Category Archives: BL11

Trying to Get it All Aligned

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“When the mooooooooooooon is in the seventh house
and Jupiterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr lines with Mars…“

Wait…that’s not what I mean…

You hear it all the time “get fit in the gym, lose weight in the kitchen.” While I have fought with this notion for a long time, I’ve seen how true it really is through out my weight loss journey. With that, it’s been easy to have one component of that statement down and have the other one completely lopsided.When I lost my first 100 pounds, my eating was at the forefront of this journey. Sure I worked out, but making smart decisions helped peel off the weight. Some time after that, I lost sight of that. I got caught up in the fitness side a little too much and it seemed to throw me off because I didn’t know how to refuel properly with my eating. Then, I started training for my first half marathon which kind of put my weight loss dead in the water because, contrary to popular belief, you don’t always lose weight when you train for long distance races like half marathons. So right now, I’m not training for a specific race. I’ve put on about 15 pounds since December so I want to get that off ASAP to get my weight loss momentum going.

Since I’ve been working out regularly, usually a combination of running and circuit training classes 3-5 times a week, I feel awesome and actually strong for the first time in close to forever. In the past, I’ve been quick to beat myself up when I want to go work out in the “bro den” (the part of the gym that has free weights, benches, awkward grunting) because I don’t feel like I belong. But how can I make progress if I don’t work out in there? (I’m going to talk about more on that in a post I’m working on. Stay tuned.) Anyway, the point is that good things are happening. After working out regularly like this for the past ten weeks, it would be really hard to stop. I just love it too much!

So now that I’m in such an awesome place with my fitness, I’m really working to change my eating. I’m eating fruits and veggies like they’re going out of style and I’m incredibly intentional about drinking water (#alltheclearpee).

But I’m not perfect…
Can I still pound down a bag of potato chips? Yessir.
Do I hoard candy sometimes like those spoiled brats in Willie Wonka? Sure do.
But…Do I immediately regret it? Now more than ever.

I really hate that feeling of regret after a mini-binge, so I’ve been trying to combat that with just abstaining as much as I can. I tell myself that I won’t miss it in 5 minutes because all they are are just impulses. For example, we walked by a cupcake store in Tallahassee and I thought I really wanted one.

I knew I had two options:
1) Keep walking and go on with my day
or
2) Go in, spend money on a dessert that I’m generally kind of ambivalent towards, and then sulk because I could have spent those Weight Watchers points on bacon.

So, I’m making progress with my eating! I really feel like I’m on the verge of everything lining up for some serious weight loss awesomeness.

Speaking of weight loss…

I lost 2.8 pounds this week! After losing 3 pounds or so two weeks ago, I gained it back last week. (Between kidney stones and traveling, the MacDonalds have been a little cray…) This week, I wasn’t perfect at all. In fact (and if you try to troll me on this, so help me…) I had McDonald’s for the first time since we’ve lived in Tallahassee. I drove to Jacksonville twice this week and I really needed some coffee and breakfast. So, I had an Egg McMuffin and a hash brown. It was 12 points. I counted it and I moved on. I also ate at Hardee’s for breakfast one day and I counted it too. So I wasn’t perfect, but I counted my points and I exercised to bring balance to the Weight Watchers force. This past week was once again proof that when you count regardless and exercise, everything will fall into place.

Count all the points

 

Day 837:First Post of 2013!

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GO NOLES!!!!!!

If we don’t win…well, let’s not even go there.

So today was the first day living under the tyranny of the Skinny Rules! (I use the term “tyranny” psuedo-lightly, and by that I mean it’s going to be quite the adjustment.) It probably wasn’t the right day to run 7 miles while burning 1,200 calories. On paper, I should be emaciated. But the way the rules work, I feel pretty full. I think it’s the combination of A LOT of fiber and protein along with a gallon of water.

Here are rules 6-10:

Rule 6: Eat Apples and Berries Every Single Day. Every. Single. Day. 

That’s a lot of fruit. Good thing we live in Florida: the delicious fruit capital of the USA. (I made up that, but the fruit is good.)

Rule 7: No Carbs After Lunch

I can see this being rough eventually. Like you, yes you, I heart carbs. I love crunchy things like chips and cereal, things I would always eat after work. It’s going to be important to have my snack planned out before I come home from work to avoid being tempted by the carb beast. (There are carbs in fruit, but thankfully Bob says that’s okay…because it’s fruit.)

Rule 8: Learn to Read Food Labels So You Know What Are Eating

I’ve been doing the whole reading labels things for a while, but I haven’t paid close attention to looking at ingredients. Since I’ve had to do that because of Skinny Rules, it makes you realize what you really are putting in to your body.

Rule 9: Stop Guessing About Portion Size and Get it Right-For Good

It’s so easy to just guestimate your portion sizes because it doesn’t require a a measuring cup or a food scale. Time to get back to that.

Rule 10: No More Added Sweeteners, Including Artificial Ones 

This might be the hardest one for me. I LOVE Diet Coke. No more sodas…well no more a lot of things. This will be a challenge, but if it’s off limits, it’s off limits!

So here’s the breakdown of the day…

Photo Jan 01, 10 27 26 AMBreakfast: We started the morning right with a glass of water, followed by another glass of water and then breakfast! A delicious veggie omelet with strawberries and an Ezekiel English Muffin made with sprouted grains. The muffins taste more like a thick bread but tastes great! Not to mention high in fiber!

 

Snack: I had a sliced apple and one ounce of Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Cheddar. Great snack to keep you full.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Jan 01, 2 17 40 PMLunch: Bob is a big fan of ground turkey. It’s a great alternative to beef, especially when you get the ground breast. (That means it hasn’t been ground with dark meat.) Anyway, Megan made these delicious turkey burgers with diced tomatoes and a spring mix salad with light dressing. The turkey patty was juicy and the salad…was salad.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Jan 01, 8 38 20 PMRun: For the first run of the year, we decided to do it in style and run on the St. Mark’s Trail. I’ve been having issues with my toes bruising on my right foot so I looked up some remedies. One of them is relacing your shoes a certain way. I gave that a shot and my foot was in even worse pain. No bueno. I think I might just go back to the way I had them. Anyway, the run was rough since I haven’t ran in about a week or so. Either way, the first two miles were solid 8:34’s but then the others weren’t as awesome.

 

After Run Drink: We made a kale green drink that was gross-looking but still drinkable. I’ll spare you from posting a photo of it.

 

 

 

 

Photo Jan 01, 8 10 49 PMDinner: Tonight I grilled some chicken and had a mountain of green beans. It felt like a lot of food…because it was! I also had a glass of milk.

So that’s all I’ve had today. A big difference from the last few weeks in December. I was not doing too well with the whole eating well thing.

Weigh In: This morning I weighed in at 236.2 which is up 6.4 pounds from two weeks ago. I know that’s bad, but before we went to Texas, I was already up to 235 that morning we left. It was a combination of stress and just plain eating bad. I feel lighter and healthier than I have in a long time today which is awesome.

So what’s the deal with the number 58?: So I haven’t really laid out my New Year’s resolutions yet, but I do have one big goal for 2013: to lose 58 pounds. I am 58 pounds away from being half the man that I used to be. That will put me past the 178.5 pounds mark which is the half way point. I was shooting for it in 2012, but I honestly didn’t put in the work that it was going to require. After a year oh just being meh with weight loss, I’m ready to melt off some weight! Time to get busy. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

Day 836: New Rules For the New Year

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I hate clothes that fit.

I’ve spent the majority of my life wearing clothes that were to snug, that made me feel uncomfortable. In 2010, after having to buy a pair of size 54 pants, I decided it was time to make a serious change in my life. I revolutionized my diet, I started to run and I started this food journaling on this little blogernio.

Fast forward to now. On the threshold of 2013. My life has been completely changed and has even been elongated by a few years. Now instead of worrying about dying while incapacitated in a hospital bed, I worry about being attacked by a mountain lion while hiking or taking a racquetball to the temple and/or jugular. (Or insert some other awesome way to die here.)

So although I have been exercising like a boss in 2012, my eating was less than awesome. I cheated…a lot. You can ask anyone who has been doing this weight loss thing for a while and they will tell you that it just gets tough. It gets hard to choose the steamed veggies over the mac n’ cheese, it gets hard to not eat that second serving and it even gets hard not to eat fast food when you are in a rush on a road trip. The old me (the Year One of losing weight me) would not have stood for it. It’s time to get back to that. I’m sick of my clothes fitting. That first year I was having to buy a new pair of jeans every few months. I’ve been wearing the same pair for seven months now. Time to break out of these 40’s into the pair of 36’s I bought this summer.

Enter Skinny Rules.

A few weeks ago, Megan downloaded Skinny Rules by Bob Harper and got inspired. She said “We should totally try this” and naturally I gave an apathetic “sure.” Then I started to read through what I had signed up for. Oh boy. In his newest book, Bob lays out a set of 20 rules that will make your friends think you’ve turned in to a crazy-mung-bean-eating-nature-loving-wheat-hating health geek. So I guess that’s my new year’s resolution: to become a crazy-mung-bean-eating-nature-loving-wheat-hating health geek.

Not gonna lie, I haven’t done well with being restrictive with what I eat. Like most people, I like having the freedom of eating what I want (i.e. the dieter’s dream.) In the past, I have had that had that freedom with Weight Watchers, but with WW you have the responsibility of recording what you eat. For about a year now, I haven’t been doing that. I have eaten what I wanted and then acted like I was recording it with an imaginary pen in the sky. This hasn’t gotten me anywhere. I only lost something like 10 pounds this year. I act like I’ve been plateauing while in reality I have just gotten lazy and have gotten good at maintaining. So this is the next logical step to kickstart my weight loss. From what I’ve read, a lot of people who have been in the same situation as me have gone through the Skinny Rules and have lost some serious weight. 

Now…I’m not treating this like some fad diet. I know the keys to successful weight loss, and these rules are it. With that being said, I’m trying this out for the month of January to see how it goes. I fully anticipating it become my lifestyle from here on in. Either way, good things are going to come out of it. Between new dietary outlines, my new spin bike (your butt stops hurting from the seat eventually right?), my access to Leach once again and the half marathon in Feburary, I’m ready to demolish some goals in 2013!

The Rules! 

So there are 20 rules, and I’m going to go through them over the next four posts. Here are 1-5…

1) Drink a Large Glass of Water Before Every Meal-No Excuses!

Seems pretty easy to me. Lately I’ve been drinking a ridiculous amount of Diet Coke and when that happens I don’t drink the amount of water I should. Luckily, we have a few big Tervis cups lying around the house and my folks bought us an awesome PUR water filter that’s attached to our faucet. So there’s no excuse not to gulp down some water before dinner. Not to mention you feel full so much quicker after you’re all H20’ed up!

2) Don’t Drink Your Calories

This is definitely an issue for a lot of people. Between drinks of the libatious nature and such, it’s easy to drink all of your calories and not even realize it. I know that can be something that you “forget” to record when you’re tracking calories. Normally I don’t drink things like tea or coffee with any sugar or milk so I’ll definitely be drinking more of those.

3) Eat Protein at Every Meal-or Stay Hungry and Grouchy

When you’re not eating a meat-heavy meal, it’s easy to choose carbs over other protein to get full, even if it’s only for a while. As you’ll see in the rules later on, carbs are restricted down to where they probably should be in our diets anyway. Eating more protein will be rough for a while, but your body eventually adjusts. Plus, I love things like canned tuna and peanut butter which are both packed in protein (and no, I don’t make peanut butter and tuna sandwiches).

4) Slash Your Intake of Refined Flours and Grains

This is what Bob has to say about refined flours and grains:

Grains-mainly in the form of refined flours-dominate our modern diet. Pasta is king. Bagels are everyday. Grains in all kinds of shapes and sizes are cheap and tasty and everywhere. (Yes, he wrote that run on sentence…not me.) They might be marketed as ‘low in fat,’ ‘all natural,’ ‘whole’ and even ‘heart healthy.’ But if they are all refined-from rice to bread-they make you fat. That’s because grains are a lot like liquid calories once your body processes them.

He’s not really saying anything different from what we’ve heard for years, but for some reason we always return to our delicious master: the grain seed. (That was kind of a Seinfeld reference. Except in the episode it’s about the cocoa bean. BOSCO!) Anyway, Bob suggests breads with sprouted seeds like Ezekiel Bread (the kind you find in the freezer at the grocery store.) In reality, they are not much more than regular bread. In fact, the Ezekiel English Muffins (that I’ve only seen at Earth Fare) were only 20 cents more than the Thomas English Muffins at Publix. Not to mention they look a lot yummier than the Thomas muffins.

5) Eat 30 to 50 Grams of Fiber a Day

It’s a lot of fiber.

So those are the first five rules. You think you could handle them? See ya in 2013!

Day 803: My Awesome Interview With Another Biggest Loser

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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 649: The Time I Met a Biggest Loser Edition

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There were about twelve different ways that I wanted to start this post. Some were funny, some were emotional and some were like the opening of the first episode of “The Newsroom.” Sometimes when you write, you wish you could just visually reenact a moment rather than having to describe it in words. Today was just one of those days.

It feels like I am about to start my weight loss journey all over again which is an excerifying (exciting and terrifying combined) feeling. Today, I got to meet one of my favorite reality show contestants of all time (except for Colby Donaldson in Survivor Season 2. He was the Chuck Norris of reality show contestants.) The 11th season of The Biggest Loser had one of the most diverse casts that a weight loss show could ask for: an olympic gold athlete, a 5’5″ 500-pound stud, a Biggest Loser Fangirl from the Midwest and a pair of sisters who no one betted on from the start.  Little did anyone know at the start that Hannah Curlee and Olivia Ward would wind up in the No. 1 and 2 spots in the finale that year. Since Megan and I love a good underdog story, we rooted for Hannah and Olivia almost from the get go. So when we heard that Hannah was going to be speaking at a women’s wellness event in Tallahassee a few weeks ago, we started to flip!
Hannah’s story is a lot like most of ours: she had done Weight Watchers off and on for years and every time she would lose on weigh in day she would go celebrate with more eating (which I am super guilty of,) she also chased every fad diet and would buy every As Seen On TV weight loss miracle available. Between a severe back injury and surgery, Hannah started to rapidly gain weight until she couldn’t fit in to booths and the other awkwardnesses that go along with been extremely obese. Then she started in on the many adventures of The Biggest Loser. How Jillian is insane but awesome, how much of a dump the Biggest Loser Ranch was (the exercise room didn’t have running water nor did it have real walls) and how she awesome it is to have that fraternity of Biggest Loser contestants. It is always interesting to hear about the reality of reality shows. The funniest thing she said about the Biggest Loser was that everything was either mic’d or had a camera hidden in it from the grass to the bathroom. It made me glad that I never ended up trying out for the show (but I thought about it a couple of times. In fact, Megan and I almost drove to a casting call in Dallas for the couples edition in 2010. Safe to say it all worked out regardless.)

So after Hannah spoke, she opened it up for questions. A lot of questions about calorie intake, how many times to weigh a week and a whole bunch of other good questions to ask a weight loss guru like her. Now as most of you know, I have been in a slump this past year. I lost 100 pounds in under a year and have been struggling ever since because I have been just running out of steam or if I take a few steps forward, I take more back. I wanted to know how to get passed this halfway block that I have created for myself. I started out with “hi! I am halfway through my weight loss journey and…” then she stopped me and asked me how much I have lost. I told her 117 pounds and then she said “that’s awesome! Let’s give him a hand!” Then she came over and shook my hand. Now, I get star struck when celebrities even just Tweet me. I was dumbfounded at this point. Anyway, I continued with my question “I know the points and the calories of stuff, I get the formula, but I need that push to get out from being stuck. What should I do?” The first thing she told me was that I wasn’t stuck and that being able to maintain that weight loss was a big deal (which I haven’t really thought about it in that context until then) and then she gave me three awesome tips that are absolutely applicable to anyone who is looking or is trying to lose weight.

Change Your Food. I have been eating the same breakfast and have been eating the same lunch almost all summer (pb and toast for breakfast and a Smart One of lunch) so this was good to hear. The only change I have been doing is going from making healthy choices to eating a lot of bad things and then immediately regretting them. After the event, Megan and I went on a crazy healthy shopping spree at Publix and bought some delicious stuff that you will see next week!

The next thing was to Mix Up Your Workout Routine. Since I haven’t really had access to a gym this summer, I have done a lot of running and swimming which has been about it. Luckily, since I’m about to start a new job at FSU, I’ll have access to Leach again and all of its awesome classes. She said to find out what workouts your friends are doing and ask to join. If you are doing some awesome workout, sport or any type of exercise, let me know and I’ll be happy to join you! 

Finally, Hannah said to Tell Your Story. Yeah, I have this blog and yeah, most people who know me know my story, but I could still be more of a weight loss evangelist than I am right now. This might even just mean being a better example to those around me. It’s just hard because you don’t want to be that “oh hey! I have a blog! Have you read my blog? I was just talking last night on my blog that…” guy. With that being said, I want to help people and reach out to those who I know who are struggling so telling my story through my actions is going to be my goal from now on.

After the Q&A, Hannah had a meet and greet so we stopped by and said hi. She remembered that I had Tweeted her earlier this week which was really cool. We talked about the importance of a support system like the one Megan and I have and how important it is to have everyone in the family on board which is so true. We left the event feeling rejuvenated and even convicted about our weight loss. It truly was what I needed. Tomorrow, I might not lose any weight. In fact I’m pretty sure I have gained this week. But I feel like I’m back at that first step all over again where I got on our scale and realized that I didn’t want to be 357 pounds any more; that this wasn’t the life I was suppose to have. It’s time to get over this halfway point and finally reach the top of Mt. Fitintoskinnyjeans. See ya tomorrow.

Day 558: Thursday and Stuff

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Hello!

I love all of you. There, I said it.

I still can’t believe my Facebook Page got to 200+ Likes last night!

This week I was feeling a little sluggish and lazy. Luckily I was able to pull myself out of it and have an awesome day! Good things. Alright, let’s get at it.

Breakfast: This morning, as per usual, we went to Atomic Coffee before class and school and stuff. I just had a bagel with butter and a little honey. It was fantastic and filling. Awesomeness.

Lunch: Today I had to go to a luncheon for a class. I walked from campus uphill both ways (yes, like your parents did when they were kids) to the downtown Double Tree. The menu had a lot of awesome healthy choices, but I was still thinking about getting something a little heavier. That was when my friend Andrew (the Edward Cullen lookalike) told the whole I was his dietician and then asked for a healthy option. It was the conviction I needed to make a much better decision. I ended up getting a grouper sandwich and instead of fries I got a salad with honey mustard. It was delicious, but it was also hard to conceal my picture taking ability in front of a bunch of strangers. When I got home I had a 100 calorie Klondike ice cream sandwich that was awesome. Then I ate two servings of chips.

Awesome Non Scale Victory: So today I was organizing my old fat clothes in order to sell them online (anyone want size 54 khakis or some really nice XXL polo t-shirts?) and then I found these bad boys. I bought these plaid shorts a few weeks before I started grad school. It was like folding up an American flag. Those things are huge. I was huge. Anyway, I held them up, thought for a second, and then got in one of the leg holes. They fit me in the waist. I know I’m not half them man I used to be, but I am making awesome progress. It was seriously the motivation I needed to get focused on losing weight. It also made me proud because this kind of picture is usually in an infomercial for some weight loss cookie or some shake that tastes like ground up chalk. This is proof that all you need is a healthier diet, a good pair of running shoes, a little patience and a persistent attitude. Oh yeah, and a bunch of awesome supportive friends doesn’t hurt either ;).

SAWS:So after that moment of NSV clarity, I decided I needed to keep it up so I can no longer fit in my current clothes and went to the gym. It’s kind of sad because it was one of my last times working out at Leach. I’ve burned a ton of calories in that place. Anyway, I wanted to keep up the same intensity I had when I was working with Joe so I went after it. I divided my hour into three 20 minute segments. The first 20 I did a circuit that involved stairs, burpees, box jumps, jump squats, push ups and running up and down stairs. It was awesome. Then, I got on the ARC Trainer and did 20 minutes on the weight loss setting which was a hill climb pattern of awesomeness. Finally, I did 20 minutes of abs. Elevated sit ups, this weird leg lift row and then holding a plank position. I felt like I made really good use of my hour, I did what I came there to do: sweat through my shirt.

 

 

 

 

Late Night Dinner: After staying on campus to try to get some work done, Megan and I went through the drive thru at Jimmy John’s (the only thing faster than their delivery dudes) and had a Turkey Tom sans mayo and a nice layer of avocado spread. Not to mention their classic pickle. The healthiest drive thru around.

So that was my day. Not too shabby. Although I didn’t write them down, I’m definitely back in the mindset of counting points and being better about what I eat. I was looking at an older post and I realized it took me 4 months to lose the last 15 pounds to break the 100 pound mark. It was because I was kind of a slacker and wasn’t strict with my points. With my new-found love for weight lifting, sticking with my points should be the perfect recipe for some serious weight loss. If anything my body would feel better, and isn’t that what it’s all about? See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 389: Tuesday

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So yeah, I messed up the day number. I’m losing my mind.

It was a pretty good day I guess, just another day in grad school. I’m ready to retire in to the real world. (Yes, you read that right.) Anyways, let’s talk about food and stuff.

Breakfast: I was out of milk and organic peanut butter (what’s a boy to do?) but we had some conventional Peter Pan Peanut Butter so I had that on my waffles. It just wasn’t the same.

Lunch: I just had some pretzels and hummus (you know, the usual) and it was good as usual.

Snack: I had a couple atomic fire balls which really aren’t bad but I had to get rid of the rest of them so I would stop eating out of stress.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Tonight, I made some chili awesomeness for dinner and we had it with some tortilla chips. It was one of the better batches I have made.

So as you can tell, it was just another boring day. Nothing too exciting. Maybe tomorrow will be a little better BECAUSE IT’S GAME 6 AND WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!! Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 236: Dropping 90 Like a Boss

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Good Sunday Evening to ya!

Sooooooo, if we are friends on any form of social media you know it’s been a pretty big day for me and my weight loss journey. This week I lost 2.8 pounds which is pretty awesome. I worked out 5 days last week and kept within my points pretty well. Anyways with this week’s weigh in, I have freakin’ lost a total 90 pounds!!!!!!! It’s been a long time coming but I did it! I’m only 9.4 pounds away from 100 pounds, and then my friends, we will do some celebrating. This also means that I have lost 25% of my body weight since September. Yes, I am three quarters of the man I used to be. Pretty legit yo. So now I am down to 266.4. I have no clue the last time I weighed this much, but I’ll venture to say Clinton was in office.

Breakfast: I just had an English muffin with with a little honey.

Lunch: There is this new vegetarian/vegan restaurant called the Sweet Pea cafe in Tallahassee so we decided to give that place a shot. It is just a little place on Tharpe but they have some awesome food! I had the black bean burger with sweet potato fries. They also had cucumber lemonade which was fantastic. The burger patty was really fresh and was very beany as expected. The veggies on the burger were awesome too. The best part is they had organic ketchup which I’ve never had before but I might have to get that from now on. It was awesome.

Snack: I just had a small bowl of kashi.

Snack: We went to the mall this afternoon to look around so we went to Starbucks in the mall for some iced coffee. While we were there, I went to Dillard’s to look for some new button down shirts. Out of habit, I went to the Big and Tall section to check out their clearance rack. They had these $90 Polo dress shirts for 20 bucks but everything I tried on was too big! Even this one shirt I tried on last year when we lived in Abilene and it was too small but but I tried it on today I was swimming in that sucker. Anyways, clothes shopping is going to rock from now on.

Dinner: Tonight was our churches senior banquet so they had some awesome finger foods. It was pretty awesome.

So today was a little different food wise but tomorrow will be back on track with all kinds of fun workout awesomeness.

On a side note: thank you all again for all of your support and holding me accountable. You guys have made this process much more awesome. This has been a great journey but I still have about 110 pounds to go so I need y’all now more than ever. I hope maybe my journey might encourage you to start your own. See ya tomorrow.