Lordy! Lordy! The Fat Guy has lost 40!

That’s right folks your reading it correctly I have officially lost 40 lbs in the last 73 days of my journey.  This morning when I stepped on the scale I weighed 280 lbs.  So by accident Amanda and I started a tradition back on January 16th, I finally was able to fit into a shirt that I had not been able to in a long time.  On February 16th I just happen to be wearing the same shirt and took another picture.  So by popular demand and my own curiosity it is March 16th and here is the side by side by side picture.

 

I have been overwhelmed with the support from your guys and I can’t tell you how much it means to me and motivates me to keep going and working hard.  Thank you Thank you Thank you!

 

So there was another big moment for me this weekend and that was the Winter Park Road Race that Amanda, Michelle and I took part in.  This was a Track Shack race that took place in Winter Park.  It was a 2 MIle run and a 10K (6.2 miles), and they also had a challenge where you could do both races…..so of course we did them both because it was there.  So the grand total for the weekend was 8.2 miles which is by far the farthest I have ever walked.  It was also the first race that I was going to get a medal for and in this case I got 2 🙂

So the 2 miler was first and I started walking and got into my zone and was averaging about 13:34 pace which is clipping along pretty good I think.  I finished it in about 30:11 which wasn’t bad.  And as soon as I crossed the finish line from the 2 miler it was right into the 10K.  So I kept on truckin’!

When I rounded the first turn Amanda and Michelle went past me which threw me off completely because I had no idea where they came from.  I eventually caught up to them and passed them as they got tied up in a bunch of people.  Of course I could not quietly go by them… so I yelled “Fat Guy coming through!”  Then I started asking people to take a picture of me passing Amanda as it would probably never happen again.  So of course Amanda snapped this picture.

 

Amanda says I look like a mall walker when I am out on the course LOL.  During the 10k I was averaging about a 14:00 min mile give or take.  Of course shortly after this picture was taken they blew past me like I was standing still.  So I kept on truckin!  A little further down the road Amanda decided to walk with me the for the better part of the race.

 

This was about Mile 3 of the 10K which was actually mile 5 overall for me.  I was still going strong at this point.  We both love doing the races in Winter Park.  The course was amazing and the houses are just out of this world.  Then about mile 4 I was still doing great which was mile 6 at this point and I was fast approaching my longest walk to date.

 

I was still feeling good and going strong at this point…. Then I hit THE HILL.  So between miles 4 and 5 (6 and 7) we ran into a hill.  Now this hill was probably only about 50 yards long but it was steep and felt like I was climbing a mountain.  By the time I reached the top my legs went on strike.  Oh and I would like to point out that during this whole time Amanda WASN’T EVEN SWEATING! I mean seriously I looked like I went swimming in the lake and she looked like she was still on mile 1.  But I digress…..

So we were almost to the end of the race and I gave Amanda the nod and she took off and finished the race.  I kept on truckin’ and finished in about 1:36 min.  And I got my BLING!!!

 

 

In the end it was an amazing day and an amazing race.  

 

My next race with be the Lake Nona Pig Run in April.  Still looking for people to join me as this will be my first race sans Amanda on the course.  It should be fun.  

Well the journey continues and I could not be happier with the results.  Thank you again for all your support and kind words.  Onward and Downward!

37 and not just my age (well almost)

So again I am a week late on posting but it was another crazy week around the Nethero household.  This week was the ICRC conference which is a crazy week for Amanda.  Also this year I was a speaker at the conference, which was pretty cool.  This was also another test of will power because they have a hospitality room with a…..wait for it……CANDY BAR!!!! Yes I said it a candy bar.  And there are only some of my favorites in there.  But I was good and stuck to the more healthy options.  

Here is my progress so far.  I am down 37 pounds since my journey began.  I now weigh 283 pounds and feel great.  I have consistently been losing about 1-3 pounds a week.  As long as I keep that up I will be happy.  I am starting to see some difference when I look in the mirror.  Slowly but surely is going to win the race.  

One question I get asked a lot is what am I doing?  When I tell them all I am doing is walking and counting calories they seem to have a hard time believing that is all I am doing.  Now I was never strong in math in school but it really is a simply math issue.  Calories in and Calories out.  Keep those in check and you will succeed.  That and having a great support system around you.  I have had such great support from my family, friends, coworkers, and the community here on this blog.  One thing that I never thought would happen from this blog was that my journey would be considered “inspirational” to others.  Apparently that has happened on a few occasions.  But seeing other peoples success only pushes me to work harder.  

My biggest physical challenge is coming up next weekend.  I am going to be doing another race with Track Shack.  This one is the Winter Park 10k which is by far the farthest distance I will have walked other than around my house.  But there is a twist to this one.  They have a challenge where you add 2 miles to it.  So were going for it!  I am a little nervous but cant wait to get back out there and get my first BLING as well. They also give you a free beer! I am really getting into this race thing and hope within the next year to take part in a 1/2 marathon!  I never thought I would say that. 

I got another interesting question the other day as well.  And the question was why am I trying to lose weight?  Well that is probably the most simple answer out there.  And the reason I am doing this is…….

 

these guys right here!

These guy are my reason for doing this.  I want to be healthier for them, I want to be a good example for them, I want to be around for them.  I don’t need any other reason then them.  The healthier I am the longer I am around for them.

Weigh in is tomorrow and I will try to get an update out as soon as possible.  I am also firing up the smoker tomorrow.  

 

Onward and Downward!

 

 

Weekly Update!!!!

First off I would like to apologize for missing a week of posting but man was it a busy week.  Lots of hours, lots of victories, lots of miles (Amanda’s not mine :))

So here we go—  It has been 53 days since I have started this journey and here is the latest and greatest.

Current Weight – 286 lbs

Total Loss to Date – 34 lbs

Total inches lost – 2-3 ish (I went down one pant size from 46 to 44)

I am very happy with my progress so far and am extremely encouraged to keep working hard at it.  Don’t get me wrong there is nothing easy about this cravings, temptations, stress can all derail you but you have to stay the course.  The big thing is a lifestyle change.  Amanda made a great point tonight when she said we have been eating better for so long that even when you can drift back and eat something less healthy for you, you don’t want to.

This week at work we had the WDW Princess 1/2 Marathon and of course I had to work it.  Man did my eating get screwed up…Not so much what I ate but how I ate through the day.  When you start at 4am and are off at noon it throws off your schedule.  So even though I was under my calories I ate more at a time because I was essentially skipping certain meals.  

Speaking of the 1/2 Marathon Amanda ran it this weekend with her sister Cathy, niece Lorren, and her friend Michelle.  I could not be more inspired and proud of these ladies.  They ran the Glass Slipper challenge which is a 10K and 1/2 Marathon back to back on consecutive days.  And they crushed it!  Way to go Ladies!!!  

And as it always has I am inspired to keep running.  I am planning on doing at least another 5K soon and Amanda and I are talking about running the Trackshack 10K+2 race.  Which will be my biggest challenge to date.   I am looking forward to it.  

The journey continues, thank you again to all of you who have taken an interest in my journey.  You are a big factor in my success so far.  When the plateaus come… oh and they will come your support will get me through that.  Oh and on a side note while I was at the race this weekend someone came up to me and was like “Hey Southern Fried Fat Guy!” That was cool.   If that was you first off thanks for that and congrats on finishing your race you rock!.  And the volunteer behind me wanted to know why you called me a fat guy and I wasn’t offended LOL it was really funny.

 

Hope everyone has a great week and if your on your own journey keep it up your doing great!    

Onward and Downward!

Sunday Check-in

Well folks its that time of week again, the great weigh in.  So last week at this time I weighed 294 lbs and this morning I weighed in at 291 lbs!  That’s a three pound loss from last week bringing my grand total to 29 pounds so far.  I have also dropped my BMI from 41 to 38.  I still have a long way to go but slowly and surely is my plan.  As long as I am averaging 2 lbs a week I am happy.  I have been doing really well with not weighing myself except for Wednesdays (mid week check in for progress) and Sundays for my official weekly check.  Amanda and I were talking this week about some of the things that are out there for weight loss and what works for some people.  I know I could do some cleanse or purge or detox whatever you want to call it, or do shakes or something like that but I just don’t want to go down that road.  I consider this my first marathon…not a sprint.  I want to change habits, change the way I look at what I eat, and make this a change that will stay.  If I reach my goal (still undetermined) and I gain weight it is going to be because I made bad choices based on calories in and calories out, not because I stopped drinking a shake or started eating carbs again or what ever else is out there.  It may work for some people and do what is right for you to reach your goal. It’s your journey, your quest, you choose your path to get there.  This is just my road map for my journey.    I feel a difference so far and my clothes are fitting differently but still not seeing the difference, all in due time though.

So exercise this week has been good.  I have been averaging about 1.5 miles a day at work just walking around doing my job and the places I have to go out to.  Yesterday I went on my long walk and went 4.2 miles.  That is the longest walk I have done to date and I felt like I could have kept going.  I am planning on getting through February then switching to a run walk format beginning in March.  There is a 5k coming up in April that I want to take part in and am looking for some folks to walk it with me.  It’s called the Pig Run of Lake Nona, I mean really how awesome is that.  Its a straight fun run, untimed, and halfway through there is a thing called the pig pen with donuts that you can partake of if you would like.  I’m not so sure about that part but the medal and T-shirt are really cool.

As far as food goes we had probably one of the best dishes from skinnymom.com, its called Turkey Cheeseburger Casserole.   It is amazing and very easy to make and for 1.5 cups per serving you really get a return on your investment only 256 calories…..yum yum yum.   I also had some pizza, ice cream from Twistee Treat and took the kids to dinner at Chili’s friday night.  Not my best week as far as the healthiness of the food but I stayed under my calories and still met my goal.

I hope you all have a great week! Remember we all choose a different path but as long as we all end up healthier and happier then thats all that counts.  Till next time Onward and Downward!

 

 

What did the FAT GUY eat?

So here we go sports fans… Here are some of the highlights of what I have eaten the past week.  Some of it I came up with on my own and some of it Amanda found from some really great websites.  Websites like http://www.skinnymom.com there are a ton of great recipes.  So lets start with breakfast….  Amanda found these great breakfast burritos at Target they were called Good Food Made Simple. And they were really good.  There are several varieties and most of them are around 300 calories.  

These were really good but I was at Publix one day and thought to myself is there a way I can make this on my own and shave a few calories.  And you know what I could and I did.  Now yes it takes a little more work in the morning but I know exactly whats going into it.  So how did I do it?

La Banderita Flour Tortillia – 105 Calories

All Whites liquid egg white 3tbsp – 25 calories

Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles 1/4 cup – 35 calories

Bell Peppers  1/8 cup – 7 calories

Total Calories per Burrito – 172 Calories saved roughly 28 calories.   Ill take that..

Some other breakfast options I have are multigrain waffles and a little bit of peanut butter.

 

Lunch

Now most of my lunches are leftovers from the night before. One thing I usually take with me is a salad.  I LOVE salad you can have a huge salad for next to no calories.  And we found a great dressing that is low in calories and tastes great!  It is  made by Bolthouse Farms and I love the Honey Mustard and Amanda is a fan of the Blue Cheese.  They are yogurt based and for 2 TBSP is about 50 calories.  Thats enough to coat the salad and add a little flavor.  Plus I love to add some raisins to my salad for a little sweet.  Not much just a couple.  

Snacks

Before I get to dinner here are some snacks I have depending on the day.

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars – 190 calories for the two bars.  They have lots of flavors for you to choose from.

Fruits

For a sweet snack Amanda brought home some Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds – 8 Almonds – 160 calories.  I know that doesn’t seem like a real good return on your investment but by the 8th one your usually satisfied.  

Now by far my most favorite snack that Amanda came up with is the following:

Small Gala Apple chopped – 80 calories

Peanut Butter – 1 TBSP – 90 calories melted in the microwave for 30 seconds

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – .5 Tbsp 35 calories

Drizzle the melted peanut butter on the apple and top with the chips.  I GUARANTEE its hits ever flavor you could be looking for in a snack.  

Another good snack we found was Angie’s Kettle Corn – 2 cups is only 140 calories.

Dinner

So now on to dinner.  Amanda has found so many good recipes that you wouldn’t think were low in calories but they are.  Most of these were found on the skinny mom website.  

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie – 1 cups (and biscuit) – 343 Calories – and its amazing!

Hearty Chicken Roast – 1 cup – 195 calories

Mexican Stuffed Shells – 2 shells – 244 calories

Sour Cream Enchilada – 2 enchiladas – 374 calories these things were huge

BBQ Chicken Flatbread – whole flatbread (yes the whole thing) – 420 calories

 

Thats just a few of the things that I have eaten that have helped me along the way.  Like I have always said if I want to have something I can have it.  I have been trying to make different choices and changing my habits and so far it has worked.  Even when we go out to eat I am more conscious about what I am eating and the choices I make.  I will continue to post some more great things Amanda thinks up for us to eat.  If you can’t find some of the recipes listed please let me know and I will find it for you.  Have a wonderful week.  

 

Weekly Update!

So I wanted to check in with everyone on my progress.  So far I have been averaging my 2 lbs. a week average.  As of this morning (Sunday weigh in day) I am at 294 lbs!  So that is a grand total of about 26 lbs.  I can definitely start to see the difference in the way my clothes are fitting….not so much in the how I look in the mirror…but how my clothes fit.  I did not get a lot of walking in but we did have some training this week where I was walking around a field for three days so I just counted that.  Yesterday though I took some time to get on the treadmill and I went 4 miles.  That is the longest distance I have done at one time and it really felt good.  I was in my zone and felt I could have kept going no problem.  I think my plan is to finish February walking and then start the couch to 5k program and start running some.

Friday night we went to Bahama Breeze with my parents because they are going on a trip next week.  I reaffirmed something that you can have what you want to eat and still lose weight.  I was able to budget my calories for the day and eat my favorite dish there.  PAELLA.  I was awesome and I also realized that I am really starting to change my habits.  Normally I would have eaten every last grain of rice on the plate, but this time I ate till I was content and stopped.  And I am also happy to report I still have not had a soda since I started this journey.  

Well on ward and down ward.  Keep an eye out for “What the Fat Guy ate!”

 

 

Seasons 52 5.2K DONE!

That’s it sports fans!  The Seasons 52 5.2K is in the books…  It was a great race put on by Track Shack and Seasons 52. Alas neither Amanda nor I were a 52nd finisher so no gift cards but we both got something better—Personal Records!  Amanda tore up the brick lined streets of Winter Park and finished the 5K portion in 37:10 and the .1 extra in 39:44.  I am so proud of her, plus it was nice to see her at the finish line.  For me I was guaranteed a personal record because it was my first official race, but I did beat my training times by 14 minutes!

So the morning was very very chilly and Amanda and I were off to the races.  It was very odd being on the course as a participant and not a spectator.

My biggest FAN!

So there I was standing on the street ready to go with all the walkers (and unfortunately not the walking dead kind…or my time would have been much faster)

And we were off and my first official 5K was underway.  So in my last post there was an “issue” with the image of the back of my shirt so I was able to fix it and here is what it looked like.

Apparently I was walking motivation because as soon as we rounded the first corner every group I passed started running and I just laughed.  My favorite people were the ones who would run and pass me then start walking and I would catch up to them.  But I ran my race at my pace.  The neighborhood we walked in was beautiful except for the brick streets..while nice to look at they were a pain to walk on and were anything but level.  That being said it didn’t take away from being a great race to run..um walk.

Another great thing I found today was a station on Pandora called “Classic Rock Power Workout”  it is amazing!  as I approached mile one Eye of the Tiger came on and I powered on.

Finishing is WINNING!

I loved the motivational saying on the mile markers.  Now the time shown was clock time and not my actual time.  At this point I was at 15:13 for the first mile and feeling strong.  So I powered on. On to Mile 2

Outrun you doubt!

Again this was not my time.  I was at 30:33 and my pace had slowed down by :07 seconds but I was still doing well and so I powered on!  At this point we were  passing the Baptist Church in the area and they were outside singing to everyone as they went by.  It was great! Reminded me of the last mile in the Disney runs right before you head to the finish line.  Mile 3 was in sight and I powered on.

If you can dream it you can do it!

Again this was not my time I was at 45:26 and there were only two turns left.  The big shocker was my pace had jumped up to 14:53 a mile apparently for some reason I was motivated.  I knew Amanda was waiting around the corner.  I officially finished the 5K in 48:13 which was 14 min faster than my fastest walk around the neighborhood.  But we had .1 miles to go.  I made the last right and there it was…..MY FIRST FINSIH LINE!

FINISH LINE!!!!!

I can see the finish line it’s right there.  Make way for the fat guy I am coming through.  BTW I passed the guy in the green and his face at the finish line was priceless.  I finished with a clock time of 52.01 which was funny because this was the Seasons 52 5.2k and my chip time was 50:05.  I kept what I like to call Disney pace and that was my goal.  It felt weird crossing the finish line and hearing them call out my name and now I know why people do this…I’m hooked… I want the finish lines and I want the bling!  No bling today from the Seasons 52 race but I also was doing a Virtual Race called the Jedi Challenge and will be receiving this little beauty sometime in March.

I mean really how cool is this?

I was a great day!  Amanda and I both PR’d and I got to cross my first (of many now) finish lines!  I officially have gotten the bug for these races or as Amanda says “5K’s are the marijuana of races that’s how they get you started”  I guess if that is true it gives new meaning to “Puff Puff Pass”  or would it be more like “Huff and Puff, Huff and Puff, Pass?”  And the grand finale……..

See the guy in green to the left of the picture 🙂

I want to take the time to thank everyone again for the encouragement and support especially Amanda and the kiddos!  The journey has just begun and it’s a marathon not a sprint.  Enjoy the ride the Fat Guy is coming through!

T-Minus 21 hours!

Well sports fans it is just under a full 24 hours until the FAT GUY hits the mean streets of Winter Park for my first ever 5k…well official one.  The Seasons 52 5.2K

I know I promised a special surprise for my running attire and I wanted to give you a quick peek…so here it is

Front of my shirt

And here is the back—-

Oh no! there must be a problem with the image…oh well guess you will have to wait until tomorrow to see the back!

 

Thanks again to everyone for the support and I will attempt to remember to post pics during the race tomorrow.

Sunday Ru…errr Walk Day

So today was a first for a few things.  I got to break in my new shoes on the road and I did another 3.1 miles back to back.  I am definitely feeling better about the race this weekend with Amanda.  So after my 3.1 the kiddos had a lot of energy left to burn and really wanted to go for a bike ride around the neighborhood.  So after dinner we went around the neighborhood a couple times.  Another 1.59  miles for me today.  So this was also the farthest I have walked in one day.  But how could I resist these faces?

Another first today was I walked this afternoon with my good friend Chuck from work.  Chuck is on a journey of his own to lose some weight and I figured there is strength in numbers.  Today was his first day walking as well.  He was a real trooper and kept pushing through.  I even gave him an out around mile 2 to go back to the house but he wanted to power on and finished his first 3.1 miles.  I was very proud of Chuck and kept cheering him on through the whole walk.  He kept apologizing about slowing me down but I was going for distance not time and I was happy to be on the road with him supporting him.  I look forward to more weekends walking together.  I tried to convince him to sign up for the Seasons 52 5.2k but a 730 am start on a Saturday was not in his future.  I will give him this he doesn’t get off work until 11pm.

Well it was a great day now the wait for Saturday.

Temptations all around- Not because I can’t but because I didn’t want to.

One thing that I decided during this journey was that I was not going to say I CAN’T have something.  I have however CHOSEN not to partake of certain things.  I have not had a soda in two weeks, and believe it or not I have been pretty good with that.  However, there are some things that are a little harder to pass up.  

I give you peoples exhibit #1:

Donuts or Doughnuts however you please (really this shouldn’t shock you), those little fluffy circles of goodness.  I LOVE donuts! So a couple of weeks ago after I dropped the kids off at Religious ED I decided that instead of going home and getting the dog all worked up only to leave a few minutes later, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to have a coffee and just relax.  Yes I know I walked into the lions den of fluffy round chocolate goodness.  But I figured its better not to run from temptation but to meet it head on and workout that willpower/lifestyle change muscle.  So now every Tuesday I walk in there order my coffee and sit down to relax and soak everything in.  Plus it smells pretty good to.

Peoples exhibit #2:

 Me encanta el queso I mean I really do.  Who wouldn’t?  I have recently had two encounters with this spicy little vixen.  One at Moe’s the other day while having lunch with some coworkers and then again tonight at Chuy’s while out with the family.  Now at Moe’s it was easier to resist all I had to do was tell the guy behind the counter that I would not like any with my meal.  Tonight on the other hand there it was less than a foot away right next to the basket of crispy tortilla chips.  And proudly I resisted.  Not because I couldn’t have it but because I didn’t want it.

 

And finally Peoples Exhibit #3:

I know I know how can one not love this twistee headed little bastard and all the low fat, low cal, delicious goodness that he holds inside?  Well its not the froze yogurt that is the problem its all his little friends that get you in trouble.  Mini Reese’s Pieces, Mini M&Ms, Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Covered Almonds, Sprinkles, and of course the Pièce de résistance  COOKIE DOUGH!. Tonight after battling Senor Queso the kiddos wanted to go to Menchies.  For once I was able to resist grabbing that bowl and filling it up.  Not because I couldn’t have it but because I didn’t want it.  

Now could I have had all of these things? Yes I most certainly could but I choose not to.  Now with that being said if I were to finish a half marathon you better believe I am celebrating with a big ol chocolate covered donut.  One thing I decided when I began this journey was I was going to do it my way.  No pills, no gimmicks, no fads, just hard work.  I don’t need this to happen over night, I just need it to happen.  Who knows maybe I will budget my calories one Tuesday and have that donut….Not because I can’t but because I want to.