so it's no secret that the lifestyle I follow allows me to eat really well and clean six days a week and one day a week I can have a "cheat" day. it allows me to get my cravings out give in to my sweet tooth go out with friends and have a beer or order that fried piece of shrimp that sounds so good with french fries and ketchup. but after this past weekend I have had a "lightbulb" moment......
all your life you hear that you are what you eat and you don't really think about it until you think about it this way. Food effects everything. Our social life, our home life. our digestive track, our mood, our views on ourselves........
wait
did I say our mood?
what could food have to possibly do with our mood?
I'm glad that you asked....
when you become so involved in a lifestyle that consumes you and you have had that second "-ion" moment that I described in a previous blog your brain starts to view food differently. It sees it as what it is meant for nutrition.....that's simply it.....so when my one day comes around that i can eat whatever i want I wake up ready to jump start the day and dig in and eat until i feel like i could get sick.....
about half way through the day, usually around noon, another feeling sets in......depression
food weighs heavy on our emotions....we all knew that otherwise we wouldn't have those "emotional eaters" out there would we? usually after I eat something that is "bad" or something that my brain tells me "we aren't getting nutrition from this" the mood sets in and that's when the bad feelings start coming out....
I feel fat worthless effortless and just an all around waste.....so it occured to me yesterday while my cheat days are important to me to keep my metabolism revving high and training my digestive track how to properly draw nutrients from the food that I consume on my cheat days maybe instead of going overboard and eating what ever I want for the WHOLE day I am going to implement something new on my next cheat day....
hopefully this will lift my mood and I will still see improvements in my weight loss
I also took on something that I didn't think that I would ever do I signed myself up for a bootcamp that starts March 4th. I'm scared but I know that if I don't start pushing myself past my limits that I won't see results....I think this will be both healthful and beneficial for me to to kick myself in the pants be sore for awhile and truly see what my body is capable of
I am going to try to make it my personal goal to blog at least every other day this week it's good for me to put this out there and expose myself to other people and one day I hope to share this story with a client of mine and encourage them and give them the support that I receive day in and day out from all my friends and family!! Until next time
live smart and live healthy!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
H2OOOHHHH NOOOOO
Today's blog is educational as well as fun!!
water
h20
aqua
thirst quencher
rain
streams
rivers
lakes
oceans
water
Water is an amazing thing if you break it down and think about it. More than 2/3rds of the earth is comprised of the two hydrogenated oxygen bond. something else that water comprises more than 2/3rds of is
your muscles.
your body is made up of only 50-65 percent of water so is it surprising that water is more present in your muscles?
the average human being only drinks only 40 oz of water a day. we aren't talking about tea or juice or the dreaded S word (soda) we are talking about pure natural water
that's sad. really sad. I know that they say you should drink at LEAST 8-8 oz glasses of water a day to keep yourself hydrated but what many people don't realize about water is it's powerful effects. which brings me to todays blog topic
water
64 oz is the MINIMUM that your body needs daily BUT if you're on track to losing weight did you know that simply by adding another 8 oz glass of water per ten pounds you want to lose will actually help you achieve your goals? studies have shown that people who changed their diet and simply added another 5 8 oz glasses of water each day to their diet lost more than those who just kept it to the minimum 64 oz of water. what I am getting at is DRINK MORE WATER!!!! I have a 1.5 liter bottle of water that I fill up at least 3 times a day that's over 150 oz of water a day that i consume. I know in part that my water consumption is in direct correlation with my skin. it hydrates you and keeps your skin fresh and smooth. often times people mistake hunger pains for your body's way of telling you that it's dehydrated. your body doesn't have different ways of telling you which one it is hunger pains or dehydration. the most common symptom from dehydration is muscle cramps and spasms
now when to drink water is a different story. I always would sip on my water during my meal and nine times out of ten I would finish my water off right after I finished eating......little did I know what I thought was the right thing to do was actually damaging me and my efforts.
your stomach doesn't have a typical "valve" on it. it actually has a force valve so when the stomach is full it presses the food down and out of the stomach this is where water comes into play. by drinking water while you eat you're actually forcing the food out of your stomach before the stomach has a chance to properly digest the food and pull the nutrients from it. so you're actually not doing that well by drinking with your food . I recently implemented the 15/30 rule and it's results are surprising!!
I don't drink 15 minutes before I plan on eating nor while eating and then wait at least 30 minutes after I have finished eating. I feel fuller longer and don't feel so sluggish or wishy washy after I have finished eating.
I know this blog is a little all over the place but it's getting late now and I am sleepy so that is all for tonight I will be trying to update at least once every other day until the next blog
stay focused and stay healthy!!
water
h20
aqua
thirst quencher
rain
streams
rivers
lakes
oceans
water
Water is an amazing thing if you break it down and think about it. More than 2/3rds of the earth is comprised of the two hydrogenated oxygen bond. something else that water comprises more than 2/3rds of is
your muscles.
your body is made up of only 50-65 percent of water so is it surprising that water is more present in your muscles?
the average human being only drinks only 40 oz of water a day. we aren't talking about tea or juice or the dreaded S word (soda) we are talking about pure natural water
that's sad. really sad. I know that they say you should drink at LEAST 8-8 oz glasses of water a day to keep yourself hydrated but what many people don't realize about water is it's powerful effects. which brings me to todays blog topic
water
64 oz is the MINIMUM that your body needs daily BUT if you're on track to losing weight did you know that simply by adding another 8 oz glass of water per ten pounds you want to lose will actually help you achieve your goals? studies have shown that people who changed their diet and simply added another 5 8 oz glasses of water each day to their diet lost more than those who just kept it to the minimum 64 oz of water. what I am getting at is DRINK MORE WATER!!!! I have a 1.5 liter bottle of water that I fill up at least 3 times a day that's over 150 oz of water a day that i consume. I know in part that my water consumption is in direct correlation with my skin. it hydrates you and keeps your skin fresh and smooth. often times people mistake hunger pains for your body's way of telling you that it's dehydrated. your body doesn't have different ways of telling you which one it is hunger pains or dehydration. the most common symptom from dehydration is muscle cramps and spasms
now when to drink water is a different story. I always would sip on my water during my meal and nine times out of ten I would finish my water off right after I finished eating......little did I know what I thought was the right thing to do was actually damaging me and my efforts.
your stomach doesn't have a typical "valve" on it. it actually has a force valve so when the stomach is full it presses the food down and out of the stomach this is where water comes into play. by drinking water while you eat you're actually forcing the food out of your stomach before the stomach has a chance to properly digest the food and pull the nutrients from it. so you're actually not doing that well by drinking with your food . I recently implemented the 15/30 rule and it's results are surprising!!
I don't drink 15 minutes before I plan on eating nor while eating and then wait at least 30 minutes after I have finished eating. I feel fuller longer and don't feel so sluggish or wishy washy after I have finished eating.
I know this blog is a little all over the place but it's getting late now and I am sleepy so that is all for tonight I will be trying to update at least once every other day until the next blog
stay focused and stay healthy!!
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Three -ions of living a healthy lifestyle and working out
ok so I can't promise that I will blog everyday however this is something that has been brought to my attention and I feel the need to address it
I AM NOT A LICENSED PERSONAL TRAINER NOR A HEALTH COACH THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS CONTAINED WITHIN ARE SOLELY MY OWN
so I was asked by a friend yesterday "I feel like I'm failing on my diet. What is your motivation to keep you going?" I poised the question on facebook and asked around and the answers varied
To look better
to look forward
to think of where I've come and not go back
this got me really thinking about what I call the three -ions of living the lifestyle that I do
1) Motivation
it's a powerful word it's what our subconscious views as our goals or dreams, aspirations, and what keeps pushing us to do the things that we do. Sometimes our motivation is for a need ie; food to eat clothes to wear water to drink. Those are things that we must do everyday. But what's your motivation to live a healthy lifestyle, to go to the gym day in and day out, to realize that a cupcake may taste good but you really shouldn't have it. Motivation all starts from within. The best goals that you can set for yourself are the ones that will not only motivate you but also inspire you. about two years ago when I started researching weight loss and keys linked to it a friend of mine recommended a book that completely changed my views on losing weight Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. you can purchase it on amazon or download it directly to your phone or you can continue reading on and I can summarize it for you. View your mind as a vessel out in the ocean. The eyes are the captain seeing where it's going knowing fully what's going on around it. It relays this information to your conscious which is taking everything in and processing it, which would be the first mate. The subconscious is the rowers not seeing what's going on where it's going or even aware of it's surroundings it's only taking orders from the first mate and captain. when your conscious thinks that something can't be done it's only natural that your subconscious accepts this. When you're at the gym and you've been on the treadmill for 20 minutes and you say to yourself that you "simply can't go another ten minutes" your subconscious wants to make that so. It will start shutting your body down making it feel fatigued and tired when in fact it really can push on for much longer.
ok so I'm getting a bit off topic but this ties into your motivation I promise.
I use to say "I want a body like Dewayne Johnson" that was my motivation for a long time.....until I realized that I'm not Dewayne Johnson, I don't have his genetics, his muscle fibers, or anything associated with his body. that was when I changed my thinking. instead of saying "I want a body like_____" tell yourself that you want to be in better shape for yourself. I admit a little vanity comes out when people say that I am losing weight and looking good, but I remember I'm not doing it for them I'm doing it for me.
the key to Motivation is that you HAVE to BE your own motivation! I want to live a healthy life, I want to be more active, I don't want to pass away when I'm 52 from a heart attack, I want to feel better about myself. losing weight and getting into shape is a mental attitude. trust me if you want to lose weight or get toned to catch someones attention or to fit in with a certain crowd you're only setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.
I get motivated to go to the gym because of the feeling AFTER I leave. I feel healthier, my self esteem rises, and I know that I've given it my all. also sometimes the eye candy helps just to inspire me while I'm there hahaha Hey I'm only human after all
2)Dedication
congrats you just joined a gym! you've started eating healthy! you're pumped!! you're ready to take on the world!!!
that feeling goes away
as sad as it is to say it's the truth. after a couple weeks you don't see any changes you are tired of eating chicken and broccoli and you say "why am I doing this it's not working so I should just give up now"
I think of a great photo and saying which is true
12 weeks? that's it? come on you can stick to it for three months that's 90 days of your life once you start doing a repetitious action after 22 days your body makes it a habit. you must be dedicated to living this lifestyle and realize that it's not just a diet it's how you will live your life from here on out. Stick with it don't make it something you have to do make it something that you want to do! Don't like running on a treadmill? then use an elliptical. if that isn't something you like play basketball for an hour find activities that you enjoy doing rather than finding things that others do that work for them that you HATE doing
remember you are not that person I don't push what I do for my lifestyle on others because it may work for me but may not be right for them. it took me five years to find something that works for me and now I've completely changed how i think, act, and feel. Both of these bring me to my last -ion
3)Transformation
after you have your motivation and your dedication is in place solid that's when you get to start reaping your rewards from all your time, sweat, tears, and struggles. I started this lifestyle back at the end of september of 2012 it wasn't until around january that people really started to notice my body changing. it takes time you simply can's just want to lose weight and sit at home and eat fast food expecting it to happen
you must do something about it one thing that works best for people who struggle to lose weight is to find someone that will be just as dedicated as you are about getting healthy. By making small changes to your life you will notice that things will start to fall into order and the pounds will melt off. if you have some friends who like to go out and eat and drink a lot allow yourself sometime with them but be aware of the situation don't make it a daily habit to be around them make it a weekly one. A big part of eating out is will power but we will discuss that later. once i started noticing my body change my self esteem started to change too I always tell myself that it took me a year to put the weight back on I can't expect for it to come off over night. It's going to take motivation and dedication to see the transformation.
I always look forward on my journey i glance back at older photos of me and say to myself "no you're not going back to that point in your life" months maybe even years from now I will look back at these blogs and think to myself "look how far you've come since then"
so now that you've read on you need to ask yourself three important questions
1) What's your motivation?
2) Can I be dedicated to living a healthier lifestyle for 12 weeks?
3) Am I ready for a transformation?
That's all for today! Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be posting tomorrow my weekly weigh in and tomorrow is my measurements and photo day too!!!
Until next time
I AM NOT A LICENSED PERSONAL TRAINER NOR A HEALTH COACH THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS CONTAINED WITHIN ARE SOLELY MY OWN
so I was asked by a friend yesterday "I feel like I'm failing on my diet. What is your motivation to keep you going?" I poised the question on facebook and asked around and the answers varied
To look better
to look forward
to think of where I've come and not go back
this got me really thinking about what I call the three -ions of living the lifestyle that I do
1) Motivation
it's a powerful word it's what our subconscious views as our goals or dreams, aspirations, and what keeps pushing us to do the things that we do. Sometimes our motivation is for a need ie; food to eat clothes to wear water to drink. Those are things that we must do everyday. But what's your motivation to live a healthy lifestyle, to go to the gym day in and day out, to realize that a cupcake may taste good but you really shouldn't have it. Motivation all starts from within. The best goals that you can set for yourself are the ones that will not only motivate you but also inspire you. about two years ago when I started researching weight loss and keys linked to it a friend of mine recommended a book that completely changed my views on losing weight Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. you can purchase it on amazon or download it directly to your phone or you can continue reading on and I can summarize it for you. View your mind as a vessel out in the ocean. The eyes are the captain seeing where it's going knowing fully what's going on around it. It relays this information to your conscious which is taking everything in and processing it, which would be the first mate. The subconscious is the rowers not seeing what's going on where it's going or even aware of it's surroundings it's only taking orders from the first mate and captain. when your conscious thinks that something can't be done it's only natural that your subconscious accepts this. When you're at the gym and you've been on the treadmill for 20 minutes and you say to yourself that you "simply can't go another ten minutes" your subconscious wants to make that so. It will start shutting your body down making it feel fatigued and tired when in fact it really can push on for much longer.
ok so I'm getting a bit off topic but this ties into your motivation I promise.
I use to say "I want a body like Dewayne Johnson" that was my motivation for a long time.....until I realized that I'm not Dewayne Johnson, I don't have his genetics, his muscle fibers, or anything associated with his body. that was when I changed my thinking. instead of saying "I want a body like_____" tell yourself that you want to be in better shape for yourself. I admit a little vanity comes out when people say that I am losing weight and looking good, but I remember I'm not doing it for them I'm doing it for me.
the key to Motivation is that you HAVE to BE your own motivation! I want to live a healthy life, I want to be more active, I don't want to pass away when I'm 52 from a heart attack, I want to feel better about myself. losing weight and getting into shape is a mental attitude. trust me if you want to lose weight or get toned to catch someones attention or to fit in with a certain crowd you're only setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.
I get motivated to go to the gym because of the feeling AFTER I leave. I feel healthier, my self esteem rises, and I know that I've given it my all. also sometimes the eye candy helps just to inspire me while I'm there hahaha Hey I'm only human after all
2)Dedication
congrats you just joined a gym! you've started eating healthy! you're pumped!! you're ready to take on the world!!!
that feeling goes away
as sad as it is to say it's the truth. after a couple weeks you don't see any changes you are tired of eating chicken and broccoli and you say "why am I doing this it's not working so I should just give up now"
I think of a great photo and saying which is true
12 weeks? that's it? come on you can stick to it for three months that's 90 days of your life once you start doing a repetitious action after 22 days your body makes it a habit. you must be dedicated to living this lifestyle and realize that it's not just a diet it's how you will live your life from here on out. Stick with it don't make it something you have to do make it something that you want to do! Don't like running on a treadmill? then use an elliptical. if that isn't something you like play basketball for an hour find activities that you enjoy doing rather than finding things that others do that work for them that you HATE doing
remember you are not that person I don't push what I do for my lifestyle on others because it may work for me but may not be right for them. it took me five years to find something that works for me and now I've completely changed how i think, act, and feel. Both of these bring me to my last -ion
3)Transformation
after you have your motivation and your dedication is in place solid that's when you get to start reaping your rewards from all your time, sweat, tears, and struggles. I started this lifestyle back at the end of september of 2012 it wasn't until around january that people really started to notice my body changing. it takes time you simply can's just want to lose weight and sit at home and eat fast food expecting it to happen
you must do something about it one thing that works best for people who struggle to lose weight is to find someone that will be just as dedicated as you are about getting healthy. By making small changes to your life you will notice that things will start to fall into order and the pounds will melt off. if you have some friends who like to go out and eat and drink a lot allow yourself sometime with them but be aware of the situation don't make it a daily habit to be around them make it a weekly one. A big part of eating out is will power but we will discuss that later. once i started noticing my body change my self esteem started to change too I always tell myself that it took me a year to put the weight back on I can't expect for it to come off over night. It's going to take motivation and dedication to see the transformation.
I always look forward on my journey i glance back at older photos of me and say to myself "no you're not going back to that point in your life" months maybe even years from now I will look back at these blogs and think to myself "look how far you've come since then"
so now that you've read on you need to ask yourself three important questions
1) What's your motivation?
2) Can I be dedicated to living a healthier lifestyle for 12 weeks?
3) Am I ready for a transformation?
That's all for today! Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be posting tomorrow my weekly weigh in and tomorrow is my measurements and photo day too!!!
Until next time
Thursday, February 7, 2013
pull up a chair and listen hear my story
first of all I want to thank all of you reading this right now. It means that you were either searching for something health related or are one of my dearest friends and have taken the time out of your day to read this.
Secondly I want to tell everyone THANK YOU for your support through my weight loss and lifestyle changing journey. All the positive feedback and words of encouragement are what keeps me pushing along each day and makes that finish line just a bit closer for me to cross.
Lastly I just want to say that even though this blog is public I will not tolerate ANY disrespect, rude remarks, nasty comments, or trash talking on this blog. if you don't agree with something I post that's fine you don't have to be whiny about it and complain I understand that not everything I do, what I eat, how I workout will settle well with everyone and I don't expect it to HOWEVER I value their opinions such as you should value mine!!
alright enough with the jibber jabber and on with the show I now present to you
CONFESSIONS OF A FOOD-A-HOLIC
ever since I can remember I've struggled with my weight. the first time that I was aware of me being a bigger kid was probably in the fourth grade I remember wearing the "husky" size clothes and just figured that I would grow up and out of it besides when you're 8 years old the only thing you think about is how close are we to summer break and why can't we just pause it on summer so I wouldn't have to go back to school lol
growing up I had it fairly easy in school I was well liked got along with most of my class mates graduated towards the top of my class and did fairly well in all of my subjects. I went away to college only to come back home two weeks later and just start working. it was around 2001, three years after I graduated, that I found service industry and became a server. I worked at a local mom and pop mexican place then a pizza parlor then went on to obtain a job at applebee's in my hometown. That's when life changed. I was 23 serving/bartending making good money and a friend I worked with mentioned to me that her and her mother were doing a weight watchers group and wondered if I'd like to join them. I said sure I'll drag my sister in too! we went to her house and when it came time to weigh in the scale, which only read up to 310 pounds, wouldn't read my weight. so I told my sister that we should go to an actual weight watchers meeting someday and check it out. we decided on a saturday morning to go at 8 am we walked in on our first day got signed up got our welcome packets and all the information we needed to start then it was time for the first weigh in. I can honestly say that was the first time that I have ever held a number to memory for all these years. I took my shoes off stepped on the scale and thought i bet i weigh about 325-330........when the number appeared before my eyes I was ashamed.....397! I was 25 years old and almost 400 pounds. This kicked off my weight loss battle almost seven years ago.
I continued doing weight watchers for nine months losing a total of 77 pounds with the program. it was in september of 2006 I moved to sunny warm Florida. I took a small break from weight watcher, only to never go back to it again, and while I was working at an irish pub at downtown disney my "work wife" and i decided to do the south beach diet and join a gym. I weighed in at 310 pounds at the begining of march 2007 and by october 2007 I was down to 235. early 2008 I transferred to Kansas City MO to open a new bar there and always maintained my weight right around the 235-240 mark. the whole time I was at this weight though I kept telling myself "ugh you're fat you're gross"looking back now I see the errors of my way and now know that i was doing wrong all those years. while living in Missouri I also came out to my family and the rest of my friends. Being an overweight person in general society is bad enough but being a gay male and being over weight is truly hard. I moved back to florida at the end of 2009 and that's when things started to spiral out of control. I was eating late a night not exercising and cramming my body full of fat and junk food.
I know I'm rambling but I'm almost there I promise lol
flash forward to 2011 I'm working in orlando at an Italian restaurant and at the end of the day we can take home the left over lasagna. THAT"S GREAT!!! so I would take a piece, or two, home lay in bed at night after work and eat them both usually then go right to sleep.....
well living like that isn't good nor healthy since moving back to florida I packed on another 80 pounds bringing me back to 320 :( after i moved to orlando I started going to the gym working out a little here and there, thanks in great part to my roommate, but my diet was still out of control.
one of my best friends down here started doing Body By Vi shakes and wanted me to try them so I gave in and gave it a shot.....after months of doing the shakes I lost maybe 8 pounds total something wasn't right I knew I had to change something else. laying in bed one night I googled "not losing weight on body by vi" and that's where things got interesting which brings me to the point that I'm at today writing this blog and why you're reading it.....
+fourhour bodyapp
a lady with the same problem as I, doing the shakes not losing anything, had asked the same question and stumbled upon Tim Ferris' 4 Hour Body and when she made some minor changes she started shedding weight
and I did too
many times people ask me what is the four hour body how can the do it what does it entail etc etc etc I would explain to them for 20-30 minutes explaining the ins and outs what to do what not to do what to eat what to take when to do it
now I just simply tell them it's slow carb not to be confused with no carb and the rules are simple
1-nothing white no bread, flour, starch, etc
2-don't drink your calories only water coffee and occasionally Iced or hot tea
3-eat within 30 minutes of waking up
4-no dairy Dairy has the highest amount of sugar compared to fruits
5-try to consume at least 30 grams of protein with each meal
6 *this is my favorite* one day a week have a cheat day where you eat whatever you want
I'm not here to sell you on the 4 hour body or body by vi I gain nothing from that I'm simply here for you to learn from me and do something about it! one of the things I despise the most is when people say I'm tired of being fat...I use to say I know me to.....now my response is then do something about it
complaining will get you nowhere, sitting around and wanting change just simply isn't going to happen
ok so one thing I have done here as well as changed my lifestyle (you will never nevver never never hear me use the word diet-a diet is something that you go on to lose weight only to get discouraged after a couple of months and give up a lifestyle is something you live day in and day out) is I've also changed my mental attitude. when I first started to lose weight about a year and a half ago I was doing it to get attention of others.....WRONG.....do it for yourself not for others. once you make that mental change the physical change will follow.
this is just one of the many journal entries that I will post since I've started doing both the 4 hour body and the body by vi shakes at the end of september I'm down 42 pounds!
I'm closer to my goal than i was when I started and that's the way I look at it one step at a time one foot in front of the other
two of my favorite quotes both have to deal with working hard for what you want
"the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work"
"never give up what you want the most for what you want now"
My goal is to reach my mid 30's and be in the best shape of my life and also to inspire others to do the same and eventually one day help others too who want to lose weight but are just as clueless as I was when I first started.
I will be updating weekly on my cheat days which are also the days I weigh in on I will be adding recipes too as I come across them!
now I challenge each of you that have read this to make a healthy change in your day whether it's parking a little bit further from the store, buying more fresh fruits and vegetables vs processed, or to simply take an evening or morning walk.
until next time!!!
Secondly I want to tell everyone THANK YOU for your support through my weight loss and lifestyle changing journey. All the positive feedback and words of encouragement are what keeps me pushing along each day and makes that finish line just a bit closer for me to cross.
Lastly I just want to say that even though this blog is public I will not tolerate ANY disrespect, rude remarks, nasty comments, or trash talking on this blog. if you don't agree with something I post that's fine you don't have to be whiny about it and complain I understand that not everything I do, what I eat, how I workout will settle well with everyone and I don't expect it to HOWEVER I value their opinions such as you should value mine!!
alright enough with the jibber jabber and on with the show I now present to you
CONFESSIONS OF A FOOD-A-HOLIC
ever since I can remember I've struggled with my weight. the first time that I was aware of me being a bigger kid was probably in the fourth grade I remember wearing the "husky" size clothes and just figured that I would grow up and out of it besides when you're 8 years old the only thing you think about is how close are we to summer break and why can't we just pause it on summer so I wouldn't have to go back to school lol
growing up I had it fairly easy in school I was well liked got along with most of my class mates graduated towards the top of my class and did fairly well in all of my subjects. I went away to college only to come back home two weeks later and just start working. it was around 2001, three years after I graduated, that I found service industry and became a server. I worked at a local mom and pop mexican place then a pizza parlor then went on to obtain a job at applebee's in my hometown. That's when life changed. I was 23 serving/bartending making good money and a friend I worked with mentioned to me that her and her mother were doing a weight watchers group and wondered if I'd like to join them. I said sure I'll drag my sister in too! we went to her house and when it came time to weigh in the scale, which only read up to 310 pounds, wouldn't read my weight. so I told my sister that we should go to an actual weight watchers meeting someday and check it out. we decided on a saturday morning to go at 8 am we walked in on our first day got signed up got our welcome packets and all the information we needed to start then it was time for the first weigh in. I can honestly say that was the first time that I have ever held a number to memory for all these years. I took my shoes off stepped on the scale and thought i bet i weigh about 325-330........when the number appeared before my eyes I was ashamed.....397! I was 25 years old and almost 400 pounds. This kicked off my weight loss battle almost seven years ago.
I continued doing weight watchers for nine months losing a total of 77 pounds with the program. it was in september of 2006 I moved to sunny warm Florida. I took a small break from weight watcher, only to never go back to it again, and while I was working at an irish pub at downtown disney my "work wife" and i decided to do the south beach diet and join a gym. I weighed in at 310 pounds at the begining of march 2007 and by october 2007 I was down to 235. early 2008 I transferred to Kansas City MO to open a new bar there and always maintained my weight right around the 235-240 mark. the whole time I was at this weight though I kept telling myself "ugh you're fat you're gross"looking back now I see the errors of my way and now know that i was doing wrong all those years. while living in Missouri I also came out to my family and the rest of my friends. Being an overweight person in general society is bad enough but being a gay male and being over weight is truly hard. I moved back to florida at the end of 2009 and that's when things started to spiral out of control. I was eating late a night not exercising and cramming my body full of fat and junk food.
I know I'm rambling but I'm almost there I promise lol
flash forward to 2011 I'm working in orlando at an Italian restaurant and at the end of the day we can take home the left over lasagna. THAT"S GREAT!!! so I would take a piece, or two, home lay in bed at night after work and eat them both usually then go right to sleep.....
well living like that isn't good nor healthy since moving back to florida I packed on another 80 pounds bringing me back to 320 :( after i moved to orlando I started going to the gym working out a little here and there, thanks in great part to my roommate, but my diet was still out of control.
one of my best friends down here started doing Body By Vi shakes and wanted me to try them so I gave in and gave it a shot.....after months of doing the shakes I lost maybe 8 pounds total something wasn't right I knew I had to change something else. laying in bed one night I googled "not losing weight on body by vi" and that's where things got interesting which brings me to the point that I'm at today writing this blog and why you're reading it.....
+fourhour bodyapp
a lady with the same problem as I, doing the shakes not losing anything, had asked the same question and stumbled upon Tim Ferris' 4 Hour Body and when she made some minor changes she started shedding weight
and I did too
many times people ask me what is the four hour body how can the do it what does it entail etc etc etc I would explain to them for 20-30 minutes explaining the ins and outs what to do what not to do what to eat what to take when to do it
now I just simply tell them it's slow carb not to be confused with no carb and the rules are simple
1-nothing white no bread, flour, starch, etc
2-don't drink your calories only water coffee and occasionally Iced or hot tea
3-eat within 30 minutes of waking up
4-no dairy Dairy has the highest amount of sugar compared to fruits
5-try to consume at least 30 grams of protein with each meal
6 *this is my favorite* one day a week have a cheat day where you eat whatever you want
I'm not here to sell you on the 4 hour body or body by vi I gain nothing from that I'm simply here for you to learn from me and do something about it! one of the things I despise the most is when people say I'm tired of being fat...I use to say I know me to.....now my response is then do something about it
complaining will get you nowhere, sitting around and wanting change just simply isn't going to happen
ok so one thing I have done here as well as changed my lifestyle (you will never nevver never never hear me use the word diet-a diet is something that you go on to lose weight only to get discouraged after a couple of months and give up a lifestyle is something you live day in and day out) is I've also changed my mental attitude. when I first started to lose weight about a year and a half ago I was doing it to get attention of others.....WRONG.....do it for yourself not for others. once you make that mental change the physical change will follow.
this is just one of the many journal entries that I will post since I've started doing both the 4 hour body and the body by vi shakes at the end of september I'm down 42 pounds!
I'm closer to my goal than i was when I started and that's the way I look at it one step at a time one foot in front of the other
two of my favorite quotes both have to deal with working hard for what you want
"the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work"
"never give up what you want the most for what you want now"
My goal is to reach my mid 30's and be in the best shape of my life and also to inspire others to do the same and eventually one day help others too who want to lose weight but are just as clueless as I was when I first started.
I will be updating weekly on my cheat days which are also the days I weigh in on I will be adding recipes too as I come across them!
now I challenge each of you that have read this to make a healthy change in your day whether it's parking a little bit further from the store, buying more fresh fruits and vegetables vs processed, or to simply take an evening or morning walk.
until next time!!!
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