, etc.).  It’s funny how many low-fat recipes contain these sources.  It also continues to surprise me what other products contain these (some flavors of ramen noodle packages, certain sauces, etc.).  This severely limits what I can eat at an Asian restaurant.

By choice (not religious belief), I avoid artificial sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Both of these make their way into so many things these days that it is almost impossible not to consume them.  If it says reduced sugar, it most likely has sucralose or some other chemical.   I recently found sucralose in a light version of mayonnaise (though the regular one contained no sweeteners). HFCS can be found in a ton of things now and so I’m very careful.  Naturally, cutting back on HFCS is good for weight loss.  Some people can lose pounds just by taking out sodas.

To top off all of this, I’m now on Weight-Watchers’ Core plan, which means no oils (except the good ones in limited portions), no sugars (except what naturally occurs in fruit), no dairy products (unless fat-free and sugar-free), no fatty meats (everything must be lean), no alcohol, and no breads (only whole-grain sugar-free products and in a limited portion per day).

Now you have a clear picture of what my meals entail now that I’ve laid out all of the items I avoid eating for one reason or another.  Thus, I now present an idea of what my last three meals contained:

• Dinner last night:  Roast Beef, carrots, onions, potatoes (potatoes are part of my limited whole-grain/starch intake), and brown rice.
• Breakfast this morning:  1 cup of oatmeal with a small container of diced pears (just a little sugar in the oatmeal since I’m not quite ready for unsweetened oatmeal and won’t eat it with splenda or something).
• Lunch right now (just finished before I typed this post):  1/2 cup of ham salad (made from turkey ham, light mayonnaise, dill relish and onion), a handful of broccoli spears (raw), a handful of carrot sticks (raw), one banana and 1 small WW snack bar (1pt)

I’m working on ideas to expand my choices and make it less boring, but as of right now, I’m now setting a short-term goal.  I found that this is the one thing I’m missing from my plan.  I’ve lost over 30 pounds so far and if I push myself and lose one pound a week, I can get my 50 pounds lost magnet from WW by the end of June.  Thus, my goal is to lose another 20 pound before summer really kicks into gear.

As for how I will do this, I recommend following the plan that’s outlined in this Unclutterer.com article, “Making Your Resolutions a Reality“.  I’ve already started with step one, though I intend on making a small sign for my work computer and a small sticker on my MacBook so that I see it every time I look at the monitor/screen.  I may post later what I’ve done to complete the other steps of the article.

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]