In the Garden of Eden

I've been doing very well on my journey so far, i've given in to very little temptation if any at all. Today was no different! However, this morning I literally felt like Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. I felt like I was being tempted to eat the forbidden "fruit". In this case, the so-called fruit was a Mars bar.

Let me start from the beginning. I'll try to keep it short. So it's 10:30 a.m. and it was time to open the restaurant. My first customer was a cheery old man. He was quite talkative and polite. All he wanted was a bag of chips and a pickle. So I serve him and he goes and sit down right in front of me. It took him about 20 minutes to eat what he bought. As he was getting ready to leave, zipping up his coat, he says "That was delicious!". I thought that was a little weird since it was just a bag of chips and a pickle. But anyways, he then approaches the counter where i'm standing and says "Now here, take this, a little treat from me to you". I saw him whip it out from the inside of a drug store bag. Its black wrapper glistened in the light. He laid it down on the counter and I stared at it for a moment. It was right there that I got this feeling like I was in the Garden of Eden. I was being tempted!

Coming back to reality, I didn't eat it! I took it and gave it to my first employee that walked in. She ate it thankfully so I didn't have to look at it all day. I felt great when all was said and done! Success is the greatest drug!

This week i've been having a few cravings. Some I gave into and most I didn't. The ones I did give into, I did so in moderation. Keeping at this journey is definitely difficult but I know that in the end it will payoff!

Keep sending me positive vibes!

Out.

Rewards are Important

Today I realized I haven't set up any rewards for myself. To tell you the truth, I never rewarded myself in the past when I had lost weight. Maybe, it happened a few times when I lost a bunch of weight on Weight Watchers, but i'm not even sure. Anyways, this time I decided it would be a good idea and a good motivator to do so. Since I like to eat, I decided to make all my rewards food. Fast food! Greasy fast food!! Hey, don't judge me! It's my rewards damnit! Just kidding, well here they are:

235.4 lbs: My 10 pound reward will be a delicious poutine. If you have no idea what a poutine is, click here. I will not have just any poutine, but I will reward myself with one of the best poutines in town from La Banquise

225.4 lbs: My 20 pound reward will also be a Montreal staple. We are known for our Smoked Meat here and what better place to have it them the world renown Schwartz's Deli. We are lucky to have such great food in this city. Their smoked meat is to die for by the way, so if you're ever in the city, it's definitely worth the calories!

215.4 lbs: My 30 pound reward will be a big one. 30 pounds will be the most amount of weight I lost since my Weight Watchers days so I want to celebrate that with a nice evening out. There is this high end buffet restaurant in downtown Montreal called The Tour de Ville that I love but haven't been to in a while. It is a panoramic, revolving restaurant sitting at the top of a beautiful downtown Montreal hotel. Every few months they change their theme (country) and serve traditional foods from that country. I would like to celebrate this evening with my wonderful girlfriend who must deal with me during this journey! Hehe

If I do plan to lose more weight after this, I will rethink more rewards. Have a good night all.

Starting Week #2 - Weigh in & This Week's Challenge

Week number 1 is behind me. Overall, I think it was a great success! I won't make this entry too long since I am kind of busy today but I still figured it was important to share my progress with you all. So the big question is, did I lose weight or not? The answer, I am happy to report, is YES! I lost a total of  3.8lbs. I am extremely happy with this number as I did work very hard this past week. I don't say this very often but I am proud of myself.

Weight: 241.6     Loss: -3.8lbs

This week's challenge will be to eat breakfast every single morning, no excuses. This won't be too difficult even though I rarely eat breakfast. Everyone says it's the most important meal of the day but I usually skip on it anyways. This is why I chose this challenge. Not because of its difficulty but because it will allow me to feel more full for a longer period of time and will dissuade me from eating cookies, brownies and other junk items at work. I don't give myself enough time to prepare something to eat in the morning but this week, I will wake up a few minutes early and do it!

I'll be back in a few days with some news and maybe something interesting to share with you all.

Successful Weekend

When i'm watching what I eat, I usually fear the weekends. Friends, fun and unhealthy food are usually the way my weekends go! I usually eat much more when i'm having a good time, so being around friends and having chips, cookies, beer and all those delicious things around me is dangerous. Now, i'm not saying I gave all those things up. That would be just stupid. The point is not to deprive yourself and rewards are definitely necessary, but in my case I know what when i'm in a good mood and having fun, I no longer have control over what I eat and how much of it I eat. So that's why, at least on the weekends, I want to try to stay away from junk food as much as I can.

Last night my girlfriend and I went over to a friend's house. It was a chill night watching hockey, playing games and conversing. There was obviously food around, however, to my surprise it was almost all healthy stuff! We also brought a bag of pretzels (replacing the chips) and my girlfriend decided to bring some candy. For the record, candy is something I have no problem avoiding. I do no crave it, nor do I really like it. Anyways, our friends had prepared a beautiful veggie platter with a yogurt based dip. There were carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes and green peppers. My routine was the same: I was having a good time so I just kept stuffing my face. (I know this is something I should work on in the near future but one thing at a time). I just kept eating these veggies and these pretzels all night and I felt guilt free after all was said and done!
 

Pretzels are a delicious alternative to chips and other salty no-no's. They are crunchy, salty and take a while to chew and completely swallow so in the end you eat less of them. My brand of choice are the Rold Gold Sticks (See image). Per serving size (about 90 pretzels), they contain 190 calories, 0 grams of fat, 2 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein. During the times when I had lost a large portion of my weight, these were a staple in my pantry. They were a quick, filling and satisfying snack. I definitely reccomend keeping a bag or two close by. If you really want to control your portions, you can also measure out portions in small, resealable bags.

All in all, this weekend was successful in my eyes. Were there things I could've changed? Probably, but right now i'm concentrating on the good and this weekend there was lots of that! Here's to ending the week a few pounds lighter!

Have a great rest of the weekend and make sure to check back tomorrow for my weigh-in!

Let your Haters be your Motivators

Everyone who has ever struggled with weight loss knows that there are haters all around them. We like to think that everyone is giving us a pat on the back and some inspiration but that is simply not true. Haters are all around and these are the people who like to discourage us from achieving our goal. These people either have a lack of confidence or they do not believe in us.

What I will say next will probably be of some shock to you but it is the truth: These "haters" are usually the people closest to us. Yep, just think about it for a second. Did someone come to mind? Chances are they are a coworker, a friend or even a close relative or family member. My haters come in the form of family members. I know it sounds ridiculous, but from experience, this is what i've noticed. Like i've said in a previous entry, i've been on a yo-yo for a while. Maybe it's all those times that i've gained back weight that makes them doubt me and send negativity my way? Fair enough I guess.

So what are some options on how to deal with this? Basically, the way I see it you've got 2 options. 1) Accept it, let it fester inside and eat you from the inside out, or 2) Turn that hate into MOTIVATION! I definitely prefer option number 2. Show them you can! Prove them wrong! Turn the negative words into positive actions!

Don't let it get you down. Haters will always exist. There will always be someone who will not believe in you, no matter what aspect of your life. It's up to you to deal with it in the right way. Who knows, maybe one day you will thank those people for saying all those negative comments because they will be the reason you stuck to your goal.

A Slight Change

Today was my first real day of starting my weight loss journey. My weekly challenge was to not eat food from work (I work at a restaurant). I already broke it, HOWEVER, I realized that it is not realistic, nor is it wise. I would like to make a small change to that challenge and say that I will not eat any unhealthy food from my work such as cookies, deli meats, soft drinks and fatty sauces. This, I did keep on track with. I had a vegetarian whole wheat wrap. The veggies are all fresh and nothing is processed. My choice of sauce was delicious dijon mustard. Also, I drank LOTS of water. I must've been in the washroom at least 6 times.

Tonight will also be a challenge as I usually eat uncontrallably at night. Eating at night is my single biggest problem. I will still eat but try to eat healthier things such as maybe a fruit, yogurt and some nuts. I will also gradually decrease my portion sizes.

Let you all know how this works out!

So it starts

With the holidays over, it's time to get on track. Like I said, my goal is to lose some weight and keep it off. This blog is actually one tool that i'm using to help me achieve this. Every Monday I will be weighing myself and posting my progress right here. I will also be posting about my weekly challenge. Let's get right to it.

This week, my challenge is to eat no food from the restaurant I work at. This will prove a little difficult since i'm there for most of my day but i'm sure I can achieve it with a little will power.

Weight: 245.4