End of day three: ENERGY!!!

It was a gorgeous day in Oregon on Friday! The sun was out, it had warmed up to the 60's, no breeze... This just keeps getting better! It has been years since I have had this much energy! As a teenager my job often require very long hours, 12-18 hour days were not uncommon, there were even times the sun rose twice in the same work day. Since those wonderful days I have longed to have that energy and stamina.

Who says "Engery is wasted on the youth?" Not anymore, it's back!!!

In recent years my weekends would go like this: get up, work for a few hours outside, feel tired, come in for a snack or drink, sit down in front of the boob tube, and hours later I'd get the shoe horn out to peel my large posterior off the couch and finish working. Never finishing everything that needed to be accomplished.

Today was total different! The whole day was spent outside preparing the garden and finished other tasks that had been started earlier this year. I had only a few short brakes when it was time to eat something or to get a drink, otherwise there wasn't anything that could keep me in, not even the TV!

Working outside was easier than it had been for a while. I noticed that bending over, kneeling down, and getting back up were easier to do. Now, there is still a lot of weight to loose, around 100 lbs would be ideal, but the amount of energy was incredible. I guess that's because there is a lot of energy stored around my belly.

My neighbor even took notice and mentioned that it looked like I had lost some weight. Only three days in the program and it is already making a noticeable different.

My tastes and cravings have changed. Although a big chocolate chip cookie sounds good, so does a tuna fish sandwich. (I hated tuna fish!) Vegetables are sounding better and I look forward to eating things like radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers...

The only adverse thing I've noticed is that I get really thristy. In the program one is to drink 8 glasses of water a day. At first this was a challenge, but now I can't get enough!

This morning the scales read 279.6 lbs. Not too shabby for just ending the third day!

Keep the comments coming! It sounds like there are several followers of peolpe who have just read the blog who have decided to take actions themselves. If you like, go ahead and post your results here too. Sharing in each others successes will only make ourselves stronger! I just ask that you be very honest with your self in what you post, even if it is uncomfortable or emeressing. (You'll get over that quickly.) I'll post new pictures at the end of week one!

End of day two

Good morning everyone! Again I woke up before my alarm and feel great. According to my coach, my body is entering the FAT BURNING PHASE. Hence because this is happening I have a bunch more energy. Normally by 9:00 pm my body says, "OK, that's enough for today;" but last night I was still going strong at 10:30 and had to force myself to lay down!

Day two was fairly similar to day one. No head aches or muscle pain, except for some sore muscles from working out in the garden the night before. Along with my weight loss goal, is to also grow much of our own food out of our garden.

I greatly appreciate the phone calls from my health coach. Yes it is wonderful hearing from my wife while at work, but the phone calls have been a great support. Just having someone call for a few minutes during the day and ask how things are going, how I feel, and give advice and encouragement is the greatest source of support for me to be successful. Another reason why this program will work for anyone!

I did have a few cravings today, mainly for the taco wagon that sits across the parking lot. They make one good burrito! Otherwise I experienced a little more hunger throughout the day, but it wasn't anything overwhelming. By the end of the day when I have my lean and green meal, I really look forward to that bed of lettuce with lean ground beef and a bit of low-fat Italian dressing. Not that the food for the program tastes bad, its just that vegetables are tasting really good; maybe that's how it should be?

Coming home from work I felt a little bloated and constipated, but that was short lived. So far, knock on wood, I haven't felt too poorly during the first two days.

Thank you to everyone who has logged-in to see this and leave me comments! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Please keep them coming. For those who have tried to leave comments but were unable to, you have to become a "Registered User." It's free, the registration is just to keep spam from showing up.

And for the moment you all are waiting for...... The scales said 280.2 this morning!!!

End of day one

Day one went pretty well. I ate peach oatmeal for breakfast, a chocolate shake mid-morning, a chocolate bar for lunch, chicken & wild rice for mid-afternoon, a strawberry shake in late afternoon, and my lean and green meal about 7:30 last night.

The program warns people that the first few days are the toughest as your body is adjusting one may have headaches and or muscle aches because your body looses sodium and potassium. In this events I make a beef bullion soup (for some added sodium) and Crystal Light Infusers with potassium for potassium replacement for any muscle aches.

During the first day I tried to eat every three hours, but found myself hungry about every 2 1/2 hours, which is fine. No head aches or muscle aches to speak of, about 4:00 PM I felt a little light headed, but those who know me would say that is normal.

On the program, one is to weigh themselves everyone morning after showering, that is to maintain an accurate record. As of this morning I weighed 282.7! (When I started I weighed 288.2, that was at night with clothing, so I did loose some weight on the first day, but not as much as it seems.)

Also I woke up with energy before my alarm clock went off!!! Lately it has been difficult to do that with changing over to day light savings time, hitting the snooze button and getting up at the last possible second. As my body is transitioning into the fat burning stage, in day two, I feel more energy and more alert!

In the beginning...

Greetings to anyone reading this,

Most of my life I have struggled with my weight and longed to be more fit. Now at 29 years old I weigh 288.2 lbs and need to shed the weight. For years I have tried a number of different diets and met them with moderate success, but after a while it all came back. I am at the point of being sick and tired of being sick and tired, it is time to make major changes not only for myself but my family that I love so much.

Last winter I went to the doctor to get a prescription for a sinus infection that would not go away. The doctor took my blood pressure and quickly forgot why I was there. She began warning me of the path I was headed down and that I was too young to be in this shape. Yes I was embarrassed to be like this, but she was right. It is time to start living better for those I love!

I began looking at many different diet plans out there of every conceivable nature. Some of them are very popular and some seemed ridiculous. One day I noticed a couple of people at the credit union who were melting away. One of them began to tell me her story of battling her weight her whole life and that a friend had introduced her to this program.

In short, everyone I spoke to who was on the program, was excited about it and mentioned how easy it was to follow. Everything I read was practical and coincided with everything I knew about healthy weight loss.

So here is to some great changes that will be life-long! Come back frequently to updates, progress, successes and pictures! And don't forget to leave me comments and even questions, I'll do my best to answer them!