My First Achievement!

It’s official! I’m actually losing weight! How much? I have absolutely no idea. But my pants actually FELL OFF tonight at work! It’s a good thing I work alone – LOL! I don’t actually see any difference yet when I look in the mirror, but this is actual tangible evidence that what I’m doing is working. All the cottage cheese and fresh fruit is starting to pay off.

It’s not easy. Don’t think that. The cravings I get are worse than any I ever had when I smoked. Subway has actually been a saving grace to me twice. I’ve had some horrible cheeseburger cravings. Honestly – at 7:00 a.m. in the morning I really want cheeseburgers. I’ve settled for a Roast Beef on Wheat w/ lots of veggies and spicy mustard, which by the way IS good for you 0 everything!

So – my First Achievement! In the books! Seriously – I wish I had a camera, cause it was hilarious.

The Ultimate Weight Loss Plan

So I have discovered the ULTIMATE WEIGHT LOSS PLAN! Just get violent diarrhea! I haven’t even had the desire to eat very much in the last 2 days. In fact I have only had 2 bowls of soup and a PB&J sandwich. In 2 days. I have drunk a lot of water. But really haven’t had to worry about sticking to the diet too much.

That being said, I know that PB&J isn’t really the healthiest of foods, but when you’re sick you really don’t care all that much. I’m honestly just happy that I only have the diarrhea and haven’t been vomiting. Poor little Connor has thrown up 3 or 4 times the last couple of days. He’s starting to get better, but it’s hard to not be able to do much for him other than Pedia-Lite and Infant Tylenol.

Hopefully we’ll both get better soon. Cause 2 bowls of soup and a PB&J in 48 hours just isn’t enough to sustain someone.

Almost fell off the wagon...

So – I almost broke down today. I drove my Jessica in to work this morning. And I was SOOO tempted to just drive on over to Carls Jr. and get a Western Burger w/ extra BBQ sauce. It would have tasted so good!

But I held true. Instead of Carls Jr – I went to Subway and got a Roast Beef sandwich with lots of veggies and spicy mustard. Someone told me mustard has 0 everything. I’m hoping the same is true for spicy mustard. I did fudge just a little and got It with Provolone cheese. But all in all – I think I did pretty well for how badly I wanted a greasy cheese burger.

I haven’t been hitting the Wii the last couple of days – because honestly I’ve been exhausted. I’ve planned to get up around 4 or 5 in the evening every day so I had time to exercise before work. But I’ve found myself sleeping till 8 or later. I guess I’ll just have to buckle down and do it before I go to sleep in the mornings. Hopefully I’ll get over waking up screaming from leg cramps.

Pizza - God's Greatest Creation

I know I need to cut down on how much food I eat. But even more than that I just need to eat healthier. I love pasta, stuffed crust pizza, greasy hamburgers, and burritos. The list could go on and on. I have no idea how I’m going to live without pizza. I truly think that Pizza is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. It has everything! Grains, Dairy, Vegetable, and Meat. (If it weren't so darn greasy!) But this journey is an entire lifestyle change. I tell my wife every day “I would do anything for you.” Well, I need to be willing to do anything to keep myself around for her and my family. If I have to give up some creature comforts to do so, I’m going to have to do that.

That said – I don’t even know where to start. There are so many different diets out there, and this isn’t really about “Losing Pounds”. It’s really about being healthy. That and a nice set of washboard abs! LOL – just kidding. Here’s my initial thoughts:

1. Cut my calorie intake down to about 2000 a day – This isn’t set in stone, but more of a goal to shoot for.

2. Instead of 2 or 3 Big meals a day, spread it out to 5 or 6 small meals.

3. Quit drinking sodas – Even though I almost exclusively drink diet soda, I sometimes drink 3 or 4 Forty-four ounce fountain sodas in a 24 hour period.

I think this; along with my initial 30 minutes of daily exercise will be a good start to where I’m headed. If you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments.

Addiction?

I used to smoke. I smoked off and on (mostly on, even if my family never knew) for over 14 years. A couple of years ago I got a really bad flu/bronchitis. It got so bad that I couldn't smoke a cigarette without having a cough drop in my mouth. After a couple of days like this, I decided to quit. And I did. I took the half a carton of smokes I had left, gave them to a friend, and I was done. Cold Turkey. I've had maybe 3-5 cigarettes since then, and they were all within a couple of months of quitting.

Quitting smoking seems to be a breeze compared to sticking to a diet. There are temptations EVERYWHERE! You don't even notice em normally. But just driving down the road and passing a Burger King, or even sitting at work with candy bars and potato chips within arms reach. This morning I found a leftover bag of Ruffles in the kitchen - I took them straight to my brother and said "Either eat em or throw them away".

I woke up this evening with a raging headache and cramped leg muscles - but I haven't given in.

Armpit Funk

I don’t know how much I weigh. I have no idea. But I’m pretty sure it’s over 375 lbs. I really don’t know where to start on this journey. I’m pretty much going to make it up as I go along. I’m doing a little research, trying to see what works and what doesn’t. But I think I’m going to start with 30 minutes of walking. I’ll try and combine that with severely cutting down on my food intake.

What I really need is a change of lifestyle. I have become increasingly sedentary. Much like the rest of society I have been taking the easy way – the elevator when I could take the stairs, driving when I could walk, etc. I’m going to actively try and get uncomfortable. In a good way, not in the “Standing so close I can smell your armpit funk” kind of way.

**Update**
I bought the family a Nintendo Wii over the weekend. I could have gotten the Mario Kart package, but I opted to get the Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort bundle. Laugh all you want - but those video games can be one heck of a work out. Just ask my wife and her sore muscles. I'm gonna mix it up w/ walking one day and 45 minutes of Wii Sports another day.

My Favorite Pasttime

I play World of Warcraft.  A lot of World of Warcraft.  I currently have 3 level 85 capped characters with a 4^th sitting right on the edge of 85.  I work the night shift at a local hotel.  The night shift at a hotel is boring.  Not just boring, but DAMN BORING!  So I play WoW to pass the time.  I do what I can just to stay awake.  I could have resorted to smoking Meth and bouncing off the walls, but I don’t really want all the messy side effects.

The downside of all this Video Game playing is I sit on my rear end for hours.  With only about an hour and a half of paperwork a night, that leaves 6 ½ hours of video games.  A night.  My main character, Matteaus the Blood Elf Paladin, has been played for 119 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes, and 5 seconds.  119 DAYS!  And that’s just my main character!  That’s a hell of a long time to be sitting on your rear.

But I enjoy it.  One of my favorite things about the WoW is the Achievement system.  It’s not a huge thing, but every time you accomplish something of worth (and sometimes not so worthy) you get an “Achievement”.  It has no real worth other than keeping a record of what you have done in the game.  I say all that to come to my point here – I am going to be keeping track of my progress with “Achievements”.  I found a site - worldofwarcraft.mmocluster.com – that lets you create your own achievements.  You input the title, text, etc.  Then it generates an image of said achievement.  The image below is just an example.  It may seem silly to others, but if it helps me get healthy then I’m all for it!

I need some ideas for different Achievements.  Stuff like “Spend 30 minutes Exercising for 5 consecutive days!”  Go ahead and leave them in the comments.