Who is the FFK?

Posted on July 8, 2013 by theffkid

I am a lot of things…

I am…
a Canadian-born Texan who now lives in Florida.

I am…
a proud graduate of Abilene Christian University and Florida State University

I am…
a Brother in Frater Sodalis

I am…
Megan’s husband
Brittany’s brother
Nancy and Glen’s son
Molly the Dog’s best friend

And since September 18th, 2010, I have been a loser.

Prior to that date, I didn’t let my weight define me, but it was defining my future.
You see, my whole life then was about my weight in some way or another. Conversations with strangers would eventually lead to it within just a few comments. While I was as incredibly charming and ridiculous as the man writing here today, most people still saw my weight first. Like I have said before, I was letting my whole life pass me by.

For the past three years, I have been working hard to lose this weight and it has hit a score of snags along the way. I have been blessed with minimal injuries and other physical setbacks even when training for the Tallahassee Half. With that, there has been little to no reason why I don’t go out every day and kick my weight loss in the nards. I don’t do it because I have made other things in my life top priority. One of them is my career, but in a lot of ways that makes complete sense <no job/no money/no food/no internet/no means to show readers what I eat>. When in a lot of other ways it doesn’t make sense because I have the means and the constraints to make better decisions with my health (not to mention racquetball being a useful cathartic device after work). For the past year, I was slowly sinking into a hole of listlessness with my blog and other aspects of my life. I needed a jolt, because these weren’t things that defined me anymore. I wasn’t the same legalistic (in a good way) weight loss evangelist I had been and it made me sad.

Then, Fitbloggin’ took over my newsfeed. Last week, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and essentially every blog I read was inundated by this amazing conference. And I was jealous. Ridiculously jealous. I wanted to be there so bad because not only was it in Portland (#Dreamtown) it was the revival that my weight loss could have used. So instead of becoming inspired from photos like this and blog posts like that, I sat at home and sulked…while holding a slice of pizza like it was a newborn made of cheese and pepperoni.

(I am well aware of how weird that analogy is. Let’s just move on and act like it never happened. Unless you thought it was funny and dark and in that case continue to laugh, Julie Dow.)

After days of my pity party of one, I have made some fantastic self realizations. The biggest of them being that I have a new job where being incredibly passionate about what you do and the causes you believe in is job 1!!! I work with people everyday that want to make this world a better place! In my interview, I told my now-boss that my dream job was to work somewhere that promotes good, which is hard for someone to find in PR and Marketing. His response was “well…that’s what you’ll be doing.” That’s when I knew this was the beginning of something great. Now that I have been there for a few weeks, I have had to let it all sink in a little. And I realized that it is time to invest my heart and soul into this position because it is what I’m being called to do. When I made that decision to fully invest in this job, the spark to continue my weight loss journey was rekindled.

Now, the journey continues and I control my future. I have worked way too hard to plateau the way I have for the past year and half. I have been resting on my past victories for too long. I’m ready to post some new victories and go into unchartered weight loss waters.

So what does that mean for the blog?

Well…that’s a good question.

You see, I like writing these long self-reflecting essays about my life, but I have been trying to do that with every post. That’s not feasible for a daily blog (yes…this blog used to be daily.) I like writing them because it’s the kind of thing I like to read, but it’s not the best for me as a blogger because writing 800+ words a night gets exhausting.

So the new blog layout until further notice is the following

Monday, Thursday and Friday: Entries with points with a little reflection. It might now always be interesting, but I need that kind of accountability right now. I’m brining back the food journal side of the FFK.

Tuesday: Still my Weigh-In Day. I’ll reflect on how I feel and how I can do better.

Wednesday: Still Wordless Wednesday. Get stoked.

Saturday and Sunday: A post like this one. More reflective on the week, along with other cool things like giveaways, reviews, guest posts, and more!

It feels good to be back. See ya tomorrow.

Why You Shouldn’t be Afraid of Success.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by theffkid

Tonight, I’m reflecting on a few other things I’ve realized after 1,000 days in to this crazy weight loss adventure. I’ll have more tomorrow night too! Enjoy.

Also, a quick shout out to the NSA agent reading this while tapping in to my data. Read as much as you want. I could use the views :).

Don’t be afraid of success.

For most of my life, I have been afraid of success. I used to be scared to get out of my comfort zone. When I did, I would freak out one way or another. A lot of the times, I would do and say crazy things (like yelling/singing the Disney song “A Whole New World” to a group of girls I didn’t really know. One of which I ended up marrying…) to hide away the fact that I was incredibly insecure in my own skin. If people were laughing with me, they weren’t laughing at me, right? But with that came the inevitable backhanded comment: “You know, you sure don’t act like you are fat. You are fun and comfortable in your own skin!”

Ouch.

I tried to not let that comment affect me, but people have said it to me way too many times in my life not for it to hurt a little. I felt that the only success I could achieve was under the provision that I was successful…for a fat guy. That didn’t sit well with me.

For most of my life, I was an average student. In fact, I had a teacher in high school that told me that I was a B student and I always would be.

Well she was wrong…I did worse than that in college.

Sure I did decent in my majors classes, but I slacked off in everything else. (Why did I have to take Geology? More important, WHY WAS GEOLOGY ONE OF THE HARDEST CLASSES I EVER TOOK???) In my hard classes, I strived to just pass because that’s what I expected of myself. At that point, grad school sounded like a great experience (the idea of just learning about social media, PR and marketing sounded amazing) but it was a pipe dream.

I left ACU with a crappy GPA. I knew I could have done better, but I was scared of succeeding. I was scared to put it all out there, to really study and actually act like I cared. What if I had put it all out there and I failed? What would be the point? I wish I could go back to that younger me and say “So what if you fail? You at least gave it your all!” (Then I would probably say “Oh yeah, you’re going to lose 130 pounds one day” to which Younger Nathan would have laughed and then ate a whole bag of Skittles in one gulp (yes, I have done that before.))

So when Megan got in to Florida State University, my dream school ever since I was in 7th grade, I was incredibly excited for her. One day when I was looking for a job in Tallahassee when we were still living in Abilene, she said “I think you should apply for grad school at Florida State.” At this point, I had been on their website 1,000 times, wishing and dreaming for the chance to apply. I knew I was a long shot, but I was going to give it my best.

Then, I took the GRE. I didn’t do well…at all. My dream was slipping away.

Fast forward to July 2010. We were sitting a Starbucks (since we didn’t have cable for our new place yet) and I got an email from FSU.

I didn’t get in, but they invited me to apply as a non-degree seeking student and to take two classes to prove my way in to the program.

“Maybe this isn’t for me,” I thought.

So I took two classes that first semester: Hispanic Marketing and an entry level stats class. I was scared of the unknown. How was I going to do in these classes? I finally said to myself “give it your best shot. Don’t worry about if you fail. What if you succeed?” So I did the work.

Not only did I pass both classes, I was even offered an assistantship for the following semester.

Three years later, I now work for my dream school and I will be starting an amazing new position within the university next week. This all began with me putting it out there and not being afraid of falling flat on my face. It was that step of confidence that lead to me taking an even bigger step months later: my weight loss journey.

Be bold. Give it your all. Don’t be afraid of success.

See ya tomorrow.

Weight-Loss Journey Reflections: What You Can Learn From 1,000 Days of Choosing Veggies Over Chicken-Fried Chocolate Pork.

Posted on June 16, 2013 by theffkid

Friday was a milestone in my life. I have been proud of many things in my life, but I think this is one that I haven’t emphasized enough in my mind as I should.

It’s a well-known fact that most diets crash and burn in a glutinous rage of glory. Until September 2010, I was a part of this statistic. It’s also a well-known fact the overwhelmingly majority of obese children remain obese for the rest of their lives. Until September 2010, I was a part of this statistic as well. On Friday, I celebrated that I have risen above these statistics and have broken out of these sad norms within our culture for 1,000 days. It hasn’t been easy, and I have had my share of setbacks, but at its core, losing weight is inherently easy and possible for every single person.

As you can imagine, I have learned a lot about weight loss and about myself over these past 1,000 days. While most of it has been positive, there are some things that I think we could work on as a society. Here are just a few of those realizations. Enjoy.

Don’t glorify food.

We’ve all done it. Late night when the family is asleep, we turn on the TV and turn it the to dirty channel.

That’s right: Food Network.

We sit and stare at the mounds of sloppy, greasy burger, stacked with gooey cheddar, mounted with piles of bacon and sautéed onions.

It’s lust at first bite.

I am here today to say that food porn is wrong.

When I was obese, I would sit and watch hours and hours of Man vs. Food. Adam Richman was my hero. Getting paid to go across the country and eat as much as possible? I wanted to find a way to be his understudy! You see, for most of my life, I have treated every meal like it was a contest. I wasn’t good at a lot of things, but I was good at eating. I was undefeated in every single Whataburger Milkshake Drinking Contest I ever competed in. I would could go round after round at every All You Can Eat restaurant. I would eat until I was physically ill. That is what shows like Man vs. Food promote, that that kind of eating is okay. The worst part of it was that when I would watch that show, and others like it, I would want to eat something gross like that. Because I thought that that’s what comfort food was. I thought eating that way was my right and something I deserved. (Meanwhile, there were homeless people not knowing where their next meal was coming from…) This was a vicious cycle that I had to break out of and it’s still something that I struggle with daily.

With that realization about the power food shows have over me, I’ve had to reassess how I look at food in my life. Is it fuel? Is it pleasure? What is it? I have realized that at the end of the day, it’s just calories. For my whole life, I have been letting my tongue and tastebuds dictate the success of my weight loss and my overall health. In order to be successful with weight loss, you need to be okay with every meal not being your “last meal” meal. I was most successful with my weight loss when I ate a sensible breakfast, a frozen meal with veggies for lunch, and a grilled chicken breast with veggies for dinner. Did I always want to eat that? Heck no! But I knew in the grander scheme of things that I wouldn’t remember one boring meal when I had a low number on the scale. I would think, “man, I’m glad I ate well this week!”

You can still be a foodie and lose weight. I’m proof. You just eat less of it. What I have been doing is eating simple meals throughout the week and on the weekend indulge a little or try a new recipe at home. Programs like Weight Watchers fit that kind of thought process into their points system. Obviously you don’t go crazy, you just eat less than what you would eat regularly. Yeah, it’s that simple.

So, I still have a lot more to say about what I have learned over the past 1,000 days, and I’m going to share it with you this week. Each night will be a different lesson so stay tuned.

I want to truly thank you for reading my blog. When I first started blogging about my weight loss, I had my share of reservations. I remember when I tired to lose weight a few years ago, I thought “what if I just posted my weight as a Facebook every day. What if I wrote ‘Nathan weighs ______ pounds.’ Man, that would be weird. That’s terrifying. I’ll never do that!” At the beginning, I didn’t post my weight. But I had so much support from every single one of you, that I eventually did. That speaks volumes to the level of love I have felt and the amount of accountability I have with you. I love you, dear reader. Thank you for making this weight loss journey so special. Here’s to another 1,000 days of weight-loss awesomeness. See ya tomorrow.

Day 948: Run Recap and Such!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by theffkid

Before I start, I have to get something off my chest that I have been struggling with. While I used to definitely have binging qualities when I was severely overweight, a lot of those issues have been surprised. I guess I put all that chewing energy in to running or something…Anyway, while the super binging isn’t so much an issue, I am a leftover eater. After we are done with dinner and it’s left on the stove or whatever, I will sleuth my way in to the kitchen and just go to town on what is left. Usually it’s chili or pasta. When I do it, it’s really hard for me to stop. What’s worst is that those bites taste better than my actual dinner. (Maybe that means I’m eating dinner too fast?) It has always been an issue for me, except I don’t have my sister here to tattle on me when I do it now lol (I remember that specifically happening when we were eating at another family’s house when I was in middle school. You know I love you, Brittany :)) I really feel like that’s my biggest struggle to overcome. It doesn’t happen as much now as it used to. I think it means that I need to eat more filling foods through out the day instead of just carbs and things like that. If you have any suggestions, I would gladly listen to them.

Phew, glad to get that off my chest.

SO LET’S TALK RUNNING!!!
This was the weekend of running all the things. First stop: The Palace Saloon 5k, one of the oldest races in Tallahassee. It starts at a park and ends at, you guessed it, a bar called The Palace. The race boasts itself as the fastest and flattest 5k in Tallahassee. They were half right. The race was flat for the first 2 miles or so, then I notice people running up in to the clouds like it was the Transfiguration or something. Instead, people were just running up a massive hill. When I say that, it was a massive hill in the context of the race. It actually wasn’t that big. Anyway, what goes up, must come down. The last mile or so was pretty much straight downhill which was epic. I looked down at my Nike+ when I was crossing the finish line and I was rocking a 7:05/mile pace which was crazy for me. So the downhill awesomeness helped my time. One thing that also helped (I think) was that I took Energybits for the first time before a race. You can click on the link to learn more, but basically they are all-natural protein tablets made from algae that give you a nice little boost of energy when you’re running. (Don’t worry, they’re not some HGH or anything. A lot of runners swear by them…although Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Roger Clemens all endorse them…hmmm…. :)). Placebo or not, it definitely helped me get up that hill when I thought I had nothing left in the ol’ tank. Anyway, I set a 5k PR of 26:04 which is SO AWESOME! I’m really wanting to run a sub 25:00 5k before the end of the summer. Time to start training!

Run 5.2 For Boston

I know you’ve heard me talk about it all week, but on Sunday, we finished the race for those who couldn’t. You see, most of the Boston Marathon runners were stopped at Mile 21, not getting to finish what was most likely was an ultimate goal for them. So some people in Tallahassee started to plan a 5.2 mile run to finish the race. What started out to be 50-60 runners quickly turned in to a run of more that 1,100 people! There was not a race fee, but donations were accepted and stores from across Tallahassee donated gift certificates and such to be raffled off (I won $50 for a running store in Tallahassee! So stoked to get some new shoes!) Overall, the run raised $13,000 that is going directly to the Boston One Fund and the Boston Red Cross. People truly are good. We might fight over things like religion, politics, or even the Great Pumpkin, but when we see others in desperate need, we are there to help. It’s pretty amazing.
The actually running part was pretty awesome as well. I was making killer time (but the run wasn’t officially timed) and then around Mile 2.5ish, I thought “you know, it’s not too often you can stop in the middle of a race this size and just cheer on people…” so that’s what I did. I got to the side and gave high fives, made silly running jokes and spurred my fellow runners on. One guy thought I was drunk, but that’s okay :). Anyway, I ran some more and then I stopped again right before the last big hill (the race was in Southwood so I knew the route like the back of my hand) and I encouraged people up the hill. I hope I gave them that final push that they needed. I’ve never volunteered at a race before, but now I really want to. The biggest advantage is that you can tell the same silly joke every time and no one will hear it twice :). Anyway, I ended up running it in 49:03, but that’s with long periods of me pausing my Nike+. It was an honor to cheer everyone on like that. For a lot of people, it looked like it could have been their first race. I hope this was a catalyst for them to run in the future.

All in all, the two races this weekend provided some much needed closure to what was an incredibly stressful week. I know the road to recovery for Boston is far from over, but see all the amazing philanthropy for both those in the Northeast and those in my old backyard in West, Texas, you can’t help but have some of your faith restored in humanity. Like I said on Monday, good was going to come out of that tragedy and so much already has. What a great way to end a week and begin a new one. See ya tomorrow.

Day 922: Wordless Awesomeness

Posted on March 27, 2013 by theffkid

Day 909: 30in90 Explained

Posted on March 14, 2013 by theffkid

Sorry if I cut off anyone midfunk…

So if you are my friend on Facebook or on Twitter OR if you Like my FFK page on Facebook (only four friends away from 800! Like it now! Please?) you saw that I hinted at a new thing going on on the blog called 30in90. What does that mean you ask? Well it’s pretty simple.

You see, 90 days from Friday, I will be reaching the 1,000th day of the start of my weight loss journey! Pretty crazy huh? It has had its ups and downs, but it has been a pretty epic journey so far. As most of you know, I have kind of been on a plateau for a while now. The 230’s have been my home base and 227 is still my weight loss threshold. I just can’t seem to break it. So when Megan brought up the 1,000 days thing, we started to plan our attack on our weight. Thus, 30in90 was born.

Tomorrow morning, we will weigh in. Our objective is to lose 30 pounds in 90 days. Day 1,000 is June 15th. It seems far away now, but it’s closer than we think. By then, I’m planning (not hoping) to be weighing in the 200’s, knocking at the door of Onderland. What’s even more of an encentive is that our 5-year anniversary is June 22nd. We really wanted to get new wedding photos done to show just how far we’ve come (and no, I will not be wearing my size 60 wedding suit…yes, I wore a size 60 suit jacket at one point. That’s five feet around. It still bothers me when I write that out loud.)

So how are we going to do this you ask? Simple: I’m going back in to crazy, dedicated, super weight loss mode. I was just thinking the other day about how my new friends/coworkers didn’t really know me when I would only eat the stuff I knew the calories of and stuff like that. This is a goal I am striving for. I’m going to work as hard as I can to get to that point. It might mean two-a-day workouts sometimes and not eating if I go out with friends, but it will totally be worth it. I’m doing this for me and my health, which also means I’m not going to starve myself, but rather taking the healthy path no matter how much it might suck sometimes. I can’t wait. Challenge accepted. So what do you think? Are we crazy? Or do you think we can do it? See ya tomorrow.

Day 872: Half Marathon Recap

Posted on February 5, 2013 by theffkid

I woke up at 5 am the morning of the race. I sat on the couch with my feet propped up, drinking a cup of coffee. I sat there and asked Megan if she ever thought we would get this far. I thought back to our old, 400 square foot apartment in Abilene and thought about how uncomfortable my life was. How getting off the couch was a chore, how no shirt every really fit well no matter how much I would try to stretch it. I realized how those burdens aren’t holding me back any more. That’s when I started to cry. It was just an overwhelming feeling of joy to reinforce that freedom. When you’re morbidly obese, your life is restricted whether you know it or not. Now that I know this freedom, I will never go back to that old way of living, because that wasn’t living.

Yes…there were a few other runners.

Becky and Erin came by the house and we made our way to FSU. It was a beautiful morning. A little cold, but we had all ran in worse. The crowd was huge, but still not as bad as the Turkey Trot in November. Everyone was ready to book it.

The sirens blared. It was time to run. Feet, don’t fail me now.

The first mile: piece of cake!
Second mile: hey…this isn’t so bad!
Third mile: what a beautiful day
Fourth mile: I’m actually running with some athletic-looking people!
Fifth mile: just kidding…the real athletic people just passed me because they have already reached the half way point.
Sixth mile: WHERE THE @#%#$ IS THE HALF WAY POINT???

I cropped out the marathon runner in the background.

Then on the ninth mile…misery. I hit a physical wall like you wouldn’t believe. My toes were forming a blister for the first time, my IT bands started to get sore, then the calf cramps kicked in, which never (and when I mean never, I mean even when I was 357 pounds and running 5 miles) ever happens when I run. I had thrown my body into confusion. Mile 9 is when this Sunday morning race turned into a battle.

My mantra became “I will finish…I will finish…I will finish.” Every other step was a struggle. A normal stride followed by a cramp, a normal stride followed by a cramp. Along the way, I met some nice people like a first time half marathon runner like me who was struggling. We talked, I cramped up, he kept going (I somehow still beat him though. We met up after the race.) Then there was the girl who ran up next to me, put out her first and said “pound it!” So I did, followed by me stopping to stretch out.

Before I knew it, I was already at mile 12. The miles had just peeled away. I could see Doak off in the distance, but I knew I wasn’t out of the woods yet. After throwing down cups of Gatorade and packets of GU, (which were interesting) I kept going. Every motion forward was a struggle, but I knew I was closer to the finish.

Still not sure how this photo came out so well.

Finally, I reached the track. The last little chunk of raceway left. After running on miles of concrete and asphalt, running the last almost quarter mile on a rubber track felt incredibly wonky. It was like running inside of a bouncy castle. I could hear all the cheers, my race was finally drawing to a close. I felt amazing.

Final time: 2:11:50.59. I was 434th out of 728 runners. Fastest time? 1:13:40.43. Next half, I’m breaking the 2-hour barrier.

Check out my groundhog bling yo!

I hear a lot of people who’ve lost a lot of weight, both bloggers and even people on The Biggest Loser, say “I did it to prove everybody wrong! I’m doing this for all of the people who said I couldn’t do it!” While I thought that way for a while, I realized while I was training for this half that I shouldn’t be looking at it like that. I should be doing this not for the people who said I couldn’t, but for the people who said I could. I did this race for every one of you who have liked my hundreds of running statuses, who have dropped me a line telling me how proud you are of me, and for all of those who tell me how I have inspired them to change their lives. I was able to do this race because of you. You, dear reader, have been my fuel to carry on. For that, I thank you.

Day 867: #FFKPLANKADAY YO!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by theffkid

So much to talk about!

First of all, I went to an amazing presentation on social media by Inside Higher Ed writer Eric Stoller tonight. Mind. Blown. Check him out.

So at this point, between that, other crazy social media things I have been working for work and for the FFK if you will, I am about to reach cerebral critical mass.

AND I’M RUNNING A HALF MARATHON IN A FEW DAYS!!!!! MY MIND IS GOING BIZONKERS!!!!!!!

In lieu of talking about my food, here is a photo of me eating a sandwich.
Okay… #FFKPLANKADAY TIME!!!!!

I have to start off by saying this is not my original idea. I know plenty of bloggers who put on PlankaDay challenges, but I thought it was time to bring it to the FFK community!

Here are the basics:

What is PlankaDay?

Every day in the month of February, you are challenged to hold a plank position for as long as you can. Your first one might not be a great time, but it’s your starting point. Your launching pad to greatness if you will. Each day, you’ll begin to see progress as you get stronger. Did I mention that a plank is amazing for your body? It works almost all of the major muscle areas! (Search for a video on YouTube if you need instructions on how to do it.)

Since I am a social being, I want people to post their times, their feelings, their success and their issues. I’ll be posting photos and Tweets and posts about it all through out the month using the hashtag #FFKPLANKADAY AND YOU SHOULD TOO! I’ll be collecting the creative posts and putting them in my Wordless Wednesday posts!

HOW TO JOIN:
Go to the event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/593172934031314/)
Attend said events page
Get planking!
It’s as simple as that!

Any questions? Comment below. GET STOKED! See ya tomorrow!

Day 865: What A Weigh In Day Edition

Posted on January 29, 2013 by theffkid

What a crazy day.

Today has been a whirlwind of social media insanity for this kid (this Fotographing Fat Kid that is…)

It all started this morning when I put out a possible weigh in spoiler alert on my Facebook page if I received 8 more Likes.

Well…those 8 turned in to more than 150 over the course of the day. Thanks to the super awesome Michelle and her FB page “Leaving Obesity Behind”. She posted my little challenge on her page for all her 12,417 likes to see. (It’s good to have friends.) I just want to give a shout out to her. Her and I share a special over a special number: 357. Her and I both started our weight loss journeys at that ridiculous number. Awesomely enough, we both have the same goal weight too! What are the odds? Anyway, thanks Michelle for being awesome and thanks for all of the new likes everyone. Welcome my the craziness.

Okay, moving on. So like I said on my FB page this morning, I lost 2.8 pounds this week! I’m down to 227.6 pounds which is crazy! I’m so stoked to break through that 227 barrier and I’m ready for that to be my next weigh in! AAAAHHHHHH CAN’T WAIT!

So let’s get to the whole food tracking thing!

Breakfast: This morning, I started out with an Ezekiel English Muffin with 2 tablespoons of sunflower seed butter. Yes, it’s the sunflower seed version of peanut butter. We saw it at Earth Fare the other day and thought “why not?” It was delicious and ridiculously filling. I really want to try it in oatmeal. Yumtastic.

Snack: I didn’t have time to eat my snack before my class since I was at a FSU social media meeting (a lot of social media on my plate today) so I stopped by Starbucks and had an iced coffee with non-fat milk.

Lunch: I had some leftover chicken breast with some brown rice followed by a banana and some peanut butter. Lunch of champions.

Dinner: I made some tuna salad with two small cans of tuna and a dolip of lite mayo. It was good, but not enough. Megan made some whole-wheat noodles with a little olive oil and veggies so I nommed on some of that.

So that’s it for today! Tomorrow is Wordless Wednesday! Hooray!

In lieu of decent photos of food, here is a shot of where I work. I love FSU. See ya tomorrow.

Day 857: Back Blogging

Posted on January 21, 2013 by theffkid

Why Hello!

It’s been such a long time!

Here’s what’s been going on with me:

Haircut.

Eating.

Spinning.

Racquetballing.

Running

And most importantly…

Being awesome.

While I have been eating a good amount of food, I have been exercising like crazy all this week. I have burned a total of 2,972 calories this week (according to my HRM) which has felt awesome. Now it’s time to get combine the Skinny Rules with torching more than 3,000 calories a week to seriously peel off some weight. Like I said a few posts ago, I’m reading for my clothes not to fit anymore! I want to have my pants fall off! (I know what I said…) It’s time for a new outfit and a new me! Time to get crackin’!

(Anyone watching Biggest Loser right now? Did you see Joe doing bleachers at Doak? I really need to meet this guy!)
(Also, did you notice how many times Jillian dropped the F bomb at Jeff? That was intense. Don’t piss off the Jillian.)

Anyway, so I’ve had my splurging fun, but now I’m ready to get buckle down for the next two week BECAUSE I’M RUNNING THE FREAKIN’ TALLAHASSEE HALF MARATHON THE SUNDAY AFTER NEXT!!!!! It still hasn’t really set in that that’s actually going to happen on Sunday February 3rd! (Come cheer Erin, Megan and me on! It starts at FSU and ends at FSU. If you want more details let me know!) I’ve been training so much for it that’s it’s like I’ve forgotten that it’s for a race! So that’s all the more reason to drop some weight this week and next week, to have less of a stress on my body. Every little counts.

So let’s talk about food shall we?

Breakfast: Egg breakfast sandwich. YERM!!!!!!
Lunch: For lunch, we went over to our friend Julie’s apartment for some chicken n’ dumpling awesomeness! Our friends Tony and Tara brought some delicious acre peas and these cupcakes made with applesauce instead of oil. Hooray for healthy swaps! Overall, it was a pretty fantastic meal with even more fantastic friends!

Dinner: I grilled some salmon with some grilled zucchini. There are no photos of the zukes because they are better right off the grill. Have I mentioned we love salmon?

So that’s all I got for tonight.

Couple things:

Updated my Runs I’ve Done page so check that out!

Also, read the reblogged post from earlier today. It is one of the best weight loss posts I’ve ever read. It truly hit home for me.

Weigh in Tuesday. Stoked to see how it goes.

See ya tomorrow.

ONE MORE THING! Facebook has unliked some of my FFK Facebook Page likes. Be sure you are up to date with all things FFK by Liking the FFK FB Page right now! Okay…that is all.