My Story

On Monday, May 31, 2010, I embarked on a mission to lose weight and to get into the best shape of my life for my wedding. For a long time that mission was a success until life started getting stressful and food became a way to cope with that stress. To make a long story short, the mission fell short before my wedding day was here. And to make things even worse, I stopped eating healthy, exercising, and blogging for over two years. I now have a very beautiful wife and baby boy but my health is still crap. So to turn things around, I am brining back "The Heavy Man" and the "Mission to Healthy."

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Day #20 - The "Big Man" takes a bite out of the "Big Apple"

It is Day #20 and I feel like I should be celebrating. It is really because of all you out there who are following this blog that I am able to stay so focused on completing this mission.

So, in the spirit of celebrating 20 successful days in a row not straying from my weight loss mission, I took a trip to New York City!!!! On my very few days off from work, I am going to get out of the apartment and travel to places that I believe are fun as well as places where you can get some exercise at the same time.

My fiancee and I started the trip into NYC at roughly 1:30pm today. It is really great when you have a bus stop right out side of the building you live in. After a very quick 40 min ride we were standing right in the heart of NYC. As soon as I opened the door to walk outside of the NY Port Authority Bus Terminal, I was swarmed by a herd of guys who drive those bike taxis. As I managed to move past the herd, I noticed that there were a ton a people walking by and I was the one being targeted. I guess being a big sized person in the city means, you don't have the capability of walking down the street. I gave everyone of those guys a smile and said sorry gentlemen but I need the exercise.

I tell you what, if you have never been to NYC before, there is nothing like walking down Broadway right in the middle of Times Square. The city just recently started to shut down parts of Broadway in order to bring foot traffic back to Times Square. On the weekends, the parts of Broadway that are shut down, play host to at least 200-300 street vendors. And where there are street vendors there is a ton of......... yep you guessed it, food. I'm not talking about salads and vegtables, I am talking about pizza, gyros, pastries, sloppy greasy sandwiches, etc........ The smells that all these foods were giving off was enough to make me want to turn down another street. However, I have managed over the last 20 days to develop a little bit of will power. Plus, I planned ahead of time for something like this, I kept on drinking water and I was snacking on some rice cakes....... boom, problem solved. I made sure that I wasn't going to be having flash backs of last nights junk food temptations.

After we got passed the Broadway Street Fair, we were staring the beast of the city right in the face. The beast that I am referring to is, Central Park. I call it the beast because it will take you literally all day just to walk through it, let alone visit the many places and activities that lie within. As we walked  up to the south west entrance to the park, I was swarmed yet again by a herd of bike taxis guys. I mean come on, did I look like I was struggling that much to walk. I had to, yet again, turn all of them away and explain that I was going to walk the whole way. I think one of them laughed at me. Anyway, Central Park, I think, is one of the best places to go in New York City. There are so many things to do. To go through everything that I did today would take up a whole lot more space on this post. Please click on http://www.centralparknyc.org/ to visit the website and see for yourself everything it has to offer.

Once we were done walking through Central Park, we started to make our way back towards Times Square for dinner and then home. Now, trying to find out what you want for dinner NYC when you are on a diet is no easy task. However, thanks to the partnership between Weight Watchers and Applebees it didn't take us that long to find out where we were going for dinner. Thanks guys!!! I noticed that after I had eaten my entire dinner, I was absolutely full. Guess how big my steak was, it was only 4oz. In the past, I would have ordered: a sampler appetizer platter, a full rack on baby back ribs, and a dessert. And that would all be for just me. I am now barely finishing my 4oz steak and a hand full of both broccoli and potatoes. I can safely say that my body is starting to adjust to the weight loss program.

After the whole day was over, my fiancee and I managed to walk a total of 82 blocks from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to 81st Street (Middle of Central Park) and 81st back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I am very tired and exhausted but It was a great healthy day!!!

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For all the new followers of the blog, I am currently following the Weight Watcher Points System)

Breakfast - Egg whites on a multi grain bagel with a slice of american cheese = Points 6
Lunch - 2 rice cakes, a cup of mixed fruit, turkey and munster cheese wrap = Points 13
Snack - 1 Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar (Weight Watchers) = Points 3
Dinner - Steak & Portabello Mushrooms with a side of potatoes and broccoli, French Onion Soup (Weight Watchers meal at Applebees) = Points 15
Dessert - 1 Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar (Weight Watchers) = Points 3

Total Points Eaten Today = 40 Points (I was 1 point under my limit)

Exercise

I walked a total of 82 blocks today in New York City. My feet, legs, and back are feeling it right now. I should be well rested and ready to go by tomorrow morning. It was a great day for a cardio workout.

Day #20 Weigh-In = 285.8 lb
Day #20 Weigh-In











Day #20 Front Shot
(I was given advice by a friend
 to use the news paper
to keep track of the days)

1 comment:

  1. Way to go...you are doing such a great job! Keep up the good work! Brenda

    ReplyDelete