So first, I have been stuck at the 342-346 area for 5 WEEKS!!! Enough is enough… I have been eating well, but not being as strict as I was when I was losing weight.. I also have not been exercising like I should (and not at all most of the time)… I still have my goals, but I have lost the extreme motivation that I had…
There have been several things that have made me ‘feel’ like I was more motivated… We bought a Wii Fit, (which by the way is AWESOME! More on the Wii Fit below) When I got it home we noticed that the weight limit is 330 pounds… so I decide to try it anyway and when you get on it, it weighs you… and tells you that you are over the limit… so my kids and wife are enjoying it… I really WANT to get below 330 so I too can enjoy it… Also, watching the first episode of ‘The Biggest Loser‘ last night was great… one guy lost 24 pounds his first week… I’m sure he ‘bulked up’ going into it, but that is still amazing! Oh what I could do if all I did was workout, eat food prepared by a diet chef and had a personal trainer yelling at me all day!
So why am I not motivated like I was… time and lack of results.. it’s a vicious circle I guess… I lose motivation, then that makes me stop losing weight, which causes me to be less motivated… etc.
What am I going to do about it? Well I have decided as of last night that I am not forcing myself to get back 100% on the lighten up program AND forcing myself to exercise EVERY day! That means on the elliptical or bike at home, or at the YMCA swimming or jumping rope in the garage or walking around the neighborhood… rain or shine, sick or well, tired or really tired I am going to do this NOW! I am going to use the desire to be on the Wii Fit and the motivation of watching the contestants on The Biggest Loser and breaking this 5 week rut!
This blog is a few days away from being 3 months old… I cannot afford health-wise to take this lightly (no pun intended) I need to refocus and kick myself in the ass to get going on the losing again. My hope for the blog is that I will start getting some comments posted.. any comments at all.. really if you are reading this PLEASE post something just so we know you are there!
Now about the Wii Fit… if you can swipe your kids Wii and find a Wii Fit at a store (which is difficult to do) I highly recommend you get it. It is WAY more than I expected it to be. It is a balance board that wirelessly connects to your Wii… when you start it sets up a profile for you and you stand on the board to weigh in.. it detects you balance and that is how you ‘exercise’.. they have yoga, strength training, balance training, etc.. the games are fun and you earn time that unlocks more games.. things like ski jumping, tightrope walking, hula-hoop (my wife’s favorite).. it doesn’t sound like it would be anything that can give you a workout.. but boy does it… and it tracks your progress too… you can set goals (like lose 2 pounds in the next 3 weeks) and it will help you achieve it. It is really a wonderful product and makes you want to play (exercise)
So Set your Tivo and fire up the Wii, and check back next week to see my progress!
Thanks,
Steve
So my wife and I got a rare chance to go to our favorite place for the weekend. Avila Beach is near San Luis Obispo, California and is about a 3 hour drive from home. The hotel that we stay at there ran an incredible special and we couldn’t pass up the deal.. and we both needed to get away SO bad…
So great trip.. lots of fun and very relaxing.. great weather… we had a BLAST! Now the down side is that there are GREAT places to eat there… and places that are not real Lighten Up friendly… so we decided to take it easy, and to really watch our snacking… and we did.. but I went off on the meals, not like I would have in the past, but definitely not on the program. For example I have breakfast ands had fruit instead of hash browns.. but I also had more protein on my plate than I am allowed in a full day… and I ate it all!
One diner I had three types of grilled fish.. steamed veggies and a baked potato… but I also had Breaded, Fried Green Beans for an appetizer and a bowl of clam chowder…
So anyway I expected to gain a small amount of weight… I hoped it wouldn’t be more than 4 pounds.. so was I in for a shock when it was a gain of 9-10 pounds (can’t tell exactly since I had to back to the old POS digital scale since I was over 350 again)… so that was Monday when I weighed 356.8…
That morning I went back on the food mover and now I am down 4 pounds… on track again and getting back on track with the exercise tonight.
It really taught me how easy it is to convince yourself that it is okay to take off this day or this weekend (or this meal for that matter) and how devastating it can be to your progress. I have been at about the same weight for a month now and I am tired of it. I need to refocus all my efforts and be serious again… I need to get below 300 and not be stuck here in the 340-350 range.
Next trip away I will still have a great time with my wife and we will eat at the same places.. I will just have to make the right choices and stick to it!
I don’t remember if I read this somewhere or if someone told me… but as strange as it sounds it helps…
When you get up and look in the mirror in the morning get close so you see your face really well and smile at yourself… take just a couple of seconds and try to give a genuine, happy smile…
Take it in… it is amazing but for me it brightens up the morning mood… I am so not a morning person and before I started doing this I can’t remember the last time I looked at myself and smiled…
Everyone reading this (if anyone is reading this), try it tomorrow morning.. come back and comment and let me know if it helps your morning mood at all!
Steve
So today I was able to weigh in on the infamous ‘doctors scale” (see changing scales)… so while the POS digital scale weighed me in at 342.4 (officially 64 pounds from all time high!) I went to the more acurrate scale… 347.0… I can live with that… so assuming that my all time high was accurate (it was at the real doctors so I believe it is close) I have lost 57.6 pounds (45 on the Lighten Up program since 6/8/08.. just under 2 months!)…
Eating is getting a little blan.. haven’t been making new dishes or trying new things (one thing I need to start doing again) and the exercise is still not where it should be. Water intake is also WAY down. These basics are all things I have to change now to keep going down the right road.
Just a quick note… after last weekends weight gain I was able to get back on track and refocus on the Lighten Up program.. today I weigh 349.2.. that is 57.2 pounds lost from my high of 406.4!!! And, Since June 8th (when I started the Lighten Up program) I have lost 42.8 pounds!
I believe this is the second largest weight loss that I have even had… and the first one was crash dieting and extensive exercising every day (I was 18 years old at the time. While I need to make myself exercise more often (I only made it to the gym once this week so far, and have not been on the bike or elipcitac at home at all) but the food part has been relativly easy. I do lose a protien exchange and a fruit exchange (going from 2405 calories to 2270) but I also get to live longer… so that’s a fair trade.
I feel good… I am wearing jeans again and some of my 3X shirts… I don’t feel as uncomfortable and not as self-concious about my size when I am in a group.
Steve
After this last weekend was over, I had gained 6 pounds! I really thought I was staying on track, and know I went over on my exchanges a little on Saturday, but I was shocked at the 6 pounds…
So Yesterday (Monday) I was fully back on and lost a little over 2 pounds… so I am refocused and anxious to get to below 350!
It’s really interesting the mental burden that gaining the hard-lost pounds causes… I tried my best to not beat myself up and to not lose sight of the big picture and the ultimate goal, but that is really hard sometimes.
I know that to get through this, I have to exercise more often.. that is the key, I think, to making this work at this point.
So when we got to talk to Richard on his Sirius Radio show on June 15, 2008, he invited us to come to his sudio in Beverly Hills (Slimmons)… we finally were able to make a plan to go yesterday (July 26) What an experience! Richard was friendly and very down to earth… we sat around him and we all talked for about 45 minutes before the workout… it was very cool… the thing that I found was how comfortable it was there… everyone was SO nice, and I didn’t feel uneasy as I usually would in a new environment with people I had never met… after we all talked, the ‘sweat’ class started… and boy did I… I am no dancer, and I have not done more than 30 minutes on an eliptical for aerobic exercise in the last 15 years… it was a killer workout… then we grabbed weights and toned… I never would have guessed that 5 pound dumbells could give me such fatigue in my upper body… then on the floor for some abs and glutes work… after it was all over, we got to say goodbye and thank you to Richard and get our picture taken with him… then it was home to recoup… I am so sore today that I could barely walk.. that is no exagerration… so I am going swimming to try to loosen up some
Thank you to Richard and all the staff that helped set this up
Steve
Hello!
So today is 4 weeks from when I started the Lighten Up program and when I got on the scale it show exactly 30 pounds lost!
That means 134 pounds left to lose! Very exciting and what a difference in the way I feel… I just did 30 minutes on the Eliptical… that would have been just a pipe dream a month ago… 3 months ago I woudl get winded walking 50 yards to my car! Plus my legs/feet don’t hurt like they were.
A few months ago I was not thinking about being active again, but now I am look forward to getting back on the tennis courts (something I haven’t done in almost 20 years) and other activities!
Steve
So I have had a couple of really hard days… and it reminded me of something I heard once (I wish I could remember who said it so I could give credit)… When I finally quit smoking, I quit cold turkey… from almost 3 packs a day to not even a puff… and it was so hard. But I still believe that if I had a single drag off a cigarette today that I would be smoking 2 packs a day in less than a week… it is much easier to not have any than to have a little… I’m sure that is true for drug addiction also.
It would be easier to just quit food… having to eat little amounts is way harder that quitting cold turkey (no pun intended). So as I had my ‘rough’ days I was tempted to not eat, which I knew was not a good choice.
To make the right choice to stay on the program and eat right I went back to something that I was told by a life coach a couple of years ago. Scott Chesney (www.scottchesney.com) made it clear how important gratitude is and how important it is to reflect on that every day. Now when I first heard that I thought “I am thankful for many things everyday already”, but that it so different than ‘actually’ reflecting on your gratitude. For a period of time, I wrote daily what I was grateful for. That is much harder than it sounds… but it really does matter.
So on the rough days I sat and really put some effort into thinking about what I am grateful for.. the obvious ones are easy… my wife and kids… my friends… my home business… having a place to live, in a wonderful and safe city… and then you have to start digging deeper.. and deeper… until at some point you can’t think of any more… when I did this one thing that came to mind was how grateful I am that I am in a position to be able to improve my health, appearance and life… and that lead to being grateful for a program that I have been able to see results with… so when I was sitting there hating being on a diet and hating exercising, my mindset did a 180… I am actually grateful that I am able to exercise and diet and see results from that.
So from that I was re-energized and focused and made it through to fight another day. This one little thing that Scott requested from me that most of us assume we already do made a huge difference… I urge each of you to take 5 minutes at the beginning or end of each day and write down what you are grateful for… there are no right or wrong answers… just take it in and feel grateful for every little thing you have… and keep going!
Steve
So it took me a long time to get in the frame of mind that I am in right now. I have known for so long what I needed to do to lose weight and be healthy. I have know the risks to my health and my life that being morbidly obese has caused. I know that I am shortening my life with my family and kids (whom I love very much)… but none of that mattered for so long.
Now I am looking toward the future. I know I have a long trip to lose the weight and get back in shape, but I see the road there now.. a few weeks ago I saw nothing. I know it will be hard, but I am looking forward in a lot of ways to proving to myself (and others) that I can do this.
How did I get into this frame of mind? I tried for a long time to get into it. I wanted it, but it just wasn’t happening… I was keeping myself from getting there. I know now that it took reaching out and getting support in return and, in my case, reaching out to someone outside of my circle of family and friends. I have a wonderfully supportive group of family and friends, and they are there for me whenever I need them, but I needed something else. I reached out and got some encouragement… then more… and then I found some success and now I am hooked.
I don’t know what will give you that push to get the frame of mind that you need, but I know that if you have tried before and failed, then you need to think outside the box… outside of the circle of support that you have and keep searching until you find it.. it is out there, and you owe it to yourself and your family to keep searching.. just like I did!