Jun/109
The Push to 300
On June 1st, 2009 I weighed 390 pounds. I was miserable, depressed, frustrated and simply not happy with myself. I wish I could recall what epiphany or mental kick in the pants occurred that caused me to do something about it. Everyday that June I exercised for 30 minutes in the gym and stuck to a 2000 calorie diet. I was focused and determined and hungry to make a change.
By the end of June I was down to 378 pounds. I continued to exercise (although not everyday) and stuck with counting my calories. By the end of July I was down to 367 pounds. By August 31st I was 355 pounds and by the end of September I weighed 341 pounds. In October I stalled out at 340 but was able to refocus and get down to 328 by the end of November. That was a total of 62 pounds lost in six months doing nothing but exercising and watching my calorie intake. Sure, I had my setbacks and occasional cheat days but back then I earned them.
I lost all that weight by simply exercising and counting calories. I had a clear focus on losing weight that rarely faltered. Getting complements and encouragement from family and friends was nice but that was never a driving reason for losing the weight. I was just motivated by my simple desire to better myself.
Since then it’s been nothing but a series of excuses and piss poor decisions. Sure, everyone struggles during the holiday season but hell that was 6 months ago! Today, June 1st, 2010, is a year later and I weighed in at 329 pounds. That’s the same as I weight at the end of November. That’s six months I wasted feeling miserable, frustrated and depressed.
Before you say it, no it’s not okay that I “maintained”. I’m not at a weight that one should want to maintain. I’m at this weight because I’m a sorry fat ass who feels sorry for himself.
I’m ready to not feel that way anymore.
I’m writing this blog post for three reasons:
1. Writing this down helps me to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and gather my thoughts.
2. By making my thoughts public I’m helping assure to myself that I’m serious about continuing to lose weight.
3. I want my family and friends to know that I’m getting serious again so that they’ll understand when I snap and bitch at them when they try to offer me to go drinking, dining or indulge in sweets.
You’ll notice I didn’t say that I’m wanting actual help from family and friends. I love my friends and I welcome their kind words and words of encouragement. I’m just too dang stubborn when it comes to friends offering to help. It always ends up with me childishly avoiding them because I just have to do things my own way. It’s silly, I know. I just ask that my friends bare with me!
So, Facebook and Twitter friends get ready! You may want to unfollow me now if you don’t want me to bombard you with my progress reports and healthy thoughts. That seemed to work last year so I’m gonna start it up again.
It’s time to make the drive for 300 pounds!
Apr/102
Nature Walk @ Memorial Park
Ruen and I had a great time hitting the nature trails at Memorial Park this morning. The weather was perfect with a nice cool breeze to keep the sweat from being much of a bother. The trails themselves were fairly dry with very few mud patches that were easily avoidable.
The first set of trails around and near the sports fields were designed mostly for bike riders although walkers and joggers are allowed to traverse them as well. The trails vary in difficulty which basically translates to the “harder” trails being more densely populated with root trip/tire hazards. The trail around the arboretum was very enjoyable mainly due to it being restricted to walking only.
All in all we clocked in just shy of 6 miles. I was proud that my endurance seemed to hold up pretty wall for the entire trek although my feet do feel a bit blistered from the expedition. All in all I’d say I had a great time and would certainly enjoy giving the trails another go.
My Runkeeper app crapped out due to the densely populated trees that blocked the GPS reception. Ruen on the other hand had no problem at all with his Garmin. These maps, charts and graphs were all taken from his spiffy device.
Feb/101
Friday Weigh In – 319.9 lb.
Last Friday: 319.2 lb.
This Friday: 319.9 lb.
Difference: Up 0.7 lb.
Withings Scale: Not working right now.
Just goes to show that no matter how much you exercise, you still need to watch what ya eat! I actually anticipated that I would essentially break even considering how many days I went over my daily calorie goal. I’m getting in some good exercise but slacking off when it comes to monitoring my intake. This next week I’m challenging myself to keep both numbers in the black. It’s frustrating to work so hard (my legs are still sore) and not make any progress.
Feb/101
Friday Weigh In – 319.2 lb.
Last Friday: 319.7 lb.
This Friday: 319.2 lb.
Difference: Down 0.5 lb.
Withings Scale: Click Here
Well, I guess losing 1/2 a pound is better than gaining! I got some good exercise in this week but didn’t do too good of a job of staying below my daily 2000 calorie limit. I’m going to challenge myself next week and walk to work on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (as long as it doesn’t rain). The temperature is cool enough to keep the funk down to an acceptable level. We’ll see how it goes!
Feb/101
Friday Weigh In – 319.7 lb.
Last Friday: 321.4 lb.
This Friday: 319.7 lb.
Difference: 1.7 lb.
Withings Scale: Click Here
This week was quite the roller coaster! I’m glad that I was able to end the week back down at 319 (which I originally hit a few days ago). I doubt it will be enough to win this week’s Biggest Loser at work but I’m still gonna call it a win.
This also ends my 6 month experiment with The BodyBugg. While using the Bodybugg I lost 37 pounds which is roughly an average of 6 pounds a month. There is no doubting the effectiveness of a device that gives you fairly accurate data of how many calories you burn but I personally don’t believe having this data collected everyday is necessary. With the BodyBugg I was able to get a great idea of how many calories I burn when I’m completely sedentary (roughly 2900) as well as on a normal workday (around 3200). I know that 30 minutes on the elliptical can net me around 600 calories and 30 minutes of walking around 400 calories. Having these numbers on hand while tracking a daily 2000 calorie intake is all I really need to keep within my goal of 2-3 pounds a week. I may come back to the BodyBugg in 50 or so pounds when I need to recalculate my numbers but for now I think I’m fine without it.
Of course, tracking calories is how I lost weight before the BodyBugg as well as with the device so it’s no surprise that I will continue to do so. Before the Bodybugg I used the Livestrong iPhone app and website which was an effective and very low cost tool (I think it was free when I got it and now it’s only 3 bucks). Livestrong’s strongest asset (aside from the price) is the Daily Plate food database that is tied to it. It’s weak points however are a clunky website and lack of additional features that i’m interested in.
This is why I’ve decided to give The Daily Burn a try. It caught my eye mainly due to the fact that it integrates with my Withings wifi scale. Add in a very polished website and slick looking iPhone app and I just couldn’t resist giving it a go. I giving their lite version a try (costs 6 bucks a month or 50 a year) so we’ll see how it goes after 30 days.
Feb/102
Friday Weigh In – 321.4 lb.
Last Friday: 321.4 lb.
This Friday: 321.4 lb.
Difference: 0 lb.
Withings Scale: Click Here
Damn. This week cost me 10 bucks for not loosing any weight. I blame the typical excuses. A lack of motivation amplified with stress caused me to eat more than my daily goal and to not really push myself when it came to exercising. According to the Bodybugg numbers I should have at least lost a pound so I’m guessing I’ll probably see it tomorrow when I weigh myself. Oh well. All I can do is carry on with renewed determination.
Jan/100
Friday Weigh In – 322
Weigh In: 322 lbs
Gain/Loss for the Week: Lost 2 pounds
Total Loss: 78 lbs
This week started off very interesting. I must have weighed myself a dozen times on Saturday when I suddenly lost 3 pounds over night. I’m guessing I dropped a ton of water weight that day because it bounced back up 2 pounds the next day. I actually ended up with 3 cheat days this week (instead of my planned 2 cheat days) so having still lost 2 pounds is a nice accomplishment. Sure, I won’t win the office Biggest Loser with all this cheating but hey at lest I’m still losing!
I’ll update this post later with the week’s Biggest Loser Results.
Dec/090
Friday Weigh In – 325
Weigh In: 325 lbs
Gain/Loss for the Week: Lost 1 pound
Total Loss: 75 lbs
This was not what I’d call a typical week for me. I was shocked when I stepped on the scale Sunday morning and lost 3.6 pounds overnight. My only guess was that my sodium intake was very low the previous couple of days which allowed me to shed some of the water that I typically carry around. That same day was my most intense workout day of the week and yet on Monday I gained a pound. I probably would have maintained that level had it not been for me cutting loose a bit when my good buddy Sluder who was in town visiting. On Wednesday we hooked up with Ruen for some Mexican food at Chewy’s that, even though was my only meal for the day, easily contained 2000mg of sodium with enough calories to equal what I burned for the day. That’s where you see the spike back up to 325 on Thursday and today.
I’m not too disappointed with this week since I’m fairly certain that it will drop back down tomorrow or Sunday. Next weekend is Christmas which I’m sure will be a challenge but all in all I’m not going to sweat it. I’ll get in some exercise here and there and make sure any moments of weakness are followed up with some healthy form of penitence!
Dec/090
Tinsley Park Walk
Ruen and I just enjoyed the 4.7 mile walk around Eleanor Tinsley Park. The weather was a little nippy but not too cold and after a couple of miles my body was warmed up enough to really appreciate the coolness. The fog had dissipated from the ground but was still thick in the sky concealing the tops of buildings taller than 20 stories. I had a really good time walking while we BSed about all sorts of stuff but namely the trials of his law school experience (pun intended) to our favorite pastimes (gaming and TV). Good company always makes exercising a much more pleasant experience. If it were not for the sizable blister I formed on my right foot I think I could have done another 2 miles.
Dec/094
Friday Weigh In – 326
Weigh In: 326 lbs
Gain/Loss for the Week: Lost 0 pounds
Total Loss: 74 lbs
I didn’t really give it my all this week and it obviously shows. My weight dipped up and down all week and ended just about exactly where it was a week ago. I really should stop hobbling my efforts with moments of weakness but I guess said weakness is what got me into this mess. Surprisingly, my spirits are good right now. I think next Friday will make up for this one.
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