I am very proud of myself today
One year ago, today, I jumped on the
and saw the numbers
201...I was
shocked! I had never in my life weighed over 200 pounds. It was right then and there that I
promised myself to do something about it and stick with it for a year. I have done that
Now, this weight didn't
sneak
up on me
And I wasn't in denial about it
...I just didn't
want to do anything about it....just kept hoping it would magically
disappear
I was aware that getting it to go
bye-bye
was going to take effort. I was becoming
LAY-ZMONEY
At some point early in this adventure I decided to cal it my
"journey of better choices."My story is not anything special. I have been here at 3FC for a long time and have seen many of you overcome tremendous obstacles to achieve your weight loss
. I have read your stories of personal demons that have attributed to some of your weight gains. I have
prayed with and for many of you. My story is nothing like that but I want to share it with you because I know there are times when many of us give up too soon. I have been guilty of that
And that is why I am proud of myself today.
For me, and only speaking
for me, any kind of diet was not going to be something I would stick with.....what if I couldn't have
or
...not an option
I thought about calorie counting, and although I think it might be best for me, I was sure I wouldn't follow through with it....it might take too much effort....I'm not that good at math
....it would take too long....again,
LAY-ZMONEY rears it's
ugly head!
However, I did have an
idea. I figured out that I could live on
less After all I have been living on less already. My son and daughter ran off and got married, my step-daughter took off for college and knucklehead nephew went and enlisted in the NAVY
so there were less kids runnin' around the house. Angie had entered pre-menopause so there were other things I was getting less of
HERE IS WHAT I DID THAT WORKED FOR ME ~
BREAKFAST BEFORE JOURNEY ~ Nothing! Some mornings I leave at 3am so no time!
NOW ~I don't care what time I leave, I eat a healthy breakfast. Sometimes oatmeal ~ or cold cereal ~ or whole wheat toast and turkey bacon...I mix it up.
LUNCH BEFORE ~Anything leftover from dinner...pizza
~ sandwiches of ham and cheese ~ bags of potato chips ~ when I was home I had nachos with tons of
~ those wrapped pastry things
~ easy to eat granola bars
NOW ~Almost every single day I have a thermos of low sodium - low calorie
chicken noodle soup, when I get tired of it...not often...I switch it up by making my own chili. I am not sure of the calories in my chili but I really don't care
and I almost always have a nice turkey sandwich, with meat from the deli...without all the nitrates
(thank-you Vegan and Veggie Chicks for that one! 
) on whole wheat bread.
NO CHIPS! or anything wrapped in plastic! And usually a yogurt.
SNACKS BEFORE ~ANYTHING I could grab! Calories were not ever considered! Many times we start at 6am or earlier.... we eat at 10am and that's it for food until I get home from work. I would hit the door starving around 3pm...grab a beer and a
BIG bag of chips.
NOW ~ carrots
~ olives ~ low-cal wheat and rice crackers are mine all mine
DINNER BEFORE ~ To be honest Angie and I have reasonably healthy food for dinner...my issue has always been portion control! Heck, only 1
burger left...
I'LL EAT IT!....half a casserole...
I'LL EAT IT!....half a pizza
...
I'LL EAT IT!
NOW ~ I place a reasonable amount of food on my plate....when I finish that I
ruuuuuuuuunnnnnn from the table! I have figured out that if I start feeling like I am going to
starve to death, I will have enough energy to make it to the fridge!
AFTER DINNER SNACK BEFORE ~Klondike bars ~ chips and dip and chips and dip and chips and dip ~
NOW ~I actually
count out a serving size of wheat or rice crackers.
Now, you all know that I am not perfect and I might...OK...I will cheat from time to time. I have had nachos ~ I have had a big bowl or two of un-buttered
popcorn ~ I have had
I just don't eat an entire pizza anymore ~ I don't go to fast food places except on a very rare occasion, before my
"journey" fast food was, often times, my first choice on the week-end for lunch.
DINNER OUT BEFORE ~No problem getting an extra taco to go with that
cheese enchilada plate or getting a
pizza to go to bring home for the week-end lunches AFTER eating an entire Italian meal with appetizer of bruschetta and maybe sharing a
cannoli with Angie.
DINNER OUT NOW ~NEVER bring a
pizza home! I don't order that extra taco
and Angie and I do
date night now a little different with
FRIDAY NIGHT SPLITS...where we get one meal and split it, sometimes we add a salad or a bowl of soup but we have found that we can eat just fine on one meal!
EXERCISE BEFORE ~
Hit and miss
I have been walking and doing 5K's ever since I quit
smoking 11 years ago. I would however, go for long stretches and be
LAY-ZMONEY
NOW ~ Since I started this
"journey" I have
walked/jogged
984 miles on the treadmill
or dog walks which gives me about
250 hours of exercise!
My dogs are very happy
...and healthy!
I realize I have missed 500
JUDY'S because I wasn't at home sitting in my recliner...but I can live with that..not easy mind you but it is do-able
WEIGH-IN ~I find, for me, that I can stay focused much better by weighing every single day. If I am up a pound or two I feel I have the
power and the
strength to
beat down 1 measley pound at a time!
FOCUS ~I think about EVERY SINGLE MEAL and SNACK ~ If I do something un-healthy, I do it willingly...and I prepare myself to the consequences! If I decide to eat half a pizza
I know I will need to do a few extra
miles...and I DO IT! ....hey...what a slogan..."just do it"...
SUPPORT AT HOME BEFORE ~My family has always supportive of me no matter what I weigh. Through this
"journey" they have encouraged and praised me
My
WIFE has
always set the example in our home for good health. She does this by example with her
cooking ~ her
yoga and her
exercise
Other than an occasional
"Who's your little friend?" when I step out of the shower, she never says a word to me about my weight. She knows that I
know what to do about it or anything else un-healthy that I might be doing to my body.
SUPPORT NOW ~See above...I am a
LUCKY MAN 
another reason I am a very LUCKY GUY ~ 
is because of all of you!
I cannot thank you
ENOUGH for the support you have given me this year
I would
love to
thank-you all personally but it would take up the entire page!!
I thank my Lord and Savior everyday for His
gift to me and His
gift of all of you
So there is my story! As I said nothing special about it but it's
"my journey" and I'm stickin' to it!
Oh and by the weigh I lost 31 pounds on this journey! I weighed in at 170 pounds today! That is quite a bonus....for me, it's not about the weight...it is about the journey!
Ez Keeps It Up All Year!
