THIRTY

I haven't posted in awhile as we have been on vacation.  But.... I'VE LOST 30 POUNDS!  I hit the 30 pound mark exactly one month into my weight loss journey.  I was a bit nervous stepping on those scales given that I had been on vacation and off of my "normal" routine - combined with the issue of our elliptical machine being broken (yikes!!).

I really am feeling the difference in my overall energy level.  I enjoyed playing soccer and running around with my 4 year old this week --- I certainly have a long way to being "in shape", but I don't think  a month ago I would have had the same energy level to do these things.  I ran around with some little cousins at our family reunion today which was a lot of fun!

My short term goal was to lose 30 pounds before July 25th, when I turn 30, and I'm so happy to have met this goal! I still have a few days until my birthday, so hopefully I'll have lost a few extra pounds so I can realllllly enjoy my birthday cake!

I go back to my doctor's on September 10th.  I would love to lose another 10-15 pounds before I go back.

It has been very encouraging seeing friends and family this week that we haven't see for awhile and to hear the many compliments and acknowledgements that I had lost weight.  Thanks for reading and being an encouragement!

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

So on the 4th of July I threw together this sandwich and opted out of the hamburgers and hot dogs.  I was AMAZED by how delicous this sandwich was! It is great way to use left over chicken as well. 

Ingredients:
Grilled Chicken Breast - I put about half of a small chicken breast on the sandwich
Lettuce
Onion
Tomato
Green Pepper
3-4 Tsp of Raye's Mustard - Winter Garden ( at only 5 calories per tsp spread it on! so good)
2 slices of Ezekiel 4:9 Bread (I prefer mine toasted or on the grill)

This is a filling and delicious sanwich at less than 375 calories!

Yum!

I wanted to share a couple delicious recipes I threw together today! These are going to make really delicious and filling breakfasts on the go (which is important in our family!) or a cool treat on a hot summer day!

Almond Banana Smoothies - 230 Calories

1 cup Blue Diamon Almond Breeze Milk - Vanilla flavor
1 banana
1/2 small container of Chobani Greek Yogurt - Plain

Put them in the blender and enjoy!

Fruit Smoothies - 290 Calories

1 cup Silk Fruit & Protein
1 banana
1/2 small container of Chobani Greek Yogurt - Plain

                                                 Put them in the blender and enjoy!

                                                                             Enjoy!

Temptations!!!

I WAS WONDERING WHEN THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Friday night Holly and I found ourselves childless.... so what better to do then enjoy a dinner out! We live in a beautiful region of Maine and are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy beautiful Bar Harbor. Holly and I headed down to our favorite restaurant, Geddy's. The most amazing thing about Geddy's is their onion rings -- it's a vegetable right? Not. We did cave and ordered onion rings. A few minute later a heaping mound of fried goodness was staring me down. Only one of us was going to win. Guess who? The onion rings. Now, I must say (as embarrassing as it is) that in the past we have not had any trouble polishing off the appetizer of onion rings (and I'll admit to eating the crumbs - these things are amazing!). We didn't even eat half of the order, and instead of boxing them up to go I had the waitress take the remaining half away. For dinner I ordered a grilled chicken burger with pineapple salsa on a wheat roll - sounds pretty good right? Oh yeah, they served it will piles of chips! Agh! Seriously felt like culinary world was out to get me. The only redeeming part of dinner is that <GASP> Geddy's failed to impress us that night Still not sure why, the food is always amazing --- perhaps given my change in diet my taste buds have completely changed! I only at the chicken out of the sandwich and quickly sent the plate of chips back.

PHEW! Almost out of harms way! Holly and I enjoyed sitting in the park overlooking the harbor. Something wasn't right. If you've ever been to Bar Harbor you know how amazing Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium is. Yeah, me too. Holly and I went off to pick out an ice cream. I thought I would be good and order sugar free ice cream - it was pretty good, until I realized how stupid I must have sounded when I ordered "Sugar free butter crunch on a sugar cone" - huh?

Now, I don't know if it was the high of having a "date night" or the fried food / sugar that has been out of our diets for the past 2 weeks but on the way home we were completely silly/crazy - couldn't stop laughing and were acting like crazy teenagers! I think we were definitely on sugar high!

Okay, one night of not perfect eating. It wasn't a complete loss -- a few onion rings and an ice cream. When I started this weight loss journey I told myself that I didn't want to deprive myself of special treats or "free nights". After all this has been more of healthy choice movement. After all, I had lost 24 pounds in the past couple of weeks. I was definitely going to jump back on the bandwagon tomorrow.... UNTIL....

THE ROLE OF TEMPTATION WILL NOW BE PLAYED BY MY WIFE'S CAKE BUSINESS

Yeah, there is that little bit of information that I left out. I love cake. I love my wife. I love my wife's cake. Seriously we're not talking your store bought nasty stuff - this is real, homemade goodness people! In the past couple months Holly decided to really start promoting her cake business and has started making several cakes per week. My official title in the business is "Creative Consultant, Taste Tester, and General Annoyance" :) I love it when Holly makes chocolate cake because I DETEST chocolate cake (weird, I know). But white cake - watch out people, you might lose a finger! Holly's white cake is like a little piece of Heaven on earth. And what was this morning's cake order - white cake with butter cream frosting. WARNING... WARNING... WARNING... I should have immediately walked away from the kitchen and found the nearest elliptical. But, I love helping Holly (even though I'm sometimes more of a hindrance than a help). This is going to be the biggest challenge. I've had an easy time not purchasing unhealthy things when grocery shopping - in fact I've enjoyed the new foods and recipes. I definitely had a few too many "frosting samples" than my "job" "requires".

By midday I was back on track - thanks to a pep talk from Holly. There are going to be times that I "fall off the bandwagon", but getting on isn't always easy. I think that for me personally allowing myself an occasional "day off" will be a factor in my continued success.

At the end of the day I am reminded by why I am making these changes in my health. I don't want my previous poor choices to continue, and ultimately be responsible for irreversible damage like my father experienced. I want to continue on this journey and look forward to posting my next weigh in!

Thanks for reading!

24

As of this morning I am down 24 pounds!Great little motivation heading into the weekend! I hope to write a longer post this weekend! My next mini goal is an additonal 6 pounds by July 25. Why July 25? It's my birthday! I turn the big 3-0 this month and what better gift could I give myself than losing 30 pounds for my birthday! Fourth of July was a tough day -- too many tempting things to snack on at a BBQ we had at my mom's. I made a tasty alternative to burger/hotdogs that once I figure out the calories too I will post my recipe - It was delicious! Plus I put a little twist on a brocolli salad Holly made - instead of using mayonaise to make a sauce I used some plain non fat greek yogurt ---It's amazing what you can do with that stuff! Oh, hey Ang - I hear that you are enjoying my blog! :) Feel free to comment and say hello! - Zack

Yummy Discovery

Just got back from the store, finally remembered to pick up some Almond Milk ..... OH MY WORD! Delicious. Try some too financially equivalenyt to regular milk but less calories!

Two Weeks In

Happy 4th of July! I started my weight loss journey two weeks ago today and am down nearly 22 pounds! In many ways this has been so incredibly easy that I wish I had done years ago. Weight loss is hard work though, and I don't think unless you are incredibly motivated/committed to weight loss it wil be successful. A couple years ago I started a diet program on my own, and did well at it losing 25 pounds in 5 weeks, but I wasn't committed to the weight loss, and once the summer BBQ season started and constant snacking at my parent's camp started I quickly regained almost all of that weight. In the past 3-4 months I gained ALL of the weight back plus probably an additional 10 pounds. I was at my highest weight ever and really scared by it. When my Dad died I became even more scared. To a certain extent I can control my future outcome, however the realization is that I have a genetic makeup that I can't control. I have a predispotion to heart disease and diabetes, but throughout this process I am hoping to slow down any disease process that I can. My wife introduced me to a website www.tonetiki.com. This woman lost an incredible amount of weight by eating natural foods and exercise. I have been enjoying reading her recipes and can't wait to try all of them! I share in her approach to weight loss and have been encouraged by her posts. My wife has come on board and been a big encouragment to me. We are enjoying family walks and healthy meals. Eli, my four year old, told my father in law "Daddy went to the doctor and now has to eat healthy". So cute, and so true! Patients and coworkers at work have been noticing my weight loss and having these compliments make me feel great, and help to serve as an accountability. I haven't selected a goal weight yet. Instead I'm taking this pound by pound - knowing I have a long way to go and don't want to be discouraged by the huge gap from my current weight to goal weight. I have set a short term weight loss goal. By the time I go back to the doctor on September 10 I want to lose an additional 15 pounds. I have no doubts that I can achieve this, and much before September --- and when I do I will challenge myself to another goal. Off to the elliptical - Thanks for reading!

Twenty

As of of today I have lost 20 pounds in less than 2 weeks! I am amazed by how much more energy I have! I am also enjoying delicious and healthy recipes. Hope to post more later!