Day 20 - May 23, 2013

Weight: 247 lbs.

 
Today was a challenge.  A challenge that I had hoped to avoid.  During my last pizza binge, I asked my wife to only bring the leftover pizza home if she was going to eat it for breakfast. I didn't want the temptation sitting in the fridge every time I open the door.  Oh course she said, "sure, honey!"

Breakfast was simple, just like yesterday with some oatmeal, sausage and tomato juice, then came lunch.  I had another round of indecision paralysis.  What was I going to have for lunch and where was I gonna get it?  I almost broke down and ate the pizza that was still sitting in the fridge. I figured that if I chucked the crust, the pizza was mostly tomato sauce, cheese and meat.  Then I looked at the white bread that was the foundation of the pizza and I had to say no. I had a shake from the Abs Diet book instead.

I went to the gym again today to give the little guy something to do in the afternoon.  In the cardio theatre at my Gold's, I watched most of Adam Sandler's Wedding Singer while walking and biking.  Dinner was brown rice and jambalaya again and probably will be for a while (keeping it simple).


Breakfast:
2 Farmer John's pork breakfast sausages
1/2 serving of Old Fashion Quaker Oats
8 oz VB Spicy Tomato Juice
16 oz water

Mid-morning Snack:
1/2 serving salted peanuts

Lunch:
Chocolate Factory Smoothie: chocolate milk, yogurt, peanut butter, whey and flaxseed.
    
Dinner:
1 scoop brown rice
2.5 scoops jambalaya w/ shrimp, chicken and smoke sausage


Dessert:
Several slices of watermelon
15 (unsalted) almonds

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...

Day 18 - May 21, 2013 - a Bad Day

Weight: 247.2 lbs

Today was a real off day.  Things never seemed to click at any point.  I mentally could not get things on track. Looking at the scale tick up another .2 lbs in the wrong direction was a frustrating way to start the day.

Breakfast was ho-hum.  I started thinking about pizza by 9 am and feeling bad about it.  I called my wife around lunch time and explained how my day was going.  She, oddly enough, was feeling the same way.  So, up went the white flag. Dinner would be pizza at Brewer's Cafe (Barley's Casino and Brew Co.) tonight. We also had a Groupon that was expiring soon.  I skipped lunch, partly due to food indecision paralysis (where to eat, what to eat, when to eat, etc.) and partly to save the calories for dinner.  Tonight was my first binge.  It's the worst day on the diet since I started, and I felt bad about it from the start.  I knew I had to get back on the rails the next day and not let this thing spiral.

Overall, I didn't get too far out of line (who am I kidding?).  I skipped lunch, not a good thing for metabolism, but I saved calories there.  I only ate two slices of pizza (far less than I used to eat on a regular basis.)  I didn't want to order the onion rings, but my wife wanted to order them ("for our son" ).  So I wound up eating half of those.  I only drank water, but finished the meal with bread puddling and a scoop of ice cream on top. I really fell off the wagon.  I felt out of control.


Breakfast:
 2 egg omelet with chorizo, spinach and onion
 16 oz water

Lunch:
No lunch

Dinner:
1/2 an order of onion rings
2 slices of meat lover's thin crust pizza
32 oz water
2 oz sample of blue berry hefeweizen

Dessert:
Slice of bread pudding with vanilla sauce and a scoop of ice cream

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...

The Starting Line

I'm fat.  I have been for quite some time.  I arrived at college (Claremont McKenna College) at a slim 185.  Instead of the Freshman 15, the all-you-can-eat style dining halls lead to a freshman 30 and sophomore 20. Graduate school, a failed restaurant, and a new baby later, I weigh 255 lbs (36% fat). 

My mom recently came to visit me and left behind a couple of old photo albums.  I looked at all the pictures from my youth.  I used to be in such great athletic shape before college.

I've been eating like crap on and off for years. I mean, a large pizza from Little Caesar's is only $5.  Why cook in the sizzling Vegas heat.  I weigh the most I ever have in my life: 255 lbs.  That's 5 lbs more than I ever thought I would let myself weigh in my wildest or fattest dreams.  My XL clothes are more than a little snug, and I refuse to buy anything XXL. No way!


With all the talk of cleansing diets and fasts, I decided to fast for a day.  The idea was to give my digestive system a day off, something that's never happened in my life. The next day I ate only fruits and vegetables.  On the third day I crashed and burned. I binged and went back to eating fast food and processed crap.  The main reason I binged was because I just couldn't figure out what to eat, what to buy, what to cook, or even what restaurant to eat. I was in decision paralysis and I was lost. I realized I needed to find a way to make it simple for myself.

----------

In the past I have had the most success losing weight and eating healthy on low carb diets (usually South Beach, but also Atkins.)  I can't stomach the idea of going through  stage one or stages in general again.  I do  remembered that when I was doing stage one (South Beach) and Atkins it was the healthiest I've ever eaten.  It's not just low carb, it's lean meats and a lots of healthy vegetables.  I decided to alter the the ideas from South Beach, Abs Diet, Body Life and all the other weight loss systems I had tried with some success.  I was going to distill the best ideas from all of them.  I knew I wanted my approach to be low carb, but allow healthy items like fruit. It's fruit, how can it be bad for you? I want to eat at home more and eat real food.

I also need back up. Previously, the #1 reason I had resorted back to eating crap, when I was formerly eating health, was that I didn't have the time or opportunity to get to a healthy meal (e.g., working late, no time to shop, etc.) It would all head down hill from there.  So this time there's back ups in the system.  If all else fails I can always grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or grilled chicken from El Pollo Loco (EPL), then grab a bag of microwavable frozen veggies for dinner.  For lunch, there are a plethora of places that sell a fairly healthy salad (Wendy's and EPL come to mind.)  It should be pretty easy to stick to the new plan, and to eliminate the  processed foods that are probably killing me.

The change isn't so much to lose weight, but to live better through eating better.  Sounds kind of cliche, I know.  There is no specific finish line (not a month, or year, or 5 or 10).  I'm hoping its a lifetime of change.  I don't plan on turning back.  So they'll be One Less Fat Man in the world.


Statistics    April 29, 2013  8:26 am
Weight:   255 lbs
Body Fat %:   34%
Fat Weight:   87 lbs
Lean Body Mass:  168.8 lbs
H20%:   47.5% (121.5 lbs)

we'll see what the scale says tomorrow ...