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.

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.

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.

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?

Being on the wagon works.

Six Plus pounds. In a week.  Excellent

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...