What was different before.

It was eight years ago that I was on my first part of my first weight loss journey. I had struggled for years with my weight, but for the first time I started actually seeing results. I had just come off 10 months of my back being out and barely able to walk, and I knew with me being point where I could move with limited pain, that it was time to start being serious. My first 30 days I lost 30 LBS, my body was feeling much better. Over the course of 10 months I continued dropping weight until I had gotten down to 197 LBS. But I was in my twenties then, things were different.

So that brings us to now. Over the past couple of years, I have tried to restart my weight loss journey, but keep hitting roadblocks. The first road block came when my uncle had passed away. I had to come off of my workout schedule to attend the funeral and slowly started losing motivation. When I was able to start back up, my back went out again, causing me unbearable pain for months. After that got resolved, I moved. When I moved I thought that everything was going to change, that I was going to work out all the time and get back to where I was. But workouts were few and far between, and then my back went out again.

So I have been thinking recently why am I hitting so many hiccups in this weight loss journey? What is different now than back the first time? I know I'm older, and with age weight loss becomes for difficult, but I should still be losing some. Sure, my back is still bothering me, but that isn't stopping me much from doing light cardio and workouts. I've even been in the apartment fitness center a couple of times a week. But my halt in weight loss and motivation, I believe is from one thing. Distractions.

When I first embarked on initial weight loss in 2010, I had zero distractions. Sure, I had to have a job and work, but that job was a part time job and I had a ton of time to workout and prepare food every day. I also wasn't dating or trying to date, and I stopped hanging out with friends. I had zero distractions in my life. I was selfish, I did everything for myself. My food was for me, my choices were for me, I worked out every single day. Now my life seems full of distractions. While I am single, I have been trying to date more, I am trying to be more social, I work a full time job that has a much higher stress level, and when I come home from work I turn on the TV and get lost in YouTube.

Distractions are part of life, but I need to work on minimizing them as much as possible. I am getting older, and while some will say 36 isn't old, my body doesn't agree. I need to make choices for food for me. I need to not binge when there is food that I really want. I need to make healthy habits into permanent habits. It's time to put the distractions that I can control out of the my sight, and focus one me. Only with this focus, can I truly change.

It's time to take life back again.

It's been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. Last time I tried to keep up with posts was when I was starting my fitness journey over again. Well, obviously that didn't last long. Shortly after I started changing things in my life, my life started changing again. My uncle passed away, then I received a throat injury that kept me from working out, then my back hit issues again. So it seemed like I was back on the road to getting nothing done with my weight. In fact that was true. Over the last year I have tried to work out, but haven't had the best of luck as everything I work out, it caused my back to flare up again.

Last Summer when I got into my apartment, I got my weight down to 302 LBS. I was sure this time was going to be when I finally made it back into the 200's. However, like clockwork, my back started giving me issues. I look at the scale today and it reads 323 LBS. It's my fault, I currently have no self control over what I put in my body. When I lost weight the first time, my self control was one of the things that I prided myself in. Sure it was hard at first to change, but after a couple of weeks it was easy. But all that was in 2010, there were less convenient things online. We didn't have a ton of food delivery options. I was strict with my diet and only put food in that my body could use as fuel. Now however, that is not the case. Now I use DoorDash several times a week, I get Shakeology, but rarely drink it out of the convenience of my work cafeteria. But that is all going to change.

I've neglected my body for too long now. I remember when I got down to 197 LBS, I vowed to never get fat again. I let myself down. In the last few years I have been sick a lot (Something that my mom likes to point out). So now I am starting to workout again, starting with light workouts and hopefully easing back into serious workouts. I have to start retraining my back and strengthening my back. When I can I am going to walk more and do more cardio. I am starting back up on my supplement regimen to make sure I am getting all the nutrients that my body needs.

I am also working on being super transparent on my Instagram and IGTV page. I want people to see my successes, but I also want to show the real struggles and failures. There will be failures, and that is ok. I am looking for support too. When I lost weight the first time, I had the Brightkite community to cheer me on. We were a close community and I made several friends on there, but after Brightkite changed and ultimately sold off, that closeness diminished and spread out amongst the normal social media world.

I am going to work on posting updates here, but be sure to follow me on Instagram @LargetoinCharge for up to the minute updates, and feel free to DM me and have a conversation.  

One size fits all? Don't fall for it.

Now I know by the title, the first thing you are probably thinking about is t-shirts. You know the ones. You go to a show or event, and they have "one size fits all" give-a-way shirts. You get it and it's an XL. Sure it fits a lot of the people, but if you are bigger than an XL you are out of luck. Also, if you are one that doesn't like to swim in their shirts, you are out of luck too.

But that is not what this post is about. No, it's about cookie cutter/one size fits all exercise programs and diet programs. You see them everywhere. Heck just stay up late one night and watch paid programming. In 30 minutes you are bound to see infomercials advertising some kind of exercise program or new diet craze/supplement. But much like clothing, it may not really fit you!

Sure these programs work for some people. But everyone is different. Everyone has different needs when it comes to their diets and their exercise. Now some people that "work" for these program producers will talk about modifying to fit you, but that is BS. You can't take a person that suffers from extreme back pain and have them do HIIT and Plyometrics, it's going to cause more harm than good, even with modification of moves. The same with taking a vegan and putting them on a regular meat and potato diet. Or lets go even a step further, you can't put everyone on an IIFYM (if it fits your macros) diet. IIFYM is really popular right now. Sure, it works, but again only for some people. Are there studies that show that it works? Yes there are, but there are also studies to show that IIFYM is absolute garbage and is only popular because of one or two PHD's in the fitness industry boasting about it's the best way to diet.

The whole point of all of this, is if you buy a program from TV or the store, you may get results, but you probably wont get the results you want if you get any at all. You need to get something tailored for you. One final note, make sure to read the fine print on the infomercials you watch, it will state "results shown are not typical". Just some food for thought.

It doesn't get easier

I know, that isn't really a reassuring title for a post that should be motivating. But this isn't really a motivating post. This is about the cold hard facts of being on your journey to being healthy. This is about the obstacles that are out there when coming from the side of food addiction. If you are trying to lose weight, then you likely have a relationship with food other than just to live.

Just think about other addictions out there be it alcohol or nicotine. When you decide to quit, you can actually separate yourself from those temptations. Sure, you are still going to crave those things for a while, but you don't actually have to be around them. Well that is unless you like to torture yourself. But when it comes to food addiction, you can't not be around food. You have to have food to survive. Over the years you have probably used food for many purposes. I completely understand that too. Food can be used for comfort, celebration or just pure enjoyment. Somewhere in our history, we linked other things to food besides survival.

Sure, we still eat to survive, we don't have a choice there. But do we really need chocolate cake or cookies? What about pizza or gourmet hamburgers? Now I am not saying that you have to leave all those things behind. Heck, I like to enjoy some oreos, ice cream, pizza and burgers every single week. But those cheats make it very easy to fall off the wagon and re-link food to enjoyment and not survival. The link will never go away. We can't separate ourselves from it, and it's a constant struggle.

I really wish I could tell you that it gets easier as you go, but it doesn't. All I can recommend is for you not to completely deprive yourself of these foods, but limit them to just one time a week or every other week. Like stated above, even one cheat meal can throw you back into a downward spiral. Remember to eat to fuel your body. Plus, eating to fuel your body doesn't have to be gross bland food, you can make it taste good, and something that you might enjoy. You don't have to have chicken and rice everyday, change it up, use spices and seasoning. Don't be afraid of salt either. Often times when you remove all salt, your body starts to crave things, and then you will binge on different unhealthy items just to try and satisfy that craving. Keep you diet balanced and keep positive.

Review: Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer

There are often times when you find a product that can completely change your life. Coffee creamer for many is that product. Personally I love coffee, but I can't drink it without creamer. Well coffee creamer obviously doesn't play well with the diet. That is, until now.

 

Recently I was introduced to Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer. I was browsing through Instagram and found a post from NPC Competitor Wendy Lee Govoni. In this post she had received Ripped Cream, and I was intrigued. After reading up on the product, I immediately knew that I had to get my hands on it. After a few failed attempts at trying to locate it at some stores in Kansas City, I went to their site and placed my order. I mean, honestly, what person that is into health and fitness and drinks coffee wouldn't want to try this stuff!

So right from the get go, the service with the order was great. There was an issue with Paypal attaching my shipping address and I got a personal email from Robin, the president of Ripped Cream. She actually looked up this very website because of my email address and read my story. How awesome is that? Shipping took place very quickly, and if it hadn't been for the holiday, I would have gotten my package a little earlier. But again, great customer service.

There are two flavors currently of Ripped Cream, Lean Vanilla Bean and Chizzled Chocolate. Some of you might be thinking that chocolate is a bit odd to add to coffee, but I actually know people that mix hot chocolate mix to their coffee. Think of it as a poor mans cappuccino. The first one I tried was the Chizzled Chocolate with 6g of protein. It provided a nice round flavor, and the coffee, like in cooking, really enhanced the chocolate flavor. If it had a little hazelnut flavor to it, I swear it would have tasted like a coffee Nutella!

Next up was the Lean Vanilla Bean. This was an excellent flavor. It didn't offer anything shocking, other than the fact that it tastes just like any regular vanilla coffee creamer. But the 5g of protein provided is a huge change.

With both flavors, I still had to add sweetener. This didn't surprise me much, as most creamers don't actually sweeten the coffee. I also like my coffee a bit sweet. Overall, I would say that these creamers are definite buys. I don't see myself using any other creamer in the near future, unless I run out of this and didn't reorder in time.

You can order your Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer from their website or their Indiegogo Campaign.

We are all bodybuilders

You have decided to change your life, you have put the first step forward into living a healthy lifestyle. Maybe you have been living this lifestyle for a while now. The simple fact is, you don't think you are a bodybuilder, that word might even make you shudder a little bit. But you are, in fact, a bodybuilder.

Oh yes, you may want to argue and say "But I'm not lifting heavy weights" or "I don't want to be a bodybuilder". Well TOO BAD! Ok, maybe that was a little rough, and you are not a bodybuilder in the way that you traditionally hear about it or that you may even think you know it as. You are building yourself a new body.

Yes! You are tearing down the old body that you don't want anymore, and building a new one that you want, that you want to share, that will last you a full and fun filled life. Just because you are a "Bodybuilder" doesn't mean you are hulking out. Look at bodybuilding shows, they have the ranks of Bikini, Figure, Physique, Fitness, and Bodybuilding. But all of those fall under bodybuilding. Look up bikini competitors like Alexis Burke, she is not big and bulky, but I can tell you now, she goes to the gym and lifts, she works her whole body.

So let's look at your bodybuilding in this way, shall we? You are changing your life. You have torn down the original structure of your body to force new habits, and to start building it to last. You may not fit into the general meaning of the word bodybuilder, but what else would you call it? Getting fit? Getting healthy? Embrace what you have become, and have fun with it. But don't scare the children, no one wants to scare children..ok, you can scare the children.

Don't use the Holidays as an Excuse

We are in the middle of the holiday season, with the biggest of the holidays just a couple days away. It's during this time of the year that people really let their lifestyles relax. People naturally want to pig out and make unhealthy choices during this time of year. We pack ourselves full of food for Thanksgiving, load up on sweets and food for Christmas and pretty much live sedentary lives the last 2 months of the year because we want to use the holidays as an excuse. Well Stop!

 

Using the holiday season as an excuse to not eat right and not workout is like saying you don't have time to eat right and exercise. It's just an excuse. It's ok to indulge a little during the holidays, but at the same time you need to be conscious of the decisions you are making. You don't need to eat so much that you have a food baby by the end of the day!

 

Food is not the Enemy

When it comes to changing your lifestyle, it's easy to fall into the wrong way of thinking. Most of us that are switching our lifestyles are making huge changes in our diets. I know I sure did. The biggest mental issue to get over when this change starts, is how we look at food. Quite frankly this mental issue can stick around through your entire journey, even after you have done a complete transformation.

Think about it. You spend your time counting calories now. You start thinking if you consume less calories you will lose weight faster and get fit quicker. You begin to think of food as the enemy, you even become scared of food. Food is the single most important thing in your transformation! Food is what fuels your basic life functions. The human body needs 1200 calories a day to sustain healthy functions. To people that are scared of food, that seems like a lot. That 1200 goes really fast throughout the day. You walk around the office, walk down the stairs, workout, and so on. This 1200 burns up fast! This 1200 is the absolute minimum! You need more than that.

Most active woman can count on a good 1800 calories a day and be pretty well off calorie wise. But if you are a woman and are majorly active, well you are going to need to ramp that up a bit more. Take into account that during a 1 hour workout, you are probably burning anywhere between 500 - 800 calories depending on intensity. Now you have sunk back below that 1200, and your body wont fully recover. Food is your fuel, food will actually help promote weight loss with proper nutrition. Want to build muscle? Get some hot sexy abs? You have to eat.

But it's not just the calories. Sure you can get 1800 calories or so from just 1 meal of crap. It's the quality of calories. You need to consume good healthy foods. This means lean meats, vegetables, fruits, grains, healthy fats, complex carbs. Don't cheat yourself with garbage, because you will never get where you want to be. I can easily go into a restaurant and order a meal and get 3000 calories in that one meal. I know, I have done it before. And all those calories are normally absolute garbage. Be smart, eat for your goals, don't starve yourself. If your nutrition is in place, you will reach your goals. Your journey starts in the kitchen, and ends in the gym!

One year of Healthy Living

It's hard to believe that it was one year ago today that I decided to take my life back. It all started with me weighing in at 332 LBS! Sadly that wasn't my heaviest, but after endless health issues with being sick and my back always hurting, and some major nudging from my doctor, I knew it was time to do something.

It hasn't been an easy year. Even today I struggle with eating right and working out on a regular basis. Heck, I'm human and I am still adjusting to my new life. After 28 years of horrible habits, it is going to some time to break all those bad habits. But what I have accomplished in just 1 year is what many would say is truly amazing. I went from 332 LBS, 43.6 BMI and 47% body fat down to 197 LBS, 24.89 BMI and 11.9% body fat. That is in one year. I have gone from being morbidly obese to being average in weight.

The hardest part I think about all of the weight loss is convincing my family that I'm not anorexic though. They are so used to me getting second and thirds, and filling up my plate or eating massive amounts of food, that when I eat healthy I get accused of having an eating disorder. This actually sets me back quite a bit because I find myself bingeing on food just to prove that I eat, and I end up eating way more than normal. Were I normally eat 1 serving size at lunch, when with my mom I actually eat 3 - 4 servings sizes (restaurant dinner portion plate). So this obviously sets me back. Even this last week I have struggled with massive weight gain because of this very reason.

All in all, I am very pleased with my results. I still want to lose the rest of my gut, but again, I have gone from a 52 waist pant to a 34 waist. I just really want a flat stomach, and be able to look good shirtless.