Mar 8th, 2010 - Over the past day or so I have been trying to think about what I wanted to write in this week's blog. I have come to week five now and to be honest I don't have anything awesome to report. When I started this challenge five weeks ago, I would honestly sit around and freaked out in my mind that I was going to fail. I was going to let these kids down and I was going to let myself down. 318 pounds is not an easy thing to lose. it took me 20 plus years to gain it and how was I ever going to lose enough to make a difference in getting a family to Disney World. I was always planning my "out" move, the excuse I was going to tell the radio station about why I needed to leave this challenge and the rational argument I was going to use on myself when I finally did quit. However as we can see I am still here and the planning and the figuring my "out" has all but gone away. I said last week about all of this is becoming habit for me and I contend I was right. I just do what is needed to be done and not put too much thought into the process at all. It is a strange sort of peace of mind I have come across and I hope it stays. I assume there are road blocks and traps up ahead I can't yet foresee and I don't look forward to dealing with them. I still don't like the food I have to eat and let's face it the gym is boring as watching paint dry. However I am not fighting it anymore and I am liking the road I have been traveling down so far, so I plan on staying on it for a while and see where it takes me.
My best friend asked me today what I wanted out of all of this. He told me aside from helping the kids what is the result I want. Sadly I have never thought much about it. It has always been about the kids and not failing in public. I want to be thin and I want to be in better shape but those are lofty and vague goals and part of the reason I have not put too much thought into what I want is because I never wanted to set myself up for disappointment. However I think it might be time to think of a few goals, something I would like out of this and that is what I am going to do. Over the next week I am going come up with a list and see if they are not something I can achieve while I am at this for the kids.
Mar 1st, 2010 - Welcome to week four ladies and gents! I can't believe I really made it! I am finally under 300 pounds for the first time since middle school and I am so pumped right now. Granted my weight is only 295 but still there is no 3 in front of that number so I am going to take it and run with it. I have also reached my very first goal in this challenge, which was to raise at least 1,000 dollars for the charity. I want to be able to say I personally sent a family to Disney and I am hoping I am almost there. My clothes are starting to fit a little better and my pants are not as tight as they used to be. I will be the first to tell you, this is an amazing feeling. I still don't need new clothes, but I am hoping if this trend continues I will have to go shopping in a few weeks to buy smaller sizes for the first time in my life.
This week went by super fast and honestly I am not really paying much attention to the details anymore. I know what I need to eat to get me through the day, and for the most part I am alright with the food choices that I have to pick from. I like going to gym (can't believe I just said that), since it is a nice way to get away from my busy life and just be with my thoughts. It has started to really become second nature to me. My hope is this is the start of true life changing habits.
Feb 22nd, 2010 - As corny as it may sound, this challenge is not one giant obstacle to overcome, but several little ones I have to face each and every day. I want to be able to say that each challenge I face I stare down and move on, but life is not easy and sometimes you fail. However, it is recovery that sometimes matters more than what you failed at in the first place. Last week I said how nervous I was about the upcoming week because week four is normally the time where my wheels come off. Life catches up to me and I fall off the wagon and back into the same routine that I have been in all my life.
Well, temptation is a funny thing and it hits you when you least expect it to come. I expected to have trouble while I was traveling for work, but I never knew the town I was visiting one night this week was twenty minutes north of Athens until I passed right by it and there was my temptation, one of my favorite places in the world to eat right there in downtown Athens. After a long day of work and being two and half hours from home - and starving to boot - I ended up in the last place I should ever eat. I failed; I fell off the horse, right into the mud. I lost the battle with my will power and that is how the story goes. However, even with my bad choice in restaurants that night, I did not eat as bad as I used to there. It was water instead of sweet tea and while my main course was the last thing in the world anyone would ever consider healthy it was a smaller size then I have ever ordered before in my life and it was only a bite or two of the side dish and then I walked away. Did I enjoy my meal, you bet I did. It was the first decent thing I have eaten in three weeks and it honestly made miss everything I gave up that much more.
However, a funny thing happened the next day. I got right back on the horse, and did not miss a beat for the rest of the week. I did not want to cheat again or quit this program. Never before in my life has this happened. For me, once I was down I was out for the count when it came to diets. This time, not only did I regain my footing and move forward, I made extra sure to watch what I ate to make up for my mistake and it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I still made all my gym time for the week and I am still cruising along. As I start into week four I have a slightly better understanding of what it is going to take to achieve my goals and I am not as scared of a slip up as was before. Do I think it is going to happen again? No, but I am an overly confident person. The truth is, this is life and in life we mess up and we fall down but I saw myself get up this week which means I might honestly have more fight in me than I have ever had before.
Feb 15th, 2010 - Hello and welcome to week two of my weight lost challenge. First off, I am happy report that as of this morning I weigh 306lbs, which is down from the 318lbs I weighed two weeks ago at the radio station. So, for those of you keep score at home, Healthe` Trim owes Bert’s Big Adventure 600 dollars.
This past week I have been thinking a lot about the old saying “bad habits die hard,” and I realized how much that rings true. The first week was really easy to push though many of my old ways, from not wanting to try my friend’s new cookie recipe to ordering water instead of Coke at a restaurant. My friends and my parents were over-hyped about the challenge and were checking in on me just about every few hours the whole first week. However, as week two has set in real life has come back and it has been a little harder to stay on task. I again made it to the gym, 4 times this week which was above my personal goal which is amazing. But over the past week I also had to travel a little more for work which meant I had to find more meals on the road and had to eat with other people who are not dieting at all. I am happy to report that I am still going strong and have not fallen off the wagon yet. However, it is hard to eat for the first time on this diet at places I used to love when I did not care. It is the little things you want the most, from the warm bread and butter they bring everyone else at the table to the French fries everyone else got with their meals.
As I enter week three, I am starting to get a little nervous, I have never made it past four weeks with any kind of diet or exercise plan. Week three for me is when the first bump or hiccup in the road happens and by week four I am so far off the pace or goal that I give up and move on. So this week’s goal is to stay focused and not let anything get in my way, including myself.
Feb 8th, 2010 - Hello, and welcome to my blog. Over the next 90 days I am going to try my best to explain everything that is happening in my life as I try to reach my goal of losing this weight and getting as much money for these kids to go to Disney World as I can. Personally, I am very pumped for this challenge and still can't believe I was one of the people chosen. This is a great honor and something I am taking very seriously both for myself and for the kids. It is hard to believe that just 5 days ago my weight and my story was told to all the listeners of this station and then posted on the website for the world to see. For anyone that is looking for a jump start this is certainly one way to go. Meeting Matthew, the founder of Healthé Trim, and the other contestants was a great way to start this whole thing off. It is really nice to know that I am not the only one in this challenge and that there are people facing the same kind of life changing hurdles and goals as I am.
The easy part so far has been taking the pills - the schedule is not complicated at all and as long as you remember to drink enough water (10 glasses!) each day then you're good. I was really worried that the pills were going to make me feel weird or sick or possibly grow me a third arm. However, I am happy to report none of that has happened. The pills do give me energy and so far I have not missed my coffee or caffeine much at all. The hard part so far has been trying to change everything else. I am proud to say I have made it to the gym 3 times since the challenge began and so far it has not been too bad. The hardest part for me is changing my diet. I was not over an over-eater but made really bad food choices, so I have spent the last few days to trying to find new foods I like (if anyone has any suggestions let me know) and keep track of how much I eat. Luckily my iPhone has once again saved the day! I found this great app that not only keeps track of my calories but lets me look up food from restaurants so I can tell how bad they are for me before I order, which is great for me because I have to eat out a lot for my job. For the first full week of this challenge my goal is to get settled into a routine of eating (the right food) and working out.
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