An All Time High.........2 an All Time Low

So I had an amazing weigh in last week, the highest that I have had.......This week......the LOWEST that I have had since being on the program. This week, I lost a whopping 0.8 lbs. Which brings be for 4 weeks losing 12.8 lbs.

I had such high expectations going into this week, but I can't let this get me down. Although I stuck to my points and didn't cheat on anything, I know what I did wrong. This week, I only went to the gym one time. Tim and I had things to do this week and by the time we were done, I was too tired to go. NO MORE. I went from going to the gym 5x per week to once, and it is now reflecting in my number.

I have been habitual in the way my numbers have been showing up....good week, bad week, good week, bad week......So.....by the law of the universe next week would be good right? The only way I can make sure that its good is to stick to my own program. Keep on track with my points and don't let anything sway me. Stick to what I have been doing, by amplify it.

On another note :) I have gone down a pants size! Which is exciting for me. I went from a 38 to a 36! I still have built in muffin top that is going down. Before the diet, it was like one of those huge Mimi's Cafe muffins....now its like a slightly underdone muffin.....Hence, I went down a pants size lol.

Seeing where I am, what I have done, and where I came from has shown me a lot over the past month. It has also shown me that this isnt going to be a piece of cake but its also not going to be that hard either. I have 22 weeks until the wedding *Crazy Right* So............Math people........thats about 5 months. IF I lose a month what I have so far, that would put me at 64lbs lost. My goal for the whole Weight Watchers program was 37lbs. I guess I will take this as it comes, when I get to my target of 195, I am gonna see how I feel, and go from there. Because the number can say whatever it wants, its what you feel and how you feel that make you strive for change!

Thanks yall!

Happy Birthday Anthony

Ok, so he asked for a birthday blog, so I will write him one haha

Today, 31 years ago, my cousin Anthony was born in Brooklyn New York! At the time, I was an only child and only 1, but still. He and I grew up like brothers, fuck like....we are brothers....Here is us as kids. I'm in the red, he is holding my shoulders from behind....that little thing off to the right is my cousin Chris :)

I always felt a strong bond with him and he did with me too. The next 3 months I always mock because we are the same age until I turn 32 in June :) I am the oldest of the kids on my mom's side, with Anthony right behind me. 

I have to say that to this day, he is my brother and my friend. I look at his life with envy and hope that I will soon have what he does. Yes, I am getting married in September so I can check that off the list. He has 2 beautiful kids, an amazing house, an adoring wife and friends that would die for him. Ok, so he is a little deaf, we all have our issues haha. 

All in all, I fucking love this kid and hope that his birthday was everything that it could be, because he deserves everything out of life that it has to offer!

Happy Birthday Bro

Restaurants on the Weight Watchers Site

So, my friend Cheryl just asked where I can eat out and I took these screen shots of the restaurants pre loaded into the Weight Watchers site with PointsPlus values. The only way a restaurant can become added here is if their portion size is consistent and somewhat health conscious.

Eating at any other place is somewhat of a pain in the ass, unless they have their nutrition information readily available online, so I can calculate what I am going to eat before I get there lol

Week 3 - Total Domination!

Alright kids, Week 3 on Weight Watchers is a wrap and it left a WONDERFUL parting gift! Wanna Know??????????????

5.6 LBS lost this week! That means that my total weight loss in the 3 weeks I have been on it is now 12 LBS! Last week I was kind of in the weeds about how little I had lost and how hard I had worked, this week, it has shown itself to me!

These are my charts so far, I don't care about the # anymore, so I am ok to share haha

My friend Ebony, who is also on Weight Watchers has been an inspiration to me, giving me words of advice about my loss and being there for me when I have successes!

My "Chubby Buddy" who is not named here also lost a couple pounds this week and did an amazing job! I think together, we are at almost 20lbs lost in 3 weeks, which is amazing! She is my rock and my force and am so happy for her!

You know, your body likes to pick and chose the areas of your body that the weight comes from....First it was my upper body, exposing my amazing collar bone lol....Week 2, my ankles, wrists and fingers.....Week 3, my love handle area.....I wish it could just pick a part, knock it out and then work its way to another....I would gladly be a pear lol

The week also had its challenges though....I still have not been using all of my points because I am not hungry enough to do so...STILL..........I have a lot of people in my life who try to "help" when I don't ask for it, which is very frustrating. I am working my program, you work yours. If and when I need help, I will be the first person to ask for it, until then, leave me be lol.

Thank you all for your support, your great words and your amazing friendship. Joe 2.0 is still in the manufacturing phase, but expect the new and improved model out soon :)

<3
Joe

Week 2 - Gone....but not forgotten

Alrighty Kids! Poppa needs some motivation!

Today, was my second weigh in day on the Weight Watchers program and I lost 1.6 lbs bringing my total loss to 6.4 lbs in 2 weeks.

I feel almost defeated like I should have lost more. I have worked the program tirelessly and can see a difference somewhat in my outward appearance. What I don't see is the numbers on the scale...............

Maybe I should just not weigh myself at all until my weigh in day. I find myself weighing myself multiple times per day, becoming obsessed with the number on that black sheet of glass. An ounce or two more than my expectations sends me over the edge. I want....no I HAVE to do this. I can not fail this time.

From my original weight in 2006 of 331 lbs, I am now 227 which is 104 lbs lighter. Maybe I need to stop relying on numbers and start focusing on how I feel. Then that asks the question.............what do I feel.

I feel a little more energy, I get into a zone when I am working out, I don't crave things I would eat on a daily basis like candy or pastries. I have significantly cut back on my soda intake from 8 servings per day, to a maximum of 2.

If I can successfully keep my ass off of the scale for this week, I may get a better result on Saturday. 

My Kidney

So, I hope that this post will be therapeutic...

I went to a Urologist last week because I have been having chronic back pain on my right side that stems all the way into my testicles and into my prostate area. Since 2006, I have had 7 kidney stones, with the renal colic on my right side as well. Since 2006, I have been seeing the doctors at Las Vegas Urology (ironically, I did not get a kidney stone while I was living in Nashville) so they have a record of my kidney issues.

When I went to the doctor, he gave me the normal exam, which I still hate......and told me that he did not feel a hernia or anything and we would treat this like a kidney stone. He gave me pain pills which I won't take because they give me panic attacks and scheduled me for a CT scan of my abdomen to "see whats going on in there". 

I didn't ask any further questions and I left the office. So, Friday I go to the Imaging office and do my CT scan. They told me that the Dr. will have the results by Monday and he should call me then. I waited all day on Monday and I didn't hear anything back. Tuesday morning I called the Doctors office to see what was up and I got a message that I could leave a non emergent message for Dr. Candela's nurse and she would return my call by end of business, so I leave the message.

This morning I still had not heard back so I called again and asked to speak with her directly as I am still in a large amount of pain and I need to know if it is or isn't a kidney stone. If it wasn't a kidney stone, I figured that I would see a chiropractor or a neurologist to determine and fix the pain................my train of thought

The nurse gets on the phone and proceeds to tell me that the dr hasn't looked at the results yet, but they were in my records. She said that the CT scan did not show a stone in my kidney, but there was a 2.3 centimeter cyst on my right kidney. Again, this is the side that always hurts when I have my stones and the side that is making me unable to stand or sit for too long without yelling in pain. She said that once the Dr. looked over the charts that he would call me and discuss our "next steps".

I have never been honest with the Urologist because of my family history. Kidney issues are present on both my mothers and fathers side of the family. My Aunt Angela only has one kidney because she has had cancer there and they had to remove it. My cousin Louis had cancer in his Kidney when he was a child and they had to remove it as well. Various other types of cancer from Breast Cancer to Colon Cancer have claimed the lives of my family. I figured that if I told the Dr. this, that he would put me under a whole bunch of tests that I did not want because it would put many things into reality.

I know that cysts are common, and I know that I probably do not have anything to worry about, but its always in the back of my head that there is something in me that I can't control and it scares the life out of me. I have tried all day to keep myself composed, but I have been doing a horrible job at it.

My fiance and my best friend have both urged me to discuss my family history with the doctor so he is aware of what is familial and be cautious in his treatment. I just do not think I am strong enough for what may or may not happen.

Any advise you guys could give me would really help because for once, I can't fix this problem myself.

Week 1! In the books!

YAY! Ok, maybe its not so joyous lol, OR I am just being very pessimistic.

Today was my Weight Watchers weigh in day. On WW, you weigh in once a week on a day you specify. I chose Saturday as I have someone who I am doing this with who also weighs in on Saturday. This was my first week on the program and I struggled. Not because of over eating, but because I could never use the number of points in the day that they alloted me. My weight, my age and my height has given me 49 PointsPlus Points. I usually end the day between 37 and 42.

So, it was my first week and I thought I would have this astronomical weight loss. I ended up losing 4.8 pounds. The Weight Watchers plan is designed to have you lose an average of 2 pounds per week, so I exceeded that.

My brother in law told me a week without a gain is still a win, so I think I will take that advise and be proud that I lost almost 5 pounds this week!

If I stay on course, I should be at my target by May, at which point Tim and I are going to start our Insanity work out regiment.

I hope that I did well and I hope that I continue to feel the strength that I do on this plan. I am able to eat normally, I don't feel cravings for sweets and am actually eating the number of meals a day that you are supposed to, which I never did before.

For all of you that support me, I thank you for your love and support!

Joe