BIG Daddy

When the going gets tough...

2007-04-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

I sit down and a box a strawberries with sugar! Yum Yum. Well, what I was worried about happened. As soon as the contest was over I lost a lot of focus and drive in the weight loss but have rediscovered it with reading the YOU! on a diet book. Finally a book that breaks down how your body processes food and your mind reacts to food in certain situations...say your stressed and you eat some chocolate. Your mind associates that food with 'medicating' that certain feeling. So the next time your stressed your mind says "Hey, lets get some Snickers or (whatever you ate that last time you were stressed). Anyways heres to a renewed sense of purpose in fighting the weight battle.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

2007-02-21T15:17:00.001-08:00

30 POUNDS!!!

....that is all.

To cheat or not to cheat...

2007-01-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

that is the question.

January 22 starts the "Scale Back Alabama" contest. (well it isn't really a contest if there is only one team that is competing)

I have already made New Year's Resolutions not to eat certain foods this year and I don't plan on breaking that but what if I added sticking strictly to eating right everyday of the week?

When I started this online blog about weightloss my initial intention was to make this spiritual journey as well. Perhaps I was being too literal, actually looking for verses that deal with being physically fit and completely overlooking the spiritual applications that come from sticking to a diet.

What good does it do me to stick to a strict diet during the week and then on one specific day eat whatever I want? Why not just stick to the diet all the time?

Maybe this is a stretch but couldn't you say the same thing about this toward acting like a Christian on Sunday's and Wednesday's?

What about sexual purity? Instead of saying...Okay, I have really watched myself and guarded my thoughts and I think that I have my thoughts under control so I can go back to watching that TV show or movie or reading that magazine and not be affected. Why not just abstain from that all together? Doesn't Paul urge us not to have even a "hint" of sexual immorality in our lives?

I am convinced that sexual purity is the one battle that men will face their entire lives. It is the one battle that is impossible to conquer on our own. Without God's help we will never be free from the hold that it has on our lives.

So back to the original intent of this post...I will not deviate from a strict diet of:

1. NO fried foods. Including chips
2. NO sweets. Including syrup on pancakes.
3. NO pizza.

Back tracking...

2007-01-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

but for a good reason.

Lane, Jason, Jeff Sellars, Stacy, and myself have entered the "Scale Back Alabama" weight-loss contest.

When, WHEN, we win this thing we each will receive $1,000. Oh Baby.

So here is the plan. Pack on the weight that I had lost and then lose it again but get paid for it.

I know, I know, I am a fraud for starting this and then backtracking at this point but to have 4 other people counting on you to kick your own butt for 8 weeks is plenty of motivation.

Just remeber that everytime I cheat or whimp out on working out or eating right I hope that it was worth $5,000.

So we all weigh in on Jan 22 at Hunstville Hospital and then each week for 8 weeks. The contest is based on overall weight loss percentage, so I will really have to work extremely hard to lose enough weight percentag wise as some people who weigh less than me.

So our team name is

*ta dah*

'Skinny 'n' Rich'

Kinda catchy!?

I just wish I knew how many teams were entering this thing?

I fell off...

2007-01-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

not just the wagon. I fell off the wagon rolled on to the shoulder and down into the ditch these past few weeks. My weight has held steady mainly due to the fact that I have had a stomach bug the past few weeks. I mean I could have gone through the screen door and not got any on the porch, if you know what I mean.

But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. January 16th we will be done with all major rennovations on our house and be in the house full time. Which is kind of weird since for the first time since we moved to Huntsville/Madison I will not take the Madison Blvd. exit off of 565 to go home. Hmmm...

Anyways the treadmill will be setup in the spare bedroom and I will not have to go the gym and use/wait on the broke ones. I plan to get back into the swing of things full force when Monday hits. It has been a little nice not being so strick but I can tell I am starting to slip to the 'dark side' unless I get back on this wagon and soon. There is a renewed sense of purpose in reading about other weight loss attempts. Some statewide and some personal.

New Year, New Goals.

2007-01-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well my new resolutions should help me lose some weight, actually according to Sunny I should lose around 2,000 lbs or 1 ton (in laymans terms ... I'm FAT). Ha Ha Ha, just kidding. Seriously though these new ommissions from my palate should encourage the weight loss.

And on another note I have now lost 27 pounds and rang in the New Year at 258!!! Like I said, "Here's to the 250's." Now on to the next milestone of 35 pounds!!!

Not bad for the Holiday's

2006-12-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Not much to post here. Been busy working on our new house.

Better Week

2006-12-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

This past week was better. I worked out more consistently and ate better. This resulted in losing 2 pounds so now I am back down to 263. I really need to get some cardio workouts going. What I really need to do is start running, but our apt complex is nothing but hills and that is to daunting to start a running regime on so I want to get our treadmill out of storage but we are moving in 29 days to is there any sense in dragging into our apt and then back out and down to the new house? I can't decide. But I am pumped about moving into our new neighbor hood because it is flat and has tons of roads to run on so that will be excellent.

I was rather pleased with myself over the weekend. At Lawson's B-day party on Saturday, at the mall, I ate a Subway Sub. I had the 6" Over Roasted Chicken Breast on wheat bread with NO cheese. I added lettuce, pickles, tomatos, onions, black olives, and mustard. Good stuff. Sunday we went to Tellini's and I had a salad instead of stuffing my face with pasta. I ate 0, ZERO bread sticks. I dread the weekends because it seems like I can do well during the week and then blow it all on Sat or Sun (or both sometimes) and then weigh in on Monday morning and seem like I haven't done anything. Maybe this just creates a mental block for the whole week to see that I worked out and ate right and only lost 2 pounds. I am with Lane on this one, I expect to get on there and see 5-6 pounds a week. What I really need to do is up the cardio workouts to maximize the calories burned.

So for one month I am going to weight in on Saturday morning (but still post on Monday) to see if this helps me to stay focused mentally during the week.

Inspiration

2006-12-14T07:18:00.000-08:00

The Biggest Loser has just concluded. It is amazing and inspiring to see just how much weight these people lost and how the look. It is even more inspiring to see people who are the same height as you and are at a weight you want to get to.

Above are the before and after pics of the winner.

Erik started at 407 lbs and now weighs 193 lbs. That's a 214lb weight loss in 6 months without any surgery (which I think is a copout for complete lack of self control, but that is another blog entirely).

Stuck!

2006-12-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

Stuck at 265. But looking forward to this week. I finally feel complete recouped from being sick so this week is looking good as far as getting back into a routine.

Again...Here's to the 250's

Time to suck it up (or in)!?

2006-12-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

This is week 6. For some reason I always start to peter out around the 6th week. It seems like I just hit a wall and revert back to my old ways. But not this time, this time I am determined to push through. I have been hanging around the 263 - 265 mark for 2 weeks now and I really think that with a little determination and focus I will break through to the 250's. For me there is just some psychological about being in another 10th. Plus, it is almost half way to my goal and it would be nice to lose 30lbs. So this week is 'gut' check time (no pun intended).

Friends, Fun, Fevers, and Jokes

2006-11-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was great. We planned to head down to Montgomery to spend time with Kenny and Jamey and their daughter Avery. Lawson woke up with a temperature of 105 Thursday morning, so after giving him a cold bath (which was soooo much fun) and some Tylenol his fever broke around 3:30 and was still normal at 5:00 so we loaded up and headed south.

As usual I ate way too much but I wasn't feeling so hot either so I didn't eat anything Thursday except for the meal that night and only ate once Saturday and Sunday which probably helped me not gain much weight. I weighed myself Thursday morning and weight 263 which was a loss of 4 lbs since Monday morning and after stuffing my face for 3 days I didn't gain anymore or lose anymore so that was good.

Oh yeah, the jokes. The funniest practical joke to play in the kitchen is get a hair band and wrap it around the handle on the sprayer next to the faucet so that it holds it down, and when the unsuspecting victim turns on the faucet they get a quick shower. It is hilarious!!! Especially when you get the same person TWICE!!!

Goals and Toe Nails

2006-11-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well my goal was to lose 9 lbs by Thanksgiving. That was on Monday moring. Well Monday afternoon my ingrown toenails (GGGRRROOOSSS!!!!) were hurting me so bad I decided to have them cut out. I am the worlds biggest weenie when it comes to needles so answer me this...Why do you need a 2" long needle to numb by big toes which are only maybe an inch thick? Huh? Prae Tell? I mean are you trying to reach my ankle through my big toe. Anyways the doc ripped the toe nail and roots out. This was at 2:00 in the afternoon. The medicine or as Lawson a says " Mommy nice" wore off at 7 that night and man did ever hurt especially when Lawson stepped on them trying to give me a hug to go to bed. Anyways it was pretty hard to work out for a few days but I was able to get back into the swing of things by Thursday. So the net of all this is that I have lost another 2 lbs and am sitting at 267 with 3 days left to get off 7 lbs by Thanksgiving. Well here goes nothing...

Pick up the pace?!

2006-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Last week was okay, I managed to get workouts in mon - wed but the rest of the week had to many demands to be able to get them in so I watched my diet really closely (except for the SH Devo) I mean seriously Lawler's BBQ & Brownies, geez. Anyways I got up this morning and kick my own butt in the gym and weighed in at 269!! Something mental about breaking into a different set of numbers. There are the quarter marks, 275, 250, 225 those are big and motivating to hit but to get to those you have to go through the 10's 270, 260, 250, etc. So now I am in the 260's. My plan is to kick my butt for 13 days to get to 260 by thanksgiving. Well here it goes, off to a good start so far...

Oops

2006-11-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well, the first full week was not bad but not good. Stacy's dad and grandma came in town, ate chili with the Bybee's and at Chili's with the Bybees. Rough. But no excuse for not sticking with a plan. I only over ate at dinner, funny you would think I would have figured out that that is my problem, but nooo just keep stuffing away big boy.

Anyways I netted a weight loss of 0, nada, zilch, zip, nothing...guess I am trying to imitate Lane, just kidding. I was at least hopping for a little weight loss after losing so much the first couple of days but I just lost my focus.

Just have to kick it in gear.

Utopia?

2006-11-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

I had a great first week. And there were the Bybee's, I think they have a 'pool' going to see when I am going to fall off of this train. There was Jason's B-day, then Tuesday night we ate chili and rotel dip with them, THEN on Wednesday Chili's. Okay just kidding....because nobody forced my hand to make bad decisions just moments of weakness. Anyways...back to the title.

I always seem to create this 'utopia' of weight loss in my mind, especially when the first weeks goes so well. I mean it took me 2 months to lose 20 lbs at the beginning of the year and in 5 days I lose 13. I get this idea that I can lose 2 lbs a day and create the same amount of loss in the second week, but Lane is one week ahead of me and his second week was pretty rough losing no weight, but I just have to remember this is a lifestyle change and just not a quick fix. If it were that easy there wouldn't be any fat people around.

If you have cable or satellite you might want to watch Discovery Health tonight at 9 p.m.. The show is called 'You' the diet. It has Dr. Oz who has been featured on Oprah lately, (NO I don't watch Oprah, except when Stacy DVR's it and asks if I want to see what the show was about). He says that men should have a waist of 35" or less and women a waist of 32" or less. This size is measuring around your belly at your belly button, and no sucking in. So check out this show he talks about what kinds of food to avoid and what kinds of food trigger hunger and what kinds can fight off hunger pains.

3 days left till we see how I've done on week 2.

Hungry, Hungry Hippo!

2006-10-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

Never played that game, but learning to eat smaller portions has been a real challenge. But not that bad when you step on the scales and you see that you have lost....

13 POUNDS

Yes, sir're bob, 13 pounds since Thursday. It wasn't too bad for the first couple of days but Saturday at Jason's Party and then Sunday at Logan's and the Kid's Fest were rough. As we took Lawson around the Trunk'o'Treat I found myself routing for him to pick up the candies that I liked. In my head I was like..."Starburst, pick up the Starburst son, no wait wait wait get the Skittles instead." Crazy?! Like I was going to allow myself to blow it with one day left till weigh in. I stubled a little at Jason's party with a piece of moist, creamy CHOCOLATE cake, but what the heck it is the man's 30th birthday party. What is a guy supposed to do? Logan's came out good, NO ROLLS!!!! "Do you believe in MIRACLES?" - Al Michaels after the US beat Russia in hockey and me after Logan's with not a single roll. I had steak and grilled vegetable skewers. Pretty tasty.

So now for the first full week...

And so it begins...

2006-10-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

Not one day into this lifestyle change and a client walks in the door with....

HOT!!!

SQUISHY!!!

MOUTH-WATERING!!!!

KRISPY KREME DONUTS!!!!

Not to worry though, only 2 hours and 30 minutes until I get off work...

Does anyone have some nose plugs?

Are we really doing this...

2006-10-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

Borrowing from Lane Widick, Fat Man, I have decided to start my own blog about my weight loss. Every year it is the same old, I am going to lose x number of pounds. The only time I have actually lost a signifcant amount of weight was the summer before my senior year of college. I left for home weighing in around 275 lbs and came back to school weighing in at 242 lbs.

242 from 275 isn't bad but consider the whole story. This was 5 years into college. When I started college in August of 1997 I weighed 195 lbs. Not a light weight by any means but that 195 was streched onto a 6'2" frame. Fast forward 9 years, countless $5 Pizza Inn pizzas, 20 oz. Cokes and (thanks to living in Huntsville) gallons of Sweet Tea; I now tip the scales at a slender 285. For those of you quick with math skills that is an overall gain of 90 lbs in 9 years. That is an average of 10 lbs a year. Unfortunately most of the 90 lbs was crammed into about a 3 year span.

This year started off pretty good. I rang in the new year with a resolution to only drink water. That was a struggle at first but has become old habit now. I started excercising and eating right and lost 20 lbs in about 2 months. Well we moved and I got out of the routine and have gained all 20 lbs back putting me at my present weight of 285.

I went to see Dr. Kinzer when I weighed 265 just for a physical and he told me I needed to lose another 60 lbs to be at a weight that would not put me at risk for heart disease or diabetes.

It is a sobering thought to have doctor tell you that if you don't start taking better care of yourself then you WILL develop either heart disease or diabetes, or both.

So the net of all this is that I weight 285. I need to lose 80 lbs to be at a weight that is healthy for me.

So leave me some encouraging words or sarcasitic remarks because, well let's face it, I am the biggest proponent of poking fun at my weight, I can take it plus if it's good enough I'll use it some other time and take credit for it.

Like Lane's blog about his weight I will do my best to leave weekly updates with weight loss and other thoughts on losing 28% of my body.