FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

I finished out last week jogging a total of 15.2 miles in four days.  Though it took me about 4 hours, I’m satisfied that I could do it at all.  I could not picture myself doing that when I started this journey a few years ago.

We went camping this past weekend and my brother and I went on a “short” hike, which probably ended up to be about 5 miles total, in temperatures above 95 degrees.  It was fun and we got to spend a lot of time talking.  All of us ate much healthier than past camping trips (we even had raw veggies this time) and drank a lot more water and a lot less soda (in fact, there was only diet soda).

All of this helped contribute to my loss this week and I’m happy.  Not as thrilled as I had hoped because I have a scale at home that lies to me and makes me expect more from the WW scale than I got.

This was also after attending a going-away lunch for my workout buddy who is moving to East Texas.  The lunch was held at a VERY nice restaurant and there was much food at the table.  I had a few small appetizers (mostly the seared tuna), chose the garlic chicken w/ basmati rice, one slice of fresh bread, and water.  I did better than I usually would, but I could’ve done better than I did.

Ah, well, 9 weeks to go on my goal of 55 pounds by Labor Day and I’ve got 8.8 pounds left to lose.  If I push myself hard, I can do it and still have a few weeks left.  I want to actually fulfill one of my goals that Iset for myself.  I want it to be this one.  Then I want it to be every one I set after this one.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 274.0 lb
Current weight: 272.8 lb
Current loss/gain: -1.2 lb
Total loss/gain: -46.2 lb
Distance to 55: 8.8 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 22.8 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Cross-posted at Confessions of the guy at Weight Watchers

As we look back in time and look at pictures from late 1800s and early 1900s what we normally see is people of normal weight.  The obesity of our nation really did not begin until the last 70 years or so.  Some would argue that it really did not begin until the late 50s or early 60s.  I have a very clear thought as to why this is.  I am sure I am not the only one who has said this and there are minds much greater than my own who could pin down more specific dates and look at the average diet over that time.  But after my weekend it was made extremely clear.  People “back in the day” worked.  They worked until the job was done.  Many times they did this for survival not for money.  The plowed and shoveled and did hard manual labor.  Many men did this their entire lives, and in that time while the men were out working the fields the women were tending to children, washing clothes by hand, and doing everything we do today… by hand.  Imagine taking the clothes you wear during the week and washing each individual item on a washboard.  We cannot imagine it.  This weekend was as close as I have gotten to real “labor” in many years.  My dad and I hand graded a spot in his yard for a shed.  We then put in a frame and then move 1500 lbs of pea gravel from my truck to the back yard.  So while I did not get the the gym this weekend I am pretty sure I burned as many calories working and I would have in the gym.  I think maybe it is important to try to do a few more things by hand and just be more manual about the way we go about our day to day lives.  I love modern convenience as much as the next guy but modern convenience has also led to and overweight nation.

Where do these guys come up with the GREAT blog names?

If you have any taste whatsoever for classic comedy you will know where Johnny gets the name of his blog… Fat Guy in a Little Coat.

A couple things to take note of…

1. He writes an interesting post
2. He’s not afraid of making posts that challenge his ‘Man Card” status
3. He sets great goals

When he stops by to make his first post… make him feel welcome.

Sorry I have missed a couple of weigh-ins. I have been swamped at work. I’ve also been doing a lot of yo-yoing in the weight department. I keep losing and gaining the same 5 pounds over and over again.

Obviously that is not what I am celerbating.

This weekend I made a running milestone that I have been working towards for a few weeks…and then I made another running milestone today…and this is one that I have been working at since March.

Milestone Number 1:

In training for my Triathlon (which is only 3 weeks away), I have started doing “Bricks”. Bricks are two workouts done back-to-back, in my case biking 9 miles then running 2.5. Only problem is I haven’t been able to make it past 2 miles on the run…until this weekend. On Sunday I went out for a workout with some friends and manged to do a 15 mile bike ride followed by a 2.7 mile run.

Milestone Number 2:

Today I managed my first 4 mile run. Usually I die right about 3.5 miles and have to walk for a few minutes before I can start running again. Today I finally broke through that plateau and managed to run 4.07 miles in 37:30.

While my weight loss may have slowed to a trickle, I am finding some seriously renewed energy in my workouts and that has me really excited, becasue in the long run all these goals are working toward the same thing, a healthy me.

Tony
06/30 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go

Courtesy of the LOL Dogs

One of the early tenants that I wrote about in my weight loss blog last fall was how I was optimizing the meals I was eating at restaurants. For example, I wrote about how I had changed my standard meal at Noodles from 2400 calories down to 390. How I had gone from two bagels down to one. This meal optimization took time and patience. It did not happen overnight.

Regrettably, falling back into old habits does pretty much take over night. It happens fast. So while I had actually reached a point with Bruegger’s where I wasn’t going anymore at all, this week I found myself there twice, and both times I had two bagels, soup and a cookie. Right back to where I was before my diet. I also went to Noodles and instead of just a small bowl of soup I had the large sized noodle dish, with a salad and for dessert a stop at Cold Stone Creamery. It’s like I’m not on a diet anymore.

So, I’m writing this to remind myself how hard I worked to get these bad habits improved and as a reminder for how easy those good habits I worked so hard to develop can sour. It’s not too late to turn it around again, but this time no more slow going - I know I can kick the Bruegger’s habit, for example, and so I am doing it. No more for me.

It’s a start, any way.

Also Published On I Don’t Want to Die of a Heart Attack When I’m 25

Although I have been steadily losing weight, many of my food choices have not been very good these past few weeks. I’ve been thinking about going back to just having a cheat day once a week, so that I eat cleaner. Of course I want to continue losing weight, but I don’t want to do it eating sesame chicken and french fries everyday. It’s not just about fitting into size medium shirts for me, I want to be a healthy individual as well.

Going cold turkey would be the easy solution to finding a “balance” between eating well and indulging, but I have a feeling that if I completely eliminated all those delicious fatty foods I love, I would end up binging one night due to “ice cream deprivation”. Sigh, I need to find something that works for me.

I want to say hello to everyone and tell you all how happy I was to find this blog / forum.  Not only is it a very cool idea to combine the thoughts of many in blog form, but it looks like we have a lot of guys who are talking about their journey too.  While there are a lot of guys out there trying to lose weight, I am not sure how many are forthcoming with details about their journey.

So I should tell you a bit about myself and my journey thus far.  I am 34 years old, have 9 year old son who is my biggest motivator.  I am a sys admin by trade but could care less about playing on computers once I get home.  I will catch up on blogs and news and email and such but I have no desire to do much beyond that, at least currently.  I enjoy the outdoors but don’t get to spend as much time doing those things as I would like.  I love to play poker, so if anyone id up for a game let me know,  and probably my biggest joy latey (outside of my family) has come from watching my Missouri Tigers on the football field.  Tailgating is a bit of a passion as you can see here (tailgategnome.blogspot.com).  Tailgate season is a big concern of mine as I have been in losing mode since January and have not had to tailgate much during this time.  Which brings me to the reason we are all here.

My weight loss journey began on Jan 17th 2008 when I went to the doctor and weighed in at 400 lbs.  I am 6 feet 2 inches so my fame can hold some weight, but that is almost exactly twice what I should be carrying.  I was scared, heartbroken, embarrassed and ashamed all at once.  I knew I had to do something but what was I to do.  That day I spoke to my doctor about it and I basically was ready to go under the knife and have weight loss surgery of some sort.  After finding that my insurance did not cover it and knowing that I could not afford it I started doing some soul searching.  I had to ask myself if I had ever really given anything a chance.  The answer was no.  I tried atkins for a bit but I was not successful.  I would eat healthy for a week and was not able to tell any difference and I would get discouraged.  So after talking with a number of different people I went to Weight Watchers and began their flex plan.  To my suprise I had lost 14 lbs from Jan 17th to Jan 31st basically just by quiting McDonalds for lunch 5 days a week.  So what has 5 months of healthier living got me.  I am currenly down 82.2 lbs.  I went from 400 lbs on Jan 17th to 317.8 on June 24th.

I am here to try to get as much information as I can and to help other along the way.  I have not had the chane to read through everyones story just yet but I am very excited to do so.  I am looking forward to getting to know all of you.

So I get an email from Matt asking to join The FatBloggers. The first thing I do is check out his blog… and he’s IN!

With a blog titled Confessions of the guy at Weight Watchers he had me! I AM that guy here in Pendleton! There are other guys that come, drop their $$, step on the scale then leave… scared of the ladies, I guess. Well, I’m not intimidated, and neither is Matt.
Welcome Aboard!

Hi everyone. My name is Tony. Being fat sucks! I’m sick and tired of not being able to fit comfortably in the desks at my college, so I’m trying to slim down. My method of weight loss involves watching my calories, eating as healthy as possible and exercising daily. Losing weight is a huge struggle for me because I love food, especially the ones with the word cream in them. Whatever though, I’m willing to work hard so that I don’t die of a heart attack when I’m 25.