Day 657: 50 Shades of Weight Loss

(This post has nothing to do with the book. I just wanted to be topical.)

So this has been a pretty epic week for weight loss. I was able to drop 2.2 pounds, putting me at 236.6 at this point. So far, my lowest weight has been the bottom end of 235 so I’m really going to shoot to get below that this week. Like I was saying in yesterday’s post, the doctor told me to keep doing what I’m doing: that I need to keep losing weight and to keep exercising to get in to shape. I know that if I got rid of what’s left of my hanging gut that my hips would feel much better. Today we bought matching yoga mats and a yoga DVD to help with stretching and to help start building my core muscles back to where they were when I was SAWSing it up with Joe the Trainer (miss that guy. Joe, if you read my blog, thanks for being awesome.)

While I love to run, I really want to try out some new forms of exercises. If you have a class that you really like or just something that you like doing, comment below! I want to hear what gets your SAWSing goat!

Anyway, let’s talk about food and stuff…

Breakfast: This morning, I had another heaping bowl full of delicious oatmeal with craisins, sliced almonds and brown sugar. Yumtastic.

Lunch: Today, we had a going away lunch for our good friends Stacy and Emma who are moving to Memphis next week. This was the second going away party of the weekend (last night it was our good friends Daniel and Leah) so this weekend has had a certain wompiness to it. Anyway, we went to Bandido’s Burritos and packed the joint. It was even more sentimental to us because one of the first times we went there was with Stacy and Emma so we laughed, we cried and I won a dollar by bouncing a rolled up napkin in to a cup of water. Now, today is going to be my pseudo “splurge” day since it’s my rest day. When I say “splurge” I don’t mean dominating a buffet, but just eating more calories and then being strict for the rest of the week. Anyway, I got the chicken quesadilla which was massive and delicious. I also came with black beans and rice and they were awesome! I thought they were some of the best black beans and rice I had every had (really savory) but I was the only one who thought that. So while it was delicious, I still have that “I ate a lot of sodium taste in my mouth” even though I have drank easily 100 oz of water today. I’ll try something different next time, but it was still pretty awesome. (Oh yeah, I didn’t even touch the sour cream. Small changes folks!)

 

Dinner: Tonight we went to Publix and bought some wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon that was on sale. For those who don’t know, I lived in Alaska for a summer as a youth ministry intern and while I was there, I ate salmon for about 70% of my meals. I flippin’ love salmon. I want to move the Northwest just so I can eat salmon and drink Starbucks every day until the day I die (where was I going with that? Oh yeah…) Anyway, Megan made this special Asian sauce that she found on Skinny Taste that is actually suppose to go on drumsticks. It turned out really well! It was spicy and delicious… dare I say spicelicious.
Speaking of spicelicious, we bought this dark chocolate that’s made with chiles and it was epic! I just had two squares and that all I could handle. Megan and I were both sweating by the end. Awesomeness.

So overall today wasn’t too shabby. I’m ready to continue this trend of healthy living and eating that we’ve got going. I’m really reading to break out of the 200’s. Heck, I’m only 36.6 pounds away! I’ve got this. See ya tomorrow.

Day 650: Weigh In Day Yo!

So yesterday was an epic turn in our weight loss. Megan and I have re-comitted ourselves to weight loss and the importance of heathy eating. No better way to start off this new chapter in my weight loss journey than with a loss! I lost 2 pounds this week! I am back in to the 230’s to stay. It was pretty cool because yesterday morning I was 242 so it feels like I had lost even more! I can’t wait to see what will happen at my next weigh in!

Breakfast: I switched up my breakfast routine with a breakfast burrito with two egg whites and one whole egg! We actually bought these La Tortillas that are 45 calories and 7 grams of fiber, making them 0 points! It was perfect with some of our homemade salsa. 4 points.

Lunch: After church, most of our young pro’s group went to Jason’s for some healthy deliciousness. Most of us are trying to lose weight so we talked about how we can hold each other accountable. Some of us are actually going to start training for some half marathons down the road. There is a Disney Half Marathon on the weekend of my birthday in January so I think I’m going to DESTROY IT!!!! Anyway, I made an epic 15 point salad with a 3 point ice cream dessert. Hooray for healthiness!

Snack: I had a glass of milk with coffee ice cubes. It was 2 points.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: I had a leftover burger and instead of a side like fries (which is what I wanted) I decided to heat up some brussels sprouts and ate them instead. It was awesome and so filling. 6 points

Run: Megan and I decided to go for a walk/run since our pool was brotastic and annoying. We ended up going for about four miles. There was a lot of sweat involved, but at least it is cooling off in the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: When I got done, I went to town on some watermelon while dicing up my finger in the process because I’m awesome like that.

So today I got to around 30 points and with the exercise I am in good shape. 

Tomorrow I start my new job! So stoked for all of the awesomeness that will ensue. See ya tomorrow

Day 643: Weigh In Day

So this week was kind of crazy. It’s hard when you have a holiday in the middle of the week and a lot of celebrating America’s awesomeness in there.

It was a tough week with food and I ended up gaining 2.4 pounds. Am I mad? Yes. But with that has created a fire under my feet to really get at it. My last weigh in was so inspiring. I see this week as a hiccup and a time to move on. As you’ll see, today has been awesome food wise. Get stoked… for my food pictures.

Breakfast: I just had the good ol’ 4.5 points of peanut butter and toast. Yumtastic.

Lunch: After church, some of the Young Pros went to Pho7 for some Vietnamese deliciousness. Megan and I split an order of egg rolls and then I had the beef pho. You would think that I wouldn’t make it so spicy with siriacha and jalapenos after how many times I have eaten it, but you’d be wrong. Nothing like a good sweat while you eat. 15 points 


Snack: Later in the afternoon, I was getting kind of hungry, but I wanted to avoid a carb/fattening snack. So, I had a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter. It was the perfect afternoon snack! 2.5 points

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: We hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet so we decided to hit up Bandido’s for dollar tacos. I had the chicken with hot sauce. 6 points. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie Snack: We decided to watch the original TRON and we were both looking for a snack. I decided to broil two FlatOut flatbreads in the oven and then broke them up. It was almost like eating chips! It would have been perfect if I had some sort of dip, but it totally worked. And since two flatbreads was only 2 points it was totally worth it.

So today I got to 30 points which isn’t bad at all! I can’t wait for this week and all of the awesomeness that will ensue.

NSV: I am going to post my awesome non-scale victory on The Fotographing Fat Kid Facebook Page at midnight tonight! (Eastern) Head over there, Like the page and enjoy! See ya tomorrow. 

Day 637: Let’s Catch Up Shall We? Edition

So the time between last Wordless Wednesday and now has been a whirlwind. I’m talking “Auntie Em! Auntie Em! It’s a twister! It’s a twister!” awesome craziness.

On Friday, I was offered the media specialist position in the Office of Admissions at The Florida State University! It has always been my dream to work in higher education in some capacity and especially for my childhood dream school: Florida State. (For more on my affinity for FSU, click here.)

Since then, I have been incredibly giddy about this new chapter in my life. It’s my first “grown up” job! I know it will be a challenge, but hey, I like a good challenge 😉

Speaking of awesome challenges, sorry about the lack of posting last night. We hung out with our friends Stacy and Julie all day yesterday talking about life, love and other mysteries. (Whoever gets that obscure reference will get a gold star.) We also celebrated Canada Day. The only day that I celebrate my Canadian roots (other then the Winter Olympics.) Anyway, I was good last week overall and it paid in the end. I lost 5.2 pounds this week!!! I haven’t lost that much in a long time. I think my body has been in a stressful state during this whole job hunt so now that I have some direction, my body won’t be as out of whack as it has been. So now I’m back down to 238.4 and I’m happy to be back out of the 240’s. I’m going to be good this week so I can lose some weight. I have been stuck in the 230’s/240’s for a long time so I feel like when I finally get in to the 220’s, my body will start to really change. I’m ready for that. I’m also ready to get back in to the gym. If anything for the air conditioning.

This is all I have for now. More later tonight. See ya later.

Day 629: Sodium is the Devil Edition

So it’s raining… a lot.

So at the beginning of the week, I was pretty good with food and exercise. I was counting my points and running like my feet were on fire, but it seemed like on our trip I was eating nothing but salt the whole time. I hate sodium. I’m going to do what I can to get it out of my diet as much as I can. Even though around the middle of the week I was in good shape, I still gained 2.8 pounds this week, but I think a good portion of it is water weight and such.

With good ol’ Tropical Storm Debby coming our way, I don’t know how the whole running thing is going to work out. So I’ll be getting creative on the workout front. This should be an interesting week, but I’m going to proactive to lose some weight. Time to get out of the 240’s… again.

Well my head is pounding like a drum (you know… the whole weather changing thing) but in lieu of words, here are some pictures of our trips to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S. I’ll be more talkative tomorrow. Enjoy!

Day 622: Finally a Post and a Weigh In!

It feels like I haven’t posted in forever. (Oh yeah, that’s because I haven’t.)

So today was Father’s Day and I have to thank my Dad for everything he has done for me. He has worked hard every day of my life to support me and my family. If I didn’t have a Dad like him, I don’t know where I would be today. Thank you Dad. I love you.

Alright, so this was kind of a weird week. I was pretty good for the majority of the week. Yeah, I wasn’t posting my points online, but I was still was counting to make sure I was on the right track. Then, my “conscience” was nagging at me to post them which was a little weird and threw me off a little. I know my “conscience” meant well, but it still odd. (Look at my last Monday post in the comments to see what I’m talking about.) I know I’m not perfect, but I’m going what I can to keep at it. And I am going to do what I can to count my points to optimize my weight loss awesomeness. I’m going to be even better this week because I’m back in the weight loss saddle again. I lost 1.6 pounds this week! So I am down to 240.8 which is about 5 pounds away from where I was before our trip! I’m getting there! Let the awesomeness continue!

Breakfast: I had a bowl of Special K Strawberry which was not too shabby!

Lunch: After church, Megan and I went to Momo’s for pizza the size of our heads. I had the Big Meaty (or whatever it was called.) Awesomeness.

Dinner:This afternoon, we went over to our friends Jacob and Emily’s house to chill by the pool and have dinner (along with that Andrea person.) We had grilled chicken with Emily’s delicious potatoes along with some squash and corn. Then Megan made her awesome blackberry cobbler! Needless to say that you should be jealous of our cookout. It was awesome.

So that’s about it for the day. This week is going to be good.

Oh yeah, I’m going to run a half marathon in July 2013. Get stoked.

See ya tomorrow.

Day 615: A Weigh In and Stuff

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

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!

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 581: Weigh in Day!

What is up yo!?!

I don’t understand how Tallahassee doesn’t have a normal coffee place. There have been numerous times that we have traipsed around the city to find a place that isn’t too crowded or too loud or too cold or closing too early! Even though college is officially out this summer, we had to leave a Starbucks because there weren’t any tables available. It was like all of the non-college residents of Tallahassee realized it was finally safe to come outside. So Anyway, our internet is down because of the storm so we are at a coffee shop by Lake Ella. I’m trying to blog and Megan is trying to study for her comprehensive exams that are this week. We got a prime table, my chai latte was heavenly, then like clockwork a duet of old people start to play the guitar and a harmonica directly perpendicular to our table. Usually this kind of thing isn’t an issue, but this place is smaller than my house so I might as well be on the stage of this coffee shop concert. Sometimes our lives are some much like a sitcom. I can hear the laugh track playing in the background. Either that or I’m having a stroke.

Where was I?

Oh yeah…

So this week, even though I didn’t blog that much, was pretty good food wise. I stayed within my points four days out of the week which isn’t too bad. I ended up losing 1.4 pounds! I’m back in the 230’s (239.8 so barely) and I’m ready to finally break in to the 220’s, which hasn’t happened yet. I’m ready to get in there!

I’m also going to exercise more this week. I’m going to start running again. It has been a while and it’s not too hot in the mornings or evenings yet. Not to mention Tallahassee is beautiful so trail running is just awesome.

Another fun thing about this week, I’m going to cook all week! Megan is defending her thesis tomorrow and then will be doing her comprehensive exams all week so I’m going to help out in the kitchen. If you see smoke coming from Tallahassee, that’s all me. We’ll see how that goes.

Alright, let’s talk about today.

Breakfast: I had two pieces of toast with two tablespoons of peanut butter and a banana. The whole wheat bread from Target is only 50 calories a slice so it’s only 1 point for two slices! Score! Breakfast was 6 points. 

Lunch: So today for lunch I wanted some comfort food for lunch. I think the term “comfort food” is used frivolously nowadays thanks to certain chefs and such. I’m okay with comfort food every once in a while, but my issue with people like Paula Deen who is gung-ho about comfort food is that they are okay with having it every meal. (Am I alone in that?)  Anyway, my comfort food is BBQ. Always has been, always will be. So we went to Sonny’s for lunch after church. I had the lunch portion brisket plate. I know the turkey would have been only 4 points for the meat, but I was craving brisket at that point. I also had the baked beans (which are only 2 points) and the baked sweet potato for my sides. What really got me was the two pieces of garlic bread, which were 4 points apiece. All in all, I know it was bad, but at least I’m counting the points and recognizing my mistakes instead of just saying “hi-ho” and not caring. Plus, that’s why we have flex points. 24 points

 

Snack: Yesterday, we made our way down to the farmer’s market on Market Square and one of the vendors had strawberries that had been picked on Friday. They are delicious. So I put them on top of my Breyer’s ice cream that is only a point for a few scoops. I also put a little honey on top, which made it even better. Fantasticness.
Dinner: While we were down at the farmer’s market, we also bought some grass fed beef from the same Georgia farmers that we bought it from a few weeks ago. Tonight was my first attempt at cooking dinner this week. I made tacos with beef and they rocked! Earlier this afternoon, we made a batch of salsa so we used that and I even made some guacamole. They turned out great and they passed Megan’s taste test. So now I’m one for one on the week. Dinner was about 10 points.

Latte: As I mentioned earlier, part of this post was written at Black Dog Cafe. I always get their chai latte, which is hands down the best in town. 4 points.

 So today I racked up my share of points, but like I said earlier, at least I am actually counting now which is a step in the right direction. Can’t wait to see how this week goes. See ya tomorrow.