Sunday, March 10, 2013

Fail

I am late in publishing a blog post for March 10th.  I have failed at quite a few things lately.  I have gained back a pound as a result of those failures.  My current weight is 335 pounds.

What are my failures?  I really did not want to talk about them and was considering skipping this blog post with the hope that I would be able to get back on track for next time.  Ultimately, that is not being as honest as I want to be on this blog.  I have had quite a bit of soda since my last blog post.  I have seen a couple of movies in theaters and I always get a soda there.  There have been several other times that I had soda as well.  I am guessing 5 times in all since my last blog post.  It is not that I think soda is evil.  Soda had just been such an addiction for me in the past that I need to be careful not to start drinking it all the time.

My commitment is starting to look like a joke.  I committed to be at or below 330 pounds by the end of this month and I am going in the wrong direction.  I need to turn this thing around and soon.

My next weigh in will be on March 15th.  I am sorry for not doing better.  I have half a month to lose five pounds.  There will be blog updates on the 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, and another on April 1st.  I need to lose at least a pound at each of these next updates.  I will do this!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Maintain

Today is March 5th and that means it is time for another blog post update.  I seem to be maintaining my current weight as I neither gained nor lost any weight since my last blog post.  My current weight is 334 pounds.

I must say that I find this a little frustrating.  I got quite a bit of exercise these past five days playing some Xbox Kinect games.  Anything that gets me out of my chair and moving is a good thing in my opinion.

I did kind of mess up a bit with regard to my diet but that was early on in the five day cycle.  Basically we bought some ice cream and I went a little overboard.  The funny thing is I weighed in the next day and I had actually lost a pound.  After that, I did a very good job at not eating too much.  I was really hoping to be able to report a pound of weight loss for this update but that did not materialize.

Should I be a little nervous that I committed to be at or below 330 pounds by the end of this month?  Aside from the ice cream fiasco I felt like I did a solid job of getting in some exercise and following my diet.  If anything, I was probably not eating enough.  I will trust my routine for now but I may need to take things to another level if I do not see better results at the next weigh in.

My next weigh in will be on March 10th.  Should anything else come up between now and then I will be sure to update the blog.  Stay tuned to see if my commitments are worth anything.  Goodbye for now.

Friday, March 1, 2013

February 2013 Wrap Up

The month of February has come to a close and with it, the fifth chapter of my weight loss journey. I have lost three pounds since my last post on the 25th of February. My current weight is 334 pounds.

The past month was filled with distractions. I was in an automobile accident and that has taken up a lot of my time.  I have had to deal with the medical treatment of both myself and my daughter.  I have also been concerned about my car.  I get too attached to my vehicles.  The value of a vehicle does drop once it has been in a collision so I think those concerns are justified.

My lease was also ending and so I had a home inspection in February as well.  It was actually only days after the auto accident so the timing was pretty bad.  I did a lot of the work in pain but what else could I do?  I get very stressed about these inspections because the property management company will come in and take multiple pictures from different angles of all of the rooms.  I always feel like I will not get a renewal on the lease or the rent will be raised if the landlord is not satisfied.

Hopefully this does not sound like whining.  I realize that overall I have a very good life.  There is so much to be thankful for.  The auto accident could have been worse.  My lease was later renewed without raising rent.  I only mention those issues to say that I lost focus and it cost me.  This is my fault and I need to learn to stay more focused on my diet amidst the storms of life.

My challenge of not eating out during the month of February was not as successful as I would have liked.  I would not call it a complete failure though as I improved on not eating out as much as I was prior to this challenge.  I am optimistic that I can take the lessons learned from this experience and apply it to my life going forward.

So, here is the wrap up for February 2013:
  • Total weight loss to date: 16 pounds
  • Total weight loss this year: 9 pounds
  • Total weight loss February 2013: 2 pounds
  • Total weight still to lose: 135 pounds
My next regularly scheduled blog post will be on March 5th.  I want to get back to doing some exercise on my Xbox 360 with Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012.  I am going to need to start working in some activity to keep the weight coming off.  Hopefully life will settle down a bit and I will get some time to make that happen.  I am going to make a commitment (not a challenge, we all know how I do on those) to be at or below 330 pounds by the end of March.  Failure is not an option!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Lost Focus

I want to apologize for not posting an update on February 20th.  Issues relating to the auto accident and life in general have kept me very busy.  Busy to the point that I have lost focus.  My weight has suffered as a result.  I have gained 4 pounds since the last blog update.  My current weight is 337 pounds.

I suspected that I would gain back some weight as the last time I posted I had just been in the auto accident and was not eating or drinking much.  After that I really stopped paying attention to how much I was eating.  This was not intentional.  My mind was just preoccupied with resolving issues relating to my car and getting into the doctor.

Recently I have also struggled with not eating out in February.  This has also contributed to my weight gain.  I have not done as well as I would have liked.

The good news is that many of those problems that were demanding my attention are less stressful now.  I am confident that I can get back to losing weight.  I am excited to focus my attention on something that I can control.  I probably should have never lost focus, but life happens.

The next blog post will be coming your way on March 1st where I will report my weight and provide a wrap up for the month of February.  I am going to go out on a limb here and declare that I will be able to report weight loss on March 1st.  What should I do if that does not happen?  Should I impose consequences for failure?  Let me know in the comments section below.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Obstacles

This past week has been filled with the obstacles of life.  I was in an auto accident that wrecked my car.  My back has been aching and my neck pops now.  I really need to get into the chiropractor.  I have also been working to get my house ready for an inspection.  I rent my house and every year the property management company comes in and takes a bunch of pictures of the place and then they let me know what I should to be doing better.  I always have it in my mind that if they don't like what they see then they may not renew the lease.  I love my house and I hate moving!  The inspection is pretty stressful on its own but couple that with the stress of having my car possibly totaled and my back pain and I feel pushed to the limit.  If there is an upside, it is that because of all the stress I have not been eating as much.  For the February 15th weigh in I have lost another pound.  My weight is now 333 pounds.  At least that is some good news.

I went to see the movie Les Miserables this week and I did have a large soda while at the theater.  I thought the movie was very good.  I am so glad that I can have a soda occasionally and the desire to drink it daily is really not there anymore.

I feel like my meal selection has been better as well.  I went out to eat with a friend and ordered a salad.  That is not the norm for me and on top of that I actually thought it was delicious.  It always helps to have great company though.

On the downside, my goal of not eating out in February has not been as successful as I would have liked.  And yet, it has been a success in the sense that I am confident that eating out less has aided my goal of losing weight.  Eating out has reduced drastically, just not as much as I had originally hoped.

My next weigh in will be on February 20th.  If  anything else comes up between now and then I will be sure to share it.  Until next time, take care everyone.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Challenge

Welcome to the February 10th blog post.  Today I am down another pound.  My weight is currently 334 pounds.  I am excited as this is the lowest my weight has been since I started this journey.

Having said that, I have failed a couple of times with my challenge to not eat out during the month of February.  There were a few times where I had fast food as there was simply no time for much of anything else.  I had not planned well and when my lunch time came around I found myself squeezed for time due to errands and other things.  Perhaps it is the lesser of two evils.  What I mean is I often hear that you should eat in order to keep your metabolism going.  If you skip a meal, your metabolism slows down.  My choices were skip a meal or grab something quick and light.  I did the latter.  I don't know that I regret it much from a weight loss point of view.  Perhaps I am only trying to rationalize my actions.

Things are going well.  I am enjoying life and looking forward to what the future holds.  My next weigh in will be on February 15th.  If you are on a similar journey do not let setbacks keep you down.  Keep pushing until you realize your goals.  We can accomplish more than we realize.  Lets do this!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Surprise

Today is February 5th and it is time for another weigh in.  I have lost another pound.  My current weight is 335 pounds.  This was a bit of a surprise for a couple of reasons.

I had mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to start to relax a bit on my diet just for one day a week.  I felt that if I could give myself one day to enjoy whatever I wanted to eat that perhaps it would allow me to be even more focused during the rest of the week.  I chose Sunday to be that one day.  This past Sunday I decided that I would have pizza.  I thought it would be acceptable to eat a bit more than usual.  Only, I did not stop at a bit more than usual.  This was over the course of the whole day.  I ate pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Feel free to chastise me in the comments section.

Yesterday I messed up on my challenge to not eat out during the month of February.  I cannot believe that I did this!  I had my mind on what I was doing at work and taking a short lunch in order to get my hours in by the end of the day.  Before I even thought about it I was already a couple of bites into a burger.  I will recommit myself to this challenge.  Giving up is for wimps.

I am pleased with losing a pound.  I would love to lose another pound by my next blog post on February 10th.  I have not been able to break the 335 pound barrier since I started this journey.  That is the goal for my next weigh in.  Check back soon!

Friday, February 1, 2013

January 2013 Wrap Up

The month of January has come to a close and with it, the fourth chapter of my weight loss journey.  I did gain one pound since my last post on the 30th.  My current weight is 336 pounds.

The past month was filled with frustration for me.  I had felt like I was not losing weight fast enough.  When I reflect back I realized that at the end of December I actually weighed 343 pounds.  That means I lost seven pounds during the month of January.  I have read that one pound per week is healthy weight loss.  I lost more than a pound per week during this past month.  This is one of the reasons that blogging about my weight is so beneficial for me.  It helps me to keep perspective and stay focused.

A friend of mine shared with me that he has challenged himself to not eat out during the month of February.  I have decided to join him in this challenge.  I do eat out a lot less than I used to but it is still more than I should.  Does anyone else want to join us in not eating out during the month of February?  Leave a comment below if you are up to the challenge.  I am going to reserve one meal out for myself on or around my birthday.  I am sorry but I cannot pass up my free burger from Red Robin.

So, here is the wrap up for January 2013:
  • Total weight loss to date: 14 pounds
  • Total weight loss this year: 7 pounds
  • Total weight loss January 2013: 7 pounds
  • Total weight still to lose: 137 pounds
My next regularly scheduled blog post will be on February 5th.  I am excited to see how not eating out impacts my weight loss.  To quote one of my girls when they were just little, "let us just wait and check and see."  Take care friends!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Plateaued

The past five days went by too fast!  Today is January 30th and the title of this blog post says it all.  I have plateaued and did not lose any weight.  My current weight is still 335 pounds which represents an overall loss since starting this blog of 15 pounds.

I do not have too much to report this time as I cannot believe that five days have gone by already.  I did finish the rest of my youngest daughter's Baja Blast from Taco Bell.  I don't know if their mix was off or what because it tasted kind of bad.  There was no more than ten ounces of soda left when I finished it off.

I am trying to make Sundays a bit more relaxed with regard to my diet.  I am confident that I can maintain weight loss while doing this but if not then I will stop.  I would rather try this than get burned out from being too strict.

The next blog post will be published on February 1st.  I hope to finish January strong by losing another pound.  I only have two days.  Stay tuned!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Much Better

Welcome to the January 25th blog post!  For today's weigh in I am very happy to report that I have lost another two pounds.  That means I made my goal!  I now weigh 335 pounds.

One of the reasons for my success these past five days has been not eating after eight o'clock at night.  The temptation was there but I really wanted to achieve this goal since I fell slightly short on my prior goal.  When you set your mind to a task it is amazing what you can achieve.

I did consume about ten ounces of soda one night when my children did not finish off their drinks.  The reason I bring this up is not because I feel like it had any impact on my weight but rather because I want to be one hundred percent honest when I do drink soda.  I made a lifestyle choice to break that addiction and I have succeeded.  This success motivates me.  If I can break that addiction then I can lose all of this weight as well.

My next weigh in will take place on January 30th.  This time my goal is simply to continue losing weight.  It would be awesome to lose another two pounds but as long as I lose one I will be happy.  I leave you with this quote from Homer Simpson regarding weight loss.

"...I will always be hungry again!"

Sunday, January 20, 2013

So Close

The time has come for another weigh in.  Today is January 20th and I am afraid that I missed my goal of weighing in at or below 336 pounds.  I did manage to lose another pound though.  My current weight is 337 pounds.

Since starting this journey I have lost 13 pounds.  I have been working on this for three months now.  I am having to battle with discouragement frequently.  My mind tells me that I should be a lot further along by now.  Others lose that kind of weight in under a month and yet it has taken me three months.  I feel like I have worked very hard to get here and yet at times it feels like I have so very little to show for it.

I may need to start counting calories again.  I think I will give it to the end of the month to make a decision on that.  My next goal is to be at or below 335 pounds by the next weigh in on January 25th.  I would like to lose two pounds every five days.

I have been trying to come up with some unique ways to motivate myself to work harder.  If anyone has any ideas feel free to drop them in the comments section below.  Otherwise, it is just time to man up and do this!  Thanks for reading my friends!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Surprised

Is it January 15th already?  My how time flies.  I have managed to lose another pound.  My current weight is 338 pounds.

The loss is pretty surprising to me because on Sunday I had pizza and did not limit myself as I should have.  I also continue to struggle with eating late at night.  I must get that under control.  Still, I am very pleased that I was able to keep the downward trend of weight loss going.  If I can simply keep losing weight I will arrive at my goal over time.

I feel motivated when I set small goals for myself.  My next weigh in will be on January 20th and my goal is to be at or below 336 pounds.  I will need to work hard.  No excuses!  Time to make it happen!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

1/12/2013 Video Blog




Total Distance     Total Time     Avg Pace     Avg Speed     Total Calories     Avg Heart Rate
1.27 mi               28:26:20       22:26 /mi     2.7 mph         238 cal              130 bpm

1/12/2013 Walk
Yes, I really did walk through some of those houses.  I tend to do that when I get bored.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Goal Met

Welcome to my January 10th blog post.  I am sick today so I will keep this one short.  I made my goal of being under 340 pounds in time for this update.  I have lost another two pounds since the last weigh in.  My current weight is 339 pounds.

I have been doing great on watching my diet.  There has not been much to report.  I have been able to limit myself to one serving at meal time and have not consumed any soda since the last update.  One thing I do need to keep a tight rein on is eating late at night.  Earlier in the week I did a side job and did not really get to eat until eight o'clock at night.  That is too close to bed time.

The next weigh in will be on January 15th.  I want to do some more video blogs in between weigh ins but we will have to see how that goes.  Between now and the end of March I know that I will be pretty busy.  I will do what I can. 

I would love to hear how all of you are doing.  You can leave me an update in the comments section here on the blog or send me an email directly at smorris@atechwiz.com.  I am also on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +

It is late and I need to get to bed.  Goodnight!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Back On Track

I am very pleased to report that I am back on track with my weight loss goals.  When I weighed in this morning I was glad to see that I have lost two pounds since my last weigh in.  My weight is currently 341 pounds and while I am a long way from my overall goal at least I have broken the weight gain trend.  That leaves another 142 pounds to go which can seem like a daunting number but I just have to take it one weigh in at a time.  If I can keep losing the small numbers every weigh in then I can whittle that number down.  One day at a time is very applicable here.

In looking back over my recent posts I have noticed that they kind of mimic the news these days.  That is to say, they tend to focus on things I have done that are negative which certainly has its place as I need to learn from my mistakes.  For this post I thought I would keep it positive by focusing on one thing that I said I would do and have succeeded.  I do not drink soda anymore!  I am nearly 100% positive that I have admitted anytime I have had a soda here on this blog.  For me, that was a monumental change to my way of life.  I drank soda all the time!  Now I drink water and ice tea with sugar and stevia blend.  I really am proud of myself for this change.  If I can stop drinking soda then I can lose this weight!

Many of you are on a similar journey.  We can do this!  Stay focused on the little things and don't focus too much on your end goal.  If I focused on the 142 pound number I would want to give up.  The small things count and repeatedly doing the correct daily small things will get you to your goal over time.  If your goal is weight loss like mine, remember, you did not gain the weight overnight and the reality is that you are not going to lose it overnight either.  It is good to have a big goal but also set small goals for yourself.  My small goal is to lose some weight at every weigh in.  If I keep doing that then I will realize my big goal someday.  If you are comfortable with it, be accountable to someone else.  I am accountable to all of you and that is a source of motivation for me because I really don't like telling you that I gained weight.

The next weigh in will be on January 10th.  I am setting a small goal for myself to be below 340 pounds at that weigh in.  Time to make it happen!

Friday, January 4, 2013

1/3/2013 Video Blog



Should I continue to do video blogs in between my regularly scheduled written blog posts?  Let me know in the comments section here on the blog or directly on the YouTube video itself.  Please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you like.  http://www.youtube.com/user/atechwiz

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2012 Year In Review

2012 has drawn to a close.  While I have not been trying to lose weight for a full year, it is always good to reflect on your success and also to learn from your failures.  I won't be talking about numbers in this blog post as I have already published my weight for today.  That post can be found here: http://www.belowtwohundred.com/2013/01/december-2012-wrap-up.html

2012 was the year that I finally had enough.  I became tired of being overweight and decided to do something about it.  I cannot pretend that this was the first time that I decided to lose weight.  Now more than ever before it has become a constant mind set.  Before, when I would gain back some weight or if I felt like I was not losing weight fast enough I would give up.  This blog has really helped to keep me focused and look at the big picture.  I encourage everyone to do the same.  It doesn't have to be a public blog if you do not want to share your struggles with the world.  Keep a diary just to yourself that you can reflect on as you log your journey.

Reflecting on the successes of this journey the two that stand out most would have to be deciding to do something about my weight and sharing my story with the world.  It is kind of surprising how often people will say some encouraging things to me because they have been reading this blog.  I find it very reassuring to know that people care and that they consider this worth reading.

Even as I reflect on the times that I have failed I tend to see the silver lining.  December was a bad month for me as I mentioned in my monthly wrap up.  I actually gained weight during that month.  But even despite having my worst month I am still seven pounds lighter than when I started this journey.

2012 has been a year of change for me.  Starting today, the first day of 2013, I will be trying something new with regard to losing weight.  I do not want to talk about it just yet as I want to see how it goes before reporting anything.  This has more to do with not wanting to recommend something until I have tried it for myself.  Rest assured, I will share at a later time what it is and whether or not I feel that it has made a difference.  I look forward to a very productive 2013!

December 2012 Wrap Up

My apologies for missing two posts that should have been made on December 25th and December 30th.  My parents drove to Arizona to spend the holidays with me.  It was great to see my mom and dad as well as my nephew.  I meant to post updates but I was enjoying the visit so much that I did not want to pull myself away.  On to the business at hand, the month of December has come to a close and with it, the third chapter of my weight loss journey.  I am afraid that I am sliding in the wrong direction.  I will not be making excuses about it being the holidays or my parents visiting.  There are always choices to be made and I did not make good ones as often as I should have.  I have gained back another three pounds since the post on December 20th.  How easily it goes back on!  My current weight is 343 pounds.

I am trying to remember all that I need to confess.  I had soda multiple times.  Once when we went to the theater, once when we went out to eat, and at least twice when my kids got soda and did not finish them.  I also did poorly on limiting myself to one serving.  I had second servings many times, probably too many for me to remember over this span of days.  I failed big time when I could have made the right decision and I have no one to blame but myself.

The thing I have to remember is that these failures are in the past.  I have to pick myself up and keep going.  I cannot change the past and can only do something with today.  That is all I can offer right now.  Just like life, you dust yourself off and get right back to it.

So, here is the wrap up for December 2012:
  • Total weight loss to date: 7 pounds
  • Total weight loss this year: 7 pounds
  • Total weight gain December 2012: 4 pounds
  • Total weight still to lose: 144 pounds
I will also post a quick year in review for 2012 today.  Other than that, my next regularly scheduled blog post will be on January 5th where I hope to report better results.  Stay tuned!