I Can Lose Weight, Because I Know YOU Lost Weight

February 19, 2010 @ 10:43 am

So while browsing about the web a while back, I was in search of real-world before-and-after photos of people who've already done this journey.  I wanted to see it was possible. I wanted to see what the transformation could look like. I wanted hope that my 300 pounds of blubber could in fact dwindle to a paltry (dare I hope, svelte) sub-200.

But there was little out there.  Sure many of the people I follow on blogs and Twitter have some pictures of their success and that's helpful, for sure. But frankly I was hoping to find more - some sort of treasure trove of motivational milestones from around the web.  Mostly the sites I found were just trying to sell me something. A miracle fat-burning berry here, a vibrating dumb bell there. It really is ridiculous all the crap that's out there, and the fact they attach potentially fake before-and-after photos as "proof" is just insidious.

But I know the power of seeing proof that real weight loss is possible - no matter how a person goes about it. It's just a matter of collecting those stories and the photos and putting them out there for others to get inspired along their own fitness journeys. So with that in mind, I'm launching MyJeansFit.Me

This site is going to be simple - it's a place for people who are making their way along their fitness journey to share their success as a way to encourage others. Real people. Real stories. Real success.  No gimmicks, no sales pitches, no nonsense.  This site isn't going to be selling something. It's not going to be making a pitch. It's going to show others that losing weight and living healthfully is possible - and it's possible for them.

Right now the site is open for gathering stories.  When there are a bunch of good ones in the hopper, it will launch. If you have lost weight, I hope you will be a part of this project! You don't have to be "done," if you're 50 pounds into your 100 pound journey, that's fine - in fact that's great, because it's a reality that weight loss is a slow methodical progress, and all levels of success should be celebrated:

• Visit the site and tell your tale through the guided interview.
• You can be as specific or vague as you like. Answer just the questions you want to answer. 
• The only thing we ask for is a "before" photo and a "current/after" photo. 
• If you have a blog or website, your Jeans profile will link to it - driving search engines to you
• If you Twitter, your profile will link to that too.

And whether you want to submit a story or not, follow Jeans' Twitter at @myjeansfitme to find out when the site launches and when new stories are added.

I really hope you'll join me on this project. People like me - who are at the beginning of their journeys with a long way to go - really treasure the kind of motivation that comes from seeing people like you succeeding.

Here's the link again - use it, share it, link to it, and look out for the official launch: http://MyJeansFit.Me

4 comments | Topics: My Jeans Fit Me, inspiration, motivation

Combating Obesity in the Work Place

February 18, 2010 @ 10:32 am

Most Americans spend a ton of time at work; perhaps one could say we spend more time at the office than they do at home (not counting sleeping).  There've been weeks where I spent more time with the people I didn't like but was forced to be with than the people I love and would choose to be with. But workaholism aside, what this means for Americans is that the work place is a prime place to encourage healthy living and combat the Obesity Epidemic. But few work places do.

Whole Foods - the health-oriented grocery store chain - has decided to do something about it. They've begun offering extra employee discounts to those people are fit and nicotine free. If you don't smoke, have good blood pressure, have low cholesterol and a normal-weight BMI, then you qualify for a 30% discount off your grocery shopping at Whole Foods (the normal employee discount is 20%). There are gradations between 20% and 30% but in all cases you cannot be obese (BMI of 30+).

Here's the letter they recently distributed to their employees (click each page to zoom in full-sized):


Here's the thing - while I'm a big advocate of using insurance or financial incentives to promote healthy living amongst your employees, I think Whole Foods is going about this incorrectly. What they are basically doing is creating an instant reward for thin employees while instantly excluding their larger employees. It doesn't create a motivation for their employees to lose weight, it creates a punishment for being fat. Moreover, the program places a heavy emphasis on the very-faulty BMI metric. That, as those of who are trying to lose know, is a messed-up science that doesn't take body composition or other factors into account. A shorter person could be all muscle with just 8% body fat and still be "overweight" according to the BMI.

A much better program would have been to encourage the journey of healthy living and weight loss. A workplace should be giving rewards for the process of living more healthy. For a smoker, it should give a benefit for quitting. For an obese person, it should create a sliding scale for weight loss progress - based on percentage, body fat, or something more scientifically sound than BMI. 

Imagine this as a program.

Dear colleagues,

Our employees are our most important asset. Without you, there's no way we can continue to make world-class widgets that all widget lovers enjoy. Like you would with any high-value treasure, we want to ensure our employees are well-cared for and kept in the best possible conditions to foster growth and continued success for all of us. To do that, our wages are competitive and based on merit; our health insurance program covers virtually everyone in our building and is quite generous. But we also know it's a little expensive - and we want to help bring that down in cost through a program of healthier living across the whole organization.

Beginning now, all employees are eligible to participate in the Healthy Living Premium Reduction Program. All you need do is commit to a measurable, attainable health goal and work to achieve that goal over a predetermined period of time. If you stick with the goal and achieve it, your Healthy Living Premium Reduction will be permanent as long as you maintain the new habit. We know that dangling an imaginary carrot far off in the future isn't a a great motivator - so instead we want to encourage you to live more healthfully along the way - through incremental rewards.  Once you reach your goals, you'll retain your rewards as long as you stick with your new lifestyle change.

If you're a smoker, commit to quitting in 4-6 months and stay nicotine free for the rest of your employment. If you're overweight, commit to losing weight at a certain healthy rate and as you continue to lose, your premium will continue to fall.  If you're already at a healthy weight, commit to working out, getting stronger, participating in community fitness events, or a number of other ideas.

This isn't everything you can do - I encourage you to speak with HR to sign up for the program. It's not mandatory. It's not publicly shared. It's just a way to encourage a healthier lifestyles across our company.

In other words, our companies should be rewarding the process, not the results.  Whole Foods' program is a nice gesture, but it's not really an incentive. For the obese, it will take a long time - as much as a couple of years - to get healthier and closer to Whole Foods' benchmarks - a long time that will outlast most people's average employment (especially store workers), and with nothing to motivate them along the way.

Should businesses be actively participating in promoting healthy lifestyles? Absolutely. And I want to continue to explore some of those methods on this blog as time goes on. Whole Foods' is a nice gesture, but poorly executed. I hope their intent is the model for other companies, but I also hope their program does not become a template.    

0 comments | Topics: BMI, body fat percentage, business, incentives

Thin-vertising

February 16, 2010 @ 11:19 am

Can we use clever advertising to inspire people toward healthy living. Sometimes they're funny and meant to sell a product. Sometimes they're purely educational. I'd like to see more of these kinds of campaigns to inspire people to make just a few small changes to improve their health. Here's a few ads I've saved along the way.

0 comments | Topics: advertising, obesity

The Fourth Great Attempt: Week 5

February 14, 2010 @ 03:56 pm

This week kinda sucked. The whole "not-going-to-let-travel-screw-me-up" thing was a bust. I didn't make it to the gym at the hotel. I drank way too much. Ate too much. Ate the wrong things. It generally was a busy, high-stress, not-good experience. I didn't really enjoy the trip or the project - things were just not going right - and now I have to go back. On the plus side I could have gotten stranded there this whole weekend. But now it's uncertain when I'm going to have to return and it's generally just annoying.

Oh well.  I should get back on the horse and take this one positive day at a time. But I think I'm just enjoying my weekend home with The Beau and not worrying too much about anything else. Plus I tripped while I was on-site at the client and sprained both ankles and pulled my thigh muscle. So I feel a little like a mess. But tomorrow I'll get back into the gym and get back to my routine and all will be right with the world.

I don't know if i"m ever going to lose weight. My weigh-in on Tuesday - a day early because I was flying out of town that day - was the same weight as the week previous. This week I'm certain my weight will be higher again - maybe even above 300. But that's okay. This coming week, in addition to work and working out and eating right and all that good stuff, I'm going to try to spend some time working on this whole meditation and emotional healing thing. I'll probably update and blog a little about that - it's a long journey. This whole thing is a long journey. And I just have to keep remembering that.

I'm kind of in a weird state today. Slightly bored and unmotivated. May go on a Valentine's Day walk to Barnes & Noble with The Beau. Seeing as it's after 4pm I should figure out something :)    

0 comments | Topics: evalutation, mistakes, progress, travel

Things I Never Want To Hear Again

February 12, 2010 @ 01:33 pm

You know those phrases that are just automatic? Or things that people say to say something nice? It's amazing how often a person can hear the same ones over and over again. As I lose weight, here are the ones I hope some day I never have to hear again.

"Hey, Big Guy!"  ...  i have a name you know. You can say "Hey, [name]!" You can say "Hey, Buddy."  But why must people use this phrase thinking it's innocuous. Why equate a body type to a person's moniker? I don't go around saying "Hey, Big Nose!" or "Hey, Patchy Facial Hair!" So stop calling me Big Guy ... I'm only 5'9".

"You have an handsome face."  ... Yeah, yeah. We know what that means. "As long as I look at you through this spent toilet paper roll, you're stunning!"

"At least you stay warmer in the winter."  ... Actually, no. I'm just as cold as anyone else in the snow. More fat - more surface area to expose to the elements. And my coat doesn't really close around me.

"Pardon me for asking, but how much do you weight?"  ... Very few people ask a fat man how much he weighs, but some have to. Like the stable-master who needs to make sure I won't break her horse's back. I never want someone to have to look at me and be required to ask for the sake of mine or others' safety.

2 comments | Topics: annoyances, obesity

Stuff Worth Noting, Again

February 11, 2010 @ 12:02 pm

More articles, news, stories, things of note from around the web and other blogs I've saved recently.

News & Science 

Couple Accused of Starving Baby So She Doesn't Get Fat (Faux News)
People are stupid. That's all I'm really going to say around this one.

Food Deserts Could Bloom if City Hall Helps (Gotham Gazette)
i should finish reading this one .

Spam E-Mail Appeals to Young, Overweight (NYT)
As a web technology practitioner, I will never understand why so many people actually click on spam. But apparently, college-aged overweight people are more apt to click on spam that promises the next great weight loss solution. My armchair psychology degree wonders if the same instant-gratification culture that helps lead to the obesity problem encourages college kids to try to instantly gratify they're desire to be thin. If Only.

Are Childhood Obesity Screening Guidelines Misguided (Dr Sharma)
We need to be careful how we address child obesity. These kids get enough humiliation everyday at school, they don't need it to be institutionalized as well. Nevertheless, we need to do something.

Mayor challenges citizens to lose weight, get fit, in town-wide Biggest Loser competition (Pasadena Star-News)
I used to live next door to Duarte - it's a beautiful little town with big sidewalks, perfect for walking around town to get fit. I hope this is a success and a model for more towns.

Tips & Tricks

What You Eat After Working Out Matters (WebMD)
Your body needs fuel after a work out or it will freak out and shut down. It needs to know that despite the fact you just ran for your life from the tiger, you don't actually need to conserve energy for future runs. But what's the best thing to eat just after working out? Not carbs. Low-carbs are best, so avoid breads and shoot for nuts or vegetables.

Inspiration

Kepa is No Longer Obese (TFLB)
Many congrats to Kepa at The Fat Lazy Guy's blog who has been trucking along in his intrepid journey to lose weight and live fit - and he just passed through the barrier between obese and overweight. Inspiration to know it is indeed possible.

1 comment | Topics: inspiration, news, stuff worth noting, tips

Mapping Obesity's Spread for 20 Years

February 10, 2010 @ 10:31 am

Just to put things a little in perspective, this map from CNN (I saved this a couple years ago and just now found it again to post it here) shows the BMI calculations for the US between 1985 and 2006. Once upon a time obesity was highly rare - today, it's the norm. No one can say we don't have a problem. Click the picture to view the interactive map.

0 comments | Topics: obesity

It's Travel Season Again

February 9, 2010 @ 07:04 am

So today I start traveling for business again. This is not a new topic for this blog - I've written about it a couple of times (here and here). Traveling while fat is not easy. Traveling while trying to live and eat healthy is even less easy. There's the plane ride - which involves squeezing my giant butt into a tiny chair and then busting a vein trying to get the seat belt latched. There's the lack of good and healthy food at the airport and on the plane. There's the fast food and lack of kitchen while actually on-the-ground where ever I'm working. And there's the booze. There's always booze when you travel for work and my colleague that I'm going with this week and next week is a particularly thirsty drinker.

I'll be on the road the rest of this week. In unhealthy portions of the country. But I've tried to set myself up to do the best I can with this. I bought some CLIF bars today and some nuts for general snacks and nutrition should I need it while out and about.  I'm staying at a hotel with a complete fitness center (including steam room, surprise) - and I got a room rate that includes the fitness center fee.  I'll do my best to eat right, get breakfast, use the fitness center, not drink too much, etc, etc, etc. Because I will not let this travel derail my progress.

I promise.

0 comments | Topics: travel, work

What Will My Thin Personality Be Like?

February 8, 2010 @ 08:57 am

I'm an introvert. I have a "mild personality" as one friend put it recently. I'm pretty bad at small talk and I generally keep to myself. I'm more comfortable watching a party than being in one. I like my quiet mornings alone. I prefer small dinner parties, not huge shin-digs.

I'm reasonably sure my personality has evolved into one that stays out of the spotlight and doesn't attract attention precisely because of my childhood experiences. I've always been a fat kid, and as many of us do I paid for that in jeers and jokes at my expense. So I learned to do as little as possible to attract attention of people - lest they notice me, notice my fat, and let loose. Obviously such reactions would be very rare in the adult world; we civilized grown-ups simply give dirty looks, smirk, and deftly turn to someone else to change the subject.

Though many people look to their past for inspiration in "skinny jeans" or "college weight," ... I have no personal benchmark of fitness to strive to. I've always been fat. And my personality has always been this way. I wonder what I will look like 100 pounds lighter. I wonder what I will be / think / act like 100 pounds lighter.

Read the rest of this post

0 comments | Topics: emotional healing, results, self-confidence

Sunday Funnies

February 7, 2010 @ 08:36 am

0 comments | Topics: sunday funnies

The Fourth Great Attempt: Week 4

February 6, 2010 @ 10:29 am

When I think about this week, I have competing thoughts. On the one hand, it was kind of a tough week in that I'm not really seeing the results I want to see in either my weight or even my behavior. On the other hand, I feel okay about the overall journey, in spite of its slow-going.

Food

The week started off rough. I didn't drink nearly enough water and was most certainly dehydrated. That was combined with going to some friends' house for dinner. They served a pasta dish that was actually okay health-wise (white pasta, tomatoes, brussel sprouts), but I just ate too much of it, and too much bread, and of course my weakness for wine kicked in. By Monday morning I was up 2 pounds from Saturday. It took Monday and Tuesday to rehydrate, eat right, and drop those 2 pounds again.

Wednesday and Thursday and to a lesser extent last night (Friday), I binged again. Way more than usual. I don't really understand it but before I know it I've eaten a bunch of carb-heavy food for no reason other than being bored. That's gotta stop and it's probably why I'm at a mini plateau here. This is the first week I've reintroduced Weight Watchers ice cream sandwiches as a treat ... but knowing they're in the freezer makes my brain think about them and last night I had TWO, because I could. My thought is that they are jacking up my blood sugar right at the end of the day, inspiring me to try to keep it up for some reason and triggering my mind to want more carbohydratey food.  One sandwich bar as 28 grams of carbs and 11 grams of sugar - geeze! Not going to buy those again, they are clearly a problem for me.

I'm out of wine. I'm not going to buy more of that either, not for a while or unless we have guests. While a glass of wine is healthy and I do really enjoy it, I usually end up having two, not drinking water at night, and the alcohol screws with leptin and makes it easier to overeat. So I'm going to back off the bottle for a while.

Exercise

I have been going to the gym ever day for over a week. It feels good, I'm changing things up to keep it interesting, and best of all my heart is getting stronger. I have seen a definite drop in my heart rate while exercising. The calories burned is staying roughly the same, and I'm most assuredly keeping my intensity up and pressing harder and harder with greater resistances. But my maximum heart rate has barely crested 180 for about a week, and I've seen much longer times inside the "Zone" for weight loss + cardiovascular training. (In the past, I would routinely crest at a max rate of over 190 - even up to 199).

This is significant for me - in past chapters of this journey I've suspected my heart was getting stronger but I couldn't confirm it over several workouts and several machines (each one is different). Now I can definitely see the trend. Which means something is taking root in this journey, even if I'm not seeing the pound-over-pound weight loss I'd like to. I went for a week+ without strength training, focusing mainly on cardio and eating right. That's all well and good but the fact is I need muscle to burn more calories in the off times; so I'm going to start focusing on strength training more. I did it this week and used a slow-go approach MizFit described on her blog. 10 seconds up, 10 seconds down. It's a different kind of work out - I think I like it.

Results

My weight isn't dropping. I'm at a weird plateau of about 270 and change. I don't like it but there are other things to consider as well. Generally I feel good. I can feel all these minute changes in my body, in my clothes. My belt is on the fourth hole - and it's not cutting into me. That's new. I think my underwear is looser - it rides up a little more easily while working out (I'm sure you want to know that, but hey, it's a change). My heart rate is dropping. I'm taking my supplements every day and after several weeks of ratcheting up the omega 3 I haven't had as many headaches as I was having four weeks ago.

So maybe my weight isn't moving. That will probably change if I can get this high-sugar-binging-at-night thing taken care of. But something I want to start focusing on in my mind and will try to work into some meditation, is that I need to accept the positive aspects of this journey I am seeing. I'm eating better, cooking my meals, resisting processed foot, not eating out. I'm taking supplements and feeling better. I'm going to the gym every day. My heart. My belt. Et cetera. I need to learn to be more satisfied with the whole journey and not just my weight. A part of that is probably accepting myself at this weight ... something I've never been able to fathom.

Onwards we go.

2 comments | Topics: evalutation, progress

Weight Loss Goals (By The Numbers)

February 5, 2010 @ 11:40 am

While watching The Biggest Loser recently a couple of the contestants had big number-related goals, like getting below 200 or something. Those kinds of goals are big psychological boons - or if we're crossing them upwards, can be real demotivators. While watching one particular weigh-in The Beau asked if I any particular goal-numbers that I really wanted to reach. I didn't really have an answer.

I've structured my "goals" around the things I want to do some day but either haven't been able to or haven't let myself do because of my weight and obesity. I put those out for all to see because I can't wait to start checking them off one by one as I get more fit. But certain numbers do hold significance for me even if I don't consider them goal weights - more like milestones worth solemnizing, or something. Anyway here are some of the significant weight amounts I've seen over the years:

325ish pounds
My theoretical maximum weight. I don't think I've ever gone above this and frankly, I think I would have to be pretty incapacitated and just give up on life to do so. When I get near this number, I can feel it really weigh me down (no pun intended).

300 pounds
A rough barrier for me. Most of this blogging journey has been spent above 300 - getting below it has been tough, my body's holding onto it for some reason. Even though I'm below it right now, I'm still a little too close for comfort, so I'm not sure I consider this barrier beaten just yet.

280 pounds
This is roughly what my weight was when I moved to New York in April 2005. In the 2.5 or so years after that I put on a good 30+ pounds (stress!). I would love to be at or near this level by the 5 year anniversary (of both my move and my relationship with The Beau) - in a couple of months.

250 pounds
Passing through the 250 level would put me closer to what I was around my Freshman year of college. I never actually weighed myself much back then. But I think this would be a good number to reach by my next family vacation at the end of July - two years after my grandfather's fateful insults words.

230 pounds
In my senior year of high school, I managed to lose 30 pounds and reach around 230, but no, I'm not going back on the binge-and-purge diet.

225 pounds
Until last year I carried a California driver's license and this was the weight printed on it. Total lie. New York doesn't print weights on its licenses but when I ultimately lose a lot of weight, I'm SO getting a new picture.

199 pounds
My theoretical goal weight. My BMI will still be "overweight" at this level (and actually, this is just below "obese"), but by the time I reach this amount, I intend to be doing MUCH more strength training, so at that point I'm probably going to stop caring about BMI entirely. But I don't even remember the last time I was below 200 ... It was probably before high school. Probably well before high school. 

171 pounds
Officially my "ideal weight" according to the BMI. But I don't actually expect to ever get to this level, if for no other reason than I expect to build muscle that will "weigh" me down more.

0 comments | Topics: BMI, The Beau, The Biggest Loser, goals

Creative Ways to Get Your Cardio

February 4, 2010 @ 02:00 pm

The treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, stair climber. All basic forms of getting your cardio. But also really boring after a while. My gym has TVs at each machine to help ease the dull roar, but there are plenty of other ways to get a great cardio workout. Here's a couple of sample videos. The first is boxing - I'd really love to learn how to do this stuff some day. Something about the sheer force and raw power of hitting a bag combined with the need to dodge and weave. I'm not particularly combative but boxing has always interested me as a sport I'd like to try.

0 comments | Topics: boxing, gym, rock-climbing, sports, workout

Fatties and the People Who Hate Them

February 3, 2010 @ 10:38 am

I recently posted about a phenomenon of some who are attracted to fat people. I don't really like people being attracted to me because I'm fat.  But at the same time, I don't want people to judge me - or any other obese or overweight person - on the basis of this one burden, either. There is a stigma attached to obesity that we cannot escape as long as we are fat. And yet we consistently have to deal with people who hate us because we're fat. But this is an attitude that is pervasive throughout - perhaps even intertwined with - our American culture.

The majority of people don't like fat people.  To be perfectly honest, I cringe when I see fat people be it on TV or walking down the street. My cringe is a mix of pity, regret, worry, and a sense that our country's in trouble. But I know what being obese is like - I know how hard it is, how much we struggle, and I empathize with my fellow fatties. Others? They don't even bother. For many people being fat is not merely a sign of weakness, it's an opportunity to dehumanize others. To them, we are lazy, incompetent, have nothing worthwhile to offer, are bad role models, and are generally subhuman. At best we are to be ignored, at worst ridiculed or abused. Fat people are denied jobs, denied respect, no matter how good they may be at something.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a health nut at age 70. So much so, that:

He does find time, at least twice a week, to slip on a pair of black Lycra stretch pants to do yoga with Landra at their apartment in the Ritz-Carlton. He has an intolerance for fat people, manifested in asides to aides who seem to be getting portly and an office staff that is suspiciously slim.¹

Former presidential candidate and patriarch of the modern political scandal John Edwards was no fan of his larger constituencies. In his book about his former boss Andrew Young points "portrays Edwards as preening and arrogant, an Atkins dieter who hated making campaign stops at state fairs where 'fat rednecks try to shove food down my face.'" ²

Or take this offensive, misogynistic, judgmental and vapid exchange between Faux News' Neil Cavuto and the bombastic self-described "chubbie-ist" (as in "racist") Michael Karolchyk (who founded an offensive and completely misguided gym in Denver).  In it, they're questioning whether the then-nominee for Surgeon General (she now holds the position) was too fat for the job:

Read the rest of this post

0 comments | Topics: discrimination, obesity, shame

Dealing with Chafing

February 2, 2010 @ 01:09 pm

I'm a big guy (for now) with big thighs, a big butt, and an overhanging gut. I gots me some skin, and lots of it. And moving this 300-pound body takes no small amount of energy, and it generally results in a lot of jiggling and friction. Because I have so much fat in certain areas, I it tends to rub together. And when I'm exercising or just being active in general, I sweat. Altogether, it makes for chafing. And chafing is unpleasant and threatens to derail any weight-loss effort.

For the record, chafing is the irritation of the skin - even a downright open sore - that is most often caused by constantly rubbing something against wet skin. Most often, when we sweat (and us big guys sweat) it creates the perfect environment for wrecking the skin. And anything can cause chafing - from your thunder thighs to your pants waist or belt.

I've had a long battle with chafing since the earliest days of starting to work out (what, 3+ years ago now?). Of course for me, just walking through Central Park can result in some nasty pain. It's not fun. It kills work outs. It's a big demotivator. So over the years I've learned ways to deal with it, minimize it and not let it affect my weight-loss efforts.

Wear the Right Underwear

Clothes fit everyone differently and as our bodies change shape, this item will change for you as well. But the right underwear is crucial for ensuring a comfortable under-shorts experience. Experiment with different cuts to see what works and more importantly, what doesn't just rub against your skin non-stop. For me, boxer-briefs have been a godsend in helping to prevent the kind of thigh-rubbing that was hurting me most. And I make sure they're snug - downright near-wedgy - to make sure I'm properly covered.

But even if boxer-briefs ain't your thing, consider some spandex shorts under your normal workout clothes (please, wear something else over the spadex). The key thing here is that you don't want your skin rubbing against itself, and you don't want loose damp clothing to rub against your skin (or between your legs) either.

Try a Waxy Lubricant, and Stay Dry with Baby Powder

Occasionally if my chafing problem is particularly bad (especially in the summer) and I'm going for a walk or out to a party or some social function, I use Body Glide. It's basically a waxy lubricant that comes in a deodorant-stick and puts a thin coating to protect the skin. It does help, just don't use too much because it can build up in a weird way. But it's gotten me through a bunch of summer functions where I would otherwise not have been able to walk well. I also use baby powder on occasion to help keep certain nether regions dryer. It's worked with limited success. 

Change Out of Your Gym Clothes

Don't sit around in your sweaty undies and clothes. All you'll be doing is keeping that wet, irritating cloth against your skin when your skin really needs to dry out and breathe. When I go to the gym I always bring a fresh pair of undies, no matter how much I sweat that day. And while you're at it, always be as dry as possible before putting on fresh underwear. Dryness is key here. Dry, Dry, Dry.

Stay Clean

After a work out, immediately shower and soap up, and be sure to soap up parts where the sun don't shine - like where your gut hangs down (if you're anything like me).  Remember that chafing is a skin irritation that can quickly become an open sore. There's a bunch of bacteria all over you and when you sweat and work out, you're more apt to get that bacteria onto or into your chafe, which will just prolong the sore. I've found that when I soap up areas that feel like they're chafing, it goes a long way to nip it in the bud and I don't have a problem.

Alter Your Workout

If you sense you have a chafing problem coming on, try something else in your work out until it goes away. A chafing problem properly dealt with early on will disappear in a day or so. So if you're a cardio fiend, switch to a little strength training for a day and keep your cardio lighter.

0 comments | Topics: tips

Fatties and the Chasers Who Love Them

February 1, 2010 @ 10:15 am

This is a weird post for me to write. On the one hand, there's people's personal preferences and I am not one to judge those. On the other hand, there's an element of embarrassment for me in it. And I don't speak for the world here, I don't speak for other fat people. And I'm probably going to ramble a bit. But here goes.

I know guys who are into me because I'm obese. They're attracted to fat. And while it's always flattering to have someone attracted to you, at the same time it makes me feel awful.

Read the rest of this post

0 comments | Topics: obesity, relationships

Sunday Funnies

January 31, 2010 @ 09:29 am

Hehehe, so for this week's Sunday Funnies we have a "guest spot." Well not really, its more like a link. To a funny comic (one of The Beau's favorites). It's MADE. FROM. CORN, jerkface.

0 comments | Topics: The Beau, sunday funnies

The Fourth Great Attempt: Week 3

January 30, 2010 @ 12:00 pm

This week we had house guests. Normally that's a dicey thing, but one of them was a friend from California (alma mater) who we get along quite well with. We had a lot of fun. And it was a successful week for him as well (he was here for grad school auditions). And despite having a friend in town which often leads to a variety of dining out or just dining poorly, I still got to cook most meals and eat healthy. Well, for the most part.

I took a few more licenses in the first part of the week than I would have liked. Sunday we had a full day and so I chose to not go to the gym and sort of have a cheat day. But even in my "cheating" I tried to remain faithful to healthy eating and we ended up walking well over 2-3 miles around the city getting from one thing to another. Brunch with friends, then a play written by one of them, then to a bar where I had some nachos but only wine.

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0 comments | Topics: evalutation, progress

Shame, Shame, Shame! The Scarlet Letter of My Obesity

January 28, 2010 @ 08:49 am

• Standing on the playground in grade school and wanting to play, but being told "no - only normal people can play, and you're not."
• The disgust - even anger - in my mother's voice when my newly trimmer father could fit in my jean shorts (that I'd become too fat for) ... "you're father shouldn't be able to fit in your clothes!"
• Trying to exist in a gay community that shuns the obese, listening to countless fat jokes and references not feet from me, and generally invisible at almost any social function.

This has been my life. Not for the last couple of years, not while in High School - this has been my life. And I am ashamed of myself for being obese.

shame. noun. the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.¹

According to cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, shame is a violation of cultural or social values while guilt feelings arise from violations of one's internal values. ... Similarly, Fossum and Mason say in their book Facing Shame that "While guilt is a painful feeling of regret and responsibility for one's actions, shame is a painful feeling about oneself as a person." ²

Is being obese shameful? Not necessarily. In a non-emotional, purely logical school of thought, the very state of being obese or even just overweight may not be shameful but rather the behaviors surrounding it may be (laziness, gluttony, selfishness). For others it can be a legitimate emotional, psychological or physical issue that needs to be addressed. But none of that matters in the real world. In the real world, we shame our fatties. Because it's fun, because it makes us feel better about ourselves, because it's so damn easy.

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0 comments | Topics: emotional healing, self-confidence, shame

Some Thoughts on Today's Weigh-In

January 27, 2010 @ 12:24 pm

Today I weighed in at 299.5 pounds.  That's under 300 (yay!) but a half pound up from Sunday morning (boo!). And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in it.  It's fabulous to be under 300 after just a couple of weeks. In the past that used to take a month or more IF I ever got below 300. But I'm skirting the edge, there, and I'm hesitant to take too much pleasure in it without waiting for additional, confirmatory results as they say in science class.  At just a half-pound off from the Big Bad 3, I could easily end up back above the mark next week.

What was it, I think to myself. Was it going out for Brunch on Sunday (despite walking in excess of 2 miles all over the place immediately after)? Was it eating that whole personal pizza I made a couple days ago when I should have just half? Was it the 2 (3?) glasses of wine I drank last night? Is my body reacting negatively to the supplements I've been taking (nothing big, either, just omega-3 and some green tea)? Or is it just ... a slow week?

I learned from The Biggest Loser a couple weeks ago that the second week is awful for weight loss. I thought "hrm, really?" and then wham! Here we are with a 1.5lb loss. Yeah, I guess that could be true.

But there are glimmers of hope in today's weigh-in, too.  Because I AM below 300. I. Am. Below. 300. Take it, own it, embrace it. A little loss is still a loss. But perhaps more importantly, my body fat percentage was a full 8/10ths of a percent lower than last week. 39.5% - versus 40.3% last week. Now that's significant! It's a big drop in body fat, bigger than any previous week-to-week change in this journey. Which means, assuming the measurer thingy on my scale isn't just wildly off, that something is going on inside my body and gearing up for weight loss. Perhaps I did actually lose a good amount of fat this week, but I also gained muscle.

Let's look at it this way. Last week you could say I was lugging around 121.3 pounds of pure, globby, bouncy-castle FAT. This week, I'm lugging around 118.3 pounds of fat.  That's actually 3 pounds of fat loss (I'm probably taking some liberties here with the maths and science, but it works for me). I actually feel better about that. It's a full 1% of my body weight. And it means I've gained some muscle.

So I feel good and bad about the weigh-in. But that just goes to show you why you can't rely solely on weight as an indicator of health or progress.

0 comments | Topics: The Biggest Loser, body fat percentage, evalutation, progress