F.O.C.U.S.: U= Undeterred

      There will be bumps in the road to weight loss. There will be battles lost. This is where being Undeterred comes in handy. Undeterred is defines as "not discouraged or dissuaded". It is so tempting to throw up my hands and say "I quit!!" However if I am undeterred I will get back on track and stay with it. I must NOT allow things to keep me down, I must go on...undeterred.

      Time for my update!! I weighed in yesterday morning at 367 lbs. I gained 1 pound. This was quite a let down, since I really thought I would lose weight. However, I fought through my discouragement and pressed on. I ate 3 tacos, and 2 bowls of banana pudding - yea I'm NOT supposed to have seconds. This was for lunch. I also had a turkey sandwich with mayo, cheese, pickles, and white bread. After church I ate 2 more turkey sandwiches and 2 chocolate chip cookies. I DID do the stepper for 30 minutes. We will see what happens when I weigh in this morning.

F.O.C.U.S.: C= Commited

     Commitment is a word that most people, it seems, don't like to hear. When a person is committed that means they are going to "stick with it" until the end. Commitment takes hard work, endurability, and toughness. It is tough to stay with something when it is hard. It is easier for me to be committed to watch a movie than it is for me to clean and paint a room. That is human nature. To be committed you have to be stubborn and say NO when you are tempted to give up.

     There is another "C" word I could use here as well. It is companion. Had I not had the encouragement from my wife, friends, and even kids I would have quit a long time ago.Having someone to answer to is a great way to help a person stay focused. This is why I LOVE to hear from you so we can help each other. A companion will help you stay committed. They go hand in hand, for me anyway.

     O.K. Now for my update....Yesterday I lost 1/2 a pound!!! I was pleasantly surprised considering all I ate Monday - see yesterday's post. I am now 9 pounds from my goal for the week. I did a little better - I think as far as eating goes. Yesterday I ate 3 cheeseburgers - the burgers were NOT fast food and they were on whole wheat bread. I also had nachos and cheese - it would probably equally a full large plate full of chips with cheese on almost every chip. I also had a small ice cream cone and some cake. Last night I ate two red baron personal, microwavable pizza's - 4 cheese. I did drink my gallon of water. I also did my 30 minutes of stepping. I feel pretty good about today. I think I will try to take pictures of what I eat - I have read where that helps some people - and I will share the pictures with you - we'll see what happens. Until next time stay F. - Full of Fortitude O - Observant C.-Committed...

F.O.C.U.S.: O= Observant

     Being observant can be a very difficult thing to do. How it is very important that those of us in this war on weight pay close attention to what we eat, how much we eat, and when we eat. We must be careful not to eat too much, the wrong foods, and when we are emotional. I am an emotional eater, I eat when I am depressed, happy, excited, sad, pretty much any emotion I eat(lol). Seriously, I have had a struggle with eating too much.

     Yesterday when I weighed in I weighed 366.5, this puts me now 9.5 pounds away from my goal for this week! Yesterday we had a an appreciation lunch for those of us at the radio station. They ordered pizza. Man was it good. Yes, I ate too much. I ate about 4 or 5 pieces of pizza along with 2 cheese sticks, and some very yummy (a.k.a. very fattening) chocolate bread sticks, I ate four of them - they were smaller. Later, for "supper" I had 2 more pieces of pizza and 4 of the small chocolate sticks. I also drank two cups of Mt. Dew yesterday, the rest of the day I drank water. About 7:00 p.m. I had 3 bowls of honey nut cheerios, with milk - I think it was 2%. Oh yeah I also had about 6 or 7 meatballs yesterday morning. I did not exercise ANY fortitude. I did however walk about 1 mile throughout the day and at about 8:00 I did my stepper for 20 minutes. This is similar to the stepper I use.

Today I will show both Fortitude and will be Observant. I haven't weighed today as of this post I will tell you how it turns out. Not really looking forward to it, but at least I will know the damage.

F.O.C.U.S.: F= Fortitude

    Fortitude, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means : strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. This is a key component to weight loss. It will not be fun, worth it, but NOT fun. A person must be focused and ready for "temptation" to spring it's UGLY head. So I want to take the word Focus and write an acrostic. Today we will look at F.

     F= Fortitude. As we begin on this life changing journey, we must be ready for what lies ahead, in the form of temptation. There will be dangerous pitfalls to avoid, such as that dreadful 2nd helping, eating too much fried foods, eating out too much, or not "having time" a.k.a. don't want to exercise. We must have the fortitude to say NO to the temptations we will face, and YES to the good things which are difficult to do. I can say I want to lose weight, but ACTION is the key. It is time to gear up for battle, because that is exactly what we are in for.

    Now, let me tell you my official weigh in for this week: 365 lbs. My goal is to be at 357 by Sunday. This IS a lot of weight to lose in one week however I believe that this is attainable with A LOT of  FORTITUDE. Now what is your goal for next week? How will you reach that goal?

Off to a Good Start

      O.K. so I was thinking..."What can I do to help me lose weight?" I have formulated a plan that I think will work. I will do this in stages. stage one is where I am now.

1. I have stopped eating past 6:00 p.m.
2. I have some "steppers" at my house. I am using those for 15 min. each day
3. I have started eating a lite supper.

This is step one. Using this step I lost 1 pound yesterday. I am now 363.5.

     Now let me clarify, while I officially weigh in on Sunday's, I weigh in every day. Now I have heard from some that this may not be a good idea, however according to the research I have done people who weigh in every day are more likely to lose weight and manage their weight lose.

      Stage two will begin Monday I will keep doing everything on stage one, but I will add stage two which is

1. add 15 minutes of steppers - this will be 2 X's a day 15 min. in the afternoon and 15 min. in the evening
2. start drinking more water - back to my gallon a day

I will stop there for my stages. and will keep you updated on what I am doing in my next stage.

Back in the Saddle Again

     "Back in the saddle again, back where a friend is a friend..." YES, it has been a looooooong while since I last wrote. I am ready now to get back on subject. I will tell you that I REALLY struggles through the summer. I fell off the bandwagon, but I am once again back in this war!! I was "wounded" but now I have healed and I am ready to lose weight. I will be posting my goals on the next couple days. I am also considering posting pictures and maybe a video every once in a while. I am going to schedule some people to blog on this topic as well.
      If you did well during the summer I would LOVE for you to share your story! I am currently 364.5 lbs. Holly and I have set goals as well as some rewards for when I reach my goal. Oh yeah, by the way Holly beat me in our race! Congratulations. I have a VERY busy schedule so I may be a little hit and miss in my blogging, until I can get my schedule figured out. My new official weigh in day is on Sunday Morning. I will post my official weight on Monday's. So until Tomorrow, I'm going back into the field!!!!

Still in the War, Just on "Leave"

     It has been several weeks since I last wrote about my War on Weight. Yes, I am still in the war, I have just taken a little "leave" from writting so I can regroup and set new goals for my weight loss. I had come to a realization that since I have set my weekly goals, I have NOT reached ONE goal! So i have set more attainable goals. Last post I was at 369 at last weigh-in I was down to 367. I have been down to 361.5, but gained some back. I am now going back down.

     Holly and I are still in our race in which she has lost 5% of her goal and I have lost 1%. We are shooting to be done with this race by the end of June! This only leaves me about 7 weeks to lose 9% before Holly reaches her goal. I will attempt to write about once a week. I REALLY want this to be a blog that can be helpful to those who read it, so I will begin looking for helpful information to post. Please feel free to share any helpful information. I am looking forward to getting back into the "War on Weight!!"

      I will keep you updated on my goals. If you have any you would like to share, please do so. I weigh in every Tuesday. My goal for this next weigh in is to lose only 2 lbs. from 367 to 365. One of the Christian radio stations I work at is having a share - a- thon. That means LOTS of FOOD! So I must have LOTS of DISCIPLINE! Please pray for both our share - a - thon and me to STAY THE COURSE.