MY FORMER MENU

I smelled something very familiar the other day while driving...Wendy’s! I thought to myself how it's been such a long time since I ate there, but I remembered when I went there I had been responsible with my choices and got the Chicken Mandarin Salad (which turned out to be fine). It did, however, make me think of all the bad food choices I used to make just a couple months ago, and now I don’t think I could stomach most of them. So I came up with a list of some of the major fast food places I used to frequent and what my normal order would be.

McDonalds – 20 piece McNugget. Super Size Fries. Large Dr. Pepper. 3-4 packs of BBQ Sauce.

Wendy’s – Spicy Chicken Sandwich combo no veggies. Large Fry and Large Dr. Pepper. Order of 5 nuggets. Order of junior bacon cheeseburger, no veggies.

Papa John’s – Large pepperoni pizza. Breadsticks. 3 packs of garlic butter sauce.

Chic-Fil-A – Chic-Fil-A sandwich no pickles. 8 pack of chic-fil-a nuggets. Large Fry. Large Dr. Pepper.

Dunkin Donuts – 4 strawberry filled powdered sugar donuts. Large Chocolate Milk.

Burger King – 2 chicken sandwiches, no lettuce. Large onion rings. Large Dr. Pepper.

Sonic – Chicken Toaster Sandwich, no veggies. Route 44 ocean water. Sonic Size tater tots with cheese.

Fazoli’s – Chicken Paramgiana. 2 baskets of breadsticks. Large Dr. Pepper.

Whataburger – Grilled Chicken sandwich with bacon and cheese only. Large fry. Large Dr. Pepper. Apple pie.

Jack in the Box – Chicken strips. Bacon Bacon Cheeseburger. Large curly fries. Large Dr. Pepper.

Long John Silver’s – 5 piece combo (2 Fish, 3 Chicken). Large Fry. Six hushpuppies. Large Dr. Pepper.

Looking at this list now, it almost makes me want to throw up it's so disgusting. I can’t imagine trying to eat that much food. I can really see that one of my old problems was portion control. I had no control over how much food I put in my body, irrespective of the horrible quality of the food. I also waited way too long between meals, so I would be starving when I ate, and that is just asking for trouble. I would have put what I get at all these places now but the problem is I haven’t been to most of them since I started working out. I think that is something I really need to start looking into as I get into my "maintain phase" of this journey. I will have to come face to face with these places more and I need to be ready to make healthy choices.

ENCHANTED ROCK

My friend Lisa came into town a little while ago, and on Valentines Day she wanted to go to Enchanted Rock with some friends. She asked me if I wanted to go, and at first I was pretty hesitant about accepting the invite. The last time I went to Enchanted Rock I was very young and I remember it being quite high. The old worries of not being able to do an outdoor activity came back, and the anxiety that I would slow the group down crept up. But Lisa sounded so excited about going that I wanted to join in on the fun. 

 

When we got there one fact just kept running through my mind…The top of Enchanted Rock was about 1800 feet high. I thought back to a couple of weeks ago when I was with David and we were doing the nature walks that were about 500 feet high. Those nature walks were pretty tough, and I was thinking that I have to more than triple that elevation to get to the top.  Over-analyzing is something I have always done, and sometimes it can psyche me out of doing certain things, but I wanted to test my body to see how far I have come since July. 

 

As we began the climb I could tell my body was in for a challenge.  Since I do a lot of my cardio on machines I wasn’t used to walking on uneven ground. My ankles were going in all kinds of directions and that is always a scary sign for me because I have such weak ankles. With all this going on I pushed forward and continued to climb higher. There were a couple of times that we had to do a little bit of a climb onto a higher rock, and each time I was able to easily clear whatever was in the way. Once again I was really shocked by how much progress I had made and how easy things were for me to do. 

 

When you are just looking up at the top of the rock you lose sight of how high you have climbed. We got around the halfway point of the hike and took a little break. The best part of the break was that I really didn't need the break because I was tired, but because it was just so cold outside and we wanted to get out of the wind for a second.  As we continued the climb, I kept waiting to get out of breath and break it to everyone that I needed to stop.  But it never came. I just kept going and going. It was such an unexpected feeling to have. 

 

We finally reached the top of Enchanted Rock and the view was just amazing. What was even better was that I got to do it with some great friends.  As we stood at the top, one thought kept coming to my head, “I would have never been able to do this six months ago.”  I wasn’t sad for myself-- I was more excited about the fact that I am taking care of what has always held me back from doing things like hiking Enchanted Rock. For such a long time I would have said 'no' to going, but now that I went and got to experience the excitement you get from hiking all the way to the top, I know I have been doing something right in my life. Then I kept thinking that if I could hike up Enchanted Rock with ease, what is next for me? What will I conquer next?

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

I stumbled across this web site Natural Physiques that has a calculator to show you how far you have come in your weight loss. As of today I am down 104 pounds, so here are my stats for what that equates to in several categories. 

 

How Much Fuel Is That?

To lose that amount of fat would mean to burn 364,000 calories or 1,522,976 KiloJoules! That is the equivalent of 11.74 gallons of gasoline. Humans, however, are far more efficient than cars, getting about 912 "miles to the gallon". If you could dump this many calories into the tank of a Honda Civic, you would be able to drive it about 399 miles before running out of gas!

Let's see how your goal would convert to other forms of fuel. 364,000 calories is equivalent to:

        11.74 gallons of gasoline, or

        130.05 pounds of coal, or

        180.65 pounds of oven-dried wood, or

        15.94 gallons of propane

This amount of energy would ...

        Brew about 1,015 pots of coffee, or

        Light a 60-watt light bulb for 7,051 hours ( 294 days = 0.83 years)

Cutting 364,000 calories is the same as saying "no" to:

        4,550 apples, or

        3,640 bananas, or

        21,412 cups of cabbage (whew!), or

        2,510 baked potatoes, or

        4,550 large eggs, or

        3,033 cups of 2% milk, or

        262 pounds of ground beef, or

        4,184 glasses of wine, or

        1,127 Snickers bars, or

        1,517 Clif Bars ( 2,022 Luna Bars), or

        2,619 cans of Coke, or

        2,141 pints of Guinness beer, or

        740 Big Macs, or

        707 Quarter Pounders with Cheese, or

        520 Whoppers, or

        1,103 Subway 6" Oven Roasted Chicken Breast sandwiches, or

        2,141 Taco Bell crunchy tacos, or

        1,549 slices of pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut

What it Takes to Burn 364,000 Calories

To burn 364,000 calories, a 190 pound male would have to:

        Backpack for 603 hours (25 days) nonstop, or

        Walk for 1,395 hours (58 days) at 3 mph straight, or

        Walk 4,184 miles (2,615 kilometers), or

        Bike for 1,055 hours (44 days) at 10 mph, or

        Bike 10,551 miles (6,594 kilometers), or

        Play basketball nonstop for 581 hours 24 days), or

        Play billiards for 1,685 hours (70 days), or

        Go bowling for 1,405 hours (59 days), or

        Stay on the golf course for 1,055 hours (44 days), or

        Spend 469 hours (20 days) playing competitive football, or

        Jump rope for 443 hours (18 days) straight!

You would have to walk the length of England about 7.03 times to burn 364,000 calories.

How Long it Will Take?

The range for safe weight loss is about 1 to 3 pounds of fat per week. It could take anywhere between 35 to 104 weeks (8 to 24 months) to safely and reasonably lose that amount of weight.

 

 

They also had some other calculators for how many calories you should burn in a week based on your weight, a better version of how to measure your Body Mass Index and a bunch of others. 

WHAT I EAT DURING A TYPICAL DAY

I was asked if I could provide a rundown of what I eat on a normal day…here goes.

Breakfast

•     I take a cup of frozen strawberries and a cup of frozen blueberries and I put them into a blender. I fill it up with water and throw in some Metamucil. Blend it all together and you get a decent enough smoothie.
•     1 cup bell peppers
•     2-3 pieces of turkey bacon.
•     A carbohydrate source like bread or oatmeal.

Meal 1

•     Six ounce Pork baked.
•     1 cup of spinach
•     1 ounce almonds

Meal 2

•     Six-ounce chicken breast baked.
•     1 cup of carrots
•     1 cup brown rice

Meal 3

•     Protein shake (I use skim milk to mix my protein shake and usually throw in a cup of fruit)
•     1 cup of green peas.

Meal 4

•     Six ounce steak grilled.
•     Salad with dressing on the side and used sparingly.

And that would be a day’s worth of food for me. This is just an example of what I would eat but it’s not always the same. And I would be lying if I said I followed this everyday but this is my template. Sometimes I will eat more meals, sometimes I will eat less but four is usually good enough for me. If I miss a meal at any point I always try to carry a protein bar with me to at least get something down that is low calorie and will help fight the hunger. So on any given day I am eating usually about 4-6 cups of vegetables and 3-5 cups of fruit. This is an extreme change from how I used to eat. At first I was having an extremely hard time adjusting to it but you eventually get over the initial shock of this eating pattern and at least for me, you flourish.

TRIPLE DIGITS

Sometimes in life you do things that you never thought you would: Talk to the prettiest girl in the room, jump out of a plane, sing the national anthem at a baseball game. The list can be varied, but in general there are things that people put in their minds which are almost understood as impossibilities. Number one on that list, for me, is losing over 100 pounds. As many times as I have tried to lose my weight, I have never gotten past 50 pounds. At that point, I would usually start to slip into my old ways, and things would just spiral down from there. I would usually gain it all back-- and more. Then I would try another diet, and the cycle felt like it would never end.  Well, this time it's different, and I think the quote, “Never, Never, Never Give Up” really fits this situation.

 

The day I did my first workout I weighed 370 pounds.

Today, I am 269 pounds. 

Hitting the triple digits has taken so much hard work, dedication and commitment to the idea that I can’t eat a rotation of pizza, chicken fingers, fettuccini alfredo and pancakes. Also, accepting that I am the only person responsible for what I do with my life is a huge part of my accomplishments. If I don’t work out, it's no one else’s fault but my own. If I eat too many chips at the restaurant, I can’t complain that the waiter is too good at his job, it's my fault for being a chips-and-salsa-eating machine. Ultimately, being responsible for your own actions and realizing how many positive things you can accomplish come from healthy choices.

 

I was trying to remember the last time I weighed this much, and I came to the conclusion that it had to be somewhere around the 8^th grade.  It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that all through high school I was bigger than I am now.  I don’t remember feeling that big, but that is part of the problem. I never really looked into the mirror and said “WOW I have really let myself go! Maybe I should do something about this.” Instead, I just made a goofy face and went on with my day thinking everything would be okay.

 

With every milestone I hit, I try to appreciate how far I have come with my workouts and overall health.  Sometimes, you forget how far you have come until you compare pictures, or visit someone you haven’t seen in a while to really get the full spectrum. But with every small goal achieved, the ultimate goal still looms. I realize that I have a lot of work left if I am serious about hitting my target number by July.

DRINKING ON A DIET

This topic hasn’t really been brought on my blog, but I feel like it's time to clear the air because I have been getting some questions about it. Yes, on my diet my trainers allow me to drink. There are a lot of rules to the drinking, and when I have strayed from the rules I have suffered on the scale. So here are some of the rules:

 

1.    No Beer – This one I thought I would be okay with because I don’t really drink beer that much to begin with. But every once in a while a man enjoys an ice-cold beer with his dinner and I haven’t been able to do that with a clear conscience in a while. The beer has carbohydrates that I don’t need, and has more calories than a vodka soda (The only acceptable mix drink I can have).

2.    No dark liquors – By far the hardest rule they gave me. If you have ever partied with me you know I have a love for whiskey. Unfortunately the dark liquors have more calories and carbohydrates.

3.    Vodka soda, Vodka soda – So the one drink I can have is vodka soda, but the problem at the beginning was that I didn’t even know what it was. That might sound stupid but I just never ordered it. If I were going to order vodka I would do it with sprite or tonic. So when I finally tried it I had to prevent myself from spitting it out. The taste was so bitter compared to the whiskey and Coke I was used to.  I might have been the saddest little boy on Sixth Street the first night I got these rules because I just couldn’t get past the taste. But just like anything I have become accustomed to the taste, and now I prefer that drink to anything else.

4.    Drink in moderation – Sure I have had some crazy nights with my friends, but I am getting older and drinking in moderation just comes with maturity. So-- maybe that isn’t the complete truth, but I really have improved on my drinking quantity since starting this. They suggest only about 2-3 drinks when I go out, and only drink a maximum of two nights a week.

 

Now that I have gotten that all out I also have to bring up the fact that I have recently decided to not drink. I came to the realization that yes, drinking is fun and that I enjoy participating in what goes along with it, but I only have so much time to fully utilize my trainers and I need to respect that time I have with them. Drinking only decreases my chances of hitting my goal weight.  Not only are they empty calories, but it also increases my chances of cheating on my diet with greasy foods. And if I have drank too much, I will want more greasy food to battle the hangover. That isn’t fair to myself, and it’s not fair to the people cheering me on. I have to be stronger than that to prove that I am in this to complete all my goals. 

CHANGES IN DIET

Food has always been the trap for any weight loss program I have tried. When I first started with Workshop Fitness I was afraid that the diet would be too hard to follow and I would just fail yet again. Thankfully, I loved the plan of a very simple diet of 4-5 meals a day consisting of six ounces of protein at every meal and at least one cup of vegetables. You add a couple things here and there but that is the basic structure of the diet. This was working really well for about the first 90 pounds, but recently my weight hasn’t been dropping. Some this was that I have been eating pretty much the same amount of food the whole time. The only problem with that is when you lose 90+ pounds your body begins to burn way less calories. A rough estimate of how many calories my body burned at my starting weight was about 3200 calories a day. At my weight now it's around 2600 calories. These are both rough estimates, but since I have lost the ability to burn about 600 calories a day over the course of six months, I really had to figure out something different to do with my diet, or else I felt I would be stuck at my same weight.

 

So I went to my head trainer, Thomas, to ask him what I should do. He suggested that instead of having a diet that was high in protein all the time we switch up the diet. I was a little hesitant because what we had been doing was working pretty well in my book. What Thomas wanted to do was lower the amount of protein I was getting three days a week and on those days increase the amount of carbohydrates. I would do this by eating oatmeal in the mornings, and then having some brown rice with one of my later meals. I would also have to cut the ounces in each protein for that day in half (3 oz. instead of 6 oz.).

 

The change in the diet has resulted in a steady loss in weight again. I have lost about 8 pounds in the past two weeks.  This probably isn’t the last time my diet will change, and I am just going to have to take the changes in stride because I am closer to my goal weight than I really have ever been in my entire life. Here is to using food as fuel!

A TRIUMPH AT THE GYM

This past weekend I traveled to Dallas to see some friends of mine. While I was there I got in a nice workout session with my friend Todd. We started off with four games of racquetball. The last time we played each other was about a year and a half ago, and I got completely crushed each game. I was so out of shape that I could barely stay with the guy. Fast forward to present day, and unfortunately I still got destroyed. I think the most I scored in one of the games was six points, (you need 15 to win) so not very impressive, but Todd told me that I had greatly improved from our previous game, and that it was a much harder challenge this time.  I felt that I was staying with him during the game from a stamina standpoint, but he had me beat when it came to skill, such as controlling where the ball went. I just sort of swing and let it go wherever it wants. After those four games I was pretty exhausted, but Todd still had more in store…he wanted to do the stair stepper machines.

 

I haven’t really talked about my relationship with the stair stepper, but I think I need to come out and say this: I absolutely hate that stupid machine! When I had my first attempt of losing weight and I was working out at 24- Hour Fitness, I would always attempt the stair stepper with little success. The best I ever did was an 8 minute workout that would leave me on the ground requiring some sort of respiratory assistance. I could never conquer this dumb exercise. Thankfully, Workshop didn’t have one, so I never had to get on one until hanging out with my friend Todd. 

 

As we walked up to the stair steppers I asked Todd how long he usually goes on these things. When he responded with 20 minutes I was about to laugh in his face. Do you really think I can do 12 minutes more than I have ever done on here after just finishing up four racquetball games? Are you just trying to embarrass me with your amazing physical attributes? Do you enjoy seeing me in pain? I didn’t really ask any of these questions I just pretended to man up and responded in my deepest voice, “cool dude.”

 

About two minutes into the workout, my legs started to give.  It was one of those warning signs that maybe I wasn’t ready for this intense of a workout. I made it five minutes and Todd decided that we both need to increase the level by one.  I started to lean against the handlebars of the machine. But another five minutes passed, and I stood up as I raised the level again.  My legs still hurt but the pain hadn't increased. I was completely shocked that I went over 10 minutes and felt okay. Another 5 minutes passed and we hit the home stretch. I kept trying to remember what my trainers tell me all the time, “No matter what you are doing always finish.” The last minute is  made my whole body ache in pain but I knew I had to do it to prove to myself that I can. Twenty minutes popped up on the screen and I jumped off the machine and ran to the water fountain!

 

It happened…I really couldn't believe I just added 12 minutes to my least favorite exercise. Things like that shouldn't happen, but when I stopped doubting myself and just focused on finishing I engineered my own success.  What I love most about this moment is when I am feeling like I can’t finish something I will remind myself of this workout. The pain created, the sweat that dripped and the smile that was on my face as I finished what I started

MY INSPIRATION

Weight loss is such a difficult beast to tame.  Thankfully, there isn’t just one way of fixing it. If you have been reading my blog, then you know that I have been very open and honest with everything that I have been doing over the past six months in regards to eating, dieting and how my health has changed. That isn’t always the case on how people defeat obesity. Please let me introduce you to David McAllister, a friend of mine from way back in my middle school days.

David and I were offensive linemen together when I played football (Which lasted only about 2 seasons between middle school and high school). I don’t think we really ever had classes together because he was always in the smart classes and I was hanging out with the kids that ate glue. Anyways,  we hadn’t kept up good contact with each other until I started my blog. David was one of the first people to contact me and tell me how excited he was for me to be taking care of my weight problem. He then shared with me that he had also recently lost 115 pounds! I was so shocked. I didn’t remember David being that big, but he sent me some pictures of before and after and I was pretty floored. David then gave some little pieces of advice that helped him, and said we should get together at some point to do a workout. 

Fast forward to four months later and we finally met up.

 

As soon as I saw David I knew I was going to have a good day. The man carries himself with such a confidence that I was almost jealous of his swagger. We went to go eat lunch, and I had 100 questions to ask him. How did you do it? What was the breaking point? Did you hit a “wall”? How are you maintaining...And with each question came clear, concise responses. He approached his weight loss in a different manner than me. He decided that he did not want help from others and took the “me against the world” stand. I give him major kudos for his stance, because I know I do not have the discipline to approach weight loss like that.  He had no trainers, barely used a gym and did all the workout and nutritional research himself.

 

We finished up lunch and David drove me to an elementary school. This started a series of four workout samples we did for the day. All the workouts we did David used in his weight loss. 

 

1.     At the elementary school David had a car tire, and a 45-pound kettle bell. We took turns squatting the car tire and then as we came up from the squat we threw the tire as far as we could. Then you chase the tire down and repeat the process. While David was doing this I was doing swings with the kettle bell. Once you got 10 throws in with the tire you switched. We did 5 rounds of this. I thought I was in shape, buDavid made me do this and I soon realized I was not in Kansas anymore-- I was in David’s world…and it was scary.

2.     We then drove to a hill by our old neighborhood that David would walk up everyday. The distance was only about 1/3 of a mile but the incline was just incredible. When I started, David just laughed at me and said I would never be able to keep the pace I started at. He was so right: I was gassed within the first 30 seconds, and struggled at some points with walking, but I promised myself never to give up. David wouldn’t let me quit either; the guy was cheering me on the whole time.

3.     After the hill, we went to a park where we did about a 2-mile hike. At the top of this hill we could see a great view of the 360 hills in Austin. I was feeling pretty exhausted from this one, and the rocks were messing with my ankles pretty bad, but it felt good to be out in nature instead of the gym.

4.     Our final trip was to a different park and a different hike. This last hike was shorter than the first one but it was way more difficult. I would say it was about a mile hike but it was a pretty close equivalent in elevation as we climbed.

 

These four mini-workouts were all samples of what David did for his workouts. Each one presented different problems, but they were all doable, for me. To be able to do someone else’s workout made me feel proud that I have come a long way from six months ago. I didn’t do them faster than David or as quick as maybe I wanted to, but I finished each one. It was also neat to see a different perspective of workouts.  Something other than going to the gym and hitting the treadmill. I had never really hiked before, but both hikes made me really want to get into it. I think just being outdoors more would be good for me instead of writing on this blog. 

 

I just want to thank David again for taking me out on an inspirational day and sharing his story with me. I hope one day I can be so lucky as to borrow a shirt from the man and fit in it. 

Dudley and Bob Spot 2/4

Went on the Dudley and Bob show this morning to talk about my six month mark. Also some more comparison shots.


Dudley and Bob 2/4







July 2009

February 2010

And in july I was pushing for dear life to just get my arms that close...Now I just look like a band nerd.

CALL FROM A FRIEND

I recently received a call from my friend Michael about my post, “A Moment I Would Like to Forget." He first let me know how proud he was of me, but he also was shocked to find out how bad it had gotten. I had to inform him that worse stories will be coming, and to not worry about the past because the present is going swimmingly

His phone call did, however, make me feel that I was being a bad friend to him, and to others, during my times of weight struggle. I am sure Michael thought that though I wasn’t in the happiest place, I was still doing okay. I wish it was the case, but I was in my own personal hell, eating my life away. The experiences I have over that time really put me in such a low place, a place few other people-- if any-- knew of.
I am also realizing that I tried to be much funnier at my heavier weight. I was making how I felt by making others laugh. Now that the weight is coming off, I don’t worry so much about making people laugh as I do about genuinely making them smile.

I would try to make people laugh so that they would like me. I felt horrible, like "why would anyone want to hang out with someone as big as me?" This question would run through my head constantly. I am no doctor, but it can’t be the healthiest thing to be thinking about. The battle for acceptance when being overweight is something that is hard to describe. You feel you have to win a person over because their initial reaction of you is something along the lines of, “Oh, this person is unhealthy, fat and probably pretty boring." Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn't. What is true was that is how I felt I was perceived. My best example of this was when I lived in San Marcos with my buddies Kyle and Nick. We had the perfect living space to throw parties so of course we had people over all the time. When it was people I already had established relationships with I was alright and nothing really bothered me. But if new people were around? Forget it. I would be the last person to introduce myself, the last person to strike up a conversation. Most of the people I met in college I either met in class or through someone else. I never met new people on my own in a social environment like a party or something. Maybe that is normal, but before college I had been so social with people that I couldn't wrap my head around where that personality went. It was like the new expectations associated with college crushed me while others flourished.

You just can’t go through life like that. Feeling intimidated in situations is only natural, but when you are always thinking people are judging you, then you will never be the person that you want to be. Finding confidence in yourself is so important. It took me a while to figure this out, but I am seeing it now and that is what matters. I hope the people who read this will not think I am looking for sympathy, but rather letting it be known to others who are overweight that they are not alone in the feelings they have.

WELCOME TO 180 DEGREES OF RICKY!

A big thanks to Dale Dudley for the support and for linking to this site on his twitter and facebook accounts.

For those of you who are new, my name is Ricky Lawson, and, to date, I’ve lost over 90 pounds.  I began as an intern at the Dudley and Bob show in Austin, TX, and I was in the worst shape of my life.  I weighed in at around 370, and my diet was a fast-food paradise of fried food and over-eating.  After a few weeks, I got an offer from Dale to try his personal trainers at the amazing Workshop Fitness, an opportunity that fundamentally changed my life. (www.workshopfitnessaustin.com) 

My six trainers, Thomas Huisking, Diana Haggerty, Mariesa Osterhaus, Jason Miller, Christine Tusa, and Paul Hedrick are fantastic and dedicated people.

After the first month I had lost 19 pounds and almost 18 inches off my body. The next month showed similar results, and the trainers decided it was in everyone’s best interest to continue pushing forward with my training. Where we stand today I have lost over 90 pounds and around 60 inches off my body.  I stand at the halfway point ready to tell more stories of my past, share my recent success stories and conquer some new goals.  I would not be where I am without the support of the wonderful people in my life.  A big ‘thank you’ to the people at the Dudley and Bob Show, all my trainers, Workshop Fitness and to all of my friends and family who have loved and cared about me through all of this.

Please, keep reading.  I love to hear from any and everyone.   Here’s to another 90 pounds.

Video Montage

So last week I posted a video of someone's video montage of their weight loss. Then I thought, wouldn't it be great to do one myself? And so I did...If you don't like the strokes feel free to mute the video I won't be hurt. ENJOY PEOPLE!