Day 49: Moving Day

Update: 228.8 lbs, 29.4 lbs so far, 8.6 left to reach goal.

Not us, we're not moving, but we're helping The Bro move. I can tell it's a moving day because the rain moved in over night. No real big post today, just wondering how much actual exercise will come from moving boxes in and out and all around...can I log those as calories burned? They got to add up to a little something anyway.

Tomorrow will be Crazy Sunday again, so probably not much of a post there either. So I guess this will be 'blogger-lite' weekend.

Hasta.

Day 48: Who Is That Guy?

Update: 228.8 lbs, 29.4 lbs so far, 8.6 left to reach goal.

Ok, so I haven't lost so much weight that people don't recognize me, nor do I think I ever really will, but I did find this website that lets you plug in your face, and see which celebrities you look like. I did it before when I had the 'cheeks of love' going on, and surprisingly it picked out people like Paul McCartney, Robert Deniro, and (well maybe not so surprisingly) Julio Iglesias. (Hey, if the lady at church can ask me if I'm related to a 'Laura Hernandez' just because my last name is Lopez, I suppose the site can match me up to Julio.)

So I plug my new, less-cheeky face into it this time, and I get some really wacky results. Take a look, here's the photo: (click on it for larger image)






















So if you're following along at home, I now look like a German power forward for the Mavericks, the Real Slim Shady, a Kung Fu star, former lead singer of Matchbox 20, or Sam Gamgee....there was even some lady on there I didn't know, but they'd only let me collage 5 pictures.

So there you go, losing weight makes MyHeritage.com think you look like some pretty interesting choices, and apparently I lost my ethnicity this time around...well, I just switched teams I suppose. If you haven't been out before, visit the site, upload a picture, it's kind of fun.

Have a great Friday, I think we're doing fake pizza tonight..whoohoo (Papa Murphy's DeLite pizzas...not bad, just not Humdingers....)

Hasta.

Day 47: Coming Down The Homestretch

Update: 229.8 lbs, 28.4 lbs so far, 9.6 left to reach goal.

Another mini-goal today, one I've been waiting to hit for a while now--less than 10 lbs left to reach my first major goal of losing 38 lbs, and getting down to 220. I really was hoping to hit my 220 mark by the 1st of April, but I think that is going to just be a couple days to short of what I really need to do it right. I don't want to go all nutso and workout three times a day, in a plastic suit, so I can drop the weight any faster than I've already been doing.

I'm am still hopeful that I'll be able to hit the 50 lb mark in three months, as I mentioned in my first post. Kyle Pott (who has sent along some encouraging emails since I first set out) posted the initial article that got me rolling on the 'calorie cutback' back in February. After I hit that 50 lbs mark, it should be a fairly easy jump to hit the 58 lb mark, and just get to an even 200. I was around 185-190 when we got married, but I'm not sure I will go that far, but we'll see.

Here's my progress bar from the daily plate for the past 47 days (click for larger image):










Anyone want to get in on the pool of what day I'll hit my 38 lb goal? Comment on this post with your date selection, and I'll buy the correct guesser a drink of your choice at Starbucks. (Michael, if you're the only person to guess, you've got pretty good odds!) I weigh in between 6 and 7 each day, for what it's worth, and post here after weigh in. If more than one person picks the same date, I'll draw out of a hat or something....again, not expecting to have to do that :)

The kids are off of school today, so we don't have the crazy 4 trip morning kids commute...so I'm gonna celebrate the mini-goal with a bike ride before heading off to work.

Hasta luego!

Day 46: Controlling Cravings

Update: 230.6 lbs, 27.6 lbs so far, 10.2 left to reach goal.

When I first start the 'calorie cutback' 46 days ago, I was *really* hungry a lot of the time, probably because I was adjusting to...well...not eating! As I've progressed along those times of hunger haven't been as bad, or often, but they still come along, especially if I wait too long between eating.

In previous efforts, I've always felt like I have to deprive myself of anything great tasting in order to lose weight. This time around I've found that to not be alltogether true--we've enjoyed pizza, burgers, fries, ice cream, enchiladas...just lighter versions, or smaller portions, so that we're not going overboard.

Still, I get cravings, especially later in the evening -- I should just go to bed earlier, but those that know us, know that's really not us. A few things that have helped me in general are drinking water througout the day, keeping busy so I'm not just sitting around thinking about food, drinking coffee, exercising, and making sure that more of my snacks are protein like string cheese and yogurt, rather than just granola bars and low cal cookies.

I found this article on MSN Health that says cravings are all about blood sugar and that your blood sugar can fall too low after just 4 hours of not eating. This makes sense if we have dinner at 6...I'm gonna be hungry by 10 or 11 -- definitely the time I feel it. (In the past, that would have been called Nacho Hour.) The article goes on to mention cutting out foods that are higher in added sugars or high in starches. You should also eat every 3 hours, have protein and fat at every meal, and eat whole grain. They then list 8 ways to 'tame your hunger' in the rest of the article, including making sure to eat breakfast, recognizing real hunger, and not dwelling on mistakes. You can read the full article here.

On another note...I wish I the 27 lbs so far was all coming from the gutteral area. Went out to buy pants this weekend, still too much ice-cream-coned body shape going on to really feel good about the smaller sizes. Smaller waist, legs, and butt...check. Gut still spilling over...check. Still not loving shopping for clothes...check.

Hasta.

Day 45: Looking Forward to Camping

Update: 231.0 lbs, 27.2 lbs so far, 10.8 left to reach goal.

Next week is Spring Break for the kids which means the kickoff of camping season for the Lopi 6. We will cram into the 22 ft trailer like sardines and enjoy some really, really close family time. Heading over to Warm Springs, where we haven't been since my wife and I were first married, so it should be a lot of fun.

In the past, camping has meant a lot of fun-but-not-so-healthy foods, and initially I was little concerned about all the chips, cookies, sugary drinks, etc that would be around all the time. Half of camping is the eating, right? When you camp in an RV, you basically have a full fridge and cupboard of whatever in the world you want to take with you, and we have always enjoyed living it up in the food department.

This year though, since my wife and I have become more aware of the things we're puttin' down, we've already been planning for some 'calorie cutback' friendly foods. In fact, our plan of attack for camping trips is that we should be able to just pull from the normal food we have in the house for the trip, since we'd be eating those meals anyway at home. Since we're loaded up on foods that are part of our effort in the house, we should be able to keep it up when we're out roughing it in the wilderness....on a government protected Indian reservation and casino site, of course.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to firing up the little grill and making some great food while we're on our first trip of the year. Don't know if I'll take the scale or not for those few days--we'll have to see if we have room between the TV and satelite dish. :)

Hasta!

Day 44: What 25 Pounds Looks Like

Update: 231.4 lbs, 26.8 lbs so far, 11.2 left to reach goal.

What exactly does 25 lbs look like? My first thought was to run down to the meat department at Freddys and see if they had any 25 lb turkeys in the icebox, but since it's not Thanksgiving season, I probably wasn't going to have much luck. I still have the image of Oprah rolling out 60 pounds of animal fat in a wheelbarrow on her show after she lost that much of her own, and it just made me curious about what I'd recently stopped carrying as well. Couldn't find a turkey, but did find a sweet picture of this dude with his 25 lb catfish...nice! Wrap that baby around my gut, and there you go.

In one of the early articles I read, someone suggested taking photos along the way so that you can see your progress. I figured 25 lbs might not be a bad milestone to take a gander. Since I see myself every day in the mirror, I know things are changing, but you kind of get used to the large-but-not-as-large-as-last-month guy I keep seeing. This first photo is an older one, but it was when I weighed 260 lbs before, which is just 1.8 lbs more than my starting 258.2 weight this time around. Be forewarned, it's not a pretty sight: (You should be able to click on it to see the full sized image.)



















Yes, that right jolly old elf was me, most likely after a week of Humdingers, Panang, and Sesame Chicken...just look at how happy I am in that picture, I guarantee Paddingtons was part of that happiness. A common joke I'd make to my wife was that my gut looked like someone was spilling pancake batter out of a wheelbarrow, but I think it's actually scarier than that. I also made a joke recently that if I was a cannibal, I'd be calling dibs on my cheeks, those babies are meaty! (sorry, that was kind of gross, I know....) You can see that when I originally took this picture, it scared me enough to make it my own Motivation poster, but that only lasted a few days before I didn't pay attention to it any more.

Ok, so here I am on this past Friday, a day or two after clearing the 25 lb mark in my calorie cutback funfest: (again, you should be able to click on it to see the full sized image.)



















Yeah, I know. It's like they're just announced open casting calls for the next JC Penny catalog, and I'm sending in my front and 3/4 view shots for consideration. I really thought about not taking or posting any pictures until I had hit my first big goal weight, but as I mentioned, I re-read the article talking about photo-journaling progress and figured 'what the heck.' This new photo actually serves an an even better motivator than before. because now I know it's all within my control.

This is pretty much the furthest I've made it any weight loss effort previously, just under 30 lbs, before starting to head back the other direction, so I'm pumped to feel like I can continue on motivated to further success. I'm close to my 38 lb goal, and am now starting to think about the 50 lbs in 3 months goal that Kyle Pott hit that originally inspired me, and then beyond that perhaps just pushing right on through to get to 200 lbs, which would be a 58 lb loss. But one step at a time...I'm baby stepping from Mexi-Claus to just one of his helpers.

Hasta, and Feliz Navidad (or Fleas Navidog, for thoset that get a kick out of that kind of stuff.)

Day 43: Crazy Sunday Post

Update: 231.0 lbs, 27.2 lbs so far, 10.8 left to reach goal.

Not a huge update today, it's Crazy Sunday again...so just a couple thoughts.

Burgerville is not a calorie cutback friendly place. I preplanned my meal, splitting up 650 calories between the great sounding Double Beef Cheeseburger and not quite as exciting YoCream Strawberry Sundae. Let me just say, there was nothing 'double' about that burger at all. I think maybe they put double the sauce, and that's where the 430 calories came from. Looking around, I'm not really sure there would be much I'd be all that excited about unless I was just going out as a splurge meal. Or unless I wanted a second salad for the day.

Also, I didn't mention Trader Joes Chocolate Mints in my previous TJ post, but let me say at about 20 calories each, these large mint chocolate chips (a little bigger than a Junior Mint size) are really great. Consider that a small Dove chocolate is over 200 calories, and it's really an amazing caloric bargain. And they taste great too.

Hasta...more tomorrow.