Damn, EternalJourno! Back at again with the white Vans!

[FatboySuave]

Introduction: I've taken quite a long break from the forums, but I've been working on little quests here and there. Trying to stay paleo-ish with the help of some meal prepping. Been working out a bit, but nothing too crazy as I focus on forming habits. 
 

I am 29 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weigh about 240 pounds. I am an editor for a local, daily newspaper, so I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. Even when I'm home, I'm prone to surfing the Internet and watching Netflix on the couch. I spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself, but I know that I need to stop that and me some positive changes in my life.

Main Quest: My 30th birthday is in October. I'd like to lose 40 pounds and get down to 200 by then.

Quest 1: Walk at least 30 minutes a day. (Like I said above, I really want to work on habit forming and get into a routine of walking as I work my way up to longer distances and running speeds. I've had some success walking at a slight incline while watching episodes of The Flash. I've gotten distracted lately, but I want to get back into this habit.)

A = Walk at least 30 minutes 7 days a week. 
B = Walk at least 30 minutes 5-6 days a week. 
C = Walk at least 30 minutes 3-4 days a week. 
D = Walk at least 30 minutes 1-2 days a week. 
F = No walks. 

Quest 2: Drink less alcohol. 

A = 2 drinks per outing. 1 outing per week. 
B = 2 drinks per outing. 2 outings per week. 
C = 3 drinks per outing. 2 outings per week.
D = 3 drinks per outing. 3 outings per week. 
F = Anything more than that. 

Quest 3: Cook paleo-ish meals more often, eat out less (This is not just a weight loss goal but a money-saving goal).

A = Eat out no more than 2 times a week. 
B = Eat out no more than 4 times a week.
C = Eat out no more than 6 times a week.
D = Eat out no more than 8 times a week.
F = Eat out more than 8 times a week. 

Life Quest: Lately, I've been watching less Netflix and reading more. Or at least I was doing so for about a week or two. The past two weeks I've been incredibly distracted and unfocused.

Motivation: I feel like my lack of self confidence is a big obstacle that gets in the way of enjoying life and taking chances. I'd like to look good, so I can feel good and live life to the fullest. 

[Jessebel]

Great goals!

 

Battling low self-confidence can be challenging, but it seems like you have a plan to get through it. 

 

And, from my experience, 30 is pretty great. 

 

Take care and good luck!

[Jormungand]

Welcome back, EternalJourno. I'm glad to see you getting after it. I like that your goals are straightforward with actionable, measurable stats. Your main quest is very doable and is definitely something I can relate to. The goal of getting to 200 was one of my dragons for years. A few years ago, I topped out at 264, but I did end up slaying it eventually. I know that you can, as well. 

 

I am happy to help in any way that I can. (Also, I've found that October birthdays are the best birthdays.)

[FatboySuave]

Thanks for the support, Jormungand and Jessebel! I somehow always forget how kind strangers can be on this site. 

I was going to write a quick update, but it's been so long since my last visit here that this ended up longer than expected. 

 

Foodwise, I've had a mix of good and bad experiences. The past two weeks were crazy because of Cinco de Mayo. I'm making it an annual tradition and threw a party (well, technically two) for my friends, which meant I drank a lot and ate a lot of tacos, lol. Along the way though, I learned to make the best margarita ever! But now that that's out of my system (hopefully), I want to focus and get back on track. Especially because I already foresee more debauchery in the near future. Some friends recently got married and are throwing a huge after-wedding party in a few weeks, which means a lot more margaritas and probably beer and probably food. If I were a better man, I'd find the discipline to hang out with everybody without partaking in the bad things I enjoy so much. That's a big if, though. 

But like I said, I did pretty well otherwise with food. Meal prepping has been a huge success in the past month or so. I've been roasting chicken and sweet potatoes and steaming some veggies, packing it up and taking it to work. Sometimes I do two meals in a week, that way I can switch back and forth for lunch and dinner. For dinners I really like to make stir fry. It's the same stir fry I've always made, but I've been reducing or outright eliminating the pasta/rice.

 

For a while I was making omelet muffins on Sundays for the week ahead. It was going pretty well, but they weren't my favorite and I got sick of them pretty quickly. Something about the texture of pre-cooked and reheated eggs. I don't know. I've resorted to eating McDonald's breakfast if I'm running late for work. I live in New Mexico and they have a green chile breakfast burrito that is actually pretty good. One day I tried to eat them without the tortilla. And it was OK. So I may do that as a last resort. I bought some cereal too, so I may eat that in the mornings if I'm late. I know it's not the best option, but I figure it's better than greasy fast food. 

 

In better news, I re-cut Rockstar energy drinks out of my diet. I fell back into the habit for a while, but about three weeks ago I decided to quit and it's been a success so far.

 

My other drinking vice is tougher to kick though. I live in a small town, but I'm lucky to have a lot of friends around my age. But being that there's not much to do around here, we all end up drinking a lot, either at the bar or around a board game. Settlers of Catan has been a huge hit with everyone lately. Moderation is tough for me, so I've toyed with the idea of quitting cold turkey. I've done it in the past. But back then I had a small, almost non-existent, social circle. It'd be tough to quit drinking when everyone else is drinking around me. But if I'm going to take my weight loss goals seriously, I have to find a way to quit.

 

As for exercise, I've had some successes, but again the Cinco de Mayo festivities threw me off track. I've started watching episodes of Flash and walking on the treadmill through them, which amounts to about 40-45 minutes. I just finished episode four. It's been a while since I've walked though, so my legs were killing me early on and I felt like quitting before I even reached the 5 minutes mark. But I reset and refocused and made it to minute 42.

As for Sunday and Monday, I didn't technically work out, but I pulled weeds and did some yard work both days, which tends to take a lot out of me. My legs are still killing me and it's really hard to bend down and pick stuff up off the ground, lol. So I'm counting that as my 30 minutes of walking for those days. I plan to squeeze in some bodyweight exercises between walking days. 

TL;DR: Overall, I've had a mix of success and failure (old habits are hard to kick), but I'm down to about 237 and I feel pretty good and determined. 

[Jormungand]

I will absolutely give you credit for the fact that you seem to be fully aware of your actions throughout the week, which is a lot better than what many others can say. Being aware of where our strengths and weaknesses lie is a crucial first step in doing something about them. I can fully relate with the desire for social drinking. A couple challenges back, I made one quest so that I only drank on Fridays and Saturdays. In the few instances where we'd go out during the week in a situation where I normally would have had a drink, nobody ever commented negatively on the fact that I was abstaining. In fact, at least once someone mentioned to me that they were even making an effort to emulate that behavior. Who knows, maybe some action you make down the line will have a positive effect on those around you. While I'm not saying that we should make it our number one priority to change those around us, it never hurts when we can build them up at the same time we are trying to build ourselves. 

 

I do have one piece of advice for the possible "debauchery" in your future: be so badass and devoted to the meals that you plan and create that, when the times come to celebrate (and they will always come), the setback will be barely noticeable. 

[FatboySuave]

Day 5 update: The newsroom had a potluck today, which is never good news for someone trying to watch what they eat, lol. I've been bringing lunch to work lately and the publisher is always perplexed because he's used to seeing me put food away like a caterer at the end of a wedding reception. I'm known in the newsroom as the guy who loves bacon and pie. So my publisher challenged me to try his lasagna and some pie that he made. Actually, I may have challenged him to make a pie in the first place. Guys, pie is seriously my Kyrptonite. It's almost like the publisher wants me to fail, lol. I wish I could say I fought the good fight, but I indulged in quite a bit of lasagna, enchiladas and pie. But for what it's worth, I quit eating when I felt full rather than stuffing more food into my face hole until I hated myself. 

 

As a result of my discretions, I decided to come straight home and work out hard. And that's not quite what happened. First I came home and played some games online. Then I felt so exhausted I just wanted to nap forever. But then a strange thing happened. I changed into my workout clothes and put some shoes on with the thought of maybe working out, maybe crashing out. Then I walked to get the mail — I usually pick it up on my drive home (it's in a cluster unit down the street). Then when I got home, I put on some loud music and miraculously jumped into the beginning bodyweight workout. And then I kept going. And when I finished two circuits and felt like I did good enough, I ended up pushing myself for a third one. Then halfway through I felt like collapsing. But instead I paced around and got myself pumped for the final push. And then I still felt like collapsing, but I gave the dog some snuggles and I suddenly felt better. And that brings me to this post right now. 

 

I'm having friends over tonight to play Settlers of Catan. It's usually a time for drinking and junk food. But I'm going to try to not drink. We'll see how that goes. I also have a packed lunch saved for dinner. So I'll eat that before anybody comes over and just drink lots of water. That's the plan anyway. 

 

Jormungand, I will take your sage advice. I'm hoping to kick ass this week and next so that when the wedding party comes, I can digress a little, or a lot. We'll see how that goes. 

I'm also planning some vacation time in July. My parents and I are going to visit my brother in Colorado Springs. And then I'm going to stay a few days longer to go to Denver and hang out with some friends there. I'm hoping to surprise everybody with how much weight I've lost by then. My roommate actually remarked how I look like I've lost some weight already. But that may be just because I shaved my beard down. Nonetheless, it was inspiring. 

[Jormungand]

Congratulations on killing it after you got home. Believe me, I know how hard it is to get up and push yourself after a meal. Way to go. 

 

Enjoy your stay in Denver. I just got back from spending a week there last month for a conference, and I am already looking forward to going back. That is definitely a city where the food and beer are worth it. 

 

Awesome shirt, by the way. 

[Butternut]

Settlers of Catan! I've been dying to play that game.

 

Living in a small town = Drinking. I cut out drinking last month, and I realized how hard it is when your with a group of friends.  

 

I've been adding water to my wine and doing more club soda added to my harder stuff.  My rum and coke I had with my husband was 10% rum, 20% coke, and the rest was club soda.

 

Anyways keep it up dude! October is plenty of time to shed those poundages.  

[Jessebel]

I had typed quite the response a few days ago, and I just realized that it didn't send. Oh, technology. Gets me every time. 

 

It sounds like you are really doing awesome! Handling situations as they come in a way that is healthy and results in happy feels.

 

I think that Butternut may be on to something with the reducing the alcoholic content of your alcoholic beverages. In the very least, be sure to have something available that you enjoy drinking that is not the thing that you want to avoid drinking. 

 

Enjoy tonight. I, too, will be playing Catan this eve. 

 

Peace out and good luck.

[FatboySuave]

Day 6 update: I didn't achieve my goal of not drinking Settlers night Thursday. I had some pre-mixed margarita leftover in my fridge from two weeks ago, so I finished that off, which amounted to, I think, about five or six drinks. In the moment, it didn't seem like too much. But recalling it now makes me realize how much I really drank. Not good. I'll do better next time. 

I got stuck at work all day Friday, so I ended up eating out all day. I had a pair of egg McMuffins in the morning — not good. For lunch I had Panda Express, just veggies and chicken/beef, so I consider that a sort-of success. Then for dinner I went to a local pizza place and got a big salad. It had pepperoni, roasted red peppers, banana peppers, lettuce, romaine and Italian dressing. This place is great because they let you add on stuff, so I threw on some tomatoes, kalamata olives and artichoke hearts. It was really good! I love veggies, but I normally have an issue with salads because I feel like they never fill me up. I just end up craving something more afterward, but this salad was perfect.

 

But then I gave in to my sweet tooth and bought a little pack of those chocolate Turtles (3 pieces). SO GOOOOOOD. Too good, lol. I also bought two other chocolates, another pack of Turtles and one of those alternative Snickers, but I put them away in my desk. Chocolate helps me get through my Fridays because I have such a long work day. Or rather, I've convinced myself that chocolate helps me relieve stress. But considering what I used to eat on Fridays, I consider one pack of Turtles a success. I used to get a bag of flaming hot Fritos and some chocolate and a sugary drink. I was tempted to get a drink all day, but instead I filled up my water bottle and mixed it with a pack of Crystal Light, which is my energy drink substitute. 

I didn't work out Friday — again, I was stuck at work all day. But today I made myself an omelette with a side of bacon and walked on the treadmill for about 40 minutes. 

 

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. My weight hasn't really changed this week, but I feel like I'm getting better at making meal decisions and forming new healthy habits. So I'll take that as a win. 

[FatboySuave]

I forgot what week it is and a friend just reminded me that the local, monthly ArtsCrawl is this evening. It's a lot of fun, but I just realized I'm going to be tempted like crazy, so here's my plan. I will eat before I go out. A Facebook friend posted this awesome pad thai recipe with zucchini noodles that I'm planning to attempt: http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a47170/pad-thai-zoodles-with-chicken/

Also, people love to hit the bar afterward. So I'm going to take Butternut's advice and try some alternative drink options. I found this page online that provides some options: http://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/low-carb-alcohol-top-10-drinks#1

I'm going to avoid beer and try to get a cocktail with soda water or diet soda. My drink of choice is usually Crown and Coke, so I may just add the diet before the Coke. 

 

Wish me luck! 
 

[Jessebel]

I have a very hard time with snacks at work. The vending machine needs to become my archnemesis particularly since "sitting on my ass for hours" and "I don't need to spend the extra money" are his minions.

Let me know about the drink alternatives! Fortunately, bourbon helps to mask the diet taste of it's something you don't enjoy.

I personally like bourbon neat or on the rocks. Partially to show Kentucky pride. Partially because I'm a bad ass.

It sounds like you are having a good time. Keep up the changes.

Peace out.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[Butternut]

mmmmmm bourbon and turtles....  

 

I think its awesome that your realizing what your putting in, your making choices that help you move forward.  It is so much better then just consuming and ignoring.  

 

I always think its so crazy sometimes that you don't realized what you consume until after you get to the last bit and your think "What the hell?!" I did that with a very large peanut butter, butter, jelly sandwich last night before bed.  It was like I was in automatic just making it, consuming it while dipping it in my whole milk and than I got done eating it and I was like "fuck." (pardon my french) 

 

Keep it up man!  Your doing great.

 

[Jormungand]

Keep after it. It takes time to make these small changes stick and become habits. I've found that I have to work at it every day. It does get easier, though. I can promise you that. 

 

Let us know how Week 2 goes. 

[FatboySuave]

Day 8 update: My Saturday dinner was a success! The pad thai was quite delicious. I love my new zucchini spiralizer. My friends decided that's a cooler name than the actual product name, Veggeti. Though Veggeti always reminds me of Dragon Ball Z. 

As for going out Saturday night, it turned out OK. I had four drinks. Three cocktails with diet Coke and one shot of tequila. 

Then Sunday I skipped breakfast, but only because I was so excited for lunch. My friends and I went out to the forest and grilled. I cheated at lunch with some soba noodle salad and some super delicious green chile mac and cheese casserole. I also had four cans of beer. But I felt full through dinner and didn't eat anything after. 

As for today, I ate two breakfast burritos from McDonald's. I know I need to stop doing that, but somehow having a full, hearty breakfast makes me feel better — or least it convinces me that I feel better. If I eat a puny lunch, I can't stop thinking about food the rest of the day and I go crazy. So right now, it feels like a healthy balance, indulging at breakfast and then being good and exercising the rest of the day. 

 

For example, for lunch I had leftover pad thai and then walked for about 45 minutes. I feel better through the walking. It's starting to feel more like a habit now. And I'm actually starting to look forward to it. Actually, I forgot to mention that I walked 45 minutes Sunday after getting back from the forest. I almost convinced myself I didn't have time to exercise because I was so busy all day, but I had this urge to walk and squeezed in an episode of Flash on the treadmill before heading to a friend's house for Game of Thrones. 

Goal 1: B

 

Goal 2: F

 

Goal 3: C

 

Week 1 grade: C-

 

On the exercise front, I surprised myself. I only missed one day, Friday, because I got stuck at work. As for drinking out, maybe my initial goal is too lofty. I may revise that next time, but for now I'm OK with taking an F since I feel like I'm still getting results. Eating out right now is only a challenge at breakfast, and the primary reason is because I've been late to work a lot, so I end up picking up something on the way. But when I do eat out, I'm more conscious of what I'm ordering and I'm making better choices. On Sunday I weighed myself at 235! So that's really exciting. Seeing some tangible progress is giving me the push I need to keep going. 

[Jessebel]

That zucchini looks amazing!

Keep up the good work during week two!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[Jormungand]

Since you've identified breakfast as a problem area, I can offer something that has helped me. A lot of times, if I know that I could be rushed the next day, I will do as much pre-planning as possible. In the past, I've made a mess of breakfast burritos, thrown them in the freezer, and then just microwaved them on my way out the door. Maybe that might help. At least then you'd know what went in your food beforehand. Keep on attacking. 

[fdsahjklsahfksalhfkal]

It's so awesome how you're doing so well! I love how detailed and organized your goals and updates are. And I'm seriously impressed that you've been doing so well with keeping up with working out every day, that's always the hardest part for me. 

[Kvedulf]

This is awesome to read! So many things I can relate to, like finding the effort/energy/inspiration to do a workout and it's awesome to see someone with the same issue beating it. Gives me inspiration

 

And on the drinking front, I can definitely relate. Used to be in sales and our office was pretty close knit. Resulted in us drinking about 4-5 nights of the week. You don't realise how much you drink until you look back on it. Towards the end of that, when I was trying to cut back I found that the best thing for me to order was orange juice. My drink of choice was always tequila and orange juice so no one batted an eyelid to me drinking what looked like orange juice. Meant that I didn't have to worry about the "come on just have a drink" vibe that can happen. Don't know if that'll be a help for you at all?

 

And following!

[FatboySuave]

Love coming home to new messages of support! Thanks, guys! 

 

Day 16 update: I went to Scottsdale for the weekend with some friends to celebrate two of our friends' wedding, which meant lots of food and booze this weekend. I feel like I made some good choices, but I definitely cheated quite a bit. I managed to squeeze in almost an hour of basketball at our hotel. It was the first time in maybe two or three years that I've played basketball, so I was exhausted, but it felt good. Then that night I danced a lot at the reception. Put glow sticks in my hands, and I'm an unstoppable force. As for food, there were tacos and rice and desserts. And like I said before, a LOT of booze. Then Sunday I was so exhausted from being on my feet all day that I could barely move. For the trip back, I drove and ended up getting lots of snacks for the road, but no activity. As soon as I got home, I was too burned out to move and slept for like 10-11 hours. 

The week before was again a mix of good and bad. On one day I went walking with a buddy of mine who takes his baby on a walk every day. We went around our neighborhoods for about an hour and a half. I was surprised with myself for being able to keep up and last that long. I can't recall much other highlights from last week, but I'll do my best to assess my grades.

Goal 1: B

Goal 2: F (I seriously don't recall everything that I drank, but this weekend was crazy so I'm sure this F is deserved — and again I think I may need to adjust this grading criteria)

 

Goal 3: C (breakfast is still an issue for me)

 

Week 2 Grade: C-

 

My second week was essentially the same as the first. I've actually been able to do some form of exercise almost every day, which has been extremely surprising. And with every workout, I feel closer to achieving my overall goals, which in turn makes me feel more motivated. 

Booze is a definite problem. I'm going to try to not drink this week. I have friends coming over for board games Thursday, but I'm determined to skip the alcohol. 

As for meal prep, I'm enjoying having food ready for lunch and dinner most days. I'm excited to cook, especially to try new dishes. But breakfast is where I struggle the most. I got McDonald's burritos every morning last week, but there were a few days where I least threw away the tortilla, which felt like a minor win. This week I've made omelet muffins, but today I immediately remembered why I dislike them lol. Also, I didn't quite feel full, which is a problem for me because that's when I start getting crazy cravings and giving in to temptation.

 

Also today I felt extremely lethargic. Not sure if my body is still recovering from this weekend or what, but I took a hard ass nap after coming home from work (I go in early so I'm out early). Then I gave in to my craving for carbs with two quesadillas with flour tortillas. I was still feeling so tired that I considered going to sleep early, but instead I forced myself to get on the treadmill for 40 minutes. I almost couldn't muster the energy to do so. I was sitting around feeling hopeless, partly because my weight fluctuated quite a bit over the weekend. Before I left for Scottsdale, I was down to 232.5. Upon coming home, I was at 237. This morning my weight was down to 234. But seeing my weight jump up like that made me realize how certain bad choices can impact me, so hopefully that will give me more motivation to stay away from alcohol and junk food.

[Kvedulf]

Woot, basketball! Nicely done on being able to get some exercise in every day. It's not always easy to do. It's also good that you're able to see where you need to improve things. Don't sweat it too much on the weight thing. Scales lie really easily. Your weight can fluctuate almost daily depending on a whole bunch of things, which aren't really dependent on your health.

 

Feel your pain trying not to drink.

 

Just a thought with breakfasts, have you considered making an extra serving of dinner the night before and reheating the extras for breakfast the next morning? It might not be "breakfast food" but the only reason we eat certain things for breakfast is because of social conditioning.

 

And just in regards to talking about anxiety and whatnot, feel free to shoot me a message

 

[FatboySuave]

Thanks, @Kvedulf!

 

Day 17 update: Just a quick update regarding my weight fluctuation, I was down from 234 yesterday to 231 this morning. I need to stop weighing myself so damn much, lol. I'm just really excited to reach the 230 mark. A friend of mine has said that it looks like I've lost weight, but after reviewing photos of myself from this past weekend, I know I have a long way to go, haha. So seeing my weight actually go down gives me more tangible results. 

This morning I brought hot sauce (Tapatio) along with my omelet muffins and that made them much, much more tolerable. So problem solved there — hopefully.

 

I gotta say this is the first time in a long time that I've felt good about my goals and progress. Usually I burn myself out after a week or sooner, then go back to my hold habits. This time feels like the real deal. 

[Kvedulf]

13 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

gotta say this is the first time in a long time that I've felt good about my goals and progress. Usually I burn myself out after a week or sooner, then go back to my hold habits. This time feels like the real deal. 

 

That is awesome! I'm the exact same.

Good find on the sauce.

[Kiki Dee]

47 minutes ago, Kvedulf said:

*quoted EJ on "this time feels like it's gonna stick"*

 

That is awesome! I'm the exact same.

 

 

Me three!!!

 

( Hope you don't mind my calling you EJ!  )

[Jormungand]

Happy to hear that you had fun at the wedding. Unless I've got something major upcoming that I am training for (and sometimes not even then), I will usually weigh the health benefits vs. the social benefits. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape over what the scale says. I am like you in that I like to check a few times a week to satisfy my curiosity, but I don't let it get me down if it's higher than I am expecting. As long as things are moving in the right direction overall, then you'll be fine. 

 

Also, nice work on staying active with the basketball and walking. It's those little bits throughout the week that can really add up in the long run.