First some history: I had been on my journey for about four months. I had lost 25 pounds. Not a huge loss, but a good start. Then I hit a plateau, a stall, a weight loss brick wall. Maybe I was lax around the holidays. Maybe it was the weather turning nasty. Maybe, I was just a little bored with the journey. I simply don't know, but I started going off the proverbial weight loss rails. I didn't go crazy and start pigging out, but I was not as strict as I had been. I just wasn't fighting as hard. And it showed. I weighed several times a week and for a month I sat between 287 and 284. I wasn't really gaining, but I certainly wasn't losing either. My mind just was not in the game. I wasn't doing what I needed to do to lose, and I knew it.
About a week ago, I mentally checked back in. I knew I didn't want to give back any hard fought for ground. The pounds are too hard to lose to let them just creep back on. I had to make some changes, but the desire had to be there first. I had to WANT to lose weight again. I had to want it bad enough to give up coasting. In the video, I talk about my progress and some of the changes I made. Have you found that this game is mental? What changes did you have to make to get going on your journey. I love reading your thoughts!!!
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Weight Loss Tip - Get Out!!
As many of you know, I live in Michigan. Now Michigan is not known for beautiful weather in winter. Although this winter has been pretty mild, there are still plenty of days where it is gloomy, cold, and just plain nasty outside. On those days when the weather is miserable, I am so very grateful for a warm house with my elliptical and two weight machines in clear view of my TV. While going on the elliptical, I can get so engrossed in watching TV that the time just flies and I can hardly tell I am even exercising. This is fine and good, but sometimes I just have to get out.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Plateaued! Weight Loss Update
I have been stuck in the 280's for three weeks now. I hit a low 284 and have been basically hovering right there. It's not a lot of fun to be sure, and it is certainly frustrating. However, I know what I have to do to break through it. I need to simply start doing the things I was doing when I was losing several pounds a week. The plan is simple--the execution of the plan--not so much.
When I started my journey, I know I wanted a plan I could live with. This means my plan had to be something simple, because I am a simple guy and I like "simple". I developed some simple guidelines for my journey. First, I would give up the obvious bad stuff like sweets, sugared pop, and cakes. Second, I would give up bread and really limit my pasta. This of coarse sounds simple, but was not easy for a bread/pasta addict like myself. Third, I would incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. Finally, I reasoned I would eat many of the remaining foods, just with smaller portions. I made a rule of just having one bowl or one plate for a meal-- no going back for seconds. I think by and large I have been pretty successful in the first three areas. However, I
Maybe I got off track with the holidays. Perhaps I could blame it on the nasty weather. Regardless, of why I am off pace, I know I am off pace, but am officially getting back on track and back in the game. How about you? Are you doing anything to perk up your weight loss game?
I like to wind up on a positive note and with a smile. So here is a video I made when I was starting my journey. I try to show just how tiny portions look to the eyes of this fat guy. I have 30 weight loss related videos you might like to check out on my channel at http://blip.tv/virtualpaul
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
My Struggle Right Now
Right now, I don't have a nagging sweet tooth. I don't have the desire to binge eat a raft of food. I am quite content with my smaller portions diet. But, I am dealing with a certain dieting demon. IMPATIENCE!!! There, I said it. I want this blog to be a totally accurate and honest account of my feelings and experiences through this weight loss journey. So, in all honesty, I am struggling with severe impatience. Impatience over the speed ( or more accurately the lack of speed) of weight loss. Basically the thought pattern goes something like this: I have been dieting for over a month...I have been making do with smaller portions and exercising...so I expect something in return...I want to SEE some progress. I want to FEEL some progress. I want to HEAR from people, "wow you have really been losing some weight!" I have lost 16 pounds, but I haven't had any of that. I know I have not felt or seen anything!! How depressing. How utterly boring. I feel like Linus who is waiting and waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive. It never comes. My tummy is still there. Just as big as ever. I went hiking today. I didn't glide along the paths-it was the usual struggle.
So I think writing it down will help. I believe that recognizing this potential pitfall and addressing it is the first step in fixing it. I know that I must keep telling myself that the weight wasn't put on in a day so it won't come off in a day, or week, or month. I certainly do believe that losing it slowly will enable me to keep the weight off long term. I know it was important for me to address this because, I don't want to just let the dieting demon win by talking me into a mental tailspin. To me this journey is every bit as much of a mental battle as it is a physical struggle. I have worked too hard to just quit because the progress is excruciatingly slow!
So I think writing it down will help. I believe that recognizing this potential pitfall and addressing it is the first step in fixing it. I know that I must keep telling myself that the weight wasn't put on in a day so it won't come off in a day, or week, or month. I certainly do believe that losing it slowly will enable me to keep the weight off long term. I know it was important for me to address this because, I don't want to just let the dieting demon win by talking me into a mental tailspin. To me this journey is every bit as much of a mental battle as it is a physical struggle. I have worked too hard to just quit because the progress is excruciatingly slow!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Weight Loss Lessons Learned Along the Way
Well, I have been on this weight loss journey almost a month now and I have learned a few things I thought I would share with you:
* You will encounter doubters and /or negative people. They may come at you with big smiles. They may seem to be well-intentioned. It is possible that they may not realize what they doing. But be careful, because their negativity will be like throwing water on your fire of enthusiasm. Try to avoid mean or negative people like the plague. Seriously life is just too short!!
*The less I eat, the less I need to eat to feel full. For those of you who have been on the journey longer, these tips are probably basic knowledge. But for someone like me, this is all new. It seems as though my stomach (organ, not tummy so much) has shrunk. In other words, I don't really have the capacity to eat the volume of food like I used to do. I suppose this is similar to the effect achieved from the lapband surgery. Whatever it is, I'm loving it!
*Do a diet that you enjoy?!?! Sounds silly right, but I mean it. If I don't like it, I wont do it. It's that simple: I know myself. I know I have about zero willpower. I have all the respect in the world for those that do the various fasts and really strict diets. I wouldn't last a day!! I knew I had to keep my diet simple, because I am lazy!! So I eat the same foods as before, just less...simple.
*Exercising is about 20 percent--Dieting is about 80 percent. Of coarse this is just my opinion, and just based on my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. In the past I have tried to eat the same portions, and just burn it off with exercise. It didn't work. Unless you are doing something extremely physicial like mountain climbing all day, there is just too much energy (calories) in food to simply burn off with normal exercise. I have come to think of my weight loss plan as simple math: bring in less calories + burn more calories = a lighter me!!
*Make a Lifestyle Change! This goes back to the idea of sustainability. I don't want to lose a bunch of weight on a overly strict program so that when I eventually quit that program, I gain all the weight back. I have personally seen this happen and it is so sad.
* Substituting soup broth for a meal late at night is helping. Yep, it is hot, filling, almost no calories, and tastes good. I did a video on it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H49XUXff91I
Be sure to watch the blooper at the end.
Have you learned any lessons along the way? I would love it if you would share them with us in the comments.
* You will encounter doubters and /or negative people. They may come at you with big smiles. They may seem to be well-intentioned. It is possible that they may not realize what they doing. But be careful, because their negativity will be like throwing water on your fire of enthusiasm. Try to avoid mean or negative people like the plague. Seriously life is just too short!!
*The less I eat, the less I need to eat to feel full. For those of you who have been on the journey longer, these tips are probably basic knowledge. But for someone like me, this is all new. It seems as though my stomach (organ, not tummy so much) has shrunk. In other words, I don't really have the capacity to eat the volume of food like I used to do. I suppose this is similar to the effect achieved from the lapband surgery. Whatever it is, I'm loving it!
*Do a diet that you enjoy?!?! Sounds silly right, but I mean it. If I don't like it, I wont do it. It's that simple: I know myself. I know I have about zero willpower. I have all the respect in the world for those that do the various fasts and really strict diets. I wouldn't last a day!! I knew I had to keep my diet simple, because I am lazy!! So I eat the same foods as before, just less...simple.
*Exercising is about 20 percent--Dieting is about 80 percent. Of coarse this is just my opinion, and just based on my personal experience so take it with a grain of salt. In the past I have tried to eat the same portions, and just burn it off with exercise. It didn't work. Unless you are doing something extremely physicial like mountain climbing all day, there is just too much energy (calories) in food to simply burn off with normal exercise. I have come to think of my weight loss plan as simple math: bring in less calories + burn more calories = a lighter me!!
*Make a Lifestyle Change! This goes back to the idea of sustainability. I don't want to lose a bunch of weight on a overly strict program so that when I eventually quit that program, I gain all the weight back. I have personally seen this happen and it is so sad.
* Substituting soup broth for a meal late at night is helping. Yep, it is hot, filling, almost no calories, and tastes good. I did a video on it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H49XUXff91I
Be sure to watch the blooper at the end.
Have you learned any lessons along the way? I would love it if you would share them with us in the comments.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Losing Weight For Health
I have started a new habit. Yep, and I am happy about it. See we often think of habits as bad because they often are. But with a little determination, it is possible to start a good habit. From looking at several articles, there doesn't seem to be a concrete amount of time needed to form a new habit. However, it seems that consistency and repetition are key.
Well my new habit is actually working out on the elliptical. Its easy. Well, not the workout, but getting in the habit of working out. My plan was simple-make it fun so I will want to do it. Let's face it, working out isn't always enjoyable. And if I don't enjoy something, I can find about a million good reasons why I don't need to do that something. So, I placed my elliptical machine right in the room with the TV. Yep, I am serious about this weight loss now. Guess what? It really works. So now when I come in to watch TV instead of plopping down in the chair, I get on the machine. If it's an interesting show, I get so engrossed in it that I hardly notice I'm exercising.
This is one weight loss tip I wanted to pass along. It is working for me, and just maybe something like it can work for you too. I do know dieting and exercising are hard. So if there is anything that will make them more palatable then that's got to be a good thing. Maybe, you need to buy an Ipod to take with you so you will keep doing your workout? I don't know, but I think we should do whatever it takes to help us not to quit. Let's face it, we are dealing with our lives here, and we are worth it!!! Have you found any tips that are helping you in your journey. I sure would like to hear them in the comments.
Well my new habit is actually working out on the elliptical. Its easy. Well, not the workout, but getting in the habit of working out. My plan was simple-make it fun so I will want to do it. Let's face it, working out isn't always enjoyable. And if I don't enjoy something, I can find about a million good reasons why I don't need to do that something. So, I placed my elliptical machine right in the room with the TV. Yep, I am serious about this weight loss now. Guess what? It really works. So now when I come in to watch TV instead of plopping down in the chair, I get on the machine. If it's an interesting show, I get so engrossed in it that I hardly notice I'm exercising.
This is one weight loss tip I wanted to pass along. It is working for me, and just maybe something like it can work for you too. I do know dieting and exercising are hard. So if there is anything that will make them more palatable then that's got to be a good thing. Maybe, you need to buy an Ipod to take with you so you will keep doing your workout? I don't know, but I think we should do whatever it takes to help us not to quit. Let's face it, we are dealing with our lives here, and we are worth it!!! Have you found any tips that are helping you in your journey. I sure would like to hear them in the comments.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Weight Loss Journey An INTRODUCTION
The Intro:
Hello and welcome to Fat Man Writing!!!! Since this is my first post, I think a little introduction is in order. From what I have seen in the movies, I should start by looking around the room and saying, "Hello, I'm Paul and I have an eating problem..." So basically, I'm 45 years old and you guessed it: another Fat Man with too much free time and a laptop!!! Yes, I like to eat. No, scratch that, in all honesty actually I LOVE to eat!!!! However- here, together, we are going to work on the eating problem--or really, the over eating problem. I just started my weight loss journey two weeks ago with the start of my channel on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/VirtualPaul123
The Numbers:
So I am about 6 feet tall. I weight 305lbs. I started vlogging at 311 lbs. My highest weight was 335 lbs. Ya, so I have a long way to go!!!
The Plan:
So, I love to eat... I'm not going to quit that so I have come up with a totally new and never thought of before idea: I'm going to continue to eat what I want--but, but, here is the new part (at least for me): I"m going to eat LESS of what I love to eat. Now, if you take this totally new idea and write a book and make a million dollars on it, remember to throw a few buck to the Fat Man. Ok, so that's the plan for me. Let"s see how the story goes together, and maybe have a few chuckles along the way.
Hello and welcome to Fat Man Writing!!!! Since this is my first post, I think a little introduction is in order. From what I have seen in the movies, I should start by looking around the room and saying, "Hello, I'm Paul and I have an eating problem..." So basically, I'm 45 years old and you guessed it: another Fat Man with too much free time and a laptop!!! Yes, I like to eat. No, scratch that, in all honesty actually I LOVE to eat!!!! However- here, together, we are going to work on the eating problem--or really, the over eating problem. I just started my weight loss journey two weeks ago with the start of my channel on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/VirtualPaul123
The Numbers:
So I am about 6 feet tall. I weight 305lbs. I started vlogging at 311 lbs. My highest weight was 335 lbs. Ya, so I have a long way to go!!!
The Plan:
So, I love to eat... I'm not going to quit that so I have come up with a totally new and never thought of before idea: I'm going to continue to eat what I want--but, but, here is the new part (at least for me): I"m going to eat LESS of what I love to eat. Now, if you take this totally new idea and write a book and make a million dollars on it, remember to throw a few buck to the Fat Man. Ok, so that's the plan for me. Let"s see how the story goes together, and maybe have a few chuckles along the way.
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