Blueprint to a Better Me

Today is the first day of the Genghis Grill Health Kwest campaign.  I'm very excited to be a part of it.  I thought my first entry should explain my "eureka" moment--the moment I came to the realization that something had to change.

In November of 2009 a couple things happened.  First off my doctor got a new digital scale at their office.  This scale didn't stop at 350 lbs. like their old scale.  For the first time I could actually get weighed as part of my office visit.  The result was shocking.  I weighed in at 412 lbs.!

Later that month we had a wellness exam at work.  They had a scale there too, but it couldn't register my weight.  They had to pull over another scale, make me stand on both of them, and add the two amounts together.  It was embarrassing to have to be weighed that way, and I was thankful that none of my coworkers from my floor was there to see it.  It confirmed what my doctor's office scale had said.  At that moment I knew something had to change.

I have always been overweight.  That's not an excuse, just a fact.  I graduated high school at 290 lbs.  I told myself then, "I'll never be over 300 lbs."  I avoided the scale for a long time, but a few years later I got the courage to step on it again.  I had passed the 300 lbs. mark and was tipping the scales at around 380 lbs.  I told myself, "I'll never be over 400 lbs."  So when I weighted in at 412 lbs. there was no way I was promising myself, Never over 500 lbs."  At that moment I vowed to get the weight under control, but how could I do that?

Tomorrow I'll discuss how I started my weight loss, why I'm so committed to loosing weight, and why I decided to do this blog as part of the contest participation.  Don't forget to like my posts on the Genghis Grill Facebook page, and my badge on the GGHealthKwest website!

At the end of the blog each day I'm going to post my food and exercise log.  I've been logging my food for over a year now and it helps me keep things in check.  When possible I'll try to include portion sizes and (nutritional information).  I'll also include the Weight Watchers [POINTS Plus] value.

On the menu today:
Breakfast:
1 1/2 Cups Honey Nut Cheerios (3 fat / 44 carb / 4 fiber / 6 prot) [6]
1/2 Cup Silk Pure Almond Vanilla Almondmilk [1]

Lunch:
Subway Foot-long Turkey Breast on Wheat (7 fat / 94 carb / 10 fiber / 36 prot) [14]
2 triangles of Pepperjack cheese (4 fat / 0 carb / 0 fiber / 3 prot) [1]
Subway Vegetable Beef Soup [3]

Dinner:
Genghis Grill Bowl - Turkey Tofu (custom bowl)
Turkey, Tofu, Cayenne, Garlic, Carrots, Bamboo Shoots, Water Chestnuts, Cabbage, Red Curry Peanut Sauce, Brown Rice (519.2 cal / 9 fat / 61.1 carb / 13.7 fiber / 41.5 prot) [12]

Snacks:
23 Emerald Nuts Cocoa Roasted Dark Chocolate Almonds [4]
1 Large Banana (0.6 fat / 31 carb / 3.3 fiber / 1.5 prot) [0]
2 Cups Silk Pure Almond Dark Chocolate Almondmilk [7... and worth every point]

Exercise:
Did my usual walking during work breaks (averages to about 1.25 miles at a rate of around 2.75 miles an hour).