Saturday Interview day!


Well, I decided to do something new for Saturdays. Every Saturday I will have an interview with someone different. The people will be ones who have lost weight, are loosing weight, or going to loose weight.

This weeks interview is with Tom. His link has been on the side for a while, and I feel it is only fair, and I am honored to have him do my first Saturday Interview. Tom has lost a little over 300 pounds and has gone from wheelchair bound a year ago to riding 10-15miles a day today.


Here are the questions I asked of Tom


Tell us a little bit about your background:
Prior career, professional driver. I've driven everything from a taxi to a stretch limo to a tractor trailer. Before I took up trucking, i was heavily into cycling.

Current weight:
249

Peak weight:
581

What would you say was the turning point?
That would be when I realized I was going to die if I didn't do something about it. I had had my third heart attack, had open nonhealing wounds on my legs, was in congestive heart failure as well as being on insulin for diabetes and oxygen to support my blood oxy saturation. I had an O2 sat lower than many corpses, arterial saturation without oxygen was at 68%. My weight problem, however is from a physiological cause. My pituitary is not completely functional due to a condition called Empty Sella Syndrome. I don't produce all the hormones I am supposed to and have to supplement them artificially.

What has been your most embarassing momment dur to your weight?
When I fell through a hardwood floor, and it required 8 firemen to lift me into the ambulance. I'm not kidding!

Any life restrictions due to your weight?
I was shackled to technology to stay alive, on oxygen @ 7 lpm, stuck in a wheelchair because I couldn't stand up for more than a couple of minutes, couldn't walk more than 50 feet without crushing chest pain, If I wasn't Catholic and it being a mortal sin, I think I would have said enough was enough then!

What is your goal weight:
200 pounds or a bit less

Why did you decide to loose weight?
Should be self explanatory, life was so bad it wasn't worth living. I gambled with the Bariatric Surgery because I was a pretty poor risk, but what was I really risking, a life in hell on earth?

Who was your biggest motivator?
The Grim Reaper......I met him, he's not a very pleasant feller!

Why do diet fads always end in Failure?
Because there aren't any short term fixes to a weight problem. Either you are willing to modify your lifestyle and diet to reflect a healthy one or you aren't. Sometimes it requires extreme choices on your part, but in the long run it is worth it!

Why do most people fail at weight loss?
Well, it's a combination of factors. Discouragement, the people around you unknowingly sabotaging your efforts, an inability to cope with the changes in your life, for yourself AND the people around you. When you start really changing, the people around you start worrying they'll be left behind. In addition, we are so often at such a point that what we eat is the only real control we have over our own lives, so we indulge that freedom. In other cases, we eat for comfort. Food is a drug. Eating stimulates endorphins and it makes you feel better, it modifies our seratonin balance, as well, so we feel better if we have problems with too rapid an uptake of seratonin and the nutrients slow it up for us. Depressed people often use food for comfort, then feel guilty then eat to feel better, then feel guilty..........it's called a negative feedback cycle and can indicate an eating disorder Elements of compulsion can factor in. Often, in these cases, psychological intervention is required as well as medical. Weight control really needs to be addressed with a multidisciplinary approach. Cognitive-behavioral approaches seem to work best, with plenty of emotional support as well as a bit of guidance in nutrition. The surgery route really needs to be looked at as a last ditch effort. There are other factors as well, but if I get into them, I promise your readers eyes will glaze over and roll up into the back of their heads because I'm already getting pretty technical. Essentially weight problems are a serious medical, and possibly psychological issue.

Give us one of your most favorite dishes!
Skinless Chicken Breast, broiled, with Lemon Pepper, basted with a tiny bit of olive oil and oregano, with steamed spinach leaves as the vege, a bit of Cottage cheese, and a glass of 1% milk.

What have you gotten back since loosing the weight?
My entire life! I am currently enrolled in College, going after my RN License. I am thinking of going on after my license to get a PhD in Psychology. I want to work in the field of eating disorders. Iy fascinates me and I truly think I have something to offer. I have also gotten back my cyclig! I have gone in the space of a year from a wheelchair to an actively touring cyclist. My first tour in 20+ years had to be cut short due to weather, but I still rode 106 miles in two days on a heavily loaded bike! A year ago, if anyone had told me exactly one year after the surgery that I would be doing that, I would have laughed at them! Cycling has been a godsend to me, as I could exercise without destroying my knees. I also love doing it and it has really helped me by allowing me to accomplish measurable progress physically. I could see myself getting stronger. I am now off ALL of my medications and only use oxygen at night. I still have sleep apnea. Here is a link, by the way, to my first tour writeup over March 11-12.

Do you have a favorite quote:
Who dares, wins all! (British Special Forces: SAS Motto)

What would you say to everyone else trying to lose weight right now?

Do it! It requires a commitment to changing your life! There are no easy fixes or shortcuts that won't adversely affect your health, so make the necessary changes! Up the exercise, eat healthier and stay away from JUNK! If you feed your body junk, that's what you'll get.....a junk body! Change is possible and it won't come from anywhere or anyone else but you! Seek out support, make a realistic plan and set small goals, and work from goal to goal, each leading to the next. If you look at the wehole problem, you'll get lost and shoot yourself in the foot. Remember, if you decide you can't, that will be an accurate prediction! It's called a self fulfilling prophecy! If you decide you CAN, then the sky is the limit! As my favorite quote goes..."Who dares, wins all!" Go for it!


You can visit Tom over at his blog here.

You are what you eat!


So, you push back from the table, shirt on the verge of popping every button it has. You stand up, and...What’s next?

For most people, you go to sleep, lie around on the couch, or maybe go take onto the computer. The people who do this are the same ones who say they do not have time to do any physical activity. I am sure most of us are in this boat, we eat heavy, fattening foods, and we become heavy, fat people. You are what you eat!

Now, this is what a lot of us did before we changed, and began to care. We ate and ate and than ate some more. This can sometimes be fine, I now eat and eat and eat some more but only every 2 hours. The major difference is I am eating salad, protein shakes, tuna wraps, chicken and rice or fish and rice. Food that will keep the hunger down, the energy up, and the motivation going. Not only that, all my meals are 200-300 calories. Any of you who saw my grocery thread a week or two ago will remember my comments regarding the grocery store. That the grocery store is where you will make or break your goals.

I want to sort of reiterate that today. The foods you choose every week, will decide whether you stick to your diet, or you fail. This is the bottom line, plain and simple.

"What about the temptation to eat out Tyler?" people ask.

This can be a big one, and this is where your will power comes in. I personally suck at willpower, so I stopped bringing money with me. For some that is not an option, so stick to really light salads, wraps, pick subway over BK. Diet coke or coke. These are all the obvious ones, but the ones people really falter on. One treat can and usually does turn into 2,3,4,5 and 6 treats. This roller coasters and before you know it, you fell off the wagon and are back at square one.

To make all your meals for the day (6 small ones, 200-300 calories each) should only take anywhere from 10-40 minutes a day. They are small enough to lug around with you (usually fitting in one grocery bag) and you can eat them at the office.

The feeling I mentioned before, you should only feel once, maybe twice a week. The rest of the time you should be energetic, ready to go. If you don't feel energetic off 6 small meals a day, your diet might need some adjusting. As I said a while ago, I gave up coffee after switching to 6 small light meals a day; I just didn't need it anymore.

For those falling off the bandwagon, the diet is the easiest part you can get back on, you buy your own groceries, and you decide what you put in your mouth.

If anyone has any recipes they want to share, email them to me, or leave them here in a comment and I will post them all later.

Please, don't stare at me, I’m trying to change


I am sure all of us who diet can relate to this feeling. You are going about your business, working, walking to school, walking to the gym, grocery shopping, and every few minutes you catch someone staring at you out of the corner of there eye. You see this, and you stop, and it hits hard, it hits hard that people look at you like you are so different. I am guilty of this, so are a lot of people, and I feel bad for it. People avoid you like obesity is some disease, no one sits near you on the bus, conversations strangers have stop when you are around, as they stare. I am a big guy, I know that, but there are people who are a lot bigger than me, and for all the staring I get, I know they have it worse. No matter how much I try, how much I workout, how much I want to change, I still feel guilty for eating in public, like someone somewhere is looking at me going "that’s why you are fat".

This can happen when you are eating a salad from a restaurant, people just sit there and stare at you. I almost want to jump up and scream at them, and ask them what are they staring at, do they not care that I am trying to change? That I am trying to turn into something different, something that will not be stared at?

It can also be a good motivator, you will not eat junk food in public, because you know people will look down on you, look at you with disgust, and think to themselves smugly "I got that person all figured out, they are fat because they eat so much".

I made this mistake, a friend of mine from the gym I saw him at McDonalds, so I went over to him. I said to him, thinking I was helping, "man, .this isn’t helping your diet". He looked at me, saddened obviously, and said "This is my cheat meal for the last two weeks, I love McDonalds, but I hate coming here and eating, I've lost a hundred pounds but this is nothing to these people".

I sat down with him, and ordered a cheeseburger, friends indulging together. We had an awesome conversation, and I had my cheat meal of the week. People stared, but we both knew inside that we were trying to change, trying to become something bigger. We were trying to be there for our children one day, for our grandchildren. We were working towards riding a century with the cycle club, or maybe we were just working, because we were tired of not being able to do the things we wanted. We left the McDonalds together, and walked the hour home, more than likely burning off most of the food we had just consumed.

Next time you stare, think to yourself, this person might be trying to change, they might just be enjoying a well earned cheat meal, or maybe they fell off the bandwagon as we all do from time to time.


Hopefully, one day, people will stop staring.

Sickness and the such

Well...I blame all you guys :p. Seems all the bloggers have been getting sick lately, than bam, out of nowhere I'm sick. So I am thinking you guys are to blame :p

I forget who posted about people going to work while sick, well I am one of those people. I am at work right now, coughing and sneezing in another room, sick as a dog, but, money is money and I need to buy my new bike this year, so here I am. Looking to buy a Kona Hoss within the new two months, so saving up for that.
This will be my new beauty in about two months. Comes in at about 1300$ for it after everything else I want to add, so saving up for this.

On another note, this is day #2 I have stuck to the diet. No gym today though because Im sick. I know working through the sickness is the way to go, but ugh..I feel like crap..lower than crap..worm crap.

So I am going to go work now, and try to go home early and sleep. So a warning to all..when you come by a blog where someone is sick...get ready...its comming for you next!

Anyone have any cold remedies they want to share?

Comments? You can comment now!

Well, here we are today. Yesterday I stuck to my diet the entire day. as well I also managed to go to the gym. On my way to the gym again today.

Wanted to say quickly thank you to Loosing Me over at her blog here . She tiped me off that comments were moderated which is why the comments never show up on the site. So you guys can comment now :)

Off to the gym, catch you all later.

Ciao for now

Two Pounds Up :(



Well that was a bad week. Only worked out Tues, Wednesday. Messed up my diet all week, and I paid for it today on the scales. Gained 2 pounds *sigh*. Nothing like killing my motivation by taking a step backwards. Im determined to do it properly this week though, going to stick to the diet and do the cardio and see what happens. I've read a lot of diet blogs lately, and notice one common theme between them. Those that have achieved the goals they set, those ones always bounce back when they fall down. Those that do not achieve there goals, they stay down when they go down.

So heres to a new week! I will be doing one hour cardio at least per day, sticking to my diet all week!


Another thing, saw this on another blog, so going to post it here.


The secret to dieting....

Is to make this...



















Taste as good as this