The Best Is Yet To Come

First off, let me apologize for the picture above, I realize how temptation can creep in, but this should also serve as a reminder of the current enemy target. 

When you think of eating you think about a complete meal, you think of things such as steak, potato and maybe some broccoli or another example would be fish, spaghetti, garlic bread and green beans. The basic point I’m getting at is your meal consist of 3 basic categories; protein, vegetable and a carb. I go through plenty of recipes as a fan of culinary cuisine and not one time have I seen a dish that doesn’t include the simple sugar plate filler, and if you’re a baker then you might as well forget it, it’s the basis of your work. While on my quest for physical fitness I have made many changes to my eating habits, as I stated, my goal is to lose 25 lbs by September and I realize to do so I may need to drastically cut down the carbohydrates in my path. Now I have never been a fan of the Atkins diet, but maybe there is some wisdom behind that old man’s method of diet. I think the solution for me is to wean myself off the carbs until I can get to a minimal level of satiety. For now on I will include measurements in my weekly menu plan.

Standards and Rules: these 2 ideologies go hand and hand; they are the guidelines for my eating and activities.
 
·         Water upon waking
·         12 to 16oz of water before every meal
·         1 handful of almonds or walnuts when there is a strong craving
·         Snacks should be portion size and eaten in separate container when in a large quantity
·         Split 1 vitamin in half and take one half in the morning and the other half at night
·         Every dinner Must have a vegetable except on cheat day
·         Get a dose of fiber everyday
·         Always eat healthy early in the day
·         Keep certain foods available and prepped for cravings
·         When eating out is the only option, make healthy choices
·         Always plan meals ahead
·         Set a calorie limit and stay within the range
·         Have specific weigh-in days, no shorter than 2 weeks
·         Don’t eat carbs when you have gone long periods without eating
·         Eat throughout the day

Workout:
·        Set specific days for workout
·         Always have a workout routine
·         Start workout mildly
·         Have a specific time of day for workout
·         Workout should be at least 2 days a week for at least 20 mins
·         A protein staple should be consumed after workout.
Note: these Standards, Rules, and Workouts tips are for my specific lifestyle, you are welcome to make adjustments to fit your body and lifestyle. A lot of my tips come from Atkins.com
 

Good Afternoon to all, well it’s that time of year again where everyone makes their new year resolution as to what they are and aren’t going to do to better their lives and just as most, I have made mine as well, and of that long list that seems to be dragging around my feet, the most important one is the first, which is to lose weight.
First let me give you some background, I wasn’t always a big guy, I started off a skinny runt as a child but food etiquette was never taught in my house. My brother was always kind of stocky and I in a way wanted to catch up to him, (the things we idolize when were young- man are they almost always wrong) so around the age of 7 or 8 I made it my mission to finish EVERY plate I had. What’s crazy is I use to tease my brother about being big; man was karma just sitting in the corner waiting for me. I was always a pretty tall guy, at least going by classmate standards, I was always either the tallest or 2nd tallest and by 3rd grade I was getting to be the biggest. I remember running home telling my mother the teacher said I needed a bigger desk because I was taller and bigger than my cohorts. Anyway that trend kept going all the way through high school, but I noticed the backlash of my eating habits long before high school; around 7th grade. I didn’t like the way I looked nor the way clothes fit on me, but again dieting wasn’t an option due to the fact that I had no control over grocery flow nor the food that came in and I can’t lie, I was a fast food junky like most kids at that age, I was never going to turn down pizza.
8th grade year I promised myself I wasn’t going to graduate fat and I again made that promise senior year; I wouldn’t graduate from college bigger than I was, which at the time was about 280.
Today at 25 I stand at 6′2, 279lbs, 1 pound lighter than my senior graduation, but that wasn’t the case until August of this year. At my peak I weight 324lbs; this was my weight in December 2006. I was truly fed up with the way I looked, I tried the lemonade diet and while I can’t say it doesn’t work, it is a solution for rapid weight loss…. and starvation, frequent bathroom trips and a jacked up metabolism. So after giving that up about February I went for a period of no diet control, I just let myself go back to my old ways. It wasn’t until May, that one of my co-workers asked me to start going on walks with her, which is something I’ve always loved to do, but it wasn’t enough, I wanted to run, I remembered running a lot as a kid and being really fast. So I looked around online until I found runners world, they told me how to start running and even gave a routine on how to do so, don’t ask but there is just a sense of liberation when you’re out there running. So I ran and walked about 4 to 5 days a week from about mid May to July, by August I became a bit lax in my routine and then I bought a car…. running vs. driving, you do the math. But that short bit of exercise is what brought me down from 324 to 280. My diet has changed slightly thanks to books and other sources of wisdom, but I haven’t quite got where I want to be.
My goal is to be 210lbs, I have great bone structure, and very extended shoulders, I’m more of the tone vs. mass type of guy. So in this online journal I will post my workout routine, weekly food schedule, eating tips, my rules for my lifestyle change, and most importantly my results. I will weigh in on a 3 week basis, I don’t believe in being a slave to the scale. My short term goal is to drop 25lbs by September, long term being to reach 210lbs.
So please do follow me on this journey, I am open to comments and tips. Yes eventually I will be posting pictures; you need to know where you’ve been to see where you’re going.