ForRealThisTime Diary of a mad man

Hey Alta :)

I see your effervescent personality is back in action! The plan of action for me today is to finish work soon and then do some housework. After that I am going to go for a 5 mile walk and then come home and do some p90m workout!

Here is todays motto - When in doubt workout!

I cant believe that with the disruption to my working-out and eating well for the past week I have not gained! Its like its meant to be. Just like my name says... its for real this time :)
 
I said a week ago that I would like to get down below 210 as it would be a psychological boost... well... I am down to 208.8 woohoo!

I am really feeling like my goal is very achievable.
 
I went to the store earlier on my way back from my walk, it was after 10pm and the place was pretty empty. As I got out of my car two very large people got out of their car and were walking across the carpark. They were really really big. When I had picked up my bits and pieces I was walking to the checkout and spotted both of them driving the little powered shopping carts around.

It occurred to me that in Europe I have never seen these carts and I rarely see people big enough to require them. I had TV on when I got home and the History channel had a show on about softdrinks. They had the 7eleven big gulp and double gulp etc... it then occurred to me that I have never come across softdrinks that size in Europe either.

America is a bit of a conundrum. I have traveled a lot to many different countries and I have never seen so many super fit, toned, muscled people anywhere like I have in America. People are very self conscious and seem very vein here. They are very open about their looks and talk about their looks to you in a way that I am not used to where I come from. But at the opposite end of the scale they can be super large and when I pull in to get petrol and see the vast arrays of food and drinks available in service stations I am shocked. Also when you go somewhere that is supposed to be a place of health such as a pharmacy you have to walk through aisles of junk food and beer to get to the medicines.

For Americans it is probably something they dont even notice anymore like driving along the interstate and having fastfood places at every exit. I could go out right now and go to Dennys or IHOP and they will be open and I will be able to eat. This is a novelty to me because where I come from places stop serving food at 9 or 10pm, pharmacies sell health related items and the largest fountain softdrink is equivalent in size to an American medium.

I LOVE America so dont jump on me for making this observation but I cant help thinking Americans are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to weight management. Food and drinks are shoved in your face from all directions and the convenience of 24 hour everything means that whenever you might get the urge you can act on it. If you are at a point where you can no longer walk around the shop you can hop on a motorised cart... its something I hadnt thought about before.
 
I made the same realization years ago when I toured Italy for 2 weeks. The reality is in America, we "LIVE to EAT!" and in other countries, they "Eat to LIVE!"

Huge difference. Dumb down America. The chemicals in crap is insane and what it does to the brain as well. Making us more stupid and less able to think and function at our optimum performance.

In Italy, I loved how they actually only open restaurants at 2 times at max 3 times a day. Breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time. There are no in betweens, or eat whenever you want. Eating is not viewed upon like here like you said, when you can act on the urge whenever you please. It really is horrible. As well, if you look at the advertisements and the way that they are outlined, it targets our NLP (nuero linguistic programming) by making us more succeptible.

Example: When you see a BIG mac commercial or a Mc Donalds commercial...

Do you see the Big Mac up close or far away? Up close. Right. Things up close are more desirous, because to the mind the concept of bringing it so near consists with desire amongst the fact that the senses are enhanced by being able to overse an item more closely to the vision.

Do you see the Big Mac bright or dark? Bright. Right. Because naturally, subconsciously things that are far and dark are registered and associated with the complete opposite being a non desirous state. The brighter the image, the more the details are enhanced triggering the desire state. The smell is enhanced by the view, the memory of the taste, the sensations again are enhanced by the actual brightness of it. Interesting.

Do you see the Big Mac big or small? BIG. Right. Because the larger and more prominent an image becomes in the subconscious mind, we are again enhancing the laws of association and laws of repetition. Once the mind envisions something with such detail and enhancement of reality as using the senses available to them, smell, taste, sound, feel, sight, it becomes an association subconsciously which can make it difficult to tell the difference with pretend and with what is real anymore. Making it more desirous, and enhancing the attractiveness. It looks SO BIG and JUICY (we now taste it, through memory and or visualization of a resemblent taste), and CRUNCHY (we can now hear the lettuce as we crunch) and bright (so desirous because we can see the sweat on the steak from just grilling) and it feels so SOFT (we see ourselves holding it). The larger the picture, the closer we actually can envision ourselves to attaining it. The farther it is, the less desirable and less we can visualize it because visualization that is vivid requires a strong interaction with the entirety of the senses.

Just an observation to add to your theory. We are mentally being Neurolinguistically Programmed to eat crap. Go figure. ;)
 
Last edited:
I think that is very true Alta, you have hit the nail on the head. Now that is not to say that in other countries advertising etc is not used in the same way but I think a lot of the things in America that make it so great are also causing problems.

Food here is sooooo cheap, the wrong kinds of food. And the right kinds of food are more expensive. Restaurants are so accessible, they are always open, relatively cheap and advertise on TV all the time. In other countries, as you said, they dont open unless at meal times, the advertising is not so prominent and they are more expensive.

The documentary "Food Inc" really made me think about the US food supply chain, it is something that I had not thought about since getting here. When I go to the supermarket and buy steak here it is amazingly, and I mean amazingly cheap compared to what I pay in Europe but it never tastes as good. I have driven all over the US and only in Texas do I remember seeing very large amounts of cattle.

After watching Food Inc it hit home to me... cattle are farmed VERY differently here than where I come from. Where I come from when you go to buy meat it lists the farm that the meat came from which is usually within 50 miles of the store you are buying from. The industry is very heavily regulated and the cattle occupy grasslands throughout the country where they graze in plain sight of you as you drive along the road.

America is sooo very vast that food production needs to be as cheap as possible and as quick as possible. The steak in many supermarkets here could have come from anywhere in the US and was probably raised on corn not grass. It is much less local than where I come from. Suddenly I can see why steak here is cheaper than where I come from, it is like a mass produced/manufactured item rather than a locally farmed food.

You have to wonder - If something costs so little how is that possible?

Its like going to buy a t-shirt from a shop for $1. Think about where that came from. From the cotton in it to the manufacturing of it to the shipping of it and the sale of it... $1... that is not a lot of money to pay all of the people involved and if you look really hard you might find that there are half starved people at the end of the chain who are probably not even earning 1 cent from that tshirt. I am not a do-gooder save the world type but I think we have become conditioned not to ask questions and be thankful that things are cheap. In life you end up paying for things one way or another and that might be directly or indirectly but you will pay.
 
Back from todays 5 miler and I am down again.. I like how things are going so far its very encouraging. I have decided that I am going to only take liquids on Mondays and possibly Tuesdays too. I feel so much better when my digestive system has been clear for a day or two its very refreshing. I think we often overlook digestive health. Really I would like a digestive transit time of 24 hours or less and I think liquids only for 1 or two days would be a good way to clear it out over time.
 
Pizza and chips for dinner... Ive been very good all week and from 12 tonight I will be restricting my intake to liquids for a couple of days so I am going to enjoy this.

Went on a nice long walk in the sun earlier, was a killer towards the end.

Weigh in today I am down again... 207.9... thats 15lbs since I started .. almost half way to my goal already!
 
Just checked my BMI and apparently I have moved in to the "overweight" category from obese. I dont want to be obese again!

Its really amazing how with a little concentration and a effort you can significantly change your wellbeing. The funny thing is that I dont feel like this is a diet or quick fix exercise plan like I have done in the past, it feels like it is a change in life - kind of like I have matured.

I went to do some shopping on Saturday and when I got to the checkout and put my food up on the belt I noticed there was not one processed food on there. It was all fresh, the closest thing to processed was a large tub of nonfat natural yogurt. It looked healthy and I felt good. Walking around the shop I had no interest in anything that wasnt fresh, I didnt even bother going down the aisles that have processed food just in to the fruit/veg section and meat/dairy sections.

I had some high quality protein powder from last month and decided to give it a try in smoothies. There was a recipe on the back for a banana, strawberry, choc protein smoothie... mmmmm I have had a couple now and they are good! and fill you up.

Also a note on the "eating healthy is expensive" mindset. I dont think it is. My weekly shopping usually costs me about $200. The shopping on Saturday cost me $120. It is all fresh food and didnt cost me as much. I may have to go again on Wednesday and pick up some more fruit but worst case scenario it will cost me the same amount. Sure when some people talk about it being cheaper they might be talking about picking up a $1 burger from mcdonalds but I dont class that as real food to begin with. Bill Maher said recently on Real Time, "whats with this new McDonalds big mac wrap?? its chucks of burger and all the other crap from a big mac shoved into a wrap... so whats the difference between eating that and eating out of the trash" - I honestly think that a big mac looks like something you might find in a bin.. it looks thrown together, soggy and generally ugly.

Uh oh I am becoming that guy! the one everyone hates because they preach about crap food! Ah not really, I am just writing it in my diary here so its not directed at anyone it is merely a dump of things that are going through my mind.
 
For lunch - some natural yogurt blended with water and fresh blackberries and a little spoon of jam to sweeten it a bit.

I then went and tried on some clothes that are buried deep in the bowels of my wardrobe. I have these two pairs of jeans that have been on a hanger together for a couple of years now. I bought them and they didnt fit me. I remember one pair being very tight and the other pair being kinda tight but didnt remember which was which. So I took out the first pair and tried them on and they fit me perfectly so I thought "they must have been the pair that were kinda tight". I tried on the other pair and they are too loose! Meaning the other pair were the VERY TIGHT pair.. I am very happy now :)

Also one of my suits that hasnt really fit me since 2007 fits pretty well. I could do with about another half inch in the waist but the jacket fits me fine. I am going to use this as my new measure.

New goals
1) Fit in that suit comfortably
2) Make it to 203
 
okay so my liquids only 2 day regime will come to a close tonight. Its really easy and I was not at all hungry. I think more than anything else it serves to remind me that shoving food in my face is not the correct way to live. I am training my mind to think differently and it seems to be working. I have gone from thinking every few hours "I havent eaten in a few hours" to thinking "I dont need to eat because I am not hungry and I only ate a couple of hours ago".

This process of rethinking my eating habits is proving very interesting. Yesterday I had some very nice shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At around 10pm I walked to the kitchen to get some water and I looked in the fridge and thought to myself "I am actually not hungry at all and have no desire to eat anything else". Food is becoming more and more about fuel and not about tasting nice things, it is quite a revelation.

I have decided to do the July 10lb challenge which was kindly organised by Korrie. I am really looking forward to it. I am really impressed with my body change after such a short time and marveled at fitting in to old jeans yesterday but the reality is that I have more than half left to go. I need to keep as motivated as possible to get there and this July challenge will hopefully keep me on track. If I complete it and drop 10lbs I could be under 200lbs by August!! imagine that!! Im very excited by this journey and I still believe that mental power is half the battle. If you believe something is difficult then you best believe it will be difficult. If you believe in yourself then you can achieve. Think about how much effort went in to making you the size you are today! A lot of eating and shopping and eating more.. that was all effort and you never even thought about it as work. Well now that you are actively trying to lose weight you can probably lose it quicker than you put it on.

Ready for action!
 
With the July challenge bearing down on me I am going to standardize my walking a little bit. Sometimes I skip a day here or there but not in July :)

I use a Garmin Oregon device for hiking and it will pretty accurately record your distance/time/speed etc. It then uploads this to the Garmin connect website and keeps track of your progress which is really useful. It also has a nice feature that lets you set goals and once you upload your tracks to the site it counts them toward your goal.

The goal for the next 7 days is 25 miles. This will give me plenty of time to get in my 5 miles walks. Anyone considering getting in to a fitness routine that will involve hiking, running or walking should consider one of these devices. You dont have to get a bulky device like the oregon they also have GPS watches that do the same job.

I am really looking forward to this challenge and wondering how difficult it is going to be, should be interesting.
 
Wow I cant believe it I am down to 206.6! I am half way to my goal now in just a few weeks.

At 223 I was trying to think of what it would be like to get down below 200 and now its just a few pounds away I cant believe it.

I went and did my 5 miles tonight. I usually walk pretty fast but rarely if ever run. Tonight I broke out in to a run and ran and ran and ran.. I never thought I would be able to run like that in my life and I wasnt out of breath. Walking has been amazing for me. I never would have thought you could so seriously up your fitness levels from pretty much zero to being able to run for a while just by regularly walking.

If I keep this up the July challenge will hopefully go to plan and by August I could be at 196!

I know I can do this, if I can drop 16lbs there is no reason I cant drop another 16
 
Keep up the great work! I'm the same way as you, I see some progress, and that makes me all the more motivated to keep going and see more progress. You're doing awesome!
 
out for my walk tonight I am absolutely blasting this weight off! 205.9 now, I am more than half way to my goal.

I didnt eat a lot today as I was busy busy with work. I had a protein shake for breakfast and a roast chicken and vegetable sandwich for lunch. I had no dinner as I was still working but had another protein shake when I got back from my walk. I feel fantastic!

SEVENTEEN POUNDS BEAT DOWN!!
 
:party:!! Congratsssss!!! You really are Smashing the shit out of it!!! :D!!!

I'm happy for you and your success! I've been working my ass off now, since I sabotaged the shit out of myself the last week that passed by there. :blush5:!!

It happens. Shit happens. ;)!!

Are you doing any other exercises for abs or muscles as well? Curious...? To smash faster? Not that you should...just curious. :D!
 
Hey Alta, thanks for the congrats :)

I am doing some work on a pull up bar, crunches and push ups. My plan is to get down to my goal then start focusing on building strength. I used to do a lot of lifting back in the day and still have pretty good muscle mass so would like to tone up and build on it.
 
Wow. Damn. A pullup bar ;)!! NICE!!! :D!!!

The only thing I can PULL UP..are my pants, when them shits are falling!! ;)! hahah...

You have a good plan of attack...Keep it up!!! :)
 
Have had a great weekend full of drinking and eating and generally lounging around the place. I dont really feel guilty, I had been so good since I started weeks ago and dont want life to be very boring so a break from the goodness was refreshing.

Today I am back on track again and have some vegetables in a pot making my fresh vegetable soup to flush out my system. I plan on doing 5 miles tonight and I wont be weighing myself until the July challenge weigh in on Thursday. If I am back to the same weight I was last Thursday I would be happy with that :)

This may sound like an excuse for a fun weekend but if losing weight was to mean I never had fun again I would rather stay the weight I am! I think cutting loose once in a while is okay and its like a little reward to myself :)

Hope everyone else had a great weekend.
 
That's a wonderful perspective. ;) If it meant never having fun again too..I'd never change the way I am either! :)

...That makes two of us. :D!
 
so my short term goals were to hit 203 and to fit comfortably in that suit. Well even with my severe over indulgence at the weekend I am down to 204.8 from 206.6 last week and I tried the suit on and it fits!!!

WOOHOOO

I keep reminding myself of how easy this is but the reality is I have gone from doing no physical activity and eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to doing at least 5 miles a day and eating very healthily. Its a big change but I am not dwelling on it, the positives are greater than the negatives and as my name says this is forrealthistime!

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top