bradleybee's Xanga

Funny. Ha. Ha.

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 03:44:33 GMT

Today the whole fam went to the gym to swim in the summer sun for a little while. The pool was pleasantly deserted when we arrived, so my lovely wife suggested that I let my torso see the light of day. I haven't gone shirtless since 1997, when I was (temporarily) completely unashamed of a physique I worked very hard to obtain...and that didn't last very long. After anguishing for several minutes, and I'm sure looking like a pathetic little boy, I acquiesced...hey, I lost 36 pounds...

I was SO SELF CONSCIOUS!!! I kept looking all around me and being so afraid of anyone daring to come into the pool area...it was still completely deserted except for lesbourgeoisie. Adrienne got tired of it, though: "NO ONE'S GONNA SEE YOU, BRAD! We're the only ones here! Stop worrying about it, no one's looking at you! "

Suddenly I hear, "Hey, Brad!" I didn't see Adrienne's lips moving. I whipped around to see a former co-worker. My wonderful wife started laughing and I carried on my conversation with my co-worker while half naked. Hooray for summer fun.

In OTHER NEWS!!! {*delightful squeals*} My new favorite person Paul Newman has created a line of healthy (sort of) Oreos!!!!!!!!!!! (if that wasn't enough gratuitous exclamation points, here are some more: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ). Newman-O's are made with no hydrogenated oils - only expeller pressed ones, and use organic evaporated cane juice as sugar. Still have the calories and fat, but the fat is in the least poisonous form. I'd sworn off Oreos late last year because they're just full of "sugared Crisco." NO MORE! Thanks to Paul Newman! The fact that this feat is possible makes me mad at Nabisco for continuing to sell the Nasteos with all the trans-fats!

So we bought a bag today...they're super-good, but you know what? After going so long without...they're just too sweet for me. Kind of a bummer, but in a good way

Good stuff...

Fri, 26 May 2006 13:55:03 GMT

Good reports:

I currently weigh 235 lbs, down from 270 on January 1, 2006. A 35 lb loss, and the most I've ever shed (unfortunately, I weighed the most I ever had to start).

I'm enjoying little things, like being faced with resizing my wedding band because it's too big and falls off a lot. Like having only one li'l hole left in my black dress belt, so I'll have to take an ice pick to it eventually, or buy a SMALLER ONE!

I'm currently ON VACATION, and wearing brand new and SMALLER clothes...wish our digital camera hadn't died, or I could post how different I look from the picture on the left!

I'm LOVING physical activity, and feel like I'm in a funk if I miss a day of working out.

I love the healthy stuff I'm eating, and even when I have some kind of craving for the bad stuff I used to be in the habit of eating, I'm always disappointed in how it actually tastes and feels.

I think I'm on a roll! Rejoice with me! Thanks so much for your encouragements!

EDIT: Oh, and I climbed a 1,011 foot mountain last weekend...TWICE!!

Finally, an update

Sat, 06 May 2006 08:41:11 GMT

From January 1 through April 30 I've shed 30 lbs! I'm feeling great, especially now that I'm really back on the wagon. It's been so long since I posted anything because I've been crazy busy at work.

Bottom line - I'm back to weighing what I weighed when I got married, and now that I'm back on the wagon (my eating and exercise, while still taking place over the past month, was not nearly as strict as Jan-March were), I should be shedding even more. I'm training right now to climb Mt. Pinnacle in Little Rock on May 20, which is approaching way too quickly. I climbed it last year and thought I'd never see my daughter be born because I'd have been a tasty snack for some vultures on the mountain. So this year I don't want the same thing to happen.

I'm fitting into clothes I haven't worn since I got married, and my pants are becoming bigger and bigger. I want to post a pic of me wearing a shirt it's been a goal of mine to wear, but I can't find the picture...dunno.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Go me! Go me!

Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:11:48 GMT

I'm down 22 pounds since January 1!

I was getting a little frustrated and down on myself because the last couple of weeks I'd seen very little change (one week I even gained 0.5 lb...big whoop, I know, but it wasn't the direction I was aiming for). I was trying to be really strict with my eating, but I wasn't exercising...I had a bad cold for a week, then for the following week-and-a-half I didn't exercise either...very busy at work - about to be derailed, though in the back of my mind I knew I wasn't off the wagon. I noticed that I actually felt more fatigued and less energetic since I'd stopped working out. The kinds of foods I was eating were giving me bursts of energy until I had to work out I started back up this week and the weight started coming back off.

So I started at 270 and now I'm at 248 - in a little over 2 months. I'm feeling better and better. I'm thinking after losing 10 more pounds I'll be able to fit in a brand new 4-year-old Brooks Brothers suit hanging in my closet with the tags still on it. I bought it on our honeymoon and it remains ever unworn. April 15 we'll be in a Katrina-afflicted municipality for a certain event that I'm not sure I can discuss lest someone connected to it randomly stumbles upon this, but it involves a suit and tie...think I can make it? (Nevermind, a beautiful bird over my shoulder just said it wasn't a surprise - Adrienne's grandparents' 50th anniversary party in New Orleans).

Oh, and I finished Eat to Live. It was so hard core at cutting animal products out of the diet and pro-vegetarian that it was somewhat intimidating. I've followed it as much as possible and as much as is practical, and I really like the results and the foods I'm eating. The author, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, also has a website - www.drfuhrman.com - that's really helpful.

Yuck!

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 04:21:38 GMT

I'm dreading the scale in the morning. I've been pretty strict with my eating all along, with any "cheats" being very insignificant and quite moderate...no bingeing (which is an appropriate form of the word "binge") on high calorie, low nutrient stuff...mainly existing on salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, with a taste here and there of something "bad" (maybe one meal in 10 instead of 8-10 meals in 10 like it used to be) I'm still dreading my weekly weigh-in tomorrow just because I feel fat...I know I've lost a good bit of weight for only 7 weeks having passed, but I guess I thought I'd fit better into some older shirts - though I did get into my nice black suit Sunday - couldn't button the jacket, but could easily fit into the slacks. Sunday I woke up with a nasty cold, though, and felt like I needed rest more than exercise...so I'm on day two of no exercise...I was really strict with my eating on both days, I'm just afraid of falling off the wagon when I have so far to go. We'll see, I guess...hope to get back to at least a little calorie-burning tomorrow...sorry for the rambling.

One whole month down!!!

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:37:36 GMT

I'm really excited that I'm keeping the momentum going and staying motivated! I've lost nearly 12 pounds over the last month, and I'm feeling great! I suppose I could say I'm somewhat missing all the nasty processed foods (just a little bit), but I'm not at all missing what they do to me. And I'm understanding that they are addictive, because they do not really satisfy the body's needs, so they "egg on" cravings that leave you devoid of nutrition...so I know to keep my distance. Any "splurges" I have are on very controlled little bits of Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate (one bar will last me over 3 weeks), and every now and then some of the 100% whole grain Chips Ahoy - which actually taste somewhat nutritious, since they're not zapped of all the good stuff in the wheat.

I've been working out every day with the oh-so-killer Slim-in-6 DVD's from Beachbody.com, but I'm taking it slow - no pressure to feel big results in 6 weeks, though I am. I'm doing extra ab work with Power 90 (also a Beachbody product) - because this go-around, I WILL discover that I actually have ab muscles, right?

I've read former heavyweight, now fitness guru and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's very motivational (and platitudinous) book Quit Digging your Grave with a Knife and Fork, and I'm over halfway through with Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live, which has been extraordinary and eye-opening. He proposes some big lifestyle changes, but I think I'm steadily incorporating many very healthy principles into my diet...and I'm enjoying it!!

If I had any complaints, it's just of slight knee pain, which I'm working around, but I know will go away when I've lightened up some more, and that I'm not taking advantage of the much bigger variety of fruits and vegetables that I know are out there. Some are just tough to come by. I don't want to get bored with the same broccoli, celery, and romaine lettuce (though those are incredibly good for you); I'm ready to get more adventurous and creative...I think it will turn me into better help in the kitchen. I've already cooked Tempeh Tacos - that's a little exotic considering tempeh is an Indonesian delicacy. I've become a big fan of a website called the World's Healthiest Foods, which has become a good guide about what's out there that supplies the most nutrients with the least caloric intake.

Thanks for everyone's steady and abundant encouragement. Please continue to pray for me. My will power is getting stronger daily, and my "temple" is becoming a fitter vessel.

"Emergency" update...

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 14:36:06 GMT

I'm quite busy at work, but need to post to my cyber-shrink in my moments of peril:

I didn't intend to post a progressive update quite this way, BUT.....

There are hot, wonderful-smelling doughnuts in the breakroom just next door to my office...

Here's what I know:

Doughnuts are a big weakness of mine. Don't eat them often, but when I do, it's baaad!
In the reading I've been doing on nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and weight loss, I've learned the worst possible food combination would contain bleached flour, fats, and refined sugar...hmmm...sounds like an exact definition of today's lifestyle adversary.
I've lost 10.4 pounds so far this month.
One doughnut will not ruin everything, but like they're like Lay's Potato Chips to me...I can't eat just one. I mean I could, but if I did, I'd likely spiral downward. Don't want to give myself the chance. It's a will-power, self control principle, right?
Sin very frequently appeals to the senses. I need to see it for what it is. 70 pounds down from now, it might not be an issue, but right now it is.
I have a crisp, juicy apple on my desk that will fill me up more and give me MANY more nutrients than the doughnut would.

Phew!

Progress: Week 1 Eval

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 03:21:16 GMT

I lost 6.6 pounds! I certainly won't expect that all the time, but it was a nice boost to start the day. Brought my bad, bad BMI (which designates me as "obese" which makes me feel like I'm confessing to some heinous crime) down a whole point!

And I don't feel like I'm missing out on all these great foods, because psychologically I'm trying to view them as not that great because my overindulgence in them and lack of activity led to this mess. I'm also assuring myself that I can find a suitable healthy substitute for many of the addictive processed foods.

Still working out (though my knee is bothering me today, and I'm exhausted, so I'll take a break but PROMISE to do it tomorrow - my biggest fear is thinking I'm putting the ball down temporarily and never picking it back up again...not gonna happen this time!), still trying to be steady, very conscious of all my intake, especially during the first few weeks to months as I try to "detox" and break bad habits.

Spicing up the mundane

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 03:18:45 GMT

Tonight's supper: Crisp romaine and baby spinach, tossed with fresh cauliflower florets, sliced cucumber, chopped carrots, sweet red onions, topped with grilled garlic-herb chicken breast and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Accompanied by cold eau de Bourgeois tap.

Fat and calorie count: I have no clue because I'm not always counting, but I know it's MUCH lower than what I usually eat!

AND...eaten with my Pretty Woman by candlelight...with the audience of a beautiful live baby doll bouncing in an Exo-saucer...

life is good.

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels!"

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 05:16:37 GMT

Eleven years ago this week my mom and I started Weight Watchers. It was my first-ever concerted effort at weight loss and fitness. I was 13 years old and weighed 189 lbs when we started (I was considerably shorter, too). I did learn very good habits (or at least effective practices, since the "habits" were broken after about 5 months), and got into a very good daily exercising groove, running 1.5 miles a day and started playing a sport (soccer) for the first time since I was 8. I felt great, like I had endless energy, and I ended up losing almost 25 lbs. The "mantra" I vividly remember from the first WW session was the discussion leader motivating us by saying (quite dramatically) "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels!" The power of psychology being what it is, that statement was a great motivator. I felt the weight dropping off, felt more energetic and enjoyed being active for the first time ever. My gym teacher, after pretty much laughing at the idea of my joining the track team at the beginning of the season, later pointed me out as an example of a good pace (and moved me to the "fast group"!) I got to go to France with a more svelte physique...and even lost more there because we walked so much, and the oft-raved about cuisine doesn't really appeal to the average 14-year old (the best things were the mousse au chocolat at Hippopotamus - a French sort of Chili's or Bennigans, and the chocolate crêpe from the vendor in front of the château Chenonceau). Here's me, 100 lbs lighter, in the back of Versailles (of which, because of my colorful surname, I have no fantasies of being the long-lost heir {sigh}):

I love my dorky ballcap ...and Adrienne just recently threw away the Nike Swoosh shirt.

But, alas...I'd boosted my metabolism so much more that I thought it would sustain itself while I took some time off. My family moved to Houma, LA from Lafayette, and we got into a different groove...I got used to my "time off" and jumped off the wagon...plus we weren't going to WW anymore, paying weekly for the motivational speeches and weigh-ins.

In other news, we discovered seasoned whole grain cracked bulgur wheat. It's really good! Low fat, high fiber, and can basically replace rice in my book.