Getting Functionally Fit

Coach, I'm sure it's nothing serious, but yes you need to go get it checked out. I'm sure it's swollen glands, but one can never be to relaxed about your health. Get going........ ummmm what are you waiting for, pick up that phone.. You dialing yet??? You may find whatever it is, might be working against you on the weight loss issues to, let us know what happens, I'll be thinking about ya!
Kim
 
Wow, thank you all for coming by and showing that you care. it really means a lot to me.

Today, and into tonight, the swelling has gone down considerably, and it only hurts when i really poke and prod at it. I am on antibiotics now, was supposed to start them last friday, lol. But i never got around to going to the pharmacy. I am also on an inhaler for my lungs and chest, and some incredibly strong cough suppressant. Ive read so many warning labels today, these three products are some strong stuff. I dont really need the cough suppressant and inhaler so much now, but i figure better safe than sorry, especially since we are going on vacation in 2 days. Im still congested to the point where i have some hearing loss, but it is not as bad as it has been. Also *GROSS ALERT* i had a major bowel movement (major even for a guy my size, lol), and seems as though i moved some stuff that may have been stuck. It happened just after i weighed myself this morning after waking up, so i decided to weigh myself again. i passed a whole friggin 2.2 pounds of crap! An entire friggin kilogram, lol. So, Im back down to where I should be in weight, and perhaps with some insight as to why it wasnt coming off. Just goes to show that there are more variables in play than we can possibly keep track of on a daily basis. and thus, we should not put emphasis on the number. after all, we are doing this for a lifetime anyways right? numbers will catch up soon enough, its how we feel overall that matters. and all in all, i do feel better than i did 3.5 weeks ago for sure. even while still sick! lol.

anyways, just to put everyone at ease, concerning the lump: i am monitoring it. i cant get into the doctor till next week as it is, but since it is going down, i am not too worried. however, if it starts to come back, i will not risk it and i will just go to the ER.


As far as what I am doing to find what I need to maintain this committment (as per the question in Blancita's post), I have to answer initially with something that might come off as... low quality. There is a certain portion of me that gets a bit of a self-righteous boost to confidence. I cannot help by place myself on a small pedestal and feel good that I am doing something that a very large majority of the population cannot. I am taking control, teaching myself discipline, overcoming my inner demons. Seeking help where i need, taking all the right steps towards success, and most importantly, accepting things the way they are. I am significantly overweight. I have some issues that make certain parts of my life a bit more difficult than others. My path may indeed be more difficult to walk than the majority of others'. But damnit, i feel good that i can overcome it anyways. and what the hell, part of me cant help but think that walking a more difficult path makes me a better person than others. and that feels pretty good. and i like feeling pretty good, and i want to keep feeling pretty good. I looked inside myself, and i found something that really strikes me in a good way. it became a significant reason and source of motivation to do things the way i knew they should be done. i feel like i have some inner peace, and i am more enlightened about who I am and what i need to do with my life. My contemplations and these realizations have even helped me in other aspects of my life as well, fueling me to move towards what i want and need in things like career, love, family, etc.

I do have to say, in my own defense, that while a decent amount of what I have said here may make me seem like quite the jerk, these are in fact my innermost thoughts. I am sharing them here because there is a certain amount of anonymity (sp?), and because laying them out helps me keep them identified. In truth and everyday life, I am a very modest person. I am not a boastful braggart, who is arrogant and cocky and thinks he is better than all others. i respect people for who they are and how they act, and do not judge them if they are unable to do some of the things i can do. after all, there are probably things they can do that i cannot. These feelings are for me in my thoughts alone, i would never act on them outwardly. Even towards my patronizing, insulting, and otherwise clueless family. LOL. yes i have some issues with my extended family... save that for some other time, lol.

OK, like i said yesterday, I am due for an evaluation. so, this one covers June 5th, 2007 thru June 11th, 2007. 7 days, as usual, with cumulatives in bold.

Average Daily Calories - 2,306 2,322
Fat - 50g (-14g) 19% (-6%) 60g 23%
Saturated Fat - 14g (-1g) 6% (+0%) 15g 6%
Carbohydrates - 251g (+4g) 39% (-1%) 253g 40%
Fiber - 30g (+4g) 29g
Protein - 221g (+43g) 40% (+8%) 199g 35%
Sodium - 5,670mg (-30mg) 6,105mg
Average Daily Deficit - ~1,450 calories
Low Micros - Calcium (95%); Vitamin D (49%); Magnesium (77%), Vitamin E (82%); Manganese (39%); Copper (51%)
Total Calories for Week, and cumulative - 16,150 (+350) 48,770
Deficit for Week, cumulative - 10,150 34,850
Estimated Tissue Loss - 2.9 pounds 10.0 pounds
Actual Weight Loss - 3.8 pounds 19.4 pounds
Projected 4 week weight - 398 pounds on 7/11/07
Projected 12 week - 353 pounds on 9/05/07
Exercise - Minimal

Quite a few important improvements. Reduced fat to goal level this week. Increased protein to goal level this week as well. Major accomplishment. Sodium still needs to decrease, going to have to find a way to replace some sodium heavy foods. Micros are improved, however I have realized that since I am larger, and since I take in more than 2,000 calories per day, that my intakes should be higher than the %DV. I am going to incorporate a non-iron containing vitamin supplement to safeguard myself. Preferrably something with small doses per capsule so i can take one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Deficit is slightly lower because I tweaked my info a bit and it had a small reduction in calories needed per day. I suppose I should go back and edit the last 2 weeks as well, but lets face it, thats too much work. Besides that, this is all just an estimation anyways. It is certainly not exact, but it is generally close enough to give me a good guildeline towards better health. The important thing is that I am paying attention to what I am putting in my body, and making an attempt to improve my health in that regard. I have also realized that I was calculating estimated tissue loss based on 3500 calorie deficit per pound. However, since this is the real world, I am losing more than just fat, so not all the tissue loss is a factor of 3500 calories of deficit. But, it is interesting nonetheless to see how much fat i would be losing if it was an ideal situation. Also, weight projections still look incredibly exergeratted and optimistic, lol. but they make me smile anyways. Exercise is still difficult to do with impaired lung functionality, lol. Cool thing about fitday is that it allows me to track my mood (based on 7 variables: happiness, stress, anger, clarity, sickness, hunger, and energy) so that I know how i was feeling overall for any given time period. So i know that for most of this evaluated week, i was feeling sick, unhappy, and not energetic. Not great for exercising...

Well, thats about it. once again, the floor is open to questions, comments, and suggestions. Thanks for coming by, and look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.

By the way, in case I havent already mentioned or it isnt obvious, I am incredibly well adapted to constructive criticism. In fact, I enjoy it. so i hope no one withholds thoughts and suggestions in fear of killing motivation or anything, lol. Not that you should try and force some sort of criticism, just let it flow if its there. ok its late and i am rambling... lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: cym
Coach, I think you're doing terrific. And as for the "attitude" in your journal -- you have exactly the right idea. This is your journal, and if you want to use it to brag, or freak out, or get confused -- that's what it's for! And "bragging" is important, too. After all, this is a struggle that 95% of all people fail at. Imagine if you were entering a marathon race, and you found out that 95% of all the entrants never finished! You'd be pretty damned proud to make it across the line, even if it took you 2 days.

Where does all that sodium come from? Are you eating beef jerky or something? :)
 
My only comment is "the proof is in the pudding" :). I wanna see you on here one year (and possibly two years) from now with this same attitude. You better take lots of before pics because you're going to be an f'n STAR on here!

I think Steve said in his journal that when you're quite obese most of the tissue actually IS fat rather than muscle and other tissue.

Think how fast things'll start to happen once you start exercising! The exercise will make a big difference in how you feel and in your health, so sooner rather than later is better. Hope you feel better soon.
 
Tom, the sodium comes from a decent amount of canned food such as soups and vegetables, from things like bread and wraps (even though they are whole wheat and such), sliced deli meats seem to have a lot of sodium in them as well. even bagels and chicken breast. i dont know why the sodium content of some of these foods is so high, we cook our own chicken breast, and dont add any salt in the process. i rarely even salt any of my food when i eat it (except a little on the veggies, too bland without any butter or anything, so i salt them slightly). Pretty much everything processed these days, and everything gets sodium added as part of that process. Hell, even my damn egg whites have an assload of sodium in them in only 6 whites. Cereals even have too much salt in them. I know I can help cut down some of the salt by staying away from canned foods and the like, and some of the processed foods like wraps. at least, i can cut those out when i can afford to buy the fresh versions, or afford to make some of the things from scratch. But alot of these foods with sodium in them, im not sure how to replace. How in the world am i going to get all my protein i need if i get rid of chicken breast and lean deli meats? lol. its not like i can eat 10 servings of whey powder a day. so, im a bit lost with the sodium issue, and i know that since i am sick right now and having a hard time getting enough fluids in me, that the salt is definitely affecting me negatively.

Blancita, I want to see myself here in two years as well. I know that coming here keeps me focused and keeps my thoughts on my goals. Heck, even in 5 years id like to think im coming round here at least once or twice a week. And I have taken some very... revealing before photos of myself. no, not nude or anything, but in boxers only, and up close in large resolution. it really shows where i am starting at, since my clothing hides quite a bit due to my wide shoulders and overall build. in fact, i even went and drew lines on some of the copies showing trouble spots and such, lol. dont know why i did that, not that i have the right materials to spot reduce, or that spot reductions would even be intelligent at this point in time. Im not taking during pictures till at least 100 pounds lost though. i want the change to be easily noticeable and hopefully at least somewhat dramatic.
 
Chicken breast has minimal sodium as does fresh turkey breast -you might wna to replace the deli meats with that - fresh turkeys are usually available pretty inexpensively, you could cook one on asunday and use it for sammiches during the week.

The amount of sodium in processed foods is really astounding.

if you're bean eater, definitey look into a crockpot and dried beans - it will save you 1000's of mg of sodium a week.

I'd bet you find that changes are pretty dramatic at about 25lbs - so you might w ant to do pics sooner -not that you have to post them r anyhing :D
 
Coach, I pretty much stopped eating canned soups and lunch meat for exactly that reason. The sodium they put in that stuff is just unreal. They say it's necessary to preserve the taste, but I'm a bit skeptical. Occasionally, you can find low sodium soups, but they're pretty rare.
 
Yeah, I love those Healthy Choice soups even though they have a lot of sodium in there, they are pretty good and fill me up. And it saves me from going out at work and buying crap (fast food) :) But, the bean idea is a good one. I LOVE BEANS and any time I get to put them in a crock pot is great! I like black beans wrapped in tortilla's yum! Oh I have to say the comment about your bowel movement cracked my ass up!!! NOW THAT was funny!! I'm sure we can all confess at one time or another after a good bathroom break we felt like we were 4 lbs lighter, Come on now, if people don't agree they're not being truthful. LOL LOL Your doing great, and I'm happy you have an appointment to see the Doc next week. Like I said before I'm sure it's nothing serious, probably swollen glands, but better to check stuff out regardless. Have a great rest of your day Coach
Kim
 
hey hey, thanks for swinging by everyone. I appreciate all the input, and have considered a few things. I went back and did some double-checking, and as it turns out, my sodium levels probably arent quite as high as they have been reading in fitday. I have not been entering some of my foods into fitday quite so accurately. What i mean by this is that when i went and typed in turkey breast deli, it gave me "turkey breast, deli style prepackaged luncheon meat". as it turns out, this is in reference to things like the oscar mayer prepackaged meats, which as I knew before are indeed loaded with sodium. Today, i did the same thing with ham, used the luncheon deli meat version, and 4oz of ham had ~1800mg of sodium! now i know this is not correct because we buy our deli meats freshly carved off real animals from a mennonite grocery store where they do not use preservatives or additives. So, i went back in and found out just exactly what part of the animal my meats were coming from, searched for that in fitday and got a much more accurate result. the ham i was actually eating for lunch was just carved from the rump end of fresh pork leg, and was more like 18mg of sodium per ounce. Same issues with the turkey breast and roast beef that i eat for sandwiches, so perhaps things are not quite as bad as it seemed. I am however still getting too much sodium, because the soups and canned veggies etc are still overloaded. but it is much easier to correct those kinds of little things that can be easily replaced than it is to find a substitute for fresh real animals, lol.

oh, and mal has provoked me to try one set of during pics at about 25-30 pounds lost. so we shall see if there is indeed any difference, lol. im skeptical though, so im not getting my hopes up! lol
 
oh, and mal has provoked me to try one set of during pics at about 25-30 pounds lost. so we shall see if there is indeed any difference, lol. im skeptical though, so im not getting my hopes up! lol
Click to expand...
wow, I'm a trouble maker :D

Excellent...

Now you want to give me all your money and worship me - yeah - you want to worship me.. and give me al lyour money - seriously... :D
 
I can hardly keep the number of calories straight, much less try to worry about my sodium and other stuff. I watch the carbs on the odd days when I do a low carb diet to get my appetite under control (I just started this recently and it really seems to work), but on those days I dont really watch the calories or anything else. Recently I've become more interested in the fiber, but I just look at it and say oh that's high today or look only 5 grams today and dont actually do anything about the number (except take note in foods, like today I bought these Kashi snack bars that have 5 grams fiber and 8 protein). I guess I try to eat healthy but dont stress it past that. Your lunch meats sound delish!
 
I feel for some of that list ..

it really sucks ..but you have made such a great start ..

keep it up ..we know you can do it! :)
we will be your cheering squad...

Go You!

Always
natalie jo
 
well, just a quick to note to say im off for the weekend. going camping till monday, be back sometime monday afternoon, so i wont be around a computer to do any posting or updating. have good food packed, and planned for success, should be a nice relaxing trip. just hoping for good weather!

See you guys next week!
 
CoachCrimson said:
I cannot help by place myself on a small pedestal and feel good that I am doing something that a very large majority of the population cannot. I am taking control, teaching myself discipline, overcoming my inner demons. Seeking help where i need, taking all the right steps towards success, and most importantly, accepting things the way they are.
Click to expand...

Coach, first, nothing you said in this post is either "low quality" or makes you "seem like a jerk". Honesty is honesty and it simply is what it is - not always subject to everyone's liking or approval...but as Tom said "it's your diary".

Second, you are doing something that many, many other people in the same situation chose not to do. Not because they can't and you can - but because they chose not to. I'm the same way. When I really don't want to do something I am quick to say "well, I can't do that because..." and have to call b.s. on myself at least twice a day.

Yes, you should feel damn good about yourself and what you are doing...not only because you made to difficult choice to begin in the first place, but also because you chose a path that far exceeds "going on a diet" or even "trying to lose weight"...you are willing to dive far, far below the surface into the real heart of the matter where you have to making the self-realizations and related mental changes that many of us don't want to do...and I applaud you loudly for it.

IMO when you've got a significant amount of weight to lose - the mental/emotional digging is the most important part of the whole process...just watching your calories and exercising alone is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic - sure it looks "prettier"...but the damn ship is sinking anyway.

Hope you had a great week-end.

p.s. you might want to check out WHFoods: The World's Healthiest Foods for help in meeting some of your micros.
 
well, i am back from our little weekend vacation, and things went very well. To say success would be an understatement, lol. I packed, I planned, I conquered, as i like to say.

I do have to admit though, that even with a solid month (and just counting this time around), estimating calories can still be difficult. Though I was usually fairly accurate using normal methods, I did find that frequently enough I was severely overestimating, and thankfully in far fewer cases, severely understimating caloric values. I really would like to stress to people that they take the time to measure and count here and there, even if calorie counting isnt there thing. It just kind of gives a little kick in the butt to remember that things are not always what they seem.

My girlfriend saw all of this for the first time this weekend, as this was the first time she has been in town since i started back on may 22. she seems fairly impressed, which makes me proud. she also has asked me, on a few occassions, just how long I will have to do this for. I told her that although I could probably estimate well enough once at maintenance, I really would prefer to keep good habits and know for sure what I am putting into my body. keeping these habits is what will lead to a lifetime of success, instead of another rebound. There will be plenty of opportunities to cheat in the future, to go out and eat and enjoy something tasty, but what is important is that on the average I am maintaining good choices and making the right decisions.

So, i had a great vacation, am relaxed and overall happy, and just enjoying life right now. Ive got a long way to go still, but I am looking back and realizing that a full 4 weeks has passed now, and it doesnt seem like that long. why is it that time to come always seems so far away, but time passed seems so short? I mean, Im sure that in another year, ill look back, while being 100 pounds or more lighter, and think, wow, it went by so quick. but right now, im looking at a year in the future and thinking about how long it is going to be to get there. in the meantime, im going to stay on track, but instead of lamenting on how long it takes to get this done, Im going to do what i can to enjoy the rest of life while I travel there. I want to make eating a function of survival, somethign that is done as a method to reach goals. not as something that is highly emotional and social. I know it sounds weird in most cultures, since eating plays such a social role, but heck, if i have to, i will start a new sub-culture! lol.

EDIT: How very rude of me not to thank you all for your kind wishes and words, and for coming by in my absence. I appreciate it much, and am working on getting caught up in everyone else's journals as well.
 
I really would like to stress to people that they take the time to measure and count here and there, even if calorie counting isnt there thing. It just kind of gives a little kick in the butt to remember that things are not always what they seem
Click to expand...
that's very true -when people aren't measuring regularly, portion sizes and eyeball estimates progressively get larger - by routinely checking yourself keeps your portion sizes in control..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top