FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

This week, I declared war on sugars and sweets. If you review my menu, you’ll see that there was a dramatic cut in desserts. I still did natural sweets (fruit, juices), a few snack items, and protein bars, but other than that, you’ll have a difficult time finding the old habit of a dessert at the end of every lunch and dinner.

The reason was mostly for my gout because it is still hanging in there (though doing the best today that it’s been since last Monday). However, I also decided that this would be something I stick with to fight off the gout and to kick start my weight-loss in the right direction.

This is my fifth straight week of losses on the scale and I want to see what I can do to keep up the momentum. Even my “celebration” dinner tonight was a Chick-Fil-A wrap with only part of the dressing, some baked tortilla chips, salsa and water. It’s a celebration because that was actually what I was craving more than sweets. Of course, I had not eaten nearly enough during today because I forgot to bring some fruit for snacking. This will have enhanced my loss somewhat, but I still think most of it was that winning battle against desserts.

I’ve kept up my exercise routine as well. I’ve only missed a couple of sessions due to my gout, but I ended up doing some while working through the pain of that ankle (in fact, sometimes it felt better after the workout than before). Like John quotes from his trainer, pain is weakness leaving the body. I’m here to say goodbye to gout and goodbye to that old me. The new me is here to stay and make me an even healthier man as I get closer to goal.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 282.4 lb
Current weight: 278.6 lb
Current loss/gain: -3.8 lb
Total loss/gain: -40.4 lb
Distance to 50: 9.6 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 28.6 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.

Jeff brings up an awesome problem, what to do with the clothes that are too big?

I have a proposal…

How about we start the FatBloggers.net Clothing Exchange? When you have clothes that you are willing to share, post what you have. A description, maybe a picture and terms of the offer. Are you willing to pay shipping? If the item was an ‘investment’ say a leather jacket, then there may be a price involved. But for the most part this is a pay it forward enterprise.

Thoughts?

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?

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.

When I posted here about my December Doldrums last month I didn’t know the half of it - they would continue for another 3 weeks or so.  I had a tough 6 weeks but I hung in there pretty well.  This week with a 4 pound loss I can finally report a 30+ pound loss since the beginning of my Journey From Fat to Fit back in August.  I got my first unibased compliment, I’ve booked now a 31 pound loss and overall I’m feeling great.  It’s a great start to 2008!

I wish I could share with you the great secret for busting through the plateau I was on but I really can’t.  I didn’t do much differently this week that I’ve done other weeks, and in particular I barely exercised, which is not something I want to get into the habit of.  Rather I think the real key was simply to fight through the thoughts of failure and giving up while on the plateau and just have that patience for when something triggers and your body decides it’s ready to give up a little weight.

For those of you who have recommitted to your own 2008 weight loss journey - good luck, and don’t forget to share your stories.

In one way or another all of us have posted our goals for 2008, and my mantra has been to make it work, you gotta have a plan.

1. Pick your battles. 1 or 2 attainable goals are better than several impossible resolutions. Go for quality, not quantity. When you look back at the past year, what would you have done differently? Regret going back for 2nds at every social function? Make a resolution to limit yourself to one serving of your favorites.
2. Keep your goal ‘top of mind’. Despite the computer revolution, wall calendars aren’t going away anytime soon. Put yours to good use. Every month, write your goal below the picture. As each month passes, mark your milestones on the way to reaching your goal. You’ll not only keep your goal top of mind, but also reaffirm it every month.
3. Be prepared. A goal without a plan is guaranteed to fail. How will you go about losing those extra pounds you gained over the holidays? Exercise? Diet? Both? Will you join a gym or buy a treadmill? Cook at home more? Enroll in a weight loss program like Weight Watchers? Write down the details to make your goal real. Now it’s just time to get started!
4. Mark your progress. You’ve set your goal and created a plan. Along with marking your milestones on the calendar, record your feelings in a journal or… share your experiences with others through FatBloggers! I am always interested in adding new authors to our ranks. 100% of the active FatBloggers will agree; they owe a part of thier success to to this blog.

We’re halfway through January, but this is really the first weekend I’ve had a chance to sit down and do any reflecting about the previous year and give some thought to this new one.  Weight loss highlighted 2007 for me, and although I’m returning to a dieting mode right now, I’d like to focus more on health and well-being this year.  Losing weight was just the start.  Some health dragons I would like to keep at bay include:

• Enjoying eating without overindulging.  Just finding that balance seems to be so difficult for me.
• Regular exercise.  I hate going to a gym, and would rather do something outside.  Makes it really difficult for me this time of the year.  I’m definitely looking forward to better weather when I can get on my bike again.
• Maintaining positive outlook.  The events of the last two years or so have taken it’s toll on my own emotional well-being, but I believe I’ve been able to get a handle on that.  Being happier has done wonders for my motivation to get and stay healthy. In fact, it’s proving to be the key factor in my own physical health. 

For so many reasons, I’m looking forward to a great 2008. 

What kind of health goals do you have for this upcoming year?

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.