Day 87-93

Net loss - 2.0, total loss - 72.6

Thanksgiving was good. So good in fact, that I gained almost 4 pounds. My family was in Chicago, so I went to a friends and went to town. I got there about 1.30 PM and started snacking until we ate the actual meal at 6.30. The food was so good though. Luckily, I worked through everything I ate within 2 days, and lost all that weight pretty quickly.

And I am almost done with the diet. I am excited. I am happy that this is done and that I did so well on it. I have a week to go, and then 25 days of restricted freedom. I say restricted because I plan to eat, but I know I have to control it and not go crazy. Then another 100 days, and by Tax Day next year, I will be all done.

I know these posts will not be every day anymore, but I will still post at least once a week.

Day 83 - 86

Net loss - 4.6, total loss, 71.4

I broke through the barrier I wanted. All it took was hard work and discipline. And a lot of willpower. As I said before, I dressed up as Santa Friday night, pics below. That was fun, but to be honest, it was a little creepy. I just did not feel right trying to entice little kids with candy. Granted, most of the kids who were really wrong did want to talk to me anyway. They would look at me and cry.

Day 82

Today - 1.8, total loss - 66.8

I had a good number today. I was really happy because it pushes me further along. This diet has been going so well, I almost don't want it to end. It is because of these new thoughts, I have made some plans for next year already. I am going to take 25 days off the diet and try to maintain the weight I am at. Not try to lose and definitely not gain. I will continue to work out everyday and see how my body reacts to a more normal diet. I will not go crazy, well, I am sure a few days will be over the top, but if I gain, I know that I need to go back to salads to lose those extra pounds. In the New Year, I am going to start another 100 Day Challenge to lose the rest of the weight. My goal right now is to lose 125 pounds total. I think I will lose between 75 and 80 pounds on this 100 Day Challenge, making the goal of the 2nd 100 days about 45-50 pounds provided I can maintain my weight. If I make my goal, I will have lost 125 pounds in 225 days. This is a pretty hefty goal, but I am already half way there in 1/3 of the days. It is so amazing. Where I started this diet and where I am now are so different. I have come so far and I know if I keep pushing myself, there is no reason why I can't keep going.

That being said, I am going to dress up as Santa tonight. I have to admit, I am excited. If you happen to be in, or near, Newport Beach, CA tonight, feel free to come by Fashion Island and see me.

I will post pics.

Day 77 - 81

Net loss - 3.0, total loss - 65.0

The net loss on this post is a little misleading. I had a big gain after Saturday night, but it was for a good reason. Saturday night, I had dinner with some friends I used to work with and AA (luckily, she wasn't nervous). It was an amazing dinner, we had beef tenderloin, barley, and these bacon rice creations. It was all really good, but made me gain some weight. Somehow, that weight disappeared Monday though. I am not exactly sure what I did, but I dropped a lot that day.

Last night, I went out with some friends to dinner. I ate a lot more carbs than I normally eat, and even had dessert (REALLY GOOD). We had this prosciutto wrapped shrimp and chocolate mousse that was really good.

Nothing that exciting has been happening. I have been working out twice a day, which is part of the reason I have not been able to post. I have been thinking a lot about this diet though. For example, the past 2 weeks have been tough because I have been in the same 10 pounds range and every time I seem to drop a few pounds, they come right back. I realize now, that a 1/2 pound gain is not that serious. I really need to stop looking at where I am going and one bad day, I need to appreciate how far I have come and realize that I need to keep working. One day at a time...

Day 68-76

Net loss - 4.2, total - 64.0

This has been a long week. I know I should keep posting more regularly, but I keep putting it off. I have had some bad days (as shown on the weight chart on the right), but I am maintaining. I keep working out, and I am trying to stick to my diet.

One thing I have noticed is how hard the middle 1/3 of my workouts are now. I am running now, well slowly jogging, and using that demon elliptical machine more and more. When I use the elliptical, I will use it for 60 minutes on days I don't lift weights. When I run, I have been building up to this, I run 15 laps on the outside lane of a track. The last time I went, I ran on the straight-aways and walked on the curves. Anyway, minutes 20-40 on the elliptical or treadmill and laps 6-10 are so hard to get through. I always try to talk myself out of the extra laps/minutes, but when I get through those, I know that since I have completed 2/3, I can finish what I started.

I really appreciate all of the support I am getting and all the people reading this. I will try to post more often. And cheers to my sister, who has started her own diet and has lost 15 pounds so far. Keep going.

Nothing really exciting has been happening since last week. I drove up to LA this morning to have breakfast with my friend Aesea. Her name isn't really Aesea, but when I met her Freshman year in high school, she told me that was her real name and, young, innocent gullible me totally bought it. It was good to see her and catch up.

I am sure there is more I could say, but that is all for today. And to whoever posted the comment to my last post, you are correct.

100 Day Challenge Update

I am so sorry for the delay in posting, I have been lazy. Of the 3 things I am focused on for this diet (food, exercise and blog), the blog comes last. The past few days I have done extra workouts and have ignored this blog. Tomorrow, I will be posting a new blog and updating all the numbers and the weight loss chart.

More tomorrow, but for now, please enjoy this video:

Day 67

Today - 0.8, total - 59.8

I am officially 2/3 of the way through this diet. I am really excited about all the changes and progress I have made. Losing almost 60 pounds and becoming much more active is really amazing. I am also really happy that I have been able to inspire people. I am the last person to think that when I started this diet, it would have gone so well. I do not have a good work ethic, honestly. One of my friends from college once described me as "lazier than dirt" (surprisingly, I still talk to him). I have worked out every day, hiking, walking, lifting weights, and I even tried running (I lied about that...it is really slow jogging).

I have even inspired other people to start dieting. One of the guys I work with wanted to lose weight, so he started my diet last week. I have not seen him yet, but from talking to him, he is sticking to it and really liking it. My sister has started working out and has already lost almost 7 pounds. And I know there are people who read this blog to maintain their diets, stick to it.

33 more days to go and 40 more pounds....

Day 66

Today - 1.6, total - 59.0

I dropped a lot today, of course, that has to a lot to do with how much I dropped yesterday. It was really weird. Yesterday, I voted, early and with no line, and went to see DM. It was pretty uneventful. Afterwards, I went grocery shopping and then went home. All in all, nothing special. I made salads for the rest of the week and cooked my chicken and ate dinner (a salad). I was really bored with all the election coverage so I went to the gym again to walk for an hour. This is where it got a little weird.

I was on the treadmill for about 20 minutes when the urge to pee hit me. I tried to ignore it, but after 27 minutes, I was in pain and had to go. I went to the bathroom and I must have peed for about 1.5 minutes. I just kept going. I thought, ok, I must be empty now, I will walk for another 45 minutes. Once again, after about 25-30 minutes, I felt to the urge to pee again. I thought this was really odd as I was working out and had just peed....a lot. I held on until the end of the 45 minutes though and went back to the bathroom and peed for about another minute, if not longer. I have to say, it felt really good though. Have you ever had to pee so badly that when you finally started going, you shake because you feel so relieved? That is how I felt BOTH times. It was strange, but whatever water I was retaining was all gone.

The sensation actually reminded me of when I was in France. The summer between high school and college, I was in France for 2 weeks. I went with 3 friends from high school and we were staying just outside of Nice. It was an amazing trip. Every night, we would walk down to this bar and it seemed like every round we ordered was a shot and a beer. I was 17 and had no taste, so all the water downed beer seemed tasty. Anyway, about 2-3 times a night, I would get up to go the bathroom, slightly buzzed. The bathroom light was set on a timer, so you hit it once, and when you were done, it would turn off. This is fine, except every time I went to the bathroom, I would pee so long the light would turn off, and I would have to reach back and find the switch and hit it again all while still peeing...in the dark. And when I was done, I would be completely sober. This was very annoying, but I was young, and didn't spend too much time thinking about it, I would just order another shot. And on that note, more tomorrow.....

Day 65

Today - 0.6, total - 57.4

ELECTION DAY. I went to vote around 9.30 today convinced there would be a line. I was so stoked when I got there and walked right in, signed in, voted and left all within about 10 minutes. It has been a long time since I voted, the last time was in 2000, so it felt good to do it this time. I am curious to see what happens and who wins.

As for the diet, I finally broke through a barrier. The last time I was working out and trying to get in shape, 2005, the most I lost was 57.2 pounds. I finally broke through that number on this diet and have lost more than the 2005 diet. It is a really good feeling especially since this time it took just over 7 weeks and last time it took 19 weeks. I have been much more disciplined about the diet this time though.

This is not a long post, I know, but if you have not done it, get out there and vote.

Day 62-64

Net loss - 1.4, total - 56.8

I apologize for not posting over the weekend. My internet is still not working, thus, I cannot post from home. Halloween was ok. There was a lot of build up, then it kind of fell flat. I still dressed up though. On Saturday morning, I tried running for the first time. OK, I lied, it was more like slow jogging, but definitely faster than walking. I went to a track and walked 3/4 of a lap and then jogged the last 100 meters. I did about 10 of those and for the last 3, I walked half a lap and jogged the last 200 meters. It was not bad, but it was not great. I have never really run in my life, even when I played baseball. The total distance of the walk/run was 4 miles, so it was a good workout.

Saturday night was interesting. I went out with DM and my friend AA. For those of you who don't remember AA from a previous blog, read this before continuing. She once again confirmed her nervous farting and told more stories about it. I actually felt a little bad, because as she explained more about it (she hates meetings because she can't control her flatulence), the more me and DM laughed. DM was laughing so hard she was crying. Then it got weird. AA began to tell us, in detail, about colonoscopies. She has had 2, so she knew quite a bit about it. I don't feel it is necessary to go into detail, but let's just say, if you ever get one, get the kind were you are put under, unless you like the feeling of air blowing up your ass.

We went to Hennessey's in Laguna again, hoping to see The Creepers, who are a really good cover band. Once again, we were disappointed because there was a different band playing. They were ok. We saw some crazy stuff at the bar though. There was a guy, who either forgot Halloween was the day before and decided to dress up Saturday night as a douchebag, or really was a douchebag. It was hard to tell. It was too dark to take a pic, but I will try to describe what I saw. He was wearing torn jeans (with a huge hole in the knee), a sport coat, a dress shirt (unbuttoned to the middle of his chest and with the sleeves unbuttoned and way too long), and a lame silver chain. The best part was his hair. It was not that long, but it was greased back to his scalp and he had it pulled into the one of the smallest ponytails I have ever seen. He was an expert dancer though. In one 10 second span he went from air guitar to air drums and at the end, he even threw in some air piano. AWESOME. Oh yeah, and he was dancing with a chick who had the word "STARLET" airbrushed on the ass of her pants (we couldn't figure out the word at first, and had to stare at it for quite some time to figure out what it was). I think they got along because her hair was shorter than his, and pulled into an even smaller ponytail (which after I saw her, became the smallest ponytail I have ever seen).

Sunday was not that interesting. I had the day off, so I went to work out twice and watched a lot of football. Anyway, here are some of the pics from Halloween.

Day 60 & 61

Net loss - 1.2, total - 55.4

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. This is one of the best holidays of the year (besides my birthday and Christmas). I will be posting pics of my costume, but for now, what I will be is a secret. So I could not post last night as my Internet is not working at my house and I have to go to my friends to post (ultra annoying). But I am still here, and I am still working out. I want to thanks those of you who are still reading even after the week off.

It has been a few weeks, and I tweaked it again, so I will list my menu again. I have tried to cut out a lot more carbs again to break through a plateau, and it is working. Also, I am still trying to eat every 3 hours, but obviously, the meals are remaining pretty small. This is what I eat on a daily basis now:

Breakfast
1 banana (before I work out, this will not change)
2 eggs scrambled with onions, hot sauce, spinach and parsley (I also add 1/2 a piece of low-sodium chicken sausage (from Trader Joe's) and a slice of low-fat cheese on the the days I lift). I was adding peppers, but I found them to be too much. I really like the eggs and onions breakfast.

Snack 1
1 apple or pear
1 yogurt (it was Activia, but I switched to Dannon Light & Fit)

Lunch
Salad with lots of lettuce, spinach, parsley, broccoli, peppers (red, green and yellow), cabbage, and low sodium salad dressing spray.
3-4 oz of chicken - this I barbecue after using a no sodium marinade and then cut up and put on the salad.

Snack 2
1 low-fat string-cheese
4-5 oz of celery sticks and baby carrots (not 4-5 oz of each, 4-5 oz total)

Dinner (Snack 3), but this is not everyday,
2 turkey/lettuce wraps - 2 slices of low-sodium turkey, some spinach, mustard, 1 slice of low-fat cheese, 2 romaine leafs.

And that is all I am eating these days, as well as drinking lots and lots of water. I think I am drinking about 3 liters of water a day. I have been on this diet for 61 days now and I am wearing pants that are 3 sizes smaller (comfortably) and shirts that are 2 sizes smaller. I feel really amazing when I put on clothes now, and that makes it so much easier to maintain.

Sometimes working out is really difficult though. For example, yesterday, I was going to go the gym in the afternoon for a second workout. I came so close to talking myself out of it. Even as I was driving there, I kept thinking I could just turn around and go home and it would be ok. As I drove in the parking lot of the gym, I thought about driving through to the other side and going home. When I got out of my car, I wanted to get back in. By the time I stepped on the demon elliptical machine, I was really close to calling it a day after 2 minutes, but somehow, I stayed on. I pushed through and went the 3 miles I wanted to go and I was happy I stuck with it. The feeling of pushing yourself through a workout and getting that extra mile, that extra minute, that extra incline is pretty amazing. I feel so good when I done working out, I just have to get through that first 5 minutes.

Like I said above, my clothes are shrinking as well, so I wanted to show off. I am a nerd, I know, but I wore some new clothes yesterday and I was really proud of it, so I was telling everyone who would listen that what I was wearing was much smaller than what I was wearing before.

Me, ready for work (shirt 2 sizes smaller and pants 3 sizes smaller)...striking a pose

Really, though, you might need to see the outfit again

This is my new sweater (I have never worn a V-neck before)

and pants that I have not worn in about 3 years:

WHAT? WHERE? Is Timmy trapped in a well? Who is Timmy?

Are you sure? I didn't see anything...

Over there?

I think you might be wrong, I am going to look the other way...

I hope you have a good, scary Halloween.

Days 52 - 59

Net loss - 7.8, total - 54.2

I am back. Sorry about the absence, but I needed to get away. I will be blogging again, everyday, and writing about how I am doing with this diet. I put the total loss at the top of this post, but there are daily numbers on the side. I also updated the weight-loss chart.

What has happened in the last week? I have been working every day and still losing weight. I am trying to stick to the diet, but yesterday I strayed. They had cake at work, so I indulged and had a piece of chocolate cake. It was pretty tasty. I tried to compensate by going to work out after work, and I still lost some weight, but not a lot.

I know I have been putting this off, but I am going to post some before and after pics.

This first one is me and Gootch on the Baseball Road Trip. We are in Pittsburgh

and this is a week before the diet started.

2 days ago, down 52 pounds, wearing clothes that were way too small 2 months ago.

Face pic from the start of the diet.

Today's pic.

That will conclude this post, I just wanted to get back into posting everyday. I am going to blog and workout everyday. 46 pounds to go.....

Day 51

Today - 0.0, total - 46.4

I did not lose any weight today and that is ok. I went grocery shopping yesterday. As a treat for being on the diet for 50 days, I bought one of those salads in a bag (with dressing) and some pre-marinated chicken. It was a little salty, but it was really tasty. I didn't realize how much I have changed since the diet started. Before, I would have wanted something fried for dinner to celebrate followed by a chocolate dessert and no salad in sight. I know that this is how I am going to eat when I am done with the diet to maintain my new weight and I liked it. It was tasty and satisfying.

I really don't have much to say today, so that is all for now. More tomorrow.....

Day 50

Today - 0.8, total - 46.4

I am halfway done, I am halfway done, I am halfway done. This is such a good feeling. I have been looking forward to it since I started. I know that now that I am halfway done I can keep pushing for the next half. I am really proud of what I have accomplished so far. I started out walking 2 miles a day and now I am walking 5.5 miles and uphill. I have dropped 2 shirt sizes and almost 3 pant sizes. I can fit into some of my clothes for the first time in 3 years, and I am now the lowest weight I have been in well over 3 years. This is amazing.

So what did I do to celebrate the halfway point of the 100 day challenge? I did yoga for the first time ever. Let me tell you how badly I wished it was being filmed. Grace, balance and any sort of flexibility have been lost on me but I tried. It was ok at first, the general stretching, but then the hard part started. I almost fell over several times, especially when we were supposed to be standing on one leg. Luckily, I was in the back row, in the corner by another guy who had never done yoga before.

Overall, a good day, and a great 50 days. Here's to 50 more...

Day 49

Today - 1.0, total - 45.6

I went to the gym this morning instead of going on my normal walk. I figured I could do more there than just walking. I did the elliptical machine for 30 minutes and then walked on the treadmill for an hour. It was a good workout, but I was surprised by, not only how many people were there at 6 AM on a Sunday morning, but by the fact I was there at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. I have been thinking about using the bikes at the gym too, but I am pretty sure that would not be a pretty picture.

When I weighed in this morning, I was surprised that I dropped a pound. This means that I am at the lowest weight I have been in 3 years. Like I said before, I worked out with a personal trainer during the summer of 2005. I dropped a lot of weight, but put it all back on when I stopped working out and stopped eating nutritiously. With the pound lost today, I am exactly the same weight as the lowest point of working out in 2005. In 2005, to get to the weight I am now, it took 19 weeks. This time, it took 7 weeks. This weigh in was pretty amazing, and with the clothes shopping yesterday, I am really happy right now. I am excited to see what the weigh in will be tomorrow...

Day 48

Today - 0.2, total - 44.6

HAHAHA. If you didn't read it, read my sister Shalini's lovely comment from the post yesterday (thanks for that sis). I know I need to put things in perspective sometimes, but I usually forget to do that. Today was a really good day. I admit, last night, when I was posted, I was pissed, but it had nothing to do with the diet. It is of no consequence what happened, I am over it now.

Today was really good though. Work was the same old same old, nothing new in that really. However, we were having a big sale. Let me backtrack a little. Before the diet, I was too big to shop at normal stores for clothes. Unfortunately, XXL shirts and size 42 pants just didn't cut it, which is what most stores carry. I had to shop at the Big & Tall stores (when I would shop, which was not often, I would always just say I went to the mall and that I couldn't remember what store I went to). A couple weeks ago, when I noticed I could wear smaller clothes, and wear them well, I started looking at the clothing at my store. Obviously, since the clothes didn't fit me before, I never bothered looking. Now, I admit, I am always looking at what we have and what I would like.

As my friend from cosmetics was leaving, I asked her to help me shop for some clothes. When we got upstairs, she asked me what my style was and I had no answer. Because I couldn't find clothes before, I always just wore t-shirts and jeans (now I have to think about style....brutal). As we were looking around and trying things on, I was blown away at the clothes that fit me now (we also had a lot fun with it and I cannot wait to lose more and go shopping again). Granted, some clothes still fit small and just don't work, but some of the clothes fit well and looked good. I felt so good about that and I really felt compelled to start pushing more on this diet. I think I am hitting a small plateau again, and the only thing to tweak now is that I have to do more when I work out. I am doing so well and need to not only maintain, but do more.

Whoo, ok, so after all that, I bought a shirt and tie and a sweater. Admittedly, I have never been a sweater guy, but a few more pounds to go and it will look really good. What a good day after yesterday. Who would have thought trying on clothes would do that.

Finally, to "Anonymous" who left the YouTube video for me to watch yesterday. Thank you for that, it was a good video. But who are you? Feel free to email me at: saschablog100@yahoo.com.

Day 47

Today - 0.4, total - 44.4

Not much to report today. Lost more weight. Worked out pretty hard in the morning. Work was lame. Great.

Day 46

Today - 0.4, total - 44.0




What a day. I went on a long walk today (which has now just become "my walk" as opposed to an "extended walk"), that was 5.5 miles. The worst parts were the 2 major hills I walked up. It was not easy, but I pushed through. I realized that like much of this diet, I do not like the struggle and the work, but if I make myself keep working, I feel better about completing something I put my mind to and I feel great about the results. I have really become adapted to this diet and exercising every morning feels so good.

After the walk, I was a little sore, but I think that was from yesterday. I am trying to add to my workouts, so I did the elliptical machine for 20 minutes. I did not like it. I made it through, somehow, but it wore me out. I then walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I walked 40 minutes at an incline including a total of 10 minutes at Level 5.0, which is more than I have been doing.
One really interesting thing about yesterday was that I was broadcast on the internet. Let me explain. I was talking to one of the people that works in Cosmetics the other day about my diet and what I had changed in my life. It turns out, her and husband have a nightly show that they broadcast on blogtv.com called J Francis Radio. She asked me to be on the show to get my story out, and so I said yes. Anyway, they called me last night and interviewed me about the diet. There are a few links as they break the video into 10 minute segments, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

It was good to get a new audience to share my story about this Challenge (and to those of you who listened last night, keep reading and tell your friends). I will also be on the show, in the studio, next Tuesday night. They broadcast at 9 PM PST at http://www.blogtv.com/People/Jfrancisradio, so remember to check it out.

Day 45

Today - 1.0, total - 43.6

I am still going pretty steady this week, dropping 1 pound a day. I am going to go on that hike again tomorrow and I am excited. I think I will be able to do better this time. What is that you say? I never posted the video I promised of the hike? My bad. I finally got to finish editing it. Please enjoy this video:




Also, I have been looking at some pics, some before-and-after if you will. Just so you can see the difference, I am going to post some pics from today and from New Year's Eve 2006. As for the shirt I am wearing, it stems from a night out with some friends and confusion over shots of tequila (not to mention the Tequila Club) and me trying to reason with our waitress. This is the story as it occurred October 2006 (that I remember):

I went to a Mexican restaurant, Freds, in Dana Point with a few of my friends. We had some beers at bar while we waited for a table. As we had some time to kill, and my ability to do shots and still stand is always in question, we decided to take some tequila shots (and really, a shot of Patron always make a dinner better). We take the shots, get seated and start looking at the menu.

You may not know this about me, but it has been said that I have the attention span of a fly. I usually don't pay attention to any one thing for very long, so needless to say, the menu got boring. As I looked around the restaurant, I noticed one wall covered with some plaques and a bunch of pictures and the phrase (in GIANT letters), "The Tequila Club." I asked our waitress what it was and she explained that it was a list of people who joined and then consumed 1 shot of every type of tequila that they serve. I knew immediately that I had to join and ordered 4 more shots of tequila (I was informed that they only served 5 shots a day to a person for safety reasons as they had 50 varieties of tequila. Not that I would have done 50 shots, but I could have made a big dent in the list that night had there not been a 5 shot rule.). I did not care what the shots were, just the first 4 from the tequila list.

The shots were served in a timely fashion and after a few minutes I had taken 2 of the 4 shots ordered. At this point a young lady walked up to the table and following conversation took place (keep in mind, she was not in any uniform and had no name tag):

Her: I am sorry to inform you that the Tequila Club is no longer active, so I can take these shots back and not charge you, but if you keep them, I have to charge you and I have to charge you for the 2 shots you already did.
Me: Who are you? Do you even work here?

Her: I am the Night Manager, look I have keys.

Me: I have keys too, does that mean I work here?

Her: I have a $1,000 key.

Me: (Excitedly) I HAVE A $1,000 KEY ALSO. (Then there was an awkward pause where she just stared at me, then...) So the waitress does not know there is no more tequila club?

Her: I guess not.

Me: So you're saying she didn't get the memo?

Her: No, she didn't.

Me: It's a pretty important memo, don't you think? Shouldn't it be your job to make sure that everyone know?

Her: It is, but I still have to charge you for the shots if you keep them.

Me: Well, they are already on the table, I will keep them. Make sure everyone gets that memo though.

The waitress came back and tried to explain more, but by that time, I had had 3 shots of tequila and a few beers. I stopped caring, but I was annoyed about them trying to take the shots back. Were they going to dump them out or pour them back in the bottle? If they were going to dump them out and waste them, I should have been able to keep them. I really hope they weren't going to pour them back in the bottle, that would have been nasty. The night was fun anyway, and as a Christmas present, I was given the shirt that I am wearing below.

New Year's Eve 2006, front

New Year's Eve 2006, back

A few months ago

Today, front

Today, back

Not too shabby eh? Also, I talked about a walk with DM during the first week of this that was uphill both ways. I did not like that walk then, but I am going to go on that walk again today with her. I am pretty sure I will not like today either, but it will be a good test to see how much I have changed since I started. I am confident I will do much better today then I did 6 weeks ago. More on that tomorrow....

Day 44

Today - 1.0, total - 42.6

I ate the Kashi Hot Cereal today. I had the Vanilla, and it really was not that full of flavor, but it tasted good. I was expecting a little more flavor, but I was not totally disappointed. I am interested to see how the Cinnamon flavor tastes.

As for work, it was not that interesting other than one thing. I was walking around the Fine China department and saw something that surprised me. I saw a crystal dreidel made by Waterford.

It is not that I have anything against dreidels, or Waterford, I just think it is really weird that we have a dreidel that cost $100 and doesn't even spin. Oh, that's right, I forgot to say that I tried several times to spin it and it would not spin.

Yesterday, I forgot to talk about what I was drinking. Obviously, no alcohol first of all, but really, all I drink is water. Every so often, maybe once a week, I have a Diet Coke. On the days I lift, I have a grape Powerade Zero (which is really good). Other than that, when I eat lunch, I add a packet of the Lipton Green Tea mix to my water. It breaks up the monotony of water.

That is all for this post, have a good one.

Day 43

Today - 1.0, total - 41.6


I have tweaked my diet again. I realize that it has been awhile since I talked about what I am eating, so I will talk about it again today. I went grocery shopping yesterday, which overall, was not that exciting, but I did see something that made me a little confused. Check out the pic below:

As you can see, this is a box of Kashi High Fiber Cereal. What I don't understand is the picture or the name of the cereal. Good Friends? Are casual acquaintances not allowed to get an increased boost of fiber? Why are the people so happy? Are they so happy because they had experienced some blockage and they are now much more regular? If you click the link above, it takes you to the Kashi web site, specifically the page for this cereal. On that page it describes the cereal as follows: "This high-fiber trio of flakes, twigs, and granola is absolutely delicious." Am I the only one who does not get that excited about eating twigs? Am I a bird trying to build a nest? I do not understand. Can someone explain this please?


Just to clear things up, I am not bagging on Kashi in general. I did buy their oatmeal as I am trying to change what I am eating, and I have heard that Kashi is supped to be really good for you. In case you are wondering, I got the Vanilla and Honey Cinnamon flavors. As soon as I try them, I will let you know how it is. Anyway, I just don't understand the Good Friends cereal. Maybe it's just me.

I also bought Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt. I was eating Low-Fat Activia, but decided to try something new. The Light & Fit has less carbs than Activia, which should help.

Alright, now for the food. The first menu is for the days I lift weights as I will eat more protein on those days and the second menu is for the other days of the week.

Menu 1 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and possibly 1 day on the weekend as well)

Breakfast
1 banana - I still eat this every morning before working out.
2 egg scramble - I make this with onions, peppers (red, green and yellow), chicken sausage, spinach and parsley. Occasionally, I will eat this with 2 slices of Oroweat toast. I also mix in spices and hot sauce. It is really good.

Snack 1
Yogurt and an apple

Lunch
Salad - romaine, spinach, peppers (red, green and yellow), cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and this low-sodium/low-calorie spray salad dressing.
Chicken - I am going to barbecue chicken again and add about 3-4 oz to the salad (on some of these days, I will not have toast for breakfast, and I will make a sandwich for lunch).

Snack 2
Low-fat string cheese and either celery or carrots

Dinner (this isn't really dinner, more of another snack)
2-3 slices of low-sodium sandwich meat rolled with lettuce (and/or spinach) and mustard and low-fat cheese (I tried this tonight and it was really good)

Menu 2 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday)

Breakfast
1 banana - before working out.
Kashi Hot Cereal and an apple - More to talk about later after I actually try it.

Snack 1
Yogurt and celery

Lunch
Salad - romaine, spinach, peppers (red, green and yellow), cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and this low-sodium/low-calorie spray salad dressing.
Chicken - I am going to barbecue chicken again and about 3-4 oz to the salad.

Snack 2
Low-fat string cheese and carrots

Dinner
2-3 slices of low-sodium sandwich meat rolled with lettuce and mustard and low-fat cheese

After much thought, and consulting with DM, I think it will be good to change up what I am eating and control the carbs more. I am really starting to like this diet. I also realize that I am satisfied with what I am eating which makes sticking to the diet that much easier. We will see how it turns out at the end of this week.

Day 41 & 42

Net loss - 0.6, total - 40.6

I could not post last night as my internet decided not to work. I am not sure what the problem was, but there was nothing I could do. So, it is Sunday and I am watching the Chicago Bears game. Since I live in Southern California, the powers that be do not show the Bears here very often, so this is making me really happy to watch the game. Now if they could win, that would be even better. I changed my schedule a little bit for the game. I was going to go for a long walk today, but I woke up late, so I cut my walk in half (so I can watch this game), and I will go for another walk after the game.

Speaking of my walks. I had to work yesterday, so I woke up early and went for my walk yesterday morning like normal. I was not aware of what the weather was when I left and I nearly froze. Before I continue this, I have to say, it is not very often that I complain about being cold. Since I am large man, it is almost like I carry around my own personal heater and I do not get cold. One example of this follows: A few friends and I decided to go to Disneyland (which, according to rumor, is the happiest place on earth.....that does not sell beer) a couple Decembers ago. December in the OC is a lot different from December in Chicago (where I am from), so I wore a t-shirt and jeans. My friends wore hoodies and complained about the cold, but I thought it was ok. In fact, I noticed people there wearing scarves, mittens and even winter coats. I thought it was really weird, especially when we left and the temperature in the car said 55 degrees (13 degrees Celsius). That day I was not cold. Yesterday, I was FREEZING. My hands were numb and even my toes started to get cold. I did not like it, but when I made it to the top of the hill, the sun was out and it warmed up a little. I was still so cold, I didn't sweat which is very odd for me.

As for the diet, here are some pics.

This is from the first day of the diet.

This is from today.

I continue to be amazed at what I am doing and how well it is going. I was not really sure how I would react to this diet when I started, or even how well I would do. 6 weeks in, 41 pounds lighter, stronger and more energetic. I feel so good. What can you do in 6 weeks?

Day 40

Today - 2.4, total 40.0

I was shocked to see how much I have lost since my last weigh in. I was not expecting that much of a drop. I am now right back on track as I have dropped 40 pounds in 40 days. 40 Pounds. It is such a big number and it makes me feel really good. I think a lot of that has to do with the hike from yesterday (which is mapped out here).

I am going to post a video of the hike, but that will have to wait. I did not finish editing it yet. As for pics, there will be more. It got late really quickly today, so this is a short post.

(To the person who posted the anonymous post yesterday, who are you?)

Day 39

Today - 0.6, total - 37.6

Today was a good day. I had the day off so I went on a hike with RM and did laundry. The hike was really good while laundry was boring. The hike was long, but I made it through. We hiked in the Aliso and Wood Canyons Park. I have never been there, but it is beautiful. The hike ended up being exactly 6.0 miles and we walked it in just over 2 hours. I was really impressed by this because the first half of the hike is mainly uphill and there are parts that are really tough, but I pushed through it and made sure that there was only minimal resting. For the most part, we kept moving, and we only stopped to take pictures. This again reinforced that I am able to recover faster. RM even noticed that when I was going uphill, I was breathing hard, but when we got to flatter areas, I was breathing easier pretty fast.

Alright, enough boring reading, here are the pics:

This is the first part, we walked through the park to get to the trail.

Entering the trails, I still have no clue about

what I am getting into at this point.

After the main climb, up the Cholla Trail, which was the hardest part,

this is the view overlooking the 73 from the top part of the trail.

Me in front of the Saddleback mountains.

This was about 1/4 of the way through the hike. We are overlooking Laguna Canyon Road

(I hate driving on that road, but I enjoyed looking at everyone else suffering on it).

The only wildlife we saw on the hike was a bunny

(I was pretty happy we did not come across any snakes or cougars).

I am pointing at the hill I do not want to walk up. It was tough to get

up that hill as it is pretty steep and I had been climbing a lot already.

This is me hating RM for taking pics of me walking up the hill.

The view from the Top of the World (who knew it was in Orange County),

and also the halfway point of the hike (the view is a lot better without the haze).

Me realizing that we are only halfway done.

Right before we headed back down towards the end of the walk,

the view of where we had been.

And finally, the end. This was my favorite part.

And that is it for this post. RM took some video of the hike which I still need to go through. I am going to add it tomorrow.

Day 38

Today - 0.6, total - 37.0

Today was an interesting day at the gym. I lifted (there will be a gun show on December 10, get your tickets now), and then got on the treadmill. The first 20 minutes were fine. I walked at an incline for 12 minutes. Then 2 people got on the treadmills on either side of me. On one side was a little brown man who apparently believes in East-Indian hygiene habits (he was a little ripe, and I know I get funky when I work out, but I am pretty sure it is not as bad as this guy). On the other side of me was an older lady (60's) who clearly was more concerned about how she smelled than the little brown man. She must have over compensated by bathing in her cheap perfume that smelled really bad. It smelled like a really bad knock off of a good perfume. And I forgot to mention the best part, there was a fan in front of all 3 of us that was oscillating. UUGGGHHH, every time it turned left, I got a big whiff of stinky to the right, and when the fan turned right, I nearly choked on $3 perfume from CVS. I was not amused to see I still had 39 minutes left on the treadmill. Somehow, I persisted and made it through the hour. They both left after 20 minutes, so I was able to breathe again.

As for food, I make the best eggs. I really do. This is a pic of what I eat every morning. I scramble 2 eggs with peppers (red, green and yellow), onions, and spinach. When the eggs are done, I put salsa on top of it. (This would be a better pic, but I burned them slightly today).

I have said it before, but I really like what I am eating and that is making such a big difference. I have been tempted to stray from my diet. The other day, when I went home, I really wanted chocolate for some reason. I found some and had a piece in my hand (a small individually wrapped Dove bar). For some reason, I stared at it in my hand and realized that I didn't need it. I was OK without eating it so I put the piece back. I resisted and I was pretty happy about that. It's a small change, but it is a positive change in this lifestyle shift. I just need to keep it up.

Day 37

Today - 1.2, total - 36.4

Today was a good day. I am really starting to get back to normal after that brutal Sunday. I am really starting to like this whole weight loss thing. I also realize that this is so much more than a diet, it is a lifestyle change. I am making positive steps in my life such as going on 2 walks in a day to fight through what I was feeling. There are some other changes I have noticed in the past 5 weeks:

1. It's not so much that I am getting smaller, my clothes seems to be getting bigger at the same time. I am wearing pants 2 sizes smaller than the ones I wore to start the diet and I am on my last notch of my belt. I have not bought a new belt in a long time. I am also wearing clothes I have not worn in least 2 years.

2. I have more energy than before and when I am active, I don't sweat as much as before. I started out on short walks and I am now walking 4.5 miles a day.

3. Faced with the option of sitting around and being active, I am choosing to be be active. Twice now I have gone for 2 walks in a day and I have gone paddle boarding after my morning walk (even waking up at 5.30 AM on a Sunday).

4. When I do something more active, I recover a lot faster than before. What? You want an example. Of course I will share one with you. Shown below is the escalator in my store:

It might not look like much from the pic, but they are pretty tall and I work on the 1st floor. Today and yesterday, I worked the opening shift and when I got to work, I had to put my lunch in the fridge in the break room which is on the 3rd floor. Both days, instead of using the elevator, I walked up both sets of escalators (the escalators are not turned on in the morning before the store opens, thus, they are reduced to stairs) from the 1st to the 3rd floor (which is not that much, but is still like climbing 5-6 flights of stairs). Both times I climbed them, I was out of breath, but not for that long, maybe a couple minutes. Before the diet, I had to climb the escalators after work and I was struggling. I was so out of breath even after 5 minutes, that I was embarrassed.

Overall, this is going well and I am excited to continue and maintain.

Day 36

Today - 1.4, total - 35.2

Wow. I am shocked that I lost that much weight today. I know going for a second walk helped. After reading the comment left by DM, I realize that going for 2 walks on a really tough day is such a change in my routine. Normally, I would have sat around and probably eaten even more. It actually felt good to get out and do something positive for once instead of wallowing. Also, thanks DM for reminding me what the name of the restaurant was. I could not remember in my last post, but the name of the first place we went is The Confidential. It was good, but then again, all we had was nuts and olives.

I realize I have lost a lot of weight in the past 5 weeks. James left a comment and asked a good question. I really don't know where I will be in 5 years or even next year. I do know that if I keep seeing the results and keep getting the compliments, it will make it easier to stay on this diet. After the 100 days are over, I know I will need to continue to exercise every day in order to maintain a healthier weight. As for the 1 pound a day, I know that is a lot, and I also know that my pace will slow down. For now, I am enjoying the weight loss and I really feel like I am doing it the right way, but I am well aware that this will slow down. It is not possible to lose weight at this pace for a sustained period of time, but I just have to maintain my diet and exercise to continue to move toward a slimmer me.

Thanks to Charles for the positive sentiment. I know I should have made it to the kayaking extravaganza yesterday, but I just could not bring myself to get out of my house. I felt a lot better after my 2nd walk and I will definitely be there for the next outing. As for the Chicago Cubs, I am still a fan. Just my like my sister (and her angry comment from the other day), Cubs fans have experienced a lot of pain (1989, 1998, 2003, and the last 2 years just in my lifetime alone), and we will continue to support them. One of these years, they have to win it all, and I will be happy in the knowledge that I have always been a fan. There was a positive though. The Chicago Bears won easily yesterday and are now in first place in the NFC North.

Shalini, I know it isn't smooth sailing. I know it is tough. I started thinking about all the things I have started, even the last time I tried to lose weight, and I got to thinking about how I never finish anything. I think I just was afraid of failing and falling short and regressing. This is something in my life that is very important right now and I know I have to not only complete it, but maintain it. I am feeling a lot better today. Getting on the scale and seeing the loss made me feel a lot more confident. I was so confident in fact, that when I went to the gym, I increased the weights I was lifting. I am still afraid of failing, but I know I need to take it one day at a time. One step at a time. One pound at a time.

Work was not that interesting today. Retail really is not that great a job. For example, I mentioned the Christmas ornaments and the glitter (glitter that gets all over my face and clothes after handling the ornaments). I really prefer ornaments like the one below:

Please note, no glitter. Nothing shiny that will get on your face when you wipe it after handling this ornament.

As work was slow, I was thinking more about Saturday night in San Diego. I forgot to mention that we ducked into Hooters in an attempt to wait out the rain. It was very convenient that the Haunted Hotel was right next door. I totally forgot to mention how hot our waitress was. She was so attractive we took a picture.

And on that note....

Day 34 & 35

Net loss this weekend - 0.4, total - 33.8

Yesterday, I went to San Diego with DM for a friend's b-day. It was pretty nice except that it started raining. We went out to some bars in the Gaslamp Quarter (which is an awesome place and you can check it out here)and even went to The Haunted Hotel. I have to say, overall, it was not that scary (you can check out here), and we had to wait in the rain, but by the time we left, the rain had stopped. The night was fun and it was good to go out with some friends. There was something interesting that I noticed that I want to talk about.

We met one of people at his downtown apartment that was about a mile from where we went. As it was a nice night out, we decided to walk to the Gaslamp. Had it been before my diet, I would have been worried about this but most likely, I would not have said anything. The worry would stem from me not being able to keep up and being out of shape and I would feel bad for walking slow and being out of breath. Amazingly, this did not happen. Granted, DM and the other guy walked really fast and I had to nearly run to keep up, but that's the thing, I did keep up, for the most part. By the time we got to the first bar, I was not out of breath and I was not sweating. If it had been 2 months ago, I would have lagged a lot, I would have been out of breath, and I would have been sweating a lot (which would have made me worried about smelling bad). I was shocked to realize that I wasn't sweating and thus, did not have to worry about odor.

I ate relatively healthy yesterday despite being at bars all night. I ate a Caesar salad from Marie Calendar's in the afternoon, some roasted chestnuts, salted almonds and olives from the first place in SD (I would tell you the name of it, but I really have no idea what it was called), and some sushi from the Tiki Lounge. The only problem I think was that I ate so late at night (we didn't eat until about 10.30). The best part was that I abstained from alcohol last night. I stuck to diet coke and water even after watching the Cubs lose (again), I wanted to drink quite a bit.

As for today, I was supposed to go paddle-boarding and kayaking again, but I did not make it. DM asked what my excuse was and I had no answer. I still have no answer. For some reason, I woke up depressed. I thought that going for a walk would clear my head and I would feel better. This did not happen. I almost felt worse. I really have no idea what it was, but I was in a horrible mood all day. I could not turn off my mind and I kept turning things over and over and just could not shake what I was feeling. This happens to me every so often and I just have to fight through it. I even ate horribly today. My roommate brought me back a Denver Omelette from Ruby's. I knew I should not eat it. I did not want to look at it, but something made me eat it all and the diced potatoes and wheat toast that came with it. Eating that depressed me more because it reminded me how I used to eat because I hated myself and hated how fat I was because I could not stop eating fast food. I took a nap and went for another walk and I am starting to feel a little better. Maybe walking 9.5 miles a day will do that.

I am interested to see what my number is tomorrow and if I am losing weight again.

Day 33

Today - 0.6, total - 33.4

Today was a good day. I wore some clothes today that I have not worn in quite some time. I was kind of out of clothes for work, so I tried on a pair of pants that is 2 sizes smaller than the pants I usually wear. I was so shocked/happy that they fit. They fit well. I also wore a shirt that I have not worn in long time also. I have to say I looked pretty good. I also noticed that I am down to the last buckle on my belt. More of this and I will need a new belt and new clothes.

Anyway, I am at home, it is Friday night, and I am going to watch a movie.

Day 32

Today - 0.8, total - 32.8

Another day, almost another pound. This is going to be a short post. It is late and I want to go to bed. Today was a good day. I went to see DM and RM before work. I made plans to go for a bike ride on Saturday morning with RM which will be a nice change of pace. Not that I have a problem with my morning walks, but a bike ride will be something different that will keep me going.

Work was not bad today. It has been slow recently. There was something weird that I noticed with the Christmas stuff we have in the store. In the Fine China department, we have all of these china figurines. One in particular reminded me of the Snow White version of Santa Claus. Maybe it is just me, but I have never seen Santa surrounded by forest animals, using a walking stick and with a cape. Wait a minute, maybe it is the friendly Pimp Santa. He has a cape and a walking stick and seems to be treating the animals nicely. And the statue is big. The Snow White Pimp Santa (that is the name I determined it should have) is about 2 feet tall and a foot wide. Very odd (there is a Pimp Santa Cookie Jar also, if you are interested).

Day 31

Today - 0.4, total - 32.0

Things are going well. I woke up early again to work out. It was a good workout and I am getting through the treadmill hour with more incline and more speed. For example, I walked 25 minutes at level 4.0 of the incline at an average speed of 3.4 mph. It isn't blazing fast, but it is fast enough. Actually, I like the routine I have. 3 days a week, I go to the gym (24 Hour Fitness) and lift weights and walk on the treadmill for an hour. The other 4 days, I take a walk by my house. This walk has been changed and extended and right now, is about 4.5 miles and has a huge hill at the beginning and an uphill on the way back as well.

After that, I went to work. Nothing exciting about the job, but I had a great lunch with my co-worker from cosmetics. She has made it clear that we are not friends, we just work together. She was nice enough to forget her lunch and eat a grilled cheese in front of me with a side of mousse. Brutal. Of course, she is same person who had the sliders, hmmmm, maybe I should stop eating with her. Maybe not, we usually have good conversations (and by good, I mean really funny, crude and not at all PC).

Last night I talked about the movie I watched. What I forgot to watch was "The Biggest Loser". I watched the first 2 episodes and I liked it. I am really do not watch reality TV shows, but this is a good one. Fat people working their ass off trying to lose weight, much like me, but without the cameras. Seeing the differences before and after is pretty inspiring. I am hoping that I will see the results they do and if I stick with what I am doing, I will. I already do see some of the results which makes it that much easier to stay on it.

And that brings us to the end of this post. Have a good day.

Day 30

Today - 0.6, total - 31.6

30% done. This is so sweet. I am amazed at how far I have come on this diet. I am pretty sure I said this before, but when I started, I was skeptical. Seeing what I have accomplished, and seeing the results, I am really happy I have come this far. And I want to thank everyone for their comments and their support, but I know that I am the one waking up at 5 AM and going to work out. It is me walking on the treadmill and hating every minute of it until I am done.

Today was more of the same. I work up early, went for my 4.5 mile walk and then went to work. After work, I went to DM's house to watch a movie. We watched Son of Rambow (yes, that is spelled correctly). I thought it was good, but a little slow.



That is all for today. More tomorrow and the next 70 days.

Day 29

Today - 2.0, total - 31.0

I love when I have the day off, except when I get woken up by a phone call at 6:30 in the morning. I was a little bummed, but made up for it by going to the gym and working out. I actually had a good workout even though I am sore from all the paddle-boarding yesterday. I'm walking faster on the treadmill than before and I am using level 4.0 on the incline now.

As for the rest of the day, I went to hang out with DM all day. It was low-key. We took some pics and did measurements. I am down 7.5 inches on my waist which is pretty amazing. I am really liking all the results I am seeing and all the changes. For example, the jeans I wore today used to be so tight, I didn't even need a belt to wear them. Today, for those same jeans, I had to wear a belt as I can now take them off without unbuttoning them.

That is all for today. I am really tired and want to get some sleep.

Day 28

Today - 1.0, total - 29.0

I am happy I am losing weight again. It feels good. I woke up early this morning and went for my walk. After that, I went paddle-boarding again. What a difference a day makes. Yesterday was windy, and I did horrible. I think I fell in about 20 times. Today, I did so much better. There was no wind, so I was able to stay up longer. I even made it around a couple times without falling in. Granted, this is all without actually standing up. I found paddling on my knees is what is going to work for me right now. I did try standing up today, and I did a lot better. I was able to stay on my feet for a few minutes, or at least what felt like a few minutes, it might have only been about 15 seconds.

As for what it looks like:

This is first step. Lessons on how to be on the board.

Then, there was getting more help and tips.

After that, I tried by myself (I fell in about 3 seconds after this pic was taken).
I even tried kayaking (oddly enough, we fell in about 3 seconds after this was taken). I also tried the 1 man kayak.

Needless to say, 3 seconds later....

Finally, I tried sitting on the board.

Success (and I did not fall in).

Thus, it was a fun day. Tiring, but fun today as well.