Week 26
July 11
Counting Calories 7/6 – 7/10
I’m trying to prove you can lose weight eating junk food. Not really, but it sure seems that way. This past week saw numerous sloppy meal choices.
Monday (1,530 calories)
6 a.m.: 2 cups of shredded wheat cereal, toast w/ peanut butter and jelly = 460
10 a.m.: Banana = 110
Noon: Tuna sandwich on whole wheat w/ chips = 420
6 p.m.: Cajun grilled chicken and rice jambalaya = 540
Tuesday (1,655 calories)
7 a.m.: 3 eggs (scrambled), toast w/ jam, two slices of bacon = 385
Noon: BBQ, white rice w/ hash, 1/2 cup of coleslaw, 2 hush puppies = 720
6 p.m.: Homemade tacos w/ beef, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, salsa = 550
Wednesday (2,015 calories)
7 a.m.: Nature’s Valley granola bars (2) = 180
8 a.m.: Bojangle’s bacon, egg, cheese biscuit = 535
Noon: BBQ, white rice w/ hash, 1/2 cup of coleslaw, 2 hush puppies = 720
6 p.m.: 3 slices of homemade french toast = 580
Thursday (2,285 calories)
8 a.m.: Bojangle’s bacon, egg, cheese biscuit = 535
Noon: Cheeseburger and fries = 850
6 p.m.: Mexican chimichanga, few chips w/ salsa, red rice = 900 est
Friday (1,605 calories)
6 a.m.: 3 eggs (scrambled), toast w/ jam, two slices of bacon = 385
1 p.m.: TGI Friday’s Sizzlin’ Chicken and Shrimp = 300
6 p.m.: 3 slices of Domino’s supreme pizza (medium) = 920 calories
As you can see, my diet has been pretty lazy this week to say the least — my wife has been out of town (that’s what we call an excuse, kids). Without “supervision,” apparently my diet goes a little bit astray.
I’m back on track today and hopefully we’ll carry that into next week.
July 13
As I was sorting through old pictures yesterday (getting ready to post new progress pictures), I came across this quickly fading memory:
My wife took this picture of me in October of 2008. I was tipping the scale at close to 350 pounds (though I didn’t know it at the time) and I was extremely obese living an unhealthy lifestyle.
This was a lifestyle that was going to end with me dying in 30 20 10 years weighing 500+ pounds.
I want to give you a glimpse into my lifestyle before 344 Pounds:
The above picture was taken at Chili’s on October 11, 2008. It was sent through my iPhone to Facebook as a mobile upload, which is how I have a timestamp of the picture.
I asked my wife to take a picture of me as I wanted a new (emo, apparently) picture for my Facebook profile. We took about 50 different shots because it was hard finding a picture that I was happy with.
It was hard taking a shot that hid all the fat on my face (notice the hands).
Once our Glamour Shots session was over it was time to pick my poison, so to speak.
While I can’t recall what it was the night the above picture was taken, it was always either sweet tea or soda, depending on what I was in the mood for that particular meal. Both sugar drinks are roughly 150 calories or so a glass — I’m sure I had at least 2 or 3 refills that visit, as I always did.
That’s at least 450 calories.
Once my drink arrived, the appetizer would soon follow. I’d always order a serving of southwestern egg rolls (delicious, but 810 calories). My wife would have a couple, but I’d eat the remaining 600 calories.
We’re up to 1,050 calories and the main course hasn’t even arrived.
Ah, but here it comes: chicken crispers. Strips of chicken battered and fried, served with french fries, corn on the cob and honey mustard. Mmm, this is so good I think I might die.
Calories in Chili’s chicken crispers? 1,880 calories.
That brings the total calories I had for dinner over 3,000. It wouldn’t be so bad (okay, it’d still be bad) to enjoy this type of food if it was only once in a while and you went to the gym for three hours shortly afterward.
But it wasn’t. And I didn’t.
I lived an unhealthy lifestyle that created the selfish 350 pound man you see in the picture above. I don’t recognize him, nor do I have a shred of respect for him — he was consciously making choices on a daily basis to kill himself.
The guy in that picture is dead. That unhealthy lifestyle is dead, too.
I’m all that’s left.
July 14
My wife and I are considering setting up a home gym.
We’re contemplating it for a couple of reasons.
First, my membership at Better Body Fitness is up for renewal in a couple of days ($99 for three months). I always like to know I’m getting the best value for my money.
Secondly, my wife decided to start an elliptical workout program to lose some baby weight.
So, we’re trying to decide: home gym or gym memberships?
Cost Comparison
A gym membership for both of us at Better Body Fitness would be $198 every three months or $792 $460.80 for 12 months. It has all the elliptical machines, treadmill machines, dumbbells, etc we could ever need.
While a home gym would cost more money upfront, I shouldn’t have to spend any more money for at least a few years assuming nothing breaks.
We already have a cheap elliptical machine (by ProForm) in the house that we purchased a few years ago for about $350, but to be frank — it’s crap. I don’t think it’s ProForm (I’ve only heard good things), I just believe buying an elliptical (or any cardio) machine is a “you get what you pay for” kind of deal.
With that being said, if we did buy a new elliptical machine for a home gym we’d choose a more expensive elliptical model in the $750 range. It’s worth it.
Convenience
If convenience was the only deciding factor, we’d pull out the Visa with 0% for 12 months and hit Dick’s Sporting Goods tonight!
My gym lacks any sort of childcare services, so that means either my wife or myself has to stay home and watch our daughter while the other goes to the gym.
That’s not very practical.
Space
A home gym, even a single elliptical machine, would take up a lot of room. We live in your typical four-bedroom suburban house consisting of an office, baby’s room, guest room and masters.
While we could cram a small gym into our house, we certainly don’t have what you would call an abundance of space.
Privacy
My wife dislikes the lack of privacy in the gym. In other words, she dislikes the perverts. By talking to other females in my family, apparently my wife is not alone in this sentiment. While I don’t think this is a problem in my gym (we’re a bunch of good ole’ country folks), I honestly wouldn’t notice if it was.
Personally, I don’t need privacy. I’m a man. I could show up at the gym wearing nothing but my underwear, unshaven for weeks and jump on the treadmill and start running. Men have no emotion or feelings.
Overall
Ultimately, I think my wife and I are going to work out separately. We’ll end up buying an elliptical machine to go into a small home gym and I’ll stick with Better Body Fitness.
While my wife wants to concentrate on cardio, I know I’ll begin focusing more and more on building muscle — requiring a smorgasbord of free weights and machines. That’s how you get buff, afterall.
Elliptical & Treadmill Workout Pledge
I have a workout pledge for you.
Since some of you are new to the site, here’s how workout pledges go. Basically, I allow my readers (that’s you!) to determine how long I sweat at the gym.
It isn’t as simple as you telling me to work out (hey jerk, work out for three hours!), you have to complete one (or all) of the small tasks I outline below:
- Post a comment: +15 seconds. Just comment to this post. It can be a “Good luck!” or it could be your life story. I’d be happy to read both.
- Follow me on twitter: +30 seconds. I like to tweet.
- Follow me on Facebook: +30 seconds. Join my new Facebook page and get absolutely nothing of value other than adding 30 seconds to my workout.
- Subscribe to RSS feed: +45 seconds. I’m not really sure what RSS means.
- Link to 344Pounds.com = +1 minute. You can link to me from your blog, Facebook, Twitter page, Digg, Plenty of Fish profile, etc. For every link I receive, I’ll workout 45 seconds.
Unlike previous workout pledges, this is not just for one machine — this is for two, the elliptical and the treadmill.
If the total time for this pledge comes to 75 minutes for example, I’ll spend that time on both machines. I’ll complete 75 minutes on the treadmill, take a short break, then get on the elliptical!
You have until 7 p.m. (Eastern) Wednesday to add time to my workout. So, if you want to add me to your blogroll, RSS feed, Facebook, etc and make me earn your friendship, you have about 30 hours to do so.
It’s up to you. How long will I work out Saturday?
This has ended! This Saturday (UPDATED: Friday night at 7 p.m.) I will be working out for 93.4 minutes on BOTH machines.
July 15
Week 25 isn’t nearly as dramatic as week 24.
July 15 weight: 241.4
July 08 weight: 243.8
July 01 weight: 247.6
Jun 24 weight: 252.4
Jun 17 weight: 253.8
I’ve lost 2.4 pounds in the last week and 102.8 pounds in 25 weeks. Want stats from past weeks? Check out my entire 25 week weight loss progress.
I’m satisfied with the loss this week, but I know it could’ve been more. With a little more basketball and a little lot less pizza over the weekend I probably would have lost another pound. I’m not complaining, though.
Honestly, I’m surprised I still lost 2.4 pounds, especially with all of the belt loosenings I did after hitting the 100-pound mark last week.
On a new front: loose, sagging skin is starting to become a problem. I’m not quite sure how I’ll address this yet (if at all), but I’ll keep you posted.
One battle at a time.
Week 27
July 17
Today is picture day.
Homepage excluded, the pictures page is by far the most visited page on the blog. It’s definitely my favorite page, one that I frequent quite often. On days when I feel like skipping the gym I take a look at a few “before” pictures.
That always gets me moving.
This is the most recent picture:
This was taken last Wednesday. I’m 100 pounds lighter in this self-portrait than I was in the first picture I uploaded some six months ago.
There are two pictures left to be uploaded: 220 and 194 pounds.
I hope to show you both before Christmas.
July 18
Counting Calories 7/13 – 7/17
Monday | 1,545 calories
6 a.m.: Frosted Flakes, milk (1%), banana = 360
Noon: turkey sandwich w/ lots of mustard and light mayo, potato salad = 460
6 p.m.: spaghetti, garlic french bread = 725
Tuesday | 1,750 calories
6 a.m.: scrambled eggs (1), toast (2 pieces) with jelly and peanut butter = 410
1 p.m.: grilled catfish w/ corn and hashbrown casserole = 760
6 p.m.: bacon, lettuce, tomato (add cheese) sandwich w/ chips and salsa = 580
Wednesday | 1,820 calories
6 a.m.: scrambled eggs (3), bacon (2 slices), toast (2 pieces) with jelly = 420
10 a.m.: grapes = 60
Noon: Ye Ole Fashioned (restaurant) cheeseburger and fries = 850 est.
6 p.m.: Red Lobster 1 pound crab legs, mashed potatoes, salad = 490
Thursday | 2,100 calories
6 a.m.: scrambled eggs (3), bacon (2 slices), toast (2 pieces) with jelly = 420
1 p.m.: BBQ, white rice with hash, coleslaw, hash browns (2) = 720
6 p.m.: Five Guys little cheeseburger and cajun fries = 960
Friday | 1,750 calories
6 a.m.: egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich on whole wheat = 380
10 a.m.: Oh Yeah! Protein bar (chocolate w/ almonds) = 170
Noon: gyros w/ onions, lettuce, cucumbers, tomato on a warm pita= 540
6 p.m.: chicken alfredo pasta, Caesar salad = 660
I don’t like tracking calories every week on the web, I’d prefer just to keep a running tally in my head. With that being said, I don’t know how my meals might begin to look if I didn’t have to be accountable for them.
July 20
I went through with the most recent workout pledge on Friday night.
Due to recent media attention, this was the biggest workout pledge by far. I was forced to stay on both the treadmill and elliptical for 93 minutes (plus two for cool down) — putting me in the gym for 3 hours and 10 minutes Friday night.
This was the first workout pledge I tweeted while I worked out. It was a new experience, a positive experience I’d do again; the support I received kept me going for the last hour when my legs started failing.
Recap of Friday night’s workouts
I started out on the treadmill machine a little after 7 p.m. Friday. I maintained a speed varying from 3.4 (when I took pictures) to 4.0. Incline levels varied as well, ranging from 1.1 to 5.1. It was a brisk walk with some hills thrown in.
The 95 minutes on the treadmill were easy compared to the 95 that were soon to follow on the elliptical. While I was on the treadmill daydreaming, fighting boredom, I realized I needed to make a bigger workout playlist for pledges.
Other than realizing I need to bring a book for “next time” and needing to urinate for the last 30 minutes, I had a smooth workout.
I burned nearly 1,000 calories and walked over 5.5 miles in 95 minutes on the treadmill. Other than stiffness in the legs, I finished the workout unscathed.
It wasn’t until I stopped stretching and went to the restroom did the scary reality sink in: I’m about to start the hard part.
I had only done 95 minutes on the elliptical before once (when I did 99), but that wasn’t following 95 minutes on the treadmill. I was sore, tired and wanted to go home.
The only place I was going, though, was on the elliptical.
I started my workout on the elliptical machine after a short break used to go to the restroom and fill up my water bottle. After typing in level 20 (out of 20) into the machine it turned on and I immediately knew I was in trouble.
I got onto twitter for some support and found Lethal Weapon 2 on television (the one with Joe Pesci), settling in for a long, painful workout.
Looking back, I have no idea how I managed to keep going.
Around the halfway mark on the elliptical, about two and a half hours after my current cardio session started, my legs began to buckle. I had to lean against the machine’s console so I wouldn’t fall down. This was the moment I wanted most to quit and say “no thanks” to the remaining 45 minutes, but I didn’t.
I got back on twitter and looked for support — I found it and kept going.
With about 20 minutes left my water ran out and my cell phone battery was dying, which meant no more twitter updates. I turned off the music application on my phone (G1) to conserve the battery and simply ignored my water problem — I wasn’t about to quit now.
Luckily, the battery in my phone lasted long enough to snap a final picture and I was able to wipe the machine down, stretch, guzzle down 20 ounces of water and walk out of the gym alive.
It was easy to fall asleep once I got home. My legs were sore and stiff, but I could walk.
I was a little sore Saturday and only did some light cleaning, but hit the gym Sunday hard and did 30 minutes on both the treadmill and elliptical.
I’ll be back at the gym tonight fully charged.
I want the 230s.
July 21
My birthday is this Sunday (July 26) — I’ll be turning 24.
It’s going to be the best birthday I’ve ever had.
It’s not because I’m going to have a big party — because I’m not. And it’s not because I’ll be getting some shiny new toy — because I’m not.
It’s because I have something to celebrate.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve celebrated 23 wonderful birthdays. I’ve always had wonderful family and friends and have absolutely nothing to lament about.
I use birthdays though, just like New Years, to reflect back on the last year and to look at what I’ve accomplished — and what I’ve yet to accomplish.
That list has always started and stopped with me losing 100+ pounds.
Not anymore.
Even more reason to celebrate, the Monday after my birthday is the first day of my week long vacation. I don’t plan on taking anytime off of the blog though, because I have absolutely no life. Just kidding. Sort of.
But really, I’ll still be around.
Hopefully, I’ll get an early birthday present tomorrow: 230s!
Weigh-In Results
The scale had an early birthday present this morning. 230’s!
July 22 weight: 238.8
July 15 weight: 241.4
July 08 weight: 243.8
July 01 weight: 247.6
Jun 24 weight: 252.4
I’ve lost 2.6 pounds in the last week and 105.4 pounds in 26 weeks. Want stats from past weeks? Check out my entire 26 week weight loss progress.
I’m now 39 pounds away from weighing under 200 pounds. Can you imagine how exciting that day is going to be? I loved the day I lost 100 pounds, but it’ll be nothing compared to the day I weigh under 200 pounds.
That’s going to be one big party.
July 23
There’s a good reason for this ridiculously large grin.
I haven’t been able to fit into a large shirt since middle school.
Granted, it’s snug, but it fits comfortably.
It took 12 years of extremely poor, selfish choices to put me into a large XL XXL XXXL XXXXL shirt. It only took 26 weeks to roll it all back.
That’s something to smile about.
