My Story and The Plan

Hi, my name is J Brian (group responds HI J BRIAN). I am FAT. I have been for most of my adult life.

I will be A Fat Boy No More.

Three years ago I started a journey to become A Fat Boy No More. And since September 2007 I have been publishing my success and failures. This Blog follows me from the day I first started my weight loss journey and it focuses on the everyday struggles that people with weight problems have.

Prepare yourself for a very real and very challenging event in my life. I commit to being as honest and as clear as I can be in the webpage to chronicle my ongoing battle with my weight. The pictures can be explicit.

After 12 years of being bigger than I should be... ok lets just be honest. I was not big I was fat. I have been over weight and muscular for most of my adult life. But the muscular part has been over shadowed by a large layer of fat on my body. I've eaten too much and I lived a sedentary life. In December 2006 I weighed 320 pounds. The morning I weighed myself and saw that I was over 300 pounds I essentially went into a deep depression that day and I am sure that I ate another 5 pounds worth of food. But that night I decided that enough was enough. My weight problem had become more than just an appearance problem it became a health problem, a self esteem problem and it was starting to affect my business and income. I had to do something. And I had to be held accountable. Technology is a good thing. I decided I had to put it out there. I started texting everyone in cell phone saying "Officially a fat ass now I weigh 300". I had been lying forever and telling people that I was 250. And no one questioned it.

The first step I took was to hit the gym and cut my calories. I looked on webmd and found out how many calories there where in a pound (3500) and decided to create this formula to determine how many calories and how much extra exercise I had to do to lose 60 pounds by May 27th. My annual trip to Key West Florida. By February I had lost 25 pounds. On a plan that was essentially the same thing that Weight Watchers teaches you. Then life hit me. After being so good I just got tired of it. I had no real support structure. And so I just relapsed because I was on a diet. Not a life change. But between March and August I essentially maintained my weight loss. In April I got a part time job working in a restaurant as a bartender. Everyone thinks I was crazy to do that but the truth is I just needed something to make me active. I needed to get off my lazy fat ass and be active. I gave up sweet tea and I stopped eating beef for the most part. I chose bison. Which taste so similar and has a familiar texture but had half the calories. Nothing else really changed.

But I did not lose the weight I wanted. When I was in Key West I looked like a beached whale and I felt horrible. I have a picture from that trip that show the folds of fat on my back. I was so depressed after that trip. So I essentially just maintained until late July when my best friend Michelle told me that a guy we both worked with a few years back had lost a lot of weight thru some medical weight loss plan.

I kinda brushed it off. I was looking into Lap Band or some other surgery. Then another friend of mine saw Brad as well and said Brad has lost a lot of weight. So I called Brad and he told me about the plan thru Emory Hospital. I went to an info session on the plan and decided to enroll.

Before you consider any type of surgery please look into medically managed weight loss. IT WORKS. Your doctor or the Bariatrics department of your local university hospital can direct you. Too many of my friends had surgery and lost a lot of weight and regained it. Even with a smaller stomach you can eat ice cream all the time and gain it back. I have a friend that just did that.

So this is what I did initially. Follow my blog posts from the beginning and see the transformation.

Remember

Don't give up today because you fucked up yesterday.

26 February 2008

Tuesday February 26, 2008 85 days to Key West

I weighed myself yesterday and I have started to trim down further. Two weeks ago I had added a few pounds back. Eating got a little out of hand. I went from about 232 to 237 in a few weeks. 5 pounds generally does bother me on my frame but the idea that a trend may be beginning was very unattractive. I tightened up on my maintenance plan. (trying not to call it a diet anymore) And have lost 10 pounds. I weighed in yesterday at 227.4 pounds. I think this is the low end and generally it will take a few days to stabilize. So for the next few days it will generally fluctuate between 227 and 230. I have seen this happen a few times with my weight loss. I will weigh in and that weight will be great but the very next day it has gone up a little. That seems to be what I call body adjustment.

The meal plan I described in my last blog is working well for me. I spent the last week of so in bed because I had major chest congestion and was put on an anti-biotic. I essentially took a week off from the gym but I ate every day based on my net 1500 plan. I ate to 1500 calories.

I am happy with this week even tho I did not spend much time at the gym.

My good friend Greg and I are planing out annual guys trip to Key West. We fly in to key west on the 22nd of May for 5 days of escape. In the past we have eaten too much, drank (way) too much and a lot of bar hopping. I do not think this is going to change much this year. (outside of the eating part) However, for the first time in years I will wear an actual men's bathing suit versus fat boys shorts.

My intermediate goal is to be down to 209 by May 22. I generally do not want to put time frames on my weight loss but I am in this case. Key West last year was a huge awakening for me- or rather the beached whale pictures that came out of that trip were. I lost 20 or 25 pounds by the time I was there but was still huge. This year will be different. 85 days til key west and I plan to lose 20 pounds by then. I look forward to snorkeling this year.

I am also planning to start a new book this week. Its called The Beck Diet Solution. My friend Chris (who joined the same plan I did about 10 weeks after I did suggested it). This book deals with the mental and psychological thought processes of being thin. Expect a book review next week and If I like it I will put a link to the website on my links section.



16 February 2008

Happy Valentines Day Phase 2 Complete

Final weigh on today was 230.4.  My total weight loss has been exactly 60 pounds since September 21 2007.  I plan to continue to use Optifast and other meal replacement aids to assist me in my weight maintenance.  There are some days that you just eat to much and you need some support the next few days to keep those pounds off.  The nutricianist in the program believes that products like Slim Fast (I am cheap and use Kroger brand Slim RITE) are not a bad meal replacement.    Now comes the hard part of the plan. Maintain and continue to lose.  I have decided that I want to lose another 20 pounds.  I should not put a time limit on it but I am.  May 22 is my goal date.  That is 12 weeks away.  Or 1.5 pounds per week.  

And I plan to do this with food and exercise.  My plan is to consume a net 1500 calories per day.  

What do I mean by "NET".  Well its pretty simple.  I can consume 2000 calories in a day as long as I then do 500 calories of measurable cardio exercise.  So my goal is to eat 1500 calories daily. But the treadmill can add more calories to the day.  

Follow me on this journey.


11 February 2008

Feb 11 Three days left in Phase 2

I have had a great weekend of maintaining and losing weight. I have been at the gym and making great strides. This week I am eating normal food but in a controlled manner. I have been good this weekend and I feel that my weight loss is starting to increase again. I have had three weeks of essentially no net loss and acutally a gain last week. Transition is hard only because you "tempt fate". I have had some good days and others I have just gone over board. Other people in my class have continued to lose weight and have actually lost as much in transition as they did during the first phase.

My workouts have improved. My bench press and leg presses have increased.

10 February 2008

Saturday February 9

In the last two days I have tightened up my diet and have made some changes to ensure that I will be able to continue to lose weight. I have decided that I would like to lose another 20 pounds. So my weight loss will have a goal of 215 by March 31st. That is 20 pounds or so in 6 weeks. I am hitting the gym and eating lean and green.

I decided to forgo the treadmill today and hit the park instead. Atlanta weather today was great. I walked the park twice. approx 4 miles.

08 February 2008

Week 20 One Week Left. Challenges

This week I faced my biggest challenges. Busy with work and life sent me off my diet plan more than I could have imagined. After my weigh in Tonight I am re evaluating what I have done this week. While I am happy with my results over all I am not happy with the last week. I have lost between 52 and 56 pounds. There is a lot of fluxuation in my weight right now. I would like to weigh 215.