4XLT

Today’s Weigh-In: 313.4 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 126.6 pounds

I had a pretty awesome, albeit obvious, realization yesterday evening as I was pounding out some HIIT cardio on the elliptical machine. I’m under twenty pounds to get into the 200s. Man, that’s nothing at all! And now, having weighed in this morning below 314 – that means it’s just under fifteen pounds.

Yeah, just basic arithmetic, I know, but it’s a nice psychological edge. And it gets me pumped to knock out the next fifteen pounds and be under the 300 pound mark for the first time since high school. And it also makes me wonder why in the world I get so lax from time to time when I see how I can make good progress in a short time when I work hard in eating right/less and get to the gym!

If I continue to work hard, there’s no reason I can’t be at 299 by New Years Day.

But before that happens, I need to keep my wits about me for the next few days until I fly home to Oklahoma. While there, my strategy is to map out my meals through the week, giving myself a few splurges but otherwise staying on track. I’ll write some more about that soon.

Today’s Weigh-In: 316.0 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 124 pounds

I’ve completely fallen off the wagon and rolled around in mud pits of fast food, onion rings, and other crappy food choices these past two weeks. It was bad – real bad. Combine that with the fact that I’ve only been hitting the gym about twice a week, and you can see how things haven’t been going too well for me.

So bad, that I’ve refused to even weigh myself for the past week and a half after I hit the 320 mark again. Well, Thanksgiving is over (which was great and I will write about it soon), and it’s time to drag myself off of the ground and get started again.

I was really dreading what my weigh in this morning, and was expecting to see a number up in the mid to high 320s again. But then I pulled up with 316.

The heck?? Well, I’ll count my inadvertent blessings and do my best to get back on track. Like Susie, I’m not making any big claims of what I’m going to accomplish right now. I’ve got to put a few good days together, one after another.

But, I do want to totally dominate the next six days until I fly home. That’s my only goal. Planned eating and scheduled time at the gym: Saturday (lifting), Sunday (cardio), Monday (lifting), Wednesday (lifting), and Thursday (cardio).

If I can do that, I’ll be pleased flying back to Oklahoma Saturday – even if I’ve kept myself from hitting my sub-300 goal.

Today’s Weigh-In: 317.6 pounds
Days till Goal: 27 (Dec. 6th)
Pounds to Go: 14.6

So, those of you have been reading the 4XLT blog here for a while or just know me personally may remember that back in January I had a weight loss bet / race with a friend of mine named Ben (a fellow big guy, so it made perfect sense!). While the bet itself fizzled pretty quickly, it really helped me take my own health and fat loss efforts up to a new level that proved to be the spark that set myself ablaze.

So, I’m trying it again, this go-round with my best bud Nate. Nate, you see, has been back in Oklahoma for about a year after spending some time in Africa. And through the course of normal mid-America living, dating, and getting laid up in bed for a few weeks after a major surgery, he’s packed on about twenty five pounds more than he’d like.

He’s been hitting the gym hard the past couple of weeks and has managed to knock out five pounds to get himself to the 260 mark. Sounds like a perfect setup to a weight loss bet between the two of us, right?

Right.

So here’s the wager: we both want to drop fifteen pounds by the time I land in Oklahoma for my sister’s wedding on December 6th. That’s almost a full month, and will put me at a respectable 303 and Nate at a svelte 245.

I’ve crossed the 320 mark, and I’m still wanting to be 299 pounds or less for my sister’s wedding. It’s time for me to ramp up again and sprint hard until I see the 299 show up on my scale. A big part of that for me has to be returning to my winning ways of dedicated time at the gym (full-body lifting and HIIT cardio) and being smart about my caloric intake.

This whole year has proven that I know what it takes and I’m capable of doing it. Now, to quit just talking about it.

Go visit Nate’s own highly-underused blog and encourage him to start blogging through his own weight loss, health, and lifestyle transformation journey!

Today’s Weigh-In: 321.6 pounds

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here, and Andrew / RodeDaddy even sent me a harassing email!

True, it has been too long, and I don’t have much of a defense. I’ve just seemed to lose my writing and blogging muse as of late, but that’s no real excuse.

I’ve still be floundering away in the 320s, although slowly making my way closer to the teens.

Maybe I just need to go back to the old school blogging of just recording how I did health-wise each day prior. Think I will.

Tomorrow, I’ll try and recap how I faired to day, and so on.

Gotta keep myself accountable, right?

Back in high school I was right at the threshold of wearing normal sized clothes you could buy in stores: 2XL shirts and size 42 pants. In the seven years since, I ballooned up to my highest of 4XL shirts and size 50-54 (depending on the cut) pants back in January.

Too bad none of them fit any more. The 4XLs look like ponchos, and even the 3XLs are too poofy.

In a fit of ill-fitting, my pants are falling down and this shirt looks like a poncho clothing anger, I hit up the malls this weekend to buy some new clothes. And what a good weekend to do it, as I stumbled into some sweet sales. Two shirts for $7, a sweet DKNY shirt from Macy’s marked 50% off, and two pair of khakis for $20 a pop. Not too bad.

But do you want to know what the best part is?

The shirts were all 2XLs. The pants? Purchased in the “normal” part of the store, as size 44s.

So, I faced a bit of a problem back home: what am I going to do with all the fat guy clothes I’ve got? To make room in my closet, I packed up some of the 4XL’s a few weeks ago. But now, it was time to clear everything else out that I don’t ever plan on wearing again (because I will never be that obese again).

So, I hauled everything that was too big out of my closet to take to Goodwill. Here’s what I came up with:

1 suit
2 blazers
1 pair of dress slacks
2 khakis
2 pair of athletic shorts
2 cargo shorts
4 jeans
13 shirts

Now, there’s so much more room for me to enjoy the XXL clothes. But, I gotta keep working hard to hit my goal of 310 by November 12th. I’ve totally missed my 320 by October 12th goal and am still stuck in the low 320s, but I’m going hard. Workouts have been regular, again, and my nutrition has been on track.

Man, I wonder what it will be like to buy size 40 or 38 pants and wear only an XL?