Day #75 - Controlling Stress, In a Healthy Way

I would guarantee that everyone who has ever walked this green earth has experienced stress in their lives in some way shape or form. It might be me, but I don't think that everyone deals with stress in the same way. I, for example, used to deal with my stress by eating my worries away. Now, I wouldn't just go to the store or any restaurant and order something healthy to eat. No, I would grab a few slices a pizza, maybe an extra large fast food meal, or any junk food I could find and just eat until I felt better. If I was stressed, I would find something bad to eat, even if I wasn't hungry at all. As you can tell from my weight about 75 days ago, I was really stressed out all time trying to do my job.

Today was one of those days, where every single minute there seemed to be something that popped up that would pile the stress on. I don't know if it had to do with it being Friday the 13th but it was getting worse as the day went on. The only thing I could think of doing, was escaping to go get a nice big cheese steak to bury myself in, to take the stress away. And as the most stressful part of the day hit, I turned to Patty and asked her to go get me something to eat. She looked at me with a blank stare and said, "What do you want? Because we have some food here already." As I thought to myself, all I wanted to say was a large pizza, but then I stopped myself. Then I managed to say, "A sandwich from Subway." I am glad that I did so, because I would have added guilt for eating something bad on top of an already stressful day.

As the day went on, I focused my attention on being able to leave work and go straight to the gym. I mentioned a few days ago that I have been finding peace when I am working out at the gym. Once 6:30pm hit, I was out the door faster then I have ever been before. I dropped Patty off at home and went straight to the gym to blow off steam. I feel much better now and I am really happy that I didn't crack under pressure today. I managed to make myself eat healthy and made the stress, of the day, disappear by working out.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man 39 = Points)
(I am following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - Egg whites on 2 slices of Weight Watchers whole wheat bread with a slice of Weight Watchers american cheese = Points 3
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 1 Weight Watchers mini chocolate cake, 2 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookies, and 2 pear = Points 6
Lunch - Foot long Chicken Teriyaki on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese (Subway) = Points 17
Dinner - 1 1/2 pieces of grilled chicken with a side of whole wheat pasta with grated cheese = Points 10
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 38 Points (1 point under my daily limit)

Exercise

Today I ran on the elliptical for 40 mins and a executed a core body routine: Standing Side Dumbbell Crunches (3 sets x 20 reps with 20lbs), Seated Crunches (3 sets x 25 reps), and Planks (3 sets x 30 sec). Tomorrow I will be executing my Legs and Shoulders routines.

Day #75 - Weigh-In = 261.6 lbs

Day #75 Weigh-In

Day #75 Front Shot

Day #74 - Reaching Another Milestone / A Last Minute Menu Adjustment

If you were to ask me 74 days ago, if I thought I would ever get to the point I am at now, I would probably have said it is so far away. I would also be hoping to myself that I would survive week #1 and some how make it into week # 2. Well it is Day #74, I am still going strong, and I am a certain there is no end in sight. I say this because I realize that I have made a lifetime commitment and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time that it gives me the confidence that I will be in the best shape of my life by the time of my wedding, a little over 12 months from now.

Today was another one of those weird weigh-in days. Yesterday morning I weighed in at 263.6 lbs and this morning I weighed in at 261.4 lbs. I am still amazed at how my body manages to lose weight in such weird patterns. Maybe it was because I ate dinner a little earlier yesterday then I normally do. Or maybe I called it yesterday, when I said that running outside and switching up my cardio exercise might shock my body to cause more weight loss. I really don't have an answer for anyone. All I know is that I continue to workout and eat healthy everyday and I am still managing to lose weight. The good news is that since I weighed in this morning at 261.4 lbs, it means that I have now officially lost 40 lbs on my mission!! I can't believe it! Hard work does pay off.

A Last Minute Menu Adjustment

Patty and I had planned to have homemade General Tsao's (Weight Watchers Recipe) tonight for dinner. I had dropped her off after work so she could cook while I went to the gym to workout. I am not going to lie, I was looking forward to that first taste of the new recipe tonight. And being that I am a big fan of Chinese food, it only made the anticipation grow even more as I was working out. When I arrived home, I walked into the kitchen and Patty turned to me and said, there will be no General Tsao's Chicken tonight. She said that we forgot to purchase ginger on Sunday when we went food shopping and apparently we needed a lot of it to complete the recipe. So she adjusted on the fly and cooked a nice healthy grilled chicken and egg noodle meal. She told me that she knew I only had 8 points left and she made me a make shift meal that would keep me within my daily points limit. I thought that was so awesome that she was able to do that for me. I can safely say that she is the one of the main reasons that I have been so successful on my mission. When all is said and done, the day turned out to be pretty good. I am 74 days into the mission already, I reached the 40 lbs lost mark, and I had a great tasting dinner that wasn't even on the origional menu for today.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 39 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles, 1 cup of Light'n Fit yogurt, 1 serving of strawberries, and a little bit of brown sugar = Points 5
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 2 pears, 1 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookie, and 1 Weight Watchers carrot cake = Points 4
Early Afternoon - 1 1/2 servings of homemade Ham and Cheese Calzone (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 11
Late Afternoon - 1 1/2 servings of homemade Ham and Cheese Calzone (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 11
Dinner - 1 grilled chicken breast with a serving of egg noodles = Points 7
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 40 Points (1 point over my daily limit)

Exercise

Today I executed my Back and Triceps routines: Lat Pull Downs (4 sets x 15, 12, 10, 8 reps), Seated Row (4 sets x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps), Lying Skull Crushers (4 sets x 15, 12, 10, 8 reps), Bent Over Rows (3 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Overhead Dumbbell Extensions (3 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Standing Triceps Push Downs (4 sets x 12 reps), and Standing Dumbbell Shrugs (4 sets x 18 reps). Tomorrow I will be doing cardio.

Day #74 - Weigh-In = 261.4 lbs

Day #74 Weigh-In

Day #74 Front Shot

Day #73 - A Different Kind of Cardio

There is too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it. But that is life, if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. Anyway, I needed a break from work tonight and I couldn't wait until I got into the gym to clear my mind. However, I did not end up in the gym. Patty (My Fiance) had talked me into running outside for the first time in..... well, I can't even remember how long. I was a little hesitant at first because I have been doing so well lately with my workout routines and I really didn't want to mess up the flow. But she did remind me that the human body will get complacent after a while if it does the same thing over and over again. So, I figured I would take her up on the idea.

Within the first few minutes, I noticed that I was getting short of breath quicker then I would be if I was running on the elliptical machine. Not to mention, I was sweating before the timer on my IPOD reached 5 minutes. I thought that was interesting because it would usually take me until around 8 mins to start sweating on the elliptical. Now don't get me wrong, by the time my workout on the elliptical is complete, I am always in a heavy sweat but never as quickly as I was sweating tonight. Another thing I noticed was that my legs felt really heavy, especially in my quads and before I knew it, I was starting to slow down. I ended up being able to run only 15 mins and I had to walk for the rest of the 30 mins.

Maybe my body has become a little complacent with my normal cardio routine. I am still losing weight at a nice healthy pace so I really thought that it was still effective. But after being able to only run for 15 minutes outside, I think I will switch up my elliptical routine to make it a little harder. Who knows, maybe it will shock my body and as a result it will hopefully turn into more weight loss. On the other hand, I am intrigued that I can go for 40 mins straight on the elliptical, making it all the way to a level 10 resistance. But I can't even last at a steady jog for 15 mins outside on the pavement. I guess it is something that I am going to have to gradually get better at. I know for sure that I am down for the challenge. I think I will start by running outside for at least 1 day during the week to start. Just like my mission, I know I can do anything once I put my mind to it.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 39 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with a cup of Light'n Fit yogurt, a serving of strawberries, and a touch of brown sugar = points 5
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 1 Weight Watchers brownie, 1 Weight Watchers blueberry muffin, and 1 Weight Watchers ice cream cone = Points 7
Lunch - Two grilled cheese sandwiches (All Weight Watchers Ingredients) with a side of baked potato chips = Points 9
Dinner - 2 servings of homemade Ham and Cheese Calzones (Weight Watchers Recipes) = Points 14
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream cone = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 37 Points (2 points under my daily limit)

Exercise

Tonight Patty talked me into running outside. I was only able to run for 15 mins before my legs started to cramp up and I was getting short of breath. I am going to gradually work at it so I can run outside for just as long as I am able to run (40mins) on the elliptical in the gym. Tomorrow I will be executing my Back and Triceps routines.

Day #73 - Weigh-In = 263.6 lbs

Day #73 Weigh-In

Day #73 Front Shot

Day #73 Dinner
Ham and Cheese Calzone
(Weight Watchers Recipe)

Day #72 - Eating...... As an Act of Kindness

I mentioned to you all a few times in the past about my best friend from college. She has been there for me through thick and thin. She is the sister I never had and that is why I introduce her to everyone as my sister. So whenever I mention the name Caroline, you should know that I am talking about her. So, keeping track of everyone I have spoke about in the past, my fiance's name is Patty, my brother's name is Kevin, my buddy, who writes a very good beer blog (http://www.thebrew-thusiast.blogspot.com/), his name is Jym, and my sister's name is Caroline.

Anyway, getting back to the story, Caroline went to go visit her Aunt and Uncle in Wisconsin this past weekend for an end of the summer vacation. She absolutely loved visiting her family for the last few days. She went kayaking in lake Michigan, swimming in Lake Michigan, she went on a ten mile bike ride, and of course she visited a ton of cool places during her stay. However, she said that there was one thing that she tried to avoid but wasn't able to escape. She explained to me that her Aunt is the kind of person that enjoys being a complete host whenever she has visitors. She is a kind and loving person but apparently she also loves feeding people as well. And when I say she loves feeding people, I mean she LOVES feeding people.

Caroline has been doing very good lately with eating healthy because she has been cooking and eating a lot of meals with Patty and I. Caroline has told me in the past, that she loves our commitment to getting healthy and it has inspired her to eat even healthier then she already was. She has been doing so well that she managed to lose 5 lbs in the last month or so. So, you could only imagine how her stomach felt after eating all the food her Aunt had to offer her. Caroline said something very interesting to me, while explaining her little food dilemma from this past weekend. She said that it felt like her Aunt was making her feel guilty if she didn't eat the food. Her Aunt would say to her, "You better eat all your food before you go out." It was almost like Caroline was eating as an act of kindness because she didn't want to upset her Aunt. How exactly would somebody get out of eating like that without hurting any one's feelings. Please feel free to share any ideas.

Anyway, Caroline has arrived back home safe and sound. The first thing she said to me and Patty when she got back was, "What's for dinner, I need to eat a nice healthy meal." Don't worry my sister, The Heavy Man is here to the rescue.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 39 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with a cup of Light'n Fit yogurt and a serving of strawberries = Points 4
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 2 Weight Watchers brownies and 1 Large Apple = Points 6
Early Afternoon - (1) 6'' Chicken Teriyaki sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of american cheese and a serving of baked potato chips = Points 10
Late Afternoon - (1) 6'' Chicken Teriyaki sub on whole wheat bread with a slice of american cheese and a serving of baked potato chips = Points 10
Dinner - 1 serving of homemade Meatloaf with Chive Mashed Potatoes and mixed vegetables (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 7
Dessert - 1 Weight Watcher ice cream cone = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 39 Points

Body Measurements

Chest - 47 inches
Waist (Around my stomach and love handles even with my belly button) - 49 inches
Neck - 15 1/2 inches
Bicep (Not Flexed) - 16 inches
Bicep (Flexed) - 17 inches
Upper Leg (Around the quad & hamstring) - 30 inches
Lower Leg (Around the calve) - 17 inches

Exercise

Today I executed my Chest and Biceps routines: Chest Press (4 sets x 8, 10, 12, 15 reps), Incline Bench Press (3 sets x 21, 15, 12 reps), Straight Bar Curls (4 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Incline Chest Flyes (3 sets x 15 reps), Incline Alternating Dumbbell Curls (4 sets x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps), and Low Pulley Curls (3 sets to failure). Tomorrow I will be doing cardio and my core body workout.

Day #72 - Weigh-In = 264.6 lbs

Day #72 Weigh-In

Day #72 Front Shot

Day #72 Dinner
Meatloaf w/ Chived Mashed Potatoes
(Weight Watchers Recipe)

Day #71 - A Great Night in NYC

It is currently 12:42 am on Monday, Aug 9, 2010. Well, I guess it would technically be early Tuesday morning, but for the purpose of this post, we will talk about how Monday went. First off, I would like to Congratulate my younger brother (Kevin) for making it to Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway in New York City. For all of you who don't know, Caroline's Comedy Club is a very famous club, right in the heart of Times Square where most well known comedians make a name for themselves. And you also have to be well known in the comedy world in order to be a headliner at a fine establishment, such as Caroline's. Anyway, it is only my brother's 4th show ever and he already made into a line up at Caroline's. In fact he did so well, that he impressed the management there and they asked him to come back and perform again in the near future. I am so proud of him for following his dreams and I know that there will be much more success to come his way soon. I know I will be there to support him through all of it.

My Brother
Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway!

Now you would think that I would have been prepared for a day like today. Obviously I would of had to workout this morning because It was going to hard to do so tonight. However, I found out late yesterday that the show was only going to last an hour, so figured that since it started at 7:30pm, I would be home around 9:30pm to workout. Well I found out, at the show, that when you are a well known comedian, you can just stop by Caroline's when ever you want and they will stop the show so you can perform. So that kind of ruined my plan to workout after the show was over. I really didn't let it bother me because I was going to be there no matter what to support my brother. So the  first mistake I made today, was that I assumed that things would go according to the original plan. I should of forced my self to go to the gym this morning because it is always better to be safe then sorry.

My second bone head mistake for today was to wait to eat dinner. Every meal I planned for today was pretty much on target except for dinner. I also figured that since the show was only going to be about an hour, I would be able to wait until after it was done to eat dinner. Well, the show ended up going longer then an hour and I really didn't want to buy any food at Caroline's because I was still determined to eat healthy today even though I missed my workout. Let me tell you, it is amazing how the human body can adjust to a routine. My body has gotten so used to eat healthy,good portioned meals, every 2-3 hours that when I delay a meal for a longer period of time, my body lets me know that I did so. I am still trying to get rid of my hunger headache that developed around 8:30pm when I pushed my dinner back until after the show. My second mistake of the day, was that I didn't adjust to situation. I should of had a little snack at the comedy club to hold me over until dinner. I can safely say that I will try to never delay a meal like that again. But with all being said and done, it was a great night for my brother and that is what really matters.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 39 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with a cup of Light'n Fit Yogurt and a serving of strawberries = Points 4
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 1 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookie and 1 Weight Watchers brownie = Points 3
Early Afternoon - 2 Boca veggie burgers with 2 slices of Weigh Watchers american cheese on a Weight Watchers whole wheat roll with a side of baked potato chips = Points 10
Late Afternoon - 1 Boca veggie burger with a slice of Weight Watchers american cheese on a Weight Watchers whole wheat roll with side of baked potato chips = Points 7
Dinner - French Onion Soup and Steak with Portabello Mushrooms with a side of broccoli and potatoes (Applebees) = Points 14

Total Points Eaten Today = 38 Points (1 points under my daily limit)

Exercise

Today was to lazy to get up in the morning and I thought that I would have enough time to workout tonight. I was wrong with that assumption. I learned my lesson and I will be back on the path tomorrow with my Chest and Biceps routines.

Day #71 - Weigh-In =264.6 lbs

Day #71 Weigh-In

Day #71 Front Shot

Day #70 - Just Another Sunday

It is always a great feeling when you get another day closer to your goal. Today is Day #70 and it is hard to believe that many days have gone by and I haven't even thought about quitting my mission at all. I feel that I have gotten into such a groove that it is going to be very hard for anything to break it. Even though it is the weekend, I still had no urges at all to eat any junk food or to not exercise. I love that my mission has become much more then just a weight loss program, it is now a lifestyle that I am fully committed to.

Of course today is Sunday and usually on Sunday's I like to prepare for the week, not only personally but for work as well. But before Patty and I fully submerged our selves in preparation mode, I wanted to continue with our new outside of the gym, Sunday exercising tradition. Last Sunday, I decided that it is not good to workout every single day because you have to give your body a little time to recover from the full week of executing all of the gym workout routines. So, I decided that I would start a tradition that every Sunday, Patty and I would do something outside of the gym that involves exercising and just plain old fun. Last Sunday we decided to play basketball in the rain. And believe me it was actually pretty fun.

Anyway, getting back to today. I wanted to do something that was as equally as fun and came up with the plan to go hiking on the Essex County Reservation. I can honestly tell you that I am extremely exhausted. I thought we would be walking down a series of paths that would be fairly flat and not that difficult at all to walk. Well, it wasn't that way at all. We were walking up and down hills, we were walking on gigantic rocks, and crossing small rivers. I was in a full out sweat not even 5 minutes into the hike. Now don't get me wrong, it was a very fun time but I think I will have no problem at all getting sleep tonight at a nice reasonable time. I am glad that we started this Sunday tradition, it is nice to switch it up every once and a while.

Below are some photos that we took during our hike:

Day #70 Hiking

Day #70 Hiking

Day #70 Hiking

Day #70 Hiking

Day #70 Hiking

After our very interesting afternoon adventure, we still had to gather up some energy to go food shopping for the week. Being that we were exhausted, we could have easily decided to go out for lunch tomorrow during the day and gone food shopping tomorrow night. However, I wanted to make sure that we were ready to hit the ground running for the week. So, we managed to pick out our recipes for the week, make our shopping list, and drag our selves to the store. I am glad we did, because we are now prepared for the week and I got that "Sense of Accomplishment" once again.

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

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man 39 = Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Lunch - I slept in once again. For lunch I had a Chicken TBM Sandwich with a fruit cup from Cosi = Points 21
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 2 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookies and a turkey meatball = Points 5
Dinner -  2 Boca veggie burgers with 2 slices of Weight Watchers american cheese on a Weight Watchers whole wheat roll, a side of baked potato chips, and 1/2 a serving of sweet potato fries = Points 11
Dessert - 1 Weight Watcher ice cream cone = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today =  39 Points

Exercise

Today I went hiking and actually got some good exercise. Tomorrow I will be executing my Chest and Biceps routines.

Day #70 - Weigh-In = 264.8 lbs

Day #70 Weigh-In

Day #70 Front Shot