Done and Done

Christmas is over and now it is time to get back on track. I'm not all too worried about New Year's Eve. My wife has to work that night and I will probably visit her at work or play video games at home. New Year's Eve is never fun when my wife has to work, especially on a holiday. I don't know why people would have a party at a hotel instead of at home. Their inconsideration really ticks me off. Oh well, hopefully next year she won't be working.
Yesterday, Monday, I started it all over. Which I was actually happy to start. My wife and I stayed at the In-laws all weekend and so my Christmas Eve and Day ended up lasting all weekend. I am happy to be back on track and push through. I have a goal and I HAVE to do this, I NEED to prove to myself that I CAN change and I can do something this difficult. There is nothing else that I want to do, besides finish school, in life right now. I want to change

Two Days until I can EAT!

I haven't posted for a while, but I just haven't been in to it this weekend. I haven't been bad by any means, in fact I have done quite well. From my Friday "grazing day" I only gained the one pound back that I lost last week. Even though my post last Monday said that I had lost more than that, my official weigh-in is on Sunday.
I am really going to try and step it up these next couple of days and do some double workouts. Today I did the Elliptical for 40 minutes and I am going to do some sort of work out tonight for 30 minutes or so to burn some more calories. Even though I want to splurge on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, I am still going to workout and try to take it easy.
On Christmas Eve my dad is cooking a Buffalo Prime Rib, which is AMAZING!! I am so excited for that. My wife and I are going to make a Spinach dip which will be great and my brother and sister are bringing something. Not 100% sure what. But the Prime Rib with be good enough for me.
Christmas is looking good!!

Friday Eve

It's Friday Eve. Yesterday was hump day, middle of the week and heading into the downward slide to the weekend. So at work we were looking at Demotivational poster and I found a few that used to define me to a tee:

This used to be me when I was a kid! I think that is why I shy away from competitive sports

This used to be my mindset. I hated exercising and trying to be good and always failing. Not anymore.
Today was great. I already blogged about my morning. Well my workout was great. It goes by when I have my iPod and just kick it in gear and go. Today I switched it up and did the elliptical trainer. It is really a simple machine to use, but I burn so much during my workouts. I close my eyes, hold on to the handrails and go to town. It is great. The machine said that for my whole workout I burnt 425 calories. I don't know how accurate that really is, all I know is that I was working hard. I felt great.
When I got home tonight we had to babysit for my brother so I ate a little of the fudge we made and then had some celery and scallions and carrots. Then had a bowl of cereal. Then later had some more fudge and some more vegetables. I want to be good the rest of the week. BUT tomorrow is the annual "Grazing Day" at work. What is Grazing Day you ask? Well it's when everyone brings a dish of something or goodies and we share and eat until the food is gone. I am taking my mother-in-law's spinach dip!! Yummy. I wasn't going to participate, infact I didn't even want to go to work tomorrow, but my wife told me that I need to go and learn how to control my habits in such a setting. Taking small servings of stuff and not going back for seconds and learning to listen to myself. So I am going to do it. I am still going to exercise also. I think I am going to need it!!

Donuts Again

So I've been slacking on keeping up on my blog. It's been nice not having to go to school and working out during my workday, when I get home I can just chill. When my wife is working I play a video game and when she isn't we just hang out and enjoy our time together. I have been trying very hard this Christmas time to stick to being good. I am actually very happy about sticking to my diet and working out everyday. I feel ten times better, and I noticed that I am starting to have a greater resistance to food. Whenever I feel like I want to go crazy with the food I remember what I am doing this for and it helps me to make it through the day.
So what is there when I came in to work yesterday? Fruit pies from McDonald's which I don't have a problem turning them away because I used to work at McDonald's and I don't like some of their food. When I came in today their were donuts, again. This time from a specialty bakery, so you know their good. I struggle with this everyday, but I place a phone call to my wife and she is always there to help me overcome those urges with words of encouragement. So I sit here eating my oatmeal and banana while everyone around me eats them up.
I have to talk about my experience with my friend from work and our workout the other day. He was already waiting for me when I walked outside and he had his backpack weighted down with 55lbs and he starts off with the pack on his back. We started walking away from our building to the west. We walked for a while and I took the pack and we continued to switch off. We probably walked a little over a mile and then I had the pack on my back we sprinted to the front entrance. I felt really good. My cardio training has been helping me. When I woke up the next day......my traps and my calves were throbbing. It was a great cardio workout. So I think that I am going to buy one of those bags and start adding a little training like that into my workout.
Last night my wife and I broke down and made Christmas candy. One of our neighbors gave us a recipe for fudge that was pretty easy, so we made a few pans of fudge. Normally I would have eaten half the pan and also finished off most of the chocolate chips that went into the fudge. Instead I had a few chocolate chips and my wife and I had a couple pieces of fudge and then put it away. I didn't feel super sick except for the fact that I haven't eaten any chocolate like that for a while so I think if I ate any more I would have thrown up. Then a different neighbor came by and dropped off some cookies and a Christmas card and I two cookies and that put me near the top. I didn't feel too bad because I had a really good workout, and this was the first time that I had splurged like this the whole Christmas season. All I can say is thank goodness for my workout today. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time Diets Suck!!

My brother-in-law warned me that the week wouldn't be so hot with the weight loss, but I Sunday I had only lost a pound, but when I woke up yesterday and weighted, I had lost 3 pounds. So it was another good week!
I didn't get the opportunity to get a post on yesterday, so I am doing it today. My job is great, but yesterday I came into work and we had met another goal, so we get more food!! Bagels. I love bagels, so I go to get one and they have the cheddar/jalapeno bagel and I grab it and take it to my desk, but what is going on in my head? You would think it was the civil war North against South, and that's about how fierce the battle is ragin'. Eat the bagel, don't eat the bagel, well how many calories is it? Don't know, but it won't be that big of deal. So what do I do, nothing, the bagel is still sitting on my desk this morning, and today when we got into work, there were donuts, and then about an hour later there was a sticky cheese dip and crackers from one of the agencies that we support. This is why I hate the holiday season. I can't get started, and it takes every part of my will power to not start, but seriously, Bagels, Donuts, Chesse Dip, why don't you hook my up to an IV drip of melted LARD!! I would love to eat these things, and I should be enjoying these thing, but I can't afford another day of being unhealthy and overweight, I can't afford shortening my life anymore than I have by being overweight. I want to be healthy for my future kids, I want to be healthy and strong for my wife and our future together. I want to be around for my kids and the active lives that they should live. And I have to be the example. I don't want my kids learning valuable life lessons from someone other than me. I will be responsible for their lives, and it is something that can't be taken lightly. So thank you Donuts, Bagels, Sticky Cheese Dip, but our relationship is put on hold for now.
Last night my wife and I went shopping, and we picked up some Breyers Double Churned Fat Free ice cream and we usually eat ice cream like this, we split the carton into two, we'll eat one half tonight and the other tomorrow. Usually I have more because I absolutley LOVE ice cream, and so a carton of ice cream will last the two day weekend. Last night though was different. I don't mind eating something like that if it is eatten right, so I scooped up the ice cream and my wife looks at me like, "is that it?" And I looked at her like, "I know, it sucks!" We had about a cup of ice cream, which is still two of the recommended servings and I put it away and we split a banana and we finished watching the movie that we started the night before. And you know I felt good. I didn't blow my diet and I went to bed not feeling bloated.
Today my workout consists of going outside with a friend of mine at work and running around with a backpack filled with weights. I am pretty excited, but this is going to be different. Oh and I forgot to mention that he was an Army Ranger, so yeah I think I am pretty much screwed! But it should be fun and different! It's good to throw a stick in the spokes once in a while. And today is the day!!

Day one of the weekend down

I know it is late, but I just needed to get a few things off my chest. First, I'm already getting bored with my diet. Not good. When I get bored is usually when I just start giving up. So my wife and I went to Wal-Mart and started looking for new things to include and eat instead of the plain of stuff day in and day out. The one thing that I eat every day that I never get bored of is oatmeal. I love it, plain. I never grow tired of it. We'll see what concoctions that we can come up with using the new ingredients.
Today I went to my mothers house after dropping Nichole off at work. It just so happened that they were making christmas candy. When I say they I mean my mom and my sister. Ahh the Christmas candy, it has been a tradition in my house since I was, well even before I was born. They were making homemade peanut brittle, and they had already made the Toffee and caramel. I didn't stay long because I know that if I would have, I would have ended up eating a bunch of it. Homemade is so much better than store bought in my opinion. Hopefully there is still some left in 11 days, I can't believe that Christmas Eve is in 11 days.
I was going to exercise, but really when I am home I have to do it when I get up, otherwise as the day goes on I talk myself out of it. I really should have jumped on the treadmill and taken 30 minutes and I would have been just fine, but I didn't. I actually ate pretty good today so I wasn't to worried. I just haven't felt all that great today. I woke up with a headache that stuck with me until about 8:30 tonight and then "poof" what do you know it's all better. Oh well, I will just watch what I eat all day tomorrow. I just really need to stay stong, I just really want to fall back into my old ways but I know that even if I do, just for one day, that I will not get back on track and I will be back to what I always do. There is a quote that I heard way back when that has always stuck with me it says, "If you keep doing what your doing, you'll keep getting what your getting." In this case I don't want to keep getting what I am getting, I want to get what I have always wanted to get, healthy, strong, and able to do anything. Well it's time to turn in.

Finally the Picture

Here is my picture. If this is offensive to anyone that is reading this post, just remember to thank me for not walking around outside like this or washing my cars like this. I know that it's not a pretty site, BUT that is why I have the decency to wear clothing. And please remember that there will only be a couple of these pictures, its a way to help me remember what I am doing this for, and also to help me fight this fight.
Today is Saturday, the dreaded weekend. The good thing about this weekend is that I got to sleep in and I don't have to do any homework. Unfortunately, my wife has to work so we can't hang out today. Oh well. I am going to stick to my diet and also make sure to exercise tonight. We'll make it a good day.

TGIF

I am so glad that today is Friday. It as super slow at work today. I have to say that I love my job. They have set up goals for our department to meet, and this week we met one of the goals. So for our not reward, or yeah I would say reward, the department bought us breakfast burritos for breakfast. Which, when i heard about it I decided to eat my oatmeal, banana, plus a Fiber One bar so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the burritos, and then I had half my snack because I ate the other half for breakfast. It saved me from eating the equivalent of four bowls of oatmeal. One burrito has 300 calories, 16 grams of fat, 830 mg of sodium, and 1 gram of fiber. And they told us that there were a couple of burritos per person. So two burritos eating is eating over 1/4 of my daily calories. It was good to pass!!
I actually enjoyed my workout today. I rode the recumbent bike for 30 minutes and then did some sit-ups on the swiss ball. I figured out that when I am doing sit-ups on the ball that I used the ball to propel me forward to do the sit-up. But then I decided to lightly put my hands behind my head and use my stomach muscles to propel me through the exercise. It was twice as hard to to the exercise strickly rather than by using the the spring of the ball. It was great that I was able to figure out what I have learned through my high school career of weight lifting and studying bodybuilding that strictness is the key.
I think that I mentioned before that at my work they have Friday treat day. Well I had just eatten my lunch when the email came out and they announced that it was treat day. I went out and I looked at the treats and I picked up a bag of licorice bits and headed back to my desk. As I headed back to my desk I had a second thought, if I eat this I am giving up I am doing what I have always done, giving in to my body temptation, but I am not going to give in, so I put the licorice in my desk and turned my thought process to something different. I have this wierd capability of being to put something out of my sight and then forgetting about it. Out of sight, out of mind. My wife has taken all the Christmas candy and put it in the freezer, and I totally forget that it is there. It is there for another 12 days until Christmas Eve and Christmas day. So I will probably get rid of the candy or maybe be the cool day and stockpile all of it so when my kids come to visit I will have some treats for them. Moderation for them of course, because if they have the genes of their dad they will have the potential to be fat like me. But I figure that if learn and teach myself to eat healthy then it will be easier to feed them healthy and then they can do more than their father did while they are young.
I feel like I limited myself so much when I was a kid that I missed out on opportunities to do different activities. I always wanted to skateboard and ride BMX and do things like that. I wanted to be a football great or be great at wrestling the biggest problem? My weight, because of my weight I could move fast enough to be a decent wrestler and I didn't have the balance to be a skateboarder or BMX rider, etc. Snowboarding? Forget about it. I couldn't control my balance for the life of me. I wouldn't say that I have missed out on life, because that wouldn't be true, BUT I have sat by the wayside for too long not being able to do things that I have wanted to do, things that I would have loved to do. When I was in Arkansas I caught a glimps of those things. I have always wanted a BMX bike and when I was out there in a small town called Pine Bluff, there was this little bike shop out on the outskirts of town that had a guy who used to do flatland tricks and he rode the half pipes. In this little shack, which was packed to the ceiling with bikes and gear I learned some of the basics of flatland tricks and I really fell in love with it, but I didn't have the cash, but I swore that I would by one of those bikes when I got back to Utah and learn how to do those tricks. Well I gained my weight back and I don't have the bike mainly because I am still in school and don't have much time, but when I do, I would love to get one so that I can learn. I don't want to ride the pipes, just do the technical balance tricks. So I proceed with my goal so I can enjoy those dreams. Today was a great day. I feel like my ability to resist those temptations is getting stronger. That is a wonderful feeling, but it's just the tip of the iceburg. we all know how iceburgs work, underneith it is the larger problem. I still have a long way to go.

Better Days

Much better day today. I was actually in a good mood today. Probably because I got a 92% on my test last night. It makes me feel so much lighter when I get good test scores on my finals. Anyway, back to my day it started out almost the same because my computer wouldn't start up and was just giving me fits. I didn't freak out, I just called IT and got the process rolling. I was much more awake and more alert today. I did very well on my diet today. I substituted my granola bar for a package of pretzels. I thought about eating them both, but decided to put it in my desk and just have the one. It felt much better to control my eating than just scarfing it down and feeling guilty. Plus I am trying to save myself for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I want to enjoy my holidays. I am still going to try and continue my workouts and control my eating a bit, but I still want to enjoy myself.
Some good news today though, as I was doing up my pants, when I bought these dress slacks they were a bit snug, well ok real snug, but as I dresses today I noticed that they weren't so snug, they actually fit comfortably. So it's working.
I still have those tendencies to eat bad things, well I don't think that anything is bad, in moderation, but one of the women that work for my wife offered me a piece of cheesecake when I went to pick up my wife from work. I REALLY wanted that piece of cheesecake, but I knew deep down that I would feel crappy about myself and I would feel like I have in the past and go into the eating frenzy and undo what I have done so far. Last year about this time I used to stop on my way back from physical therapy at Maverik and buy one of the breakfast calzones. They are so good. But I don't want to know how much my arteries clogged during those two months. I know what it did to me because I gained more weight and it never came off. Everyday we drive into work we pass a Maverik and I crave, CRAVE one of those calzones. But when I'm not driving it makes it easier to squash those cravings and enjoy my oatmeal. We'll see how work goes tomorrow.

What a relief

I've finished my finals! I am so relieved. Today was extremely stressful at work. In fact, the first of the day I had plenty of energy and then I went to the gym and I became extremely worn out. I think it was the because of the stress of the test and also because I had a lot of trouble with my computer. It was very frustrating. But today I was very frustrated and when I get frustrated or stressed I tend to crave food, a lot. I want to go out and buy a greasy hamburger with fries and a big shake. I think it's to cover up feelings of pressure and failure. I've always been one to start something and never finish them so I think that is why I always ate, to cover up feelings of disappointment. I always wanted to play football, or be great at wrestling. I always wanted to go to Ohio State University and wrestle. I always heard how good the wrestling team was and that their coach was one of the best, but I was never disciplined enough to stick with something. So I never made that dream come true. When I went on my mission I lost 75lbs and I had those dreams come back because I wanted to try out for University of Utah's football team and play football, but I didn't do that either. I would try to stick to what I had taught myself while I was away and continue to lose weight, but I had friends that didn't think that I needed to stick to those changes when we hung out, but it made it even harder to return to my diet when I went home. So then I started down the road that I promised I wouldn't return too. Then when I dated my wife, I really wanted to lose more weight and be healthy and sexy for her. Deep inside I have this urge to work out hard and be the best I can with my weight loss and life change, but my desire and love for food makes it near impossible to stick to my goals because I have the hardest time denying myself the short term pleasures that hinder those wanted accomplishments. I've never sat down and thought these things out, but this is the reason for this blog, it's sort of a web journal. A way to sort out my feelings and figure out why I sabotage myself. I made it through another day. Goodnight!

Finals Week

This has been a hard week already and it is only Tuesday. I have been studying for my finals and I actually took one tonight and received a 90% on it. I have one more test tomorrow and then I am finished for a few weeks. 3 more semesters!!! I can't believe it is almost over. This is long overdue. So yesterday was a pain. I was so tired and I couldn't get it started all morning. I was just draggin at work. My brain didn't want to turn on. So come 12:30 I dragged myself to the gym and started my bike ride. For the first 10 minutes I just couldn't get into it, but then something just clicked and I started waking up and started feeling awake and alert. It was what I needed. I did pretty good on my diet, but I decided to up my points/calories intake about 150 Calories but I didn't like it so I returned to my original points/calories back to what I was eating. I did my second day of lifting today and felt good. I am starting to feel good. I just have to keep myself strict on the weekends. Well I know this blog isn't that long, but I have studying to do.

8lbs and Weekends are rough!

I stepped on the scale today and I've lost 8 lbs! YEAH!! But anyone who has ever dieted know that you can always put up big numbers the first week. It's the weeks following. But it is exciting.
So this weekend was rough. I have a really hard time with them because I never stick to my eating schedule. I eat everyday at 8, 11, 2, 5, 8. I should probably eat earlier like 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9 or something. I just have a really hard time getting up every morning now that I don't work at a warehouse and I can be to work later. So yesterday Nichole and I ate really decent. Started out with breakfast at 11, which wasn't good at all. I didn't exercise and well I was just really lazy in fact Nichole and I took a 2 1/2 hour nap in the middle of the day. Most the time I don't like to nor does Nichole, but we haven't been to bed before 12:00 - 12:30 everynight because I am finishing school and she is working. So it was great to get a good nap in, BUT we didn't get to sleep before 1:30 BAD!! I found this article about the importance of sleep and weight loss: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041206210355.htm
Nichole and I also saw this really cool study reported on by 60 minutes about sleep. It's two parts, but if you get a minute watch it. It's pretty interesting!
Part 1
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4181992n?source=search_video
Part 2
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4181994n?source=search_video

Today we had a family event to go to and afterwards we had a pot luck dinner. It was hosted by my Sister-in-law and Brother-in-law because it was for their little girl, Gracie, who was just born. Nichole and I had a piece of string cheese today on the way to their house and then we didn't eat lunch until about noon, and eat I did. I had moderate portions of good food, salad, ham, potatoes and some jello parfait, but I have to tell you the reason I hate Christmas is because of all the homemade candy! My Sis-in-law has this thing about cooking, and during Christmas it is anything, but today was about the treats, and I'm not talking about some homemade microwave fudge, I'm talking she made this cheesecake that she cut in to squares and swirled chocolate and put pecans on them, but then when she put them on the plate she drenched them in caramel!! WHAT?!? Yeah, heaven, plain heaven, and then she had these caramel dipped, white chocolate dipped pretzels, not the little pretzels, these were like stalks of celery pretzels, they actually remind me of the ridculously oversized pencils that your friends would get when they went on vacation when they were kids, you know the ones from like California, or New York that you were always jealous of because you didn't go anywhere for summer vacation when you were a kid, type pretzels. I thought I was going to die of a sugar overload. Really. And then my mother-in-law or maybe it was her mother made some caramel covered popcorn that is irresistable. I probably should have resisted though, but no going back now. Tomorrow is a new day and I need to start and not faulter this weekend. So we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Missed a Blog Day

I missed a blog day yesterday, but it was a very busy day. But it was a whole lot easier than day 3. I actually had such a good day. My diet went good. It felt like my body was starting to catch on to the changes. I did a good ten minute warm up and then worked out the lower extremities of the bod. My legs were nice and tired afterwards, but it was great. I have been doing really good on my food changes also. It is easier to pack my lunch the night before and get it all measured out cause then I can sleep in a bit longer in the morning. I find that when I measure my food it makes it so much easier to account for everything that I intake.
Today on the other hand, is a different story. I wasn't able to work out because half of our team went out on a site tour and so there were only a couple of us back to man the POD. Then when they got back we had to go to our weekly support meeting. It was the first meeting of the month so they bought us all lunch. I thought I was in trouble. Even though I made it a free day, I decided to make a conscious decision about what I was going to eat because I knew that we still had my Christmas party to go to and I was told it is always a lot of food. SO they bought us lunch from Panda Express so I decided to hop on the internet and find out what would be good without blowing everything. So I ended up ordering Steamed Vegetables which are 90 cal, 7 fat, 3 Fiber, tell me how do steamed Vege's end up with 7 grams of fat? Oh well. Then I ordered the Mushroom chicken, which was around 130 cal for a little over 5oz which is a little over a cup, 6 fat and 3 fiber and then two spring rolls wich are 80 cal a piece, 3.5 fat in one, and 2 fiber each, so when I calculated it up it was around 7.5 points. If you make a conscious decision about what you want before hand, you can still enjoy going out without blowing your diet to pieces. Then every Friday at work they have treat day at 3:00 so instead of getting M&M's or Starbursts or something I grabbed a banana. I really wanted to just enjoy myself at the party so I wanted to decent before hand.
The party was great. We went to the Canyons resort and they took us up the gondola to the base of all the ski lifts and we had Cider, Hot Chocolate and appetisers at the lodge. It was great. They had different cheeses on one of the plates and I had some really good cheeses. Then we went back down the gondola ride to the Grand Summit lodge to a conference room and had a great buffett of food. They had sweet potates and regular potatoes, mashed potatoes, turkey and rib eye steaks and rolls and carrots...Ok tons of food. It was a grea...oh did I mention that they had two chocolate fountains? Needless to say I skipped they pies and had chocolate covered food. But I didn't stuff myself to the overflowing point. I was full, but I think this past week of eating portioned sizes had really shrunk my stomach. I still ate my fair share, but I didn't get seconds and I didn't go back for more when I was already full. No one puked last night watching me eat. To me that is a big accomplishment. And I am really happy to be learning to control my appetite. Now back to the diet!!!

Day 3 SUCKS!!

I hate the fact that I can't eat whatever I want like everyone else. Despite the fact that I am twice the size of my wife, I love food. It's day three and I'm surviving, kind of. Everytime I drove past a hamburger joint today I could feel my glands salivating at the thought of sinking my teeth into a juicy, thick patty of meat with cheese and a nice side of crispy fries!! My co-workers can go out to eat everyday and I have to sit at work with my sack lunch from home proportioned out right at 1600 cals everyday. Nichole and I just bought a new camera so I am going to post a starting weight picture tomorrow. My biggest thing is that I need to change my mindset. I need to focus on the reasons that I am losing weight:
1. To be healthy for my future family
2. To get to the goal that I have always wanted reach - a natural bodybuilder, no steroids. I know, I know, everyone one is rolling their eyes, but that is what I wanted to be since I was a teenager.
3. I want to run a triathalon
The exercise today was hard to get into too! I sat at my desk for 10 extra minutes debating if I wanted to exercise or not. I think I need more sleep. I am pretty drained. I stayed up late again last night because I needed to finish my last presentation. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I'm TIRED!!!! I had to finish some homework last night and I am wiped out. I need to get to bed earlier. They say that getting 6-8 hours of sleep helps with weight loss. That will be easier when I'm done with school. I mean completely finished. 3 more semesters!! Oh well, today I am super hungry and I want to eat some candy or something out of the vending machine ON TOP of the food that I brought to work today.
I made it through the day. I have been following the weight watcher plan but also along with that I have been writing down all the calories, fat, and fiber because I'm curious as to how many calories I am really taking in. Some of the foods that I pack for lunch don't have the nutritional information because they come in the little cups, like applesauce and fruit, and when my wife puts them in the fridge she unpacks them and throws out the packaging. So I found this AWESOME website that will give you the nutritional information for almost everything. It's called NutritionData.com, but then the other things that the website doesn't have I found on the internet at the manufactures websites. The information is out there.
Anyways, back to my point, it turns out 25 points is around 1600 calories. No wonder I feel like I am starving! I went from eating around 2500+ calories to 1600 calories. They say it takes around a week to a week and a half to let your stomach shrink in size. I'm hoping it does it by Friday. My work Christmas party is Friday PLUS they are buying us lunch on Friday for our department meeting, which they do every first Friday of the month. It's cool, but now I just have to be careful what I eat.
Today was the first day that I did my weight lifting routine. It worked out well. I did one exercise for each upper body group and topped it off with a couple ab exercises. When I got home today I was a little tired, but felt good. Besides the fact that I wanted to eat everything in site, I stayed strong and stayed within my points/calories. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

The First Day

Today really was a rough day. I didn't get to sleep until 2 last night and 6:15 came way early! I was determined to stick with it today. Last week a friend of ours gave a a huge bag of candy left over from Halloween and I took it to work and left it there over the holiday weekend. The day that I wanted to do good that stupid bag of candy sat on the table and wouldn't you know it EVERYONE was coming by the Pod to eat it. FREAK! But I stayed strong and didn't partake of the forbidden food. I have finally figured out what my problem is, I have never ate for emotional reasons or because I am internally scarred. I eat because I LOVE food, but I will eat until you puke watching me eat! I have no self-control. This is not good, for the viewers at home, or for my waistline. I am going to school to be a Network and System Security Administrator and I remember when I made the decision to go into that field, it was a struggle because my perception of IT people is this:

This is not how I want to be and I know that if I don't do something now, I will end up squishing my coworker to death one day.
So today it started. And I have to say, the workout plan that Cort gave me was great. I felt great working out and I worked very hard to watch what I ate and also to make sure to drink more water. I guess watching what I eat is not that hard at work because I plan it all out very specifically, but it is when I get home at night that I really have to watch what I eat. I have to remind myself that it is only day one. Day one is always easy, it's day 5, 6, 7, and so on that gets harder. But I have a very supportive wife who wants me to succeed and I feel like my desire is greater and I WANT to change. On to day two...