It’s time to resurrect the ol’ blog! Starting tonight, I’ll be posting more about my weight loss journey here and on Facebook! Stay with me!

Weigh in day!

Its Friday weight-loss-watchers, and that means weigh in day for Brent! This morning I tipped the scales showing a loss of 6.7 lbs since Monday and I’m feeling really good about it. I’ve been overly strict, not starvation mind you, but strict. I’m eating lots of fruits and raw veggies, (as much as I want) and some lean proteins (not quite as much as I want) and no sugar (not nearly as much as I want). Plus I am religious about getting in those brisk, daily walks and have added a few pushups and crunches to my regimen as well.
I’ve made some plans to eat less carful over potions of Easter weekend. There are a few meals/time periods were food is part of the celebration. During those specific times, I’m going to enjoy some of the treats and traditional foods that go along with the season. But, that does not mean I will let my nutritional hair down for the entire weekend. If breakfast isn’t part of the official celebration, then I’m going to eat light, same with diner, snacks and so on. I’ve worked really hard to turn this big, unhealthy boat in the right direction and it would be foolish to completely mess it up now, just for sake of a Holiday weekend.
I hope you are doing well, and have made plans to enjoy the weekend as well. Keep up the fight and may the Easter Bunny bring us all a few really chocolaty treats!

If it doesn’t matter, don’t eat like it does!

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days but the great thing is that I’ve managed to take time to eat right and exercise despite the hectic schedule. There were a few close calls, when I almost slipped, and there have been a few occasions where I almost justified cheating, but in the end I made good choices.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how strict we should be in our dieting and I think we need to be sure to cut ourselves a little slack on special occasions and extenuating circumstances. I’ve always said that I didn’t get fat from going to parties, enjoying the holidays, or eating too much while on vacation. I got this way by eating most every meal like it was a party. We’d all do well if we guiltlessly enjoyed food on those few occasions when food is part of a special event, so long as we were careful to eat nutritiously every other meal during the week. If there is a party, if your neighbor brings over homemade sweet rolls (Lisa), if you’re on a trip, or its Sunday dinner, I say go ahead and indulge a little, then just swear on your life that you’ll be good the rest of the time. I’ll say it again, I don’t think we got out of shape by enjoying special foods on special occasions; it’s the basic everyday food choices that effect us the most. If the meal matters, eat. If it doesn’t matter, don’t eat like it does!
I’m going to weigh in tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll nail double digit number because I’ve sure earned it, having said that, scales are not always fair, so if I don’t hit it big, I won’t be too worried about it.
I wish you well in your nutritional endeavors and I hope to hear more from you soon. Take care.

Calorically intact

Well, I was shooting for some “Biggest Loser” sized numbers and I guess I came pretty close. I am down 7.3 lbs in seven days, that’s enough that I don’t feel like a total failure, but I was really really hoping for something in the double digits. But, I also crashed a burned a few times over the weekend. Without going into detail I didn’t make it out of Logan calorically intact, nor was I on my best nutritional behavior at Mom’s b-day party last night, so all things considered, I ought to be ecstatic about losing 7.
The really great part is that I am back on the wagon and doing well today. Had a good workout dragging trees and branches at the cabin and then came to town and did my daily cemetery walk, even though it was raining. I’ve been munching vegetarian style all day and that seems alright as a temporary tactic. It’s weird for me to have a meal without meat, but I have learned that’s it is possible. Not preferred, but possible.
My next weigh in will be this Friday and I am going to focus a little harder on a double digit loss. That will be tough because its only five days away, but I still think I can pull it off. Please continue to keep me posted on your progress and let me know if you have any strategies on surviving Easter, or if you thing that’s one of those holidays that merits a 24 hour, free pass.

That too, spells danger

I’m sitting here sipping down a diet root beer and really enjoying it. I know carbonation is not the best but it tastes good to have something slightly sweet once in a while. It’s funny because I’ve noticed that once you cut out processed sugar from your diet, natural and artificial sugars taste so much sweeter and satisfying.
Didn’t make it for my walk today, but I spent about an hour at the cabin cutting trees and dragging the scrap branches over to the burn pile. I wouldn’t call it a total workout, but I’m sure my heart rate was up and I did break into a slight sweat.
I’ve got a couple of challenges coming up. Tomorrow I’m headed to Logan for the day and that town has some good places to eat. On Sunday, I’ve got my mother’s birthday party and all the ladies in my family are excellent cooks, so that too spells danger. My solution is to budget my calories, eating less on the meals that aren’t part of the festivities and saving more room for the meals that matter. I’ll keep you posted. Hope you’re all doing well. Please keep me up to date on your progress and I’ll do the same.

My body seems to appreciate it

Survived the concession counter at the movies last night. The lady behind the glass case looked quite surprised when I said I didn’t need any treats. I guess some of us look more prone to popcorn and drinks than others.
As a side note, the movie was good, but felt strangely foreign. I guess that’s because it was. Not an American actor or location in the whole thing.
So far I’ve been eating smart today. I arranged my schedule to eat my best meal of the day for lunch rather than diner. I did the same thing yesterday and my body seems to appreciate it. I sleep better on an empty stomach and I wake up feeling more refreshed.
In a few minutes I’m headed for a walk. It will be nice once the weather breaks so I can exercise when I want, and not when the wind and rain dictates.
My next big weigh-in will be on Monday and I feel pretty good about hitting a double digit number. Time will tell.
Until tomorrow…keep up the fight.

Concession counters at the movies

Another successful nutrition day. I’m not sure why, but I somehow have a handle on appropriate eating and exercise these days. I’m trying not to get overly cocky though, because sadly, I know from past experience that I could easily fall off the wagon at any time. I hope relapse will not be a problem for me, but I’d better make weight-loss-hay while the sun is shining because the further we get on any journey, the harder it is to turn back. I guess that’s true about all the unhealthy journeys we take as well. It can take so long to turn those massive, misdirected ships around.
My big temptation tonight will be Salt Creek Cinemas. I’m going to the movie with a friend and you know what kind of junk food awaits behind the glass concession counters at the movies. Wish me luck, and please ask me about how I did. Accountability to you is much of what gets me through these tough times.
Thanks again for the emails, texts, posts, and kind words when I run into some of you down town. Please let me know how I can help you with your battles as well. I feel like we’re in this together!

Today’s buffet! Yikes!

Dodged a bullet today! At noon I found myself lunching at the Golden Coral, which is exactly like an ex-alcoholic strolling into a bar at happy hour and expecting to stay on the wagon. This is not a temptation I recommend but it turns out the GC actually has a pretty decent salad bar. I guess I already knew that, but I can honestly say that I don’t ever ever ever remember having green salad at Golden Coral, or at any all you can eat buffet I could name. The really cool part is that I ate 100% healthy. Lots of cool greens, veggies, fruit, and some sliced grilled chicken breast. No hot, steamy rolls, no BBQ ribs and drumsticks, none of the usual fatty deep fried items, and certainly no dessert. I just ate plenty of salad and drank my sugar free lemonade and called it good. I left full but was hungry again in a few hours. That’s how I know I didn’t overdo. Usually after eating at a buffet, I feel stuffed for the rest of the day and into the next morning. Usually after a buffet I feel so sluggish afterwards, but today was so different. I hope to be this strong the next time that kind of temptation comes up.
The other part of my day that went really well was my daily cemetery walk. After seeing the weather forecast last night, I decided my best chance for outdoor exercise was first thing in the AM, so that’s what I did. I logged in my 1.75 miles early, which turned out to be a really good call because tonight when I got home from Orem it was raining very hard.
Well, I hope you’re having some similar victories in your own quest for a better, healthier life. Some of you have sent me encouraging emails and texts and I want you to know that hearing from you really helps, so thank you. I doubt I’d withstood today’s buffet without knowing you are counting on me to choose the right.

Sunshine—finally!

Sunshine—finally! Perfect day for a long walk in the cemetery. I got up this morning and cooked a full-on, bacon, eggs, and pancake breakfast for my niece and two nephews and I walked away without so much as a nibble. Why? Because today I have a plan, today I have set some nutrition goals and it does not include that kind of grub. A good friend and I have challenged each other to a perfect nutrition week, with specific weight loss goals in writing. There are no bets, no store bought prizes for the winner, just better health and personal satisfaction. We’re going for some Biggest Loser type numbers, just for this week, and then we’ll evaluate our progress before setting some less drastic goals for the next three weeks. Then we’ll reevaluate and set some longer term goals.
I hope you are all doing well with your health. It’s probably a shock to you that I’m posting on a regular basis, maybe you’re wondering if I’ll keep it up or just fizzle out like I have in the past. I’m wondering too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I do hope that you’ll join with me in becoming healthier. I’m interested in anything about getting healthy, Utah race dates, heath based websites, books, blogs, and so on. Please keep me posted if you find anything that might help and I’ll do the same.

Do you have one?

Okay, so Saturday kicked my butt, health wise. I won’t go into the details as to why, but I will say that I seemed to be looking for an excuse to eat-up and I took it. My problem these days is that I don’t have a plan. I’ve been losing some weight, but I don’t have a set daily calorie rule, I don’t have a “free meal” rewards system in place to look forward to or to defer to in case of temptation, so instead, I just crashed! Not the end of the world or anything, but crashes like this can quickly revert back to habits and that’s how I gained back some of my weight since summer. I need a plan. Do you have one? What is it and how do you stick to it?

Quest for a Better, Healthier Life Facebook page seems to work

Went for a brisk walk yesterday and ate fairly healthy but I really need to kick it up a notch. Having admitted a need to try harder, I have done alright. Some friends and I recently ended a weight loss contest where all of us seemed more content to lose a few pounds per week and not starve and sweat for those sensational Biggest Loser-type losses. In the end, I won two of the 6 weeks for having lost the most weight, and I won the overall prize for total weight lost. I ended up losing about 14 pounds over 6 weeks. Like I said, not impressive enough for television, but 14 lbs is 14 lbs! I wish I’d lost a few pounds per week for the last 52 weeks and I’d be happy as a clam right now.
Woke up to snow this morning and I can already guess that it’s put a literal damper on my outdoor exercise today. I’ll have to hit the Cardio Glide instead.
For some reason, my blog is not letting me make posts. Not sure why, but for now, The Quest for a Better, Healthier Life Facebook page seems to work very well. Hope to read comments from some of you soon, assuming there are some of you still following. Are you still in the fight? Are you doing well? Let us all know!

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

It’s been so long since I’ve made a post that I’m sure everyone’s forgotten all about me by now but no matter. I’ve got to get my butt back in gear and blogging about my progress and downfalls really does help.
I have not totally fallen off the weight-loss wagon as of late. I have not gotten back to wear I was last August in terms of weight, in fact, I’ve gained a bunch (not sure if I dare post how much) of my weight back, but the good thing is that I’ve quit gaining over these past few months and even lost a little.
My gym membership has expired, but I planned it that way so now that is warming up (supposedly) I can exercise outdoors. That’s where I’m headed now, even though it’s cold and rainy. It’s time to start walking the Nephi cemetery once again. No dogs, no traffic, and plenty of up and down hill roads.
I hope this post finds you all doing well and I hope that this is not my only post for the next 90 days! I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Make the most of it

Well, I know you’ll never believe this but I’m back online. I have to be back! I worked out a deal with the local fitness center and we traded some of my marketing skills for a 3 month gym membership. It’s a great place to exercise and they have all sorts of equipment and classes but for the past few weeks I’ve just been using the treadmill. It’s nice to have a jogging course that’s not covered in ice and snow.

It’s been a while since I jumped (more like lumbered) onto the scale and to tell you the truth, I almost don’t dare. To think that I weighed less than 300 lbs by this time last year and now I am probably right back up to where I started totally freaks me out. I’m thinking I’ll hit the scales in a week and see how bad my weight gain really is.



Lots of you have commented that you miss reading my blog, and believe me, I’ve missed writing it and my increased waistline has really missed the commitment I feel when I blog. Please wish me well and I’ll wish you the same. It’s a New Year and a new day lets all please make the most of it!

deer hunt: not traditionally a time for fruits and greens

I’ve had a couple of great nutrition and exercise days but my legs feel like rubber after so much jogging. I’m getting pretty old to be running around like this, and by like this, I mean huge!
We’ve still got lots of vine ripe tomatoes at our place so I’m eating them like they’re going out of season, which of course, they are.
Somehow I missed out on the fresh peaches but we have apples galore and are getting even more from my kid sister’s orchards tomorrow. This is a great time of year to be a fruit lover. Next will come the cases of Christmas oranges! Oh yeah!
Part of my recent motivation for getting my heart rate up each this day is because of the deer hunt. There are certainly worse places to kill over dead than on the mountain but I’d feel sorry for whoever gets assigned to drag my huge carcass out so I figured it’s better to get in shape and stay alive.
It’s going to be tough eating healthy on the mountain. The deer hunt is not traditionally a time for fruits and greens. I’m devising a plan which will most likely involve eating a healthy breakfast and lunch and regular deer-camp supper.
I hope all is going well for you in your quest for a better healthier life. Keep me posted on your progress, or even on the lack thereof.

Two new exercise challenges

I’m not sure of the significance, or if it has any special meaning, but today’s date is 10-10-10! Maybe it’s a great day for gaining control of physical appetites, a day for moving forward and not back. If it is, we’d best be sure and capitalize on it while the day last because it will be a long time before 10-10-10 happens again. Some experts say it might be as long as 100 years from now.
Yesterday I found two new exercise challenges that would be perfect for the Biggest Loser TV show. One is called, “Carry your neighbors two-year-supply up 25 steps and into the moving truck” and the other is “Spend 6 hours in the mountains pushing over dead oak trees and then dragging them into four piles until they are the size of a small house.”
Both activities proved to be terrific workouts. My arms and legs were totally rubberized by the time I was done, and I get to do the tree-thing again on Monday. AWESOME!
I hope you’re all making headway with your quest for a better, healthier life. Please keep me posted on your progress as I need your example and encouragement.

Someone to keep my promises too

The more I try and fail, the more I realize that if I’m going to win the battle of the bulge, I must have a continued source of external commitment. Be it a blog, weight loss support group or whatever. So, I’m back online and looking for support and someone to keep my promises too.
The past two months have been rough on my waistline. It’s crazy to think that I actually lost weight during one of my most stressful and normally junk-food-ridden times of my year and then actually gained weight during the ensuing period of peace and ease. My initial success all boiled down to my having a plan and my having made a personal and public commitment and even a commitment to God. Once the commitment period ended, so did my responsible eating behavior. The good news it, I’m not dead yet! There is still time to regroup and now is that time.
Yesterday was a good day. I’m tracking my calories again and it really does help. The weather was perfect for some outdoor exercise and I managed to order a green salad topped with grilled chicken while out to dinner with a friend.
Today is going to be awesome. The only trouble I see will come this evening when I will be traveling to Gunnison, it’s the kind of road trip that traditionally means excessive snacking. I’m going to take some bottled water and maybe some grapes or pretzels or something else along those lines. Please expect me to give a report on how I did because I’ll need your encouragement to succeed.
I’m also looking for another 5k to prepare for so if you have any suggestions or would like to run with me, let me know.

That’s the plan. I’ll keep you posted.

There are a few anniversaries from American History that cause a man to recommit and certainly 911 is one of them. It’s hard to sit here on this honorable day and make some statement about me being instantly perfect, so I won’t. I’m not feeling that strong, but I will say that for me to not persist at doing something as important as taking care of my health is complete foolishness. So better I must become.
The great news is that I have still kept up on my daily exercise; the problem the past 45 days has been my eating. So that’s my goal…keep up the exercise and drastically improve my eating. That’s the plan. I’ll keep you posted.

A "deal" with God

I mentioned the other day that I was proud/blessed to have made it through two very difficult times of year without gaining weight, in fact, I lost weight. The first period was during the pageant. Normally pageant time is also known as junk food time, or late-night munching time at my house. We don’t have time to cook and we don’t keep normal hours, so we always hit Wal-Mart and buy a bunch of snack foods to eat. This year I made a deal with the Lord that I would not partake in such unhealthy practices and for the most part, I was able to keep my end of the deal and I was blessed with health and strength to do all that needed doing during such a stressful time.
The next difficult health period was last week when I was the head Dutch oven cook for the Gunnison Bulldogs while they were at football camp. The coach wanted the boys to eat like kings and eat like kings they did…and I cooked it all. Three squares a day, plus snacks. All of it Dutch oven style or BBQ and all of it had bacon as the major ingredient. In short, I cooked for them all of the kinds of food I love. I made a deal with the Lord and he helped me to be that close to that much fattening food and I hardly ate a single bite of it. I had a few very small portions of a few of the less fattening dishes and that is all.
I will talk more about this tomorrow and more specifically, I will talk about the “deals” with the Lord, which was really more of a covenant that a deal, and maybe you’ll want to try it as well.

No rouge dogs

What a tremendous morning! I’ve found the perfect training ground to prepare for upcoming races. It turns out that two trips through the entire Nephi City Cemetery is just over 5k. Half the roads are uphill and half sloop downhill and I alternate my running with fast walking while carrying my 5 lb purple girly weights. The cemetery is great because there is no traffic, no rouge dogs to deal with and lots of shade trees…oh, and singing birds. I’ve been up there most mornings for the last month or so and I am loving it.

So far, I’ve lost over 80 lbs. The weight never comes off as fast as I would like, but what I am doing is working. I hope things are moving forward in your quest for a better, healthier life as well.

Keeping my promises

Bless me bloggers, for I have sinned. It’s been 5 weeks since my last installment!!! Can you ever forgive me? …Thank you!!!

I’m headed out of town again but I wanted to make a post before I go. I’ve made it through two of the most potentially fattening times of my year, coming out of it lighter than when I went in!!!

I will post the details when I get back on Sunday or Monday but let me just say I have been very blessed in keeping my promises!

At least until after the 26th

The last couple of days? Good. Last couple of weeks? Average. But average is better than cruddy! I’ve been doing of lot of walking these past weeks and that is all that kept me from gaining a ton of my weight back. I’m not sure what more to say, after being silent for so long other that I have made a special kind of commitment that had better keep me “on track” at least until after the 26th. After that, I’ll review my progress, adjust my game plan and keep going.

The mini-fridge downstairs

So…I had this calorie tracking idea that seems to be working so far. I wake up each morning, plan my meals, and then place everything that is supposed to go into my gut for the day in its own spot in the mini-fridge downstairs. I’ve been talking with a personal trainer from the Biggest Loser Ranch in St. George (Fitness Ridge). The ranch in St. George uses the exact same methods of training, weight loss, and mental wellbeing that they do on the TV show. The trainer says that everyone on the ranch eats 1200 calories per day, regardless of body mass and gender. They also exercise for seven hours per day. Killer! Anyway, I have adopted the 1200 calorie idea and am working towards the seven hours. Each day, my 1200 calories goes into the mini-fridge and each day it is honestly a struggle to eat it all. I guess the struggle is because its 1200 healthy calories, which is quite bulky. To eat 1200 calories at Chuck-O-Rama is a breeze, it would be a single plate full, but in health food, 1200 really is a lot of mass.
So far it’s working pretty well…at least for now. What I mean by “for now” is that I’m finding that all good ideas work when they are new but they can lose their luster over time to where they are not as motivating anymore. Take my blog for example, at first, I was unstoppable with the thing, but as time wore on, blogging alone lost its power to motivate me. I think in weight loss, we need to be prepared to make some changes as our current regimen becomes less effective.
Well, that’s all for today. The weather is supposed to be great for a while and that means no more excuses. Wish me luck, and I wish you well…as well.

We must develop a new, healthier mindset

I’m not sure what’s happening here but I am really feeling the fitness bug these past few days. My nutrition has not reached the point of perfection, but I’ve been eating much smarter and am already in love with exercising again. I am no longer consumed with thoughts of food either; rather I wake up, do a few sets of crunches, and plan my exercise opportunities for the day.
It is a significant thing when I say that I am not consumed with thoughts of food. As dumb as it sounds, I think all extremely overweight people or people with inappropriate relationships with food, think of food all too often. I can actually be in the middle of a great (and by great I mean “unhealthy) meal and already be thinking/talking about what I am going to eat for the next one. I’ve thought and behaved that way so often and for so long that I did not realize until a few years ago that to be that consumed with food is not normal. I think most overly-large people think that way as well, its part of our problem and we must develop a new, healthier mindset.

The first real good day in a long time

After being in weight-maintenance mode for the last several weeks, it’s hard to come right out and say that I am back and ready for battle…but I am back and ready for battle.
Yesterday was a good nutrition and exercise day, the first real good day in a long time. It felt good to get out and walk in the sunshine and it felt good to go to bed slightly hungry. I sleep better than I had in weeks. I always sleep pretty well, but I sleep VERY well when I am eating right.
I have some new and very important reasons to get in shape and I cannot afford to fail. I will not fail.

Book Review

The Thorn: Book One. The Chronicles of Gan
By Daron D. Fraley
The Scriptures are clear. There are other sheep not of our fold, but them also He must bring, and they shall hear His voice and there shall be one fold…and one shepherd. In his insightful new novel, The Thorn: Book One, The Chronicles of Gan, author Daron D. Fraley takes us on a journey through time, even space, to a marvelous world with two suns and multiple moons, a civilized planet, much like our own, yet eerily unique.
Fraley has spun for us a type or a shadow, a symbolic view of an Old Testament era world, perhaps one of those other worlds spoken of throughout scripture, which are as the sands, without number. Yet they are known by their Great Creator, and the Messianic events of our world are known by the people of Gan, and the Ganian faithful look to the skies for the signs of His earthly birth.
A war for rights to the throne is raged between three Ganling brothers, two seek for blood, one strives for peace. Two brothers seek to obtain the powerful, ancient scepter that symbolizes the rights of the kingdom to the holder, and the rightful brother fights only to maintain the scepter and the religious freedoms of his people.
Fraley’s epic tale reads as if you were in a strange dream, somehow secretly watching the tumultuous Ganian events leading to the sign of Christ’s birth from afar. Unlikely friendships are forged between enemies, there are loves won, and loves lost. Lives won and lives lost. Swords flash in the duel suns’ light and blood runs down the cloaks of the wicked and righteous without prejudice.
The story is intertwined with foreshadowing, dreams, intrigue, murderous plots, swordplay, assassins, treason, magic, miracles, shimmering glowstones, broken hearts, epic battles, exciting skirmishes, loyal companions, redemption, death before dishonor, betrayals, prophesy, tokens, signs, symbols.
Daron D. Fraley’s The Thorn is a historical fantasy with a uniquely futuristic feel and it will keep you turning the page well into the night.

Mutually beneficial

Took a great hike today, but thankfully not in the rain. I’m feeling pretty good about my weightless pace. Sure it could always be faster but I have to keep reminding myself that I didn’t pack the pounds on overnight so I shouldn’t expect to shed them that quickly either.
I’m thinking another 5k is in order. Something “country” is preferred but I would consider just about location at this point. Anyone have the 411 on a good race that’s in latter May? My June is going to be slammed and July is too far away to be very motivational.
I posted an ad on ksl.com announcing that I would love to start speaking to groups about my journey and how they can lose weight too. It will be interesting to see if I get any takers. I posted a modest fee but would really do it for free if the gig was within 100 miles or so.
Let me know if you hear of a fun race to run. Better yet, let me know if you want to train for one together. A commitment like that will be mutually beneficial. Anybody in?

Come on! Hook a brotha up!

Another couple of good, healthy days have gone by. It’s been nice to get out and exercise in my shirt-sleeves and short-pants. If you’ve seen me out there motoring past, I hope you’ll forgive me for the radiant white glare coming off my legs. You know your legs are extra-white when flowers slowly turn to face you as you ramble passed them. That basically means that they see me as a better source of nutrition than the sun. It’s very sad.
My nutrition has been pretty good as well, but still, I could do better. I’m getting very excited for my garden this year as I am going to cultivate a larger variety than ever before. In the past, it’s pretty much been man veggies…like corn, spuds, and tomatoes (I know, tomatoes are a fruit, right?), but this year I’ll go for some of the healthy, girly stuff as well. Ah…like...???
I’ve been thinking more of doing some public speaking about my weight loss journey and how others can do it too. I’ve been invited to speak about the handcarts lately but not weight loss. Maybe I’ll run an ad on ksl.com and see if that gets me a gig or two. Just like it is with blogging, I feel that public speaking would help me stay motivated and allow me to encourage other heavyweights at the same time. Plus, if I’ve got a speaking engagement coming up, it will give me a short term deadline to stay healthy for. Anyone have any ideas about where I might find a group to speak too? I could make the presentation spiritual enough for Relief Society or casual enough for a Weight Watchers group or something like that. Come on! Hook a brotha up!

Life is simply too short for regression.

Everything is fine at 299 (299 point 7 that is). Well, I just barely squeaked out of the 300’s, and this time, it had better be for good. Life is simply too short for regression.
I walked the steep hill a couple of times today. Some lady came along with three large dogs literally leashed to her belt. She made fairly good time up the hill but I’m pretty sure the mutts were helping her pull. Looked like a good idea to me.
Hope you’re all having a great day.

I’m excited for tomorrow

Another day in weight loss heaven…which is always better than the years and years I’ve spent in weight loss…a…heck!
With the better weather, I plan to get my outdoor exercise in earlier, which will significantly reduce my chances of putting it off until I get too busy or too tired. For some strange reason, I wore my old running shoes today, and let me just say that they felt like they were made of two wooden shingles and duct tape when compared to my new Mizunos.
As of today, I’ve started keeping my calorie ledger up to date and that is always a good thing. And I know this is cheating, and that they have a lot of salt and preservatives I’m sure, but I bought a ton of Lean Cuisines. Had one for lunch with an orange and it hit the spot pretty good. Lean Cuisines also make it easier to count calories and to limit yourself to just one portion. I know that sooner or later I’ll have to go back to my healthy cooking from scratch, but for now I just don’t have the time.
I’m excited for tomorrow. I have not been perfect this week, but I still feel pretty good about being in the 200’s again, and then it’s back to uncharted territory for the rest of my journey. I’d love to lose like another 20 lbs per month between now and the Handcart Pageant on June 23rd. I’d still be a long ways off from looking the part of a half-starved pioneer, but hey…who wants to look like a starving pioneer anyway? Not me.

It felt good today

I cheated by exercising indoors today. Was it cold out? No…but I HATE that blasted wind. I walked for about an hour over at the school. I even got out my purple girly dumbbells and carried them around with me. That’s something I’d quit doing once I started running rather than walking. It felt good today. I think I’ll start packing them on my next outdoor run and see how it goes, although if they get too heavy I’d have to hide them in the ditch some place and come back for them.

Well, hope all is well with you. I’m still planning on a big lose for the Friday. Wish me luck and good luck to you as well!

No luck at getting food poisoning at the ward party

Headed back to the cabin but thought I’d better make an entry. Had a 6 inch Subway (chicken breast on wheat) for lunch. They really are very tasty. I don’t understand why I would ever choose anything else in terms of fast food.

No luck at getting food poisoning at the ward party. I’m sure I ate more than I should have, more than a girl on first date anyway. I say “first” mainly because girls do get to a point where they dare eat in front of you. At least they do if I remember right…it’s been a while.

Tomorrow is fast Sunday, so that ought to be good. To miss a few meals with a greater purpose helps in more ways than one. Now, if I can just not blow it and eat enough for all three meals once the day is done.

Hope you’re all having as great of a day as I am. If not, do what you’ve gotta do to make it that way.

Postpone my “being back” until Monday.

I have to admit I’m already starting to feel better. I’ve said it before, but our bodies really are ready to reward us as soon as we start treating them better. I hopped on the ol’ scale today, feeling certain that I’d put on like 20 lbs since I fell off the wagon but I was only at 306. That’s so much better than I was expecting that I figured I’d just postpone my “being back” until Monday. J/k.

I didn’t get any formal exercise in today, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, if that counts. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time doing some physical labor on the farm and I set up chairs for the ward party so that may have to suffice for today. Oh…and I’ll have to take the chairs down afterwards so look at me…I’m really tearing it up!
I’m glad to hear that many of you are still following along, even after my hiatus. My goal is to be back in the 200’s by next Friday so please hold me to it. From then on…it’s back to fresh territory…scale-wise that is. Hope you are still fighting the good fight…hope I don’t get food poisoning at the ward party…its potluck so anything can happen. I guess it’d be a killer way to lose 10 pounds. I’ll have to watch for some room temperature seafood or chicken.

Get my ol’ heart pumping again

I'm back to living at the cabin these days so my internet time is somewhat limited. All is well. Last night I nearly ate some ice cream but soon thought better of it...but not until after I’d already dished it up. I tossed the whole thing in the trash, bowl and all. Like I said yesterday…I’m back. And “Back” means no eating like I’m at a party…unless of course I am at a party, and then I’ll eat like a girl on date…as in very minuscule amounts.
I’m not sure of my race plans for the 17th. In my dumb county-boy brain, I was thinking that 5k was someplace else. The good news is that I am back in training as we speak. One nice thing about living in the mountains is that there are plenty of hills to climb and I intend to climb a bunch of them. That ought to get my ol’ heart pumping again, but I guess the rough terrain might make it harder for Life Flight to land if I go down some place.
I hope you are doing well with your goals. I’m sorry about disappearing for awhile. Obviously I was not doing very well nutritionally or I would have never left my post. Thanks to all of you who had the guts to “call me on it” and ask where I was. Your emails and posts where part of what helped bring me back around.

So…without further ado…here is my list…in no particular order.

In hindsight, I can usually tell when something on my to-do-list was very important by noting how much I procrastinate getting it done. And so it is with listing my reasons for wanting to establish a healthy weight. So…without further ado…here is my list…in no particular order.
• Underneath all of my extra weight is the real me, and unless you’ve known me for longer than 15 years, you and I have never really met. I’m looking forward meeting you…and I’m especially looking forward to introducing my real-self to my future wife.
• I want to run and not be weary, I want to walk and not faint. When you’re over weight, every step is hard labor. You dread far away parking places, especially if you’re going to a ball game or something with a group because you can’t keep up with everyone as they hurry to their seats.
• I want to be able to hike and hunt like I used to. Few people love the mountains more than me but I can’t truly experience them the way I’d like when I’m confined to staying close to the truck.
• I enjoy spending time with horses more than I do spending time with most people. I can still ride, but not in any of the challenging places, and I can’t mount and dismount without something to stand on. Very sad, and not very practical if you’re riding in flat places.
• I want the physical strength and stamina to help in an emergency. Right now I worry that if I came upon a bad car wreck or if there was a natural disaster or even a lost child in the mountains, I would not be physically able to help. What a tragedy it would be if I had to stand idly by and watch someone suffer because I did not have the power to help them.
• I want to make eye contact when I meet new people and not see them sneaking a peak at my huge gut before looking into my eyes again. It happens every time and I’m not just imagining things.
• I want to be at my highest level of self confidence. I’m a pretty confident person, but the real me is even more so. Right now, I’m holding back and I don’t want to be that way anymore.
• I’m tired of worrying about my health. I’ve been lucky so far to not have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, but all of those things are in my near future if I don’t change. I worry about the cost of healthcare but if I can get healthy, at least I won’t have to worry about obesity related health problems.
• I want to live long enough to fulfill whatever purposes God put me on this earth to fulfill. He lent me this body as a gift, and I have not been taking proper care of it. If a rich uncle lent me an expensive sports car, I would not dare treat it as poorly as I treat my body and yet a healthy body is far more valuable than any car in the world. One day I will have to account to God for how I’ve treated my body and if it’s worn out, I want it to be in his service.
Whew. Well, that’s about it for now. There are more reasons, perhaps dozens more, but I can feel that this little mental exercise has already been good for me. Within the next day of two I’ll post a few paragraphs on how I see my life once I’ve accomplished my goals.
Good luck with your goals as well and whatever you do…don’t give up on them.

Positive Visualization

As you may have guessed, I’ve been a little down in the dumps the last few weeks. Not only has my weight-loss leveled off, but complications and delays with my other major projects have been getting the better of me as well. It seems I’m guilty of wanting everything in life to work out on my timeline and not the Lords. I’ve been letting it all stress me out more than I normally would and that of course, only makes matters worse.

Sundays are always good for prayer and pondering so I made up my mind to do just that. By the time church was over, my folks gave me the pep-talk of a lifetime, saying that they had faith that I would succeed and that they would continue to stand by me. My mother told me to make a list of why I want to accomplish the projects I am laboring towards and to list how I will feel once I’ve succeeded. Then, when times get tough (which they will) I am to read the list as motivation. Positive visualization is not a new concept, but it was what I needed to hear.
Later on that day, a good friend of mine invited me to a fireside where she and her children were presenting a music and spoken word program. I was glad to go; feeling that this would be another opportunity for me to have my prayers answered. It was.
She talked about self-esteem, personal worth, and the worth of every soul in the eyes of God. There was a very peaceful feeling in the room as we were all reminded of God’s love for us. It was very moving.

Tomorrow I’m going to post my list of reasons for wanting to be healthy and how I see my life changing as a result. This should be very interesting.

And don’t worry…I’m not giving up on ANYTHING!

Another Sunday come and gone but it was not without my learning and experiencing some great things. It’s too late to share them with you tonight, but know that I will tomorrow. My folks gave me the pep-talk of a lifetime and a good friend of mine invited me to a fireside where she and her children were speaking and performing. I gained a lot of great insight and inspiration from these events and look forward to implementing the concepts and sharing them with you tomorrow. Sleep well. And don’t worry…I’m not giving up on ANYTHING!

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

Another good day. I chose to eat a healthy lunch even though I did not want to and I went for a three mile walk even though I did not feel like it. I guess having mind-over-matter constitutes a good day. It’s funny that two days ago I was calling my “homerun shot” at the weigh-in, and today turned out to be a real struggle. I had an early morning meeting in Orem and an afternoon meeting in Sandy so I’d pretty much figured on skipping my exercise today, but somehow I pulled it off.

Tomorrow night and Saturday is scout camp. I think I’ve got my meals figured out and I should get in a pretty good hike. Remember that I’ll be posting my weight tomorrow directly on my blog an on our Facebook group “A quest for a better, healthier life.” Be sure to check it out. I hope it turns out good but if it’s true what they say, and stress really does make it hard to lose weight, I may be in big trouble! Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

As quick as I think that, I get humbled.

I’ve managed to make it through an entire St. Patty’s day without wearing green and without getting pinched. That’s the sign of a man who needs to get out more. I did go for a nice run though. I’m still a little buggered-up from the Tooele 5k but I felt better today than yesterday.

Last night we played volley ball with the scouts. We had a great time and I hardly broke a sweat. It’s nice to feel a little of the old athleticism coming back and it was nice not to need a shower after the slightest physical activity.

Tonight for dinner I’m making a low-cal version of a traditional St. Patty’s Day feast. Anyone up for some corned-beef and cabbage? Just come on over. I’ve made just enough for a small contingency of leprechauns, so there should be plenty.

I wanted to say thanks to all of you who noticed I was struggling these past few days and send me encouraging comments, emails, and even phone calls. Every once in a while I get fooled into thinking that getting healthy is going to be easy for me but as quick as I think that, I get humbled. Thanks for helping me along.

I’m back in the game, baby!!!

It’s soon time to simplify the way I post my blog. Right now, I’m posting the same information to four different places. I’ll continue to post that way until Friday’s weigh-in. At that time, I’ll be posting only on my blog and our Facebook group page. The reason for the change is not only to avoid redundancy, but to also make reporting my progress and receiving your feedback a bit easier. It will also allow me to use my personal Facebook page for posting non-weight-loss related entries.

Okay, if there isn’t any other “ward business” I’ll move on to my regular entry. I was back in the health-game for the second day in the road. A great run, proper eating, and an excited attitude are the fruits of my day’s labor. For lunch I ate one of those new salads from Wendy’s. I’m sure it had too much sodium and who knows what else, but it also had a ton of dark green and purple kinds of shrubbery, which I’m told have more nutrition than plain ol’ iceberg lettuce. There were lots of apple chunks, pecans, and other good stuff to. The dressing was some kind of strange vinaigrette variety but the tangy flavor really grew on me after a few bites.

Now that I’m back on track, I’m feeling a bit cocky. Not since Babe Ruth in the 1935 World Series has an athlete called his homerun shot but I am calling mine. This Friday’s weigh-in is going “over the fence!” I’m back in the game, baby!!!

Its time I got rejuvenated but how do I do it?

It’s hard to understand what’s gotten into me these days, blog-wise. I’m not sure if my haphazard hiatus is due to the blog possibly losing its magic or if I am getting the feeling you all are board with my plight…so why write or if I’m just a natural-born slacker and have been casually blowing off something very important and inspirational for no good reason at all. As far as you all being board, why wouldn’t you be? Here I am supposed to be this great weight-loss champion and I’ve managed to lose only a pound or two over the last three or four weeks. Heck, if I were you, I’d be board out of my gourd over this thing. It needs a shot in the arm! I need a shot in the arm!

I did run today. That was good. I ate properly as well. Maybe I’m on my way again, maybe you’re still with me??? It seems my time and efforts these days are spread awfully thin between too many great projects. Perhaps I’ve got too many irons in the fire and in an effort to keep all of them glowing to a useful red-hot; I’m inadvertently rotating some of them into cooler places amongst the coals. The truth is, everything I am working on is important, but my quest for a better, healthier life needs to be among my first priorities. Without my health, I won’t be doing any of my other projects much good at all now would I?

How about those of you in the weight-loss trenches with me? Are you still on board? Have you too hit a plateau? Can we work together and motivate each other again like we did when the blog was new? Its time I got rejuvenated but how do I do it? Any advice?

For me personally, I just set a goal to beat all of the runners who showed up in Levis.

What a race! So there I was, milling around with the other runners at the starting line and I soon got the feeling that everyone was talking in low voices about little ol’ me. It turns out that in every race there is a “man-to-beat.” It also turns out that at this particular race, I, yours truly, was that man…but not for the usual reasons. In most cases, the man-to-beat is the fastest and most well-trained athlete at the event, and beating him/her would mean you were pretty hot stuff yourself. But in my case, the man-to-beat meant no one wanted to lose to “that 300 pound guy”…which like alluded too, puts a huge bulls-eye on my back.

For me personally, I just set a goal to beat all of the runners who showed up in Levis. There were around ten and I lumbered past eight of them by the time the finish line was behind me.

All in all, the race was awesome. Of course the race promoters lied about the whole thing being downhill…I should have known. Most of the upward sloops I handled okay, but the last one, a real steep sucker by any 300 pounder’s standards, was a real bear, and if my favorite sister-in-law would not have been there pushing me on, I’m not sure if I’d of made it up without walking. I mean, I’d like to think I’d of motored on up, but I really can’t say. I was closer to sheer exhaustion on that hill than I’ve been in years and years. Thanks, Sue, for keeping me vertical in those final moments! Oh, and I’m sad that your waiting to motivate your less-speedy bro-in-law will mean your name and finish-time will be posted in the Tooele Transcript Bulletin with less than the illustrious time that you truly deserve. Sorry Sis…but thanks again. You’re the best!

Here is a re-post of my very first weight-loss blog entry.

12-3-09
Does anyone know what the symbols mean between these two parentheses? (• • • — — — • • •) It’s Morse code for S.O.S. and this is me saying I need help; this is my S.O.S. call to whoever is out there...and I almost hope it’s nobody because what I have to say is very personal but I am saying it anyway. No. I’m not gay! But I am tired of being overweight and most of all I hate looking and feeling unhealthy. What I need is to make a long term commitment to a healthy lifestyle...one that I can live with forever. What I don’t have is enough staying power to do what I know I need to do. I need commitment, and that’s where you all come in. I have looked nearly everyone that I love in the eye and swore to them that “today was the day I was going to change!” and I couldn’t keep my promises. I’ve let them down, and more tragically myself, so many times that I don’t even know who I am anymore and I don’t know if they know me anymore either. I am tired of running into old friends from my mission or college to find that they don’t even recognize me...and that has really happened. I’m tired of not being able to do the things I once loved to do. I’m tired of not being as confident about my appearance. I’m tired! I’m tired! I’m tired. I’m tired of being tired for that matter.
But what about you? (If there’s even anybody even reading this.) I haven’t lied to you. I haven’t broken any promises between us have I? What if I sat here tonight and blogged to the world (who may or may not be listening) that tomorrow is a new and better day, a healthier day? What if I posted my hurtles, pitfalls, and progress? Would posting it make a difference to me? Would I have your support or would you be embarrassed for me. I would think it fair if you were embarrassed for me. I am embarrassed myself about this whole crazy idea. I am absolutely the last guy in the world to admit that I need help. I’m usually the one doing the helping, but today is my day to swallow my freaking pride and say that I need help. I need a level of commitment like I’ve never had before and I am hoping, even praying actually, that I can get it from you. Besides, I’m not the only one who struggles with this. I mean after all, we are in America right? Most of us are living far too high on the hog...and the hogs in this country are healthier than most of us by the way.
If I have the guts to post this blog (I’m 467 words into it and I still don’t know if I will do it) will you have the guts to show your support and even join me in a quest for a better life? Either way, I’m in. And to prove it, I am looking you all in the eye right now and swearing that I will not go to bed tonight without doing some sort of exercise, and tomorrow when I wake up, I’m going to post to you that I kept my word about my health for the first time in far too long of a time! And I’m going to keep posting my goals, progress, the ups and downs, for as long as it takes for me to change or until I’m dead...which isn’t far off I’m afraid, if I don’t start taking better care of myself.
PS If you think I sound serious now, wait until in the morning because I am going to post my weight and goals for the day! Holy Crap! I can’t believe I’m doing this but I’m at the end of my pitiful rope! Besides, this is so stupid that it just might work!!!
http://brentboswell.blogspot.com/

I was at the end of a very long and pitiful rope...

Long day. Out of gas. Did a short jog, a light supper, and am looking forward to an early bedtime. Bought some light-weight running shoes on my way home from SLC today…but I have a feeling they won’t handle the load so I am going to take them back tomorrow and snag a sturdier pair. I’m excited about the big race in Tooele. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the most popular race in the world, but for the few of you who have signed on, I promise that we’ll make it a good one.

For those of you who are new, I’m going to do a repost of my first blog entry tomorrow morning. Let me just say that making that first post was a significant event for me. I was at the end of a very long and pitiful rope and the idea of starting a weight-loss blog just sort of leaped out at me as I was praying for a way to retake control of my health. Now, looking back, posting was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done, but at the time, I was scared to death about what you all would think of me…a grown man going online, flaunting his weaknesses to the world. You can imagine my elation when the flow of support, well wishes, and eventually, comrades-in-arms all came forth in wonderful ways that I could never have expected. Thanks again for tuning in. Thanks for adding to my motivation and thanks to all of those who have joined alongside me in a quest for a better, healthier life.

I was an irresponsible dip-smack!

Nothing like good ol’ fast Sunday to help you recover from a belated birthday party at Texas Roadhouse. As a family, we went there last night to celebrate mine and two other birthdays. I was reminiscing as I ordered my meal how the old me once bellied up to the Road House menu and actually ordered and ½ rack appetizer, a full rack of ribs for my meal, and then added yet another ½ rack as a “kicker”. How insane is that? Our server came back from posting my order and informed us that the chef (who was a regional chef, not some local yokel) said I was the first in franchise history to place such an order. At the time, I wore the honor like a badge, but now…wow! I see that I was an irresponsible dip-smack for doing that to myself! Two massive racks of ribs, plus the two side dishes and several rolls...for ONE guy! And I was eating like that most every meal. That, my friends is how a man can blimp up to 371 lbs in a hurry. I was constantly eating like a fat beef being primed for slaughter in a Denver feedlot!

Now, the new me, still likes to celebrate with food once in a while and I certainly did last night, we all did…and it WAS fantastic grub. But can I say that as delicious as it all was, this morning I woke up with a grease-hangover that Hollywood might want to make a movie about. I felt so freaking sluggish after taking all that “garbage” into my body that I wondered why I didn’t exhibit at least some self control. But, in truth, I did exhibit self control when compared to the old me and that in and of itself is cause to celebrate.

Another great race opportunity!

Here is another great race opportunity. This one is a fundraiser for the Tooele Track Team. Registration begins at 7:30 and the race starts at 8:30. The runners will be shuttled from the park up to a local canyon where we will run down. As in...the entire course is down-hill. Sounds like a great opportu...nity for anyone but especially for those of us amateurs. Down-hill will feel pretty great to me. The cost for the race and T-shirt is only $15 and all proceeds go to the Track team.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO COME AND I WILL GET YOU LINNED OUT ON REGISTRATION! SEE YOU THERE! The race is on March 13th.

The cost is only $15 and that includes a T-shirt. All proceeds go to the track team.

In case you forgot…its FRIDAY! Time for the weekly weigh-in!

I love dogs as much as the next guy—well maybe not as much…or for the same reasons as some Tongans, but I do really really like dogs. Except when I’m out for a leisurely jog about town and some killer k-9 recently off his Prozac charges onto the street in hot pursuit of what his dog-brain interprets as a fleeting felon! I mean, sure an attacking dog always helps you pick up the ol’ pace a little, but that only lasts until the toothy pooch become close enough to get nasty. Then…you have to stop exercising (which is the sucky part!), turn around with your chest puffed out and your shoulders cocked back and try to let the dumb dog know that things are about to get incredibly serious…which by the way, is exactly what you’re afraid will happen! I’m a pretty tough guy, but honestly, who wants to get bit by a dog? All gaping flesh wounds and bloodshed aside, the whole incident would just be an embarrassing fiasco. A fiasco that could simply be avoided if folks would just care enough about their neighbors…and their 4-legged body guards to fence the critters in.
Anyhoo—that’s enough said about inconsiderate, uncaring, selfish, thoughtless, insensitive, and uncharitable neighbors with over-protective, ultra-territorial, disobedient dogs.
In case you forgot…its FRIDAY! Time for the weekly weigh-in!
The good news is, I’m out of the 300’s…again (*sigh*). My current weight is 298.8. That’s still a smidge up from two weeks ago, but it 5 lbs less than last week. Holy freaking hurrah!
I’ve got to tell you guys that I am really getting a positive charge out of this new Facebook group. To add so many new folks to our weight-loss watching ranks is very inspiring. Take today for example. It’s stinking cold out! We’re talkin’ freshly fallen snow, icy pavement, pothole puddles…the whole kit & kaboodle of wintertime obstacles, but still, I went running despite it all because of your being there! Your following my progress makes me motivated.
Now, I know I’ve celebrated being in the 200’s before, and I swore I’d never see the 3’s again, but this time I am so done with the 3’s! No way! Now how am I going back there…as long as I have your support. Let’s be motivated together!

Excited about the next year of my life!

Not to draw any more attention to myself than I usually do…but if you didn’t already know…today is my 39th birthday! And what a terrific birthday it has been. I spent the entire day hanging out at my favorite building in the world. It was a grand opportunity for service, pondering, prayer, and goal setting. I figured if I’m turning 40 next year (gasp!), I’d better get off my can and make some specific goals for myself. I mean, who wants to turn 40 and realized you’re no better off than you were at 39? Not me!

The other very cool development is that I finally figured out how to launch a Facebook group about my quest for a better, healthier life. It has been so killer to see how many of you have already joined. I think it’s like up to 80 members in the first 12 hours. That’s excellent! If you haven’t had a chance, look it up next time you’re kicking around on FB and join…then invite your friends to join. Just do a FB search for “a quest for a better, healthier life,” and you’ll find it. I’ve posted a bunch of pictures from the race and will add some before-and-after pictures soon.

I’m excited about the FB page because it is an easier way to post pictures, web links, recipes, and any other info that might inspire us to get healthier, but I’m even more excited about the next year of my life! How cool will it be to turn 40 and be in better shape than I was at 30 or maybe even 25? Answer: DANG FREAKING COOL!

Thanks again for your endless support and well-wishes, and thanks for joining us on Facebook. See you there soon!

Please, please, PLEASE do like that lady today!

BOOM! The blog strikes again!

Today I made a quick trip to the local Nebo Market for some grindage. I had a short list of healthy items in my cart, including a case of navel oranges, a package of all-white buzzard meat, and some whole wheat pasta. While I was trolling the dairy section, looking for cottage cheese, I noticed a woman (who shall remain nameless because I am never sure about mentioning people’s names on the internet) walking towards me. I reached out and snagged the low-fat mini-curd and turned to see that the lady was standing next to me. She said she is following my blog and she was proud of me for making such good food choices. I was so thankful to her for saying something because every time someone does, it makes me tickled-pink for one, and extra motivated for two.

I was thinking the other day about how I almost never by candy these days. And it’s a good thing too, because I never know who’s watching. If I had to guess, I’d say the old me bought some kind of candy at least 20 times per month, and when I say candy, I mean CANDY! Whopping portions! Movie sized candy bars, family packs of mini Snickers! Everything I bought was always in a full week’s supply—a week’s supply that I managed to consume in a few hours. How things have changed, how glad I was that my shopping cart was not loaded with high fructose corn syrup today.
Now, you’ll notice above I said that I “hardly ever” buy candy, but I never say (said) never. As you know, I still have my week moments and planned leaps off the weight-loss wagon, but by in large, I am a very different man these days.

Thanks a gazillion for your help and inspiration and please please PLEASE do like that lady today, and ask me how things are going. It means more to me than you could possibly know.

Then it hit me...

Today I had to lug about 100 lbs of sugar down to the storage room in the basement. The sugar bags were in two plastic tubs weighing about 50 lbs each. It was a pretty hefty load to be packing down that many stairs but the cool thing was…the job was a cinch for me now that I am in better shape. The old me would have paid some kid that was skateboarding down the street to come and do my manual labor, but not the new me. Now I just take life by the horns.
Like I said, the job was easy enough, but I would not want to pack those tubs around all day or anything. Then it hit me! The crazy thing is…those tubes weigh the same amount as all the fat that I’ve lost so far. In reality, I WAS carrying those huge tubes around with me all day. WOW! What an eye-opening experience! How did I even function? How am I functioning now with the 50 or 75 pounds that I have left to lose? It’s crazy how the weight can just slowly stack up on you in a way that you hardly notice.
I had a good run today…and a good nap, and now I feel as if I’m ready for just about any task that comes along…maybe even tonight’s scouting activity!

What a great aunt!

The blog saves the day…again! Today I had a big meeting in Orem with the BSA. By the time it was over, I was pretty near starved right to death, and I figured since I had to go to American Fork anyway, I may as well sample the exotic cuisine of the Far East while I was there. As in The China Town Buffet! DANGER! DANGER! Just about then, my aunt (a blog follower) called and invited me over to their place for lunch. “And don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll have something healthy for you.” Well, that was all I needed to get through a tough temptation. When I got to their house in AF she had a nice plate of raw veggies and some glazed chicken all ready to eat. What a great aunt!

The quest for a better, healthier life lives on!

Another month is nearly gone and so far, life in 2010 has been a ball. I’m feeling stronger today than I have all week. A great run, a few healthy meals and I feel like a brand new man.

A few of you have already expressed an interest in having me come and speak to your group or club, and I hope to hear from a few more of you. I think it would be a win-win situation for me and your group. It’s not that I’m that cool or anything, but I think my subject matter has universal appeal. Even if you’re already in great shape, the principals I am putting together for my presentation will apply to bringing about all kinds of positive change in your life.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! The quest for a better, healthier life lives on!

No longer a member of the 200 club! :(

Obviously I’ve lost my momentum! Any steam that I had built up at the beginning of the week has long since dissipated…gone with the wind. I’ve been trading the same 5or 6 pounds back and forth over the last two or three weeks, which would be terrific if only I was in maintenance-mode, but for someone on the supposed decline, this is terrible.
My weight this week is 305.4! As in…no longer a member of the 200 club. I guess that’s the chance a man takes when he allows himself to teeter on the edge at 299.7 and then sits on his chubby can for 5 of the last 7 days.
Like it was two weeks ago, I don’t think my excessive gain is real fat, but mostly water retained after eating an extremely salty pizza last night. Granted some of the gain is real, just not the whole 5 lbs…but still…this sucks…and I did it to myself! Again!!!
Anyone got any ideas on how I could get my mojo back? I was thinking that I need some kind of deadline, something for me to shoot for. The races are good, but now I know I can run them, they have lost their motivational luster. One of the weight loss areas I’ve wanted to explore is public speaking. I’ve noticed that those who lose weight and then make weight loss their business tend to keep it off. Along those same lines, I was thinking that if I had the opportunity, I’d love to travel around Utah giving speeches about my weight loss journey and how others can do it too. Such a thing would be very motivational to me because I’d always have a speaking event scheduled in the near future and I think that would motivate me to stay the course. Any ideas as to where I could start? I was thinking a mid-week Relief Society meeting might be a great place to try out my idea?

So why not eat this cardboard pizza?

Today was one of those not-so-great days when it comes to my weight loss. Lots of exercise but I ate like crud. I woke up and shoveled snow for a few hours, gulped down a bowl of cereal (not the healthy kind) and headed to Moroni to fix my grandparent’s plumbing problems. The job took a lot longer than expected and while stopping for plumbing parts at the hardware store we each bought a cookie and candy bar for lunch! I know it was stupid but it was like 3pm and we were starving…and I’m pretty sure the hardware store was fresh out of salads. The moral of the story is don’t let yourself get so blasted hungry that you panic and eat junk food. The other reason that junk food is bad is the effect the one poor choice can make on the rest of your choices that day…hence the frozen pizza I ate for supper. “Why not?” I asked myself. “I suck today anyways…so why not eat this cardboard pizza?”

Well, you know “why not,” and I know now…but at the time, pizza seemed like a grand idea. Now I am suffering from a dry mouth, stuffed gut, and heartburn. Serves me right for falling off the wagon! One of the things I’m learning through all of this weight loss stuff is that I can’t afford to get all down on myself after a day like today. Life happens…FOOD happens, and I just have to resolve to do better tomorrow…and I will do better tomorrow. The weather is set to be warm and sunny for a few days, perfect for running out doors and perfect for getting me back to my rigorous training schedule.

I must admit that it’s tempting to never tell you when I screw up. It’s embarrassing, and I’m not proud of my actions today, but to pretend it does not happen to me once in awhile doesn’t do you or me any favors. This is a battle, and battles are not always won but thankfully we don’t have to win them all to win the war.

Nobody leaves Sin City totally guiltless!

Wow! What a crazy past couple of days! Like the rest of you, I’ve been running all over the place lately. I spent all day Monday over in Sanpete where numerous fatty temptations jumped out and tried to kill me. The worst ones reared their ugly head’s over breakfast. As a group, we went for breakfast at a greasy spoon joint in Mayfield, UT. Upon investigating the menu I learned that there were no healthy breakfast options (surprise-surprise!) so I improvised by ordering a green salad. That’s right…a green salad for breakfast. So there I am grazing away while everyone else is pounding an appetizer of extra-large scones slathered in honey butter. Their meals came and they looked and smelled awesome, but I stayed my course, and focused on the sliced avocado in my shrubbery. Then came the next temptation. Out of the blue, the waitress slams one of those enormous scones on the table in front of me, saying that the cook accidentally made an extra and wondered if I wanted it. I made a joke about the scone and everyone laughed at my being randomly temped. Then came, the next onslaught of enticement. The same waitress shows up a few minutes later wondering if we might like to try one of the chef’s special sweet-rolls...it was on the house. This “thing” was freaking huge, I’m talking the size of a grown man’s cranium here…and with a gob of frosting the size of a mud-puddle. Well, we all laughed again at my being tempted but this time one of the ladies at my table was sensitive enough to move that roll away from me before I had a meltdown right then and there.
The next couple of days included an unexpected trip to Vegas. Pretty much a down-and-back deal but it gave me no time to make much of a blog entry. I had some great nutritional victories while on the road, but nobody leaves Sin City totally guiltless. I know that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I will confess…there was ice-cream on the way home! (Gasp!)
Today, it was a quick trip to Orem and back and now it’s almost time for bed. Hope you’re all surviving these hectic days as well and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

woops!

Sorry. guys! Unexpected trip to Vegas...no time to write. I ate smart today...funny thing about that but I'll have to tell you tomorrow.

:)

Pretty sneaky, sis!

Sundays are always slow. No exercise except a touch of snow shoveling (the ox was in the mire), oh and setting up chairs at the church. I’m still in poor enough shape that these types of activities make me sweat…and anything that makes me sweat is considered exercise. Had a healthy lunch and a small serving of “diet” ice-cream…which is pretty much the same ice-cream as the regular stuff only the diet is whipped extra fluffy so you end up with less cream per serving. That’s how they can say it is less calories and fat. Pretty sneaky, sis!

The fastest 300 pounder to cross the finish line!

As impossible as it sounds, the Ol’ Boz-Man took first place in his division today at the Wild Goose Chase 5k in Delta, UT! Of course I had to make up my own division to do it, which is really the only way I could ever take first in anything sporty. I ended up being the fastest 300 pounder to cross the finish line…very cool. Sure I was the ONLY person even CLOSE to 300 lbs, but it was still a great way to come up with an ever illusive “W”!

The truth is, I’d already won before I got there. The winning was in the preparation. The fact that I was ready to show up and run every step of the 5k is what today’s race was all about for me.

I was so glad to see some of my blog-buddies there as well! Amanda, (and her kid sister), Tina, and Ryan…you are a big part of why today was so dang cool for me. Did we not have a GREAT time? Let’s do it again soon!

My next 5k is in Tooele (mid March) and here’s the best part…the entire course is down-hill, baby! That’s where big guys like me can just let go of the breaks and let gravity do her business. Are any of you “down” for that one?

Well, thanks again to you all for being such excellent cheerleaders for me and my progress and remember that I’m cheering you on with yours!

A “decade low” milestone!

Missed it by that much? Not today! Sorry to have been sitting on such killer information for the past 12 hours but I had very short notice to finish a pretty big project, but along with getting my manuscript submitted on time, I also weighed in this morning at a “decade low” milestone! My new weight is 299.7! How crazy is that? I’m mean, I know if some farmer was looking to sell me at the stock auction, he’d still mark me down as weighing a large three-hunski, but hey, according to my scale…I’m da’ man! I’m in the 200’s again, baby!

The trick now, is to NEVER say hello to the 300’s AGAIN! Of course, if I did see them, I’d be saying something a lot more colorful that “Hello.”

The race is on for tomorrow, but man-o-man the weather is supposed to suck! Some of you have dropped out already, and I can’t say that I blame you, but don’t ever list me for a job reference if you’re fixing to get on with the U.S. Post Office, because they have a very strict “Rain, Snow, Sleet, or Hail” policy that they roll by—sorry! Just kidding, I understand some of you had a long ways to travel in the morning, and I must admit, if the roads are bad enough, I’ll just have to tough it out, because I am running that sucker, Buck-o!
No, I really am kidding. We all just do the best we can when it comes to fitness (and our few Saturdays). I’m a little worded though, because I’m not sure anyone will be there to take my photo when I cross that finish line. Oh well Not like I could sell it on Ebay or anything.

Catch you tomorrow!

Re-don the Nacho Libre costume!

I’m late! I’m late! For a very important…blog date? It doesn’t quite rhyme like it did in “Alice in Wonderland,” but I do feel like that dumb rabbit running around trying to keep a near impossible schedule. The whole world seems to be in one great big hurry.
Well, tomorrow’s the big weigh-in. Oughta be a lot better than last week, and Saturday is the bog race. I’ll try to take a few pictures and get them on my blog, but I may have to re-don the Nacho Libre costume in order for you to appreciate the impact of the “before/after” snapshot.

The answer is a resounding YES!

This Saturday’s critical question has already been answered!!! For those of you wondering (myself included) if a 300 lb man could really run a 5k and not require CPR or at least an ambulance afterwards, the answer is a resounding YES! That’s right weight-loss-watchers…today at approximately 2:30 pm (MST), I jogged every step of my 5k practice route, without dying and without walking so much as a single step. So now we know! It CAN be done! And my family can stop talking about how to divide up my estate on Saturday afternoon! j/k

I also wanted to give a “shout-out” to those of you who sent Brooke Walker at Studio 5 KSL an email about having me on the show. She sent me a very congenial reply indicating that she has forwarded my information to her producer. Brooke seems to be as genuine via email as she is on TV. I still don’t think it would hurt to send her an email if you haven’t already. So much of what those types of shows choose to highlight is based on public interest so the more of you who contact them, the better. Just Google “Studio 5 KSL”, click on the bio’s link and look for Brooke. Her email is right next to her photo.

For those of you wondering why on earth I’d ever want to go on television about my weight loss struggles, let me just say that it’s for the very same reason I blog about it in the first place. Increased exposure equals increased commitment for me, and it broadens the number of people that I might be able to inspire, and in turn…be inspired by. The truth is, I ran extra far today because I am motivated by possibly being on that TV show, and also because I could not wait to sit down and post to you all about it. In fact, most of what I’m typing to you right now was written word for word in my head as I plodded along those 3.l miles today.
Thanks for being there for me, and for cheering me on. Hopefully I can return the favor by helping you out as well.

Maybe I'll be a guest on KSL's Studio 5!

Hey, guys.
Here is a copy of the email I just sent to the mid-morning show on KSL 5.

Give it a read and let me know what you think. In short, I’d love to be on their show to tell about blogging your way to a better, healthier, life.

If you think that would be cool, send an email to Brooke Walker at KSL. If you quickly Google “Studio 5 KSL” you’ll find their website. From there, the easiest way to contact her (and it is very easy) is to just click the “bios” link on the top of the page. From there, it shows everyone’s pictures (She is the smart looking, beautiful one) and it gives her KSL email right next to her picture. I was going to post her email right on my blog but I’d hate for that to cause her a bunch of spam or something. Besides, I think you’d like the Studio 5 site. It has a ton of good info about health and fitness. Just tell Brooke that you are following www.brentboswell.blogspot .com and let her know what you think of the blog.

Thanks, guys. This could be very very cool.

PS Can’t wait for the race on Saturday! Thanks for all of your help and support.

Dear Studio 5 KSL,

The last few days you've been talking about bogs, weight loss, and running 5ks on Studio 5. I am in the middle of doing all three...combined.

On December 4, 2009, I was desperate for help losing weight so without planning it, I went to my blog, which I never used, and posted a plea for help and support. I posted my current weight (huge) and my goals. I made promises to whoever might be "out there" and it turned out that a lot were listening (reading)! Since then I have posted nearly every day and have lost almost 50 lbs. I am running my first 5k this Saturday and have three more scheduled. The whole experience has been awesome! If you think I might have something to say that could inspire your viewers, I would love to come on the show, or help in any way that I can.

You can see my blog at www.brentboswell.blogspot.com or find me on Facebook. My motivation for going public like this is two-fold.

1. It helps me feel more committed when I know others are eagerly watching my progress, so being on TV about this would really ramp up my commitment to my goals.
2. I have heard from dozens of folks who read my blog and are now making public fitness pledges of their own, and most importantly, they are keeping those pledges for the first time in a long long time.

Also, as a side note, I have issued the challenge for everyone following my blog to come run with me at each of the races. This Saturday, there will be at least 5 or 6 of my blog followers who are going to run with me, a few of which I’ve never even met! How cool is that?

Hope to hear from you soon!
Brent
PS I live in Nephi.

Who wants a goose liver?

Great run today! It’s a good thing too because I also spend a tone of time sitting at my desk today getting my novel submitted. The run was a welcomed diversion from an otherwise very sedimentary activity.

The day of the big race is barreling closer! Glad to see that more of you are on board. The national weather service is showing Delta, UT as being in the 50’s for the next few days, but there is as possible storm looming out there for the weekend. Thankfully, weather men are not very accurate for more than a day or two at a time. Therefore I say, “This storm too, shall pass!” But even if it doesn’t, if people can “Sing in the rain,” we ought to be able to run in it. Besides, inclement weather is always best when it comes to the observance (hunting) of geese, and I plan on getting my bag limit somewhere around mile 2.5! After all, they don’t call this sucker “A wild goose chase” for nothin’! Who wants a goose liver?

“jogging machine”

Sorry about missing my post on Saturday. I was in Tooele most of the day to see my nephew get his Eagle Scout Award. Very cool, but I also got home very late. I’ve not been getting much sleep these days as I’ve been working day and night on the final stages of getting my novel ready to submit. The good thing is, I’ve been a “jogging machine” these past few days. Maybe my stamina is improved as a result of all the extra calories I ate last week.

The big race is less than seven days away and I am feeling better and better about it with each passing day. So far, I’ve heard from a half-dozen of you who’ve committed to run it with me, but I am only aware of one who is registered for sure. Are the rest of you still in? I hope so! If you miss this one, there will be others, but at some point you’re going to have to commit and register so it will act as motivational tool for you. That’s the whole point of running these things. I would never have been pushing myself this hard without the commitment.

I’m not at all freaked out by this!

It’s an awesome experience to jump on the scales for your weekly weigh in and see the scales rolling past five new digits, unless the digits are rolling up and not down. Yup, my week of nutritional neglect has cost me 5 lbs, robbing me of dropping into the 200’s (for another 7 days) and ending my perfect losing streak.

The crazy thing is…I’m not at all freaked out by this. I chose to “eat up” for a few days and surprise-surprise, its showing up on the scales! The truth is, I don’t regret it. Sure, I wish I could eat like a madman and still lose weight but I can’t. But, I did have a great time at the Super Bowl and I did eat like a rock star, and I plan on doing the same thing next year. If I’d just blown a full week of a 6 week weight loss contest I’d be freaking out, but this new lifestyle of mine is going to last a long long time, and one week is mere peanuts when compared to forever.

In the meantime, my clothes still fit as loose as they did last week, I’m still comfortably cinching my belt in the same new hole and I went for a full two-mile jog today. Two miles is double my best distance for the last 10 years and I could have easily gone further today but I did not want to press my luck.

Last night I was fairly disappointed in myself and I asked for your prayers, calls, and emails, and I got them. Thank you, and I want to especially thank you for the prayers as I swear I could feel them working in my behalf. How else can you explain how content I am over what I’ve done? How else could I have suddenly eaten perfectly today and even run farther, faster, and with less fatigue than I have in a decade? Prayer works!

I am predicting huge weight loss for next Friday because this new number on the scale can’t be telling the whole truth. I didn’t eat enough extra calories to truly gain 5 lbs. Some of it has to be water retention because of the high salt content of my food choices and who knows what the rest of it is. I think it will be as the old saying goes, “easy come, easy go.” The weigh came easy and I’ll get rid of it just as easy!

Thanks again for your positive thoughts and prayers, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow.

Please help me get it back!

Another busy day has come to a close and I am pleased as well as disappointed in myself. Pleased because I resisted this afternoon when I was sorely tempted to stop at KFC for the all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet, but disappointed because I did not make time for any serious exercise. Here I am , less than 24 hours from my weekly weigh in, and less than ten days away from my first 5k run in over a decade and I am acting like a person without goals, or a person with goals but not enough heart to accomplish them.

But the truth is, I do have goals, and I do have heart! I can’t droop is self pity, but I don’t think I can get rolling again on my own. I’m going to need your prayers, encouraging words, and over all support if I’m going to get back on track. This entry is starting to sound like my very first post when I basically begged for your help. I swallowed my stupid pride, asked for your help and you gave it to me. If you’re out there, and you can find the time, please please please do something for me. A prayer, a text or an email…call me if you can and remind me how important this is. Remember, it’s not what I know about weight loss, it’s how I feel about what I know that will keep me on track, and obviously I have lost the feeling. Please help me get it back!

Old habits really do die hard!

I’m a big boy…so I take full responsibility for my eating choices over the past few days and let me just admit right now that they’ve sucked!!! I chose to “let my hair down” over the weekend, and party with the skinny people, but now I’ve had a hard time getting my butt back in gear. I’m not sure where the breakdown occurred but I drove home Monday morning after the Super Bowl, ate a bowl of “crap” cereal for breakfast and I’ve hardly ate a healthy thing since.

Thankfully, tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a day of renewed commitment on my part. There is no way Friday’s weigh-in can turn out very well, but I hope the bad numbers will at least slap me up-side the head! Hopefully those of you reading this will slap me up-side the head as well, and please do it literally if you happen to see me in person. I deserve it!!! One of you made the comment on my Facebook page that my blog entries as of late have been getting pretty short, well, I’m glad he called me on it, because too many short blog posts in a row indicates a lack of healthy activities for me to report on.

I’m sorry for letting you down. My brief relapse is proof that old habits really do die hard, and that my bad habits are very much alive and well, and are just waiting under the surface for me to let my guard down before they pounce. I’m not saying we can never enjoy a food party once in a while, but I’d better have a very specific plan for how I’m going to get back on track right after the big meal.

A hearty workout.

Long day today. Hardly time to exercise but thank goodness we played dodge ball at scouts and that got my heart going a little. Sad to admit that running around dodging and throwing Nerf balls equals a hearty workout.

A few new races in the works.

With the Super Bowl over, it’s time to get back on track. I had a great weekend, ate too much and exercised too little, but had an all-around great time!

I bumped into two people over the weekend who mentioned they were following my blog. Very cool!

Race day is fast approaching and I already have a few new races in the works, including a 5k in Tooele that’s held in mid-march. Hopefully some of my Tooele County friends will want to huff that one along with me. Let me know and I’ll get you the details.

Oh what fun that will be!

Down another 5 lbs this week! My new weight is 302.2 lbs, which you might have noticed it's only a few pounds away from the 200’s. Even with the Super Bowl feast coming up, I ought to easily make the “twos” by next week. Oh what fun that will be!

I’ll be out of town until late Sunday night so don’t panic for me if I miss making my post. I’m not dead; I don’t think…just away from my computer.

You’ll notice that I said “almost”.

Another great day! Tomorrow is weigh in day and that should go great as well. I’m feeling so good that I almost don’t even care about the scales anymore! (You’ll notice that I said “almost.”)

Just hop back on…it’s a slow moving train.

Great run + great nutrition = excellent day!

Its only 17 days until the big race and I’ve got a lot of stamina to gain, but so far so good. In fact, I’m not sure how my preparation could be going any better. I’ve been able to run virtually pain free which is pretty good for a big ol’ boy. It is true that I’m trotting along slower than most folks normally walk, but it’s been a lot of years since my days as a distance runner and by jogging slowly I have less chance of picking up an injury. That would be a real kick in the pants!

Well, I hope your days are going well. Keep up the good work and please keep me posted on your progress. I’m worried about a few of you who said early on that you were going to do this with me and now I’m not hearing from you. DON’T MAKE ME TRACK YOU DOWN! If you’ve fallen off the wagon, you’re not that far behind. Just hop back on…it’s a slow moving train.

Give me a shout and we’ll work on it together!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Looks like another fairly routine day here at weight loss central. I ran two miles and walked two today and it was a ton easier than yesterday. From a motivational standpoint, signing up for this 5k is one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I’m saying that now, but if I’m no longer vertical half way through the race I’ll be cussing myself big time.

I’ve been eating smart and eating my evening meal early, and my body is sure thanking me for it.

I wanted to say thank you (again) for being here for me and for all of your nice emails. I’m even still getting them from people who’ve been following my blog each day and yet I didn’t know that they were. Very cool. I am so excited about how well things are going. My success is the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of as I drift off to sleep. Who’d a thought that taking care of myself could make me feel so dang great? Hope you’re feeling that way too…and if not, give me a shout and we’ll work on it together.

Man, I would’ve felt like a heel!

The ol’ blog pays off again! Last night I went to an Eagle Scout court of honor in Levan, UT. As with all Mormon gatherings held after dark, I knew there would be refreshments served, and that would mean temptation. I steeled myself against the sweet smells that wafted from the kitchen as we entered the little white church house. Maybe it was time for a small snack after all. About then, the woman in charge of the treats (the eagle’s mother) greeted me kindly, thanked me for coming…and informed me that she’d prepared some apples and oranges for those of us who are trying to eat smarter. By heck, she’d been reading my blog! Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! A few cookies and milk at the church now and again isn’t going to kill me but the fact that people really are reading this blog is what keeps me safe from temptation. It would suck to have been standing there with a mouthful of cookies and have someone come up and say, “So, How’s the weight loss coming? I’ve been following your blog and it’s been so inspiring.” Man, I would’ve felt like a heel!

Now, having said all that about temptations at parties, I do plan on letting lose somewhat at the Super Bowl party next weekend. The great thing about having something like this planned, is each time I’m tempted during the week to eat something dumb, I can ask myself if I want to eat this lame thing now, or wait until Sunday. At least that’s my plan. How about you? What are your plans for the next big “food party” in your life?

I can never go back!

Sunday dinner today was a culinary experiment that turned out pretty dang good. I’ve got so I just log on to one of my favorite “healthy recipe” websites, type in a short list of the meat and veggies I have in the kitchen, click enter, and through the miracle of the WWW, up pops 25 or 30 nutritious dishes to choose from that are based on the ingredients I have on hand. Today I made roasted pork tenderloin, and something that can be best described as the carrot’s answer to creamy tomato soup. I also whipped up some kind of low cal, low fat, creamy-cauliflower dish. The soup turned out like nothing I’d ever seen before but it was pretty tasty. The whole meal totaled to about 400 calories, which is not bad for what is traditionally the biggest, richest, meal of the week.

The other night, I tried on a few leather jackets that I’d had stashed in the closet for several years, and would you believe that they all fit? I also slipped into three more pairs of dress slacks that I’d previously outgrown and they fit as well. I still have a good ways to go to get into most of my suits, dress shirts, and spot coats, but it won’t be long until I can wear them all.

I stayed up until 2:30am that same night reading my old journals. I found that back in 2000, I weighed 340 lbs. A few months later I was down to 280 but I was only there for a short time. Sadly it was another failed attempted at crash dieting that ended with me getting heavier than ever. The good news is, what I am doing now is not a diet! My healthy habits had a beginning but they have no end. I do catch myself once in a while craving some of the massive quantities of junk food that I used to eat, and I think briefly that “when this is over, I’m going to get me a bunch of that”, but then I snap out of the destructive reverie and remind myself that this is not a diet. There is no looking forward to a time when I can go back to eating the way the “old me” once did. Sure I’ll indulge in a small amount of some of those kinds of foods, but I can never go back to the way things were.

Ran a mile without stopping!

Wow…it’s late. Let me just say that today was a good one. Along with a nice walk, I ran for almost a mile without stopping. Oh, and I ate perfectly. Hope you had a great day too and I promise I’ll write more tomorrow.

Good Night.

Sometimes less is more...

Not much time to post today but sometimes less is more…as in more pounds lost. Last week I weighed in at 312.9 and today I weigh 307.1! That’s down 5.8 lbs! It’s also the biggest loss I’ve posted since my first week. Sweet!

Well, I’m off for a little exercise. Catch you tomorrow.

The belt-holes never lie.

Huh…that’s odd. I went to cinch my belt an extra hole this morning and there were no holes left to cinch. Is that cool or what? I’ve had lots of “pay days” since I started my quest for a better, healthier life, but having to punch 3 more holes in my belt is by far one of the best. Belt leather without holes is very tangible evidence that my huge gut is finally in full retreat.

I was just thinking how every belt I own has a disheartening story to tell, a story of bulging pressure and great expansion. Like reading the rings of a tree, you can look at my belt to study how my use of each overstretched hole slowly progressed from one belt-hole to the next. You can plainly see how my midsection has bloated over time. And now, finally, my belt-holes are telling the same story, only in reverse…and this version has a much happier ending.

Tomorrow is Friday, and that means weigh-in day for me. I’m excited because this is the healthiest week I’ve had since Christmas. I’ve been exercising like a track star, budgeting and counting my calories, and even getting more sleep, so I’m expecting some great weight loss numbers in the morning. I hope the good numbers turn out to be true, but even if I only lose another 3 or 4 lbs this week, I won’t be disheartened because no matter what the scales say…the belt-holes never lie.

Off leash for the day!

Sorry for flying under the radar yesterday by not making a blog post. I left for Orem early Tuesday morning for a very significant meeting with the BSA, from there I ended up spending the night at my kid sisters house where time just slipped away from me. Little Sis even reminded me mid-afternoon that I could use her computer to make my post and yet I still didn’t “get ‘er done”. The good news is that even though I was “off leash” for the day, I still ate like a genuine champ. Sis fixed us a scrumptious salad for lunch, a bowl of sliced apples for a late afternoon snack, and when we went for dinner at the world famous Santaqueen Drive-In, I ordered a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a thick candy bar shake! Or at least I actually thought of order all of that…okay, the shake part anyway, but when it came time to order, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I had a grilled chicken salad with triple tomatoes and an ice water…awesome!

It’s obvious to me that I am becoming a changed man, not just physically but mentally as well. It seemed last night that “the new me” repelled the unhealthy food with the same stubbornness that “the old me” utilized to attract me to it. Now, of course I’ll eat junk food again…my life can never be totally void of milk shakes, but I hope to always indulge as a part of a plan, and never an impulse. I still have a long ways to go before I am in perfect control, for example, my last nutritional relapse was as recent as twelve days ago but last night at the drive-in was very encouraging.

All-in-all yesterday was a fine success, the prognosis for today looks splendid as well and I hope yours does too.

Tasty yes, but still very stupid!

The “getting fit” paydays just keep on coming! Today I had the opportunity to help an elderly couple move out of their apartment. As usual, there were only a few able bodied guys on hand to make the move, but now that I am feeling so dang fit and spry, I didn’t even care that I would be doing most of the heavy stuff. Trip after trip I hauled stuff out to the trailer and hardly broke into a sweat. I didn’t even curse under my breath about the long set of stairs! (We really big people hate stairs, mostly because they go up and down, oh…and also because of gravity!)

I’ve said this before, but one of the coolest things about our bodies is that we don’t have to be considered slim to feel better. Once we reward our bodies with better food and regular exercise, our bodies are very quick to reward us by letting us feel better. And have you noticed the opposite is also true? One bad food binge and the gluttony sucks the life right out of you for several days.

Why I lived the way I used to live was just so freaking stupid (tasty yes, but still very stupid), and the only thing dumber would be for me to revert back to my old ways. A good friend of mine used to say, “Why do we do the things we do when we know the things we know?” I guess it goes back to what I said a few weeks ago. It does not matter what you know, it’s how you feel about what you know that dictates your actions. A doctor that smokes knows all about the ill effects, but the good doctor must not feel very strong about those ill effects or he or she would be ex-smokers already. The bottom line is, if I’m going to change, I’ve got to feel the need for change right to my very core. Looking back, that’s exactly what happened to me the night I cried out into cyberspace for your help. I’d been on enough diets to know a lot about getting healthy, but it was not until I felt super passionate about it, and was willing to swallow my pride, that I was able to begin making the needed change. Once in a while I forget, and that’s why I sometimes "fall off the wagon" for a few days, but then I remember my blog, and those of you who are pulling for me and I have no choice but get passionate all over again because I can’t allow myself to break my promises to you. You are the reason I’ve been able to keep on keeping on!


In the words of Little Cesar’s Pizza, (who, by the way, has nearly gone out of business since I quit eating there) “Thank you! Thank you!

“Mommy, that man is fat!”

Just another Sunday in weight loss heaven!

This counting calorie concept has really been a huge breakthrough for me! Here I’ve fought doing it this whole time, only to learn firsthand that counting is king! The really cool thing is that understanding calories isn’t even rocket science. You just read the food label or consult the web, do a quick bit of math, jot down a few simple numbers in your check ledger and that’s it! Oh, and you have to remember not to overeat! Historically, that part can be a bit tricky, but it’s still not as hard as engineering a rocket, and I’m telling you, it’s easier to eat less when you’re keeping a daily food log.

Tonight was one of those little paydays that I keep talking about. We went to visit a family friend who hadn’t heard that I’d been losing weight. One of the first things our friend said when I strolled through her door was “you’re losing weight!” How cool is that? She wasn’t a part of my “paid” support group trying to encouraging me on, she’s just a random lady that blurted out her first observation, which by the way, is far cry better than some wide-eyed kid at Wal-Mart pointing at me, telling his mother “Mommy, that man is fat!” Yeah, that kind of blurting is never fun, even though I always mustered a fake chuckle just so the kid’s mom doesn’t cuff the honest little sucker up-side the head.

On another note, I’m slightly freaked out but also excited that the big race is coming up so soon. It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks I’ll actually be running three miles (hopefully non-stop) in Delta. I’m glad that some of you have committed to the run already, and hope there will be more, if not for this race, maybe the one in late March. Give it a think, will you?

See ya tomorrow!