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!