“Go be awesome!”

Posted on March 22, 2018 by theffkid

I’m writing this on my flight to DFW. [Composing it in Monk’s Coffee Shop in Abilene while eating a cream cheese brownie from McKay’s Bakery.] It’s that point in the flight where they’re hustling their credit card, an indicator that there’s at least enough time to sign up for a credit card but not much else. Also, the lady across the aisle from me just picked her nose and ate while watching Murder on the Orient Express, a different indicator that I’ve been on this flight long enough that we’re a little too comfortable with each other.

Now…where was I?

After months of preparation, self-doubt, anxiousness and imposter syndrome, I’m on my way to Abilene, Texas to share my story at TEDxACU. I’ve rehearsed my talk with coworkers, including my CEO, my church friends, my wife and have muttered it under my breath to everyone on the 77 North City bus and pedestrians in downtown Seattle.

I’m excited but nervous. The brain is a funny creature that misplaces ideas and sentences as if they were a pair of car keys nestled under a pile of dirty laundry. It’s how it goes. But at its core, this talk is my life and the principles I live by. As long as I can communicate those to the audience, I’ll be just fine.

My talk is a combination of stories and life lessons that have defined my weight loss. This has been an amazing journey, one that has been crowdsourced with friends from all walks of my life cheering me on.

Last Saturday, I left my Weight Watchers meeting realizing that by that time next week I would be done with my talk, carrying the knowledge of how it went and whether or not I would share the link to the talk with my friends and family.

My soul felt heavy.

It was a challenging thought. On my way to my car, one of my favorite members called me over. We chatted about her upcoming trip to Arizona. “Oh! Your talk is next week!” she exclaimed. We talked a little more and she ended the conversation with this closing commission: “go be awesome!”

It was what I needed to hear at that exact moment. Because this experience is awesome. Heck, I”m awesome!

Regardless of what happens on tomorrow, life will go on. I don’t say that to cheapen the experience. Far from it. It’s a license to get out on that stage and give it all I have.

So that’s what I’m going to do. If I hit a mental roadblock, I’ll take a deep breath and break through it. I got this.

So wherever you are on Friday at 8:30 central time, direct your positive thoughts toward Abilene, Texas. I can’t wait to tell you guys how it went.

How to Change the Face of Men’s Health With Movember

Posted on November 1, 2014 by theffkid

For years, men across the world have made November the month to grow a lusciously lumberjack-esque thick beard which was colloquially known as “No Shave November”. When I was in college, I would give my razor a rest and try to grow a studtastic beard, but it always ended up in a disastrous and patchy mess that just pronounced my double (well…quadruple) chin. That was until a few years ago when I decided to do something about my health.

You see, for years I was relied on ignorance as a key to being happy. At 357 pounds, I knew I was a ticking time bomb but I pushed down that sadness with food and by being loud and crazy. Now that I’m healthier, but still loud and crazy, my mission in life is to help others become the best version of themselves by making the most of their lives by being healthy! And I’m not just talking about fitness either.

Here are a few facts for you:

1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
Around 15 million American adults (6.7% of the population) are diagnosed with depression each year.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men aged 15 – 35 years

So this year, I will be growing a moustache to change the face of men’s health with Movember.

For the next 30 days, my upper lip will be home the only hair on my face. But this month is more than just growing a studly handlebar, it’s about spreading the word of men’s health and the importance of prevention.

How am I doing that, you ask? By challenging you two ways! Here’s how!

Nate & Cat’s Shavetastic Spectacular Movember Challenge!

For the past three years, my buddy Catherine Williams and I have been trying to put together a video and a challenge for Movember. 2014 IS THE YEAR!!!! Catherine, who is an awesome champion for ALS awareness, and I came up with a challenge that is fun, easy, and could potentially leave you smelling like sandalwood.

Here’s what you do:

Watch the video above
Decide if you want to accept the challenge and donate $5 to N&CSSMC, or go double or nothing and try to shave a balloon with it popping.
If you decide to shave a balloon…get a balloon, silly!
Lather said balloon
Start shaving
If it pops, donate $10 and challenge two friends
If it doesn’t, brag about your awesomeness and challenge two of your friends
Have fun with your challenge! Post a video of you shaving the balloon on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or your favorite social media challenge. Don’t forget to tag the poor souls you’re challenging!

PLEASE NOTE: We are not liable for any injury or shaving cream mess that comes from this challenge. Shave your balloon at your own risk…or just donate the $5!

Simple enough? Awesome!

Well guess what, if you watched the video CONSIDER YOURSELF CHALLENGED! TIME TO SHAVE ALLLLLL THE BALLOONS!

Here’s the second way to donate!

BECOME A STACHETASTIC RUN SPONSOR!!!

Last year, I challenged my friends on Facebook do donate a dime to Movember.
Pure and simple. Well…sort of.
I asked them donate a dime for each mile I ran that month. At first, I asked for 10 people to commit. I ended up with close to 25 sponsors. That’s $2.50 for every mile! This year, I am looking for more sponsors and I’m asking for a dime a mile again! Last year, I only ran 50 miles so each person donated at least $5! That’s still $125 towards men’s health!

Are you up to the challenge? If you are, comment on this post either below or on Facebook! I’ll tally up the miles and let you know how much you owe at the end of the month!

So I know I’m potentially asking a lot from you and at this point you’re probably wondering where this money is all going. Fair point! Last year, Movember USA alone raised over 22 million dollars towards research and education of testicular and prostate cancer research and prevention and creating awareness of issues surrounding men’s mental health. According to Movember’s independent auditors, 83.3% of the funds went directly to research which is above the international best practice standard for cause-based donations. For more information on where your money will go, click here.

If you decide not to donate, I do ask that you do think about your state of health. I ask you to get educated and to find out how to become a person that your future self will thank in years to come. Moustache or not, make this month about you and your health.

Psst…want to join in on the Movember fun? Join my team Moustaches Are Cool! Click here to join!

The Return of the FFK

Aside

If you were to ask me about what it’s like to lose weight, the answer would have varied throughout this almost-three year journey. When I first started out, I would have said “it’s simple! You just don’t eat the bad things, work out whenever you can and drink a crapton of water.” When I hit a pretty massive plateau after I hit the 100 pound mark, I would have said “it’s kind of miserable when your friends who are eating what they want while you’re eating celery in the corner and fighting to lose half a pound.” This morning, I got on the scale, cringed at the sight of myself in the mirror and said aloud “I hate weight loss so much right now.”

Since I have joined Weight Watchers, I have lost as much as 12 pounds, but really I have lost a total of 17 pounds. My weight fluctuates….badly. If I have learned anything in the past three years, it’s that my body hates sodium and will retain and hold water like the Hoover Dam. I will do really well and then I’ll eat a unseemingly salty meal and then BOOM, five pounds up.
(Before you start to write a comment about importance/unimportance of the scale, let me stop you there and say it is just a part of the equation because I can feel that extra weight and see that extra weight in the mirror.)

At this point, it is more than the scale or retaining water, at this point I just mad at myself for eating bad things that aren’t inherently bad. For example: Cheerios. In the world of cereals, Cheerios would not be on George W. Crispies’ list of Cereal Axis of Evil. But when I binge on two-larger-than-normal bowls of those delicious O’s, it is bad news. Last night, I just binged snacked all night when watching TV. It was just mindless eating. I saw the carrots and the apples when I was getting the milk for my cereal out of the fridge, but I still went the other way.

I think the fact of the matter is that I’m tired. It feels like the past three years of grad school, work, church responsibilities, exercising, being social, and counting points have finally caught up to me. I was on the verge of just burning out on life. Yesterday, I did a lot of thinking about where to go from here because I had two options: just quit and see where that would take him (spoilers: emotional breakdown leading to the demise of my weight loss journey) or reflect on how blessed I truly am and how I should quit taking it for granted and then make that the catalyst for my continued success. Fortunately, I went with the later. After I put this whole weight loss/life thing in to that perspective, that so far, it has been such an awesome journey, it has challenged me to make the most of it and to keep going!

So What’s Been Going On With The FFK?
Well I guess I should update you on what’s going on since it has been so long since I’ve posted.
First, I bought a Weight Watchers ActiveLink that tracks your daily activity. The goal is to reach 100% of your baseline activity. For me, that’s about an hour of activity (walking, running, swimming, etc.). At the end of the day, you plug it in to the USB port of your computer and it tells you how many Activity Points (or Weight Watchers Points) you have earned for the day. My goal this month is to reach at least 100% every day. That is going to force me to do some sort of activity because one the days I was just working and then going home, I would only do 9 minutes of activity on those days according to the ActiveLink.

Second, I signed up for the Tallahassee Half Marathon in February! Not only is this the 40th Tallahassee Half Marathon, the featured speaker this year is one of my running heroes, Bart Yasso from Runner’s World. I read his book last summer that documents his journey from being a drug addict to a world-renowned runner. He is truly inspiring! I had thought about doing the full, but I’m going to hold off until I hit my goal weight. The arthritis in my knees and my hips is still an issue, but my doctor said a lot of those problems will be reduced when I lost the rest of my weight. Plus, I feel like I would have needed to have started my training in April to feel truly prepared for a full marathon.
When I trained last time, I didn’t do near enough cross training or weights to get my body in shape for the run. I had the endurance, but I knew there was room for improvement. That if my body was in better shape, then my form would have been better and my finishing time would have been better.

Finally, I have a job that I absolutely love, but it takes up a lot of my time…in the best possible way. I work in a place that not only promotes service, leadership and inclusion to the Florida State community, it fosters a community of passion where its workers are encouraged to be themselves. I get to go to work every day doing what I love. When you do something you love, you are willing to stay after hours and go that extra mile for your job. That does, however, take its toll. When I get home, the last thing I really want to do is look at a computer screen and type some more. So what does that mean for this blog? Probably not daily posts, but an integrated approach where my reporting will be both on here and on my Facebook page. I’m definitely going back to a weigh-in day post on Saturdays that recaps the whole week as well. I love blog writing. I really do. But now I’m just going to have to fit it in to my schedule better than I have.

I hope this hodgepodge of a post makes some shred of sense. It’s been a weird time for me, but I still love being a weight loser and I still love being awesome. So I guess I’ll keep doing that. See ya tomorrow.

***Editor’s Note***
This post was written in two different stages: pre-stressed Nathan and post-self reflection Nathan. If there seems to be an issue of flow, that is why. Nathan would also like to add that he appreciates all of his readers and friends who have checked up on him during this long period of absence. He hopes he is as good to his friends as they are as good to him.

[GIVEAWAY] Earth Fare Deliciousness!

Posted on July 22, 2013 by theffkid

Hello dear reader!

It’s truly amazing how awesome your body feels when you treat your body like the temple that it is. Like I read today on someone’s post, “treat your body well because you’re the one living in it!” When I look back and think about how I treated my body for so long, it just makes me even more thankful for that bold decision I made on September 18, 2010 to change my life. Almost three years and 130 pounds later, it was still the best decision I have ever made.

So enough about that. Let’s talk about Earth Fare AND MY AWESOME EARTH FARE GIFT TO YOU!

I have always been some sort of a foodie. When I was obese, I dreamed of going on to Man v. Food and showing Adam Richman how to really eat like boss. I was all about going to all you can eat restaurants and getting my money’s worth and then some. I treated like every meal was my last meal. At the rate I was going, it easily could have been.

But that all changed when I began this weight loss journey.

I’ll never forget the first time I walked in to Earth Fare. “What is that smell?” I asked. “It smells…fresh.” Produce. I was smelling produce. The fruits and veggies were like nothing I had smelled before. I mean, I had had fresh vegetables before, but WOW! Then…I saw the meat market. It was beautiful.

I was so happy with Earth Fare, I e-mailed them about my experience and my story. Then, they published it on their page! (You can read it here!)

So a few months ago, I applied for their Earthlete program, their ambassador program that celebrates athletes that are fueled by eating healthy. I’m not gonna lie, I really didn’t think I was going to get it. BUT I DID!!!!! and it has pushed me to get fit in the gym and lose weight in the kitchen.

Which leads us to today.

This weekend, I got an email from Earth Fare that said they had something waiting for me at Earth Fare: COUPONS!!! Now I love a good deal. Like The Wolf always says, “You gotta be a Baller on a budget yo!” (Okay, she doesn’t say it exactly like that…)

So I am giving away some coupons and some delicious Earth Fare swag!
That’s right! I have a giant stack of these bad boys and I’m ready to give them out to you, dear reader!

What does that include, you asked? (or read, I guess…)
Well, for only $5, you get:

Earth Fare Organic Jelly
Earth Fare Organic or Natural Cookies
Earth Fare Organic or Natural Peanut Butter
Earth Fare Organic or Natural Applesauce
Earth Fare Organic or Natural Crackers

That’s a savings of more than $15!!!

All you have to do is:
Like The FFK FB Page and then comment below with your favorite FFK post!!! To be eligible, you have to do both!

There will be five randomly-selected winners. Each winner will get to pick the item of their choice from those five items!
The deadline for this giveaway is Sunday, July 28th at 11:59 p.m.
If you don’t win, no big! I will be happy to give you a coupon for your own 5 dollar Organic Deal!
(Note: if you would like a coupon, you must live in the Tallahassee area but anyone can win the items!)

Plus, I’ll have another giveaway soon. Stay tuned for that!

This week, starting tomorrow, I’ll highlight each of the items in the deal.

See ya tomorrow!

Sunday Stuff!

Posted on July 14, 2013 by theffkid

(Not sure what day it is…I need to figure that out.)

Hello everyone!

I’m watching the King of the Hill episode when Bobby has to buy clothes at the fat kid store H. Dumpty’s and I’m having childhood obesity PTSD right now. I’m so glad I’ll never have to shop at a Casual Male or any of those incredibly uncomfortable palaces of stretchable polyester ever again.

Alright, back to other things and stuff.

Today was a bit of a food challenge but we totally got through it! I forgot how counting points makes such a difference instead of just saying “merh…I’ll just wing it.” I’m also not as tempted to peek on the scale anymore. I don’t have to. I know that if I stay within my points, the rest will follow. This feels amazing. Weight Watchers Points Plus is the bomb!!! (And no, I’m not getting paid to say that.)

So here is the breakdown of the day:

Breakfast
A delicious cookie from my friend Cynthia: 2PP
Maple Ginger Dreaming Cow yogurt: 3 PP
A slice of Ezekiel bread with spray butter: 2 PP

Lunch
We went to lunch at Bandido’s with the always-awesome Julie and Melissa the fantastic! My eyes were bigger than my stomach so I ordered a breakfast burrito and a bean burrito. I ate the breakfast burrito and was ridiculously stuffed (Mexican food is my kryptonite…or gluttonite). So after I was done, I added it all up in my Weight Watchers app. I didn’t feel guilty, I felt good knowing the points of what I was eating. I felt accountable to myself. Something that I haven’t been in a while. 33 PP

Dinner
After a doing a good chunk of housework, I just made a Smart One since I didn’t have too many points left at that point.
Teryaki Smart One: 6 PP
Cereal: 3 PP
Two peaches: 0 PP
Non-fat French Onion dip with sliced cucumbers: 1 PP

Total for the day
50 PP

I ended up using 2 PP which is fine. That’s what they’re there for!

Tomorrow’s a new day. Make it awesome. See ya tomorrow.

Who is the FFK?

Posted on July 8, 2013 by theffkid

I am a lot of things…

I am…
a Canadian-born Texan who now lives in Florida.

I am…
a proud graduate of Abilene Christian University and Florida State University

I am…
a Brother in Frater Sodalis

I am…
Megan’s husband
Brittany’s brother
Nancy and Glen’s son
Molly the Dog’s best friend

And since September 18th, 2010, I have been a loser.

Prior to that date, I didn’t let my weight define me, but it was defining my future.
You see, my whole life then was about my weight in some way or another. Conversations with strangers would eventually lead to it within just a few comments. While I was as incredibly charming and ridiculous as the man writing here today, most people still saw my weight first. Like I have said before, I was letting my whole life pass me by.

For the past three years, I have been working hard to lose this weight and it has hit a score of snags along the way. I have been blessed with minimal injuries and other physical setbacks even when training for the Tallahassee Half. With that, there has been little to no reason why I don’t go out every day and kick my weight loss in the nards. I don’t do it because I have made other things in my life top priority. One of them is my career, but in a lot of ways that makes complete sense <no job/no money/no food/no internet/no means to show readers what I eat>. When in a lot of other ways it doesn’t make sense because I have the means and the constraints to make better decisions with my health (not to mention racquetball being a useful cathartic device after work). For the past year, I was slowly sinking into a hole of listlessness with my blog and other aspects of my life. I needed a jolt, because these weren’t things that defined me anymore. I wasn’t the same legalistic (in a good way) weight loss evangelist I had been and it made me sad.

Then, Fitbloggin’ took over my newsfeed. Last week, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and essentially every blog I read was inundated by this amazing conference. And I was jealous. Ridiculously jealous. I wanted to be there so bad because not only was it in Portland (#Dreamtown) it was the revival that my weight loss could have used. So instead of becoming inspired from photos like this and blog posts like that, I sat at home and sulked…while holding a slice of pizza like it was a newborn made of cheese and pepperoni.

(I am well aware of how weird that analogy is. Let’s just move on and act like it never happened. Unless you thought it was funny and dark and in that case continue to laugh, Julie Dow.)

After days of my pity party of one, I have made some fantastic self realizations. The biggest of them being that I have a new job where being incredibly passionate about what you do and the causes you believe in is job 1!!! I work with people everyday that want to make this world a better place! In my interview, I told my now-boss that my dream job was to work somewhere that promotes good, which is hard for someone to find in PR and Marketing. His response was “well…that’s what you’ll be doing.” That’s when I knew this was the beginning of something great. Now that I have been there for a few weeks, I have had to let it all sink in a little. And I realized that it is time to invest my heart and soul into this position because it is what I’m being called to do. When I made that decision to fully invest in this job, the spark to continue my weight loss journey was rekindled.

Now, the journey continues and I control my future. I have worked way too hard to plateau the way I have for the past year and half. I have been resting on my past victories for too long. I’m ready to post some new victories and go into unchartered weight loss waters.

So what does that mean for the blog?

Well…that’s a good question.

You see, I like writing these long self-reflecting essays about my life, but I have been trying to do that with every post. That’s not feasible for a daily blog (yes…this blog used to be daily.) I like writing them because it’s the kind of thing I like to read, but it’s not the best for me as a blogger because writing 800+ words a night gets exhausting.

So the new blog layout until further notice is the following

Monday, Thursday and Friday: Entries with points with a little reflection. It might now always be interesting, but I need that kind of accountability right now. I’m brining back the food journal side of the FFK.

Tuesday: Still my Weigh-In Day. I’ll reflect on how I feel and how I can do better.

Wednesday: Still Wordless Wednesday. Get stoked.

Saturday and Sunday: A post like this one. More reflective on the week, along with other cool things like giveaways, reviews, guest posts, and more!

It feels good to be back. See ya tomorrow.

Weight-Loss Journey Reflections: What You Can Learn From 1,000 Days of Choosing Veggies Over Chicken-Fried Chocolate Pork.

Posted on June 16, 2013 by theffkid

Friday was a milestone in my life. I have been proud of many things in my life, but I think this is one that I haven’t emphasized enough in my mind as I should.

It’s a well-known fact that most diets crash and burn in a glutinous rage of glory. Until September 2010, I was a part of this statistic. It’s also a well-known fact the overwhelmingly majority of obese children remain obese for the rest of their lives. Until September 2010, I was a part of this statistic as well. On Friday, I celebrated that I have risen above these statistics and have broken out of these sad norms within our culture for 1,000 days. It hasn’t been easy, and I have had my share of setbacks, but at its core, losing weight is inherently easy and possible for every single person.

As you can imagine, I have learned a lot about weight loss and about myself over these past 1,000 days. While most of it has been positive, there are some things that I think we could work on as a society. Here are just a few of those realizations. Enjoy.

Don’t glorify food.

We’ve all done it. Late night when the family is asleep, we turn on the TV and turn it the to dirty channel.

That’s right: Food Network.

We sit and stare at the mounds of sloppy, greasy burger, stacked with gooey cheddar, mounted with piles of bacon and sautéed onions.

It’s lust at first bite.

I am here today to say that food porn is wrong.

When I was obese, I would sit and watch hours and hours of Man vs. Food. Adam Richman was my hero. Getting paid to go across the country and eat as much as possible? I wanted to find a way to be his understudy! You see, for most of my life, I have treated every meal like it was a contest. I wasn’t good at a lot of things, but I was good at eating. I was undefeated in every single Whataburger Milkshake Drinking Contest I ever competed in. I would could go round after round at every All You Can Eat restaurant. I would eat until I was physically ill. That is what shows like Man vs. Food promote, that that kind of eating is okay. The worst part of it was that when I would watch that show, and others like it, I would want to eat something gross like that. Because I thought that that’s what comfort food was. I thought eating that way was my right and something I deserved. (Meanwhile, there were homeless people not knowing where their next meal was coming from…) This was a vicious cycle that I had to break out of and it’s still something that I struggle with daily.

With that realization about the power food shows have over me, I’ve had to reassess how I look at food in my life. Is it fuel? Is it pleasure? What is it? I have realized that at the end of the day, it’s just calories. For my whole life, I have been letting my tongue and tastebuds dictate the success of my weight loss and my overall health. In order to be successful with weight loss, you need to be okay with every meal not being your “last meal” meal. I was most successful with my weight loss when I ate a sensible breakfast, a frozen meal with veggies for lunch, and a grilled chicken breast with veggies for dinner. Did I always want to eat that? Heck no! But I knew in the grander scheme of things that I wouldn’t remember one boring meal when I had a low number on the scale. I would think, “man, I’m glad I ate well this week!”

You can still be a foodie and lose weight. I’m proof. You just eat less of it. What I have been doing is eating simple meals throughout the week and on the weekend indulge a little or try a new recipe at home. Programs like Weight Watchers fit that kind of thought process into their points system. Obviously you don’t go crazy, you just eat less than what you would eat regularly. Yeah, it’s that simple.

So, I still have a lot more to say about what I have learned over the past 1,000 days, and I’m going to share it with you this week. Each night will be a different lesson so stay tuned.

I want to truly thank you for reading my blog. When I first started blogging about my weight loss, I had my share of reservations. I remember when I tired to lose weight a few years ago, I thought “what if I just posted my weight as a Facebook every day. What if I wrote ‘Nathan weighs ______ pounds.’ Man, that would be weird. That’s terrifying. I’ll never do that!” At the beginning, I didn’t post my weight. But I had so much support from every single one of you, that I eventually did. That speaks volumes to the level of love I have felt and the amount of accountability I have with you. I love you, dear reader. Thank you for making this weight loss journey so special. Here’s to another 1,000 days of weight-loss awesomeness. See ya tomorrow.

Day 948: Run Recap and Such!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by theffkid

Before I start, I have to get something off my chest that I have been struggling with. While I used to definitely have binging qualities when I was severely overweight, a lot of those issues have been surprised. I guess I put all that chewing energy in to running or something…Anyway, while the super binging isn’t so much an issue, I am a leftover eater. After we are done with dinner and it’s left on the stove or whatever, I will sleuth my way in to the kitchen and just go to town on what is left. Usually it’s chili or pasta. When I do it, it’s really hard for me to stop. What’s worst is that those bites taste better than my actual dinner. (Maybe that means I’m eating dinner too fast?) It has always been an issue for me, except I don’t have my sister here to tattle on me when I do it now lol (I remember that specifically happening when we were eating at another family’s house when I was in middle school. You know I love you, Brittany :)) I really feel like that’s my biggest struggle to overcome. It doesn’t happen as much now as it used to. I think it means that I need to eat more filling foods through out the day instead of just carbs and things like that. If you have any suggestions, I would gladly listen to them.

Phew, glad to get that off my chest.

SO LET’S TALK RUNNING!!!
This was the weekend of running all the things. First stop: The Palace Saloon 5k, one of the oldest races in Tallahassee. It starts at a park and ends at, you guessed it, a bar called The Palace. The race boasts itself as the fastest and flattest 5k in Tallahassee. They were half right. The race was flat for the first 2 miles or so, then I notice people running up in to the clouds like it was the Transfiguration or something. Instead, people were just running up a massive hill. When I say that, it was a massive hill in the context of the race. It actually wasn’t that big. Anyway, what goes up, must come down. The last mile or so was pretty much straight downhill which was epic. I looked down at my Nike+ when I was crossing the finish line and I was rocking a 7:05/mile pace which was crazy for me. So the downhill awesomeness helped my time. One thing that also helped (I think) was that I took Energybits for the first time before a race. You can click on the link to learn more, but basically they are all-natural protein tablets made from algae that give you a nice little boost of energy when you’re running. (Don’t worry, they’re not some HGH or anything. A lot of runners swear by them…although Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Roger Clemens all endorse them…hmmm…. :)). Placebo or not, it definitely helped me get up that hill when I thought I had nothing left in the ol’ tank. Anyway, I set a 5k PR of 26:04 which is SO AWESOME! I’m really wanting to run a sub 25:00 5k before the end of the summer. Time to start training!

Run 5.2 For Boston

I know you’ve heard me talk about it all week, but on Sunday, we finished the race for those who couldn’t. You see, most of the Boston Marathon runners were stopped at Mile 21, not getting to finish what was most likely was an ultimate goal for them. So some people in Tallahassee started to plan a 5.2 mile run to finish the race. What started out to be 50-60 runners quickly turned in to a run of more that 1,100 people! There was not a race fee, but donations were accepted and stores from across Tallahassee donated gift certificates and such to be raffled off (I won $50 for a running store in Tallahassee! So stoked to get some new shoes!) Overall, the run raised $13,000 that is going directly to the Boston One Fund and the Boston Red Cross. People truly are good. We might fight over things like religion, politics, or even the Great Pumpkin, but when we see others in desperate need, we are there to help. It’s pretty amazing.
The actually running part was pretty awesome as well. I was making killer time (but the run wasn’t officially timed) and then around Mile 2.5ish, I thought “you know, it’s not too often you can stop in the middle of a race this size and just cheer on people…” so that’s what I did. I got to the side and gave high fives, made silly running jokes and spurred my fellow runners on. One guy thought I was drunk, but that’s okay :). Anyway, I ran some more and then I stopped again right before the last big hill (the race was in Southwood so I knew the route like the back of my hand) and I encouraged people up the hill. I hope I gave them that final push that they needed. I’ve never volunteered at a race before, but now I really want to. The biggest advantage is that you can tell the same silly joke every time and no one will hear it twice :). Anyway, I ended up running it in 49:03, but that’s with long periods of me pausing my Nike+. It was an honor to cheer everyone on like that. For a lot of people, it looked like it could have been their first race. I hope this was a catalyst for them to run in the future.

All in all, the two races this weekend provided some much needed closure to what was an incredibly stressful week. I know the road to recovery for Boston is far from over, but see all the amazing philanthropy for both those in the Northeast and those in my old backyard in West, Texas, you can’t help but have some of your faith restored in humanity. Like I said on Monday, good was going to come out of that tragedy and so much already has. What a great way to end a week and begin a new one. See ya tomorrow.

Day 935: Welcome to Weigh-In Day!

Posted on April 9, 2013 by theffkid

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

Posted on March 28, 2013 by theffkid

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.