A Fat Man's Journey

An Attempt to Journey from Fat to Fit in a Lifetime. Eat right, Eat less, Move more

Monthly Archives: March 2012


by 2 Comments

A Rainy Saturday


My Day of Little Activity

I sat on my rump most of the day and did very little. I wish I could say a day of rest but I had to work this morning and got little done. Maintenance had to shut the power off to much of the building at work and that shut down the computer systems…

So I had a nice breakfast with a dear friend and then I went home.

Raining and really cold and awful so no walking… Instead I watched TV and caught a little preseason baseball. Not my Yankees but baseball and that always feels good. I made a nice dinner tonight, chicken stir fry with black rice. I over ate a bit and blew past the 2000 calorie mark but I think I can afford ONE of those days. I hope to get some miles in tomorrow.

I am still enjoying the weight loss thing. Feels so good. Not the struggle I expected but still a fight each day to stay focused and keep at it. Still…

There are Times This is Just Wonderful

This morning was one of those times when being on the Journey feels wonderful. I met with my dearest friend for a cup of coffee after I realized that work was not going to happen today. I called her on the way home and we decided to meet up.

We went to a local diner of national renown thanks to an appearances on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and “Worst Cooks in America”.

The food is good and the setting classical diner and it is the perfect place to sit and catch up with a friend with whom you can truly be yourself. We had not seen each other since I started this Journey. Though we don’t live very far apart our schedules tend to conflict and finding a time when we are both not otherwise obligated is difficult. So it was a particular pleasure to see her and spend time chatting and laughing. What I truly enjoyed was the look on her face as she saw the thinner me for the first time in person. She had of course seen pictures and has read the blog and seen my updates. She seemed truly surprised by how much I have changed when seen in person. The look of shared joy on her face made my day. I say shared joy because I believe that is what it was. I think the look on her face said “I am proud of you and I am happy for you”. Good conversation, much laughter, many smiles and much love between friends. Who could ask for more?

Unexpected changes:

I have to get my wedding band resized. It is slipping off my finger to easily. If I lose it I will have hell to pay… I will be careful and then I will get it resized when I have lost another 20 or so. Foolish, I think, to have it done twice… I never thought of my fingers as fat but I have easily dropped two full ring sizes…

I am not an 11.5 EE shoe anymore. I am an 11.5 D, the same size I wore when I left for college. It never occurred to me that my feet were fat. The always looked sort of bony to me. The shoes I wear to work every day are much too loose on me now… I just got them 4 months ago. I am not about to replace them. I will figure something out.

I rarely wear my watch. It is a hazard at work because it could get caught on equipment and so I have gotten out of the habit or wearing one. I put it on the other day and it floats up and down my arm. Again, didn’t really think of my arm as fat…

I am glad that winter is mostly over. My winter jacket is way to big on me now. I could wear three sweaters under it and it would probably fit now.

I am trying to imagine being lean again. All these changes and I am still 47 pounds from my goal weight. What changes will I see as I approach my goal? I can’t wait to find out!

Peace


by 8 Comments

Befuddlement and Exhaustion


I am trying to figure out this weight loss thing. Well, ok, I have lost 48 pounds, I must understand something… It is not that long ago that my weight had stagnated and I was getting pretty depressed. I expected the weight loss to slow, not stop… For about two weeks I was stuck within a couple of pounds, plus or minus, of the same weight and I was frustrated because the math told me I should still be losing… Then it started coming off again and all was well. I settled in at about 1/3rd of a pound per day and I was happy at that.

In the last 18 days or so, my weight loss has accelerated like crazy. Between March 12 and today I have lost 11 pounds. That is a rate of 0.6 pounds per day. That is the highest rate since the end of January, when I was just a month in to the Journey. For the 94 days I have been at this I have averaged 0.50 pounds per day so you can see that the rate has accelerated….

Not complaining, just befuddled… It goes counter to expectations…

At this rate I will hit my target weight sometime in July. I really doubt this will happen.

An employee of mine stopped me today and asked me what I did with my belly. I couldn’t stop laughing. Manny has a way of saying almost anything and putting a smile on your face. When he stopped me and asked that question it elevated my mood for hours…

It is really starting to show now. As the weight comes off and the skin tightens back up, the weight loss is becoming much more apparent. Even people who are totally oblivious are noticing it now.

Today was a long and frustrating day at work and I knew it would be. It was month end inventory and that consumes 12-14 hours of the day. I got in to work at 6:30 AM and I left work at 7:45 PM. I have to go in to work in the morning to finish the reconciliation. Oh Joy, Oh Rapture.

The mistake I made, and I seem to make it every month, is I didn’t eat lunch. By the time I left work this evening I was ready to eat my steering wheel. Left over roasted turkey and rice with a salad on the side managed to quell the hunger…. I have to stop doing that to myself.

No walking tonight. Rain in the forecast may keep me from walking tomorrow. I am not liking this….

I am tired and heading to sleep early tonight.

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace


by 8 Comments

Half Way Home


A Blustery Day

Cold and windy but the sun was out and so we walked. It was way too windy today and on the far side of the track it was truly cold in the shade as the sun dipped low. I did enjoy the bleacher-sets (ran 4 of ten) and I got a thrill out of running the ¼ mile (1/8 at a time). Concerning to me was the HUGE pain I felt in my right hip while running the first 1/8 of a mile. The pain cleared quickly and I didn’t feel it as strongly on the second 1/8th.

My new running shoes are very comfortable by the way.

The weather is not cooperating with me. Looks like my big plans for a long ride or hike on Saturday will be rained out. I will get some walking in somehow but I was really looking forward to the long walk or ride….

Is it Wrong to Love a Scale?

Great news when I stepped on the scale this morning. I am in the 250′s!!! 258.6 to be precise! I got on the scale 6 times just to prove to myself that it was real. Then I moved it 8 inches to the left and stepped on it again. 258.6. Then I moved it 8 inches forward and stepped on it left foot first. 258.6. The I stood on one leg and whistled… 258.6.

I am jussst one pound from being half way to my goal. I have dropped 46.4 pounds. 47.5 is half way (so sue me over the tenth of a pound….)

I am amazed and pleased and so freaking excited!

I Have to Remember to Eat Right

Today I ate three meals. Cereal and fruit for breakfast, a piece of chicken and a roll for lunch and a nice dinner of roasted turkey and rice for dinner. Yesterday I really dipped too low with the calories and felt it today. After lunch I felt much better. 1160 calories is too low. (memo to self)

Thoughts on 258.6 pounds.

"Hey 258.6, it's good to have you back again...."

Well first off. The 0.6 is meaningless. A pint of water weights a pound… 0.6 is silly but the scale measures to tenths so….

Then

258.6 significant to me because it means I am half way to my goal. It is significant to me because it represents much more to me than the weight loss. It means I have dedicated myself to this new lifestyle. I have adopted it, resisted the temptations, altered my mindset and adapted to the new realities of how I live now.

It is significant because I have crossed a line from “OH MY GOD, IT IS WALKING TOWARDS US” to “Gee, that is a big guy”. It is significant to me because I am now a guy who is trying to lose 45-48 pounds, not a guy trying to lose nearly 100 pounds (I have adult friends that don’t weigh 100 pounds). It is significant because I no longer feel or think like a fat man. Being in the two-hundred and fifties to me is a line crossed, emotionally and physically. To my brain, at my height, 260+ is fat. 258.6 is heavy. It is a significant difference for me.

48.4 pounds to go (hey, the 0.6 has taken me this far…).

I have come so incredibly far. I feel so freaking good! I am half way home.

Peace


by 1 Comment

Wednesday Choices


Big celebratory lunch at work today. Eggplant Parmigiano, Chicken Francese, breaded Zucchini, buttered vegetables, Penne in Vodka sauce…..

I had nothing but a plain roll.

The food looked wonderful but nothing that was served fits in to the way I want to eat.

I was not put out or disappointed. I just made the choice to pass on the food. A plain roll served the purpose of holding me until dinner.

There was a time not very long ago that I would have wolfed down on two or three plates worth. Not anymore. Interested? Sure. Tempted? You bet. I simply made the choice. I decided that this was not how I wanted to eat, not even for one meal out of one day.

I took some friendly teasing from my co-workers but no one made a big deal of it. They have come to understand how serious I am about the weight loss.

Dinner tonight was a 4 ounce fillet of salmon and salad and a sweet potato and some of the veggies I made last night. I was surprised to find out how good Jiccama tastes cooked. I have only ever had it raw. I chopped some up as part of the veggie medley I made last night and it was really quite good. I served the medley over the cut open roasted sweet potato, making a stuffed potato. So good!

We need a better green grocer around here.  There are a few but the quality is not so wonderful and some of the offerings are quite poor.  I can shop closer to work at the Korean Market but that can be a hassle in terms of planning.  Easier to do on a weekend but I don’t want to drive 30 miles each way to buy vegetables….

I bought new running shoes. I really like the two pair I have but I need a little more room in the toe-box. The new shoes fit the bill (or the foot). I will try them out with a nice long walk tomorrow night if the weather holds. I have not walked at the school since Sunday. IT got quite cold and windy for two days and then today I worked quite late and time to walk ran out. The only thing keeping me from going out of my mind about this is the extra walking I have done at work.

My mood has been up and down. Stress at work. If I make it through the week sane…..

Also I am feeling antsy about not walking and I hate the fact that winter showed up Monday and Tuesday and this weekend looks like rain. I am walking anyway. If it rains, well, I won’t melt….

I was planning to ride this weekend but I really don’t do well riding in sub 60 degree weather. I may ride anyway just to not give in. I need mileage. I need it now.

45 pounds down. What an amazing feeling that is. I still have very far to go but I have more and more belief in the course I have taken.

Feeling good.

Peace


by 2 Comments

The Trip Thus Far…


Ninety-One Days.

Three Months

Forty-four-pounds

I started this journey on December 27, 2011, three months or (thanks to the leap year) ninety-one days ago. I was 305 pounds on the morning of December 27. I decided that NOW was the time to start. Not waiting for New Years, not waiting for Valentine’s Day, not waiting for my birthday or St. Patrick’s Day or Saint Yenenvelt Day (ok, I made that one up)… NOW. And so on December 27th I had a light breakfast, a lighter lunch and a moderate dinner and I was on my new plan.

On January 5th I started this blog as a way to document my Journey as I came to call it and to keep me focused on the goals.

The goal has not really changed much but it has changed a little. When I first started I wanted to get to 230 pounds. That would be 75 pounds down. As I began to work at the Journey I started to reassess that goal. At 230 pounds I would still be obese according to the medical definition. Did I really want to go all that distance to still be obese? I decided that I wanted to get to the weight I was when I felt the best physically in my life; The weight I carried on my first day of college: 210 pounds.

I understood that 210 pounds would represent a significant drop in weight, nearly one-third of my total weight on December 27. To get there required far more than simply cutting down on how much I ate. I realized quickly that I would have to significantly alter my life. I would have to change my dietary habits to be sure. I would also have to alter my living habits. I would have to get up, get out and go do! I would have to walk, jog, run, climb, PUSH. I would have to retrain myself. From being sedentary I would have to rediscover the active me. The me that loved riding the bike, climbing mountain, hiking trails. I would have to fundamentally alter my approach to day-to-day living.

I knew that I could not do it alone. I would have to involve my family. I could not sit at the dinner table watching the family eat pasta and meatballs while I ate a salad. I needed the family, or at least my wife, to join me on this Journey. I would have to get my son out walking with me. I would have to involve my friends so we could go out to eat at a place that would serve the types of foods I would eat. To make this Journey a success it would have to become the way I live my life, not for 90 days, not for a year, but for life, however long that might prove to be.

I also realized that “dieting” was not going to work. If others wanted to call this a “diet” that would be fine,  but to me it was a life change. This is how I live now. It is not a diet, it is life.

As many others have experienced, I lost a great deal of weight very quickly. Being 305 pounds, my resting metabolic rate was very high and so when I went from whatever I was consuming to 1800 calories a day, the weight melted off at first. I lost the first 10 pounds in 9 days. After that it slowed a little and I am now averaging a little under half a pound per day.

I started walking and it was a chore. One lap of the track felt like a mile. A mile felt like ten. My first bleacher-set felt like I had climbed the Empire State Building.

I persevered and now I walk hikes of 10 miles and climb 30 bleacher-sets and I am ready for another few miles…

I am tempted by some foods I have pushed out of my life but I do not crave them. I have not had pizza or a PB&J in months and I do not miss them. I am tempted when I see them but I have not given in and do not expect to give in.

At work today we celebrated the March birthdays, mine included, and I celebrated with everyone but had no cake. Did it look good? Yes. Did I want some? On some level yes. But it does not fit in my plan and so it did not go in my mouth.

I am told that I should have a cheat day every so often. I do. I have 8-ounces of fish instead of four or I have an extra half bagel. I then throttle back on the rest of the days foods to compensate.

1800-2000 calories a day. That is the plan.

So I am nearly at the magical 259 pounds. Magical to me because it will mean that I am in the 250′s. To me, as I have mentioned before, that is the dividing line between FAT and big. Silly I know but that is what works in my brain.

Ninety-one days. Three Months. It has gone by quickly. I know that this is a long Journey. I have described it as never-ending. I still want to take the time and enjoy the landmarks. Ninety-one days. Three months. Forty-four pounds.

I don’t know what I will weigh in another ninety-one days. I do not know what will happen in the next three months. I am confident I will weigh less than I do today and I would expect it will be much less. I don’t think it will be another Forty-four pounds but maybe another twenty-four. I will continue to work the plan. Continue to fine tune it. I will continue to look at my goals, continue to work towards them.

Ninety-one days. Three Months, Forty-four pounds.

This has been the trip thus far on my way to 210.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 502 other followers