Where there's a will theres a way!

Hey! So today is weigh-in Wednesday. I had a good week losing 8.6 pounds. And that even included a trip out to a restaurant for dinner one night. So not too shabby if I do say so myself. That puts me at just over 60 pounds since I started this journey 10 weeks ago. Every week I post my weigh-in numbers on my facebook page and my friends and family comment and leave supportive statements and it's been great to see those. I have other friends that are currently going thru their own weight loss journey's and between the replies they get and the ones I get, I noticed a recurring theme. "How are you doing it?" and "Where do you get the will power?". That's what this blog is going to be about. The Willpower to improve yourself.

I don't think I have the answer to these people's questions. I believe that everyone has their own reasons for doing what they are doing. I can only tell you mine. My willpower comes down to this. I want a better life for myself!!! For the past several years I didn't care about myself. I tried to help other people when I could but I didn't love myself. I did the bare minimum to get by in the world. As long as I could go to work and provide for myself, pay my bills, I really didn't care about anything else. Eventually it just got too hard to do that any more and I hit rock bottom. I really think this has been like what an alcoholic or drug addict goes thru. I had to hit my lowest point before I woke up and said NO MORE!

 Two years ago I was close and I hired a private trainer to come to my home and help me work out. He was great and I dropped some weight but once the sessions where over I just went back to my old ways. I wasn't yet desperate to change my life. Late last year and early this year I hit that mark. And just like an addict I went away and got into therapy. In my case it was moving in with my parents so I could get proper nutrients and get myself set on a exercise routine. I'm nearing my goal of 100 pounds before returning home to continue my journey. Just like an addict I have to return to the real world and continue what I have learned here. Will I be successful? I think so. I have a lot of goals and things I want to be able to do and I have a solid core group of friends that will help and support me when I return home.

If you are one of the people that wonder where I get the willpower, just ask yourself if your happy with the way you are? If not, make a change. Start off small. Get a food scale and measure your portion size. Count your calories. When you see how much your eating you will make the change. Try to get a small walk in each day. I know its difficult and frustrating when you first start but before you know it you will get into a routine and you will be doing these things like it was perfectly natural. I'm a walking billboard that says you can do it! You just have to flip that switch inside your mind from negative to positive.

Take care, until next time!

My life's theme song

Hey. Those of you that have seen the classic movie "I'm gonna get you sucka!" will understand this blog. In the movie the hero has a troupe of musicians that follow him around town playing his theme music. One of the characters in the movie asks what they are doing and he replies "Every good hero needs a theme song." or something to that effect. Well this hero was dancing in the shower the other day and realized I need to change my theme song. What does this have to do with weight loss? Well, my old theme song was a short funny song I liked by Liam Lynch called "Whatever!" And for the past several years that was my attitude in life. I was unhappy and depressed and didn't care that I was slowly killing myself by eating fast food for just about every meal. So as I said, I was taking a shower listening to a LFMAO song called "Sexy and I know it!" when I had the idea to make this my new theme music with one small change. My lyrics would be "I'm gonna be sexy, you know it! Cause I work out!" I've never thought of myself as sexy and probably never will but this was just a fun way to show my resolve to get fit. Weigh-in Wednesday is just two days away. I'm hoping for a good week. I'm hoping to hit 60 pounds total weight loss. A long way to go but I'm feeling better and stronger each week. Take care, until next time!

Accepting the new you.

Hey. So for many moons I have been pretty much a shut in. Yes I went to work...until that got too hard to do. But I rarely did anything else and more to the point rarely went anywhere else. The internet and me became good friends. I could order anything I wanted, including food, and have it delivered! I no longer had to go to places and struggle with what should be an easy task of walking into a store, doing some shopping and coming back out. Most people don't give it a second thought. But when your morbidly obese it's a nightmare! Sometimes I would talk myself out of a purchase just to not have to go get it.

Now that I have lost 50 pounds and can move around a lot better I want to do more things. It's spring time and the weather is beautiful here. I want to go out and play. But ole' fat me in the back of my head is saying...you can't go out...Your gonna get tired...It's gonna hurt...Sit back down.

If you hear ole' fatty in the back of your head...tell him to STFU!

Take care, until next time!

THATS A SERVING!!!

Hey. Last week I was not happy with my weekly weight loss and was forced to take a hard look at what I was eating. Even though I have been eating healthier I felt that I may have been misjudging the amount of food I was ingesting. To help with that I bought a digital food scale to start weighing the food. The first time I used it I was very surprised at how much, or how little, a serving of food actually was. With most things that you eat a serving size is usually around 3 ounces. The first time you see this it's pretty shocking. Especially living in a nation of "Biggie" or "Value" sizing. I doubt most people even know what a real serving size would look like.

Anywho, today is weigh-in Wednesday and I have been using the scale as much as possible since I got it. I also want to add that this was a hard week as it was Easter and there was lots of food and candy easily available. However I was strong and came through the week losing 8.8 pounds! That puts me at just over 50 pounds in 2 months time. Since I started this I have probably been averaging about 5 pounds a week so I think the scale and measuring my intake really helped me drop more weight this week. Lets hope the trend continues next week!

Take care, until next time!

Have some fun!

Hey. Today was weight-in Wednesday. I lost four pounds this week. It's a little low due to a couple days off from my knee hurting. I had to ice it down and pop advil's like candy but it's better now. I have been at this for five weeks now and I'm at 34.5 pounds lost so far.

I have to confess I was a bit depressed from this weeks weight loss. Several friends reminded me that 4 pounds lost is still a loss! It's just been 5 weeks of a lot of sweat and effort and I have along way to go and I was letting it get me down. So that's where today's blog comes in. I took a day off from the gym to rest my muscles and to do something fun! I decided to go see a movie. Not a big thing you think. But I haven't gone to the movies in a long time. It was too hard to walk from the parking lot into the mall and to the theater. I would be out of breathe and my back would be killing me. Today I was able to walk in and see a movie pain free thanks to the weight I have lost so far. I enjoyed a good movie and had a soda and some milk duds to celebrate my weeks of hard work. I also took a drive to a nearby village to check out a gaming store I found on the net. I purchased a new card game a friend told me about and headed home.

By the time I returned home I was in a better mood and I felt my batteries have been recharged. I'm ready to head back to the gym tomorrow and to continue my journey. So make sure you take the time to have some fun so you remember what it is your fighting so hard to have again. A life.

Take care, until next time!

Hit the Gym or go to Costco!

Hey. So last week I wanted to try and increase my gym time from 3 times a week to at least 5 times in the hopes that this would burn my fat and calories and my weekly weigh-ins would get a little higher. So I hit the gym 4 days in a row and by Friday I needed a break! Everything hurt. I needed to go to best buy to look for a new compact fridge for my room and my parents wanted to take a trip to Costco later in the day, so I agreed to join them.

As most store trips go Best Buy was pretty standard. There were ten employee's standing around the computer and TV section of the store as I did laps around the appliance section of the store with no one to help me. I finally snagged a passing employee to help me get the compact fridge I wanted down off the upper shelves. The multiple laps around the section and the lifting and carrying of the fridge helped me to obtain my step count for the day and shot my calorie burn right on up the scale!

A short time after installing the fridge in my room it was time to head to Costco! Everyone packed into the truck and off we go. I haven't gone shopping with my parents in forever and during this trip I was swearing to myself "Never again!".
I am not a leisurely walker/shopper. I like to get in and go what I'm after and get out. My mother, not so much! Up and down aisles, most of which had nothing she wanted. By the end of the shopping trip I was exhausted! I actually burned 580 calories OVER my daily target.

Morale of the story. If you don't want to go to the gym, go shopping!

Take care, until next time!

What's your goal?

Hey. It's weigh-in Wednesday! This week I lost 5.6 pounds! That's over 30 pounds in one month. I've started going to the gym every day this week. I have also changed my bike routine. Instead of doing my bike ride in the afternoon I do it the moment I get home from the gym so my metabolism stays high for longer and I get everything done in 2 hours. Its very tiring but so far I'm liking it.

Today's topic, having reasonable goals set for your weight loss. Presumably there is a reason why you started your journey of weight loss in the first place. Those are your goals. Here are some of mine.

In no particular order:


I haven't been to a theme park in over a decade. I want to be able to walk around a theme park and get on every ride I want to ride. I miss the thrill of roller coasters and can't wait to spend a day screaming my lungs out.

Even though they suck, I want to be able to go to a Baltimore Orioles game. I want to walk down Eutaw street and get a Boog's beef sandwich. I want to buy front row seats and be able to sit in them! Most of all I don't want to hurt or be out of breath when walking from the parking lot into the stadium.

I want to go back to the beach. I love swimming and I love the beach and haven't been to the nearby ocean in probably two decades. I want to walk the boardwalk and fly a kite on the beach. I want to boogie board in the waves.

I have never been on a cruise. I'd like to take one and scuba dive/snorkel in the clear blue water of the Caribbean.

I've never been to Las Vegas. I want to fly out there and see everything! Maybe even win a small fortune! :-)

It's been about five years now since my wife left me. It's about time to get a girlfriend and do the things that couples do together.

Well that's some of the bigger items I want to be able to do.

Take care, until next time!