First Thursday Weigh In

Posted on September 11, 2014 by theffkid

Hello kids!

So The Biggest Loser started tonight and it’s…wait for it…

ALL FORMER JOCKS!

That’s right, after a season that ended with a crazy, and incredibly controversial, twist, this season is deviating from the average joe troupe to former athletes. This is going to be interesting for a lot of reasons. I guarantee there will be a lot of bruised egos, some annoying contestants, and some AWESOME transformations. I’m curious to see how this season goes and how it’s received by an audience who, from anecdotal and personal experience, were possibly bullied by people like them. (Again, I realize that comment might be a little general, but as a kid who was bullied by jocks, I don’t think I’m completely off base.)

Alright…Shifting gears.

On Sunday, I decided to change up my weigh-in date for a few different reasons. Namely, I didn’t think the number on the scale was telling the whole story (not that it ever really does. At the end of the day, it is just a number.) So on Sunday, I weighed in at 262 pounds (tailgating took its toll, y’all) and I knew that it was a little inflated. When I got on the scale this morning, I didn’t think I was going to lose even though I had worked out almost every day and had incorporated a lot of fruits, veggies, nuts and beans, into my diet. This morning, I weighed in at 255.6 so I lost 6.4 pounds! HUZZAH!!!!!!

After that loss, I’m really ready to hit the ground running. I wasn’t perfect today, but I still ate an amazing salad for lunch and I walked a ton around campus for work! I’m definitely making some headway. I know this might sound crazy, but I feel like if I can string together two weeks with losses that I will mentally get through this funk I’ve been in. Henrietta and I have been had some killer wins thanks to Daily Burn, but now I just need a few wins on the scale to tie it all together.

Here’s to another awesome week!

Slight Program Change

Posted on September 7, 2014 by theffkid

Television is a funny thing.
In a media where the objective of a network is to optimize advertising revenue; the original purpose of a channel, to create entertaining programming, is sometimes lost in the shuffle. I mean, how else could the cast of “Friends” make over a million dollars an episode in the early 2000’s? They weren’t producing a tangible product like a Ferrari or a mining for a precious commodity like oil; the only thing you could say they were creating was a few sarcastic Chandler zingers and the most frustrating couple in the history of television. (Sorry Ross and Rachel, “we were on a break” is not a great argument in a relationship. Also, how the crap did Ross, the loserest of losers, even finally land the ridiculously fantastically awesome Rachel? Or Maurice the Monkey for that matter?)

But I digress…

Because of this monstrous ability to generate revenue, shows will get rearranged, or even cancelled, if a another show is more likely to make more moolah in a certain time slot. That’s why “The Big Bang Theory,” another show where the main characters are making about a million an episode, is getting moved back to Monday night from Thursday night to make way for network’s new Thursday Night Football. Not only does the NFL rake in a serious amount of viewers, the price tag for an ad for a football game dwarfs the amount companies pay for that time slot when a sitcom is running. CBS is taking advantage of a situation to better their corporation and chances of making more said moolah.

Enter: the point of why I’m even bringing this up.

For the past two weeks, the number on the scale when I’ve weighed in has been inflated since I treat my Saturday like a cheat day.

My weekly schedule looks like this:
Monday-Thursday: Stay really strict with my eating and go on some seriously intense, yet gratifying, dates with Henrietta the Kettlebell.
Friday: Indulge with a nice, but sensible, dinner while still exercising
Saturday: Cook out, let loose with some friends, tailgate, celebrate not working, etc.
Sunday: Weigh in and feel absolutely terrible about life for most of the day, only to weigh in again later in the day to see that my morning weight was actually 4 pounds less than the number I put in earlier that morning.

This has been cycle of hell for a long time. While I have fun on Saturday, I spend my whole Sunday thinking “why did I even go hang out and eat anything at all yesterday? I feel like such an idiot. I should have just stayed home, eaten crackers, and slept until my Sunday morning weigh-in.” And this isn’t even when I go out and do wild and crazy stuff. This happens even when I eat at a place like Subway. I kind of wish this was all hyperbolic, but it’s not.
I love being social and that’s what makes this all so hard. I love hanging out with people and enjoying this time in my life. What I hate is how I treat myself after I’ve overeaten. I need a few hours of feeling “normal” to balance out how hard it is for me to stay on track the whole week. I’m sure that might so crazy to some of you, but that’s my life. I have to work hard to avoid gaining back all my weight and the longer I go on this journey, the harder it is not to let the rope slip through my fingers.

I have been thinking about this for a while and although this isn’t a complete solution, I am going to give this a try. I think it’s time for me to move around my regularly-scheduled programing to optimize the profits of my life. Starting this week, I’m going to change my weigh-in day to Thursday. I want to see what happens when I weigh in during the week and not in the middle of when I might eat something with a lot of sodium in it. I want to see how that will affect my attitude towards the weekend. This doesn’t mean I’m going to be able to just YOLO my whole weekend. This means I’ll have to actually count on the weekends instead of like now where I don’t count and throw a mental pitty party on Saturdays. I know it might sound crazy, and that’s fine. We’ll see how this all goes together. So on Thursday, I’ll be weighing in. Here goes nothing.

September Goals and Stuff

Posted on September 2, 2014 by theffkid

Because…owls.

The semester has begun.
Hang on to your butts.

Now that September is finally here, I’ve realized that I want to end this year (because January will be here before you can sing “Let it Go”) with an epic bang. I really feel that I have put myself in the position to finally be done with this extra weight. Between my love affair with Henrietta the Kettlebell and tweaking my eating habits, I know that the weight will start to drop and my body will start to tone. Trust me, I’ve already see some great results thanks to Daily Burn’s 3-month kettlebell workout.

Sooooooooooooooo…
Here are a few goals I have set for myself this month to keep me on track. All of them are incredibly attainable…if I just push myself a little.

And yes, my September photo is ridiculous. I just googled “September” and owls popped up. It was a no brainer.

Drop 10 pounds
It’s no secret that I have some extra weight that I am ready to get off. I am tired of being in the 250’s and sometimes the 260’s. I am doing the work to get out of the 250’s, but I let my bad eating get in the way on the weekends. (More on that in a second.)

Work out 23 times in September
I have been pretty consistent with my exercising for the past few weeks…probably more consistent than it has ever been. For those of you who don’t know, Daily Burn is an app that sends you a workout every day that’s a part of a specific program. Like I said earlier, I’ve been doing the DBK workout almost every day. While some days are 50 minutes long, some are just 15 minute yoga sessions so the program is safe and includes those much-needed rest and rebuilding days. With essentially 27 days left in September, I’m aiming to work out 23 times by end of the month. I’m giving myself 4 rest and/or mulligan days because some days there’s just not enough time to work out. That being said, I will work out every time I have the time. That’s a lot of dates with Henrietta…

Blog at least once a week
(Seriously, Google has some awesomely weird clip art…) My goal is to write at least a weigh in post and one other post through out the weak. It might not always something epic, but it will be (hopefully) readable.

The Pretty Boy, The FFK and The Wolf walk into a tailgate party…

Control my eating in social situations (i.e. tailgating)
I feel like this is the goal that will determine the success or failure of losing 10 pounds in September. As the most wonderful time of the year, college football season, begins here in Tallahassee, so does tailgating season. Because there is really nothing more fun than cooking, eating, playing ladder golf and watching your team tear through the ACC in the swamptastic days of summer disguised in fall clothing. A combination of poor eating and excessive heat on a Saturday does not successful weigh in make on Sunday. While we won’t tailgate every weekend in September, I am going to cook some healthy takes on tailgate favorites when we do and grill all the deliciously healthy stuff while I’m at home!

So like I said, these goals aren’t crazy, but they will take some work. Regardless, it will all be worth it this time next month.

HERE’S TO AN EPIC SEPTEMBER!!!

One more thing…
If you live in the west, you have to watch Extreme Weight Loss tonight! It features the awesome Rod Durham from Tallahassee!!!!!

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.

Day 595: The One Where The Fotographing Fat Kid Went To Boot Camp Fitness

Posted on May 21, 2012 by theffkid

cIt’s Monday. Monday. Gotta get down on Monday!

Today was pretty good stuff! I ate well and worked out like a boss.

P.S. I’m addicted to Downton Abbey. Does anyone else think that the theme song kind of sounds like the X-Files theme song? Anyway…

For breakfast, I had two eggs seasoned with pepper and cayenne, two breakfast veggie patties and two pieces of dry toast. For some dipping, mixed some ketchup and sriracha. A lot of spicy deliciousness.Between breakfast and lunch I had an apple and a banana. It kept me full all morning. Awesomeness.

Lunch: For lunch, I just had a Smart One Chicken Suaza which was as good as a frozen meal can be. For dessert I had two fat free Fig Newtons which were awesome. For a snack after I got off work I had some of the epic salsa that Megan had made this morning.

(I know the food part was short so I could get to the fun part!)

Bootcamp Time!: So last week I called Laurel over at Boot Camp Fitness and Training about trying out their classes for a trial run now that I don’t have Leach to rely on anymore. Megan and I then signed up for a week free trial. Boot Camp is located in a warehouse off of Capital Circle and has been open since 2005! The facilities are really nice and definitely get the job done. While there are 5:30 and 6:30 am sessions, we opted for the 5:30 pm class which was the much hotter decision. When we got there, we Laurel and the other instructor Dave showed us around and gave us the rundown of Boot Camp. I felt like a kid in a candy store (no, I’m not trying to promote childhood obesity with that simile) beteween the kettlebells, the TRX setup and the boxes, I knew I was going to have a blast with this. There were around 25 of us in the class and we started out with stretching as a group, then we numbered off in to two groups. Then, there were two decks of cards in the middle of the room. Come to find out they would be the death of us for the next 45 minutes. On the wall (which all of the walls were whiteboards where you could write down quotes and your goals for the 4 week session. Such and awesome idea!) there where the card suites with a workout next to it. For example, a Diamond would be a TRX Row. You had to do as many reps as the value of the card. Faces were 10, Aces were 11, but Jokers… were wild. If someone in your group got a Joker, then you did suicides outside in the parking lot! So you would pick a card, do the reps (the lowest value in the deck was 9) and sweat like you were in a sauna. Although I have done Insanity and personal training, it was brutal but so much fun. Dave and Laurel were super nice and helpful. There were there to give you encouragement and help you out if you were doing something wrong. There was no yelling or any of those weird drill instructor hats and no R. Lee Ermey did not show up and ask me if I could suck a golf ball through a garden hose. It felt like a bunch of friends going through a really hard workout. Kind of like pledging.

Although I’ll have some more later in the week (the classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday) so far I have been really impressed with Boot Camp! Most of the people there have been doing the four week sessions for years, including a lady who has been there since day one! So far, it was the best workout environment that I have ever been a part of. I can’t wait to go back!

Okay…

So for dinner, Megan made a jambalaya recipe from the 100 Days of Real Food website which promotes… real food. It was full of deliciousness from andoullie sausage to shrimp to brown rice. Unlike most Cajun food, it almost light and it wasn’t sodium stacked at all! After that beastly workout, two heaping helpings of it really hit the spot.