So I work in the broadcast industry in a behind the scenes type role. Well lets just say my coworkers like to indulge every so often with fine foods. In the fall and winter it is guaranteed that bowls of chocolate's, plates of cookies, pans of cakes and pies begin to show up. Well yesterday the dreaded 3 foot wide tray of large, soft, chewy, warm, and gooey chocolate chip cookies was placed in the office. These cookies have a 6 or 7 inch diameter and are just shy of a half inch thick. Its not chocolate chips, its chocolate chunks. I have to be honest, this kind of cookie is my biggest challenge.
When I lived in NH my favorite place to buy cookies was Shaws Supermarket. They had the best soft cookies. I remember as a teenager buying snacks for a night of video games at a friends house, I just had to have a bag of the Shaws cookies. I remember we would buy 2 medium pizza's. One for my buddy and one for me. Top this off with several 12 or 24 packs of our favorite soda and the night was set. I would eat the entire pizza, polish off the cookies by myself, finish a bag or Lays Sour Cream & Onion chips, then destroy the 24 pack of soda. How did I not explode?!
In times of trials I try to remind myself how I got so big in the first place. Indulging way too much. So when I was confronted with that lovely tray of cookies I just said no. As painful as it was I had to resist. I have been indulging my entire life and right now it is time to take a break from indulging. According to my last weigh in I am 14lbs down from my starting weight. You know what? After only 2 weeks that is not a bad number at all.
Peace and good vibes,
-Mike
Friday, September 21, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Holiday's and Sporting Events
I have to admit one of my fears on this diet are Holiday gatherings, and professional sport's events. The MLB season is winding down but the playoff season is just heating up! Lets not forget the NFL just started, the NBA and NHL are hot on its heals! This means being invited over to friends houses, lots of food, and the heavenly scent of BBQ on the grill! I better stop because Famous Dave's is just right down the road! That line from Star Wars Episode III A New Hope keeps running through my head, "Stay on target......Stay on target!" I have been doing well when it comes to staying away from events with lots of food, but I can't stay away for ever.
Holidays, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sure its nice to gather with family and friends, but man do I love the food! I am not going to list the items I love most. Ok maybe the one item that I know I wont be able to pass up ever. Pumpkin Pie! I am going to have to either eat in a different room than the food and people or sit there with my eyes on my plate only and try not to think about getting a second helping. I still have some time to learn from my coach before I am faced with holiday season.
So far so good! I have lost 10lbs since I started this leg of weight loss. The more I begin to lose the more motivated I will be to stay firm in my direction. As long as the Medifast 5+1 plan is working I tend to stay on it till the end! Right now if it is not on the plan I am not eating it. My wife is also doing a great job keeping me on track by making some fantastic lean and green meals. If you are reading this and feel its time for you to begin I can not stress enough the importance of a solid support system. Do not, and I mean do not ever go it alone! There are people out there with the same struggles as you who are more then willing to lend a hand.
Peace and good vibes,
Mike
Holidays, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sure its nice to gather with family and friends, but man do I love the food! I am not going to list the items I love most. Ok maybe the one item that I know I wont be able to pass up ever. Pumpkin Pie! I am going to have to either eat in a different room than the food and people or sit there with my eyes on my plate only and try not to think about getting a second helping. I still have some time to learn from my coach before I am faced with holiday season.
So far so good! I have lost 10lbs since I started this leg of weight loss. The more I begin to lose the more motivated I will be to stay firm in my direction. As long as the Medifast 5+1 plan is working I tend to stay on it till the end! Right now if it is not on the plan I am not eating it. My wife is also doing a great job keeping me on track by making some fantastic lean and green meals. If you are reading this and feel its time for you to begin I can not stress enough the importance of a solid support system. Do not, and I mean do not ever go it alone! There are people out there with the same struggles as you who are more then willing to lend a hand.
Peace and good vibes,
Mike
Friday, September 7, 2012
When you set your mind to it.
One thing I have always heard people say is, "Do not even attempt weight loss unless you are ready for it." I never really understood it, and frankly it has made me angry a few times. I have known a lot of people who were ready but the main problem was how they ate. I remember one guy would tell me about his salad he enjoyed every day for lunch. Then one day I saw his salad and understood why he was not losing weight. Sure he had lettuce but he also had a 7 course meal on it for toppings! So how do you reduce you calorie intake without feeling full?
To be honest there really is not a lot out there. I have tried many diets but what lacked from most was control. What I needed was something where what they give you is all you eat. The Medifast 5 + 1 plan was the best I could find, but before I agreed to the system I had to be 100% sure I was ready. I need to learn a new way of viewing food. I remember having some guests over for some steaks on the grill and some one took the biggest steak on the plate and I was irritated by that. I sat back for a moment and thought, "Wow what the heck am I doing getting angry over something so petty?" That moment I knew I had a problem and that I have had this problem for a long time. That was the moment I knew I was ready.
When you set your mind to it you can do anything. Most of us heard this a lot growing up, sure mostly from Mr. Rogers but it is a very true statement. If you are struggling with weight loss, and by struggle I mean sneaking snacks. Just because you say you didn't does not make it true! You need to be true to yourself and be able to admit you can't do it alone. If you do not want surgery I highly recommend Medifast's 5 + 1 plan and teaming up with a health coach. This coming Monday I have my second weigh in, sure I am excited but I do not want to get my self too jacked up. The worst is working hard and seeing a plus or a big fat zero. I would be happy with even a -1. So far I feel good and seem to have more energy, did I mention that the food is pretty good? My wife has been doing an awesome job making my "Lean & Green" meals. The other night she made me some Tilapia and a nice fresh salad! Yeah she rocked it!
-Mike
P.S. Below is a link to my coaches site!
http://claireandarnold.tsfl.com/
8W5FU7Y5J7K5
To be honest there really is not a lot out there. I have tried many diets but what lacked from most was control. What I needed was something where what they give you is all you eat. The Medifast 5 + 1 plan was the best I could find, but before I agreed to the system I had to be 100% sure I was ready. I need to learn a new way of viewing food. I remember having some guests over for some steaks on the grill and some one took the biggest steak on the plate and I was irritated by that. I sat back for a moment and thought, "Wow what the heck am I doing getting angry over something so petty?" That moment I knew I had a problem and that I have had this problem for a long time. That was the moment I knew I was ready.
When you set your mind to it you can do anything. Most of us heard this a lot growing up, sure mostly from Mr. Rogers but it is a very true statement. If you are struggling with weight loss, and by struggle I mean sneaking snacks. Just because you say you didn't does not make it true! You need to be true to yourself and be able to admit you can't do it alone. If you do not want surgery I highly recommend Medifast's 5 + 1 plan and teaming up with a health coach. This coming Monday I have my second weigh in, sure I am excited but I do not want to get my self too jacked up. The worst is working hard and seeing a plus or a big fat zero. I would be happy with even a -1. So far I feel good and seem to have more energy, did I mention that the food is pretty good? My wife has been doing an awesome job making my "Lean & Green" meals. The other night she made me some Tilapia and a nice fresh salad! Yeah she rocked it!
-Mike
P.S. Below is a link to my coaches site!
http://claireandarnold.tsfl.com/
8W5FU7Y5J7K5
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
So here we go....
Hi my name is Mike and I can not remember a single day in my life when I was not over weight. When I was a kid I really hated the "Husky" section in clothing stores. I think it was some time in high school where I said, "Ok this is who I am and that's just fine with me." Even though I was mildly active I loved to snack. I think this is where most of my frustration has come from. I played tennis almost every day with my buddy Scott. I would do 20 mile bike rides on the days I was not playing tennis with my friend Dan. Not to mention Golf every so often, that's right 18 holes with no cart! All this activity and I still weighed 260 - 290. Then came college.
The college years were awesome. The food was good, maybe too good. 420lbs of pure college goodness. I went home one weekend to get my bike out. I sat on the seat, the tires are pumped up all the way, and when I sit they went flat. So I started to peddle, it felt good to ride again! Then it came time to slow down. The breaks squealed rather loudly. I remember people running out of their front doors to see what could be causing such a racket. So the bike went in a barn for the rest of my college days and would not return to me until I was married and owned a house.
So here I am today. I had been doing a diet on my own plan. I felt good and in May had weighed in at 348lbs. Yet a few weeks ago when I went for my check-up with the Dr. I had weighed in at 360lbs. I was crushed. All that hard work and nothing to show for it. My mom had been bugging me for months to go on the diet she was on. I was on the fence and was not sure if I wanted to pay the cost of the program. Then one day I came across a blog post by a local radio personality who was having the same exact problem I was having. So that was the moment I knew I was going to give Medifast plan a try.
I am going to try and update this blog a few times a month. Off to the side there will be a progress tracker. Once a week I will be doing a weigh in and the tracker will update automatically. If you are reading this and have any questions please feel free to leave it in the comments section and I will do my best to give a prompt reply. If you would like more info about the Medifast 5 + 1 plan please visit my coaches site at: http://claireandarnold.tsfl.com
Peace and Good Vibes,
Mike
The college years were awesome. The food was good, maybe too good. 420lbs of pure college goodness. I went home one weekend to get my bike out. I sat on the seat, the tires are pumped up all the way, and when I sit they went flat. So I started to peddle, it felt good to ride again! Then it came time to slow down. The breaks squealed rather loudly. I remember people running out of their front doors to see what could be causing such a racket. So the bike went in a barn for the rest of my college days and would not return to me until I was married and owned a house.
So here I am today. I had been doing a diet on my own plan. I felt good and in May had weighed in at 348lbs. Yet a few weeks ago when I went for my check-up with the Dr. I had weighed in at 360lbs. I was crushed. All that hard work and nothing to show for it. My mom had been bugging me for months to go on the diet she was on. I was on the fence and was not sure if I wanted to pay the cost of the program. Then one day I came across a blog post by a local radio personality who was having the same exact problem I was having. So that was the moment I knew I was going to give Medifast plan a try.
I am going to try and update this blog a few times a month. Off to the side there will be a progress tracker. Once a week I will be doing a weigh in and the tracker will update automatically. If you are reading this and have any questions please feel free to leave it in the comments section and I will do my best to give a prompt reply. If you would like more info about the Medifast 5 + 1 plan please visit my coaches site at: http://claireandarnold.tsfl.com
Peace and Good Vibes,
Mike
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