On the Run

Treadmill every day, sometimes twice a day. Ate too much yesterday but getting back on the horse again and riding….

Trying to not let a wishbone grow where my back bone is!

Here’s something that I’m very proud of – my acting debut. Please give it a look. A lot of talented and very creative people are working on this thing. more episodes to come every few weeks or so. If you enjoy it, please share it with your friends, post in online, etc. This is a total word of mouth deal and we are eager to see how far it will go. Please be advised that it does contain adult orientated situations….

more info about the series as well as merch right here:
http://watch.mobontherun.com/

The Weighting Game

Okay scale, I don’t like you and you don’t like me either so let’s get one thing straight – I need to have dropped some weight by my next acupuncture appointment on Friday. I refuse to go two weeks in a row with weight gain even if it is just a pound or so. I’ve been jerking around with the same few pounds for over a month. Now this weight has to begin to drop again. I’m eating right, I’m eating less, I’ll be on the treadmill, lifting and doing yoga. I will make more time for better self-care. I will make time to get enough rest. I can do this. We can do this together. We can become friends again, can’t we? Two more days to go. Let’s make a deal. I’ll work hard and you be gentle…okay??

The Yo-Yo Effect

I think I have put on and taken off the same 10 pounds three times now. I just can’t seem to break past the 70 pounds lost mark. So besides acupuncture and exercise, I’m adding a 3 day juice fast. I’m hoping that this will finally break the plateau I’ve been balancing on for a long time now. So far today though… zero weight lost but no weight gain either. There is something at least in maintaining. It may take a long time but I’m moving forward. I will not let momentary setbacks discourage me. There is something gained within the struggle that can not be gained without it.

And the Beat Goes On

26 weeks into my quest for better health through a mostly plant based diet and increased exercise. Acupuncture has remained helpful to me. I’ve lost 8 pounds in my first 8 days after beginning treatments. My cravings although lingering from time to time have greatly decreased. This still doesn’t stop me from doing occasional boneheaded things like eating way to much steak for Father’s Day. It’s weird actually, despite eating mostly plant based for over 6 months, I think my taste for a good steak will never completely diminish. This is a repeating pattern for me though, make some great gains towards my goal then gain some weight right back. I lack discipline. Some days are good and I am strong but then I fall apart. It’s frustrating but it is life.

The other great part about the acupuncture treatments is that my pain is really subsiding. Shoulder pain that I have dealt with on an increasing lever for about three months is now quickly fading away. If I wake up with it in the morning, it leaves quickly. Some mornings I have no pain at all. My ankle also feels a lot better. I tend to think I’ll have a long road to go to get it to where it needs to be but it is feeling better and I can’t argue so far with the results.

The needles in my ear to decrease the cravings, reduce stress and bump up metabolism are killing me this time around. With each session, the ears are switched. But this last round hurts so bad that massaging them is nearly impossible. I’m not sure how much of a benefit they are without the massage. The Chinese tea and herbs still taste like dirt and bark but I’m getting by with them.

I started out the day with yoga this morning and wrapped up the day with some exercise targeting specific muscle groups. I’m hoping that by my next acupuncture appointment on Friday, I will be able to say that the hard work has paid off and that I’ve lost more weight. Some of my eating this weekend has not helped me though. So now I have to play the catch up game. When I finally get the diet, exercise and treatment all going full bore, I’ll be dangerous.

Finding the Balance

A pretty good week so far on the health front. Maybe after 6 months I’m finally starting to find some balance. The acupuncture sessions are reminding me that making the time for selfcare is so important and vitally necessary. I have my third session today and I’m eager to see what their scale says. My scale here is looking good.

I’ve been juicing during the morning lately. I love this Vitamix. It was an expensive investment that was really worth it. For starters, all of the pulp and fiber that a traditional juicer would expel, the Vitamix blends right into your drink. These are important vitamins and nutrients. Why let them go to waste.

Juicing gives me a chance to be creative with the ingredients I use and about 95% of the time I enjoy what I’m making. Yesterday I had blueberry and kale juice (with apple and orange). Kale has almost no taste when juiced and is one of the most vitamin packed, nutrient rich foods you can eat. Earlier in the week I had strawberry dandelion juice (with apple, orange and sweet lettuce) which is actually a near perfect combo. Dandelion is very good for your blood but can often be bitter. It is definitely an acquired taste. I find that the strawberries compliment the taste without totally masking it. The morning berry intake is very important. Recent studies indicate that just a half cup of berries a week helps to keep our brains sharp. This is an easy way to get your daily antioxidant intake boosted!

I’ve kicked up the exercise regiment a bit this week as well. I still need to be exercising more and this will likely continue to be a stumbling block for me for some time but I will keep working at it. Losing weight is a process. I know that I’d be further along in this journey if I exercised more.

Posts here at Johnnysized have been more sporadic lately. I try for 5 posts a week but lately it’s been less. I don’t want folks to think I’m falling off. If anything I am more engaged than ever. I’ve just had a lot of sticks in the fire recently. My photography gigs have been increasing and photo editing is extremely time consuming. I have some interesting things going on musically with my band’s second album nearing completion.

There is also this web series coming out on June 30th. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m getting my feet wet in the world of acting. I’m playing the part of a legbreaker. Give it a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwNcwmEO6-o&feature=youtube_gdata_player

More info at www.mobontherun.com

Re-Birth Day!

Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been.  Work has been insanely crazy.  And some photography gigs and other artistic pursuits have kept me extra busy during my typical downtime.  Trying to eat healthier while running myself ragged is also quite a challenge.  Admittedly I’m struggling some days.  But that is the beauty of each new day, waking up and getting a chance to start over from scratch and make your life what you want it to be.  Each day is a chance to recommit and become my best self.  Last night I had the best sleep that I have had in weeks.  That alone makes such a difference.

This week I celebrated my 37th birthday.  As I get older, birthdays become a strange thing.  As a child I would look so forward to birthdays and presents and parties with friends.  Nowadays though, I’m content to push the day off and try to find a way to go in reverse.  It’s not getting older that scares me as much as it is having less time.  In some ways I feel like this lifestyle change is a way to counteract thatt.  To make some changes in order to lose wight while gaining energy and better well being.  In so many ways, eating plant based has been like finding the fountain of youth.

When I was in high school I wanted to get into law enforcement.  I always had this nagging feeling that I wouldn’t live past my 2o’s.  I thought for sure I would be shot and killed while in that line of duty.  It’s weird but true.  In college I was actually shot at (being somewhere at the wrong place and time) and got away physically unharmed.  That is a story for another time.  That experience though made me feel temporarily bullet proof and the fear of being shot has never really returned.  But over the years since then, I put on well over 125 pounds.  I started to think that my poor lifestyle would be the thing to do me in.  I thought for sure  I’d be checking out early just because I had let myself go so badly.  There comes a point where a person can feel like staying on the path they are on is just easier than making the difficult changes.

I’m happy that as I begin my 27th year on this planet, I’m making changes that should help improve my quality of life and hopefully keep me in the game longer.  I feel tremendous gratitude for my family and friends.  My life is blessed.  I am striving to be the best that I can be.  I feel thankful for a job that makes me crazy but really does do a small part to make the lives if children a little bit better.  I am extremely grateful for my outside pursuits in the arts, the chances it gives me to express myself and meet fascinating, wonderful people along the way who have amazing stories.  Life is good.  I’m going to try to make it even better in the next year.

Thanks for reading!

keep in touch: johnnysized@gmail.com

Slowly Chipping Away at the Weight

And so begins week 22 of my switch to a plant based diet and increased exercise regiment. This week I lost two additional pounds which brings me to 67 pounds lost so far.

Really, it should have been 4 pounds but I went majorly of course this weekend. I had beef (not the end of the world for me but a definite rarity nowadays), a lot of wonderful Italian bread and wheat pasta 3 days in a row. It left me definitely feeling less healthy and has served as a reminder that I really need to stay on course. So the rest of this week, I’ll be sticking closely to the plan – plantbased!

Made some delicious stuffed peppers tonight. I’ll be packing one or two for lunch tomorrow. I continue to suffer from a sore back which is making getting any exercise done rough right now. It’s been two weeks of on and off back pain that mysteriously travels around various parts of my upper back. I’m tired of it.

It’s been a very busy few days. It feels good to be back blogging again. Welcome to all of my new readers. There were nearly 400 of you yesterday. That’s pretty great for a Sunday and for a blog that isn’t even 6 months old yet.

Don’t Give Up!

This one is for the people who are struggling with their weight. For the people who feel broken. For those that have given up. For those that feel they are too far gone now to make a change.

Don’t give up!

I know where you are at. I was over 400 pounds at one point not so long ago. I thought it was too late for me. My friends and family had spoken with me about their concerns regarding my weight. I would “yes” them and then go binge for days. Their criticisms seemed to validate the feelings I already had about myself – that I was not good enough. That there was something wrong with me. I stopped going to most family gatherings. I further isolated myself. My shame grew exponentially.

I had tried to lose weight in the past and always failed. I always gained it all back plus some. I felt hopeless and sometimes worthless. My future looked so bleak to me.

I got to the point where my thought process was that I would die this way. It would be easier to just eat myself to death rather than lose this weight. Until I got very sick and dying became a real possibility. It’s funny how something like that will change a person. It was a blessing that came disguised as a trauma. (Doesn’t this happen frequently in life?).

Getting sick was the best thing that could have happened to me. It forced me to see what others had been trying to say to me. Of course I had known I was in very poor health but it was in getting sick that it really crystalized for me. I knew that I needed to make a change.

There is nothing special about me. My willpower is less than most people you know. I’ve failed constantly in the past. The only difference this time is that I’m willing to continue on for the long haul – one small step at a time. If it takes me 2 years or 5 to lose 200+ pounds, I’m going to do it.

I’m not telling you that you aren’t already perfect because you are. Zen Buddhist master, Thich Nhat Hanh said, “The wave does not need to die to become the water”. We are already what we seek to become. It is already inside us, we just need to find it, tap into it and bring it out.

Before losing 65 pounds, I was unable to wear a seatbelt in some cars, I could not sit in a booth when dining out, plastic lawn furniture was my nemesis, amusement park rides were often not possible, flying required seatbelt extenders.  Even just finding the energy to play with my kids or take a walk with them was so difficult.  Life was harder and I was missing out on some of the best parts of it.

So I’m not telling you there is anything wrong with you. I’m just trying to appeal to your desire to live the life you were born to live. The life you envisioned when you were younger. The life that your weight might currently prevent you from living. Inherit the life you were born to live!

How to start? Each race won starts with a single step. So take your first step now. I started by cutting out sugar. I failed initially. Even once in a blue moon I still fail but starting is the important part. Starting and picking yourself up when you fall are the most important things. As you have successes, cut out other unhealthy things while increasing exercise.

Don’t give up!

Aim for a pound. Just one pound. Show your body and your mind that you can do it. When you reach a pound go for 2,  then 5, then 10.   Mini goals are very important.  Sometime the only way a mountain can be climbed is to climb it one step at a time.

Don’t wait for your situation to become increasingly dire like I did. If you aren’t happy, make a small change today.  Begin to come up with a plan.

I’m an email or a message away if I can help in any way. If you need to talk and are willing to put forth some effort, I’m willing to spend the time.  I know you can do this, because I am doing it too.  Millions of us are.  Come join us.  Reclaim your life.

I wish you luck. But with some determination you won’t really need it. Don’t give up!

All the best,
Johnny
johnnysized@gmail.com

65 Pounds Down in Five Months!

And so begins week number 21 of my switch to a plant based diet and increased exercise regime. This week I lost an additional 4 pounds! That brings the total to 65+ pounds in just five months.

What a ride this has been so far. Emotionally its like a roller coaster. The plateaus are coming now about every 10 pounds or so and they can really be a bear at times. The last one played havoc with me for nearly three weeks. I have redoubled my efforts though and have seen a great deal of movement after cutting out wheat, stopping my late night snacking and steering away from my occasional cheat meals until I make my way under the 300 pound mark.

I’m finally getting to the point where I’m starting to feel comfortable in my own skin again. I’m not there yet but it is within reach. I can feel the physical and mental switch within the last week. I look back at when I topped 400 pounds and almost find it unfathomable. How the heck did I let things spin that far out of control? It wasn’t long ago yet in ways, it seems like a lifetime.

I continue to receive really nice words of encouragement from you and I am very thankful for that. Your words are inspiring and the information that you send is helpful. That some of you take the time to send me an email with your thoughts and reflections on what I have written means so much. Complete strangers, some from half way around the world reaching out with messages of hope. It helps to restore my faith in humanity and makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile here. Without you I am positive that this struggle would be exponentially more difficult if not abandoned alreeady.

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So this week, I’m enjoying my Vitamix juicer/blender. I’ve decided to eat RAW foods meals at least twice a day this week and the Vitamix has gotten me off to a good start. Tonight I’ll be making some soup. Last night I got a little creative and made a smoothie with broccoli rabe, apple and pineapple, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeño, scallion, tomato and cucumber. The pineapple was a last minute addition after tasting it and realizing it needed something else to lighten it up some. An interesting mix of flavors but it definitely worked.

This is a whole new world for me so if you have a Vitamix and/or enjoy juicing, post up some tips here or drop me a line at johnnysized@gmail.com.

Gettin RAW!

Woke up this morning while having a dream that I could noticeably feel the difference in gut size. I was literally feeling smaller in my dream. This is how I know things are moving in the right direction lately. My body and my mind know that the weight is dropping again. It feels good to be back on track. My body and mind are telling me that I’m on my way now.

It seems like the more weight I drop, the longer the plateaus. It can be discouraging when you are in the midst of it. It’s all good though, I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve read that the more gradual the weight loss the better the chances for maintaining that loss.

Interesting day on tap today. In a few hours, I’ll be on my way to check this out:

Since I made the switch to plant based, I’ve been gaining an interest in Raw foods. It appeals to me. I’m sure at some point, I will give it a spin. It’s like the evolution of what i’m already doing. i’m not sure about how long I’ll be able to sustain it but it would definitly be good to incorporate as many raw foods into my diet as I can. This is the way our ancient ancestors ate. Our body was built to run perfectly on this stuff. I look forward to getting an education today and deepening my understanding of a Raw food diet, juicing and other health and nutrition related topics.

Later I’ll be taking my daughter to see the new Avengers movie in 3D on an IMAX screen. I’m equally looking forward to that! At nearly 37 years old, I still love my super heroes!

Enjoy your day and whatever you have planned! Even if it’s just staying put. Relaxing is important too! Sometimes I need to remind myself about the importance of relaxing. Whatever you are up to, make it a good one!