I am back, Memorial Day weekend was as hard as I had anticipated. Although it was difficult, I was suprised by my weight loss results. Not suprised because I lost a ton of weight, but suprised because I stayed the same weight as I was before I left. That is right, I am still 226 pounds and holding strong. I thought I would gain weight for certain, but I was able to maintain my weight despite not eating the proper foods all weekend.

Not having a scale to track my progress also made for a tough weekend. I had no idea what my weight was doing day to day. I love seeing what is going on every morning and thinking back to what I did the day before to influence my weight. Then I can analyze what I need to do to get back on track losing the excess pounds.

Following my diet was almost impossible over the weekend. My family separates meals up into families, so a different family prepares different meals throughout the weekend. I was basically at the mercy of what was being made for each meal.

My strategy going into the weekend was to pick and choose things that would work and try my best to follow the diet. For the most part I did fairly well and I ate pretty healthy considering the food that was constantly available. I had a couple of burgers and hot dogs throughout the weekend, and passed on all junk food with the exception of a few potato chips for one meal. I drank a lot of Green Tea, and didn’t touch any sodas. I ate as much fruit as I could, I was glad I took some extra oranges to hold me over between meals, and help me during my meals. Looking back I wish I would have traded some of the fruit I ate with vegetables. I did eat some vegetables, but it would have been better to replace all of the fruit I ate with veggies.

I would consider the weekend a success. Although I didn’t lose weight, it is weekends like this that got me into trouble in the first place. I usually over eat on vacations, and I don’t exercise to make up for it. We went on a lot of walks with our kids, and got out as much as we could instead of sitting around doing nothing all weekend.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend and Memorial Day! It was great to honor all of the past and present troops that have done so much to provide us with the freedoms we enjoy!

Current weight = 226

…and still obese. It seems as though I have tried everything and nothing has worked. I am trying to work out as much as I can and I have not lost a pound in over a year.

Okay, to say I have tried everything is a stretch and I do realize that I may not have been as dedicated as I should be. I have tried a lot of stuff and every time I get so frustrated that it is not working that I give it up. For example, I ran every morning at the gym for 2 months. Not just a little jog either, I was running very hard for 40-60 minutes. After 2 months I think I gained a pound. I get so frustrated so I try something else, only to fail again.

My latest is I have decided to quit playing Soccer and Basketball – because I enjoyed it. I wanted to reward myself by playing them again once I reached a certain weight, it has not happened. I think I am going to start playing again, looking back that was probably one of the worst ideas I had.

What to do, I am extremely frustrated with my weight and I don’t know what to do to fix it. I am looking into the Acai Berry diet and the cleanse, as well as the HCG Diet. My only worry is that they are quick fixes and I will gain the weight back as soon as I am done with the diet. Bottom line is I need to change my lifestyle.

I have cut back on Fast Food, candy, desserts and every other fat-inducing things I used to eat a lot of. I have seen progress over the last year. My face is skinnier and my belly seems to be a little smaller, but it is nowhere where I want it to be. We are going swimming tonight and I just hope that nobody decides to come with us because I am so embarrassed by my body. I am sick of it and it is time to get rid of this excess weight. I want to enjoy Summer again and be proud of my body!

So my wife took some more pictures the other day and I was pleased with  how they turned out. Yes, I wish I were not as heavy as I am now, but I am seeing results and that is rewarding. I went from hating every picture of me about a month ago to being okay with them now.  I have a ways to go, but I feel so much better about myself and I am so much happier than I was a month ago!

I think the hardest thing for me lately has been pictures. I absolutely hate all pictures of me because I see what I look like to others. When I am looking in the mirror it doesn’t look that bad, and I realize that is why I am in the situation I am currently in. I see a picture and I can’t believe that is me in the picture because I am so fat right now. I am disappointed I let myself get to this point and I can’t wait to work it off. My sister just posted a picture of me on her Facebook account and I couldn’t believe it was actually me in the picture.

It is also difficult because I am a social guy and I love doing things with my friends. I have realized that for the past several months I have had no desire to see my friends because of the way I look. They are way cool friends and I know they don’t care, but I am so self conscious about it that I hate being around people that knew me when I was skinny. Until about a month ago in my mind I was still skinny, but when I get around people I know I can tell I look completely different by the way they look at me. Hopefully I will be able to lose the weight in a timely manner and I can get back to being social again.