250 While 25! Day 9!

Starting Weight: 290

Who cares? I ate healthy. I exercised a little but what does it all really matter? It doesn't seem to make a bit of difference. I haven't seen the inside of a Fast Food joint in over a week. I have an intimate relationship with the treadmill at my work. What's it all for? To gain back all the weight (after being down 5lbs) for no apparent reason? I'm so frustrated and upset. I almost went to Burger King for lunch and just say "F this whole thing", but I didn't, I talked myself down from the ledge and had a bagel and some pasta salad. I don't want to give up, I hate how out of shape and over weight I am. I don't see how my wife can be attracted to me anymore and I don't have the energy to take my kids out and play really anymore. I hate it. I don't like being this way. So I try to change, I try to make the right choices, I try to do the right things and it gets me nowhere. I'm not going to stop getting older so I'm not going to stop trying but I need to find some motivation somewhere because I'm not getting it from the scale.

250 While 25! Day 8!

Starting Weight: 288.6

Breakfast: BelVita Breakfast Biscuit

Walked 1/2 Mile
Snack: Clif Bar

Walked 1 Mile
Ran 1/4 Mile
Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on a Whole Wheat Bagel w/ Avacado, Swiss, Sprouts, Lettuce, a side of Pasta Salad, and A Vitamin Water ZERO Lemonade.

Snack: Pretzels

Dinner: Porcupine Meatballs (Lean beef rolled w/ rice), Salad, and a Natural Sierra Mist

Dessert: Coldstone Ice Cream (Sometimes you can't fight the urge I guess)

288.6!? What the hey man! Was my weekend really that bad? I know that I weighed myself differently but this means I gained almost two pounds since weighing myself under the same conditions. That's not weight loss at all! I really hope it's just another funky upswing and at the end of this day I'll be back to normal. For now I need to focus on eating right and training for the Warrior Dash that is in a few weeks. This week I'm structuring my workouts to focus on getting ready for that race. I think that combined with eating right will keep pushing me in the weight loss direction I need to be in. Here is my training regimen I have set up for the Warrior Dash.

Finishing Weight: 290
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

250 While 25! Day 7!

Starting Weight: 286.2*

Breakfast: BelVita Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

Lunch:

20 mins of Extreme Dodgeball

Dinner: Grilled chicken and Corn lots and lots of corn.

Desert: Popsicle

After the train-wreck of a Saturday I had yesterday I knew I had some catching up to do. I really feel that I did a good job today. Also I went all out in a hard core game of Dodgeball with the youth group and feel pretty good about how exhausted it made me. Unfortunately all I had available to drink afterwords was a Mountain Dew which probably put back the calories I burned off. That really pissed me off but it's my fault and I'm sure it's not as bad as I thought. Time to hit the work outs hard again and come up with a regimented meal plan for the coming week.

Finishing Weight: 288.6
Down 1.4lbs Total

(*starting weight was done on my home scale in my under-roos and not my typical scale at work I weight in on in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt)

250 While 25! Day 6!

Starting Weight: 285

Breakfast: Ham and Cheese Croissant with a Dr. Pepper.
Walked: 4 miles
Lunch: Capellini Pomodoro, salad with low fat dressing, and two bread sticks.
Snack: Sno-cone
Dinner: Sigh...Pizza from Dominos and a Sprite Zero.
Desert: Some pizza rolls, a shooter, and a Jager bomber.

So today was an off day...a very very off day. The good thing is we took time to walk around the mall for exercise but are eating habits were poor and that will most likely reflect on the scale. It seems that the Alli is finally starting to kick in but I keep forgetting to take the photos for my meals. On top off that we had a little get together to play Kyaampto at our house got carried away with the junk food. It's funny how we will sacrifice health and progress for convenience. To us it seemed easier to order a pizza and make pizza rolls than to make anything good for us to stay on track with. My problem is that I was making excuses saying that this and that is ok, it won't kill us, we can just work it off. Now Aamber and I are regretting those decisions. Well looking at my weight now I'm sure it's a mix off the bungee bouncing back up on the down swing and my bad choices from the day.

Finishing Weight: 286.2*
Down 3.8lbs Total

250 While 25! Day 5!

Starting Weight: 286.8

Breakfast: Ham, Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Burrito
Walk 1/2 Mile
Lunch: Turkey and cheese Croissant, Cesar salad and Chocolate Chip cookie (yikes, sorry)
Walk 3/5 Mile
Dinner:

Desert: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Today was an odd day due to the fact that I could not control a majority of the meals I ate. My office provided lunch and we ate dinner at my parents house. I did however control desert and I apparently lost control. It was tasty though. Also I am finding it hard to find time to exercise; I get so busy throughout the day that setting time aside to workout gets more and more difficult. All I can do is myu best to get exercise in when I can.

Finishing Weight: 285*
Down 5lbs Total

*Typically I weigh in at work in my t-shirt and jeans. This weigh in was done at home in my birthday suit.

250 While 25! Day 4

Starting Weight: 287
Breakfast: Golden Grams w/ Skim Milk
Walk 1/2 Mile
Snack: Blueberry Clif Bar
Walk 2 Miles
Lunch: Angel Hair Spaghetti with 93% lean ground beef and sauce
Snack: Salt and Pepper Pistachios
Dinner: BBQ Chicken and a Salad w/ Ranch
Desert: Skinny Cow

Starting out today I was both excited and nervous knowing that a dip that big in weight would only bungee back up if I wasn't careful. At lunch time I took a long walk down to my local target and picked up the book 4 Hour Body, as recommended by a friend. So far it's an interesting book. I don't think I'm going to follow his prescribed diet because it sounds like an awful prison wrapped around the guise of being easy. "Eat only bread and drink only water, it's EASY! You can have as much as you want!", that's not the diet, I'm just being facetious. There were incites and tips that I will start such as taking pictures of my food before I eat it to make me think twice before sharing it with everyone. Also, I have started taking Alli again. I few years ago, I tried losing weight and this helped, but I failed because I really lacked the motivation to follow through. Not this time though. Ride or Die! When in Rome! Agree to disagree!

Finishing Weight: 286.8
Down 3.2lbs Total

250 While 25! Day 3

Starting Weight: 289.2

Breakfast: Golden Grams
Walked 1/2 Mile
Snack: BelVita Blueberry Biscuits
Lunch: Crappy Chicken BLT Wrap
Snack: Pita Chips and Hummus
Dinner: Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches on King's Hawaiian Buns

As far as eating goes I did really well today. I was happy to see some loss instead of the gain I had the day before and I'm sure I can attribute that to some of the good advice I got regarding drinking lots and lots of water to help flush my system. Unfortunately I did not get very much exercise at all due to work being so hectic. I didn't even get to take a lunch. I was happy to see my good friend "Pita Chips and Hummus". My buddy T.J. got me hooked on them and I love how good it tastes and how good it is for you. Even though I was down about not being able to exercise, I did realize that I am doing good as long as I'm not hitting up the McDonalds or Taco Bell and staying away from all the soda I was drinking before. Fresh made food is the way to go. And it has paid off! I am now at 287! I'm not going to get myself too excited because I'm sure it's a downward swing much like the upward swing I took on day 1, but progress is progress and I'll take it.

Finishing Weight: 287
Down 3lbs total

250 While 25! Day 2

Starting Weight: 291.8

Breakfast: Grapes

Walked 3/4 Mile

Snack: Salt and Pepper Pistachios

Walked 3/4 Mile

Lunch: Salad with croutons, mozzarella, and Italian dressing.

Walked 1 1/4 Mile

Snack: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel at Target.

Dinner: Angel hair spaghetti with 93% lean ground beef and sauce.

Dessert: Jamba Juice Razzmatazz Smoothie Kit

Starting out a little demotivated I decided to make some changes as recommended by friends and readers. I didn't start out my day well with eating only a cup of grapes for breakfast which caused me to continually be hungry throughout the day; which eventually lead to me "needing" a soft pretzel at Target. It's funny how much you realize food can be an addiction once you stop eating what you used to. I need to look into good ways of fighting those cravings because I'm not sure if just good 'ol will power is going to cut it. However, I did take the advice of some people and started drinking a ton more water. The result? Weight Lost!

Finishing Weight: 289.2

Down 0.8lbs total

250 While 25!: Day 1

Well, knowing I was at 290 got me started on my first day of serious weight loss. For breakfast I had a pack of those BelVita Breakfast Biscuits and I will say that they are awesome. They have a great flavor and are surprisingly very filling for being 230 calories. Also in the morning, I ran on the treadmill for a good 3/4 of a mile.

At lunch time I walked a mile down to the local grocery store and picked up some salad supplies, a Gatorade, and a Clif Bar. I have had Clif Bars before and wasn't all that impressed but I needed some energy for the walk back and decided to try the Blueberry Crunch. It was rather tasty for an energy bar. When I got back to work I made myself a salad with the Cesar Salad kit I picked up but substituted the dressing for Italian and added some Mozzarella cheese. That may sound a bit odd but we go to this pizza place called Fatso's and they got me hooked on putting mozzarella on my salads.

Later that afternoon I had some pistachios and tried a Bob Harper workout that consisted of 20 jumping jacks, 20 lunges, 20 push-ups, and doing 3-5 sets of this circuit. To my surprise I barely made it through 1 set, so when I got home I was too exhausted to work out with Aamber like she wanted (sorry babe). For dinner I made Asian Lettuce Wraps with chicken, kale, bean sprouts, onion, and garlic all chopped together; then I wok'd them with soy sauce and brown sugar. We also reheated some chicken fried rice from Saturday night that didn't taste as good the second time. I was a little bad and had a couple Dr. Peppers at dinner along with a Skinny Cow for dessert.

All in all I felt good until I got on the scale this morning and saw that I was at 291.8! What the heck! That is so disheartening. What the heck am I doing wrong. Do I need to drink more water? I'll stick with it but my hopes aren't as high as they were on day 1.

Tony McFatFat

I am not the most slender of people. I have been just an all around big guy my whole life; 6'3" and yesterday I found out that I am 290lbs. 290! Holy crap! Enough is enough and I have decided to drop the weight for good.  I have come up with my "250 while 25!" plan. I want to get down to 250lbs before I turn 26 on July 7th. So I have 15 weeks to drop 40lbs, which is a little less than 3lbs a week. I will be posting everyday after I weigh in and will discuss what I did the previous day. This will hopefully help me stay focused, be able to watch for patterns, and get support and insight from those reading this. To track my fitness progress I will be using my FitKIK device that is part of my work's corporate wellness program to track my activity and also Noom on my phone to log meals and set reminders. Wish me luck and any comments you can provide to help they would be greatly appreciated.

Self Is A Four Letter Word

This is a poem I wrote a while back while reflecting on the state of our nation (and those who desire to lead it) and how it would compare when juxtaposed with my own inequities (yes I used "juxtaposed" and I'll do it again if I feel like it so don't judge me sir!). Drop a comment and let me know what you honestly think, not only as a critic but how it may have resonated or made you look back upon you own life experiences. Oh, and I apologize for the ten cent words, I guess I'm just in that kid of mood...




Self Is A Four Letter Word:


As the aroma and palate (taste? flavor?) of the melting pot continues to grow bitter;
Revealed are more and more the indiscretions of man and the selfish pursuit of self preservation.
Yet here I judge and there they are with what they've done, and I did, so who am I?

Committed sin against the one I love, does she reciprocate the offense?
Is it now then worse with her foreknowledge of the pain or are we just even?
Can you forgive the one who damaged you so, or can you forgive yourself for not wanting to be alone?

We boast (parade?) a life of gospel but refuse to die to self yet he's the one who died for us?

The End of an Era

So I use sticky-notes a lot at work. I put all my notes from calls, little trinkets of information, and all of my "important" doodles on them throughout the day. I try to keep all my notes on one per day and then at the end of the day I pull it off the pad and stick it on my wall surrounding my cork board. I started out with this green sticky pad and have completely framed my cork board in green paper but alas today I reached the end of the pad. So to commemorate the end of an era I made a special doodle titled "!FIN!" (the first "!" is supposed to be upside down like in espanol):

And now as I start off a new year I must start off a new pad, and the pad shall be orange, and the wall framing will continue. The biggest struggle I have with a new sticky note pad is the temptation to make a flip comic on all the pages; but alas I shall not...or shall I...no i won't...but I will...but I won't...will...won't...yes...no...o_O. So to commemorate the new sticky pad, here is "Hazaa! I Will Collect My $200!":

Zombie Evader

I walked into work today and noticed something very special. The doors all face each other! And you can easily run out of one, across the courtyard and into the other! And once you're inside you can access any of the doors on that same side! And the second floor is exactly the same way with stairs on either side!

Now you maybe thinking to yourself, "Gee Tony, that is the most boring thing in the world!". "Nay, good sir, I say nay! Climb into my head for a moment". If there was ever a Zombie attack at my office I imagine it would look like some sort of Charlie Chaplain/Benny Hill/Scooby Doo chase scene. I would run in one door and they would follow, then I would come out a different door and they would follow suit, and so on and so forth. Eventually this would include me chasing the zombies at one point, Shaggy pushing all of us in a wheel barrow, insert Adam West at this point, and concluding with me laughing my butt off over the situation as they feast on my flesh. See diagram at the top (I'm the one in the top hat) and video below for an example of what I'm talking about.

Another Day at the Office

Me: (In IM to fellow workers) "Jane Doe from ABC Corp has a question about Widgets. Let's stay on top of these calls people, we have a busy week ahead of us."

Coworker: "Your lame"

Me: "Watch your homonyms! And that was really my way of saying: 'I don't know what the hell she is talking about, can someone else deal with this crap!?'"

Coworker: "lol"

Me: "I love-um me some Mondays! OohRah!"

Coworker: ...

How I Remembered It Going Down

Me: (old man moaning noises)
Aam: ”What's wrong with you?”
Me: ”I'm all rickety”
Aam: ”That's life”
Me: ”Life is rickety? What in blue blazes does that mean!?”
Aam: ”No tard face! Getting rickety is a part of life”
Me: (Walks off, ignoring wife, whistling ”The Sign” by Ace of Base)

Invention Hoarder

So Lorelei was watching some show on the Disney channel about "talented" (read untalented) kids who are so good at singing and/or dancing that multi-million dollar opportunities just fall from the skies and into their laps like magic fairy dust wrapped in what apparently passes as comedy these days; thus allowing actual children to have their hopes and dreams crushed good and early (like the movie Blank Check had inappropriate relations with the show Glee but with 13 year olds [the Glee part not the inappropriate relations part]). Anywho, some chubby kid was giving a speech to a teacher about how he was just as good as anyone else and how he could be whatever he wanted to be; when I thought to myself, what if the kid wanted to be a doughnut?

Chubby Kid: "I want to be a doughnut!"
Teacher: "You can't be a doughnut. (smirky smirky ha ha ha)"
Chubs: "Why not Ms. Jerk Face!?"
Teach: "Because that is impossible. You would have to change matter itself."
Chub-a-saurus-rex: (shaking fist in a maniacal manner) "I'll show you! I'll show matter! I'll show all of you!"
The Twat Formally Known as Teacher: "You and your husky Garanimals can sit back down"

So then this outcast shell of a child devotes his life to making this happen. He spends all day and night studying the nature and components of matter itself and in the process gains enough knowledge to become the greatest physicist of all time. His equally outcast, hair dyed, alternative girlfriend that he met online (aka Pedo Bear) is concerned about how this obsession is ruining him and their relationship (I know what you're thinking, great screen play, I KNOW...but no...but secretly yes...). But then...oh yes...but then he does it! He creates a device to alter the physical matter of any physically tangible thing. The scientific community rejoices, his family is proud, his girlfriend (read boyfriend) is so happy because she's a gold digger, but before he can show it to the world he has to settle one last score. So he finds the teacher and turns himself into a doughnut. Ha ha! Showed that street walking harlot who's boss! But alas, he is a doughnut. Doughnuts cannot gloat, they cannot revel, and they cannot show the world how the stupid invention works so now it is all for not, but they can make you feel like a Fatty McFattenstien after you've consumed a whole box of munchkins in your car on the way to work...sigh...but I digress.

This all got me thinking about if there are other great inventions that are not known or lost forever because the creator turned themselves into a doughnut? What if Nikola Tesla had an entire secret underground lair where he had all these great inventions that are still unmatched today but he was too busy saving them for his world domination scheme that currently no one knows about them even after his death? I mean look at the guy, he seems pretty sketchy when you think about it.

What if there are invention hoarders out there that collect ideas instead of money because they feel it gives them power over everyone else. Like if Scrooge McDuck dove into a pile of Technological Achievements for the betterment or destruction of mankind instead of coins? By the way, those coins had to have been made of marshmallows (there is marshmallow money right? Isn't that what they made from the remnants of the Stay Puff monster in Ghostbusters?) because metal coins would kill a ninja jumping into them like that.

Moral of the Story: "Knowledge only has power when it is shared by all".