Category Archives: Grad School

Day 428: A Boring Saturday

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Nothing like a boring Saturday full of homework and non-fun stuff to make you wish we weren’t in grad school any more. It was not the funnest Saturday, but the end is sight. (While we only have a two week winter break, I’m going to make the most of it by doing nothing.) Also, I know I went on a huge schpeal about being consistent with blogging earlier this week, but it is just so hard with so much going on with school. I really need to keep blogging though, if anything for my sanity and at least some shred of disciple and accountability to keep at it.

So food today wasn’t bad, but it was just weird with the timing of meals so I don’t know how that will play in to the weigh in tomorrow. Here’s what I’m talking about…

Breakfast: I got up pretty early for a Saturday to get some homework done. I had a wafflewich with peanut butter and honey which was delicious. Nothing too new.

Breakfast Part 2: Son of Breakfast (What am I talking about?): After Megan got up, we decided to have a brunch of sorts so I took a writing break and went to Bruegger’s Bagels. We had talked about going there earlier this week and the plan was to walk to Bruegger’s, but I was running short on time. In hindsight, I should have took the time and get at least a little exercise in today. That’s the mindset I need to get back in to if I want to meet my goals because every little does count.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: I think I have a problem (and I don’t mean that in a funny way). I might be addicted to frozen yogurt. If it was just yogurt it would be okay, but I have become a topping fiend which is where the calories really are. I’ve decided that the next time I got for FroYo, I’m doing no toppings and straight yogurt. (And if I put up a picture of FroYo with toppings next time, I better get some backlash in comment form. I need that accountability at this point.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: With Megan being sick, I was thinking “hey! I have a get out of jail free card” for dinner because I’m an idiot. I had my favorite curry from Mr. Roboto’s, but it just didn’t taste the same. Something that rich used to satisfy me, but this time around it made me physically sick (frankly, looking at this picture is making me sick right now.) About halfway in, I was almost full, I should have just quit then, but I didn’t listen to my body like I should have. I’m still having issues with eating everything on my plate and I’m going to get back to that.

So you are probably thinking “man Nathan, you sound pretty pissed in this post.” If you thought that, you are absolutely right. Honestly, I have been weighing this week to see where I am after gaining 8 pounds over Thanksgiving. At one point I was back down to 243 (I was at 242 before the trip) so I would have gained and lost 8 pounds within a week which would have been legit. Well I weighed this morning and even though I had worked out a lot this week, I was back up to 245. Like usual, I have no clue how it’s going to go tomorrow, but we’ll see. Either way, workout will be happening this week. See ya tomorrow.

Day 425: Wordless Wednesday Foo!

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Day 424: Getting Back in to the Swing of Things Edition

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So… sorry I didn’t report my weigh in yesterday. It was kind of an unusual day. There have been days where I haven’t blogged not necessarily because I’m a little ashamed of how I did, but it does play a factor in to whether I make it a priority that day. It’s a bad habit that I really need to drop because I know I have your support and love no matter what. It use to be that not blogging was not an option, and I need to be in that mindset in order to make this blog what I want it to be: an online diary/food journal where I can bounce ideas off of my homies and in turn hopefully inspire some people to make a positive change in their life.

Alright, so one of my goals this month was to not gain any weight over Thanksgiving. Last year, I lost a bunch like a boss. Well this year, I blew it out of the water 🙂 in a horrible way :(. I gained 8 pounds last week. We all have trigger foods, and this week I didn’t guard myself from them like I should have. On Sunday, I did mention that I ate small slices of pie, but those small slices still add up very quickly. I thought I was doing okay, but this proved to me that my issues with food are still real and apparent in my life. The weigh in on Monday was a wake up call, but it also scared me because I was kind of working without a net so to speak last week, and I failed miserably. All my life, I have been in eating extremes, I’m either doing really well and losing weight constantly or I’m eating wrong and gaining weight rapidly (i.e. all my life). I’m really worried about how I’m going to maintain when I meet my goal. As with everything though, I’m going to face this head beast head on and dominate.

Non Scale Victory: Last night, we put up the Christmas tree and although I feel really chunky this week, I have this to hang my hat on….

This was the old us from 2009. We still lived in Abilene, Texas in our 400 square foot apartment (I’m still not sure how I maneuvered in that apartment, but I remember it not going that well…) Anyways, As you can see, I was pretty huge and my life was just in a rough place on a lot of levels. I’m wearing a XXL sweater.

 

 

 

 

This was me in our new place in Tallahassee last year. I had just started our weight loss journey and I had just bought my first XL shirt well… ever.

 

 

 

 

 

This is me last night, about two years later. Rocking one of my first size Large shirts. There is a lot less chin and a lot less boob in this shot. I know this week has been rough, but this made me feel really good. Regardless, I have made great strides in the past two years. For some that feels like too much time to make such a change (I used to be one of them) but the time has flown by and I still feel much better than I did in that gray sweater and size 52 shorts.

The rest of this week is about getting my body back in to shape, not just physically, but also my mental relationship with food by telling myself it’s okay to be a little hungry and that grazing is a bad habit. Tomorrow, expect a picture of a points list of what I ate. Also, expect a video. See ya tomorrow.

Day 422: Thanksgiving Recap!

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Happy late thanksgiving everybody!
It’s weird how long a trip can feel even though it’s actually only a few days long (I mean that in a good way of course!)  On Wednesday morning we flew to Dallas to see my family in Texas. My aunt from Montana and my cousins from Arkansas also came down for thanksgiving which was awesome because most of them actually hadn’t met Megan before. Needless to say we all had a lot of catching up to do.
Since it was Thanksgiving time, there was enough food to feed a small country and then some. My dad, my brother-in-law Andrew (Megan’s brother) and I stayed up until 3 am Wednesday night out in the cold to smoke a turkey. It was totally worth the frostbite and hypothermia, easily the best turkey I have ever had. Anyways, for thanksgiving dinner I did have seconds and such  but I did not stuff myself within an inch of my life. I was diplomatic with my dessert and had about a third of a normal slice of three pies. However, I did eat my share leftover pie through out the week. (Stream of consciousness writing moment: I’m writing this on a plane and the people behind us just changed their babies diaper while in their seat. Nothing like a plane ride that smells like a dirty diaper. Smelly passengers are fragrant enough. Anyways, where was I?)  My mom also made a chocolate chip cheesecake for my sisters birthday so I just asked for half of a slice.
A lot of people ask me about how hard it is to diet and give up the foods I love. Well, I still eat a lot of what I want, I just eat less of it. That’s what keeps you sane. Now granted, I still eat things I probably shouldn’t, but this is all still a work in progress.
When I was home, my drive to lose weight has been regenerated. I’ve been in kind of a lull recently thanks to a combination of school and stress (which is usually caused by school) but I felt really encouraged by everyone I saw, especially from my cousins who haven’t seen me in at least five years. It was the right amount of encouragement and conviction, if you will, to keep at it and drop the rest of this weight. Speaking of weight, one of my goals was to not gain any weight over the week of thanksgiving. Before I left for DFW, I was already up a pound or two (hooray weight fluctuation!) so we will just see where I’m at tomorrow morning. I’ll have an actual weigh in tomorrow. This should be fun.

Here are some pictures of the trip including my awesome animals Shadow the cat and Molly the wonderdog. Enjoy!

See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 415: Super Awesome Weigh In Day!

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What is up yo!

Sorry it has been a while since I have blogged and that November has been a lackluster of a blogging month.  Between tons of school, traveling across the country and FSU losing in a severely depressing fashion, it’s been pretty crazy around here. Anyways, so last week I ate my share of food in San Francisco and I gained a little weight. This week, I really stuck to my eating plan and even got to work out a little bit. It paid off! I lost 3.6 pounds during this short week! WHABAM! Which means I have lost exactly 115 pounds (wow, I did just write that number. Holy crap.) So if I stick with my plan and workout during this week, there’s a good chance I’ll make my goal to 235. Either way, breaking out of the 240’s would be awesome. However, today was kind of bad. Yum.

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich with even a cut up banana. It was amazing.

Lunch: Megan wasn’t feeling well today so I had to cook… so I ordered Pizza Hut for lunch. We ordered the big box deal that had two medium pizzas, 8 wings and bread sticks. We figured that way we would have some leftovers for the short week. I had four slices, a bread stick and five wings. I did overdo it and it sucks, but it is what it is.

SAWS!: I went to Leach this evening for some much needed exercise. Lately, I’ve just felt sluggish and flabby. My body was telling me it was time to burn some calories. I did work on the elliptical for 30 minutes on a cross training setting. It felt awesome to actually sweat. I am officially addicted to working again. I can’t wait to workout in the morning.

Dinner: For dinner, I picked up a BBQ rotisserie from Publix and Megan made some mashed potatoes and corn. It was delicious, but again, I ate too much for dinner. 

So today wasn’t great, but tomorrow will be much better. So stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 410: Recap of Things and Stuff

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So I’m back!!! (Did you miss me? Don’t answer that.)

The trip to the Best Coast was a blast, but the redeye back to Florida was a doozie on my allergies/cold. Thankfully, I am drugged up on meds thanks to a visit to the doctor so I’m feeling quite a bit better. So I was kind of worried about this trip was going to screw up my weight loss completely. While I did eat my share of delicious food and drank my fill of delicious lattes, I did walk all over tarnation in San Francisco. (Is tarnation an actual level of measurement? Hmm…) Anyways, I was thinking I had gained about 5 or so pounds on this trip (either way I knew it was going to be a gain) but I lucked out and only gained 2.8 pounds which means I am at 245.6 pounds. I’m in a bad place I think because I was talking to Megan about how I had an “awe well” attitude about it and she jokingly said “well you should at least sound remorseful on the blog.” While we were kind of kidding about it, it’s true, I should be remorseful about it, to which I am now. This weekend last year, I went on my first trip while dieting and I flipped about only losing half a pound. I gained almost three pounds in 5 days and I was apathetic about it! So today has been about changing my mindset. I have worked too hard so far not to finish what I’ve started. I didn’t get this far by being apathetic, I got this far by watching what I ate constantly and working my butt off in the gym! I am going to finish strong. This is going to happen. Watch me.

One of my goals this month was to get down to 235 by Dec. 1. At 242, that seemed doable, now I have a long way to go (not to mention Thanksgiving is thrown in there as well.) But from this point on, I’m going to work to get my weight down. I wanted to get to onederland by New Years or at least my birthday in January; if it doesn’t happen (mathematically it is a long shot. I’ve always hated math.) I’m going to get there by at least St. Patrick’s Day or sooner. I have the tools, I know the playbook, and I have the [insert other cliche here] to get it done. Time to do work son!

Breakfast: I just had the same ol’ awesome peanut butter and honey on Publix waffles. Awesomeness.

Lunch: I had a turkey sandwich with some tomato soup. A can of Campbell’s Healthy Select tomato soup is only 3 points so it’s totally worth it!

[Insert multiple sessions of grazing around the house because I was sick and my mental filter was still in vacation mode. No more of that silliness.]

 

Dinner: While I was getting my prescription filled at Walmart, I bought what I was going to make for dinner. I found the Butterball turkey Italian Sausage which is only 3 points a sausage compared to 8 points a sausage of its beef/pork counterpart. So I bought those along with a zucchini, squash and some whole wheat penne pasta and made a killer pasta dish. It was pretty awesome and only about 6 points a serving!

So aside from the grazing, I did okay today. Tomorrow will be much better. See ya tomorrow.

Day 407: Where in the World is The Fotographing Fat Kid?

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So you’re probably wondering why I haven’t posted this week at all (I’m pretty sure it is a record, but a bad record like the number of jelly beans you can fit up your nose.) It’s been a crazy week to say the least. I am currently in San Francisco! Megan is here for a conference, so I tagged along and I’m staying with my old ACU bud Spencer. This is my first time time to visit California and I freaking love it. The weather is awesome, the people are cool and the food is ridiculous. Which brings me to my next point, this town is a foodie’s dream. There is absolutely no reason to ever go to a chain, especially coffee places like Starbucks. So far, the places we have gone to have been just awesome. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t really been keeping close to my diet this week. I could say that I’m on vacation, hiking up the 45 degree angle hills burns enough calories, and that my hike around the Golden Gate Bridge/the ocean should cover it, but I won’t. I should be better and I’m going to try to be better the rest of the week. It’s just so hard when there are so many new places to try. Thoughts?

Anyways, I’ve enjoyed my trip so far and while I’m still going to enjoy it in regards to eating, I’m going to take it from a different approach which will mean more portion control and water drinking. (Sorry for such a ginormous run on sentence.) I won’t be able to weigh tomorrow, so weigh in will be on Tuesday with a full report then. I really want to drop some weight before seeing my family in Texas over Thanksgiving, plus I want to get to my 235 goal for November. I’ll have to get busy!

So here are a few pics of the trip so far. Like I said earlier, I hiked up to the Hall of Legions and then took the coastal trail towards the Golden Gate Bridge. As I was getting close, it started to pour so I called it good for now. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 401: A Good Ol’ Weigh Sunday In!

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So yeah, I didn’t post on my 400th day like I should have. My B.

My parents got in to town yesterday so we have had a blast just chilling and enjoying the sight and sound (yes, that is suppose to be singular) of Tallahassee. Anyways, even though I didn’t make time to run, I was still able to lose 1.8 pounds this week! I’m pretty stoked about it! At this point, I have lost 114.2 pounds so far so November is looking alright. Good times.

Breakfast: We crashed the La Quinta breakfast bar this morning. It was nothing special as far as continental breakfasts go so I just had a bagel and some raisin bran. Good stuff.

Lunch: After church, we went to my Dad’s favorite place in Tallahassee: Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Extravaganza. We split an order of steamed oysters and I had the stone crabs with hush puppies and new potatoes. The stone crabs were served chilled which was a little weird, but pretty good nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon Dessert: My mom wanted to go to some of the “greatest hits” from the blog so we went to TCBY for some froyo awesomeness. I had a mix of white chocolate mousse, pumpkin, and peanut butter. Yes, I know that sounds like a bizarre combo, but it was fantastico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: My Dad brought me his old Weber grill from home (which is better than the one I’ve been using that I found by the trash can) so I tried broke it in tonight with some burgers. We bought some ground beef from Earth Fare along with some natural charcoal from Earth Fare as well. The burgers past the MacDonald family test and so did the bratwursts! We also got some fries from Wing Stop as a side. They were awesome of course.

So today was alright food wise and I’m really going to work to rock this week. See ya tomorrow.

Day 399: Friday Time People!

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#iheartfridays

(Yes… I did just hashtag. Deal with it.)

So today was kind of nuts with a bunch of random things going on. We were finally able to sleep in this morning which made life better because we are both kind of fighting off a cold. It was nice to get some homework done while getting to relax a little bit. Before I get too far in to this, I might as well admit that I have already “broken” one of my goals this month. I wanted to run, but it was cold and windy and I didn’t have make the time like I should have. I’m going to just get up in the morning and run since it will be a little warmer tomorrow morning. (Yes, 63 and windy is cold to me. I have turned in to a wimp.) Anyways, overall though today was okay food wise and hopefully I will be able to drop some lbs this week. If anything, I’ve been drinking my water and that has to count for something right?

Breakfast: I just had two waffles and some peanut butter. What can I say? I’m a creature of habit.

 

 

 

 

Lunch: Megan wanted to me out to lunch so we decided on some Cuban at Gordo’s. I went with the media noche sandwich with some moros which is black beans and rice cooked together. Last time I had the fries which were way too salty so I’m glad I went with a smaller side. It was pretty good, but my steak dinner was way cheaper than my lunch which is kind of ridiculous.

 

 

 

 
Starbucks: While Megan and I were out and about, we grabbed some Starbucks at the mall. I had a skinny caramel machiatto thanks to the gift card my parents sent us. I was probably the best caramel machiatto ever. Awesomeness.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Tonight, I had to assure my neighbors that our place wasn’t on fire. (I wish I was kidding.) I was cooking with half charcoal and half mesquite and it really gave our Montreal crusted steaks a smokey flavor. We had that with some microwavable broccoli and cheese. We figured it out and it was $4 per person for dinner. Yes… a steak dinner was $4 each. Why do we eat out? That was less than our Starbucks drinks! Craziness. Anyways, for dessert we had two cookies. Yum.

So today wasn’t too bad like I said, and I’m going to be good tomorrow so I can lose some weight yo! Fun stuff. See ya tomorrow.

PS: my alma mater Abilene Christian University suffered a great blow today. A group of students from the Agriculture department were going on a weekend mission trip to a children’s home and their bus tipped over, killing one student and injuring the majority of the students and faculty. Please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.