FatBloggers.net

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]

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.

You know that sometimes you’ll hit the scale and you expect to see your weight go up. Well, that was me this week and I was in for a small surprise. I lost 0.4 pounds this week. I think that is pretty darn good considering that large margarita I had last night at Don Pablo’s. Still I had the Mama’s skinny enchiladas and talked Amy out of the queso and got the guacamole instead.

One of the suggestions from Weight-Watchers when eating out is to “stop, rest and assess”. This means that about halfway through your meal, put your fork/spoon/chopsticks down, wait a few minutes and assess your level of hunger. If you’re full, stop completely, otherwise, you should probably continue. I managed to do that at Don Pablo’s without consciously trying. I was about 2/3 through the enchiladas when I realized I didn’t want any more. I never ate the last enchilada and just left it on my plate. That was an empowering feeling.

However, as noted in my previous post on my personal blog, I have also been busy around the house and that can make a difference in what the scale shows. Especially when I usually only have two meals when home from work and I had Sunday and Tuesday at home to hang stuff, vacuum, and generally help in cleaning up around here.

I’m gonna work harder at this, because I want to post losses every week, not just every week or so.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 286.2 lb
Current weight: 285.8 lb
Current loss/gain: -0.4 lb
Total loss/gain: -33.2 lb

Cross-posted in WebCudgel.com

This sure has been a tough month for me.  And the scary part is the real tough part doesn’t come until next weekend when the Holiday feasts start in hot and heavy.  As I wrote in my update today, I gained a pound this week and am now back to where I started the month of December at.  It’s going to be really hard to hit my goal of losing 6 pounds in December.

How do weight loss studs like 2007 FatBlogger of the Year Tony do it?

One thing I have noticed with Tony is he seems really committed to the cardio.  He’s running over 10 miles a week and he seems to be doing that consistently.  I haven’t run since November 26th.  That’s a problem.

The one thing I have in my favor for getting through this tough month is my blog and my support network, of which all of you play a part.  It would be so easy to just slide back into old habits if I didn’t have my own words to keep me in check.  I can’t believe it is been 3 weeks since I last ran, but by writing about it I keep it in mind and it will be so easier to get back to it before I let the habit slide.  If I wasn’t writing about this stuff I could see how you could easily just give up and revert back to your old ways.

I am committed to not let that happen.

I know I’m not the only one struggling this month.  Let’s stick together and get through this.  Don’t wait until January if you can help it!

PS - I am giving away an Omron Pedometer this week - check out the contest entry for information on how to win.  If you already have a pedometer you should still enter - it would make for a good prize for your own contest.

to Tony and John T. and also congratulations on the goals!!!!  It’s good motivation for me today.  I’ve fallen off of the wagon in a big way the past few weeks, due to a list of excuses as long as your arm.  A lot of stress, depression, etc.  I fed it all.

I was back in the gym today, and walked for 45 minutes and worked up a pretty good sweat.  So far today, I have eaten according to the “Body For Life” plan.

I have to remember that each victory is one step closer to the goal, and each failure is only that.  One failure.  It doesn’t need to continue.

 Back on the horse…….

tomorrow is a big day for me. it’s also a sad day.

it’s a sad day, because all of the pumpkin muffins, cinnamon muffins, and molasses cookies we have in our house are being taken away. don’t worry mom, ryanne is going to take them to work… so they’ll get eaten.

we’re getting rid of them, because i’ve decided that it’s time. it’s time to recommit to my life change (read: diet). i’ve been saying for the last month “i’ve lost 57 pounds since i started my diet.” i have been idle for four weeks. it’s time to start forward progress again. i know that i’ve said a few times that it’s time to get back on the train, but i never went through with it. this time will be different. i am not quite sure how or why… but it will. i feel it.

i really believe that i underestimated how difficult it would be to stay motivated to lose weight. i really can’t even begin to say just how on fire i was for the whole process when i started back in august. it made so much sense, it felt so good, and honest to goodness it was easy. it was really easy at first. i didn’t expect that. i thought it would start out difficult, and get easier as time went on. well for me it was the exact opposite.

so tomorrow, i’m going to weigh myself (moving weigh-in day to monday), and go from there. i really don’t want to exercise in the cold, but i think i am going to force myself to at least try it. i’m also lightening up on my expectations a bit. i’m going to go back to 2,000 calories a day, and just two miles a day walk monday - friday. i know it can be seen as a cop-out, but i really feel as if i just need to get a couple wins under my belt.

so let’s see how this goes. join me on my re-commitment journey. after all, i’m going to need all the help i can get.

[cross-blogged on loveisthemovement.com]

Drug addicts shouldn’t hang out in Opium Dens.

Alcoholics shouldn’t hang out in bars.

Food addicts shouldn’t hang out in gas stations…or leave the house after 10pm….or pretend to be actors.

I had a brief taste of my pre-fatherhood lifestyle last night and it triggered some not so long buried bad habits.

My college roommate was in town filming a movie so I went to hangout on the set as a background actor. Much less glorious then it sounds. This is a no budget production.

I left the house at 10:15pm. Mistake number 1.

On the way I stopped at a Holiday gas station to get a big bottle of water. Mistake number 2.

As I walked passed the frozen treats cooler I couldn’t resist my old friend Mr. Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich. For some reason picking up an Ice Cream sandwich made me decide I also needed some Ho Ho’s.

When I got to the set, a movie theater in South Minneapolis, I was handed a large bucket of popcorn and told to stand around talking in the background for 2 hours. Mistake number 3.

Naturally, I started eating the popcorn. If I hadn’t accidentally dropped the bucket on the floor I am sure I would have finished the whole thing.

I left the “set” around 1:30am with a craving for Wendy’s French Fries, one of my late night staples back when I was doing a lot of theater. Mistake number 4.

Here is the really pathetic thing. I drove around for a half hour, twice going out of my way to find a Wendy’s drive through that was open.

When I couldn’t find an open drive through I got frustrated and returned to the same Holiday gas station, where I purchased a Peanut Butter Crispy Bar and, just for good measure, a package of Hostess Zingers. Mistake number 5!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich 500 Calories / 24 Grams of Fat
Hostess Ho Ho’s 400 Calories / 15 Grams of Fat
Half A Bucket of Movie Theater Popcorn 225 Calories / 11 Grams of Fat
Peanut Butter Crispy Bar 290 Calories / 12 Grams of Fat
Hostess Zingers 440 Calories / 11 Grams of Fat

For a grand total of :
1855 Calories
73 Grams of Fat

Bad! Bad! Bad! I know…but here is the amazing thing. I don’t feel guilty and I don’t feel depressed.

I feel like crap with all that junk sitting in my stomach, but instead of wallowing in self-pity that could send me into a spiral of junk food binging, here is what I thought when I woke up this morning…

“Wow that was stupid! Well it’s out of my system now. I really want to go for a run!”

This is nothing short of a miracle to me. A bender like this would usually send me off the deep end for the next month, but my first instinct is to exercise instead of eat more! This is a big break through.

I am not trying to put a positive spin on last nights pig out. It was a horrible thing to do to my body and a sure sign that my food addiction is alive and well. But…. and this is a big butt, I still feel like I am in control. This slip is not getting the best of me and that has me feeling pretty good this morning. Minus the bloated belly and extreme stomachache.

Tony
10/22: 225.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
5.4 lbs. to go