Tag: Move More

My ‘why’ has gotten bigger!

My ‘why’ has gotten bigger!

I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE combating our obesity epidemic!

My passion is to be healthy, fit, and strong enough to best help my family, friends, and community. It is my ‘why’ and it keeps me moving forward on my journey through all the highs and lows I experience. I have worked on this for the past 8 ½ years. I am not perfect, but I am in a much better place to pursue my passion and live my ‘why’.

Now, my ‘why’ is expanding! I want to change the obesity epidemic that plagues our country. With a third of our country obese and another third headed that way, I must do something! I want to sound the alarm! I want to wake people up! I want to turn the tide on this cursed epidemic that has become our health care crisis. It is truly a disaster!

WHY? Because I have found my way out of my own personal fire and want to lead others out of their fire!

I help people by coaching, nutrition support, giving away my story at fatguydiary.com, and volunteering with organizations, such as, Eat Smart Move More Charleston Tri-County. But, I feel this is not near enough for me. I have a burning desire to make a bigger difference! Bu how?

I just finished a project that was published this month called “A Journey of Riches Personal Changes”. My contribution was a section titled “Hopeless to Amazed”. I wrote “Hopeless to Amazed” by digging deeper on my journey and because I see so many people that feel they are hopeless to change their lives, change their destiny. I want people to know they CAN change their life, they CAN change their destiny!

My starting point is simple. I am doing more speaking engagements starting October 20^th and I am working on a grocery store guide with Eat Smart Move More CTC. I am looking for more opportunities to sound the alarm and give people the hope they need to start their journeys.

I am also excited to say I am embarking on a new writing project that I have been working on since early August. A chance meeting, has brought me together with someone that is giving me the opportunity to have a bigger voice to help give people some hope and direction out of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle toward a healthier happier future. This news will be coming soon!!!!

Note to ME and YOU: It is going to take ALL of us to turn our obesity epidemic around! Let’s do it!

9 October, 2017
61 and not close to DONE!!
61 and not close to DONE!!

(Pay It Forward Today!!)

Today I am 61 and I am not close to done. 8 years ago I thought I was done. I was old, unhealthy, obese, and generally miserable.

Today I am blessed.
- I am blessed to be fit!
- I am blessed to continue on my journey in spite of 2 years of working to manage pain.
- I am blessed to be as healthy as I’ve been in my life!
- I am blessed to have a second chance! (it’s probably a lot more than second!)
- I am blessed to be helping others find their weight loss and wellness journeys!
- I am just plain BLESSED!
The feeling of having released 150 pounds 7 years ago is amazing. Losing it and learning to manage my weight, health, and wellness has been a great experience and one I will embrace the rest of my life. What is hard to convey to you is just how much my quality of life has changed. The best way I can explain it is to take a look at my before and after pics, multiply by 4 and that is how much better I feel! That is how much my quality of life has improved!

I work to let people know just how much I have changed. I work to let people know they can change too! Sometimes when you are struggling with weight and its effects on your life, you just don’t think you can make the change; you just feel hopeless. I promise you, I felt hopeless at 360 pounds and now I feel amazed. I know if I can do it, if I can commit to the journey, that you can do it too!

If I can help you, please let me know. You can HELP ME! Check out my Facebook page and Pay It Forward today. That is all I want for my birthday. All I want is for people to do at least one random act of kindness and Comment Done on my Facebook post.

Note to ME and YOU: You can always change. There is always hope to change. There is no time like NOW! Also, a random act of kindness will help you more than the person you help J

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

TheBEAST
19 May, 2017
I AM BLESSED

I was struck yesterday by the thought of just how blessed I am in life. I know I am blessed and I thank God daily for my blessings.

What was different about yesterday? Why did it ‘strike’ me suddenly? I have seen a number of my contemporaries pass over the last few years and in particular this year. Some were friends, some friends of friends, past co-workers, friends of my wife, some family (my brother in-law) and parents of younger friends/relatives. It all seemed to come together as I looked at that old picture of me at 360 pounds (the one I keep to remind me of where I was, and where I will not go back to) and thought of a cousin that lost her dad several years ago.

I don’t know why my mind works the way it does, but a wave of thoughts and emotion came across me. I thought about how bad a shape I was in at 53 years old. I thought about how many people I’ve known in my age range that I/we have lost recently and over the years since finding my journey. I thought about my younger cousin and other younger friends I know that have lost parents that are my age. I thought about life, problems, pettiness, and sadness. We get so caught up in the small things in life that we do not enjoy the people we have when we have them.

The emotion that came crashing down on me was focused around the realization that I could be gone now, that I would be gone now if not for that moment of clarity in 2009, that AHA moment created by the Fire Story my wife told me. How lucky was I? Why me? And then I thought about those younger people that lost their parents much too soon. They were my age and I don’t think of my age as old. Why them? Why have we lost them so soon?

I caught my breath, sat there, and thought for a moment. I thought ‘I AM BLESSED’. Then I thanked God for my blessings and prayed for those that passed much too soon and those they left behind.

I also thought about how I was on my way out in 2009 and how I am nowhere near that now. I was able to start my journey to healthier happier me. I was able to control my destiny. How many people get that opportunity? How many people think they are done when they may be able to change their present and future? I meet people every day that could gain that control. They feel too far gone or hopeless, but they are not. I pray these people find their moment of clarity and realize they can change and can create a journey to a healthier happier you. I know this is true because I was them in 2009. I was too far gone and hopeless. I AM TRULY BLESSED.

If I can help YOU, let me know.

Note to ME and YOU: Pray for that moment of clarity, that AHA Moment, that gets you to the healthier happier you. I pray daily for this for ME and YOU.

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

The BEAST

30 September, 2016
Planning for your EATING EVENTS
I celebrated at a family reunion on my wife’s side of the family last weekend. Enjoying good times with great people is something TheFatGuy loves. But, TheFatGuy loves to eat too much at food events!

As with most people, TheFatGuy has many events centered around EATING EVENTS! These EVENTS include, reunions, family meals after Sunday mass, holiday gatherings, business events, volunteer events, and soooo much more J

SO, TheFatGuy thought he would throw together some tips to help him and you to stay on track at these EATFESTS:
- Wateris always at the top of TheFatGuy’s list: start your day with plenty of water and keep it up. Drink at least a 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight and go up form there if you are out in the heat. Drink a big glass of water before you eat and drink water with your meal. I drank a liter of water pre-reunion and one during the reunion meal this past weekend. And remember, don’t drink your calories if you can avoid it!
- Bread, Chips, and such– These offer little true satisfaction. Refined carbohydrates will spike your insulin and have lots of calories. Choose to avoid or limit this category at your celebration.
- What to eat first– eating salad and veggies first will help you feel full sooner. This is a tough one for TheFatGuy as he loves to go for the ribs, mac & cheese, fried chicken…… first!
- Small plates/eat slow– these 2 strategies can help you cut your caloric intake tremendously. Studies have shown that smaller plates and utensils do help cut intake. Taking your plate away from the serving area to eat slow and mingle with family and friends will help you, also. Enjoy the special time sharing stories with family and friends while taking your eye off of the food table!
- Desserts/refined sugar– This again is a tough one for TheFatGuy. If at all possible, keep your dessert size small and MOVE AWAY FROM THE DESSERT TABLE! Use moderation here. AND, because TheFatGuy has a lot of problems with moderation, he will may not be eating sugar at all. He gave up sugar the year he lost 150 pounds. His ‘all or nothing’ thought process does not work well with doing sugar in ‘moderation’. Being aware of this is the first step to dealing with a strategy to manage it.
- Everything else– Try to get your joy for the day from everything the day has to offer other than food. Enjoy your family, friends, the celebration, the games, the atmosphere and soak it all in without soaking in the calories. We, that have the control issues around food, have a tendency to make the eating the focus! Breathe in everything else and enjoy it!
Basically, it all comes down to choices and knowing yourself. So to make it easier, make a plan now and structure your plan and choices now for that big eating event. Have a great time knowing you have a plan.

TheFatGuy says, DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE! And remember, your alcohol drinks have calories!

Note to ME and YOU: Enjoy your day, family, friends and life with a plan that works for YOU!

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

TheBEAST
30 August, 2016
Transformation
I’ve been blessed to see major transformation in my life, help others to find transformation in their lives, and help organizations transform.

What do all of these transformations have in common? Commitment, vision, knowledge, energy, and a can-do attitude!
- Commitment to the transformation is key. In each case people fully committed to make a change, and in some cases a radical change. If you do not commit, then no other steps matter.
- Vision toward where you needed to go was also a common thread in these journeys. People developed a vision and started down the road toward that vision
- Knowledge was gathered along the way to travel the roads toward the vision. Knowledge about self and knowledge about the task at hand were key pieces to each transformation.
- Energy is seen in each instance. People develop a certain energy to move toward transformation and they harness that energy to get where they need to go.
- A Can-Do attitude is needed to make the transformation happen. Yes a positive Can-Do attitude can get you a long way down the road to transformation! As TheFatGuy says, you choose your attitude each day regardless of your life circumstances. You will make good, sometimes great life choices with a positive attitude.
You should know that YOU can transform your life at anytime! I have been blessed to have it happen in my life and blessed to see it happen in many other lives and situations.

Note to ME and YOU: Transformation can get you from where you don’t want to be to where you dream to go!

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

TheBEAST
26 April, 2016
April Fool! (Who ME?)

As I look back, I can see that many days, if not most, were April Fool’s Day for me! I fooled myself for many days and many years.

How did I do this? I did this by ignoring me, ignoring my own weight, health, fitness, and life. I was pretty good at helping others and not so good at helping ME. I Fooled myself into ignoring these things. I immersed myself in the needs of others, thinking that if I took time for me I would be taking away from my efforts for others.

I went from 300 pounds to over 360 pounds in 3 ½ years working to save a non-profit I felt passion for and helping youth I wanted so much to help succeed in life. I did immerse myself in the organization and the needs of others during this period of time. I worked 70 hour weeks for 3 ½ years to save this organization and did nothing much of anything else. I failed to do many of the things that helped me through life. I failed to properly embrace family and friends. I failed to manage my own life. I failed to create balance in my life. I completely failed to “ Take Care of ME!”

While I may have done much good for the youth I served over 3 ½ years, I took major hits in health, fitness, body, mind, and soul. I did nothing to “Take Care of ME”. I do not tell you this to feel like I sacrificed so much for others, or for some altruistic feeling this might give me. I like helping others, it’s what I am good at in life. I was actually disappointed in me. When I started my journey and looked at what I did, why I did it, and what I wanted to do, I realized just how much I was fooling me.

I was not only fooling me, I was cheating myself of the ability to be the best me for me and others I my life. Ultimately I ended up at a point where I was in such bad shape, I was no longer able to help others the way I wanted and it was not a good place to be. SO on March 2, 2009 I realized that I needed to be the best me for me and to best help others in my life. I know and talk to many people that are great at helping others and not so great at helping themselves. I see it all too often.

I have to remind myself every day that to be the best me for me and everyone else in my life, I have to “Take Care of ME!” It is not a selfish thing, it is the best thing for all.

Note to ME and YOU: Don’t be an April Fool and Fool yourself. “Take Care of YOU” so You can be the best YOU for all!

1 April, 2016
7 Years on My Journey! WOW!
7 Years on My Journey! WOW!

Me at 342 on my weigh to losing 150!

Yep, on March 2, 2009 I officially started my journey! I weighed 351 pounds that day and was over 360 pounds in early February of that year. I was a mess! The weight came with 7 meds, a CPAP machine, multiple ailments, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and so on. Life was not good, not fun, and I was helping no one, most of all myself.

On that date I committed to ‘taking care of ME’. In my very first log entry the morning of that day I included this statement: “I need to take care of me so I can best help my family and community.” You see, I was not good at ‘taking care of ME’ so I could not help others the way I wanted to, the way I needed to help them. That is why I wrote “Fat Guy Diary: Out of the Fire!” I was not able to find my way out of my own personal fire, so I could not help anyone else find their way. I could not take care of ME so how was I going to help anyone else. I give my story away because I feel so blessed to have found my journey and see so many that need to start their journeys, that want to start their journeys. .

Back to the journey. I lost 150 pounds in 363 days. I have challenged myself in many ways since and have been able to do many things I never thought possible. Things like:

150 Reps!
- Coming off of the 7 meds
- Doing away with the CPAP machine
- Doing 150 reps of the stands at Stoney Field
- Doing 493 pushups in 30 minutes in a fundraiser
- Appearing on a Total Gym infomercial
- And more that I can list here…..
It has not always been easy. I have worked hard to establish better lifestyle habits over the past 7 years. BUT, during stressful times the almost 53 years of bad lifestyle habits creep in or other times, come screaming back. The biggest spikes have come when I have lost a loved one from my life. I’ve lost my father in-law, mother in-law, mom, and last week, my brother in-law. I can deal with most things, but these life events really impact my life. I am all about family so this makes sense. It also makes sense that I need to continue to work on my newer, better habits. This is very important.

It is important because I would have not made it through these times if I was not in shape and healthy. I would have not been able to help my family, if I was not taking care of ME. My family deserves the best ME to be there for them, I deserve the best ME to be there for ME. As I continue to set my habits in ‘stone’ it will make it much easier and better for me to help my family and others the way I want and need to help them. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE HABITS, THE HEALTHY HABITS.

The more habitual I make healthy choices the better off I am. The more habitual I make eating smart and moving more the better off I will be.

Note to ME and YOU: Good Habits and Good Choices lead to a Good Life, a Better You, a Healthy You!

Mike, TheFatGuy

PS The best way I know to honor those that have gone before me is to take care of ME and help others
2 March, 2016
Moderation and TheFatGuy

Moderation and TheFatGuy

How do YOU define Moderation?

Moderation was a foreign word to me for a long long time. Actually, several years ago, I told Dr.J of Dr.J & TheFatGuy that I had no idea what the definition of moderation was.

Dr.J and TheFatGuy (ME) have done different TV and radio spots promoting healthy living, making the healthy choice the easy choice, and anything promoting a healthy lifestyle. Dr.J is a wonderful person that works with MUSC and is, what I would call, the queen of moderation. She is in great shape and health, no body fat, and so on. When we started doing our spots together I noticed she always brought up moderation and doing things in moderation. Sounds like a smart thing to do, huh?

Well, we walked out of a session one day and I said, “You know, I have no idea what the definition of moderation is. If I did I would have never reached 360 pounds!” She just laughed, but I was a little serious about it and how moderation pertained to my journey. Moderation is much easier said than done with a person like me. You see I quit drinking in 1984 (recovering alcoholic), quit smoking in 1986 (nicotine addiction, 2 packs a day), and started my wellness journey to losing 150 pounds in 2009. Now does that sound like someone that knows what moderation is?

When I describe myself to people I typically use the phrase “all or nothing kinda guy”. I am like a light switch that has no dimmer. I am ON or OFF! It has been this way with alcohol, cigarettes, and sugar. There are probably a few other things I could toss in for good measure.

Picture taken on our anniversary!

Sugar is one great example of all or nothing. No moderation, no dimmer dial. I worked at giving up processed sugar for 363 days while losing 150 pounds. The only processed sugar I knowingly ingested for those 363 days was 2 bites of coconut cake on my wife’s birthday in November 2009. It was Peninsula Grill’s world famous coconut cake. It is delicious and loaded with calories. Presently one slice has 2,400 calories in it! Yep, about a dozen regular candy bars. But, I had 2 bites and that was it! YEA!

I gave up sugar during this period because I knew I would struggle to lose weight, to stay on the journey if I did try to ‘manage’ eating any sugar during this period. I still struggle with it, but I do recognize my struggle and my issues with moderation.

That is what I want to share with you today. I know moderation in many things in life is an issue for me. I know I struggle with the idea of replacing an ‘ON/OFF’ switch with a moderation dimmer dial. Creating honest communication with ME (TheFatGuy) has been a key factor in any success I have seen in my journey. I always go back to honesty, self-honesty. It is the toughest honesty I have ever experienced and many people I know feel the same way. Taking a hard look in the mirror and realizing there are things I cannot control or do well.

SO, I may not be able to master moderation like Dr.J, but I am fully aware of what I do well and not so well.

Note to ME and YOU: You don’t have to master everything! Just look in the mirror and master YOU!

TheFatGuy

1 February, 2016
If YOU want something different, YOU need to do something different
If YOU want something different, YOU need to do something different

Simple thoughts jump out at me all day long and I seldom take the time to jot them down. Think that will be one of the things I work on during the 2016.

This sentence popped into my head this morning as I prepared for the day—“If YOU want something different, YOU need to do something different.” This is something I know from my life and my journey, but happened to jump out at me this morning. Many times in my life I have wanted something ‘different’ and made the decision to do something ‘different’ to get what I wanted.

Any significant ‘different’ thing I have wanted has taken a significant ‘different’ approach, a change in me and in my habits. Habits can be what get you there are sabotage your journey, your wanting something different. I’ve had many bad habits in my life that I have changed with focused pray, thought, and action. I’m a grateful recovering alcoholic (since 1984) and I ditched the nicotine habit in 1986. Significant changes that took significant ‘different’ approaches to life to make the shift, to attain the goal.

The latest significant change in my life came in 2009 when I started on my present health and wellness journey. I was 360 pounds, in horrible shape and health. I knew it would take a significantly ‘different’ approach to make the shift, to drop the pounds, to get control of my life one more time. You see, I had 53 years of bad lifestyle habits to overcome. A significant shift, a significantly different approach.

So, what did I do different to make the shift, to lose 150 pounds? Let’s make a short list:
- I made my mind up that I was the most important person in the fire. If I could not take care of myself, help myself, I could not help anyone else in life.
- I made a conscious effort to make my change a journey and not and A to B diet/goal.
- I created a spreadsheet that a logged on daily for 3 years to make my change ‘stick’
- I started drinking ½ ounce of water per pound f body weight daily, starting first thing in the morning each day.
- I gave up processed sugar for a year!
- And the rest of the list is at http://fatguydiary.com/where-did-thefatguy-start/
As you can see a significant shift. I did things significantly different to do something significantly different in my life—lose 150 pounds!

Now I am once more doing something significantly different and you can help me with it. I am working to help more people find physical and financial freedom in 2016. If you know anyone that wants to lose weight, improve how they feel, or create financial freedom for themselves, have them contact me. I like to help people, I want to help people improve their lives. I would love to share my success and strategy with others.

Thank You for reading and Thank You for any help you can give me!

Note to ME and YOU: If you want something significantly different, do things significantly different in your life. You know what Albert Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

TheFatGuy, Mike

PS That is my wonderful wife in the pic with me. She provided the #inspiration for my #transformation!
7 January, 2016
Youth Marathon Program 2015-16

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18 September, 2015

Tag: Move More

7 Years on My Journey! WOW!

Start today!!