FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

Well, it’s been an eventful few weeks on the weight loss journey for me.  I was thrilled when I got below 250 pounds last month.  That was a big mental barrier for me.  I guess I thought getting past that point would make it easier to continue on down the scale.  I’m afraid what I actually did was let down my guard, just the tiniest bit - and that was enough to keep my weight hovering around 250 for much longer than I had anticipated.  It was getting pretty irritating actually, and guess what happens when I get unhappy about my weight loss progress?  That’s right, a snack here, a snack there, daily calorie intake steadily higher each day.  It’s such a vicious cycle.  Get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, ad infinitum. 

The worst week was the week I spent away from home, outside my comfort zone.  I had access to Mom’s Home Cookin’, and many wedding-related feasts on which to gorge myself.  That week I gained a spectacular 7.2 pounds.  That freaked me about a bit, so as soon as I got home I jumped back into my normal routine, and was quickly rewarded by the weight loss gods - 8 pounds lost that week. 

So what the heck were those two weeks about??  It doesn’t seem very possible that I actually gained and lost 8 pounds of fat over two weeks.  I’m not going to try to analyze it too much.  I’m really glad the gain was only a blip on the radar and not, to put it dramatically, “the beginning of the end.” 

During the trip back to my family of origin, I saw some things from a new perspective.  For example, the excessive pushing of second servings at big family meals.  On some level it is considered rude to decline seconds.  If I had any doubt about this, I was reminded after dinner when my mother mentioned to me in private in the kitchen that the fish she had prepared wasn’t very good.  I thought it had been very good, and told her so.  “But nobody had seconds… I was watching,” she responded.  Of course I told her that was ridiculous, but sadly I don’t think she was really convinced.  On this diet I’ve had to retrain myself about what a normal amount of food to eat is, and for the first time, I’m seeing my previous training as unusual. 

I’m closing in on the next weight loss target - my entry into the Century Club - 100 pounds lost!  As of today, I’m 8 pounds away from that goal.  That will be very happy day for me.  This time though, I won’t let down my guard and ride around on that annoying rollercoaster for a month!

Cross-Published on Sucks to be Fat

I have two recommendations from this weekend.

Recomendation #1:
See the movie I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With

It’s written by, directed by and starring Jeff Garlin, who is probably most famous for his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm… or his co-starring role in Daddy Daycare for those of you without HBO.

It is very rare to see a love story with an overweight guy as the lead love interest. It’s even rarer for that overweight guys struggle with weight to be a central part of the story. Most rare of all is this movie which handles it all with great care and affection.

Instead of turning the movie into a bunch of fat guy jokes and put down humor, Jeff Garlin shows us a real guy, having a real struggle with where his life is headed… and being overweight is a part of that struggle.

You can tell that Jeff Garlin has been there. In the opening scene we see him sitting on the hood of his car in the parking lot of a convenience store eating Ding Dongs and chocolate pudding. He’s eating in the parking lot to hide his eating from his mom. It’s a moment that was very poignant to me. It’s a moment I have lived hundreds of times.

The movie is well written. It’s endearing, it’s funny, it’s a real joy and it is full of actors you know you know even if you can’t remember their names. Sadly these are the actors who should be household names.

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With, is in limited release in art house theaters, but it is also available on demand from Comcast and some other cable providers. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Recommendation #2:

Steve and Barry’s!

Steve and Barry’s is best described as Old Navy meets Wal-Mart, but with a lot more style .

One of the great things about our weight loss journey is going through the closet and getting rid of all those “fat clothes”. Unfortunately it starts adding up when you have to replace all those “fat clothes”. It adds up even more when you have to do it again 5 months later because the new clothes you bought have become “fat clothes” as well.

After my closet purge last month I was left with 1 pair of jeans. I hit the local outlet mall two weekends ago and spent nearly a hundred bucks on three pair of jeans that hopefully will not fit me come Christmas time. A lot of money for some pants that may only last 4 months.

Then, I rediscovered Steve and Barry’s. They have some great, stylish clothes for dirt cheap prices. Jeans were on sale for $7.99!!!!

The clothes might not be the best quality, but for those of us who are truly dedicated to shedding the pounds, they only need to last a few months. So wait until you meet your final goal weight to hit the expensive department stores and head over to Steve and Barry’s for some closet restocking.

Tony
9/25: 234.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
14.2 lbs. to go

p.s. I swear I am not a paid shill for either of these things. Just a fan!

I bought 3 pair of new jeans this weekend and it is official, I have gone from a size 44 to a size 38! I also bought some large t-shirts at the Old Navy outlet. XXXL to L!

The t-shirts fit, but they are a little too revealing. I need to lose another ten pounds and slim up my side saddles before I can wear them.

The t-shirts got me thinking about how far I have come and how far I have left to go. In all my celebration lately I have forgotten that I am still severely overweight. ..at least according to all of the charts. I am really proud of what I have accomplished, but the truth is I have a ways to go to be really healthy. I think it is good to keep reminding myself of that. It keeps the fire alive.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my goal. My original goal was to get down to 220 pounds by my birthday next year. My birthday is still 254 days away. To get to my goal I would only need to lose 0.386 lb. I have decide to change things. I am leaving the weight the same but moving up the date.

My new goal is to reach 220 lbs by Christmas. Don’t panic but Christmas is only 14 weeks away! I can’t believe it either.

14 pounds in 14 weeks.

Over the past 4 months I have averaged a weekly loss of 2.5 lbs. If I can keep something even close to that average I may even be able to make my goal by Thanksgiving.

After I reach 220 I will set my next goal. 220 will leave me just a touch on the obese side of the scale. So my next goal will be to get down to “moderately overweight”. I’ll make it official in a few months but I think my next goal will be to lose 21 pounds and get under 200.

I swear I am not on a crusade. I was ready to leave the whole Britney thing alone after yesterdays post. I had said my piece and made my point. And then I opened up Yahoo News and was hit with this headline:

Harshest Words Saved For Britney’s Body

In general it is a poorly written article wrapping up the “she’s fat” / “no she’s not” reactions to Sunday nights performance. Again I was ready to leave it alone until I saw this quote from Glamour Magazine executive editor-at-large, Suze Yalof Scwhartz.

“Girls aren’t looking as skinny this season as they did,” said Suze Yalof Scwhartz, executive editor-at-large for Glamour Magazine. “There’s food backstage. They’re looking sexier.” At Glamour, she noted, a model won’t be featured “if she shows too much clavicle.”

A lovely, yet all together hypocritical sentiment apparently. Recently a few keen observers spread around the blogesphere have noted that Glamour Magazine did an impressive Photoshop job on America Ferrera for their latest cover. Take a look at the pictures and you’ll notice her face and arms have been considerably thinned out.

While it does sound like America has lost some weight since the first photo was taken, there is no way those arms are her real arms.

I know Photoshopping covers is a common practice. In fact the company I work for has been asked more than once to Photoshop 10 or 15 lbs. off of a celebrity. It is something we do with no small amount of ridicule for said celebrity.

My ridicule turns to anger however, when a magazine like Glamour feels the need to “tighten up” and digital tone a women like America Farrar, a woman whose career has been built on the idea that every body is beautiful just the way it is.

This is a serious problem. Especially when the editor at large turns around and claims her magazine is part of the solution. Sorry Miss Scwhartz, if you continue practices like this you are just as big a part of the problem… maybe even a bigger part of the problem…than the hundreds of snippy reporters blasting away at Brittney for her paunch.

I now officially retire my soap box. I promise the rest of my post this week will be all about me!

Tony
9/11: 236.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
16.4 lbs. to go

Cross published at Guess How Much I Weigh

At the same time that many of you are shrinking, the popularity of this site is growing.  And that’s a good thing.  Here are some stats for your Sunday morning reading:

Also, we’re up to almost 90,000 distinct hosts served since March.  Hopefully all of those people are using this information to make some changes in their lives and get skinny!

Have a great remainder of your weekend everybody.

It’s a big week. 

236.4! That’s what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.6 lbs.

Here’s the fun part. I can now say I have lost more than 50 lbs! Rock On! 51.6 lbs. to be exact.  That’s the weight of both of my kids combined. I might have to go out and celebrate with some low, cal fat-free sherbet and a diet lemonade.

When I started this journey the idea that I could make my goal seemed pretty iffy. A number like 50 lbs. was mythical to me, something I couldn’t even conceive of. But that is why we take it one day at a time and set smaller achievable goals. And now here I am, the lightest I have been in nearly 10 years. Thank you for all the advice and support.

Just 16.4 left to go to reach my initial goal of 220 lbs.

Tony
9/7: 236.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
16.4 lbs. to go

I had a solid start on my journey from fat to fit, posting a 9 pound loss in my first month.  I had expected more, but considering I am on a 2 year plan where I hope to average 4.5 pounds lost per month I guess I should be happy.  And I am.

But, I noticed that since Sunday when I posted these good results that I have cheated a little more than normal.  I had a small bag of fritos as a snack yesterday.  I had another one with lunch today and I also had 3 small halloween sized packs of M&Ms.  I’ve lost weight before and right around the point where people were noticing and giving me positive comments I slipped up and gained everything back.  I can’t let that happen this time.

I wasn’t looking for any motivation this morning but I found it in the way of fellow fatblogger Tony, who while lementing The End Of Summer has posted some really cool water skiing pictures (not to mention a cute kid pic) and a great story to go along with it.  A story about losing something that he once cherished due to fat, and now being able to take it up once again.  That’s way cool.

My goal for September is 8 pounds lost.  I will be attacking that goal with renewed vigor now.  Thanks Tony!

This summer has been marked by profound change for me.  My weight loss–and it’s associated lifestyle changes–have just been one part of it.  I’ve also been through a divorce, moved to a different town, and have taken on some different responsibilities at school with our upcoming school year.  Some other family changes–both positive and not–have also taken place for me in the last few months.  It’s been quite a summer, to say the least.

I’d also like to announce another change here at FatBloggers.net.  Our very own John Thomas has agreed to take over the day-to-day operations of the site, and will be eventually taking over ownership of the whole thing.  Oh, I’m not going anywhere, I’d still like to serve as a contributor here.  After all, I’m still on maintenance and have a few issues with that to work out as I continue through Weight Watchers. I’m not done with this thing; not by a long shot.  I just feel that it’s time for the management here to change hands, and John is just the guy to do it.  He’s an outstanding blogger in his own right (if you haven’t read his Rejected Reality blog, you really need to), and  is well on his way to goal weight.  He’s the one I credit with getting me started on Weight Watchers in the first place. 

So thanks to all of the contributors, posters, and readers who have made this place what it is today.  I’m amazed at the traffic we’ve gotten since last March.  I credit this site both with my weight loss so far, and my continued maintenance in the future.  I’ll keep checking in just like I always have been.

There was a really great show on ABC tonight called, Fat March. Twelve fat folks (6 guys, 6 gals) set out on a journey to walk 570 miles from Boston to Washington with team competitions along the way. The cool thing about this ‘competition’ is that the goal is not to eliminate each other, but to encourage each other. The incentive is that every time someone drops out of the group of 12, $10,000 is taken from the “pot”. In the end, if all complete the journey, they each get $100,000!

The trainers, Steve and Bonnie Pfiester, are two good looking young people who are married and are there to encourage and cheer on the group. I like this premise, and I like the competitors, so far.

08/08/07 Update - It turns out that there is a ‘voting off the island’ procedure. At the end of the show, they can vote off the competitor that was the biggest detriment to the group. This week, an ambulance was called in to care for one of the guys. The competitors were informed that they could vote off another contestant but when they do, tier prize money is decreased by $10,000. Even with that knowledge, they ‘voted off’ Shane the 500 lb. contestant that had to be cared for by the ambulance.

From Steve’s MySpace blog...

The 12 marchers grow so close so fast because all of them were ripped out of their safe homely environments and thrown into this new experience trying to reinvent their every thought. They learned to depend on each other for encouragement, and learned to trust each other to the point of being completely vulnerable to each other. These circumstances bring people together very fast and to a very deep level. As the tablets were turned over with Shane’s name, all of the marchers explained their reasoning for voting Shane out. The intense words echoed in my head even tonight as I recollect the day. The marchers felt like Shane was unable to continue. They felt as though they had to stop him from permanently injuring his feet. The exclaimed that money had nothing to do with their decision nor did the thought of having to re-walk all of his uncompleted miles. Everyone felt like this is what was best for Shane. I lay down tonight not blaming any of the team. I know they did what they felt was right for Shane and the team. I hate to lose anyone that has the will to continue. But maybe it is what is best so he can return home to heal and start his own Fat March. Perhaps Shane didn’t need us as much as we needed him.

251.8! That’s what the scale said this morning. A loss of 5.4lbs.

I apologize for any whining I may have done last week. My perceived disappointment at what was a great loss last week helped me really kick it in gear for an amazing loss this week.

Thank you everyone for the encouragement.

Have a great weekend!

Tony
7/27: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

Cross published at Guess How Much I Weigh