My "When I Lose The Weight" Wardrobe

A quick note before I get into my actual post:  I'm watching a show on the Travel Chanel about the largest portions of food in the world.  They've talked about a restaurant that deep fries everything, including twinkies, mac and cheese, and anything the customers bring in.  The Ben and Jerry's Vermonster, a square pizza that is 54 inches on a side that they need to extend the oven with a special adapter to cook, a seven-pound breakfast burrito, a burger topped with a hot dog, and countless other huge things.  I'm more disgusted than hungry, which is a good sign.  And if you weigh more than 350 pounds, you eat free at the Heart Attack Grill.

Yesterday I got to the last hole on my smaller belt!  It got me thinking what else I could fit into.  Sean at Learn Fitness recently said in a post:



The other day my wife commented that my clothes were looking very “tent like” on my smaller frame so I decided to remedy that. No, I didn’t go on a shopping spree … we can’t afford that with #2 on the way. Instead I pulled out the weight-loss trump card, something almost everyone who’s lost weight more than a few times owns, a tub of old clothes that used to fit them.

I decided to do the same.  I went to the hall closet and pulled out some things that haven't fit in quite a while.  Then I decided to try on a few things that fit last year.  On top of it, I decided to take some pictures for all of you lovely people to see.

The good news is everything buttoned or zipped up (with the exception of one coat with a broken zipper.  I don't even know why I still have it.

First up, we have an old corduroy sport coat I got in 2003.

 

 I'm trying to start a new trend: half-popped lapel.

I've got quite a way to go left with this coat.  I wish I'd taken pictures of me in these clothing items back in November when I started my blog so you could see I've made progress.  I could not get the buttons together on this one before then.  Looks pretty sweet unbuttoned though.

 

I'm sorry, I can't help but make that stupid face whenever my picture is taken.

Next up, we have my old boy scout jacket.  I was probably around 200 pounds when I got this, so I'm surprised I can even get it on.

 

This one is really close.  I think I'll be able to wear this once I move the scale about 10 more pounds (in the downward direction of course).

Next I have a suede blazer I got on sale in 2007.  It was a little small on me when I got it, but I was convinced I would lose enough weight to make it fit.  Instead it sat in my closet for 3 years (and counting).

 

It's a little snug, but I'm pretty close to the weight I was at when I bought this.   This time, I'm going to make this coat fit.

Let me show you a few victories now.  First up is a flannel shirt my dad bought for me as a work shirt in the fall of '08 so I could help him with some outdoor work.  Guess what, it didn't fit.  I was very ashamed.

 

 I'm a lumberjack, and that's okay.

It fits now!  Really well in fact.  There is absolutely nothing snug about this shirt now!

Let's take a look at my broken zipper jacket.

 

This one looks like it's bulging out but it's just kind of an optical illusion.  I wish the zipper still worked, but I broke it in a train station in Antwerp.  I proposed to Claire in this coat, and my love handles were definitely exposed then.  But look, the sides are now straight!

Last, we'll look at my favorite coat when I lived in South Dakota.

 

Now it's my favorite tent!  I liked it because it fit me so nicely before.  Now I'm going to put it up in the front yard with a couple poles and stakes and roast low-cal s'mores by the fire.  Just kidding (there's no such thing as a low-cal s'more).

Anyway, I know some of these things might not be the most fashionable articles of clothing, but they're what I have.  It's nice to actually see that I'm losing girth as well as pounds.  

What do you have that might fit again?  Dig around in your bucket of clothes that used to fit and try stuff on.  Post pictures of something that fits again, something that almost fits again, or something that is now much too large for you on your blog.  Or you can post a link to your picture on the comments section with a brief description and I'll include it in a future post.  I'll make sure to include every picture that you post or email me in the post.

Now go and find something that's been hiding in your closet.

 

Blog of the Week

Each week I give a little link love to one of the blogs I read.  The blog can be a newcomer like Tom over at I Hate Green Apples or someone who has lost a bunch of weight like Jack Sh*t. 

I started by following this week's winner on Twitter.  His blog is infused with his sense of humor when it's so easy to let yourself become incredibly dull when focusing on losing weight.

The winner of this week's Blog of the Week is Ryan at No More Bacon. 

Lately he's been including videos of dance moves to describe the emotion behind each weigh-in, complete with a youtube clip of said dance move.  Unfortunately, we don't get to see Ryan bust a move himself, but maybe if enough people request it, he will.

What weight loss or fitness blog would you like to see win the coveted Blog of the Week title?

Turning Back the Clock

It occurred to me recently that I'm as heavy as I was my fourth year of college.  I started college at 235 pounds and grew to 312 pounds before I graduated.  Given, I lost a few pounds and departed at a trim 298 pounds.  On the whole, I grew nearly 80 pounds in six (gasp) years.  Yes I spent six years pursuing my bachelor's degree, but that's a whole other story. 

It feels really good to turn back the clock on my weight.  I like that the number of years since I last weighed what I currently weigh is growing.  It's been four years since I last weighed what I weigh now.  I'd like to be able to say 5 years by April, which means I want to hit 260 by then.  I don't know if it will be attainable, but I'm going to try.

Yesterday I was definitely in a funk.  Re-losing weight is nowhere near as exciting as losing it the first time; it's something that needs to be done so I can get back to taking it off the first time.  I'm a little worried about how good I'm going to be at maintaining once I get to my goal weight because of it.  That's still 79 pounds away and I shouldn't be too concerned yet.  My journey is about building good habits as well as losing weight.

A Crummy Day

I felt worn down all day today.  I've been tired and sore since this morning.  I didn't have any hot water for my shower this morning which I was not very happy about.  The day didn't get much better after that.  The fact is I just had kind of a crummy day. 

I did 43 push-ups in a row at the gym tonight.  I'm excited about that.  I've got two weeks left on my 100 push-ups challenge.  After I make 100, I'm going to try to find a balanced strength training program so I can build muscle and, hopefully, burn fat faster.

Sorry for the lackluster post.  I'll post something considerably more upbeat soon.  Until then, I'm going to keep in mind that I've come a long way on my journey.

What do you do to lift your spirits when you've had a bad day?

Weigh-In Results

It's Monday night and I've been trying really hard to drop the weight I gained when I lost my grandma.  I can't say this week has been easy.  I nearly broke down the other day because I was feeling tremendously overwhelmed by my journey.  There's a voice in my head that keeps saying "You'll never lose the weight.  Don't even try."  It's a hard voice to ignore.  On the other hand, every pound I lose makes it a little easier to keep soldiering on.

I was hoping for a huge loss this week.  I wanted to lose all the weight I gained during two weeks of grieving and then some. 

 

No such luck.  I mean, a 2.9 pound loss is a good loss.  I just wanted to undo my bump in the road completely and then some.  

It's good.  If I keep going at this rate, I'll hit 196 before I know it.  I'd be lucky to lose 2.9 pounds every week.

I started strong this week.  I almost got on an elevator without even thinking of it this morning, but as the door was opening, I remembered my pledge not to take the elevator this week.  I also put everything I ate today into The Daily Plate.  Everything.  I even came in 177 calories below my target!  I'm going to do it every day this week.  Eventually, it will become a three-week challenge, but I'm going to try for one week first.  Some people post everything they eat on their blog.  I'm not trying to hide anything from you, but that's really not my thing.  If you want to see what I'm eating, create a free profile on The Daily Plate and add me as a friend on the site.  Here's a link to my profile.

What I will post is a screen shot of my end totals for the day.

I'm under on total calories, cholesterol (way under), and carbs.  I'm over on fat (a lot of which I dabbed off the top of the pizza I made for dinner so I'm not too worried about it), sodium, sugars, fiber, and protein.  The protein is fine and so is the fiber.  I ate a lot of natural sugars today in things like milk and fruit, but I still need to control it somehow.  Sodium is the big one though.

It's past my bed time, which brings me to my final point.  Next week, my mini-goal is going to be to get at least 8 hours of sleep every single night for an entire week.  I think a lot of sleep will go a long way to making me healthier and happier.

One pound left to go before I'm back where I started at the beginning of February.  I can do that in a week.

Thanks for Another Great Workout Pledge

Today is the last day of my first week "back on the horse" and I'm not sure how well I did.  I've been getting better at using The Daily Plate and today marks the last day of my 3-week 8-glasses-of-water-a-day challenge.  Somehow, I did it.  I ate pretty well this week with the exception of this weekend.  Friday night we went out for beers (I had 2) and Saturday I made dinner for my Mom for her birthday.  We had lemon chicken with capers, mashed potatoes, roast asparagus, and chocolate cake with ice cream.  Yes, we went overboard.  I figured it was a special occasion.  The problem is, how many special occasions are there?  I think I'll cut the butter out of the recipe the next time I make it.  Given, there's only 2 tablespoons in there, but I can do without it.  I could have also replaced the mashed potatoes with wheat pasta or something.  The asparagus was good, but we could have done without the chocolate cake entirely.

The highlight of my week fitness-wise was my workout pledge.  I rounded up to 50 minutes on the elliptical.  I was quite stinky when I got off the machine.  Thank you everyone who commented and donated and subscribed and linked.  I got a great workout!

There's still time to donate to the Special Olympics for my Polar Bear Swim.  Donate here!

Early on, before I really lost any weight, I said I was going to spend one week pushing hard.  Gym every single day, watch what I eat as closely as I can, etc.  Next week will be that week.  As of the last weigh-in, I need to lose exactly two pounds every week for the remainder of my year in order to make weight.  I'm going to try to make March another month like January so I can get out ahead of my goals again.  My weight loss is sure to slow down as I approach my goal.  I'm guessing the last couple months will be hard and I want wiggle room.  Let's see if I can't help my future self out a little bit.

After I posted about the little things that I'm doing to self sabotage, most of the comments I got were people realizing they did the same things or adding their own little things.  A friend of mine made a comment that cut a little deeper.

Mr. Scott said...

It's good to recognize the things you're doing wrong, but it isn't worth much unless you do something about it. This post is long on excuses but short on solutions. You've been posting for weeks about how you're going to start planning meals in advanced. When is that going to happen? Why hasn't it happened yet? What are you waiting for?

He's absolutely right.  What good is it to point out the things I'm doing wrong if I'm not going to change them?  What am I waiting for?  Awareness is a good start but I didn't start writing this blog just to become aware of the things that are making (and keeping) me fat.  I started this blog to change myself. 

For one week, I will not use an elevator.  There is one student I work with one-on-one that I will need to make an exception for, but either than that, no elevator. 

What little thing will you change this week to make yourself healthier?

Work Out Pledge Results and Blog of the Week

So the results are in.  I will be exercising 49 minutes and 45 seconds.  A good portion of my workout today was sponsored by my parents who donated $100 to the Special Olympics for my Polar Bear Plunge at 11:15 this morning in remembrance of my grandma, Helen Erickson.  My mom said it best when she said "Grandma would be proud and nervous".

I realized that I completely failed to do Blog of the Week yesterday.  I'll do it today instead.  I've been following a lot more blogs lately thanks to Andrew at Andrew is Getting Fit.  But this week's blog of the week is one I've been following since the beginning.  This week's Blog of the Week goes to I Hate Green Apples.  Tom was one of the first people to approach me about my blog.  He was definitely the first person I hadn't met before who approached me about it.  He's offered me encouragement for the last couple months and I've tried to do the same.  Go over and check him out.

Well, it's about time for me to get to the gym.  I'll be tweeting the whole time (@100_Pounds) on my phone.  Please tweet back.  I've never been on the elliptical for this long before and will no doubt need plenty of encouragement.