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.

28 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 18 and 19

Thursday was Bring a Friend day. I did not invite anyone this month but I already have someone interested in next month's boot camp Bring a Friend Day. It was busy there had to have been 50 people. We did workouts themes around Top GUN. It was hokie but entertaining. Lots of relays and changing of stations doing different exercises. I like it because it was on a flat surface.

In general hills don't bother me. But for the last few days my right lower leg calf and shin have been aching. So this was a bit of a relief.

Today's ground had more instructors than campers. I kid you not. It's also the day before Memorial Day Weekend. So I was not surprised. Today we played a modified soccer game. I liked it... I LIKED it a lot. I won't go into details about the game but I will say a little direct competition was good.

I have not been to the gym this week at all. I think I will hit it tomorrow. We are not having boot camp makeup days this weekend and we will not meet this Monday due to the holiday. So next week we have boot camp Tuesday thru Friday. We will also have a makeup day on Monday the 7th for the day we missed due to lightning. With the end of the third week a friend of mine asked me how i felt about the plan. The answer is simple. I signed up for next month's Boot Camp already. I have come a long way and I have a long way to go. I still need to improve my sit ups.

afatboynomore.com

26 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 17

Good Morning Campers

The best laid plans of mice and men. Last night I did everything to prepare for Boot Camp today. I go my clothes ready. I made a yogurt parfait as my post workout meal...something I can eat immediately after I get in the car so I can get some fiber and protein in my diet. And I made my own Iced Cafe Americano. I have an old cheap espresso/ capachino maker and I bought some Cafe Verona beans from Starbucks. I grind my own beans to order.

I woke up at 5AM went to the bathroom, started the coffee and then I made a big mistake... I laid back down. I woke up at 5:30 and rushed to get to the park in time. I had to park an extra block away. UGH And i showed up at 5:55. I was not happy. And I think being late is just purely disrespectful to the program. I am NEVER LATE for anything.

So today we did 21 Gun Salute which is an arm and upper body workout. I was glad we were doing that because we have spent so much time doing legs this last week and a half. We used bands. Again I am becoming a bigger fan of bands than I thought I would be. I should probably us the next level down. I can use the heaviest band but my form is starting to get a little sloppy. And my right shoulder just seems to give out with the heaviest band. PRIDE is a bitch. But a broken (recovered) clavicle, and Thoracic outlet syndrome are very real. I will say my workouts are helping with those problems significantly.

Here is the recipe for my yogurt parfait. Take a cup of low fat or fat free yogurt. Take a whole strawberry and cut it up. If you are using an unflavored yogurt you may want to add some artificial sweetener and a little vanilla extract to give it some flavor. Then add a 1/4 cup of a cereal like Kashi Go Lean CRUNCH. or my personal favorite Post Great Grains "Crunchy Pecan". I am sure i could find cereal with less sugar but it's what I like. Kroger has CARBSMART Yogurt which has very little sugar at all. Calories are less than 320 Calories for LOW Fat and about 250 for NO Fat yogurt. You could use other fruits as well. Just what ever you like. Starbucks has yogurt parfaits if you need a quick option. Calories are in the upper 350-375 range.

For extra protein use Greek Yogurt. YUMMMMMMM

afatboynomore.com

25 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Day 16

It's been a few days since my last blog entry. Sunday was a good and restful day. Monday I had the best workout I've seen so far.

The exercises were all based on using jump ropes. I have a hard time jumping rope. There is a lot of force going on and my timing always seems to get off a little. The funny thing is I actually bought a jump rope a few weeks ago. It's safely unused in the back of my suv.

So the rope swinging part had me off but the jumping and movement I thought went well. Lots of good cardio.

I felt and looked strong. And a number of comments were made to that fact. Monday is my day off. I had a good breakfast with a buddy of mine and then I thought I'd enjoy the rest of my day off.

Until I had lunch and ate some leftover chicken curry. I assume there was some MSG in the curry because I became lethargic and tired.

I slept most of the day away.

This morning was another story. The workout for day 16 was called airborne ranger. It reminded me alot of the workout from day 1. Lots of relays however most of the relays were not on flat surfaces they were on hills. Honestly I think I ran more today than I ever have before. When I woke up this morning I felt tired still and it was everything I could do to wake up and get to the park. And I was later than I usually am but I made it on time.

Yesterday I felt strong today I felt weak. But I made it thru. I just learned I'm not a big fan of hills.


Afatboynomore.com

23 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Day 13.

I slept too late for the optional Saturday workout. And I needed it. My age must be showing. My legs are achey.
I find it hard to "not workout". So I went to the gym and did a lower body and arm workout.

My non bootcamp workouts are Very intense. Much more so than they've ever been before.

As I write this it's Sunday morning and I am having breakfast at the Thumbs Up diner in Decatur. Today I am staying away from the gym. I'm just going to enjoy this beautiful day. Take my dog to the park. Maybe ride my Valkyrie.

Relaxing is hard.

21 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Day 12

Lightning. And there was no boot camp.

At the last minute. 5:50 lightning was seen in the area. I figured they were going to call it off and they did. Right after a car almost hit me while crossing 10th street. I would usually be pissed but the visability was horrible and I'm sure he could not see the red light.

But you know what? The sound of a car skreeeeeeching to a halt and realizing it was inches from your leg when he did stop was enough to get my heart racing.

Thank goodness for german engineered brakes.

So there I was wide awake and wet at 6 AM. What to do? Oh the Majestic Diner sounds nice. Or I could be good and hit LA Fitness.

In lieu of Boot Camp I did my normal upper body workout. Recently I've been doing that for my homework. Saturday in the park there is a make up day for those who miss Boot Camp. Or for those sadists who want it 6 days a week. I'll go to that tomorrow. Just trading my workout days. This week.

A big observation with today's workout. On the good side. I can lift more since I started OBC and I have more energy in my workouts. On the bad side (kinda) there is no pump without the cardio component that I get from Boot Camp.


Have a great day and stay dry.

Afatboynomore.com

20 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 11

Today was the most difficult workout so far...and by far. It was called Altitude Adjustment. AND in the end it was the messiest.

I'm not sure if its because this is the 4th day in a row this week or if its because I was tired... I did not want to get up... or because it was EXTRA WET today but everything about this workout was just hard. They say this is a week 4 workout... yeah I can't see it getting much harder.

Today we ran up and down hills up and down steps relay style... and we ran all over the park. Running non stop for essentially 45 minutes.

The workout ended with encouragement. A set of various push ups then rolling over on the ground into a set of various crunches/sit ups. We did 6 or 7 sets of those.

I thought it was funny because I was thinking how relatively clean we were until encouragement...Thanks for changing that Kevin. Piedmont is aerating and all those little plugs of dirt are everywhere. NASTY MUDDY FILTHY.

In comparison to most of the workouts where I am in the middle of the pack I was hangin' with the back of the crowd today... And to give you a follow up to yesterday's KickBoxing Class... I still feel it.

Body changes... I'm getting tighter. One of the girls I work with saw me yesterday and said "Are you losing more weight" the simple answer is no but I'm trading in the fat. I love my tight tummy.

Afatboynomore.com

19 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Day 10

Kickboxing. You know I love watching Mixed Martial Arts. And you wonder how those guys get in the awesome shape they are in? All was solved today. Kickboxing at Atlanta Kick is offered as an option for one of our homework days. It's not actually a homework day but it was a break fro
the park.

I learned a lot today. And specifically I learned that I am not that flexible. After the ass workout yesterday. My legs and glutes were sore. And today they are even more so.

I think I may take a few more kickboxing classes. I really enjoyed the workout. I'm sure my legs and calves will be screaming later.

Hope all is well.



Afatboynomore.com

18 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 9

MY ASS HURTS.

That's basically what I have to say about today's workout. It was called Guerrilla Glutes or Butt Buster. For some reason they did not think Butt Buster is a good name. It's very accurate however.

We ran and ran and ran. Running is a big part of OBC. And we all know how much I hate running. But that's where all the cardio is coming from.

We used bands today around our ankles and lower thighs to do our workouts. I really wish I had pictures of all that we do... You would be surprised.

This afternoon I did my upper body workout at LA Fitness.

Tomorrow is KICKBOXING day at Atlanta Kick. atlantakick.com.

I am really looking forward to that workout.

Hope all is well.

afatboynomore.com

Brian





17 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Week 2

Well week one is complete. I attempted rollerblading for my "homework" Sunday. The cheap blades I had went in the trash. So instead I walked at Peidmont. It was a beautiful day.

So week two began this morning. Our workouts were leg intense today. I'll do my chest workout this afternoon.

It was wet this morning and humid. My legs are aching and sore. I'll have to take a picture one morning to give you an idea of how messy we get.

Today I also participated in "encouragement". It is a little extra. According to my friend Lee who was an instructor it used to be called Punishment. It was not that big of a deal. It was just 5 minutes of extra work. And you know. I'm glad I did it.

This week is a full week of Boot Camp. Monday Tuesday Thursday and Friday in Peidmont. And Wednesday we will be kickboxing at Atlanta Kick in Buckhead. I'm looking forward to that.

Operationbootcamp.com
Afatboynomore.com

15 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 6

Saturday and Sunday are considered homework days. OBC offers an optional workout on Saturdays so you can use that for homework. I chose to do my normal upper body workout at the gym.

I am very happy about my progress this week. I have a weak right wrist I injured it as a child and it always causes me problems. But today my wrist was stronger than it has in probably 20 years.

Tomorrow I am planing to do something at the park as my homework. Stay tuned for details.


14 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 5

They said its one week down. But in my opinion its not. Sunday will be one week down.

And what a grueling week this has been. I am sore I am in pain. I need to find some more sleep in my day... I could not be happier.

Today's fun filled activities involved a lot of upper body exercises along with some bicep work. Also plenty of running and running and more running. MOST exercises involved animal names. Inch worms, bear crawls, and crab walks. Yeah I think I hate worms and bears and crabs.

When I was a yungin' I hurt my right wrist. I'm not sure what happened but I have a small scar and I have some limited flexibility. I can use it most of the time but my wrist gets tired. And the crab walk definitely takes it's toll on my wrist. I'll survive but I think I will make a point of wrapping that wrist in the future.

I see a little progress in myself everyday. My legs truly hurt but they hurt a little less everyday. I also need to work on core exercises. Exercises that work the muscles in our lower torso, abs and obligues and lower back. I admit I am week in this department. I will add some additional ab work to my day outside of Boot Camp to improve my core and get that 2 pack... and then maybe a 4 and then... I can dream of a 6...na I'm not going there...YET!!!


There is an optional workout Saturday mornings at the late hour of 830. Weekends are homework days. I have not decided if I'll go to Boot Camp Saturday or do my normal upper body routine at the gym. If I go in the morning I will move my upper body routine to Sunday.

The food plan is going well. However, I do not agree with some of the basic ideas that the Instructors are taught. Iceberg lettuce seems to be hated. And you know Iceberg has nutritional value but it also has no calories. Well there are 15 to 20 in a 1/4 wedge. Some things I eat are for filler. So I won't be hungry. I do feel that my knowledge of food and nutritional values makes me much better in tuned that the average camper. I have to remind most people that lettuce in general has little value. Iceberg, Romain, Red Leaf--- Very little value. It's a filler. I eat it to keep from being overly hungry. Green beans are pretty empty as well.

I'll let you know what I decide about Saturday's workout.

Thanks for your support.

Afatboynomore.com

J Brian



13 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp (OBC) Day 4

You know I don't think I will ever get the smell of grass and mud out of my nose.

This morning I woke at 5am I took my motorcycle to the park. That's the bast way to wake up in the morning. Wind in your face. The smell of the engine and oil and gas as I'm riding to Piedmont. Once I was there I had to finish my food log for Wednesday. I think I'm doing well with the eating plan but I was reminded to include a protein with all carbs. Some of my snacks are half a sweet potato. Maybe I'll boil some actual eggs to have with my snacks. I normally use eggbeaters.

Today we did Guts and Guns. That's Boot Camp talk for Abs and Biceps. We spread our workouts thru-out the park. Running from place to place. I bought insoles for my shoes yesterday but forgot to cut them down for this mornings workout. I will be more prepared tomorrow. Crunches, sit ups, leg raises and oblique crunches made up a significant portion of the GUTS workouts. By the time this is over, I may have a two pack at least.

The GUNS portion of the workout involved the use of bands. I have never been a fan of bands, but I am very impressed with the workout they gave me.

I saw a number of other groups today in the park. Some were other OBC groups and others were similar programs.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the end of week one. There is an optional workout saturday at 815. I have not decided whether or not I'm going to go but I am considering it.

Thanks for your Support

Afatboynomore.com

To my facebook friends, There seems to be a problem with the feed from blogger to facebook. So there may be a delay in my notes updates if you are following this on facebook.






12 May 2010

Day 3 of Operation Boot Camp

Today is a homework day... so I slept in a bit and did my homework. Homework in Boot Camp is some physical activity of our choice.

My homework days will be used for lifting. I have a fairly large chest and I love resistance training. So I will continue working out my upper body on those days. You get plenty of lower body work in Boot Camp. My chest and back workout today was intense and lasted about 80 minutes. Not a lot of cardio activity.

I'm following the food plan which is eating 5 to 6 small meals during the day versus a fewer larger meals. If you look back to the beginning of the blog you know I have no problems doing that. I'll post some of my food snacks/meals on my next homework day.

My calves are sore as hell.

11 May 2010

Day 2 of Operation "Fat Boy" I mean Boot Camp

As I sit here and write this I can smell the wet grass on my hands and body; and I feel the aching in my calves and sides starting. And I feel accomplished today and it is only 7:30 AM.

After yesterday's disappointing results I am happy to say that today I got my ass kicked by the instructors and not by my stomach.

This morning was the first day we met in Piedmont Park for Operation Boot Camp. Well for the 7 or 8 virgin campers at least. There are about 40 people in our overall group.

Today's exercise started with a run from the Charles Allen gate to the large hill that overlooks Lake Clara Meer. Once we were there we did some "really gay looking" warm up movements. After you've done the warm ups you have had a workout that most don't do in a normal day.

We proceeded to our stations to do relays... yes you remember relays you did them in Phys Ed, with that masculine looking coach that had a butch haircut and really big legs and you know she played softball, from elementary school. But these exercises were not nearly as easy and no you could not just stand. I am not a runner and yes I hate HATE HATE to run. But that's what I did.

The first set of relays involved running back and forth between cones, then repeat, then the second set involved lunges and pushups, and repeat, the last one involved "mission impossibles" essentially squatting side steps and mountain climber jumping jacks and repeat.

There is no down time. NONE. You get a full 45 min to and hour of work out.

I remember training for Football in high school. I played less than a season due to a shoulder injury. At the time I could not imagine why in the hell anyone would want to work out as we did then. Today I was happy to revisit those feelings especially at the end of the workout the only difference was I was not doing blocking drills with a guy that was twice my size. How fun would Boot Camp be if it was full contact? HMMMMM

I feel great.

Hurah!!!

10 May 2010

Operation Boot Camp Day One

I am about to die. LOL

OK so this is how today should have gone for my first day PT test.

I went to bed at a reasonable time of 1030 after having a nice but light dinner. I slept comfortably and woke up at 4:45 to get to the orientation for boot camp at 5:30. I was active and attentive in orientation. I completed my run without walking...I did 45 push ups in 60 seconds 30 plus sit ups and a large number of dips and felt worn out when I left...

But this is what actually happened.

I went to bed at some time after 1130 after eating a Ponce Picnic (a cheese burger, chili cheese dog and fries) at the Majestic Diner... after having a few two many VO and Ginger ales. I have no idea how many...I woke up at 2 am with glitter in my chest hair-don't ask I have no idea. I was on top of my covers in full clothes I could not go back to sleep... My stomach was having none of that.

At 5 am I got dressed and went to orientation...my stomach hates me by the way. I knew a number of the instructors. So I felt worse about the fact that I was not good last night. It was supposed to be a drink or two before my 30 days of a liquor free life. Yeah that did not happen. So we started out the warm up with a bunch of squats and exercises that seemed overly gay at first... but they kicked my ass. And did I say My stomach hates me...

And then came the run... I hate running. I can't breath thru my nose easily. In Atlanta there is a road called Miami Circle which houses a number of designer showcases. The road itself has a horrible incline. I would not want to walk it much less run it. But I did. One mile. I ran down the hill and back up. One mile in 9min 25 seconds. Not bad for a fat boy that hates to run and really could not run until a few years ago. Oh and did I mention the war my stomach started with me...

Then on to the other tests... there are three. Each is how many X can you do in a minute. Push ups--not usually a problem...Sit ups... HATE them worse than running, and triceps dips. I can normally do a bunch of dips. But the stomach had other plans. I did about 36 push ups. I've done better before. I did 21 sit ups/crunches. And then all hell broke lose with my stomach... No dips for me. I'll have to time myself tomorrow after Boot Camp so I have a decent starting point to compare.

Day one I will grade myself a D. Mostly because I was STUPID and did not do what I know I should have done. I am happy about the running results. Other than that, I did not set myself up to succeed. That is all my fault. Tomorrow I'll give you some information about the log book and the eating plan... Food sounds horrible at the moment. Damn stomach and damn yummy Canadian Whisky.

And by the way the stomach is still waging war.

03 May 2010

Boot Camp is around the corner

Monday May 10th I will start Operation Boot Camp. (link is on the blog).

I am really excited about this addition to my workout regimen. I get easily bored with any cardio program. Running has got to be the most boring thing I can do. Its really good for my "trim ness" as long as I take it easy on my knees but I cannot seem to stay focused when it comes to running.

The campers that are already involved with boot camp seem to love it. The variety is what I look forward to.

I've signed up for morning boot camp. For me this will work best. Personally I try to workout with the smallest amount of food in my stomach. I seem to have better workouts with all the blood flow going to my muscles versus going to my stomach. So the morning workouts will work best for me. The biggest adaptation will be getting up at 5 am.

I am trying to adapt my sleeping habits this week to make it easier for me next week.

Have a great day.

afatboynomore.com