On Monday morning I was in the gym doing some core work when I overheard a conversation between 2 ladies. I hate to eavesdrop but it's pretty hard not to when between planks and crunches a conversation between two people is going on a few feet away.
The first lady had inquired about the second ladies' health choices, the second lady made a response like "I am doing great I am down 'x' amount of lbs." (I can't remember figures I was too busy trying to not have a a heart attack after my second circuit of abs and planks). The second lady who had lost the weight then began a conversation about how she wished her husband would begin to make some healthier choices. She was voicing a fear about how she wanted her husband to be around, and not be subject to a premature death brought on by his choices in living a sedentary lifestyle.
I couldn't help but listen more intently to the ongoing dialogue as both ladies traded stories about friends' spouses dying and by this time I was finished my core workout and was 'resting' on my mat trying to not die of suffocation because my abs wouldn't contract anymore. The lady kept speaking her fears of being alone, and perhaps being left alone with kids and how defensive her husband got every time she brought the subject up. I felt really bad for her, which is hard for many of you to believe, but I truly felt bad for her. I understood her fears, my wife (Amy) and I have had that same conversation, and I have to say that the fear of dying a premature death caused by my idiotic choices in my lifestyle was definitely a kick start to my journey towards health.
As I wheezed and limped to my new favorite cardio machine the 'StairMaster', I replayed the conversation in my mind. I put myself in a mental conversation with the lady. I wanted to help her, I wanted to give her a way to motivate her husband, but as I thought more about it I had to ask the questions of why I started, and why I am sticking with my choice to engage in a healthy lifestyle. Part of it I had to admit was fear, I am scared to die and leave my wife alone. I am scared to not be able to provide for my future family, I am scared to not be able to be the father my future kids need me to be. However, there's more to my choice then that. My motivation may have started out of fear, but my continuation on this journey arises out of something that far exceeds the power of fear.
Fear definitely motivates us. It can motivate us into making healthy and positive choices, or it can send us into a spiral of hate, treachery and even murder. Fear arises out of that which we cannot understand, or discern through our senses, through our minds, and even through our spirits. A little fear goes a long way as a catalyst for change. However, fear is usually a starting point especially when we are talking about lifestyle changes. Fear doesn't bring lasting change in many people, because we try not to live in fear, and truthfully I don't think we are supposed to. Fear fades over time, fear is something we tend to confront, overcome, subdue, and move on from. Fear that motivates is no different.
When I was 21 I moved to Edmonton, about 6 months later I went to the Doctor because I was having a lot of pain in my feet, I was also having frequent nosebleeds (2-3 times a day for at least 1-2 hours). Talk about fear. I was worried enough to go see a Doctor without any medical coverage (this I know is weird when you are from Canada, but it is possible to be without medical coverage and drug coverage in the country). He was kind enough to see me and promptly took my blood pressure. It was 180/165, he couldn't believe it so he took another reading and the other arm was almost 190/175. Stroke zone for blood pressure readings are 190-200 so I was close, really close. He almost hospitalized me. He scared me that day, enough to go home and recruit some help from my roommate Grant who was a body builder/personal trainer.
Fear is a "minimal motivator", at some point in time the fear fades away in the into the great abyss and resides with the rest of the diseases that could possibly kill you, the fact that you have the power over this one isn't considered. The foot pain was gout, a very painful arthritis caused by a rich, high fat diet and is controlled by medication. The nosebleeds were caused by dry, musty air in our apartment and they lasted long because I didn't know how to stop them. The blood pressure was adjusted a little by diet, but a few years later when I was able to afford it I was placed on medication. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) is thought to be caused by obesity, a high sodium diet, stress, lack of sleep, and genetic preconditioning, all of which I have. By being able to control these issues with proper medications and science, the fear was removed. This enabled me to move on in my life and back into habits that I had formed and given up for a brief time because fear motivated me to do so.
So what keeps us motivated? What will keep you moving towards your goal? I would love to hear from you! This will be a two-part blog, I will write more this week.
It's been a busy week, hence the blog at midnight on Sunday. I had a great week at the gym, and a pretty good week eating. I did my best with the weekend which was full of BBQ's, Church Events and a Wedding Reception! I weighed in on Friday and I was down almost 1lb from last week which brings me to 384.8 so I am about .2 lbs away from 41lbs lost! Every little bit helps...
Talk to you later in the week...
Blake
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Worth the "Weight"
Amy and I were talking about how we are at that strange place where our clothes don't fit right anymore. Most days I look like a prep and a rapper had a very large baby. Some of my shirts look like they could fit two of me (ok maybe that's an exaggeration...) and my jeans are falling off hence the new prep rapper look. Good thing it's summer, shorts and flip flops are meant to be baggy, although yesterday even though I cinched up the belt tighter I am pretty sure that a few people were wondering why the moon was out on a such a bright sunny day. I think I may have heard a few gasps from a couple of people, I took this to mean that my time on the stair master has been paying off!
Amy has been loving it as well, she told me yesterday that she has lost 15 lbs! She's happy because it gives her a reason to go shopping. I am happy because I get to go shopping with her.
SIDENOTE: I will NEVER understand why guys don't like to go shopping with their wives/girlfriends... I actually enjoy it most days... how can you not enjoy going with a beautiful woman who gives you a fashion show at every other store? Call me voyeuristic, but it's always worth my time!
I won't get new clothes for a while, that will be a reward for 100lbs. I will just get all my other stuff fixed, so if you know a good cheap seamstress/tailor let me know!
Last week was a challenge to not get frustrated with myself as I did not lose, but rather stayed the same. I hit the gym pretty hard and reduced the amount of grains I was eating ( I try not to go over 2-3 servings per day) as that is a good way to kick start your body again, and I changed the intensity level of my work-outs with some heavier weights and more cardio. I had GREAT results as I am down another 6 lbs to 385.6! which brings my total weight loss to 40.4 lbs!!!! I am feeling good about that!
I usually have been blogging on Friday or Sat. but I thought I would weigh-in today and blog as Amy and I are going away for Friday/Sat. It will be an interesting time trying to figure out what to eat, and how to remain active, but I know that it will be a great time!
Have an awesome weekend!
Blake
Amy has been loving it as well, she told me yesterday that she has lost 15 lbs! She's happy because it gives her a reason to go shopping. I am happy because I get to go shopping with her.
SIDENOTE: I will NEVER understand why guys don't like to go shopping with their wives/girlfriends... I actually enjoy it most days... how can you not enjoy going with a beautiful woman who gives you a fashion show at every other store? Call me voyeuristic, but it's always worth my time!
I won't get new clothes for a while, that will be a reward for 100lbs. I will just get all my other stuff fixed, so if you know a good cheap seamstress/tailor let me know!
Last week was a challenge to not get frustrated with myself as I did not lose, but rather stayed the same. I hit the gym pretty hard and reduced the amount of grains I was eating ( I try not to go over 2-3 servings per day) as that is a good way to kick start your body again, and I changed the intensity level of my work-outs with some heavier weights and more cardio. I had GREAT results as I am down another 6 lbs to 385.6! which brings my total weight loss to 40.4 lbs!!!! I am feeling good about that!
I usually have been blogging on Friday or Sat. but I thought I would weigh-in today and blog as Amy and I are going away for Friday/Sat. It will be an interesting time trying to figure out what to eat, and how to remain active, but I know that it will be a great time!
Have an awesome weekend!
Blake
Friday, May 14, 2010
Kiss My ... Adversity?
I am not sure how to feel. I probably should feel frustrated. I should feel unhappy, however I am not even though the weigh scale went up this week instead of down. I was up today 1.6 lbs. I mean it's not a lot of weight, that's the equivalent of one good visit to the bathroom (sorry for the possible mental image). There is any number of reasons for the fact that I gained, I may not have drank enough water, ate too much sodium, etc.. etc... I know that I didn't cheat, and I know that I worked out hard even though I had to take Wed. off to work at the studio and on my sermon for Sunday. So while I am not overly happy, but I am far from throwing the towel in and burying my head in a bag of chips and a cake.
I think adversity is good for us. If we don't have it then we can't say we really overcame anything. Adversity ensures that we don't get lazy, it should inspire us to kick things up a notch. If anything this reminds to be even more diligent in my eating, and my work-outs.
Speaking of intensity, it's really fun to watch people at the gym work-out. There are the soccer moms who are really working it, guys who are pushing themselves so they can show the soccer moms how to work it and lot's in-between. My favorite people are the ones who are so obvious about their dislike for the gym. They do a set, then hang out on the machine for 10 minutes, do another set and then seem to call it a day. I hope I don't look like them. I feel sorry for them, and count myself blessed because I actually enjoy the gym (at least I do now) and have always been into sports. I realize its a hard place for some because they would rather be getting a tooth pulled at the dentist's without freezing than being at a gym. I hope someone told them that 90% of losing weight is diet and that if they walked around the house and were stricter on their diet they wouldn't have to be at a place they hate; trying to pretend they know what they are doing and that they like it.
Adversity kicks my intensity levels up usually. I like a challenge, and this upcoming week I am sure will be another success. That's the way you have to look at it. If life is all about numbers, be it the amount in your bank account, the number on the weigh scale, or even the numbers of friends you have on facebook, then we have really missed the point of why we are doing something in the first place. In fact I think we can miss out on a lot of good things that are happening in our lives by giving a number the power to determine my emotional capability of any given day.
Numbers are simply metrics to measure how we are doing in accomplishing our goals. Here's what I know I am doing well:
1). I am not cheating myself by eating foods that are unhealthy (fried, sugary, empty carbs, loaded with bad fats)
2). I am not bingeing because I am eating at regular intervals in my day. I may need to watch my portion control more closely as I have lost almost 35 lbs to date which means I may need to decrease my caloric intake.
3). I am not snacking late into the night.
4). I am Drinking water regularly.
One area that I have seen a drastic improvement is sleep. I used to never sleep more than 5-6 hours a night. Now I regularly get 7-8 hours of sleep, and I notice that if I don't my work-out the next morning is that much harder as I am not able to focus and push myself.
I hope that you are doing well in your goals, if you are facing an uphill battle, keep going it just makes winning that much better. I say bring on the adversity, so I can kick its ass one more time.
Blake
I think adversity is good for us. If we don't have it then we can't say we really overcame anything. Adversity ensures that we don't get lazy, it should inspire us to kick things up a notch. If anything this reminds to be even more diligent in my eating, and my work-outs.
Speaking of intensity, it's really fun to watch people at the gym work-out. There are the soccer moms who are really working it, guys who are pushing themselves so they can show the soccer moms how to work it and lot's in-between. My favorite people are the ones who are so obvious about their dislike for the gym. They do a set, then hang out on the machine for 10 minutes, do another set and then seem to call it a day. I hope I don't look like them. I feel sorry for them, and count myself blessed because I actually enjoy the gym (at least I do now) and have always been into sports. I realize its a hard place for some because they would rather be getting a tooth pulled at the dentist's without freezing than being at a gym. I hope someone told them that 90% of losing weight is diet and that if they walked around the house and were stricter on their diet they wouldn't have to be at a place they hate; trying to pretend they know what they are doing and that they like it.
Adversity kicks my intensity levels up usually. I like a challenge, and this upcoming week I am sure will be another success. That's the way you have to look at it. If life is all about numbers, be it the amount in your bank account, the number on the weigh scale, or even the numbers of friends you have on facebook, then we have really missed the point of why we are doing something in the first place. In fact I think we can miss out on a lot of good things that are happening in our lives by giving a number the power to determine my emotional capability of any given day.
Numbers are simply metrics to measure how we are doing in accomplishing our goals. Here's what I know I am doing well:
1). I am not cheating myself by eating foods that are unhealthy (fried, sugary, empty carbs, loaded with bad fats)
2). I am not bingeing because I am eating at regular intervals in my day. I may need to watch my portion control more closely as I have lost almost 35 lbs to date which means I may need to decrease my caloric intake.
3). I am not snacking late into the night.
4). I am Drinking water regularly.
One area that I have seen a drastic improvement is sleep. I used to never sleep more than 5-6 hours a night. Now I regularly get 7-8 hours of sleep, and I notice that if I don't my work-out the next morning is that much harder as I am not able to focus and push myself.
I hope that you are doing well in your goals, if you are facing an uphill battle, keep going it just makes winning that much better. I say bring on the adversity, so I can kick its ass one more time.
Blake
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Gyms-can't live with 'em I get fatter without 'em
Gyms can be interesting places. Full of machines that would have been proudly used by any oppressive regime to torture it's citizens. The people who go to the gym for their daily dose are an interesting lot as well, you have the skinny soccer moms in one corner trying to hide their cellulite with 'LuLu Lemon Pants' and others who are there looking at the soccer mom's cellulite (this is NOT me). Others are serious body builders with penis envy and breast issues and the rest of us are there because we need to be not necessarily because we want to be. All in all gyms are possibly the wierdest places on earth. Where else could you get as many parts of humanity in one building all running in one direction, away from being 'Fat'.
I was thinking the other day what my grandpa would say if I was able to take him to a gym. I think he would be confused. He would wonder why I am running or climbing stairs on a machine when I could have easily just ran around outside, or climbed a couple of flights of stairs. He might wonder why I don't go back to the farm and sling some bales of hay or carry some water in 5 gallon pails rather than curl these bars with weight attached; which my dad actually told me to do once when I was younger and needed to lose weight and I wanted my own weight bench. My Grandpa probably would think I am crazy that I pay money to do all these things that he did when he was growing up. I think it's funny that we now live in a society so bent on developing technology to make life easier, we have to invent other machines to make our lives harder so that we don't all end up laying on a couch dying from 'Laysitis'(for you lay persons out there thats 'fatspeak' for eating yourself to death with Lay's potato chips).
This week I discovered a new machine that I am sure Hitler would have used in 'Aushwitz' called the "Stairmaster". Now I am not sure what kind of person you are but there are two kinds in this world. Stairs people, and any-other-friggin-way else kind of people. I am NOT a stairs person. This thing hurts me like someone was grabbing my thighs and ripping the flesh from the bone. I do ten minutes and it takes me a day to take a crap because I am so tight. Honestly why do I do this to myself? Now whenever I have a craving I just think of the word 'Stairmaster' and it solves the issue.
I think it's funny who goes to the gym, here are a couple of people that go to my gym.
'Guy'
For those of us who grew up playing school sports we all know 'Guy' really well. He's the guy who used to be the all-star athlete who is now a coach of a football team and thinks he's still buff, but he's really about 50 lbs fatter than he thinks he is and walks around high-fiving everyone. He's the guy telling the boys "Give me one more rep!", when the last time he did a real rep was the last kegger when he had to carry the keg to the patio.
'No-Sweat-Sally'
When I got to the gym I want to sweat, I envision that my sweat is actually the fat dripping off of my bones as I become a thinner, more healthier version of me. It's good for my soul. Until some chick who hates sweating, dressed in a push-up bra and a pair of shorts so small they wouldn't go around my ankle turns on a high-octane fan that makes my lips kiss my ears and my tongue pick my nose. All because she is a little too hot.
and my personal fav.
'Cookie Monster'
Cookie monster was a young guy that I saw nearly killing himself with bars of weights that were bigger than he was. After my workout as I was walking out, I noticed him later with the largest cookie I had ever seen. I actually laughed out loud, which probably wasn't nice since I was walking pretty close to him, but honestly why bother?
Yep, gyms, funny places, funny people... but I couldn't win without either.
I did really well and I am pretty pumped about this week. I officially came in yesterday at 390lbs! Which means that I hit my 'Hopeful' goal for this week and that I am down a total of 35lbs! Amy also took my measurements as we endeavor to track my journey with stats and pictures (which I will post when I do my before and afters) and I had lost a total of 18.5 inches. If you are traveling this journey as well you need to measure yourself. Seeing the inches come off just reconfirms that what you are doing is working ESPECIALLY if you are plateaued at a certain weight. It will give you that extra push.
Thanks for reading, here's to another great week... feel free to leave comments so I know who's reading and if you like what you are seeing!
Take Care
Blake
I was thinking the other day what my grandpa would say if I was able to take him to a gym. I think he would be confused. He would wonder why I am running or climbing stairs on a machine when I could have easily just ran around outside, or climbed a couple of flights of stairs. He might wonder why I don't go back to the farm and sling some bales of hay or carry some water in 5 gallon pails rather than curl these bars with weight attached; which my dad actually told me to do once when I was younger and needed to lose weight and I wanted my own weight bench. My Grandpa probably would think I am crazy that I pay money to do all these things that he did when he was growing up. I think it's funny that we now live in a society so bent on developing technology to make life easier, we have to invent other machines to make our lives harder so that we don't all end up laying on a couch dying from 'Laysitis'(for you lay persons out there thats 'fatspeak' for eating yourself to death with Lay's potato chips).
This week I discovered a new machine that I am sure Hitler would have used in 'Aushwitz' called the "Stairmaster". Now I am not sure what kind of person you are but there are two kinds in this world. Stairs people, and any-other-friggin-way else kind of people. I am NOT a stairs person. This thing hurts me like someone was grabbing my thighs and ripping the flesh from the bone. I do ten minutes and it takes me a day to take a crap because I am so tight. Honestly why do I do this to myself? Now whenever I have a craving I just think of the word 'Stairmaster' and it solves the issue.
I think it's funny who goes to the gym, here are a couple of people that go to my gym.
'Guy'
For those of us who grew up playing school sports we all know 'Guy' really well. He's the guy who used to be the all-star athlete who is now a coach of a football team and thinks he's still buff, but he's really about 50 lbs fatter than he thinks he is and walks around high-fiving everyone. He's the guy telling the boys "Give me one more rep!", when the last time he did a real rep was the last kegger when he had to carry the keg to the patio.
'No-Sweat-Sally'
When I got to the gym I want to sweat, I envision that my sweat is actually the fat dripping off of my bones as I become a thinner, more healthier version of me. It's good for my soul. Until some chick who hates sweating, dressed in a push-up bra and a pair of shorts so small they wouldn't go around my ankle turns on a high-octane fan that makes my lips kiss my ears and my tongue pick my nose. All because she is a little too hot.
and my personal fav.
'Cookie Monster'
Cookie monster was a young guy that I saw nearly killing himself with bars of weights that were bigger than he was. After my workout as I was walking out, I noticed him later with the largest cookie I had ever seen. I actually laughed out loud, which probably wasn't nice since I was walking pretty close to him, but honestly why bother?
Yep, gyms, funny places, funny people... but I couldn't win without either.
I did really well and I am pretty pumped about this week. I officially came in yesterday at 390lbs! Which means that I hit my 'Hopeful' goal for this week and that I am down a total of 35lbs! Amy also took my measurements as we endeavor to track my journey with stats and pictures (which I will post when I do my before and afters) and I had lost a total of 18.5 inches. If you are traveling this journey as well you need to measure yourself. Seeing the inches come off just reconfirms that what you are doing is working ESPECIALLY if you are plateaued at a certain weight. It will give you that extra push.
Thanks for reading, here's to another great week... feel free to leave comments so I know who's reading and if you like what you are seeing!
Take Care
Blake
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Old habits die hard, but they can still die.
The greatest rap group ever, DC Talk, said it best back in the day 'Time is tickin' tick-tick-tickn' away!!!' That was very evident this week as it seemed like I was late for every meeting, every gym work-out, and obviously my weekly blog. It's been an interesting week. A couple of triumphs, a few minor slips, but the new lifestyle change seems to be sticking.
On Wednesday I had the very special privilege of participating in an all day staff 'retreat' at Providence Renewal Center with the staff of the church I work with. It was a great day even though I was stuck in an 8 hour meeting with no hope of escape. I have been to Providence numerous times for various retreats and I am usually excited to go there, except when I go alone- I will blog about that another time perhaps in the soon to come 'Anger' Blog where I overcome my addiction to yelling and expressing myself to people who are stupid. Wednesday was no exception. I was excited about the thought of what else? 'FOOD'. I remembered what eating there was like and that made me happy, so when lunch time came you can believe I was the guy in the room saying 'Hey, I need to eat now!'
As I skipped and whistled my way down to the buffet line I had to remind myself 'Blake, make healthy choices' By the way does anyone else's voice in their head sound like someone you live with? So with my plate at the ready I moved into line. They were serving salad, beef stir-fry, chicken balls in sweet and sour sauce, and rice. I helped myself to some salad, I skipped the rice and as I looked for the stir-fry I knew something was wrong. The tray was empty. I could feel my annoyance rising and I tried my best to quell it, I looked at the chicken balls hoping to find some protein but whatever health had been in that chicken was fried away and covered in a sauce so sugary it could have ended up on ice cream. So I waited, surely they will have some wonderful, delicious stir-fry for me. I was wrong. The cook came out about 5 minutes later with more chicken balls, which they really should call fried-doughnut-with-jelly-sauce balls. When I asked him about bringing more stir-fry he took a couple of steps back, ducked his head and said in an Asian accent 'uh...no moah' apparently delivering bad news about food to a 400 pound person is not something he is likes to do so he ran away hoping that I wasn't coming after him. I was not impressed, and since I couldn't eat the fried things masquerading as chicken I had to go elsewhere. I finally tracked down an 'Extreme Pita' and bought an overpriced salad that was mildly healthy and went back to the rest of my marathon staff 'retreat'.
This week also happened to be my friend's stag. Which was a lot of fun, but the words "healthy eating" don't necessarily apply. I brought the meat for myself and the groom as well as a salad and a bag of 'healthier' choice tortilla chips so I wouldn't feel the need to chow down on what others brought. All in all I was really proud of myself. There was a lot of food and beer. I normally would have ate at least a bag of chips by myself, but I was able to keep my nibbles at other chips an actual nibble and I chose to eat more of my 'healthier' choice chips. I only had 1/2 glass of beer, which for anyone who knows how much I like beer that is a miracle in itself. There was an entire candy bar with M & M's, Glossette Raisins, and Ju-Jubes, which I was also able to keep my distance from. My indulgences were an extra couple of hamburgers sans the bread, and I had a little bit of ice cream/frozen yogurt which is why I had the extra hamburger so the protein would counteract the sugar and not spike my blood sugar. Normally the night would have looked much different, and may have included a trip to a doctor's office to get my stomach pumped from all the crap I could eat there.
I weighed in on Monday, and found that I was 395! I was so stoked because that meant I had hit my 'Hope' (as in I hope I lose another 4 lbs this week) goal for the week, and it also meant that I had officially lost 31 lbs in less than a month. However, my excitement was short lived because I didn't believe the scale and so when I stepped on it on Wednesday for my TRUE weekly weigh-in I found I was at 396.4lbs (I am not counting decimals though, that's too much math). 396 isn't a bad number because that meant I was still at 30lbs lost. My stupidity apparently knows no bounds as I leapt onto the scale once more for a total of 3 times in a week and discovered that I had ballooned up to 397.8 (but let's get rid of that decimal point...) So here is how I will read it. Technically since I weigh in on Wednesdays, then last week I lost a total of 3lbs (396), but because I weighed in on Thursday I now realize that to get to my next goal of 390 I must lose 7lbs. I am pretty confident I can do this, maybe not get all the way down to 390 this week that would be a bit hopeful, but I would like to lose at least another 3lbs which is what I am trying to average every week.
Should be another good week. I have a show on Tuesday at Brixx Bar and Grill (10030-102st Edmonton, AB) and it will be hard to stay away from a massive plate of nacho's or chicken wings or some other unhealthy choice, but I am determined to not allow a moment of weakness destroy a weeks worth of determined effort.
Love you all, thanks for the support!
Blake
On Wednesday I had the very special privilege of participating in an all day staff 'retreat' at Providence Renewal Center with the staff of the church I work with. It was a great day even though I was stuck in an 8 hour meeting with no hope of escape. I have been to Providence numerous times for various retreats and I am usually excited to go there, except when I go alone- I will blog about that another time perhaps in the soon to come 'Anger' Blog where I overcome my addiction to yelling and expressing myself to people who are stupid. Wednesday was no exception. I was excited about the thought of what else? 'FOOD'. I remembered what eating there was like and that made me happy, so when lunch time came you can believe I was the guy in the room saying 'Hey, I need to eat now!'
As I skipped and whistled my way down to the buffet line I had to remind myself 'Blake, make healthy choices' By the way does anyone else's voice in their head sound like someone you live with? So with my plate at the ready I moved into line. They were serving salad, beef stir-fry, chicken balls in sweet and sour sauce, and rice. I helped myself to some salad, I skipped the rice and as I looked for the stir-fry I knew something was wrong. The tray was empty. I could feel my annoyance rising and I tried my best to quell it, I looked at the chicken balls hoping to find some protein but whatever health had been in that chicken was fried away and covered in a sauce so sugary it could have ended up on ice cream. So I waited, surely they will have some wonderful, delicious stir-fry for me. I was wrong. The cook came out about 5 minutes later with more chicken balls, which they really should call fried-doughnut-with-jelly-sauce balls. When I asked him about bringing more stir-fry he took a couple of steps back, ducked his head and said in an Asian accent 'uh...no moah' apparently delivering bad news about food to a 400 pound person is not something he is likes to do so he ran away hoping that I wasn't coming after him. I was not impressed, and since I couldn't eat the fried things masquerading as chicken I had to go elsewhere. I finally tracked down an 'Extreme Pita' and bought an overpriced salad that was mildly healthy and went back to the rest of my marathon staff 'retreat'.
This week also happened to be my friend's stag. Which was a lot of fun, but the words "healthy eating" don't necessarily apply. I brought the meat for myself and the groom as well as a salad and a bag of 'healthier' choice tortilla chips so I wouldn't feel the need to chow down on what others brought. All in all I was really proud of myself. There was a lot of food and beer. I normally would have ate at least a bag of chips by myself, but I was able to keep my nibbles at other chips an actual nibble and I chose to eat more of my 'healthier' choice chips. I only had 1/2 glass of beer, which for anyone who knows how much I like beer that is a miracle in itself. There was an entire candy bar with M & M's, Glossette Raisins, and Ju-Jubes, which I was also able to keep my distance from. My indulgences were an extra couple of hamburgers sans the bread, and I had a little bit of ice cream/frozen yogurt which is why I had the extra hamburger so the protein would counteract the sugar and not spike my blood sugar. Normally the night would have looked much different, and may have included a trip to a doctor's office to get my stomach pumped from all the crap I could eat there.
I weighed in on Monday, and found that I was 395! I was so stoked because that meant I had hit my 'Hope' (as in I hope I lose another 4 lbs this week) goal for the week, and it also meant that I had officially lost 31 lbs in less than a month. However, my excitement was short lived because I didn't believe the scale and so when I stepped on it on Wednesday for my TRUE weekly weigh-in I found I was at 396.4lbs (I am not counting decimals though, that's too much math). 396 isn't a bad number because that meant I was still at 30lbs lost. My stupidity apparently knows no bounds as I leapt onto the scale once more for a total of 3 times in a week and discovered that I had ballooned up to 397.8 (but let's get rid of that decimal point...) So here is how I will read it. Technically since I weigh in on Wednesdays, then last week I lost a total of 3lbs (396), but because I weighed in on Thursday I now realize that to get to my next goal of 390 I must lose 7lbs. I am pretty confident I can do this, maybe not get all the way down to 390 this week that would be a bit hopeful, but I would like to lose at least another 3lbs which is what I am trying to average every week.
Should be another good week. I have a show on Tuesday at Brixx Bar and Grill (10030-102st Edmonton, AB) and it will be hard to stay away from a massive plate of nacho's or chicken wings or some other unhealthy choice, but I am determined to not allow a moment of weakness destroy a weeks worth of determined effort.
Love you all, thanks for the support!
Blake
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