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 July 2009

To trim or not to Trim? That is the Question...

The answer is yes. After an 8 week bulking phase where I focus primarily on building muscle and my over all weight is less important to me its time to trim myself down some. My bulking cycle ended on the 21st and in 6 days I have trimmed off 3 pounds.


This is not a normal amount of weight loss but simply happened because I started to cut out the extra that I have enjoyed during my bulk stage. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS OF MY BULKING STAGE.

My preferred weight range is between 230 and 240 for my build and my appearance. NOT so much concerned with what scale reads and I definitely do not believe I would be healthier at 189 which is my "ideal" weight.

Lean and green is the plan. Lean meat such as bison, grilled chicken and NON Fried Fish ( I used to hate fish but now I crave it) and pork. Yes pork is lean. I'm not eating Fatback here. A pork roast, a lean pork chop. NO BEEF- NO BEEF- NO BEEF
The green is essentially any green, red or yellow vegetable. COLOR is the key- white veggies are essentially not allowed- sorry potatoes, I'll not be seeing you. Sweet potatoes are allowed. Bread, sweets and Ice Cream (sniffle)- good bye my friends good bye. Oh how I love you and oh how you make me FATTTTTT.

Buttah (that's butter to you non southerners) is limited and so is full fat cheese.

One cheat meal each week. NOT a cheat day and I am not going to have a Burger with cheese and an ice cream shake and french fries in the same cheat meal.

There will be no FRENCH FRIES on any cheat meals until labor day.

Workouts- I am cutting down my number of sets. 4 to 6 days a week with more toning exercises included.
Cardio- is becoming a separate daily exercise. Every morning and every night 30 minutes of cardio- Walking or elliptical training. Swimming laps. Have I mentioned how much I hate cardio?
Flexibility- Yoga classes once a week. I'm getting old my joins need the practice.


11 July 2009

July in Atlanta is Hot

This summer has been a return to normal south easten weather. The last few summers have been moderate. This one is hot as hell. As a member of the FFB Club (former fat boy) I remember how days like today would have put me in my air conditioned house trying to deal with the heat. As I write this I'm sitting my the pool.

Since my last post I have spent a bunch of time bulking up. You Add a little fat when you do that but the phase is almost over so I'll cut my calories in a week or so to get off the extra Coozie I have on my belly. And I'll cut back my intensity of my workouts and increase my cardio.

Have I mentioned how much I hate cardio lately? Well In the heat I do.

I had one of the best compliments today at the gym. A friend of mine said "you look tighter than I have ever seen you". Thanks Kevin. Much appreciated it.

Hope all is well guys.