Category Archives: FebGTD

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 566: The Day That Felt Like Thanksgiving…

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Today, I received from “fan mail” today via Facebook. My boy Will has been my friend since college and he is going to be the next Woody Harrelson (actually, just insert your favorite actor’s name here.) I feel kind of bad because little did he know that I was going to have a horrendous food day today where I divulged in deliciousness instead of eating for fuel. I know I’m not a robot, nor am I made of stone, but I think today was bad. I should have done better. In defense, these past two weeks have been more mentally exhausting than pledging (BT) and I think the residual stress led to enjoying food a little too much. With that being said, Megan and I were talking about it, and we realized we used to always be this stuffed. Being uncomfortably full is a foreign feeling, which is a win in itself. You take the good with the bad right? Anyway, thanks for the kind words Will, and I’ll still be waiting for you when you wake up ;).

Okay, so since it is the end of the semester, there were a ton of parties today. We conquered three parties in five hours (which gives context to the paragraph above.) So let’s get started shall we?

Breakfast: Waffles and peanut butter. Yum

 

Breakfast II: Breakfast Lives! In the attempt to become better locavores, we went to the Farmer’s Market at Market Square to check out their wares. It was our first time and we were really impressed! Farms like Orchard Pond were even there! We ended up buying a plethora of different fruits and veggies and even some grass fed beef from a farmer from south Georgia. (I can’t wait to make burgers with it.) Anyway, while we were over there, we went to this French bakery that we had always heard about called Au Peche Mignon. Sadly, before today, the only French bakery I had been to was in the France Pavilion at Epcot. This place blew it out of the water. I had a croissant that was stuffed with asparagus, peppers, onions, and just enough cream cheese. They had everything from eclaires to truffles to fresh bread. I can’t wait to go back. After that, I cracked open a grapefruit that we had bought at the Farmer’s Market. The last time I tried a grapefruit I was in elementary. Still not a huge fan, but it was definitely edible.

Lunch: I had a boca burger with chips on an english muffin. Not too shabby. And I know someone will inquire so I’ll just put it out in the open: yes, that is Whataburger ketchup. Yes, I have been to Whataburger recently.

(I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.)

On the way to Thomasville on Thursday, I went through the drive thru to get a diet coke. Growing up, I lived by two gluttonous axioms: the best tasting fountain drinks and the best ketchup came from Whataburger. I love Whataburger ketchup, probably more than I will love my first born. Since this whole weight loss thing, I haven’t even been in the parking lot of a Whataburger, thus keeping me apart from my favorite condiment in the entire universe. So, when I went through the drive thru, I had to ask for a few packets of it. My wish was granted, and my life was epic once again. So now I have two packets left. I’m not sure what I will use them on… suggestions?

 

 

Round One: So the first stop was Megan’s end of the semester party at her professor’s house. Now usually, the Musicology parties encourages “healthy dishes” but this year Sarah the Stud and her cohorts decided to challenge the status quo and baked a cake. A Pizza Cake. Three stories of veggie pizza awesomeness, layered together in perfect, yet disgusting harmony. Although I had eaten my share of other food, I still took a small “slice” of the cake. It was interesting.

Round Two: After we were done (and it had stopped monsooning outside) we made our way across town for our friend Becky’s birthday party! There, I had a burger and some baked beans. Happy early birthday Becky!

 

 

 

 

Round Three: Tonight, our church honored the college graduates with a dinner at Cracker Barrel! So we made our way over there! At this point I was getting pretty full, but I had multigrain waffles with eggs and bacon with hash brown casserole. Needless to say I brought home a box full of breakfast food.

So that was today. A lot of parties and a lot of eating. I loved every minute of it. Well… tomorrow is weigh in day. I think I would have been okay this week (I was down in the middle of the week) but today probably killed that. It’s a part of life and this whole learning process. Megan and I decided that we are going back to points and being hardcore counters again. We both have big goals for the summer and watching what we eat will be the key. See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 562: Monday Stuff

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I love to write, but I wish fate didn’t know that. You see I have a 20 page paper due on Wednesday night and my efforts have been minimized thanks to a crazy weekend . Anyway, so with that being said, I will keep this concise (the way I’ve been taught to write for the past seven years.)

In other news, I just bought a garnet and gold bow tie for graduation. This is actually happening.

Breakfast: I just had two waffles with peanut butter and a cut up banana. Awesomeness.

Lunch: We were lucky to both be home at the same time for lunch today so Megan decided to make a delicious lunch. A while back, our awesome friend Andrea suggested to try gnocchi some time. So we took some of our fresh basil and rosemary from our herb garden, added a little olive oil and garlic and created a beautiful masterpiece of deliciousness. It was only six points which is not bad at all! We then split some pineapple. It was a super filling lunch!

Snack and stuff: After my last Korzenny class ever 🙁 I stopped by Megan’s Old Time Ensemble just to say hi. Little did I know that Sarah the Stud had made her grandma’s carrot cake recipe. It was fantastic. I also had two little sandwich rolls and then a few rice krispy treats. Yum.

Dinner: Tonight, I tried a Healthy Choice sweet and spicy chicken. I was so impressed with how good it was! Then consensus is that Healthy Choice meals are a gamble at the beginning.

So overall, today was really good! I was good with my food and I ate my share of fruits and veggies. Good times. 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 378: Wordless Wednesday and Thursday

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Day 327: Monday Wagon Riding

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Luckily, I started writing this during halftime of Monday Night Football. A man has his priorities.

Today was just a crazy day of craziness which usually entails a lot of snacking and binge eating. I was able to hold my ground today to maintain the momentum from last night. It was good to reexamine where I am in my weight loss journey. My struggle with food will always be there. It’s not like smoking where there is a patch to ease you off (what would a weight loss patch have in it? Olive oil? Splenda? Some of Jenny Craig’s Tears? Hmmmm) and eventually you are done with it. Eating is something you have to do everyday to survive so it’s an issue you face every meal. I’m not saying that if I stopped counting I would go off the deep end and end back up where I started, but that’s because I have this community that wouldn’t let me, but you can look back in my posts and the weigh in that week directly correlates with how I did with food and exercise that week. So anyways, today was a struggle emotionally, but I didn’t let my emotions bleed in to my eating habits, because gorging myself with food to feel good is no longer apart of me. The old me’s dead and gone… dead and gone. (TI is legit.)

Alright, where was I…

Breakfast: So this morning was a bit nutzo, but I was still able to have an awesome breakfast. I made a pb and banana toast sandwich with bread from Publix that doesn’t have an expiration date on it. (The mold growing inside the bag looked up at me and said it was okay to eat.) Breakfast was a filling and delicious 4 points.

Lunch? I had to run errands during a lunch break that I actually work during and since I hadn’t packed a lunch this morning (super fail on this schmucks part) I had a Nature Valley bar and a Diet Coke from the Circle K by campus. Plus I got to see my friend Lindsey so that was an added bonus. Anyways, it held off the hunger demons for a while until I could get off work. 4 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: After I got home from work, I had a cup of mutligrain cheerios. They really tied me over. 2 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: So for the rest of the day when I was doing stuff around the house, all I could smell was the bean soup cooking in the kitchen and it was driving me crazy! So when it was done, we consumed, and it was good. 1/2 cup was only 2 points and so were the cornbread muffins so I had 18 points worth of dinner which sounds like alot (which it is) but considering I had only had 10 points up until that point, I was pretty hungry. It was a super awesome filling dinner.

 

 

 

 

SAWS! Today, we got back in to Insanity and it was a blast! (No! Really!) I did the Fit Test today and I did better on some, but stayed the same on other exercises. Megan thinks that it might be focusing more on form than the first day. I felt like I should have pushed myself a little more, but I still sweated like crazy. I’m going to go super SAWSIAN (the SAWS version of super sayian) tomorrow which is going to be rough. Hooray. 6 exercise points

After SAWS Snacking: I had a Clif Bar after my workout, and it was filling, but I need something to munch without the calories. Megan made some stove popped popcorn without any salt and it was the perfect snack where it feels like you’re eating something like chips while you’re eating something healthier instead. 8 points total.

So today I got to 36 points which means I ate my exercise points which will work of me. See ya tomorrow.

Day 245: Tuesday Time!

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First let me start with GO MAVS!!!!!! 

Sorry about no post on Memorial Day but I will make up for it with the pictures and a solid video on Wordless Wednesday!!!! Holla! Today was a pretty good day but a little weird with food. You’ll just have to read to see what I mean.

Breakfast: This morning I had to finish up some homework for my class (editing and re-editing and re re-editing FTW) and it came to a time crisis (not the video game) decision: eat breakfast or brush my teeth. Rest assured, I went with the later (I mean, it was time for my monthly brushing anyways) and brought a granola bar from home. 2 points

Lunch: After class, I picked up Megan and we went to Mellow Mushroom for a little lunch date. It was $5 cheese calzone day so we each got our own even though we usually split one. I was going to eat half and save the rest for later but I was starving so I ate the whole dang thing. Holy cow it was awesome. 18 points 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: As you can see, there is a lack of snacking at all which I was stuffed from lunch until around 8 o’clock tonight. We bought some groceries since I’ll be a bachelor for the next few weeks 🙁 so we each found a Smart One we liked and had that for dinner. I had the Chicken Suaza with some salsa and a 100 calorie pack of Wholly Guacamole. It was a fantastic dinner. Any time you can have queso that doesn’t demolish your diet is a good thing. 8 point awesomeness. 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: After an awesome dinner, why not follow it up with an awesome dessert? We bought some angel food the other day so I had a slice of that with fat free whip cream, lite chocolate syrup and this awesome raspberry syrup made in Thomasville. It was freakin’ awesome. 4 points 

So after all the craziness of the day, I was still only at 32 points so only two points over. I have no clue how that worked but I’ll take it. I still haven’t SAWS it up yet this week but I’ll rectify that soon. See ya tomorrow.

Day 210: This is Where it Gets Fun

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This week is going to suck.

I have a lot due and somehow I’m going to cram a lot of time and energy in to some important papers and tests this week. This is going to be epic.

Breakfast: I just had an English muffin and a blueberry Chobani. They were delicious with a capital holy crap this is good. 4 points.

Lunch: I got home from class and errands around 1:00 so I was starving. I had two pizza burgers on bagel thins with some rice chips. The chips were chipotle cheese so they really complimented the flavor of the burgers. [Insert some variation of “yum” here.] 9 points.

Dinner: I picked up Megan from school and we headed over to the other side of town to set up camp at Starbucks to study. But first we decided to get dinner. We wanted to try somewhere new so we went to Black Bean, a Cuban place on Apalachee. It’s a humble abode with vintage Cuba travel posters through out the place and the condiment holders were cigar boxes which won me over right there. Anyways, I wasn’t sure what to order, but for some reason Steak and Fries sounded good. I was thinking small portions and steak fries or something like that. Instead I got this. Pretty much a basket of fries covering half a cow underneath. Not what I was expecting but it happens. I immediately asked for a to go box to move the fries so I wouldn’t eat my way down to the steak. I started by eating the moros (black beans and rice cooked together in beautiful harmony) and by then I was almost already full. I ate about half the steak and maybe an 1/8th of the fries. I’m not going to lie, it was amazing, but I was really proud of how much food I brought home. Back in the day I would have eaten all of it with out a blink.

Snack: This morning, I was reading my blogging pal TJ’s blog and she talked about something she got at Starbucks called “Dirty” coffee which was iced coffee, a pump of mocha and a splash of half and half. From then on, I was dying to try this concoction of awesomeness. It was fantastic. Since I am a Green Level member at Starbucks, I get a free refill on iced coffee so I got a second one free! For both ventis it was a total of 6 points so not bad at all! (What is bad is that right now I should still be bouncing bouncing off the wall and instead I’m super exhausted. No bueno.)

So today I probably went over a little bit, but if I had been smarter at Black Bean I would have been fine. Awe well, that’s life yo! See ya tomorrow.

Day 204: Tuesday Times

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Sup yo!

So I went to the doctor and I found out that I just have some weird cold virus that is going around the school. The doc just said just drink a lot of water and to get some sleep and that will take care of it. It’s good to know that I’ll survive, but in the process, I got Megan sick! So we are in a bit of a role reversal where I’m playing nurse now instead of her (that sounded a lot weirder than it was suppose to…) Anyways, the last time I went to the doctor, my blood pressure was really high like 150/80. The nurse was a complete jerk and gave me a lot of crap about being big… but that’s for another blog. Anyways.. again, today my blood pressure was 108/50 and this nurse was thrilled! She was like “what ever you are doing keep it up you are doing awesome!” Then I told here about my weight loss and she was even more impressed. Pretty awesome trip to the doctor. Anyways, good times.

Breakfast: I was in a rush to get to campus to get in for an appointment so I brought a Fudge Brownie Clif Bar for breakfast. The Fudge Brownie one tastes a lot like those no bake haystack cookies that mom used to make. Pretty good 4 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: After being cooped up in the doctors office, I was pretty hungry for good lunch. I went to Pollo Tropical for some chicken and black beans and rice. It had been a while since I had the good ol’ 1/2 chicken combo so it was a good lunch. 13.5 points.

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: Before my marathon of classes, I needed some caffeine to get through. I had a skinny iced caramel macchiato and it was delicious. 3 points. (P.S. this might the weirdest face I’ve ever made on this blog.)

Snack: When I got home, I had matzos and cheese. 2 points

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Since Megan wasn’t feeling well, she said that she wanted some Pizza Hut for comfort food. We had thin crust pepperoni, onions and tomatoes. It was delicious but, 16 points for four slices.

So I got up to 38.5 points. Ouch! I was going to work out today, but it did not happen. I am going tomorrow morning though and I am going to give the rowing machine a whirl. Should be a good one. See ya tomorrow.