Category Archives: Grad School

Day 615: A Weigh In and Stuff

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I honestly can’t tell you why I haven’t posted at all this week. I want to act like I have a reason like I was starring in the stage production of the movie Cliffhanger or something, but that simply wasn’t the case. Even though last week I had a lot of drive  to lose some weight this week (which I was really good with my food! Honest!) it didn’t happen on the scale. To make matters worse, I realized I’m back up to where I was at Christmas. It’s like I’ve taken one giant step back. I feel like there are certain foods that are particularly hazardous to my weight loss. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE BBQ!?!   It feels like every time I think it’s okay to splurge a little, the floor caves in. Maybe my addiction to food (well… certain foods) is a lot worse than I think and that I can’t tempt (splurge) myself like that. I used to think that it was okay to eat bad because you can lose it, but I’m now realizing that is much more of a slippery slope than I thought it was. I should have realized that last November when I left for Thanksgiving weighing 235only to gain 8 pounds in 4 days. I worked up until this May to get back down to 235 only to come back from vacation gaining it all back. Weight loss is a fickle thing like that. I am responsible for what I eat and how I treat my body. It’s time to be better to myself. It’s time to break that 235 barrier for good.

Okay… now that I have that off my chest…

I created this blog for accountability with the objective of being completely transparent. I feel that I have failed in that regard. I don’t report the handfuls of this and that that I eat every once in a while which is what really gets you in dieting. So with that being said, I’m going to change the format of the blog up a little bit. The food is going to be more of a list for a while. I’ll still keep my witty banter and what have you, but I need to keep that portion simple for a while. It’s hard to explain, but I need you to go with this for me. And yeah, today I don’t have points up (because Genghis Grill is hard to calculate) but that will also be a part of it once again. I feel like I learned how to ride the bike but then needed the training wheels again so I can re-learn the mechanics of it all. I had a really good thing going for the first hundred pounds, time to keep at it.

So as far as weight loss this week Ilost .2.It’s a bit of a downer, but at this point I’m just glad it wasn’t a gain.

So here is the epicurean rundown of the day:

Breakfast: I had two pieces of toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Recently, I have been just shellacking my toast with pb which is a caloric code red so no more of that.

Lunch: Today after church, a group of us went to Genghis Grill for lunch. I made a beautifully monstrous bowl that others were jealous of (the old people behind me where ooowing and awwing like it was the world’s largest ball of twine.) I could only stomach half of the bowl and I took the rest home! I also had two pot stickers and two small spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream.

Snack: Later this afternoon, I had a bowl of slow churned coffee ice cream with a small scoop of cookies and cream. Both of them are lower in fat and calories than regular ice cream.

Dinner and Dessert:Since I still had a trough of leftover Genghis left in my fridge, I just had that for dinner. Personally, leftover Genghis (does it sound like I’m talking about eating a guy named Genghis? Man, I need to lay off the bath salts…) is perfect cold with some Asian mustard. Perfection, thy name is leftovers.

For dessert, I cut up two peaches that I got from the farmer’s market on Saturday. South Georgia peaches are amazing, ’nuff said.

Before the underwhelming season finale of Mad Men, I had a serving and a half f chips and salsa. Yum.

So that was it for the day. Pretty cut and dry.

This is going to be a good week. I can feel it. See ya tomorrow.

(P.S. I was just kidding about the bath salts. The Fotographing Fat Kid condemns the use of illegal drugs. Crack is whack kids!)

Day 610: Terrific Tuesday

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So I know yesterday’s post was a little crazy and a little womp wompy, but I am finally out of it. I have changed my outlook on life a little bit to make it more positive. Life will be okay, it always is. Anyway, what made life even better today was I was asked to have my story submitted for this awesome blog Transformation Pics which required, you guessed it, submitting a before and after picture. I came across the picture on the left. I remember when this was taken. On the inside I didn’t think I look that bad, but then I actually saw myself in the photo and what a hot, big mess I was. Little did the Nathan in that photo know that awesome things were on the horizon. At that point, I didn’t know I was going to get in to grad school, I didn’t know I was going to meet certain people in Tallahassee that would make this journey so much better and I didn’t know that losing more than 100 pounds was even possible. All I knew was that life was wide open and in a way, I was looking in to the future. (I was actually just trying to look artsy, but that’s beside the point.) Now, that old me is looking at the new (much lighter) me and he is saying “Keep up the awesome work kid!” I may not be perfect. I still eat a lot of BBQ and I still get tired of counting points, but I have come a long way since then and I feel dang proud of it. Thank you all for the encouragement and the 138 Likes of this picture on Facebook. You all rock.

Well it’s late and I’m going to run a 6 miler tomorrow morning so I need to sleep. Overall, today was pretty normal food wise except for the fantastic pork chops we had at Julie’s house tonight. They were freakin’ fantastic. I’ll post some pictures in tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday post. See ya tomorrow.

Day 609: A Super Case of the Mondays and a Weigh In Edition

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Have you ever felt like your life is just passing you by? That everything is going in fast forward and you have no control over anything?

That is exactly how I feel this week.

Job hunting is such a waiting game that makes me so frustrated, confused and frankly a little scared.

I know that something will work out and that the right door will someday open up, but in the meantime I am just excerified (yes, that is the combination of excited and terrified.)

With all that being said, I have felt really held back this week. For the first time in a long time, I feel fat. My the button-up shirt I’m wearing is pulling for the first time, I feel lethargic and I abso-freakin-lutely hate it. Well I should feel fat. I deserve to. I somehow gained 14 pounds on my vacation! What the crap? I mean yeah, I did eat a lot of BBQ, I did enjoy myself but 14 pounds? Are you flippin’ kidding me!?!?!?!?!?!?

Well, luckily (and I use that term loosely) a lot of that was retained water, so when I weighed yesterday (sorry about not posting last night. That was wrong and dumb.) I still am up 7.2 pounds from two weeks ago. This is not okay with me. What makes it even worse, I have no one else to blame but myself. I should cut my portion sizes in half, I should have exercised more, I should have done a thousand things differently. But there is nothing I can do it about it now except learn from it and move on. My addiction to bad (but delicious) food is still far from over. I need to keep at it. I have high goals for myself and I aim  to reach them and beyond. Time to get to work.

Breakfast: I had two servings of the always awesome Kashi Go Lean. Awesome and filling.

Lunch: I had the last SmartOne that we had in the freezer. It was okay, but not the best choice. The one delicious thing about lunch was eating cinnamon roasted almonds and biting in to an apple at the same time! It was awesome! It was a symphony of awesomeness in my mouth. Fantasticness.

Snack: I had some chips and a few wasabi peas. Nothing special

Dinner: Tonight we had Uncle Jim’s chili, but better. Last night, Megan soaked the beans instead of using canned. It made all the difference, it wasn’t near as salty as it usually is. It was even better with some rice, some cheese and sour cream, not to mention some fantastic green Tabasco sauce. Yumtastic.

Run Time: A little after dinner, I went on the first run of my 10k training. Tonight was a 4 miler and it was brutal. Thankfully, it wasn’t 97° outside like it was earlier today. The wind was cool and the humidity was low. I ran a new route tonight that I can’t wait to go run again. Like most trails in Tallahassee, it was hilly and beastly. So much sweat and some many calories burned (710 to be exact.) I love running, and even though my time was meh (48:30) it was a stepping stone for a better time soon. At this point, it’s all about building that endurance back up to where it was in the fall.

Oh, and one more thing… celery is awesome.

So that was my day. A lot of highs and lows but it ended well. Tomorrow should be better. It always is. See ya tomorrow.

Day 594: Hooray For Another Weigh In Day!

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Before I talk about today, I have to give a shout out to an awesome dinner last night with our friends Brian and Kimi! Brian grilled up some cajun chicken and veggies. It was so good that I’m talking about it today (not to mention it made for an awesome photo!)

Okay, back to today!

The following is a list of things I did today that made me feel old:

  • Read a newspaper
  • Clipped coupons
  • Watched Downton Abbey
  • Really got in to Downton Abbey
  • Watched golf

Anyway, where was I?

So this week I was pretty good with food, but not as good as I had been doing. Either way, it all worked out! I lost 1.2 pounds this week! I am down to 235.4 which is the lowest number I have seen on the scale so far! That’s really exciting! I am slowly breaking through my plateau that has been holding me back for so long! Truth be told though, I’m sure I would have made better strides with it if I had stuck to my points better. Anyway, this week is hopefully going to be an epic week of weight loss. I’ll talk about that soon. Get stoked.

Lunch: I didn’t have breakfast so after church we decided to go to Pho7 like last Sunday. Today, I tried the pork version of pho which had pork broth and egg noodles with slices of tender pork. I think it was better than their actual Pho (that and this time I didn’t accidentally make it so spicy that I was sweating profusely.) I looked up pho and it’s about 8 points which was probably about the same as what I ate today. If you ever want to go there, let me know and I will go with you!

Snack: When Megan and I were sucked in to the portal of awesomeness known as Netflix all afternoon. In the meantime, I had 4 points of popcorn, 2 Georgia peaches that we got from the farmer’s market yesterday and then a 5 point slice of this Skinny No Bake Cheesecake that Megan made earlier this week. Not too bad!

Dinner: So the last couple of times we have gone to Wingstop we have been getting our own 10 piece meal with fries. That shouldn’t have been the case considering when I went there when I first starting my weight loss journey (when I was still in the 350’s mind you) I was able to share that combo and still be full. Eventhough I have been doing this weight loss thing for a while, my mind still gets in the way of letting me know that I’m full. It sucks when you order more food because you are scared of leaving a restauraunt hungry. When does that ever actually happen? NEVER! Anyway, what I’m try to say is tonight Megan and I split a combo at Wingstop and it was plenty of food. Neither of us left feeling disgusting, we both left comfortable and satisfied. It was 14 points which is high, but a nice comfort meal.

So that’s about it for today! I got to 31 points which is only 3 points or so over.

 

Teaser: this week is going to be epic.

 

See ya tomorrow.

Day 592: The Fotographing Fat Kid Goes To Impact Health And Fitness

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Before I started tonight, I just wanted to show you this picture that was featured on an ABC affiliate’s Facebook page today. This was taken in Hillsboro, Texas, where I grew up. This is why Texas is awesome. That’s all I have to say about that.

Anyway, so today was overall pretty good. Food was better than it has been which is a win in itself. I decided today that it’s time to really get serious about my goals. I know that’s not something you usually just wake up and say, but I am 37ish pounds away from my next goal! That is totally possible! I’m on the homestretch of sorts! I’m not going to lie, there are times that I have eaten light ice cream and have not counted it on here. It’s not because I’m hiding it. It’s because  I just plain forget to post it. Granted it’s something like 2 points or so (because Breyer’s is awesome) but those little snacks have sugars and things like that. It’s time to get back to the super dieter I once was. Time to give the 230’s the boot!

Impact time!!!

So now that I’m all graduated and stuff, I don’t have a place to work out. No more Leach for this guy. It’s going to be tough to lose weight when I don’t have a gym readily available. So… time for a new installment of the blog called “THE FOTOGRAPHING FAT KID TRIES OUT A NEW GYM!” I’m going throughout Tallahassee to find a new place to get my SAWS on!

Earlier this week I talked to Vince over at Impact Health & Fitness and he gave me a free week pass to test drive his gym. Impact is located in north Tallahassee right next to the Tallahassee Mall (which looks like the mall the characters end up in during a zombie movie.) From the outside, Impact looks like a business building from the 80’s. I was ready for Joel Goodsen to pop out of a corner at any moment (imdb it.) But when you walk in, the place is MASSIVE!!!!! There are multiple levels with any piece of workout equipment you can think of! I started out on a treadmill to warm up. It was a little older, but it got the job done. Then I went over in to their circuit area and started to work out. I did medicine ball throws, bosu ball squats, kettleball squats, and some lunges. There was enough room to do anything I could think of and it wasn’t because it was empty or anything. I was there around 4:30 when gyms usually start to pick up traffic. Anyway, I finished up with 30 minutes on the ARC Trainer. So much sweat… As far as demographics, there were a lot of older ripped guys (think retired Navy SEALS), some moms, some college-aged folks and the occasional meathead. It was really a nice change of pace. Plus they have a bunch of classes to choose from including TRX and spin classes! Overall, I was impressed with Impact. It’s not that far from campus, you can breathe in there, you don’t have to worry about being in people’s way and the staff is really helpful. Oh yeah, and they have a sauna and childcare! What more could you ask for?

If you are looking for a new gym that is a local business, definitely give Impact a try! Their pricing is competitive with other gyms in town and they have different rates to fit with what you can afford. Let me know if you decide to check them out.

Here are some pictures of my adventure at Impact. See ya tomorrow.

(I’ll post some more when I go back!)

 

Day 590: Tuesday Time Stuff

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Why hello!

Well I didn’t see an owl today, but I did help paint the inside of a house! This will be a brief, yet efficient, post.

For breakfast, I just had two servings of Kashi Honey Sunshine. If you haven’t had this cereal, run to the cereal store and get some!

For a snack for work I had a FiberOne bar and then ate a Chicken Suaza Smart one for lunch. It was magical. For a snack I had two fat free Fig Newtons.

As far as SAWS goes today, I helped paint three rooms in Adam and Crystal’s new house! A lot of upper body movement and other fun stuff. It was a good way to get some physical activity in while helping out!

So for most of the day I was good, but instead of eating at home we decided to grab some pizza from Gumby’s. It’s greasy, decadent, but delicious… at least when you’re eating it. Tree hours later, my mouth still tastes salty. That’s not a good sign. We ate there to save time, but in turn ate too many calories. Not the best trade off.

So that was about it for today. I promise tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday will be better. Count on it. See ya tomorrow.

Day 589: The Time an Owl Flew Over my Head Edition

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More about the title in a bit…

So today was good, but a little more snacky than I wanted it to be. Know what I mean? A few chips here, a few almonds there, not bad by themselves, but together they add up pretty fast. Let’s get to it shall we?

Breakfast: I had two servings of Kashi Honey Sunshine which is super duper filling. Not to mention delicious! 4 points 

Lunch: So the plan was to get Jimmy John’s for lunch which is usually around $9 (you pay for their freaky fast delivery but it’s worth it) but today I figured I would go get a Nature Valley bar from the bookstore across from where I’m working part time. Come to find out, half of the food in the store is 50% off! So I bought some FiberOne bars for 45 cents and Fig Newtons for 38 cents! Awesomeness! So anyway, I had a Nature Valley bar pack and two fat free Fig Newtons. They are delicious! My pseudo (but cheap!) lunch was 8 points. 

Snacking Galore: Like I said, overall today I did about 14 points worth of snacking. I would keep a mental account, but it’s still a dangerous thing because you can overeat pretty easy. I used to be really easy for me to be okay with the counting out what I wanted to eat and that was it. Now, it’s a little hard. It just requires a little more willpower which is still a work in progress!

Dinner: Speaking of cheap meals, we decided to go to Bandidos for dollar tacos which happens every day from 4:20-7:20. They have some of the best tacos in town and for a buck how can you pass that up!?! I had three tacos with cheese lettuce and tomato. That’s it. No sour cream or anything like that. I kept it simple. After doing a little research, we figured they were about three points each so it came out to about a 9 point dinner. 

Owl Time: So there was an awesome thunderhead north of Tallahassee tonight with some really bright lightning shooting around it. Megan and I decided to go out for a walk to watch this awesome storm pass by (it was clear where we were. Don’t worry mom, we weren’t out in the rain or anything.) When we were walking up to our house, a giant winged brown bird with talons flew directly over our heads! It felt like I was at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the Flights of Wonder show! This creature flew up in to a tree above our car AND IT WAS A FLIPPIN’ BARRED OWL!!!!! It was so cool. It looked down at us and we looked up at it in a stare off like fashion. We stood out there for a good 10 minutes before the owl flew off in to the woods. We have heard owls out there a lot, but we’ve never seen one. Tonight was our lucky night. That dot that looks like a star is actually the owl’s eye! Spooky huh? It’s been a great day with a great night to finish it off. See ya tomorrow.

Day 587: Saturday Stuff

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Tonight, I”m blogging by candlelight on my back porch. It is kind of warm, but the tall trees with hanging Spanish moss remind why I love my place. Florida is not a bad place to be unemployed.

So I didn’t wake up until 11 am this morning. I cannot remember the last time I slept in that late. I think it’s still some residual sleep deprivation from last semester. (Makes sense to me at least…) Anyway, so needless to say I didn’t eat any breakfast. Instead, Megan suggested the Crepevine for lunch! I had the Gooleys which is a smaller portion crepe with bacon, chicken, chicken and romaine. For sauce, instead of ranch. which is what comes on it, I got honey mustard. I was really impressed with it. I usually get the bigger portion, but there is no need to! The smaller one is big enough as it is! It’s weird that our brains crave the bigger portions because it terrified that the smaller portion isn’t going to be big enough. Thankfully, the portion sizes in America are massive, so that’s something we should never have to worry about.

Speaking of massive portions… after Crepevine, we decided to get some froyo at Yogurt Mountian. Sadly, I think froyo places are becoming my enemy. When I started my weight loss, I would be really good with my portion sizes and my toppings. Now, I think it has become a place where I can get away with eating candy since it’s on top of nonfat yogurt. I’m like Newman when he discovers “non-fat yogurt” and then finds out that there is in fact fat in the yogurt. While I am responsible for my actions, I have to give some of the blame to the cups that they give you at the pay per ounce places. They are huge so you don’t really have a grasp on how much yogurt you are getting. I just got a few different flavors, a few scoops of toppings and before I knew it I had 13 ounces of yogurt and toppings! Holy cow! That’s insane! That’s almost a pound of frozen deliciousness! No bueno. I think I need to go back to places that have actual serving sizes so I can measure it out and become the good little weight loser that I know I am! That’s life I guess.

So after that debacle, I knew I needed to go on a run or something so I could undo some of that damage. For those of you who don’t know, a summer day in Florida almost always includes an afternoon shower. It will get overcast and then boom a 20 minute shower. Then it either cools off or get unbearably humid. To me, the best time to run is right before it rains because it will cool off for a few minutes and there is a cool breeze. That’s what I did today. I was planning on just doing a little 5k around the block, but then the running spirits challenged me to go a little further. I am slowly getting my running endurance back to where it was in the fall when I was training for a 10K. I ran around 4 or 5 miles (I didn’t have a pedometer on) with terrain ranging from steep hills to a track around the high school football field by our house. It felt awesome to go running. It helps me think and brainstorm about different problems and ideas. So in about an hour of running, I burned a beastly 668 calories. Ihopethat burned off my yogurt…

 

 

 

For dinner, I made some of Uncle Jim’s famous chili and it was awesome as always. Speaking of portions… again, I used to eat two cups of chili which is only 5 points for my first bowl along with a cup of rice. Then I would usually eat half that much again for seconds. Tonight, I ate two cups of chili and a cup of rice total! And I was stuffed! That’s a really good sign! That’s the ebb and flow of changing your eating habits, your body eventually gets the picture and it adjusts!

 

 

 

 

 
For dessert, I had five little iced oatmeal cookies that we bought from Publix. five of them are only 3 points! Yum! They go perfect with a cup of coffee on the back porch.

So today was good and bad. I am frustrated about the yogurt, but it was a teachable moment for me. I have learned my lesson and I’ll move on from it. Tomorrow is weigh in and I have high hopes for it. I was overall pretty good this week so we’ll see what happens. Either way, I’m in a good place with my weight loss and I have nothing but time. See ya tomorrow.