FatBoy Day 15

Today I start out at 208.  Over the last few days, it’s been hard for me to lose weight.  I don’t feel like I’m cheating, so it’s a little frustrating.  I feel great, however!  Doing lots of activity when possible and the hunger is nowhere what it was.  My wife is really taking well to the diet thus far with already 18lbs lost.  I have lost 11 pounds thus far.  I will catch up though.  Here is the 15 day picture of me.

FatBoy Day 10

I am still at 210lbs.  I’m angry at myself for cheating so much the last couple days.  I plan on taking it out on myself today with a full hour of spin class followed by at least a half hour of laps.  Again my stomach was good.  This is a pattern now as clearly my metabolism is starting to peacefully co-exist with the HCG!  Well ultimately, I did 45 min of spin class then another 45 min of swim laps so I feel good.  Peace out.  BTW...Some paparazzi were kind enough to sell me some footage of me in the nude.  I've decided to release them to the public as natural art.  Enjoy.

FatBoy Day 9

I am at 210 lbs this morning. There is very little hunger today and my stomach feels good!  Maybe I’m turning a corner in this hunger fight.   My wife has had it licked from the beginning…  By the way, I have finally caught her in the loss dept as we now have both lost 9 lbs.  She looks great!  Her double chin is virtually gone and her stomach is flattening up.  She says she can see it in my face as well as stomach.  I feel like I need a 2lb loss day.  The gym will see me tomorrow.  I did do some cheating today… Had some chocolate chips.  In order to illustrate the fat loss to new guests I wanted to show a picture of myself last year at the employee luncheon.  What a difference, huh?

Top Day In Sports Is Now

It is my contention that this is the best single day of the sports year.

                Today the AFC and the NFC Championship games are going to take place, back to back.  That is, in the most popular sport in this country there are the best 4 teams playing in what usually are two very hotly contested games.  These games are usually rematches from the regular season where coaches have film in which to study and more familiarity with the players.  This is simply because they play in the same conference and sometimes, as in the case this year with the Bears and Packers, the same division.  These are the last home games for the host teams and the fans through tailgating and noise brought to the game, traditionally go out with fervor.  Some may say the Super Bowl is a more desirable day to watch sports, and to that I set forth the evidence of all those big games that failed to meet expectations.  All those blowouts!  The best 2 days in sports may very well be the first opening days of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tourney or the Final Four Weekend.  The best week is probably the NBA Finals.  The most exciting single day in the sports universe is Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL.  Your opinions are welcome…

FatBoy Day 8

I wake up at 211.  It is my son’s birthday party today.  We will have a half-dozen toddlers running around for a couple of hours.  For the most part I hold it together when the Gingerbread building contest happened, and I was even cool when the piñata exploded right in front of me but DAMN YOU I couldn’t contain myself when the PIZZA arrived!  I made a deal with my wife that we would have a slice in honor of my son’s birthday.  Also had a little slice of birthday cake… ;)  We were in the front yard playing soccer and throwing the football around in the morning so we did get some exercise in!  Oh well!  I will probably not lose anything in the morning!  It’s for him!  Still drank a ton of H2O today!  Still have the upset stomach.  This is a picture of me after the cake.  I caught a glimpse of some corn on the cob and well, you see what happened!

FatBoy Day 7

As I expect, I pay for my previous day’s drinking by not losing a single pound.  Still I am 212lbs. and I work today.  My job requires that I am gone from home for 24 hrs at a time and thus my routine at those times become quite disrupted.  In fact we as a shift eat meals together and as you may expect we don’t always really pay attention to healthy eating choices.  Having been chided the previous shift regarding my new diet I was leery to expose any new info voluntarily.  I decided I was only going to discuss it if asked directly.  It didn’t take long for the question to come up.  “How much have you lost?”  Well to this point, even though I didn’t lose any this morning, I’ve lost 7lbs. since the start of the program.  A couple of guys are starting to ask questions…  I get cravings at times and especially when it’s right around me.  I drink a lot of water every day!  At least 3 liters go into my body every day and that is a light estimate.  I eat very well today although I do need to adjust my feed times during the days I work.  My hunger level is too high in the early part of the day.  An adjustment will be made.

FatBoy Day 6

I wake up at 212.  I went to the gym and did another full body workout, the only diff from yesterday being I used different muscles.  Then I cheated.  I went out to lunch with a buddy, had 2 beers and a cocktail.  Luckily the lunch itself was perfect.  I feel so guilty though that I had only fish and veg for dinner.  On the day I ate over 700 cal.  Stomach still upset at times.  My wife thinks it’s all the coffee I drink.  Speaking of her, she lost another 2 lbs.  She says she gets a little hungry in the late mornings and the late evenings.  Her mood is always great and she loves the instant gratification this diet brings.  She had stomach problems before the treatment but now there’s none.  She loves that!  And I am so happy about that I posted a picture of myself...

FatBoy Day 5

It is a busy month as my son’s birthday, holiday shopping and a bunch of family time consume most of it. Do I care?  Not right now.  My excitement is felt often and the success of weight loss propels me further and with less effort.  My mood is great.   I wake up weighing 214lbs.  My wife said she lost another 3lbs!  It is so exciting feeling that every day I wake up a pound of pretty-hard-to-remove-fat is gone.  I finally had a hard stool this morning although the size of it made my 4 yr old girl chuckle.  

I went to the gym today and did a full body workout without a single problem.  In fact, my joints felt better than they have in a while...  Afterwards I did 30 min. of laps in the pool and felt like I could have done another 30.  I think I’ll try that tomorrow.  We’ll see.  I’m really surprised at how much energy I have!  Upset stomach resumes in the afternoon.  I would like to continue to escalate my weight training as this diet progresses.  This will be done gradually over the next several weeks.  The goal is to gain muscle and lose fat at its highest potential within the given time.  

I’m not sure how long I’m going to be taking the meds and therefore how long the diet will last right now.  I have a vacation scheduled at the end of the month and the question is ‘Do I want to be on vacation worrying about what I eat? I feel the answer will reveal itself as the weeks go by.  I was hungry today especially right before I was supposed to eat both times.  It’s cool though because all I do is eat a little bit of my next meal and it takes the hunger away for awhile.  Here is a Day 5 picture.

WTF?!?

What is that tennis icon Venus Williams is wearing? Is it a big fishnet attached to a prom dress? And what about the color? With a design like that subtlety should be on the color palette. Not knock-my-eyeballs-out yellow! I have HD for this? If she wasn't such a superstar athlete there's no way this flies! We would all be giggling like school girls as she walked by with that retina-scorching ensemble.  She is a no-doubt finalist for worst outfit of the year and she may also take the brunt of a class-action lawsuit brought upon by the fans at Sydney Arena for future ophthalmologist visit expense.  The sound of the attire did not affect Venus as she was able to advance with a straight set victory to advance in the Australian Open. As always your comments are welcome.

My New Hero

“Let me tell you something brother!  I’m coming for you Tom Jackson!  I’ve been training, saying my prayers and eating my vitamins!  Whatcha gonna do when the worlds baddest linebacker goes wild on you!?!”

When I heard the interview above, the first thing I thought was it was a “shoot”.  That term is a pro wrestling one, which means the wrestler will do or in this case say something out of script in a display of his real feelings, which are usually negative.  Bart Scott really wanted to win that game.  He wanted it so bad that he couldn’t help himself after the game when Sal Pal slow-pitched those meatballs disguised as questions right in Scott’s wheelhouse.  It felt like Mean Gene Okerlund was asking the Hulkster- “After the ruthless double team attack from Roddy Piper and Cowboy Bob Orton, which left you bloodied and a face of Crimson Mask, what do you have in plan for them Saturday night in the Garden?!?!”  I bet if Sal Pal just asked his initial and kept the mike to “Black Bart” Scott’s mouth, he would have went on all night! 

He really showed what he felt about the Patriots organization, their players, their fans, and most importantly all the people that said they couldn’t do it.  To all the people on TV that predicted failure he couldn’t ignore at the most opportune time!?!?  Not when right after the game is official, you stick that thing in my face and NOT expect me to give a passive F-U to those suckas?!?  I see no problem with what he said and I absolutely loved how he said it.  That’s emotion.  That’s heart.  That’s pride.  I’m down.

FatBoy Day 4

I weigh 216.  When I take a shower my body feels different!  It actually feels different to my own hands! My wife prepared lunch for me today and is having success as well.  She’s feeling good about herself with 4 lbs lost!  I’m at 3 lbs to the good thus far.  I wasn’t nearly as hungry today as I was yesterday.  There is only the slightest intermittent ache now in my stomach, meaning it feels like I had too much Jaegermeister the night before.  I hit golf balls today for about an hour which was the first activity since the beginning of the diet.  I want to begin some light to moderate exercises, ultimately being able to work out as normal.  It's not that I can't physically work out, it's that the diet in its original form eludes to not exercising at all. 

 The weather was fantastic.  It was 80 degrees with puffy white clouds and a slight breeze.  I took the kids to the park and they came to me when they wanted to leave, which was a surprise because it’s usually me looking for them.  At night the hunger, however small it is, is at its worst.  Eating just over 500 calories today as I begin to dial this diet thing in.  I weigh 215 before I sleep.

FatBoy Day 3

I weigh 219 this am.  This is my original weight so in 2 days stage 1 stuffing weight is now gone.  I’m on shift today and of course, as a firefighter my diet is met with criticism and schoolyard ridicule.  I imagine they predict failure.  It is a radical concept for the lay man, let alone my brothers at arms.  The breakfast smell of bacon and eggs in the air was a test of will I compare to what nuns go through (I really like bacon).  Hopefully they see the benefits that I expect.  I attached some recent pics of them. As you can tell they were excited to support the blog.

I was a little hungry today a couple of times but it was bearable.  I maintained the food part of the diet but did go a little over on calories at 660.  I had veal, broccoli, cantelopes and an apple.  I still have the upset stomach but not as much pain.

FatBoy Day 2

I’m at 222lbs.  Although I’m supposed to have another stuff day, I decided that my ass needs not another day of eating poorly.  Consequently, today the real diet starts.  I bought a cool scale that not only gives you the weight in many denominations, but also tells you the calories of the food!  Also, luckily enough the protein I bought was individually wrapped and fish and meat were very close to the 100g increments we need so there won’t be many leftovers.  Making the meals was easy with the measuring cup and the scale.  I suggest the scale because according to the diet, you must have a cup of veggies/fruit.  Well you don’t know how many calories are in that cup!  If you don’t know that, how can you count calories?  If I know that 100 gm of chicken breast is 157 calories, then I know the rest of my meal can be no more than 93 calories.  Now when I put the broccoli on the scale it is actual rather than the estimated calories in a “cup”. 

I made a mistake the first 2 days and ate 100g of cooked meat/fish so my calories are up a little.  I’m hungry especially in the morning but I get through.  It’s surprising how 300 calories fills you up though when it’s veggies!  We’re following the food preparation guidelines as well.  Broiling, grilling, boiling and poaching are the only methods used.  Just certain spices are used but screw that.  If I’m only having 500 cals a day, it better taste good.  I checked the caloric numbers for all my favorite spices and found the amount is negligible.  There is an upset stomach all day, occasionally with pain, but head-wise I feel ok.   660 cals.

It Takes Two

As the only child of a single parent family unit, and a 10 year public school educator I have some knowledge about the concept I’m about to introduce.  This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that reads this and if you disagree please feel free to post your comments.  My claim is this:

If you are the child of a single family household, in a situation where there is no other parent ever, you have exactly 50 percent of the chance to be a successful citizen that you had if you had both parents present.

Now what do I mean by successful? Absolutely a high school graduate, a lifelong tax-payer, an upstanding member of the community and if you choose to have a family, a good spouse and parent.  There are those that may say this criterion is a challenge even by children of a 2 parent home.  I agree!  There are many obstacles that present themselves over a 20 year span between parents and children.  Imagine the chances if there is only one person that does all the jobs a child needs.  The disciplinarian, shoulder to cry on, homework helper, practice taker, food/shelter/clothes provider, psychologist/child psychiatrist, cook and so many more job titles a parent has on one shoulder?  Oh and that person also has their own life?  24 hours a day everyday? 

Is it a foregone conclusion that if my dad takes off at the age of 4, I’m doomed to live in Loserville for life?  No…  I’m proof of that thus far!  However, the odds were against this kid from the Bronx.  How many of the people reading this is in the same boat?  Child of a single parent that was able to beat the odds?  And how many of you know about the others that prove my claim?  

FatBoy Day 1

Yesterday we were supposed to eat everything in sight. This is not a problem for me.  I ate all day long.  I went to Golden Corral and ate as if I was going to the chair.  There's something about that place that just screams gluttony.  Maybe its the mac and cheese located right next to the desserts.  Maybe its the cheesesteaks right next to the brats.  Whichever the reason, in addition to the mecca that is GC, there is the rest of the food that I would normally never eat.  I gained 4lbs this morning. I now weigh 223.  If only this was how the diet was every day...

LT Down, Not Caged

Well it looks like one of the greatest football players in history has soiled his reputation again.  This is like saying a used snot-rag sitting in the garage got some dust on it. No biggie.  Lawrence Taylor, a player I recall dominating during my earliest youth plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges in court Thursday, stemming from a May 6 arrest for felony statutory rape. He will be sentenced to six years' probation but must register as a sex offender.     This isn't the first time LT has had trouble with the law.  The late 1980s were more than rocky for Taylor, who entered drug rehab in 1986, was suspended for four games in 1988 for using cocaine, and faced drunken driving charges in 1989.  LT was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999, which was a happy end to a decade in which he's arrested more than once, including twice on drug charges. 

Do we really just let guys like this off without jail-time in this country? How long of a rap-sheet do you need to warrant some time on the bench?  Its obvious this is a man either has no regard for himself and others OR not enough sense/ability to keep it quiet.  I'm sure there must be celebrities/athletes/rock stars that are daily dumpster fires and we DON'T know about them?  Get this guy a decent publicist!  Doesn't he watch "Entourage"?  Can you say “damage control"?  It would sound like this..."Hey Steve, I need a hooker and the one over there is smoking hot!"  Sensible pub guy says "No problem LT!  Let’s take care of the guy still wearing his helmet, but the other prostitute NOT needing training wheels is a better call!"  "Oh, I guess your right Jerry!  What would I do without you?!?  Hey, did you get that coke...?"

The moral of the story is this…  For every  LT, Lohan or Hasselhoff who are media train wrecks there is an equal number of knuckleheads that you know nothing about.  Judge all at your peril!

FatBoy

The rather rotund bald man you see below is none other than myself.  I will be sharing with you my experiences relative to my new diet.  It is an aggressive one, so I will do the leg work for you.  In addition I will be opining on various subjects which really have no relevance to each other or anything else for that matter.  
I would be the first to admit that sometimes my open mind allows some ideas to creep in that really are bad ones even though they sound like good ones.  Usually the analytical side of my head goes and researches what my open mind allowed in and they either gel or they don't.  Being a moderate skeptic about things that are too good to be true has served me well.  Usually I'm right.  Sometimes an Amway creeps in there.  You can understand my skepticism about a diet that I stumbled upon recently.  It is called the HCG Diet and people say they lose a pound a day.  This foray into journalism is about my experience with Dr Simeon’s Original HCG Diet.  I am taking the HCG sub-lingually 3x a day at 10-15 drops each time.  This is the homeopathic way.  You can also take it IM or via pill.  My wife and I are both doing the diet.   I definitely suggest this as the support is really there.  Support is really key.  We are on a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) which limits us to 500 calories daily.   We are excited about its possibilities.  My wife won’t tell me what her beginning weight is but I'm starting out at 219lbs. We both took lots of pictures.  I will update the pics as soon as I take them.  Until next time...