Milestone

I did my "official" Saturday morning weigh in today, and I've hit what I consider to be a major milestone in my journey to health.

100 lbs!

Actually, 101.6 lbs to be exact.  I knew I was getting close to that mark, but I really thought it would take another week to make it.  Some of you may remember when I posted a "before and after" picture when I had lost 50 lbs.  I added a picture from today.  Sorry the lighting is so different, but I think you can get the idea!

Somebody asked me why I was so surprised all the time (in the picture).  The reality is that the first picture was a candid shot where I was acting goofy.  In the other two I was just trying to duplicate the expression so that you would have a better comparison.

A couple of other exciting things I'd like to share.  I used to wear XXXXL shirts.  That's 4 X's, in case your eyes crossed trying to count them.  Friday, I wore a XL shirt to work...and it even fit.  Also, the pants that I wore on Friday are 14" smaller than the ones I wore in June.  Wahoo!!  Thanks for everyone's continued support and encouragement.

100 lbs!!  Two-thirds of the way there!!!

Set Yourself Up for Success

So...snacks.

I like snacks.

Tonight, I really wanted a snack.  I looked in the pantry for something crunchy and taste-filled.  We had a few bags of chips, some crackers, cheese.  I considered eating a few of these delicacies, but while I was trying to make my decision, I spotted something else.

Crystal Light!  A-ha!  No calories...and tasty! I looked in the fridge and found another treasure:  some kind of fresh, sweet bell pepper. With an almost zero-calorie snack combo, I was set!

So what was the secret of my successful snackage?  Preparation.

Having decent snacks/drinks in the house makes it SO much easier to make a good decision.  If I hadn't had the Crystal Light and/or the peppers, I probably would have had something not-quite-so-good for me.  In fact, I guarantee it.

Do you keep healthy snacks in your kitchen?  How about at the office?  I recommend it.  I know this isn't rocket science, but give yourself good options.  Set yourself up for success.

I Call It the E.L.E.M. Method

Now that I've lost a fairly significant amount of weight (63.8 lbs as of my last Saturday morning weigh-in  wahoo!), people are asking me frequently, "What are you doing?"

When I tell them Eating Less and Exercising More (i.e., the E.L.E.M Method), about half of the people say, "Oh," and look a little disappointed.  I really think that should be encouraging instead of disappointing.  It means that they could do it, too!

No pills or supplements to buy.  No gym or program to join.

I'm actually saving money because I'm eating less!

Try out the E.L.E.M. Method...it works!

It's Been a Bit

It's been almost two weeks since I last posted something, so I thought I'd drop a quick note.  Tonight I had a couple of personal firsts.

First, I ran entire lap.  An entire lap!  If you don't know about the "track", then this doesn't mean much to you.  The "track" is a little over 2,000 feet...a little shy of a half mile.  For you runners out there, that may not seem like much, but to me, it was a milestone!  When I first started, I could only run about 100 yards before I was exhausted.

Second, I shaved a minute per mile off of my average time.  I only went 1.8 miles instead of 3.1, but that was due to it getting dark, not giving out.

As I continue to trim down and increase my stamina, I'm looking forward to seeing those numbers get better and better.  I don't expect to be able to run the entire 5k for the Gobble Jog, but I want to run as much of it as I can.

See you on the pavement!

1/3 of the Way

In case you haven't heard, I've passed the 50 lb mark on my journey to health.  That's a third of the way to my mark.  I'm 10 weeks into the process.  I'm committed to my plan - both the exercise and the eating - but like all lifestyle changes, some days are easier than others.

It's strange.  I don't really miss any particular food or drink.  I don't really miss Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.  I don't even miss eating lots of double-meat cheese burgers.  But, sometimes I just want to eat.  A lot.

I had one of those moments yesterday evening.  I had dinner, but an hour later I wanted to eat again.  Rule #1 of my three rules saved me.

#1)  Am I really hungry?

As I was digging through the refrigerator and the pantry trying to find something to eat, I asked myself the question.  "Am I really hungry?"

The answer was, "No."

I walked away.  Victory!

Later that evening, when I really was hungry, I had a little light popcorn.  Fantastic.

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Next time you're staring into the yawning abyss of the frig (or the pantry), ask yourself the question.  See what happens.

Places I've Vanquished

Below is a list of all the places I have vanquished in the past month and a half.

Stevi B's Pizza
McDonald's
La Parilla
Marietta Diner
Burger King
Firehouse Subs
Subway
Pizza Hut
Willy's
Starbucks
All Star Pizza

So what does that mean, "vanquished"?  It means that I not only ate there, but I controlled my portions, made good choices, and in most cases took some food home with me.  In the past, if Cheryl and I ate out and we brought something hope with us, it was because it was poultry, and I couldn't eat it.  (In case you didn't know, I'm allergic to poultry...that's why they call it fowl.)

Not so anymore!  Every time I walk out of a restaurant know that I've eaten right, I know I've taken another step in the right direction.  All this different eating has changed my taste buds.

For the last few days, I've been craving...salad.  Salad!  Can you believe it?  I've also started to really have a taste for peppers.  Bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, green...any color), banana peppers, pepperoncinis, jalapenos, you name it!

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Have you had any small victories lately, like going to a restaurant and not over doing it?  Walking instead of sitting?  Water instead of Pepsi?

It's Poison!!!!!!!

Today one of my coworkers brought a beautiful cake to work to share with everyone.  It was some kind of three layer white cake with extra fancy icing and shaved white chocolate on top.  It was gorgeous.  Everyone said it tasted great.  I ate a little sliver of white chocolate.


Later in the day, one of my other coworkers (who also has been very encouraging to me in my weight loss, by the way) was getting a piece of cake and asked me how my "willpower was doing" with that cake sitting about twenty feet away from me.


I told her, "No problem.  I'm not really tempted at all.  It's got too much sugar.  That's like asking me if I'm tempted to drink poison,  Sugar is my enemy."


"Really?" she asked.


"It's dead to me," I replied.


I know that may sound a little drastic, and I was joking (mostly), but I really wasn't tempted.  It didn't pass my three rule test.  It has been very interesting to find my entire relationship with food has changed.

You're Not the Boss of Me!

(The title is not a quote of my son, though it could be.  He has said that in the past.)

One of my in-shape, thoughtful friends and her husband are coming over for dinner Saturday.  She was nice enough to make sure that bringing cookies for dessert wasn't going to throw a monkey wrench in my weight loss plans.

I told her to bring the cookies.  If I want one, I'll eat it.  If I don't, I won't.  No problem.

I've told a few people that I could eat the way I am eating right now for the rest of my life, and I truly believe that.  It's simple:  cutting back on sugar in general, no sugary drinks, stay away from white foods (white rice, white bread, white potatoes), and eat reasonable portions.  That's it.

It's NOT a diet.  I've dieted plenty of times.  I know a diet when I'm on one.  I'm not on a diet, but I am eating differently.  The big mental shift I've made is that when I'm on a diet, the DIET is the boss.  The DIET says, "Aaron, you can't eat that.  Aaron, you can't have that."

Now, I'm the boss.  No diet is my boss, and food is not my boss.  When I'm presented with a choice of what to eat, or how much, I just ask myself a couple of questions.

1)  Am I truly hungry?  (If the answer is "no", I don't even go to the other questions.)
2)  Is there something just as good and convenient that would be better for me?
3)  Does this move me closer to, or further from, my goal?

I know it sounds a little complicated.  But now that I've been doing it for a month, it takes a half second.  Here's an example.

Someone brought Dunkin' donuts to work for my office last week.  They sat on the table about 15 feet from my cubicle all day.  I'll be honest.  In the past, I would have eaten 2 or 3 when they arrived, and then ANOTHER 2 or 3 throughout the day.  Hey, why not?  Free donuts, right?

But now, I'm the boss.  Not the food...and not a diet.

I walked by the donuts at least a half dozen times that day.  The first time I walked by I opened the box and took a look.  I thought to myself, "Huh!  Look at that.  Donuts...lots of sugar.  Not worth it."...and walked on by.  The second time I walked by, I didn't even slow down.

It's not a situation of "I can't eat that", but simply "I don't want to eat that".

I recommend that if you are considering going on a "diet"...don't.  Make some positive changes in your eating habits, be healthy, but YOU be the boss, not a diet.  If you want to lose a few pounds (or a lot, like me), before you pop that pop-tart in your mouth ask yourself question #1.

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What ONE thing can you do to help yourself (in regards to eating) TOMORROW?  Drink an extra glass of water?  Eat breakfast?  Single meat burger instead of double meat?  Let me know if you do something and I will most definitely cheer you on!

Are You Just Fat?

So...that's the question.  Are you just fat?  That pretty much sums it up for me.

As far as I know, I don't have a thyroid problem.  I don't have any chronic illnesses of which I'm aware.  In fact, for someone as out of shape as I am, I'm actually pretty healthy.  I'm just fat.  I eat too much.  I don't exercise enough.  I have some aches and pains, my blood sugar is trending a little high, I'm not as limber as I shoot be...but basically I'm fat.

I'm working to change that.

This next part was pretty hard to write.  It took me a while to pound it out, and it still doesn't say everything like I would like.  It's something I've been thinking about since December.

Back in August of '08, my older sister was diagnosed with lung cancer.  It was advanced, and the prognosis wasn't good.  She kept her spirits up and fought it hard through two rounds of chemo.  But she lost the fight on December 20, 2009.

The entire time she was battling the cancer, she ate right, exercised, and did everything she could to be healthy.  Everything.  And still it wasn't enough.  Her health failed her.  Her spirit was stronger than her body.

"Aaron, are you just trying to depress us with this sad story?"

Absolutely not.  I just want you to know something I've been thinking about:

I have no excuse.  I have absolutely no excuse.  Here I am blessed with a perfectly healthy body (other than just being fat), and I haven't been taking care of it.  I need to quit taking my health for granted.  There are people everywhere - fighting disease, missing limbs, unable to get out of bed - that would love to be as healthy as me.

Anyway...that's what I've been thinking.  That's one of the things that has been motivating me.  I'm not doing it out of a sense of guilt.  I'm doing it for myself, and for my family.  I plan on living a long time in this healthy body.  Shedding the fat is part of that plan.

I Went to Burger King!

Right about now, you're saying, "What?!??  Burger King!  I thought you were on a die-it."

A-ha!  Wrong...it's not a die-it, it's a lifestyle, remember?  Sheesh?  That was just one post ago that I established that.

So NOW you're saying, "What kind of 'lifestyle change' is going to Burger King?"

I'll tell you.

Right after this sentence.

Here we go.

Normally when I go to a burger joint of any type, I get a double-meat burger.  I like the meat in a burger.  The bread is just something to keep my hands from getting greasy.  I've strayed from that formula slightly in recent months because of the advent of the Value Menu.  Value Menu!!

Burger King is good because they have all their food "stats" posted right by entrance.  I did some quick math.  My typical double-meat (full-sized) burger, large fries, and large drink tallied up a total of about 1770 calories.  Of course, that's with no refills.  Right.  Like that's going to happen.  Let's say I get two refills.  One in the store and another to take with me.  That brings the total to approximately 2640 calories.  Scary, huh?

Today, I had a Buck Double, value fries, and water.  This tallies up to 630 calories.  Oops!  Hold on.  I have four refills of my drink.  So now, the total is...630 calories.

To top it off, we walked to Target to get a battery for my scale (yikes!), then walked to BK, then walked home. Not quite a mile, but part of it is uphill!

Some may consider this a small victory.  I consider it a step in the right direction.

They Call It a "Lifestyle" Change

Not a diet...a "lifestyle" change. I've got to change the way I've eaten my entire life - my entire relationship with food. That's a tall order.

I just recently got my labs results back from my latest employee physical. Good news!! My lipids have improved! Bad news!! My blood HgA1C has not. My A1C is a little high, and I want to get it under control now.

So I am now at war with sugar. Sugar! Thou are mine enemy!

Sugar doesn't have a chance. I'm a pretty smart guy, and it's an inert substance. They odds are in my favor I believe.

"What steps have you taken?" you might ask...I'm glad you did.

1. I have retained, at a not insignificant cost, a mentor/accountability partner/health coach. Okay, truth be told, he's a friend of mine...I didn't really hire him. We are going to meet twice a month to help me keep on track.
2. No more sweet drinks, cutting back on the white foods (white bread, potatoes, etc...you know the drill), limiting my portions. Nothing drastic.
3. Working out. I'm hitting the dumbbells and getting active on the carport 3 days a week. That's the target for now.
4. Last of all...this blog. A place for me to record my frustrations, my successes, my insights, and more. Of course, I may be the only person that ever reads it. And that's just fine.