Category Archives: God

Day 231: SAWS MONDAYNESS

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Why haven’t you joined SAWS yet!?! SERIOUSLY!!!!! It will change. Your. Life.

Breakfast: I had a 4 point bowl of Kashi Go Lean Berry Crisp. Yumtastic.

Workout: So we got up bright and early to go to Leach and it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Getting up tomorrow on the other hand will be the true challenge. The first day is always easy, but the second one is the beast so we will just see what happens. I worked out legs first and then got on the elliptical and beasted (for us SAWSers that is a verb) out 35 minutes on a weight loss setting. It’s really nice just to go in, do your thing, and be done with it for the rest of the day! SAWS! (Also, when you see this acronym imagine me yelling it with my arms up as if I was Steve Holt. Steve Holt!)

After-Workout Snack: I just had a 4 point Nature Valley Oats and Honey granola pack.

Lunch: Megan made her awesome flatbread pizzas with veggie pepperoni so I had that with a big salad that had balsamic vinegar, trail mix and cherry tomatoes on it. The best 8 point lunch ever!

Afternoon Snack: I had some matzos with laughing cow cheese and then I had a tall strawberries and cream frap with soy milk. It was 7 points of afternoon snacking. A little high but it was still good!

Dinner: For dinner, we went with a classic and had Uncle Jim’s Veggie Chili. It was pretty legit. Hooray for delicious food and tons of fiber! YUM! I might have went a little over and had 13 points worth of chili. Still worth it.

I got to 36 points and with the exercise points I am good. Awesomeness. Seriously, have you joined SAWS yet? See ya tomorrow.

Day 230: Weigh In After Vacation!

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What is up yo!?!

So even after a week of being at Disney and indulging like a boss, I’m starting the summer of right! I lost 2.2 pounds this week!!! I don’t know how it happened (it must have been all the walking and my super workout yesterday) but it happened and I am inching my way to breaking the 100 pound mark soon! With today’s weigh in, I have lost a total of 87 freakin’ pounds and am 13.6 pounds away from 100 pounds! I have a date in mind of when I want to break it by but we will just see what happens.

Yesterday, Megan and I committed ourselves to working out about six times a week and eating healthy in order to drop as much weight as possible this summer. We are calling it Super Awesome Workout Summer otherwise known as SAWS!!!! (You have to yell the abbreviation when you say it.) We also created a SAWS Facebook group for others like us who want to drop some lb’s this summer as a place for support, tips and recipes or even a place to just vent. We are already at 20 people which is really awesome! If you want to join, request to be added (I think you might have to be my friend on Facebook, if so add me as a friend.) Search for it on Facebook as “Super Awesome Workout Summer (SAWS!!!!!)” I hope you will get on board for a summer of getting your health back on the right track!

Anyways, about today…

Breakfast: Although I am a huge fan of the wafflewich, I needed to try something a little different this morning. So I went back to a staple and had Kashi Go Lean Berry Crisp cereal. I must have been really hungry because I had 2 servings so breakfast was 7 points which is high but it was really filling.

Lunch: After church, we kept it simple and had southwest chicken soup, salad with dijon and trail mix and a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. It was really good. I really love putting trail mix on my salad. It’s a beautiful marriage of leafy and hearty. 10.5 points. 

Snack: I had some matzos with some laughing cow cheese for 3 points. 

Dinner: I had to fend for myself for dinner so I searched in the depths of our freezer and pantry and got a little creative. I had two veggie chicken sandwiches on expired english muffins and some Cape Cod reduced fat chips. It turned out to be a pretty good 6 point dinner.

Snack: I had a couple banana chips (like 4) and a little peanut butter which was about 2 points.

So today I got to about 28.5 points which it’s probably a little more than that since I might be wrong about the banana chips and peanut butter but regardless I did pretty well today. SAWS!!!! JOIN NOW! See ya tomorrow.

Day 229: Back To Life, Back To Reality Edition

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Why hello there!

I know I know, I missed you too. It has been a crazy week full of good intentions of blogging while on vacation and sending you videos of awesome things and stuff like that, but alas that didn’t happen. It wasn’t for a lack of motivation, but more of a lack of energy after days of walking a crapton of miles while running over foreigners and slow moving people in wheelchairs. We had a blast on our trip though, the crowds were relatively light, the weather was perfect and we made it on all the rides we were hoping too. As far as food went, we packed our lunches a few days, I ordered a kids meal and we split a few meals which really helped, but some indulging did go down. If you haven’t been, Disney is pretty unhealthy but in the sinful delicious way we all love. From French pastries to a cheeseburger at 11:00 at night, I bent some of my eating rules while not completely breaking them. I split a pastry with Megan and instead of fries with the cheeseburger, I opted for the apple slices. It’s hard at Disney because you walk so freakin’ much (we walked about 32 miles this week) that you get really hungry and unless you have a lot of snacks it’s easy to cave and get some caloric bombshell.

With that all being said, I think I’ve made a lot of progress since back in the days of the 350’s; I’ve changed my mindset with how to handle certain situations. I used to just justify my poor food decisions with an intention of denial, back then I would have said “Oh, I can get the apple slices and then that offsets the burger so I’m okay.” (For some reason, people think that fruits and veggies have these magical powers to undo any greasy thing eat.) I wouldn’t acknowledge that it was a bad decision/situation which snowballs in to size 54 pants rather quickly. Now, it’s more about damage control. My mindset now it “okay, I know this is a bad situation (cheeseburger at 11 pm) but how can I modify the meal to make it bearable?” So that’s what I do know instead of just saying “everything will be fine.” Whenever you’re in a situation like that, think about how you can make it better.

Alright, now that we have that all squared away, let’s talk about today!

Breakfast: Wafflewich, old friend I have missed you. 5.5 points

Lunch: So we bought these awesome bowls from the Japanese Pavilion at Epcot that had Owls inside so what better way to try them out than with tomato soup and grilled cheese! Instead of schlacking the bread with a ton of butter, I just gave them a few spritzes with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! spray and it worked just fine! I also made this a salad with trail mix and FF honey mustard dressing. It was a light but very hearty lunch for 9.5 points. 

Workout/NSV: Today was the start of our Super Awesome Workout Summer (S.A.W.S.) Our objective is to workout six times a week in the morning before my classes to get trim and healthy. I’m in a desperate need of getting toned and I’m really ready to break the century mark so needless to say we are both really stoked for this summer! We went to Leach and got a really good workout in to ease the blow of this week. I also got a new Under Armour shirt at the outlet mall in Orlando as an weight loss goal reward. I bought my first UA workout shirt in 2009 that was an XXXL and it was still a little tight in some places. This one is an XL and it actually fits. I was really stoked because the XXL’s were too big! What the crap? I haven’t crossed the “Only XL t-shirts fit” threshold yet, but it’s on the horizon and that is going to be huge because I have been wearing XXL’s since the 5th grade. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah! At Leach I hit the elliptical for 35 minutes on a cross-training program and then I did an arms and abs workout for about 4o minutes. I think the plan for the summer is to start out with cardio everyday and then alternate arms/legs/core workout. Maybe a class thrown in there somewhere. Anywho, I had a really good workout and burned a good chunk of calories. Good workout indeed. (PS, I don’t know why I have such a serious/constipated look on my face in that picture.)

Snack: After Leach, we went through the drive through at Starbucks for their buy one get one half off on frappuccinos. We both got the Strawberries and Cream with soymilk and no whip. It was delicious and I didn’t miss the whip at all. It was still 4 points but wasn’t bad for a frappucino. I used to get the Venti with whip and regular milk which was a crapton of calories and fat (the whip cream alone is a nightmare.) It was a nice afternoon snack.

Snacking again: I had a thing of matzos with some laughing cow cheese and then had some popcorn before dinner. 5 points. 

Dinner: Megan has been Jonesin’ to make this Southwest Quinoa recipe so she finally made it tonight and it was the bomb diggity yo! (Yes… that good.) It was basically quinoa, black beans, corn, cilantro and cayenne so it was only 2 point for 1/2 cup! It’s easily the most filling meal for the points I have ever had. I had 2 cups which was 8 points. It really filled me up. A super win of a meal.

So today I got to 32 points which isn’t bad considering I have some exercise points. Tomorrow I have a weigh in that once again I don’t know where I stand. I haven’t been on the scale at all this week which has really helped keep my sanity. That is another big goal I have this summer, not to be obsessed with knowing what I weigh every five seconds, it just makes you feel like crap and it doesn’t do any good. Anyways, I am cautiously optimistic that the walking will help but we will just have to see. See ya tomorrow.

Day 225: Reporting From Disney!

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So I’m going to keep this brief because I’m really tired but here are the highlights of today and I promise tomorrow I will have an epic Wordless Wednesday with a video from Disney:

  • Had an awesome breakfast at Cracker Barrel
  • Had leftover mac n’ cheese for lunch
  • NSV: there is a heckuva lot of room on the rides now compared to even last time
  • According to our pedometer, we walked a total of 8 miles today
  • I ordered a child’s meal at a counter service (fast food Disney style) in Hollywood Studios which was sadly still a lot of food
  • I passed my stats class!!!
  • Megan and I shared this massive sundae that I ate on my own when I was in 7th grade.
  • Epoct tomorrow. Dare I say my favorite park. What’s yours? See ya tomorrow.

Day 224: First Monday of the Summer Edition

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Let the summer fun begin…

Today was the first official day of summer and it was pretty awesome since we were getting ready for out trip to Disney!!! Needless to say we are pretty stoked to get out of town and to just take it easy for a while (In this context, “take it easy” is defined as fighting off Euro trash from cutting in line at Splash Mountian.) Anyways, so at this point, like the kid in the commercial, I am too excited to sleep!

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich. Can you say… YUM!!!!!!!!!! 5 points

Snack: I had Christian Nachos (matzo and laughing cow) twice today so I’ll just put it right now 4 points

Lunch: Before we went out and about, we had a Kashi pizza which is good in theory but not really that filling which sucks because it was 9 points.

Snack: We went to Earth Fare to get some trail mix for the trip (we are going to be eating well on our trip!) and Megan found some Newman’s Own dark chocolate that was on sale. I had half of the bar which was 3 points.

Snack: Publix had a deal on Odwalla (which I’ve always wanted to try) so I bought a superfood drink and a chocolate protein drink. I had the superfood one which was epically delicious and 3 points.

Dinner: We haven’t had our awesome creamy stovetop mac and cheese in a looooong time so we finally made it again tonight. I never thought mac and cheese and broccoli would go together, but brother let me tell you it is something special for your mouth. I had a serving and a half with a lot of broccoli for 9 points.

So today I got to 33 points again so basically I just need to cut out one extra snack a day (or not eat non-filling pizza) and I will be okay everyday. I’ll definitely work on the because I WANT TO LOSE SOME MORE WEIGHT! PPPPPPIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA. See ya tomorrow.

Day 223: Weigh In Day With Some Other Stuff Going On

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So today has been a pretty insane day. The one minute you’re watching Cinderella Man and the next you’re watching the president giving details about how Osama Bin Laden was killed. As an aspiring social media guru, it was interesting to watch how certain people reacted to the death of a man who has murdered so many people during his lifetime. Although there was some discussion in the living room I was in, most of the dialog involved relaying humorous tweets or breaking news to the rest of the room. The organic conversation was there, but not the way it would have been if there wasn’t 3G or WiFi available.

I did not celebrate the death of a man I have never met, nor will I ever celebrate the death of anyone, but the death of Osama symbolizes different things to so many people. I think President Obama said it best when he called for America to become united the same way we were after 9/11. I really hope at least that good will come out of something like this.

Alright, shifting gears.

So this past week I really didn’t think I was going to lose any weight. It was an up and down week with finals and a ton of other stressors. However, whatever work I did paid off. I lost 1 pound even! It’s not much, but it was one pound more than I thought I was going to lose. This week, prepare for some super big number! Maybe I’ll finally get in to the 260’s!!!!

Breakfast: I kept it simple and had a pomegranate chobani and an english muffin. Pretty awesome 4 points. 

Lunch: After church, Megan had this awesome idea to make taco salad for lunch. (I married her for her smart ideas like having taco salad.) We cut up some iceberg lettuce, cooked some grassfed beef with taco seasoning and cooked some black beans and combined them together for a symphony of happiness. I added some sour cream and salsa to the mix and the circle was complete. It was 11 points.

Dessert: While we were out and about gathering stuff for our Disney trip, (oh yeah we are going to Disney) we went over to Nuberri for some yogurt. I was good and avoid the candy and other indulgences. Instead, I had some taro with a little cake batter with some strawberries and a few chocolate sprinkles to make it feel like I was actually eating chocolate. (Jedi Mind Trick No. 47.) It was a delicious 4 points.

Starbucks: Later, we went to Starbucks and I had some “Dirty Coffee.” Hooray for 3 points.

Dinner: Before hanging out with some of our friends, we had leftover taco salad. Another 11 points.

So today I got to 33 points so 3 points over but I ate pretty healthy and overall pretty well. Quite an interesting day. See ya tomorrow.

Day 222: Out at the Beach!

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Sup everybody!

So, sorry about last night, I was going to post, but I was grading until 3 am to be done with it once and for all. It is officially summer! That is until the week after next when I start summer classes 🙂 Anyways, today we went out to the beach with some of the people in Megan’s department. It was such a blast just chillin and swimmin (yes that was suppose to rhyme) with knowing that nothing is due on Monday. As far as eating, today was the last day with this no points recoding crap. Tomorrow, I’m getting serious about this and I’m going to get back on track and stay on track.

Breakfast: Just a wafflewich of happiness.

Lunch: Before we got to the beach, we stopped at Subway to grab some lunch. I tried the orchard chicken salad sandwich with spinach and cucumbers. It was really good for being Subway.

Snacks: We packed some grapes, oranges, chips and granola bars with us so we could snack sensibly on the beach. It really made the difference having healthy options with you like that.

Dinner: After an exhausting day of swimming, horseshoeing, bocce balling, and lounging around we were all ready for some food. So we went in to town and have some great Florida seafood. I had fried oysters that were lightly fried (oxymoron much?) and I really wanted to get the potato salad which was suppose to be the best in the world, but I made a small but smart decision and had a side salad with this amazing Tupelo honey mustard. It really wasn’t a bad dinner and it really hit the spot.

Snack: when we got home, I had a Popsicle, some banana chips and some peanut butter.

So I know this whole week I’ve been saying “I’m going to get on track tomorrow, I’m going to get on track tomorrow…” well, this is it. It’s actually going to happen. I’m going to get out of this funk that was caused by a combo of being sick and finals and lose some dang weight! Tomorrow, I really don’t have a clue if I will lose any but if I do I will be surprised. Regardless, next week it’s going to be back to the basics with a lot of hard work. I’m way too close to losing a 100 pounds not to keep on track. I mean, at 100 pounds, I’m only halfway to my goal! I still have a long way to go and it’s going to happen. See ya tomorrow.

Day 220: Done With Year One

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Yes it’s true! I took my statistics final and I am cautiously optimistic about it. I knew the stuff and followed the steps which in statistics is all you can do so we will just see what happens! Either way, I’ll survive another day. I wouldn’t survive, however, if I keep eating the way I have been. I know I said I was going to do a better job this week with food, stress does some crazy things to your body (can I get a witness?) so I have eaten bad and have drank way too much diet soda and coffee instead of water so my I think my body is going in to reserve mode which eguals weight gain. I’m hoping to turn this rig around by Sunday so I’ll actually lose weight this week, but I’m also craving some bad food, like really bad (as you’ll see) because with the stress I’ve been craving comfort food and all I can think about it places to eat (which is what I used to always do which obviously didn’t turn out well.) I need to really detox my body and start fresh. I’m on a mental plateau and I need to get my head back in the game. This brainwash back to awesomeness will start tomorrow: summer.

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich because they are awesome and make me happy.

Lunch: So my final was from 12:30 to 2:30 so after we were done, we went to this cajun place called Po’ Boys to celebrate getting through the test and the semester. It’s a pretty awesome place with good, but super rich, creole cuisine. I had the Creole Sample with crawfish in this creamy sauce, bayou gumbo which was also cream based and red beans and rice. It was all delicious but I was stuffed after. Not sick, but just a lot more full than I’m use to.  As you can see, they didn’t skimp on the portion sizes either.

Dinner: I just had the other half of my burger from Monks yesterday which was just as awesome as it was yesterday. I also had some rice krispy treats.

Exercise: After an afternoon of cajun food and some residual stress from the final, I really wanted to hit the gym to burn some calories. (Warning: I am going to have a TMI moment, feel free to skip a few lines down… or you can just get over it.) So I haven’t bought new boxers in a while so as you can imagine they kind of look like I’m wearing a kilt when I’m wearing them. Well, I usually wear compression shorts to work out in but I forgot to put them on before I went to work out so I wore these flowy cotton boxers. When I got on the elliptical, the wedgie was unbearable, like turning into a sumo wrestler’s thong bad. So I had to quit, I went over to the bikes but it was still bad, then I did the rowing machine for around 15 minutes and by then I needed to go. I was a little frustrated that it was kind of a sucky workout but I’m playing racquetball tomorrow with Matt D. so that should make up for it.

So today was did have bad eating, but since you don’t get exercise points for using critical thinking during a final, I’m getting back on track tomorrow. Alright, time for bed. Royal wedding coverage starts in T-minus 3 hours and 35 minutes. See ya tomorrow.

Day 218: Tuesday of Finals

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Howdy!

It’s been a pretty good day! I’ve been studying really hard so between that and grading my week is set. I’m just ready to get this semester over with. Fun stuff. Anyways…

Breakfast: I had the breakfast of champions: pomegranate chobani and an english muffin with honey. It was awesome and really charged me up for racquetball. 4 points

Exercise: For the first time since… well, you can look it up (whoever does gets a gold star!) I got to play racquetball! I’ve really missed playing so last night I sent out a Facebook challenge for anyone brave enough to take me on. Within 5 minutes I got a call from Adam, our campus minister at church. We had a blast! I won 3 games to 2 so it was a blast. Fun stuff.

Breakfast II: When I got back from racquetball, I had another english muffin with almond butter. I think I have a news love, and her name is almond butter. 3 points

Lunch: After studying until around 2:00, I went over to Jimmy John’s for some sub awesomeness. I went with the veggie without the mayo and one of their awesome whole pickles. Since I ate it at home, I just put some light mayo on and it tasted just as epic. 9 points.

Snack: while grading, I had a bowl of rice krispies. Only 3 points. 

Dinner: Megan’s class of four had their big final presentation tonight so they decided to go to Mellow Mushroom. (I know, poor me. Mellow Mushroom twice in 24 hours. Ah, the life I live.) Anyways, it was $5 cheese calzone night so we ate really cheap! 13 points.

So today I got to 32 points which is over but I’m getting closer to getting back to my 30 point allotment. I really need to get it back down so I can actually lose weight! Tomorrow is going to be better. See ya tomorrow.