Category Archives: 100 pounds

Day 287: I’m a Mountain Lion! Edition

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So today was another exciting day here in Tallahassee. You know: hot, humid, and waiting for October. Today was also my first day at the FSU News and Research Communications office. I’m their newest intern and so far it’s been awesome. (It also helps that I get to work with my broette, the Wolf herself, Andrea!) Anyways, it was also day 2 of Insanity… but more about that in a bit.

Breakfast: I had a bowl of Kashi which finished the box :(. To the store I go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: At work, I went to a luncheon for the Communicators of FSU. It was really awesome getting an inside look of FSU. I had a great turkey sandwich with some almonds, carrots and a banana. I didn’t finish the almonds or the banana so I ate those after I got off of work.

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-workout Snack: I had some Quaker Oatmeal squares which are also awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAWS!!!: So today was day 2 of Insanity and it was ridiculous.  This picture was of me just after the warm up. It was rough but I felt great after! Today was a lot of jumping and cardio. At one point there were mountain climbers which was a combo of high knees and grabbing the sky as if you are trying to get the second coming to happen. The second time around, I yelled “IM A MOUNTAIN LION!!!” and went after it. Not sure why I said, it just felt right at the time. Anyways, I’m sore but surviving. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Workout: After drinking up half of Lake Superior, I had some of Megan’s awesome quinoa with half a 100 calorie pack of wholly guacamole. It was fantastic. I also had a banana.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Veggie pasta was on the menu tonight, but both of us were jonesin’ for some protein so we went to Publix and grabbed some steaks. I cut that piece in half and ate it and then demolished that baked potato with broccoli and cheese with some bacon. It was an epic dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: We went to TCBY for dessert and it was epic as well. Up until that point I was only at 1500 calories and I know froyo wasn’t that bad.

So today it went well with food and had a killer workout. Now what’s even more exciting… WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!!! See ya tomorrow.

Day 286: Monday Insanity… Literally!

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What it is yo!?!

Monday was a reset of trying to get these last bit of weight off to break 100 pounds! That century mark has become some sort of barrier that I need to break so I can move on to another goal. So this week, I’ve changed how I’m looking at my caloric intake over points because some of my awesome friends (Jenn and Jade are legit) suggested that I haven’t been eating enough calories which has put my body in starvation mode so I’ve been retaining water and fat. Today wasn’t that bad recording calories since I’m already use to recording points, I’ve just had to not overlook anything I eat.

Oh yeah… I stared this ridiculous thing called Insanity today. Ever heard of it?

Breakfast: I just had a bowl of Kashi with 1/2 cup of milk. Yumtastic.

Lunch: I went to lunch with my friend Jared at Mellow Mushroom. Last time I went there… on friday, I had two slices and a diet coke and the slices were massive. Instead of that, I had a slice with sun dried tomatoes and a tossed salad that was just tomatoes, mushrooms, and lettuce so nothing too heavy. Also, I had unsweetened tea with no artificial sugar. It was good and I didn’t feel stuffed after lunch.

SAWS!!!: So we are having an issue with the ridiculously high heat indexes in the morning so we still doing Couch 2 5k but we are going to move our schedule around a little bit. In the mean time, our friends Jacob and Emily let us borrow their copy of Insanity which is an intense 60 day plyometrics workout. Today was a fitness test to see where you are at. You recorded your results and then you do the test again in later weeks to see where you stand. It was really brutal and I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like. It’s only 45 minutes a day (I think/hope/I cant remember now so I’m terrified) but to quote my awesome wife “you can do anything for 45 minutes” which is really true.

Recharge meal: I was feeling a little rough (but high on endorphins) I had a ripe and delicious banana with a serving of peanut butter. Probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Dinner: We had super awesome chili for dinner. It was… super awesome. It’s even better with brown rice. Yumtastic awsesomeness.

Dessert: I had 1/2 cup of light cookie dough ice cream and some Tim’s Cascades Sweet Onion chips. (And no I did not eat them together… even though that sounds really good.) (And yes, that is ketchup with the chips. Awesome combo.)

So today I got to approximately 1630 calories, 38.5 grams of fat, and 28 grams of fiber. I couldn’t find out the fat and fiber for lunch, and I couldn’t find the fiber for the banana. So by my points calculator I’m at 35 points which mean I have eaten my exercise points and my allotted 30 points. We will see how it goes the rest of the week. See ya tomorrow.

Day 285: On the Train to Frustrationtown!

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Hey Boys and Girls!

Well… I think I’ve hit a plateau. Statistically, I should be past 100 pounds already but for about the past 5-6 weeks, I’ve been stuck in the same weight range with a little losing and gaining. It’s been really frustrating I have to admit. I stuck close to my points for the majority of this week (except for Monday and dinner last night) and I worked out every day but I still gained .2 pounds this week. I know I know, it’s not much, but I’m still trying to get back to where I was before I left on my vacation. So I’m at 264.8 and I was at 262 before I left so I’m 7.8 pounds away from breaking 100. It feels like 257 is my magic number right now. It’s a mental block I have and I need to break it. So this week, I’m going to add some more workout time, try to count calories more than points, and drink water by the gallons. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Breakfast: I just had piece of toast with PB and half a banana 3 points. Then I had had a 3 point muffin.

Lunch: For lunch, the young professionals group from church decided to go to Genghis Grill for lunch and we had a blast. One of our friends Becky, who has lost 30 pounds like a boss, is the queen of bowl stacking so she showed us all how it’s done! The bowl on the left of raw goodness is Becky’s Bowl of Destruction, which she turns in to four meals total. (Yeah, she’s pretty legit.) Anyways, what she does at GG is when she gets her bowl she asks for the to go box immediately. So Megan and I both did that too and as soon as I got my bowl, I put enough in my the box to fill it and I still had a ton of food on my plate! By the time I was done I was still full while not feeling disgusting which was a nice change. The moral of this paragraph: Becky is a beast.

Snack: I had some chips. Nothing exciting.

 

Dinner: I just had my leftovers for dinner and they were just as epic as at lunch. In fact, they might have been better because I put Beaver Sweet Hot mustard on it which has a wasabi taste to it. Leftovers are awesome. Just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: Megan and I went back to TCBY for some yogurt and it was still epic. It was only 5 ounces total which isnt near as bad as when I got to other places.

So that was my day. I felt like I did okay (not great) but tomorrow I’m really getting down to business. I know I shouldn’t put a time frame on these goals, but I want to break 100 by the end of the month. I’m going to Disney in a few weeks and I really want to get an “I’m Celebrating” pin, proclaiming my weight loss. Either way, I really do have to remember that I still have a lot to celebrate.

Here we go again….

See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 283: Friday

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I’ll keep this brief because I have some Harry Potter to read!

Breakfast: I didn’t sleep well at all last night (like 3-4 hours worth) and I had a job interview so I ate PB toast with half a banana for 3 points. (That was all one sentence? )

Lunch: After my interview, Megan and I went to lunch with our friend Andrea for some Mellow Mushroom awesomeness! They had a two slice and a drink lunch combo so I had that and we spit Bruschetta. It was sooo awesome!!!! I didn’t know how big the slices are but it was delicious. Anyways, Lunch was about 12 points.

Snack: I just had some chips and salsa for 3 points.

 

 

 

 

Workout: So Megan and I wanted to hit up the gym since we didn’t get run this morning because of the while no sleep/raining thing. I did 40 minutes on the elliptical and I kept my heart rate in the fat loss range. SAWS!!!!! 9 exercise points

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: For dinner, Megan made this awesome tilapia with a baked potato with this killer fruit salad. It was a legit 10 point dinner.

So I got to about 28 points. Legit awesomeness. Maybe it won’t rain in the morning. But then again, we live in Florida. See ya tomorrow.

Day 282: Why Lifting Weights is Like the WNBA

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Sup Everyone!

I’m really loving this summer because it’s my last actual summer vacation. I’m really going to miss this. It’s been a really good time to work out and to get my life in order. However, I’m kind of ready for school to start because I love grad school! (Maybe that means I’m doing it wrong…) Alright, enough about me and my feelings.

Breakfast: I kept it simple (and delicious) and had a Chobani with some Kashi. It was epic and delicious (yes… it can be both.) 4 points. Between breakfast and lunch I had some chips and salsa too. 3 points.

Lunch: Since we had leftover veggie spaghetti sauce from last night, I boiled up some Rising Moon Organic Garlic & Roasted Vegetable Ravioli and made a killer pasta dish. It was easily the heartiest 6 point lunch I have ever had. I was seriously full for the majority of the day. The ravioli and sauce was only 5 points, it was the Parmesan that made it six so without the cheese it’s even a better bang for your buck!

All this week we have been eating sandwiches for lunch and around 3 I’ve been starving which has lead to serious snacking. Sandwiches are okay every once in a while, but if you have the time to eat a healthy and filling lunch like this, it’s definitely going to save you some calories throughout the rest of the day. Obviously though, it needs to be a dish like this or like fish or something like that, not filling up on fast food or the caloric bombshell of dishes at other places. To put things in perspective, half a regular order of fries at Five Guys is 7 points (a side mind you) and this was 6 points. Just saying.

 

 

 

Dinner: (The following paragraph further proves my point.) On Tuesday, Chick Fil A broke our hearts and had a full parking lot so we had to go to Subway instead. Since tonight was College Night and we had to eat out out of time constraints, we gave it another shot. I had a chicken sandwich and we split a large fry. It was good and filling to a point, but I realized that the only reason I wanted to eat there is because  I love their BBQ sauce and ketchup and the only way I can eat those condiments (at least in a socially acceptable fashion) is via the vehicle of waffle fries and a sandwich or nuggets. Does anyone have a freakin’ clue what I am talking about? Anyways, it was a weird realization. So it was good and pseudo filling, but it was not more than twice as filling as lunch. 14 points.

 

SAWS!!! We went to Leach this evening and luckily the crowds weren’t near as bad as Tuesday. I decided to lift weights to build up the old arms and core. I did a combo of weight machines and dumbells. So I’ve been lifting off and on since the sixth grade, and while I’ve had noticeable tone (noticeable to me at least) I’ve never been consistent nor seen the results I hope. Recently, any time I do a curl I have a straining (not sore feeling, like a hurt feeling) in right above my elbow on the back of my arm. It even hurts on the curl machine which is suppose to help your abs not your arms. When I got done tonight, I had the same feeling in my other arm, but it eventually went away. I left the gym really frustrated, something that hasn’t happened in a long time. I don’t know what the deal is, I guess I need to go see a physical therapist on campus or something. I’m just frustrated because I just don’t feel like I’m doing anything right. Lifting weights is like the WNBA to me, I want to like it sooo much, but I just can’t. Any time I give it my shot, I get little in return and I leave disappointed and self loathing. (Maybe not the best analogy, but it made for a good title.) Anyways, FSU offers free sessions of personal training so I’m going to try to get in on the during the fall. I guess for now I’ll just keep at it and expect different results (wait… isn’t that the definition of insanity?)

Snack: For a post workout snack I had a can of tune with a dolip of low fat Hellmans mayo which is only 15 calories for a few tablespoons! And it’s actually good! I was enjoying it until I found three little scales in it. Of course that was after I had eaten the whole can. Go me. So I emailed StarKist in hopes they’ll make it right (which better not include free tuna.) 3 points.

So today I got to 30 points exactly which will work for me. The last installment of C25K week 1 is tomorrow morning and it’s going to be hot tomorrow morning. Oh joy. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

278: Weigh Weigh After Vay Cay!

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Sup yo!

So like I’ve said all this week, I got a little off track with the vacation (just one of those things that happens) and I wasn’t sure how it was going to reflect on the scale. Well, when we got back and I unofficially weighed Friday morning, I was at 269 pounds! 7 pounds up from when I left. I’m not going to lie I felt pretty crappy about it. I felt like I had let myself and you, my dear readers, down. From then on, I have stuck close to my points and have been eating right. When I got on the scale today, I was only at 264.6 which means from just two days of eating right, my body was able to drop five pounds of retained water and *ahem* waste! That just shows how easy it can be to get back on the horse and keep riding! So if you ever fall off for a while (which you will because life works that way) don’t fret about making up lost ground and just freakin’ go for it!!! Anyways, so I have gained 2.6 pounds since my last weigh in a few weeks ago and obviously you can’t be happy with a gain, but it’s totally manageable so I’m shooting to be back to where I was and then some by then end of this week!

Breakfast: For breakfast I had a Chobani with half a serving of Kashi. It was awesome. 4 points.

Megan made chocolate chip muffins for our young professionals class that I’ve started to teach at church so I had one and a half of those bad boys so that was another 4.5 points. Of all things, I definitely think muffins are my biggest weakness because I want to eat a bunch at a time and they are one of the worst breakfast things you can eat. #Deliciousfail (don’t knock the hashtag.)

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: After church, we made grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. It is definitely one of my favorite meals ever because it is simple to make and it just warms your soul! (Even if it is 100 degrees outside!) 5 points

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: This afternoon, all I wanted to do was watch tv and chill. So that’s what I did. I was trying to watch LOTR: The Two Towers while trying to watch Space Jam while trying to watch Ken Burns the Civil War. It was an ADD nightmare with plots that had no resembling parallels. Anyways, so I had some popcorn for 4 points as well. (I took this picture during a Smeagel internal monologue. The creepiness of the photograph seemed fitting.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: For dinner we had chili with brown rice. As always, Uncle Jim’s Vegetarian Chili was a great success in the MacDonald household. For dessert I had a No Pudge Fudge Brownie with ff cool whip and a little lite chocolate syrup. The brownies were just as good the second day! 15 points.

So today I got to 32.5 points which isn’t terrible since I have weekly points. I haven’t been counting them at all so I’m going to start doing that so I’m just not thinking “awe well, I have the weekly points so I’ll eat this chocolate covered ham steak with brown gravy. YUM!!!!” because that can get dangerous. See ya tomorrow.

Day 277: Saturday Silky Smooth

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[I have no clue what that title means. Draw your own conclusions.]

Today was Day Two of Operation Whatever-I-Named-This-Operation-Yesterday and it we great! My body has already readjusted to eating less because I am eating better things. Dieting is all about less is more, you have to find the lower calorie (or lower point) foods that fill you up better. For me that’s veggies like cucumbers, broccoli and baby carrots. Overall though, I’m hoping to be back where I was before I left by next week.

Breakfast: (Yes, this picture is artsy farsty (as much as artsy fartsy a picture of a banana can be ) but I was just messing with Instagram. Pretty awesome app.) So for breakfast I had two pieces of toast with Central Market PB and half of a banana. I stocked up like crazy at Central Market on CM PB because it is my absolute favorite thing in the entire world!!! Anyways, it was kind of like the Wafflewich but less points because the low cal bread at Publix is only 45 calories a slice so that was a good trade off. Breakfast was only 6 points so not too bad.

Exercise: Cleaned the house like crazy. We went Snow White on this joint. There had to be some exercise points in there somewhere…

 

 

 

 

Lunch: We just had leftover mac n cheese and broccoli. It was fantastically delicious. 9 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: After we gallivanted around town in search of picture frames and such, I had a 100 calorie mocha frap on ice. I think they are way better over ice. Not sure why but I just do. (P.S. the polar bear on the cup is named Chester. Not sure why I told you that either.) 2 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Megan bought a cookbook called the “Hungry Girl 1-2-3” on our trip so she tried out one of the lower calorie meals in it. She made the Planet Hungrywood Sweet & Cap’n Crunchy Chicken made with Captain Crunch and Fiber One cereal. It is as awesome as you would expect. The Fiber One gave the tenders texture while the Captain Crunch had the sweetness you know and love (without shredding the roof of your mouth.) Each tender is only two points and we paired it with a modified version of the Honey and Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes that we love to make from The Athlete’s Plate. For dessert I had a No Pudge Brownie that Megan made. They are really awesome and easy to make! Dinner was a total of 10 points so not bad at all for a killer dinner like that!

So today I got to 27 points which isn’t that bad at all! I wasn’t hungry at all today so hooray for me! Tomorrow is weigh in and we will just see how it goes. See ya tomorrow.

Day 276: Friday Frenzy!!!

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HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

What it is jive turkey?

Well today began Operation Let’s Lose Some Freakin’ Weight Yo! The trip was a little rough on my eating habits and my discipline but that was all my own fault. I had the will power, but it’s hard when your weakness is BBQ and then you go to the Mecca of delicious smoked meats and not have the same urges to feast. (Or according to my friend Andrea “The need to feed”) I think I went laxed because I celebrated my victories too soon. My stomach was like Bush on the aircraft carrier with the Mission Accomplished banner, this was (on weight) still has a long ways to go! I’m only really halfway there! Regardless, today I realized I want to be back where I was before the trip, I was more tone than ever before and my double chin was eroding to nothingness! So now I’m back on the wagon and eating right and well (yes dear readers… that is possible!) and I’m ready to finally break the century mark.

Breakfast: I had a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal squares for 5 points. Those things are awesome!

Lunch: We kept it simple for lunch and had a turkey sandwich with a side of carrots. The low cal bread at Publix is soooo awesome. It’s only a point for two slices! So lunch was only 2 points! WOWZERS!

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: I went and got my hair did (while a banshee child was getting his first haircut while screaming for dear life in the chair next to me… but that’s for another post) and then went over to Starbucks to kill some time. I was looking to try something new so I had a skinny vanilla latte. I’m sure it would have been good if Starbucks didn’t burn their coffee, but since they do it was mediocre. Sadly, I wish it was good because it was only 2 points. (Also, they thought my name was David, it’s no Hank but it works?)

Snack: We went to go work out around 6 so I needed something to hold me over until dinner. So I had a tuna sandwich with mustard and pickles. (Trust me… it’s better than it sounds. I would have posted a picture, but frankly it looked like a Friskies ad) It was good nonetheless and only 3 points.

 

 

 

 

SAWS!!!!!! I was so ready to get back in to the gym and try out my new Reebok Zigtechs!!! I warmed up on the treadmill and running in them feels like your gliding on an elliptical! I was doing 5.5 mph like it was nothing. Usually after a while my shoulder and chest muscles start to hurt because with my old shoes it felt like I was jumping up and down on pavement, but with these bad boys I didn’t have any pain at all. I was impressed yo! Anyways, so I warmed up and then worked on arms and core. Over the trip I lost the tone in my sides and now they are back to Flabbytown so I’m going to focus on getting that back. Then I hit up the elliptical on weight loss for about 25 minutes. Overall it was a pretty good work out, but unfortunately Leach is going to be closed until Tuesday so we are going to get creative to workout around the neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Megan made her signature mac n’ cheese with broccoli and it was freakin’ epic. I had 2 massive servings (1 1/2 cups is a serving) and it was only 12 points. 

 

 

 

 

 
Dessert: We decided to get some awesome froyo at Yogurt Mountain for dessert. It turned out to be a good trip because it served as a bit of a wake up call for me with indulging on yogurt. YM has the nutrition facts which I glance at but don’t do the exact math on. Usually, I ballpark it and say with a sweet yogurt and toppings it’s 5 points. Tonight, my yogurt alone was 5 points so my yogurt is much worse that it should be. I really need to get back to tart flavors like taro or non fat flavors and have fruit toppings instead. It was a wake up call that I needed because that change would save me a bunch of calories and points that I underestimate. I’m conservatively going to say that my dessert was 8 points tonight.

So tonight I got to 32 points but with the exercise points I’m definitely good. Before I left I was beginning to think that 30 points a day wasn’t enough, but with meals like today it is definitely doable. See ya tomorrow!

Day 275: Back From the Vacay Edition

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Day 268: Travel Update

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Howdy!

From the greeting, you might infer that I am in Texas (or I’m just bad at greetings) which would be correct. I am blogging live on location from the University of Texas at Austin. Growing up I was a huge Texas A&M fan so at first this was a little weird, but I got over it. Frankly in the caste system of colleges and college football, the University of Florida and Ohio State University are way lower on the proverbial totem pole than UT. (Oklahoma is down there too. What the crap is a Sooner anyway?)

Moving on… Megan is doing research on the composer Radie Britain (I don’t know who it is either) for her thesis so I am here as a research assistant/doing stuff on the Internet that doesn’t involve school because my brain still hurts from the semester.

Sorry it’s been a nutzo lack of blogging. Have you ever been on a vacation which actually involves a crapton of driving and stuff? That’s what this trip is. It’s still an awesome trip (We’re in Texas! How can it not be awesome?) but between my parents not having internet right now, free wireless is hard to find and late nights hanging out with friends, it’s been a challenge. However, the lack of blogging does not mean a lack of dieting. I have been working hard to keeping everything in check and so far it has worked. With traveling, there is a alot of eating out so I’ve been keeping that in mind. Since we are in Texas, we have been eating a alot of Mexican food and it has been awesome. I’m worried though that we are getting spoiled and we will be uber depressed when we go back to Tallahassee. Tonight we are going to eat at the best Bar B Que place in the state (no hyperbole, it’s been ranked as such by Texas Monthly) so I’m ready for that. They have an all you can eat option that I had one time and I remember eating so much that I got sick. I felt like I had to eat as much as possible and I felt disgusting after. That will not happen this time.

I have noticed that some old habits and instincts have come back since I’ve been in Texas. I want things to surround eating when I’ve suggested things to do. That used to be my thing which is why I gained so much weight. It’s just easier to get people to hang out with you if there is a plate of food involved. I think that’s just because we are here for a short amount of time so that’s the way to see a lot of people but it’s a slippery slope. Plus not to mention it’s been in the triple digits every day (except today… it’s a frigid 97) so it’s hard to be motivated to do something outside. I haven’t worked out as much as I have liked but I’m going to rectify that the rest of the trip. If I’m going to eat like I am, I need to balance it out a little better.

Anyways, so we are heading to Abilene on Friday for another wedding that I’m really stoked for. I’m going to see a lot of friends that I haven’t seen since we moved so it’s going to be a lot of fun to catch up with them.I’m going to be able to blog a little more the rest of the trip (I think) so I will keep you a little more updated. Either way when we get back I’ll have a complete recap of the trip with some funny anecdotes and such. Also, look for a wordless wednesday later tonight. See ya later.