Day # 82 - Travel Series Part 4b - So Busy, I Forgot to Eat

Last night after I posted my blog, I was very curious to actually calculate how many hours I was awake for. Amazingly, Patty and I counted that I was awake for 40 hours straight. However that did not stop me from getting my workout routine in for the day. By the time I actually fell asleep it was roughly 11 pm. You can only imagine how happy I was to be laying in a real bed and slowly slipping off into a deep sleep. It was amazing!

I woke up this morning at 9:30 and felt so refreshed after sleeping for 10 and a half hours. I was so pumped to start the day and to finish my preparation for my big event that was happening at 4:30. As soon as I woke up, I had a plan put in place for Patty and I to follow and to hit the ground running. I am very happy I was able to get enough sleep in last night because without it, I would have never been able to get everything done. There was so much preparation that had to be done and my phone was ringing off the hook, thank goodness I had Patty with me to lighten my work load. By the time 4:30pm hit, everything was set for the event and people began to arrive. The event ended up being covered by the local ESPN radio station, the local ABC affiliate, and the major newspaper in the area. My boss was extremely happy with how everything went and I would say it was a successful first event.

It is amazing how busy I can get sometimes. So busy today, that I even forget to eat. When the day started, I had a few slices of fruit as a makeshift breakfast. Patty and I then purchased some healthy sandwiches from a local health food market that I fully intended to eat. By dinner time, Patty told me I had only managed to eat half a sandwich, four pretzel sticks, and a few slices of fruit the entire day. At first I didn't believe her but as I took a second to calculate everything in my head, I came to the realization that she was correct. Being that my boss was excited about the turnout of today's event, he decided to treat me and Patty to dinner. We ended up eating at a great seafood restaurant in downtown Charleston, SC. Since I really didn't have anything to eat today, I figured I would treat myself by ordering a nice shrimp fettuchini alfredo meal and a beer. The last few days tuned out pretty good. However, I have to concentrate more on trying to eat during my busy schedule.

With that being said, lets 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)

*It was such a crazy day, that I decided that is wasn't even worth it to record my points on today's post because I would drive myself crazy trying to calculate how many points my dinner was.

Breakfast - 2 slices of fruit
Lunch - Half a turkey sandwich with American cheese and 4 pretzel sticks
Dinner - Shrimp fettuchini alfredo and a Corona

Exercise

I was so tied up with preparation for my event, that I didn't get to the gym. I will be home tomorrow and my normal routine will start up once again. I can't wait!!

Day #82 - Weighn-In = 259.2 lbs

Day #82 Weigh-In

Day #82 Front Shot

Day #81 - Travel Series Part 4a - The Day That Just Won't End

In yesterday's post, I talked about how I spent the whole day preparing for my latest business trip. Preparing for the trip at work went by pretty well. However, preparing for the trip after work went in a direction that I did not want it to go. My car ended up not starting and it is now currently sitting in my office parking lot, waiting to be towed. Because my car couldn't start, my brother had to come pick me up from work and that took another 40 minutes for him to get there. I ended up getting a late start on packing for the trip and during this process, the power in my apartment went out. Trying to get my electric back on took another half an hour. By the time everything was complete and I was ready to sit down to write my blog, it was already 1:30am. After dealing with this whole process, there was no point in going to sleep because I would of never have woken up at 4am to leave for the airport.

Today was no different. I attempted to fall asleep on the plane but failed at doing that. Patty kept on readjusting in her seat because she gets nervous when she flies and it was keeping me up. Then I thought that I would be able to sleep a little on the connecting flight but that flight was too short to even close my eyes. Before I knew it, we had landed in Columbia, SC and that was the end of attempting to sleep for a little bit. Patty and I then had to drive 2 hours from Columbia, SC to Charleston, SC because it was cheaper to fly into Columbia and drive the rest of the way. After the long drive, I had to check into the hotel and then make my way to a meeting that was set for 3:30 pm pertaining to the event that I am running tomorrow. That brings me to now, I am currently writing my blog and then I will attempt to work out. I have been awake since 9:00 am yesterday morning and I am fading quickly. The funny thing is that I managed to eat healthy this whole time. This day just doesn't want to end but I can guarantee you that I will be falling asleep very soon.

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 - 1/2 a serving of yogurt, a servings of apple slices, and 11 mini chocolate soy crisps = Points 8
Lunch - (1) 6" Double Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki on whole wheat bread with a slice of American cheese and a serving of baked potato chips = Points 12
Dinner - French Onion Soup, Grilled Chicken with portabello mushrooms, herb potatoes, and steamed vegetables (Applebees) = Points 19

Total Points Eaten Today = 39 Points

Exercise

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

Day #81 - Weigh-In = 260.0 lbs

Day #81 Weigh-In

Day #81 Front Shot

Day #80 - Preparing to Travel...... Yet Again

Preparing to travel never turns out to be a simple process. Patty and I leave for Charleston, SC tomorrow, well technically today at 4:00am in the morning. It is fun to travel, especially when you have a companion to do it with but at 4 am is rough. Leaving at this time, to the airport, makes things a little difficult because for starters, it is freakin 4 am in the morning! Secondly, it throws off my whole sleeping pattern because what ever sleep I manage to get, will not be even close to the 7 1/2 - 8 hours I get on a normal basis. So right there, my day is off to a horrible start when you think in terms of a weight loss program. The human body requires at least 8 hours of sleep in order to function properly. My eating pattern will also be thrown off because I am sure that I will be hungry at an earlier time because of what time I have to wake up. This will take up my daily points quicker and will leave me with hardly any points towards the night time. But with all of these potential situations I will be facing, I am determined to adjust accordingly.

My weight loss program wasn't the only thing that was causing an obstacle when I was planning for this trip. Usually when I am getting ready to travel for business, I have to do some last minute work to make sure I am prepared for everything for when I am out on the road and today was no different. I spent the whole day wrapping up all loose ends, to ensure that my big meeting on Friday was all ready to go. I had a few issues here and there but I managed to get everything squared away.  It was what happened after work, that caused some issues.

First of all, my car wouldn't start and it is currently sitting in the parking lot at my office, waiting to be towed on Monday morning. Thank goodness it is still under warranty. This caused a problem because I still had to do laundry, pack, and write my blog before I could settle down for the night. Half the power in my apartment also went out while Patty was trying to blow dry her hair, to prepare for a meeting that we have tomorrow, shortly after we land. That too caused a little bump in the road.

Well finally, the packing is done and I am prepared to hit the road for the airport when the clock strikes for 4 am. And the last thing I am doing for the night is making sure I have a post for all of you fine people to read for tomorrow. I am signing off for now! Wish me luck with my business trip, I hope everything turns out good.

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 5
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 1 Weight Watchers chocolate muffin and 1 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookie = Points 4
Lunch - 1 Serving of Beef Stroganoff = Points 9
Dinner - 1 Foot long Double Turkey sub on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese, a bag of baked potato chips, and a serving of apple slices = Points 17

Total Points Eaten Today = 35 Points (4 points under my daily limit)

Exercise

Today I honestly did not have any time to workout. I have been working all day to get prepared for a business trip and I spent the rest of the day packing for the trip at home. I will be working out tomorrow on the road.

Day #80 - Weigh-In = 260.2 lbs

Day #80 Weigh-In

Day #80 Front Shot

Day #79 - Our Cooking Buddy

I have mentioned a few times before that my best friend / sister, Caroline has been eating dinners with Patty and I for the last few weeks now. She comes over to our apartment about 2-3 times a week to help Patty cook the meals while I go to the gym to workout. She loves the idea of us trying to lose weight and get healthier by trying to cook healthy recipes from, www.weightwatchers.com. She agrees with us that even though the recipes are made with healthier ingredients, they taste just as good as any normal recipe you will find in any typical cook book.

Anyway, since Caroline has moved into her new apartment, she insists that we split up our weekly dinners between our place and her new place. So, keeping with this new tradition, Caroline had told us last night that she would cook tonight's dinner while we were on our way home from work. She was so excited to be hosting our little weekly dinner party at her place for the first time. Patty and I told her that we had already purchased the ingredients for Beef Stroganoff on Sunday and we would give them to her, so she could be ready to cook when it was time. However, she took the ingredients home last night and forgot to put them in the refrigerator. By the time she realized that they were still out on the counter, they were no good to cook with anymore. So she had to run around today to shop for everything for tonight's dinner all over again.

We arrived at her place about 40 mins after we left work and she was almost done cooking. She grabbed Patty and took her into the kitchen to double check that she did everything correctly. She even kicked me out of the kitchen because she wanted me to wait until we sat down to eat. It sucked for me because I was hungry and her place was smelling amazing. When it was finally time to sit down and eat, my mouth was watering from all the suspense. The meal turned out to be very good!! It tasted great and was filling as usual. And to make the night even better, she had surprised me and bought home Weight Watchers Ice Cream sandwiches for dessert!! I am so lucky to have such great people like Caroline and Patty to help me on a daily basis to get through my mission.

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 muffin, 1 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookie, 1 pear, chicken breast, and 11 mini pretzel chips = Points 10
Lunch - Turkey with 3 slices of american cheese on a multi grain bagel with a serving of baked potato chips = Points 14
Dinner - 1 serving of Beef Stroganoff (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 9
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 39 Points

Exercise

Today I ran for 40 mins on the elliptical and I switched up the resistance levels. I also executed my core body workout routine: Standing Dumbbell Side Crunches (3 sets x 25 reps w/ 25 lbs), Crunches (3 sets x 25 reps), and Planks (3 sets x 30 seconds). Tomorrow I will be executing my Back and Triceps routines.

Day # 79 - Weigh-In = 261.8 lbs

Day #79 Weigh-In

Day #79 Front Shot

Day #78 - Who Says Time Can't Fly?

I was too tired to wake up this morning and I wanted to stay in bed to recover from the long and exhausting weekend. I thought one day in NYC was enough to make me want to sleep for a few days, but two days in a row kicked my butt. I don't think I have ever walked so much in one weekend, in my entire life. Is it weird to say that I need a vacation from the weekend in NYC?

Anyway, getting up this morning was a chore and a half. And to make things even worse, it was a Monday morning. I felt like I wasn't ready to take on the week just yet. But I had to pull myself together because I had a lot of work to get done before I traveled back to Charleston, SC for business on Thursday. Anyone ever had one of those days where it feels like everything in your life was just piling up and there wasn't enough time in a day to get it all done? Well today was one of those days. I had to take a step back and take deep breath before I dove into all my work head on.

However, the day went by pretty quickly because I had my favorite dish, Chicken Pot Pie, to look forward to. I had brought four slices of Chicken Pot Pie into work today and being that Patty ate one of those slices for lunch, I had three to work with. I used those three pieces to break up the work day into three parts. I usually like to eat my first meal at work between 12pm and 1pm everyday. This food break allows me to step away from work for a little bit to clear my head before I jump into something else. Well having these three pieces at work made my day go by a little quicker and let me explain how. I love Chicken Pot Pie so much that I actually look forward to eating it. Now, waiting for my food break to come around will only make the day go by slower. However, I have noticed that every time I get caught up in work, the time goes by a lot quicker. So, usually when I have something that I like to eat, I bury myself in work to make my food break come a little quicker. You can only imagine how fast the day went by because I had three pieces ready for the day.

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 pears = Points 2
Early Afternoon - 1 serving of homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 5
Mid Afternoon - 1 serving of homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 5
Late Afternoon - 1 serving of homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 5
Dinner - 1 serving  of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (Weigh Watchers Recipe) with an extra piece of chicken and an extra cup of whole wheat pasta = Points 16

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

Body Measurements

Chest - 46 inches
Waist (Around my stomach and love handles even with my belly button) - 48 inches
Neck - 15 1/2 inches
Bicep (Not Flexed) - 15 1/2 inches
Bicep (Flexed) - 16 1/2 inches
Upper Leg (Around the quad & hamstring) - 28 1/2 inches
Lower Leg (Around the calve) - 17 inches

Exercise

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

Day # 78 - Weigh-In = 261.8 lbs

Day #78 Weigh-In

Day #78 Front Shot

Day #77 - The Tired Heavy Man - NYC Part 2

Patty and I took one final trip into NYC today to finish off the weekend with her family. I really think I have walked enough this weekend to fill up a whole week's worth of cardio workouts. Right now, as I am sitting here writing this post, I am trying really hard not to fall asleep. My feet, ankles, knees, and hips are so soar that I am absolutely amazed that I can even stand up and walk around my apartment.

While in New York City today, we walked once again from Patty's sister's apartment to Central Park. During our stay in the park, we rented miniature sail boats for her niece and nephews to use on the lake. They had a lot of fun trying to maneuver the boats around all the other ones that were already in the water. After a while they just wanted to crash them into each other. After the boats, we ended walking back across the park to go to the Museum of Natural History. The Museum is a very fun place to go to if you have a couple hours to kill. It is 4 floors of really amazing artifacts and history. We only had a little time to tour it because everyone had to leave early in the evening to prepare for work the next day. While in the Museum we visited the Dinosaur and Sea life exhibits. It is really amazing to see how many massive creatures this world has had over the years.

I was thrown off my eating schedule today because we were trying to cram a lot of things into a small time frame. It was around 3:30pm before we found a place to eat lunch. And I was starving by the time we sat down to order food because I only managed to eat 5 points worth of food until that point in the day. We ended up going to eat lunch at an Italian restaurant by Central Park. I figured that since I had walked so much this weekend and gotten a lot of cardio in, that eating something a little unhealthy would be just fine. Plus, I had 34 points left for the day and I was going to stick to within my daily points limit anyway. So I decided to order a grilled chicken calzone and man was it good. But here is the great thing about it, I averaged it out to around 20 points. And since I was only at 5 points eaten for today, it allowed me to still have about 14 points left for dinner. I know it is not the ideal schedule for eating correctly but it still remained within my daily points limit.

I think the weekend went very well. I walked a lot and I was constantly moving. I only managed to eat one bad meal in the process. I would have to call this a wining result, especially since I wasn't home at all this weekend to execute my normal routines.

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 - 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 - Fruit cup = Points 2
Lunch - Grilled Chicken Calzone = Points 20
Dinner - 2 slices of homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 10

Total Points Eaten Today = 35 Points (5 points under my daily limit)

Exercise

Today, Patty and I went back into New York City to see her family before they went home. I know it wasn't the weight lifting routine I had planned out for today in the gym. However, my lower body is so soar and tired that I don't think I would be able to do anything productive in the gym at all. Tomorrow is a brand new day and I will be executing my Legs and Shoulders routine.

Day #77 - Weigh-In = 261.6 lbs

Day #77 Weigh-In

Day #77 Front Shot

Day #76 - NYC Kicked My Butt Again

Every time I travel into New York City, I seem to come home tired, soar, and ready to sleep. Patty's family took the trip from Delaware up to visit us this weekend. And I know that every time we see them, we are going to be doing something fun. This time around, the destination was NYC. I was prepared for a lot of walking, a lot of site seeing, and of course eating healthy on the run.

We started today off by waking up around 8am this morning. Now, if you have been following this blog for awhile, you know that I like to try and take of advantage of sleeping in when I can. However, this weekend was a special occasion and I didn't mind waking up early at all on a Saturday morning. Anyway, I woke up early and had a nice healthy breakfast sandwich, consisting of egg whites on whole wheat bread with 1 slice of american cheese and two slices of turkey bacon. If anyone out there is a big bacon lover and you are currently trying to lose weight, a great substitute for normal bacon, is turkey bacon. It taste great and is healthier for you. Getting back to the story, after breakfast was over, we all packed into the car and made our way into the city.

We started our little NYC adventure by meeting up with Patty's other sister who lives in the city. The plan was to walk from her apartment on the east side of Manhattan to Central Park. While walking to Central Park, we stopped on the way and purchased food for a nice healthy picnic in the park. It was a great day out side today and let me tell you, I think the entire city was in the park. We ended up walking from the middle of the park, basically to the South end. If you know Central Park, that turns into quite a bit of walking. By the time we exited Central Park, my feet were on fire. But we didn't stop there, we ended up going to the American Girl Store for my future niece, the Nintendo World Store for both my future nephews, the Lego Store for all three of them, and the Apple Store for the adults. As the day started to wind down, Patty and I had to make our way to the NYC Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch a ride home. And of course, trying to keep in the spirit of being healthy, we hiked about 20 blocks to get there. After all was said and done, it felt like we walked over 10 miles and then some. My feet and legs haven't been this soar in a long time. I really don't mind at all, that I am so tired and run down, because spending the day with my future family made it all worth 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 - Egg whites on 2 slices of Weight Watchers whole wheat bread with a slice of Weight Watchers american cheese and 2 pieces of turkey bacon = Points 4
Snack During the Course of the Day - 1 Fruit Cup = Points 2
Lunch - Sliced deli turkey on 2 slices of white bread with 3 slices of american cheese = Points 13
Dinner - 1 Chicken and Broccoli dinner with a side of steamed brown rice and an egg roll = Points 17
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich = Points 2

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

Exercise

Today I got a ton of cardio in by walking all over New York City. Tomorrow I will be executing my Legs and Shoulders routine.

Day #76 - Weigh-In = 261.4 lbs

Day #76 Weigh-In

Day #76 Front Shot