Big D's Journal - Facing the Giants

[Big D]

Like the Sticky said.... Answer these questions before starting your diary.

-- How much weight do you want to lose? 95-100lbs

-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight? About 2 years

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)? Clean up the diet and intake, become active.

-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal? Besides anonymous strangers on teh internet? Pretty much just me. I' sure my friend Scott will join in after a fashion.

-- How realistic is your goal? With a few build in bobbles for the holidays, a pound a week seems reasonable.

-- When will you start? Jan 1st, 2010. This right now (Dec 28th) is the wind down from the main holidays, so this is my ramp up time before I start.


1. What is your current height and weight? 5'10 @ 320 lbs

2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be? 225lbs. That's a goal and I can reevaluate from there.

3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now? 300lbs

4. Why do you want to lose weight? So I can see my willy again. hahaha I'm kidding, that's why we have mirrors. Gotta do it for me, so I don't end up with all kinds of problems like my parents. Regain some control on parts of my life that I haven't been in control of for a while now. Look great naked.

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event? Nope, but does showing up to old flames weddings and such looking smokin' with the "look at what you missed out on" smile count? All kidding aside, one event, at an unspecified date would be to be able to get my shirt off while playing a show with whatever band I'm in and not gross out the audience.

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals? My long ingrained pessimism, intimidation at the time frame, doubts from past experiences and failures, personal inertia.

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem? Never been really all that athletic. In ways, frankly, it kind of became my identity for a while. it was one of those things that made me stand out in a crowd. most peopel don't notice intelligence or heart on initial observation, they notice physically different.

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight? Have to eat better for one main part, and get some physical activity in to get things working all in proper order. I know I'm one of those that tends to drink most of their calories, be it juice, soda, or whatnot.

9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight? Regular walking at the gym and some weight lifting. Also, heartbreak diet. I don't recommend the diet.

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back? For a while, I kept hitting stumbling blocks in life that just got me to the point where I just didn't give a damn anymore for a while, about anything really. It got real easy to order pizza than to do anything else. Then the self consousness kicks in and just get embarrassed being out in public looking the way I do.

11. What, if anything, has not worked for you in the past in helping you to lose weight? Why do you think it did not work? A lot of these crazy diets just get impossible to stick to. The whole dieting by deprivation deal just sucks, and it just doesn't work in the long run. I can see where they might be useful to break a plateau, but that's about it.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time? I can try. When I start planning out meals and such I work teh opposite. I take my calorie allotment per meal, and almost make a game out of seeing how much stuff I can stuff in there. As an amateur gourmet chef, I can spice anything up to be edible, the challenge is finding bulk in a meal to achieve fullness.

13. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook? I'm starting to do it more and more. This is all part of the lifestyle changes. Right now with the time crunch. Its easy to throw a chicken breast cutlet and a bag of veggies in the steamer and call it a meal in 20 minutes.

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go? It depends on the week I've had, but typically, Thursday night at the fast food place down the way has become a habit, I have a weakness for gyros and pizza puffs.. ooh and the chili that all the non chain fast food places have.

15. What are your three favorite foods? Random bags of veggie blends from Jewel, sushi, chicken tortellini.

16. What are your three favorite restaurants? Famous Dave's, white castle (its what you crave!), ichiro Sushi bar.

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food? Have to push away from the big portions of high fat red meat for one thing. All the fried junk and most likely breakfast. its sooo easy to skip breakfast.

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want
it, what would be different? Besides the 100 lbs of missing fat? I want my hair back. hahaha I used to have that stuff down to my waist. I'd have more tattoos too.

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?Yeah at times, many yimes, I'm just always hungry. I know the body seeks food when its chronicly dehydrated and short on sleep for water and energy sources.

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)? Yeah, at times, usually when I haven't eaten in a while. That's the other reason these deprivation diets don't work well with me.

21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret? Nope, not that I'm aware of.

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed? Yeah, I'm an emo eater, I admit it.

23. Do you eat as a reward? Not usually actually. Typically, usually after a long bout of physical work, like building a deck, or one time, getting gyros after helping a friend shear a bunch of sheep.

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer? Computer yeah, Not the greatest, but I'm in front of it so much, it just happens. Computers are my trade.

25. What do you normally eat for a meal? It varies wildly, sometimes you can't even count things as a meal per se, I'll just graze all day on stuff if given a chance.... while working on the computer.

26. What type of snacks do you eat? I have an unholy affinity for turkey jerky and baked lays potato chips. That's about it. I've never been much of a sweets person.

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing? Taking it easy right now. I tend to pick up the kettelbells every other day for right now.

28. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym? Home? Right now, with the weather, home usually. When theres not snow and freezing weather anymore, I actually want to start using teh walking trails about a block away.

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise? I like my kettelbells, there's just a lot of different kinds of exercise sI can do with them. I was using a trainer for a short period of time, and I found I really like sledgehammer & tire work and bodyslamming weight dummies.. more 'work type' exercises.

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals? Daily, being the one to effect and maintain change in my life. Any broader time scale mostly comes down to "I got shit to get done"

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals? some more tattoos, eventually, better wardrobe. I figure, the rewards will find me when its time for them.


That's some of me in a nutshell. I may not always be completely serious, but that makes me no less committed. I learned a while ago that the first stage of humor is the ability to laugh at and about yourself first. most people don't realize that anymore, and its no wonder there's so many sad sacks and just completely miserable people out there.

There is something to be said for morale. I've spend the better part of this year clearing my head and getting myself mentally ready. For one, its a driving force, and also, I came to the realization that I'd rather be 100 lbs overweight than be one of these angry, smug, self righteous former (insert affliction here, smoker, fatty, druggie, etc) nincompoops who feel the need to preach to others. I don't want to be 'that guy'. I think morale and mental help can aid in that.

more later...

 

[Big D]

Some thing that I know have worked or helped with things.

1 - Music choice makes a difference. The first thing I realized when looking around at other people exercising is that my pace differed. Treadmills and elliptical machines would have all these people on there reading a book or listening on headphones, not really focusing on their workout. I can understand that, treadmills and the like suck, but if its that bad, why are you on it?

Sometimes I could hear their music and it would be some slow paced (even if beat heavy) stuff that they were naturally exercising in sync to. Luckily, I listen to mostly metal, and picking some of the more aggressive and faster paced songs and my intensity level went up. If I was walking at a brisk 5.0 on the treadmill, with the right music, I'd be charging along doing 5.5-5.7. Choosing a moderately fast paced song, then a faster one after that and so on helped too. Being your own DJ seems to work.

2 - Changing habits can take time, but it's time well spent. It can get really rough remaking part of your eating plan. What seems to work the best (read: easiest) and will stick around longest (for me at least) is to either change my whole diet to something totally different in its makeup, or replace one thing a week. I was and still am a bit of a complete junkie for those bottled frappucino things, and energy drinks. Maybe 2 fraps on the way to work as breakfast (along with some turkey jerky). One week, I made myself switch out one of the frap bottles with a bottle of water. The next week was to make sure to add 1-1.5 cups of veggies to each dinner, the week after, switch out one energy drink for another bottle of water, etc. This is stress management. Change is stressful, maybe it'll take 2, 3 even 6 months to make all the changes, but if those changes last a lifetime, then really the perceived lack of pace is really small potatoes.

3 - Remember comfort - It comes in many forms. Look, food restriction blows goats, exercising is a pain in the ass sometimes, and in some cases, it is literally one (trust me, you do NOT want to have a butt cramp lol). You have to remember to be good to yourself, comforting to yourself. Doesn't always mean you get to be lazy, but maybe seeing a movie after hitting the gym is in order. That pile of nasty ass dishes will still be there when you get home.

4 - Moving around is a habit too. Make use of what you can. You've been exercising recently, so maybe you have an extra burst of energy in the day and you don't really want to veg. Maybe its a good time to go clean out that junk drawer in the kitchen, or rearrange the garage, polish the furniture, etc. You'd be amazed the sense of satisfaction you can get from even these simple things, and also.. you were moving around as well. Moving = calories burning.

5 - Your environment is your influence too. You know, that place you live. Maybe its time to change the decor from frathouse holocaust to something less chaotic. having bags of chips and such out on display doesn't help either. One thing that helped me is get a cheap basket, line it with a cloth and keep putting fruit in there like apples and oranges. If you're feeling peckish, it's a lot easier to grab that apple if its right in front of you.

6 - Write things down and read them. I used to do this a while back and I swear, it works. I stopped mostly because my wallet got picked and I never got back around to replacing the card inside because of other things going on in my life. What I'd do is take a standard index card and cut it in half On the one side, I'd write down my long term and mid range goals. Just 5-6 in total, the big ones. "I will walk at least 1 mile every day", etc.. Make a copy on the second card. The first card went in my wallet, the other ones went wherever I spent the most time, which meant it was tapes to the side of my monitor.

Every day, during lunch, and maybe when you get home from work, take that card out of your wallet and read it again. Read it to yourself. Don't just glance over it, or scan it with your eyes, read it out loud in your mind. It helps to reaffirm yourself to your goals and keep them fresh in your head. Sometimes, when you're getting off track, that wallet just starts getting heavier and heavier. You know when you read that card again, you're going to see and know it too. This is your internal nag speaking. Even if you're doing one of your goals well, for instance walking a mile each day, you can get a little boost when you realize, yes, I am reaching my goals.

Even making this list here to share with others is my little rediscovery and reaffirmation of these things. Making it post #2 in my journal makes it easier to get to.

 

[Addiecakes]

Hi Big D,

Really nice entries you've got here. I especially like the second one. A lot of those points are ones I've been finding out in the past 6 weeks as well. I can really relate to the music choice one. When I first started I just grabbed my mp3 player with everything on it and went to work out, but now I've re-arranged my playlists to put the faster paced music first, and then I can skip to some slower songs at my cool-down. I tend to have a harder time cooling down to a fast song, too, guess it works both ways.

Another weird thing that I've noticed is that when there are other people in the gym (I go to a small-town gym and a lot of times am alone) I tend to pick up the pace. I don't even mean to, it just happens. Guess its that nagging competitive edge biting me in the ass there.

God, so many good points in that last post. Especially about making gradual changes and comforting yourself.

Anyway, I'm guessing that your journal will be one of those ones that will be very inspirational and helpful for me, so you can expect that I'll continue reading

 

[Big D]

Hey there Addie. Glad to see a reply from you.

The funny part abou tmusic is that I was actually right now taking a break from flipping through my collection. I was listening to a song here and was looking at the timing of it all, and the tempo was bouncing between a semi slow beat and a very fast one. First thought.. INTERVAL TRAINING MUSIC! Hey, its better than looking at a stopwatch or clock, right?

For the next two weeks at least, a short term goal is to dump out at least one journal entry a day on thoughts on the different aspects surrounding getting fit and losing weight, as well as a quickie food/exercise log once I start my program on the 1st of January.

I do invite you to keep reading though, I'm formulating and entry soon about that self competition thing as well as emotional investment, benefits and pitfalls you may find interesting.

One common omission I see in many dieting books and regimens... the spirit, morale and building heart and will. That's one of my prime focuses, because there's such a need for it out there.

 

[Big D]

The Art of Bullshitting

If there's one thing I've learned about myself and about personal development, it is that we are all masters of bullshitting. With very few exceptions, every single one of us are the unrequited lords and masters of laying down a pile of BS so thick it would make a politician envious. The problem is, our main powers of BSing are with giving it to ourselves.

Throughout time, our language has softened in its meanings, and our usage of things has become so mamby pamby in an effort to not offend someone that it at the same time has become disemboweled of any command as well. No one wants to be wrong, and no one wants to be told they're wrong, thus we use politics and rhetoric to say things in way that will make people not be offended by us. The sad fact is we do it so much it is second nature, especially among native English speakers!

You want to know some of the main tools in your BS toolbox? Here they are: substitution, false apology, fallacy and bargaining.

Let's pick through the list with examples, and maybe you can see how you too, can be the king or queen of BS.

Substitution is one of the most common ones. A lot of this comes from coddling ourselves to a point where prefer inaction to rejection or failure. We increasingly flat out refuse to take responsibility for our actions if we think there is a chance of failing. We'd rather put that power in someone or something else's hands and then blame for our own failure to engage.

One of the biggest substitutions we make is in words, we substitute won't for can't. "I can't do that.", we hear this often from people. In fact, the correct usage in this is "I won't do that". Once you change the word to won't, you know exactly what you're doing or not doing, and at the same time, you believe in what is stopping you while absolving yourself of the responsibility of even trying.

For some on this board, myself included even now, there's a phrase "I can't control my eating because blah blah blah". Now, let's stop BSing ourselves right there. Let's say it's because you love food or you always feel hungry. "I won't control my eating because I hate always feeling hungry". Say it with me, and say it out loud, and then say it again. Lets stop BSing ourselves on this point, and realize that we're shifting the accountability of the situation onto something that we ourselves control, but refuse to take responsibility for. Once we can see this phrase in its true form, we can gain some clarity to address the situation. The inverse of this technique becomes true as well. "What can I do to stop always feeling hungry". No, what _will_ you do?

False apology
Ok, the short and skinny on this is, finish your sentence, don't just stick the next sentence on there as a separate clause. Those people that (often mistakenly) claim to be "Brutally Honest" are the kung fu masters of this style of BS with themselves. "Hey, I don't mean to be cruel / an asshole / insensitive / etc but..." O.K. Stop! Hammer time. we're going to finish that sentence before you begin the next one, because the end of that sentence is "but I don't have a problem with (being it/one)". Basically, we're hiding from ourselves that we don't want to feel responsible for something even if in fact we are responsible for it.

Fallacy
If you look up fallacies on wikipedia, you'll be amazed at how many of these things we all use daily without knowing it. We use it to talk ourselves out of something due to fear, or worse, when something may challenge our reality and shatter it, forcing us to admit we may have been wrong. We layer it on so thick we have to peel the fallacies away like layers of an onion sometimes until we get down to the root truth of what we're really saying.

Bargaining / False Balance
Wee see this all the time, others have noted it without realizing it. This is a crazy one. See, when we're bargaining, what we're saying is "If I do A, then I can do B, but only if I do A". Now, sometimes, this is true, other times... it's an excuse to let us do B and not feel guilty because we did A. "hey, I just worked out for two hours in the gym, I'm going to reward myself with a muffin.". Hmm, do I have to pull out that old denial saying for you? Most likely scenario is, you really want that muffin, so if you do something that you feel will counter it, than you can get away with it. Quite likely, the muffin will give you back more calories than you burned, but at least you don't have the burden of responsibility for it now, right?

There are less extreme examples of this, but what it boils down to is, be honest with yourself. "I really want this even if it runs counter to other things I'm doing, and I don't want to have any flack for it". Worse is when we are using self defeating attitudes as a method of entitlement. "I just made myself miserable, I deserve a reward or comfort". What you really want is either the object, instant gratification or recognition.

The more subtle form, is always leaving yourself an out. One of the common forms is append "where possible" to something you plan to do. If you're effecting change on yourself, you either are, or you aren't. It's one thing to say, "Saturday morning we'll play a round of golf, weather permitting." since it is true, you generally do not want to play golf in the rain, nor can you control it; meanwhile it is another matter entirely to say, "I'll go to the gym in the mornings, where possible." because right away, you're not actually planning on getting to the gym because you likely have your list of reasons not to go already compiled and ready to scapegoat for your choice not to make time to be at that gym every morning.

Now read it all again, look for how it applies to you and descend upon it with the fury of a swarm of flying monkeys and drive it out of your life and mind. It will take a while, it will take a lot of self reflection and looking inward.

Myself, I put it on my goal card (see previous entry) a while back "I will actively stop bullshitting myself"

 

[Alta818]

Sounds more like..."You HAVE actively stopped bullshitting yourself & You continue to remain that way!!" ! !

Nice!!! ....I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to write all that. I completely aggree with ALL OF IT!...It's the truth, and as long as we can change our awareness and our perception of our reality, then we can begin to change the things we so desire and want out of ourselves and our lives! !

...I'm excited for you & the wisdom that you have equipped here for yourself! ...The fact that you have stopped bullshitting yourself and are being real, will take you to your goal in no time!..Action! I like it! !

...I'll be rooting for you!...So let me get this straight,...you are a Tattoo loving, Chef Rockstar?!?! ! ....am I close?!

 

[Addiecakes]

Wow, great entry and so true!!

I think I'm one of those bullshitting experts, ... d'oh! I've come a long way in becoming reasonable with myself now though, and most of the time I take responsibility for the choices that I make without blaming it on something that doesn't exist. Sometimes though ... it's all just bullshit.

You're right about it being something that is really difficult to get rid of. Most people keep these things as part of their internal dialogue for their whole lives, ... definitely a hard habit it break. But getting your mind right is a huge advantage in the weight-loss battle, so it is best to not sabotage yourself by bullshitting.

Another great entry

 

[Big D]

...I'll be rooting for you!...So let me get this straight,...you are a Tattoo loving, Chef Rockstar?!?! ! ....am I close?!

hahaha oh you... yep, only in my dreams, and after work life.

For the record, I'm one of those quiet, talented, high IQ types that most people overlook. Its not bad since it gives me time to watch and think. I found at a young age that I learned a hell of a lot more by keeping my mouth shut and my eyes, ears and mind open. In the present day, I'm higher level computer programmer and computer wiz type. Outside of my day job, I (usually) play guitar in extreme metal bands, ride a motorcycle, work with my hands ( I love cooking, gardening, making bonsai trees, art and metalworking), read & watch bad sci fi along with philosophy and medical texts, currently working on a cookbook to publish someday, and have been a lifelong student of the martial arts, herbalism and alternative medicine. Some by choice, some by necessity. Mind you, all this while being blind in one eye, having jacked up rotator cuffs, 2 pins in my right leg and carrying around a person's worth of extra weight.

you can imagine, given this, my views on people BSing and limiting themselves before they even try. I say it not to brag, even though I am proud of my accomplishments so far, but to show people, I don't just speak the words, I do my level best to live it.

Just like you and addie here, what you want to do is entirely within the realm of doability for you all, You don't have you believe you can, you have to know you can, and I think you all are well into that stage of things.

 

[Big D]

Plan for the beginning

Jan 1st starts my plan and journey towards the thinner me.

Starting Weight : 320 lbs
Three Month goal: 308 lbs
Final Goal (2year): 225 lbs

My eating habits somewhat suck due to the holidays, and some are habitual as I've observed. I have a busy schedule so I have to make the occasional accommodation time-wise for a meal or two. My plan is, per week, I will affect one (semi) permanent change in my diet to bring it more in line with my ultimate goals diet-wise, which I will be revisiting and re-evaluating quarterly for progress, compliance, direction and adjustment if needed.
Main goal for nutrients will be 30-30-30 between carbs, protein and fat with 10% to be floated between carbs and protein as wiggle room. Planning 5-6 meals a day consisting of meal - snack cycles to help control insulin
Calorie allotment per day: 2600 +/- 40, Revisit allotment quarterly.

Week 01: Substitution for all sodas, etc for water. Goal 5 Liters a day
Week 02: Ensure 1 snack a day is calorie poor veggies
Week 03: Ensure 1 snack a day is calorie poor veggies
Week 04: Ensure 1 snack a day is fruit
Week 05: Limit Beef to only 50% of protein consumed
Week 06: Introduce 1 serving a day of brown rice as carbs to meals
Week 07: Every other lunch is a salad with meat
Week 08: Avocado 3x a week
Week 09: Limit beef to 25% of protein. Substitute other 25% with fish.
Week 10: Switch to only olive & coconut oils
Week 11: Eggs 3x a week (preferably for breakfast)
Week 12: Evaluation

Primary goals are to develop and implement a permanent, sustainable and healthy eating plan and method, as well as providing necessary calorie restriction to create weight loss. Eating out will be down to a minimum.

Exercise will start slowly slow and build in intensity due to weather, and fitness level. Due to resources, we're going low tech at home exercise. My equipment consists of: standup heavy bag + gloves, 2 35lbs kettlebells, 1 10lbs medicine ball, 1 exercise ball, 1 exercise mat, 1 pilates book, footstool I can use as a bench, fitTV & DVR and a basement with a low ceiling. Will acquire more later. Any suggestions for exercises always welcome.

Daily: Cardio consisting of either 30+ minutes of boxing drills with HIIT cycles alternate with daily 30 minute fitness show. Find, maintain, increase personal limit for crunches with weight ball.
Every Even Day: Yoga or pilates (damn that stuff is a workout)
Every Odd Day: Kettlebell swings, bodyweight exercises (tabata interval) + cycle of (chest & back), (shoulders & arms), (legs & abs) lifting with bells

primary goals (besides the usual): cardio endurance, leg endurance, increase shoulder stability (special exercises, no impact), build initial 'ability to work' to reach endurance limits, create, introduce and maintain a sustainable workout regimen. Cardio morning, even/odds evening.

Cycle of introduction for exercise will be:
week 1-2: Full Cardio + half of crunch regimen
week 3-4: Full Cardio + Full crunches (aka 'daily')
week 5-6: full daily + half even days
week 7-8: full daily + full odd days
week 9-10: full daily + full odd + half even
week 11-12: full daily, odd & even days

That should take me to april 1st when it should be getting warmer. at that point I plan on doing some outside work, which should include walking, sledgehammer & tire pounding (LOVE IT!), sandbag slams, a few other exercises I'll describe later.

I plan on this quarter being my introduction to fitness. Through note taking, I have realized I have time crunches that I will be working on, much of which is wasted time. Trying to jam everything in at once will make life spit that stuff out like a watermelon seed, to have to get it in slowly and solidly to ensure its staying power.


Thought for the week: At no point in time do I ever want to hear the words "kettlebell swing" and "groin" in the same sentence.

 

[Alta818]

Nicely Outlined! You can't hit a target if you can't see it right?! ....Great Job!!!!

...I especially like the Pilates and Yoga in there! You shocked me hahah! !! Didn't expect it from this Brainiac Chef Rocker ...I'd say you are pretty interesting to me!

I'm actually taking time on Friday to devise a 3 month plan in all areas of life myself! It's a Must for Success! hahaha...and The "kettlebell swing" was funny! haha !

 

[Addiecakes]

I love how much thought and planning you've put into everything. It really seems like you've got your head on straight.

Oh and I love the thought of the week ... that's a good one

 

[Alta818]

hahaha oh you... yep, only in my dreams, and after work life.

For the record, I'm one of those quiet, talented, high IQ types that most people overlook. Its not bad since it gives me time to watch and think. I found at a young age that I learned a hell of a lot more by keeping my mouth shut and my eyes, ears and mind open. In the present day, I'm higher level computer programmer and computer wiz type. Outside of my day job, I (usually) play guitar in extreme metal bands, ride a motorcycle, work with my hands ( I love cooking, gardening, making bonsai trees, art and metalworking), read & watch bad sci fi along with philosophy and medical texts, currently working on a cookbook to publish someday, and have been a lifelong student of the martial arts, herbalism and alternative medicine. Some by choice, some by necessity. Mind you, all this while being blind in one eye, having jacked up rotator cuffs, 2 pins in my right leg and carrying around a person's worth of extra weight.

you can imagine, given this, my views on people BSing and limiting themselves before they even try. I say it not to brag, even though I am proud of my accomplishments so far, but to show people, I don't just speak the words, I do my level best to live it.

Just like you and addie here, what you want to do is entirely within the realm of doability for you all, You don't have you believe you can, you have to know you can, and I think you all are well into that stage of things.

Well..Well!! hahah!...I admire that you are an intellectual person, as it's hard to find so many people that way. The funny thing is that on the internet, there are TONS of them, yet in "Real Life" it is hard to find!

...maybe supposing because many people, very few often times take the chance to get to know each other as they do online. It's a better version of give and take here. You type, I read. I type, you read. In real life "I talk, you cut me off,....you talk,...I cut you off"...all in all, we learned so much less about each other. :/

...As well, I can definitely understand why you completely don't see how people can feel sorry for themselves considering your situation and the things you have overcome. I Completely Agree! !...We are what we make of ourselves, and Perseverance as you said, is Success! I love that you understand that as well! ! ....& Kudos to you as well for persevering on to your destiny of Success amidst struggles! !....I truly believe that struggles are the defining moments in our lives, that help shape the individuals that we are and we want to become!

....Cooking Book!?!?!... OMG..I loveeeee the idea! I'm superbly moved that you are taking the time to do that...for yourself & others!...It truly is amazing when we have the desire to capture what captures us...into the pages of a book. I too hope to one day write a book...mainly on the Revelations of Life! ! I love cooking...I have myself moved from meat eating, to vegetarian, to Raw Foodist, to vegetarian, to Meat Eater again, ...and am now as of 2 days ago, Vegetarian again! !...You can tell I love food, and have definitely explored my options here! .....The best of them all, meaning the best foods, and the way I felt about myself and life...is the RAW FOODIST! Amazing!!! ! ....I even thought about starting my own Raw Food Dessert Line at one point when I was dishing them out like crazy!....hahah...

....That's very amazing as well, that you have a hobby entertaining a musical outlet for yourself. It is very therapuetic...even if it is HARD ROCK..hahahah...! The unity, and vibrations of the music, and the ability to read the notes on the paper, and having the love and passion to do so and display it in front of other's enjoyment is FANTASTIC!!...I used to play the paino a long time ago for 7 years. It was relaxing, yet not a passion for me.

....I can see why you were always considered to be "different" as you had said above! You truly are, and that's what life is about!...Realizing that we can maintain to be different, yet remain to be GREAT!

.....I commend you for being here ! & I'm excited for your Blue Prints to Success!!! Now let's get going!!

 

[PlumpHope]

teehee

23. Do you eat as a reward? Not usually actually. Typically, usually after a long bout of physical work, like building a deck, or one time, getting gyros after helping a friend shear a bunch of sheep.

I cannot express how tickled I was to read that you may have eaten gyros as a reward after helping a friend shear a bunch of sheep... It's the little things in life that make me chuckle!!

I was reading through your entries, and decided we will be weight loss buddies because we weight the same, and you're only an inch taller than me! Glad to inform you of our new arrangement!

I wish you luck, and can't wait to follow your progress further!!

 

[Big D]

...I especially like the Pilates and Yoga in there! You shocked me hahah! !! Didn't expect it from this Brainiac Chef Rocker ...I'd say you are pretty interesting to me!

Aww thankee!

Throughout my studies in life, I keep learning about the value and the need for balance. Now, the guys in my family, myself included , all tend to put on muscle and strength quickly, almost as quickly as we are to get fat if we overeat a lot. when I kicked off the muscle part before a long time back, I also was starting to quickly get musclebound if I didn't diligently take other forms of exercise to train me how to use my strength with grace (martial arts), increase my lower back development to protect it from injury (another family trait) and do things to keep my flexibility. Martial arts right now is going to be just a bit too rough on me, so yoga seems like a good start for flexibility. Besides, its also good for helping to clear the mind and learn to relax, which is important as well. That whole thing about stress management I pontificated about before.

Besides, have you see a lot of these yoga people? that's just a whole different level of fitness. That's not just developed and toned muscles, that's superior nervous system development as well.

Sure, I'm sure it'd be all great to have the testosterone pumping physique, along with belching biceps and so much chest and shoulder development that I'm not able to wipe my own backside, but that's all just Hollywood muscle... pretty, but useless. If you don't sit there every day maintaining that, it quickly goes away. I'd rather go for a solid, dependable all purpose athletic style build.

 

[Big D]

I cannot express how tickled I was to read that you may have eaten gyros as a reward after helping a friend shear a bunch of sheep... It's the little things in life that make me chuckle!!

I was reading through your entries, and decided we will be weight loss buddies because we weight the same, and you're only an inch taller than me! Glad to inform you of our new arrangement!

oh yeah, that was good ol' 721. The male of the group with ..er... dominance issues. ie.. a bully who would actually go after any guys around that farm trying to ram them. Of course, he turned into a cute little begging kid if you had asparagus. Oh he loved that stuff. Yes, I did utter the phrase "Oh I'm sorry, is this your auntie?" once or twice during that snack break.

Heheh I get this distinct feeling I've been drafted hahahaa.

 

[Big D]

...maybe supposing because many people, very few often times take the chance to get to know each other as they do online. [/B]

....Cooking Book!?!?!... OMG..I loveeeee the idea! I'm superbly moved that you are taking the time to do that...for yourself & others!...It truly is amazing when we have the desire to capture what captures us...into the pages of a book.

That's one of the reasons I love the internet in ways. Its mostly also two mind talking, everything else, doesn't really exist unless people really want it to. My parents for example, are the whitest people I know in way too many versions of the word. My highschool when I went to it was one of two schools in the entire state that never had a black student. Most of my family and neighborhood is racist and very christian. I was never like that. None of that ever made a bit of difference to me. Here, the only black and white there is ends up being the text on the screen background.

Here's a favorite recipe of mine from the book. I'm a confirmed omnivore, but some veggie dishes are just awesome. I love Indian food, of which, there's a lot of vegetarian meals.

Tomato Basil Salad

1 pint grape tomatoes (rinsed)
0.5 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup torn up fresh basil leaves
2 cloves crushed garlic
3-4 tblsp balsamic vinegar
4 oz fresh mozz cheese (olivini style if you can get it)

Quarter the tomatoes into a strainer set over a bowl. add salt and toss lightly to mix well. Let stand covered for 30 minutes. Reserve juice that comes out. Put tomatoes into a salad spinner or just start mixing very well but gently to extract as much juice and tomato pulp as possible. save and combine with the other juice. should have about 1/4 cup in all. Add a little water to bring it up if needed.

Add juice to a small sauce pan, and add garlic & vinegar and simmer on medium until you get about a 50% reduction. Sauce should be well thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

Cut cheese into 1/4" cubes and add to tomatoes along with the basil.

Toss in the sauce.

This version of the salad gives a good strong tomato flavor, as well as a good rustic garden flavor overall. The cheese adds a requisite lightness as well as rounds out the nutrients. Makes 2 servings, so store half and eat it for lunch the next day.

Goes excellently with a meal of grilled beef or fish steak and 2 deviled eggs.

Salad lasts a few days in the fridge.

 

[Big D]

I'm messing with that fitday site, and the part I like is that I can food journal a day ahead of time, and if i get bored, more than a day as well as make custom foods. What does this mean? It makes it easier to plan meals ahead of time. Now, if it encouraged that and gave a grocery list for the week, I'd be happy.

Also, common dishes I make, I can likely put into custom foods and not have to choose every ingredient every time.

After careful calculation, I shall call this.. Satan's Food Plan.
WTF? Yep. 3 200 cal snacks from 2600 cal daily is 2000. 2000 cal across 3 meals is... 666(.666) calories!

(church lady voice)Could it beeee... SATAN?

Breakfast
"Eggs 'n' Stuff"
3 Eggs, .5c Green Peppers, .5c Onions, 3 strip Turkey bacon
3 slices Tomatoes
Tobasco!

snack
yogurt w fruit

Lunch
Chicken breast sandwich (2 ezekiel bread)
Mustard
1c mixed veggies, steamed

snack
4 slices turkey breast rolled w/mustard & .5c chopped pickles & black pepper

Dinner
8oz cod, broiled. brushed with olive oil w/ 1 lemon
1c mixed veggies
1c brown rice

snack
yogurt w fruit

analysis: a bit carb heavy & fiber light, but I'll adjust the foods over time. Packing this much food into me across the day was a challenge.
Fitday says: 2,575 cal 65.3(23%) fat 284.3(44%) carb 208.4(34%) protein

Haven't accounted for my supplements. I take daily: 1 serv Mega Man multi, 1 cinnamon, 2x cal,mag,zinc (66%allotment daily) & 1kUI vit d. I'll revisit those in a week once I get better at balancing my food and nutrient intake.

Water intake will be interesting. What worked for me before to make sure I drink it all is to get a 1liter reusable bottle and split my waking day into 4 segments. Chug 1 bottle when waking up, then refill and if I don't finish the bottle by the next segment, chug the remainder, refill and repeat for next segment.

 

[Addiecakes]

I'm messing with that fitday site, and the part I like is that I can food journal a day ahead of time, and if i get bored, more than a day as well as make custom foods. What does this mean? It makes it easier to plan meals ahead of time. Now, if it encouraged that and gave a grocery list for the week, I'd be happy.

...

Water intake will be interesting. What worked for me before to make sure I drink it all is to get a 1liter reusable bottle and split my waking day into 4 segments. Chug 1 bottle when waking up, then refill and if I don't finish the bottle by the next segment, chug the remainder, refill and repeat for next segment.

Nice to see that you're enjoying FitDay! And the water intake idea is a good one. Drinking water is easier for me at work, because I can make sure I'm drinking at least 2 (25oz) bottles of water before my lunch, 1 during, and 2 after. From there, the remaining 1-2 bottles of water are easy to squeeze in before bed.

 

[Alta818]

That's one of the reasons I love the internet in ways. Its mostly also two mind talking, everything else, doesn't really exist unless people really want it to. My parents for example, are the whitest people I know in way too many versions of the word. My highschool when I went to it was one of two schools in the entire state that never had a black student. Most of my family and neighborhood is racist and very christian. I was never like that. None of that ever made a bit of difference to me. Here, the only black and white there is ends up being the text on the screen background.

Here's a favorite recipe of mine from the book. I'm a confirmed omnivore, but some veggie dishes are just awesome. I love Indian food, of which, there's a lot of vegetarian meals.

Tomato Basil Salad

1 pint grape tomatoes (rinsed)
0.5 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup torn up fresh basil leaves
2 cloves crushed garlic
3-4 tblsp balsamic vinegar
4 oz fresh mozz cheese (olivini style if you can get it)

Quarter the tomatoes into a strainer set over a bowl. add salt and toss lightly to mix well. Let stand covered for 30 minutes. Reserve juice that comes out. Put tomatoes into a salad spinner or just start mixing very well but gently to extract as much juice and tomato pulp as possible. save and combine with the other juice. should have about 1/4 cup in all. Add a little water to bring it up if needed.

Add juice to a small sauce pan, and add garlic & vinegar and simmer on medium until you get about a 50% reduction. Sauce should be well thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

Cut cheese into 1/4" cubes and add to tomatoes along with the basil.

Toss in the sauce.

This version of the salad gives a good strong tomato flavor, as well as a good rustic garden flavor overall. The cheese adds a requisite lightness as well as rounds out the nutrients. Makes 2 servings, so store half and eat it for lunch the next day.

Goes excellently with a meal of grilled beef or fish steak and 2 deviled eggs.

Salad lasts a few days in the fridge.

Wow!!!!! !!! That really touched my heart when you said "the only black and white here is the words on the screen:!!! !!!

....(In my head I said "Amen to that!!"!!) ...I am deeply moved by the fact that you chose to outline yourself in different standards than your parents, especially, because the defining years of our lives in which our subconscious mind creates our "associated knowns" is within the youth ages of our lives 0-14 and onwards to 18. It is hard to break those associations, though with effort of course it can be done!...I wonder who it was that shaped you into such a liberal view of the world amidst your surroundings?

All in all....That is something that is very admirable, and should be commended! !....If in fact you are like that in real life, does not matter,...simply because of the fact, that here.....We can See the Light of Oneness and Love and Gratitude for variety of beings within your heart and it shows!!!...& that's POWERFUL!!! Again, I commend you my friend!

....To be different in that sense, and appreciate it to the point where you can seek it as well online, is a deep found understanding of the principles of a humble heart. That direct perception of the world within you, has catapulted you into a deep realization of the divinity of live! That divine dance is allowing you to catapult yourself above all obstacles and create Greatness in many forms within you !!! I truly love it & I'm grateful to be able to recognize it within you! Thank you!

.... That RECIPE sounds AMAZING!!!!....I'm not eating cheese just yet, I believe in week 3 or 4 I can begin to incorporate it, but the roasting of the Tomato Juice...is "GENIUS!"...!!! OMG... I can't wait to try that!.

..One question: You said at the end...cut 1/4 cubes cheese and add to tomatoes....Does that mean that you roast the cheese in the tomato juice on the stove..or you add the mozarella cubes cold to the warm sauce and cold salad, and don't cook them? I'm presuming if you cook them with the red sauce, you'll get a really melted cheesy sauce...so you probably mean add them cold right? haha...Thanks!!!

 

[Alta818]

Oh!...& love the fact that you are using Ezequial Bread. It's the Best Alternative to bread considering it is Sprouted Grains!...I used to soak and sprout all of everything haha...and I love that Alternative! Great Choice! Much healthier and seed based. !