Category Archives: FitBlog

Day 457: Why Hello 2012!

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So here we are. 2012. Do you remember when the idea of the 2000’s was such a foreign concept? I’m getting old. But enough about that . When I look back at 2011, my successes have been clouded by the past couple of months. This past semester was rough and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, not to mentioned my weight loss has just been up and down which has really frustrated me. Through all that though, I need to remember that this has been an epic year overall. I hit the 100 pound mark on August 14th which was epic. It was a banner accomplishment that for the majority of my life I never thought I would achieve. I guess I’ll have outdo myself this year ;).

Alright, so I didn’t gain weight on our trip to Washington State (which was an awesome trip) in fact, I lost .6 pounds. Not a lot, but it’s a new year and a new start to kick some serious weight loss but! Game time.

Breakfast: I had two WalMart brand waffles and some peanut butter with honey. It was pretty good. Their waffles actually aren’t that bad.

 

 

Lunch: After church, Megan and I went to Pizza Hut for a little lunch date. We had some pepperoni pan pizza we each dominated the salad bar. It was pretty good stuff. I had two slices and then another slice when I got home later in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Since it is New Year’s Day, Megan made Hoppin’ John, a blackeyed pea dish that we made last year which officially makes it a tradition from now on. Basically, it’s bacon, ham, rice and blackeyed peas. Along with some corn muffins, it was a pretty awesome dinner. A great way to ring in the new year.

So it was a good day. Tomorrow will be better. What up 2012. Let’s see what you got.

Day 445: Reporting From Seattle Edition

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What up my blog readin’ buddies!?!

Sorry I didn’t post last night. There’s something about traveling for something like 13 hours that just takes a lot out of you. So it’s Christmas week! I love seeing all of my favorite Christmas commercials like the child snowman that melts his body with Campbell’s Soup (which sounds and looks very painful. I don’t want my body to deteriorate via soup!) Anyways, we are up in Washington visiting Megan’s family (which has been a blast so far) and the time change has been taking some adjusting to (three hours is a beast of a time change.) So far, food has been pretty good, but I’m a little worried about the treats that will passing through. Luckily, there is a huge bowl of oranges on the table that I have been peeling and chowing on like a boss. Good stuff.

Breakfast: (Before I start, I feel the need to admit that 67% of my blood is now coffee) For breakfast, I had two eggs and some hippy super health bread that was delicious. I love bread with seeds and nuts baked in. Anyways it was awesome. For a snack I had a few graham crackers which aren’t that bad for you and pretty filling!

Lunch: I decided to be a little creative for lunch and made some salmon salad sandwich. I found a can of salmon, added some Hellman’s light mayo, a little mustard and some salt and pepper. It was really good and really really filling!

Dinner: For dinner, Megan made the awesome tamale casserole from the WW cookbook. She’s even more awesome because she made a pumpkin pie (also out of the WW cookbook) and as always, it was awesome.

So today wasn’t too bad like I said. I’ve been drinking my share of water and all that fun stuff. Huzzah! See ya tomorrow.

PS sorry there aren’t any pictures (computer issues) but I’ll make it up to you tomorrow with a killer Wordless Wednesday and my favorite SNL Christmas skit. Enjoy.

Day 442: The Saturday After the Madness

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IT’S WINTER BREAK TIME!!!

and it feels amazing.

This week was full of stress and frustration, but it is over and Winter Break is finally here. Sorry I wasn’t able to blog this past week, but it seemed like most of you enjoyed the my initial weight loss post! Anyways, so this week overall was pretty good food wise. I also got some really good workout time in before Leach closed on Friday for the break. The weather in Tallahassee has been ridiculous the past few days (it was almost 80 today!) So I’m going to try to capitalize on that with a run or some awesome physical activity outside. Hooray for global warming!

Breakfast: This morning I just had a bowl of cheerios. We actually got to sleep in today so by the time we got up it was close to lunch so a small breakfast was okay.

NSV: Today, I went and got my hair did at Regis in the mall (we had Groupons! Holla!) and although my new hairstyle was not my own choice (because of the cultural communication breakdown between the hairstylist and myself) it turned out okay. As I sat down in the chair and my butt fit comfortably without having to worry if I was going to fit or not, I remembered the time I sat down in an old barber’s chair when I was in high school and I barely fit. Flabs of me were squishing out like one of those play-doh mold thingies. Morris, the crazy old guy that used to cut my hair looked at me and said “Son you need to lay of the King sized meals!” I was slightly embarrassed, but I agreed with him. He wasn’t telling my anything I didn’t already know. I knew I needed to change so I could sit in a chair and be comfortable and not worry about it breaking. Well it took me seven years later to finally make a change, but with weight loss, it is truly better late than never.

 

 

 

 

Lunch: Alright now where was I? Oh yeah, so after shopping and fighting the crowds in the mall, we went to Black Bean Cuban for some lunch! I had the turkey cuban sandwich and a side of moros (black beans and rice cooked together in a marriage of deliciousness.) As you can see, it was a lot of food and I am still full from it. (Granted we did eat lunch at around 2.)

 

 

 

 

Dessert: So after fighting off more crowds, we decided to go to TCBY for some froyo awesomeness. I had a lot less froyo and a lot less toppings. The awesome blogger/TV host Hungry Girl suggests that if you are going to have toppings to get simple things like chocolate chips so I got snowcaps (which are chocolate chips with sprinkles) and some peanut butter chips. I usually put scoops full of toppings, but I’m getting back to containment and not overdoing it. Good stuff.

More Dessert: So sadly, grad school is wrapping up for some of my friends within me department. My good friend Chip Reed, the first person I met in my department, graduated this weekend so I went to his going away party and our friend Alex’s house (he is the one with the sick Mario stache on my FFK Facebook page.) Anyways, Alex’s mom had made her super awesome monster cookies and brought them to the party. I remembered their awesomeness from the Oklahoma game at their tailgate. (Yes, that was three months ago. They were that memorable.) I had three of them. They were epic.

Dinner: We just made some Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yum.

So I have been alright this week. I’m really hoping that it will show up on the scale. I guess we’ll see. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

Day 438: A Look Back At The Beginning Of This Mess Edition

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So like I said on my Facebook page, I don’t have a lot of time to write because finals make me sad. I’ve never been much of a test taker. I can write a paper like nobody’s business (obviously I like writing at least a little bit) but tests come really hard to me (especially when they are at 7:30 am.) Anyways, a few weeks back, I was interviewed by my friend Kate about blogging for a paper she was writing. She asked me about The Fotographing Fat Kid and how the blog took shape. Well, before it was a weight loss blog, it was a place for me to rant and say weird things. I thought I would share this post with you so you have something interesting to read tonight. This was the post that started it all so to speak. Just to give you some context, I am around 360 pounds at this point, Megan has just bought a scale and I am frankly scared for my life. Up until this point in 2010, I had worked hard to lose weight, but I just kept falling back in to old habits where I would eat my emotions… a lot. So I hope you enjoy it, and I will have a fresh new blog out tomorrow with that fresh new blog scent. See ya tomorrow.

PS: realizing all of the note cards you have written up are pointless and not helping you study less than 12 hours before your final is no fun….

Day 437: Monday of Finals

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Why hello there little fella… lost?

Well if you are lost and you have landed on this blog, welcome to the awesomeness!

So today was the first day of getting the train back on the rails so to speak. We figured finals would be a good time to get everything back in order and so far so good. However, I’ve already decided I need to change one of my resolutions from last night for 2012. One of my resolutions was to get in to the 180’s by the end of the year and I’ve decided to tweak that just a little bit. By December 31st, 2012, I want to be half the man I used to be. I want to have lost 50% of my body weight from when I started this journey in 2010. My official beginning weigh in weight was 357 whopping pounds even. So if you do simple math (which I can’t do. God invented calculators for a reason folks!) that means for me to have lost 50% that would mean I would be at 178.5 pounds. Not too much more than what I was looking at, but it gives me an actual goal to look ahead to and stay focused on. So with yesterday’s weigh in, I will have to lose 65.5 pounds in about 377 days. That’s plenty of time right? Like I said last night, this goal will have to align for this ultimate goal to be complete. Here goes nothing…

 

 

 

Breakfast: I woke up early so I could proctor a 7:30 am final (hooray) so I just had a banana to get me through. Then after the final, Megan met me up on campus at Einstein’s to have bagels and my favorite coffee in the world (seriously, their hazelnut vanilla coffee is the bomb. It will literally blow up in your mouth and shrapnel of deliciousness with demolish your tastebuds.) Anyways, I had an everything bagel with cream cheese. It was pretty good and it held me over pretty well.

Lunch: For lunch, I made microwaved a Chicken Suaza Smart One. Delicious, but nothing too exciting there. Just a good ol’ lunch.For dessert I had an orange.

Pre-Workout Snack: Before we headed over to Leach, I had a piece of toast with peanut butter. It was amazing. I also had some caramel rice cakes because they are awesome too.

 

 

 

Workout time!: Once again, I have made Leach my second home on campus. Even though we went during “rush hour” I was still able to snag one of the last working bikes to do about a 30 minute ride. For the longest time, I was scared of the bikes. The small seat hurt my large butt, and it wore me out. Now, my butt is fine (in more ways than one ;)) and it still wears me out, but the latter is okay with me. Like I said, I did a 30 minute ride and by the end of it I was soaked and my entire body hurt from my shoulders to my hips. I was just overall sore. It felt awesome. I can’t wait to get better at the bike so I can maybe get up the courage to try a 40 minute spin class at FSU. Anyone care to join me? Misery loves company…

After I got home I had another banana.

 

Dinner: Megan made some awesome chili for dinner. It was… well, awesome. Like yesterday with the mac n cheese, I was able to limit myself to just one bowl while being able to be content with what I had. My issues with seconds has always been that I just want to keep eating because it’s so good, not necessarily that I am still hungry. I’m finally learning how to handle that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: So like I said a while back, I wanted y’all to call me out if I had toppings on my froyo the next time I go. Well, I think you’ll be pretty proud. Look mom! No toppings! Now I know what you might be thinking, and yes that is a waffle bowl. What I have found out is that if I use the waffle bowl as a delicious container, then I don’t get as much froyo overall. And since a waffle bowl that size is not that many calories, it totally makes it worth it. So judge if you must, but get over it.

Well that’s about it for today. I don’t have a final tomorrow, but I do on Wednesday morning at 7:30 am (WHO THE CRAP THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA? WHO IS UP AND FUNCTIONING THAT EARLY!?!) so I’ll be studying for that all day, along with some gym time in there to get the endorphins kicking. See ya tomorrow.

PS: Check out my new Fotographing Fat Kid meme generator! Are you creative? Make one and then let me know so I can check it out. Better yet, upload it to my awesome Facebook Page. NOW GO GET THOSE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING!

Day 431: Tuesday Stuff

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What up!

I have almost lost my mind. Yes ladies and germs it is once again finals time… well kind of. My awesome professor decided to put his final on the last day of class instead of during finals week and although it frees up my next week to study for other classes, right about now I’m not digging the idea. It stinks and I hate it. Anywho, so I am taking a study break to blog and decompress a little. I really wish my brain worked like a scanner where I could look at something, memorize it, and WHABAM! A+. Oh yeah, that’s called a photographic memory. Unfortunately this self-diagnosed dyslexic test anxiety kid does not have that luxury. My strategy? Put the note cards up my nose and pray I don’t sneeze and paper cut my nasal passages. (What am I even talking about at this point? Who reads this crap?)

Anyways, I finally really have my appetite back and I’m slowly back to full hydration (aka clear pee) after the weekend from the hot place (and yes, I mean South Florida) so today food wise was pretty good, but I’m planning on being completely back on the weight loss bandwagon by tomorrow.

Breakfast: I had a bowl of Grape Nuts which was a pretty filling breakfast as usual. Nothing too exciting there.

Lunch With FSU’s Finest: So funny story… I have a class inside a part of Doak Campbell Stadium (yes, my school is better than yours) and I usually wait for my afternoon class in this one open room. It’s usually pretty quiet, nothing too exciting ever happens in there, until today. I was eating my leftover cheese pizza from last night and all of the sudden from the hidden wing of this room I hear Jimbo Fisher’s classic southern accent that could melt any Southern Belle (including this Southern Belle OH MY LANDS! I HAVE THE VAPORS!) It was the one and only Jimbo Fisher! He was holding a press conference about the upcoming bowl game and recapping the season. The PR side of me loved how he handled the press (he asserted authority and controlled the conversation) and the fanboy side of me loved what he had to say about the season. It made for an entertaining lunch.

 

Dinner: I took a study break and made dinner. Cooking really centers me, if anything it just takes my mind off of the rest of the day. Anyways, tonight I made spaghetti with turkey Italian sausage and onions. I used Butterball Italian Sausage (which has less calories and fat than Jennie-O) and our favorite Spinach and Cheese spaghetti sauce from H-E-B in Texas. (And the answer is yes, I would move back to Texas in a heartbeat just for H-E-B. And if you are reading this H-E-B, I would love to run your Multicultural Marketing department and you would only have to pay me in Central Market brand peanut butter and spinach and cheese spaghetti sauce. Oh yeah, and fresh tortillas. Wow this is a long tangent.) Anyways, I also used whole wheat angel hair pasta that made it all the more awesome. Overall, it was a successful meal!

So food wasn’t that bad at all today. I did have a few caramel Quaker rice crisps (which taste exactly like caramel corn!) and they are like 2 points for 13 crisps. I’ll probably have a few more of those before the night ends (which is not in sight sadly to say.) See ya tomorrow. Wish me luck.

P.S. WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH VIDEO TOMORROW! GET STOKED!!!

 

Day 428: A Boring Saturday

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Nothing like a boring Saturday full of homework and non-fun stuff to make you wish we weren’t in grad school any more. It was not the funnest Saturday, but the end is sight. (While we only have a two week winter break, I’m going to make the most of it by doing nothing.) Also, I know I went on a huge schpeal about being consistent with blogging earlier this week, but it is just so hard with so much going on with school. I really need to keep blogging though, if anything for my sanity and at least some shred of disciple and accountability to keep at it.

So food today wasn’t bad, but it was just weird with the timing of meals so I don’t know how that will play in to the weigh in tomorrow. Here’s what I’m talking about…

Breakfast: I got up pretty early for a Saturday to get some homework done. I had a wafflewich with peanut butter and honey which was delicious. Nothing too new.

Breakfast Part 2: Son of Breakfast (What am I talking about?): After Megan got up, we decided to have a brunch of sorts so I took a writing break and went to Bruegger’s Bagels. We had talked about going there earlier this week and the plan was to walk to Bruegger’s, but I was running short on time. In hindsight, I should have took the time and get at least a little exercise in today. That’s the mindset I need to get back in to if I want to meet my goals because every little does count.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: I think I have a problem (and I don’t mean that in a funny way). I might be addicted to frozen yogurt. If it was just yogurt it would be okay, but I have become a topping fiend which is where the calories really are. I’ve decided that the next time I got for FroYo, I’m doing no toppings and straight yogurt. (And if I put up a picture of FroYo with toppings next time, I better get some backlash in comment form. I need that accountability at this point.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: With Megan being sick, I was thinking “hey! I have a get out of jail free card” for dinner because I’m an idiot. I had my favorite curry from Mr. Roboto’s, but it just didn’t taste the same. Something that rich used to satisfy me, but this time around it made me physically sick (frankly, looking at this picture is making me sick right now.) About halfway in, I was almost full, I should have just quit then, but I didn’t listen to my body like I should have. I’m still having issues with eating everything on my plate and I’m going to get back to that.

So you are probably thinking “man Nathan, you sound pretty pissed in this post.” If you thought that, you are absolutely right. Honestly, I have been weighing this week to see where I am after gaining 8 pounds over Thanksgiving. At one point I was back down to 243 (I was at 242 before the trip) so I would have gained and lost 8 pounds within a week which would have been legit. Well I weighed this morning and even though I had worked out a lot this week, I was back up to 245. Like usual, I have no clue how it’s going to go tomorrow, but we’ll see. Either way, workout will be happening this week. See ya tomorrow.

Day 424: Getting Back in to the Swing of Things Edition

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So… sorry I didn’t report my weigh in yesterday. It was kind of an unusual day. There have been days where I haven’t blogged not necessarily because I’m a little ashamed of how I did, but it does play a factor in to whether I make it a priority that day. It’s a bad habit that I really need to drop because I know I have your support and love no matter what. It use to be that not blogging was not an option, and I need to be in that mindset in order to make this blog what I want it to be: an online diary/food journal where I can bounce ideas off of my homies and in turn hopefully inspire some people to make a positive change in their life.

Alright, so one of my goals this month was to not gain any weight over Thanksgiving. Last year, I lost a bunch like a boss. Well this year, I blew it out of the water 🙂 in a horrible way :(. I gained 8 pounds last week. We all have trigger foods, and this week I didn’t guard myself from them like I should have. On Sunday, I did mention that I ate small slices of pie, but those small slices still add up very quickly. I thought I was doing okay, but this proved to me that my issues with food are still real and apparent in my life. The weigh in on Monday was a wake up call, but it also scared me because I was kind of working without a net so to speak last week, and I failed miserably. All my life, I have been in eating extremes, I’m either doing really well and losing weight constantly or I’m eating wrong and gaining weight rapidly (i.e. all my life). I’m really worried about how I’m going to maintain when I meet my goal. As with everything though, I’m going to face this head beast head on and dominate.

Non Scale Victory: Last night, we put up the Christmas tree and although I feel really chunky this week, I have this to hang my hat on….

This was the old us from 2009. We still lived in Abilene, Texas in our 400 square foot apartment (I’m still not sure how I maneuvered in that apartment, but I remember it not going that well…) Anyways, As you can see, I was pretty huge and my life was just in a rough place on a lot of levels. I’m wearing a XXL sweater.

 

 

 

 

This was me in our new place in Tallahassee last year. I had just started our weight loss journey and I had just bought my first XL shirt well… ever.

 

 

 

 

 

This is me last night, about two years later. Rocking one of my first size Large shirts. There is a lot less chin and a lot less boob in this shot. I know this week has been rough, but this made me feel really good. Regardless, I have made great strides in the past two years. For some that feels like too much time to make such a change (I used to be one of them) but the time has flown by and I still feel much better than I did in that gray sweater and size 52 shorts.

The rest of this week is about getting my body back in to shape, not just physically, but also my mental relationship with food by telling myself it’s okay to be a little hungry and that grazing is a bad habit. Tomorrow, expect a picture of a points list of what I ate. Also, expect a video. See ya tomorrow.

Day 407: Where in the World is The Fotographing Fat Kid?

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So you’re probably wondering why I haven’t posted this week at all (I’m pretty sure it is a record, but a bad record like the number of jelly beans you can fit up your nose.) It’s been a crazy week to say the least. I am currently in San Francisco! Megan is here for a conference, so I tagged along and I’m staying with my old ACU bud Spencer. This is my first time time to visit California and I freaking love it. The weather is awesome, the people are cool and the food is ridiculous. Which brings me to my next point, this town is a foodie’s dream. There is absolutely no reason to ever go to a chain, especially coffee places like Starbucks. So far, the places we have gone to have been just awesome. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t really been keeping close to my diet this week. I could say that I’m on vacation, hiking up the 45 degree angle hills burns enough calories, and that my hike around the Golden Gate Bridge/the ocean should cover it, but I won’t. I should be better and I’m going to try to be better the rest of the week. It’s just so hard when there are so many new places to try. Thoughts?

Anyways, I’ve enjoyed my trip so far and while I’m still going to enjoy it in regards to eating, I’m going to take it from a different approach which will mean more portion control and water drinking. (Sorry for such a ginormous run on sentence.) I won’t be able to weigh tomorrow, so weigh in will be on Tuesday with a full report then. I really want to drop some weight before seeing my family in Texas over Thanksgiving, plus I want to get to my 235 goal for November. I’ll have to get busy!

So here are a few pics of the trip so far. Like I said earlier, I hiked up to the Hall of Legions and then took the coastal trail towards the Golden Gate Bridge. As I was getting close, it started to pour so I called it good for now. Enjoy!