Day 844: First Weigh In On Skinny Rules!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by theffkid

Timon and Pumbaa make eating insects sound so appealing. Or is that just me?

Hello everybody!

So today, it was time to get on the scale and see if my hard work had paid off. By that I don’t mean “I hope this hippy-dippy eating is worth it” but more of “I pushed it hard on the bike and one my runs. I’ve torched my share of calories this week.” Well boys and girls, my hard work paid off! I lost 6 pounds this week! So I am down to 230.2 pounds and have lost a total of 126.8 pounds. I am 52 pounds away from my 2013 goal. Things are going awesome so far! Like I said last night, my birthday is this week so I’m going to do what I can to stay on track because this hard work is totally worth it. Time to keep on keepin’ on!

Breakfast: I had a hard-boiled egg, a handful of strawberries and a piece of toast.

Snack: An apple and string cheese.

An Oops Moment: So Jimmy John’s brought a sleigh of delicious mini (like a quarter-sized) sandwiches. I accidentally grabbed a Turkey Tom without thinking about it. I ate it in all of its white flower glory and I moved on. It is what it is and I am totally okay with it.

Lunch: After my class (which is going to be awesome) I had leftover chili with brown rice. It was even better as leftovers like all good chili batches.

Snack: A banana and some peanut butter from a bag. That I found on the ground.

SAWS: Did a 5k run out at Southwood. It was a rough run, but my time was still decent. I’ll take it. I’m running a crapton on Saturday so that should be interesting.

Dinner: I had some delicious leftover salmon and peas. YUUUUUUUUMMMMM!!!!

That’s all I got for tonight. Take it easy yo! See ya tomorrow.

Day 843: More Biggest Loser and Skinny Rules!

Posted on January 7, 2013 by theffkid

So Biggest Loser is over on the East Coast and the BCS game might as well be over so it’s time for some FFK awesomeness!

Also, I have no clue how people on the West Coast deal with not having a show spoiled by being three hours behind. Do you guys just stay off Facebook and Twitter during the 5-8 pm PST hours? Can’t wait to have that problem one day because that will mean that I will be living on the Best Coast. Worth it.

In other news, tonight they showed Biggest Loser contestant Joe Ostaszewski working out in the weight room inside of Doak Campbell at Florida State! Then I found this article by the Tallahassee Democrat from December about how he was going to be on the BL and how he was a lineman for the Noles from 1988-1991. I’m really hoping that he will go pretty far because when Antone Davis was a finalist, he went back to the University of Tennessee, where he played college fooball, and they had a huge thing for him. That would be awesome if they did that at FSU. Either way, I’m going to try to meet him at some point. I know I sound like a Biggest Loser-crazed loon right now, but it’s such an inspiring show to me. Always has been. I remember watching it when I was newly married and eating a fast food cheeseburger thinking “shoot, I would beat them all” then I probably started wheezing because I used to eat so much so quickly that I would lose my breath. However, there were other plans for me. I took a different path to weight loss awesomeness and I have never looked back.

Oh yeah…and Bob Harper replied to one of my tweets tonight. Consider myself swooned.

Alright, let’s talk food!

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oatmeal with a pinch of brown sugar (an actual little pinch, not a grab) and a 1/2 cup of nonfat greek yogurt with blackberries. This was definitely a “stick to your ribs” kind of breakfast, but not the “stick to your ribs” kind that sticks to your internal organs and kills you. What I’m trying to say is that it’s super filling.

Snack: A string cheese and an apple. The best snack for the 11:00 am hour.

Lunch: So for lunch we made what I’m affectionately calling “Bob’s Dump Soup” since it doesn’t have an actual name (even though it’s a recipe in Skinny Rules.) All it was was chicken broth, a bag of frozen gumbo mix veggies (Publix brand), a can of cannellini beans and a can of chickpeas. All it was missing was the pasta and it could have been the minestrone from Olive Garden. I added some red pepper flakes and crushed red peppers for a little more flavor. It was incredibly filling for only being something like 100 calories for a cup! Then I just had a piece of bread for dipping and a pineapple spear for dessert!

Snack: I had a banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I didn’t have a decent container for the pb so I put it in a ziploc which was pretty weird. I cut the corner with my scissors and spread the pb on the banana like I was frosting a cake. Props to my friend Melanie for giving me that idea a looooong time ago. She said that’s what she does with her hummus so it made sense for pb too!

Dinner: At this point, I hadn’t really eaten a ton of calories but I wasn’t starving at all during the day. Pretty awesome feeling. It’s nice because when you eat an afternoon snack, you don’t come home hungry and crazy. You can actually relax for a while and then think about dinner. Anyway, tonight I grilled some salmon and some squash. I brushed a little olive oil on both (I used a total of three cap fulls for three sliced up squash and three large salmon steaks) and put the salmon on some aluminum foil in the grill. I was absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. (Another reason to move to the Best Coast: I LOVE salmon. Especially the good stuff from Alaska.)

So as you can see, I did pretty well!

Okay…LAST FIVE SKINNY RULES!!!!

Rule 16: Banish High Salt Foods
I’m not really a fan of adding salt to food anyways so this isn’t a huge issue. What is an issue is how much sodium is in most foods. That’s why it’s important to read your labels!

Rule 17: Eat Your Vegetables-Just Do It!
Well…you heard the guy.

Rule 18: Go To Bed Hungry
We usually eat dinner around 6 or 7 so since that is the last thing you eat, it’s easy to go to bed hungry. I’ve always been bad about late night snacking, but I’ve just been keeping myself accountable not to snack after dinner. Even if that means not going back in to the kitchen for the rest of the night. Does that sound crazy? Probably. Awe well, it works.

Rule 19: Sleep Right
Trying to get in to that habit so let’s wrap this up so I can go to bed…

and finally…

Rule 20: Plan One Splurge Meal A Week
We did our splurge meal on Saturday at lunch which kind of turned in to a splurge day, but like I said yesterday, we weren’t crazy or anything. I am going to have to pick my splurging carefully this week because my birthday is on Sunday and I don’t want to overdo it and put me back a few steps. Food isn’t worth it to me anymore.

So that’s the whole list. What do you think?

See ya tomorrow.

Day 842: Biggest Loser and Stuff

Posted on January 6, 2013 by theffkid

We’re watching Biggest Loser instead of Downton Abbey tonight and we don’t have DVR. We are dedicated.

So Skinny Rules are still going strong. Yesterday we had our first splurge meal which really turned in to a splurge day. We went to Momo’s and we shared a medium pizza (I had about four slices of pizza) which was really my real splurge other than “splurging” by having a Subway sandwich for dinner. (CARBS FOR DINNER???? AHHHH!) So really my splurge day would just be another day before Skinny Rules.

Today I was back to my new normal and it felt great. Clean eating just makes me feel better, so much lighter. I feel like it has cut out the calories that were just waste in my diet. I wasn’t counting those extra handfuls of chips or that extra plop of peanut butter which kept me from losing the weight. It’s those extras that you see on the scale. Can’t wait to see what the scale will say on Tuesday! Either way, I’m going in the right direction for me!

Breakfast: I had a sprout grains English Muffin with a tablespoon of peanut butter and of course a cup of water when I woke up and a cup of water before breakfast.

Snack: Like I was a toddler, I had my own little snack while sitting in church. Instead of Cheerios in a ziploc, I had a cut up apple and a stick of string cheese. It was perfect, because after church you go in to “I’M SO STARVING! LET’S EAT OUT RIGHT NOW! I’M SO HUNGRY I COULD EAT THE LINT IN MY BELLY BUTTON” (Don’t worry, it never came to that.) But what usually happens is we go eat out and not always at the healthiest place. Since I had had a snack, I was thinking clearly and we made lunch instead of undoing anything.

Lunch: Megan made a small batch of chili. It was glorious and I didn’t overeat which was even more glorious.

Snack: During the Seahawks game (BEAST MODE!!!!) I made a protein plate of deliciousness. Now, I’m notorious for hating hard boiled eggs by themselves. The smell drives me nuts (just ask Megan or our friend Julie who eats them in our car sometimes.) But they have slowly grown on me. I’m starting to really like them sliced with a little cheese on my apple that I use as a cracker. Pretty delicious looking plate huh?

SAWS: Also during the game, I did 40 SAWStastic minutes on the bike. I would speed up during certain plays. I was really pushing it when Marshawn Lynch was beasting out those runs. I heart the bike.

Dinner: Megan made a tofu stir fry. It was the first time she had ever cooked with tofu and she rocked it! Deliciousness.

So that’s it for tonight. I’ll talk about the rest of the Skinny Rules tomorrow night. For now, watching the Biggest Loser weigh in. Fun stuff. See ya tomorrow.

Day 839: Thursday and Rules and Stuff!

Posted on January 3, 2013 by theffkid

Why hello!

I didn’t post last night because Megan and I were having an in-home date night. Sometimes cuddling with your wife while watching Fellowship of the Rings and eating kale chips is more important than blogging :).

So let’s get to it!

Here are Skinny Rules 11-15

Rule 11: Get Rid of Those White Potatoes

I heart potatoes. Sooooooooo much. I thought this was going to be an issue, but it hasn’t been yet! Plus I love sweet potatoes and there’s always purple fingerling potatoes which are awesome too!

Rule 12: Make One Day a Week Meatless

We’ve been trying to do that for a while and sometimes it just ends up happening.

Rule 13: Get Rid of Fast Foods and Eat at Fried Foods

Fried food has been an issue in the past. Sometimes it’s just easier to get something “healthy” from Wendy’s. It’s probably my biggest trigger food. With that being said, when I first started Weight Watchers, if it was fried brown, I would not eat it down. I’m just getting back in to that mindset. That’s been the biggest deal with these rules. I would have handled them fine when I first started losing weight 120-some pounds ago. There’s no reason why I can’t do them now!

Rule 14: Eat a Real Breakfast

I also heart breakfast. A lot. I love an excuse to eat breakfast. I’ll take it.

Rule 15: Make Your Own Food and Eat at Least Ten Meals a Week at Home

This has been pretty awesome. We haven’t eaten out at all since we started which is pretty crazy. We love to eat out and it’s so easy when school is going on. This is going to be a challenge when school starts back up because there is a lot of prep for these rules. We’ll probably do a lot of it on Sunday afternoons so we’re ready for the week!

So that’s about it for tonight. What do you think about these rules so far? Doable or just straight-up cray?

I know it’s a short post. More on Friday. See ya tomorrow.

Day 837:First Post of 2013!

Posted on January 1, 2013 by theffkid

GO NOLES!!!!!!

If we don’t win…well, let’s not even go there.

So today was the first day living under the tyranny of the Skinny Rules! (I use the term “tyranny” psuedo-lightly, and by that I mean it’s going to be quite the adjustment.) It probably wasn’t the right day to run 7 miles while burning 1,200 calories. On paper, I should be emaciated. But the way the rules work, I feel pretty full. I think it’s the combination of A LOT of fiber and protein along with a gallon of water.

Here are rules 6-10:

Rule 6: Eat Apples and Berries Every Single Day. Every. Single. Day.

That’s a lot of fruit. Good thing we live in Florida: the delicious fruit capital of the USA. (I made up that, but the fruit is good.)

Rule 7: No Carbs After Lunch

I can see this being rough eventually. Like you, yes you, I heart carbs. I love crunchy things like chips and cereal, things I would always eat after work. It’s going to be important to have my snack planned out before I come home from work to avoid being tempted by the carb beast. (There are carbs in fruit, but thankfully Bob says that’s okay…because it’s fruit.)

Rule 8: Learn to Read Food Labels So You Know What Are Eating

I’ve been doing the whole reading labels things for a while, but I haven’t paid close attention to looking at ingredients. Since I’ve had to do that because of Skinny Rules, it makes you realize what you really are putting in to your body.

Rule 9: Stop Guessing About Portion Size and Get it Right-For Good

It’s so easy to just guestimate your portion sizes because it doesn’t require a a measuring cup or a food scale. Time to get back to that.

Rule 10: No More Added Sweeteners, Including Artificial Ones

This might be the hardest one for me. I LOVE Diet Coke. No more sodas…well no more a lot of things. This will be a challenge, but if it’s off limits, it’s off limits!

So here’s the breakdown of the day…

Breakfast: We started the morning right with a glass of water, followed by another glass of water and then breakfast! A delicious veggie omelet with strawberries and an Ezekiel English Muffin made with sprouted grains. The muffins taste more like a thick bread but tastes great! Not to mention high in fiber!

Snack: I had a sliced apple and one ounce of Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Cheddar. Great snack to keep you full.

Lunch: Bob is a big fan of ground turkey. It’s a great alternative to beef, especially when you get the ground breast. (That means it hasn’t been ground with dark meat.) Anyway, Megan made these delicious turkey burgers with diced tomatoes and a spring mix salad with light dressing. The turkey patty was juicy and the salad…was salad.

Run: For the first run of the year, we decided to do it in style and run on the St. Mark’s Trail. I’ve been having issues with my toes bruising on my right foot so I looked up some remedies. One of them is relacing your shoes a certain way. I gave that a shot and my foot was in even worse pain. No bueno. I think I might just go back to the way I had them. Anyway, the run was rough since I haven’t ran in about a week or so. Either way, the first two miles were solid 8:34’s but then the others weren’t as awesome.

After Run Drink: We made a kale green drink that was gross-looking but still drinkable. I’ll spare you from posting a photo of it.

Dinner: Tonight I grilled some chicken and had a mountain of green beans. It felt like a lot of food…because it was! I also had a glass of milk.

So that’s all I’ve had today. A big difference from the last few weeks in December. I was not doing too well with the whole eating well thing.

Weigh In: This morning I weighed in at 236.2 which is up 6.4 pounds from two weeks ago. I know that’s bad, but before we went to Texas, I was already up to 235 that morning we left. It was a combination of stress and just plain eating bad. I feel lighter and healthier than I have in a long time today which is awesome.

So what’s the deal with the number 58?: So I haven’t really laid out my New Year’s resolutions yet, but I do have one big goal for 2013: to lose 58 pounds. I am 58 pounds away from being half the man that I used to be. That will put me past the 178.5 pounds mark which is the half way point. I was shooting for it in 2012, but I honestly didn’t put in the work that it was going to require. After a year oh just being meh with weight loss, I’m ready to melt off some weight! Time to get busy. See ya tomorrow.

Day 803: My Awesome Interview With Another Biggest Loser

Posted on November 29, 2012 by theffkid

Hello!!!!

So it has been a crazy week on the interwebs for me! First, my weight loss story was featured by the awesome blogger Reinventing Danni, then I have helped raise $130 for prostate cancer through Movember (which there is still times to donate here!) and today, my interview with RetroFit Ministries came out. For those who don’t know, RetroFit Ministries was created by the awesome Biggest Loser duo Austin and Ken Andrews (they were on Season 11 along with some other awesome folks like Courtney Crozier and Hannah Curlee who I met this summer! I’m working my way up the Biggest Loser social ladder!) Anyway, a few weeks ago, I had written something about my journey on Austin’s wall and then after a few exchanges, he asked me about being interviewed for his website! It was such an honor! Here’s the interview. After you’re done check out the other amazing stories! If it doesn’t make you want to do push ups and go on a kale cleanse I don’t know what will. Check it out. Thanks again for the awesome opportunity Austin. See ya tomorrow.

THANKSTORIES: THANKFUL NATHAN

Nathan MacDonald Sheds some light on his story of becoming healthy. I have to be honest, I have had an enjoyable time hearing his story, and he has described it in a pretty amusing way! It has been a pleasure to hear Him describe his journey, and I think you’ll enjoy it as well!

CLICK HERE FOR OTHER AMAZING THANKSTORIES OF REAL PEOPLE CHANGING THEIR LIVES!

AA: Nathan- When did it hit you that you were obese?

I wore XXL shirts in 5th grade

NM: Kindergarten? Lol I was always the fat kid growing up. I wore XXL shirts in 5th grade and I am actually a smaller jean size now than I was in middle school. My weight was always a constant struggle. Sometimes I would get on the right track and it felt like I was really going to make a change, but then something would happen like moving to a new school or something like that.

AA: How would a school change affect you moving forward?

NM: Well being the new kid always came with its own issues. Being an overweight kid made it even more fun lol.

AA: I love the sarcasm! Ha! You struggled all through school, but you never hit your point of not return- when did you hit that tipping point of change?

NM: The tipping point for me was right before I started graduate school at Florida State University in 2010. I had to buy size 54 khakis for orientation. That’s when I realized that it was time to make a significant change, or just accept the fact that I was going to die at an early age.

AA: Do you look at your childhood and think, “My weight makes sense,” because people or bullying?

NM: I was always bullied in elementary, and although I was bullied some in middle school, I was able to deflect a lot of it by playing the “funny fat kid” card that most overweight kids know all too well. I did have two dear friends who died when I was in college and that really took its toll on me. I turned to eating a lot during that time.

AA: You took to eating when your friends passed away?

NM: It was what I was use to. Food had always been there for me so my initial reaction was to eat my feelings. It was much easier to eat over talking out my feelings to my wife and to my friends. It was a truly hard time.

AA: What do you look to for that same feeling if you hit a hard time now?

NM: Well now it’s a lot easier to work out my frustration whether it’s running or an aggressive game of racquetball. I burn calories instead of eating them lol.

AA What happened to give you hope that you could change?

NM: I have been blessed with such an amazing wife, Megan, who has always been there ready to cheer me on when I decided it was time to change my life. It’s also been awesome to have friends from across the world sending me Facebook posts encouraging me. It has really held me accountable and has given me the strength to keep on keepin’ on.

AA: When you discovered that change was possible, how did you decide on what path to become healthy?

NM: Well I had tried Weight Watchers a few times, only to quit a few weeks later. It wasn’t until I really bought in to the system (like counting, calculating, researching restaurants, etc.) that I became successful. I also always liked racquetball and running, so that became a huge part of my cardio which melts the pounds lol. I still do a lot of both now, but I have taken it to a whole new level. I was just happy to finish a 5k, now I want to place in my age bracket and I am training for a half marathon. Losing 130 pounds changes your prospective so much!

AA: Speaking of perspective, I have called this blog series ThankStories, because we are in November and thankfulness is big this time of year- What are you thankful looking on your journey and future?

NM: This year, I’m running in my first 15k. I’m thankful that I have been blessed with a body that can take all of the abuse I have given it from one extreme of being obese to the other by testing its limits every week through working out lol. I’m incredibly thankful for my community of friends and readers who have been with me through thick and thin. It’s been so encouraging to have friends even from elementary comment on the blog telling me that they’re cheering me on. It’s been an amazing journey so far!

AA: Given that you have lost 130 lbs, are you Finished? Is this the end of your journey?

NM: Not even close. I am still a good 50-70 pounds away from where I want to be and I still have struggles with food. Although I still have a ways to go on this journey, I’m loving every minute of it. The hardest days on my weight loss journey are still infinitely better than the days of being 357 pounds. This journey has been such a blessing and it’s not ending any time soon.

Day 802: Last Wordless Wednesday of Movember!

Posted on November 28, 2012 by theffkid

http://mobro.co/nathanalbert

Day 772: Weigh In Day And An Announcement About #Movember

Posted on October 30, 2012 by theffkid

I’m the Whiz! Nobody can beat me! Because I’m the Whiz!

I’ve lost my mind.

So my weight has fluctuated like crazy this week. At one point I’m hitting my lowest weight yet, and other days I’m up about 5 pounds. It’s just weird. I drink a lot of water, I’ve been trying to keep my eating in check. I just don’t really get it. So when my weight was up .2 this morning, I wasn’t really shocked. I’m not really concerned about it, but it just means that I need to be better with everything from eating to exercising.

Alright. Let’s Talk

So I’ll have a special Halloween Wordless Wednesday tomorrow, but I wanted to explain why I am going to be growing a disgusting mustache for the month of November.

It’s called Movember, a movement to raise awareness about a disease that will affect almost a quarter of a million men in the U.S. this year alone: prostate cancer. Now, I don’t have prostate cancer, nor do I really know anyone who has had prostate cancer. But ever since this weight loss journey began two years ago, I have become so much more aware of the importance of men’s health. Up until this point, all of my concerns were weight related. So with that all being said, I want others to know about this terrible form of cancer.

Again, here are some more facts about prostate cancer from WebMD:

Prostate cancer is typically a very slow growing tumor, often causing no symptoms until it is in an advanced stage. Most men with prostate cancer die of other causes — many without ever realizing that they have the disease. But once prostate cancer begins to grow more rapidly or spreads outside the prostate, it is dangerous. This aggressive type of prostate cancer can occur at any age. Although the disease tends to progress slowly, it is generally fatal if it spreads beyond the prostate gland itself.

Prostate cancer in its early stages (confined to the prostate gland) can be effectively treated, with very good outcomes for survival. Fortunately, about 85% of American men with prostate cancer are diagnosed in an early stage of the disease.

Cancer that has spread beyond the prostate to distant tissues (such as the bones, lymph nodes, and lungs) is not curable, but it may be controlled for many years. Because of the many advances in available treatments, the majority of men whose prostate cancer becomes widespread can expect to live five years or more.

The article also goes on to say that diets that contain a high amount of fat, red meat and other animal fat can also be a factor.

So what am I asking from you tonight? On Thursday morning, shave off what facial hair you have and get growing. Start clean shaven on November 1st and shave everything but your ‘stache for the rest of the month. Then on November 30th, a month from today, post your sickly awesome ‘stache pic on The FFK Facebook page! Gals, post your pic with your fake ‘stache on Nov. 30th too! Finally, go to movember.com and join my Movember team #Mustachesarecool. You don’t have donate any money, just create an account and join our team! Throughout the month, I will have updates about prostate cancer and some mustache-related awesomeness.

So let’s get to it! Join tonight, start a ‘stache, and raise awareness about this disease. See ya tomorrow.

Day 759: Wordless Wednesday Around FSU

Posted on October 17, 2012 by theffkid

Day 753: Jacob is a Jerk Edition

Posted on October 11, 2012 by theffkid

Hello my friend (except that I mean actually mean it).

So today, I did really well with food and I conquered an eating out challenge which has always been an issue for me. Let’s get started shall we?

We weren’t going to be able to run tonight (more about that in a second) so Megan and I decided to run this morning. We went over to Lake Ella around 6:30 and I ran with Megan and her Couch25k run program. It was still dark, but the stars were out and the weather was perfect. It was amazing. We ran two minutes on, one minute walk which was a great recovery run for me after a couple of really brutal runs. I think I might start doing that down the line, especially on the Tuesdays after long Saturday runs. Fun stuff!

Breakfast: I had had a piece of toast before running so by the time I got to work I was starving! I had a honey Fage yogurt and when that wasn’t close to being enough, I ran and got a bagel from the little convenient store by my office.

For lunch, I made a Lean Cuisine the Hungry Girl way: I cooked up a sweet n’ sour chicken LC and then microwaved a steam in bag of broccoli to not only make the meal more filling, but to get more veggies in my diet! It made the meal go a lot further! Give it a try sometime!

For an afternoon snack, I just had an apple and some peanut butter. More than enough to keep me full. I also had some sunflower seeds which aren’t bad, but can be high in sodium.

So tonight, I said adios to one of my great friends from grad school. Jacob has always been a huge supporter of my weight loss journey and is a big fan of the blog (or that’s at least what he tells me…:)) He has accepted a job in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Megan and I couldn’t be happier for him and his awesome wife Emily. It’s been great to have had support from the guys who were there from the beginning, who were there when I arrived to orientation, having just bought my first pair of 54 sized pants hours before. It’s been awesome to have gone through the weight loss journey and the joys of grad school together at the same time. Thanks for being an awesome cheerleader yo!

(Alex and Andrea, when you guys move, I’ll gush over you too.)

Anyway….

So tonight, we had a celebration dinner for him and his wife Emily. We went to a seafood shanty called Calico Jack’s and it was AYCE boiled shrimp! Since shrimp are surprisingly low-cal, I ate my share. Thankfully, fried seafood isn’t really my thing so there’s not temptation there. I did however eat a lot of saltines with cocktail sauce (because that’s one of the most delicious things in the world.) Anyway, so I ate two plates of peel and eat shrimp which isn’t as much as you think and then a side of cole slaw which wasn’t that great (but I still ate anyway…)

So that was it for today. Like I said, pretty good food-wise. Now it’s time to stick with it this weekend. Like I said the other night, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays have been my downfall so far. That’s changing this weekend. See ya tomorrow.

P.S. Now matter what your political leaning is, you have to admit these pictures are hilariously weird. (Personally, I like “Pouty Paul” on the left the most.)