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.

25 January 2010

On Track to 210 in 2010

I'm back at 227.  Correcting bad behavior can be successful if you focus on the results and by doing what needs to be done.  Cutting your calories.  And making it a priority.  Like most people I get frustrated when My weight loss stalls.  And mine had.

2010 is the year I arrive.  I am happy with my weight loss and happy with my appearance.  But I have a specific goal I want to achieve.  The magic number is 210.  I am 17 pounds away.  And after OctoberFast I was even lower at 224. In the past I would say I'm not worried about 3 pounds.  And at 310, 3 pounds is not visible. At 227, you may not notice but I can.  And what I want to see is definition.

So how do I get to 210?  An eating plan like OctoberFast but more sustainable.  It works but it was not designed to be an ongoing eating plan.  I am including a free day a week.  For me its sunday.  This is not go get drunk and gorge yourself day.  It's eat what you want.  Have one or two of the things you otherwise can't have.  Example.  I don't eat white potatoes or cheese.  But sunday I can have them.  I do not consider this a cheat day however.  It's part of my eating plan. I'm also allowed to have wine, beer and liquor.  I don't usually limit alcohol except it must fit into my calorie plan for the day. Sunday- there is not calorie limit.  I mean you have to have brunch don'tcha?

17 January 2010

Being on the wagon works.

Six Plus pounds. In a week.  Excellent

10 January 2010

Wagons...falling off and getting back on

With the holiday season there is a very human tendency eat a little more than you should.  We eat richer foods, candy, chocolate, pies and cakes.  And if you are strong you can limit this either to a few meals, a few dinner parties or a week or so of bad eating before you tighten up and do the best thing.
But some of us kinda forget where we came from and let that get away from us.

December is a big food month for me.  My best friend's birthday is the end of November, my Mom's birthday is the first another close friends is the fifth and then the holiday parties start. Then there is my birthday on  the 20th and the celebration doesn't begin and end on that day.  Friends wanna take you out.  (thanks to everyone) and then there is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then a few days later we have New Years.  GOSH  TOO MUCH TEMPTATION.  

So what happened?  Well I was tempted and I enjoyed every second of it.  But I did not stop.  After the last party I just didn't stop and tighten up on my diet.  And it got bad. And I did not notice.  But a good friend did and I have to thank Carine for her one simple comment.  "Brian, are you falling off the Wagon?"

I didn't much pay attention to her comment as I was downing my last pint of chocolate stout and my monster cheesecake.

But the next morning as I got on the scale I noticed that I had gained a few pounds.  I have been floating around 230 for the last few months.  I got to 224 on October 31 but I was ok with 230-232. Five pounds is not that visible on me.  But the scale screamed 238.  And it screamed "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???"  I wanted to be 218 by now not 238.

So I thought about what I ate in just the day before.  And I could not believe what I ate... But here is the list...

Two lean porkchops
4 oz of egg beaters
two packets of instant grits
That was for breakfast and you know I am ok with that for a big breakfast

One McTed's Burger (its something I made up  but think of a BigMac made with Bison)
French Fries (I'm sure i had some ranch to dip them in)
Ok that is what I call a splurge meal

Two oatmeal cookies (uncooked)  They are 340 calories a peice
One Mini Apple Crisp  (think apples and caramel sauce with nuts and icecream)
I had a sweet tooth

And then I was home and watching tv and I was not really hungry.

BUT THEN SOME THING HAPPENED
I must have had a sugar spike.  I was hungry so I decided to go to Taco Mac and have a salad and a beer.

Now I have had more food than a man should have in a day.
But I ordered anyway

Cup of chili
a Kenmore Burger
ONION RINGS
2 Chocolate Stouts (yummy Beer)
A Makers Mark Manhattan

and to top it all off

MONSTER CHEESECAKE with Chocolate and Caramel Syrup

and that is when Carine made her comment.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I am not proud.  But I'm not going to beat myself up for what I did.  I fell off the wagon.  The healthy wagon never leaves it waits for you.  And I crawled back in.

So I put myself on my clean eating plan.  I've been on it for two days and I have decided to stay on it until Superbowl Sunday.  February 7.  30 days of clean eating just like OctoberFast.

I have promised to be honest and transparent in my blog.  And that's about as transparent as I can be.

Wish me luck...