OK, it’s true… I gave up…But, I’m Back!!

Yes, it’s true. I was the victim of the couch. I found that it’s much easier to be the fat guy in the group then to lose the weight. I got discouraged and stopped for a day. I thought maybe if I just let myself cheat one day that I could get back up. Instead, I layed down and stopped for over two month’s. I stopped at the first weigh in. I quit…

I am not a quitter, but I am definitely a procrastinater! I am getting off the couch and getting back up. This is my first post back and I’m not going to stop!  I love this 10-step program tag line, “The definition of Insanity: Is doing the same thing over again, but expecting different results”. WOW, does that represent me or what? I thought I could eat like I used to and become thin… I thought I could not excercise and look good… I thought by just dieting or reducing what I ate alone could make me thin… I was INSANE!!

That’s simply not true. I have a new vision. I am a member of the “Gotta lose 40 lbs. Club”. To be honest, I stepped on the scale today and weighed the most I ever have!

Knowing that I am a big fat ass and not happy with my body, I started working out this week. I have worked out 3 times in the last 7 days and today is the 7th day and I’m at my biggest weight. A little messed up if you ask me.

Anyway, my biggest thing is what I eat. I became a cow by eating and I’m not going to starve myself to lose weight. I am however going to start counting the calories and trying to eat slower to lose weight. No matter what we do, we have to burn more calories than we take in.

On that note, so far today I counted all the calories for breakfast and I made my lunch and counted those as well. My total calorie intake today so far is 852. That is for breakfast and lunch. Not too bad.

I have to do it for myself. Originally I wanted to look good for my wife, but thats not enough motivation. I want to look good and feel good about myself for me. I want to be around for my kids and wife for a long time. I watched the biggest loser last night and when they said that one of the peoples BMI (Which is crap anyway) was in the “High-Risk” section and then said that he is 30 years old, but has the body equivalent of a 42-year-old. That is very real for me and really hit home. I am in the “High-Risk” category for my age according to the BMI  and I’m sure my body age equivalent is in the mid to upper 30’s. Very scary when you think about how much extra weight I’m carrying around and how much impact it has on your body. My Dad got Type 2 Diabetes for being overweight and if I don’t change my lifestyle, then I am on the fast track there as well.

My First weigh In…

I weighed myself on Sunday morning. I weighed 208 lbs. That is a 6.5 lb loss in two weeks! I was thrilled, it’s a small victory, but still a victory. I have a new short term goal. The first week of August I go out of town and I’d like to be under 190 lbs. That means I got 18 lbs to lose in basically one month.

I got to eat like I’m supposed to on my plan and exercise more so I can reach my goal. I haven’t measured myself yet, but will tonight and post that into this post as well.

I broke down…

I broke down and got Taco Bell for dinner tonight. My kids were at their Grandparents house and my wife is sick. I planned on getting of course a Chili Cheese Burrito and maybe like 2 tacos. The entire time I was waiting in the line I thought, “Maybe I should get two Chili Cheese Burritos and eat on on my way home so my wife doesn’t see me eat that much.” I have this old habit of sneaking an extra something in the order and eating it before I get home so that when I take out my normal order, I don’t look like such a cow.

Anyway, I battles that until I got up to the menu board. I did good I think. I ordered a Chili Cheese Burrito, a Grilled Chicken soft Taco and a Fresco Soft Taco. No Pop or extra something for the ride home.

I was suprised at how good the Fresco taco was. Next time i get Taco Bell it may all be Fresco style. Also, I am changing the Eating Fast Food thing to a maximum of once a week.

My ab workout explained…

My abs are killing me. I have to change the program little bit. It’s too much to do ab exercises every day.  Because when I weight lift, I do a lot more of them too. They never have a day to rest. I am going to do the ab exercises every other day to let my abs repair themselves before ripping them up again.

When I weight-lift I have a sit-up bench and a medicine ball. To be honest, I’m not in good enough shape to use the medicine ball too much yet. Still a little too pudgy in the midsection to have another 20lbs up in front of me.

Anyway, I do 25 sit-ups on the bench, then 6-8 side to side ab crunches. This is alot for those that don’t do sit-ups all the time. Trust me, it tears you up. I plan on building that up to 50-60 crunches a work-out total. You can’t have a good physique with a weak midsection.

No, I’m not training to be the next Greek God, but a nice appealing body in a swimsuit would be nice. A body that I would be proud of would be great too.

Chili Cheese Burrito, where are you?

I am  having severe cravings for a Chili Cheese Burrito from Taco Bell. I would let it slide, but I know that I wouldn’t stop at just one. It’s kind of like the Pringles ad says, “Once you pop, you can’t stop.” That’s me at Taco Bell. I love those a lot. They are the best thing they have and Ican’t have them. It’s definitely one of the things I will miss the most about eating/living healthier.

candy cravings…

At my office we have two vending machines. One that is a combo unit that has both pop and candy. The other is a 3 chamber Bulk candy unit. Basically, its one of those $.25 candy machines. That one is mine and I get all the money from that. I also have a key for it as well.

It is very tempting to go over to the machine and open up the top to get into the candy. I have a few of my favorite bulk candies in the machine right now too. Reese’s Pieces, Skittles and M & M’s Peanut.

I won’t go over to the machine though. I am drinking more water as I’m writing this now.

The Camping trip…

Well, the camping trip was extremely fun! I had a great time with my family. It went pretty much as I wanted it too. I ate OK, I think. What I did right was had no regular Pop, unless in my Rum & Coke, which was only three total. I had water for the most part. Water however got old really fast and by the second night I was craving something else. I didn’t go over to the cooler where there was a ton of regular Pop and grab one though. I went up and bought some diet pops for myself. The only other thing I had was 2% milk for breakfast and when I had heartburn. Which, being overweight, I get a lot. I forgot to pack tums and they didn’t have them there, so Milk which stops heartburn was my only option. I tried not to drink too much of it, since it was 2% Milk.

Where I went wrong was having that extremely late hot dog with my cousin. Its been a tradition since we first started camping to go fishing at night and have a late night hot dog or two. I had 1 two of the three nights.

Other than that, I did very well. I was very tempted to eat in between meals, to eat more and to drink Pop, but having to explain that to you was a big factor in staying away from those temptations.

As for the exercising part, We played in the rain, played horseshoe’s, soccer, threw the football around, swam and chased the kids around.  We did sit the rest of the time and hanged out. So, I did get some exercise on this trip.

When we left we stopped at Subway. I had a 6″ club with water. They even had a special for a second 6″ for $.99. I gave it a quick thought, but decided against it.

What happened at McDonald’s…

You know how every fast food place is all the same. They are all about putting the food out as fast as they could. The staples on the menu don’t ever change very much and there is no customer service. Once you get your food, your on your own.

Well, when we left for our camping trip we all stopped at McDonalds for dinner on the way out of town. I had my wife  order me a kids meal with water while I went across the street to go get ice for our coolers.

When I came back and walking in, the manager had a plate with “Samples” of their new hamburgers. I beleive I had the bacon something, it was good. Then the manager came over a little later to ask how everything was and to see if we needed something else. What was this about? It was nice to be taken care of like that, but no matter what, its still just McDonalds.

I ate a kids meal with water, plus a small sample burger. I didn’t eat the cookies or all the fries with the kids meal. So far the plan is working good.

Camping… A small break in my plan…

This weekend is the 4th of July weekend and my family and I are going camping with my cousin and his family, who we have become very good friends with. Family by blood, friends by choice!

Camping is about the only time when my plan may not be as easily done. There is usually not as many choices as to what to eat. Usually its all hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pop, Ice cream, and smoores. Oh, and after the kids go to bed us adults like to stay up extremely late and have some adult beverages. Not very many of those would I classify as great to have on my plan. But, this is a Lifestyle change and can always be altered.

Here’s my weekend plan. There are a few things that need to be taken into account for first. Almost daily, I sit at a desk all day and have very minimal exercise. While camping however, we are always moving for the most part. Either swimming or playing with the kids or walking. So, I will get a lot more exercise than normal when we got camping. Plus, I am overweight and sweat very easy, so I’ll be sweating the entire weekend most likely. Needless to say I’ll burn more calories on my “mini-vacation” then on most weeks.

In any case, I am still not going to have pop, except for my Rum & Cokes. I’m going to try not to eat as many hot dogs and hamburgers that I usually do. I’ll only eat 1 smoore and stay away from other candy. The homemade Ice cream is a once a year thing and is an exception to the moderation rule. It will go bad if not eaten…

Like I said from the beginning, this isn’t a diet plan that means I can’t eat what I like. This is a lifestyle change and mental weight loss plan. Moderation is the key in my plan. If I follow my own rules and eat in moderation. The camping trip will not slow down the weight loss.

Stay tuned for Monday’s posts on how I did…

I was tempted and almost went for it…

This morning, I got up a little late. Didn’t sleep that good and was behind my morning schedule. I was thinking to myself that I have $5 cash and that I could pick up the Two Burrito Meal at McDonald’s on my way into work.

The thought of those two cheesy burritos with the sausage and peppers was very mouthwatering. I tossed it over in my mind and thought that I would have to Blog about it. So, I went downstairs and was going to make my egg and toast breakfast.

Well, when I got to the kitchen, there were groceries on the counter and stove blocking the burner to make my breakfast. Again, the Burritos popped into my head and I tossed it over again.

I thought that it would be easier to just pick it up on the way to work. On the other hand if I was going to make my breakfast I would have to move stuff away from the burner and counter to make room to make breakfast. That would require energy and I was still tired.

Being overweight its easier to do nothing and continue to be Fat. I don’t want to be Fat anymore. I want to look better for myself and my family. I decided to move everything and made my breakfast at home. I even was multi-tasking and made my lunch today too. What a deal!