We CRAVE activity

Watching my two year old son has given me a new lens to look at my own life through.

Quite simply, he has SO MUCH ENERGY.

Of course he does, he’s two! He doesn’t have the years of bad eating and lack of exercise weighing him down figuratively and literally. He is in essence, a blank slate - a prime example of what the human body yearns to be before we destroy it.

ACTIVE!

I am trying my best to shake off my lethargy and do more active things with him to quench his thirst for movement. There is only so much you can do in the house, after all. I don’t want him to ever have the sorts of problems I’ve had with weight and the best thing I can do now is to make sure he eats normal foods and stays active.

And I need to be his example.

David Wright

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 327 lbs.
  • Weight today: 327 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 23 pounds

Tara Cain

I hear you loud and clear with the active children thing DW. My 6 year old is active with a capital A.
He plays cricket and football at afterschool clubs, he has swimming lessons and he plays rugby with his dad every Saturday morning.
I think children are an inspiration to us all. The greatest joy to him is if we come home from school and play tig in the backgarden together.

And you are right, that is something we as parents should embrace and join in.
What better way to keep fit and bring a little sunshine to our children’s lives?

Today has been his school’s sports day and it’s hot and sticky and he’s all sweaty and dishevelled. Boy he looks SO happy.
So much so, I’m not even going to fret over the lollipop sweet they will all be bringing home in their bookbags as a treat!

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 162 lbs.
  • Weight today: 162lbs
  • Amount lost this week:0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 5 comments }

A trip to the doctor’s

I got a letter from my doctor Friday which read, “we need to discuss your test results, please call us for an appointment.”

Since my doctor is closed on Friday, I spent the week pondering the ominous wording. What the hell does that mean?!

It couldn’t be too bad, right, or they wouldn’t send a letter. They would call. Right?

I spent the weekend considering my health sins, the crap I’ve eaten, the exercise I’ve avoided and I worked myself into the certainty that I was going to get horrible news. I hoped the news wouldn’t be too horrible. I began making mental promises to do better, to get back on track, etc… I felt like a drunk suffering a hangover praying to the porcelain Gods to grant them the strength to make it through the day, vowing “never again.”

So I was able to get in to see the doctor today. The big news? That my blood work showed that my blood sugar had gone from 116 to 121 or so.

All my other blood work was great.

I was a bit ticked off that they couldn’t have made it clear in the letter so as not to add to my stress. However, I was relieved that my lack of commitment hadn’t done irreversible damage.

On the downside, I gained three pounds last week, which I think is my biggest week-to-week gain in a long time. It’s been a rough few weeks diet-wise and I need to get back on that elusive track. Because if I don’t, it’s only a matter of time before my doctor has worse news to deliver.

David Wright

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 324 lbs.
  • Weight today: 327 lbs.
  • Amount gained this week: 3 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 23 pounds

Tara Cain

I’d like to first off welcome all the newcomers here - welcome one and all, it’s great to have you here.

I’ve had a great week exercise wise, so why the diggery devil haven’t I shifted any weight again?
My mother in law keeps telling me she can tell I am losing weight, but then I don’t know if she’s just trying to make me feel better.
I’m off to eat a packet of HobNobs to make myself feel better . . . (kidding).

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 162 lbs.
  • Weight today: 162lbs
  • Amount lost this week:0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 9 comments }

Heeeeelp. I cannot resist the powerful mind control that chocolate wages on me.

I’ve had a fantastic week of walking stride by stride with my mother in law again.
I have sweated, wheezed, held my aching sides and pretty much had to put up with a sweaty, red face all week.
All in a good cause eh?

So why the heckedy heck haven’t I lost any weight?
Well, I’ll tell you. That smooth villain chocolat has been sweet talking me and leading me astray.

I know, I KNOW that I’m letting myself down and I know that to lose weight I’ve got to do that exercise AND stop eating the sweet stuff.
But does my body listen? Does it buffalo. It takes over my mind, rips open the biscuit packet makes me have ‘just the one’. ‘Oh go on then two’. ‘Right, no more than three’ etc etc.

Go on, tell me to just not buy the stuff. Not have it in the house to lead to temptation.

Hmmm, I wish it were that easy.

Who is in the same boat as me?

Now for the weekly weigh-In

Tara Cain

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 162 lbs.
  • Weight today: 162lbs
  • Amount lost this week:0lb

David Wright

This week was awful in the eating well department. We have my sister-in-law in town with her four kids and I’ve been hiding in my office half the time, eating quick and crappy food. Not surprisingly, I didn’t lose any weight. On the plus side, I didn’t gain anything, either.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 324 lbs.
  • Weight today: 324 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 26 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 10 comments }

Everybody wants your money

First, welcome to the new readers of our site! Though I’ve been absent from the blog more than I’d like to be, I have noticed new blood in the comments.  Thank you as well as our longtime members. I’ve got some stuff planned to make this site a bit better in the coming weeks.

Now on with this week’s post…

When I first started trying to lose weight for that newspaper contest in 2006, I noticed something interesting.

A lot of people wanted to exploit what I was doing. I had all matter of “miracle diet” people, surgery advocates, and plain good old fashioned snake oil supplement salesmen approach me looking to “help” me, in hopes that I would, in turn, help them exploit our readers. I declined each and every offer from these charlatans, with the exception of a personal fitness trainer who genuinely wanted to help me even if I never mentioned him in the paper by name. That, folks, is a decent person.

However, most of the people offering help were anything but decent.

I was nice at first, but eventually, I got tired of dealing with parasites and told one guy who would not take no for an answer to back off.

You see, there are lots of people on TV and on the web who will promise you anything in order to get your money.

Just do this and you’ll lose 40 pounds, just like this stock photo with a made up name did.

And here’s the big secret as to why they rarely get called out on their trickery.

They know you will not fulfill every part of your diet plan.

Read the fine print of almost any diet plan, book or product. It will mention somewhere in fine print, “as part of a balanced diet.”

Well, if we could follow a balanced diet, most of us would be in better shape and not need their product. So most people wind up blaming themselves for the  product’s failure to do what it said. They think that they just didn’t try hard enough, they cheated that one time and ate a biscuit.

And if you do happen to follow the advice to the letter and it fails to work, what are you going to do? Sue them?

Good luck with that.

At best, you might be part of some class action lawsuit which may get you a few bucks. But it doesn’t stop the very same people, under new company names, from coming back a few years later with a new scam. They do it because they rake in a hell of a lot more money than they ever pay out in lawsuits. They cheat you because they can and because it works.

So, you won’t ever see ads for fake diet plans here. You won’t ever see me hawking some crazy weight loss scheme. I may not inspire you with tales of rapid weight loss, but I will also never sell you a lie.

If I ever do endorse anything it will be because it works for me and it SHOULD work for you. And short of a sensible eating plan, I can’t imagine what else that would be.

Now for the weekly weigh-In

Tara Cain

I’ve had a great week workout wise. I’ve been out walking nearly every evening with my mother in law, and boy can she shift.
We walk over fields, up hills, down canal paths and I arrive home with beads of sweat trickling down my spine.
This is a good thing.
No loss weight wise however, but I really feel like this is the start of something really good.

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 162 lbs.
  • Weight today: 162lbs
  • Amount lost this week:0lb

David Wright

I’d love to say I followed my strict calorie counts the whole week, but I slipped big time. I didn’t pig out, save for one interlude with chocolate cake I wish to take back. All in all, not a bad week. But not a good one, either.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 324 lbs.
  • Weight today: 324 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 26 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 4 comments }

The amazing power of a mother-in-law

I am being kicked into shape by my husband’s mother.

She’s 60-something, as fit as a fiddle and puts me to shame. But she has decided to take me under her wing and sort me out!

So three nights a week we are going out walking. Power walking. And this woman can walk! I’ve only done two nights and believe me when I tell you, I come home SWEATING.

And just because we’re power walking doesn’t mean she can’t put the world to rights at the same time.
Seriously, this woman is amazing!

All joking aside though, it has been a blast. They say the best way to lose weight and get fit is to have fun, well these walks are a blast - and that’s not something many people can say about a stroll out in the evening with their mother in law!

The baby steps have started to work though. 1lb down. I’m not telling her that though, she’ll want to pick up the pace and I’m not too proud to tell you, I don’t think I could manage it just yet!

Now for the weekly weigh-In

Tara Cain

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 163 lbs.
  • Weight today: 162lbs
  • Amount lost this week:1lb

David Wright

Cheerios are my friend.

I’ve taken a page out of my two year old son’s book when it comes to snacking - Cheerio’s and raisins, or rin-rin’s, as he calls them.

As far as snacks, it’s a lot healthier than the other stuff I normally shove in my mouth late at night. I’ll update you with a bit more info next week.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 325 lbs.
  • Weight today: 324 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 1 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 26 pounds

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 11 comments }

I’m back.

It took some soul searching of what is important to me, but I am once again motivated to kick this weight loss thing into high gear.

I have decided to stick to a 2,000 calorie diet for the next 30 days, no exceptions. This might seem like a lot of calories, but remember, I’m 6 foot 4 and extremely overweight.

I’ve never stuck to a calorie restriction diet before, so this should be interesting. I may even start posting a bit more here if I get particularly frustrated, angry, depressed.

And because I know there will be times I am still hungry at the end of the day, I am going to make sure I have plenty of healthy snacks around. The idea is that I’ll be less likely to snack if my only option is something healthy.

In other words, I’ll only eat if I am really hungry. A novel concept to be sure!

Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In

David Wright

No movement on the scale this week. I look for that to change next week.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 325 lbs.
  • Weight today: 325 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 25 pounds

Tara Cain

Only eat when you’re hungry DW? But that would be ALL THE TIME for me!
Only joking, but I do confess I am a terrible grazer and so I’ve had to cut down on what I have at meal times (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to ensure the calorie count doesn’t go off the scale.

No movement for me this week. But I have stuck to The Plan and, considering I’m sat at home all the live long day at a desk in my little office that’s mere feet away from the ‘goodie’ cupboard which, believe it or not, has developed a voice that now calls to me, I think I’ve been pretty restrained.

Of course I could help myself immeasurably if I’d just stop buying the damn stuff!

The stats:

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 164 lbs.
  • Weight today: 163lbs
  • Amount lost this week:0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 6 comments }

I have incentive!

In just a few months time I will be going on a fabulous holiday.

We can’t really afford it, we’ve agonised over whether or not to pull out and we have scrimped and saved since last September.
Of course it didn’t help that I quit my news desk job and started up in business on my own from home with two young children hanging off my leg
.
Plus hubby has had the threat of redundancy hanging over his head.
Yeah, it’s been fun!

But we have decided to take the plunge and go for it. It will take every penny we have, but we figure if we don’t go for it now we probably never will.

We are just a tad excited.

With all that in mind, I do not want to taint this holiday by being miserable and overweight.
I’ve already started thinking about clothes and getting myself into a tiz about it.
Looking at beachwear fills me with dread (and you know how much I’ve gone on and on about how bust size can totally ruin you look!)
I want to skip into a store and get excited about buying embarrassingly low-cut tops (my kids are too young to roll their eyes and tut at mummy looking like mutton just yet), and cut-off jeans and floaty kaftans slit up to the thigh.

So I have been using a visualisation technique to wean myself off hot buttered toast and sneaky chocolate bars.
I imagine myself lying on the beach, fabulous outfit on, neat little toes painted hot pink and the sun beating down on my (factor 30′d, obviously) legs.
There are no embarrassing overhangs, my bust actually fits inside my top and I have no problem whatsoever in flashing my torso.
(In my very lovely mental image the children are the picture of contentment and only say ‘mummy, mummy’ a handful of times and nobody demands ‘I want an ice cream’ at the most shrill pitch they can muster. Yes, it is bliss!)

It sounds a bit daft, but I’m convinced it could work. Today I reached for the biscuit tin during a ‘weak’ moment and saw my dream slipping away for the sake of a quick Rich Tea fix.
I put it back, had a cup of tea instead and revelled in the warmth of my smugness, if indeed there is such a word!

Tara


Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In

David Wright

Thanks to everybody who weighed in last week (figuratively and literally). I appreciate the support. I questioned my motivations and drive during the week and will post my thoughts on it next week - as well as a more concrete plant. I didn’t do much exercising last week. But on the plus side, I also didn’t do much eating. So no weight loss OR gain to report.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 325 lbs.
  • Weight today: 325 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 25 pounds

Tara Cain 

The stats:

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 164 lbs.
  • Weight today: 163lbs
  • Amount lost this week: 1lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email every weekday? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 7 comments }

Mailing it in

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past God knows how many Wednesday Weigh-Ins.

Truth be told, my mind is on other things of late - like attempting to secure work and paying my bills. I’ve managed to keep most of my fears and dark thoughts hidden, focusing on the good, happy and funny things in my life. And for the most part, it’s working. I haven’t allowed my negativity to creep into my online work.

Except here.

I’ve found it harder than ever to worry about long term goals such as weight loss and eating healthier when the immediate future is so clouded with uncertainty. And I’ve found it hard to write about healthy living without feeling like something of a fraud. I post my weekly updates and say I’ll work out and eat better and all the other things, but after I hit publish, my mind narrows in on the other things in my life.

Truth is, right now, I don’t want to think about my weight loss. It’s just one more bad thing.

But another part of me is trying to push forward. Saying it is one of the ONLY things I have control over.

I tell myself that I’ve done well to have lost 25 pounds, even if I should have lost 50 by now.

I tell myself that I need to be able to focus on eating and exercise regardless of the other stresses in my life. Because there will always be something else my mind is focused on.

And I tell myself that many of you are also facing your own health setbacks and limitations, yet you continue. So, I shall too.

Hopefully, I’ll soon stop mailing it in and really feel something from this soon.

Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In

David Wright

This week was a non-week for me. No loss, no gain, almost no exercise. Pretty much the same as last week.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 325 lbs.
  • Weight today: 325 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 25 pounds

Tara Cain

I hear you loud and clear DW.
I feel like the worst person to be standing up on this platform and blogging about weight loss and fitness because, well, i can’t seem to do either.
I am insanely busy with work, and here’s the rub: Because I work for myself from home I feel very real pangs of guilt if I ever entertain the idea of taking an hour out to do a spot of exercise.
‘It’s an hour less to work and how can I afford to give that up?’ I ask myself. Yes, I know I would probably be more productive and it would help me in the long run if I just scheduled it into my day.
But the reality is I don’t and my weight loss is suffering because of it.

Truth be told, I feel pretty crappy at the moment. I haven’t gained, I haven’t lost, but I have lost my mojo. 
I am sat here drinking a cup of tea and eating an apple and feel totally booored with the whole weight loss thing.
But, like DW, I am so inspired by the folks that come here every week and overcome all manner of things life throws at them, so I will plod on.
Next week I promise will be different . . .

The stats:

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 164 lbs.
  • Weight today: 164lbs
  • Amount lost this week: 0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email every weekday? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 7 comments }

Totally Worth It

Hi, I’m Sean Platt. It’s been two weeks since my last Blog to Fit post.

When I last left you I admitted I had a problem. Where I was once a lean machine who tended his body, I’d grown into an M&M munching writer who sat a bum running on fumes of coffee. I said then that I knew what I needed to do. I meant what I said.

Here’s a bit of a rundown:

I went two full weeks without sugar. The first few days were easy. The fourth was a bit like being dragged through a desert of donuts with masking tape over my mouth.

Midway through the day I was grouchy and exhausted, carrying the same motivation I might have had searching for keys before a dentist appointment. Fortunately, my mood subsided with sleep and I rose the next morning feeling better than I have in a while.

During this period of renewal I have also made sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water each day and have done my push-ups and sit-ups without missing a single session. For 16 days I went without a single granule of sugar.

Until today.

My daughter had a celebration at her school. There was cake and ice cream. I tried to decline, but her teacher (whom I love dearly) insisted. I wish I could say it was good cake but my parents raised me not to lie.

It was the kind of cake that tastes like you should ask for your quarter back. I’m sure it tasted worse because I wasn’t used to the sugary assault on my senses. I ate 2/3 of what was on my plate, tossed the paper in the can, grabbed my girl’s hand, and headed for the exit.

The sugar hit me like a punch in the teeth before I even started the engine. Two weeks without sugar made the drive home seem about a thousand years. I was exhausted, could barely keep my eyes open, and felt a little bit…. twitchy.

I had a hearty soup for dinner and all is well, but it sure makes me wonder what a shock sugar really is to the system and how we commit to desensitizing ourselves to its effects without even blinking.

My diet over the last two weeks has been based on Dr. Tarnower’s “Scarsdale Diet.” This is the nutritional program I always cling to when I feel myself falling out of balance. It’s worked for me for 15 years and I love it. It eliminates refined sugar and severely limits carbohydrates in general. The biggest benefit of the diet is that you can eat all the protein and vegetable you want, so hunger isn’t an issue (so long as you remain disciplined with your available options).

The diet works with two weeks of restriction followed by two weeks of light eating, then two weeks more of the regime if you’re game.

I’m game.

I’ve not only shed ten pounds like a jacket in summer, but a couple of days ago my daughter said, “Daddy you look much stronger today.”

Totally worth it.

Sean Platt is a creative blogger who is looking much stronger today.

Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In

David Wright

Unlike my friend, Sean, I did not give up on refined sugar. I think it might be one of the only things holding my body together and fear what withdrawal would do.

That being said, this week was yet another where I ate okay but didn’t get much exercise. This time, though, I didn’t lose any weight.

I’m hitting the exercise trail with my family this weekend though, so next week should be better.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 325 lbs.
  • Weight today: 325 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 0 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 25 pounds

Tara Cain

I absolutely know where Sean is coming from with the whole giving sugar up thing. It’s really really hard, but when you’ve purged your body of all that crap and you eventually feel human again, it’s really really hard to go back to eating it.
I’ve had an intensely busy week and find myself not eating properly still. However, I have managed to ditch reaching for the crap and have rediscovered smoothies, apples and a handful of nuts to keep me going.

I must must must must rack up my activity levels. I am meeting with a local gym to discuss ways of promoting their classes this week so I’ve got no excuse really.
They actually do a Bootcamp Bikini class. I wonder if they expect the class members to turn up in their bikinis  . . .

The stats:

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 164 lbs.
  • Weight today: 164lbs
  • Amount lost this week: 0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email every weekday? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

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Does the sun make you bloom?

I had the best weekend with the children.

Here in the UK the sun came out, spring was in the air and we rediscovered the outdoors with a vengeance.

We played in the garden (mainly in the wheelbarrow, which meant a spot of weightlifting for me as I heaved them around the lawn!), we went for walks, we climbed styles, we went bike riding and we took deep, full breaths of country air.

I don’t know about you, but when the sun comes out I feel, well, more alive. I want to go out and exercise, to run around with my children and to feel tired at the end of the day because I’ve actually done something.

My kids adore the outdoors. A measure of a good day in our household is how much dirt is under their fingernails. There was a lot of dirt after this weekend.

Of course there was a downside. There is always a downside!

We visited my friend Suzanne, whose husband is a bit of a cook. As we arrived at their house the smell of freshly baked cookies filled the air.

I don’t think I need to say any more. Just know that the batch he gave us to bring home? Lasted a day. Ok, ok, it was an hour, but hubby helped out . . .

Now, for the weekly Wednesday Weigh-In

David Wright

Back on track this week, half-way. I ate better than the week before but I got zero exercise. Well, unless you count chasing a two year old around the house for a nightly game of hide and seek/chase the toddler.  We also play indoors basketball every night, but I’m afraid I didn’t burn enough calories to lose more than a pound.

The stats: David Wright

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 350 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 250 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 326 lbs.
  • Weight today: 325 lbs.
  • Amount lost this week: 1 lbs.
  • Total lost since Nov. 19: 25 pounds

Tara Cain

Homebaked cookies aside, I’ve been so so this week. However I haven’t moved a muscle.
I’ve been rooted to my home office chair and can actually feel my ass spreading across the chair. The most exercise I’ve had is getting up to make a cup of tea. Which I do about 15 times a day - what can I tell you, I’m a tea addict.

I must must must must up my activity levels or I am in danger of becoming one with the office furniture.
The trouble is I am so busy I feel ‘guilty’ for taking an hour off and going for a walk.
I need one of you to come round, knock on my front door and drag me out!

The stats:

  • Starting weight Wed. Nov.19: 168 lbs.
  • Goal weight: 140 lbs.
  • Weight last week: 164 lbs.
  • Weight today: 164lbs
  • Amount lost this week: 0lb

Now it’s your turn. Share your success (or setback) story with us.

If you’d like to post a Wednesday Weigh-In post on your blog and help spread the word of our goals, please do so. Get all the info on how you can participate right here.

See you downstairs in the comments - and let’s all show our support and visit anyone taking part.

Update

As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Wednesday Weigh-In.

Thank you!

Want a bit of humor and motivation delivered via email every weekday? Subscribeto get each BlogToFit post delivered for free! Email not your thing? That’s okay, you can also subscribe via RSS - like all the cool kids do. It’s also free. Unless you really WANT to pay us.

Copyright 2009 BlogToFit.com. If you are reading this on any site other than BlogToFit.com or your personal feedreader or email, you may be viewing it on a site which steals content. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust any site which steals content.

{ 11 comments }