Thursday, April 30, 2009

Weight Watchers Results - Week, well, I have no idea at this point

Ok - quick update tonight!

I lost 2.5 more pounds at my WW weigh-in tonight.
Sarah weighed in too and registered a two pound loss.

Our totals:
Matthew lost to date: 25 pounds
Sarah lost to date: 17 pounds

Sarah has totally lost more inches than me at this point. Her "new" clothes are practically falling off of her. She did find out that she is not eating enough for the amount of working out that she's doing. She plans on upping her intake starting Monday. We should really start to see her numbers soar when she starts.

Anyone interested in seeing a progress pic of us? Probably not.

My mom has offered (read: demanded) to keep Celie since she's not feeling well tomorrow and Sarah and I are going to Destin together!! She has a hair appointment, me too - LOL. Her mom is meeting us afterwards and is following us back for a short two-day getaway.

We should have a great weekend. Let's hope my forecast stays accurate!

Talk to you all next week!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Commit

We had our first day with our trainer yesterday. I was sweating like a stuck hog when it was all over. That lady worked me like it was her job – which I suppose it was. Anyway, it was a great workout. Not only am I scared to death of this woman, but I also respect her very much. She is an absolute authority on all things fitness. She’s all about circuits and confusion and heart rates (which I didn’t even know existed) and reps and blah, blah, blah. She totally commands respect in the gym and is always overly bubbly and enthusiastic (two traits that I love/hate).

I really need to say to you all. Weight loss is possible – for anyone. I am a prime example. I am nowhere near my goal weight or size, but the difference I feel in my body is amazing. I promise, if you want it, you can have it. You simply have to come to the place in your mind where you fully commit. We finally reached that place together. I have been heavy for my entire adult life. I always used the excuse, “but I love food so much.” People, that’s not an excuse – that’s complete denial that you are where you are. I have been in denial about my weight for years. The fact that I have great taste in clothes only helped me cover it up. I just bought bigger, but still looked nice on the outside.

It all finally clicked with me one night watching The Biggest Loser. One of the contestants was sent home and the look on his daughters face when he got home was unbelievable. She was so innocent. So pure. So happy to see her daddy. You know, our children didn’t ask for us to be fat and unhealthy. They want us to play with them. They want us to carry them on our shoulders. They want us around for a really, really long time. That’s where I made my connection – with Celie. My laziness wasn’t fair to her, so something had to change.

I promise you – you can change your body. You can make a difference in your health. Is it easy? NO! Without question it’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do – especially if you’re comfortable. You have to do it! You can be the change! Your first two weeks are going to be a nightmare. You’re going to hate yourself. You’re going to want to go to McDonalds – BUT DON’T DO IT. Keep that image in your mind. I keep this vision of Celie in mine all the time. We were at the beach the other weekend and she was just walking around, playing with everything. I thought, “in a couple years, she’s going to want me to build sandcastles with her. And she’s going to want me to swim with her. And she’s going to want to go to a water park and I have to be able to give her that.”

YOU CAN DO IT.

I want to give you some tips that have helped me.

1) Plan, plan, plan – when you finally decide to get healthy, clean out your pantry and refrigerator. Then go to the grocery store. Buy healthy snacks. Buy breakfast items (YOU MUST EAT BREAKFAST). Buy veggies, good oils and whole grains. Make a meal schedule and just plan accordingly. It is so hard to do, but once the routine is down, it’s smooth sailing.

2) Exercise – start simply with walking. Start walking for 20 minutes per day. Don’t run. Don’t lift weights, just start walking. As 20 minutes becomes easy, start tracking it by distance. Start with a mile. Then a mile and a half. Then power walk. By this point, you’ll want to add more into your regime. Then start doing some weight training. You don’t have to join a gym. Use your own body. Use things around the house. New parents – this is going to be hard for you, but I promise – YOU CAN DO IT!!!

3) Water, water, water – you have to drink water. Go ahead and make the decision to stop with the sweet tea, soda, juice and sugary powder drinks. Try to get in eight servings of water. It makes all the difference.

4) Mini-meals – you have to eat to burn. Breakfast, then snack, lunch, then snack, dinner. Nice, small, mini meals.

I’m really serious when I say it IS possible. I’m finally under 240. I haven’t seen under 240 in YEARS. I haven’t seen my 4th belt loop in a longer time than that. I promise, these little accomplishments are nothing but straight motivation. Keep that image in your mind of your child, spouse or other family member you care so much about. You want to be around for them. You owe it to them.

Are there days I don’t want to do it? Yes. Are there days that I just want fast food? Yes. Are there days that I just want to stop? Yes. But you HAVE to push. You HAVE TO. It’s not fair to my family that I am fat. My parents deserve more than me being fat. Sarah deserves more. I need to be a husband that she can be proud of. My daughter deserves more.

YOU CAN DO IT.

I will help you. Sarah will help you. We’ll share our secrets, our recipes, our workouts, whatever it takes. We will help and encourage you. We’ll be your accountability partners if you want. We’re by no means role models, but we’re committed and we will help.

If you want our help, just leave a comment with your email address and we’ll contact you and help you. We’re not experts, but we do know what has worked, and plus, we are using a trainer now.

ALSO – there are two top secret things to eat to melt the fat away while eating healthy and exercising. I’m only sharing those with commenters who request it.

Remember – YOU CAN DO IT. Commit. Make the decision in you mind that nothing is going to stop you. NOTHING. No one, no thing, no insecurity, nothing!

We’ll help – just reach out!!!!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Random Update

Doesn’t it seem like everyone has a blog these days? Well in case you didn’t know – they do. Some are really good. Some are not. Actually, there are some that I go to on a regular basis simply because they annoy me so much. I’m so weird – I know. I don’t know why I do it. There’s one blog that Sarah goes to a lot and it DRIVES ME UP THE WALL. So, I go to it regularly. Everything about this blog annoys me: the blogger’s writing style, how the blogger thinks they are so funny and they’re really not (much like this one), the fact that their posts are completely pointless (much like this one). I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Am I the only one this happens to? The RDAS? (repetition due to annoyance syndrome.)

I really don’t have much to say today – I just wanted to update the blog with something since no one wanted to comment on the picture of my gorgeous daughter (except Alyson and Char) in the previous post. Listen people, I know you’re coming to the blog – I track you all, so just leave a comment or two. Help a brotha out!!! I’ve always wanted to do a blog where I ask “who are you?” I see a lot of returning visitors and I’d like to know who you are – but don’t worry, I’m not going to do it as most of you wouldn’t respond anyway.

Ooooh! Let’s talk weight loss shall we? Yes, we’re still losing. I think I lost two pounds at this last weigh-in. I think I’ve passed the 25 pound mark. It may be more though, my clothes are definitely fitting differently, oh, and so are my shoes! Now, let me say – I didn’t get on this weight loss bandwagon to have to buy all new shoes too! I was perfectly fine just replenishing pants, but SHOES TOO!?!?!? My shoes are expensive – I don’t want to have to buy more, although I should. Some of them are a little tired. I say my shoes are expensive because I have several pair for work/church and have you priced men’s dress shoes lately??? Not to mention cheap shoes are a huge pet peeve of mine. I’m a firm believer in “you get what you pay for” when it comes to shoes. Don’t complain to me about your heels hurting when you bought your dress shoes from ___________ (you can fill in the blank.) Anyway, I say I may have lost more because I’ve moved to the fourth belt loop!!! This is monumental. I’ve NEVER been in the fourth belt loop. Actually, my belt is difficult to get passed the second loop because I forced myself to keep it there when it shouldn’t have for so long that it has created this weird leather mountain where in order to get the mountain through the metal thing, I have to literally yank the other end of the belt. Nonetheless – it’s a good day – even with all the belt mountain stress.

Oh! My pants are totally high-waters today. I’m sorta embarrassed. Sorta not. These pants are so annoying. Every time they get dried, I feel like I lose an inch. I think Sarah keeps drying them because I end up looking like a loon in my high-waters. I refuse to buy pants right now anyway so I’ll just have to do the ‘ol, “get the pants out of the washer and stretch them out” trick. Don’t act like you don’t know that trick.

I suppose I could talk about Celie and how wonderful and funny and gorgeous and lively she is, but Sarah does such a good job at that – there’s no need to duplicate efforts. I like to leave the “Celie-mania” to her here. We didn’t really do anything blog-worthy this weekend: I had to speak at a Relay for Life event because my company was the title sponsor – I guess that’s blog-worthy? We went to Target and Publix on Saturday. Church on Sunday where we like to put the fear of God in the congregation by not having the A/C on like it should be in Florida on a cloudless day in APRIL. I tell you, I sweat like a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs in that place. We just purchased a $20,000 A/C unit that doesn’t work. Fun. I almost think we’re using it as a tool for sinners…..”If you think it’s hot in here, well get ready if you end up in hell.” But I don’t think we do – on purpose anyway. I mean, I am singing, leading, directing on Sundays – I NEED TO BE COOL. I don’t want to have to start wearing that spandex, moisture-wick stuff on stage, but don’t force me. I feel like that’s the next step. I already look ultra-casual at church with my light-weight khakis and polo’s, but it’s simply because I get so hot. If you look at me during any point of the worship service you would think I was preaching and there was a choir behind me waving their hankies while an organ revs up during my “big points.” I’m just here to sing and direct a choir – not preach. So, let’s get the A/C fixed, k?

I could have eaten an entire cake yesterday, FYI. I wanted/needed something sweet. BADLY. Sarah made a Weight Watcher cake by using a cake mix and diet Sprite. Cake tasted fine. No icing. I can’t eat cake without icing. It’s like eating collard greens without cornbread – it’s sacrilegious. Ooooh, collard greens. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I remember those.

So, here we are. A ridiculously long, pointless, meaningless post. I’m leaving it up to the readers. Tell me what you want to hear. Do you want work stories? Life stories? Weight loss progress? A topic of the day? Is there something you’re wondering that I could answer? Funny stories only? Church/Worship Leader stories? Serious stories?

I don’t know – you tell me. If no one comments, I’ll take that cue too.

I’ll try to post later this week – triple-promise!

Later peeps!