Week 1 Success

I’m back on my regimen and it is going great.  I feel stupid for not getting back on the horse sooner.  One solid week and 8 pounds later I am feeling great.  I am just happy that I have to only lose 50 and not 100 like last time.

My friends and family have been very supportive as well which is a big help.

A quick tip is not weigh yourself everyday because your weight can fluctuate on a given day by 2+/- pounds.  Try to weigh yourself once a week around the same time of day.  I found picking a day in the middle of the week or even a Saturday works best for me because sometimes one can slip on the weekend and will say “I will start on a Monday”.  If you weigh yourself on the Monday you will still have the affects of the poor eating from the weekend and seeing a really bad number can discourage your from going forward.

The last thing you need is to be discouraged.  If for any reason you fall off your horse get right back on it. There is no better time than to start today.

 

Weight Loss Tips for a Healthy YOU – Fight Content

In 2008 I embarked on a life changing journey to alter my eating habits and to be finally healthy.  I lost well over a 100 pounds (135 to be exact) during that year and never felt better.  However, success and happiness lead to content which is a very bad word.

Content leads to falling back to old habits.

Content leads to eating foods you’ve sworn off.

Content leads to seeing numbers on the scale you said you would never see again once you passed them.

You can be content but don’t be satisfied.  Once you have achieved your goals; your new goal should be to maintain your weight.  Easier said than done I know.   After losing all the weight in 2008 I found myself steadily gaining weight.  Here I am in 2011 50 pounds heavier than 2 years ago.  I succeeded once and WILL succeed again.

I thought I would share my journey and provide tips along the way.  I started my regimen on January 1 (i know cheesy but it worked last time) with a goal to lose 50 pounds.  I am back to eating well, eating portions and working out.

 

It happened….again! Mets 2008 Collapse

Who says lightning can’t strike twice?  I needed a couple of days to recover from Sad Sunday @ Shea in order to write my thoughts on the season and eventual choke.   Yeah we started slow, fired Willie and then played well.  We were 3.5 games up with 17 to go and finished 3 games out of the division.  We were 2 games up in the final week in the wild card and lost by a game.  The team’s inability to win big games down the stretch really hurt.  All the players say 2007 never entered their mind, but given the same cast of characters how could it not.  How do you forget the most traumatic moment of your career which is in history as the biggest collapse in MLB history?  I am sure that when they started losing they thought…”this can’t happen again can it???”

Yes it can and YES it did.  So as I ponder about the offseason and wait to get a refund on my playoff tix, I wonder if they will string me along for another 161 games next year only to let me down.  This season followed the same pattern as last year.  Big lead with 17 to go, 1st series against Philly and we lose, we come home for the final week, tie for 1st in the standings on the 2nd to last day with an amazing pitching performance (last year it was Maine, this year Johan – both pitched shutouts), only to lose the final game to Florida (both years) to be eliminated.

OUCH!!  This hurts.  I got my hopes up. As the playoffs start today without the Mets, I can only sit back and hope not to watch as I will just get sick to my stomach.  The Mets hurt me this year, but like a bad break-up I have been hurt before so it does not sting as much.  To put it in terms of Danity Kane…I’m DAMAGED.  I know not to get my hopes up anymore.  I know I must wait until the last day to find out whether I should be happy or not.  I will have to wait for another roller coaster season which is only 6 months away….

Read me later.

SamNYC

 

New York Mets…another Collapse???

Here we are September 25, 2008.  Wait let me check that year again….checking….it is 2008!! But it feels a whole lot like 2007.  If you don’t know 2007 the Mets were leading the division by 7 games with 17 games left and were booted on the last day of the season.  Thanks Tommy-G!

I was at the game last night, which was brutal by the way, and I saw a team throw away an opportunity to inch closer to a playoff spot.  Yesterday was the perfect moment to erase the fears of a collapse but all they did was create further doubt about their future success.

Blame can be thrown around to everybody on the team, but blaming someone won’t change what has happened.  All we, as fans, can do is to will them to a victory.  Lets hope that the aging veteran (Pedro Martinez), who is on his last leg, can come up big and can provide a performance that will allow us to remember him as the Pedro of old.  The Pedro that would fill the stands, the Pedro that got a vicious roar after every strikeout.  If Pedro can perform one last time like he used to then all Mets fans will forget about his horrible performance since his return.

We will see what happens.  The season comes down to 4 games.  Lets forget the Phillies, forget the Brewers and just focus on the Mets.  They must win.  They need to win.

Read me later.

Sam-NYC

 

Meeting people in the bar scene….does it suck?

By now you know I live in NYC…the biggest and best city in the world.  There are millions of people and not to mention the countless single people.

With multiple bars on every block which one should you go to to meet that special someone?  It is a tough choice because your soul mate might be in the bar you passed up because it didn’t look like your scene.  Now lets say you do stumble into the right bar and see the girl of your dreams or the girl that you find interesting.  They say beauty is on the inside but you and I both know that it is what is on the OUTSIDE that allows you the chance to get to know them on the inside.

Now as a guy you can express your interest by making eye contact and smiling to acknowledge the other party without staring and bordering being a stalker.   If they smile back that is a good thing but if they roll their eyes or ignore you then it is the opposite.

But we will think positive here.  Acknowledgement – CHECK.  Now you need an ice breaker.  Forget the pick up lines, what I find works best is “Hi, my name is Sam”.  Then you can make a comment about the surroundings or with a question about them (nothing serious).  Ice Breaker – CHECK.  Name Exchange – CHECK.  Women can pick up on your confidence so stand up straight, speak well, and don’t spit.

Here are the girls I hate to go after – Girls in a group that want to hang out by themselves.  Some are so rude that they can’t even acknowledge you and think you have no business even talking to them.  Girls in a relationship – they are the ones constantly txt msging their boyfriends assuring them they are not cheating.  They are only out for some other reason other than for themselves.  Unless you are swearing a big sign that says you are taken we have no idea.  So be polite, acknowledge our presence and kindly say you are in a relationship.  I am not asking you for stock tips, if I talk to you that means I am interested in you.   Lastly are the girls who say they can’t meet a decent guy.  Stop picking clones of your last 5 boyfriends and try something or someone different.   Be open-minded and let yourself consider another type of guy.

Fellas..we have our faults too.  Do not stare so much that you creep them out.  Do not make rude sexual comments as they walk by.  Do not get sooooo wasted that you spit in their face or invade their space. 

Nice guys don’t often win but you need to give your self a chance in order to succeed.  It is like baseball…the best players in baseball fail 7 out of 10 times.  Rejection is a part of the game.  Bar scenes can suck but if you pick the right one and the right girl it might not be that bad.

Read me later.

Sam

 

Weight Loss Inspiration…anyone there?

When it comes to weight loss there aren’t too many inspiring individuals to look up to.  Yes you have your Al Rokers, Star Jones’s, Carnie Wilson’s who do it with surgery, but that alternative is not for everyone.  People don’t realize the suffering that goes with it.  For those of us that can’t afford the surgery it is not an option, and those who cut corners and cut costs will eventually cut their lives short by choosing a doctor with little experience because they are cheaper.

Then you have the contestants from the biggest loser.  Yes, their stories are great and the ability for us to relate to them is there.  But they are not in the real world.  If we devoted our entire day for 4 whole months to eating healthy and working out strenuously, we would lose the same amount of weight.  But that is not realistic either, because in the real world we have jobs, we have expenses, we have family, we have less time.

Then there is the recent rash of Hollywood mommas who seemingly drop the baby weight before they breast feed their baby for the first time.  You say they have the money for the trainers, meals, and can work out non-stop. 

But here is the thing, getting in shape is a priority for them, their job depends on it.  Getting and being healthy should be a priority for us too.  It should be above watching your favorite reality show or sports team.   Working out and eating right should be a priority.   You don’t need the personal trainers or delivered meals or surgery or pills.  You need to be in the right frame of mind to accomplish your weight loss goals.

Your inspiration should be YOURSELF!  Not the “you” right now but the “you” you want to be.  The fads tell you how to lose weight quickly.  But like I said in my last post it will come back just as fast.  It is a process.  Give yourself time to lose the weight, this is not for people who want to lose 5-10 pounds to fit into a dress for a wedding, but for those that want to lose 30, 50, or 100 pounds to change their life.  You didn’t gain the weight over night, so you can’t lose it over night either.  In conclusion, don’t look outside of yourself for inspiration look within yourself and the person you want to be.

Read me later.

Sam

 

I’ve finally lost 100 pounds…now what??

How about that for an introduction?

Like many people in the US, I was an obese individual all my life.   At the age of 28, I tried, succeeded and failed  at so many fad diets (atkins, zone, weight watchers…etc).  I can practically write a book about how to lose weight and put it all back on just as fast.  Sometimes, you end up weighing more than when you originally started.  It is like an angry ex-girlfiend that calls you out of the blue to tell you she was the one that gave you herpes.  Talk about insult to injury.  Ouch.  Maybe that is a bad analogy but I was never good on that portion of the SATs.

At my heaviest I was 320+/- pounds in 2005 and as of today I weigh 183 pounds.  Whenever I talk about my current weight it seems mind boggleing because I never thought I’d get here.  I am sure you are wondering how I did it?  No surgery….no pills…no starvation….no gimmicks.  Are you ready??  What I am about to tell you cannot leave this server, in fact, once you are done reading this, your computer will self destruct. 

Joking.  I lost the weight with….good ole….DIET and EXCERCISE and DETERMINATION.  I didn’t need a $40 book, or $50 tapes, or $100 meal plans.  I found that gimmicks only make things temporary (yo-yo dieting).  I needed a change in lifestyle with new habits to make things stick.  I think it worked!  I made a new year’s resolution and I actually kept it.  I was able to overcome some bad habits to really get to where I am.  When I started my plan on January 2, 2008 I weighed in at 293 pounds.  I hit the 100 pound lost mark on July 31st and have lost another 10 pounds since then.   I am 8 pounds away from the goal I set when I started.  YAY!

I look great.  I feel great.  I got a new wardrobe.  I have a new attitude on life. 

Everything is peachy right?  Seems like it.  But I find myself wondering where to go from here.  Do I continue to push the weight loss to get to 160…150…???  I may, considering the BMI calculators still call me overweight…which bothers me.   Do I continue to waste away in hopes to never see those hideous numbers on the scale again?  Sometimes I wonder how far can I take this? 

I am not sure why I started a blog but it is definitely free therapy.  I wish I started this in January so that you could have followed me on my journey.  Although the train is late, you can always hop on to see where it will go.  

Read me later.

Sam – NYC

 

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