Day 834: Christmas Recap

Posted on December 29, 2012 by theffkid

What a trip.

Driving in Louisiana is a nightmare, but man is their food amazing.

Instead of spending a crapton of money flying, we rented a car and drove across four states to spend Christmas with my folks in Texas! It was great to spend time with my parents and to see some old friends.

I’ve been on the road for a long tine this weekend so I’m going to recap a little more tomorrow. All in all though, I did eat a lot this past week, but I really did make an effort to be mindful with what I ate and I ate a lot more fruits and veggies than I have in a long time. With that being said, I did overdo it a few meals and I have retained a bit of water. Hopefully that will go down soon. Either way, I’m about to start Skinny Rules in a few days which is going to change everything. More on that tomorrow. In the mean time, here are some photos from our trip. From chicken n’ waffles to Molly the Dog, it was a great trip. See ya tomorrow.

Day 803: My Awesome Interview With Another Biggest Loser

Posted on November 29, 2012 by theffkid

Hello!!!!

So it has been a crazy week on the interwebs for me! First, my weight loss story was featured by the awesome blogger Reinventing Danni, then I have helped raise $130 for prostate cancer through Movember (which there is still times to donate here!) and today, my interview with RetroFit Ministries came out. For those who don’t know, RetroFit Ministries was created by the awesome Biggest Loser duo Austin and Ken Andrews (they were on Season 11 along with some other awesome folks like Courtney Crozier and Hannah Curlee who I met this summer! I’m working my way up the Biggest Loser social ladder!) Anyway, a few weeks ago, I had written something about my journey on Austin’s wall and then after a few exchanges, he asked me about being interviewed for his website! It was such an honor! Here’s the interview. After you’re done check out the other amazing stories! If it doesn’t make you want to do push ups and go on a kale cleanse I don’t know what will. Check it out. Thanks again for the awesome opportunity Austin. See ya tomorrow.

THANKSTORIES: THANKFUL NATHAN

Nathan MacDonald Sheds some light on his story of becoming healthy. I have to be honest, I have had an enjoyable time hearing his story, and he has described it in a pretty amusing way! It has been a pleasure to hear Him describe his journey, and I think you’ll enjoy it as well!

CLICK HERE FOR OTHER AMAZING THANKSTORIES OF REAL PEOPLE CHANGING THEIR LIVES!

AA: Nathan- When did it hit you that you were obese?

I wore XXL shirts in 5th grade

NM: Kindergarten? Lol I was always the fat kid growing up. I wore XXL shirts in 5th grade and I am actually a smaller jean size now than I was in middle school. My weight was always a constant struggle. Sometimes I would get on the right track and it felt like I was really going to make a change, but then something would happen like moving to a new school or something like that.

AA: How would a school change affect you moving forward?

NM: Well being the new kid always came with its own issues. Being an overweight kid made it even more fun lol.

AA: I love the sarcasm! Ha! You struggled all through school, but you never hit your point of not return- when did you hit that tipping point of change?

NM: The tipping point for me was right before I started graduate school at Florida State University in 2010. I had to buy size 54 khakis for orientation. That’s when I realized that it was time to make a significant change, or just accept the fact that I was going to die at an early age.

AA: Do you look at your childhood and think, “My weight makes sense,” because people or bullying?

NM: I was always bullied in elementary, and although I was bullied some in middle school, I was able to deflect a lot of it by playing the “funny fat kid” card that most overweight kids know all too well. I did have two dear friends who died when I was in college and that really took its toll on me. I turned to eating a lot during that time.

AA: You took to eating when your friends passed away?

NM: It was what I was use to. Food had always been there for me so my initial reaction was to eat my feelings. It was much easier to eat over talking out my feelings to my wife and to my friends. It was a truly hard time.

AA: What do you look to for that same feeling if you hit a hard time now?

NM: Well now it’s a lot easier to work out my frustration whether it’s running or an aggressive game of racquetball. I burn calories instead of eating them lol.

AA What happened to give you hope that you could change?

NM: I have been blessed with such an amazing wife, Megan, who has always been there ready to cheer me on when I decided it was time to change my life. It’s also been awesome to have friends from across the world sending me Facebook posts encouraging me. It has really held me accountable and has given me the strength to keep on keepin’ on.

AA: When you discovered that change was possible, how did you decide on what path to become healthy?

NM: Well I had tried Weight Watchers a few times, only to quit a few weeks later. It wasn’t until I really bought in to the system (like counting, calculating, researching restaurants, etc.) that I became successful. I also always liked racquetball and running, so that became a huge part of my cardio which melts the pounds lol. I still do a lot of both now, but I have taken it to a whole new level. I was just happy to finish a 5k, now I want to place in my age bracket and I am training for a half marathon. Losing 130 pounds changes your prospective so much!

AA: Speaking of perspective, I have called this blog series ThankStories, because we are in November and thankfulness is big this time of year- What are you thankful looking on your journey and future?

NM: This year, I’m running in my first 15k. I’m thankful that I have been blessed with a body that can take all of the abuse I have given it from one extreme of being obese to the other by testing its limits every week through working out lol. I’m incredibly thankful for my community of friends and readers who have been with me through thick and thin. It’s been so encouraging to have friends even from elementary comment on the blog telling me that they’re cheering me on. It’s been an amazing journey so far!

AA: Given that you have lost 130 lbs, are you Finished? Is this the end of your journey?

NM: Not even close. I am still a good 50-70 pounds away from where I want to be and I still have struggles with food. Although I still have a ways to go on this journey, I’m loving every minute of it. The hardest days on my weight loss journey are still infinitely better than the days of being 357 pounds. This journey has been such a blessing and it’s not ending any time soon.

Day 801: Weigh In Day

Posted on November 27, 2012 by theffkid

I’M BACK!!!!!!

Sorry it’s been a while. Thanksgiving is a crazy time. A lot of planning, a lot of turkey, and a lot of fun!

A quick thing about the 15k…IT WAS AWESOME! It was 9.3 miles of crazy awesomeness! The course had a lot of ups and downs (literally) but I felt really good about my time. I maintained a 8:30-9:45 minute mile the whole time. I was going to buy the photos from the racing photography company, but they are flippin’ expensive! I’ll still post the race results on my race results page soon!

So I was working to not gaining this week so I exercised, tried to watch what I ate and drank plenty of water. I ended up losing .2 pounds lol (total 126.4 pounds) which isn’t much, but I really lost 6 pounds in a weird way. You see, at one point I had gained 6 pounds but I lost it all by this morning. Hooray for weight fluctuation! Anyway, last year I gained something like 8 pounds and didn’t really get it off until the summer so losing is a pretty big deal. The best part is is that I still ate what I wanted, just not as much of it. And there in lies the key for weight loss.

Today I was pretty good with food and tomorrow will be even better. I feel awesome about where I am and I’m ready to lose some serious weight before the end of the year.

Before we end tonight, I just wanted to make another push for Movember.

As you know, the end of Movember is near! Friday is that last day to donate to Movember. So far, you have helped raise $40 which is totally awesome! My goal is to have raised a total of $100 by this Friday! No matter how small or large, any donation is appreciated. I don’t see a dime, it goes directly to prostate cancer research. Even if it just means giving up a meal out this week and donating, that’s $5 closer we are to ending this disease. You can donate here. If you keep donating, I’ll keep growing this itchy, yet legit, stache! Thanks! P.S. Please share with your friends, your family and your co-workers! Spread the stache love! See ya tomorrow.

Day 794: Weigh In Day and Stuff about Thanksgiving

Posted on November 20, 2012 by theffkid

Greetings Yo!

So the past couple of weeks have been up and down with two massive trips back to back, but things are finally getting back to where they need to be for this Fotographing Fat Kid. This week, I flippin’ lost 4.4 pounds!!! Which is insane! I know a lot of it was that I have been drinking my water and keeping my calories in check, but I also ran around 15 miles this week which isn’t a ton but more than the previous weeks! It was pretty crazy though, I bought a button up shirt last Tuesday at Old Navy and when I tried it on, it was tight in some areas. Yesterday, it was already loose. It’s crazy how much difference even just 4 pounds makes for your body!

As we all know, Thursday is Thanksgiving. A time to be thankful for what we have by eating a lot and then to go by massive TV’s at rock bottom prices…or something like that. Two years ago, I made it a goal to not gain weight on this week of gluttontastic awesomeness and I succeeded! I even lost a pound or two. But last year, it completely threw off my weight loss for a month or so. This year, I’m going back to mindful about my eating and remember that this won’t be the last time I’ll ever eat turkey dinner again (since we bought a 15 pound turkey and there are only three of us…who are all in a weight loss competition with one another.) Mind you I’m not saying this in a preachy “you shouldn’t eat a lot on Thanksgiving!” kind of way. This is just how I am approaching Thanksgiving this year.

With all of that stuff out of the way, let’s talk Turkey Trot! While I’m still stoked for the 15k, my knees are still a little sore. I’ve tried to stretch out everything, but there’s still a little stiffness. My arthritis medicine does help (oh yeah…I have arthritis. Another important reason to lose weight, because even if you are obese and have good cholesterol like I did, you are still wrecking your joints.) but it’s still there after a while. Basically, I’m going to just run as much as I can of that brutal 9.3 miles and then walk when I need to. My issue is sometimes during races I get super competitive and try to pass people even if that means completely breaking my pace. Then I end up slower and falling back behind. It’s kind of embarrassing and annoying. On Thursday, I’m just going to set my 15k record with the intention of breaking it next time. The race is projected to have more than 5,000 runners in a relatively small neighborhood so there are always bad bottlenecks (insert rant about people running with strollers even though the rules expressly forbid them here) so with that and the difficulty of the route (even though we run there every Tuesday and Thursday) it’s going to be an awesome run, not so much a race. It will also be nice when the 10k and the 15k races split off. That’s going to make life a lot easier. It’s going to feel like a normal Thursday run…minus the brutal falling.

Okay, time to take a 23 and a half hour break. Wordless Wednesday. Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 788: Wordless Wednesday!

Posted on November 14, 2012 by theffkid

Day 772: Weigh In Day And An Announcement About #Movember

Posted on October 30, 2012 by theffkid

I’m the Whiz! Nobody can beat me! Because I’m the Whiz!

I’ve lost my mind.

So my weight has fluctuated like crazy this week. At one point I’m hitting my lowest weight yet, and other days I’m up about 5 pounds. It’s just weird. I drink a lot of water, I’ve been trying to keep my eating in check. I just don’t really get it. So when my weight was up .2 this morning, I wasn’t really shocked. I’m not really concerned about it, but it just means that I need to be better with everything from eating to exercising.

Alright. Let’s Talk

So I’ll have a special Halloween Wordless Wednesday tomorrow, but I wanted to explain why I am going to be growing a disgusting mustache for the month of November.

It’s called Movember, a movement to raise awareness about a disease that will affect almost a quarter of a million men in the U.S. this year alone: prostate cancer. Now, I don’t have prostate cancer, nor do I really know anyone who has had prostate cancer. But ever since this weight loss journey began two years ago, I have become so much more aware of the importance of men’s health. Up until this point, all of my concerns were weight related. So with that all being said, I want others to know about this terrible form of cancer.

Again, here are some more facts about prostate cancer from WebMD:

Prostate cancer is typically a very slow growing tumor, often causing no symptoms until it is in an advanced stage. Most men with prostate cancer die of other causes — many without ever realizing that they have the disease. But once prostate cancer begins to grow more rapidly or spreads outside the prostate, it is dangerous. This aggressive type of prostate cancer can occur at any age. Although the disease tends to progress slowly, it is generally fatal if it spreads beyond the prostate gland itself.

Prostate cancer in its early stages (confined to the prostate gland) can be effectively treated, with very good outcomes for survival. Fortunately, about 85% of American men with prostate cancer are diagnosed in an early stage of the disease.

Cancer that has spread beyond the prostate to distant tissues (such as the bones, lymph nodes, and lungs) is not curable, but it may be controlled for many years. Because of the many advances in available treatments, the majority of men whose prostate cancer becomes widespread can expect to live five years or more.

The article also goes on to say that diets that contain a high amount of fat, red meat and other animal fat can also be a factor.

So what am I asking from you tonight? On Thursday morning, shave off what facial hair you have and get growing. Start clean shaven on November 1st and shave everything but your ‘stache for the rest of the month. Then on November 30th, a month from today, post your sickly awesome ‘stache pic on The FFK Facebook page! Gals, post your pic with your fake ‘stache on Nov. 30th too! Finally, go to movember.com and join my Movember team #Mustachesarecool. You don’t have donate any money, just create an account and join our team! Throughout the month, I will have updates about prostate cancer and some mustache-related awesomeness.

So let’s get to it! Join tonight, start a ‘stache, and raise awareness about this disease. See ya tomorrow.

Day 770: Sunday Funday

Posted on October 28, 2012 by theffkid

Hocus Pocus is on. It’s that movie where Sarah Jessica Parker is transformed in to a horse…oh wait…she always looked like that? Geez.

So today has been pretty awesome here in North Florida! IT’S FINALLY COLD in the Florida sense of the word. It was in the mid to low 50’s all day.

Also, I broke my PR this weekend at the Trick or Trot! I ran a 27:01 which was 25 seconds faster than my PR and and did 3:37 better than last year’s Trick or Trot! I’m feeling really good about my running right now. It’s helping me stay focused on my weight loss, particularly what I eat. When I want to eat something unhealthy, I think “do you want to carry these extra calories on the half marathon?” I want to be as lean and fit as I can be by the big race in February so this mindset is going to help me out a lot for the next few months. Anyway, my next big race is on Thanksgiving. Doing the 15k (9.3 miles) Turkey Trot in Tallahassee. I’m pretty stoked. Good stuff.

Alright, let’s talk food. For breakfast, I had a SmartOne breakfast sandwich. Yum.

For lunch, we had a young pro’s event after church to get to know one another. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich, a bowl of potato soup and 15-bean soup, and two cookies and a small slice of cake.

We decided to rest yesterday since we had ran Friday night, so we braved the cold and went for a run out at Lake Ella. The wind was whipping around off of the lake so it was flippin cold, especially in my new Under Amour running shorts. (Yeah, they’re short…) Anyway, considering the wind and the first time running in the cold since last year, I ran a 29:22 5k which was still pretty good. I’ll take it.

For dinner, Megan made her super awesome mac n’ cheese with broccoli and then made her even more awesome pumpkin pie. Pretty delicious way to end the night.

I know this was short, but we’ll talk more later. See ya tomorrow.