Category Archives: Weight Loss

How Adam Richman Lost to Food But Won in the End

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[UPDATE]
In light of recent events, Adam Richman is sadly no longer my hero. I know that it is kind of common for people to let their weight loss go to their head, but that doesn’t make it OK. I am incredibly disappointed at how he treated someone who just wanted to educate him on the weight and controversy the hashtag #thinspiration carries in the weight loss community. No matter who you are, you should never treat someone like that.
Kudos to the Travel Channel for pulling his new show that was supposed to air tonight.

Hey Adam, don’t mess with the digital weight loss community.

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Adam Richman Eating All the Things

Adam Richman

Adam Richman Losing All the Weight

Adam Richman used to be my hero.
In fact, I idolized him. The idea of being the host for Man v. Food where I could take on those titanic tasty feats of food sounded not only awesome, but possible considering how much a 357-pound man can eat on a regular day. You see, I used to (well…still do) have the sick habit where I would eat as fast as I could so I could eat everything on my plate before I would get full. It was like a race between my taste buds and my stomach. Who won? Nobody. Ever. I would just end up being physically sick for the rest of the day. So when I would watch a show like MvF or Bizarre Foods, I would treat every meal like it was my last. I wanted my meals to be the highlight of my day. When we would eat something light or boring, I would get depressed. Yes, I was addicted to food porn.

Thankfully, after nearly four years on this weight loss journey, my views on food have completely changed where I see it as fuel more than anything else.

So today, there was an article about Adam Richman and how he has lost 70 pounds and how Man v. Food took its toll on him. You should absolutely read the article from TODAY Entertainment, but I want to just post one quote that is so true.

In the article, Richman talks about how he justified the health risks of the show:
“I figured that as long as my blood work and heart were good, I was good. But those efforts were no match for the thousands of calories I’d eat over the course of a shoot.”
Boom.

If you remember anything from this entire blog (not just post, the FFK blog as a whole), remember this: the most damaging thing you can do for your health is to try to justify your unhealthy actions. Sure, I used to have good cholesterol levels and I could run a whole 5k when I was over 300 pounds, but I was still over 300 pounds! I was still very sick in a lot of ways! Like Adam, I had to have a reality check of my own to realize that a cholesterol number didn’t compare to the rest of my chart topping numbers. It wasn’t until after I became real with myself about the direction my life was heading that I could make a real change. 

The beautiful moral of Adam’s story and my story is that you can always still do something about your health! How beautiful is that? It’s never too late. If you want to eat better, start with the next thing you put in your mouth. Make the change, and the rest will follow.

So, Adam Richman, in case you ever read this, I just wanted you to know that you were my hero then and you’re my hero now…for completely different reasons. Thanks for showing us all how change is possible.

 

Day 31: My Tallahassee Democrat Debut!

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FFK in the Tallahassee DemocratWhat a day!
So a while back, I became a community blogger for the Tallahassee Democrat thanks to a run-in with the awesome TD editor Bob Gabordi. On Sunday, I finally posted my first first article about New Year’s resolutions and how it is never too late to make a change. (A lot of it was inspired from this post I wrote a while back. It’s a personal favorite.) Anyway, I was told yesterday that they were considering putting it in today’s newspaper. So this morning when I was driving to work, I made a short stop to buy a paper and sure enough, it was on page 6C! How awesome is that!?! While I love the visibility of my work online, there is always something kind of validating to see your name and work in ink. Even when I covered golf from The Optimist, my paper in undergrad, I still loved reading my work hot off the press. So, yeah. Pretty awesome way to start off the day! Read the article here!

On the other end of the spectrum, I was interviewed last night by Adam and Devon Bate from the Lifestyle Accountability Show: Health and Fitness Podcast! We talked a lot about my journey, the blog and everything else in between. I said the other end of the spectrum because I frankly can’t stand the sound of my voice. So future apologies for when you listen to my terrible voice and my awkward banter. (But seriously, you should listen to it!)

So on to today!

I had one of those awesome days where I thought I was going to be uber over on my points, but I ended up being okay! Here we go!

Breakfast: PB and toast. Always a winning combination! 8 points

Transformers at Gaines Street Pies

Their tables have comics on them. I take a photo every time. This time: Transformers

 Lunch: For lunch, I met with with one of my marketing buddies Louise at my absolute favorite place in the world: Gaines Street Pies. I also ran into Monica from Running Happily Ever After! Incidentally, I won a Sport Kilt from her blog on Sunday! Anyway, I had two slices of delicious pepperoni and meatball pizza. YERM!!!!! 19 points

 

 

 

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Dinner: After work, my buddy Tim and I decided to hit up the driving range. There’s nothing more cathartic than aggressively hitting golf balls and them traveling to upwards of three….feet. Before I went, I had a 6 point pb sandwich.

Anyway, after we were done we went over to Tallahassee’s favorite delicious shantytown Barnicale Bill’s. I decided to go delicious and healthy with a grilled grouper sandwich. Yes, I did have fries (what? I said delicious too!) and they were fantastic. Dinner was about 16 points.

So today I got to 49 points which is only a point over! I got around 3 exercise points from golf so it all evens out in the end! See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Day 29: Weigh In Day And Other Awesomeness

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Today has been full of win. Where do I even start?

Let’s start from the very beginning (a very good place to start). So like I said last night, I wasn’t sure what the scale was going to stay this morning. Even though I had been relatively most of the week, you just never know. Well, THE FFK IS BACK, BABY! I lost 2.4 freakin’ pounds! I’m now at 251.2. I’m soooooo ready to get out of the 250’s for good. I feel like I am finally getting passed my setback from these passed few months. Time to make some more awesome strides this week. Between eating well and exercising, good things are happening and I feel awesome about it!

Next, I WON A FREAKIN’ SPORTS KILT in a giveaway from the super awesome blog Running Happily Ever After (definitely check them out!) Yes, it is a kilt that you can run and be active in. I’m so flippin’ stoked to get it and to get active! And yes, Matt DelCiampo, I will be playing racquetball in it. Get ready.

Finally…
A while back, I got in contact with the Tallahassee Democrat about becoming a contributor to their community blog. So for a while, I’ve been working on a post about making small changes and why you should start now. Read it here! Let me know what you think!

I’m going to close it down a little early tonight. I ate a total of 54 points which isn’t bad at all! See ya tomorrow.

Day 28 Time!

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IMG_3512Hey! Do you follow me on Instagram? (I swear my photos are only kind of mediocre!) Follow me and I’ll follow you back!

Alright, let’s get to it!

So after a long but good week of eating, I was down to a few weekly points left so I had  to be pretty good. Not an impossible task, but still challenging.

IMG_3523Breakfast: Megan and I usually do our grocery shopping on Saturday mornings: first the farmers market, then Trader Joe’s, and if we need anything else, Whole Foods. What can I say? It’s a pretty awesome way to start the weekend. Anyway, I skipped a real breakfast so when we were shopping at TJ’s I grabbed a banana for the ride home. That was a definite win because I usually grab for the salty and carb snack.

IMG_3525Lunch: We went with an FFK Classic: 45 calorie Herbrew National low fat hot dogs. 1 point a dog people! So for 3 hot dogs with 3 buns, it was 13 points. YERM!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_3528Snacks: Later on, we went out and about and we were both getting hungry. We grabbed some snacks including iced coffee and 2 (yes, 2) glazed munchkins. 8 points. Later on, we were both pretty starving so we grabbed some jerky and Fiber One bars. Yerm again! 10 points.

 

 

IMG_3529 IMG_3524-2Dinner: While we were at Trader Joe’s, we found these DELICIOUS chile lime chicken burgers. They were massive, flavorful and only 2 points for a pattie! With the bread, it was a 5 point meal with a side of green beans.

So overall, today was pretty great! While I’m excited for the weigh in tomorrow, I’m still a little nervous. Either way, I did really well all week except for Thursday. While one day might create a setback for a weigh in, it won’t derail my success. Time to keep chuggin’. See ya tomorrow.

Day 27: Friday Fun!

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I won’t keep you on this lovely Friday night. What I will say is Maleficent is flippin’ fantastic! If you go see it, definitely fork over the extra money for IMAX!

So as you will see, today was a little goofy with my eating…

photo 2Breakfast: We had to run a few errands around town so we ended up at Bada Bean, this weirdly-mafia-themed restaurant in Tallahassee that serves some killer breakfast. Anyway, I have the Country Skillet with sausages, veggies, cheese, two eggs and a biscuit. It was delicious, but also 24 points. It was awesome, but half of my points for the day. Worth it.

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#SubwaySelfie

Lunch: So I wasn’t hungry until like 3 pm so I ran over to the Subway on campus for a footlong sub. 20 points.

So at this point today, I only had 4 points left. But the awesome thing about eating within your points of most of your week is that you have your weekly points to rely on! Another advantage of counting your points! Win!

 

 

photo 4Dinner: Before the movie, we went over to this pizza place by our house that we haven’t been to before which is impressive considering how much pizza we eat. Anyway, I had 26 points worth of pizza. Yerm.

So I had about 70 points which was uber high, but it is what it is. See ya tomorrow!

Day 24 Hello!

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So day was full of so much PR win for the FFK blog!

Since I know most of my views have been coming from my buddy Stephan Pagano (who is one of my weight loss heroes. So much so that I wrote a post about his awesomeness a while back…) So allow me to introduce myself!

Hello. My name is Nathan, but I’m also known as the Fotographing Fat Kid. Nice to meet you! I’ve lost over 100 pounds since September 2010 and you can read my story here! You might wonder why it says Day 24 even though I’ve being on my weight loss journey since 2010. Well, a few days ago, 24 days to be exact, I hit the reset button on the whole thing to kick start my weight loss again! I hope that clears up any confusion!

So, let’s get to it!

After yesterday’s breakthrough that I didn’t need a holiday to be surrounded with food, I felt awesome and confident. Dare I say… confidently awesome! Let’s talk food!

photo 2Breakfast: I was going to swim this morning before work, but I had a crappy night’s sleep so I hit the snooze because sometimes sleep is more important than exercise (if anything so you won’t go to your job grouchy only to lose said job which leads to you not being able to afford a gym membership. See? It all works out!) Anyway, I made my favorite blueberry muffin smoothie with old fashioned oats, vanilla almond milk, fresh kale from the farmers market (which tastes so much better than the bagged variety), frozen blueberries, peanut butter and flax seeds. It was ridiculous, kids! I know it looks like mud, but it actually looked like a blended up Barney the Dinosaur. 10 points. It’s usually 8, but I added a little extra peanut butter because I’m naughty like that ;).

photo 3Lunch: I wasn’t really hungry until around 2 PM so I just decided to go Brooklyn Water Bagels for a couple of slices of pizza. I avoided the toppings to shave off some points. Every point counts, right? 15 points

 

 

 

 

photo 4Dinner: I didn’t get home until close to 8 tonight and I really wanted to just go out and gorge myself on something unhealthy. But deep down, I knew that it was something I would regret. For most of my life, that regret wasn’t enough for me to avoid that situation. Thankfully, Megan, my super stud of a wife, had an awesome idea for a deliciously filling dinner! We bought a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken from Publix along with a bag of salad and some Bolthouse Farms Parmesan Cesar dressing. I shredded up half of a chicken breast and then ate two drumsticks and a wing because I was that hungry. I was pretty proud of my awesome dinner because I have never counted my portions when we’ve gotten a rotisserie chicken. BOOM. WIN. 20 points.

For dessert, I had a glass of milk and some strawberries. 2 points.

So today I got to 47 points out of my 48 point allotment! I’m uber proud of myself today. Time to keep the momentum going! See ya tomorrow for a great Wordless Wednesday!

P.S.
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THIS HORRIFYING COMMERCIAL??????
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Day 23: Monday Stuff

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Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

It felt awesome to actually count my points today. Was it easy? Not always. Was it a pain? Kind of. Will it be worth it in the long run? Yes, because I actually knew what I was putting into my body. When I don’t keep track, things can go south…like last night when I ate 500 calories worth of Corn Nuts because they were there. I didn’t record them so they didn’t count, right? WRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGG SON! Like my blogging buddy Dani posted this morning with Weight Watchers, or any plan, we are responsible for it all! It might sound crazy, but that kind of crazy helped me lose over 100 pounds once upon a time!

So today, I got serious with it all. Thanks to the awesome WW app, I could check most of the food easily with the barcode scanner feature! I’ve never really talked about how much I love the app, BUT I’M A HUUUUUGE FAN! But I digress…let’s talk food!

IMG_3450Breakfast: I’ve always been a proponent of breakfast. Frankly, bacon is 90% of the reason why I wake up every morning (the other 10% is combination of my love for coffee and Megan). Anyway, this morning I made a delicious breakfast sandwich with three perfectly cooked slices of bacon (if I do say so myself. BTW, the key to cooking perfect bacon, in the words of Michael Bolton, is time, love and tenderness. Seriously, cook your bacon low and slow and then pat it down with a paper towel. You won’t regret it!) and two over easy eggs. Gotta love some yokey goodness! 10 points
IMG_3452 IMG_3464Activity: So since we had the day off, we decided to head out to FSU’s awesome outdoor facility called the Rez (yes, short for the Reservation) for some paddleboarding and kayaking, or that’s what we had planned for at least…So since I’m a staff member, it’s $10/hour to rent a paddleboard, which is super reasonable and I was willing to pay it.
Well, for some stupid reason, they only took cash. They use a computer system to check in and out equipment, but they don’t have the power to take debit. I wouldn’t have been so disappointed about it, but they didn’t mention that on their website. So since we had already paid to get in, we decided to play a round of frisbee golf out there which was actually a lot of fun! It was a relatively easy little 9 hole course through the woods. It ended up being a pretty awesome trip! I’ll just bring cash next time…;)

IMG_3458Lunch: For lunch, we just made some simple sandwiches and just relaxed around the house. 13 points

Snack: While we were watching Goldeneye (aka the inspiration for the best video game ever (yes, ever) created) I had some light brie from Trader Joe’s and some water crackers. It’s easily my favorite afternoon snack! Oh yeah, and I even weighed my brie to get an accurate amount. That’s a non-scale victory…kind of…I guess that uses a scale so I’m not sure if that counts….5 points

IMG_3466Dinner: So last week, Megan and I had some pretty big ideas about what we were going to cook today. We were thinking about smoking ribs, maybe grilling steaks, or something delicious and monstrous like that. No matter what we were going to make, it was going to be unhealthy and plentiful. Now, it’s no secret that we love cooking. It’s something that we love to do as a couple, but in this case, it was going to be a meal that was going to take up most of our day. When we were buying food for dinner tonight, I told Megan “I don’t want the rest of our day just to be about food.” That was a really big deal for me! I knew that eating healthy needed to be a priority for me today so I made it one! It felt good to put my health ahead of my tastebuds. Win one for the FFK!
Anyway, we had some Johnsonville brats with potatoes and sour cream. It was a delicious 21 points!

Today, I got to about 49 points out of my 48. Win!
So this week, I’m starting my Start to Fitness workout class again! I’m so flippin stoked. Between that and my new swimming regimen thrown in there, (oh yeah, when we were at the beach yesterday, I did some laps in the open gulf. That was awesome!) I can tell good things are on the horizon :). See ya tomorrow.

Day 22: Weigh In Day!

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Hello kids!
photo 2I’m still reeling from a long day at the beach and an epic season finale (except back in my day, 7 episodes did not a season make…) so I’ll keep this brief!
This week, I started swimming and was overall pretty active. However, my eating wasn’t always the best. I started strong, but I let life get in the way and used it as an excuse to eat bad food. What I’m slowly learning is that you really can’t out-exercise bad eating. I’ve heard that for a long time, but I never really took it to heart. Now, I’m a firm believer and I’ve learned my lesson. With that being said, I lost 1.6 pounds this week! I’m still in the 250’s, which I am not thrilled about at all, but I’m slooooowly getting there! That’s the only way I can look at it to keep it going. Slow and steady right?

So, elephant in the room blog, I haven’t been posting my food like I said I would for a while. Well, that’s about to change…starting tomorrow! I am sick of being at this weight and I’M READY TO HIT MY FREAKIN’ GOAL!!!! Like I’ve said recently, I am the most active I’ve ever been and my eating is close to being on track. It’s time to get it all going and to treat my body the way it deserves to be treated. Get stoked for awesomeness. See ya tomorrow.

P.S. This is a cute kitten.
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Day 19: Thursday Stuff!

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Why Hello!
For all of those who are new to my blog, welcome to the craziness! Sometimes I blog, sometimes I rant, sometimes I just post pictures of random things. You’ve been warned.

Here’s just a recap of what I’ve been up to!

photo 2So this week has involved a lot of exercising. Specifically: swimming. It’s been something that I’ve wanted to start for a while, but I just haven’t even though my gym has a huge pool! Last week, I did some research on drills to do and things like that and just went for it. I know most of the strokes, so I channeled my inner-Mark Sptiz (sans the awesome stache. That will be here in Movember) and swam for the first time on Tuesday. The first day was a little rough, but I just gutted it out to get through. My moves felt a little rusty, but it eventually came naturally to me. By today, my mechanics felt a lot more natural and I was moving through the water like a dolphin on crack…or something like that. My gym (the lovely Leach) also had some swimming toys equipment like kickboards, water weights and pull buoys that you put between your legs so you’re forced to more through the water with only your arms. After four years of the same ol’ exercise regimen of running, weights, and racquetball, it was awesome to explore new fitness territory!
Since my group fitness class is starting up again next week on Mondays and Wednesdays, I’m planning on going to swim on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Between all of that, plus the continuous fight towards healthy eating and the occasional runs, I think I’m on the road towards awesome weight loss! Get stoked!

Speaking of stoked…
FFK FITBLOGGINToday, I registered and planned my trip to Fitbloggin!!!!!!! In a little more than a month, I will be in Savannah, Georgia and meeting all of my favorite blogging buddies while learning how to be a not-so-terrible blogger! I can’t flippin’ wait! More on that soon, but for now it’s time for some much needed beauty sleep. (Seriously, look at that face. I look like Edna Boil from Tex & Edna Boil’s Organ Emporium.)
Anyway, see ya tomorrow!