Day #19 - Junk Food Fever

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before that feeling would hit me. I was doing so well for the last 19 days because I had a lot to keep me distracted. Then all of a sudden it is Friday night, I can sleep in Saturday morning, all my friends wanted to go out. That feeling, that craving that I had deep inside was the longing to grab all of the junk food I can get my hands on and pig out. I wanted, so bad, tonight to just order a pizza with extra cheese and eat about five slices. Then I would cap off the night with a nice big bowl of ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream. Then reality set in and my brain kicked into high gear. I was getting flash backs of how uncomfortable I was feeling about three weeks ago after eating large amounts of junk food in one sitting. I will never go back to feeling like my stomach is going to explode ever again.  Thanksgiving dinner of course is an exception. Sorry..... lol.

So, I was determined to not give in to my temptation of eating about 30 lbs of junk food. After my decision was final, the second issue of the night started to take form. What was I going to eat for dinner? Anyone ever have one of those nights were you don't fell like having anything in particular? Then it turns into, well I had that last night and I don't feel like having that other thing tonight. When I get like that, my fiancee wants to put me right through a wall. Luckily when I am having one of those indecisive nights, I turn to walking to the super market in hoping that I will find something that jumps out of me. When I arrived at the food store, I was armed with my Weight Watchers Points book and my Weight Watchers Points calculator (a great tool in times like this). After searching for a few minutes, I came across a green box in the frozen foods section that had the name "Morning Star Farms" on it. My fiancee turns to me and says that a lot of what "Morning Star Farms" makes is vegetarian. I looked at the picture and notice that it was a box of chicken nuggets. Veggie chicken nuggets???? How in the heck does that work???? So, I whipped out my points calculator and found out that it came out to 1 point per nugget. I figured that since I am trying to expand my food selection, I would give the veggie chicken nuggets a try.  I found the "meat" part of the dinner and now it was time to look for the side dish. I ended up gravitating towards the "Smart Ones" section which just so happens to be the Weight Watchers frozen food brand. I really want to stay away from the frozen pre-made foods as much as possible but I was hungry and didn't feel much like cooking. Anyway to make a long story short, I over came my temptation for junk food, took a walk to the food store, and purchased a nice healthy & filling meal. I would say that this was a winning solution to the obstacle of the night.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone new to the blog, I am following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 rice cakes, egg whites on whole wheat toast with a slice of american cheese = Points 9
Lunch - Chicken salad with fat free french dressing (Wendy's) = Points 15
Snack - 2 rice cakes = Points 2
Dinner - 10 veggie chicken nuggets with a side of Mac-n-Cheese from "Smart Ones" = Points 16
Dessert - Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar (Weight Watchers) = Points 3

Total Points Eaten Today = 45 Points (I went 4 points over my limit) I consider this a win tonight based on the craving that I had for junk food earlier.

Exercise

I had a softball game tonight. I felt lighter on my feet and I was running around the bases a lot easier. I have a full day planned tomorrow of activities for my fiancee and I that involves constant movement. We are sure to have a hell of a workout tomorrow. Tune into tomorrow's post (Day #20) to find out what we did.

Day #19 - Weigh-In = 286.4 lbs

Day #19 Weigh-In

Day #19 - Front Shot

Day #18 - Obeserving Life

Have you ever taken a second to imagine how everyone else in the world lives their lives? What struggles do other people go through? Are they similar to your struggles or are they totally different? What do they do to over come the problems that they encounter? Do they have anyone to lean on in their time of need?

I went to the mall today after work to purchase a new home scale. While going from store to store, I took some time to observe the many different people that circulate through the mall. I like to watch as people walk by and try to guess what is currently going on in their lives. I some times sit back and wonder if I will ever cross paths with any of them in the future. I like to think that maybe some day I can be a person that helps them get through their rough times. That has always been the kind of person I am. Ever since I was little, I wanted to help people in need of help.

I believe that is the approach that I am taking while trying to complete my mission. I think, through my struggles, I can help someone else over come their own. It is not easy, by any means, trying to figure out how to over come any problem that stands in your way. I am not only talking about weight issues but any obstacle that can affect anyone of us at any time. Of course, I am currently struggling with weight issues but you can also take the lessons that we are all learning from this mission and transfer them into solving other problems. I think too many people see a lot of things as being to difficult causing them to throw up the white flag to early. I have personally thrown up the white flag too many times in my life. Why not take a chance at doing something great. Since the dawn of time, this whole world of ours was built on people taking chances. I took a chance 18 days ago when a started to share my weight struggles with the world. What it is the worst that can happen, you fail and then you learn from your mistakes and move on. Like my quote of the day said yesterday, "You fall down seven times, and you get up eight."

I am here for every single one of you as all of you are for me. I would like to know the struggles that everyone goes through and I will help you find a way to get past them. Please feel free to share with me, if you would like to. You all have been listening to me for the past 18 days, it is always good to have someone who is there to listen to you.

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

Meals of the day (The Heavy Man - 41 Points)
(For everyone who is new, I am following the Weight Watchers Point System)

Breakfast - 2 rice cakes, egg whites on whole wheat toast with a slice of american cheese, and a cup of mixed fruit - Points 11
Lunch - 1 piece of grilled chicken w/ melted mozzarella cheese and lettuce on a whole wheat roll and a bag of baked potato chips (Wyckoff Deli) = Points 14
Dinner - Tuna a whole wheat bread with a slice of white american cheese and a bag of baked chips = Points 16
Dessert - Cup of Turtle Ice (Weight Watchers Brand) = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 43 Points (2 over my points limit)

Exercise

I ran on the elliptical machine today for 30 minutes and I did sit ups. I have a softball game to tomorrow night as well as running again. I will keep everyone posted on how I do.

Day #18 Weigh-In (I went to the mall today and purchased a new scale. Let's hope this one holds up better then the last one).

Weigh-In (Old Scale) = 266.6

Weigh-In (New Scale) = 287.0

* The new scale is very close to the weight that the serviced gym scale was displaying (288.2 lbs) yesterday with my clothes on. So, if I stick to the weight of 304lbs (with clothes on) when I first weighed in on the gym scale on Day #1, I lost roughly 17 lbs over the last 18 Days !!!! I would say for a first time weigh-in, the new scale seems to be pretty accurate. Let's hope it stays that way.

Day #18 - Front Shot

Day #17 - Death of my Home Scale

I would like to take a brief second to welcome everyone who is new to the blog. I have been recording every single day of my weight loss program for the last 17 days. My mission is to show everyone who struggles with the same weight issues, as me, that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. I am personally hoping to be in the best shape of my life by the day of my wedding. Please take a few minutes to read my blog from the introduction post to the present day. It will make it a lot easier to understand what I am talking about today and the many days to come.

For everyone who has been following the blog for awhile, I wanted to conduct one final test today before I put my home scale in the garbage and moved on with my mission. I wanted to make sure that I came up with a solution to this problem before moving on to bigger and better things. I apologize for putting so much attention on this issue but I believe being honest and as accurate as possible when it come to weight loss, shows everyone a  realistic aspect that it can be done.

My home scale is currently displaying that I have lost about 35 lbs in only 17 Days. That, I know is really hard to accomplish as well as being unhealthy. About 3 days ago, I started to also track my weight on a fully serviced scale at a gym by my office. I first used this gym scale on Day #1 to conduct a test to see how accurate my scale at home was. The gym scale displayed that I was weighing in at 304 lbs with clothes (T-Shirt, underwear, basketball shorts, and socks) on. I weighed myself today on the same gym scale and it showed that I weighed about 288 lbs with my clothes (T-shirt, underwear, shorts, and socks) on. The gym scale shows that I have lost 16 lbs since Day #1. I totally believe that is a more realistic and healthier reading. I am convinced now that I need to purchase a new scale for home. What do you all think? I will let everyone know how my search for a new scale is progressing.

Here are two pictures, I took today, that show just how off my home scale is from the gym scale. This will be my Day #17 Weigh-In section.

Home Scale = 267.4

Gym Scale = 288.2

I am still open to any suggestions that anyone has pertaining to a new scale.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)

(For everyone who is new to the blog, I follow the Weight Watchers Point System)

Breakfast - 3 scrambled egg whites on a multi grain roll with a slice of american cheese and a cup of mixed fruit = Points 9

Lunch - Chicken teriyaki on a foot long whole wheat roll with 2 slices of american cheese, a bag of baked chips, and an apple = Points 18

Dinner - Left over Chicken Cordon Blue from last night with a cup of chicken and broccoli flavored rice and a cup of green beans = Points 12

Dessert  - Peanut butter ice cream bar (Weight Watchers Brand) = Points 3

Total Points Eaten Today = 42 Points (I went 1 point over today)

Exercise

I am going to be completely honest, I did not workout or get any exercise today at all. I worked until 8:30pm. When I got home, I sat down at my living room table and did some more work, ate dinner, and wrote my blog for the day. There is no excuse why I didn't workout, I will make up for it tomorrow.

Day #17 Front Shot

Thank you all once again for following the blog. Please make sure to get all your friends and family members to follow as well. I am trying to inspire myself as well as others who struggle with the same issues I do.

Day #16 - Live Life

I mentioned in my first ever post, "Introducing the Heavy Man," that I received a wake up call when my mother said to me on the phone, "I don't want you to die." Those few words still echo in my head 16 days later as I push forward with my mission. My friend's father just recently passed away this weekend and I attended his wake tonight. As I walked into the funeral home, I noticed that there were a ton of people paying their respects to a wonderful man. They weren't all standing around crying but they were all laughing and smiling as every single person was engaged in a conversation with someone else. As I walked up to the casket I noticed that he had all of his referee gear in there with him. After saying a little prayer, I walked up to look at all of the photos of this man that were placed around the room. I could tell why everyone in that place tonight were all with smiles and laughter. Everyone was there to celebrate the life of an out going and very loving man.

I thought to myself on the way home from the wake, that we all get a chance at life. To make the best of what we have is a real challenge but in the same token should not be taken advantage of. We should all celebrate what time we have in life and live everyday as if it will be your last. I know some times it is easy to give up but if we all put even a little effort into it, I am pretty sure we can all accomplish our goals and enjoy life in the process as did my friend's father when he was alive.

In the last 16 days I managed to remind myself that life is to short to be giving up on good health and feeling sorry for yourself. If you don't care about yourself, then it will be hard for other people to care about you as well.  I have been so occupied with turning my life and health around that I didn't event realize that I have gone 16 Days without even having a thought of quiting my mission. As I mentioned in a previous post, I would have given up after one week. I have done so well in such a short amount of time that I can't even fathom giving up at all.

Scale Saga Continues

I did not have any time today, with all the office moving, to stop and weigh myself on the gym scale. I did however come home and weigh myself to at least have some sort of documentation that I am still going in the right direction. I believe I am going to conduct a search for a new home scale that I can rely on to record my progress as accurately as possible.

Please feel free to recommend any scales!!

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 41 Points)
(For everyone who is new to the blog, I follow the Weight Watchers Point System. Since I have lost weight and broke into the 280's I have had to adjust my points from 42 to 41)

Breakfast - 2 rice cakes, egg whites on multigrain roll with a slice of american cheese and a cup of mixed fruit = Points 9
Lunch - 2 grilled chicken breast, 1 cup of mac - n - cheese, and half a serving of seasoned potato wedges = Points 15
Dinner - My fiancee made a very healthy dinner - Chicken Cordon Blue (Weight Watchers Recipe) with a cup of brown rice and a cup of Green peas = Points 13

Dessert - Weight Watcher Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar = Points 3

Chicken Cordon Blue
Weight Watcher's Recipe

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

Exercise

Today was day 2 of moving office furniture and equipment to our new office. Yes, it was another day of lifting heavy stuff up and down stairs and in the heat. We are finally done moving everything, so I will be able to get back to my normal workout routine at a descent hour. I will post my results for tomorrow's workout, tomorrow night.

Day #16 Weigh-In (Current Home Scale) = 272.8

Day #15 Weigh-In (Home Scale)

Day #15 Front Shot

Day #15 - The Scale Saga Continues / Stepping Outside the Meal Box

Thank you for all of your support and ideas while I try to figure out my scale situation.

To me, losing weight is more of a "getting healthy" issue then it is a "looking better" issue now a days. In the past I would be self conscious of how I looked and constantly wondering what people were thinking. I will admit that those were the two of the main reasons why I wanted to lose weight. I wanted to look like one of those guys on the cover of Men's Health Magazine. I now have a different out look on life and I am more concerned on improving my health so I can be there for my family and friends then I am of how I look. That is why I am not totally freaking out about my scale at home recording me at a different weight. I would still like to get the situation solved because I still want to share my progress with all of you and as accurately as possible.

I went into the gym today and weighed myself on the serviced scale with my clothes (T-Shirt, underwear, basketball shorts, and socks) on. My weight was a little over 289lbs and that is still an accomplishment in 15 days!! So, if I go by my first weigh-in (304 with clothes on) on that scale back on Day #1, I lost 15lbs. That is not to bad at all!! Now, when I got home tonight, I weighed myself on my home scale with no clothes and I was at 275lbs. So, if I go by my weight loss recordings since Day #1 on my home scale, I lost 27 lbs. There is a difference of about 12lbs. I personally think that is to much of a difference to just let it slide. Do I keep on weighing my self on both scales? Or, do I conduct more research and purchase a more reliable scale for home? I am open to anymore suggestions.

Stepping Outside the Meal Box

I received an email from my mother today expressing to me that I should try to switch up my meals. The same old turkey sub was starting to sound boring and I couldn't agree with her more. I have always had a problem with cooking health food recipes because I was under the impression that if it tastes good, it isn't healthy. I used to believe that so many people have weight issues because it is no fun eating things that are healthy for you. Eating vegetables, salads, etc...... is not my idea of fun at all. This is why you all see me eating a lot of turkey sandwiches during lunch because it is easy and it works well when you are trying to lose weight. I am afraid to step outside my meal box because I don't want to go back to where I started. I do admit that it was fun making the Mac-n-Cheese recipe the other day for dinner and it was healthy too!!! So, I make a promise that I will expand my meal selection. It is important to show everyone that you can lose weight while still being able to eat great tasting food!!!

I want as many people as possible to send me ideas for great tasting healthy meals that I can try.

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

Meals of the day (The Heavy Man = 42 Points)
(For all new people who are just starting to follow the blog, I follow the Weight Watchers Points system)

Breakfast - 3 rice cakes, 3 egg whites on whole wheat toast with a cup of fresh mixed fruit = Total Points 10
Lunch - Piece of grilled chicken on a mutli-grain roll with 2 slices of american cheese and lettuce with a bag of baked potato chips = Total Points 13
Dinner - Chicken salad with fat free french dressing = Total Points 15

Total Points Eaten Today = 38 (I was 4 points under my total

Exercise

Myself and several other co-workers moved our entire office to another location. I was lifting heavy boxes, desks, furniture, etc.... up and down stairs today. I don't think I ever sweat so much in my life before. I should be able to get back to my normal exercise routine tomorrow. I will post the results tomorrow.

Day #15 Weigh-in = 289 lbs (Gym Scale)

Day #15 Weigh-In = 275 lbs (Home Scale)

Day #15 Front Shot

Day #14 - Travel Series Part 1c / Keeping it Real

Well everyone, "The Heavy Man's Diary, Travel Series Part 1" is completed and in the books. I couldn't be happier with myself at the end of this long weekend.  Today was the third and final event of this weekend or as I like to call it "Travel Series Part 1c." The sun was beating down, the humidity was unbearable, and my body was in pain. But, I kept my eye on the mission and stuck to it, like I said I would. The mission is still alive and going strong.  I proved that even though I had to travel for work, I still managed to stick to the plan as if I was here at home during a normal weekend. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it!!

Keeping it Real

Two of my main rules that I set for myself to follow, while conducting this blog, was to always be honest and to always keep everything real. I make sure to include all my real life situations because we all go through the same ones. If I can find the answer to a problem, I make sure that I share it with all of you and I hope that everyone would do the same for me. 

I bought the scale, that all of you see in the everyday photos, prior to the start of the mission. Now, I am always hesitant when it comes to using electronics because you never know when some thing is going to go wrong. Keeping that in mind, I decided on Day #1 that I was going to weigh myself on a serviced gym scale and then go home and weigh myself on my new scale to make sure that it was accurate. So, I proceeded to weigh myself on the gym scale and with clothes (T-Shirt, underwear, socks, and a pair of basketball shorts) on. I weighed 304lbs. I figured that the clothes weighed between 1-2 pounds. Then, when I got home that night and before I wrote my first blog, I weighed myself without any clothes on and the scale read 302lbs. So, by taking the clothes out of the equation for the weighing in on the gym scale, it seems that my two results were very similar. Thus, giving me the reason to believe that my scale at home is pretty accurate.

Now, over the course of the first 10 days, I was losing around 1-2 pounds a day. From what I have been told, that it is not a bad rate for the first three weeks of your diet. However, on Day #11 I weighed myself in and the results were a little different. Some how I managed to lose 4.8 pounds. I was curious as to why my weight loss had spiked on that day. When I asked my trainer friend he had replied that there were a couple of things that could of come into play. My metabolism might of kicked in with more exercising, I may of lost more water weight, or maybe my body was reacting well to the program I was on. After hearing him say that, I kind of just shook it off and moved along.

It wasn't until yesterday's weigh-in that I really started to question the new scale that I purchased just a little over 14 days ago. Last night I weighed in at 278 pounds on the scale at home. That was another significant drop in weight. This was now bothering me to the extent that I went back through all my posts and added up the weight loss totals and came up with a 24 lb weight loss in only 14 days. From conducting research in the past, I know that 24 lbs in 14 days is an unhealthy rate when dieting. Determined to come up with a better answer to my problem, I weighed myself on the each of the 4 scales that my company travels with and uses at all of our football events. The weight that came up on every scale was 290 lbs with my clothes (Under shirt, T-Shirt, underwear, athletic underwear, basketball shorts, and socks) on. So, if you figure that I had around 2 lbs of clothes on, I actually weighed in at around 288lbs with clothes off. This means either my scale at home is off by 10lbs or the scales at work were off by 10lbs.

When I arrived at home today, I decided that I was going to test the scale out to see how accurate it really was. I placed a 10 pound dumbbell on the scale and (10.2) showed up on the scale. So, from what I can tell by my little test, my scale was reading pretty accurately. I am stuck right now without a real answer. Do I believe that I really lost 24lbs in 14 days and disregard all 4 scales at work. Or, do I believe the scales at work and start looking for another scale for home? I need help please!!!

I know one positive thing for certain, the mission and the program that I put together is working. Whether I lost 24lbs or a little over 10lbs, I am still losing the weight and getting healthier in the process!! I haven't strayed from the mission yet and I don't plan on straying at all. Tomorrow I will be weighing myself on the serviced scale at the gym to see which set of scales was closer to being accurate. I will update everyone with the results tomorrow and maybe we will find a route for me to take. I will solve this dilemma and find out how much I truly weigh and how much weight I have lost so far.

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

Meals of the day (The Heavy Man = 42 points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers point system)

Early Morning - Left over 6" turkey sub on whole wheat bread with 1 slice of american cheese, a bag of baked chips, and an apple = Total Points 11
Early Afternoon - 6 slices of turkey with 2 slices of american cheese on 2 slices of whole wheat bread = Total Points 10
Late Afternoon - 3 slices of turkey with 2 slices of american cheese on 2 slices of whole wheat bread with an apple = Total Points 11
Dinner - 2 cups of steamed chicken and broccoli (no sauce) with 1 cup of steamed brown rice = Total Points 10
Late Snack - 2 rice cakes = Total Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 44 Points ( I went 2 points over)

Exercise

I was in the sun and constantly moving today while working the event. I will be back on my normal workout schedule tomorrow. I have cardio and upper body workout with weights tomorrow. I will post my results tomorrow.

Day #14 Weigh-In = TBD

Day #14 Front Shot

Day #13 - Travel Series Part 1b

I almost forget, some times, how wonderful it is being outside. I am cooped up in an office behind a desk for a good part of 6 days a week.  I arrive at work around 9:30am everyday and depart work at around 7:30 - 8:00pm.  By the time I get home it is almost 9pm at night. Once I am home, I eat dinner, workout, write my blog, and then go to sleep. Then I wake up in the morning and do the whole thing all over again. That is why working these special events every once and a while, on the weekends, is a really nice change of pace from the office lifestyle. I am able to get out side and run around. It really gets the blood pumping and the metabolism going.

I also believe that is it good to make some time for yourself, to relax, and to get your mind off everything that may cause stress in your life. It is important to not get totally wrapped up on any one thing that will cause you to neglect yourself or your health.  The one mistake I used to make when I took some time off for myself, was that I sat around watching TV and eating junk food. I suggest that when you do make time for yourself, you get out of your house, do something that involves you moving around. Not only should you exercise your body but you should exercise your mind as well. Clearing your mind of stress and anything distracting is also a great way of staying on the right path towards any goals you might have.

I am 13 days into my mission so far, and I have NOT strayed from the path yet. I continue to eat healthy and to exercise properly. Even when I am traveling, I take the correct steps in preparing my meals and keep everything fresh in my cooler. I also seem to be getting enough exercises by constantly moving during the day. The Travel Series Part 1b was a success today. I only have one more day of traveling and then it is back to my normal routine come Monday.

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

Meals of the day (The Heavy Man = 42 Points)
(For anyone who has just started following this blog, I am currently following the Weight Watchers points system. That is why I have point totals at the end of every meal).

Early Afternoon - 2 servings of the Mac -n -Cheese my fiancee and I made the other night = Total Points 10
Late Afternoon - 6" turkey sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of american cheese and a bag of baked potato chips = Total Points 9
Early Evening - 6'' turkey sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of american cheese, a bag of baked potato chips, and a bag of sliced apples = Total Points 9
Late Evening - 6" turkey sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of american cheese and a bag of apple slices = Total Points 7

Total Points Eaten Today = 35 (I was 7 points under my points per day)

Exercise

I was on my feet the whole day running around on the football field. I will have one more day of the same thing tomorrow. I will be able to get back into my new gym routine on Monday.

Day #13 Weigh-In - 278.0

Day #13 Weigh-In

Day #13 Front Shot