Weighing in on Halloween, good news!

I will get right to it today, I dropped 2 pounds bringing me to 369! thats right I am into the 60's! I have been riding my bike daily which has no doubt helped me this week and considering that I was up more than a pound in the beginning of the week I would have to say that I am happy with the two pound loss. I am giving myself this week to ride the bike and walk and the ST starts more serious starting next week, I want to ease into it rather than slamming into it hard off the bat. I have 94 pounds left to lose before I hit my goal of being 275 pounds so I am inching closer and closer by the week. here are a few photos for you to see what I have lost and all that.

This Ducati 848 weighs in at 369 pounds just like yours truly.

1974 Suzuki TM75 weighs in at 165 pounds which is what I have lost so far.

Lilo the pit bull weighs in at 94 pounds which is what I have left to lose to hit my goal.

Here is a look at my intake from Thursday.

10/30/08

Breakfast
7:15 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

10:30 AM
2 slices light rye bread 100
3oz deli turkey 90
1oz turkey pepperoni 70
1 T miracle whip 35
sliced tomato 10

Lunch
2:15 PM
1 can tuna 150
2 80 cal rolls 160
6oz sweet potato fries 150
1 T miracle whip 35
ketchup 20

Dinner
6:00 PM
2 cups home made soup 300
3/4 cup white rice 150

9:15 PM
8oz dannon light and fit yogurt 120

Grand total of 1590 calories for the day, not too shabby! Halloween should be fun We have plans to take the kiddos out tonight around the neighborhood and it will be another chance to compare the weight loss. I remember last year purposely taking my time because of my back hurting and we made it around a couple blocks with no real issue but this year should be better and since I walk around the neighborhood now for exercise I know trick or treating will be easy peasy this time around. Into the 60's with my weight and a nice long walk planned for later today, I will have to watch the candy but that should be no problem really.

Once again I will say that if you read this far into the post hop on up and grab a big glass of water and your body deserves it, if you do that and post a comment stating so I will do 10 push ups on Saturday for every comment posted before midnight Halloween night! I could be getting myself in trouble with that one but it is what it is and the challenge is on!

As Ever
Me

Mirror mirror on the wall.

A funny thing mirrors can be, This morning as I was getting into the shower I took my shirt off and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and I am unsure if I just don't study myself or if it was just unnoticed but my collar bones are very prominent now as well as my shoulders and traps are starting to look closer to how they looked 10-12 years ago, meaning visible. Good news often brings a bit of bad with it and this time is no exception, while looking at myself and feeling good about what I am starting to see I noticed the skin and how it seems to be moving southward on my body and the higher up the body part is the better it looks, from the weight of the extra skin pulling down keeping the upper parts taught no doubt. I would be willing to bet that I would lose a whole shirt size if the skin was not loose, and I wish I was exaggerating! and because this is not something I wasn't expecting I will not feel bad about it because it is what it is and worrying about something that has no answer makes little sense to me, but man! does it bug me and it has far worse to get before I am done.

Enough about the skin, let me tell you about my new favorite sandwich that I made yesterday, I took 2 slices of light rye bread and put 3oz of deli Turkey breast on it then added 1oz of Hormel Turkey pepperoni, some sliced tomato and miracle whip and bamn! a new favorite for me. The entire sandwich has 305 calories and really is a LARGE sandwich, I honestly thought it was going to be more calories than it turned out to be and all of the flavors compliment one another perfectly, it is sweet, spicy and hearty with lots of protein and is little calories so it gets added to my arsenal of "good foods" to keep on the list. Have a look at yesterdays menu which was actually pretty heavy while still maintaining the calorie level compared to what it has been lately.

10/29/08

Breakfast
8:30 AM
2 slices light rye bread 100
3oz deli turkey 90
1oz turkey pepperoni 70
1 T miracle whip 35
sliced tomato 10

10:30 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

Lunch
12:30 PM
1oz doritos 140

3:30 PM
1 can Progresso soup 160

Dinner
6:45 PM
8oz ground turkey 320
2 80 calorie rolls 160
6oz sweet potato fries 150
condiments Ketchup/sliced pickles/mustard/red onion 45

8:00 PM
8oz Dannon light and fit yogurt 120

Grand total of 1600 calories for the day but let me tell you that I did have a bite off of my daughters Turkey burger that she did not finish at dinner time so its slightly higher but definitely still under 1700 calories. Honestly take a look at that days worth of food and ask yourself if thats not enough to fill you up for a day, would you believe that a person could eat those foods and still be down 164 pounds if you weren't seeing it? I am doing it and don't believe it sometimes myself! in fact I think I am eating better now than ever before and the difference is empty calories vs nutrient filled healthy calories, barring the doritos of course but those are more of a treat and eaten not often. Weigh in is tomorrow and with it comes Halloween and candy I will do my best to NOT eat any! we all know thats not going to happen so I will just record what I do eat and count it in my calories for the day which will likely keep me from munching away because seeing the numbers add up are always a good deterrent for me, so thats the plan.

Random insertion, If you read to this point you deserve a big glass of water so get up and go get yourself a glass or bottle and drink it down, you know its a good idea and you also know that the effort to go do so is not very much and your body will appreciate it and probably needs it, so go!

As Ever
Me

I have discovered, nectar of the Gods!

I have been playing around with my green tea recipe and have struck gold as far as flavor goes, anyone that reads my blog daily knows that I drink green tea every day and as much as I can get into my cup! but buying the pre-made gallons of Arizona Diet Green tea was starting to get expensive at an average of $3.00 per gallon and the price has creeped up to $3.19 per gallon locally in many stores so I went back to brewing my own again to save a few bucks. I make the tea right in the Arizona tea bottles that are 1 gallon, I fill the bottle with hot water straight from the tap and I use 3 different kind of tea bags to get the flavor that I like, here is my secret recipe. I use 2 Arizona green tea w/ginseng tea bags, 1 generic green tea bag bought from a local Chinese market (this tea has a strong flavor compared to the Arizona brand bags) and 2 Black tea bags, thats it! put all five bags into the mouth of the gallon bottle and place the cap back on and leave it alone for about an hour to an hour and a half and bamn! a gallon of fresh green/black tea, and last night I stumbled on something that makes this blend nothing less than exceptional to the pallet. I usually cool the tea on the counter until its slightly more than room temperature and then into the refrigerator it goes until cold and to drink it I pour it into a large glass and add splenda to taste but as I said last night I figured out something simple that adds so much to the flavor! ready for this? lime, thats right plain old lime juice squeezed into the splenda laced tea. We had some limes left over from a six pack of Guinness that we bought (I have a recipe for that too) and rather than let them go bad I decided to slice one in half and squeeze some into my tea, now this might not seem like a ground breaking idea or recipe but man if I could bottle this stuff for retail I know it would sell! lime will be going into all of my green tea from this point forward and I think anyone out there that drinks green tea should give this a try.


Yesterday I rode my stationary bike for 35 minutes total and I did 40 push ups, I mentioned in my last post that I was upping the exercise again and I am doing just that. I want to start off slower than full on and thats why it was only 40 push ups and the bike ride is what to expect as I feel that 30 minutes is enough for cardio, especially since I am going to be adding more ST. I wanted to get a walk in this afternoon but its decently windy outside or as the man in the plastic box says "blustery" and still low 40's and having my daughter to bring along I am not sure its a good Idea today for her sake, I will ride the bike for sure and there is a possibility that I will get in a solo walk when wify gets home and can keep the kiddo cozy inside.


This week started off rocky where intake is concerned, I ate that chicken parm grinder on Saturday and I had pizza for lunch on Sunday but even with that said I expect to have an ok week this week where a loss comes into the equation, why? because its what I want so its what I am going to have and next week will be better! my last entry mentioned that I need to lose an average of 4 pounds per week if I am to hit that new goal I set for myself of losing 200 pounds in 2008, that 4 pound average does not include this week so whatever I get this week is extra and ort of like bonus poundage towards that goal and I am going to work for that edge. somehow I have become entirely driven to hit this goal and lost that 200 pounds by years end and I am unsure where the push came from but I am glad its here and know that I will do whatever I can to hit that mark.

To sum it all up, Green tea plus black tea with a shake of Splenda plus lime equals nectar of the gods, I am going to be one sore and sweaty individual in the next couple months and I am going to need every ounce of determination to hit my goal of 200 pounds gone in a year. compare that to last year at this time and you get, Cherry coke equals nectar of the gods, the sore and sweaty part was probably still true but for different reasoning and 200 pounds gone was a pipe dream as I was believing about a surgery to cure my ills. My oh my what a year can do.

As Ever
Me

200 pounds in 2008, My goal.

Low 40's outside and raining, the perfect stay in the house and veg out day if ya ask me, but I am going to make it into a day of exercise. It is around 10:00 am right now and I have ridden the stationary bike for 20 minutes already and plan on another ride this evening, if the rain stops long enough for a walk I will add that as well and I plan on hitting the push ups today along with some light dumb bell work. How does that sound? sounds like a plan to me! I have the urge to start strength training along with the weight loss training but will have to find a balance that allows me to keep dropping the pounds while maintaining or even gaining muscle mass, that may prove to be easier said than done but I know that I am losing muscle along with the fat and I think I have shown my body that I mean business with the weight loss and now I need to start working on the muscle again.

After meeting Bill Germanakos I find myself almost re-energized where exercising is concerned, that dude looked damn good and it happened with hard work and lots dedication to the matter at hand. Earlier this year when I saw the amount of weight that I had dropped in such a short time I had mentioned that I wanted to try and lose 200 pounds in 2008, I am at the 164 pound mark which leaves 36 pounds left to lose before Jan 1st 2009 or about 9 weeks which means I will have to average 4 pounds per week if I am to hit that goal. I think its a reach of a goal but I don't think it is impossible so I am putting it out there that my goal is to lose a total of 200 pounds in 2008, I have lost those kinds of number in the past and I think I can get them again so there it is, 200 in 2008. I believe that this ambitious goal is just what I need to get me working harder than I have in the past month or two so I am going for it and thats that, there is a good chance that I will not hit the 200 lost mark before Jan 1st but if I did I would have impressed myself unlike I have in a long time. In the last three months I have lost roughly 30 pounds and to hit this goal I will need to lose 36 pounds in two months just to give you an idea of how ambitious it actually is, not to mention the holidays coming along! I will weigh 334 pounds in just two months time if I am successful with this challenge I am putting in front of me, and then that pint of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer that has been waiting for almost a year now shall be eaten and I will weigh 200 pounds lighter than when it was bought!

Now that I put it out there like that I will have to try and stick to it and bust arse to get that average of 4 pounds per week. Man I like making things hard for myself eh? but thats how I have been able to maintain a constant hammering away at this weight for the 10 months that I have been at it, keep myself challenged and try and stay focused on the goals at hand and its been working so I'm going with it. That concludes yet another episode of as the fat guy turns, make sure to stay tuned for the finale to see if I make that 200 in 2008 goal. Thank you for reading and thank you all for the support, your comments and emails are greatly appreciated!

As Ever
Me

Bill Germanakos meets Zeusmeatball..

This afternoon I had a little treat, there was a health and wellness expo at the Hartford convention center sponsored by NBC channel 30 a local television station and Bill Germanakos the winner of the biggest loser 4 was scheduled to be there, so we decided to pack the kids up in the car and head on over. We arrived there around 11:15am and walked around a bit looking at all of the booths they had set up from dental booths to weight loss surgery right on down to general health and well being type things, there was an announcement that Bill would be going on stage to talk at noon so I decided to walk on over to the NBC booth and see if he was around and he was, so I meandered over and waited in line where a few of the NBC news personalities were sitting at a table signing pictures along with Bill, Lauren Petty who was much hotter in person by the way was there along with Doug Greene who both signed a photo for my son, and he was very excited about meeting Doug Greene for whatever reason.

I chatted with Bill for a couple of minutes and my impression is that he is good guy, while talking I told him that I had lost 164 pounds so far, which is coincidentally the same amount that he had lost on the show, his response to what I had just said? He yelled "Hey everybody He lost 164 pounds so far!" I know that I turned 12 shades of red as I heard an applause behind me from the other people waiting in line, thats when I said to him since he was in a shouting mood that wify had lost weight as well and he did the same for her weight loss and thats how I know it was 12 shades of red because I just looked at Wify when it was her turn. We took a few photos and chatted for a minute more and were on our way because he had to be on stage very soon and there were others waiting in line. All in all it was pretty cool meeting him and he came off as a very down to earth fella, His time on the stage was straight to the point and he seemed to speak from the heart, lots of what he said was all too familiar and I related with just about all of it. He had lots of information in his words and talked about himself and why he had enough of being the fat guy, I could definitely see where someone that has never been overweight could be enlightened by what he had to say, here are a couple photos.

Wify snapped this picture as Bill and I were talking.

Here I am standing next to the biggest loser 4 champion.

Bill Germanakos on stage talking to the crowd at the Hartford convention center Sunday afternoon.

It was a nice weekend all around for me and meeting Bill Germanakos I believe will be a spark for me to get my arse in gear again and hit the exercise the way I should be. He did talk about what he ate and calorie ranges etc and I was surprised, and not so surprised at the same time to see that it was somewhat like my eating plan so that was kind of cool. I did have a what I would call a naughty dinner one night, I had a Chicken Parm grinder from a local pizza house for dinner Saturday night but like I say, it is a lifestyle change so having that random grinder is not a bad thing as long as most of the time I am eating properly and healthy, in fact Bill said it was ok for me to eat a whole pizza once per week on top of my daily calories! honest he did. I am still rolling right along and plan on stepping the exercise up a bit this week to see if it sticks, let me correct that, to MAKE it stick! and I have been wanting to get more strength training in but it just hasn't been happening the way I would like it to be.

Another weekend down and it was a fun one, I got to meet an admirable fellow and the keep on keepin on is doing just that. I want to thank everyone that takes the time to read my ramblings day in and day out and I thank all of the new people as well. I may not have been on the biggest loser but I have an idea of what the people on that show have gone through and how they feel afterwards, something Bill said while he was on stage stuck to me like nothing has in a long while, He said that when he was at his highest weight that when someone would mention to him that he was getting bigger he would say that he "felt good" and in reality, He did not know what "feeling good" meant until he lost the weight, this is something that I am relearning day by day as each pound falls from my body.

As Ever
Me

Today is Friday, and ya know what that means...

The time has come again to count that number on the scale and I am happy to report that I am actually down one pound. The scale reported the same number 3 times in a row at 371.2 lbs and that brings me to a total of 163 pounds lost since Jan 1st. Earlier in the week I was worried about having a no loss week because of some bad food choices but I fixed it and here we are one pound down for the week. Last night I decided to go for a walk alone to clear my head and think about how I could focus on getting exercise in again and I came up with exactly what I did to get the thinking in, Now that its getting cold out again its the perfect time for me to start in on walks again but its not good for my daughter so I will be taking a nightly walk now around 8pm just because wify is around to watch the kiddos while I go and it gives me 30 minutes to myself. last nights walk was 1.6 miles and took 30 minutes so thats a slightly faster than a 3mph walk for half an hour and like I said it was good to get out alone in the cold weather in the quiet.

This 1975 Suzuki GT 380 weighs in at 371 pounds.

This little scooter weighs in at 163 pounds which is what I have lost so far.

When I had lost 96 pounds I used Eva Longoria, now that I have 96 pounds LEFT to lose I didn't want to use the same photo so heres a random Thai girl that weighs 96 pounds which is what I have left to lose.


Intake for Thursday was a bit low coming in at 1377 for the day, have a look at the menu for yesterday.

10/24/08

Breakfast
8:30 AM
2 cups bran cereal 180
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
1 bite of fruit loops 50

2:30 PM
tiny hersheys bar 50

Lunch
3:30 PM
4 slices light Italian bread 160
3oz chicken breast 150
2 T miracle whip 70
sliced tomato 10

???
random bites 100


Dinner
6:45 PM
Double meat 6 inch turkey subway 340

8:45 PM
6 ritz crackers 82
1 wedge lughing cow 35

9:00 PM
2 pretzels 40

Not the best of days where food is concerned but I did manage to keep it under the limit so thats good. I did as I said get that walk in last night so movement was had and I have a buy weekend planned so I know I will get in some movement in within the next couple of days. one pound down for this week and I'll take it! one more down and 96 to go, its only a matter of time before I hit that goal number of 275 pounds. I know that its coming, I know that I will get there because I have changed the way I look at food, and I know that its not something that should be used for entertainment, comfort or just because it tastes good, eating is for nutritional purposes only now and that is the difference in why its working for me. thanks for reading along.

As Ever
Me

Late entry

Ok, so on Tuesday I was worried about having a bad week because of a bad week with the intake, I do feel like some of it was water retention but I am admitting that I had a bad week with eating, the first since I started this blog in Jan. I am looking for a loss tomorrows weigh in and think it will happen. It has been extremely busy around here and I just did not had time for a post yesterday, and now today its very late because I have been out all day and dealing with getting an estimate for some damage done on my Mustang by the neighbors kid so now that its done I guess I will wait indefinitely for her to pay for the damage, she seems the type of woman that will fuss as long as she can and force me to involve more than just us, so whatever. I will leave this post short because I am on my way out the door to pick up dinner (Subway) but I wanted to get a post in for the day. look for my post tomorrow and look for that weigh in, hopefully it will be a good week and I will have lost at least something (I did not weigh myself this morning) Thanks for reading along and thanks for all of the support.

Random pic for ya to gander at.

As Ever
Me

A reality check

Here I am and its Tuesday, right off the bat I will say that I have been a naughty boy this week where intake is concerned and I am up in weight from last Fridays weigh in. I am guilty of becoming comfortable in my own skin and I have slacked off this week to the point of being up more than a pound from last week and I do not feel bad about it at all, I know that I am getting a bit too comfortable and I know that I am still making good food choices and that I am having "one of those weeks" I will start by saying that Saturday night I was at my mother in laws place and she ordered Chinese food (after asking if we were ok with that) and we agreed, I ordered a general Tso's chicken combination which had pork fried rice the chicken itself and an egg roll which I ate the entire dish! other than the Chinese food I have been pretty much on track with the food besides random picking here and there while staying below calorie range but I have done next to zero exercise in the past two weeks, I have had a decent cold with a side of sore throat but thats not an excuse for not doing what I should be and in all honesty I do think that I can get the weight back down before Friday.

Please don't read this and feel that I am down, or negative in any way, I am merely being factual and straight forward while admitting that I know where I messed up this week. I am too comfortable right now with my body so I am slacking off a bit because of it, that is all. That Chinese food on Saturday? yeah I know it wasn't needed and I did resist the beer with dinner and chose water instead, looking for the good in the slip but it is there. The exercise? or lack there of, is partially because I had that chest cold and partially because I just didn't feel like doing it because of being busy with something that I am working on (news to come of that soon) so all in all if I am up this week in weight its my fault. have a look at the menu from Monday.

10/21/08

Breakfast
7:45 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

9:45 AM
1 apple 100

Lunch
12:00 PM
2 multi-grain english muffins 200
2 wedges laughing cow 70
sliced tomato 15

1:00 PM
1 banana 105

2:30 PM
1 can progresso soup 140

Dinner
6:30 PM
3 Slices of Light Italian Bread 120
4 oz Chicken 180
1 oz of Fat Free Cheddar 90
2 oz Jax 280
jalepeno 10
fat free ranch dressing 40

8:00 PM
1oz hard pretzels 110

Grand total of 1660 calories for the day and zero exercise, the fact that I know where I messed up in the past week of so shows me that I have changed and the fact that I slipped shows me that I am only human. I am going to try and not be up in weight come Fridays weigh in but this week looks like it may be the first week since starting that I may actually be up weight on a weigh in day. If I am? so what is the way I will view it I have had more than 9 months of weight loss and I mean I have weighed less EVERY week since Jan this year, its about time that I messed up to the point that I don't lose right? shhhhure thats the way to justify it fat boy! No but honestly I am not worried about it too much, I recognized where I slipped and it will be fixed NOW, not tomorrow, not next week and thats the difference in success and failure in my humble opinion. Consistency is key but honesty and quick action play their parts and I am making the choice to correct the calm that has come in the middle of this argument I am having with my body for the last 9 months. The fact that I just used the word honesty and then said earlier in this post "being up more than a pound from last week" I am going to admit that I weighed 375 this morning thats not only up more than a pound, thats up 3 pounds! wow I just quoted myself from this post that I am currently writing in the very same post, yeah, its like that. With all of the above said, look for a loss this week from me, and remember kids none of this is negative and none of this is being down on myself, to understand that its just not who I am to be down on myself about this weight loss I guess you might have to know me personally to understand how true that is, I am merely being honest with myself and anyone that care to read this. heres to a good week and hopefully a loss in weight this week.

Thanks for following along.

As Ever
Me

97 bottles of beer on the wall... weighing in

Upon waking I realized that today is Friday which means its time to record the weight, I have had a pretty decent cold this week so my weight hasn't really been on my mind so I reluctantly step onto the black square that whispers sweet nothings to me each Friday and the display smiled at me as it softly said 386 lbs, My eyes bug out and I think "What the..." ahhh one corner of the scale was resting on pog so it read wrong, so I move the scale to a flat surface and 372.4 popped onto the screen so onto try number two, 372.0 on the nose, and the third and final reading was 372.0 so that equates to a 2 pound loss this week and a total of 162 pounds total gone from my bones forever. That leaves ninety seven pounds to go until I hit my goal of being 275 pounds and honestly I didn't do any exercise this week besides a walk or two with my daughter because of the cold. Here are some images of what I weigh, what I have lost and what I have left to lose.

This 1998 GS 5ooE weighs in at 372 pounds just like me.

Kelly from the biggest loser season 5 weighed 162 pounds by the end of the show. which is what I have lost since Jan.

Julie from season 4 of the biggest loser lost 97 pounds while on the show, which I how much I have left to go before reaching my goal of 275 pounds.

All in all this has been an interesting 10 months, having relearned how to eat properly in that time and getting movement back into my days it just may be some of the most important months in my entire life. I have in essence made a decision to prolong my life by taking control of what I eat and how I live, because if I hadn't who knows where it may have brought me. I have had support from all kinds of sources such as My wife, whom has been pinnacle in my success, my parents I have to admit seem ecstatic that I have made this choice and my father who usually shows as much emotion and or enthusiasm as a stone actually asks me how the weight loss is going probably every time I speak to him, when I see or talk to him I fully expect the sentence "how many bags?" to be said, he means how many five pound bags of sugar have I lost so far, 32 bags and a 2 pound box so far now. Right on down to this blog and a couple forums that I read daily with some and almost daily with others, I have essentially created a support system that cannot and has not failed to date, so thank you to everyone involved with that. Most importantly is the determination and drive that I have to lose this weight, the discipline helps as well and I have made this my main focus until I hit that goal of weighing 275 pounds.

what else can I say? Life is good currently where my health is concerned and thats what this blog is about, I hope anyone that reads this can take something from my experiences so far and use it to their advantage, or for the people that read it because they happened upon it while surfing around hopefully you enjoyed the read. Thank you all who care to respond, and thank you all who take the time to read my little part of the web each day, it is appreciated.

As Ever
Me

Realize the strength..

Making my way into the territory of normal sized people one pound at a time, I think it would be hard for a person who has never been extremely over weight to understand how significant that statement can really be. I believe that the key word in that would be "normal" when you are hyper obese like I was and I consider a person hyper obese if they are above five hundred pounds, every day things become that much more difficult to do. Have you ever had to turn sideways to walk through one of those smallish bathroom doors? how about having to open the car door if the seat needs adjusting? these are some things that people deal with when they are extremely over weight. what is my point? I walked past a mirror a few nights ago and actually saw myself as a not so fat dude, which may actually be a silly thing because I am still 374 pounds, but understand I am a completely different person in a physical sense than I was just 10 months ago. Realizing that I was cheating myself out of basic life by not at least trying to do something about my weight is eye opening, I do have a back injury that for many years stopped me from exercising and that is partially to blame for my weight but when it comes down to it I chose to eat the bad food, I chose to eat all of the processed junk so I take 90% of the blame for the weight gain. My last post had some "facts and figures" in it and here are a couple more, when I started off I was in a 6XL shirt and a size 56 jeans were starting to get snug on me and I wear my jeans lower than they are suppose to be (mainly because its more comfortable like that) so if I were to wear them where they should be I am a larger size, and now I am in a 4XL shirt and that 4XL is comfy, meaning loose and jeans I can wear a size 46 now! I do wish I had taken measurements when I first started in Jan but unfortunately I did not. I do take a pic each month comparing my size and the differences in those photos is insane to say the least, maybe one day I will be brave enough to post them up here on this blog but for now I will spare your eyes. I guess what I am getting at is that things have changed for the better where just about everything is concerned now that a lot of the weight has been lost and I do wish that I would have done this sooner, anyone out there that happens by my tiny blog in the big ol sea of information out there on the net and is in the same boat that I was just 10 months ago and still am to an extent please do yourself a favor and start right now this very second! put that bag of chips down and get some carrots, go to your kitchen sink and pour every bottle or can of soda into the sink and replace it with Green tea and or plain old water and start the very minute that you read these words, the words typed out by a guy that was in that hyper obese category recently enough to remember and still feel its effects. Oh woe is me is not going to get the weight off, doing it will plain and simple, sulking and feeling bad about the weight on your body isn't helping and wishing that it was easier or talking about doing something will not bring success, and that goes for everything in life not just weight loss. Use all of the comments that were heard by you being quietly snickered by insensitive people within earshot to your advantage, because its just another excuse to not do something about it, this is something that I realize now that I am responsible for what I do, what I eat and if I lose the weight, its all on my shoulders just like you. Here is a quote for you to ponder the next time you are feeling bad for yourself.

"Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue, realize the strength and move on"
~Henry Rollins~

What else can I say? I am a locomotive at this point and I dare someone to try and stop the downward direction of my weight, or to slow me down. As sure as the sun rising in the morning I will be trying to lose the weight until I hit my goals which are steeper than I let on in the blog by the way. So I ask you all is that soda worth the added girth? how about those Twinkies? can you live without that extra helping of whatever at dinner? look at the clock right now, note the time and in 15 minutes look at it again, that wasn't too long now was it? thats all the time you need in a day to get cardio into it and benefit from that movement, are you? are you taking just 15 minutes to better yourself? if not why? if not you must not want it enough to make that difference in yourself, I am sorry thats just the raw truth of it.

Are you ready to take the first step?

Thanks for reading along and Thanks for the support.

As Ever
Me

Facts and figures....go figure!

I was looking at some numbers from my weight loss thus far and some of it is just down right crazy to me, when I started losing this weight my max weight was 534 pounds and I am down to 374 pounds currently so almost out of the 70's. I have lost a total of 160 pounds and have 99 left to hit my goal of 275 pounds now lets look at some numbers.

Starting BMI = 63.31
Current BMI = 44.34
Goal BMI @275 pounds = 32.60

Now thats a total of almost 20 points off of my BMI (Body Mass Index) number! I do not put much stock in BMI but wow, thats a lot of points off in just over nine months. Let me splain why I have no faith in BMI, I stand 6'5'' tall, my brother stands 6'4.5'' tall but I have much more muscle on my body than he does yet both of our BMI numbers would be the same in a calculator. because I am more muscular than he is of course I am going to weigh more than him when at a healthy weight. At 275 pounds my BMI will be 32.60 which is still considered "obese" and in all honesty I don't know how a 6'5'' fella @275 would be considered obese but the differences in my numbers is interesting for me to look at either way.

Start weight = 534 pounds
Current weight = 374 pounds
Goal weight = 275 pounds

Difference = 29.96% body weight or 160 pounds lost so far.

I have lost one third of my total body weight since starting in January! and in 12 pounds when I have reached 172 pounds lost I will have lost two thirds of the weight that I set for myself to lose to hit that goal of 275 pounds. that figure is simply insane to me, I was talking to my wife last night about the percentages etc and when it dawned on me that I have lost almost two thirds of the weight that I set for myself to lose already and have done it in less than 10 months I knew what todays post was going to be.

When all is said and done and I hit that 275 pound mark I will have lost 48.50% or almost half of my total body weight! half?!? yes indeed HALF of me will be gone. then there will be the 20 plus pounds of excess skin to be taken care of at some point so that number will be exaggerated even more if/when I have a skin surgery after all of the fat is gone.

This little scooter weighs 99 pounds, what I have left to lose.

Here is a look at Sundays menu.

10/12/08

Breakfast
10:00 AM
2 cups bran cereal 180
1.5 cup 1% milk 165
1 banana 105

12:00 PM
1 apple 100

Lunch
3:30 PM
2 multi-grain english muffins 200
1 small plumb tomato 20
2 wedges laughing cow 70

crystal light 15

Dinner
6:00 PM
1.5 cups chicken noodle soup 260
3 slices whole wheat bread 210
1.5 T miracle whip 50
6oz deli turkey breast 180
sliced tomato 10

8:30 PM
1 apple 100

Grand total of 1665 calories for the day, 160 pounds for the year so far or 29.96% body weight lost or just about two thirds of my total goal weight, I have to say I am happy with the results so far. this week I expect to either stay the same weight or gain slightly by Friday as I am planning on adding some ST (strength training) to the mix and expect to be sore ie: inflamed therefore some extra water retention will likely be there this week if the ST goes as planned. With that another post comes to an end and another episode of as the fat guy turns is done, Thank you for reading along and look for a new post on morrows eve.

As Ever
Me

Apple tree casualty's and a walk through the woods.

Saturday we decided to bring the kiddos out to a local apple orchard and pick a big ol bag of apples, last year when we went I was significantly heavier than I am now and I was looking forward to going because there is a walk involved in getting to said orchard and I wanted to see how much of a difference there was in the walk this year from last. Looking back at the previous trip when we arrived I clearly remember looking at the walk from the parking area to the farm and thinking "here we go, I have to walk all the way over there AND THEN walk to the orchard?" we walked up to the main area where there was a band and grilled food and some tents and then about 100-150 yards down the road was the entrance to the orchard where a cashier was handing out the bags for the picked apples. I remember walking towards the entrance and thinking at least it was down hill, and then thinking about the walk back up the hill and not looking forward to it. Of course there was a tractor pulling a trailer full of hay on it dragging people up and down the hill but I didn't want to do that at all, I walked around the orchard in pain the entire time and we were only there at the trees picking for 10 minutes maybe before I decided that enough was enough and I HAD to either sit down or I was going to be forced by pain to so we paid for the apples and I pronounced "the kids want to take the hay ride back up to the farm honey" and luckily my son said oooh oooh yeah can we! and my pride was safe for one more day even though I know that Wify knew the real reason I was insisting on the hay ride. We ended up a little closer to the car and I got to sit down on a bail of hay but my back was screaming and I wanted to get out of there so we decided that it was time to go home and on the way to the parking area there was a stall with a sign that read "free donuts and apple cider" Bamn! "hey honey lets grab one and sit in the grass" so we did, 2 or 3 donuts later we walked to the car with a two huge bags of apples, a pumpkin and powdered sugar on my lips and we drove home. A couple of HUGE home made apple pies followed and I will not even try and guess at the calories in them, this year I don't think I will make a single pie, such is the way of things.

My Apple tree wound.

Fast forward to Yesterday, we ended up parking about twice as far away as last time but no worries, we walked up to the farm area and walked around a bit looking at stuff and we were meeting one of Wifys friends there and she had not arrived yet so we decided to get in line and grab lunch at the BBQ tent, I got a cheeseburger a bag of salt and vinegar chips and a bottle of water and we headed over under a tree to eat lunch, as I walked under the tree I stood up into a low branch and cut my head open, I asked Wify if it had cut and my head was bleeding so I cleaned it off and we ate our lunch, met up with the friend and her sister really wanted to go pick pumpkins and was the one insisting on the hay ride this time around, Wify and I decided to let them go pick pumpkins and we would head on down to the apple orchard. There we were at the top of the walk down to the entrance and it looked like a short walk to me this time around, we walked down and walked around through the rows of trees for about 30 to 45 minutes, my daughter rode on my shoulders the entire time so that she could pick the big apples higher up on the trees and there was not a bit of pain anywhere. We decided it was time to head back to the farm and the car so we walked back up the hill, I thought to myself about last year and how it was a very short trip and how I did not enjoy it very much, until the free donut sign anyways which was there again, this time I grabbed one donut and shared it with my daughter as we walked back to the car. About an hour and a half was spent at the farm this year and much of it walking around with my 39 pound daughter on my shoulders. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of just me or me and Wify at the orchard alone to post up, they all have my kids in them and I don't wish to post up kid pictures on here but there was a hike afterwards and some pics of that for your viewing pleasure.

On the way home from the orchard we decided to stop at a state forest and have a walk about and that we did. here are some photos from that.

Here is a shot of one of the lakes we hiked along

A shot across one of the smaller sections on a small lake we came across while on our walk about, the trees are starting to look pretty cool with colors.

Wify snapped this while we took a short break, no I am not happy to see you thats a water bottle in my pocket.

This is what I was looking at across the way.

Here is a shot looking down on the lake through some shrubbery.

Me and Wify stopping for a quick snap shot.

I found some old bones near this little stream, I have no clue what they were from but they were pretty big, there are black bears in this area and i couldn't help but think it wa the work of one of them.

Looking back at the lake on the way out.

The Hi res version of this picture shows the amazing colors on this tall yellow and red tree, but you can get the idea.

All in all, between the Orchard and the Hike we walked for more than three hours probably close to four and it was a very nice day out with lots of movement even if I did indulge in a cheeseburger with some chips and half of a donut I think that the walking helped me feel less guilty for it. Dinner was subway and I did have more chips with that but again because of the activity I don't feel bad for it. Monday I am starting the deficit tracking on a strict type regimen and want to kick the exercise into a different level, I feel like I am close enough to the weight that I want to be where I should start a little more strength training, I will add the push ups back into the daily exercise and some light lifting with dumb bells and possibly some squats etc, how I feel will determine what I go with. Since this turned out to be a fairly long post I will leave it at that for now and I thank you for following along, look for a new post tomorrow same bat time same bat channel.

As Ever
Me

Less than 100 pounds left to lose!!!!

This week had the potential for me to hit another milestone, and I think that this one is a big one because I am ecstatic that I hit it. When I weighed in this morning the number I saw was 373.8 pounds and I was tired so it didn't click that I had hit the milestone yet, so as every Friday I get on again and it said 374.2 pounds and then the final time was the same thing, then it clicked! that weigh in means that I have lost a total of 160 pounds which means that I have less than 100 pounds left to lose, I now have 99 pounds left to go to hit my goal of 275 pounds, top of the world ma! that statement pretty much sums it up.

When I decided to lose weight and came up with a number that I felt was close to what I should be that number fell at 275 pounds, I came up with this number because I stand 6'5'' tall and have a fairly large build and my father is 6'1'' with the same large build and he weighs 265 pounds right now and does not look heavy at all so bamn! 275 was the magic number I was shooting for. I am a happy camper this morning with this weigh in, a 3 pound loss is fine by me especially when it comes with the attached bonus of hitting that milestone of less than 100 pounds left to lose, even if that bonus is only mental. This weight loss thing IS a mental game though in my opinion so its likely to carry me for a couple weeks where motivation is concerned.

This 2001 GSXR 1000 weighs in at 374 pounds.

This 1974 AC 50 weighs in at 160 pounds which what I have lost so far.

Here is a look at the menu from Thursday.

10/09/08

Breakfast
8:30 AM
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T jam 50

Lunch
12:30 PM
1 can Progresso soup 120
10 wheat Ritz crackers 140

3:45 PM
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T jam 50

Dinner
6:15 PM
7oz grilled chicken 370
3/4 cup white rice 150
6oz brussel sprouts 90
1 T light sour cream 20
salsa 15

7:15 PM
small vanilla cone 160

crystal light 15

Grand total of 1650 calories for the day and you see I did have a vanilla cone last night to which my wifes response was, your weighing in tomorrow and your going to eat that? yep! I sure am, because I have changed the way I eat and I am allowed to have an ice cream cone and still have a successful weight loss all at the same time. now thats not what I said to her but it is the truth but she already knows this as well. Over all I am happy about this morning weigh in and hitting that milestone, it feels good to say that I have less than 100 pounds to lose to hit my goal weight even though I do think I want to get below that 275 mark eventually it IS my goal right now. 99 bottles of beer on the wall and I am going to start chipping away for the home stretch until there are no more bottles of beer on the wall.

Thanks for following along.

As Ever
Me

The choice is yours to make.

I have been riding the bike again as you can see by the deficit tracker to the left of the page, I am hoping that it makes a difference. Tomorrow is weigh in again and it seems like the weeks are just flying by right now, this entire year has been a blur quite honestly and I was just talking to my wife about the fact that I have lost almost 160 pounds just this year and how unbelievable it still is to me. This year could have gone down more than one way and the way it has unfolded so far where my health is concerned is absolutely incredible for me and my family, thinking back to the first week back in Jan when I started and I was thinking "well this is pretty easy so far but I know there will be a point when I hit that wall and go grab a couple three four double cheese burgers" here I am 9 months later and it hasn't happened yet and I blame that on my determination to get healthy again. I could have grabbed that pint of Ben and Jerrys that awaits Jan 2009 and gobbled it down long ago but I chose not to, I could have given up and went back to my old ways very easily but I chose not to. When its put like that it make ya wonder why it took so long to do, but thats just it I think I hit a point in my life when decisions HAD to be made and thats what happened, I decided that eating healthy and exercising was easier than a surgery that would basically force me to eat less, and here we are.

My wife has been an extremely important part of my success and I know that I am having an easier time than I could be because of her. She is there for me when I need someone to vent to about this damned skin thats starting to show itself, and she is there to tap me on the shoulder and ask "do you really want that cookie?" and she is constantly asking me if I have exercised on any given day and I think that keeps me on my toes. She has also lost a significant amount of weight since Jan and has recently started exercising daily which has encouraged me to start hitting the cardio again. Between the both of us we have lost a combined total of 220 pounds, yes I said 220 pounds! She has dropped 62 pounds and I am at 158 as of this morning, which by the way is only one pound away from me having less than 100 left to lose for me, but man! 220 pounds combined?!? we were carrying that around with us daily everywhere we went. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into the weight we have lost and a lot of discipline has been shown, to think about the fact that I still have 100 more pounds to lose can be daunting but at the same time I have no doubt in my mind that I will hit that 275 pound mark that I want to be at.

Here is a look at Wednesdays Menu, which is very low in calories for the day.

10/09/08

Breakfast
8:00 AM
2 cups bran cereal 180
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:15 AM
1 slice whole wheat bread 70
1/2 T peanut butter 50
1/2 T jam 25

12:45 PM
1 pear 85

Lunch
2:15 PM
1 can Progresso soup 120
6 Ritz wheat crackers 82

crystal light 40

Dinner
6:30 PM
2 80 cal rolls 160
1 can tuna 160
1 T miracle whip 35
onions/pickle 25
4oz sweet potato fries 100
ketchup 20

9:15 PM
1 apple 100

Grand total of 1362 calories, a very low day indeed but its just how it turns out sometimes, fluid intake was good at more than a gallon and a half total with about 3/4 of a gallon being green tea and I did have some crystal light and water as well. I am not worried about the low day, these things happen and should not really have a negative effect on anything, at least it hasn't in the past. Good choices are being made daily and the results are obviously clear nine months down the road. Call it what you will, addiction, habit, indulgence or just not caring, it all boils down to making that choice to not eat in an unhealthy manner and to exercise daily or to ignore the whys and keep making excuses, are you ready to choose? good now drop and give me 20!

As Ever
Me

Back in the game. not that I was ever really out of the game.

Another day down and another pound loss, or so I hope. this week started off good and then Sunday came and we had a large meal which ended with some cake, oh well it is what it is, no worries. Monday and Tuesday were on schedule where intake come into the equation and I did get a ride on the bike in last night during The biggest loser and I plan on a ride today as well and I am going to try and coax Wify out after dinner for a walk, hopefully she is game.

Now I am going to go back to this skin thing that when I first started losing the weight I thought one would not be a problem for me and two I knew that was a lie but alas here we are and there it is. Lately I have noticed that the skin that is being left unfilled by fat is seemingly beginning to tighten up if only a slight bit, I lost a total of 9 pounds for the month of September which is also my lowest amount lost in a month to date but the interesting thing is that in the beginning of Sept I had to poke a new hole in my old belt so that it would snug up and hold my pants up and now a mere 9 pounds later I find myself having to make another hole in the good ol belt to keep the plumbers crack from being main stage. With that said I have to believe that all of this is a matter of the skin tightening up a bit because 9 pounds is nothing when you weigh what I do. My 4x shirts are starting to look a little big on me, big in the way that they fit comfy now instead of just fitting. I have a 3xl shirt from way back when and I tried it on a few nights ago just to see how it fit and its way too tight but the fact that I don't have to struggle to get it on either so were moving in the right direction and again I believe that the skin shrinking has as much to do with the way I am looking as the weight, at least for the last month anyways so there is good news.

Here is a look at the menu from Tuesday.

10/07/08

Breakfast
7:30 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

9:45 AM
2 cups bran cereal 180
1 cup 1% milk 110

Lunch
12:30 PM
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T jam 50

3:30 PM
1 pear 85

Dinner
6:30 PM
8oz ground Turkey 320
2 80 cal rolls 160
6oz sweet potato fries 150
condiments 30
2 wedges laughing cow 70

Grand total of 1590 calories for the day and you can see the calories were spread throughout the day pretty good and those turkey burgers were very good thanks to cooking them outside on the grill. All in all I am still doing what I need to do but I am slipping on the weekends a bit lately and I have to stop that because I think it is a major factor in the slow down in the weight loss, that and the fact that I just don't have a regular exercise regimen lately, but the exercise thing is fixed as of last night and in fact I will be on the bike 30 seconds after I hit the publish button on this post so with that we have reached the end of another post.

As Ever
Me

Its that time of the week again, weighing in.

Its Friday and that means its time to record the good ol weight for the week, I suspected that I would have a decent drop this week and I was right, I stepped onto the scale to see it say 377 pounds, so of course I get on again and it aid 376.8 pounds, and the third and final time it said 377 again so thats a three pound loss this week and who wouldn't be happy with that? I know I am. That brings my total lost to date 157 pounds and I am within 2 pounds of having less than 100 to lose to hit my goal of 275, now were getting somewhere!

This Ducati Desmosedici RR weighs 377 pounds


This 1984 Suzuki RM 80 H comes in at 157 pounds what I have lost.

Intake for Thursday came in at 1590 calories but not really spread throughout the day it was more like 3 meals and thats it, I did get in all of my fluids for the day including just a tad less than a gallon of green tea. exercise for Thursday was a walk around the neighborhood with the my daughter, it was about a 35 minute walk and about a mile in length, nothing hard or anything just a nice walk on a cool day. other than that the week went good where weight loss related things are concerned, here is a look at Thursdays menu.

10/02/08

Breakfast
9:00 AM
3oz grilled steak 180
2 eggs 140
1 english muffin 120
sliced tomato 20
less than 1 T smart balance 20

Lunch
12:30 PM
2 slice whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T jam 50

3:00 PM
crystal light 15

Dinner
6:45 PM
5oz chicken 280
4 slices whole wheat bread 280
miracle whip 35
1oz American cheese 110
1 cup peas 105

All in all its a good week all around and a 3 pound loss this week with minimal work honestly besides keeping within calorie ranged all week, which isn't really all that accurate as I did have dinner at my MIL's house Sunday and didn't weigh anything AND had a slice of carrot cake so I am pleased with the drop this week. Thanks for reading and thanks for the support.

As Ever
Me

Day CCLXXVI

Thursday has come and weighing in tomorrow morning for the record is upon us again, I believe I will be able to hold onto the 370's this week but I make no promises. I have been keeping the excel sheet updated with each bite taken so the caloric totals should be pretty much exact barring the random extra bite of peas at dinner or a single fruit snack from the package when my daughter asks for one. Otherwise things are where they should be and I expect the weight to start coming off in bigger chunks again very soon because of it, ok weight coming off in big chunks now there is a visual for you to add to the gray matter while you eat your breakfast, and speaking of breakfast I made quite the AM starter this morning and all for 470 calories, I have included a picture for your viewing pleasure, 3oz grilled steak, 2 eggs, 1 english muffin and about half of a medium tomato, sorry for the bad pic I quickly took it with my cell phone just before digging in.

I have stopped buying my green tea pre made, sort of anyways, I still buy a few per month but at an average of $2.99 per gallon it was costing us close to $90 per month just for green tea! so I decided to brew my own for the bulk of the time for a while and see how it went, so I have been for the last few weeks making my own and sweetening it with Splenda only buying the pre made stuff (Arizona) a few times per month. I brew two gallons at a time which lasts two days and honestly it tastes pretty good cold, the problem is that I usually drink it room temp and with the home brewed stuff it has to be cold to taste good so I drink it slower and feel that I am not getting as much fluids as I should or that I was as a result of this. I will let it go a month or two more as is and see if home brewing 85% of the time is having the same affect on me as drinking the pre made stuff.

Here is a look at the menu for Wednesday.

10/01/08

Breakfast
8:45 AM
2 english muffins 240
2 laughing cow wedges 70
1 serving turkey pepperoni 70
sliced tomato 10

Lunch
11:45 AM
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T jam 50

3:15 PM
2oz steak 120
small apple 70

Dinner
7:00 PM
3/4 cup white rice 150
1 cup peas 105
8oz roasted chicken breast 400
1/2 T Smart balance 25

Grand total of 1545 calories for the day, which is a tad lower than I am allowing myself per day and at the same time the lack of exercise lately should make that fact not matter as much as if I were working out daily so no worries on the being lower than I want to be part of things. That concludes another brain shaking episode of as the fat guy turns, tune in tomorrow when Cody and Jemmilisa find out that Austin is hiding chocolates in his underwear drawer!

Weigh in is tomorrow wish me luck.

As Ever
Me

Clone sighting

Better late than never and the post begins, Tuesday went right as scheduled and I stayed within calorie range but no exercise at all. I did something that I have not done in months, I can't remember exactly when I decided to not eat beef because of the FDA deeming it not important that the consumer know whether the meat was cloned or not but the fact remains that a good steak is still the best meal a fella can have in my humble opinion. We decided to grab a couple of steaks and toss em on the old grill for dinner last night, I ended up getting two steaks that were just about two and a half pounds total and asked Wify "do you think its enough?" the look I got from her was response enough so off we went and 15 minutes later the grill was fired up and tasty goodness was in the air. dinner consisted of said steak, cut green beans and seasoned rice with my standard giant glass of home brewed green tea, I took 10oz of steak for myself and that turned out to be much more than I could handle which is funny seeing as the lat time I had a steak I probably had at least 12oz, I actually ate 6oz and put 4 back onto the plate. Because of the steak I kept my calories a bit low for the day, they ended up at 1475 total and I was worried all night that I would have stomach pain at some point, but it never happened so I am grateful about that. Moral of this story? none really but that steak sure did hit the spot cloned or not cloned. Here is a look at the menu for the day.

09/30/08

Breakfast
8:30 AM
2 cups corn flakes 200
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:15 PM
bite of cheerios cereal 30

Lunch
12:00 PM
1 apple 100

2:45 PM
1 can Progresso soup 120
1 multi-grain english muffin 100
1 serving turkey pepperoni 70
1 wedge laughing cow 35
tomato 10

4:15 PM
1 granola bar 100

Dinner
6:45 PM
3/4 cup white rice 150
1 cup cut green beans 45
1/2 T smart balance 25
6oz grilled steak 360
A1 sauce 20

Grand total of 1475 calories for the day including the slab O storm trooper cow and that ain't bad. as I type this I have a bird baking in the oven and will be making some soup tomorrow or the next day with the carcass, that word makes it sound so yummy doesn't it? well it is. Getting back into the exercise groove is proving a little tougher than anticipated and at the same time I am going on walks so there is movement just not as much as I would like there to be, I would like to get back on the bike more regularly and plan to, its just getting back there slowly at the moment. and with that the post for the day has come to an end, thanks for reading.

As Ever
Me