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.

01 October 2012

OctoberFast 2012

Cleansing Program (AKA OctoberFast 2012) Instructions This is a 30 day diet plan designed to help you adjust your weight in a short time. This is not a long term diet plan. Your goal is 1500 Calories per day. You have a 10 percent variance in either direction before you should be concerned. MAX 1650 and min 1350. Do not push 1600 everyday. Do not try to cut down to 1400 everyday either. You are aiming for 1500 calories. Requirements No Bread/ Tortillas No White potatoes No fried foods No candy, sweets, cookies No ground beef No full fat cheese No Sugar What you can eat! Veggies (Carrots, Broccoli, Green Beans, Squash, Tomatoes, Onions, whatever you like) Lean meat (bison, pork, chicken, beef tenderloin, venison, turkey) Fruits (the more fiber the better) Sweet Potatoes Grits (Polenta for you fancy folks) Oatmeal Skim Milk Eggs (Limited) Egg Beaters Lettuce, Cabbage Salsa Guacamole Butter Spray Low Fat Yogurt Meal Replacement Shakes (Optifast, Slimfast etc) Sample Daily Menu Breakfast (240 Calories) Breakfast Bowl (170 Calories) Instant Grits (One Packet prepared and flavored with Butter Spray) 100 Calories Chopped Bell pepper (1/8 cup ) 10 Calories 4 oz Egg substitute (equivalent 2 eggs) 60 Calories Prepared grits then add pepper and eggs, microwave for 2 minutes, mix together. Or a Meal Replacement Shake ½ Cup Activia Yogurt Light (70 calories) Very filling Lunch (495 Calories) 7 oz Grilled Chicken Breast 280 calories 1 oz BBQ sauce 40 calories 1 oz Guacamoles 25 Calories ½ Cup Carrots Cooked 40 Calories ½ Cup Green Beans 40 Calories Three Slices Tomatoes with ¼ cup fat free cottage cheese 65 Calories Dinner (715 Calories) 8 oz Beef Tenderloin (500 calories) 1 medium to large baked sweet potato (170 Calories) use butter spray and cinnamon and splenda ½ cup Broccoli cooked tender add Butter Spray (45 Calories) Total calories 1450 The most important thing to keep in mind is to find some low calorie but filling foods to eat with every meal. Sweet Potatoes are very filling and have about 170 calories. If you have trouble eating breakfast Use Slim Fast TYPE Ready to Drink Shakes. Wal- Mart, Target and Kroger have their own versions. I actually prefer the store brands. You should try to have two or three types of veggies with a small amount of protein in each meal. A chicken breast with Broccoli, green beans and cooked carrots. Very filling. Look for more sample menus to come in the near future. How can you tell how much calories are in specific items? NutritionData.com is a great website.afatboynomore.com

OctoberFast 2012 Starts today

In January I posted that I would weigh 200 pounds by the end of March of this year. Well the sounds of crickets in the post should let you know how unsuccessful that was. Business has been great. A number of personal items are in place and I am on the precipice of some really good results from seeds I have been planting for years. Life Balance has to be under control. Weight and Health always seem to lose out to dining out and drinking. Understand that I walk a minimum of 3.5 miles everyday and hit the gym at least 6 days a week. But we all know... "it's the food, stupid" afatboynomore.com