Treachery

Dear Diary,

Today is my 10,765th day on this planet. This place has gotten the best of me.  For some unknown reason I have become complacent and addicted to cookies, chocolate, cheesecake, fast food, and soda.   It appears that most people on this planet are currently infatuated with the linguistics of a small red four-legged creature.  In the coming days I will bravely search the wilderness in pursuit of one of these creatures and begin my interrogation immediately in hopes of finding a cure.   Wish me luck.

Goal: 200 lbs.
Current Weight: 310 lbs.
Difference: 110 lbs.
Loss to date: 0 lbs

Workout today: 30 minutes on the elliptical at Planet Fitness and stretching

P.S. Per protocol, I cannot confirm nor deny my wife's allegations of sabotage.  I shall remain steadfast in my mission.  GLORY SHALL BE MINE!

Kitchen-Aid Mixer and Weekly Weigh-in

It's official: Dann is trying to sabbotage us. My christmas present came in the via UPS yesterday, and rather than hiding it and wrapping it up for Christmas he just handed me the cardboard box right there in the parking lot. Let it be known, that this isn't entirely uncommon on my side of the family. We are notorious for not wrapping things and giving gifts mere hours after we buy them. None of us can keep a secret for long. So what was in this brown box of doom? A Kitchen-Aid Mixer: The end-all-be-all of kitchen appliances. The one thing I have pined over for years; It's also a diet-breaker if I ever saw one. But I'm up to the challenge of finding some diet-friendly recipes to make with it. Or maybe  I'll finally start pursuing my dream of learning to bake a proper loaf of bread. I know Dann will have no objections with that.

The past few weeks I've been getting my recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen and both Dann and I have enjoyed a plethora of her recipes. Kalyn focuses on low-glycemic and South Beach Diet cooking. I've mainly been selecting recipes from her "Phase One" recipes. For me its been a little difficult eating this way. I'm a whore for fruits and vegetables which are few and far between in this phase of the South Beach diet. While not following the diet word by word, I do believe in some of it's priciples. And it's true, the phase one eating plan has helped me cut down my cravings quite a bit. Dann's favorites have been Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas with Beef and Cilantro and Pinto Pean and Ground Beef Stew with Cumin and Cilantro, which we have started calling Hamburger Helper because it tastes like an amped up version of the cheeseburger flavor with  pinto beans instead of the noodles. I thickened the broth a bit to make it that type of consistency for him. I was eating the heck out of Garden Cucumber Salad with Tuna and Sweet Basil last week. Its super easy to make and was deliciously fresh for my vegetable deprived palate. I even enjoyed it with with arugula in place of the basil when Dann mistakenly bought the wrong thing at the store mid-week!

We took a weekend trip up to Kansas City for the MLS Cup. Our favorite team, Sporting Kansas City made it to the Championship game and prevailed! We had a blast, despite the high that hovered around 22 degrees. Going out of town meant the inevitable breaking of the diet, but I tried to make good choices when eating out, but I can't lie; I couldn't pass up a slice of Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. It was totally worth it. 

I've taken up a 21 day exercise challenge. Many sources say that it takes this amount of time for an action to become habitual. Since I lack the motivation to exercise more than anything, I decided to focus on that for the next 21 days. I am allowing myself 3 'pause' days. The premise  of the challenge is that if you fall off the wagon or use all your pause days before the 21 days are up, you have to start over at Day 1. I have challenged myself to 21 days of cardiovascular exercise. Three days in. . . I'm 1/7th of the way there! Progress,  at any rate, is promising.

So the question remains, have my efforts over the last week paid off? Did the diet-breaking trip up to Kansas City hold me back? Weighing in today at 269.6 lbs. That's 2.8 pounds lighter than last week! 

The Starting Point

This is where we are now. In an effort to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles, Dann and I have decided to start this weight loss blog. Both of us need to lose at least a total of 100 pounds to be closer to a healthy weight. Together, we hope to lose a combined total of 200 pounds through diet and exercise.

I have personally, never been in "great shape." I have never been a very active person, even as a child. Finding the motivation to go workout will be my biggest challenge, especially in the cold winter months.  I did enjoy taking long walks this summer and fall outside, but unless I find a way to brave the cold, it looks like exercise will be indoor only. Luckily, our apartment complex offers a small  workout room with a couple of treadmills, elliptical, and weights for free. It isn't fancy, but much better than paying for the price of a gym membership that always seems to go unused. If Dann and I can get into the habit of working out on a regular basis and start seeing results, we will consider upgrading to a nicer gym membership, but we need to instill the habit first.

I have been able to lose a considerable amount of weight before through diet, so I am not worried about that. My problem, like others, is maintaining a healthy weight after weight loss. I lost a considerable amount  of weight the summer between middle school and high school doing the Atkins diet. However began slowly gaining that weight back. After beginning a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle change about two years ago,  I lost about 40 pounds, but after stopping that last year, I have gained that weight plus another 30 or so back. I am now that the heaviest weight of my life and I am ready to make a change for good! I am so glad that I have Dann on my side, making this change too!

Initial Weigh-in and Starting Photos

December 4th, 2013
Starting Weight: 272 lbs

I probably could have taken the time to comb my hair for these pictures.