The quest for a better, healthier life lives on!

Another month is nearly gone and so far, life in 2010 has been a ball. I’m feeling stronger today than I have all week. A great run, a few healthy meals and I feel like a brand new man.

A few of you have already expressed an interest in having me come and speak to your group or club, and I hope to hear from a few more of you. I think it would be a win-win situation for me and your group. It’s not that I’m that cool or anything, but I think my subject matter has universal appeal. Even if you’re already in great shape, the principals I am putting together for my presentation will apply to bringing about all kinds of positive change in your life.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! The quest for a better, healthier life lives on!

The Perfect Storm

My nose hurts. Lets me explain, and some of you may already know about this if you read my facebook posts. I passed out on Thursday morning. I'd created the perfect storm and with everything put together I did a timber flat on my face.

First, I'd made myself get a bit anemic. I'd quit eating beef, which you are supposed to have on the hcg diet, because there is hidden fat in beef and people say they tend to lose better if they don't eat it. Then, I'd quit eating the dark green leafy veggies that are high in iron because I hate all the sugar free/fat free dressings. Yuck. So I was taking in no iron. I was eating other veggies but who cares when you're not getting what you need?

Next, when the hcg has dissolved all your abnormal fat, it quits working. When the fat cell is dissolved, all the nutrients and vitamins are dumped into your system. I think I'm at the end of my abnormal fat and so I wasn't getting anything there. Then, I had just taken a nice hot bath, so all my capillaries were nice and dilated. I was reading Tristi Pinkston's book, Agent in old Lace, so some of this could be laid at her feet too! =)

My husband had just gone out to feed the animals and Wyatt was in the next room watching cartoons. He'd turned the tv up really loud so I decided to hop out, run in the family room, turn it down, then get back in the tub. When I got out, I started to feel very dizzy, very woozy. Next thing I knew, I was moaning, peeling my naked self off the family room floor. Wyatt hadn't even looked at me. He was still watching cartoons.

I'd bruised my hip really bad, gave my face some good road rash and my nose was killing me. The kicker here? I was still holding Tristi's book! I'd never let go.

Anyway, I can look back on it now and laugh...kind of. I've started taking my liquid iron again. (I've always been kind of anemic) and Bry bought me some liquid B complex. Both of those have really helped me feel better. I'm super exhausted still, but I am not going to continue with the shots. Like I said, I think my abnormal fat is gone. Now I just need to tone up and get in shape. I do need to continue watching what I eat so I don't gain any weight back, but I've developed some really great habits on this diet so it shouldn't be too hard.

I don't want to discourage or scare anyone from doing the hcg diet. I've loved it, but you do need to be smart. Don't cut out your vitamins, don't quit eating healthy food just because it doesn't taste as good, (and people, believe me, it doesn't taste as good) and when you know you're close to being out of bad fat, really watch your "tired" level. You don't want to deplete yourself like I did.

And just to brag for a moment . . . I'm stopping at 143.4. Perfect for me! I am so happy and I look fine! LOL Thank you all for your concern and support. I sure love you guys and can't wait to see you at the conference. XOXOXOX

No longer a member of the 200 club! :(

Obviously I’ve lost my momentum! Any steam that I had built up at the beginning of the week has long since dissipated…gone with the wind. I’ve been trading the same 5or 6 pounds back and forth over the last two or three weeks, which would be terrific if only I was in maintenance-mode, but for someone on the supposed decline, this is terrible.
My weight this week is 305.4! As in…no longer a member of the 200 club. I guess that’s the chance a man takes when he allows himself to teeter on the edge at 299.7 and then sits on his chubby can for 5 of the last 7 days.
Like it was two weeks ago, I don’t think my excessive gain is real fat, but mostly water retained after eating an extremely salty pizza last night. Granted some of the gain is real, just not the whole 5 lbs…but still…this sucks…and I did it to myself! Again!!!
Anyone got any ideas on how I could get my mojo back? I was thinking that I need some kind of deadline, something for me to shoot for. The races are good, but now I know I can run them, they have lost their motivational luster. One of the weight loss areas I’ve wanted to explore is public speaking. I’ve noticed that those who lose weight and then make weight loss their business tend to keep it off. Along those same lines, I was thinking that if I had the opportunity, I’d love to travel around Utah giving speeches about my weight loss journey and how others can do it too. Such a thing would be very motivational to me because I’d always have a speaking event scheduled in the near future and I think that would motivate me to stay the course. Any ideas as to where I could start? I was thinking a mid-week Relief Society meeting might be a great place to try out my idea?

So why not eat this cardboard pizza?

Today was one of those not-so-great days when it comes to my weight loss. Lots of exercise but I ate like crud. I woke up and shoveled snow for a few hours, gulped down a bowl of cereal (not the healthy kind) and headed to Moroni to fix my grandparent’s plumbing problems. The job took a lot longer than expected and while stopping for plumbing parts at the hardware store we each bought a cookie and candy bar for lunch! I know it was stupid but it was like 3pm and we were starving…and I’m pretty sure the hardware store was fresh out of salads. The moral of the story is don’t let yourself get so blasted hungry that you panic and eat junk food. The other reason that junk food is bad is the effect the one poor choice can make on the rest of your choices that day…hence the frozen pizza I ate for supper. “Why not?” I asked myself. “I suck today anyways…so why not eat this cardboard pizza?”

Well, you know “why not,” and I know now…but at the time, pizza seemed like a grand idea. Now I am suffering from a dry mouth, stuffed gut, and heartburn. Serves me right for falling off the wagon! One of the things I’m learning through all of this weight loss stuff is that I can’t afford to get all down on myself after a day like today. Life happens…FOOD happens, and I just have to resolve to do better tomorrow…and I will do better tomorrow. The weather is set to be warm and sunny for a few days, perfect for running out doors and perfect for getting me back to my rigorous training schedule.

I must admit that it’s tempting to never tell you when I screw up. It’s embarrassing, and I’m not proud of my actions today, but to pretend it does not happen to me once in awhile doesn’t do you or me any favors. This is a battle, and battles are not always won but thankfully we don’t have to win them all to win the war.

Fundamental Flaws

They say that if you can get at the root of your emotional problems and solve them, the temptation to make yourself feel better with food will go away. I spent some time doing that, trying to figure out how to feel better emotionally so I wouldn't want to eat foods that are unhealthy. Then I realized there are just some things I might not ever be able to fully heal from. In fact, a few months ago I got up in the middle of the night and bawled my eyes out over my parents' divorce, which happened when I was thirteen. Some emotions are there, on some level or another, forever. We can deal with them as they pop up, but to totally resolve them might not be possible.

And then, how do you deal with the stressful things that happen on a day to day basis? I was dealt a couple of really bad pieces of news this week. I can't go into them, as there are other people involved, but after getting two extremely bad pieces of news in one day, I ordered pizza for dinner, send the hubby out for chocolate, and stayed up all night watching DVDs. I just couldn't handle it. I had to hunker down and feel sorry for myself for a while.

I'm very much like the poem that reads:

I'll lay me down and bleed awhile
Then rise and fight again.

I can fight and fight and fight, expending my faith and strength and energy, but at some point, the pressure becomes too much and I have to retreat and feel really sorry for myself for a couple of hours. Then I get up and keep fighting. If I don't have that downtime, I can't keep fighting. I've tried not giving in to the temptation to have a good sulk, but it's like I have to pull back and regroup. Generally I do that by going to bed and crying my eyes out for two hours. This time, I didn't go to bed and I didn't cry, but I ate pizza and chocolate. Not as much pizza as I could have and not as much chocolate as I could have (there were leftovers of both the next day) but I did eat them. And then I wondered why I was so weak. And then I realized that I had been strong for so long that I couldn't do it any more without something giving way. I don't mean strong with my diet and exercise ... that hasn't been going well .. but strong emotionally. I've had my walls up for so long that something, somewhere, had to give.

I'm rambling ... nothing like stream of consciousness blogging. But the point being, I don't know how to deal with my emotions in a way that keeps me from wanting food. When the emotion hits, it drains me, and I instantly crave protein and sugar to get me back up. I've tried healthier versions of both, and they just don't pull me back like the "real" stuff.

I can diet as long as life remains stable. But lately, it's been thing after thing after thing, hitting from all directions, and I have to keep a strong face so that others around me can keep their strong faces, too. I can be strong in so many different ways ... but why can't I be strong enough to take the blows without heading for the food?

Nobody leaves Sin City totally guiltless!

Wow! What a crazy past couple of days! Like the rest of you, I’ve been running all over the place lately. I spent all day Monday over in Sanpete where numerous fatty temptations jumped out and tried to kill me. The worst ones reared their ugly head’s over breakfast. As a group, we went for breakfast at a greasy spoon joint in Mayfield, UT. Upon investigating the menu I learned that there were no healthy breakfast options (surprise-surprise!) so I improvised by ordering a green salad. That’s right…a green salad for breakfast. So there I am grazing away while everyone else is pounding an appetizer of extra-large scones slathered in honey butter. Their meals came and they looked and smelled awesome, but I stayed my course, and focused on the sliced avocado in my shrubbery. Then came the next temptation. Out of the blue, the waitress slams one of those enormous scones on the table in front of me, saying that the cook accidentally made an extra and wondered if I wanted it. I made a joke about the scone and everyone laughed at my being randomly temped. Then came, the next onslaught of enticement. The same waitress shows up a few minutes later wondering if we might like to try one of the chef’s special sweet-rolls...it was on the house. This “thing” was freaking huge, I’m talking the size of a grown man’s cranium here…and with a gob of frosting the size of a mud-puddle. Well, we all laughed again at my being tempted but this time one of the ladies at my table was sensitive enough to move that roll away from me before I had a meltdown right then and there.
The next couple of days included an unexpected trip to Vegas. Pretty much a down-and-back deal but it gave me no time to make much of a blog entry. I had some great nutritional victories while on the road, but nobody leaves Sin City totally guiltless. I know that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I will confess…there was ice-cream on the way home! (Gasp!)
Today, it was a quick trip to Orem and back and now it’s almost time for bed. Hope you’re all surviving these hectic days as well and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Great quotes

I get these weekly emails that I love about the hcg diet. They have great advice and really motivate me. Today, she sent this saying with the email and I had to share it.

"Fat people approach dieting like a hobby. Fit people approach dieting like a war." By Steve Siebold from his book, "Die fat or get tough."

Other quotes I liked were: "While fat people are struggling at every meal deciding whether or not to remain compliant, fit people waste no mental energy because the decision has already been made."

"Adopt the belief that 99% compliance is complete failure of your diet. It's like saying you're 99% faithful in your marriage. Only accept 100% compliance from yourself."

"Yo-you dieters are slaves to their emotions." He talks a great deal about how fit people eat and think. "And it takes 21 days to establish new habits," but what wonderful healthy eating habits you will have when you finish this diet. I have found for myself, that once I am on the diet a few weeks, it's like I'm on a roll. If I don't lose, I tweak what I am doing, figure it out and make changes."

He was talking about the hcg diet in that last paragraph. Anyway, these were great for me. Hope you liked them too.

Introduction

Hello. I emailed Tristi asking to be able to start posting on this blog. My name is Anna. I guess I'll give a little introduction about my weight issues.

I was never heavy growing up. I got married and still had a healthy weight for a couple years. Then I was trying to get pregnant, it didn't happen, got pregnant, miscarried, couldn't get pregnant again for a couple years. That's when the weight gain happened. I went from 140 to 205. I finally got pregnant and finally became a mom. The baby weight came off easily. In fact, I now weighed 200. Then I had another baby. Baby weight came off easily again. And then I weighed 195. My husband and I joke that if we just have 12 more kids, and lose 5 pounds after each one, I will be at my goal weight.

When my kids were 3 and 1, I started getting anxiety pretty bad. Kind of went through a phase where I was feeling really crappy. I lost weight and was down to 165. After finally having an "ah ha!" moment, I started writing down what I was eating every day and realized that I was eating about 600-800 calories a day. I felt bad knowing that was not good for my body. It wasn't done on purpose. I was just worried about so many things that I just didn't think about it.

Well, finally got the anxiety under control. And I gained 40 pounds back. :(

Had another baby (who is now 13 months old). I am at 195 now.

So, that's my weight history. I eat when I'm stressed, I eat when I'm bored.

I haven't lost weight all year, but I haven't gained either. I did stop drinking caffeinated drinks (felt like I needed one to have energy and deal with kids). I switched to non-caffeinated until I didn't feel the cravings for it. Now I only have carbonated drinks maybe 1 time a week.

I cut my hair. Maybe seems strange weight loss tactic. But for me, I like to make a statement to myself that says "I'm ready to change." I cut 10-12 inches off and love it.

Okay, so that's me. I'm hoping the honesty and accountibility will help me get even more motivated to lose the weight.

Drumroll please!

For the last few weeks I've been stuck, and I just couldn't get below that 170 line. So this morning I stepped on the scale and it said . . .

167.

Since last Monday, I've been writing down everything I eat, even a breath mint, and calculating my points with the Weight Watchers system. I've been very aware of my water intake. I even exercised at least four times in the past week, even if a couple of times it was running errands and doing a lot of walking around various stores. One little bonus of all that water during the day: Office is upstairs. Bathroom is downstairs. I raced down and back up those stairs way too many times during the day. Then, even though the routine went out the window on Saturday and Sunday, I still tried to be cognizant of what I was eating, and chose water over a soda.

It could be getting enough water, or the sun shining more, or maybe just hormone fluctuations, but in the past week I have felt a real resurgence of energy and just plain willingness to take care of myself. I think it's working.

Coming Back.

After a few hard week, I am back, two pounds heavier, but surviving that pit. Got over feeling like I messed up, and now I am restarting. This weeks goal....Cut out that sugar and keep to the three meals a day. I am also doing a detox from the Good Earth. I'll let you know how that goes. Mostly it is a lot of fiber so we will see. Anyways...Good Luck to everyone this week, and thanks for all the support.

Exercise

I finally got the exercise bike from my friend and set it up in my basement. The idea is that I can exercise and be with my kids while they play or watch a movie at the same time. It is supposed to plug in, give me more resistance, tell me my heart rate and all that, which it would, if I could find our little doohickey that turns a two prong outlet into a three. Still, without the extra resistance, I thought I was going to DIE the first time I tried it. It is a recumbent bike, which is supposed to work your glutes better.

Um, yeah. It does. As long as you can stand to do it for longer than 5 minutes. I can do a regular bike for an hour, but this thing kills. I better have some dang nice legs and butt soon.

Pretty sneaky, sis!

Sundays are always slow. No exercise except a touch of snow shoveling (the ox was in the mire), oh and setting up chairs at the church. I’m still in poor enough shape that these types of activities make me sweat…and anything that makes me sweat is considered exercise. Had a healthy lunch and a small serving of “diet” ice-cream…which is pretty much the same ice-cream as the regular stuff only the diet is whipped extra fluffy so you end up with less cream per serving. That’s how they can say it is less calories and fat. Pretty sneaky, sis!

Sexy, skinny skirt

I love the new look here! Yeah, spring!

I just wanted to check in. What a fabulous week it's been. I started my 3rd stint on Feb. 12 at 151.6 and today am down to 146.8! I am wearing a skirt to church I've wanted to wear for five years! Two weeks ago I tried on and it was too tight, today, it's perfect. In fact, baggy! I cannot tell you how this makes me feel!

I LOVE the hcg diet and would recommend it to EVERYONE. It works, it's no harder than any other diet and you see the results quickly. Anyway, I just feel so happy, so beautiful today, that I wanted to share it. I am so glad I decided to do this diet even though I was scared. I wondered if it would work for me. I wondered if I'd be able to stick to it. The first two times I did cheat every so often and it put me back 3 days each time, but this time I haven't cheated even once.

The diet is now old hat. I enjoy it. The plain food tastes so much better to me. I actually enjoy eating an apple (which I never used to). It's amazing. I feel so blessed that I was led to this diet. Everything happens for a reason and I really feel I supposed to do it. What a difference it's made in my life.

Confessional?

How many people read this blog, anyway? I don't see a ton of comments, but . . . Anyway, I've debated about whether to say anything, but I'd really like to get some advice.

Over the years, my husband has made me feel really badly about myself because of my weight. Well, some would argue that no one can /make/ you feel a certain way. So maybe I should say that he said things over the years and now I feel bad. Hmmm.

Anyway, my point is that I think I sabotage myself because I'm afraid. You'd think it would go the other way around, but who can understand how the female subconscious works, anyway?

I really want to just be healthy and look good for ME. Who cares what anybody else thinks. Right??? But it doesn't work that way somehow.

What do I do? How do I get past this? Has anyone been in a similar situation, and been able to overcome it? I'm willing to listen to any advice, helpful or otherwise.

A Little Common Sense, Please?

Ever since watching "Super Size Me," I've been reflecting on various different segments and the things I learned. One portion of the film that has repeatedly risen to the surface had to do with Jared, the Subway guy.

We all remember Jared, the man who walked to Subway every day to eat their sandwiches and lost a whole bunch of weight? He goes around and speaks at school assemblies about the importance of getting the weight off.

The "Super Size Me" documentary showed him speaking to a group of teens at a high school, and then out in the hallway. Then our film dudes talked with one of the teens and her mother after they met with Jared.

The girl was in tears. She was overweight and wanted so badly to lose the weight, but she couldn't afford to eat at Subway every day. She felt that her chances to lose weight had all been taken away from her because of that. Her mother nodded, agreeing with everything her daughter said.

Hold it ... hold on ... rewind ...

Can I explain something, please?

Jared didn't lose weight because he ate at Subway every day. Jared lost weight because he walked to get to the restaurant, and then he chose one of their low-fat sandwiches. Walking = exercise. Low-fat sandwich = healthy food choice. You don't have to be able to afford to eat at Subway every day in order to lose weight ... you can go for a nice, long walk, come back home, and make your own dang sandwich! Why was this poor teenage girl on the brink of a breakdown because she couldn't afford Subway? Why was no one pointing out to her that for a fraction of the cost of eating out, she could recreate at home the winning solution Jared found? Why was her mother, of all people, not seeing the very simplicity of this?

Jared was a fast food addict. He chose to lose his weight by eating at Subway because it soothed his desire to eat out, while being a better choice than his other favorite restaurants. Subway has no magic weight loss formula sprinkled in their cheese.

Weight loss is not a matter of being able to afford a gym membership and fancy freeze-dried mushrooms. Weight loss is not a matter of cash to pay a buff personal trainer and taking off to a spa once a month.

Weight loss is:

1. Exercise

2. Eating right


Those are the two main steps. Add in "getting enough sleep," "drinking enough water," and "making sure you don't have a medical condition that is keeping the weight on," and you are doing what it takes to lose the weight. You can do it on any economic plane.

And you can bet I sure wanted to reach through that television screen, grab those people, and say, "I'll teach you how to make a stinkin' sandwich!!!"

The fastest 300 pounder to cross the finish line!

As impossible as it sounds, the Ol’ Boz-Man took first place in his division today at the Wild Goose Chase 5k in Delta, UT! Of course I had to make up my own division to do it, which is really the only way I could ever take first in anything sporty. I ended up being the fastest 300 pounder to cross the finish line…very cool. Sure I was the ONLY person even CLOSE to 300 lbs, but it was still a great way to come up with an ever illusive “W”!

The truth is, I’d already won before I got there. The winning was in the preparation. The fact that I was ready to show up and run every step of the 5k is what today’s race was all about for me.

I was so glad to see some of my blog-buddies there as well! Amanda, (and her kid sister), Tina, and Ryan…you are a big part of why today was so dang cool for me. Did we not have a GREAT time? Let’s do it again soon!

My next 5k is in Tooele (mid March) and here’s the best part…the entire course is down-hill, baby! That’s where big guys like me can just let go of the breaks and let gravity do her business. Are any of you “down” for that one?

Well, thanks again to you all for being such excellent cheerleaders for me and my progress and remember that I’m cheering you on with yours!

A “decade low” milestone!

Missed it by that much? Not today! Sorry to have been sitting on such killer information for the past 12 hours but I had very short notice to finish a pretty big project, but along with getting my manuscript submitted on time, I also weighed in this morning at a “decade low” milestone! My new weight is 299.7! How crazy is that? I’m mean, I know if some farmer was looking to sell me at the stock auction, he’d still mark me down as weighing a large three-hunski, but hey, according to my scale…I’m da’ man! I’m in the 200’s again, baby!

The trick now, is to NEVER say hello to the 300’s AGAIN! Of course, if I did see them, I’d be saying something a lot more colorful that “Hello.”

The race is on for tomorrow, but man-o-man the weather is supposed to suck! Some of you have dropped out already, and I can’t say that I blame you, but don’t ever list me for a job reference if you’re fixing to get on with the U.S. Post Office, because they have a very strict “Rain, Snow, Sleet, or Hail” policy that they roll by—sorry! Just kidding, I understand some of you had a long ways to travel in the morning, and I must admit, if the roads are bad enough, I’ll just have to tough it out, because I am running that sucker, Buck-o!
No, I really am kidding. We all just do the best we can when it comes to fitness (and our few Saturdays). I’m a little worded though, because I’m not sure anyone will be there to take my photo when I cross that finish line. Oh well Not like I could sell it on Ebay or anything.

Catch you tomorrow!

Super Sizing

Hey guys,

Thanks for blogging so consistently. It's great to come over here and see how you all are doing, even when I'm not entirely plugged in right now. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and things in Tristiland haven't exactly been shrinking.

What I'd like to blog about tonight is a documentary I watched last week. I'm sure many of you have seen it too - it's called "Super Size Me." If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it (it's on Netflix on demand right now, if you happen to have Netflix). It was a completely eye-opening experience for me.

The film was made right after that lawsuit against McDonald's where the claimants stated that McDonald's made them fat. Of course, the case was dismissed because no one made them eat at McDonald's, but the filmmaker, a man named Morgan Spurlock, became curious. What if he ate nothing but McDonald's food for a month? How would that change the condition of his body?

The documentary takes you through each step of his journey, and I won't get that detailed, but I'll give you the highlights - he started out perfectly healthy and at a good weight. He had a team of doctors monitoring him and they said he was in really good condition. After one solid month of eating nothing but McDonald's food, his liver had turned to fat and was starting to shut down, he had gained 25 pounds, and his doctors were begging him to give up the diet. In fact, they were begging him around the twenty-day mark.

Morgan says he knows his experiment was drastic. People don't, as a general rule, eat nothing but McDonald's. But he did talk to several people who were eating fast food six times a week, and to one man who ate 3 Big Macs every single day.

As I sat here watching that documentary, I must say, some wheels in my head started to turn. I really enjoy fast food. Not so much McDonald's, but I like Wendy's and Arby's quite a bit. If I gave in to my compulsions and ate out as much as I wanted, what condition would my liver be in? How much more would I weigh?

Morgan ended his McDonald's binge after a month and went back to healthy eating. His liver did heal and returned to normal function. But the 25 pounds he gained in only one month? It took him nine months to lose that weight. One month to gain it, and nine months to lose it. Wow.

So much of what we eat is done on a subconscious level. We're out running errands, we get hungry, we pull through a drive-through. But every little bit adds up.

I would like to say that I've sworn off fast food after watching that film. My life this week has been crazy enough that I've actually eaten out a few times, not just once. But I am going to be more mindful. I happen to need my liver ...

Re-don the Nacho Libre costume!

I’m late! I’m late! For a very important…blog date? It doesn’t quite rhyme like it did in “Alice in Wonderland,” but I do feel like that dumb rabbit running around trying to keep a near impossible schedule. The whole world seems to be in one great big hurry.
Well, tomorrow’s the big weigh-in. Oughta be a lot better than last week, and Saturday is the bog race. I’ll try to take a few pictures and get them on my blog, but I may have to re-don the Nacho Libre costume in order for you to appreciate the impact of the “before/after” snapshot.

The Best Husband Ever

by Rebecca Talley

On Sunday morning, before church, my husband brought me a rose and a very sweet card for Valentine's Day. He's always so thoughtful on holidays (actually, he's always thoughtful). We had a big family dinner (with frosted heart cookies for dessert) to celebrate Valentine's and my honey said he had another gift. He pulled out a shoe box and set it in front of me. I was excited at the thought of a new pair of shoes since I'm a self-confessed shoe-aholic (I tried Shoes Anonymous once, but it didn't work). I opened the box and found a couple of silk leis, flip-flops, a new bathing suit, and . . . . . tickets to Hawaii. Yep, he's taking me to Hawaii. Is he awesome or what?

We spent our honeymoon, 25 years ago, in Hawaii and we're going back to the same hotel so we can walk along the same beach. A lot has happened in 25 years (like 10 kids) and it will be fun to go back to our honeymoon spot. I can't wait!

Now, did you notice what else was in the box? A new swimsuit. Yes, a smallish swimsuit--props to my man for thinking I'd fit into that size. I did try it on and I'm not sure I can go traipsing around Hawaii in it, but he picked it out and it's a really cute suit. So . . . it's time to super-charge my workouts.

I'm going to stay on Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet because I'm a little concerned about eating so many eggs on Phase 1--don't want my cholesterol level to go through the roof. So I'll stay on Phase 2, but I'm going to ramp up my workouts by doing The Firm (sorry, Gilad, I still love ya but I need more intensity to get bathing suit ready).

So that's my plan. I'm still battling my 6-10 lbs and hope to say "Aloha" to those unwanted pounds before Hawaii time!

Guilty!

Yes, I am guilty. Guilty of not blogging. Guilty of eating whatever I please. Guilty enough to go hide and hope no one noticed. The only thing is, I noticed. So I am back, hoping to turn over a new leaf. The good news? I still kept 8 of the 10 pounds I lost in January off even with my over indulgence. I think this was due to the fact that while I was eating whatever I wanted at my meals, sugar, soda, bad carbs, I was still only eating three meals a day. That shows me the one thing I am sure about in the leptin diet is that not snacking is a huge part to keeping the weight from piling on for me.
The bad news? I did gain back two pounds. I feel into bad habits after my birthday debacle. Coke came into my life again even though I had shunned it for three weeks.
The good news? I am back. I will start this week with three meals a day, no sugar, and hopefully a lot of water. I will blog whenever I need to to keep mw on this track and hopefully those two pounds that crept back can be lost with a few more to make February not a total loss.

The answer is a resounding YES!

This Saturday’s critical question has already been answered!!! For those of you wondering (myself included) if a 300 lb man could really run a 5k and not require CPR or at least an ambulance afterwards, the answer is a resounding YES! That’s right weight-loss-watchers…today at approximately 2:30 pm (MST), I jogged every step of my 5k practice route, without dying and without walking so much as a single step. So now we know! It CAN be done! And my family can stop talking about how to divide up my estate on Saturday afternoon! j/k

I also wanted to give a “shout-out” to those of you who sent Brooke Walker at Studio 5 KSL an email about having me on the show. She sent me a very congenial reply indicating that she has forwarded my information to her producer. Brooke seems to be as genuine via email as she is on TV. I still don’t think it would hurt to send her an email if you haven’t already. So much of what those types of shows choose to highlight is based on public interest so the more of you who contact them, the better. Just Google “Studio 5 KSL”, click on the bio’s link and look for Brooke. Her email is right next to her photo.

For those of you wondering why on earth I’d ever want to go on television about my weight loss struggles, let me just say that it’s for the very same reason I blog about it in the first place. Increased exposure equals increased commitment for me, and it broadens the number of people that I might be able to inspire, and in turn…be inspired by. The truth is, I ran extra far today because I am motivated by possibly being on that TV show, and also because I could not wait to sit down and post to you all about it. In fact, most of what I’m typing to you right now was written word for word in my head as I plodded along those 3.l miles today.
Thanks for being there for me, and for cheering me on. Hopefully I can return the favor by helping you out as well.

Maybe I'll be a guest on KSL's Studio 5!

Hey, guys.
Here is a copy of the email I just sent to the mid-morning show on KSL 5.

Give it a read and let me know what you think. In short, I’d love to be on their show to tell about blogging your way to a better, healthier, life.

If you think that would be cool, send an email to Brooke Walker at KSL. If you quickly Google “Studio 5 KSL” you’ll find their website. From there, the easiest way to contact her (and it is very easy) is to just click the “bios” link on the top of the page. From there, it shows everyone’s pictures (She is the smart looking, beautiful one) and it gives her KSL email right next to her picture. I was going to post her email right on my blog but I’d hate for that to cause her a bunch of spam or something. Besides, I think you’d like the Studio 5 site. It has a ton of good info about health and fitness. Just tell Brooke that you are following www.brentboswell.blogspot .com and let her know what you think of the blog.

Thanks, guys. This could be very very cool.

PS Can’t wait for the race on Saturday! Thanks for all of your help and support.

Dear Studio 5 KSL,

The last few days you've been talking about bogs, weight loss, and running 5ks on Studio 5. I am in the middle of doing all three...combined.

On December 4, 2009, I was desperate for help losing weight so without planning it, I went to my blog, which I never used, and posted a plea for help and support. I posted my current weight (huge) and my goals. I made promises to whoever might be "out there" and it turned out that a lot were listening (reading)! Since then I have posted nearly every day and have lost almost 50 lbs. I am running my first 5k this Saturday and have three more scheduled. The whole experience has been awesome! If you think I might have something to say that could inspire your viewers, I would love to come on the show, or help in any way that I can.

You can see my blog at www.brentboswell.blogspot.com or find me on Facebook. My motivation for going public like this is two-fold.

1. It helps me feel more committed when I know others are eagerly watching my progress, so being on TV about this would really ramp up my commitment to my goals.
2. I have heard from dozens of folks who read my blog and are now making public fitness pledges of their own, and most importantly, they are keeping those pledges for the first time in a long long time.

Also, as a side note, I have issued the challenge for everyone following my blog to come run with me at each of the races. This Saturday, there will be at least 5 or 6 of my blog followers who are going to run with me, a few of which I’ve never even met! How cool is that?

Hope to hear from you soon!
Brent
PS I live in Nephi.

Who wants a goose liver?

Great run today! It’s a good thing too because I also spend a tone of time sitting at my desk today getting my novel submitted. The run was a welcomed diversion from an otherwise very sedimentary activity.

The day of the big race is barreling closer! Glad to see that more of you are on board. The national weather service is showing Delta, UT as being in the 50’s for the next few days, but there is as possible storm looming out there for the weekend. Thankfully, weather men are not very accurate for more than a day or two at a time. Therefore I say, “This storm too, shall pass!” But even if it doesn’t, if people can “Sing in the rain,” we ought to be able to run in it. Besides, inclement weather is always best when it comes to the observance (hunting) of geese, and I plan on getting my bag limit somewhere around mile 2.5! After all, they don’t call this sucker “A wild goose chase” for nothin’! Who wants a goose liver?

Don't drink the (purified) water!

On Friday, I drank all my water. It was awful. I had purchased a case of the bottled water that was on sale, which was the store brand, filtered, purified water. It tasted worse than our city water, which is contaminated with nitrates, long story, which is why I am spending money on bottled water. Crystal light helps a lot. I like the raspberry peach flavor.

On Saturday my husband and I drove to the "big city" to run errands, and I had only finished one fourth of my water, so I took three bottles with me. By the end of the day, I had only finished 2-1/2 bottles total, but when we went out to lunch, and then again at the ward Valentine's dinner and dance, I drank large glasses of water, so I think I'm okay there.

On Sunday, between church, the Sunday nap, and going to my mother's house to celebrate Valentine's day and five family February birthdays, I probably only drank 1/4 of my water again.

But today is a new day. I actually feel thirsty, and I recognize it is thirsty and not hungry. I am once again sitting at my desk, working most of the day, with my water bottles lined up and waiting. From now on, I am buying only spring water.

My other goal for the day is to write down everything I eat, and convert it to Weight Watchers points.

Clearing up some misconceptions

Hey guys! Today is my fourth day on the hcg diet, but the second day of the 500 cal. eating. I'm so glad the load days are over. You'd think being able to eat whatever you want would be great. In reality, I always get sick eating so much crap. Anyway, in this post, I want to clear up a few misconceptions about the hcg diet.

When I first heard about it, I thought, "Of course you lose weight. You're only eating 500 cals. a day. Duh." Then I learned that the reason for the low cals is because the hcg is burning up to 3500 cals. of fat in your body a day. If you eat more than 500 cals, you will gain weight. Period. It's just the way hcg works. Also, if you tried eating 500 cals without hcg, you'd starve to death. The hcg keeps you from being hungry and is giving your body a lot of cals with the dissolving fat.

Also, I had quite a few comments on my last post about following my doctor's advice on how much to lose. The funny thing is, it doesn't matter how much I WANT to lose, or how much my doc. says is safe. With hcg, you only lose as much as the hcg will burn. Let me explain. Hcg only dissolves "abnormal" fat, or bad fat. They don't know why it doesn't attack the good fat too, but it doesn't. When your body runs out of abnormal fat, the hcg quits working. So, if I want to get down to say, 120, but my body only has enough abnormal fat to get down to 135, well then. I'll only get to 135. See?

After the hcg is out of your system, I suppose you could become anorexic to get down further, but that wouldn't be healthy. You'd be burning good fat and muscle which you don't want to do. In the beginning, I used a doctor for the hcg diet. The last two times, I haven't. It's expensive to go through a doctor. I do it on my own. I like it, I know what to do and I know what is safe for me. Anyway, I hope that answers any questions you might have if you are considering doing this diet. I love it. Nothing else works as good and I love seeing the progress.

After the diet it over, I will work out to tone and tighten, but for now, it feels good knowing that the bad fat is slowly disintegrating and being flushed out.

“jogging machine”

Sorry about missing my post on Saturday. I was in Tooele most of the day to see my nephew get his Eagle Scout Award. Very cool, but I also got home very late. I’ve not been getting much sleep these days as I’ve been working day and night on the final stages of getting my novel ready to submit. The good thing is, I’ve been a “jogging machine” these past few days. Maybe my stamina is improved as a result of all the extra calories I ate last week.

The big race is less than seven days away and I am feeling better and better about it with each passing day. So far, I’ve heard from a half-dozen of you who’ve committed to run it with me, but I am only aware of one who is registered for sure. Are the rest of you still in? I hope so! If you miss this one, there will be others, but at some point you’re going to have to commit and register so it will act as motivational tool for you. That’s the whole point of running these things. I would never have been pushing myself this hard without the commitment.

Not so great this week

I didn't even lose a pound this week. I went from 195.6 to 194.8. This week hasn't been as good in calories I have to admit. I went to a writing conference and ate out quite a bit. I tried to be reasonably good and on Saturday I went LOW on calories to try to make up for one huge eating-out experience that had to be around 1400 calories. So at least I've lost something. And I'll probably bounce around between 195 to 196 this week.

I did make it to taekwondo twice. Yay. I'm not sure how good I'll be this week. I need to find my motivation, but right now I'm very, very hungry. When I'm hungry my motivation tends to go out the door. Ah well. We'll see how it goes this week.

Conscienceness

I have been craving a hamburger and fries lately, so today that is what I had for lunch. I knew my lunch would be full of carbs, something my body reacts unkindly to. But I made a conscience choice to eat it anyway.

Now here I am 9 hours later and I still feel bloated and full and like I have a rock in my stomach. And even though I made them at home and baked the fries in the oven instead of frying them, they were not as good as I remember.

But the point is, this was a conscience choice. Not something I ate because it was convenient or there. No mindless nibbling. No, a choice made knowing how I would feel, what the scale would say if I stepped on it tomorrow and what dress I will not be able to wear tomorrow because of this choice.

And I am fine with it because it was my choice and I know that the food on the menue for next week does not include high carb meals, but more raw veggies and protein and a lot more healthy choices.

And I did that consciencely as well.

And that makes all the differenced.

I’m not at all freaked out by this!

It’s an awesome experience to jump on the scales for your weekly weigh in and see the scales rolling past five new digits, unless the digits are rolling up and not down. Yup, my week of nutritional neglect has cost me 5 lbs, robbing me of dropping into the 200’s (for another 7 days) and ending my perfect losing streak.

The crazy thing is…I’m not at all freaked out by this. I chose to “eat up” for a few days and surprise-surprise, its showing up on the scales! The truth is, I don’t regret it. Sure, I wish I could eat like a madman and still lose weight but I can’t. But, I did have a great time at the Super Bowl and I did eat like a rock star, and I plan on doing the same thing next year. If I’d just blown a full week of a 6 week weight loss contest I’d be freaking out, but this new lifestyle of mine is going to last a long long time, and one week is mere peanuts when compared to forever.

In the meantime, my clothes still fit as loose as they did last week, I’m still comfortably cinching my belt in the same new hole and I went for a full two-mile jog today. Two miles is double my best distance for the last 10 years and I could have easily gone further today but I did not want to press my luck.

Last night I was fairly disappointed in myself and I asked for your prayers, calls, and emails, and I got them. Thank you, and I want to especially thank you for the prayers as I swear I could feel them working in my behalf. How else can you explain how content I am over what I’ve done? How else could I have suddenly eaten perfectly today and even run farther, faster, and with less fatigue than I have in a decade? Prayer works!

I am predicting huge weight loss for next Friday because this new number on the scale can’t be telling the whole truth. I didn’t eat enough extra calories to truly gain 5 lbs. Some of it has to be water retention because of the high salt content of my food choices and who knows what the rest of it is. I think it will be as the old saying goes, “easy come, easy go.” The weigh came easy and I’ll get rid of it just as easy!

Thanks again for your positive thoughts and prayers, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow.

Thought for the Day

I've been struggling with some healthy issues in the past 2 or 3 weeks that have really derailed me. It seems I've hit a wall at 170 and sort of collapsed there. (You can put that weight by my name on the sidebar, Tristi.) I've been down to 168.5 in the very recent past, but I can't seem to get back to it. Some days I just want to give up and stay in bed with a good book and large quantities of comfort food. There's just too much to overcome.

So today I was working and my team manager sent out the daily update and included this quote that really struck a cord in me.

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing." Abraham Lincoln (who was possibly the skinniest president until Obama came along)

I resolve to succeed at losing weight. Even if it kills me. Though it should have the opposite effect.

My goal for today is simple. I have four 16.9 oz bottles of water sitting on my desk. I've already started drinking one of them. I will finish them all before I am done with work today.

Argg. People!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd reconnect. I'm starting my 3rd and final stint with the hcg diet. I feel very mellow starting this time. It feels like old hat. I know what I'm doing and how to do it. I like knowing that weight loss is pretty much guaranteed. I like feeling successful and seeing results. That is the only thing that makes what ever diet you're doing worth while. You have to see results or it all feels like you're doing it for nothing.

So, my goal is 140. I think I'll feel pretty good there. When I got married I was 125 so I don't feel like 140 is unrealistic. The thing that irritates me is when people say, "You look fine. You don't need to lose anymore," Sometimes I get the feeling that that comment comes from a selfish place. I don't know. Maybe not. But the reason why . . . is because I want to.

When you are way over weight, losing even a little is monumental. Once you get to that lower weight and maintain it, you realize, why not a little more? And why not? Why not get to a healthy weight where you know you'll feel good? What is wrong with wanting to weigh 140? Sorry, but you can see I'm a little sensitive about it. People who are heavier than me at the moment always seem to want to discourage me from losing more. I hate it. People who are lean, healthy and athletic are always the ones to say, "Way to go! You can do it!" I love that. It's all about building people up and not being jealous of someone else's success. It's not like I'm anorexic for Pete's sake. (I like food too much)

Anyway, I'm now getting off my soap box! LOL. Good luck on your goals! I'll be in touch!

Please help me get it back!

Another busy day has come to a close and I am pleased as well as disappointed in myself. Pleased because I resisted this afternoon when I was sorely tempted to stop at KFC for the all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet, but disappointed because I did not make time for any serious exercise. Here I am , less than 24 hours from my weekly weigh in, and less than ten days away from my first 5k run in over a decade and I am acting like a person without goals, or a person with goals but not enough heart to accomplish them.

But the truth is, I do have goals, and I do have heart! I can’t droop is self pity, but I don’t think I can get rolling again on my own. I’m going to need your prayers, encouraging words, and over all support if I’m going to get back on track. This entry is starting to sound like my very first post when I basically begged for your help. I swallowed my stupid pride, asked for your help and you gave it to me. If you’re out there, and you can find the time, please please please do something for me. A prayer, a text or an email…call me if you can and remind me how important this is. Remember, it’s not what I know about weight loss, it’s how I feel about what I know that will keep me on track, and obviously I have lost the feeling. Please help me get it back!

Go me

I'm feeling better about working this hard.

*I walked past the valentine chocolate in the office.
* I walked/ran 1 mile in 15 minutes on the treadmill.
*I made a wonderful celery soup. I'll post the recipe later, but it is soooo yummy and good for you to.
*Even though I felt that my numbers would be up if I weighed, the skirt I put on yesterday was loose. And I barely bought it at Christmas.

I haven't had enough water, though. Life at work has been crazy. I started my practicum class. That means I need to work in the counseling office. 100 hours working with the counselors and students. I also still need to do my job. A lot of what I do for my job will count toward my 100 hours, but there are some specific things I need to do to pass the class. And the principal added some duties.

Today I had to set up a seperate office for the other advocates and my self to share and set a schedule for who is going to use it when. It was one of those do a lot of stuff but get nothing done type of days. I hate those kind of days because I usually get sidetracked. And then I forget that I want to be healthy and give in.

I was craving something sweet. But I passed right by that bucket full of chocolate and when I got home I cut up a cucumber, sprinkled it with sea salt, added some cabbage and 2 carrots and took them with me to my daughter's soccer game. And I was fine.

But I did decide that the act of eating raw veggies is a lot of work.

Old habits really do die hard!

I’m a big boy…so I take full responsibility for my eating choices over the past few days and let me just admit right now that they’ve sucked!!! I chose to “let my hair down” over the weekend, and party with the skinny people, but now I’ve had a hard time getting my butt back in gear. I’m not sure where the breakdown occurred but I drove home Monday morning after the Super Bowl, ate a bowl of “crap” cereal for breakfast and I’ve hardly ate a healthy thing since.

Thankfully, tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a day of renewed commitment on my part. There is no way Friday’s weigh-in can turn out very well, but I hope the bad numbers will at least slap me up-side the head! Hopefully those of you reading this will slap me up-side the head as well, and please do it literally if you happen to see me in person. I deserve it!!! One of you made the comment on my Facebook page that my blog entries as of late have been getting pretty short, well, I’m glad he called me on it, because too many short blog posts in a row indicates a lack of healthy activities for me to report on.

I’m sorry for letting you down. My brief relapse is proof that old habits really do die hard, and that my bad habits are very much alive and well, and are just waiting under the surface for me to let my guard down before they pounce. I’m not saying we can never enjoy a food party once in a while, but I’d better have a very specific plan for how I’m going to get back on track right after the big meal.

A hearty workout!

Long day today. Hardly time to exercise but thank goodness we played dodge ball at scouts and that got my heart going a little. Sad to admit that running around dodging and throwing Nerf balls equals a hearty workout.

Twinkies: 2 Leptin Diet: 0

Okay, so it's not all smooth sailing. But I'm going through kind of a life crisis right now, so . . . that's no excuse. Really, I need to take care of myself.

Thankfully, my tri class is helping me keep up on the exercise end of things.

We're learning to flip-turn at the wall during the swimming portion of class, so I went swimming yesterday and just flip-turned over and over. I'm no good at it still, and I got a lot of water in my sinuses. But at least I'm trying. :-D

As far as the swimming goes overall, I can't seem to get faster. At all. No matter how hard I try. If I really push myself, I can do 25 meters in about 45 seconds. But I can't keep it up for more than 50 meters or so before I'm dead. If I go at a more steady pace, I can do 25 in about a minute consistently for a few hundred meters. I've improved a ton of things with my stroke and I'm in slightly better shape than when I started, and yet I can't get faster no matter how I try.

Ah, well. At least I'm getting in better shape, and I'll be able to at least finish the tri as long as I pace myself. And, really, I still have 3 1/2 months to train. So I shouldn't write myself off yet. I may just get good at swimming at some point.

Reasons

So. I would love to blame my weekend food on something like a party for some kind of game or something, but all I have is my son makes one wicked meal. It was his turn to cook tonight and we had twice baked potatoes and cream cheese berry pie. And it was soooo good.

I did have a huge salad to go along with it, so hopefully that will offset the cream/cream cheese I ate tonight. And I didn't finish all of my pie. Does that count for something?

I didn't weigh this morning because I was in a hurry, and I have a feeling that if I weigh in the morning my numbers will be up, so in the interest of my peace of mind, I am not going to get on the scale until next week.

Right now my problem seems to be that I am tired.
Tired of planning menues.
Tired of preparing lunches.
Tired of cooking supper.
Tired of homework.
Tired of class.
Tired of working all day long everyday.
Tired of cleaning.
Tired of no time for relaxing.

You get the picture. I think this is what causes me to get off track. I get tired, discouraged, in a hurry and forget why I am trying so hard to change.

When I had my own business, I had a reasons why list and encouraged my team members to do the same. Our reasons why list were reasons why we were in business for ourselves, this is my reasons for wanting to have a life style change:

1) To stop the pain
2) To loose weight
3) To wake up and feel well
4) To have enough energy to make it through the day
5) To be able to play with my grandbabies
6) Vanity- I really, really want to look good

Looking at that small list helps. I think I will print it out and post it above my desk so when I get feeling tired, I can review my reasons why.

A few new races in the works.

With the Super Bowl over, it’s time to get back on track. I had a great weekend, ate too much and exercised too little, but had an all-around great time!

I bumped into two people over the weekend who mentioned they were following my blog. Very cool!

Race day is fast approaching and I already have a few new races in the works, including a 5k in Tooele that’s held in mid-march. Hopefully some of my Tooele County friends will want to huff that one along with me. Let me know and I’ll get you the details.

Getting Geared Up

Tomorrow is Monday, traditionally the busiest day of my whole week, but this time around it's also the day I pull myself back onto the wagon by my bootstraps. This week has plenty of events scheduled that will seek in every way possible to keep me distracted, so it's going to take some extra concentration on my part to get done what needs doin'. But I have every intention of stepping on that scale on Friday morning and seeing a change.

Soreness

Master Flora, my taekwondo instructor, has extra classes that he teaches once a month on Saturdays. A weapons class and then two hours of higher level belt training. He used to have red belts and above go to the two hours but he changed it to green belts and higher. Going on Saturdays to one hour for weapons training never seemed worth it. BUT, to go for three hours? We're definitely getting more for our two hours of traveling (one hour there one hour back). So my friend and I went yesterday.

I knew my arms would be sore today because we did weapons and practiced with the sword--and you get a great workout for your arms in doing different things. But the rest of the class didn't seem so bad. We got to do a lot of self-defense and some really amazing on the ground self-defense. We learned how to get out of two different situations--if someone has you on the ground, and they're on top of you, we learned what to do if we had our arms free and we also learned what to do if the person tucked in our arms on our side and used their legs to keep your arms from doing anything. It ROCKED. Today . . . I can barely move! At least I know I had a great workout!

I feel like I've kept to my calories pretty well this week. One day I went low, but other than that, I've done well. Yesterday I went high, but figured I could with all the exercise. Last week I weighed 197.6 and today I weigh 195.6. Two pounds. I also weighed 195.6 yesterday so hopefully that is what I weigh.

The other thing to celebrate? I weigh less than my husband. Now, this might not seem like such a big deal to most people--but when I first met (around 12 years ago) Damon--I weighed 145. He still weighed less than me. I think 135. Very skinny guy. Well, he has put on weight just like me, but never as much. The last time I lost weight and was down to around 180 he was still in the range of 170 or so.

When he weighed himself the other day he was at 196.4. Woohoo! I don't weigh THAT much less than him, but still. I WEIGH LESS. And by golly, I'm going to be happy about it!!!

And even though he should, he doesn't have any plans to do weight loss anytime in the future. I'm really okay with this. At least until I get off all of my weight. I want to have a chance to ENJOY weighing less than my husband!

Still Sidetracked ...

My mom had out-patient surgery yesterday and I spent the day running her back and forth from home to her dr. to my house to sleep it off and then back to her house ... there was nothin' good going on here from a health perspective. No eating right (well, actually, no eating ... I did the whole breakfast at nine and then no dinner until 8 thing, with no lunch) no exercising, nothing.

However, I did notice something highly interesting.

My jeans are a little looser around the waist.

So, something's happening. Not sure how, after the week I've had, but something's happening. :)

Oh what fun that will be!

Down another 5 lbs this week! My new weight is 302.2 lbs, which you might have noticed it's only a few pounds away from the 200’s. Even with the Super Bowl feast coming up, I ought to easily make the “twos” by next week. Oh what fun that will be!

I’ll be out of town until late Sunday night so don’t panic for me if I miss making my post. I’m not dead; I don’t think…just away from my computer.

You’ll notice that I said “almost”.

Another great day! Tomorrow is weigh in day and that should go great as well. I’m feeling so good that I almost don’t even care about the scales anymore! (You’ll notice that I said “almost”.)

Just hop back on…it’s a slow moving train.

Great run + great nutrition = excellent day!

Its only 17 days until the big race and I’ve got a lot of stamina to gain, but so far so good. In fact, I’m not sure how my preparation could be going any better. I’ve been able to run virtually pain free which is pretty good for a big ol’ boy. It is true that I’m trotting along slower than most folks normally walk, but it’s been a lot of years since my days as a distance runner and by jogging slowly I have less chance of picking up an injury. That would be a real kick in the pants!

Well, I hope your days are going well. Keep up the good work and please keep me posted on your progress. I’m worried about a few of you who said early on that you were going to do this with me and now I’m not hearing from you. DON’T MAKE ME TRACK YOU DOWN! If you’ve fallen off the wagon, you’re not that far behind. Just hop back on…it’s a slow moving train.

There was an old lady who swallowed a.....

So just because yesterday was my birthday, I felt it gave me the right to be a little bad. Breakfast started out good with a tropical fruit protein shake. Lunch was at Red Lobster and I had a small bowl of clam chowder and a salad. Not too bad, but then I through an Italian Cream Soda into the equation. Dinner came and it was Pasta in cream Sauce and Parmesan crusted Halibut with a green salad. I drank water so still no snacking occurred. THEN we went to the movie where I had a piece of Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake and a large coke...ouch. I felt like the biggest pig and woke up this morning two pounds heavier to prove it. The good thing? I got my day two push ups and sit ups in, but I will be working hard this week to get back to my 178. Isn't it insane how one day of guilty pleasure can give you a weeks worth of work? I have to remember, guilty pleasures are okay once and a while, just not all in one day!!

Takin' Care of Business

I haven't weighed myself yet this week, and I also haven't measured myself yet this week. I got seriously derailed by some business meetings that took up several hours each and I am sorry to say, I fell back into the, forgetting to eat and then nearly passing out and then only eating one meal that day cycle that I've been stuck in for so long. I was doing really well last week with eating and exercising, but this week hasn't gone too well for me so far. I think that things will settle down a smidge today and for the rest of the week, so I'll be working on getting back to what I was up to a week ago.

Give me a shout and we’ll work on it together!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Looks like another fairly routine day here at weight loss central. I ran two miles and walked two today and it was a ton easier than yesterday. From a motivational standpoint, signing up for this 5k is one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I’m saying that now, but if I’m no longer vertical half way through the race I’ll be cussing myself big time.

I’ve been eating smart and eating my evening meal early, and my body is sure thanking me for it.

I wanted to say thank you (again) for being here for me and for all of your nice emails. I’m even still getting them from people who’ve been following my blog each day and yet I didn’t know that they were. Very cool. I am so excited about how well things are going. My success is the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of as I drift off to sleep. Who’d a thought that taking care of myself could make me feel so dang great? Hope you’re feeling that way too…and if not, give me a shout and we’ll work on it together.

Cookie Attack

I just made these cookies. They are most delish. And so far, Megan and Emma don't care for them. That means the odds of Jeremy liking them aren't that great.

That means more for me. My tongue thanks my children. My gut doesn't.

I hope my husband likes them. I hope he gets to taste one. . . .

On a different note, I'm so impressed with everyone working so hard on their goals and being so honest with where they are and what they are doing.

The gym thing didn't work out for me. Remember I was going to get a gym membership for $16 a month? They wouldn't transfer the membership from my friend to me because of some credit card/computer problem they claimed to have. I know it isn't true because if she needed to change credit cards on her membership, they would have done it. Oh well. I have another friend that is selling her stationary bike. I could ride a stationary bike all day long. I love them. I don't know why, but I do. I also really enjoy a good leg press. I'm weird.

Anyway. I'm going to her house to try it out in a few hours. Hopefully I'll like it. Her bike is a different style than what I'm used to.

Good luck to everyone and keep up the good work!

Pushup Challenge

Back in September a friend of mine who is one of those people who has a body like Jennifer Gardner's on Alias. You know, the type of people who if I wasn't against certain clothing styles for modesty reasons, would be allowed to wear them because they could actually get away with it? You know, the yoga instructor type? Yeah that one. Well, her sons school's football team was doing this challenge and so she started it. I did great for 28 days and then life happened, but I want to try it again and if anyone wants to join please feel free.

The goal? Starting today Monday February 1st--do one push up. Tomorrow do two. Wednesday do three. You get the point you add a pushup everyday. If you can't do military go for girl ones. It took me 17 days the first time to get one full military pushup in. Don't skip ahead if it seems too easy. It gets tough quick enough.

And for those of you who really want a challenge, I am going to do this with sit ups as well. It is a great way to get in a little extra exercise in.

At Tristi’s request, here is the blog post heard ‘round the world!!!

At Tristi’s request, here is the blog post heard ‘round the world!!! At least it rang around my world…and it’s still ringing. I had been feeling for a few days that I needed to start blogging about my weight loss battle. It was a tough thing to do. I mean, who really wants to go public with their personal flaws? Who wants to admit that they’re spiraling downward and out of control? I hated to come out and say, “Guess what guys? I’m fat!” (As if everyone didn’t already know.) Well, I swallowed my pride, said a little prayer, felt at peace…and then I pushed “post”. The rest is history in the making. Since that first post on 12-3-09, I’ve lost over 40lbs.

12-3-09

Does anyone know what the symbols mean between these two parentheses? (• • • — — — • • •) It’s Morse code for S.O.S. and this is me saying I need help; this is my S.O.S. call to whoever is out there...and I almost hope it’s nobody because what I have to say is very personal but I am saying it anyway. No. I’m not gay! But I am tired of being overweight and most of all I hate looking and feeling unhealthy. What I need is to make a long term commitment to a healthy lifestyle...one that I can live with forever. What I don’t have is enough staying power to do what I know I need to do. I need commitment, and that’s where you all come in. I have looked nearly everyone that I love in the eye and swore to them that “today was the day I was going to change!” and I couldn’t keep my promises. I’ve let them down, and more tragically myself, so many times that I don’t even know who I am anymore and I don’t know if they know me anymore either. I am tired of running into old friends from my mission or college to find that they don’t even recognize me...and that has really happened. I’m tired of not being able to do the things I once loved to do. I’m tired of not being as confident about my appearance. I’m tired! I’m tired! I’m tired. I’m tired of being tired for that matter.
But what about you? (If there’s even anybody even reading this.) I haven’t lied to you. I haven’t broken any promises between us have I? What if I sat here tonight and blogged to the world (who may or may not be listening) that tomorrow is a new and better day, a healthier day? What if I posted my hurtles, pitfalls, and progress? Would posting it make a difference to me? Would I have your support or would you be embarrassed for me. I would think it fair if you were embarrassed for me. I am embarrassed myself about this whole crazy idea. I am absolutely the last guy in the world to admit that I need help. I’m usually the one doing the helping, but today is my day to swallow my freaking pride and say that I need help. I need a level of commitment like I’ve never had before and I am hoping, even praying actually, that I can get it from you. Besides, I’m not the only one who struggles with this. I mean after all, we are in America right? Most of us are living far too high on the hog...and the hogs in this country are healthier than most of us by the way.
If I have the guts to post this blog (I’m 467 words into it and I still don’t know if I will do it) will you have the guts to show your support and even join me in a quest for a better life? Either way, I’m in. And to prove it, I am looking you all in the eye right now and swearing that I will not go to bed tonight without doing some sort of exercise, and tomorrow when I wake up, I’m going to post to you that I kept my word about my health for the first time in far too long of a time! And I’m going to keep posting my goals, progress, the ups and downs, for as long as it takes for me to change or until I’m dead...which isn’t far off I’m afraid, if I don’t start taking better care of myself.
PS If you think I sound serious now, wait until in the morning because I am going to post my weight and goals for the day! Holy Crap! I can’t believe I’m doing this but I’m at the end of my pitiful rope! Besides, this is so stupid that it just might work!!!

Wow! That's all I can say!

Oh, not really, I have more to say. I started the HCG diet last Sunday. This past week I have lost 11 pounds. I am happy to report that I have not been starving like I thought I would. In fact, I have been no more hungry than I would be on any other diet. You do have to stick with it the way that it is outlined. I can see so many differences already.

I have also been doing a lot of positive self talk. It is amazing what happens,when you tell yourself that you are thin, happy and self confident, while you are in the process of losing. I have been listening to the CD's of "The Secret" the past 3 weeks. If you don't know about "The Secret" you need to google it and read about it. It may sound strange, but I know it works. I can feel it working in my life.

Stay strong and remember to say nice things about yourself. What you think is what you will become.

Monday Morning Weigh In

179.8

2 oz. more than when I started back in August. And I don't feel bad about that at all considering I had foot surger the beginning of Dec., have been able to do very little actual exercise because of it, ate sugar and other assorted comfort foods at my mom's and weighed 5 lbs more than that this time last week.

Goal this week: be cognizant of the amount of water I drink each day and drink at least 64 oz each and every day.

I have a paper due and a final this week. Wish me luck!