Category Archives: Legit

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 430: A Monday Weigh In Update

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So if you recall, Saturday I was really frustrated by my choices in food. I really wanted to take back the decisions I had made that day. You have no clue how much I regretted them the following 24 hours…

As I mentioned on Saturday, Megan was really sick with a stomach virus of some kind (our diagnosis was food poisoning but whatever it was it was brutal) and I thought I had a freebie for dinner that night so I got my former favorite curry from Mr. Robotos. Little did I know that the bug Megan had would come my way very soon. Early Sunday morning I woke up in severe pain wishing for the sweet release of death (you might think I am over dramatizing but sadly I’m not.) Then came the vomiting… it was not pretty. From that point on, I could keep any food down and trust me, having spicy curry “revisit” you through the vehicle of vomiting a laser beam of digustingness is not fun. (I felt like I was a Dragon Ball Z character whose special move was shooting a concentrated stream of gross from my mouth. But I digress.) Anyways, if you haven’t decided to stop reading yet, you’re a trooper and the worst is over. If you have stopped reading… well you’re not seeing this so whatever.

Anywho, to the weigh in part of Sunday. When I woke up early, I decided to weigh in to see where I was at. I weighed in at 248.5 which was frustrating to begin with because it was a gain from the day before. However, as you can see by the picture, slowly through out the day I lost a total of 8 pounds. For the week, I lost 9.2 pounds. Now, does that count? I guess it does. I mean, it actually happened so I guess it counts. Here’s the way how I’m rationalizing it: I had gained 8 pounds during the Thanksgiving trip to Texas and since most of that was retained water and stuff like that and since at one point last week I was already back down to 242, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that I’m pretty much back where I was from before the trip. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

So yesterday, I didn’t have an appetite at all so I drank as much water as I could stomach and that was about it. I finally tested the waters so to speak this morning and I had two waffles and I was okay.

 

Lunch: I had brought a Smart One for lunch, but the idea of Mexican food was not jiving with my stomach so I bought some Fruit Loops at Circle K. I wanted some Cheerios, but they didn’t have any. However, a whole container was surprising pretty good for you. It was only 3 points so that worked and a good thing to know for the future because I usually get a 6 point snack from there that isn’t near as good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: After I got my appetite back around 6:00, I was starving! Through out the day I was having a craving for cheese pizza (for some random reason) so we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. We got some breadsticks too and I had about four slices on thin crust awesomeness. It’s more than I usually try to eat, but considering I hadn’t eaten anything for 24 hours I thought I would be alright.

From the aftermath of this weekend, I have a lot to think about regarding what I put in to my body. I thought that Megan being sick gave me a “get of out eating the same ol food” card, which came back to bite me in the butt. It made me realize that I need to getting back to treating my body better by giving it the right fuel like I was when I first started this whole diet thing. I know how to do this, so why not do it? See ya tomorrow.

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 425: Wordless Wednesday Foo!

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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 422: Thanksgiving Recap!

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Happy late thanksgiving everybody!
It’s weird how long a trip can feel even though it’s actually only a few days long (I mean that in a good way of course!)  On Wednesday morning we flew to Dallas to see my family in Texas. My aunt from Montana and my cousins from Arkansas also came down for thanksgiving which was awesome because most of them actually hadn’t met Megan before. Needless to say we all had a lot of catching up to do.
Since it was Thanksgiving time, there was enough food to feed a small country and then some. My dad, my brother-in-law Andrew (Megan’s brother) and I stayed up until 3 am Wednesday night out in the cold to smoke a turkey. It was totally worth the frostbite and hypothermia, easily the best turkey I have ever had. Anyways, for thanksgiving dinner I did have seconds and such  but I did not stuff myself within an inch of my life. I was diplomatic with my dessert and had about a third of a normal slice of three pies. However, I did eat my share leftover pie through out the week. (Stream of consciousness writing moment: I’m writing this on a plane and the people behind us just changed their babies diaper while in their seat. Nothing like a plane ride that smells like a dirty diaper. Smelly passengers are fragrant enough. Anyways, where was I?)  My mom also made a chocolate chip cheesecake for my sisters birthday so I just asked for half of a slice.
A lot of people ask me about how hard it is to diet and give up the foods I love. Well, I still eat a lot of what I want, I just eat less of it. That’s what keeps you sane. Now granted, I still eat things I probably shouldn’t, but this is all still a work in progress.
When I was home, my drive to lose weight has been regenerated. I’ve been in kind of a lull recently thanks to a combination of school and stress (which is usually caused by school) but I felt really encouraged by everyone I saw, especially from my cousins who haven’t seen me in at least five years. It was the right amount of encouragement and conviction, if you will, to keep at it and drop the rest of this weight. Speaking of weight, one of my goals was to not gain any weight over the week of thanksgiving. Before I left for DFW, I was already up a pound or two (hooray weight fluctuation!) so we will just see where I’m at tomorrow morning. I’ll have an actual weigh in tomorrow. This should be fun.

Here are some pictures of the trip including my awesome animals Shadow the cat and Molly the wonderdog. Enjoy!

See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 415: Super Awesome Weigh In Day!

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What is up yo!

Sorry it has been a while since I have blogged and that November has been a lackluster of a blogging month.  Between tons of school, traveling across the country and FSU losing in a severely depressing fashion, it’s been pretty crazy around here. Anyways, so last week I ate my share of food in San Francisco and I gained a little weight. This week, I really stuck to my eating plan and even got to work out a little bit. It paid off! I lost 3.6 pounds during this short week! WHABAM! Which means I have lost exactly 115 pounds (wow, I did just write that number. Holy crap.) So if I stick with my plan and workout during this week, there’s a good chance I’ll make my goal to 235. Either way, breaking out of the 240’s would be awesome. However, today was kind of bad. Yum.

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich with even a cut up banana. It was amazing.

Lunch: Megan wasn’t feeling well today so I had to cook… so I ordered Pizza Hut for lunch. We ordered the big box deal that had two medium pizzas, 8 wings and bread sticks. We figured that way we would have some leftovers for the short week. I had four slices, a bread stick and five wings. I did overdo it and it sucks, but it is what it is.

SAWS!: I went to Leach this evening for some much needed exercise. Lately, I’ve just felt sluggish and flabby. My body was telling me it was time to burn some calories. I did work on the elliptical for 30 minutes on a cross training setting. It felt awesome to actually sweat. I am officially addicted to working again. I can’t wait to workout in the morning.

Dinner: For dinner, I picked up a BBQ rotisserie from Publix and Megan made some mashed potatoes and corn. It was delicious, but again, I ate too much for dinner. 

So today wasn’t great, but tomorrow will be much better. So stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 410: Recap of Things and Stuff

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So I’m back!!! (Did you miss me? Don’t answer that.)

The trip to the Best Coast was a blast, but the redeye back to Florida was a doozie on my allergies/cold. Thankfully, I am drugged up on meds thanks to a visit to the doctor so I’m feeling quite a bit better. So I was kind of worried about this trip was going to screw up my weight loss completely. While I did eat my share of delicious food and drank my fill of delicious lattes, I did walk all over tarnation in San Francisco. (Is tarnation an actual level of measurement? Hmm…) Anyways, I was thinking I had gained about 5 or so pounds on this trip (either way I knew it was going to be a gain) but I lucked out and only gained 2.8 pounds which means I am at 245.6 pounds. I’m in a bad place I think because I was talking to Megan about how I had an “awe well” attitude about it and she jokingly said “well you should at least sound remorseful on the blog.” While we were kind of kidding about it, it’s true, I should be remorseful about it, to which I am now. This weekend last year, I went on my first trip while dieting and I flipped about only losing half a pound. I gained almost three pounds in 5 days and I was apathetic about it! So today has been about changing my mindset. I have worked too hard so far not to finish what I’ve started. I didn’t get this far by being apathetic, I got this far by watching what I ate constantly and working my butt off in the gym! I am going to finish strong. This is going to happen. Watch me.

One of my goals this month was to get down to 235 by Dec. 1. At 242, that seemed doable, now I have a long way to go (not to mention Thanksgiving is thrown in there as well.) But from this point on, I’m going to work to get my weight down. I wanted to get to onederland by New Years or at least my birthday in January; if it doesn’t happen (mathematically it is a long shot. I’ve always hated math.) I’m going to get there by at least St. Patrick’s Day or sooner. I have the tools, I know the playbook, and I have the [insert other cliche here] to get it done. Time to do work son!

Breakfast: I just had the same ol’ awesome peanut butter and honey on Publix waffles. Awesomeness.

Lunch: I had a turkey sandwich with some tomato soup. A can of Campbell’s Healthy Select tomato soup is only 3 points so it’s totally worth it!

[Insert multiple sessions of grazing around the house because I was sick and my mental filter was still in vacation mode. No more of that silliness.]

 

Dinner: While I was getting my prescription filled at Walmart, I bought what I was going to make for dinner. I found the Butterball turkey Italian Sausage which is only 3 points a sausage compared to 8 points a sausage of its beef/pork counterpart. So I bought those along with a zucchini, squash and some whole wheat penne pasta and made a killer pasta dish. It was pretty awesome and only about 6 points a serving!

So aside from the grazing, I did okay today. Tomorrow will be much better. 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!