Ok so my days are back to normal. I didn't have any parties planned so I did well this week. Grand total, I have lost 17 pounds in about a months time. 5 pounds this week and I still wasn't perfect.

You know, I really thought this whole loosing weight thing would be really hard and I wouldn't be able to stick with it. I mean, yeah I don't work out some days, yeah I have too many cheerios, I still over eat. I can't believe that I can do all those things and still loose weight. I guess over 300 pounds makes it easier to loose weight, it practically melts off with very little effort, but I'm sure the time will come when I have to start eating low fat foods, or workout every day, or really have to commit to this whole losing weight thing. Hopefully by then, I will only be putting forth the same amout of willpower as I am now, but accomplishing greater things. In other words, the first thing I did was stop drinking Mtn Dew. At first it was hard. I was at work drinking water instead and it got old, fast. Now, not drinking Mtn Dew is second nature and its easy for me to turn it down. The hard part now is just sticking to eating healthy. Sometimes I do want to grill a hamburger or to go to Craigo's and pig out on their all you can eat pizza. Sometimes at night I want to eat some toast with peanut butter and jelly with a huge glass of milk. Or buy oreos. Or make fried chinese food. Or buy a snikers. But I don't and its getting easier to refuse those things as time goes on. It seems like my tastebuds change and things that I thought were disgusting and never liked suddenly become apetizing. For example, squash. I hated that crap as a kid. My mom made me eat it, like most mothers do, and just the other day i wend grocery shopping and saw squash on the shelf next to carrots and I thought about buying some. I didn't buy any but the point is that if I had seen that 2 months ago, I probably would have run and scream, but now as I eat healthy I crave things like that. I'm turning a new leaf and look forward to the day that I will be healthy.

Today I also went fishing. I caught 7 or 8 fish, mostly small guys, but it was a good day fishing. As I returned those fish back into the river, I needed to rinse my hands off in the river. It was hard for me to bend over and wash my hands, I had to lean on something or get on my knees. I was fishing with my buddy Brad and noticed that it was no problem for him to wash his hands off. I want to be able to have no problem with things like that, my blubber gets in my way and is rather embarassing sometimes. Things like that also keep me going and I look forward to the day I loose most of my weight and have no problem being athletic like I want to be.

So I guess I need to report. I kind of expected this because it was the 4th of July and my cousin was up from Utah. Aaron is fat too. Its kind of our thing. I had to give in. I actually gained .6 pounds. Not terrible I guess but its just kind of demotivating. Its funny how loosing weight motivates and not loosing demotivates even though eating bad felt so good.

I don't really have anything to report besides that. I did go on a huge hike again this week. My buddy Brad texted to see if I wanted to go hike in the mountains and check on the trail cam we put up last week. We hiked a few miles, gained some elevation and it was really a good hike. I have pics on facebook if you want to see.

Here's my sister Megan before and after. I'm using this for some motivation.

Time to report my week of fatness. I actually had a good week even though I ate some really bad foods. I have to say I was extremely nervous about not loosing weight. Last Wednesday after the weight in, Julene and I both were happy with the progress we had made. We were excited for the upcoming week and were determined to stick with it especially with the drop in pounds we had.

It wore off quick. Its kind of stupid but we went to Applebee's for dinner on friday for our weekly date. We both ordered the same thing. Chicken, broccoli and potatoes. 7 points. It was kind of disappointing and didn't curb our craving at all. The mozzarella sticks we ordered after we ate were delicious though. Number one mistake.

This week was also Julene's half birthday. Bring on the cake and ice cream. And the double cheeseburger from the barbecue we had for her birthday too. The Mtn Dew was just heavenly. I swear someone woke up and bottled that Dew that morning. I started drinking and couldn't stop...my eyes were tearing up, my throat was burning, my innards were being tickled and I felt like I could breath again. My goodness I love that memory. The cinnamon rolls Julene made for her Mary Kay party were good too.

I ate like crap, but when it comes right down to it, I still lost 4 pounds on the dot. So the count so far is 12.6 pounds in 2 weeks. Its motivation to see those numbers and also to have my sisters before and after pictures in front of me all the time. If she can do it so can I.

These two picture's illustrate how much I have gained in 6 months. On the left is Yellowstone two weeks ago. My weight is about 334 pounds. On the right is Portland Oregon in September of last year. I was probably under 300 but over 280. My goal is to hit 200 pounds and I think I can do it with weight watchers and some working out.

The Straw that Broke the Camels Back

If you know me or have ever seen me, even in pictures its pretty obvious, i'm HUGE. And by HUGE I mean extremely fat. Morbidly obese. They say that for my height, I should weigh at a minimum 130 lbs. Maximum is 164 lbs. I weighed 334 pounds...200 pounds more than I should. I knew I was fat, I knew I was getting fatter, and hopefully I am at my fattest, and if I have anything to do with it, I will get a little less fat.

I have heard a lot of stories of people losing weight. The stories all start out the same. "I was sitting on a bus one day and looked down and saw my fat jiggling and it was then that I realized just how big I really was." I heard that one on my mission. Been there done that. Or how about "My little girl came up to me and told me I was fat. That was when I decided to do something about it." Every weight loss tale starts with some having a "wow, I'm really that fat" moment. Mine has one too.

My oh shit moment came when my family came up to Island Park, rented a cabin and spent some time in Idaho and Yellowstone Park. I had a pair of pants that were kind of worn that had taken just about as much stress as they could take. I went to get into the car and the crotch split out. It really wasn't that bad at first but as time went on, I ripped them even more as we got in and out of the car all day long. By the end of the day I knew I couldn't wear them the next day without making the guys jealous while their women stared and whistled. So I thought since I didn't bring a change of pants, I would just wear my dads pants and tighten the belt.

I didn't need a belt.

I got home and on that next wednesday I went to this little community center in rexburg that smells like someone just sent the "browns" to the "superbowl." I thought "what am I doing here" and suddenly remembered after looking at the cattle herd, why I was there. Weight Watchers weighed me in at 334.8 pounds.

That was last wednesday. This wednesday I weighed in at 326.2 pounds. 8.6 pound weight loss in one week. Funny thing is I didn't even lift a finger if I didn't have to. No working out, no evening walks, no fishing trips, no scouting out elk, just watching what I ate. I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything, I was still able to live and have fun and eat a hot dog that was cooked over a fire and a handful of sour cream and cheddar chips.

This blog is going to track my weight and activity until I hit my goal. I would like to be right around 200 pounds or less. I have a long journey but this weeks achievement of 8.6 pounds was just what I needed. It gives me motivation and something to look forward to every week.