Adios, 2012.

Our place, Xmas'd up.

We've reached the end of what has been a very tumultuous year for me.  There has been a very even mix of good and bad, and I am ready to move on to 2013 and get back to a more normal pace to things, if possible.

I started the year by heading out to Hawaii for the first time in my life with my Wife and 3 friends, enjoyed a lot of sunshine and sandy beaches while it snowed back home.  It was a fantastic start to the year.  I was down to my goal weight (for the time being) - and very healthy, and things were going amazingly well.

Not too long after we got back from that, we got the unexpected notice that our then-landlords had failed to pay their mortgage for the past several months, and it was quite likely they would foreclose.  It put pressure on us to make a quick decision about where to move - rent, buy?  We'd been living in the same townhouse for a very long time and were quite settled in.

In brief - we went with buy, and our real estate agent, a family friend, helped us patiently find a great house we've been in since May.  The combination of people who came together to help us make that transition between family and friends has been extremely touching, most definitely the highlight of the year for us.  I feel extremely lucky to know so many awesome people.  Extremely lucky.

Unfortunately, not very long after making our big move, we went through a quick-fire series of unhappy events.  We lost both of our cats for varying medical reasons.  My brother had to go to the hospital.  Several friends either let us know they were moving away, or went through troubling problems of their own which separated us for a while.  Our year which started in turmoil just developed more and more.

Things have thankfully calmed down in recent months, and we enjoyed a pretty awesome Christmas at our new house, with friends and family, as is our tradition.  We even attended a neighborhood cookie exchange and got to meet some of the neighbors, it's a good little community we've managed to settle into here.

The confessional part of this blog post is - I've put a few pounds on this year.  Not too many, as I've been pretty good about my diet and I do get out walking on a regular basis still - including numbers trail runs this year and a hike or two.  And oh yeah - a half marathing in the middle of the year!  But, I have gotten back to eating some things I shouldn't, and returned to a few bad habits I ought not have with food as well.

As cliche as it seems, my new year's resolution will of course be a return to good eating and exercising, and hopefully to updating this site on a more regular basis as well. There are a lot of great opportunities in our new area for walking and I plan to explore more of them.

Thanks to anyone who actually reads this stuff, I mostly do this to help keep myself honest and on track.  I hope everyone has a happy new year and that 2013 is a little more stable! The world didn't end in 2012 but it sure got shaken up a bit for us.

Moving on and moving in!

Good morning, fellow humans.

I have some spectacular news - we've emerged from the other side of the house buying process and located a new home in Kenmore, WA! It cuts out work commute down by 20 minutes and keeps us close to family and friends, we're absolutely thrilled to become first-time homeowners.  Let me tell you - being in better shape is a good thing as soon I will be taking on more physical tasks around the new house and yard.

OK, before I go further here are a couple of pictures of the place - the outside, and the kitchen, which will obviously show up in this blog often. ;)



It is going to be a very busy month for us as we finish packing, organizing all of the things associated with moving like calling utility companies, and settling in.  The past few months have been ultra hectic for us as we have been out looking for places and trying to figure life out in general.

As far as my health plan - I'll admit I've paused a bit on that, as finding the time to cook properly and be out exercising has been a challenge. I haven't put any weight back on though - just haven't made much further progress. Post moving I have pretty easy access to the notorious Burke-Gilman Trail and can make use of that. :)

My use of the Dukan Diet started out very strict and I altered it over time - the original timeline expected me to hit my 'true weight' of  230 pounds in June of this year, which I can still pull off.  They also think that's where I am staying for the long haul - which I disagree with, I plan to push it further and try to get down to 200 or so, which is going to take some serious dedication.  I've shown myself that thanks to my better eating habits and regular exercise, I am not going to pack a bunch of weight back on.

Now I need to get back to business and shed the rest of the chub, and achieve my goal of 200.  I am going to aim for doing this by August 29th.  I'm sitting at 250 right now - that gives me 4 months roughly.

Why August 29th?

Because that's the day I started this whole thing up last year, 80+ pounds ago!

Life is a busy thing.

Potential new kitchen? Hmmmm...

I've really been pressed for time lately, and the blog has fallen into a lower priority as a result. Sorry about that, my few reader peeps.

We did go to Hawaii and have a hell of a time and when I get a few minutes I'm going to share some of those pix and stories. It was amazing.. first vacation we managed to do which didn't involve the words Las or Vegas.

Recently, life took an unexpected turn for us when we found out the landlords we lease our townhouse from decided, "Oh, we won't actually bother paying for the building we own any more. Nobody will mind... right?"

We were sitting at home a few Fridays back and saw a camera flash on the front porch - and then discovered a private notice that they defaulted on their payments for this building three months ago. I'm still not entirely sure what the process is - but it'll be months before they either succeed or fail to make amends - worse case scenario, they foreclose, the bank sells the place to someone else.

We want to be out of here before that happens. Less headache.. we wanted to move anyways.

So we're looking into the possibility of becoming first time home owners, working with an agent who is a family friend of a few years and who is helping us freak out a little less - we've been out peeking at a few houses, the picture up there is the kitchen in one of them.

More on that as we go but this is why I am busy lately and don't have much time for blogging!

Meanwhile, we've also been enjoying ourselves out and about.  My diet is still on cruise control - I'm not gaining weight but not losing anything, hanging out between 250 and 252 for a month or so now. I can live with that for the moment.

We found a fantastic place in Edmonds called The Loft.  I indulged in pancetta, walnut and wine-sauce prawns, asparagus and roasted potatos.

Here you go, enjoy my sinful feast. I promise to get back on track and blog more productively soon as I can. ;)

Still at it!

Good day, humans.  I haven't put up a blog entry in weeks - for a few reasons.

Primarily I was out of town on vacation, and writing a blog did cross my mind, but we also had a malfunctioning internet connection at the rental house.  It's also difficult to think about writing a blog when you can walk 50 feet and sit on a beautiful beach. O:)

I never blogged about Christmas, either. What a slacker!  I'm sure my Hawaii photos are more alluring anyways, so stay tuned. 

While down in Maui, a sickness hopped from one of us to another and I was down with it for a week or so upon returning home.  It was bad enough to lead to pnuemonia for my friend Leslie, but I somehow dodged that bullet.  My wife got it next, and is just recovering. We haven't had much ambition to sort through lots of photos and write blogs, etc -- but we will! :)

In the meantime, here is an ultra compressed summary, from my diet standpoint, and in general:

I ate what I felt like. Including the Loco Moco (last day!)
I walked, but not a great deal. Mostly around the beaches, and aquarium.
I swam and snorkeled. Fighting the waves was awesome.
I drank. Mostly longboard and pipeline porter. A bit of whiskey. OK, maybe more than a bit.
Speaking of drinking... at one point, Jason pan fried a Twinkie™.

We had an incredible time and, all told, despite it all - I only gained 5 pounds, and most of that is just water weight. Already back down to 253 and now that I am recovering from collective sickness, it's time to see about fighting the second half of my weight battle, the tougher half as I push down first towards 221 and my 100 pounds lost marker, but then hopefully more towards 200. 

I have already lost 70+ pounds. I can sure as hell do this. :)

But seriously.

Pan fried twinkie.

It was

DELICIOUS.

Birthday shenanigans.

It was my Birthday yesterday and we hooked up with a few friends and family at Claim Jumper at the Alderwood mall.  I wanted to keep it small this year, and yep, I'm a 37-year-old me now. :)

For dinner I had roasted tri-tip, and I got green beans and roasted veggies as the side - skipped potatoes, skipped the cheese bread which came with it and gave it away.  They were nice enough to provide a birthday red velvet cupcake, I did have a bite of that but gave most of it away too. 

Christmas was also pretty awesome, we have photos to get up so I will have another belated holiday blog sometime soon, promise.  Needless to say during these holidays there was much to nom upon and I indulged myself a bit in both cases.  It had the predictable result of giving me back a couple of the pounds I've lost recently, but I am comfortable with that, since I know now that I'll just get back on track again in the wake of it.  The only really large obstacles on the horizon for me now are a new years party (should be easy) - and a vacation to Hawaii in January (which won't be easy - but who cares, it's HAWAII, we will be having a fantastic time!)

Approaching the end of 2011, I had a midway goal weight in mind. An arbitrary number, 250.  When I started doing this it seemed unattainable to me, but I have come close. I could even make it - I have until Sunday this week, but I might not quite squeak in there.  As of this morning I have 5.5 pounds more to shed to make that happen.  Even if I don't get to 250, I feel like I'm hitting my personal goals on a regular basis, which is just fine.

When I first started Dukan, I did a survey on their website to show me their expectation of my timeline for reaching my goal weight and beginning 'phrase 3' of the diet. Despite me stating at the time my goal was 221 pounds (losing 100 pounds) - the diet recommended I try for 230, my 'true weight' - a realistic weight I could reach and maintain.  I did the survey on 8/28/11 and here's a look at the time line they expected for me:




Utterly cheesy.. but actually a pretty reasonable timeline.



Strictly following the Dukan Diet, it was expected that I won't get down to 230 pounds until June of 2012.  The consolidation phase (phase 3) in the Dukan diet is intended to keep you on the right path, so you don't slip off your diet and go back to bad habits - at a time when your body is eager to regain lost calories and pounds.  It's one of the reasons I chose this diet as my starting point - knowing it was going to keep helping me long term.  I figure if I can lose about 3 pounds a week, which is pretty reasonable, It'll take another 11-12 weeks for me to get down to my 221 target.  That means I'll hit it roughly in April.  I'll keep going from there, of course.. but that's the primary initial goal for me still at this point, getting to my 100 pounds lost point on this diet, which will really be about 119 pounds down from my heaviest.

More importantly than all of those numbers and pounds though is that I am feeling much better, healthier, more energetic, and more ambitious in general.  That's what I really wanted, and needed, out of this.

I'm not putting up a weight chart, etc. this week. I'll have an end of the year one up next Monday, hopefully it will be good news, and I have a little more serious post to write as well to go with it.

After all, the battle of Mark vs. Mark is a battle that will still be waged in 2012.  If the world is going to end, I want to go out of it feeling healthier. ;)

Cold Ones (No, not beer)

It's been cold lately - but this morning was about 30f, brrrr. When I went out walking I took childish pleasure stepping on the crispy grass, listening to the nice frosty crunch of it underfoot and I snapped this pretty nifty picture.

It has been a quiet week for Dawn and I for the most part.  We're getting ready to have people over for Christmas on Sunday so we're cleaning, and making checklists for cooking dinner, and emailing everyone. I love the holiday season - it's always busy but I really enjoy everyone getting together and seeing friends and family, and having a good time.

Punkin' pie!

On the health and diet front, it's been a mediocre week for me.  I have watched my weight go very mildly up since Monday, and know it'll come back down by the end of the weekend.. it's become a normal pattern for me.  The net result is typically a pound or two lost per week which has been very encouraging.  I did indulge in a few things this week, such as a skinny slice of a particularly delicious pumpkin pie Dawn baked up for me to take in to work.  It was universally nommed up on and adored by everyone. :)

Tonight I have some work to do on a personal art project, more on that later.

I don't know that I'll get another blog up before the holidays so if you happen to read this, Merry Christmas to you - or happy whatever else.  Hang out with people you know and love, eat food, and try not to think about serious stuff for a day. It's good for you.

42->38

I have a work holiday party every year around the second Friday in December.  This year, our office is going down to Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle all day tomorrow.  In preparation I always comb the closet looking for something nice to wear - something between t-shirt and jeans, and formal attire.

I was SOL this year. All the 'nicer' shirts I have are huge on my now, and my pants, too.  It's a good problem to have right up until you need something to wear for an event.

Dawn took me out shopping last night, and I can't thank her enough for it. Fashion sense isn't exactly something I have.  For me, for years, clothing has been something I buy from a single place which carries sizes that work for me (3XLT shirts, 44/30 or 42/30 pants).  It's still pretty new to me to be able to go to anyplace that sells men's clothing and be able to find things.  If that sounds weird to you, that's just how it is when you're a guy who is 6'1" and used to being 320+ pounds.  Now that I am down to 258, I have many more options.

My best surprise last night - Dawn grabbed me a couple pair of pants, since mine are getting ridiculous.  She grabbed a 40/30 and a 38/30.  I went ahead and tried the 38" waist pair and.. they fit. I could sit comfortably, didn't need a belt to keep them up, etc.

I've lost 4 inches from my waist, the pair I walked into the store wearing (which I got about 4 months ago) were 42" waist.

Woo!

She picked a very nice shirt for me too. I'll have a picture tomorrow of course.

Anyway, it was a great mood booster. I needed it this week, as I have been hurting the last few days and it is only now finally abating.  I want to be ready to rock the walk this Sunday.

Not any more, sarcastic yellow guy. Take that.

Overdoing it.

Monday night about 8pm, I started to have a really nasty ache in my chest, upper shoulders and back.  It came on gradually but didn't take too long to rear up and kick my butt.

I was freaking out about it at first.  Understandably.. but, then I thought about what I'd been up to recently and came to the conclusion I was most likely suffered from kicking my own ass this past weekend by running - and running in the cold, to boot.

I've run into this before - delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) - when I first went to the gym in early 2010.  Work out, feel good... then 24-48 hours later, your muscles feel like they are shredded and burn and ache like hell.  This time it's the muscles in my chest and lungs, thanks to breathing harder than I am used to, and out in the nice 33 degree air for that matter.

I wasn't able to sleep until 2am and that means I got about 4 hours of sleep before work Tuesday. I was a zombie all day and barely remember what I was up to.  Took lots of potent ibuprofen and got good sleep last night. Today I feel just fine, but a little sleepy.

Dawn and I swung by the mall to get our Xmas cards (we have Kits Camera print them up after she designs them) - and I had a very tasty Chinese chicken salad from Claim Jumper, pictured above.  Not too bad - 430 calories of salad, 90 for dressing, which I didn't add extra.  Looking at the nutrition guide there - they have a chicken broccoli alfredo which is 3000+ calories.

Sweet bippy!

Making smarter food choices lately has definitely done me lots of favors.

In other news, it looks like people I know have donated $106 towards the Jingle Bell Run/Walk this weekend in sponsorship of me. That's really awesome! Thanks all, it is for a good cause.
Alrighty, short blog this time. I have lots of stuff to get done, over and out, kaybye.

Pix or it didn't happen.

You already know I am full of hot air, so here is a picture to prove it - Dawn snapped this one of me Thanksgiving day demonstrating how cold it is.  Also, I guess, to show how my beard is turning very grey these days. Damn you, passage of time. Hey, maybe this means I am filled with wisdom!

Yeah, I can't back that up. ;)

So this morning I am down to 257.5 pounds, a drop of 3.5 since Monday, but then I have been working on that, getting more than 5K steps/day on purpose and not taking shortcuts for anything.

Figured it was probably about time to post another pic since I think the last one was sometime in early November.  Hey, I'm shaped more like a kidney bean from the side now and less like a tomato - I'll take it! Here you go, folks.



I has skinny legs now. My pants are huge!

 I am running into a bit of a problem when it comes to my wardrobe, namely, almost none of my clothes fit any more. That includes jackets, shoes and socks, pants, etc.  It's a good and a bad problem to have, as clothing can get a bit spendy and (knock on wood) I am going to do down more sizes before I am done with the battle of Mark vs. Mark.

I've rediscovered the simple joy in a few things lately. Things such as, being able to sit cross-legged on a couch and be comfortable for a long period of time. Being able to actually feel my ribcage.  Looking down and seeing feet. Etc.

I'm not blogging every day any more, because I fear that I will simply run out of things to put up here that are more interesting than, "Yesterday I did blah blah blah."  But I am still updating with my milestones and any time I think I need to share something.  This blog is mostly for me, anyway, but I am pleased that at least a few other people are reading it here and there and I hope it has been helpful.  If nothing else, maybe you have tried some of the recipes. If not, seriously, try the chili lime chicken marinade, or the chili. Fan-tastic.

I have a lot of goals for the next few years and some of them are only lately becoming more realistic to me.  Achieving success as I have to far in my health has really given me more self confidence in general, and I think it is paying off.  I feel like doing more things, and I feel my creative side awakening, which is awesome.  In college I used to make music, write stories and poetry, draw, sculpt.. you name it, and over the last 15 years I have slowly wound down and down and down.

Those of you reading who don't maybe know, I have another website - my Tumblr site, where you can check out some of my creative stuff.  it's right here: krepela.tumblr.com

I can't thank my wife enough for being awesome during the last few months and supporting me.  She is a hell of a creative chicka herself, a writer, photographer, baker, glass-maker and so much more.  I'm a lucky guy to have such a fantastic person at my side always.  My friends have been awesome too, very supportive of changes.

I am really looking forward to 2012. There's a rumor the world is supposed to end. I don't think so, I think it's going to begin anew personally.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Photos and stuff.

We have developed a pattern over the years with the 2 end of year holidays.  Thanksgiving, Joanne has everyone over to her house, and Christmas, Dawn and I have everyone over to ours.  We had about 18 people for Thanksgiving this year, friends and family.  It was a great time.

We always make 2 turkeys, Joanne does one in the oven (pictured at the start of this entry) - and then there is a deep-fried turkey done outside.  It gives the menfolk something to do, gathering around the bubbling oil where they would otherwise congregate on a BBQ if one was being used.

Deep Frying a turkey is dangerous.  You read about people every year burning themselves, burning down houses, etc.  The combination of hot oil, fire, ice, and people's overall general dumbness is an accident waiting to happen.  Ken has it down to a science though - we've never had any problems, are very careful and in just 45 minutes we wind up with a turkey that is extremely juicy and delicious, always a big hit.

Every year now, Tessa (my brother's daughter) helps me prepare a secret sauce from whatever random hot sauces and flavorings Joanne has lurking in her fridge and cabinets, and we inject it into the bird before it goes to the deep fryer.  This year, she had help from Wendy, Kathleen's daughter.  Here are the two of them injecting the bird with a scary Dr. Frankenstein needle.

After this, the bird has to be places on a metal support with some hooks, and then wire has to be tied around the legs to keep them in place so it can be lowered into the hot oil.  Here's a pic of Ken doing this part of things.

Ken is the master of the deep fried turkey.  He has a whole rig for it - a cooking pot with thermometer, a chain to hang the cooked turkey from while it drains, and he even had a portable tent this year which we really needed, as it was pouring rain all day long.

I'll take rain over ice though - last Thanksgiving Dawn slid on the driveway when we were arriving and broker her arm, and we spent the morning in the ER at a nearby hospital getting her fixed up.  She earned her '1 year accident free' badge this Thanksgiving. :)

Here are a couple more shots of the turkey cooking process:



Bird in the fryer



Cooked, hanging up to drip for a minute.



Bill carvin' up the turkey!

What I like most about Thanksgiving is having so many people together, the chance to chat and see one another and accomplish a nice meal as a team.  Everyone does their part - even if their part is to watch what is going on and eat the goodness. :)

Joanne was kind enough this year to prepare a special side dish as well for those of us watching calories and carbs.. a nice stir fry of long green beans and mushrooms with no sauce on them, no salt, etc.  Of course being Thanksgiving, I did try some of the other stuff offered, but I kept it sane and took small portions.

Stir Fry goodness on the side.

Parul helped out in the kitchen too and made some gravy.  It turned out awesome, he did it last year too.  Teamwork!

Once everything was done, we assembled several tables banquet-style and everyone got down to the very serious business of eating.  It might be the only thing that can really keep my family quiet, mouthfuls of awesome holiday chow.

No big family meal is complete without dessert however.  This year we had 2 items, a pumpkin pie and a black forest cake that Dawn put together.  It was her first try making one - a three layer cake with whipped cream frosting and tart cherries.  It came out awesome, and she had a lot of fun making it.  It was a very fun holiday and we all had a great time.  After dinner, there were some card games, and the typical round of sit and watch TV while digesting.  This year the dog show had minimal screen time, surprisingly - we spent more watching a show called 'Swampsgiving' - which seemed to be all about fat, overall-clad rednecks hunting things with shotguns, and later we followed it up with "Pumpkin Chunkin" - a contest where other, more technology-friendly rednecks construct towering machines which launch pumpkins through the air for almost a mile.

My dinner. Turkey, bean stir fry and salad. Healthy. :)

Just a few more photos, for fun, to wrap this all up.

 

BTW - there were loads of other people here, I don't have pix of them all. I'm counting on Parul's mad photography skills for that, and his Flickr. ;)

Weigh In, Five, and Weekend Shenanigans.

The chart™

Morning, peeps! I didn't blog all holiday weekend but a lot of stuff sure happened.  First here's my Monday check in:

261 pounds. That means I'm exactly 60 pounds under my starting weight - a goal has been reached. :)

That also means I am a mere 40 pounds from my goal weight, and once I get there I don't plan to stop, I'm going to just have different goals beyond weight loss by that time.  I'll update my goal sheet and share that sometime soon too, but here's a fun look at my overall weight progress, both on my current push and overall. 

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. I am going to devote a separate post to that tomorrow, since I have to hijack some awesome photos from Dawn's digital camera to spice it up.  To sum up though, it was very fun and food-friendly, too. I had some turkey, some green beans and mushrooms, and a little bit of a pretty righteous cake Dawn made for dessert. More on all that, later.

Friday, I did a short little bit of work in the morning, just for an hour or so.  I mostly popped by the office to see if it was busy enough that I needed to be there.. at the time it sure wasn't.  While I was there I learned that a co worker had some stuff which prevented really doing much for Thanksgiving.  That doesn't work for me, so after I left the office I went and got some apple cider and a couple of different types of cookies from the deli, and brought them back for the people working that day.

The Bhargavas in action.

Leslie and Parul dropped by mid day and we all went out to eat lunch at a Mongolian grill in Lynnwood.  Then the two of them went out walking with me on the good old college trail.  Thanks to their advanced gadgetry, I now know that the college walk is 5500 steps, and 2.5 miles. It was cool having the company and it was a beautiful day for a walk, sunny and dry.  As you can see in this photo, these two are just melting away!

Saturday, Dawn and I took care of some chores around the house and then she decided to go walking with me.  She's recovering from a hurt knee and bronchitis - but nonetheless, she walked the whole college trail with me, quite a trooper! I would put a picture of her up here too but generally speaking, I value my life enough not to post pictures of Dawn without her consent and signature in triplicate. Love you honey!

We went out to eat at Five in Edmonds that evening, a favorite hangout of ours. We shared some hummus and then ordered a few small pizzas for dinner.  I made a crack that it was going to be the most bread I've eaten in months.  I couldn't help but recall how we'd been at the same place several months earlier, at which time Parul ordered a pizza (he's a known pizza fiend) and made a comment about how he was breaking his food plan on purpose for the night. The parallel is amusing to me.

It's worth it:



Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella



Pear and Gorgonzola



Sunday, we started the day out with some serious laziness and it never got better for me, I didn't take a walk or do much of anything that particular day.. but, whatever. ;)

My brother and his daughter came by mid-afternoon and we all went out to grab some sushi from Blue C at the mall,  which Tessa likes.  I sneakily parked us a small distance from the restaurant so we could get in a minor little walk, haha. We rounded out the day and I made a healthy meatloaf for dinner, and Dawn made some of her righteous vegetarian soft tacos.

One other thing happened too.  I mentioned I have a holiday party coming up on 12/11 and I needed to decide what to wear, and was worried my clothes don't fit very well at the moment.  I tried on several sweaters and jackets from my closet, found out several are too big, one was too small, one is okay.

Then I tried on the button shirt that I wore for my wedding, and which I had worn to a few other holiday parties. A shirt that used to barely fit, and was super uncomfortable, tight, made my very self-conscious. Expecting it to be snug, I was utterly stunned when it floated on me. As in, I could pull it five or six inches out from my chest and stomach and the sleeves are too long.

I had to tell Dawn, "Sorry, I'm having a moment here. A 'Go Mark' moment. Hell yeah!" :D

Losing weight.. and other things.



My ring :)



So, almost all of my damned clothes are getting too big. I also have a freaky story about my wedding ring.  It got too loose to wear on my ring finger a little while ago, and lately, pretty loose even on my middle finger, where I have been wearing it.

Recently, I took Dawn over to Target in Lynnwood because she wanted to buy a new pair of gloves, and we needed a few other things.  When we walked in the front of the store, immediately there was a rack of women's winter gloves.  She tried on a nifty pair of fingerless gloves that have a little part which tucks over your fingers when it gets cold, but keeps them free otherwise so you can use your phone, camera, etc. more easily.

She had me try them on too, and I thought they were ultra comfy.  Then we hung them back on the rack, and she tried another few pairs from the rack.. wasn't sure.

We spent a while longer in the store, getting some other things and Dawn looked at gloves in other places as well. I think we were there for about a half hour more or so.  She ultimately decided to go with the first pair of gloves and we went back and grabbed them, and checked out.

Then I noticed, my ring was missing. I said, "Honey.. now.. don't freak out, but... I don't have my ring. I probably just took it off at home, while doing dishes or something. Don't worry."

If there is a better way to get your wife to freak out than to tell her "Don't freak out," I don't know one.

So we got home, and I looked around the typical places my ring would be.. nope, not there.  Then Dawn unpacked her shopping bags, and her gloves and put them on.. and inside one of them, in the finger, was my wedding ring.

So basically, it came off when we tried them on initially and sat there in that glove for a half hour while we walked the store, and we just so happened to grab that exact same pair of gloves from a rack of identical gloves to buy later on, or I wouldn't have a ring any more.

YIKES.

That bad boy needs resizing, but we're going to wait until later in case (or I should say, for when) I lose more weight too.

In other news, Dawn has craft night tonight and I am all alone this evening.  I'm going to cook up a big batch of chili for upcoming lunches and such, and I have a ton of chicken breasts I need to clean and freeze, and I plan to cook a few up for dinner.

I'm finding bell peppers to be a very nice part of my diet lately and they are very colorful too.  I think I am going to marinate some chicken for a little bit and maybe do enchiladas.  Trick is - dodging the tortillas, etc.  Corn is better than flour, but I'm going to find a way around it.

It'll be more of an enchilada stir fry and side salad.. thing, I guess. Haha.

Vacation Time

Hmm.. what to write about...

Oh hello there.

I didn't write a blog post yesterday. I was a busy dude, getting ready to go on vacation, since I have today and tomorrow off.  I've been getting in plenty of walking this week and keeping a good eye on the diet. Things are going well.

Can't explain why but I have dropped a pound or so almost every day this week since Monday. The body is a mysterious thing when you are in the midst of weight loss.. sometimes it cooperates, sometimes not. Looks like this week is a loss week for sure.

Next week is Thanksgiving. I need to come up with something to cook and bring to my sister's place which is "Mark friendly" - turkey will be fine of course. I'm looking forward to it.. we always have a very nice family dinner. :)

We were going to spend today and tomorrow taking care of holiday gift shopping and stuff like that.. but unfortunately, Dawn has come down with bronchitis, so she's couch bound for the moment recovering. I'll get plenty of time to chill out and write, play some games, etc.  The weather outside sucks, so I am gonna be Mr. Treadmill and some other exercise at home today and tomorrow, seems like.

We also made some pretty awesome Thanksgiving cookies from Pilsbury. Well by 'made' I mean 'put in the oven for 10 minutes.'

I'm feeling very comfortable on my weight loss program at this point.. I have enough knowledge now about how to be smart when shopping and pick healthier items, and enough experience cooking that I am making all of my own meals and sticking to things very well. 

Just this week I am struggling with finding anything to really post about here - so I might take a few days off from it for the weekend. Got some fun stuff coming up. :)

Okbai.

Beltin' Tuesday in the face.

Nothing major to talk about today.. I'm feeling pleasantly brain dead to be honest! Down another pound this morning, for some reason this last week my body has been shedding them like crazy.  I'm not going to complain!  I had some tasty chicken and asparagus for dinner last night, some chili for lunch and some yogurt and oat bran earlier.

I do have one nice thing to report on I guess - I had to get a new belt this past weekend, my old one has been getting looser and looser, I even punched a new hole in it a while back to get it tighter.  Moving down a belt size is definitely an awesome feeling.  Most of my spare weight is around the middle, after all.

Once I get to wear a belt (and pants) at my actual waistline, I'm gonna flip out, I think. It's been so long since I could do that, I don't even remember.  I just bought pants for work a month or two ago and they are already getting too big.. ack! I guess it's a good problem.

Uhhh.. since I got nothin' else, here is a picture of where a belt is supposed to go - and where it really goes when you are a Fat Guy.

Friday check in, and some thanks.



Prik King. Spicy! Tasty. Silly name.

 Howdy, peeps. It's Friday, the wind is blowing, and it's pretty gross outside. Nevertheless, I took 3 walks today, since I got here early enough to sneak in a bonus.  I went down to Noppakao thai for lunch to meet Leslie and she promptly told me she did 160 minutes of exercise today.  That woman is kicking ass!

This weekend marks the first fall storm really, and it's looking to be a nasty one. I'm going to have to shift to more indoor exercise myself, so we'll just see what I can figure out.

I'm getting pretty damn close to a milestone in my diet.  Every day is a new challenge for me and I like to look at it that way.  Pretty soon, I am going to move into what I am starting to think of as 'phase 2.5' of my diet, where I will introduce some new exercise activity, etc.  I'm definitely feeling energetic enough for it and it's exciting to be there.

What is most important to me is not looking skinnier, but feeling better, and watching my healthy.  Diabetes runs in my family and I do not have it, and losing the pounds is a pretty good way to help lower the chances I will develop it at some point.  Have to take care of my heart, too, as troubles in that area can come from weight problems too.. already I am looking at pictures even from earlier this year going, "Wow. I can't believe I didn't make a more serious effort to get healthier before this."

So back to my milestone comment. Here's a little picture->

The real start of my uphill struggle was almost 2 years ago at 340 pounds.  I was only down to 321 after over a year and a half of going to the gym halfheartedly and walking occasionally.

At this point - I've lost an amazing (to me) 68 pounds, and 49 has come off just since the end of August, and the start of me taking this seriously.  I'm about to hit my 50 pound milestone, and that makes me feel awesome, and a bit emotional.

Thanks again to anyone who reads this blog, and to my friends and family who have been pretty awesome support so far.  I don't really think I could have done this without you folks.  I've even had support at work, a few compliments here and there, people asking about my diet, and my friend Trudi does 2 walks with me most work days.  She says we'll be jogging in no time. We'll see. ;)

Most importantly thanks to my lovely wife, Dawn, who has been utterly supportive and helped me make good food choices for quite some time now.  You're awesome, honey!

I'm lucky to have such a fantastic bunch of people in my life. :)

Back on track + Talkin' about fats.

<- So there's my good news this morning, back on track and have tossed the extra weight I gained as a special bonus for last week's minor cheating adventures.  Excuse me while I engage in some minor self-congratulation:

"Self, good work."
"Oh! Why, Thank me!"
"I'm welcome! Keep it up."
"I've got a deal."

Now that that is out of my system - literally - I'm pushing on towards my next mini-goal of 260 pounds. I would like to see that happen by the end of November so I have some work to do.  I found a pretty killer new weapon in my battle of Mark vs. Mark this week though, namely Fat Free cheeses.  I didn't realize how much I was missing cheese in my flavors while cooking, and it is strangely difficult to FIND fat-free cheese at the store.

Most places have fat free cream cheese, but I had to go to Safeway to find fat-free shredded cheddar cheese, and Albertson's to find fat-free mozzarella cheese.  Is it really that rare for people to want to buy it? I guess it must be.  Most store have 'light' versions of products - but that is a treacherous food label.  A lot of times a 'light' version of a food product replaces what they had to remove with something else - and often, the replacement is no better for you.

You can't eat a 100% fat-free diet anyway, long term.  It's actually quite bad for you - fats are a natural part of our diet.  The trick is actually WHICH fats you eat.  I've read up about this in all sorts of places, and having a little basic knowledge helps me pick healthier things to eat now with just a quick glance at any product's nutrition label.

Dietary knowledge changes frequently - we're still trying to figure it all out, after all.  I'm also not a qualified nutritionist but I think these basic facts are generally agreed upon by people who are:

Trans Fats: Avoid these completely, if you can. 

Saturated Fats: Eat in moderation. It's not good for you, but in small amounts, normal.

Unsaturated Fats: You need these as part of a nutrition balance. They can help with cholesterol, etc. You'll see these as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Mono is slightly better for you.

Omega-3 fatty acids: Basically, the fat you get from fish.  These are very good for you. They help with cholesterol, heart disease risk, and are an anti-inflammatory. That's why some doctors want you to take fish-oil pills when your joints ache, etc.

I've read from several places that about 25% to 33% of your foods should contain 'good' fats. So, trimming the bad stuff is important.. but getting the good stuff is too.  It helps with your 'bad' cholesterol, your skin, and all sort of other useful things.

Next time you peek at something you love to buy - peek next to it and see if there's a version which is better for you. Odds are, it costs slightly more - tastes slightly different - but you'd get used to both in no time if you went that way.

Also of you were like I was before starting to change my ways, you might not know the proper way to interpret food labels.  Go anywhere on the internet and you'll see a million versions of the following. I think it is a pretty good basic guide.

The serving size is pretty important - don't overlook that.  A lot of products, people will buy and eat the whole package/container of something thinking it is healthy without noticing that the nutrient label says there are '2.5 servings' per container.  If that's the case.. you have to multiply the whole nutrition label 2.5 times.

Here is an excellent link with information about food labels from the FDA.  The chart at the bottom is particularly interesting, it can help you interpret what a 'light' or 'reduced sodium' label on a package means, etc.

If this seems like a lot to know - it is. But, once you are armed with some basic food knowledge, you can make better choices.

I'll also share this from personal experience - don't agonize over this all day when you shop either. Just be smart and consider making a few small changes to start out.

That said, here's a comparison I made of Kraft Shredded cheeses.. the mild made with 2% milk versus the fat-free stuff.  Remember... 5% or less is 'low' and 20% or more is 'high' when reading these.