Fat Man's Diary

Pre January 5, 2008
In the past, I have been able to lose a lot of weight as you can see in the 2 photos below taken in the early 90's, but unfortunately the results of starvation diets never last, and, not to mention, the fact that they can be dangerous.

   

In the past, the pressures of work and needs of family often took precedence over my own personal best interests. Lately, I have slowly and increasingly come to the realization that I cannot help others unless I help myself first. WHAT GOOD AM I TO MY FAMILY IF I AM DEAD!
Before I go any farther I just want to state that I believe that ANY SOUND diet program will work as long as you stick with it, I should know as I've tried a few of them. The problem always seems to be one of commitment and perseverance. With this being said, a few years ago a friend of mine showed me a book that he was reading called Body For Life. I went out and bought the book since my friend had already dropped quite a bit of weight (by the way, it's been over 4 years and he's kept the weight off). I read the book and initially saw some results, but as usual, external factors and a lack of commitment led to my falling off the weightloss wagon again. Although I failed, the concepts in the book stuck with me and I new that I would be making another go at it in the future.
Fast forward 4 years and the future has arrived. Two of the principles in the Body for Life book are to commit to losing the weight and to lose the weight because I want to lose the weight and not because someone else wants me to. I played with the idea of losing some weight for the last few months, especially since I started feeling more and more tired from doing simple things such as climbing stairs or shoveling. I know some of this is normal as we age, but at 44, I know I shouldn't be winded after climbing a few flights of stairs. I started to think about the commitment principle, and the idea of creating a website hit me. I would be making the ultimate commitment to family, friends, colleagues, complete strangers, as well as myself. Think about it . . . .
To see the entry for each day, click on the button.

Saturday, September 20 to Friday, September 26, 2008

Eating: 4/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:Although I didn't exercise at all again this week, I still managed to lose 3 lbs. I think it have been due to the fact that last week I ate more than usually so my body may have been in a calorie burning mode. Whatever the reason, I'll take a 3 lbs loss anytime! Check out the lasest pics of me @ 261 lbs below ....

  

Saturday, September 13 to Friday, September 19, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:This week was tough! Had to eat out 4 nights because we couldn't stay in our house while the stair refinishers varnished the stairs. Luckily I made some healthy decisions and didn't gain anything!

Saturday, September 6 to Friday, September 12, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:What a GREAT week! Not only did I lose 2 lbs this week, but I got a nice promotion at work! It's rewarding to know that hard work pays off not only when it comes to weight loss, but in life in general as well! I was finally able to get back into my kitchen after 3 months of yet to be finished construction so I was able to prepare some healthier meals. I think the combination of the meals and the extra muscle from the golf helped with the 2 lbs loss this week.....wow 78 lbs lost to date! I'm patting myself on the back right now. When I started this journey 36 weeks ago, losing 100 lbs seemed like an insurmountable feat....but now I am begining to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Saturday, August 30 to Friday, September 5, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:My only exercise this week was going to the driving range an hitting a couple of buckets worth of balls on labour day. A couple of days later my arms an shoulders were more than a little sore. I didn't do to badly though, sending the ball close to 250 yds more times than not. I think I've been bitten by the golfing bug and I'm getting some exercise out of it to boot!

Saturday, August 23 to Friday, August 29, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:This was a good week! I only lost 1 lbs, but I ran two times and played golf for the first time in my life. I have to admit it....GOLF IS A LOT HARDER THAN IT LOOKS, but I think I'm hooked. I played golf on Thursday and woke up Saturday morning with sore arms and shoulders.....I guess golf does have some exercise benifits after all, all the more reason to continue. Even thought the scale hasn't been going down too quickly lately, everyone continues to tell me that I am losing more weight.

Saturday, August 16 to Friday, August 22, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week I was supposed to be on vacation and takin' it easy, but the contractors had to finish something they messed up the week before and so Monday was a bust. On Tuesday my travel agent (wife) booked us a road trip to lovely Kingston, Ontario on which we were to depart on Wednesday morning. As you can imagine, it was utter chaos getting everything ready on such short notice. Unfortunately, the day after arriving at our hotel in Kingston, we received a phone call that a family member had passed away. We cut our trip short and drove back home on Thursday night. Friday, I discovered that the suit I had purchased only 3 months earlier was WAY TOO BIG for me, so I left the house, heading for Moores, with the knowledge that I would be coming back home with another OFF THE RACK suit, but to my surprise the suit ended up being a 48 jacket and a 42 waist down from the previous suit of 50 jacket and 47 waist. My wife and I made the 7 hour trip to Massachusetts to attend the funeral, where I received dozens of astonished glances and remarks about the way I looked. It was too bad that I could not fully enjoy the compliments under such sad circumstances.

Saturday, August 9 to Friday, August 15, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:My family and I are still living like hobos, that is to say in 3 rooms; one of them being a make-shift kitchen. As a result my food choices continue to suffer as well as my exercise routine. At least this week we got a bit more sun than the last few weeks and I was able to finish painting my house. I felt like the karate kid .... Paint the fence, up-down, up-down. Even my neighbors started teasing me about my weight loss coming from all the painting.

Saturday, August 2 to Friday, August 8, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:I had a chance to get together with some buddies from a lottery group that I am a member of. They hadn't seen me in person for over a year so needless to say they were quite surprised with my transformation (pictures just can't beat the real thing). I felt great hearing their words of congratulations and encouragement..... Thanks guys!

Saturday, July 26 to Friday, August 1, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This was another week of construction hell. The only good thing about all of this is that I get some exercise with all of the painting I get done in between all of the rain. You'd never guess it but going up and down a ladder all day gives you one heck of a leg workout.

Saturday, July 19 to Friday, July 25, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:Well no working out this week and I only lost 1 lb, If I am going to reach my goal before year's end I'm going to have to step up the effort. I feel great and I don't look to bad either...or at least that's what everyone has been telling me. This week I packed up all my FAT cloths and unpacked cloths that I haven't been able to wear since '94....yeah that's right 1994. I packed it away in a box and it sat there at the back of a closet. I knew that someday I would fit back into it...I just didn't know it would be someday 14 years later.

Saturday, July 12 to Friday, July 18, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:I had a weird week and only worked out twice again. All the work around the house and the office are killing me.... I have been putting in some pretty long days and haven't been been putting 100% effort into my journey.

Saturday, July 5 to Friday, July 11, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week I didn't work out at all because I was too exhausted to get my butt out of bed at 5AM to run. I did however manage to lose 5 lbs this week, probably from all the upper body work I did scrapping and sanding. Now I know why construction workers always look lean and buffed....

Saturday, June 28 to Friday, July 4, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:Again this week I was only up to running twice, the long days of sanding, scraping, painting and climbing up and down a ladder all day are really tough on the knees and ankles. My diet hasn't exactly been that great either; eating dinner late at night coupled with no veggies or greens hasn't made it the best situation for losing weight. The repairs on the house will be finished in another week or so at which point hopefully life will go back to normal.... ;o)

Saturday, June 21 to Friday, June 27, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:I only ran two times this week, again just too tired. I started my vacation on Thursday so I can paint the outside of my house...you know what that means, more dawn to dusk work days scraping, nailing, sanding, priming and painting. Unfortunately my wife and I have this bad habit....we can't do things half way. We either do it right or not at all, thus all the steps in the house painting. By doing things the right way you take more pride in your work and things last a lot longer.....just like a weight-loss journey!

Saturday, June 14 to Friday, June 20, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:I only ran one time this week, I was just too tired. In addition to the fact that the repairs are taking too long I've been dong some work myself. I figured that since the house is already in shambles, I'd make some changes that we'd planned on doing in the future, right now. All the extra work is getting done in the evenings and weekends so that means no down time and many late nights. I don't see any end in sight for the repairs....

Saturday, June 7 to Friday, June 13, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:The blisters have heeled and I was able to run three times this week, 1 x 8 kms and 2 x 5 kms. My calf is almot 100% now and I make sure to stretch before running without fail! I have noticed however that on days where I don't run I get alot of pain in my right leg, usually one time for up to 1/2 an hour and then it goes away. maybe its my body punishing me for not going out running that day. Well, guess what!....the repairs are still ongoing. The contractor seems to be in no rush to finish, and my journey is suffering as a result. I'm not getting enough sleep, I'm more stressed out and my eating is not 100%, but I still manage to keep on losing....., but for how long?

Saturday, May 31 to Friday, June 6, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:The new running shoes are great except for the blisters they gave me because they are new. I only ran one time because the blisters were too painful. I'm hoping that by taking a few days off from the running will help them heel for next week. In the mean time the repairs continue....the roof is done but the inside is going veryy slowly. I'm doing the best that I can with my diet although I miss the vegetables and salads that I've gotten used to. One of the biggest draw backs to the repairs is the fact that I don't have a place to unwind and destress. It's amazing how we taking those little things for granted and only realize how much we need them when we no longer have them. Right now we have no TV in the house and no family room to relax in, as a result I find that my family and I are more stressed out and on edge. I am doing my best to continue my journy, but it's becoming more and more challenging every day.

Saturday, May 24 to Friday, May 30, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:I finally gave in and rewarded myself for all the hard work by purchasing myself a real pair of running shoes which made a huge difference in the foot, ankle and calf support. My calf is feeling better and better each time out run. I ran three times this week and one of those days was an 8 km day. It's been hard to stick to a steady eating plan because the contractors are installing a new roof and the repairs inside have begun as well, meaning my family is living in three rooms right now.... one of them being a poorly stocked make-shift kitchen were we can only store the essentials in a small bar fridge.... hopefully this won't take too long.

Saturday, May 17 to Friday, May 23, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:This week was completely out of the normal routine for me. I only exercised one time all week because I was on vacation to supervise some repair work being done at my home. I traded in my sweats for my tool belt all week and got busy with demolition and rebuilding instead of running. To lose 1 lb while only exercising once is not bad. By the way, I was able to fit into the tool belt I hung up years ago because it no longer went around my waste.

Saturday, May 10 to Friday, May 16, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week was pretty basic, I ate right, exercised, drank lots of water and lost another 2 lbs. I am going to try to increase my running from 5 kms per day to 8 kms per day by the end of next week.

Saturday, May 3 to Friday, May 9, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 2/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:I started running again this week thanks to my wife who suggested I wrap an ace bandage tightly around my calf... it worked! ...(Thanks Honey!.....and HAPPY MOHTERS DAY!). The ace bandage seems keep my calf warm while keeping the muscle tighly compressed.....result, I can run 5+ kms with little or no pain before heading off to work. On a different note, I am both saddened and proud by something I heard on Ric Peterson's show on CJAD. He recently mentioned that of the hundreds of people who started emailing him their weekly weight loss, only 20 to 30 were still participating. This saddened me because I know what it's like to start a weight loss program and fail...over and over again. I know the disappointment those people are feeling with themselves. On the other hand I take pride in the fact that I can count myself among the 20-30 people that stuck it out and continue along the path to better health and a happier life. Everyone has to find what works for them, in my case it was "Losing the weight publicly". Knowing that I am being held accountable to my word by hundreds of people motivates me to continue even when things don't always go right. Although the last few weeks have been tough, I have not waivered in my resolve to lose 100-150 lbs this year....Thanks to everyone who has emailed, called and encouraged me, I have no words to express how much it means to me.

Saturday, April 26 to Friday, May 2, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 1/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:I started this week by pulling the calf muscle on my left leg during Monday's 5 km run. I took Tuesday off to let it heal and tried to run on Wednesday but had to turn back after a few minutes because of the pain. Thursday I concentrated on boxing and Friday I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Saturday I took off to try to heal completely for Monday morning. Although the exercise part of weight loss was more or less a bust for the week, I still managed to lose 1 lb. On a more positive note, below are the pictures I promised of me in my new OFF THE RACK suit, BTW if anyone knows someone looking for a large suit, I have 3 of them I can let go of at a reasonable price ;0).

Saturday, April 19 to Friday, April 25, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week I started running outdoors instead of the treadmill since the weather has finally warmed up. I ran a total of 23 kilometers for the week 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5 from Monday to Saturday. I didn't lose any weight, but I think that I put on some leg muscle with all of the outdoor running. I still think that I lost some fat though as my belt is getting loose again.

Saturday, April 12 to Friday, April 18, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week I concentrated more on the running than the weights and it paid off...big time! I lost 6 lbs, but that's not the best thing that happened all week. I actually bought a new suit OFF THE RACK, yep you heard me OFF THE RACK! I've been putting off buying a suit for a while now even though I have an event coming up in only 2 weeks that requires me to wear one. I have 3 good suits at home, but after trying them all on last week-end, I found that I'm swimming in them so I had no choice but to buy a new one. I hate shopping for cloths for myself because in the past I've had to have my suits hand made because of my size, but this time I headed to MOORES® a men's clothing store. The salesman measured me, since I had no idea what my size is now, he pulled out a suit which was exactly what I was looking for, and to my amazement, it fit me like a glove. Just to give you an idea of how much I have changed, I used to wear a 58 suit coat and 56 suit pants, this new one is a 50 coat and 47 pants.I'll post some pix of me in my new suit in a few weeks for everyone to see.

Saturday, April 5 to Friday, April 11, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:I have to admit that I'm disappointed with the fact that I didn't lose any weight this week. Looking back on the past week, I believe there were 2 possible reasons why I didn't lose any weight; I had dinner quite late most of the week and I may have put on some muscle because I increased my weight lifting. The first one is easy to fix, just eat earlier and the second one will start to pay dividens soon as the increased muscle mass will burn more calories. This week, to add a bit more cardio to my regimen, I even started climbing stairs at work, around 30 flights per day....perhaps I'll only see the results next week. On a lighter note, I put up a sign in my car, telling people how much I've lost so far and was surprised by the number of people who drove by and gave me a thumbs up! Thank-you to every one of you who took the time to encourage me, it means a lot!

Saturday, March 29 to Friday, April 4, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:I have to say that this week was a much better week for me over all than last week. I was able to focus on what I needed to do to continue losing weight which included intensifying my running and adding upper body weight training every other day. I'm now running om Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only and I'm weight training on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I have had quite a few people commenting on my changed appearance lately, one person even pointed out that I'm going to have to take a new picture for my security pass-card at work because my face has gotten so thin. Check out the pictures below, I was amazed at the difference when I put them side by side.

Saturday, March 22 to Friday, March 28, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments:I had a rough week this week. I caught a cold and cough which I'm still not over, I missed one workout because I had no water at home so I couldn't shower, I had dinner very late most of the week, I may not have eaten enough this week and on top of that the Easter Bunny brought me some chocolate. The fact that I didn't lose any weight is OK, I knew that eventually I would have a week where there would be no loss. I have been pushing my body pretty hard over the last few weeks and now my body pushed back! I will probably change things up a bit by adding more weight training to my workouts because I think that my body is starting to adjust to the cardio. I'll be adjusting the eating as well, perhaps going to a 3 meal / 2 snack regimen to see how it works out. As before, the experiment continues....

Saturday, March 15 to Friday, March 21, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:This week I was home on vacation which could have been disastrous for my weight loss, but instead I continued my journey and lost another 5 lbs! Mid-way through the week I received some inspiration from my son who surprised me with a drawing (shown below) of me at different stages in my journey. These are the types of things that can really motivate me to continue my journey and reach my goal. It now hangs in my garage in front of my treadmill so I can see it every time I run.....Thanks Mat! .

Saturday, March 8 to Friday, March 14, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:This week I lost 5 lbs, which is an amazing accomplishment for 2 reasons. Number one is the fact that it's 5 lbs, I am actually losing more now in a time when most people on a weight loss program begin slowing down and losing less. Number two is the fact that over the last few weeks I have been dealing with a few major crisis, one of which came to a head this week, but through it all I was able to keep my composure and not veer off of my journey because of my commitment to everyone, especially those of you reading this right now. In the past I would have turned to food for the psychological comfort that it granted, but not any more..... My resolve to lose this weight and to not let down any of my supporters carried me through those crisis with incredible fortitude. I also want to make a point of showing everyone that fat comes off of your body pretty much at an even amount all over. What do I mean by this? You lose fat all over your body evenly, although it looks like your losing more of it around your torso because that's where you're carrying the majority of it.I was able remove my wedding ring for the first time in 6 years this week because I lost a porting of the fat layer around my fingers. I certainly don't have a miniature treadmill for my fingers, but yet they have benifited from the exercise that my legs are doing on the treadmill. The difference is that your hand may only have a few grams of excess fat while your mid-section may be carrying 50 to 100 lbs of excess fat. losing 10% of your body fat may translate into 1/16 or 1/8 of an inch around your fingers, while around your waist it can translate into many inches.

Saturday, March 1 to Friday, March 7, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:Losing another 4 lbs this week was the low-fat icing on the cake so to speak. The article in the Gazette inspired me to work harder than ever which resulted in the biggest weight loss I have experienced in over a month, but it has also put quite a bit of pressure on me to continue losing weight. The Gazette will be running a follow-up article in a few months to see how I am progressing, talk about pressure, but it's pressure that I welcome. I was amazed by the dozens emails I received from strangers wishing me continued success in my journey to lose the 100-150 lbs. This past week I started to experience some pain in my inner legs between the knee and the ankle, so I'll probably take an extra day off from the running this coming week and focus on the boxing and the weightlifting instead. At 310 lbs, this is the lightest I've been in a few years and I can definitely see a difference, especially in my clothes which is starting to get baggy on me. If anyone knows a store that would like to sponsor me by throwing some free clothing my way, please drop me an email. ;0)

Saturday, February 23 to Friday, February 29, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 4/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments:This week was another great week not only because I lost another 3 lbs , but also because an article about my weight loss strategy will be coming out on Tuesday, March 4th in The Montreal Gazette. My clothing is starting to become too big for me and clothes that I couldn't fit into a few months ago, now look good on me. I had to make a new hole in my belt to keep my pants up! At work, people have started to notice the difference in my weight over the last 2 weeks. Quite often, I am being asked what I am doing to lose all the weight, so I've decided to compile a detailed list of my weightloss strategy and make it available to anyone who would like it.

Saturday, February 16 to Friday, February 22, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:After having lost 2 lbs per week for the last few weeks, it was good to go up to 3 lbs this week. I've been eating, drinking and exercising pretty much the same way for the past month but this past week I introduced something new into my daily regiment. I started taking a CENTRUM MultiVitamin-MutliMineral pill with breakfast every day. I've read a lot of books and articles over the years about how to lose weight and the majority of them mention the fact that in order to loss weight properly and efficiently you need to supply your body with quality vitamins and minerals through good foods and/or supplementation. I'm not one of those people who enjoys reading food labels to calculate my daily intake of anything except fat. So, the only way to know for sure that I'm getting the adequate vitamins and minerals that my shrinking body needs, is to supplement with a product like CENTRUM.

Saturday, February 9 to Friday, February 15, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments: This week was very good with regards to the exercising and that translated to a better overall mood. Since 1 lb of fat is equal to 3500 calories, I burned 7000 more calories this week than I consumed. Check out the Tools and Tips section, I've added some links to cool sites with lots of great info regarding weight loss and exercising.

Saturday, February 2 to Friday, February 8, 2008

Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 0/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments: Didn't get to exercise today, but did house work all day ...eating and drinking could have been better.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 4/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Overall, it was a good week considering I participated in 2 birthday parties with all the goodies and a hockey game with pizza, fries and a diet soft drink. On the other hand, the exercising went well. I will be adding some additional workouts this week to see what kind of a difference it will make.

Saturday, January 26 to Friday, February 1, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, power walked 30 mins. . .
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Eating: 1/5 - Drinking: 1/5 - Exercise: 0/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments: Sunday is my "Day Off"......
Monday, January 28, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Could have drank more water today....
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: All went according to plan, no slip ups.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, stuck to the plan . . .
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, almost . . . I was so busy at work that I didn't drink as much water as I should have and I don't think that I ate enough during the day. What? Someone who's trying to lose weight didn't eat enough! It's true, if I don't eat enough while I'm trying to lose weight, my body goes into starvation mode and my metabolism slows down resulting in less calories being burned.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, stuck to the plan . . .

Saturday, January 19 to Friday, January 25, 2008

Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:Still on a high from last week's 9lb weight loss :o)
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Eating: 1/5 - Drinking: 1/5 - Exercise: 0/5 - Mood: 2/5
Comments: Although Sunday is my "Day Off" or "Sanity Day" I still feel guilty about doing it.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Back to the healthy livin'.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Eating: 2/5 - Drinking: 2/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Had a small celebratory snack for 20 years of wedding bliss.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, stuck to the plan . . .
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, but increased power walk by 10 mins. . .
Friday, January 25, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments: Normal day, but increased power walk to 45 mins. I think 1 reason that I only lost 2 lbs this week, other than the eating, is the fact that my body is getting used to the power walking. I'll need to increase the intensity and/or add some new activities to my training such as weightlifting and boxing as well as the number of sessions. The experiment continues....

Saturday, January 12 to Friday, January 18, 2008

I power walked for 30-minutes and ate a light breakfast and lunch. My dinner could have been better from a quantity and fat content point of view, so I vowed to make up for it the next day.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
On Saturday, I decided that for now, I will take Sundays off as far as the training goes. Food wise, I ate healthier than I did yesterday and I even managed to get in some high-fibre bran cereal for breakfast.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Back on the treadmill at 6:00 AM this morning. For some reason the workout seemed really easy today. I found that I had a lot of energy throughout the day and my overall mood was up beat . . . probably a side effect of the healthier eating and the working out. Although I haven't mentioned it in all my entries, I have increased my water consumption quite a bit. As for eating, today I ate 3 healthy meals ... no cheating.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
You've got it..back on the treadmill at 6:00 AM. Again the workout seemed really easy so tomorrow, I'll have to increase the intensity. My mood was great again, especially when someone at work commented that I looked like I'd lost some weight . . . I ate 3 healthy meals ... and avoided any indulgences.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Today I tried something different on the treadmill that I haven't done for a long time. I call it the "walk 'n run". For me, who is really over weight, I find that I tire out too quickly when I jog. A few years ago, I came up with the walk 'n run and I find that it helps me to increase my intensity without burning me out too quickly. It's quite simple, I start off by walking for 1 minute then I run for 1 minute and I keep repeating this pattern for the duration of the workout. It gets my heart rate up into my target zone and allows me to work out for longer periods of time, which is supposed to help burn calories. My eating went great again today, and I am looking forward to a decent weight loss again this week (keeping my fingers crossed). I will be changing to a simpler daily comments style starting tomorrow.
Thurssday, January 17, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 3/5
Comments:Looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in....
Friday, January 18, 2008
Eating: 3/5 - Drinking: 3/5 - Exercise: 3/5 - Mood: 4/5
Comments: Losing 9 lbs in one week was a real confidence booster!

Saturday, January 5 to Friday, January 11, 2008

After doing some research, I decided to purchase a treadmill rather than join a gym. I enjoy the solitude of running, as well as the convenience that a treadmill at home offers. I purchased the treadmill at Canadian Tire during their 50% off sale and assembled it in about 2 hours.
Sunday January 6, 2008
Today was more of a "mental day" than anything else as I prepared myself for the journey that I was about to undertake. I made arrangements to weigh-in every week at a local private clinic called Clinique Services Santé Rosemere since my bathroom scale refuses to tell me my weight since I surpassed its 330 lbs limit.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Day 1 of my weight loss journey and I awoke very excited to get started. I showed up at the clinic at 7:00 AM and I weighed in at a surprising 342 lbs., the heaviest I have ever been! I made a point of letting people know that I was going to lose weight going as far as writing my weight down on my white board at work along with the date for all to see. I ate 3 normal-sized portions of food and drank lots of water. In the evening, I did my first 30-minute power walk on the treadmill. Everything went great and I even cut out my usual bedtime snack.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I got up, hopped on the treadmill and did another 30-minute power walk .... BIG mistake. I got to work, had a muffin for breakfast, but started getting sick around mid morning. I felt so bad that I couldn't eat lunch or dinner today and so I just went to bed when I got home. I honestly just felt like vomiting most of the night. In hindsight I think my body was revolting from too much working out in such a short period of time (2 x within 8 hours).
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
I aired on the side of caution today and skipped my power walk this morning. Today I drank a carbonated drink on my way into work to help calm my stomach and I ate my 3 light meals. One thing I did learn over the years of dieting and reading is that I have to eat in order to lose weight. If I don't eat, my body goes into starvation mode and hordes all the calories I take in, as well as slowing down my metabolism.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
This morning I got back on my treadmill and did a 30-minute power walk! The day went well and I ate my 3 meals and again avoided unhealthy snacks! On CJAD, a local radio station, I had heard a DJ saying that he had started a group with listeners who were trying to lose weight so I decided to join. Listeners simply had to send the DJ an email every Friday with the amount of weight they have lost that week, so I changed my weigh-in day from Mondays to Fridays.
Friday, January 11, 2008
I hopped on the treadmill at 6:00 AM for my 30-minute power walk...the last one before my weigh-in. I weighed-in, and to my surprise I lost 5 lbs in only 4 days! I emailed the DJ at CJAD and went through the rest of the day feeling awesome, with the knowledge that the hard work was starting to pay back dividends. I ate my 3 meals, but for dinner I had an Italian sub and a whole bag of baked chips, which I paid for by feeling guilty and bloated.