Day 875 - Try Again?

Here I am again looking at myself in the mirror with the same results for doing the same thing for the last two and a half years. Do I make it a 3rd Attempt or do I throw the towel in and call it a day at trying to drop a hundred pounds and 20 inches from my waist?

Eventually we have to ask ourselves are we serious about getting better or are we just doing it to make ourselves feel a little better for a few days. For me, I find myself happy knowing that I can drop the weight with some effort as I have done so in the past. It is just staying with the game plan that always seems to prevent me from keeping the weight managed.

Looking back at the last 3 years I was motivated by an end result. Which is not a bad idea; however, am I only looking at the short-term goal vs the long-term result. It is time to look at an end result not in a month but in a year. With a game plan for life.

Planning is going to be key to this round of dropping the excess weight. I am looking for a method that will allow me to drop 15 pounds the first month (of course I want more):

1. Nov 09 - 15 lbs
2. Dec 09 - 15 lbs
3. Jan 10 - 10 lbs
4. Feb 10 - 10 lbs
5. Mar 10 - 10 lbs
6. Apr 10 - 10 lbs
7. May 10 - 5 lbs
8. Jun 10 - 5 lbs
9. Jul 10 - 5 lbs
10. Aug 10 - 5 lbs
11. Sep 10 - 5 lbs
12. Oct 10 - 5 lbs

H.E.L.P. is the method I am going to use this time around. Here I am today and Eventually where do I want to be by Looking at the Long-Term and Planning for managable results.

Today’s Weight/Size: ~270 (4XL)

Day 25 - Eating More ...

Another Day of eating - but healthy! After having the beef patty and two (2) scrambled eggs I had an oversized Chefs Salad for lunch followed by Burger King for dinner (rodeo burger no bun and a side salad that was two days OLD!

Today’s Weight: 244.5

Day 24 - Still Eating ...

It is time for me to once again refocus my energy again on the weight loss plan. Over the last couple days I have enjoyed a little too much food. More then I actually needed to eat and it has cost me a few pounds. Not bad for a little celebration after three weeks of intense dieting and exercising. But finding that right balance will be essential in maintaining a healthy relationship between what I actually need and what my taste buds desire.

On Monday, I enjoyed huge meal from Islands Restaurant in Irvine as an award for winning the Biggest Loser Competition. That was followed by a slice of pizza for dinner. Yesterday, I had two (2) scrambled eggs for breakfast, side salad and fried zucchini for lunch and the leftovers from Islands for dinner. A lot of food! This morning I had a ground beef patty and two (2) scrambled eggs. It is time to get things a little under control before they control me.

Today’s Weight: 240

Day 23 - Gaining a Little Back

Yesterday, I came in at the last second to pull off a victory in our Office Biggest Loser Competition. The final tally was 31 to 37 pounds. The actually percentage was .4%.

It was an awesome race with Islands as our reward. Today with normal work clothes on and the competition over I weighted in at 240 pounds. Not too bad considering about 3 of those pounds is clothes.

The last three weeks have been tough. It was also very educational in the fact that my goal is being redefined to a more realistic number. In all we lost nearly 70 pounds together!

Thank you all for being there to support us in the crazy weight loss challenge.

Today’s Weight: 237

Day 22 - 35 Pounds Later

Saunas and Weight Lose. Last week I got a 7-Day Guest Pass from 24 Hour Fitness to help my chances at winning the Biggest Loser Competition in the Office. It did help me lose some weight. I had to place incorrect weights on my daily weight in order to mislead the others in the Office.

Did it work? Yes!

Everyday I did aerobic exercises and on Tuesday I stopped eating. Yup my last meal was Tuesday Morning. On Wednesday I began using the sauna at the gym in 15 minute intervals to lose the excess water weight.

This is not the end of the race to lose weight. I have the Long Beach Half Marathon to prepare for in October and now my goal is to get my weight from 235 pounds to 190 (45 pounds) in 3 months or 15 pounds/month. The only thing I am lacking is someone of importance to push me everyday.

Today's Weight: 235

Day 21 - Hale Telescope

We had a great camping trip with the Scouts this weekend. From watching the stars and meteors to walking on the floor of the Hale Telescope.

Today's Weight: ~237.5

Day 20 - Camping

Friday Night I headed up to Palomar Mountain with the Scout to enjoy a relaxing evening (after dealing with traffic - even leaving at 4:00P).

Today's Weight: ~240

Day 19 - Bittersweet Victory

Kind of moving away from weight loss for a little bit as my partner here in the office has pretty much taken the victory. He is pushing himself to the finish line. I wish him the best of luck in reaching his goal of 203 pounds by Monday.

He is so competitive that even with physical injuries he continues his now personal quest to lose 30 pounds in 5 weeks come Monday. I am declaring a bittersweet victory at 20 pounds in 3 weeks and am just trying to maintain my weight at 250 (with clothes on).

Had I started the race 2 weeks before maybe I could have had a chance at giving my co-worker as good race to the finish line? However, he has a personal motivation to reach 30 pounds.

In the end it was fun to have someone to push me a little in the race and now I can only hope for a double or nothing on a 3 month goal ;).

Today's Weight: 247

Day 18 - Long Term Goals

Good Morning. I am on my way to work (Public Transit) and reflecting the last couple weeks. It has been a major change so far. Seeing my weight under 250 pounds for the first time in many years is amazing. Projecting myself to drop 20 pounds a month for the next 3 months is even more stunning. My waistline down near 45 inches and the additional energy I feel cannot be replaced.

I will likely not win our office Biggest Loser Challenge come Monday; however, the key win is overall health improvement. My biggest challenger will likely weight in at 204 (although he is pushing for 203) and have 12.5% weight loss. Myself on the other hand will likely weight in at 245 with a 9.26% (although I am pushing for 243 with a 10% weight loss).

In any case I will have lost roughly 10% of my body weight in just three (3) weeks!

Can I continue to lose over 3% of my weight each week? That will likely not be the case and my goal will be to at least maintain half that percentage or 2-3 pounds a week. This will put me on target to drop another 20 pounds before the Long Beach Half Marathon in October.

Today's Weight: 245

Day 16 - Overdrive

Weight Loss Time just got serious yesterday. As I mentioned we have a little biggest loser challenge going on in the office. As of today I am losing the race by 10 pounds. The race ends next Monday. What do I do?

I really do not have the time to do much more then I am already doing. I do not like to say this fact; however, I might be out $50 next Monday.

In the end we both win! My office co-worker is projected to drop 30 pounds in 5 weeks. I am on track to drop the same amount of weight in only 3 of those 5 weeks. The main difference is our starting weight so he will win by a higher percentage.

In the end we both will have lost a combined 60 Pounds in just over 30 Days!

Today's Weight: 245

Day 17 - Waistline

What size am I? A year ago I had a waist over 50 inches and wanted to dropped 20 inches. That goal has not changed and it is still my desire to remove years of added fat from my waistline. I believe I am on the right track to achieve that goal before the holidays and most of it before the Long Beach marathon.

I have set my goals in 4 inch increments (48, 44, 40, 36 and 32) to help me see where I am every couple weeks.

• 52 - 54 (4XL)
• 48 - 50 (3XL)
• 44 - 46 (2XL)
• 40 - 42 (XL)
• 36 - 38 (L)
• 32 - 34 (M)
• 26 - 30 (S/16)

This week my waistline 47 inches and just 5 inches away from breaking out of the multiple X's.

Today's Weight: 244

Day 15 - 25 Pounds!

25 Pounds in Two Weeks!

Ok I know this is extreme; however, I have lost 25 pounds in two weeks even with two (2) Birthday Celebrations and eating out twice this weekend.

How did I do it? I ate very small portions of the cake (1 tbsp) to satisfy the flavor and to participate in the activity. Yes, maybe not good for the diet; however, it is family and those times where you can justify eating a little extra sweets.

We had a great time this weekend regardless of not losing weight in the amount that I wanted to drop. Yesterday, I played a little baseball, watched a movie and went to Islands with my family for my son's birthday.

Today's Weight: 245

Day 14 - Parties

This weekend I am slowing down on the weight loss. Yesterday, was very busy with my son's birthday party. We had lots of fun and his cake was very good. However, water intake dropped a little and so did rest.

Both rest and water are critical for my weight loss. I look forward to Monday.

Wish me luck!

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Today's Weight: 246

Day 13 - Pelican Hill Grill

Yesterday was a tough day. It was my Birthday! I had an In N Out Patty with light salt for lunch. Then came dinner...

Over the pass 9 years we have enjoyed Pelican Hill Grill for special occasions. We had the same server for 7 of those great years who moved on during the reconstruction to Palm Terrace Restaurant at The Island Hotel in Newport Beach, CA. Last night we were seated with the one returning servers from the previous management team.

I have about 4 spoons of mash potatoes, a few Ice Teas with sweetener, couple bits of chocolate cake and some pot roast. It was a great meal. I knew I would gain a little this morning; however, I could not replace the time I had with the family.

The only thing that I do not agree with under the new General Manager is the availability of a Kids Menu. Kids want to experience the same feeling as the adults and a menu that is suitable for them would allow such to happen. The new General Manager does not agree.

Today's Weight: 246

Day 12 - Water Intake

Readjusting back to the diet yesterday was pretty easy; however, I still am having problems with my water intake throughout the day. My goal is 100 oz a day of water. I use a 20 oz bottle and fill it at 9A, 11A, 1P, 3P followed by a water drink at dinner.

This week I have only consumed less then half the amount of water as I should be intaking each day which had an impact on the amount of weight loss. Today I am using Outlook to set up timers throughout the day to help ensure I get at least 3 liters a day.

I am looking forward to the weekend and my son's birthday party.

Hope everyone has a great time and thanks for your support.

Today's Weight: 246

Day 11 - The C.A.P.

Yesterday was an experimental day on my diet in order to mix things up a bit. I added both a breakfast and lunch item to my routine. A little too much.

For breakfast, I had a cup of cup (only drink about 2-3 oz) with a 1/2 tbsp of creamer, with Sugar based Carbs (~6 grams). For lunch, I had a Del Taco Taco with meat only (did not eat the shell) with the Saturated Fat, lots of Cholesterol, a little Carbs and a pinch of protein. For dinner, I had to two (2) pieces of Roasted Chicken with skin, Cholesterol, lots of Sodium and our friend Saturated Fat. Only good thing on the Chicken was the protein (~80 grams).

This resulted in my body going into shock last night with a couple trips to bathroom (sorry). I think I keep with the simple routine and focus on the long term goal. I also had my first increase in weight in 10 days.

The main thing with a diet, I have just learned, is Consistency, Affirmation and Patience. Stay Consistent with your plan. Affirm your progress. Be Patient! Keep your CAP on :).

Today's Weight: 248

Day 10 - Fine Balance

I feel a little better this morning after I just pulled out the scale and can officially declare victory over the 250 mark (247 pounds).

Yesterday, I had a spoon full of taco meet for lunch and a can of tuna for dinner. At two pounds a day this week I can foresee 240 pounds by the weekend. Which is great as I have a Men's Breakfast Saturday morning followed by a Birthday Party.

I did have time to think a little yesterday and came to the conclusion why my weight loss slowed down starting Monday and it is work related stress. I never agreed with those that said stress could cause weight gain and mostly because we all deal with stress and people still remain healthy. However, they likely have a healthy routine outside of work to counter the effects.

I may begin to add some taco meet in for lunch going forward as it seem to help. My wife also mention to ensure I have enough calcium to help counter the heartburn and settle the stomach. We will see how these additional changes will effect the ability to continue drop pounds and inches.

Today's Weight: 247

Day 9 - Flat Line

Well yesterday seemed like another normal day. I did my weekly weight in at the office for our Biggest Loser Contest (weight in was 254.5 with clothes) and lost 5.57% of my prior weight of one week. I was right on track.

I had meatballs for dinner and felt that I had an awesome day. I did notice that I was starting to get heartburn after taking a Vitamin C (which I noticed has carbohydrates today). However, the thing that got to me today was my morning weight in.

After waking up a little late this morning I weighted in and only lost 1 pound. This was pretty shocking seeing that I lost six (6) pounds over the weekend. It was a little depressing; however, it was still a pound.


Well it is a new week and a new goal to lose 15 pounds this week. Wish me luck.

Today's Weight: 249

Day 8 - 20 Pounds Later

I did pretty good yesterday on the diet. I did not have anything for breakfast and got some much needed water intake. I started to move the treadmill that was left behind by a prior tenant into the bedroom only to find out that the machine had a broken piece where the belt turns back up to the motor rendering it useless.

I did some surfing on the Craigs List for a while and the family headed out to the Inland for a Birthday Party. I held myself back knowing that I would be too tempted to eat sugar. I ate my can of Tuna a little early around 4:00PM and found myself adding a small spoon of peanut butter just before I went to bed last night.

I weighted in this morning my my new six dollar scale and was very happy to see I officially dropped 20 pounds the first week on this diet. I am so motivated right now and look forward to losing 10-15 pounds this week. I can see 225 pounds in my sight within two weeks if I keep this program up. If I continue this program for 4 weeks and put my my Half Marathon Training it is foreseeable that my weight could be at or below 200 pounds.

However, I am only placing my goal on a weekly basis and will target for 235 pounds by next Monday. I really want to get an exercise program added to this diet quickly. Then again I am scared that by adding such too soon will prompt me to intake more food and not be beneficial to my weight loss program.

Today's Weight: 250

Day 7 - New Scale

Ok today I was pretty scared to step on the six dollar scale I purchased yesterday at Target. Actually let me back up to my trip to Target. I went to the new Target at the Irvine Spectrum last night around 7:00PM and found myself looking for that all important closest parking space with no luck. I found it funny that my entire trip to the mall could of went a lot quicker had I just parked further out when I first arrived.

Yesterday, I had about 10oz of eggs in the morning. They tasted so good! Then I had about a half dozen fries around 5P and my can of tuna around 8:30P. Also my water intake was very limited again yesterday and I need to get my liquids back in my system. I really felt that I was in for a serious awaking this morning when I pulled out the new scale.

Oops, I almost forgot about the 2oz of banana I had last night instead of popcorn while watching a movie with the kids. We watched 10,000 BC. I was also suppose to run this morning as I prepare for the Long Beach Half Marathon in a couple months.

In all I really did not want to step on that scale this morning. However, I was amazed to see the scale read under 255 pounds! This means I lost an average of 3.5 pounds a day over the last couple days. This is likely water weight as I have not drank the amount of water that I had been drinking the past week. With that in the equation the true loss is likely around 1.5 pounds a day and tomorrow will likely be a correction day in the weight.

Today's Weight: 253