Beating the Boredom Beast

I just wanted to start off today's post by declaring that I am already beginning to feel some beneficial effects from starting my quest to lose it.  My legs don't hurt and feel heavy when I walk longer than 10 minutes, I have more energy, and me thinks I have already lost a little weight.   We'll see how much on Friday!  On to the post!

(Amanda Burri found this little gem.  You should totally check out her blogy blog here.) 

I thought this three panel comic perfectly describes what is wrong with my eating habits.  When I get bored that happens.  And by that I mean I raid the fridge/pantry several times.  My brain decides that the only way to qualm my boredom is to eat all the food.  Not read, catch up on cleaning, play a little Borderlands, or engage in some insightful conversation with Brodie.  When a boredom induced feeding frenzy occurs any concept of healthy smart choices go out the window.  My typical boredom food at home is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  For some reason I always tend to bust out the PB&J. At work it is worse.  My section mates have set up a candy/chip/soda area in one of the cubicles.  When boredom strikes at work, I get a sugar high and 200-400 extra empty calories.

So, what do I do to curb this horrible boredom hunger?  It all depends on what venue I am at.  If I am at work I go on a five minute walk outside or drink a bunch of water.  Both of those tactics have proven useful and effective.  Going on a walk gives me the time to decide if I am truly hungry or if I am simply bored and I get to burn a few calories in the process.  Drinking water keeps my tummy feeling full and also keeps me nice and hydrated which keeps my rather slow metabolism churning.

Being at home is a little trickier for me.  Typically I lose the battle at my house.  A couple things that I have found that are partially effective in this setting is brewing some herbal tea to drink and posting to this here blog.  The tea provides me something tasty and since it is hot, I have to slowly drink it which, once again, buys me time to consider if I'm actually hungry or not.  This blog has also been successful on two fronts.  One, this takes  up a lot of my time, believe it or not.  I am a bit critical of myself and usually write and rewrite sentences because I don't think they flow well.  Hopefully this hyper criticism has made this blog a little nicer to read.  Two, it's nice to reflect on what my goals actually are and what I need to do to get there. Oddly enough two PB&J sandwiches are not on the path to lose it.  Weird.

Now that I have discussed my major roadblock in proper nutrition here are some other goals I have set to get me where I need to be.
1.  No fast food.  No good came come from the fryer.
2.  Seriously limit my carbonated beverage intake.  True story, I was \in my class one day drinking a Coke and one of my students pointed out to me, "You know that you're pretty much drinking a candy, right?."  That ruined regular soda for me.  I'm still a push over for a Diet Coke, though.  Still, Why drink the bubbly?  Water is nice and free.
3.  Never get a frozen pizza.  I never intend to eat the whole thing in one sitting, yet, I always do.
4.  Always eat something for breakfast and make that something, something healthy.  It sets the mood for the whole day.
5.  Pack a lunch.  Saves me money and reduces impulse purchases of not so great for me cuisine.

So far, I have been doing a great job following these guidelines and, like I said earlier, I am starting to feel it.  If you guys have any other suggestion on ways to eat healthier or beat the boredom beast, please leave me some comments.  I am all ears!

Before I leave for tonight, I would like to thank my sister, Tammy, for buying me the coolest running app I have ever experienced, Zombies, Run!

This app turns every run/jog/walk into a gaming experience.  From the site:

Zombies, Run! is an ultra-immersive running game for the iPhone, iPod Touch,

 and Android. We deliver the story straight to your headphones through orders and voice recordings

 - and back home, you can build and grow your base with the items you've collected.

It made my 30 minute walk today super enjoyable.  Well, worth the money that Tammy spent for it.  Thank you, Tammy.  Tomorrow I'm going to turn on the 'Zombie Chase' mode and give it a shot.

Thanks again for reading and until next time.

- Louie

The Photo Spread

Today I wanted to talk about two things: Where I have been and where I am right now.  This will be a photo heavy post.  I hope you enjoy.

Where I have been

(2003 - Rocking some BCGs!)

I haven't always been as big as I am now.  In fact, I used to be in pretty good shape, if I do say so myself.  The above photo is me in 2003 when I graduated from Basic Training.  I can hardly recognize myself in this photo.  I believe I was right around 180 pounds at this point in my life.  As you will see, my weight builds and builds as time as I got older and, well, lazier.

  (2004 - Still looking good.)

(2004 - Notice how happy I am here.)

(2005 - Things are starting to get big up in here.)

(2009 - Yikes!  Brodie is cute here though.)

(2010 - This is the biggest I have ever been.  I was pushing 290 lbs and had to walk with a cane!)

(2011 - This was me after doing a juicing diet for 15 days and weighing around 255.  

Notice how it didn't stick.  Diets like that never do.)

Where I am right now.

(I figured I wouldn't scar you with a topless pic.  You're welcome.)

(Check out that chin or lack there of)

(Fun Fact: that gut impedes me from seeing my toes when I look down!)

Now, here are some fun facts about me as of today, 27 April 2012.

Weight: 273.5 lbs

Waist: 52" (my son is 37" tall)

Approximate BMI: 38% (38 percent of me, Louie Mills, is fat and that is completely mad)

T-Shirt size: 2XL

Pants size: 42 x 30

I went to my doctor today and got some blood work done, so, in about 10 days I'll be able to add those stats to track as well.  My goal is, until my quests completion, to do a weigh in every Friday afternoon and post the results here.  And, I am determined to show a change each and every week (hopefully in a downwards motion).  I'm not talking a drastic change each and every week, I'll be happy with even a pound gone from my body.  I'll also keep taking these horrible pictures and post them at the same time.  

Next time I'll discuss the nutritional aspect of this process and my horrible horrible boredom eating cycle.  It's horrible.  Thanks for the read and until next time.

- Louie  

The plan as it stands.

First off I would like to thank everyone who took a look at this yesterday and today.  50 page views, not including myself.  That is awesome!  So, thank you.

Now, on to the plan.  My training plan so far looks like this:
Monday: walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute for 30 minutes
Tuesday: walk 30 minutes
Wednesday: walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute for 30 minutes
Thursday: walk 30 minutes
Friday: walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute for 30 minutes
Saturday and Sunday: rest

At least, that is what is was before I decided to give that particular program a try yesterday.  The hard part about starting up a running program after a long hiatus is that you think you can just pick up where you left off, more or less.  I definitely overestimated my abilities.  I thought, "I only have to run for one minute and then I get to walk for two minutes?  How hard can that be?"  Turns out, it's kinda hard.

My "run" was more of a slow shuffle that quickly dissolved into a limping zombie-like shuffle.  I managed to go the entire 30 minutes while "running" the prescribed amount, but in the process, both of my feet went completely numb.  It felt like shoving hams into my Asics and running on them.  Don't be to alarmed, though.  This very problem used to occur to me off and on when I was in the Army.  It has never occurred to me quite so quickly, however.  I did my research today by reading this.  My guess is it is a combination of my shoes being laced a tad bit too snug (they were on quite tight that day) and my feet having to deal with 270 plus pounds being pounded onto them.

Having said that, I don't think I am ready for the 2:1 ratio just yet.  Heck, I don't think I'm ready for a 5:1 ratio at this point.  Now, I did go on a 30 minute walk today and that went quite well despite the 20-30 mph winds buffering me on the first half of it.  15 minutes up the road and then turn around and walk back to my car.  Below is a snapshot of my walking road.  We will become fast friends throughout this process.

With all that said, this is the new plan:

Monday: walk 30 minutes
Tuesday: walk 30 minutes
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: walk 30 minutes
Friday:walk 30 minutes
Saturday and Sunday: rest

Maybe after a week or so I will begin to introduce the old plan with a 4:1 ratio.  We'll see once I get closer to that point.  I have to listen to my body not my ego on this one.

Besides that, I scheduled a physical for tomorrow so I can get some nice tangible numbers for where I am at and to address the numb foot issue.  I'm also going to do some measurements so everyone can know exactly where I am at body wise.  I might even throw in some quite unflattering photos of myself!  Until next time.

- Louie

Why This and Why Now?

I had no intention to start a blog when I woke up this morning.  But, at some point today, I decided it would be in my best interest to do so.  Let me give you a little background on who I am and why I started this.

Like stated in my brief introduction, I am 27 years old, a single dad, a military veteran, suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, and overweight.  Really overweight.  Currently I clock in at 272 pounds.  A healthy man my age at my height of 5'11" should be right around 160 pounds.  If my math is right, I am 112 pounds overweight.  That makes me not simply overweight, but, obese.  Borderline morbidly obese.  I am on the brink of catastrophe.

How did this happen to me?  Why didn't I see this coming and stop it?  What can I do now?  These are all questions I ask myself and they all have simple answers:  1. This happened because of poor diet choices and inactivity.  2. Because weight gain is a gradual thing and I stayed blissfully ignorant of my body, I chose not to notice the changes happening.  And in my "moments of clarity" when I knew something was wrong I made excuses and failed to make the necessary changes.  3. This is what I can do.  Make the change.  Lose it!

I decided to start this blog to have a bit of accountability for myself.  I plan to throw this on my Facebook wall and invite everyone I know to read this and follow along on my journey.  I'm going to be as candid as possible throughout this whole process, so, be fore warned.  This will be personal because this is a very serious thing.

A couple specific sources gave me the inspiration and drive to embark on this quest :

- First off, my little sister, Tammy.  I have watched her grow, albeit from a distance these past years, into a wonderful woman.  Tammy has changed her outlook on life and made the changes that I desperately need to make for myself.  My hat goes off to to you sis.

- Secondly, Ben Davis of Ben Does Life fame.  If you have never heard of him, watch this.  It seriously made me tear up because I feel his pain and could imagine his joy.  The same joy that I wish to have.

- Finally, to Runner's World.  I haven't always liked running, but, there was a time in the army when running finally clicked.  It was a God send when I was deployed in Iraq.  Running on the treadmill night after night was one of the only ways I found to turn the situation I was in off.  For at least an hour my cares and stresses were gone as I put one foot in front of the other.  I read this article today and it put my butt in gear.

And speaking of running, that is the method in which I want to get back to where I need to be.  But, more on that later.  Tomorrow, I'll post about my plan to lose it.  I really hope you'll stick around with me here.  I can use all the support I can get.

- Louie