Round 3, Now With Power 90

I haven't posted here forever, mainly because I've been sitting at the same weight for a long while now and haven't really moved much, til recently. I had some stuff happen in my life recently and the past month I've pretty much ate whatever and have gone out a lot (still no pop or taco bell though!) but I have gained some weight back :/ As of this morning I was sitting at 417.2 lbs, not where I want to be.

I however have great friends and supporters and a friend of mine came to me with a plan and a direction for me and offered to be my coach!!! I am going to be starting Power 90 as soon as it comes in the mail and I will be following a meal plan, caloric intake based, and doing Shakeology (for at least a month). I also plan on buying a bike as soon as I find one and since the weather has been nice I have been playing basketball or other sports almost daily, tried disc golf for the first time the other day and that was a lot of fun!

My current goal is still to get to my high school weight of 350 lbs, which is 67 lbs away, my long term goal is to be at 250 lbs and then we'll go from there. I am going to go into this stage full force and do everything I can to get these extra pounds off and to starts getting healthier!!!

Here is a picture my brother took for me last night, I will put more up as progress happens and I will update this blog more now that I have a set structure to follow!

Where I've Been...

I know I haven't updated this in a long while, so here it goes.

I have still been losing weight and trying to stay on track, I have hit a plateau and have been at the same weight, 390ish, for quite some time. I've still been drinking the gallon of water a day, and I have bought myself a decent weight set and I use those every now and then, and I still park far away at places. I think I am at the point where my "water weight" is gone and I have to start working much harder to lose the actual fat, but our pool opens soon and I plan on being there any time I am not at work, so that should help a lot!!!

Speaking of work, I have gotten two new jobs since the last time I posted. They are both part time but I enjoy both, most the time :) I work at Subway as a sandwich artist, well I tend to do a lot of dishes when I work but that's my title. It is fun and challenging at times but I like it, I say most of the time because like any other place you get the "Ummm... Oh wait no... Let my 5 year old order..." people :) I also work at Michiana Used Music & Media, I worked there a while back and ended up leaving and the next day BuyCo hired me. Stuff ended up just not working with BuyCo and when the owner of Michiana Used contacted me I made the tough choice to leave BuyCo and my older brother Mike, who also works at BuyCo, to join Michiana Used. I think it was the best choice for me, we are busier here and I am getting taxes taken out so it won't slam me at the end of the year this time!

I started Vlogging daily and post those on youtube... My Channel... For those that don't know what Vlogging is or stands for, it is Video Logging, I take clips of myself doing whatever it is that day and make a Vlog of it and upload to youtube. I have done one everyday for 78 days so far, I plan on doing it for at least 1 year, my only setback is I tend to upload at sporadic times, I need to have a set time that I do them.

I have also started another endeavor called "Tom's Turkey Tuesdays" I just decided one day that I could help people and wanted to see how little it would take to feed 10 people in need. I went to the store and bought a loaf of bread, a package of turkey, sliced cheese, pretzels, some mini twizzlers, a ten pack of water, and lunch and sandwich bags for $13.97. Then I made up the lunches and my Mom and I headed out on Tuesday morning to hand deliver them. It went great and inspired people to help out, my older brother made a website devoted to it and his goal of making everyone self sustaining and we named it Change Michiana. We have done Turkey Tuesdays for 10 consecutive weeks now, I Vlog the people's faces and "God Bless You's" every week and put those videos on my youtube channel as well. The first 3 weeks my older brother and I took turns buying the supplies for the lunches but since then we have not spent a penny out of our pocket. Thanks to friends, family, friends of friends and family donating us with money or supplies we are set for a little while now!!! This past week we gave out 24 lunches in 12 minutes, the need is great and we feel like we are doing a lot but could do so much more! I'll attach that video so you can see the responses of the people we give to:

 

 But that's what I have been up to the last couple of months, so I've been doing a lot, staying busy and trying to stay weight conscience. Oh I also started playing Minecraft with my older brother and Mom and I got our fishing license and have been going fishing when we make time for it! Mom caught 2 small fish last night, I have yet to catch anything but it will happen :) I'll also try to update here more and let everyone know what's going on in my life!!! 

What are you doing?

That is the question I get asked the most whenever I tell anyone I was 106 pounds heavier (yes I am down to 394lbs now!) on March 28th. I don't like when people reference their diets as life changes but it is exactly what I have done, it's not a 1 week thing it is a life thing. It took me a long time to want to change, I was looking at pictures of myself at work on March 28th, 2010 and just started crying, I was killing myself and I had to change... I'm no weight loss guru and don't have all or maybe any of the right answers, but I'd like to share what I changed in me and what is working for me.

First and foremost I completely cut out pop from my life, no diet, no caffeine free, just NO pop. It is insane the amount of calories, sugar, and sodium alone that is in 1 can of pop. I was drinking at least 2 liters of Mt. Dew a day at work, then usually going home and having a few cans throughout the night. I now drink water, at least 3 liters a day and usually more then that. My older brother bought me an Ice Mountain (I am picky and only like Spring Water, and Ice Mountain is my water of choice) 3 liter jug. I fill that up everyday and make it my goal to have to fill it back up and put it back in my fridge every night. Here's a pic so you can get an idea of how much water that is (there is also a paint drawing of my fridge, will take a real picture when I get home :)...

I have also cut out bad fast food, I don't go to McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. when I go grab something for lunch I head to Fazoli's and grab a salad and 2 breadsticks, or Subway for a footlong. You have to be smart where ever you go though, there are some very unhealthy choices even at Subway. I go for the oven roasted chicken breast on Honey Oat, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and ranch dressing. I also try to stay away from snacking late and if I do I grab fruit or a yogurt 99% of the time. Now don't get me wrong I crave things like anyone else, pizza, wings, Asian, and I allow myself to have those things. I just make sure that I don't allow myself to have those things more than once a week, if I "cheat" on a Monday then the rest of the week I make sure I eat right. Most places have a grilled, broiled, non fat coated and fried option even if it is not listed on their menu, just ask, if not then have a salad. I also try to stay away from chips, fries, hashbrowns go for fruit cups, applesauce, cottage cheese, side salad most restaurants have a number of options and if you can't substitute then just don't eat it!

I also exercise, I bought a $20 dumbbell set from Wal Mart it's easier to wake up and grab your weights and do even a 5 - 10 minute set before you jump in the shower, then waking up an hour early and heading to the gym. Just find something that will work for you, kick boxing on dvd, palates before bed, yoga in the morning whatever you feel comfortable doing. I also try to park further away at stores, restaurants, gatherings, that little extra walk from your car to where ever you're going will make all the difference if you do it enough, you also don't ever have to fight for parking spots :)

My best advice to give anyone trying to lose 300 pounds or 10 pounds is make it easy on yourself, if losing weight is a chore you're not going to do it. Fill your fridge with water not pop and high sugar juices, get rid of your chips, cookies, fatty foods, and fill your cabinets with fruits, vegetables, yogurt, apple sauce, rice cakes (there are some really good ones out there), pringles are even a better option then chips if you can't totally give up on the salty snack. Do some quick research at your grocery store, grab a bag of your favorite chips and look at the label, fat, sodium, carbs, sugars, then grab a bag of say chex mix that you might like, is it better? Then that's a start! I went cold turkey and just stopped eating and drinking this stuff and maybe you have the same willpower but if you don't then that is ok, do it in gradual steps, cutting back will net you weight loss as well, just don't cut out pop and then still eat a bag of chips you're not helping yourself at all.

Some other great advice I can give that really has nothing to do with exercise or food, is to share what you are doing. You will be surprised at how many people really care about you and will try to help uplift you. It doesn't have to be a blog with half naked pictures of yourself on the internet either :) Tell your close family, your co-workers, your gaming friends, even waiters/waitresses that ask how your day was... "Great! I've lost 10 pounds this month!!!" It makes you feel great about what you are doing and a lot of times people will ask you for help. It also keeps you accountable, it's always good to have someone there that will give you that little push if you start to slip or just need someone to talk to.

Well that's my strategy/advice for what I have done in a nut shell, I am always here if anyone wants to talk, I can always use more accountability friends and seeing someone else go through the weight loss transformation with me would be cool :)