Day 9: Monday Time

Posted on May 12, 2014 by theffkid

I’m going keep this brief because I’m wiped from my run this evening. (Humidity does not a happy FFK make.) I guess I need to start writing earlier…
If you are mad, please accept this cute photo of an owl as an apology.

Detective Owl is on the case…

So today wasn’t too bad with food thanks to some smart snacking like a banana around 3 pm when I need a little pick-me up. Those little decisions really do help me avoid disaster in my eating. Almost like a guardrail that saves me from driving off a cliff (or something like that…)

Breakfast
Granola with milk. I’m not gonna lie, there’s not much left. GOOD THING I JUST BOUGHT SOME MORE GRANOLA INGREDIENTS YO!!!! Anyway, it was about 6 points.

Lunch
Megan surprised me at lunch with made from scratch tomato soup.
(Yeah…she’s pretty awesome.)
It paired really well with a turkey sandwich with a little spicy artichoke spread. I also half an ounce of brie and some crackers. It was all about 20 points.

Run
After work, I decided to go on a run. It’s been a while since I’ve ran so it was nice to get out there. I decided to go trail running, which was exhaustingly hot, but a lot of fun! Nowhere close to a record time, or even a normal pace, but it was fun! (Jumping in to the pool immediately after was a nice reward!)

Dinner
Tonight, we made some delicious vegetable curry with a raita sauce. It was monstrously filling and full of amazingness. Check out the recipe here! With rice, it was about 20 points. I was exact with my counting on this, but I know that is really close.

So today, I got to 46 points. I do impulsively eat a few things here and there and then not count them, so I’m going to be more strict about that in order to optimize my weight loss.

See ya tomorrow.

Day 8: Weigh In Day!

Posted on May 11, 2014 by theffkid

I don’t even know how to start explaining why my Mom is the best in the world.
Where do I begin?
Do I start with how my earliest memory of my mom is her holding me when I was crying and asking me “what’s the matter?”Or should I start with the times she would humor my homesick phone calls from summer camp?
How about the time she encouraged me to ask that cute Megan girl out on another date?
My Mom and I have always been close. I am incredibly blessed to have a Mom who cares, challenges and encourages me.
Thanks for being awesome, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

Alright, enough mushy stuff…

WEIGH IN TIME!
So like I said last night, I wasn’t sure how today’s weigh in was going to turn out. I knew that I had put in the work, but I was going to be okay with the number no matter what because this week was a step in the right direction. Well, I had a nice surprise this week: I lost 2 pounds! Huzzah! I’m still in the 250’s, but I’m getting there! I’ve already noticed that my binging habits have eased off and I’m actually full thanks to eating real food! So who knows what next week will bring, but I’m pretty stoked to see what happens next! Week 2, here we go!

Breakfast
I had some delicious granola just dry. 8 points

Lunch and snack
For lunch, I just had some delicious leftover chili (because leftover chili is the answer of all of life’s problems) and then I had an ounce Trader Joe’s AWESOME light brie with some water crackers. It’s only 2 points an ounce! SCORE! Then I had some TJ’s chocolate crisps. So all that was 12 points.

Out and about
A few years ago, Megan and I had a little herb garden in our backyard. Then one day, I watched a stray cat walk over our rosemary bush, gross stray cat belly and all. Then I almost threw up. The cat’s name was Jeffery. He was a sickly critter. Anyway, since then, we have avoided planting anything else. Today, we decided to make an elevated herb garden. We found this rust-proof shower rack (perfect for Florida humidity) and put it up with a few planters. We planted regular basil, purple basil, oregano and cilantro. We also planted some jalapenos and hot red peppers. We’re pretty stoked to see how they all turn out. I had some granola with milk for 6 points. (Does this make us Granola People now?)

Dinner
Megan made this killer chicken and rice casserole that was about 12 points and then 4 points of ice cream. YERM!

So I got to about 42 points today which is pretty awesome. I might have forgot a thing or two (which happens) but I’m pretty happy it! Here’s to an awesome week. See ya tomorrow.

Day 7: All the Deliciousness

Posted on May 10, 2014 by theffkid

Sup kids!

Let’s get this bliggity blog going!

This morning started with bacon, eggs and coffee (6 points). How much better can it get? Oh yeah…BY GOING TO THE FARMERS MARKET!!! We went to the ever-awesome Market Square farmers market, followed by a trip to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. It’s the triad of fantasticness!

Lunch: The other day, we grilled two chili and mustard spice rubbed pork loins so today we made something delicious with the leftovers. I made a modified version of this BBQ sauce on my hero Aaron Franklin’s YouTube series and then chopped up the remaining pork. I was shooting for a chopped BBQ sandwich, but it ended up being the best Sloppy Joe sandwich of all time! 10 points

Activity: The Tallahassee Museum (which isn’t really a museum…more of a zoo mixed with a plantation mixed with zip lining) had an open house today so Megan and I did some serious exploring and trail walking. They had everything from swimming bears, beautiful scenery and pleasant company :).

Snack: When we are not shopping for food and eating food, we watching plenty of shows about food. Our absolute favorite cooking shows are not on Food Network, but on the PBS station Create! The two best shows are “America’s Test Kitchen” and “Cook’s Country.” Chris Kimball and his gang of foodie misfits do their best to create the perfect recipe. They are the ones who wrote the Cook’s Illustrated cook book I bought Megan. Anyway, this morning they talked about how easy it is to make your own granola. IT WAS PAINFULLY EASY AND CHEAP! It’s always funny how we spend money on certain things that are ridiculously easy to make ourselves! So I made the recipe (read and watch it here!) and I filled up a gallon bag or so full of the best granola I have ever eaten. You should definitely check it out!

Dinner: Another recipe out of the Cook’s Illustrated book (I’m pretty sure we’re going to cook through that whole book by December…) was beer can chicken, a classic seemingly redneck recipe where you cook a butt-chugging chicken. The beer is supposed to moisten the chicken while cooking and it totally delivered! You are supposed to use a “cheap beer” so we bought the Simpler Times Pilsner from Trader Joe’s (think a cheaper version of Miller Light) and used that. We rubbed down the chicken with spices, gave the chicken a canoloscopy (see what I did there?) and then put it on the grill for about an hour and a half. It was incredibly moist and flavorful and matched really well with some roasted potatoes. Definitely a dinner win.

So today I think I go to about 50 points but I need to do a little more research on everything. As far as this week, I am overall pretty happy with how I’ve down. I did slack a little at the end of the week, but that just happens sometimes. I’ll be honest, I’m a little pessimistic about tomorrow’s weigh in. It might not be a massive number and I’m cool with that. At this point, this is more about sustainable change rather than Biggest Loser-style weight loss. For a while, I was going through spurts where I would lose 7 pounds and then gain 8 and then lose 6 and then gain 5. No more of that silliness. I guess we’ll see how it all turns out. See ya tomorrow.

Day 4: A Worded Wednesday

Posted on May 7, 2014 by theffkid

So I know Wednesday’s post are usually wordless, but today was a little boring. Next week, I’ll make sure my Wednesday post is completely wordless! :).

Breakfast: I stayed home from work today after a night of feeling sick and not being able to sleep (which is why I started yesterday’s post at 5:30 this morning…). I’m feeling better today, but I’m still not feeling 100%. Either way, I’m going to go in tomorrow after I take my car to the shop. Joy. Anyway, I made this super delicious PB&J Smoothie that I made up this morning. Sounds delicious right? Good thing I’m posting the recipe soon! 8 points.

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti. Noms. 13 points including a little chocolate for dessert.

Afternoon snack: I had a Morning Star quinoa burger and a little watermelon. It was swell. 9 points

Dinner: Megan made these killer chicken cutlets with sherry garlic red pepper sauce and some garlic parmesan red potatoes. It was 21 points of pure deliciousness!

So today, I got to 52 points out of 48 which is better! I also drank a lot more water today compared to the rest of the week. That’s a win of its own. See ya tomorrow.

Day 3 (A Little Late to the Game)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by theffkid

What do you do when you’re sick at 5:30 in the morning? You post your points!

Shout out to all of my friends and readers who are cheering me on. You all rock!

So Tuesday was kind of a weird/awesome day. My eating though? Merh. (Hey, at least I didn’t eat pizza at the gym amirite?)

My Trip to PCB: Since I have the coolest job ever, I got to go to Panama City Beach yesterday! My office is putting on an all-week leadership camp for college students called LeaderShape and yesterday they needed help shuttling students to service projects. So at 6:30 am, I made the trip to PCB, shuttled students to Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida where we sorted donated items in their food bank, took the students back to the camp, ate lunch, and drove back to Tallahassee. It was a whirlwind of a day, but it was a blast! So here are some photos of the day…

So I had two breakfasts yesterday. When I was leaving town, I had a 12 point breakfast from McDonald’s (honestly though, I went there for the coffee. The McMuffin and hash brown were just collateral damage.)
When I got to the camp, I actually was pretty hungry again. I had the breakfast items in the photo above which was about 8 points.
For lunch, they were serving chicken sandwiches with salad. Instead of eating the bread, I cut up the chicken and made it in to a killer salad! I also had a delicious cookie. It was camp food. Pretty hard to beat! 12 points.
When I drove back, I stopped for a soda and found this little pecan turtle beauty. 5 points.

Dinner Last night, we celebrated the birth of Brian Wilcoxon because he’s awesome. We went to Midtown Pies for dinner and it was pretty delicious! I had a calzone which probably wasn’t the best decision since I’m pretty sure cheese is messing up my stomach. 30 points
(To quote Uncle Buck “Do you have a plunger?…I’ve been eating a lot of cheese lately.”)
So on Tuesday, I got to 67 points which is a ton! It was a weird day, but I counted. I’m anticipating the rest of week is going to be a little better. Either way, I’m tracking and I’m being transparent for the first time in a looooong time on this blog. Thanks for being awesome and supportive. See ya…later today!

BONUS READ!
My blogging buddy Brooke Birmingham is a stud.
A few weeks ago, Shape Magazine asked for a before and after photo so they could highlight her AMAZING weight loss journey where she has lost 170 pounds. When she sent them this photo, they responded with a request for a photo of her fully clothed. As you can imagine, this did not go over well. After a few more email exchanges, Brooke decided not to do the interview. Her post about the experience went gangbusters on social media. So far, she has been featured on Buzzfeed, Yahoo! Shine, and multiple new sources. I’m so proud to call her my friend.

Day 2 Kind Of

Posted on May 5, 2014 by theffkid

Why hello!

I’m not feeling 100% and I have kind of a crazy day tomorrow. Regardless, I’m still posting.

Here we go!

Breakfast: Chorizo burrito. Yum.

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti. Yum again.

Dinner: TACOS with delicious dips from my buddy Christi’s awesome blog Food&Fam (check it out now!!!!)

So today I got had about 60 points which is high, but tacos are delicious. Done and done.

Seacrest. Out.
See ya tomorrow.

May the Fourth Be With You…And My Weigh In

Posted on May 4, 2014 by theffkid

A long time ago in an FFK blog far, far away…

I used to write Sunday weigh-in posts.

They were a place for me to report my successes some weeks and to discuss my shortcomings other weeks. It is something that I have really missed. Even if I didn’t post at all that week, I still made the effort to touch base with my awesome readers (yes, you are said awesome readers).

I haven’t posted in a while for a couple of personal reasons, but the biggest reason is from just being stressed and exhausted. I’ve been coping with that stress by eating all the things. I felt like I was losing control of my life, the way I used to feel back when I was 357 pounds.

(I was in a bad way, folks.)

So today, Megan and I got our lives back on track. We mapped out a few guidelines in our lives to create better and healthier habits! When we both get stressed, we lose that much-needed structure that you need to be healthy. We finally have that back in place and we are ready to ROCK!

So here’s the weigh in for this week!
This week, I actually lost .8 pounds which is good, but it does offset my 7 pound gain from last week’s weigh in.
So right now, I weigh 253.8 pounds.
Yes, that is a high number. I’ll make no bones about that. But I can’t keep sulking about where I am. I’ve been doing that for the past month and it’s gotten me nowhere.
So this week, my goal is to count every day and to make small changes that will eventually add up to a great success! My large-scale goal is to string together a few weeks of counting and (hopefully) loses. Prior to this journey, I had never gotten through six weeks of a diet. I would always crash and burn before then. So I knew that if I could get passed that point, it was going to stick. Now, I’m putting myself back at Day 1. I’m finally ready to do the work to get to my goal weight.

So here was Day 1…
Breakfast: This morning, I made a breakfast burrito with chicken chorizo sausage from Earth Fare, two eggs and a little cheese wrapped in a high-fiber tortilla. It was fantastic and definitely worth the 11 points! It was an awesome alternative to your standard restaurant-style breakfast burrito.
Lunch: Megan made this delicious curried chicken salad made with canned chicken, greek yogurt, curry powder and golden raisins inside half of an avocado. We had it with a side salad with balsamic vinegar. 11 points.

For dessert, I had a few marshmallows and then later I had a piece of sourdough toast with this yummy maple butter we got a while back. 5 points of snacking!

#StarbucksSelfie
Afternoon Noms: Since frappucinos were BOGO this afternoon, we went over to Starbucks for a little coffee date. I had a java chip frap with no whip. It was 7 points but next time, I make sure it’s nonfat to shave off even more points. Also, it was beautiful outside today. If it’s still snowing in your neck of the woods, I’m sorry.
Dinner: I made some spaghetti with meat sauce and green beans. A simple 22 point meal that was super filling.

So it came out to a 56 point day out of a 48 point allowance which isn’t bad because I actually tracked on a Sunday! That’s a really big deal for me!
Small steps. That’s what’s going to make this Fat Kid a Fit Kid! See ya tomorrow.

All the Zoodles: An Unsolicited Review of the Kitchen Basics Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Posted on April 15, 2014 by theffkid

I guess I should start this post with the statement that I am not a vegetarian (If the moon was made of spare ribs, I would eat it), I am not vegan (diary is delicious bliss in any form…except cottage form), nor am I a paleo (I am not a Flinstone), but I am a guy trying to lose weight who loves to try different kinds of food. That’s why after almost everyone I knew became obsessed with spaghetti squash and zucchini (colloquially known as zoodles) (fun fact: I actually can’t pronounce “colloquially.” It’s really weird.) I had to give them a shot!

A while back, Megan and I made this killer baked spaghetti squash and cheese recipe from SkinnyTaste so we knew that we liked the taste and the texture which wasn’t as big of a jump for your palate as you might expect. Last week, it felt like my Twitter feed was clogged up with zoodle recipes and Tweets about how easy and delicious it was to make. Even the Huffington Post wrote an article about it! So, I took to the interwebs on the hunt to find the right spiral slicer. After reading a few reviews and avoiding the As Seen on TV model, I went with the Kitchen Basics Spiral Vegetable Slicer. It had the best reviews and it was on sale when I bought it.

How do I like it, you ask? WELL KEEP READING, SON!

First of all, it’s essentially a pencil sharpener.
There is a cap that goes on the end of your vegetable of choice, but I found it easier just to grab it and turn. It’s in an hourglass shape so as your turn the veggie, it cores on the other side. You don’t have to apply a lot of pressure either! Even the skin of the veggie is easy to get through. I would also make sure to cut off the ends and cut off any blemishes if needed.
This is all I got from one squash…
and this is what I got from a pretty big zucchini!
This time, we only did two veggies which ended up being more than enough for the two of us. Since most of it was just a giant strand of vegetable deliciousness, I gave it a rough chop to before I put it in the pan.
I had seen a couple of different ways to cook up the veggies if you want them to be like spaghetti. While I think about of people boil them, I just added a little olive oil and sliced garlic into the pan on medium to high heat. Pretty soon, they started to sweat and pretty much saute.
It took them about 4-5 minutes to get soft. A LOT of water came out so it would be smart to drain them before serving.
AND HERE’S THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
When it was cooking, I whipped (opened) up a simple spaghetti sauce for a topping and we dug in.
The result? Delciousness!
Megan said it best though; “pasta” made this way is not really a substitute for your typical grain/carbtastic pasta. It’s really a dish of its own. Now that we have this nifty gadget, I can’t wait to put it to good use! The possibilities are endless…and delicious!

Do you have a veggie slicer?
How do you like it?
Any good recipes to pass along?

Trying to Get it All Aligned

Posted on April 6, 2014 by theffkid

“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.

#FFKPLANKADAY ANNOUNCEMENT!

Posted on March 30, 2014 by theffkid

The time has come, my little friends, to talk of other things.
Of holding planks and six pack abs, of being sore and things.
And when the end of April is boiling hot,
and whether pigs have wings,
Kahloo Kalay it’s time to plank!
With the great FFK!

Yes dear reader, it’s time for another month of #FFKPLANKADAY!!!!!!

So…what is #FFKPLANKADAY?

Every day in the month of April, you are challenged to hold a plank position for as long as you can!

Let’s be honest, your first one might not so great time. Big whoop! It’s your starting point! Your launching pad to greatness if you will. Each day, you’ll begin to see progress as you get stronger. Did I mention that a plank is amazing for your body? It works almost all of the major muscle areas! Here’s a a great video how to plank!

Since I am a social being, I want people to post their times, their feelings, their success and their issues.
I’ll be posting photos and Tweets and posts about it all through out the month using the hashtag #FFKPLANKADAY AND YOU SHOULD TOO! I’ll be collecting the creative posts and putting them in my Wordless Wednesday posts!

Here’s how to become a part of the #FFKPLANKADAY awesomeness…

Step 1: Post on your favorite social media channel (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) declaring your commitment to plank everyday in April.

Step 2: In that post, use the hashtag #FFKPLANKADAY

Step 3: PLANK!

Step 4: Record your plank in a creative (or simple) way. Like this!

Be sure to add the hashtag here too!

Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 3o times.

Step 6: Check out you fellow plankers with this Tagboard and cheer them on!

You could also set up some rewards for yourself too! Say you plank seven days in a row. Reward yourself with a new workout shirt or something awesome!

It’s as simple as that!

Last year I did a Facebook event, but it got kind of complicated and some rednecks somehow got invited to it and didn’t want to be a part of it and then they angrily messaged me about the millions of notifications they kept getting. It was a big ordeal. Soooooooooooo, just record your planks how ever you like, but use the hashtag too! You could also set a goal for yourself too. My goal is to hold a 5-minute plank by April 30th (or to outplank Dr. Jillian Volpe White in a planking competition. Which ever comes first…) What’s yours?