Short post....

Car broke down yesterday. Got it fixed, but it's old and I'm stressing about the possibility of it dying forever soon. Plus it's expensive every time something happens.

Last night after getting towed and a ride and dealing with all that BS I socialized and ended up at 500 calories over my usual allowance. That's okay though, the high days are needed to keep my metabolism going. It's not part of my "plan" but it happens every week and probably helps, so I'm not upset or don't even care about it.

Today I picked up the car and have been munching a little bit too much on snacks, so I'm trying to have a really light dinner, and not too many drinks, though this is the first time I've gone out in awhile.... so we'll see...

Happy weekend.

4SACK update! Clap your hands everybody!

I don't have exacting records, but the three of us started this 4SACK craziness around the beginning of November. We have taken the group idea and it's going really well; could not hope for more support! We email each other our food and exercise every day, and look at our weekly goals and make new ones every weigh in. It's working out really well and this is definitely the push I needed to be committed and focus.

So first, thanks to Jeimayprovy and Bbubblyb! You're both amazing and I'm really glad we are able to go through this together.

So far, we have been losing weight like it's a piece of cake.. maybe a bad saying.. but it's been going really well...

Bbubblyb - begin 196.6, current 191.2!!
Doug - begin 183.8, current 180.6!!
Jeimayprovy - begin 240.3, current 234.2!!

That's pretty solid work for all of us!! We are all eating pretty clean too, and getting in plenty of exercise. We have some big goals for the coming week/weeks, but everyone is on track and it's pretty amazing to be a part of.

Thanks guys! Hugs!

Patience... who has time for it?

I have never been very patient.  It really is a virtue though.  Slowing down and having time to think critically is important.  I remember sitting down all nerd-like with a calculator and calendar and figuring out when I would be at my goal weight based on a 2 lb/week loss.  It turned out to be near the end of June.  Obviously that hasn't happened.

 

But am I upset about it?  No.  I've made huge progress.  I've changed my whole life and approach to food and exercise and life in general.

 

I've had to come up with similar schedules and numbers and targets and goals for work.  The difference is, you can't go to your boss and say "Well, I predicted an average loss of 2 pounds/week and we ended up around 1 pound/week."  That totally blows the whole calendar and you don't get a pat on the back.  Well, I'm patting myself on the back for achieving that.  I wonder what the world would be like if the corporate world was more like that.

 

I'm also impatient with exercise.  Right now I'm just on the end of a bad cold, and I also haven't run in over a month because of some knee issues.  I want to go out every morning and run 5 miles.  I could probably do it for one day, and then I wouldn't be able to run for another month.  Instead, I am stuck planning out when I will run and not able to actually run.  Would I have gone for a run this morning?  Absolutely!  But I couldn't because you just can't rush some things.

 

So, I need to learn to chill a little more.  But having the drive to accomplish things has always been in my favor.  Some sort of balance needed, as in everything in life.. Yin and yang and all that.

 

Happy hump day.

Self Evaluation

I haven't had a real solid post in awhile. I want to take a look at my goals, my reasons for those goals, and my progress. This blog was about weight loss initially. It still is, to a large part, but there is a lot more I would like it to be. I need to have some more focus in my posts and really look at what my needs and desires are.

When I started this blog, when I started seriously trying to change my life and stop the weight gain I was having, I had a variety of reasons. I weighed 230 pounds; I was obese. I was skyrocketing, with no end in sight. I could easily have gained another 50-100 pounds this year if I hadn't changed things. I started working on my diet first and foremost. I also started working on exercise. I started learning what calories are, what carbs are, what protein is, and the various other nutrients that make our body run. I learned how to work out again. I had flirted with the gym in the past, but I started becoming dedicated.

So, why did I want to lose the weight? I was unhappy. I was unhealthy. I used food to deal with my problems, instead of really dealing with them. I had started to lose the ability to do some physical activities I love. I am an outdoorsy guy. I love snowboarding, I love my motorcycle, I love swimming, I love hiking, etc etc. I wanted to regain the ability to do those things and more.

I've come a long way. 49.4 pounds lost. I have dealt with a lot of the mental issues. I am pretty fit and healthy, especially compared to how I was. I am looking forward to snowboarding season starting soon. I am hoping to learn to rock climb. I'm joining running groups to try to meet people.

Why do I continue down this journey, and really embrace the health nut side? I am pretty picky about what I eat. I still fall off and have a bag of junk every once in awhile, but usually I eat lots of veggies and lots of fruit and some meat. It's all very basic, simple food. And, of course, super healthy.

I want to continue losing weight because I want to have a "normal" body weight. My goal as of now is to be under 170 pounds, which is 10.6 pounds away. I want to be fitter and be able to excel at the sports I am interested in.

I want to continue eating healthy because I feel much better since the change. I have more energy throughout the day. I have less mood swings. My body is content, instead of feeling bloated and greasy or have my heart racing from too much sugar.

I want to begin to socialize more with like minded folk. I am a social butterfly, have been for awhile. I like being part of a group, feeling that sense of belonging. I want to surround myself with other healthy people who I can go do activities with and not feel bad that they are huffing and puffing. I want to avoid the temptations that being around unhealthy people can have.

I want to be healthy and happy, and I'm on track to accomplish that.

Still feeling kind of under the weather. Getting really ansy to get working out again. I also want to start running, hoping I can meet some people that way. Think I've just been lonely from hanging out in my room and trying not to get people sick. Food has been okay, tracked mostly, but not all the time. So, here's some pics of my homemade awesomeness. Feel free to ask questions, enjoy!



Vegetarian baked beans, spinach, peppers, onions, turkey, tomato, cheese tacos (635 cals)


Turkey bacon, egg beaters, broccoli, jalapenos, poppyseed and caramelized onion dressing, sheep cheese (250 cals)


Curried hummus, ground turkey, celery (260 cals)


Shrimp, asparagus, zesty cocktail sauce (200 cals)


Good pasta, organic tomato sauce, peppers, onion, ground turkey, sheep cheese (200 cals)



Black bean, pea, corn, green bean, pepper, onion, chicken soup! (150 cals)

Obviously the calories vary a lot depending on what you use and how much you eat, but that's for what's in the pictures, near as I can figure. Except for the shrimp, because I didn't use much of the cocktail sauce.

On the road again...

Going up to LA, the valley more specifically, for almost a week, leaving Thursday. I'm really worried that I won't be able to eat healthy and keep things under control. I'm on such a roll now I don't want to lose all of this momentum.

But, this is what life is all about. Keeping it all going despite the little interruptions that come up. I'm going to come up with a plan tomorrow, find some good restaurants near, and just rock it out at the hotel gym. I'm keeping this momentum and busting through 50 pounds in the next weigh in.

Still worried... but hopeful.

Best Burger EVER

Okay, so I'm really getting into this whole posting pictures and recipes things. I just made this up after work and it was AMAZING. Like, seriously, the best burger I've had, maybe ever. And all for only 379 calories, 8g fat, 31g carbs, and 47g protein. (to compare, a McD's quarter pounder with cheese has 513 calories, 28g fat (!!), 40g carbs (!) and only 29g protein (!!) and it tastes like garbage compared to this)

Ingredients:

4 oz. super lean ground turkey (I used 99% fat free)
2 strips turkey bacon (again, super lean)
Whole wheat sandwich thins
1 oz. fresh reduced fat mozzarella
A couple of fresh basil leaves
Chopped onion
1 tbsp. barbecue sauce
a handful of spinach
A couple slices of tomato
Some black pepper and some hot sauce

Directions:

Start your frying pan and cook the bacon
Meanwhile, mash up the ground turkey with a bunch of hot sauce and black pepper.
Cut up the basil and mozzarella.
Make 2 thin patties with the ground turkey, and insert the basil and mozz in the middle of the patties.
Press the edges of the two patties together, effectively sealing off the mozz and basil.
Throw the burger in one side of the pan, onions with a little bit of oil on the other side. Cover the pan. Medium heat works fine.
Once the burger is cooked, pull it and the onions off.
Brown the sandwich wheat thins on as high as your range will go on both sides for like 30 seconds.
Stack it all together, I put sandwich thin, spinach, tomato, burger, onions, barbecue sauce, sandwich thin.

Oh man, once you hit that pocket of cheese and bazil it's like WHOAAA. The barbecue sauce adds some craziness in the mix too. It all blends together reallly well.

Awesome weekend

I love weekends like this past one. Plenty of relaxation and plenty of friendship. I packed in so much stuff it was amazing. I also tracked my calories all weekend and stayed right where I wanted to be. It's good to be tracking again, I can tell I am going to have pretty strong losses and it's opening my eyes again.

I wasn't too far off on what I thought I was eating. However, I learned that the reason I get home from work and crash or want to eat bags of crap is because I wasn't having enough for breakfast. I thought I was having around 300 calories and I was having half of that. I've upped that even more and am now at about 400 for breakfast. It feels like I'm eating a lot, but it really helps me stay energized throughout the day and not have cravings at night.

I now weigh 181.4 lbs. That puts me a hair from my original goal of being under 180, which would be 50 pounds lost. I'm pretty excited. I didn't at all think about actually getting near this number, I thought maybe I could get down to the low 200s and then I would just kind of be stuck there. Now, I feel like it's hard work, but if I really haul butt, I could be at goal (170) by early December, or at least by when I go home for Christmas. That would be awesome! Either way, I'm pretty excited.

It really does pay to look at your progress overall. I get bogged down in the details occasionally, which is good for a reality check, but if you are trending down over the months, that's what really matters... Keep up the good work!