Oh no Not A Gain, indeed it is fat man.

As expected from my mid week sneak preview at the scale I am up this week, the scale said 331.0 which is up 3 pounds from last Friday and I have a couple theory's as to why because I am doing what I have always done. I eat 1700 calories per day and I do 50 minutes of cardio 4 times per week along with weight lifting 3 times per week which according to the calculator on the sidebar of this blog is between 975 and 1140 calories burned per workout depending on the day and that is much higher than what I had been doing so I do believe that I will have to look at my intake vs burned calories a bit closer, that's theory number one. Another possibility is that since the Arc trainer is a total body workout and I do use my core, shoulders, chest and arms along with my legs that I am retaining water a bit more because of the extra muscle movement, I am not sore but that does not mean that my muscles are not stressed to the point where retention is taking place, so there is theory number two. Lastly I am under some stress this week because I am having my gallbladder removed next week along with some other non health related stress and I don't think that alone it would be a problem but maybe a combination of the stress, the extra exercise and the possible retention of fluids all together is enough to cause a gain which may just be retention and not an actual gain.


Those are my initial thoughts on the gain this week because other than having pizza on Saturday and not being hydrated over the weekend I have done nothing differently this week besides adding the arc trainer in place of the treadmill and it is much different of a workout between the two. I have in fact gone to the gym every day this week besides Wednesday which is an off day for me, I have eaten within my calorie range of 1700 and I have stayed hydrated every day other than Saturday and part of Sunday so I have done my part, but enough about the weigh in.

Thursday at the gym something interesting happened to me, as I was walking to the towel rack to get a paper towel to wipe down the bike I had been riding I have to walk past a mirrored wall and I caught an image of a fella and thought "if I could get to that point I would feel good" and then I quickly averted my eyes because I did not want to get caught taking a peek at some guy and then as fast as that all happened I took a double take and it was my own reflection in the mirror that i was looking at! so i quickly think about how they just might have a fun house mirror in that corner just to mess with people and I walk to a different mirror and woah, it really was me that I was looking at and for the first time in this whole weight loss ordeal I saw myself as just a big fella instead of a fat guy. I honestly did not recognize myself in the reflection and when I realized that my initial thought was "if I could only get to that point I would feel good" I know that I had to have smiled because it was one of those gotcha moments for me.

Over all I feel that I have done week this week in spite of the gain, I am going to keep the intensity of my workouts where they are because I believe that there should be a natural progression in what I am doing physically as I lose more weight and get stronger so the intake is where the change will have to be. My plan is to up my calories by one whey protein shake which is 240 calories and will bring me to 1940 calories per day, so basically stick to what I have been doing with the added shake after my workout at no cost to my 1700 base calories and see how that works for a couple weeks and go from there.

Thats all I got for now, thanks for following along and I am off to the gym to look at myself in the mirrors for a while, I guess I will work out while I am there too but hey I am a multi tasker what can I say!

Keep on keepin on and all that.

As Ever
Me

Who me? yeah you! couldn't be, then who?

Something is a miss, I got on the scale this morning and I am up in weight from last Friday and if I am being honest it confuses me, let me splain Lucy. Last week I was diligent with my eating and exercise and hit an all time low weight and then Saturday I went to a friends place that I had not seen in a while and had pizza for lunch and nothing for dinner besides some snacking and then Sunday I was over by a bowl of popcorn and I know that I had not drank right all weekend. Ok so you had a bad weekend? you recover from that all of the time right? Usually yes, and especially when I work out regularly on top of all of that, this week so far I went to the gym Monday and Tuesady and will go again this afternoon. My intake has been great post weekend, Monday 1530 cals, Tuesday 1640 cals and Wednesday 1760 cals and as far as fluid intake I have had at least 1.5 galoons per day since Monday so why am I up in weight? its just one of those weeks I suppose because there is no way that one day of eating off kilter and one weekend worth of not drinking nearly enough should throw me off this much.

Tomorrow I weigh in and will see where the wheel lands as far as my weight goes, From what I saw this morning I do think there will be a gain from last week on the scale, I just cannot believe that it is more than water weight or something though because to be up as much as I am and looking at my calories for the week it just doesn't add up. My stress levels are up a bit this week because I did schedule my gallbladder extravaganza and am not looking forward to it but that doesn't exactly explain a gain. It is what it is and as each week does Friday morning will tell the tale, this afternoon I will head off to the gym and get in a workout and the calories will be on target for the day as I am already off to a good start there.

Short and sweet is the post today and that's all she wrote, make sure to drink enough fluids and exercise as much as possible, Thanks for following along and don't forget to check in tomorrow to see what the damage is, whether I get back to the low or am up a bit.

You can now return to your regularly scheduled programs.

As Ever
Me

Baked Ziti, an Arctrainer and a boy.

The weekend was not very good where intake was concerned, I visited a friend that I haven't seen in a while and we had pizza for lunch and I did not eat anything that I would call dinner Saturday night, Sunday I ate within my calorie range (besides a bowl of popcorn with a movie) but did not drink nearly enough to cover even a half a day and I think I am off balance for my weekend efforts. Monday came and it was all corrected and 1530 was the number for calories as far as my excel spread sheet goes but I did have to do some "taste testing" with dinner as I tried to make a relatively low calorie Veggie Baked Ziti which turned out pretty good and though I do believe that I am well below my calories I am higher than the excel sheet says, have a look.

Breakfast
8:30 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:30 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

Lunch
2:15 PM
1 Italian wrap 100
3oz Capicola 150
1 laughing cow 35
tomato/lettuce 30

Dinner
veggie baked ziti 400
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
smart balance 25

1 apple 100

Fluids
G-Tea 1 gallon
H2O 1/2 gallon

About a month back I forget where we saw it but Wify and I seen on television that to lower the calories in a pasta dish you can shred zucchini and mix it into the dish and since then I have been wanting to try this. Wify bought a whole wheat Ziti and I made a baked ziti with zucchini and broccoli, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and it came out much better than I had honestly thought that it would. The entire casserole dish came to 2400 calories and I cut it into 6 equal pieces which came to 400 calories per serving for pretty decent sized portions. The only thing that I would change about it for next time would be to put less broccoli in it and more zucchini because the broccoli seemed to be the most dominant flavor, but over all everyone liked it besides my very picky daughter and that was more because she wasn't hungry I think, I will post the recipe up in a separate post sometime but here is a photo of the completed dish until then.


My trip to the gym went pretty good on Monday, I am giving up the treadmill and replacing it with the Arctrainer because I feel like I get a better workout in on the arc vs the treadmill. Yesterday I did my regular 20 minutes on the bike but instead of following it with 25 minutes on the treadmill I did 22 minutes on the Arctrainer, I really cannot state enough how much I am liking that machine. The Arctrainer is zero impact as far as I can feel or see and it gets my heart rate up in a hurry and is easy to find a rpm that keeps it within a limit without too much back and fourth, I set it to resistance level 65 and just go, 20 minutes later I hit the cool down button (which does nothing but starts a 2 minute count down) and bamn! done and simple is always better if you ask me.

I believe that about covers the weekend and Monday, Today I will do the same routine as yesterday at the gym but I will try for 25 minutes on the Arctrainer and maybe some weight lifting. Thanks for following along and for the support now go get a glass of H2O for enduing another long post, that's all I got so it ends here.

As Ever
Me

Weigh in, a new all time low weight! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

So today is kind of a special weigh in for me, last week I weighed 332 pounds which was only 2 pounds heavier than my lightest weight since starting down this path to better health so it offers me the opportunity to possibly hit a new low weight with this mornings trot to the scale. I have been doing well week to week where the actual weigh in comes into play and I have been going to the gym almost religiously and even when I was not feeling well, the results I have had since joining up out weigh any blah feeling that I may have because of a cold. I woke up as usual and straight away to the scale I went where I saw a new number flash across the display, it said 228.0, so also as usual two more times I weigh myself the second time it said 227.8 and the third was 228.0 again so it appears that we have a 4 pound loss this week to go along with the new low not to mention the fact that I am into the 320's! I have worked for it and deserve every ounce of it. It has been a while since I have been able to post the "what I weigh" and "what I have lost" photos but with the new low this week I can pop them back up and here are some things that I weigh as much as and weigh as much as I have lost.

This 1969 Suzuki Rebel comes in at 328 pounds like yours truly

This is Lyoto Machinda a UFC fighter and he weighs 206 pounds which is what I have lost so far.

Over all I am feeling good and can't see an end to my drive at this point, actually I did schedule my Surgery for my gallbladder so that week I suppose I will have a slow down but other than that not even the Holidaze scare me. If I were to lose an average of 2 pounds per week from here until May I will be at my original goal weight of 275 pounds which in all honesty at one point seemed like a very ambitious pipe dream and here I am 53 pounds away from that. I still have a large amount of weight to lose, I mean 53 pounds is not really a drop in the bucket but I suppose when you look at it from the angle that I have dropped 206 total pounds it sure feels small but there are some people that struggle to get much less than that off and have a very hard time doing so. Then there is that whole whing that the last bit is always the hardest bit to get off, did I just call 53 pounds a bit? Either way I feel like I am approaching something big with this last 53 being right here.


I have adjusted my goals slightly along the way and my goal is to hit 267 pounds, seems random right? its not really, at 267 pounds I will have lost 50% of my total weight and there is something about being able to say that which is making me want it, my actual goal is to reach 265 pounds because then I would weigh less than my father but that's just boys being boys. The closer that I get to my goal weight the more that I think I should get lower even, I honestly believe that I will end up aiming for something closer to 245 as a grand finale weight and I get that number from my brother. My brother is about 1/4 inch shorter than me and not as big, where as I am a large frame he is more a big medium frame and he also has less muscle mass than I do. He weighs 230 pounds and you would never think he weighed that much as he looks like a thick pole so I figure if I am bigger than he is mass wise as well as a bigger frame 245 should be just about perfect for me as an end weight but then these things seem to change as progress is made so who knows.

For today I am pleased with my 4 pound drop this week and I am going to try and keep this trend going for a couple while and see if I can get ahead of myself a bit with the 2 pounds per week until May plan. I will eventually hit 275 lbs, I will eventually be able to say that I have lost 50% of my total weight and get to that 267 lb mark, I will hit 250 lbs some day because I am not on a diet, I have changed my life to fit into my goals.

Thanks for reading along, and here's to another good week.

As Ever
Me

Weighing in tomorrow and a new low on the horizon!

Tomorrow I weigh in and I am thinking that it will be a new low weight for me with this week, I have literally busted ass all week even though I was sick and have been just about flawless with my calories besides a slice of apple pie. I have gone to the gym when I could and have found a new machine that I enjoy working out on and really feel a difference after using it for a workout yesterday. I had posted up that I wanted to drop 25 pounds by Nov 11th because it was my next doc visit and he sparked me into a challenge without even knowing it, last time I was there he said "You did something for the first time this week" I said "oh yeah?" to which he replied "you are up one pound" and that was it I thought to myself about how it was bull that I was up and the challenge went to myself and on the blog, will I meet that challenge? I am feeling awesome in lieu of being under the weather and I honestly think its because I am staying active even though I don't feel up to it which is the complete opposite of how it would have been handled when I was heavier.

I mentioned that I found a new machine which I am enjoying, that machine is an Arc-trainer and I suppose in my own non in the know way I would have to call it a cross between an elliptical machine a stair machine and even a bit of a treadmill all in one. My workout yesterday went like this, I rode the bike for 20 minutes, then onto the Arc-trainer for 11 minutes set to 63 on the resistance (really felt it in my quads and butt) and then I did 20 minutes on a treadmill 3.4 mph half at 5.5% grade and half at 10% grade and today I may skip the Arc-trainer because I can feel it in my legs and butt and don't want to jump in too fast. Something that I noticed about the Arc is that it really got my heart rate up compared to the bike and the treadmill and the plan is to eventually phase the treadmill out completely and replace it with the arc-trainer. Continuing the bike riding is something that I want to do every trip to the gym because I am hoping to get some longer rides in next spring on my bike and with some hope and a lot of work I can keep my biking muscles up to par so when the time comes I can hop right back onto my bike and keep going. While I do enjoy the treadmill it really is something that I can do on the weekends with wify and the animals if I want to walk/run and I want to use my time as efficiently as possible at the gym so if I can work up to 20 mins on the bike and 30 mins on the Arc-trainer that's where I want to be.

My menu for yesterday was not the greatest and did come in a bit high at 1755 but here it is for you to have a look anyways.

Breakfast
7:30 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

Lunch
2:30 PM
2 slices whole grain bread 200
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T strawberry preserves 35

Dinner
6:00 PM
4oz roasted chicken 200
3/4 cup white rice 150
3/4 cup black beans 140
bbq sauce 35

7:00 PM
slice of home made apple pie 350

Fluids
G-Tea 1 gal
H2O 3/4 gal

This week has turned out pretty well even with me being sick, it did not stop me from eating right, it did not slow down the exercise and I do believe that we will see a new all time low weight tomorrow which will make me more than extremely happy. You will have to check in tomorrow to find out if Mister meatball chipped away enough to break into the 320's or if we will forever be stuck in the 330's dun dun dunnnnnn!

Thank you for reading along to my random daily jibber jabber, and remember I was once a 534 pound guy that felt like there was nothing that could be done but I dared to take that first step and here I am more than 200 pounds lighter and dropping.

Keep on keepin on and all that.

As Ever
Me

Reintroducing because He is not the same man, its long so grab a drink.

The way that things change after a person loses a substantial amount of weight are unbelievable, I am learning things about myself that I had forgotten along with my will to do anything past breathing between shoving morsels of goodness down my gullet. I don't believe that a person can get to be 500 plus pounds without losing more than a bit of themselves in the process, sitting on a couch for hours at a time with a remote control in one hand, a whole order of General Tso's chicken in the other and no desire for much else I wouldn't think is anything that someone would strive for yet there I was. That person was not me but I was right in the middle of it, slowly expanding my needed space and surely heading towards an early death in the mindset that there was nothing that could be done short of a weight loss surgery, the feeling is Hopeless.

To say that you become someone else does not begin to tell the story of how a transformation of body translates into the mental morphing of a person, our attitudes begin to match our large physical exteriors as we hide behind bitter stares and withdrawn actions. Before I met my wife I was going to shows (local bands) three times per week, I was hanging out at clubs, bars and basically a very social person that always had something to do and was rarely home for longer than it took to sleep and depending on how the night went a lot of times not even home for sleep. We met right as I was growing out of that phase of my life and beginning to slow down a bit and maybe looking for something a bit more stable and I found that in her, the going out continued somewhat and life was great then I was injured in 2000 after moving to California and it was at that point that slowly I started losing bits of myself.

I was this 6'5'' 350 pound guy that could run, climb up things like a monkey on acid and I never stopped moving, I had a friend that I worked with just before I moved to CA that would always say things about how "nimble" I was for my size and even though he watched me every day at work he was amazed at the things I could do. Where was that guy? the confident, cocky very physical big fella, after 2000 he was no where to be found, I was struggling every day just to do daily functions because of the pain in my back and when I say daily functions I mean anything more than laying still so that things didn't hurt, I was not working because of the injury and that lasted for more than 2 years. When I was able to go back to work I was placed in a position that sat me at a desk doing paper work and answering phones all day and though I was glad to be back to work I hated what I was doing, I had always done some type of physical work up until that point in my life and enjoyed it. Here we are a few years later and I still have substantial back pain on a daily basis, I am limited to what I can do and I am putting on weight like it was a contest, needless to say I was not the same person that I was just a few years earlier.

Time goes by and sitting on your ass becomes your day to day, its whats expected and its what you do, no more no less. It wasn't exactly my fault that I was stuck so it got justified that way and the band played on and the weight kept going up, the back pain was getting to a point where if I stayed still for 75% of the day I was able to move around a bit, and I mean a very little bit because every time it would start feeling better I would push a little harder in an attempt to push though and bamn! laying in bed for five days in pain for my effort, giving up was easier than that. Missing out on things became the norm, "Honey I got tickets for a baseball game from work what do you think? Wify would ask with that tone in her voice knowing that I would not want (be able) to go but why should everyone miss out because I couldn't go right? so I would first say something to let her know that I would rather she not go (there is the selfishness coming out) but that I was ok if she did of course with a large sigh at the end of the statement (which at the time I was dying inside because of it) or "Babe did you want to catch a movie tonight?" to which of course because of the pain in my back and the sheer size of me at that point I would decline, I mean if I couldn't sit comfortably in a seat for 2 hours why would it be fun right? but again every time something like that happened I became more bitter and more withdrawn and soon I didn't want to do anything because of my weight, who was this guy that was emerging?

Where did the big fun guy go? How did this happen? from outgoing, cocky, happy, always cracking a joke and loving life to withdrawn, bitter, sour unhappy even though he had the most beautiful Lady on the planet at his side, all because of some weight? if it was "some" weight it may not have went that way but it was an immense amount of weight, it was constant pain in the back and sitting on the sidelines for everything that did it. Now that I am starting to get back to myself I can clearly see that I wasn't myself for that time of my life, I am not the person that I was at 534 pounds, depressed and bitter. I am starting to see the old me again with the success that I have had so far and I can remember something that Wify said to me a while back when we were talking about how far I have come with this whole ordeal, The conversation was along the lines of me saying that I was feeling better and starting to feel like myself again, I stated something along the lines of that she was getting her husband back and she said "No, its like I got my boyfriend back" This morning I woke up in a great mood and for some reason that statement popped into my head and this post as a result of that.

In all honesty I can say that I am a different person today than I was just 2 years ago, I am feeling like the old me and again.

Folks, I do believe he's back...

unstoppable.

As Ever
Me

Water water everywhere...why not drink it?? a guide for the drier folks.

Mister Meatball, do you honestly drink one to two whole gallons of fluid per day? I don't believe it! Yes I do drink somewhere between 128 and 256 ounces of fluid per day. But I have trouble drinking a mere 8 cups per day! how do you do it? 8 cups doesn't even begin to touch your fluid needs unless you weigh about 120 pounds and do zero exercise, you have trouble because you are looking for other options which do not hydrate you properly anyways, like the soda, coffee and whole milk that you are use to. I just don't like the taste of water! The average mans body is 60-65% water, it is the life blood of our existence and after oxygen is probably the most important thing to us as living creatures so get use to it because it is essential for life, besides the sugary drinks that you are likely consuming are robbing you of real flavor and taste. Well what makes you an expert smart guy? Nothing at all makes me an expert, I just read a lot and have lost all of my weight with the concept that more water is better so I can only say what has worked for me up to this point.

Using the half oz of water per pound of body weight (which some use .65oz per pound) at my current weight I should be drinking 166 ounces per day or 1.30 gallons and that's not figuring in the 50 minutes of cardio that I do four times per week. At my start weight of 534 lbs back in Jan 2008 using the .50 oz per pound I should have been drinking 267oz per day which is more than 2 gallons but again I am not an expert I just do what works for me. But what about this water intoxication thing that I heard about? From what I understand this is something that athletes and babies have to worry about more than a big ol rotund fella drinking between 1.5 and 2 gallons per day all spread out within a 12 hour period does. Water intoxication occurs when a person drinks so much water that it dilutes the sodium and electrolytes in their system and its not so much how much a person drinks as it is how fast it goes down the hatch. The body needs time to replenish the electrolytes and sodium so drinking 2 gallons of water in a day is not really all that much when you consider that our kidneys as adults can process up to 15 liters of water per day. A marathon runner that is downing gallons of water near the end of a race and then downs another gallon as he finishes may have something to worry about where water intoxication is concerned but me at 332 pounds drinking 1.5 to 2 gallons per day spread out within a 12 hour period, not so much.

Being dehydrated poses more risks to a person that over hydration, especially when we are talking about someone attempting to lose weight, the more fluid that we intake the easier time our system will have with flushing waste out of our bodies. Staying properly hydrated is extremely important and I cannot stress this enough to anyone that cares to ask my opinion because I do honestly believe that my drinking habits account for much of my weight loss success to date, which doesn't mean woohoo! all I have to do is drink 1.5 gallons of water per day and I will drop 200 pounds! Being sufficiently hydrated can mean a boost in metabolism and who doesn't want that if they are trying to drop a couple (hundred) pounds? intaking enough water will decrease food cravings and false hunger as well, thirst and hunger are often confused with one another so when a person feels that pain in the gut that says that its time for one of Auntie Maudes home made Brownies a cool glass of H2O just might be whats needed instead. When we do not drink enough our bodies hold onto all of the water that it can get if that is happening how can it flush out the bad stuff that is inside all of us? in short it cannot do the job sufficiently and we can end up with headaches, stomach pains, swelling, bloating and the list goes on.

"But I just can't drink more than my 8 cups per day" You can and you should because you need more than that, and even more than that if you are exercising daily. When we realize just how important good old H2O is for us its easy to make ourselves drink it daily, and when I say drink it, I mean drink enough. Anyone that knows me personally probably cannot think of a time that I am not drinking either green tea or water pretty much constantly all day every day, I always have a bottle of something with me. I get comments or emails from time to time on this blog from the naysayers and disbelievers about my drinking and the amounts so I thought that I would toss my view on the subject out there for you, and if you are not yet convinced, then my buddy Harvey McDullardsonfengenden has got a product for you!

One last thing, remember kids, I am not a doctor and don't claim to be one so this post is offered to you as is with no expressed warranty and you should talk to your doc before embarking down any path where your health is concerned.

Now that we have that out of the way, thanks for reading along and I hope you took something from this post, don't forget that H2O and stay away from the soda, no really...put it down.

As Ever

Me

Apple pies and chopping wood, sick man standing.

This weekend was not what I would call a fun time exactly, if you read this blog regularly you know that my daughter was sick Thursday and me being a stay at home dad that translates into me getting sick when she does a lot of times and this time is no different. I felt it coming on last Friday so I decided that I would go to the gym before it got bad as I was planning on a Saturday trip to the gym and Saturday morning I didn't want to get out of bed, but of course I did and I ended up chopping about a third of a cord of firewood, great idea eh? and so much for a day of rest, on the one hand it was exercise, but then here I was (am) sick as a dog. My evening ended with a couple shots of brandy and a big ol cup of hot green tea and off to bed I went only to wake up Sunday feeling just as bad, I ended up running some errands and finally got myself a couple pair of long workout pants to wear to the gym and coming home to make a picked fresh from the tree apple pie that I had promised the boss lady I would do was the plan. I ended up heading to bed pretty early (9:30 pm) and slept like a log until my little one stomped up the basement stairs returning from putting in some laundry in with Mommy at O dark thirty (translated thats about 6:30 am) long story short, I still feel like ass but better than yesterday.

My pie, it looks small in this picture but I assure you it weighs like 8 pounds!

All of this actually may work out for me in the way of me not missing a day at the gym because I have an appointment today to talk to the doc about scheduling my gallbladder surgery so I would have missed the gym today any way its cut. With hope and prayers I feel well enough tomorrow to resume going to the gym so that I can keep my momentum with the losses, if not? it is what it is and there is always next week. I did not drink enough over the weekend, my throat was (is) sore and I just didn't feel up to it, but I did manage about a gallon of tea Sunday and less than a half of a gallon of anything on Saturday. My caloric intake for Sunday was 1845 total including the slice of pie I had last night but I figure with the honey in my tea and the "test tastes" of the apple mixture that its slightly higher than that, have a look at the menu from Sunday.

Breakfast
8:45 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
1 apple 100

Lunch
12:30 PM
4 oz grilled chicken breast 200
italian wrap 90
lettuce/tomato/pickle 35

3:30 PM
pile of cherry tomatoes 35

4:45 PM
1 apple 100

Dinner
6:30 PM
5oz ground turkey 200
2 80 cal rolls 160
7oz sweet potato fries 175
ketchup 25

8:45 PM
slice of apple pie 375

After today I should have a date to get this old Gallbladder taken out and hopefully I feel well enough tomorrow to head to the gym again. I will need to figure out a plan to avoid the rest of that apple pie in the refrigerator and today I am forcing myself to drink my regular 1.5 gallons of fluid, and will be keeping the calories light and under 1700 today. Thanks for reading along and supporting my trip to being half the man I once was so that I can be twice the Father and Husband that I want to be.

That is all.

As Ever
Me

Weight right there fat man! get on this scale now!

The past two weeks I have refocused on my weight loss instead of the maintaining that I had been doing and it is having good results. This morning like a child on Christmas morning I sprung from my California king and skippity hopped to the scale...skippity hopped might be taking it a step too far but I definitely B lined for the scale this morning. I stepped on and the number that I saw was 332.0 pounds, so as I do every Friday I get on three times and the scale said 332.0 all three times and that comes up to a 3.4 pound loss this week and it looks like the gym is doing the trick as far as pulling the pounds off again. I did not get to go to the gym yesterday afternoon as I mentioned because my daughter was home sick from school but after dinner I headed over for a later than usual visit where I did 20 minutes each on the bike and the treadmill and barring my daughter suddenly feeling terrible again I plan on a leg routine with the weights this afternoon when I head over for my workout.

I said "it looks like the gym is doing the trick as far as pulling the pounds off again" but it is not the gym, it is me, it is the hard work that I am putting into my days once again, the gym is but a tool that I am using to get there is all. I honestly believe that if a person does their part that every week can be a successful one where health and weight loss is the subject matter, all of the variables must be looked at but doing your part most times means gains or losses if you will with our health. I will use my wife as an example as she has recently started something new, she has been walking/running the stairs at work instead of taking the elevator, she runs down a set amount to warm up and then runs up 5 flights and then back down twenty plus every day. This morning she said "I got on the scale today and I am up in weight" and the first thing that came to mind for me was that she is up because her muscles are sore and holding water and she knows this too. This is a good thing! a good thing you ask? but she said that she is up in weight? yes a good thing, She is tearing her muscle fibers apart and gaining strength because of it, she is retaining water so that her muscles can repair themselves and be stronger for the effort, the stairs will get easier, the retention will go away and she will be stronger than she was last week at the same time and because she will be building muscle she will ultimately burn more calories, see? its a gain, yet a good thing.

I drank 1 gallon of green tea and more than a gallon of straight H2O yesterday and my calories came in at 1670 total calories so not too shabby, have a look at my menu.

Breakfast
7:30 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:45 AM
1 progresso low fat clam chowder 220
1 multigrain english muffin 100
smart balance 20
1 med tomato 25

Lunch
1:45 PM
1 apple 100
1 banana 105

4:00 PM
9oz strawberries 90

Dinner
6:30 PM
6oz baked tilapia 150
1 cup corn 120
3/4 cup white rice 150

9:00 PM - Post workout
1 cup 1% milk 110
1 scoop whey protein 130

3.4 pounds and I am setting into a routine at the gym, things are rolling right along and perhaps next week I will get to a new all time low as I am within 2 pounds of that figure once again, maybe we will see a new motorcycle comparison shot this time next week but if not I do know that I will be a week stronger mentally as well as physically. Thanks for following along as this fat man gets thinner, I dare not say thin just yet as that is a road yet to be crossed but we are getting closer by the day.

You may continue on with your day now..

As Ever
Me

All I want for you my son, Is to be satisfied.

Tomorrow I weigh in and it will be week four in my 25 pounds by Nov 11th challenge which I have given up on believing that I will actually make that number BUT I will still attempt to get as close as possible in that time because its how I get down. My trip to the gym yesterday was a good one and I did 20 minutes on a stationary bike followed by 35 minutes on a treadmill 5 minutes at 3mph with a 2% incline, 20 minutes at 3.5mph with a 3% incline and the final 10 minutes was 3.5 mph with a 5% incline and then onto some weight machines. I first used the Seated over head press machine, 2 warm up sets of 12 reps each and 4 sets of 6 reps each with a heavier weight followed by a light set to failure, I did the same thing on the seated chest press machine and then worked a little bit on a preacher curl machine when I was done.

Today I was planning on a leg routine on some of the machines after my cardio but alas, my daughter is sick and will not be going to school today so no gym for me unless I can sneak out tonight which is unlikely. I will go on Saturday to make up for not being able to go today so no worries I will just do the leg routine during tomorrows trip barring if the little one is still sick. I will in fact be able to at least sneak out for a walk this evening after dinner if the gym trip is not able to happen so its not a problem really.


My intake came in at 1760 which is a bit high but not as high as it should have been, I decided that on the days I lift weights that I will add a whey protein shake in after my workout and not worry about the calories but it seems that I am still keeping it as close to 1700 as possible, habit perhaps? have a look at the menu from yesterday.

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

11:30 AM
6 inch turkey subway 290

Lunch
2:30 PM
1 scoop whey protein 130
1 cup 1% milk 110
1 large apple 100

3:15 PM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

Dinner
6:45 PM
1 foot long turkey subway 580

Over all a pretty decent day yesterday and I am looking forward to tomorrow mornings weigh in, with hope I have lost at least a little, some luck might mean that I lost a lot, On second thought I don't believe in luck so if its a loss it is very likely the hard work I put in this week. grab yourself a big ol glass of H2O for reading through my post and know that I am chugging down some green tea as I type. Until tomorrow keep on keepin on and all that and remember that you are only as successful as you want to be, actually let me correct that, you are only as successful as the amount of hard work that you put into any given task, its really that Simple man.

As Ever
Me

I found the miracle diet plan! You have to see this! Jujuberry 7.2!

Is your waist line much bigger than it should be? do you fear wearing corduroy in dry places for fear of starting a raging fire? do you swear that you hear the morsels of goodness speaking to you when you walk down the cookie isle in the supermarket? well then have I got the diet plan for you! You can lose up to 38 inches off of your waistline in just 3 days with our patented Jujuberry and iced meatball sports drink of the gods! yes I said it! YOU can be a success! and with our payment plan it will only cost you the low low price of $19.99 per month for the next four years! that's only about 65 cents per day folks! and here is our super duper muscle bound obscure spokesman Harvey McDullardsonfengenden with a comparison shot of himself from 1984 to prove that it works! if you order within the next 12 minutes we will throw in an accelerator elixir that will increase the potency of our product ten fold! absolutely FREE!!!! what are you waiting for? pick that phone up and call now to receive your completely bullshit box of products in just 7 to 14 business days! You too can look like Harvey McDullardsonfengenden in just 3 days! order now!


That...or you can put the box of cookies down, tear your ass away from in front of that magical plastic box full of wires and electronics and go for a walk.

As you can tell I am in a mood this morning and can't wait to leave for the gym this afternoon, I did well yesterday where intake is concerned and I ate 1700 calories on the nose. My hydration effort was 1 gallon of green tea and just under 1 gallon of Straight H2O and I did not get a chance to go to the gym as my daughter had the day off from school, my schedule is to have Wednesdays off but because I missed yesterday I will go today Thursday and Friday to make up for the non workout yesterday so it all evens out.

Here is a look at my menu from yesterday

Breakfast
8:00 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

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

Lunch
1:30 PM
2 boiled eggs 140
multigrain bread 200
1 T miracle whip 50
tomato/pickle 30

4:30 PM
2 cups cookie crisp cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

Dinner
7:30 PM
6 inch turkey subway 280

8:15 PM
1 apple 100

That's all I got for today, remember to stay hydrated and Thanks for reading along, oh one last thing stop the madness with all of the excitable muscle bound 1980's dude extreme 100% bullshit diet plans that they try to sell us on the boob tube and pick up an apple, its the only thing that's gonna work people.

As Ever
Me

Good for you man...

Yesterday My day started out well enough with Wify and the animals having the day off from school and work and before I knew it that time of day showed up, time to go to the gym and about half way there I realized that I had forgotten my head phones so I would be forced to listen to the monotonous boom tsss boom tsss boom tsss of the bad music that the gym seems to always play, no worries. I got in and straight to my bike and it is about 5 minutes into the ride that I realize, only because I could feel it, that I had forgotten my mid am snack and I am feeling a bit drained and I had only been there for 10 minutes. Pushing through my workout I completed 20 minutes on the bike and then did 30 minutes on the treadmill at 3.4mph with a 2.5% incline and I stayed away from the weights because of the not having a snack before leaving the house.

While I rode my bike, minding my own business I was on the machine that was bordering the isle and an older fella, older than me anyways, I would guess him in his late 40's early 50's walked past with a huge toothy smile on his face and said "Good for you man" and gave me a nod. This is the second time since starting down this path to better health that someone has said that exact statement to me and I get that it was most likely not meant as anything negative but man does it burn my ass when I hear it. Its like "Hey look at that fat dude bustin ass! good for him!" but I wasn't working and harder or easier than anyone else in there but my weight apparently means something in that respect I suppose. This fella seemed to chat the ear off of everyone that was unfortunate enough to make eye contact with him so I may be reading too far into it but saying good for you to a fat dude working out is not helping on any level and somehow comes off patronizing, that's what I get for forgetting my headphones I guess.

My intake for Monday was pretty decent and I managed to squeeze in a Long trail before dinner after repairing a window sill on our house that had some rot going on, Have a look at the menu.

Breakfast
8:45 AM
2 cups fruit and grain cereal 240
1 cup 1% milk 110

2:00 PM
1 banana 105

Lunch
3:30 PM
2.5oz grilled chicken breast 125
Italian wrap 90
lettuce/tomato/onion/pickle 45

5:00 PM
1 long trail beer 163

Dinner
6:15 PM
1 can progresso clam chowder 220
green salad 65
2 T light balsamic vinaigrette 60
1 hard boiled egg 70
2 T Romano/parm cheese mix 20

7:00 PM
2 small pancakes 175

8:45 PM
1 large apple 100

1588 total calories for the day and I drank a gallon of green tea and maybe 3/4 gallon of straight H2O, 50 minutes of cardio along with that so not too shabby. Unfortunately I wil not be able to make it to the gym today so I will go tomorrow which is usually the day that I don't go but since I would rather not miss 2 days in a row I will squeeze it into my normally busy Wednesday.

Thanks for following along with my adventures in getting thin and don't forget that you make your own decisions, I have never seen a brownie hop into someones mouth on its own.

As Ever
Me

So ya wanna lose some weight, a beginners guide to losing weight by no one special.

I get asked all of the time "How do you do it? how have you managed to lose more than 200 pounds?" and my answer is always the same, I had a decision to make and it was my choice. At 534 pounds life is not a bowl of cherries but if I was asked that question at that weight my answer would have been "I am totally happy right now" mostly because of pride and not wanting to admit how weak I was in that time of my life, I was NOT happy. I was thinking about this a bit over the weekend and was going through all of the things that I did to get going down this road and thought I would write a "So ya wanna lose some weight" post for those people that may stumble on my blog that are thinking about starting down the same path and have that lost in the woods feeling.

Like most things I find the jump right in approach the best and I figured I had dipped my toes into many a "diet" pool throughout my life so this time it had to be different. Making excuses as to why we can't start just delays and stalls our progress so why do it? I happened to start on Jan 1st but honestly it was a long time coming and the 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's is what tipped me into the had too much category, here are a few things to consider when you start:

The start of things

1. Decide what approach will be taken - I chose to count calories but there are many different weight loss methods out there to choose from and each will mean purchasing a different variation or foods, so decide which path you will wander down and go from there with your shopping list.
2. Go shopping - This is extremely important because if you have cookies, cakes and the phone number to the local pizza house on hand it will be that much harder to eat healthy meals, toss that number out and get rid of the stockpile of sweets as they will only hinder progress and offer chances to fall off of plan.
3. Plan meals ahead of time - This is critical in the beginning, breaking the habit of grazing at the refrigerator is number one on your list of things to do right now, you are not a cattle so stop acting like one and step away from that fridge! if you have your day down on paper (or in my case an excel sheet) it is easy to anticipate when and what we will eat when you can see it written down.
4. Start a food diary ie a Blog - I did this step on a whim and as it turned out here I am still writing in it 650 days later. The importance of cataloging and preserving what has been done so that you can go back and look at where you came from in your own words and feel some of the same feelings I cannot stress enough. having a blog is like creating a mirror image of the way you felt and is a strong reminder on those not so strong days not to mention the accountability factor because you never know just who is having a peek into your struggles.

Now that you are started and we are chugging along slightly tired, somewhat aggravated and really craving some of aunt Maude's home made double chocolate chocolate chip cookies its time to pat ourselves on our backs because the first step has been taken. There is really a feeling of empowerment that comes across after we have made it through a few days of what seems like agony, furthermore you have just proven that it can in fact be done with minimal effort and you quite like the way you are feeling lately.

The first week

You've made it through an entire seven days and are starting to realize that this is not as hard as it once felt while all at the same time really wanting to tear into a double bacon and onion pizza, you are waking up less tired while feeling that this just might work this time around but boy do you miss that giant cup of joe with Cream and sugar. Now its time to start thinking about adding some exercise to your days and take a look back at what you have done this week and decide what could be better or if anything needs to be tweaked, did I mention that I can swear that the Ronald McDonald statue waved at me when I drove by this afternoon?

1. Exercise - You have to start somewhere, run if you can walk if its what you can do and crawl if you must but you have to start moving. At hyper obese weights 500 pounds plus it can be extremely difficult to exercise but it is a must so do it. I started off at 534 pounds and a walk to the corner felt like it was going to kill me but I did it because I had to, you can too. Of course talking to a doc before starting an exercise regimen is probably a good idea so I would recommend that step (even though I did not) but exercise is key to healthy weight loss so make sure its getting added in.
2. Weigh yourself often - I find that weighing myself often helps immensely, besides the fact that it is a gauge to let you know how your progress is moving along it can be a huge motivator whether you are up in weight or down, on the one hand if you weigh less its proving that the hard work is paying off and that confidence boost can throw you into hyper drive and you forget that you are "dieting" and the urges are lessened. The other side to that coin is that if the scale shows a gain you know that you have to look at what you are doing closer or in some (I would guess most from experience) cases you know that you did not do your part and it forces you to refocus, but whatever you do do not give up if you see a gain consistency is key.
3. Read other people blogs - I can obviously only speak for myself but when I first started down this road I made myself obsess over reading as many weight related articles and blogs as I could fit into my days. Seeing others struggle and conquer, obsess and fight with all of the same things that I was dealing with helped me realize that I was not the only fat dude on the block and that helped me stay focused, hearing about how they handled a situation or pushed through a hard spot can really keep things in perspective. I have since I started blogging met some pretty great people that have struggled through the same things that I have and having the support of like minded people huffing down the same trail is a very powerful thing.

We are now starting to get the hang of things and making better choices in our meals and snacking much less than we were, feeling pretty good about the whole process and most likely have dropped a bit of weight. Exercise is getting easier and shopping for healthy choices is becoming second nature, our confidence is rising and we are smiling more than ever because things are starting to feel good again, I might be able to stick to this you think and off you go for a walk around the neighborhood.

Month three

Now you're chugging along and have a few months behind you, you have certainly dropped some weight by now if you are doing your part and are feeling better. No more refrigerator grazing and you look for opportunities to get some exercise into the day all while noticing that your food tastes better when its not covered in salt, sugary sauces and fried batter, who wouldda thunk that chicken could taste so good without the greasy coating of bread crumbs on it? the pizza delivery guy cruises slowly past your home looking quizzically at the door wondering if you moved out of the neighborhood or were kid napped as you grill some chicken breast and veggies for that nights dinner.

By now things should be starting to get pretty automated and routine for you, walking past the cookie isle in the supermarket without craving a whole pound bag of Oreos is getting easier and soon enough will fade completely. Getting out for some daily exercise is no longer a chore but something you sort of want to do, before long you may even find yourself joining a gym and quickly becoming addicted to going there and working out, the whole world is yours again. No longer leashed to that dented couch You wonder why it took so long for you to get started and with just a couple months of success things start falling into place and the path to better health is clear and open for you to walk down as you taste the success of losing some extra baggage.

I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be one, I also do not claim to be an expert in weight loss so with a grain of salt this post is offered, always consult a physician before starting in on new exercise and or diet plans.

Thanks for reading along and I hope that you took something away from this that could help you in a positive way.

As Ever
Me

Weight right there weakling! huh? who me?

Upon sitting down on the press machine I knew that I had significantly lost strength as I pushed the weight forward for the first time in years. The last time I touched a weight seriously I warmed up with 220 pounds, to some that might be a lot to others its not but its where I was, I figured that I had lost some strength and mass so I would come down slightly from that weight and see what happened and well, it was tragic. I don't care to admit what weight I finally leveled off working with just yet but man was it a wake up call as to just how much muscle mass I have lost with this weight loss. I figured that I would do my regular chest routine that I was doing back in the day which is 5 sets of 6 reps each in a pyramid gradually adding weight for 3 sets peaking at the 3rd set and then coming back down to the start weight for the last set and though I was pleased to be pushing weight again I was not happy with the amount that I had to settle for this time around.

Looking at it logically I know that its not the raw weight itself that I should be worried about but the fact that I am back to lifting again and it will get there, but man I had no idea that I would be lifting so much less than I use to. I also know that this was my first go at it on a machine that I have never used before and it was after a 20 minute ride on a stationary bike and a 30 minute walk on the treadmill @ 3.5 mph so I was not fresh but man, I tell ya I was not expecting to be so weak! I am planning on making myself a weight program once I familiarize myself with some more of the machines at the gym as I go alone and do not have a constant spotter, Machines allow me to work with no spot and I do not wish to rely on a chance that someone will be there willing to help a brother out.

I am currently going to the gym on Monday and Tuesdays, taking Wednesdays off and then Thursdays and Fridays are back to the gym with the weekends being open for going but I don't plan on heading over on the weekends. Weekends are reserved for walks/runs/bike rides with wify until I convince her to join the gym with me. My plan will be to work weights into 3 of those gym trips per week, maybe all of them eventually but to start off it will be 3 times weekly until this initial soreness dulls somewhat. I cannot slack off on the cardio and since I am doing 50 minutes at a go right now I don't want to burn out so I will have to find a happy medium between the lifting and the cardio until I adjust to doing both and can have my cake and eat it too so to speak and do them both consistently together without burning myself out.

This morning My chest, Triceps and shoulders are feeling sore and its the good sore and quite frankly a sore that I haven't felt in a long while so its welcome and I am over all pleased with myself that I started back into some real strength training. I have learned a few things, I am definitely weaker than I once was as far as my raw physical strength goes but on the other hand I am stronger than I have been in years because of the changes in my health and exercise in the last 2 years. I have to let things be what they are and just accept that I have lost mass and strength all while losing the weight that was holding me back and it is what it is and I have to use this as my starting point for my strength and work up from here.

with that a hasty end has to come to this post as I am being prodded out the door to bring the children apple picking. Thanks for following and all that and remember that if I can do this you can too.

As Ever
Me

And the scale said to him....

This morning is the third week in my Nov 11th challenge and I just weighed in, I will get straight to the number and if I said that I was anything less than pleased it would be a lie. The number that flashed across the display was 335.4 which is 4.2 pounds less than last week and that was after going to the wine tasting last Saturday! In the beginning of the week I said that I wanted 4 pounds and immediately after I said it I felt that it was a bit ambitious but after joining the gym I decided that I would do what I could to try and get that number come today.

This week was a good one for me, I joined a gym, I seem to have my juju back and more than 4 pounds is gone from my body. Eating right tied in with exercise and drinking lots of fluids is the key to what I am doing and today I plan on playing with a new machine at the gym to hopefully get myself into a groove with some weight training. Thursday I did 25 minutes on a bike and another 25 minutes on a treadmill walking between 3.4 and 3.7 mph on a 3.0% grade and I tried out the leg press machine for 5 sets of 6 reps per set in a pyramid starting at 325 pounds and ending at 400 pounds (which was all of the weight on this particular machine) than back down to 325 again and I will cease with the much detailed gym trips once the novelty wears off.

I think I like this picking a number to lose each week thing so this week I will up the ante and go for a 5 pound loss this time around. Now I know that a 5 pound drop is not likely BUT it can be fun trying for it yes? did I just say that it could be fun trying to drop 5 pounds?? Did the fella that once upon a time watched people walking down the street and think to himself "now why the hell would anyone want to walk just to do it??" say it would be fun trying for a 5 pound loss? I believe he did folks.

Yesterdays menu came in at 1555 calories, I did drink 1 gallon of green tea and just under a gallon of straight H2O along with the exercise that I already mentioned so a successful day where health goes.

Have a look at the menu.

Breakfast
7:30 AM
2 cups honey combs 220
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
2 oranges 170

Lunch
2:15 PM
1 can progresso soup 120
1 light multigrain english muffin 100
smart balance 20
1oz turkey pepperoni 70

3:30 PM
1/4 of one ghram cracker 35

Dinner
6:45 PM
9oz BBQ chicken 450
1 cup green beans 40
10oz steamed cauliflower 60

8:45 PM
2 small apples 160

I am pleased this week with what I have done and how it turned out as far as my trips to the gym go and the weight lost, I feel like I am back in the game and refocused 100% again. I won't take any more of your time and if you have made it this far into my post you should be applauded and you owe yourself a big ol glass of H2O so have at it! and remember kids, the results that you get will directly reflect the work that was put in, or something like that, either way keep on keepin on and all that.

As Ever
Me

You gotta read this!. . . not really, but I think you should anyways.

Tomorrow I will be weighing in and I am anxious to get on the scale in the morning, This week I have done my part and I am expecting a decent loss. I weighed in at 339.6 lat Friday and my goal for the week was to drop 4 pounds, will I get there? to be found out in the am I suppose and if I manage to hit that four pound drop it will reinforce that hard work does in fact pay off. The plan is to head to the gym this afternoon again and get in the same workout that I did on Tuesday but I may add some light weight lifting just to get a feel for some of the machines. I have always used free weights but there is something about trying out the machines that is interesting me so I do believe I will be giving them a whirl.

My menu from Wednesday was right on coming in at 1700 calories on the nose but I did nothing in the way of exercise, it just did not work out that way yesterday but no worries because everything else was pretty much exactly where I need it to be. I did drink slightly less than normal but that's also ok because of the lack of exercise, 1.25 gallons of green tea and a diet coke while out at Subway is all that I drank all day, have a look at the menu from Wednesday.

Breakfast
7:15 AM
2 cups honey combs 220
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
2 slices whole wheat bread 140
1 T peanut butter 95
1 T strawberry preserves 35

Lunch
1:30 PM
2 oranges 170

Dinner
6:30 PM
1 foot long turkey subway 560
1 bag sun chips 200

8:30 PM
2 oranges 170

Not too bad a day other than the bag of sun chips with my subway and since it fit into my calories I am not worried about it.

Something that I have been meaning to do but since I had not been all that consistent with my posts just sort of let it slip is to update my blogroll list. I have some of you on my blogroll already but not all of you that follow along with me and I wanted to add anyone that would like to be included in the blogroll on the left sidebar, so if you want your blog listed there leave me a comment in this post and I will update the list with your blog link.

That is the end of another mind blowing post from yours truly and I weigh in tomorrow so make sure you check back to see how I did this week! hopefully the trips to the gym will make a difference and this afternoon know that I will be there beating the fat to a pulp...now there is a mental image to go with your breakfast.

Until Tomorrow..

As Ever
Me

Paging Mister Meatball...

This last week has brought me back to where I should be on this path to better health, I have refocused myself in a way that I feel like I am unstoppable once again. Eating the way that I should, exercising daily and staying hydrated has become my goal each day and I have that competitive feeling in me once more. I am enjoying the gym experience thus far and ended up trying a new machine yesterday while I was there, I rode a stationary bike for 25 minutes and while walking down the path between the machines my eye went to an elliptical machine and since I have never really used one besides the random hop on in sporting goods stores I thought that I would try it out. Upon mounting this awkward looking skeletal thing I soon realized that it just was not the piece of equipment for me as I floundered ungracefully and just could not get a good rhythm going even after learning the controls and adjusting the resistance. The stride length is where I had an issue, I think my height makes me need a longer stride length and since I did not ask someone I don't know if that is an adjustment on the machine or if they are set at a standard distance and that's that, perhaps I will ask next time I go. After my skillful adventure on the elliptical machine I thought I would try a treadmill out and here is something that I liked! I ended up walking at 3.4 mph on a 3.5% grade for 25 minutes, I did go to a 8% grade for about a four minute segment about 15 minutes in just for kicks and I can honestly say that I am enjoying the gym.

My intake was spot on as well for Tuesday, I came in at a grand total of 1590 calories and when you see my menu you will see just how much of a creature of habit I am when you compare Tuesday and Monday's menus. I drank 1 gallon of green tea and just about 1 gallon of straight H2O.

Have a look at the menu.

Breakfast
7:15 AM
2 cups honey combs 220
1 cup 1% milk 110

11:00 AM
1 banana 105
1 T peanut butter 95

Lunch
2:45 PM
4oz hot capicola 240
1 lavash bread 100
lettuce/pickle 15
less than a T miracle whip 25

Dinner
6:30 PM
2 Multigrain English muffins 200
2 oz light mozz cheese 160
1.5 oz turkey pepperoni 105
2 T pizza sauce 30
onion/jalapenos 15

8:00 PM
2 oranges 170

Other than dinner Monday and Tuesday's menu's are pretty much exactly the same and that's just fine by me, I am hydrated and with the 25 minutes on the bike along with the 25 minutes on the treadmill not to mention the 5 minute fit that I had on the elliptical which I am sure amused at least a couple people I am very pleased with my exercise for the day as well. I will not make it to the gym today so I will exercise at home, it is down pouring rain with lightning currently so I will have to get creative, perhaps a yoga dvd and some calisthenics, we shall see.

It would appear that I am back in full swing again and am looking forward to Friday so that I can see how many pounds I dropped this week, something tells me it will be a decent week on that front. I am finding that going to the gym is actually very productive for me in the way that I somehow feel like I should work a bit harder because I am there, or maybe its the being in an atmosphere where everyone is working out that makes it easier to do 50 minutes of straight cardio and only stopping because its time to pick up the little one from school, either way so far its been a good choice to join.

With that another day in the life of the fat man is out there for your eyes, Thanks for following along and don't forget that H2O because in my mostly humble opinion its a very important part of weight loss.

As Ever
Me

Popped my Gym Cherry.

Monday provided me my first chance to check out the gym that I joined so I headed on over after dropping my daughter off at school and have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the entire experience. My initial feeling was that I would walk in and it would be all eyes on the fat kid but of course that's not how it went down at all. I had decided before I walked in that I was just going to take a walk around and check out the machines and then I would take a ride on a stationary bike, so after a brief walk around the whole gym I found an unoccupied bike and hopped on. I rode for 25 minutes on that bike and then onto a recumbent bike for a short pedal on a much higher setting than I did on the regular bike and ended up riding for another 7 minutes and something that I noticed was that no one could care any less about anyone else that was in the room, besides me of course as I am sort of a people watcher, funny how that worked out eh?

I found the staff to be very helpful and one girl even offered to come over and show me whatever I needed to know about anything in the whole place after I told her that it was my first time "just come on over and get me if you need help with anything" and she even checked in with me about 20 minutes after I got there to make sure that I had figured out what I needed to which was cool. I found that the atmosphere was very relaxed and it was just a bunch of people that seemed to want to workout and move on, this was only the first time in there so that opinion may change but I enjoyed myself while I was there this time around. I was offered a "fitness evaluation" at no charge which includes a talk with a trainer as well as a workout so that they might gauge my fitness level along with some other things like taking a measurement of my body fat etc. I declined as none of it really interested me for now because I have a good idea of what I want to do and I really don't care what my percentage of body fat is currently, I think that we can all agree that its high, perhaps down the road this will interest me but not right now.

My intake came in at 1715 total calories for the day and I think that I over guesstimated the calories on my home made chicken soup so I am probably just under that number. To say that I was hydrated yesterday is very much an understatement as I drank 1.25 gallons of Green tea and about a gallon of straight H2O and obviously I got some movement in at the gym, have a look at yesterdays menu.

Breakfast
7:15 AM
2 cups honey combs 220
1 cup 1% milk 110

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

Lunch
2:30 PM
4oz hot capicola 240
1 lavash bread 100
lettuce/tomato/pickle 40
less than a T miracle whip 25
7oz strawberries 70

Dinner
6:30 PM
2 cups home made chicken soup 350
1 multigrain english muffin 100
smart balance spread 20

7:30 PM
2 oranges 170

8:30 PM
1oz turkey pepperoni 70

I am off to a good start this week with everything that I need to be and I plan on heading to the gym again this afternoon at some point. Shooting for a 4 pound loss this week is still on the wall, making that number will make a certain fella very happy come Friday and at the same time if it is under four pounds that same fella will not be too disappointed. Now that I have my initial gym trip out of the way all of my apprehension has gone away and maybe I will explore a new machine today, or maybe I will just ride the bike for a week to get a little more familiar before I go falling off of an elliptical machine! I do look forward to starting in on the weights but again I want to go slow for a few reasons one of which I already mentioned and another is so that I don't injure myself by trying to do too much all at once.

That's it, the end of a post so until next time keep on keepin on and all that.

As Ever
Me

Easy like Sunda...er Monday morning..and a trip to the gym perhaps?

This weekend provided me with a chance to move forward onto the next stepping stone in my weight loss/better health process and with a light push from Wify I went ahead and joined a local gym. I have been thinking about doing this for some time now because I want to start lifting weights again to hopefully gain back some of my lost muscle from the last year and a half and on Saturday we just happened to have a free hour and were right next door to the gym. In we walked and the overly cheerful girl behind the counter said hi and gave us a "complimentary bottle of water" and off we went to look around, long story short I walked out with a passcard and I am now a member of a gym.

The plan is to go this afternoon after I drop my daughter off at school to have a looksie at some of the equipment and get my first gym workout in, I am a gym virgin so as dumb as it sounds I feel like I am going to be a fish out of water in there and slightly hesitant to go. The fat guy in me says "you don't belong in a gym, just keep going at home" and I know that is a silly way to look at it but when you are have been as big as me feeling as if all eyes are on gigantor is a hard feeling to shake. I will get over the feeling but I would be a liar if I said that it wasn't there, I mean I have been to the YMCA years ago but somehow that feels I don't know safer? as far as that all eyes on feeling goes and I was not 500 pounds back then either, I know I know You say "but you are not 500 pounds now so whats the problem man?" though I may not be 500 pounds currently I am still a big guy and I do think there will be a getting comfortable learning curve that I will have to get through.

I did pretty well this weekend with my intake even though Saturday night I went out to a wine tasting benefit with Wify. Saturday I ate very light all day in preparation for the buffet at the benefit but I will admit that I just ate and drank what I wanted to while there because from the beginning I have said that events will not be compromised because I want to live healthier. I know that some of you will agree with that last statement and say "You gotta live man, go out and enjoy!" and that is a great way to look at it as long as the other times are strict and regulated, then there will be those that say "You compromised your health by eating not so good and drinking a couple beers and some wine, for shame Mister Meatball" and you could be right too BUT the way that I choose to do this lifestyle change is simple. I believe that the human body is a machine and we are animals at our most basic, our bodies need certain vitamins and nutrients to perform daily and there is room for variations from time to time because we need that for survival. My body is not a pie chart, I will not cannot live in a way that disallows me to have a beer or a night out without packing up my Salter scale and calorie counting book.

Sunday I came in low for calories finishing up at 1450, I don't know how that happened because I did not plan on it but when I realized that it was so low it was 9:00 pm and I decided that I would not eat just to get more calories in. I made a really light dinner and that may have contributed to the low calorie number, I made baked Tilapia fillets with a tomato sauce, chopped red onions and thinly sliced green peppers straight out of the garden along with some rice that I seasoned with 2 kinds of peppers and some chopped sauteed onions. Over all the weekend went good and I can positively say that I am back on the wagon, I will go one step further and say that I am driving the wagon and feel like my new old self again and have my drive to get below 300 back.

Joining the gym was a big step for me because the only reason for the hesitation was anticipating that awkward fat guy in a gym feeling but now that actual cash has changed hands I will have to get over that feeling and get to working out. I am looking forward to heading out in a couple hours to join in and be a part of "that gym crowd" and all at the same time it sort of feels like the first day at a new school and I am dreading it, funny how something so fickle can bring all of that up eh? In a way I am hoping that by me posting my plans to go this afternoon it helps me to not chicken out of my first trip.

I looked up and noticed that this post is getting rather lengthy so I will call it done and let you kind people that care enough to read get back to your day. Thanks for reading along and Thank you for all of the support that you give me, if anyone has some ideas for getting past the first day of school feeling I am all ears! and with that, this post has run its course.

As Ever
Me