Week 10 - Back to the Plains

Starting Weight: 240
Todays Weigh in : 226.5
5 day Average : 227.8
Weight Lost this week: .5
Total Weight lost : 13.5

Yesterday I completed my first whole day of counting calories. I came right in at 1750cals. Probably a couple hundy low for my height and frame. I was hungry a few times but didn't have access to food when I was. Fitday showed my nutrients to be right at 30% fat, 30%protein, and 39%carbs. Thought it seemed a little high for the fat portion but when I look at what I ate it all looks pretty clean and healthy to me. I guess allot of it was good fats from the almonds or chicken. It does really make you scrutinize what you eat but it is kind of time consuming and cumbersome on the other hand. The program said it takes like 3300cal to support my current weight. So if I want to loose 2lbs a week I should cut 1000cal a day putting me right at 2300. I cant hardly believe i was eating north of 3300cal a day even back when I was 240. I guess it all does add up pretty fast if your not counting. I am going to try to shoot for 2000-2200 a day. Anyway I feel like I am rambling.

On a weird side note I have been getting these weird dizzy spells. They happen unprovoked and only last like a second then nothing for a while. Its kind of weird, I wonder if its a inner ear thing or something. Been happening for like the last week or so. I didn't think much of it at first but its kind of scary when your running on the treadmill and get dizzy all the sudden. Think I might go see the doc if this doesn't subside soon.

It was good to see the 226.5 on the scale this morning. Means I stand a pretty good chance at loosing a little weight for the wiegh in tomorrow. Got to be strict on the diet and exercise today/tonight.

R&R

The weekend has come and gone like it does every week for me. Now all that is left are some really good memories. I stayed pretty true to my diet since we preplanned our meals. Had a few little snacks here and there creep in (that my parents brought up). I did drink some alcohol on both Friday and Saturday night. I didn't get wasted or anything and kept it to diet sodas mixed with vodka or bourbon. I guess I did have a couple malted beverages that proably did have some hidden carbs etc. All in all given the situation I feel like I did pretty well. I really didn't do any form of formal exercise just the usual walks and gathering wood etc. So not a great weekend diet and exercise wise but better than the old ripx would have had. It was really nice to get out there and clear my head and focus on whats important to me from time to time. Funny thing is I thought about the FAT coalition off and on through out the weekend. It was hard not to talk about it to my folks who don't know I have been blogging. I guess part of me is still afraid of failure and people seeing me as weird for putting myself out there on the WWW for all to see. I know what I am doing is not about failure but about change and making my life and those around better off for knowing me. My mom did ask if I had lost some weight which was a nice plus. This last weekend was said to be the most active nights for shooting stars or meteor showers. I saw one of the best ones I have ever seen in my life. Its nice to make positive good memories that you can carry for along time and recollect on from time to time. To me it's what makes life worth living. Spent some really good time with my dad (who's turning 60 this year) gazing up at the stars talking about day to day life. Or looking at my grinning son across the table eating a breakfast sandwich saying "Daddy, I like camping do you?". Cuddling up with my wife after a long day talking about good times (it got down to 34 one night so the cuddling was really nice BURR). It was a good weekend.

Shifting gears here, sorry for the long ramble above. With all the talk of counting calories and my not so impressive weight loss as of late I think its time for me to maybe spend a few weeks doing just that (counting calories). I have already paid for the fitday.com software a long while ago and have not really used it a ton. I kind of wonder if my portion control is a little out of whack or if what I am eating isn't as good as I thought it was. Watch for a post coming from me detailing more about this, if I don't post it roast it (me that is).

For Today

Cliff Builder Bar

25 almonds

half sandwich (whole wheat, no mayo, turkey breast, tomato, lettuce)

Tillamook Yogurt - (might have to ditch these 31g sugars)
Chicken breast and veggies for dinner
12oz milk 1% fat
small Italian ice cup for desert (65 cal)

cal = 1650 via fitday. I don't think thats quite enough for me but I will go with it today.

Keep the blogs rolling FAT it helps make my day to day not so mudane.

also saw this article on Digg.com. Its not a great article but kind of interesting since it talks about the mental part of being fat and loosing weight.

Heading for the Hills

This weekend we have decided to head to the hills for another weekend of camping, hiking, fishing, berry picking, and fun. No worries that Ripx will go out there and turn to his gluttonous ways. My wife and I sat down and did a meal plan for the entire weekend which she has so nicely agreed to pick up today while I slave away at work. There is no huge group of people this time and no potluck to fall face first into. Just some good healthy eats and allot of fresh air. Ok I do have some coors light that I packed to go on the trip.

This week has been pretty solid for me both diet and exercise wise. I haven't missed a workout in the last 4 days. However I do have to thank Rob for one of his comments on my blog the other day (my wife reads this ya know.... :) ) Last night I was pretty beat and had a headache and told my wife I might skip my workout and she looked at me and said "Go ahead skip your workout and go be fat". Then proceeded to tell me I better make my lunch. My wife and I have a deal that if I work out she makes lunch if you didn't read that in a earlier blog of mine. Of course she said it jokingly but it kind of struck a cord or should I say a bad note. So off I went down the hall to put on my shorts and t-shirt and ready myself for a round of bike cardio. Let me tell you the bike thing is kicking my A$$, I think worse then running. My legs feel so tight after I ride it and sweat was poring off me profusely (almost kind of gross amounts). I guess my bike is in the garage so maybe the heat outside was getting me. Or maybe its the fact that I have the tension set pretty high and it really uses those large muscle groups. Anyway I finished the night off with some abs work and counter pushups (hit 80 tonight).

Work has been stressful on my end too (been reading about it on allot of other peoples blogs). Our fiscal year end is June 30th and I am still playing catch up now in August. It just hasn't let up. Luckily I am not expected to work crazy overtime or produce amazing feats that no mortal man could accomplish. I did finally get a nice ergo chair at work and that has seemed to help some of physical aches and pains. Mentally I am still mental....

Hope everyone else has a great weekend and continues to smash their old lows weight wise.

Week 9

Starting Weight: 240
Todays Weigh in : 227
5 day Average : 229.1
Weight Lost this week: 1
Total Weight lost : 13

Its that time a of the week again for me to weigh in and post my progress. I managed to rally back down to my old low (last weds) of 227. That put me at 1 pound lost this week. If I would have skipped the bad food indulgence over the weekend I would have been much better off. I am starting to get frustrated with my progress or lack there of. I feel like I put in really hard work and am not seeing the results I would like on the scale. I was vocalizing that to my wife last night and this morning in a e-mail and she wrote me this.

"Babe...Don't lose your motivation...don't let that happen. All you need
to do is remember how terrible you have felt in the past at your
heaviest and how much better you felt when you were at your lightest.
ALSO...remember your son and the example you set for him. Yesterday he saw
a lady run by on the street at your moms house when I was dropping him
off and he said "lady running....daddy run too". He sees you and is
understanding what you do and taking those cues as lifelong lessons. Re-read some of your first posts on why you are doing this....don't let
this go. I want this for both of us...you are motivation for me as well. I've started doing a healthy meal plan for the weekend. By the way...how was your weigh-in this morning??"

Thought you all could maybe take something from her words too. Kind of rekindled my fire and reminded me that loosing weight is only part of the reason I am doing this. The stuff I am doing will positively impact everyone around me in some way or another. I am just so thankful that I have a wife who is paying attention to what I am doing and supports my goals. I have noticed some change in the pictures I take every two weeks. Nothing I am proud enough to post but my body is changing. I figure when I hit the 20lbs lost I will post another fatty with his shirt off pic.

Last night I got my bike set back up on my mag trainer and went to work. Man, what a different workout than my usual running or HIIT on the treadmill. I spent about 20 min on it and my legs where throbbing. I wasn't happy with just 20 mins on the bike so I went and jumped on the treadmill for another 20. It took a few minutes for my legs to warm up to run at my 5.5mph rate, cause they where stiff from the bike. I think my wife and I are planning a bike ride tonight given its not raining. Heres to me loosing more weight next week.

I'm a Dingy

Tie a weight around my leg and throw me in.... So I pulled off another typical Ripx weekend. Friday I practiced one of my best skills "gluttony". We went to the local County Fair to ride the rides, see the sights, pet the animals etc.... You know what else the fair has, really good fair food.... So just so you can see how bad I am, I am going to blog my meals for Friday.

breakfast - starbucks- 12oz Americana, and breakfast sandwich (English muffin, cheese, egg, and bacon).

Lunch - at the fair... durner sandwich (gyro - pita, cheese, seasoned steak etc), strawberry lemonade, bite of my wife corn dog, a few fries, and a couple bites of cotton candy.

dinner - pizza, called the jester (tons of meats, cheeses, and not many veggies. of course I washed that down with 2 killieans red (beers). I justified that cause we where taking my brother in law out for a celebration dinner for getting though the Fire Academy and officially going on-line.

I woke up the next day and almost cry'd when I got on the scale and saw 232 (5 pounds people). Yes I know its most likely salt and water retention but I was thoroughly disgusted at myself. I started careening off in a bad direction again on Sunday but luckily my lovely wife threw me a bone and said "Honey if you don't work out and eat like this your are going to be really mad at yourself come Tuesday". I quickly realized that yes I was setting myself up for another no weight loss week. I keep having really strong weeks but weak weekends. I am essentially shooting myself in the foot and I know it but keep falling into the same traps. I know what it takes to loose weight, I have done it before. I am trying to teach myself to see food as fuel and not enjoyment/entertainment/pleasure. I think social situation are what get me the worst.

I did crank out a really good session of HIIT last night, and some 100s. Got my bike back on Sunday also so i am hoping to mix things up with it cardio wise. I also cracked open the metabolism advantage book. I read Robs blog on meritocracy, it says allot about my half a$$ attempt I have been putting in on weekends. I have to quit trying to lie to myself and make excuses/reasons to act like a fool.

New short term goal for me. I will have a blog that says what a good weekend I had fitness and diet wise in the near future or I am never going to "Learn how to Live" as my blog states.

I hope none of you feel you are wasting your time on me... I truthfully want to suceed and have not given up on myself.

I'm Beat

Todays Weigh in : 227 (new low)
5 day Average: 227.8

Do you ever have days where you just feel like your gonna pass out or start head banging at your desk? Or do you ever feel like you are somewhat stuck in a rut? I used to look at my parents and say "man I will never get stuck in a rut like that when I am older". Well life has handed me my rut and here I am. I am the weekend warrior that we all talk about. The guy that lives for the weekend and free time. The work weeks keep pilling up and I dread them but push on week after week because I have to. At least I am able to work 4 10hour days and be a warrior 1 more day than some others. Plus it gives me a "daddy day" where my son and I get some 1 on 1 time which is soooo nice. I have been caught in the not enough sleep rut for quite some time now. Mon-Thurs work is 6am to 4:30pm with a 40 min commute on each end. Of course during the week I want to feel like I have some not work me time. So I stay up till almost 11 every night and the alarm goes off at 4:45am. As of late Ryan my son has been breaking molars (getting new teeth). So this results in him waking up crying several times a night (like when he was 4 months old). So there goes a hour of my 5-6 hours of sleep I get a night. Anyway I was actually kind of happy to see that little stinker head banging in his high chair during lunch yesterday (my wife was nice enough to send the pic). Luckily its my Friday and the weekend is almost here and I can do my usual catching up on sleep so I can get back in my rut come Monday. I know i just went on a mini rant but believe me I know that I am blessed to have the life and opportunities I have been given. I can pretty much say that I have got what I always wanted and expected (a loving wife, a child, a good job, descent living standard, and tons of great family and friends). Yeah I would like to win the lottery or become wealthy but hey that doesn't happen to most of us.

Ohh yeah this is a healthy life style blog.... Got in another good workout last night. A serious round of HIIT and some kitchen counter push ups, complements of Kevin's blog. Diet was spot on yesterday again so I am feeling great about that (4 days in a row). I am considering having a ice latte this morning..... hum..... Anyway hope this finds all my brother and sister FAT coalitionists healthy, happy, and loosing weight.

A New Day

I am starting the August Tucks challenge out right. I weighed in at my old low of 227.5 and plan on smashing it over the next four weeks. I was reading my goals and realized I have to loose 12-13 lbs in 6 weeks to hit my next goal so the August challenge is going to be the foundation of making the mark. Like I said in my last blog 2 weeks of zero loss or light gains is unacceptable. The last 3 days my eating has been spot on, no slips at all. I have gotten 3 strait nights of workouts too and plan on a round of HIIT tonight. I am planning on taking Thursday off cardio, might throw in some weight lifting. I am currently trying to sell my bowflex on craigslist. I want to roll that dough into some free weights. As of late I just don't feel like I am getting the workout I need to on it, so its time for a change.

We have a new FAT member that I would like to welcome. David's blog can be found here.