My Recovery from Obesity

Mmmmm... that's tempting...but I'm hoping this weekend will be enough "sin" to keep me on the straight and narrow for the next 2.5 months. We'll see. Thanks for the kudos, MrVee.


Ate a terribly salty snack last night! Argh! I must have a diet death wish. But I ate well and still managed to exercise (7.3 miles at 30' on bike). But God smiled on me and kept the ball moving. I weighed in at 397.8, down 1.0 pounds. That's about 59 pounds since starting about 72 days ago.

On the road again, so hopefully will have time to visit many of you tonight.

Have a great Sunday!
That's some REALLY GREAT PROGRESS Don!! Be proud of yourself. VERY proud of yourself! Your hard work is really paying off. Keep it going. :)
 
Laura, Mandy and Justina, thanks for coming by!

Laura, no I haven't hit it yet (have you?) but I expect to make it with room to spare. I hope you're still killing it!

Mandy, thank you! I am doing MUCH better at focusing on the good this time... better than ever before. For example, I noted two things this weekend: One, I can now wear some new New Balance shoes (RED shoes, no less) that I bought in December but planned to return because they were a tad narrow.... now they fit fine. Two, I get cold in cooler temperatures, now! May sound weird, but in December I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt in 30 degree temps and was fine going in and out of stores and to the house. This weekend I had to wear TWO shirts and a jacket AND long pants in high 40's temperatures and was just barely warm enough. I attribute that to less fat for insulation and a slightly slower metabolism from working out so much. These are GREAT things that I EARNED!

Justina, I am IN the challenge! Signed, sealed and delivered. Maybe we can be team mates??

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OK, this weekend was BAD.... compared to how well I have been doing.
- Pizza on Friday?! No gain on Saturday's weigh in.
- Salty Japanese crackers for DINNER on Saturday?! STILL no gain on Sunday

(I still lost weight after those two fiascos!)

- Sunday night I ate a BIG serving of Corned Beef, Cabbage and Carrots (no potatoes, at least), and.... I gained 1.2 pounds today. Well, I had this one coming.


I think this was a bounce around after breaking the 400 pound barrier. That was a big deal to me.

Today I am back in the saddle. For breakfast, I ate an omelet with Kale and Mushrooms -- the Kale was intended to help my body, um, "part ways" with the salty Irish dinner from last night... and boy, did it work! My body seems to reject Kale. Had a green salad for lunch, loads of water, and I plan a smoothie for dinner ( a green one, no less).

I did exercise every night this weekend (yea, me!) and will do it again tonight.

I am joining a Challenge this week, and hope it'll help me push the limits even more. My goal is to be down 40 pounds more when the kids are out of school for the Summer... around the end of June. That means three months to shed 40 more pounds. If I am successful, I'll be down a total of 100 pounds in about 6 months. Crazy... maybe. Too much.... maybe. Possible.... I believe so. My plan? Yep.

I lost 29 pounds the first 30 days, 20 pounds the 2nd 30 days, and am currently on track to lose about 22-24 pounds this current 30 days. To meet my next intermediate goal, I would need to lose 20 this month, then average 15 each the next 2 months. That's very doable.

I know some of you think that's too aggressive, but for me it is reasonable. 1% of my body weight lost per week is still almost 4 pounds... currently, the average amount I lose per week.
 
Congrats on hitting 399!!!

Don, be careful with the salt. I know you tend to go low salt, which can be good, but too little salt can be just as bad as too much salt. Make sure you're still getting your DRV!
 
Nice work Don! You've done fantastic thus far. Salt effect your blood pressure and the scale, but not fat loss. Any gains you have from salty food is temporary. It's a healthy choice to eat lower sodium, but a salty treat is less of a setback than a sugary or fatty one.

What you're doing is working for you so take my advice with a grain of salt. ;)
 
Thanks all for the support!
Cory, I eat pretty low sodium, but I doubt I rarely (if ever) miss the my minimum recommended allowance. I am a salt fiend and unless I watch myself, I'm getting salt because I tend to sneak it...
Q, I agree with everything you said. I watch salt closely for a couple of reasons: I weigh everyday (as you know) and salt causes daily fluctuations that can get frustrating for a scale watcher; health (e.g. BP) reasons; and because salt in my diet (as well as sugar to some degree) DRIVES my appetite-- the more salt I ingest, the more I WANT to eat. As a Paleo-ish eater, sugar is OFF my diet and animal fats are supposed to be eaten to aid in the absorption of all the nutrients in my veg/fruit heavy diet.

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I did what I planned yesterday -- ate a big veggie omelet, green salad, then fruit, drank loads of water, hit the bike for 8 miles -- and the scale responded today. Much of the retained water from my salt-a-licious Irish dinner on Sunday was shed -- and I am down 1.6 pounds to 397.4.

Today's plan is much the same... except I'll add a protein at late lunch... maybe albacore or tofu.

By the way, I'm adding a small chicken farm to my property... maybe 8-10 chickens. I love the flavor of farm fresh (free range) eggs, so I might as well try raising some chickens. The kids are excited.
 
Awesome work Don!

What kind of chickens. I raised chickens for years. I like Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds and crossbred the two. They are good layers and eat well too. I need to get a coop built. Yard eggs and birds are the best. The biggest problem living in the woods is that all the critters think so too.
 
So jealous, Don. I hate grocery store meat and produce. We used to trade veggies for fresh eggs with some family friends, but they stopped keeping chickens a couple years ago. I miss my old eggs. :[
 
I'm betting those chicken an eggs will taste good. To be honest, this city boy really would not know. As far as I would know, eggs come from a Styrofoam carton.

Good work on the continued losses.
 
Oh-lalaa!!! farm fresh chicken - free range eggs!! Right up my alley! :D

& you are the second person who mentioned omelet on here today - you guys are gonna make me hungry!
 
Yes, farm-fresh eggs! Quercus, I have NO idea what type, although the two you mentioned are usually available at the farm supply store up the road... those and some called Black Orpington (sp?). Cory, if we were closer, I'd trade you eggs for venison backstrap. :) MrVee, if you can find some at a farmer's market, TRY them. There is no comparison. The whites are clear and firm, and the yolks are dark yellow to orange in color... and they TASTE awesome. Justina, I am surprised you haven't already added the omelet to your diet! I LOVE them and it is often my first and biggest meal of the day.

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OK, weigh in was good. I started at 457 on Jan 5th and weigh 396.2 today. That's over 60 pounds. Wow. I sure wish 60 pounds lost looked as good on me as it does on most others. I've had 2-3 people comment who didn't know I was trying to lose weight.... that's 2-3 people since starting. People likely won't really notice much until I lose at least 100 pounds. On the other side of the coin, I feel good.

On the front: Cool website where you put your money where your mouth is. I bet $35 (along with 498 other people - like Laurelee from this site) that I would lose 4% of my starting weight in 28 days. For me, that meant I needed to lose 14.6 pounds in 28 days. To date I have lost 11.6 pounds, leaving me only 3 pounds to lose before April 5th. Looks like I should win a part of the $17k pot. It's split between the people who achieve their 4% loss -- so probably will get my money back plus maybe another $15-25. It's a fun challenge.

Today's plan is a repeat: Eat big early, green late, and drink water like it's running out. Hit the bike again tonight (I'm still doing 8 miles most nights in 30 minutes) and maybe do some other exercises.

Sidenote: Ooh, I almost did "a" pushup yesterday! One legitimate pushup. My tummy is smaller (so it doesn't hit the floor when my face is still 8" away) and I still have enough upper body strength to muscle myself through one ugly pushup. By the way, this is embarrassing (but necessary for me to post) to confront my limitations. In my younger days, I could do many pushups easily and could bench press 300 pounds. I was like a gorilla back then -- hence, the name DonKeykong. I may never regain that strength, but I intend to go down swinging.
 
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Don, That is awesome. I hope that month 3 goes super well too. You have a good goal set up with 15 lbs for the month. YOu can do it!!! WE are cheering for you. I have some great tips at my blog that I write too if you ever want to read about them. I've learned so much with my own weight loss. Just think - you are 60 lbs healthier already! I'm so proud of you. Blessings, Amy
 
Actually I quite like omelets -it's my husband who cant stand them...so somehow it's not on the menu a lot... I used to have it frequently before. I love it with onion, mushroom, spinach & some tomatoes...yummy!
 
Thank you, Amy! I searched for your diary, but only found a thread in "before & after". let me know if there's another.

Thanks. Tru! (Did you see how I didn't deflect your praise with my normal "yeah, well, I still have a long way to go..." It's something I'm working on.) BTW, I was serious when I said I may ask for your help. I aspire to be a tenth the lifter you are.

Justina, you just described my favorite omelet... except I add a touch (2-3 Tbs) of cheese and I occasionally like serrano pepper to make it zing!
 
Thanks MrVee. I worry about it at times, to be honest with you.

On the one hand I have this overwhelming desire to lose as much as I can as fast as I can, utilizing a healthy diet & exercise regimen. On the other hand, I hear so much from people saying slow and steady wins the race... that fast weight loss results in likely regaining all the weight afterwards.

I will continue to do what I am doing .... or some variant of it, as conditions demand... until I achieve the results I seek. My eating is CLOSE to the way I would like to eat forever. But I would like to add in some currently off-limits foods in moderation at some point... like rice & potatoes. The exercise I do is EASILY maintainable in my future. When I achieve my goals in weight loss, I have NO reason to go back to doing what I was before.

I want to continue to be aggressive losing weight and getting healthy -- just as you have.
 
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