Ripx Gone Wild.. Or AWOL

Much like Girls Gone Wild less the hot chicks and nudity. I strung together a bad eating spree like the red socks strung 4 wins in a row to win the world series. Here is a listing of some of the stuff I ate.... pizza, hot dog, Thai, cheese cake, ice cream, booze, and cookies.... All shit with zero nutritional values. It was Saturday when I first really nuked my diet and Sunday I did the lamo "Might as well just make it a bad weekend". All the crappy food Saturday and Sunday landed me ill on Monday. So I was home yesterday laying around wallowing in self pity. Not only did I eat crappy this weekend I got pretty much zero exercise in also. I don't really know what happened or why I choose the road I choose this weekend. Today is going to be somewhat of a detox. I am going to eat 100% clean and lighter than usual. I am trying to pick myself up and dust off. I didn't even get on the scale over the weekend or this morning afraid of what I might see. BLAH... today is another day and I am back at the helm steering away from another string of storms.

Today's Weigh In: 219.5 (new low)

Wanted to say thanks for the nice comments yesterday by all. I need to find a nice big pic for my blog today so I can push those shirtless fat boy pics down the page. For clarification I am happy with my progress thus far, I just wish I would have gotten to this point about 2 to 1.5 months earlier. I don't know why the weight isn't coming off a little faster. At this point I think I will adjust my calorie intake to try and ramp things up a little more. My thoughts are kind of pointing towards the Swanky method. I am thinking 2-3 days of 1600-1800 and then having a 2300-2500 day (repeat cycle). There just seems to be no reason to the rhyme for loosing weight for me. Yesterday I ate clean but I ate more and yet woke up to the surprise of being a pound lighter. So maybe it kicked my metabolism up, I don't know. I am gonna roll with it for a couple weeks and see what happens. I have switched over to more HIIT then MISS also that might be helping too.

Workout

Prisoner Squats ( 3 sets of 20, 3 sets of 15, 2 sets of 10)

Pushups 70 (7 sets of 10 man style)

Between each squat and pushup set (with very little rest in between) I jump roped. I started out doing 30 and after about 5 sets I switched to 50 and stayed with that for the remainder of the workout. I havent jumped rope in a long time and thats a serious workout. There was one point were I started to fill sick cause I was using those big muscle groups (legs) and blasting my cardio with jump rope. It was a good workout last night and something different.

Slow Burner....

Well I decided to weigh myself when I got home today from work. Finally saw a 220 on the scale. I am officially the sloth of weight loss in the FAT Coalition. 20lbs lost in almost 5 months. Is it as fast as I thought it would be? No... Am I glad I found the FAT coalition and started my journey/change or whatever you want to call it? Yes... I hope my next 20 lbs comes a little faster but if it doesn't I still hope to be another 20lbs lighter 5 months from now. I have been saying that there would be progress pictures at 20lbs lost. So here goes nothing...


Disclaimer: I can not be held accountable for retina burn or a bad case of raider face (see below) after seeing my pictures. I still find them quite disgusting. There is positive change but posting my fat shirtless body on the www is somewhat disturbing to me still. Yes I know I have really bad hair in the first one and really bad work socks in the next. Trust me I don't go outside looking like this.












Front




















Side

Plans for Success

Every year for the thanksgiving holiday we go to SunRiver Mountain Resort with my family (parents, two sisters and their families). Every year I worked on expanding my waist line. This year I have plans for something else (see pic on right). Not only will I get a cool t-shirt and exercise I will also get to scratch something off my goal list (a organized 5k). I already have been running 5ks in the comfort of my own home so I know i can do it. The next month will be spent trying to increase my speed. My younger sister and brother in law are both very active so I am going to try and get them in the 5k too. My wife said she would do the walk and I am going to try to rope my folks into the walk also. I will be thinking of all my FAT brother and sisters out running 5k turkey trots as I take to the course.

This last weekend was far from good but far from bad. I made allot of good decisions but I made some poor ones too after drinking a few yummy drinks. Luckily I came out of the weekend unscathed. I didnt gain any weight and I didnt loose any weight. I was my usual 221 when I woke up this morning. The only bad thing about that is it only gives me 3 days to make a impact and help "Jay and Silent Ripx" climb the Tuck board.

Still Standing

Todays Weigh In : 221

I am officially tired of seeing 221 on the scale. I am hoping tomorrow it will show me something different. Thanks for all the comments on the blog yesterday. I was kind of feeling a little down in the weight loss adventure I am on. I am going to try to incorporate many of your suggestions over the next few weeks to switch things up and hopefully shock my body. I really do want to finish October out strong and help represent with Jay. The weekend is quickly coming so time to hunker down and fight the legions of fat pushing minions that are about to rush the field of battle. I don't foresee any land mine functions on the radar this weekend so no reason it shouldn't be a fat burning productive weekend for me.

Yesterdays Menu
well i didn't write it down so I cant really remember. The only thing I had that I felt bad about was a toasted bagel with butter yesterday morning. I was feeling down in the dumps and feed my depression (that was stupid). Everything else was typical Ripx food from there out.

Workout
HIIT - on the treadmill. 28 min... 120sec walk (3.5mph), 60sec run (8mph, 9mph, 10mph), 330cal. The 10mph was killing me.... It did feel really good to put in a full stride while running that fast. I think when I run my 5-5.5mph runs I have the typical short stride lazy man run. Think I am going to try HIIT on the stationary bike tonight.

Yesterdays Menu
6am -Lean pocket breakfast thing, black coffee

10am - Cliff Builder Bar (last one I had so wont be doing these anymore)

11:45 - WW english muffin, 2 hard boiled eggs, hummus, and veggies.

2:00 - Beef Jerky

6:30 - Turkey breast and asparagus, seltzer water with splash of juice
7:30 - Shake (whey protein and skim milk)

misc - 120+ oz of water through out the day, 6 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

Weights
bench press
peck flies
crunches and oblique crunches
upright rows

Not a whole lot to say today besides I am frustrated with slow weight loss. I feel like I have stepped it up a notch and not much is happening for me. Maybe I will try to cut more calories.

Todays Weigh In :221

Yesterdays Menu
7am - veggie bites, black coffee, a banana

10am - Turkey Jerky (Oberta brand - funny, turkey jerky is no better for you than beef, there is actually more sodium in the turkey version, go figure)

11:45 - Turkey Sandwich (open face 1 piece of WW bread, loaded with veggies, slice of cheese, and no mayo)

2:00 - na

6:30 - Black bean garden burger in half ww pita (little avocado and bbq sauce) seltzer water with a splash of juice.

misc - 120+ oz of water through out the day, 6 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

Cardio - I ran my new longest distance last night at 4 miles, 730cal, and 47min. I actually felt pretty good but at this point I don't want to push it much farther. I would like to get faster... I feel like my stamina has gotten much better but speed is really not there yet. I think I need to start doing some more HIIT to get faster. If anyone has any thoughts on increasing speed lets hear it.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring a new low. I need one and want one real bad.

Error Error

Todays Weigh In: 221.5

Thursday night as I was loading up my computer to get on line I get this little message that says something about repairing Bios.... I knew it wasn't a good thing after it completely powered down on its own a short 2 or 3 seconds later. I tried to start it back up, but it wouldn't even post to the bios. My mother board was toast... So I headed to our local Fry's on Saturday morning to get a new motherboard (which is like 40 min south). I am back in business and should be posting more normally again.

Yesterday afternoon we celebrated my nieces 14th birthday over at my folks house. There was cake and ice cream and all the normal pitfalls that go with b-days. I did skip the cake and ice cream and managed to practice very good portion control. I also made sure my bigger portions consisted of steamed veggies and salad. My soon to be brother in law is a stinking Saints fan. So we all stayed and watched the Seahawks get pounced at home and lose another game. He had his Saints jersey on along with a shitty little grin each time they scored. It was embarrassing and I am afraid I am in for some long crappy years of football to come. The Seahawks are just not looking very good. So that was kind of a downer.

Saturday night I did have a few beers and we smoked up some spare ribs. I passed on the mashed potatoes and some of the other carb laden foods. The ribs turned our very good, some of the best I have had (6-7 hours of cooking time).

I am hoping to see some new lows this week and am very much within striking distance. Heres to me seeing sub 220s this week.

Two Days In a Row

Todays Weigh In: 221(new low)

So the weight is finally starting to come off a little. Hopefully I can continue on this loosing streak for a little while. Its only a couple pounds but it feels good to be making progress at a adequate level. I had a little rice last night cause thats what was there. Felt kind of guilty after words but I really didn't eat that much of it and the majority of my plate was chicken and veggies. I started this morning out with a protein shake and have a few veggie bites for my 8am (thanks Marcol for the suggestions).

Yesterdays Menu
7am - Cliff Builder Bar, Black Coffee

10am - banana and Almonds

11:45 - Stuffed Red Pepper (ground turkey, black beans, zucchini, mushrooms, little low fat cheese, and some taco seasoning)

2:00 - Plum, green tea

6:30 - Spicy Chicken (thigh meat no skin), little rice, bunch of steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage), seltzer water with a splash of juice.

misc - 120+ oz of water through out the day, 4 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

Strength Training
incline press
chest flies
arm curls
back rows
abdominal crunches and oblique crunches

Cardio
na - will be doing something tonight

GO! GO! GO!

Todays weigh in: 222 (new low)

Yesterdays Menu
7am - Cliff Builder Bar, Iced Hazel nut Latte (I know I should have had black coffee)

10am - banana

11:45 - Chicken Breast, 1 pineapple ring, slice of cheese, half whole wheat pita, Laughing Cow cheese triangle, raw veggies green beans and cherry tomatoes.

2:00 - beef jerky, boiled egg

7:00 - Stuffed Red Pepper (ground turkey, black beans, zucchini, mushrooms, little low fat cheese, and some taco seasoning)
8:40 - Scoop Whey protein, ice and skim milk.

misc - 120+ oz of water through out the day, 6 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

Strength
210 pushups (still doing them girl style), arm curls. I made the mistake of doing my cardio before my weight training (I know better). So I gassed out pretty quick on the curls.

Cardio
3.1 miles, 570 cal, 34min

I was trying to get a faster time on the 5k yesterday but found myself struggling about the 2.5 mile marker. I guess it was a little faster than previous attempts but I was hoping for sub 33 min time. I woke up late today which sucks and then traffic was horrible. I was pretty much 2 hours late to work. Not a good way to start the day so I decided to eat 5 donuts and a grande half and half latte (ok, I am joking my diets still on). Marcol, you were saying my cliff builder bar was maybe a pitfall could you give me some other options? (key is it has to be easy and not take much cooking cause I leave at the crack of dawn and never cook the morning breakfast on days I go to work and it has to have a descent amount of cals 250-300ish). I want to batten down the hatches anywhere possible to get me the best bang for the buck weight loss wise. Thanks for your advice, that was the whole point of me posting my food consumption (so people would point things out that don't look so good). Keep on rolling FAT.

Humm

Not a whole lot to report on today. We went to a friends house to watch Monday night football. I kept my diet really good and skipped the beer etc.

7am - Cliff Builder Bar, coffee, and a V8

10am - beef jerky

11:45 - Chicken Breast, 1 pineapple ring, slice of cheese, half whole wheat pita, Laughing Cow cheese triangle, 1 cup of cottage cheese.

2:00 - Raw veggies (green beans, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, carrots)

7:30 - 6oz of Flank Steak, a little czar salad, steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

misc - 120 oz of water through out the day, 4 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

My weight was up a little this morning. I kind of think it was because of the late dinner time. We usually eat between 5:30 and 6:00. No exercise last night. Tonight I plan on doing some 210s etc while watching BL.

One nice thing did happen to me this weekend. I hadn't seen my older sister in a while and she said "G, your looking good how much weight have you lost?". So some people are finally starting to notice which feels good.

Slightly Miffed

So I had a pretty good weekend this last weekend. I may have been over my calories one day but they were not terrible foods. I had a great workout last night and wake up to see 224. Not a good way to start the week knowing you have to drop the same stupid pounds you have already lost a thousand times (I know thats my fault). I just hopped after a descent weekend I would see some progress. As always I am going to keep on keeping on. Plus the stinking Seahawks got owned by Pitt which pretty much ruined Sunday. Then the Packers drop their game against the stinking Bears. It was a bad football day at our house.

Sundays Food
9am - bowl of autumn harvest multi grain shredded wheat mixed with grape nuts (little honey over top)
noon - deli ham and light cheese sandwich with tomato soup (ww bread, and low sodium healthy soup)
6pm - garden salad, chicken breast, pineapple ring, slice of cheese in a whole wheat pita pocket. 3/4 Seltzer water with 1/4 100% juice.

80 oz of water.

analysis of my own diet says too many carbs yesterday after reading what I ate.

Workout
ran for 40 min, 3.41 miles, 630 cals

My run last night was the furthest constant run I have done since starting this journey. I actually felt really good and didn't even start to think about being tired until the 30th min or so. I kept pushing cause 40 mins was my goal. So it was a mini victory for me even though my weight didn't do what I wanted it to. Sounds like a few people got kicked in the a$$ by the weight gods the last few days.

Keep It Rollin

Todays Weigh In (223.5)

I think I did well at the Parents house for dinner tonight. I practiced portion control, skipped the beer and stuck with water, green tea, and milk. Had a nice night over there and walked away feeling good about my eating and health goals.

Thursdays menu looked something like this

7am - Cliff Builder Bar, coffee

10am - plum

11:45 - spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, left over Shepard's pie, and a diet dew.

2:00 - almonds (little pack you get at the convenience store 260 cal)

5:30 - Beef stew over pasta (no potatoes in the beef stew just other veggies and I took a small protion of pasta). The other 2/3 of my portions were green beans and cottage cheese with some pinapple. Drank 12 0z of 1% milk.

8:00 - small handfull of popcorn while watching survivor and a green tea lipton zero cal.

misc - 130 oz of water through out the day, 4 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

so all in all I feel like I did pretty good diet wise given the situation.

exercise - thats why I am up so late. I told FAT I was gonna run when I got home so that's what I did. Got on the treadmill about 11:20pm ran for 30min strait, 2.6 miles, 470cal, and my heart rate bounced between 156 and 162 the whole time. I feel pretty dam good. Anyway I need to hit the shower and would like to be in bed by 1am. Tomorrow is like all fridays (Daddy Day) with my son so I gotta be well rested. Keep Rocking the Casbah FAT

Scary FAT

Todays Weigh In: 224 (coming back down)

I will start this blog with some very spooky pictures of me from last Halloween. Not only was I cast in a fellow workers zombie film but I won the office's best costume. You will notice if you look closely my PVC skewer goes in the back and out the front. Amazing things can be done with a coat hanger, duck tape, and some plumbing supplies from your last bathroom remodel. Rumor has it I was driving to work and rammed into the back of a plumbber truck... Yes I know I am a geek or a goober. I don't usually dress up but being in a local Indy film sounded like fun and out of the normal ripx realm of things to do. I have yet to see it, I am sure it was really scary. Gotta love the look on my sons face.... sure he was thinking "what in the heck is that?, I hope daddies ok."

7am - Cliff Builder Bar, coffee

9am - veggies celery, broccoli, carrots (raw)

11:45 - spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, can of tuna mixed with some humus, 1 cup cottage cheese.

2:00 - more veggies like 10am and some beef jerky

5:30 - Sheppards pie (made with sweet potatoes instead of normal potatoes, ground turkey, green beans, zuccini, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, healthy can of cream of mushroom.). Seltzer water with 1/4 100% juice.

8:00 - pickle spear, small peice of beef jerky (proably a little too much salt).

misc - 100 oz of water through out the day, 2 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

Exercise

Nothing.... Man I am really sore from tuesdays workout (even worse today). I cant really straighten my arms all the way, those curls killed me.

Tonight we are going to my parents for dinner (not sure whats on the menu). So I may have to practice very tight portion control. Just got to be smart and thoughtful and things will be good. I am feeling really good so I dont want to screw anything up. Plus I want to hit some good numbers this month and here on out. Its my Friday also so I should be able to get in a run or something when I get home.

Stick and Move

Todays Weigh In: 226 (what the F?)

I have been really good the last few days and what does my body do? It gains a bunch of weight. I hope its just holding onto water or something lame like that. I did a 5k on Monday and weights last night and this is what I get for it, freaking frustrating. So part of my plan on getting back on track is listing what I ate like many of you do. So here it goes

7am - Cliff Builder Bar, cheese stick, and black coffee

10am - veggies celery, broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes

11:45 - Asian Spare Ribs (boneless, probably not the leanest cut of meat but we dont eat it very often), sautéed zucchini, broccoli, and onions in a little evoo, mixed in with a little brown rice.

2:30 - more veggies like 10am and a banana

5:30 - scramble eggs (2.5 eggs) with deli lunch meat (turkey), spinach, little lite cheese, and small amount of ketchup. I also had a diet pepsi, a hand full of whole wheat wheat thins and hummus.

8:00 - 1 scoop of designer whey protein, non fat milk, handful of frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries mix) - pre post workout drink.

misc - 128 oz of water through out the day, 4 fish oil caps, daily multi vitamin.

My workout consisted of the 210 workouts.

210 pushups and 210 prisoner squats alternating (with body weight, very short breaks in between sets)

6 sets of arm curls with 24lbs dumbbell (reps 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10). I only made it to about 5 or 6 on the last set of 10 and my arms are killing me today.

Thanks for the comments again yesterday. I just dont want anyone in the coalition to fill like they are wasting time on me. I give you my word that I am trying and putting allot of effort into this. Even though I have not been dropping weight very fast my body is in a much better place then where it was when I started this. I hope my 20lbs loss mark and pictures will show that (only 3 lbs to go from my lowest). Hopefully changing it up and owning my weekends will help me loose weight a little faster. I am just not happy with 2-3 pounds a month. I am really hoping to bring in 2008 around 200. Its gonna be a really tuff goal but I am gonna try really hard.

Catalyst for Positive Change

I have decided to change my goal dates a little so they are obtainable. They are still aggressive, probably more so then my original ones. I have also added a few new ones. I appreciated all the comments yesterday even though a few of them hurt. They were all on the money, what I needed to hear/read, and have provided me with some new things to try. I know where my weaknesses lie and I need to change them. Even my wife came down on me today somewhat (snippet below).

"Anyways....sorry I brain dumped on you. Just see a lot of people making good points on your blog (swanky went OFF on your A!). They have been successful, and you can too! Sorry if I say things in the next weeks that piss you off....please know that I'm doing it because I care and want you to be supportive. I'm definitely not intending to piss you off (try to say things as tactfully as I can), just trying to help be a catalyst for positive change."

So I guess the message of this blog is to say I'm sorry. I obliously have been half assing it, not earning it, and applying less than 100%. Many of you have all been experiecing weight loss week in and week out even with some slip ups. I think I have obviously tricked myself into thinking I was doing better than I am. I feel like I put allot of effort into this but its obviously not enough. I guess my 80% dedication is just not enough to get it done. Two months in a row of 2-3 lbs weight loss is just unacceptable in my eyes. So I need to open my eyes, refocus, reassess, and retake ground lost. I am working on a change/plan of attack for my blog and weight loss so stay tuned. I hope as my wife stated that this will be a catalyst for positive change. As always thanks for sticking by me and for all your support even though my road has been rockier than most.

No More Winging It.

Disclaimer this is not a pity post so don't give me any. Just a fat guys thoughts and rambling....

To wing or not to wing.... I am choosing not to wing it anymore. I posted this on Robs blog on Friday morning "I am going to make a plan for the weekend. Whats yours? what are you eating, when are you working out?". I got as far as making a plan for Friday did I consider the next two days in the weekend? Or did I wing it? I winged it and you know what that means. I didn't do horribly but I could have done soooo much better. I had a few drinks while watching the Seahawks destroy the 49ers. Well truthfully I think the 49ers destroyed themselves, they played horrible. I actually felt bad for them even though it was a W for the hawks. There was also snacks that I took part in. It was at our house so the snacks were healthier than most football parties. We had baked chicken wings, hummus, veggies and whole wheat wheat thins. A black bean with cheese and salsa dip etc. I digress.....back to the main meaning of the post. I need to make sure I have a plan and I also need to make sure I execute those plans. That's the main issues with my weekends, I have no plan. I don't eat for too long then I get really hungry and make really bad decisions. I don't know if I don't want this bad enough or what. I can give great advice and cheer you all on but when it comes down to me following my own advice I feel like I am failing miserably. I feel like the fat personal trainer who can talk the talk but not walk the walk. Or the fat doctor that says you need to loose some weight. I want to be the guy that people listen to because I have done it (like most of you). Not the guy that people say in the back of their heads "Dude, follow your own advice you fat a$$". I am so living proof that following a diet and exercise plan 85% of the time doesn't work very well. Last week I felt so strong and motivated and I f'd it all up in a weekend. I don't know what I need maybe some tuff luv. Finally yes I know, step up or shut up right? Being fat is the one thing in my life that sucks and I am having a hard time making it right.