Quitters never win...

I'll be the first to admit, the last couple of weeks have been hard on me. After being on vacation my first week hitting the gym, then going back to work, it's been tough trying to find the time to work out. I've also not had very favorable results on the scale. If Satan was to take an earthly form, I'd believe it'd be that little square I stand on every Thursday. I swear I can hear an evil laugh when I step off every week. I am also trying to get used to the pain and stiffness that comes with working out. We just recently got a new memory foam mattress and after a hard work out and a shower, when you try to wake up the next morning at 5:45, you find your body cussing at you to turn to snooze alarm off.

Despite all of this, I'm encouraged to keep going. What I've learned after the first month is I'm not on a diet, but I'm working on a life style change. I want to lose weight, but I want to be healthier even more.  I want my blood pressure to drop, I want be able to get out more often, and I also want to be around longer. The thing I want everyone to understand about what is going on with me , is I may whine and moan about everything, or I may get frustrated and complain, but I never want to quit! I started something I want to see the end of. There are going to be days I am really down on myself. Days of utter frustration because I didn't lose like I wanted to, or I even gained. There are times I want to just crawl into bed and curl up in the fetal position and just ignore the whole world, but I never want to quit. Quitters never lose. Wait, isn't that supposed to be quitters never win? In your case, yes, but in mine, it fits perfectly. If I quit, I will never lose this things I want to! The high blood pressure. The weight. The labored breathing. Right now quitting is not an option for me.

What I'm learning is how to work around all the new obstacles that have been put in front of me. I'm learning new ways to eat what I want, but just do it healthy. I am still eating my cheese burgers, but I go about it differently. I will eat a small one from McDonald's and some apple slices about once a week, not 3 McDoubles and a fry, 3 or 4 days of the week. I'm eating a bigger breakfast and a decent lunch, and then try to eat light at dinner. That way I burn off bigger meals at work, and then I like to go work out after I've eaten dinner. It gives me a chance to burn off some of those calories I've consumed. It my be 9:30 at night, but I'm still going to go. I used to tease a friend of mine, Jade, when she was trying to lose weight. I couldn't understand, how she would eat a salad, and then want to work out. I thought she was being crazy. She would eat a healthy meal, and then go run 5 miles? I apologized to her the other day, because I understand now. It isn't the fear of getting fat agin that was driving her, it was the idea of keeping everything you had been working hard to get! I totally feel that way now!

To combat some of the stiffness, I'm finding out ice packs and ibuprofen are great allies. A couple ice packs on the knees or ankle for about 30 minutes after I work out, and a couple of ibuprofen before I work out, keep the inflammation down in my knees and the pain a lot easier to handle. I am also trying to sleep better at night. Ive always been one of those people who would watch tv or play video games till late, get a few hours sleep, and function the next day. I read an article last week and it said to be healthy you need to have at least 7 hours of sleep a night. You need to give your body time to heal itself. It's like when you turn off your computer for a while, you need to reboot yourself everyday.  I find it cutting in to my me time some, but it seems like it is helping right now.

I haven't told a lot of people yet, but after the struggles I've had the last couple of weeks, I lost 3.6 lbs. last week. That puts my total to 20.4 in a month! Melody lost 3 lbs. and her total is 18 over the last month too! To me though, that is small, compared to the other things I've been doing. I set a goal last week to ride at least 3 miles without stopping every day this week, and I not only did that, but 2 days I went for 4 before I stopped, and I even increased my resistance on the bike! I've went from 6, to 8, to 10 on my first time going four miles, then I did a program the second day, where I went slowly up to 9 over 10 minutes, the went back down over the next 10 minutes. Sorta like going up a big hill and riding back down. I've increased some of my reps and my weights too! Melody joined the gym this week, and all she has been doing is walking on treadmill. She has been rotating her days. 2 on days in just do cardio, and 3 on days I do cardio and workout. She is wanting to do a 5k now, but only if she can walk it. I think she could totally do it too! I want try and do one with her, but I want to lose some more weight before I do. I'm not sure I could go the whole distance right now.  I am so
thankful though that we are starting to see the results of our hard work paying off.

I'm Mad as H - E - Double Hockey Sticks...

Okay. I'll admit that at Thursday meeting, I wasn't happy. I was 1.4 pounds of unhappy. I gained back the 1.4 I lost last week. I'm eating way less, and exercising, and yet the loss is not there. There are 4 components two my weight loss journey. Exercise, get healthier, eat better, and LOSE WEIGHT!! What do you do when you are doing 3 out of the 4? For me, it was simple. Whine and complain, throw my little tantrum and be done with it. But what do you do when the tantrum is over? Do you just quit? Sit there and pout? For me the answer is simple. Surround yourself with good friends and a loving family. These "peeps" are my posse, my entourage, or you might say inner circle. You won't see these people filling my head with thoughts of how great I am and causing my head to swell so much, that the next thing you now I'm running on stage of The Biggest Loser to proclaim Beyoncé lost the most weight and she should have won it. No that's not what kind of people these are. These are the people who lift me up when I'm down, speaking the encouraging thoughts, the hugs and prayers when I need them, or the tongue lashing when I screw up. These people help me stay on track and keep me focused. They did an excellent job last week! While I'm frustrated, I must still understand, I'm not going to lose all 200 lbs. overnight. It has taken me along time to get fat, and it's going to take a while to get healthy again. I'm on a healthy lifestyle roller coaster you could say. There are going to be times when I'm having fun and enjoying things, and other times, it going to be absolutely miserable and I want to get off. I'm am going to track every good and horrible thing I eat, and look at the changes I can make and straighten it out. I have to be doing something right. I am breathing better. I'm getting around better. The exercise is really helping, no matter how bad I hate step-ups on Thursdays! Thank you everyone for your support!

Okay, now my biggest complaint about making these changes, is the price of healthier food. It doesn't make sense how a cheeseburger should be more expensive than a salad. How can a can of green beans cost less than the same amount of fresh green beans. Why can I have a pack of carrots cost $1.98, but a organic carrot cost $3.25? Stuff like this isn't making sense to me. I was telling my wife how for lunch I would go and get 3 cheeseburgers and a Dr. Pepper from McDonald's for lunch and spend around $4, but if I bought a salad and a water from there, it would cost me 2 to 3 dollars more! Why should eating healthy be such a burden on one's wallet? Michelle Obama passed really strict laws on healthy foods in schools. Should the same thing be done for food producers, grocery stores, or restaurants? A greasy, double cheeseburger with all the vegetables on it, shouldn't cost less than just the vegetables. So far the only thing around here that is losing weight really fast on our healthy lifestyle change is my wallet. I can see how easy things mount up. You work all day and the last thing you want to do is cook dinner. You zip in to the grocery store and find something cheap and easy to make. You run to the frozen aisle and grab a Patio TV dinner for under $1. You grab them and feed your family of 5 for about $5, but if you wanted to eat something healthier, you grab a Healthy Choice meal and it would cost you up to $5 for just a single meal! So you buy the cheaper meal. That should be the other way around!

I guess the bright side in all of this is you got to work at being healthy and that's a good thing. You may be tired after working hard all day, and the last thing you want to do is cook dinner. It also may cost a little more, but the reassurance you have that your doing something healthy will fill you better than a corn dog did. Plus, you can add some activity points too! After all, it took me 3 hours at an exhausting pace to make that salad. Now I can add that to my daily total, and have ice cream and chocolate syrup for desert.

Okay, my feet are sore standing up here on my soap box. Now to not trip while I'm getting down.

Stressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts...

Okay. Another confession time. "Father, forgive me. I am  a worrier. I've sinned 10 times already this week!" I can't help it. It's genetics. My Mom is a worrier. Her Mom was a worrier. Her Mom was a worrier. I am a 4th generation worrier. I worry about everything. My wife, my kids, my house, my car, the bills, my job, and every little, dad-gum, nit-picking, little thing that comes along! I'm going to worry about it. When I worry, I don't sleep. I don't eat right. I'm consumed about nothing, but the problem at hand. If I have a bill coming due before payday, I will stress out till I can get it taken care of. If something isn't going right at work, I stress and worry till it is fixed. I can't do nothing about it, that's just who I am. To some I may seem laid back, aloof, if you will, but in the inside, I'm like a golf ball swung full swing in a tile bath room. Just bouncing all over the place. What I have learned in my little time on this journey, is when I stress or worry, I want to eat. Something about placing my lips around a big, ole greasy, cheeseburger would seem to calm the nerves. 

Why do I do this? Why do I want to eat? There's something in food that always makes me feel comfortable. It makes me feel that I am loved. Now your asking me, "how can an inanimate object like food convey feeling?" For me, it's easy to see. Growing up, we didn't always have a lot. Dad would work long hours, pick up odd jobs to help pay bills, and put food on the table. If, that didn't work he'd pick up cans to recycle to help out. He always picked up cans wherever he went. He did that his whole life. We missed a few meals, but not many. Were they always the best meals, not always. I eaten my fair share of fried bologna and fried potatoes growing up. I always said I'd never eat that again when I grew up, but it's still one of my favorite meals. When dinner was on the table, you knew things were okay.  The emotions brought on by my childhood would later help me to cope with things as an adult. If I can't sleep cause I'm worrying about a bill, well I'll eat something while I'm up. The fuller I got, the more I felt like things are going to be okay. 

You also got it only two ways back then. Eat it, or do with out. I never did without. I would tease about when we're were raising our three boys, that one word we never used in our house was leftovers, because they scarfed everything, but the same could be said about me and my brother. We would eat everything on our plates. Chicken and potato cakes, gone. Beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes. Gone. Meatloaf. Not always gone. It always seemed to be better when it was cold with a little bit of mayonnaise in between two pieces of bread, but you get the point. When I ate everything till there was none left, I was happy! As an adult, I became the same way. I was never happy leaving something on my plate. I would feel that it was rude to leave an empty plate. If my eyes were bigger than my stomach, it wouldn't matter. I was going to gorge myself till it was all gone. Then I could be happy. The main difference was I was active when I was younger. I played outside all day. In the sandbox, climbing trees, or riding my bike all over town. As a teenager, I still rode my bike, and I played sports. As an adult not so much. As things consumed me, I would eat to feel happy, and things would be okay. 

This is my second time with Weight Watchers. The first time was 3 years ago. I lost almost 45 pounds. Things were good. Then I had knee surgery. I went on short term disability, and only got a portion of my check. Things got tough. I had to quit WW. It was hard to put food on the table let alone healthy food! I promised my wife as soon as I got back to work and things got better, we'd go back. It took almost a year. Me and Melody were talking about it, when late one night I got a fateful call. My Dad had had a hemorrhage and suffered a heart attack. He was being flown to Tulsa. When we got there the next day, he was taken off life support and passed away. My hero in life was gone. I planned his funeral, and helped with Mom. Over the next year and a half, things were as a blur From dealing to his estate, to theives stealing stuff from Mom, Mom in and out of hospital, or paying for those bills. The stress and worry mounted up. I ate to try and comfort myself. It finally took a wake up call from one of my managers at work to snap me out of the funk I had been in. Thank you Tracy. It was like a veil and weight lifted all at one time. When I emerged, I had not only gained those 43 pounds back, but another thirty. I ate, and ate, and ate. The more I ate, the more the couch became my best friend. 

The good news is, I did wake up! I'm having the time of my life! I'm eating healthy again, I'm exercising really good. I've got more energy. I'm finding a new way to relieve stress or worry. I go the the gym and exercise. I'm no longer hurting myself with stress, I'm healing myself with stress. Yesterday, my truck started acting up. That would've set off a binge easily, but after finding out what it would take to fix it, I went to the gym and had the hardest workout I've had so far! I sat on my bike, plugged my headphones in, closed my eyes and just rode. I promised myself I would ride for two whole songs before I stopped. When I opened my eyes I had gone 1 1/2 miles! Something I couldn't accomplished just 2 short weeks ago! The stress will always be there, but the way I will handle it from now on will be different. 

While I got the chance, I want to thank the people who are riding along with me on my journey. It was never my intent to gain alot of followers, but to heal myself writing this. I am one of those people who learn by reading. I write down my thoughts, then go back and re-read them several times before I publish it.  When I get discouraged, I read my older blogs to remind me of where I was, and where I am now. If my ramblings help you in any way, I hope God blesses you on your journey!

If you have any questions or coments, feel free to look me up on Facebook at Randy Manning or at My E-Mail.

If you want to start your own journey, come see us at Weight Watchers at 1607 24th Ave NW Suite 104 in Norman, Ok. We're right next to Starbucks.

To Infinity and Beyond....

Okay, I'll admit it. This weeks weigh-in was tough to take. I worked out everyday, but one this week. Watched how much I ate and when I ate it. I worked out extra hard Wednesday night. I rode 5 miles, plus added the stuff I did Tuesday on top of that. I didn't eat nothing on Thursday and worked out right before I went. I was expecting another great result like last week. In my mind I was expecting at least a 10 pound loss. The moment came and I stepped on the scale.... 1.4 lbs.    I lost only 1.4 lbs! I was devastated! I told my wife, "I can poop more than that! I'm a 400 lb. man and I only lost1.4 lbs. in a week? That's horrible!" Immediately she went on the defense. "That don't mean nothing! You've been exercising for a week. You're building muscle. You're breathing better. You get around better. That 1.4 lbs don't mean nothing." I didn't want to hear it. I was mad, and I wanted to be miserable. I sat there in my chair and kept to myself. Inside, I was talking to myself. "What's the point of this? You just need to leave and go eat a cheeseburger!"  I was having a self-pity party, and I was the only one invited. 

The meeting started, but my mind was elsewhere. I just wanted it over. I wanted to just go and eat and drown my sorrows in some food. I texted my trainer, Jared, and told him how it went. He encouraged me to not give up. I wanted to. I told him I wasn't. As our sponsor, Nancy, started talking, she talked about going beyond the scale. What else to look at other than the weight loss. She asked for examples. People started saying, " I exercise more! I'm building muscle! I'm breathing better!" Wait a minute, my wife just told me that! As I listened, I heard other people talk about what it meant to them. Their clothes fitting better. They're eating better. They have more energy. Some of this started to sink in. Melody spoke up and said that is what she had been telling me. She already has noticed a difference in my breathing. I'll admit it that I'm enjoying that part. I no longer sound like the kid in a wheelchair from Malcolm in the Middle. Talk..  and... pause.. between... breaths. I have been enjoying the way you look for a healthier way to eat. It's like a treasure hunt to me. Try to find a different way of eating  at some place where I would've gorged myself before. Example, we ate at Long John Silvers/A&W today. Melody ate baked fish and a salad. I got a piece of fish, and three pieces of shrimp. Instead of fries and coleslaw, I ate unbuttered corn, green beans, a side salad with no dressing and unsweet tea. Normally, I would've eaten twice that much and drank a A&W Root Beer. I rode a bike five miles Wednesday, I could only go 2 just last week, and I had to stop every .10 mile when I started. Today I went 3 and stopped once! I went 1 1/2 miles before I stopped! Just writing this I'm getting excited for what my life is transforming into! I'm sort of becoming my own cheerleader. Rah! Rah! Ree! Kick em in the knee! Rah! Rah! Rass! Make the choices that last! Go Team! 

We also talked about my blog and about how I was feeling guilt over having more points than Melody. I do need to apologize at this point to my wonderful group. I forgot the rules and mentioned points. That is something I'll never do again! It got a good teasing over that one. After the yelling and laughter died down, they taught me how not to feel guilty. The other men in the group were real helpful with that. They taught me it wasn't healthy to skip eating and it wasn't helping either. I need to eat to lose weight. I'm already making progress in one day. Me and Melody went out of town to see our middle son in college at Weatherford, OK. We talked about the different places we could eat on the way and looked at all the options available to us. I actually used my points today. The bonus is I exercised twice today. Not only did I ride my bike 3 miles, me and Melody found this wonderful nature trail to walk. It was called Sand Plum Trail. I wish it would've been in season cause I could've ate healthy as we walked. The biggest bonus was I walked the whole trail with out stopping! Something I couldn't have done just two short weeks ago. So a day removed from what I thought was the end of the world, I feel more energized today than I have felt since I started this journey. Okay, I lost 1.4 lbs. this week, but I've lost a total of 18.2 in two weeks. That itself is awesome! I'm getting healthier and I'm getting in shape. That is something the scale can't do for me. 

Brain Farts...

Have you ever had one of those moments. You know, one where your brain feels like your house during a lightening storm. Where suddenly everything goes black. Well, welcome to my brain. I'll start by saying I've never been accused of being Albert Einstein, but more like his cousin, Ralph Einstein, the one who got caught eating the glue in kindergarten. I was the rambunctious kid growing up. I had my fair share of tumbles. I fell off the back porch and landed on a brick with my head. I had to get stitches. Fell on my face and my first two teeth went through my bottom lip. Still got the scar some 46 years later. I'm surprised I didn't do no damage to my noggin when I was trying to make diamonds when I was little. The recipe was easy. A bag of glass marbles dumped into our glass blender and turned on full speed! I survived that one, but the glass blender didn't and neither did the fish tank that was right beside it. My all-time greatest accomplishment would be after getting a ball out from under our horse in the pasture, I slapped him on the butt and he field goaled me some 20 feet out behind him. Knocked unconscious and bleeding, my poor Mother thought I was dead, but as hard headed as I was, I regained consciousness and only ended up with a few stitches above my eye. A scar I wear proudly to this day. All you got to do is look at my eyebrow and you can see it, but don't ask me which one. I never can remember it. My head has taken a number of shots over the years, but I keep on going. 

Alright back to my problem, my brain. I've been accused of being a few fries short of a Happy Meal, and I've been told I haven't lost all my marbles but, there is definitely a whole in the bag. I'm okay with that. My brain sees things differently and I like it. It's what gives me my sense of humor and my unique outlook on life. I'm okay with that part. It's the other part that drives me nuts. It's the part where the breaker switched off right after high school. I was a very active kid till about 18 and then suddenly I wasn't. I climbed trees, I rode bikes, and I played sports. It's just like my brain shorted out and said, "Nope. No more exercise for you!" I didn't realize it, till here I am 30 years later and weighing 450 lbs. I look back and can see where I just stopped. My brain said,"Sit on this couch, watch a lot of TV, and eat that chocolate bar and cheese puffs!" Yeah, one of my favorite snacks. I would consume countless sodas in a day, and eat big meals late at night, and just sit like a stump on a log. No exercise, no nothing. I would still get up and go to work, and go do the normal stuff a parent would do with three kids. Little league, parties, band, high school sports, and watch them march in band in college. I enjoyed being there for them, but we didn't do much else. Hardly any trips to amusement parks, because Dad was too fat to ride the rides, and didn't want to walk around watching everyone else have fun. What happened to my brain that suddenly made me as dysfunctional as I am. I know a breaker flipped on, and helped me to realize I need a change, and another one flipped on a said you need to exercise, but when do the rest kick on? I got up at 8:00 yesterday morning, and sat around till 4:45 and did nothing. I went and volunteered at a function we had at work for a couple of hours then I went to the gym at 8:00 in the evening! 

I met David Brown a couple of years ago at an OKC open call for, "The Biggest Loser." He said, "99% of your weight loss problem is mental. You've got to overcome your old way of thinking, if you want to succeed," I've reached out to him and another Loser Alumni, and asked them both the same question. How do I get myself out of that way of thinking? I've gotten no answer from them yet. Why when I get up for work in the morning, I want to sleep till the last possible moment, scramble to get ready, and make it to work just before I am considered late. Why when we are going out, my wife is ready, but I haven't even put my pants on yet? Where is that magical switch that I can turn back on?   Where is that part of my brain that I had as a kid? Why can't I find it now? Did I sit it down somewhere and forget where I put it? Did I puncture it as a kid and it slowly leaked out till I was an adult? Can I start a lost brain Facebook page? 

To anyone out there if you see it can you return it to me? I miss it....

We Have the Technology. Better. Stronger. Faster....

I used to love this show. I'll even admit I had a Steve Austin doll, I mean Steve Austin Action Figure. I took that thing everywhere. I wanted to be The Six Million Dollar Man. Someone taken from a pile of nothing and made into a real life superhero! Someone always fighting the odds yet come out on top. While watching a home renovation show tonight, I got think in about that show. This house had some sinking in the ceiling from the second floor. They ended having to gut the whole house because of it. Turned out there was mold and asbestos through the whole thing, and the walls were caving in in the basement. What looked like might be a 3 week job, turned into a 7 month nightmare! The host said they rebuilt it stronger and better. Then the more I thought about those shows the more I thought about me. Here I am a wreck of a man. Foundation weak, bulging exterior, gas leaks, and a lot of air under the ceiling. Sounds like a recipe for a renovation. I've got a whole crew working on me! My wife Melody, my Weight watcher Sponsor, Nanci, and my trainer, Jared. I also got all the prayers and support of my family and friends. Without no of that could I start this journey, let alone finish it. Everybody I talk to has been encouraging. My fater-in-law, instead of pizza to watch the OU game the other night, bought some grilled chicken from KFC, instead of pizza. When you see people go out of their way to help you make your goals, that makes me feel really special. I'm not going to be a simple job, something that can be fixed in a 3 week time. It's going to take months if not a couple years to reach my goal. This isn't going to be something I can slap together and call it good. It's going to take rebuilding me from the ground up. I got to change everything about me. Not only the way I eat, but the way I live!  At times I think I might get overwhelmed, I know that I am building a good foundation right now. Eating habits and exercise are 2 of those key ingredients. One of the other is prayer. My friends and family alone can't help me on this journey. I need somebody bigger. I know I'm not perfect by any means, but having God along helps. I've started praying for strength, courage, and encouragement everyday. The strength to get out of bed, the courage to take on the day no matter what happens, and the encouragement to make me want to do it everyday! Am I going to fail? Sometimes, yes. Everytime, no.By me focusing on those keys, I know I got a strong foundation started. 

I want to share with you a video of a song I just recently found. It's by Diamond Rio and it's off their Album, "The Reason." I encourage you if you have some headphones listen to it that way, if not crank up the volume on your speakers it's a good one. It says alot about me, but also gives me encouragement for my journey. Hope you enjoy. I couldn't get the video to pull up, so just click on th link below. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T5aArreQj4Y

Happy Wife, Happy Life...

I love my wife. I am one of the fortunate ones. I married my best friend, with Melody. I brag of the fact that she is the only girl I ever kissed, and the only one I have been with EVER. That is the kind of relationship stories are made from. I personally don't know of any that can brag of that fact. I tease and say we have been happily married for 5 years, but we've been married for 27! I love her to death. Anytime I do something I either want her along, or can't wait to tell her about it. She is a saint to put up with me. I think she has a bad sense of smell, bad vision, and a little bit of a mental disorder to put up with me that long. She did a wonderful job raising our three sons. At times, it wasn't easy because you could've added me as her fourth boy to raise. It is because of her that I embarked on this journey. Thank you Hon, for pushing me!

I enjoy Weight Watchers. The support you get is terrific. The weekly meetings encourage me even more to go and succeed with my weight loss. To do this beside my best friend is even more exciting for me. When Melody succeeds, I get excited with her. She has more knowledge of this program, and she has become my personal coach through all of this. She tells me what I can and can't eat. She is the driving force behind me. It is because of her though, I find my one fault in Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers encourages you to eat all you daily points. They say, "You can't lose weight unless you eat." I agree with them to an extent. Here in lies my problem. Right now I get 71 points a day, and she only gets 29. I can eat a good meal at lunch, mind myself at breaks, and then get home and still have 50 points left to use. She can do the same thing and when she gets home only have 12 points to use. I get it that she has less weight to lose and that she is a woman,  but it is hard to try and eat dinner when you have the capability to eat 2 Big Macs, a large fry and a large soft drink, and still have points left over, then you look across the table and she is eating a small salad and a water. It's tough for me to do! I end up feeling guilty and get me a small salad and a water. It is my job to provide for her, and to give her all I can, not for her to eat rabbit food, while I can eat steaks. I know these things are designed to work, but the guilt I have usually leaves me with 20 - 30 points left over at the end of the day. Understand this, I am not starving myself because of this, I'm still eating till I'm comfortable, just not full anymore. I still am eating healthy. I get my proteins, veggies, milk and all the other goodies required of me, I just feel like right now I got too many points.

I did learn something new today. Sonic has apple slices and will substitute them in place of tots. Instead of a burger and tots, I got a grilled chicken wrap and they let me switch the tots for apples! Add the fact that I drank a medium unsweet tea, instead of a large cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper, and will call it a good lunch today! Now that I've been not eating certain foods for over a week, the cravings have been hitting even harder, but that's a story for later.

Girl, Look at that body, I work out.....

I promised you I would keep you updated on our progress. Tonight was the big night, our first weigh-in. I'd been really nervous all day. Eating healthy and hoping the benefits of my limited exercise paid off. Melody earned a lot of astonished looks tonight when she weighed in. She lost 11.0 lbs. her first week! She was nervous because we had eaten out at the first part of the week when we went and saw Michael Bolton in concert. Boy, did she do great! They teased her about her weight loss and she wasn't even a man! As I was stepping up, the nerves started to hit. I had hit 2 if my 3 goals, would I now make it 3 for 3? To refresh those just joined me, my first 3 goals were to, 1. Join Weight Watchers 2. Join a gym and 3. To lose 10 lbs. my first week. Those first 2 were tough! Could I get the hat trick? I am very proud to say, not only did I get the hat trick, I scored a grand slam too! I officially lost 16.8 lbs! WooHoo! You can see the results of my book in the picture. I got 3 5 lb stars, plus 2 Bravo stars. 1 Bravo for the weight, and the other for joining a gym.

I also want to admit another accomplishment that happened after our meeting. Me and Melody decided after our weigh ins, if they are good news, that one of us will chose where we eat dinner. Tonight's victory dinner was my choice and I chose Libby's in Goldsby. I'd been craving their home made fries. Okay first part of victory was when I ordered the 2 price fried catfish meal. You ask your self, "how in the world can that be a victory?" Easy. Let me explain. Normally I would get the 4 piece catfish  or the all you can eat, with the fries and a salad. I would fill my salad plate with everything! Salad, potato salad, pea salad, tons of thousand island dressing and then anything else I could fit on the plate. Then I would get sweet tea and drink 4 or 5 glasses. Finish off the fish with 2 to 3 cups of tarter sauce. I would eat so much, that I couldn't move and then whine all the way home about eating too much and come home sit on the couch and moan and whine some more. But tonight, it was different. I drank only a couple glasses of unsweet tea, and for my salad I got lots of lettuce, tomatoes and onion. I left off the pea salad and got maybe a 1/4 cup of potato salad. Only a little bit of thousand island dressing and a couple of pickles. When the rest of my meal came, I'll admit I ate all my fries, but only ate 1 piece of fish! Can you beleive it? A guy who normally puts away 4 - 6 pieces of fish, ate just 1! I finished dinner comfortable, not stuffed worse than a Thanksgiving Turkey. Afterwards in stead of going home, me and Melody drove across the road and went to the gym so I could work off my dinner. Third victory tonight! Tonight I really pushed my self at the gym. Instead like last night stopping after every .10 miles on the first mile I pushed it to .25 miles and just briefly rested. About the end of the first mile I started cramping in my left thigh. I moaned and whined about it, but I kept going. I didn't stop till I got to 3 miles tonight! And every mile got quicker as I went. It took me just under 15 minutes to go 3 miles. I am slowly getting there. 4th victory tonight!

 Melody is going to join the gym next week, so I gave her the tour tonight. She is excited too! She sat down to watch me, but got bored and got on a treadmill. She walked 1 1/2 miles while I was working out. I think she could've gone farther, but she had her flip flops on and they were hurting between her toes. She got watching Big Brother and talking to me and just kept walking away. I'm very proud of her! Tonight, I feel so excited with everything we accomplished this week. To see all our hard work pay off in such large dividends in our weight loss is almost overwhelming.

Jared contacted me today and he has a plan all laid out for me.  He wants to start Monday and increase the intensity. We laughed when I told him Intensity is my new middle name. I lost 16.8 lbs this week on a very limited exercise program. I can't wait to see what I can do when I start working out. The sky's the limit!

Fat Guy on a Little Bike...

Well, as most of you heard, I joined a gym yesterday.  I was very apprehensive about it, but it was a very positive thing. When I started out I set 3 immediate goals for the first week. 1. Join Weight Watchers. 2. Join a gym. 3. Lose 10 lbs. 2nd goal accomplished. I'll see how 3rd one goes after tonight for our first official weigh-in. 

I joined Warriors Den Health and Fitness. It's close to my house, and I knew a lot  of people who went there. I wanted something familiar and at the same time not intimidating like a larger gym could be. I must say, I got the right fit. Jared Hardcastle/Owner met me at the door and gave me a big hug and welcomed me in. We talked for a while about my problems and goals and he pumped me up and got me excited for my journey. He wants to see the end results as much as I do. We walked around the gym and talked about what all I can do, and then he measured me and set to work on a plan for me. Can't wait to see it! If your looking for a great gym to join, I recommend Jared and Warrior's Den Health and Fitness.

 While he was working on that, I went back over to gym and started my first work out ever! I waddled over to the elliptical bike. I'll admit it wasn't  pretty. I put my headphones in and took off like a bat out of Hell! I was peddling fast and furious with the wind in my face and my Lemon/Lime water to quench every drop of sweat that poured from me. When I finally looked down after the dust was settled, I was out of breath, and my knees and calves burning in pain. I looked down and saw I had gone .15 of a mile! Wow. Crushing reality, but I soldiered on. I had to stop for a little bit about every .10 of a mile during first mile. It took me about 5:40 on first mile. Total time was probably about 10:00. Second mile I finished at just over 5:00 and it took me about 8:00 on it. I stopped about every .25 on that one. Won't lie. That one hurt, and I was out of breath more. When I got off my legs felt like jelly. To some of you that might not seem like much. You're like, "OMG Becky, Look at his butt! He cant go more than a 1/4 mile till he has to stop!" Well, for a 450 lb man, I feel that was a huge accomplishment. For a fat man who has never been to a gym in his life, I feel I did good today. I got to start somewhere, and today was that day! The only problem I have with the exercise thing is the running. I have never liked running. From my Jr. High days and my baseball coach, Eugene Blue, making is run laps around the baseball field, to my High School Football coach, Tony Stewart run laps around the Football field. I hated it! Wait let me stop here for there's two things I must address. 1. Tony Stewart is not the Tony Stewart of NASCAR fame, He's a short little man, who can pick back just as good as I can give it. Still love him to death! 2. If Eugene Blue heard me call him Eugene instead of Coach Blue, I'd still be running laps! Okay, back to running. Our Basketball gym was a smaller gym, so our coach, Jack Minyard, made us run extra so we wouldn't be winded when we played on the longer courts. We ran to start practice, we ran in the middle of practice, and if you didn't make all your free throws you ran even more at the end of practice on top of the sprints you already were running! So I hate running! I do like bicycles. I always enjoyed bike riding. When I was little, Me, John Davis, his Brother Bob Allen Davis, and my Friend Marley Jones, tore up the streets of Wanette, OK on our bikes. So maybe that can be my thing instead of running. Maybe I could take on Lance Armstrong one day. Well, wish me luck on the big 1st weigh in tonight. Good Night Hershel Franklin, wherever you are!

The Hunger Games

Okay. Today has been fun. Day 5 and the cravings have been hitting. Ugh! Waffles with syrup. Cheeseburgers. Banana Fudge Sundaes. I know I can have small portions according to Weight Watchers, but I don't want to. I want to beat the cravings. I got a friend who is bringing me a Weight Watcher recipe for pizza tomorrow. Can't wait to try that one out. I know I can still have some of my favorites like beans and cornbread, or smoked brisket, or even catfish, but now all in moderation. I have eaten really good today. I was doing so well I rewarded myself with a small snow-cone. A great win for me! Normally I would've had the large one. Small battles. All in all, I'm proud of my progress.

I'm off tomorrow and look forward to sleeping in. Then I'm going to join a gym and get in a work out. It'll be the first time I've been to a gym to work out in well, I've never been to a gym to workout. Not even in high school. All of our exercising came in the form of sprinting. Tomorrow will definitely be interesting! Scared of the stiffness and soreness and, I'll admit, the sweat too! Hopefully things won't be as bad as my mind makes it out to be. I'll let you know how all that goes.

This journey wouldn't have been possible, if not for my wonderful bride, Melody. She joined with me and she helps me with all the tough stuff. She is my backbone through all this. She is really good at corralling me. I think that job is tougher than mine. I am thankful that I get to do this journey with my best friend!

I eally like Weight Watchers. They help me to understand portion control better, and how to eat better. While it isn't fun at times here in the beginning, I know it will be in the long run. It's easy for me to figure my points. I got a calculator on my phone and just let it do the work. It uses totals from Fat, Carbs, Fiber, and Protein. I get 71 points a day with 49 extra a week. I haven't touched my extra at all this week! Just drank my milk and I got points left, and the craving for some cheese puffs and a Hershey bar are strong, but I'll eat some apple or maybe some watermelon for a snack before bed. Thursday night will be my first official weigh in. I can't wait to see how I'm doing! We decided not to weigh ourselves during the week, but only once at our weigh ins. I'll let you know how that goes too!