I could have cheated...

Tonight my wife and I went out for dinner without the kids for the first time in months. It's actually the first time we had ate out in two weeks and the first time since my fresh start last Sunday. I have been really good with tracking my calories on the MyFitnessPal app and knew I had 1000 calories left in the day, due to missing breakfast...yes, that is not good to do. So as we pulled into Applebee's, I had visions of boneless wings and steaks dancing in my head. Fortunately, I put old Mike into a chokehold and vowed not to be stupid. I kept that vow and ordered from the under 550 calorie menu. While my wife dined on her appetizer sampler (that she wants me to clarify she only ate half of), I had grilled shrimp and zucchini with steamed rice for 300 calories..which tasted great. I also made it through my 7th day without pop and chose unsweetened tea in lieu of Diet Coke.

I so could've stole a bite...but didn't

There is a little disappointment tonight as I did not get any walking or exercising in. I sat on my butt and had a lazy day. The regret I have right now should be perfect motivation to get back at it tomorrow. Along with getting back to walking and continuing eating right tomorrow, I am also trying a "fat flush detox" water recipe out starting tomorrow. Don't worry, I realize there is no magic weight loss drink/pill/genie. I am trying this out strictly for the fact that all I drink is water and this will be more flavor and who knows, maybe the good ingredients will help the fight. The drink is made by slicing an average cucumber, orange and grapefruit and placing it in a gallon pitcher, add about 16 mint leaves (I just threw in about 4 whole stems w/leaves) and cover all with water and ice. The longer it sits, the better. You can keep adding water as you drink it, but after 2 days throw out the ingredients and begin with a fresh batch.

Here's to another good day and hope for and even better tomorrow!
Mike

It's that time again...

Fourth of July is right around the corner. For those who have read my posts of holidays past, you know we are vulnerable during these cookout holidays. Thoughts of hamburgers and hot dogs, bratwurst, steak, ribs, and all the other wonderfully unhealthy delicious foods swim in my head. Fortunately there is a bigger thought on my brain, which is me not wanting to be fat anymore.

I have already nipped the unhealthy food planning that my mom will hint at being okay for that one day. There will be no desires for cakes, sausages and chips that I have enjoyed on Fourth of July's passed. I can look in the mirror and see the results of all that deliciousness...I can also look at the size tags on my clothing. Instead, we will have a ton of delicious food that will also get me to my goal, along with the rest of my crew. Chicken breast kabobs with all sorts of veggies, a regular salad with lettuce and spinach, and watermelon for dessert. Early for a menu already you may ask? Not for this family. If I don't fill this plan for the Fourth in everyone's head, it will be so easy to veer into sugar and fat land. Oh the joys of being a food addict...said no one trying to lose weight ever.

Have a great weekend friends!

Mike

Kicking pop to the curb...

As of today it has been 3 days since I have had a diet soda. My headache is pretty much gone now, thanks in part to a cup of black coffee a day. I don't want to be one of those preachy guys that tell you that you should quit pop too, but I do want to share some things I have noticed over the last 3 days that keep me from wanting it.

First off, I have drank diet soda since I can remember. My mom is a diabetic and began drinking the first diet drink Tab before I was even born. I don't recall going more than a day without a diet soda prior to this week. Usually the dull headache from caffeine withdraw was enough to make me run back to my Diet Dew. I never considered it a true addiction though, yet I have withdraw from it...funny now that I think about it.

I figured it was zero calories (although recently the label now says 5 calories), no carbs or fat, so it has to be a good way to have something sweet without the calories.

I believe I was wrong.

In the past I had read that the artificial sweetener in it, aspartame, was suspected to cause food cravings. Since the body thinks aspartame is sugar, insulin is released by the body. When the body realizes it isn't really sugar, the brain begins craving sugar and other food cravings. Obviously I am no doctor or expert, but this pretty much sums up what different studies have concluded.

Just looking in the shopping carts tonight at the store, I seen diet drinks in overweight people's carts far more than any other carts. I wondered if they too had been drinking it for years and still leaning on it as a low calorie harmless treat.

I truly believe now that there is something to diet drinks leading to wanting to eat more. It's not a proven fact and I'm sure in moderation it is not as bad. But I did not get to my highest weight of 413 pounds from moderation. So for those who chug it like I did, I think it is hindering weight loss.

My food journals and calorie charts these last 2 out of 3 days have been lower than ever before. I have not wanted to snack or cheat on my new healthy foods lifestyle. You may say that it's only two days, but as my past indicates, going 2 hours without wanting to eat bad has been a battle all my life...let alone going these last 3 days without cheating. I am making a conscious effort to look for sucralose (Splenda) or other non-aspartame sweeteners if I have to choose one, but my aim is to eventually eliminate the artificial sweeteners altogether as I steer toward more clean eating and less processed foods.

Hope this didn't sound all preachy or like the pop-nazi. I know that many folks can handle one can a day and still drink their water and eat right. I also know many like me that have had the same common factor of diet soda and obesity.

Thanks for reading and keep those fingers crossed and prayers going for Chloe and I (along with the whole family) that we keep on the right track in this journey.

Mike

Every victory counts...

A great Facebook page I follow is "The Anti-Jared". The pages creator is named Tony and has lost a ton of weight and is living proof of how you can go from fat to buff if you put in the work. One of the features on his page is NSV (non-scale victories). These are any accomplishment during someone's weight loss/fitness journey that doesn't involve the scale. People will share theirs with Tony, and in return he posts some of them on his page. They range from fitting a old pair of jeans to fitting in a booth at a favorite eatery. Tonight, I have two NSV of my own to share.

First NSV: Today is my second day in a row with no diet sodas. All I have had has been water, green tea or black coffee. Besides the dull headache from not having as much caffeine, I feel great.

Second NSV: This is my big one as it involved my whole family. I had debated all day if I wanted to go to the gym or on a walk tonight. First I said it looked too much like rain, so better not go on a walk. Than I said my knees were sore, so better not go to the gym. Once I got home from work, Chloe was in lazy mode and said she was fine not going to exercise and her brother was content with that too. So Crystal gets home from work and we decide since it was already after 7pm we wouldn't be able to go on a walk or gym due to "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition" was coming on at 8pm. As a family we were choosing to sit on our butts to watch TV instead of exercise like the show we were watching was advocating. We were so quick to slide comfortably into our old habits after just 1 day. BUT...after 20 minutes into the show, I let my recliner down and put on my shoes and said "I am going for a walk and will watch this later online". That was me breaking a chain holding me back. No sooner that I said this, Crystal, Chloe and Austin all grabbed their shoes and said they were going too. Flash forward a little over 30 minutes later and the kids and I had walked (with a lil bit of a jog at times) over 1 1/2 miles and Crystal had did almost 2 1/2 miles. Yay us!

These may seem like trivial things to some, but when you have 150 pounds to lose, like me, every victory counts. I could focus on not being able to do the Couch to 5k routine tonight (I'll hit on that shortly) or not doing a Biggest Loser hardcore workout til I puked. Instead though, I will be proud of getting of us getting off our rear ends, turning off the TV and sweating until we were dripping and smelly. At our weight and fitness level, a little over a mile and a half walk/jog in 30 minutes is a big step. We know that each day we do this, we will go a little further and a little faster. These little victories will lead us to the big victory.

Last thing. I downloaded a Couch to 5K app and attempted it tonight. I did not quit during it, but I was physically not able to do it yet. It started with a 5 minute warm up walk. Then it prompted me to run for for 60 seconds. At the end of that 60 second run I needed an entire lap around the track to get my breathing regulated and was sincerely scared I was having a heart attack. I know this was just my severely out of shape body going into shock and I probably would have been safe to try the run again after a few minutes. But at 390 pounds, with no EMT's around and no personal trainer watching over me, I took the safe route and just brisk walked and light jogged the rest of the session. While I was disappointed for a moment, I had to take a step back and realize that this truly is a marathon to lose my weight and not a sprint. I will pick up the 5K app again when I have some more walks and workouts under my belt. I just need time to get in enough shape to feel safe doing it.

Thanks for checking out my post and reading about my families proud moments. I really feel that all of us working together and helping each other will be the key to our success. If you need some encouragement in your own weight loss journey, or just don't want to have to do it alone, feel free to join our weight loss support group "We're Losing It" on Facebook...we'd love to have you join us. The link and more information on it is in previous posts on our blog here.

Take care friends
Mike

And here's Chloe...

I took a fuzzy pic, go figure, but here she is...

Here I am...

Letting my guard down on this one. Full pics taken of me today by Chloe...and my current weight for all the world to see. This will be the last time I am this weight or this big! No more "try" or "hope" in my vocabulary, as these words allow room for failure.

Never too late...

After my last post inviting friends to join my weight loss support group on Facebook, things were kind of up and down. Thankfully though, there was no big fails and I am happy to be in an upbeat mood tonight posting on here. Let me bring you up to speed on Mike and Chloe (and family)...

The weight loss group is going strong with 18 members. Please check out my last post for details if you'd like to join us! This group has helped me by not only having the support of friends, but also the accountability factor since it was my idea to start it.

Exercise has not been a part of our routine, but we made some progress on this today. We had joined a gym in March, went 3 times and had not been back since the end of March. Some of my reasons for not going back were school got busy and some issues with my mom's health taking up my time. To be honest though, most of it was laziness and old habits. After much debate on cancelling the membership, we instead went today and worked out for an hour. It was not a hardcore workout like on Biggest Loser, but it was 30 minutes on a treadmill and 30 minutes on a bike. Next trip will include some strength training. Chloe and my son Austin joined in on the exercising and didn't take a single break. Unfortunately Crystal worked late and missed the fun. So after today, I guess we will keep the membership. I have also downloaded a Couch to 5k app for my phone that I am going to start tomorrow. I will do that around the neighborhood as I refuse to run in a gym and potentially break a treadmill or fall in front of an audience.

Eating has been the wildcard, but we also made progress on this today. There have been salads and grilled chicken. There has also been burgers and fries. As I sat in my recliner last night I had another one of those clarity moments, helped by aches in my chest, that remind me of how big I am and how short I should expect to live at my weight. I called my mom this morning to explain to her all that was on my mind about my weight, failures at losing it and how OUR routines and eating habits could not continue. I was so happy to hear my mom agree and fully profess her support for me and the family, as well as her own desire to improve on her nutrition. Instead of a trip to take her for an ice cream, we went and shopped for produce together.

My drink of choice has always been diet sodas. We all know the aspartame is not good for weight loss as it can increase appetite. Not to mention the additives and aspartame are clearly not good for your health. Regardless of all that, I grew up with Diet Pepsi-holics and became a Diet Dew-holic. So today I filled a 2 liter bottle with water and proceeded to drink it and an additional 32 ounces of it. Sure I have a dull caffeine headache, but I will feel much better in the long run by only drinking water.

So I know that was kind of all over the place, and mostly about me, but remember that I never claimed to be good at writing these posts. The point I hope this all makes is that no matter how long it has been since you ate right, no matter how much weight you have to lose, no matter how many fresh starts you have started, it is never to late to make a change for the better and keep moving forward!

Take care friends!
Mike

Join us!

I started a friendly weight loss support group called "We're Losing It" on Facebook to help anyone stay motivated and get the support needed to conquer weight loss. We would love to have you join us there and post your stories, tips and anything else you'd like that may help others out. Also, if you are struggling at times, let the group pick you up and encourage you when needed. Below is the link to the group where you can request to be added and a link to my Facebook page where you can message me for an invite. This is a closed group so only those of us who know how hard it can be to lose weight are members, so no need to be shy.

Mike's:  https://www.facebook.com/michael.young.35513800

We're Losing It group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/116222191920666

Spinning our wheels

We have lost a lot since the last time I posted, just not weight. We have lost the desire to work out and have went to the gym 3 times in the almost 3 months we have belonged to it. We have lost motivation to choose the right foods when we eat out. We have lost the common sense to eat right at home. We have lost our way. Fortunately we have not lost our instinct to want to lose weight. Unfortunately though, just wanting to lose this weight is not enough to do it.

I find spurts of motivation daily. There are some great pages I follow on Facebook. The Anti-Jared, Kiss my fat goodbye, Bryan Ganey and some others that share their lives and the struggles to lose weight. Of course, my own demons come out hours later that lead me to eating too much and terrible foods. I watch Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition and am moved by the lives that are changed. Just not moved enough to actually move off of the couch and exercise. As I browse Yahoo for news headlines, I read the life changing weight loss stories that come from various news outlets and find myself feeling down thinking about how that could be my story had I not failed so often with my own journey.

I have been fat for so many years that I have became an expert on how to lose weight...but can't seem to do it. I know how many calories are in most foods. The serving size of just about any food is pretty easy for me to realize. The food part of healthy eating I know, I just don't follow it close enough. On top of all that is my lack of exercising. So here I am still spinning my wheels on my weight loss journey and holding down the rest of my family as they follow in my footsteps.

But there is hope on the horizon.

For years I have heard that food addiction is triggered by emotional or psychological issues. I have always balked at that. My food issues I summed up to just loving the taste of food. After all, what could I possibly have on my mind that would drive me to food for comfort? This last few days, after seeing so many shows and stories speaking about psychological reasons for food addiction, I decided to at least think about that possibility. I think that maybe there is something to it. I won't get into it on here, but there are some things that this big daddy has been through that maybe I haven't gotten past. So hopefully as I deal with those ghosts in my head, my eating habits will change.

I hope there is still someone out there reading this that can relate to the long journey of losing weight and would love to hear from you if you are. There will be more posts to come soon and perhaps a community weight loss support page on Facebook again sometime in the near future. Take care friends.

Mike