One thing I have changed in recent months is that I have stopped going to the nutritionist. I had come to the point where I was going once every other month and my July appointment had to be rescheduled and I just didn’t bother with it. The last few weeks I have been thinking about the appointments I did have over a year and a half span. Before I started going to the nutritionist, or even my first visit to the doctor before he referred me to her I had done a lot of homework and had myself in what I thought was a good mind set for losing weight. I had clear goals on my nutrition needs and had definite weight loss goals in mind. I was headstrong and determined and I was making the changes that needed to be made and getting myself into a different lifestyle. As I think back to my visits with the nutritionist now, I wonder if she didn’t inadvertently help to undermine that mindset. I am not trying to blame her for my slow down in weight loss and my lost efforts. But, I have been thinking alot about the things that she said to me during my visits and the mental impact they have had, at least on what seems to be a subconscious level.

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Well, It has been forever since I have taken time to post in my journal. I figured I would take a few minutes and add an update even though there isn’t much to update on. I have pretty much settled into the weight I was at a few months ago (370). Not sure when my last update was, but I think it was back around February or March. I haven’t really done much in the way of weight loss in the past 3 months. I was working at it for awhile. But, as the economy got worse (To the extent that people have had less and less disposable income. Seeing as who you ask they might still say the economy is doing good), so did my bottom line (at least in financial terms) and I found myself with less and less time to focus on eating well and working out.

I have noticed that as I am spending more hours working, I am opting for easier, quicker meals. The ones that come in a package with tons of calories and not so healthy ingredients. I have even sunk to the point of buying snacks like oreos and chips again. *gasp* While I have managed to maintain my weight give or take 10 pounds, I started getting to the point where I wasn’t feeling as healthy. So, I decided it was time to try and start doing things a little healthier again. The past few weeks, we have been eating much more natural foods with tons of salad and fresh vegetables. I have been enjoying it and I am definitely noticing an improvement in the way I feel.

I have also taken advantage of summer being here. Not as much as I would like to but, I have been getting out more. Work has kept me from getting into the pool as much as I would like to and we have gone to only a fraction of the state parks and local attractions I would have liked to this summer. One thing I did manage to squeeze in was the second annual camping trip for my son and I. We went to Watkins Glenn State Park in New York State. It was nice to spend 5 days with just my son and nature. We got a lot done in those 5 days too. I will post more on the a little later.

All in all, it has been a pretty uneventful summer with regards to weight loss and exercise. I am hoping that the recent decline in oil prices continues and things start looking up giving me an opportunity to start focusing mroe on exercise as the cooler weather of fall arrives.

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In an attempt to try and generate some useful and informative posts on the weigh in forums, I am running a contest. It is a simple contest with prizes being awarded to 6 winners. The prizes include The Calorie King Food and Exercise Journal, The CalorieKing - Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter 2008 Edition and a 1 year subscription to calorieking.com. All that you need to do in order to win, is register for a free account on the weigh in forums and start posting. Click here to find out all of the contest details.

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Well, despite my strong start to this year, I have kind of strayed from my motivational high and moved into a holding pattern. My biggest issue right now is time. I have none of it. I seem to do best when I can focus on eating well and making the best choices. When I have the time to figure out the best foods to eat, plan a menu, figure out my calorie intake and write about my progress. It’s fairly obvious I haven’t had much time to write about progress or lack of it seeing as I haven’t made a post in close to a month. I just haven’t had the time lately, so I have just kind of gone into a holding pattern at around 360lb. At my last visit to the nutritionist, she suggested that I was her success story and indicated that if I never lost another pound, my weight loss to this point could still be considered a huge success. I suppose in the text book sense that is all fine and dandy.

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Today was my first visit with the nutritionist since October. The past week without a doubt has been better than the several weeks and months prior to it. I have been eating better and doing more. The weather has been a little warmer (a lot warmer yesterday. 60 degree days in January. woohoo!) and I have been taking advantage of it. Yesterday I got out and took the recycle we have been building up during the past two months to the drop off. My garage is definitely happier to have all that recycle out of it. Today after my appointment I took the dog out for a walk. It was only about 8 blocks. Not far, but still a good start. I’m hoping for more warm days and also hoping that we don’t slip back into the frigid temps. As long as it stays above freezing, I see myself getting out for daily walks. My appointment went pretty much as I expected. I am 5 pounds heavier than I was in October. Not great. But not horrible either. Last week that number would have been +10 pounds. So, I am moving in the right direction again.

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Well, the past couple months have been a real trying time. Its been a lot of ups and downs. With the end of last year and the beginning of a new one I am using that to close out the past few months and get a fresh start on my journey. I am writing off last year as the year of excess and taking it easy. I am looking to 2008 as the year of working hard and achieving my goals. Not only as far as weight loss goes but, in business as well. I have slacked in the last year or two and need to refocus my business and set some new goals to help it continue to grow as I continue to shrink. Today I found a site called 43 Things. 43 Things lets you join with others in setting your goals for doing things you want to get done. So far I am only doing 1 thing. That is losing 150 Pounds. Here is a post I made there. It kind of sums up my journey to this point which seems like a fitting way of closing off the past chapter of my journey and getting started on a new one.

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I had my previous calorie goal set to 1800 calories per day. This was based on the rule of 8 calories per pound to maintain your weight. That was to reach my overall target weight of 225 pounds. Because of the fact that I have been so hungry and the fact that I was getting discouraged more often than not, I decided to make some adjustments and instead of setting my calorie target for my goal weight, I am setting it lower in stages. My new calorie target is at 2800 calories per day, which will put me at my current short term goal weight of 350 pounds.
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Another of the features I have added to the site which is ready to go is a forum where you can weigh in with your thoughts and opinions on topics such as losing weight, maintaining your weight, nutrition, exercise, Healthy Eating, Product Reviews and more. I hope to build up this part of the site to include many additional features such as articles, photo posts, contests and a point system that pays you to post. If you haven’t already registered for your free account that lets you create and reply to posts as well as participate in polls and all other aspects of the forum, you can register now by clicking here.

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I have spent some time pulling things together to turn this site into what I had originally planned with a little bit of a twist. My initial goal for this site was to build a resource where people of size could easily find products and services that make every day life a little easier. It wasn’t necessarily geared towards losing weight. Instead it was going to be more about living large. Not long after initially registering the domain and putting some ideas on paper I realized how I was shorting my son on a good life by being a father who could not do things with him and set off on my journey to lose weight and get healthy. I still believe the world needs to realize that there are people of all different sizes and it needs to be easier to find products for big people. But, now I have a goal of being a bit smaller as well

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It has definitely been an extended winter. With a snowstorm dropping a foot of snow on us in mid April, I wasn’t sure we were ever going to see spring. We have been having some strange weather the last few years. With the warm days sticking around until December last year and the snow sticking around until April this year with warm days in between. Strange! I am happy to see the green of spring finally popping up all around. I have been looking forward to the summer trips to the local state parks and taking the dog out for walks at the watershed that is down the road. Not to mention all the summer fun with the kids at the local Amusement Park. Plus, I think I am going to take my son camping for the first time this year. Maybe to the beach, since he has been asking about going to the beach for about 3 years now. We’ll see how that goes, it should be a lot of fun!

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