Category Archives: Diet

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The vacation is over. It felt like I blinked and we were back at the airport. Trips always feel like they are too short but regardless it feels good to be back in Tallahassee and it feels great to be blogging. I don’t even really know where to start. (How about the beginning Nathan?) Alright, here we go.

For the first couple of days in Texas, I has hyper sensitive of everything I ate like every bite of something even a little unhealthy was detrimental to my waist line. Thinking back on it, it was an unhealthy way of looking at things. When I realized that one too many tortilla chips wasn’t going to inflate me back to 357, I felt a lot better about it and ate what I wanted with portion control. I stepped out of bounds a few times and my body realized it so I felt the pain. Looking back on it it’s pretty cool because I ate some of my old bad staples and my body said “I don’t live on that junk anymore! Feed me something better than that!” I mean, I still passed up on some things like my Dad’s magnificent Chocolate Chip Pecan Bourbon Pie (Yes, it’s all one pie!) but my mom modified her chocolate pudding (which is my favorite dessert in the world) with some splenda and half egg beaters and half eggs. It tasted almost exactly the same and much less calories. The moral of this trip was that most things you want to eat can be modified with some ingredient adjustments.

Non-Scale Victories

The first victory was through out the trip, I got a ton of comments and support from friends and family (even this random guy that I use to just randomly know since we worked in the same mall.) It was such a great feeling seeing the looks on their faces. The support I received really fueled me and held me accountable the whole time.

The second victory was getting new jeans! I was still wearing my fat jeans and I was swimming in them (my butt was non-existent in them.) I went to Belk because they have pretty good deals and a nice big and tall section and bought 2 pairs of jeans. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to wear relaxed fit so I could fit in a pair. I bought a pair of straight legged Izod’s that were 4 inches smaller and a pair of Levis that were actually 6 inches smaller than the fat jeans. Buying jeans (or just pants in general) was always a nightmare, but this time it was actually a pleasure. Who knew right?

The third victory was my belt. I have this belt that I bought my sophomore year of college (2007ish) and at one point I couldn’t wear it, it was too small. I used it on this trip and I know have to use the smallest notch! Holy Crap! It’s exhilarating when you have those discoveries, but it still took me back because it really put in to perspective of how bad of shape I was in.

Conclusion and Some Pics of the Trip

So I’m going to do a short week weigh in (week 16) tomorrow. I didn’t have a weigh in on the trip which I think actually helped me make better snacking decisions. Overall, it was great to see family and friends (and I miss y’all already!) but it’s great to be back in Tallahassee and back to normalcy. Here are some pics from today and a family pic. I took most of them on Hipstamatic (which is the best iPhone camera app in the world.) See ya tomorrow.

 

 

Day 91: Christmas Vacation Update

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The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
-Mark Twain

It is true. I am still alive. It was been quite the trip so far… well not really. It has been a time of just relaxing and seeing old friends. However, it has been really weird not blogging and having this support system. Other than that, not having internet and not being plugged in has actually been kind of nice. Dare I say liberating. Right now I’m chilling at a Starbucks, deleting an ungodly amount of spam and wincing at the amount of articles to read in my google reader. Anyways, we have been good about counting points and keeping them in a journal to stay on track. So far, my body has only gotten mad at me once. I was stupid and tried to eat two of my favorite greasy breakfast burritos from my favorite hole in the wall joint and my body got a little pissed. Other than that, I have tried to be smart about what’s on my plate. Luckily, my mom has made sugar and fat free pies to counteract the buttermilk pie and the bourbon chocolate chip pecan pie. We are suppose to eat pulled pork sandwiches and brisket at some point this week so I’ll be eating a lot of light lunches from here on in. It’s annoying because my parents (who have been really supportive) ask if it’s okay to have certain things like brisket and at the time I’m like “Oh yeah sure!” then when the meal rolls around I’m like “crap, this was a bad idea.” Either way, I figure if I keep the portion controls down, keep exercising (which I have been every morning (I have fallen in love with the elliptical)) and to limit the sides with sauces (like my mom’s broccoli, cheese and stuffing casserole) I’ll make it out of this sucker alive. I know that I control everything that goes in to my body, but it’s been hard not to fall in to old habits. Then I look in the mirror or look at old photos around the house, and realize that this is all worth it. See ya when I see ya.

Day 88: The Tale of the Anytime Fitness Shaman and Our Quest to Abilene

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So I am a day behind in the posting and for that I apologize.

Yesterday morning, we went and worked out again with my folks at Anytime Fitness (which I am falling in love with.) There were only about 4 or 5 of us in there and 1 of them was this older Pakistani man who was just minding his own business and doing his thing. Then, I got on to the machine next to me and he just started to randomly talking to me. I guess since I still look like I am pretty out of shape (because… I am) he starts going Tony Robbins on me. “A few months ago I went to the doctor and my blood sugar was at 350 and he told me that I could go home and die or start working out” he said. “You have to get off the chair, stop watching tv and come here and work out. You have to do these things. I work out here 4-5 hours a day because I am 75 years old and retired so I have nothing else to do.” (This exchange went on for about 10 minutes and then my dad and Megan came over and he repeated this whole diatribe.) Usually I’m not a big fan of people telling me that I need to lose weight. It just really gets under my skin (like the time in high school when I delivered perscriptions to older people and the first thing this women said to me was “You need to go on a diet kid”) but this man was pretty inspirational. I can only imagine how easy it would be at 75 to just say “I’ve had a good run” and just eat what you want and let nature take his course, but this guy is being proactive and doing something about his life! It was quite the way to start my morning.

Breakfast: 2 eggs and 2 1/2 pieces of bacon 6.5 points

Lunch: After breakfast, Megan and I made our way to Abilene where we went to undergrad and where I had lived when I was very young. It felt weird to go back even though it had only been 5 months since we had left. Anyways, I called up a few people from my old job at Zachry Associates, an ad agency in Abilene, and we went to lunch at Abuelos (which is one of the best non-whole-in-the-wall mexican joints you will ever go to.) It was great to see everyone again. It was really hard not to get my old favorite meal which was a shredded beef burrito covered in queso with beans and these refried mashed potatoes. Instead, I got the tortilla soup (which was awesome) and salad which had shredded chicken, queso (which I got on the side) and beans. It was a really good lunch and I didn’t feel weighed down like I usually do after eating there. They don’t have their nutritional info online (#socialresponsibilityfail) so we had to do some invsetigating on this one. We figured out that it was about 12 points which wasn’t bad. Thanks to Christi (of the awesome blog The Frugal Novice) for the sick action shot.

Dinner: So after running a few errands, visiting old haunts, and finding out I got accepted as a full time graduate student at FSU (oh.. did I forget to mention that? :)) we went to dinner at Jason’s Deli with a lot of our college friends. We just made a Facebook event and invited everyone we could think of and it was a blast! If you haven’t been to Jason’s, they have a killer salad bar that could even make the Hamburgelur a vegetarian. (Jason of Jason’s Deli, if you are reading this, please come to Tallahassee!!!!!!) Anyways, I made an amazing salad with lettuce, baby spinach, broccoli, bell peppers, sunflower seeds, artichoke hearts, other awesome stuff, and low fat ranch. Oh yeah, and this red pepper hummus which made me cry it was so delicious. Dinner was about 10 points. Sadly, we thought about taking an action shot after some people had left (sorry: Greg, Whitney, Sean and Amy!) Thanks: (starting front to back Martin, Shannon, Melanie, Cole (the one who looks like Jesus,) Kyle, Jeff (who thought of taking the picture,) Steph (of Rufus vs. The Farm) and last but certainly not least Evan (ya nasty!) Megan was a good sport and took the pic. It was so great to see all of our friends and it’s even better when the conversation just picks back up when you left. It’s good to have friends.

On the way home (we left Abilene around 8:30) we stopped in the big city of Hico and grabbed some Dublin Dr. Pepper which is made in Dublin, TX where Dr. Pepper was born (they still have this awesome bottling plant downtown) and is made with pure cane sugar. I don’t usually drink regular soda, but I had to have just 1. For a 12 oz can it was 3 points and it was very sugary but delicious. (To put some things in context, I used to get a 44 oz fountain Dublin DP every time I went home and came back to Abilene. That’s like 11 points a soda twice in a weekend. How I was not  diabetic I will never know. Anyways, on Thursday I got to about 31.5 points but I had exercise points so overall it was a great day. See ya tomorrow… or…. something.

Day 87: Reporting Live From Texas!

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This sucker is going to be short. Forgive me. It makes up for other long winded rants that you have read.

We got up this morning at 5:30 and worked out with my folks at Anytime Fitness. I did a mile warm up then did dad’s circuit and it was beastly. I held my own for the most part. Fun stuff. 12 exercise points

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon 6 points

Lunch: Ham and Turkey Cheese Sandwhich with veggie chip (ever had those?) 8 points

Dinner: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (which I haven’t had in decades) and a salad with Lite Ranch. A swelltastic 12 points

Dessert: One cookie with M&M’s 3 points

So I’m only at 29 points with exercise points to spare. And they say you can’t be healthy on vacation (Who says that? I don’t know.) See ya tomorrow

Day 86: Leaving on a Jet Plane….

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(Forgive me for having the cheesiest title ever.)

We are just chilling in the TLH waiting for our flight. We got a call from our ride, Adam, and he asked if we didn’t mind leaving a little early and we were ready so we said sure. We checked in electronically and then we got to the security checkpoint. Hooray. I have disastrous memories when we checked in here back in February and there was an old lady who was wearing more bling than Flavor Flav. She didn’t understand the purpose of the metal detector so the line was really backed up. Anyways, I got through just fine, but Megan forgot to take out her Nike+ sensor out of her shoe so they were a little rougher one her (and no, neither of us got patted down. The TSA agents, however, kept yelling “If you don’t want to be patted down, then do…..” It cracked me up.) So here we are, about a hour and a half from board just taking it easy. Luckily, TLH has enough decency to provide free WiFi (DFW should follow suit.) BTW, I know I look like a tourist, but I’m going to try to get make a business contact with the person next to me (yep, I am that guy.)

Weigh In: I weighed in this morning and I was down a pound (309.6) which is thanks to the basketball and my hyperactive pituitary glands. Hopefully I can keep it down (I’m so close to the 290’s!!!!!!! I’m really feeling it now!)

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich and it was 8 points of glory. Yum10

Lunch: We had to print our itineraries on campus because we bought a defective toner cartridge (you such HP) so we got some lunch/more breakfast food at Jenny’s Lunchbox. I had the Jenny’s Special: two scrambled eggs, two pieces of wheat toast, homefries, and bacon. The bacon was a weird. It tasted really… hammy, but everything else was really good. It was about 16 points which was really steep for not a lot of food. Awe well.

 

 

 

 

So I’m at around 24 points and I still have all my flex points. I’ll just try to be good tonight. See ya when I see ya.

Day 85: Monday Madness

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When I say madness, I mean a day of nothing.

WE ARE FLYING OUT TOMORROW! I am so stoked! There is something about airports that I just love that I really can’t explain. Anyways, I am also curious/a little worried if I am going to need to use a belt extender. Since I was a sophomore in high school, I have been asked by a flight attendant if I needed one and if I they didn’t ask, I didn’t ask. Frankly, I felt if the plane went done (knock on wood) a seat belt wouldn’t help anyways (dark I know.) I am also a little worried since Megan and I might not be on the same row and I don’t know if I’ll be in an aisle or window seat. Either way, it’s a 2 hour flight so I can bear it. Alright, enough of that. Let’s talk food yo.

Breakfast: We ate Subway (no, I am not going Jared on you or anything.) So last night after the Subway drive-thru debacle, they gave us a 50% coupon (not because we complained or anything, it was just a promotion.) We had to use it in 24 hours so we used it on breakfast. I tried the double bacon with egg white on an english muffin. I added some spinach and red onions. It was really good and 4 points.

Lunch: So I had some leftover mac and cheese and three hot dogs because we had to clean out the fridge before we head out. (Oh didn’t I tell you? I switched to the “Eat like a 6 year old” diet) It was only 9 points and I was stuffed after. Not too shabby.

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: While I was cleaning out the fridge, I found the last piece of pie and a little fat free cool whip, so I took one for the team and put it out of its misery. I know, it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it :). Only 4 points.

 

 


Exercise: Despite the fact the wind chill was 20 outside, some folks from the college group played some half court basketball. IT WAS FREEZING but we had a blast. I’m not usually a fan of basketball because I always played with people that took it pretty seriously and I’m not one to take things seriously. (I did however play intramural basketball in undergrad and fouled out in 2 minutes one game. Not because I was malicious, I was just that bad.) Anyways, I actually played really well. One could say I even played raw. At one point I was carrying my team with my swagger shooting. We played for 2 hours and I was super sweaty the whole time because I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie so it was 25 exercise points. Awesomeness (pray that I don’t get sick, actually pray for the people on my plane tomorrow that I don’t get sick.)


Dinner: I came home to the house smelling of fantastic chili. It was the best chili I had ever had. I had a serving and a half and it was so filling. It was 13 points with the chili and rice. What a great dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Presents! Megan and I decided to have our own little Christmas so we exchange a gift with one another. I got Megan a cute owl journal and she got me this Columbia vest that I have wanted for the last two Christmases! Pretty awesome!

 

 

So today I got to 30 points and I still have some exercise points to work with a little while later. Here’s the deal, tomorrow I am going to weigh in in the morning to see where we are at before we head out. I’m going to try to weigh at my mom’s clinic on Wednesday to see how accurate it is. Also, my family doesn’t have internet for the time being, making daily blogging a little complicated. Luckily, we live close to a Starbucks so I’ll probably be sending posts intermittently. Either way, I’m going to closely watch my points and try not to stray too far away. See ya tomorrow.

Day 84: Weigh In Day!

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Seasons Greetings!

I hope everyone had a great Sunday! (Other than the Cowboys losing in a close one to the Eagles.) So I was hoping to break the 50 pound mark today but I guess that was a little over ambitious. Regardless, it was a pretty good week. I lost 2 pounds! Pretty tight yo! So now I’m at 310.6 which is still ridiculous to me! In Mid-September I was pushing 360 and now I’m knocking on the 290’s. It’s like I don’t even remember what life was like back then and I never will because I will never be back the that size ever again and you can take that to the bank. Here’s hoping that I will break 50 pounds next week (fingers crossed.)

Breakfast: Crystal, the college minister’s wife at our church (and a devout reader) brought these awesome cinnamon streusel muffins for the morning class. I usually eat before church but we were in a bit of a rush this morning. I might have to skip breakfast more ofter because they were delicious! I looked it up and it was 4 points.

Lunch: So we have unintentionally started a Sunday lunch tradition: Creamy Stovetop Mac n’ Cheese with broccoli. It was sooooooo good. For a serving and a half of the mac and cheese was only 9 points which is so filling (not to mention steamed broccoli is epic… yes, I said broccoli is epic. I am a boring fella.)

For a snack I had a orange for 1 point.

 

 

 

 

Dinner: We went out to buy a few more things before our trip so we decided to grab some dinner before hanging out with the college group. We saw a Subway that had a drive thru so we thought “how bad could be?” We were behind a lady who I’m pretty sure had never been to a Subway and thought the process of sandwich making was such a foreign concept. We lost our patience very quickly. So we ordered and drove up and the same lady was arguing with the cashier. It was quite the scene. Anyways we finally got through and the 8 point broodwich was delicious (did anyone get that reference?)

Dinner Part 2: When we got to the house, our friend Kyle (who does not live there) was making baked BBQ chicken. He has been really supportive and has really held me accountable especially at the beginning of the weight loss journey. Anyways, he is an awesome cook and the chicken was delicious. I had a breast and a drumstick so it was 10 points which was totally worth it.

So today I got to 32 points which makes sense because I felt nice and content all day. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

 


Day 83: A Weekend With Nothing To Do???

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It’s so weird to have a weekend with no lingering assignments or annoying reading due (books are dumb) it was nice to wake up to nothing or any set agenda for the day. So. Awesome.

Breakfast: I just had two dry waffles which was 3 points. I missed the pb, but we were heading out the door and driving with waffles and pb is a dangerous combo. (I guess it is, I don’t know. Sometimes I just say weird things to prove my point.)

Lunch: There was a holiday art show in one of the lovely parks downtown and one of our friends was selling his photography so we went to go check it out. We checked out the show and then decided to go to the Florida Capitol Building since we hadn’t been there yet. The new state capitol in Florida was built behind the old building which is now a really cool museum. One of my favorite sections was dedicated to different campaign ads state and national. They had election pins as old as the McKinley administration, but the one pictured was one of my favorites.

 

 

 

After walking all around, we  tried the Subway Cafe downtown. It was actually pretty fancy. They had pastries and a cappuccino machine and everything, however we were just there for the sandwiches. Megan and I split the footlong black forest ham on wheat in all its delicious glory. We just got water but the cups were so small! I don’t usually gripe about such nonsensical things (for those who know me personally you know that’s a lie) but a regular cup costs like 6¢ to make. Just give me a regular cup! Okay, I’m off the soapbox now. Anyways, the sandwich was 8 points.

Snack: After our escapade downtown, we fought the crowds at the mall. We did some Christmas shopping there and another big strip mall close by. When it was all said and done, we had walked 5.03 miles (I wore my pedometer) so we were pooped by the end of it. I also went to Dillard’s and tried one some clothes. I think I found the pair of jeans I am going to get with some Christmas money which was awesome and I found out I went down at least one size in button up shirts which is a also awesome. I tired on a 3xBig Polo oxford shirt, which is the size I always have worn, and I was swimming in it. I tried on the 2xBig and was a little baggy but it fit very comfortably. Thank goodness Christmas is right around the corner. Anyways, we went home and I had a slice of pumpkin pie which was 4 points (I recognize that the preceding sentences don’t necessarily coincide. That’s the joy of Weight Watchers.)

Dinner: So since we are leaving on Tuesday, we don’t really want to buy any groceries but we don’t want to eat out a whole lot so we are getting creative with what’s left in the fridge. Tonight Megan made this awesome breakfast scramble with potatoes, onions, bacon and eggs (if it’s a scramble, does that imply eggs? Just wondering.) It was fantastic and really hit the spot. My half with a piece of toast was only 11 points which was legit.

 

 

 

 

After a day about nothing that turned into something, I ate a total of 26 points which works just fine with me since I went over a little into my weekly points this week. I went at least 11 points in which works. It’s a little more than I am use to but that’s okay. Tomorrow is weigh in. I’m 5.6 pounds away from the 50 pound mark which is just unreal to me. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I would obviously be okay if it does happen 🙂 See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 82: Finals Are Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Who puts a final on Friday in the afternoon? Seriously? So dumb so dumb so dumb so dumb. Anyways, finals are over and now it’s time to focus on Winter Break! We are going to fly out in Tuesday!!!!!!! So stoked. Anyways, let’s talk food.

Breakfast: I had the wafflewhich of awesomeness. So tasty. It was 8 points but it was good because it held me over for most of the day. I also had a 1 point orange.

Lunch: Since my final was a 3:00 and Megan’s was at 1:30, I was going to park by my department and then take the bus over to the union for some Pollo Tropical. After waiting for 15 minutes for a bus, I finally got on one then he drove for 100 feet after my stop and then he parked on the side of the road and ate his lunch. I just got off in disgust and then got a diet coke and a 4 point Nature Valley granola bar. It held me over, but roasted delicious chicken would have been nice…..

Dinner: After the final (which I did adequate on) we went to Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place in Tallahassee, with some peeps from Megan’s department. It was good but pretty pricey. We ordered a 10″ cheese pizza and for some reason they brought us a pepperoni pizza. I would say fail, but they didn’t charge us for a pepperoni which was more and I had the points too so awe well. We split it in half (2 slices each) and it was about 14 pointsish (that’s according to the WW site but it’s like 7 point for a slice from a place like Pizza Hut and our slices were much smaller.)

After Party: After dinner, we hung out at our friends Christian’s apartment. We had a blast just hanging out and relaxing after a crazy semester. He had some ff pretzels that were only 2 points for 20 pretzels. I had about 6 points worth. At one point, I went outside and I saw a huge raccoon. I ran away from it and it ran in to the woods. It was awesome.

So today I was at 33 points which is pretty good. Sorry this post is so late and for the lack of pics. I’ll make up for it. See ya tomorrow.

Day 81 Thursdayness

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Sup yo!

Today, I got a glimpse of what Winter Break is going to be like and it was glorious. I sat around and watched the Travel Channel. I studied a little, but it’s hard to gauge an open book final. It’s awesome and annoying at the same time. Anyways, we are both starting to feel better which is great so hopefully it will be all gone by the weekend. Anyways, let’s talk food.

Breakfast: There was one bagel left so I toasted it up with a little cream cheese. A little 3 point breakfast. Scrumptious. For a snack I had a 2 point cookie even though it was a little stale. Not the best call. Why throw away points like that right?

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: I had 2 Hebrew National 94% fat free hot dogs with some ketchup and mustard. So good. Only 6 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor Adventure: After Megan’s final, we decided to take a little hike and get some fresh air and to work on our 50 mile goal (which we didn’t start until… today :/) I put on a jacket and I could really tell a difference so I was wondering how much of a difference there was from last December. Here it is. The picture on the left was from December 2009 and the pic on the right is from today. I didn’t put this up as some proclamation of how awesome I think I am or anything like that, I’m just really stoked about this! This is proof that diet and exercise works. Give it a shot. Anyways, we went to the park and the leaves are really changing now. We only went 1.42 miles but it was still good to enjoy such a beautiful day.

Dinner: We hadn’t had curry in a while so Megan whipped up some Panang curry with red peppers and onions. The plate was only 10 points but Megan got full so I ate the rest of hers because it is that delicious. Anyways, it was 15 points which was cool because I had only eaten 11 points today.

 

 

 

 

 

So I’m only at 26 points but Megan just made the awesome WW Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie so there’s so awesome nom nomage in the future. See ya tomorrow.