At the Club. Sam's Club.

Day 2 of the Advocare 24 Day Challenge is in the books.   I've made solid decisions and I've followed the plan to a tee.  Fruit, Protein, Carb.   Spark.  Catalyst energy.  Lots of water.  Stay active.  All these things that make sense, and this program just makes sense.  It's not hard to do.

And that fiber pack.  Whoa, that fiber pack.   As I eat breakfast, I put this powder into water and chug down 8 ounces.  It's not the best flavor, but it fills me like water in a sponge.  Funny how I can have 3 snickers bars, a pack of skittles and a few hostess cakes - eat over 1500 calories - and still be left hungry, or I can take 15 calories of fiber with an apple (more fiber) and a good lean protein and be all set for a while.

I always worried about dieting because of that whole "I'll be hungry all the time" thing.  This is NOT happening.  I can completely see this becoming a lifestyle.

Oh, and I want to share something that I figured out on accident this weekend.   So, my wife and I went to Sams Club and there's this booth where you can pick out a lean meat (grilled chicken, salmon, whitefish, jumbo shrimp), add broccoli and asparagus, and they put it in a bag.  You literally take this bag, stick it in the microwave for 12 minutes and you have a meal.  We tried it a few nights ago, and let me tell you - this 12 minute salmon in the microwave was just as good as any salmon I've ever cooked on a grill.  It was fantastic.

I was only thinking dinners when I got this, but I brought one for lunch today.  So, instead of a quick lunch or running out to Subway to get a meal, I'm having whitefish and veggies for lunch today.  And the bag you're looking at is $9.67, but that was enough to feed two people.  When I cook it, I'm treating my boss to lunch today so I don't overeat.  In other words - you're getting a piece of whitefish (good sized, not dinky at all) or salmon or about 8 jumbo shrimp, and veggies for under $5 a person.  

I challenge you to find THAT at a fast food joint.

Day One, or One Day? Make Your Move.

Wanted to update you guys on my first day of Advocare's 24 Day Challenge and how it went.

First off - the Catalyst is like spinach to Popeye.  I was in the gym at 4:45am yesterday (which is *NOT* normal for this big boy), and I took the Spark/Catalyst to start my day.  I will tell you - I felt like a gerbil on a wheel the way I was on the elliptical.   I couldn't run fast enough without tripping over myself.  And I had a great little circuit as well, I had enough energy for 20 men, and I never really experienced the jitters.

I followed the plan to a tee - I have been counting my calories for a while so I kept faithful to that, and because I know that I made a HUGE commitment (let's face it - this is a lot of money if you're not going to make the commitment), I swore that I would be flawless on my eating.

Last night was our AWANAs party at church - that means we were serving all the ice cream sundaes, pizza and snack cakes that you could reach for.  I was up to my ears in some of my favorite vices.

I didn't take ONE bite.  Not even a sniff.  I literally walked away from someone who had an open box of Domino's Pepperoni Pizza looking at me.  And I love what is in that box more than Garfield loves lasagna.

So, onto Day Two.  I've already been to the grocery store and got my carb (oatmeal), protein (sausage patties) and fruit (apple and mango).  I'm prepared, and in 23 days, to celebrate my 40th birthday, I am going to give myself a success story and a before/after picture for the ages.

Never Too Late

An old student of mine posted this today.

On a day where I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do when my Advocare 24 Day Challenge stuff comes in the mail tomorrow, I watch this.

I was talking to Melissa this morning on the drive to work this morning, and I told her a lot of what was on my mind lately. With turning 40 being only 24 days from today, I've been doing a lot of thinking of the future, and how important this checkpoint/landmark in my life is.

I don't care that I'm turning 40. I'm not one of those guys who worry about the number. But this time around - I am starting to look at all those 'future' decades. When I was 20, who did I expect to be when I was 40? When I was 30, who did I expect to be when I was 40? Now that I'm turning 40, who do I expect to be when I'm 50?

The reality is, there aren't a lot of 400 pound fifty year olds. And a bigger reality is that there are even LESS 400 pound sixty year olds. And can you even THINK of a 400 pound 70 year old? Because I can't.

I refuse to believe that I am in the last decade of my life. As I told Melissa this morning, I have to make it to at LEAST 55. Olivia is just starting Kindergarten this August, which means I have to make it at least 12 more years to see her graduate. That puts me at 52. And I have to walk her down the aisle - so I need to give her another four to ten years to find the man who is worthy of her. That's 62.

I don't know any 400 pound sixty-two year olds.

But then I look at the scale and think about how hard it is to lose weight. I was told when I was younger to "hurry up and lose it now, because once you get older, it'll be harder to do". I thought I had plenty of time before that "older" kicked in. So, the self pity and doubt have creeped in.

And then, not an hour after these thoughts have been sitting on my mind, someone posts this video. This dude was over 500 pounds (although, let's face it - I'm taller and it's only 40 more pounds than where I was on January 1st). He changes his life, and he did it in a hurry.

So here we go. I've said it a hundred times before this - and if I have to say it a hundred times after this, I'm not going to stop fighting to make myself the healthy example for my kids that they deserve.

My "24 Day Challenge" will start in 2 days, but I've already got my mind wrapped around it again. I did perfect with my eating yesterday, and this morning, instead of a coffee and donuts, I loaded up my shiny new Advocare Blender Bottle (you need one of these things, they are so cool) with a Fruit Punch Spark and I've finished it off. I've got my meal replacement shake ready to go for later, and my oatmeal locked and loaded and ready for lunch. Salmon, broccoli and asparagus in the fridge waiting for dinner.

Soon, I will be making my OWN version of this video. Any volunteers on helping with the film editing? Anybody want to try this 24 Day Challenge with me? Either way, I'm not going to hit 40 without a fight.

Putting On The Mask

Ok, so I've got 25 days until my 40th birthday and I have not been doing what I have been wanting to do in regards to my health for the past few weeks. I've been coasting - at best - and not making decisions that benefit my family the most.

I've been going back and forth on something for the past few months and finally, this week, I took the leap of faith. It was a financial investment, something that I had to pray about for a long time, and at the end of the day, I believe that I'm made a good decision that will benefit me both in my health, and in result, financially.

This week, i become an official Advocare Distrubutor. You'll hear more about it as this becomes a theme for this weight loss blog. I've put my money where my mouth is, and I'm going to be my own best advertising tool.

I ordered the 24 day challenge today, and it should be here by the 8th. If this is something you want to do with me, please consider taking a look at this link.

https://www.advocare.com/17033244/Promotions/24DC/default.aspx

If you know me, this is a big leap. I've never been a fan of products that give you big promises. I've always been a "calories in, calories out" guy. But I've talking to folks for quite a while about this - doing my research, praying hard and often about this. I honestly feel like this is what God's telling me to do.

Put my money where my mouth is, become your own best success story, and live a long, healthy life to support my family.

I've been told by so many people these past few years that I am not going to be able to help others if I can't help myself. I have a hard time with that - if there's money in the account, I want to take care of the kids. I want to make sure my wife has something nice.

Me? I don't need anything. I am just fine how I am today. I am more blessed by being given this opportunity to take care of my wife and children than any "thing" I could buy.

But there's an analogy - when the plane is going down and the oxygen masks drop, if you're going to help anybody else on that plane, you're going to have to get yourself some oxygen first. Otherwise, you are no good for ANYBODY.

I'm turning 40 at the end of this month. I can't think of too many 80 year olds that weigh over 400 pounds like I do. I can't think of any 60 year olds. Hell, I'm struggling to think of a 50 year old.

I don't want to be the guy who dies of a heart attack before he's done raising his kids. I don't want to be the man who leaves his wife a widow because he was afraid to take care of himself.

I'm tired of this. I'm grabbing the oxygen mask.

And when this 24 day challenge is over, and I can prove to you that this does in fact work, chances are, I'll be inviting you to do the same thing.

So, again - if you want to do this challenge with me, click on the link. Let's do this together.

https://www.advocare.com/17033244/Promotions/24DC/default.aspx

Where Does The Time Go?

https://www.fatherly.com/mens-health/workout-to-offset-sitting/

I feel like I have to do something different. I eat pretty perfect during the days - perhaps I don't even eat enough. This leads me to eating poorly at dinner (I did flawless at work, and then went home and proceeded to eat 3 chili cheese coney dogs.... and then go back and have 2 more for a whopping 1700 calories in one meal).


I need to focus on CONSISTENCY. Something that works - and STICK with it. Get to know it. Love it. Enjoy it. If I am just eating oatmeal twice a day and overeating at dinner and don't do enough for my body, then this is a drag and it's no wonder that I'm not sticking to it.

I need a way to free more time up. I take the kids to school at 7am, which means I need to be up by 6am. I work all day, and pick the kids back up by 6pm. By the time dinner is done, the messes are cleaned up (this sometimes happens, sometimes it is skipped), the babies have their pajamas on and we're getting ready for bed, it's at LEAST 9pm.

Something has to break. I have to figure this out.

Streak Over, and Why It's a GOOD Thing

When I started this most recent weight loss fight, I started logging my calories on December 30th.  I haven't missed a day - even when the eating was good or bad, I was always logging the calories.

You know the drill - at the beginning, I was logging the calories, planning everything out BEFORE I ate it, and then I started getting good at it.  I lost some weight, I started getting confident and thinking I could certain elements - sweets, extra portions - and the MOST dangerous, logging the food AFTER the fact instead of before the meal.

Fast forward 54 days and I was still logging my meals.  But, instead of whole wheat pastas, oatmeal and veggies, it started to sneak into my life again.  Fast food.  Coke.  Sweets.  Garbage.  But, I was still logging it, so I was resting on those laurels and thinking that "even if it's bad, I'm logging it!".

Logging bad foods are ALMOST as bad as not logging at all.  At least when I shoveled all six of those oatmeal cookies on the way home from taking my kid to the doctor yesterday, I knew that each one of those cookies had 130 calories.    I can tell you that a thin crust slice of Pepperoni at Pizza Hut is 180 calories instead of the 240 calories of the traditional hand tossed.  But, instead of limiting myself to three slices and holding myself accountable, there were 3 occasions this month where we had BUFFET.  And if you know me - when I do buffet, I get my money's worth.

So this weekend, I let the streak die.  That kind of stung, but it was an intentional move.  Why keep a "healthy eating streak" when you know gosh darn well that it wasn't HEALTHY eating.

Today, I had an apple and a pear for breakfast, oatmeal for lunch (and for snack) and whole wheat pasta with shrimp and risotto for dinner.  I'm at about 1850 calories for the day.  And as much as I want to go grab a bowl of the chocolate fudge ice cream that is about 10 feet away from me in the freezer, I am done for the night.

So the streak is gone.  But a new one begins.

One down, many to go.  But we're doing this one day at a time.  So to me, day 2 is the most important day ever.  I can't get to day 3 without mastering day 2.   Ready, set, go. 

Four Gallons Out, One Gallon In

I don't remember the last time I was bummed out about losing a pound, but I was today.

I'm down to 435 today, but there's no back patting involved.  In fact, it is a reminder that I have to get back to what I was doing a month or so again.  I'm starting to get lazy.

Yes, I am up to 52 days of logging my calories - I claim that and I'm proud of it.  However, I'm not being diligent about what composes those calories.   I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I'm not going to ban myself from foods - pizza, burgers, etc.  However, I need to be smart about having them.  I can't just have pizza and burgers any time that I want and expect the weight to fall off.   So, one of my updated goals is to GET BACK TO MAKING HEALTHIER OPTIONS.   Too many pizza buffets and not enough lean meats, salads and veggies.  I'll do better.

However, as I mentioned yesterday, I walked a 5K with my wife and kids.  It was a good day.  Now, I need to start making more time for my health.  More walks - honestly, I felt great after that 5k.  Granted I was walking a lot slower (those little legs of the 5 year old couldn't keep up), so I was able to take my time, but I felt much stronger after this one than the past few official 'races'.  The race in December, I felt like I was going to die at the end.   31 pounds coming off, even though I can't see it in the mirror, makes a difference.

Also, I'm trying to 5 day challenge - planks every day and a GALLON of water.  It officially starts Wednesday but I wanted to do it today to see how it goes.  I did m two 10-second plants this morning, I thought I was going to die.  And as for water,  I'm down to the last two inches of my gallon jug and it's 4:30pm.   I think I've peed more today than I have in the past month.

So, not much to report - but I'm going to get a little more serious.  Posting more, not resting on my laurels, and I have to stop thinking that losing 30 pounds means something. I was googling what weighs 30 pounds, and I learned that FOUR GALLONS OF MILK weighs 30 pounds.  So, I've taken that much off.  And s

ure, it sounds good to say "I've lost 31 pounds" but I know that I haven't escaped heart disease and heart attacks.  I need to do more.  I need to want it more.  I need to not fall into the same traps as I have, gaining everything back, like I have the past decade.

Things are good.  I'm blessed.  But let's renew our focus.   31 pounds is a good thing - but my goal was to get under 400 by my 40th birthday.  I've got until the end of March, and I've got 36 more pounds to lose.  I can't do that at the pizza buffet.