Tightened

Commitment. This seems to be my soapbox right now in my classroom. I am trying share with my students that being committed to something in their lives will lead to success in that area. If you make it a priority to do the right thing, pushing yourself to achieve, then it will yield the results that you desire.
The ironic part of the whole conversation is that all the while I am encouraging my students to commit, I am living my life without following my own words.
I am spinning my wheels living the way I am, but can't seem to break the cycle. I mean I am proud of the successes I have achieved, but am frustrated as crap at the fact that I cannot seem to shake off the last of the weight up to this point.
I trap myself in the feeling of entitlement towards food, and it holds me back. I can't do it on my own. That has been proven. The events of 2014 certainly haven't helped my cause. I just want to find a way to move through this and grab my life back.
Anyone yearning to be a therapist?? :-)
Thanks for reading!



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Tattoos and Weight Loss

So I have just come home from Golden Spiral Tattoo down on Elm. Feeling a bit lopsided since the left half sleeve was completed back in the spring, I decided to celebrate this beautiful day off by not only thinking of the Veterans in my life, but also by becoming symmetrical once again and beginning the right half sleeve!
It's about halfway done after today's session, and I am more than pleased. This arm selfie was taken about an hour into the outline. The red that you see is sharpie marker. The majority of this tattoo was hand drawn today when I got there. Yeah.



As of tonight, the outline is done, and the shading has been started. It will be awhile before I go back because the artist I use is crazy good, and therefore booked way out!

Anyway...while being held captive in that chair for 4 hours, I started thinking about this weight loss journey. Notice that I am in a tanktop in the selfie. It is my opinion of myself...if I am gonna put on a tanktop and show myself in public I better feel confident enough to do just that!
So I asked myself today...why does one get a tattoo in the first place? I know there are many reasons for this choice truly, but ultimately it is because you want yourself or others to see it. You are begging for the comments and conversation..."Why did you get it? What does it mean?"

If you are willing to do this, then you need to get in shape so that when the time comes to show off your ink, you feel the best that you can about your body! Coming on winter as we are, I could hide away under my clothes because the weather allows it, or I could use this time to buckle down, go above and beyond, and be ready for the spring time.

I frustrate myself sometimes with my stubbornness over weight loss, but tomorrow is a new day and fresh chance to make things right.

Thanks for reading!

Still moving...

Friday's weigh in brought a 2lb loss for the week, bringing me down to 206lb. It is my every intention to stick to my first goal of 199lb by Thanksgiving day. I may have to starve myself for a bit. :-)

I also want to say that this blog is supposed to be an outlet for me in numerous areas of life, and with my parents anniversary being tomorrow I feel like I should share about that. Our parents have set forth for us a path that we feel should be followed. They took their vows seriously, and Jaclyn and I view our marriage in the same way. What an example!




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Moments of weakness

Weighed in yesterday...208.5
The weekends are proving to be a platform for setbacks from the previous weeks performance. Mentally I struggle with shutting out the sense of entitlement that I feel to eat and drink what I want. I do well for the most part during the week, but then my own selfishness takes over and it crushes the start of the next week.
I don't like the "cold turkey" method, but I think it may be time for that.
I ate great yesterday during the day, but didn't post my food journal because I had Chinese food for dinner and I blew my calorie count out of the park for sure. Another selfish moment. :-@



So...what's done is done. Great lunch is packed today, and I will continue to push myself toward the end goal.
Thanks for reading!

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Good morning November!  I am blogging this morning to give an update on where I stand as of yesterday.  This week I can celebrate a loss of 3lbs, down to 205.6lbs.  I did train on Monday and Friday, and got a run in before yesterdays session.  By the way, I would recommend considering a personal trainer if you, like me, have a hard time with the accountability piece.  My trainer, Patrick Willard, is the owner of Heart in Sol here in Greensboro.  Visit http://heartinsol.com/ if you are interested in pursuing the next step.
So...I left training feeling great about the weight loss for the week!  From there I headed to my brother's house to spend Halloween evening with his family.  It was a great place to hide from the Trick or Treaters who pile into my neighborhood from all over the city! 
We had tacos and fixins.  Instead of using shells for my meal, I instead chose a bed of lettuce.  This allowed me to save a couple of hundred calories.  Good choice right?

Here is my food journal from yesterday.  Sorry it's a mile long!  The day went well until I had that weak moment that I talked about with a couple of you guys where I decide that due to the victory of the three pounds, that I should be rewarded for this effort by having Sweet Frogs yogurt.  Though I still managed to stay within my calorie allotment, that 700 calorie "reward" definitely hurts my chances to maintain that loss.  I think that I might publish my food journal every day to keep myself on the up and up.

Ultimately, the question is: Eat to Live, or Live to Eat.  Truly at the moment I am 50/50 on most days.  My goal is to obviously be more on the Eat to Live side, but just being real, it is still a struggle for me.  I want to be a good role model for my kids as they grow up, and I also know that my Pop is watching my moves now from a place of understanding and I want to continue to make him proud.  So, I can strive to make one good choice after another and not lose sight of the ultimate goal that I have for myself.  :-)

As always, thanks for reading and here's to another day! 

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