I'm Back!

I have seriously been thinking about deleting this blog, but that would be the easy way out. After some thought, I have decided not to deleted it, but I won't be updating everyday as I do not always have the time or the internet connection to do that. Tomorrow I plan on going for a jog on my grandparents farm. Eating will be tough tomorrow, because I'm in the boon docks and there's not an overabundance of healthy food laying around this place. A trip to Dierks in the morning to get a healthy breakfast and then a hair cut is the first item on my agenda. Good night for now and you all have a safe weekend!

Brent

Confession

Yep, that's right. I have a confession to make. I have fallen off the bandwagon. I have no good excuse so I'm not even going to try to justify it. However, I do plan on getting back on. Sometime. This week. Maybe. Will update more when I have good news to share. lol

Week Three: Days 1-2

You know what really irritates me? Technology. Just let me get my soap box finished and we'll talk weight loss. HA

So here I am trying to keep up a blog about my weight loss and I can't even do that everyday because my wireless thing-a-mabob is broken. You'd think if I'm paying $60.00 a month that AT&T could make a wireless USB thingy that wouldn't break so easy. UGH!

Now, let's talk about the past few days...I can't say I've been good at keeping track since the last post, but I can assure you that I have had a bunch of vegetables. I have also had a couple good walks. My friend Leigha went with my last night and we walked hard! I was on the verge of passing out by the time we were done. I hope we can walk again tomorrow.

Today I was off and decided I needed some time in Murfreesboro. It was a very good day as I was able to spend some quality time with my nanny and a dear friend. My nanny and I went for a leisurely drive in the country and ended up at Sunshine Acres, just outside of Nashville. We looked at all the flowers, trees, and fruit and vegetable plants they had, but came home with nothing.

Later in the day I paid a visit to my friend, Brandy. I cooked for her and her husband and we ate dinner together. Today was my cheat day. We had cube steak, oven-roasted new potatoes, green beans, buttermilk cornbread and CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!! It was delicious if I say so myself.

I realized today that since I have given up sweets I am craving them less. Usually one piece of chocolate cake wouldn't cut it and I'd go back for seconds, but tonight I was ok with one piece and I still am. Finally! A break through in my sweets addiction.

Well, it is getting late and I'm tired. Cooking and then cleaning up wore me out! I hope I can update tomorrow. Take care!

Brently

Week Two: Days 3-6

Ok guys...

Over the weekend, I had a stomach problem. I won't go into the details, because it's not pretty. However, Friday through Sunday I did not eat much and didn't feel up to exercise. I stepped on the scales this morning and noticed I am still dropping. Yes I told myself I would only weigh once every two weeks, but I was curious if being sick all weekend would have boosted the weigh loss, and it did! The only plus side to the weekend.

Anyway...today I felt better although not 100%. I did eat more and I was able to get in some walking.

Menu for 3/21/2011

Breakfast:
Didn't eat

Lunch:
Black eyed peas
Green beans with carrots
Macaroni & cheese
Baked apple

Snack:
Banana

Dinner:
Turkey wrap

Snack:
Tropical fruit mix

Week Two: Day Two

What a day! I have been very discouraged all day long. However, reading a friends success blog has really motivated me to be better and try harder. After all, I am putting it all out there for the whole world wide web to see. Can I really afford to accept failure anyhow? What about my health? What about my dream to walk into a store and buy clothes that I will actually look good in? It's time. I has been time for years.

Temptation is an ugly thing. Part of the reason I am fat is because I have always worked in an environment where food is abundant. Temptation has always been staring me in the face and it is time to stare right back and give it the finger!

By now you are probably thinking that I broke my rule again. Yes, I did. Nothing over the top, but I still cheated and I still feel bad about it. I know I shouldn't let it get me too down and think positive, but you all know that's easier said than done.

My friend who has inspired me is awesome! I am so proud of her and excited for her weight loss accomplishments. She is a hilarious girl and skinny or not, she will always be awesome. So thank you (you know who you are). I will make it a point to read your posts everyday to find my will power and inspiration.

Now to get to the menu.

Menu for 3/17/2011

Breakfast
(Didn't have any...BAD MISTAKE. NEVER EVER EVER SKIP BREAKFAST)

Lunch
Baked pork chop
Two bowls of cabbage (I love cabbage)
Mix vegetables
A few bites of new potatoes

Snack
Small portion of peach cobbler

Dinner
Left over cabbage
New potatoes

I know you're thinking that's a lot of cabbage, but it's healthy! Also, I haven't had cabbage in a while, so I was trying to make up for the the time I had went without.

Didn't exercise tonight, but I do plan on getting a run in tomorrow morning. I will be spending my weekend off with family on the farm. There are plenty of places to run on the farm and lots of hills to give myself a challenge and burn a few extra calories.

My goal for tomorrow is to burn 500 calories. I can do it! Will post my exercise log for tomorrow when completed and how many calories I burned. Wish me luck!

Brently

Week One: Day Seven and Week Two: Day One

I will attempt to list what I ate yesterday. I forgot to write it down, so I may miss something. For breakfast I had a banana. For lunch I had turnip greens, pintos, mix vegetables and stewed tomatoes. I also had a very small portion of some peanut butter pie filling that was left over from the pie I had made at work. I had said I am giving up sweets and I am not counting that as a sweet. HA HA There was a lot more peanut butter, cream cheese and milk in it than there was sugar.

Last night, I ended up going to Little Rock and spend nearly all my cash at the mall. Bad thing to do, because on the way home I was starving and had only $5.00. Where do you go when you are eating on a $5.00 budget? Yep! That's right folks, I went to McDonalds. That Big Mac meal was delicious and I am considering that my treat for the week.

After church tonight I went for a walk. I did a little jogging as well. Alternating between walking and jogging is my favorite way to do it. Tonight I did 1.63 miles in 27:33 minutes and I burned 254 calories. Sunday I walked .79 miles in 19:49 minutes and burned 109 calories. I would have walked more Sunday, but a friend was with me and couldn't keep up. HA HA

Menu for 3/16/2011

Breakfast:
Banana

Lunch:
Turnip greens
Black eyed peas
Squash
Peanut Butter Pie (This is embarrassing, but I'm going to be honest about what I ate.)

Snack:
Peanut butter
Pink Lady Apple

Supper:
Whole wheat turkey wrap (it had 2 slices of turkey, onion, tomato and spicy brown mustard)
Peaches in pear juice.

Week One: Day Six

Not going to say much tonight since it's getting late, but I do want to say that this week I have been very good about eating more fruits and vegetables. I have also slacked off the sweets, even thought I have had sweets nearly everyday.

Menu for 3/14/2011

Breakfast:
Banana (seems that's all I ever eat for breakfast, but better than nothing)

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Dinner:
3 fried chicken strips
Turnip greens
Mashed Potatoes
Buttermilk biscuit

I decided to cook dinner for my mother and grandmother plus myself. Everything was homemade and delicious! Loved my buttermilk biscuits.

Will update again tomorrow I hope.

Brently

Week One: Day Four & Five

I know it's been a few days since I have updated my blog, but I haven't had internet access. Below I have listed everything I ate on both Saturday and Sunday. I hope Monday treats me better.

Menu for 3/12/2011

Breakfast:
Banana

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread
Green beans
Tropical fruit mix in fruit juice

Snack:
Apple

Dinner:
Oven baked chicken
Whole wheat turkey wrap

Snack:
Banana

(And I might have had three Girl Scout Cookies…I know, shame on me!)


Menu for 3/13/2011

Breakfast:
Raisin Bran

Lunch:
Meatloaf
Black eyed peas
Broccoli

Snack:
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
3 Graham crackers

Dinner:
Black beans and tomatoes

Snack:
Banana

Late night snack:
Girl Scout Cookies (didn't clean my cabinets out as good as I had thought)

Did you noticed what my first snack was? Yeah, I need to stop that. I think my original plan was to cut something out every week. So, my first official thing to cut is sweets. This is going to be a very hard one. Honestly, the most difficult one to give up. I compare my "sweets" addiction to that of a heroine addict. HA It's pretty bad.

It's interesting to note (and I just realized this as I was typing), that my first snack was also during a highly stressful part of my day. Dang you stress! Stop making me crave sweets.

Even though I have had a few sweets over the past couple of days, I have noticed I feel better. I wasn't as tired today. Usually, around 2:30-3:30 I get very sleepy but not today. I think it's because I have ate healthier over the past few days (even with the sweets).

Peace,
Brently

Week One: Day Three

So, here's the deal. Tomorrow I will execute the beginning phase of "Operation Skinny". The plan is to rise and shine around 7:30 a.m. and start the day off with a morning jog...or walk; depending on how much energy my body can spare that early in the day.

It's really a shame I have to do the whole job thing @ 10:00 a.m., or I would spend the rest of the day preparing a weeks work of homemade frozen t.v. dinners. Maybe after work I can do some food preparation for the week ahead.

Now about the scales...
I've heard that it's best to weight every day and I've heard it's best to weight only ever once in a while. So who know's what is really best, but I feel like I do better when I don't weigh everyday. If I do weigh everyday, I become disappointed and less motivated when I don't see immediate results. Because of this, I'll weight once every two weeks. On the 24th of this month I'll post my new weight and hope it's less than 219.

Good night for now.

Brently

Week One: Day Two

There's not much to say today. I did get my stat's and goal's up. As I told you in an earlier blog, I am using the rest of this week for preparation; although, I have tried to eat better. Today was not one of those days however. One of my major problems is my emotional eating. I tend to eat bad food whenever I get mad or sad.

The menu started out well enough with a banana for breakfast. Only a few minutes into my job, I became raging mad. As a result I had whatever I could get my hands on at lunch. Turkey and dressing, cheetos and a small slice of pork roast. Odd combination I know, but then again I am a randomly odd eater. Later, I was still upset and had a slice of Italian Lemon Cream Cake, which was sooo good, but so bad.

I have seriously got to stop eating when I'm upset, but it is so hard to tell myself no. Maybe the new week will bring a new attitude.

We have all heard it is good to set small goals and that is what I have done. I hope to lose 9-10 pounds by the end of the month. My brother's wedding is in May and I hope to be under 200 by then.

It's getting late so until tomorrow, good night!

Brently

Week One: Day One

After a long, hard, stressful day, I finally got off work and made it home. Of course, I was so pooped that I had to lay down about thirty minutes; however, I got up around 7:00 p.m. and cleaned out my cabinets! Surprisingly, the junk food was limited but most things were expired. That tells you how often I cook at home.

After cleaning out my cabinets, I made a grocery run and bought plenty of fruits and vegetables. No junk food was purchased, but I did buy some ham hocks for the pinto beans and fresh turnip greens. I'm not going to follow any diet, but make healthier choices through a balanced diet.

I will be taking my lunch and supper meals to work most of the day. That's the best way to do it, so I can be in control of how much sodium and fat is added to the food. Anyway...that's all I got tonight. Off to bed.

Brently

P.S. I should have my beginning stats up (if I get up the courage to post them) by tomorrow.

Week One: The Preperation

Maybe I picked an awkward time to begin this healthier lifestyle since we are in the middle of the week, but one of my main faults is my habitual procrastination. It's always, "I'll start tomorrow", then tomorrow get's here and I don't start.

I have given myself the rest of this week to prepare for my weight loss. This preparation includes, but not limited to, throwing out all the junk food in my cabinets (not much to begin with since I don't ever eat at my place, which leads to the next one), cook healthy meals and eat more at my place, taking a trip to the store to purchase healthy groceries, normalizing my sleeping patterns and planning a workout routine.

I'm sure with the walking trail that's right by my house, I can fit in some daily exercise. More than likely, I can walk in the mornings since my job wants me at 10:30 a.m. The only problem with that is, I have to make myself get out of bed before 9:30 a.m., but no excuses, right?

So that's the plan for this week and I hope it goes good. I'll keep y'all up-to-date throughout the week and tell you how I'm doing. Positive and encouraging comments are greatly appreciated!