Fatboy 2 Fitboy

Just a quick update since I haven’t made a post in over a week. Things are going great with the eating and the gym. It was very hard at finish to change all of my bad habits. After I toughed through my paradigm shift, I was able to find my comfort zone and find what feels natural.

What is a paradigm shift? It is defined as a radical change in underlying beliefs or theory. Think of it as jumping from your comfort zone to something new, exciting and unknown. This can be a scary situation for anyone. Not only is anticipating change scary, but accepting the type of change that is inevitable really forces one to look inside their own soul. Right now, my mindset is to conquer and destroy anything in my path. Don’t support and engage in any activities that encourage or promote your fears. While conquering fears is important, don’t let fear control your life. It is up to you to wraps your hands around fear, control it and let your fear be something positive that releases good emotions and feelings.

Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, the best Mom I have ever had. And the best in the world, too. I invited my parents over for Sunday dinner. The menu included:

• London Broil marinated in vinegar and red wine
• Baked scallops in Panko bread crumbs
• Hand-cut Russet Potato baked french fries
• Wilted spinach in garlic and oil

On a final note, my weight stayed the same from last week to yesterday weigh-in – at 470 lbs. No explanation other than my body changing composition and fluid shift. Let’s keep this going forward.

Back on April 13, I set a goal to be down at least 20 pounds by May 13th. It is a whole week early and I have achieved that goal this morning weighing in at 470 pounds.

That being the case, the achievement of one goal means the setting of another, so here is my next goal: Be down 15 pounds by June 11th.

Much has been written on the benefits of effective goal setting and how setting clear, concise, achievable goals can be directly attributable to actually reaching them.

Here is a link to a good article about goal setting: Learn2Peak

1. Choose and use one or more goals that motivate you to put your effort, energy and emotion into achieving it.
2. Use a training plan that can be adapted.
3. Do your plan, check your progress and reset your goals if you need to.
4. Keep your eye on the prize, there’s a final destination and there are lots of ways to arrive there.
5. Focusing on short-term success leads to long-term achievement.

Let’s get to work!

On my way home from work to watch the Heat/Knicks game, I was debating whether to heat up something at the house for a quick dinner or stop at Winn-Dixie to buy ingredients for this lasagna recipe I found on Muscleandstrength.com. I had thirty minutes before game time, so I hustled to Winn-Dixie with the recipe on my cellphone. Here is what I bought, minus the pasta sauce which I already had.

• 1½ lbs of lean ground beef (On sale, $2.95)
• 6 oz. whole wheat lasagna noodles (On sale, $2.00)
• 2.5 cups Hunts traditional spaghetti sauce (Already had)
• 2 cups fat free cottage cheese (On sale, $2.00)
• 9 oz. pkg. frozen spinach ($1.09)
• 8 egg whites ($3.99)
• 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.99)
• 1 cup fat free mozzarella cheese ($2.50)

Total – $16.52

The preparation was pretty simple considering this was my first time making lasagna. I was a little concerned that the long pasta pieces would break while cooking, but everything worked out great.

• Cook ground beef until brown.
• Boil noodles as directed by package.
• Spray a 9”x13” pan with cooking spray and spread a few tablespoons of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients, except for the fat free mozzarella cheese.
• Lay down ½ of the noodles and top with half of the cottage cheese mixture.
• Layer with the rest of the noodles and top with the other half of the mixture.
• Lastly, put the fat free cheese on top.

This batch made 12 servings of lasagna. Each serving was 205 calories, 25.6 grams of protein, 18.6 grams of carbohydrates and 3.6 grams of fat.

The outcome? Amazing! The smell of the cheeses, spinach and mushrooms filled the air as I cut a nice thick slab of lasagna to eat. It was tasty, moist and filling. Without a doubt, it was one of the best recipes I ever made. This is a cheap, healthy, protein-rich meal that will nearly feed you lunch and dinner for the whole week. At only $1.38 per serving for a well-balance meal, how can you go wrong? A+

I am sitting here eating a piece of organic feta cheese/spinach pizza watching Shawshank Redemption. I have been lifting weights for a few weeks and making sure my food intake is where it needs to be. I woke up this morning and was down 11 pounds. I feel less bloated and it is easier to move around doing the simple tasks of life. My goal is to start adding some cardio exercise. Why cardio?

• It strengthens the heart
• It strengthens the lungs and increases lung capacity
• It boosts the metabolism, burns calories, and helps you lose weight
• It helps reduce stress
• It increases energy
• It promotes restful sleep

I am still staying away for leg exercises using weights. I feel I am way too heavy to add that stress to my ligaments and joints. I’ll revisit this after I lose my first 100 pounds.

The word redemption means a lot to me. Having the ability to redeem oneself is a powerful tool because if you have that ability, aren’t obligated to use it? What happens when laziness, loss of hope or negativity overtakes the beautiful possibility of becoming the person you were always meant to be? I have lost years to being stuck in a mental fog. I believed if this is how it was yesterday and this is how it is today, then why will tomorrow be any different?

The average person spends about 600,000 hours on the planet Earth. Take off 1/3 of those hours due to sleep. We are down to 400,000 hours now. At age 36, I have burned about 200,000 of those hours leaving me nearly at the midway point. Give or take, I have about 200,000 hours left on Earth, left to enjoy life, left to workout, left to do whatever I want to do. Will you seize the day and make your last few hundred thousand hours on Earth amazing?

Quote – “May you live all the days of your life.”  –Jonathan Swift

When I was in a really great groove losing weight and being healthy, one key to my success was my early morning protein shake. Not only did it taste great, but it was easy to make and easy to clean up – two keys for a single guy in the morning. Thinking back on how effective it was at the time, I decided to re-boot my shake again with a new twist. I drink this in the morning, either after I lift weights or if I do not lift, on the way to work.

1.5  scoops – Syntha 6 Chocolate Milkshake Protein Powder

Why? This is leftover protein powder from an old purchase that was a great deal. While it tastes fine and has a good nutritional profile (6 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 22 grams of protein per scoop), I prefer Optimum Nutrition brand because of taste and better profile. (1.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of carbohydrates, 23 grams of protein and 4 grams of glutamine per scoop)

1 scoop – Controlled Labs Orange OxiMega Greens

Why? Direct from ControlledLabs.com, “Orange OxiMega™ is a true sports greens product, which is the first of its kind. This is no ordinary greens product; it has additional complexes geared towards real athletes. The “Cardiovascular Complex” is full of nitrate donor vegetables, including a potent dose of red beet root, which have been shown to increase endurance, nitric oxide levels and cardiovascular health in exercising humans in a clinical setting. The key to these vegetables are the nitrates that are found in them and elicit this effect when they come in contact with the human tongue and GI tract. The enzyme, probiotic and anti-oxidant blends will help the body absorb and utilize the highest level of nutrients from your diet and supplementation for maximum results”

Ingredients: Greens Antioxidant Complex. Anti-Oxidant Complex: Raspberry, Strawberry, Pomegranate, Cranberry, Blueberry, Acai, Green Tea Extract (decaffeinated) and Mangosteen. Cardiovascular Complex (Nitrate Donors): Red Beet Root Powder, Carrot, Spinach, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale and Parsley. Probiotic (Dairy Free) Blend: Lactobacillus Acidophilus (8.0 BILL), Bifidobacterium Longum (4.0 BILL), Lactobacillus Casei (2.0 BILL), Lactobacillus Rhamnosus (2.0 BILL).

4 strawberries, 4 cubed pieces of pineapple and 4 cubed pieces of watermelon

Why? It adds a nice taste to the shake. Also, I don’t eat enough fruit and this is a quick and easy way to get some in my diet. I buy the pre-cut fresh fruit cubes from Publix instead of buying whole fruit. There may be a little price premium, but the convenience of not having to cut the fruit and clean it up is worth it. Also, I don’t like eating whole fruits, so they end up spoiling and cash goes down the drain.

8 ounces of water and 2 cups of ice