About theffkid

I've always wanted a blog. Now I have one.

Day 731: Two Years Later…

I can’t believe it’s been two years!!!

There have been plenty ups and downs this year, but I’m definitely back on an upswing. It has been a trying year: I went through a rough patch that made me doubt why I was actually doing this whole weight loss thing, though in hindsight the last semester of grad school was just a nightmare which made everything horrible in general. Anyway, a lot of awesome things have happened: I’ve destroyed my previous 5k records, I have become obsessed with running and I have been on an awesome weight loss streak that sees no end.

Speaking of weight loss, it’s weigh-in day!!! I was hoping for an awesome day of weight loss and I got it! I lost 2.6 pounds which puts me under 230 officially for the first time!!!!!!! I am down to 228.4. So in the past two years I have lost 128.6 pounds which is insane. That’s 36% of my of my original body weight. While more than 100 pounds of that was lost that first year, I have still been chugging along. I’m losing a lot more consistently now (after I met my hero Hannah Curlee) because I’ve just kept doing what I’ve been doing: keep the portions in check and keep moving!

Anyway, so I have laid out some goals for myself for year 3. I know things are going well now and I want to keep it that way. Your body does some crazy things when you lose a significant amount of weight.

So here is what I’m shooting for in the next 356 days:

  1. Breaking 200 pounds (only 28.4 pounds away!)
  2. Run a 5k in less than 20 minutes 
  3. Run in my first Half Marathon
  4. Eat more fruits and veggies 
  5. Work out more 
  6. Be more consistent with counting points 

Really, none of these are out of the range of possibility and some of them just mean I need to get back to the basics.

Finally tonight, I just wanted to thank everyone for your encouragement during this awesome transition in my life. Today I looked through some of those first posts and it was awesome to re-read so many encouraging comments. I had forgotten that I didn’t post my weight initially. It took me about a month to finally post my weight. I remember that I had the courage to even post my weight because of the support I was getting from awesome readers like you. I love you readers. Thanks for reading what I eat day-in and day-out. You rock.

See ya tomorrow.

 

Also, I made nachos with broccoli today. It was delicious. That is all.

 

 

Day 730: The Night Before…

I feel like tomorrow is my birthday…and not to get oddly philosophical on you…it kind of is. Two years ago, I took up almost half of the couch I’m sitting own right now, and I wrote a post. Yes, this post. While I’ll admit I don’t remember every detail of that day, I remember how bad that summer was and how with that much weight comes a lot of sweat, embarrassment, and frustration. I remember worrying about breaking a pew in church and having to scope out every room to figure out the logistics of where you could sit without smooshing someone or creating such a force while sitting on a couch that the people next to you were leaning on you.

There were many reasons why I ate so much. Sometimes it was because I was pushing down feelings, other times it was because it was the only thing that  would make me happy. Other times it was much less depressing. I love going out to eat with people! A lot of my favorite memories of people are over meals, in fact most of my favorite memories of my family involve food. That’s just how I functioned. Also, food just tastes good. I love food, but I used to be obsessed with food. I would surround so much of my day around when and what I would eat. It was a sickness. It was unhealthy.

Now, I have scaled back on my relationship with food. I’ve recognized the impact it has on my health. I still love food, but I love my body even more.

Now, I love to exercise. Sure there are still days when I don’t want to run, but I miss it when I don’t. I still need to do more of it, and that’s a goal of mine for this next year.

So tomorrow morning, I’ll be stepping on the same scale in my kitchen that I have been for the past two years. It has seen me at my worst and at my best. No matter what happens, it will be a much different number from day one. See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 710: Thursday

I feel like I shark right now, if I stop, I will die (or at least fall asleep.)

So since I’m already in pajamas (yep…I’m old)I’ll just get down to the best part

I broke my 10k time by a good bit tonight! I was only going for 4 miles, but then I thought “oh heck, let’s just go for it” so I ran from Southwood to pretty far down Capital Circle to the point that it was so dark in a nature trail inside Southwood that I could barely see my hands. It was a beautiful night, even with the north wind blowing like crazy at one point.

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So that’s about it for today. Not too shabby of a day. See ya tomorrow.

Day 708: Weigh In Time!

So I’m going to keep this brief because I smell, I’m tired and I want to sleep.

Here’s the breakdown of my day…

I lost .6 pounds this week so I’m down to 231. SSSSSSOOOOOOO CLOSE TO GETTING OUT OF THE 230’s!!!!!!

Also, I was pulled over on the way home from a 9 pm church softball game that got out around 10:45. I was going a little fast down a hill and I had a headlight out (yep, Malibu Stacy is a cyclops right now) but I got by with a warning. Between you and me and the Internet, I smelled to high Heaven between the softball game and running before said softball game. I think, like the common skunk, my smell was my disarming ability.

Also, if you want to scare a opossum away, pop open an umbrella. That is all.

See ya tomorrow.

Day 707: Monday.

Monday Night Football makes Mondays worth it. The Ravens are raw.

So today wasn’t near as epic as this weekend (because it is Monday after all…) but tomorrow should be better. Or at least I hope so.

One thing I do know though is that my weight has been in a weird flux this week. I won’t divulge numbers here, but at one point there was a six-pound differential. It’s something that I used to have really bothered me, but that kind of stuff is easier to deal with when you know you’re doing things right. You know it means you’re body is just being silly, rather than “you are treating me wrong so I will response with gaining.” Does that make any sense? Let’s talk food.

This morning, I just had the same ol’ english muffin and peanut butter. Luckily, I bought some breakfast goodies this evening so that’s exciting (I guess…)

Since Megan was swamped with doctoral stuff, I brought over some to here during her office hours. I went to Panda Express (which actually has some healthier entrees) and we split a three entree. When I was in high school, I would get a triple order of orange chicken and eat it with lo mein noodles and regular soda. Today megan and I split it and I was stuffed. I’ve come a long way.

For Dinner, we had some delicious spaghetti with chicken italian sausage. It was amazing.

I had some almonds and a banana for my post dinner snack.

So that’s about it. Nothing too bad at all.
I’m interested to see where I’ll be tomorrow morning, either way, good things are happening and it’s exciting. See ya tomorrow.

Day 706: Bleachers and Running and Sit Ups Oh My! Edition

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This was yesterday. You know, when the weather had been rainy and humid. You know, before today…the most gorgeous day since March. Unintentional mud runs are awesome and I highly recommend them.
When I was running yesterday, I wasn’t doing my best. Sure I was trying, but I wasn’t giving it all I had. I mean, I had an out: the awful weather and the incredibly muddy trail. That was until an older man ran up behind me and said “come on brother, let’s go.” So I ran…fast. Faster than I usually do. I was running the speed I knew I could but never did. It felt like driving on the highway for the first time. It was an awesome feeling. As we were coming to the end of the trail, he looked over to me and said “you only have to remember three letters-RFM: Repetitive. Forward. Motion.”
I have no clue who that man was, and I may never see him again. But that is what has been so amazing about this weight loss journey, I have gotten the push I’ve needed from random people at the moment I have needed it the most. Like when an old Pakistani man at the Anytime Fitness my parents go to told me about how he went to the doctor who said that he could either go home, keep living the way he is and die in a few years, or to go to the gym and get in shape and live longer. It’s people like that who encourage me to tell my story. Not just here in my posts, but when I see an opportunity to reach out to someone. Because at that moment, I could be the push that person needs to change their life.

(I really don’t know how to transition to the food portion of this post, so instead I have added this sentence in parenthesis to serve as a barrier.)

So for those of you who don’t live in the South, fall has finally arrive south of the Mason Dixon. It was actually cool this morning when we were going to church, instead of being humid and gross like it usually is (it’s not usually humid and gross only when we go to church…words…I’m not good with them.) Anyway, Megan decided to make homemade delicious pumpkin spice lattes! They were awesome and it went well with my peanut butter and honey english muffin.

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For lunch, we went with some friends to Jason’s Deli! I went with the salad bar as always. So much deliciousness!

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Our Ridiculous Escapade to Target Since Target is super close to Jason’s (because someone knows the way to this 18-35 year old male’s heart and pocketbook) we went over there to check out the new Shops line that just came out and all of Target’s other regular awesomeness.
When we were skulking around the clearance section, we found those superfluous plates and bowls that look like they have food inside of them. That was when our friend Julie had an awesome idea for a Jedi Weight Loss Trick: put carrots in the faux Tostito’s bowl and you’ll think “oh hey! we’re eating chips and not carrots!” BRILLIANT!!!! 50 points for Dowerdor!

Also, I had a venti skinny caramel macchiato because I had a BOGO deal for a Target-only Starbucks!

Exercise and Stuff This evening, I decided to make use of this amazing weather and set out to do some bleachers inside the largest brick structure in the United States: Doak flippin’ Campbell Stadium. I ran over there, which is about 1.25 miles, and then I ran up and down the bleachers from row 1 to row 83 three times before I thought I was going to die. Although there were a few people doing the same thing with the same exasperated look on their faces, there was this one lady that beasted out every section. I want to be that lady. (Wait, what?) Anyway, like most stadiums, there are massive ramps that zigzag to the top. I ran up a section of those while doing an exercise like sit ups and push ups at each turn. I was exhausted by the end of it, but it felt great. Not to mention I burned 800 calories. Sweet action.

Din-Din Tonight, I broke out the George Foreman (and no, I have never stepped on it when it was cooking me breakfast in bed) and grilled up some burgers. It’s crazy how much grease comes off even from 90/10 beef! I also baked some tots (and no, Randy didn’t ask me for any of them. So many ridiculous references in this post!) and had some baked beans on the side. Instead of hamburger buns, we used english muffins. I have to say, it was a pretty awesome meal.

So that’s about it for tonight. I feel pretty good about my weigh in on Tuesday. Hopefully it’s not just a bad hunch like that first hunch the detective gets in every episode of Law & Order I have ever watched. See ya tomorrow.

Day 701: Weighing In In September

Let’s get this thing started shall we?

So yesterday’s post was convicting for me. I have been trying to lose weight, but there have been some times recently where my heart hasn’t been completely in it like it use to be. I know the math: eat less, exercise more, drink water. But like I was talking about last night, if I don’t give this all I have, I’m missing out on weight I could be losing.

With that all being said, I really didn’t know if today’s weigh in was going to be good. Yeah, I ran 7 miles and played softball with strangers in the park for 3 hours on Sunday, but I also ate a decadent burger from Vertigo, some delicious homemade pizza and other amazing things this week. That doesn’t always balance itself out. Well, I got lucky I guess… I lost 2.2 pounds which means I’m down to 231.6. I was 231.2 before Disney so if all goes to plan, I’ll be back in to unchartered territory this time next week. (I’m so flippin ready to be in the 220’s!!!)

Anyway, let me give you a quick breakdown of my food intake today.

Breakfast: A 100 calorie English Muffin with a tablespoon of peanut butter. It is a super filling breakfast. The English Muffin had 8 grams of fiber alone! 3.5 points

Lunch: I had two servings of our leftover chicken enchilada soup. I knew dinner wasn’t going to be until after our run so I at two servings with cheese and sour cream. With the cheese and sour cream it was probably 14 points

Pre-Run Fuel: I had another 3.5 English Muffin and 2 points of cereal (I just grabbed a handful out of the box. Don’t tell Megan.)

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SAWS I went for a quick 5k today and I was a little slower than my 5k PR (about 70 seconds slower). The awesome thing about running in Tallahassee is there are always owls hooting in the trails. It’s like my own aviary cheerleading squad! (Don’t judge. I love owls.)

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Dinner Tonight, we had some delicious Asian Pork from the always amazing Skinny Taste site. Ah-maze-ing (or however Penny says it on Happy Endings. I have no clue how to spell it out.) If you want the recipe for that, either hit up the Skinny Taste Pinterest board I made or search for it on her site. It’s awesome.

So that’s about it for today. Not too shabby.

Wordless Wednesday will be full of shots from the game this past weekend. Get stoked.

See ya tomorrow.