Adamantium Claws

Wow, time flies. But if you've been checking your calendar, as I have, then you know that this week marks the end of my office Biggest Loser challenge. And the winner is (drum roll)... not me. Yeah, I'm basically a failure.

No, no, no. That's way too depressing of an ending. I actually doubled my original goal of losing 1lb a week, and finished with a loss of 20.9 lbs over 10 weeks. Not too shabby. I feel pretty darn good about that, especially since I had to eat out in NY for the week prior to weigh in. An entire week in NY, 5 days, and still stayed on track; it weren't easy. Now I know I've been lazy with the blog updates, but I swear I've been pretty busy (I just mentioned the NY trip, hello, so get off my back!). But I did write down a few notes that I wanted to touch and reflect upon after these 10 weeks. Most notably, why the heck did I wait so long to do this? I was truly a bit surprised at how much my waist went down after the first couple weeks. I did alter my diet, and I've always been into exercising during the week, but this was a bit alarming. I didn't have to work that hard to get these results. I promise, I'm not trying to gloat; I'm trying to impress upon everyone out there that this can be as easy as you want it to be. The one thing it did take was dedication. I made a plan, and I stuck to it. The plan was not complicated, which I think is key, and that's why it worked so well for me. After these 10 weeks I would like to share some of the comments and questions I've gotten and somewhat how I answered them. One of the main things I changed was my diet; I severely cut down my carb intake. As I mentioned in my previous post, this essentially means I eat a lot of salads where I had been having sandwiches. Then I started getting the questions 'Aren't you hungry all the time?'. Uh, no. I didn't just cut out the carbs, I replaced them. I still eat a lot, and possibly even more than before, but it consisted of a lot more veggies and lean meat. If you're changing your diet and you're hungry all the time then I'll let you in on a secret; that's not a diet. Its called 'starvation' and not only is it unhealthy, but its used as a form of torture. If your diet feels like torture, I bet I can take a guess of how long you'll last. Even with the sunniest disposition in the world, with the best intentions, and the strongest conviction, if what you're eating taste like bone dust and leaves you hungry then it ain't gonna last.

Which brings us to The Brain. You can't expect results overnight, and its depressing to think you can. Taking over the world takes planning and time; getting and staying fit is no different. If your plan is depressing, torturous, or otherwise unenjoyable then its time to re-evaluate. This also means you need something to evaluate in the first place ie you need to track your progress. I weighed in each week to measure my progress; this helped me stay focused and on target. I also did those 3 exercises at week 1 and 5; I'll get to those next week but I'm pretty excited to measure how far I've gone and the progress I've made. If you didn't do the math, a 20.9lb loss puts the scale at 178.9 when I stepped on it. That's a pretty sweet number, and I'm happy with that number. Butttttttt, what if we can do better? After all, that's only a few LBs away from actually making a passable weight for the Army fitness requirement. I'm hoping I can pass the fitness AND the weight requirement by the end of the month. Fingers crossed!

And one final thing (before the pics of course (proof is in the pudding)), the one thing that has weighed on my mind more than any other... why was this time different? I used to go to SNAP fitness gym, which is a fine gym, and almost 1 year before my wedding I decided to take up the trainer there on one of his offers. 6 months, 2 times a week for a couple hundred bucks. As far as trainers go, it was an apparent steal. I only plan on getting married once, so why not pay to look good for it, right? The training went fine, the trainer was fine, and the workouts were new and fun to do. But you know how much I lost? Not a pound. Not one stinking pound. I hired a professional for godsake, what gives? I paid $10 to enter this office competition and I lost 20lbs in 10 weeks. How did 10 bucks translate to 20 lbs in 10 weeks, while several hundred dollars, a personal trainer, and 6 months got me squat? Mind games. That's correct, my head wasn't right. I shoulda just thought of my old wilderness survival skills; survival priority number one: Positive Mental Attitude. I thought by hiring a trainer he would do the work for me; I was paying him after all so where is the miracle? He told me about diet, and I did the exercise, but I didn't believe it. If I'm being picky, the diet he suggested was a bit complicated to follow with high and low gluten foods, but when it comes down to it I just wasn't invested. With money on the line you'd think I would be. Nope; apparently all it takes is a competition. My closest friends are probably shaking their heads right now, because they know the Nathaniel Fox trick. How do you get Nathaniel to do something? Well, you're a random reader so I guess you'll just have to get to know me better, but lets just say that I don't like being told I can't do something. Turns out this competition was the spark I needed. For you it may be some new shoes, a fit bit tracker, a new watch, some sweet gym shorts, that new co-worker with the nice smile, your now too tight pants, your fat friend, your skinny friend, or that vacation coming up. That spark could be a personal trainer, or it could be an office competition.

So here's that pudding, or at least a slightly skinnier version of it. Week one first of course ;)

Week 1: Pudgy Bastard

Week 10: Magical shrinking belly!

Week 1: Shadows can't hide those boobs!

Week 10: Happy and Fit!

In conclusion, I'm very happy with the results and I see this as a stepping stone into the future. How tone can we get? I want to re-iterate though, I ain't special. This was work, and some times were harder than others, but there's nothing special about it. I can't fly, I can't run faster than a speeding bullet, I can't move metal with my mind, change the weather, or throw lightning bolts. I don't have adamantium claws, nor could I survive the procedure. I'm a regular person, just like you. And if you want, you can lose weight too.

Take 'er easy, and give yo momma a kiss this weekend.