End of Week 6 and 7

Ok, here we go, I am right on track… On the Jenny scale today at 5:30 it was fluxing from 314 to 315 and that makes sense because this morning ,I was 311 to 312 so, still looking at roughly -20. Here is how these 2 weeks went.

I experienced 3 main challenges. I had some expenses to be paid. This left me short to pick up the cost of week 7. I had to wisely choose my meals purchasing them from Wegmans; I was truly on my own. Another was a Pot Luck Dinner at Michelle’s church. You name it, it was there and everything was delicious. Finally, unreal, another wedding and this was again, some of the best food I have had. The main meats were cooked on the grill. We had Chicken, Pork, and Burgers also, Corn and Potatoes. There were veggies and snacks too. One of my very good friends was married and this was more of a get together to share their happiness, it was great. Michelle and I will be taking the happy couple out to dinner when Michelle gets back from vacation. I am cofident that I will be ok going out, I can’t wait.

I followed what I know. I was able to enjoy the different foods that each one of the challenges held, lose weight and maintain it. I was not a binger, I was a taster. I drank plenty of water and ate a lot of veggies, fruits and cereals.

To me, there is no question that if I would have able to eat the Jenny Craig foods and not had these challenges, I most likely would have lost more weight but that’s ok. I am very happy with my results. On the days I was on my own, I ate wisely. I purchased Lean Cuisine dinners. Yes, less expensive but not as good in my opinion.

Tomorrow, I will be interested to weigh in first thing in the morning. This week, I plan to step up my physical activities. I will post more as this week progresses.

Peace and God Bless,

Joe

53 days, no smoking.

UPDATE

I could not wait to write this, -20lbs. Let me explain. When I first weighed in at Jenny Craig, I was 331lbs at 2:30 in the afternoon on June 7th with clothes. 311lbs is my morning weight, true weight August 13th. You can fluctuate during the day even though you are weighing yourself at the same time with the same clothes on. I am down a pant size, I was 54 now at 52 and I can put my 50’s on but still a little tight around my ass. My goal is to lose 10 pounds a month for the next 12 months.

Peace....

End of Week 5

I weighed in at 318 lbs, thats -2 pounds for a 5 week total loss of 13. This weight was obtained on my own scale. I was wearing the same clothes I would have been had I gone in to the Jenny Craig Center. For the past 2 weeks, I have been weighing myself when I have arrived home from Jenny Craig and the weights have been the same so I confident this is correct.

The big question, why am I weighing myself at home and not at Jenny Craig? The answer is, “cost”. I have had some car repair bills and other bills that came due all at the same time so, I just couldn’t afford to purchase this weeks food from Jenny Craig. Remember, I have explained its not cheap to eat on this program but like anything, they have overhead costs and a staff to pay so I understand the prices. I have gone to Wegmans Food Market and purchased foods there. I am cofident this week I will be ok and still lose weight. I do have some food left over from week 5. Michelle and I went to a wedding and I was back over her house on Saturday. I never used those meals and will use them this week. I have an appointment next Wednesday the 18th.

Now I want to talk about the challenges over the past weekend, first, the wedding. What a nice time and the food outstanding. I did the something here that I did at the party in Warwick, I behaved, Moderation and Portion Control and it worked. I even had a couple of drinks, Lite Beer. I counted my calories and watched my fat intake. I think the most important thing is I want this. I want to lose this weight and as long as I stay strong willed and motivated, I will succeed no matter what challenged are put in front of me. Also, Michelle caught the Bouquet and I caught the Garter, totally not planned. Then a rumor was started that we were getting married next August of next year. I haven’t asked anyone anything so that had to get squashed but life takes many turns. We had a lot of fun.

I did go to Michelle’s Saturday later in the afternoon. We went to a flea market, hung out with her mom and dad, cooked beautiful steaks on the grill. Michelle makes a marinade that is out of sight. We also marinated Zucchini in Italian dressing and roasted that on the grill too. All went very well.

To close this week out, I want to say that meeting these challenges and overcoming them is telling me I will succeed this time. Writing this blog and telling my story has also been helping. Even just writing it for me to re read has given me the motivation to go on. Smoking is still a non issue, no urge or desire to light back up. Tomorrow I will weigh myself first thing in the morning and begin to record that weight. Morning weight is your true weight and for me it is generally 3 pounds less.

One more thing, some people who were once so supportive of you will dwindle away as you begin to show signs of succeeding. I mean succeeding in any facit of your life from friends, to co-workers, to family. I guess this is human nature, don’t take it personal. The old saying “Misery Loves Company” is true.

I will be writing more than once a week so check back if you want to.

Until next time, Peace and God Bless,

Joe G


46 Days no Smoking

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End of Week 4 Part 2

Here is the second half. As always, Thursday and Friday go very well, thank god but here comes the weekend. It wouldn’t be so bad except there is something going on all the time. Last weekend was no exception, a party on Saturday.

Michelle's Aunt Robin lives in a town called Warwick, NY in Orange County. Yes, for all you fans, that's where Orange County Choppers is and you bet your butt I was there... Awesome Place but, that’s another story. Getting back to Aunt Robbie, 10 years ago, she had a heart valve replaced and it was a cow's valve. So, it was a party for Bessie, the name given to the valve. Also, it was Michelle's Uncle Joe's Mom's birthday, I believe she turned 83. So, what's at a party, you guessed it, FOOD, SNACKS, and yes, lets not forget, BEER.

From the weekend before, I learned a valuable lesson, don’t binge. The food at this party came out in 4 sections, Veggies and Snacks, Meat Trays and Salads, Hot Foods, then later at night; Uncle Joe cooked up some London Broil Steaks on the grill that so happen to be marinating in Italian Dressing all day.

Here’s how I handled it. First, Michelle and I snacked on veggies and yes, I tasted a little dip, tasted is the key word here. When the meat trays came out, I went up and took 2 pieces of Turkey, a piece of Roast Beef, 5 olives and a little salad. Oh, and a Hot Pepper that by the way, was a bitch. When I ate it, I felt my face burning. Then a couple of hours later, the hot foods came out, Macaroni and Sauce, Chicken Parm, Eggplant Parm, and Sausage and Peppers. For this group of food, I tasted of all of it, maybe a tablespoon of every dish. In between these meals, I even drank a couple of light beers and went for a walk or 2 with Michelle. We played horse shoes then, I was quizzed on all her aunts and uncles names, surprisingly, I did get them all right. Later on in the evening, I tasted a couple of strips of Broil. Then Sunday, I was back on track.

I learned a couple of lessons here, Moderation and Portion Control. Without these 2 rules, no matter who you are, you will not succeed. I now see how I was able to have a nice time, enjoy good food and drink all by knowing I was jumping back on track, I felt no guilt and still lost weight. By learning these 2 key lessons and applying them at this stage of the game, I know will be crucial to being able to maintain my weight when I reach my goal. This week was a true success for me.

Tomorrow, Friday, you guessed it, another party, a wedding and I'm ready, this will not be a problem but as always, we’ll all just have to wait until next Wednesday.

Peace and God Bless,

Joe

40 Days no Smoking

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End Of Week 4 Part 1

Yes, I lost 3lbs. I'm now down to 320lbs. I had a lot of ground to cover after last weeks weigh in. I will be writing more tonight. I want to tell you about this past weekend and the party Michelle and I went to in Orange County NY. What I ate and what I did that worked for me. So, let me get ready for work and later, while laundry is being washed, I will write part 2.

Thanks

Joe

GOOD NEWS!!!!

I have good news... My new Jenny Craig Scale and the one at the office were in sync yesterday. When I came home, I stepped on the scale and it read 323 lbs. Trust me, I got on and off 3 times to make sure. Tonight when I came home, I stepped on it and its back to 321 lbs. I'm feeling a lot better and this give me more encouragement to stay on track.... So, back to -10...

The End of Week 3

BAD NEWS, +2 lbs. That’s -8 lbs in 3 weeks and that's still OK. I knew Saturday, I was not on track and messed up.

I said to myself when I started my journey I would be honest so, here is what happened.

Thursday and Friday were fine, even Saturday morning was good. Michelle and I were going to a wedding, one of her friends from work. The wedding and reception were taking place at the Avon Inn. Not to drive home that evening, Michelle rented a room at the Inn. We couldn't check in until 1:00pm. We left here around noon. Michelle was cat sitting for another friend from work who lives in Avon, sounds like everything is going according to plan right? We get there, she takes care of the cat and we are now on our way to check in and relax for 45 minutes. Then it hit me, I had not taken my medication for the day and no sooner after I said it, Michelle yells out, “Oh Shit, I left my pill case on your microwave oven. After laughing and debating it, we decided to ride back to my place and get our pills.

Okay, we get back to Avon and arrive at 2:15pm, the weddings at 3 and, outside. We checked in, go up to our room and its roughly 120 degrees in there. Turned on the air and while suffering, we get ready, go down stairs, it was hot and I was very uncomfortable. The ceremony was short and sweet. I think before they were done kissing, I ran to the bar, ordered a double Jack and Coke, then another. IT WAS DOWN HILL FROM THERE. One drink led to another then 1 or 2 or maybe 7 Blue Moon Beers, I lost count, Cheese and Crackers and one hell of a good dinner. I have been to many weddings at some of the nicest party houses around here and just my luck, the best food I ever ate at a wedding had to be, of all places, at the Avon Inn. They were carving the roast beef so close to our table, I could have stuck my fork out and stabbed it. There was Beef, Mac and Cheese, Pasta, Chicken, and more. Then, the breakfast brunch, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Potatoes, and a little fruit, boy did I blow it. all though I did get back on track as soon as I got home, I knew the weekend was a bust and I probably gained a few pounds.

Monday, I woke up feeling like crap. No energy, tired, and a little bummed out. It really made me think how eating wrong and poor choices makes you feel. Feeling like that gave me the strength to kick myself in the ass and get right back on track. I weighed myself Monday morning, I was up 4 pounds. Yes, 4 pounds. I learned that it takes eating 3600 calories in 1 day to gain 1 pound, do the math. That is disgusting and more so, it was not a lot of food, it was what I ate and drank, very poor choices. It does not take much of the wrong foods mixed with alcohol to hit 3600 calories or more in one day. Once back on track, Tuesday morning, I felt much better and luckily, I was able to drop 2 of those 4 pounds to weigh in at 323 lbs today.

To sum it up, guess what? I am not perfect and all though my ex would disagree, I am human. I realize that’s no excuse for what I did but it is a fact, if I were perfect, I would not have smoked for over 35 years, kept all this extra weight on for the last 8 years and I would be wearing a halo over my head. I am not happy about what happened but I am not going to dwell on it or beat myself up about it. I can't take the weekend back, Erin explained, it’s the past now, let it go and to move forward. She was very firm about what needed to be done and I simply adore her for that, you can see she really cares. I know I'm doing this for me but I don't want to let her down either and if any of you are following this for a bit of inspiration, you too.

We are going away this weekend too but this time, I have a plan. On her own, Michelle called the hotel we will be staying over night to ask about a microwave; they are going to make sure we have one in our room the nights we are there. Michelle cares about me and loves me that much to think about that. Why would I not want to live 30 more years to spend it with a woman like that? She is the most unselfish person I know, “Thank You for waking up when you did, you’re the best and I Love You Baby”.

This journey is about listening, learning and changing my life. I have lived a certain way for a very long time. Yes, I screwed up, it could very well happen again but I will not use that as an excuse or reason to go off track again. I’m hanging in and not giving up.

Peace and God Bless,

Joe

32 days, no Smoking... This is easier than I thought. Also, I spoke to my nephew (Godson) over the net. Anthony is stationed in Northern Iraq. Today is 6 days for him, no smokes. I am very proud of him for many reasons. Please keep him in your prayers to be safe on his journey. U J Loves You. My son has also put the smokes down too, I'm proud of him for doing this. Dad Loves You, all my kids including the 2 new ones.

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