Category Archives: Weight Loss

Day 944: Another Rough Day

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It was another heart-wrenching day for America.

The town of West, Texas was a little too close to home for me. I grew up 15 miles away in Hillsboro. West was our high school rivals and everyone had a cousin or two from there. Those small towns in Texas are like that. The news last night was just unsettling. Please keep that humble town in your thoughts and prayers. They have a long road ahead of them.

 

Now…it’s time to watch 17 cat videos to feel better about life.

 

So this week I have just been sluggish and I have eaten all the things. That all changed today. I drank a ton of water and eat some delicious chicken and veggies. The rest of the week will be about damage control. Ready to break in to the 210’s!

This weekend is going to involve a lot of running which I’m super excited for!
On Saturday, I’m running in the Palace Saloon 5k close to campus. It’s actually a Tallahassee classic. It should be a lot of fun!

That's right, I'm No. 1000!

That’s right, I’m No. 1000!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Sunday, I’m running in my first charity run!  A few days ago, Shannon from Badass Fitness (a fellow Earthlete) had heard that most of the runners in the Boston Marathon were forced to stop at around Mile 21, 5.2 miles away from the finish line. She thought that we needed to finish the race for them. So on Sunday, we will be running 5.2 miles in Southwood, followed by going to Momo’s where a portion of the proceeds will go to the Boston Red Cross and other important causes. If you are interested in running, check out the event here!

So that’s about it. After everything that has been going on this week, it’s nice to know that it will end on a high note. See ya tomorrow.

Day 939: Saturday Time!

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It's Been a While...I know, I know, it’s been a while. I’ve missed you too!

It’s that busy time of the year with the end of school and other craziness going on. Hopefully things will mellow out soon so I can blog more on the regular. If you really do miss my adequate musings, you have to like my blog on Facebook (click here and like! NERRRRRR!!!!) Stop by and say hi!

So lately, I’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on my food and such. I splurged a bit yesterday, but every other day has been good. I haven’t really exercised this week, but I’m ready to start lifting and running again. I’ve been reading My Life on the Run by marathon runner/Runner’s World writer  Bart Yasso and it has really encouraged me to start considering to not just run, but to be more competitive. (Maybe a marathon?) Either way, I’m getting lighter every week, time to get faster too!

 So let’s talk food! 

This morning, we made erotically-delicious breakfast burritos. One of the top things I miss from Texas is a good breakfast burrito (I have yet to have a decent one in Tallahassee.) We made them with eggs, diced potatoes, bell peppers, bacon and a little bacon grease (the key to the deliciousness.) Added some cheese, guac and some Jaredine’s salsa from Texas. The tortillas where low-cal…but that was about it. The burritos were 8 points a piece and I had two biggens. So it turned in to a pretty awesome brunch. 16 points.
BREAKFAST BURRITOSI had some snap peas for an afternoon snack when I was watching The Masters. YERM!

For dinner, we tried another fantastic Skinnytaste recipe…but what else is new? Tonight, we made something as close to Hamburger Helper as you can get: Cheeseburger Casserole! It was comfort-footastic! You should definitely give it a try!  It was 6 points a cup and I definitely had seconds. 12 points.
Cheeseburger Casserole


So I got to 30 points today which really isn’t bad at all! Turned out to be an awesome day! See ya tomorrow.

Day 935: Welcome to Weigh-In Day!

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I’M ALIVE!!!!!!!!

My awful bronchopneumonia (yeah…that’s what I had) has finally subsided and I feel sooooo much better. Hooray for NyQuil and antibiotics!

So I didn’t really post my weigh in last week pseudo-unintentionally. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if it was going to “take”. You see, when I REALLY sick, I tend to drop weight pretty quickly (like the time I lost 9 pounds in 24 hours from the Great Flu Fiasco of 2011). I thought this was the same case. I was down to 226.6, which is was my lowest recorded weight. I had FINALLY gotten past the 227 threshold that I’ve been flirting with since this time last year, and I figured I would just go back to where I was.

Well…that wasn’t the case!!!

I stuck well within my points last week and I drank water like it was going out of style! I really didn’t exercise much since I was sick, but I did randomly run a 5k on Saturday which was awesometastic as well! Anyway, with all of that I got on the scale this morning and I did a double take I weigh 224.6 freakin’ pounds! I lost 2 pounds this week!!!! I cannot describe how much better I feel! I was wondering if I was ever going to get through that 227 barrier that really has been haunting me. (Oh yeah…I’ve lost 132.4 pounds since September 2010. WHAT UP!!!!!)

Today, I started to evaluate my weight loss journey so far and how things are going. Like a lot of people, after I broke through the 100-pound milestone, my weight loss start to slow down quite a bit. I thought I had hit a plateau (which was half true) but the other part of it was that I got complacent with the whole journey. I started to let some things slide. An extra piece of dessert here and there, that kind of stuff. The biggest thing was I kind of just stopped counting points for a long time. It was just getting strenuous. All I knew is that I wasn’t going to backtrack back to 357, but what happened instead was I just got stuck: first in the 240’s and then in the 230’s, which is where I have been for about a year now. I was dieting but not dieting. I wasn’t fully committed. Now, I’m back at it. I realized that if I wanted to see results, I have to be a lot more stringent than I ever have. I’m not depriving myself, I’m just actually tracking and being sensible (that’s why there’s weekly points.) Sure counting and configuring points does take some work, but when you just think of it in the context of just another step in your food prep, it makes it easier. So to summarize, I’m back, baby! And it feels great. Thank you all for being so awesome. Your support means much more than you ever know. Thanks for being awesome.

Now, in lieu of photos of food and things, here’s a Vine of me making delicious Healthy Cookies from Skinnytaste.

Enjoy!

 Click Here To Watch Me Make All The Delicious Things

See ya tomorrow.

Day 923: Thursday Time

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My bracket might die tonight.

I’m in need of a serious screen detox tonight before I go crazy on a paper tomorrow. I’m taking one class the semester and I’m writing the final paper on childhood obesity initiatives in America. Needless to say a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

So let me just give you a quick rundown of the day:

  • I did really awesome with food today! Got to 33 points! 
  • I did an epic leg workout today with squats (busted my record) and other awesomeness AND THEN I climbed the CN Tower…on the stairmaster. Pretty awesome huh?
  • Suffered from a bit of a food hangover from my splurging. I feel better now. Awesomeness.

That’s about it! Here are the photos of today.

 

(Does my face look like zombies are after me in that photo?)

See ya tomorrow.

BT Thursday Chobani BW SartOne Stairmaster time Omelete Baby!

Day 921: Weigh In Time!

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Why hello everyone!!!!

How do you like the type in the center? Personally, I really like it.

So I have been working out like crazy and I have been tracking my points down to the calorie. It is finally paying off! I lost 1.8 points! I’m finally back in to the 220’s (I mean, 229.8…but still) and I’m making great progress. I am only 18.6 pounds away from reaching my 30 in 90 goal!!!! OH SNAP!

Here’s how the day went down…
Lunch OopsToday had the potential of going horribly wrong, and I think in the past I would have let it become a caloric nightmare. Instead I made it an awesome win! You see, as I was walking out the door this morning, I left all of my prepared food on the kitchen table. I didn’t realize it until I went to grab them out of the back seat of my car. Fail. Sooooooooo I knew that I had to stay focused with my food and not detract too much. I started the day off with a 7 point bagel and reduced fat cream cheese and then I had a snackable size of Froot Loops (I had totally forgotten that it was spelled that way! Weird huh?) Anyway, so that was 3 points.

Screen shot 2013-03-26 at 10.33.31 PM

Lunch: I ended up getting my classic Turkey Tom with avocado spread instead of mayo (it’s the difference of 20-some grams of fat!). Delicious 7 points.

Running Time!: Even though it was flippin cold and the whipping wind, I went for a run out in beautiful Southwood! I wanted to test my 5k time since it had been a while. My time was 29:18 which is awesome! It means I haven’t lost any pace time since the half. One thing I did notice was that my legs are already in sooo much better shape thanks to my leg workouts. I had a lot more endurance, especially when running up massive hills. Squats have made the difference.

EARTH FARE TIME!!!!

DINNEREarth Fare SwagAfter our run, we went to Earth Fare to break in my super awesome discount card! We took advantage of their delicious salad bar. As you can see, I made my plate 50% salad instead of how it usually is. I got a piece of really tender chicken and then a side of sweet potatoes. Their hot/cold bar is such a perfect post-run meal! YERM!
You can also see we got our share of deliciousness! Mostly some of our great staples: peanut butter, eggs, Tillamook cheddar, apples, coffee, etc. but I also got a few pears! They’re so good this time of the year (actually, I have no clue when pears are ripe…) We also got two bottles of kombucha that we drank on the way home. Overall, it was a pretty awesome haul! Can’t for the many other awesome trips to come!

So today I got to about 25 points (give or take). Even if my estimate is a little off, I still have exercise points. Awesomeness!

See ya tomorrow.

Day 920: Monday Awesomeness

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Don’t Blink.

(Doctor Who is dominating my life…)

Today has been pretty crazy! Had so much going on that my head is going to explode! Frankly, I’m not really sure where to begin! (I guess the beginning is a good place to start…)

Here are the highlights:

Breakfast: Peanut butter and banana on toasted flatbread. 3.5 points

Cheerios with a side of Duckface

Cheerios with a side of Duckface

Snack: A cup of dry Cheerios 2 points 

LunchLunch: Last night, Megan made this AMAZING sausage and peppers combo so I had some of the leftovers for lunch! I toasted up a flatbread and put hummus on one side. It made for an awesome little pita thingy (words…not good with them.) 6 points

Snack: A 5 point White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clif Bar. Perfect for a pre-workout snack! I also had a cup of coffee because I do that before I workout because I’m weird like that.

I sweat. Sweating is cool.

I sweat. Sweating is cool.

SAWS!!!: We had a crazy time trying to find a parking spot, to the point that we were just going to go home and do something else. Then when we got to the gym IT’S WAS FLIPPIN’ PACKED!!! All the cardio machines were packed, except for a treadmill in a corner. At this point, I was pretty frustrated. Nothing was going right and I just wanted to go home. Then, I put in my earphones, blasted some TV On The Radio, and went to town. After a few miles, the gym started to clear up and a stair master (which is what I wanted to do) opened up. I climbed conquered 100 flights. This evening, Megan reminded me of how big that really was. You see, one time when I was incredibly obese, I got locked in the stairwell of my office on the 21st floor. I had no choice but to walk all the way back down. When I was obese, I always said that I was the healthiest fat guy in the world. I thought I was a lot healthier than I actually was. What I was was in complete denial of my situation. So anyway, I walked down (not even up) 20 floors of stairs. I remember my calves being sore for a week and my knees just aching. Today? 100 floors up in 13:26. Not a problem. After a few miles no less! It’s pretty awesome to realize how far you’ve really come.

hummus and snap peasSnack: After my workout, I had some snap peas with 2 delicious tablespoons of hummus!

Brussels Sprouts on a Baked PotatoDelicious Dinner: Megan has figured out how to make the perfect baked potato…so we capitalized on that awesomeness. She also sauteed some brussels sprouts, slathered on some sour cream and added some cheese. What do you get? THE BEST BAKED POTATO EVER!!!! 8 points!

I also had some grapes. Yerm.

Swagtastic.

Swagtastic.

Earthlete Swag!: This evening I got something awesome in the mail! MY EARTH FARE DISCOUNT CARD!!! This is one of the perks I get for being an Earthlete: 15% discount card. Pretty awesome huh? This is HUGE for us because we really work hard to buy organic produce and meat. This is going to make it some much easier! Another excuse buster! Can’t wait to break it in! Any suggestions?

So that’s about it for today! Tomorrow is weigh in day! I can’t wait to see what Captian Scale-o (my scale’s new name) has to say tomorrow. No matter what, the weight loss renaissance has begun!

See ya tomorrow.

earthlete meme

Day 9!9: Carry On Edition

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Just wanted to check in and tell you that things are going awesome! I’ve been keeping within my points like a champ and I truly feel like I’m getting stronger everyday (I’m pretty sure Mark McGuire said that to Jose Canseco, but my situation is a little more legit…) So I’ll talk a little more tomorrow, but I just thought I would stop by and say hey!

I also wanted to post these lyrics last week but as I was posting it, The Biggest Loser blasted it during the finale. (Thanks for stealing my pseudo-awesome ideas, NBC.)

But anyway, I have heard this song a couple times and each time I get something out of it. Check out “Carry On” by Fun. and see what you hear in it. See ya tomorrow.

“If you’re lost and alone 
Or you’re sinking like a stone 
Carry on 
May your past be the sound 
Of your feet upon the ground 
Carry on “

Day 916: Thursday Thank You’s

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EarthleteSo it’s true! I am officially an Earth Fare Athlete Ambassador aka an Earthlete! If you couldn’t tell by my video last night, I am pretty freakin’ stoked about it! I actually emailed my contact, Megan, (no, not my Megan. She didn’t just make this whole thing up. That would be a little weird…) back about it because I thought she had sent it to me on accident lol. I know, I’m a little crazy, but I was just pretty shocked. Anyway, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it once I know more. In the mean time, thank you so much for all of your support and awesomeness in the past 24 hours! I have the best readers and the best community of supporters of all time! I heart all of you!

Alright, so I’m going to keep this brief. Between a headache, basketball, and a since we just started a new season of Doctor Who with a new Doctor (the 11th Doctor) I’ll summarize the day! I got to 38 points today which isn’t bad at all! I haven’t used weekly points all week so now I have 28 extra points left! Not too shabby! I also took a rest day from working out which was much needed. I needed some rest. My legs were hurting and I didn’t want to injure anything (since I might/most likely run a 10k in a few weeks.) So that’s about it! Pretty awesome week. The whole “consistency” mantra is working really well. See ya tomorrow.

"I wear a bow tie now. Bow ties are cool."

“I wear a bow tie now. Bow ties are cool.”