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 February 2010

A little disturbing data

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

afatboynomore.com

Day 8 Complete

I have to say I am in love with my latest breakfast creation.

Yukon Baked Omelet (in the microwave) 200- 250 Calories
2-3 ounces of raw or smoked salmon
1/4 cup of chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped spinach (thawed if frozen)
3 egg beaters
1 teaspoon fat free cream cheese

Take a small glass microwave safe bowl coat it with cooking spray
add the first 4 ingredients to the dish making sure to chop or flake the salmon
using a spoon mix the ingredients well
breakup the cream cheese and mix it in

Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes
let sit for 30 seconds and microwave for another 1-2 minutes.

After the glass has cooled a minute or so take a plate and place it over the bowl so you can flip the contents from the bowl to the plate. Garnish with fresh herbs or parsley or nothing at all.

Enjoy.

afatboynomore.com




23 February 2010

Week one down...

six and a half to go. I have been working on a few new breakfast and salad dressing recipes. I'll be sharing them and I plan to release a few videos in the next few weeks.

Lots of good stuff coming soon.

afatboynomore.com

Comments welcome and appreciated.

Day 5 and 6

Sunday I made a chicken stir fry with brown rice. It was very good and it was only about 500 calories. It was a great day and I had an awesome workout. Beautiful day in Decatur.

Monday I had an awesome egg beaters omelet with tomatoes and salmon. I had BBQ Salmon lunch and roasted chicken for dinner.

Tomorrow I'm having a spinach and salmon omelet for breakfast. I'll let you know how that goes.

By the way. There will be no online weight tracking until the end of LentFast April 2, 201o.


20 February 2010

Day 4 LentFast

Day Three was good. No gym workout.

It seems to be getting easier to eat as I expand the menu a little. Chicken is boring. But I am using as many different seasoning to make it better...or different. Yesterday I had a some grits and egg beaters for breakfast, for lunch I had chicken breast for lunch with a sweet potato and a asparagus and some slices of tomatoes. For dinner I had sauteed chicken strips with asian seasoning (0 cal) with stir fried veggies and 1/2 cup of rice. Calories are less than 1500.

I went to out last night and had soda water... tasty.

The weight is coming off nicely. I'm happy.

19 February 2010

Day Three of Lent Fast

Day Two was a success again. Sweet Potato for breakfast. Moe's streaker with chicken for lunch. And roasted chicken with green beans for dinner. About 1500 calories.

Great chest workout

18 February 2010

Day two of LentFast 2010

Day 1 was successful. The cleanse is on.

For breakfast I ate a sweet potato, at lunch I ate a piece of North Atlantic Cod broiled on a cedar plank with tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar, roasted asparagus and a sweet potato. For dinner I ate a half roasted chicken with green beans. The cod did not have enough flavor so we will have to look at ways of adding some flavor, but its really low in calories about 30 calories per ounce.

I drank a bunch of water. Total calories 1490.

46 days to go.

16 February 2010

40 days and no what? Carnival it is...

Today is Mardi Gras or Carnival (which means farewell to meat). Today is the last day before the season of Lent. Lent is the 40 days not including Sundays leading up to Good Friday. In many Christian faiths especially those that were in existence prior to the 1500s observe this season. I do not consider myself an overly religious person but the idea of Lent appeals to me. Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock.

Lent originated in the very earliest days of the church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.

Many people fast during Lent. There are many types of fasting. If you look back at OctoberFast. I essentially limited myself and it cleansed my body and helped take some significant weight off.

I have observed Lent for the last 16 years. Usually I give up one or two food items or categories. Usually it's Beef and Potatoes. But I don't eat that much beef in the first place so that is really not something to "give up" So how can I take the ideas of Lent... a time of reflection and taking stock in my health and weight and adapt it for my benefit.

This year I am taking Lent much deeper than I have before. Here are my rules for Lent Fast.

Abstaining from red meat, milk, butter, and cheese (fat free cheese is allowed).

Abstaining from bread (flour), white potatoes, and sugar

Abstaining from liquor, beer, and wine (except once a week)

So practically what does this mean?

It means I can eat veggies (except white potatoes), fish and other seafood, chicken, eggs. I can have beer but I'm limiting that to one day per week. No batter fried foods.

This is a very clean diet. I plan for it to help with my ultimate goal of 210.

In Lent you are only fasting 6 days a week. (you don't count Sundays) But for my LentFast I am fasting from the most unhealthy foods. My "Sunday" is not a specific day of the week. It's the one day per week I can have whatever I want. SHHH St Paddy's day is March 17th. I will be having a few Guinness that day.

I'll enjoy Carnival today and tomorrow I'm starting my LentFast.

Follow me for daily updates.




A little warning...

Yesterday a young friend of mine did something I think was incredibly silly. He decided he wanted to get in shape so he ran for 4 miles (I actually doubt he did that) and he took a bunch of diet pills. Diet pills are a horrible idea for weight loss. Avoid them and any type of wonder DRUG for appetite control.

He ended up in the hospital. He is alive and well but he could have caused major damage to his liver and heart. Please do not do silly things like this. The best energy drink is COFFEE. I drink Iced Cafe Americano when I work out. I use a no calorie sweetener. No milk or cream.




13 February 2010

Healthy Weight Loss requires a good mechanic.

I was chatting with someone today about weight control and weight loss. He has a bad back and so the gym is not a good options for him to lose weight. In the same sentence he mentioned that he wanted to have lap band surgery. I thought save your money/insurance for back surgery or a good chiropractor.


I have been and always will be a HUGE opponent of surgery to correct weight problems. I'm not talking about liposuction, which is about vanity. I'm talking about gastric bypass and lap band.

Both options are a bit too much for most people. If you are 5'6 and weight 400. Then go for it. But most of us just eat too much and we live sedentary lives. We are lazy. And by lazy we have taken the easy way out. AND lap band/bypass is just continuing that laziness. You MUST understand what makes you fat. You MUST make changes and you MUST expand your knowledge.

A very dear friend of mine had gastric bypass years ago and he lost a lot of weight. He looked great for years but his eating habits were those of a 4 year old. He's as big as he was before. Ice cream for every meal will do that.

The most valuable part of my weight loss was the knowledge that I gained from Emory University Bariatric.

A good mechanic finds out the problem with your car, addresses and fixes that problem, looks for others and fixes those as well. A bad mechanic changes out your engine when all you needed was a tune up.

Most of us, and that includes you...just need a tune up.

11 February 2010

Do you know what I like least about winter?

Heavy comfort food and cold weather that keeps you inside.  Its a battle.  And it is a much bigger challenge this year with a colder than normal winter.  BOO HISS Cold weather go away.

Living in Decatur, which is 4 miles from Atlanta I am not used to this cold.  Hell I didn't even have a jacket (except for riding) until last week.  The gym is your friend in times like this.  Lifting and cardio all in one.  On that note.   I'm off to the gym.