March 1 Weigh-In

I did my weekly weigh-in a few hours early this week, since I will be on the run all day Monday and won't have time to do it.

My weight this week? 186.5 — that's down another 2.4 pounds since last week! My starting weight was 199.8 so this represents a total weight loss of 13.3 pounds in 5 weeks, an average of 2.66 pounds per week! I am wearing clothing now I had shoved to the back of the closet as too tight, and I had to go buy a new belt this week.

Six-and-a-half pounds away from my goal weight range (shooting for between 175–180 maintenance range) and it is easier than I thought. I no longer crave massive quantities of cards and sugars. I order better choices when eating out, splurge/feast only on rare occasions and then return to a more disciplined way of eating. Who knows; I may be able to actually wear a TUCKED-IN aloha shirt soon!

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Week 4 weigh-in: If I were a stock, I'd be up 1/2

(Sorry for the blurry photo!)

Yep - I am actually UP 1/2 pound this week. It was a week of introducing more variety back into my diet, eating on the run, and less discipline that past weeks just because of my schedule. Restaurants are my enemy while I try to maintain a steady weight loss, and this is a period of my life when restaurants will be unavoidable.

I am not terribly discouraged by this, even though I hoped to see some loss. This is another week, and another period of measurement. I am STILL more than 10 pounds lighter than when I started, and on my way toward being formerly fat.
My overall feeling of health and wellness is tremendously improved, and I press on toward the goal!

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Week 3 weigh-in: a milestone!

I broke a psychological barrier at this weigh-in; I now weigh LESS than 190 for the first time in decades. 118.4 means I lost only another 1.8 pounds, but it seems really significant to break below 190.
We went out for Valentine's Day/Amy's Birthday, and chose Tanaka of Tokyo as a healthier option -- grilled, fresh foods, smaller portions… we even broke the diet at that meal with a tiny piece of birthday cake with ice cream, and I ate a taste of rice! I was worried that it would wreck the progress, but I feel great that I still trend downward.

If I can keep losing about 2 pounds each week, I will be at goal weight in a month!

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Stalled this week?

This was the week for the introduction of a few more foods into the diet, and -- honesty and transparency here -- I feel stalled. I mean I will be shocked if I lost ANY weight at all this week. I didn't go nuts… I have had maybe 2 or 3 slices of whole grain bread all week, half a banana, a couple of small bowls of Cheerios with Smart Balance milk, some sweet potato… but no sweets, no mashed potatoes, no cake, pie, donuts, sweet tea or the like.
It seems too early for a plateau so I am not sure if it's portion control or what? I don't load the plate, don't go back for seconds and work the treadmill 6 days a week. I guess we shall see on my Monday weigh-in...

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Felma on my mind

This week marks the one year anniversary of a life-changing trip and met a little girl who embedded herself into my heart. On February 10, 2009 I boarded a flight in Honolulu headed for Manila, in The Philippines, and then further south to Davao, in Mindanao. A few days later, on Valentine's Day — my wife, Amy's birthday — I came face to face with a smiling 9-year-old girl named Felma dressed in her Sunday best.
Felma is the child we sponsor through Compassion International and it was an incredible opportunity to be able to travel to her city and spend time with her.Here's a video produced by the amazing folks at Studio Red about that trip: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1125476817413&oid=70267985589

She's been on my mind for the past few days, probably because of the one-year anniversary, but also because some of the people I met in Davao are now on Facebook, and contact them makes me feel even more connected to this girl and her family. It would be wonderful if, when she is a little older, she had access to the internet and had her own Facebook account so we could communicate regularly and share photos and updates. She's a long way from Hawaii, but I hope she feels the love and knows that I pray for her and have big dreams for her future. Felma will be 11 years old on April 27, and I'll be sending a card and arranging for a gift.

In August of 2010 I am scheduled to lead a similar trip to Honduras with some pastors/leaders from the Church of God of Prophecy. I am praying about sponsoring a child from Honduras, perhaps a little boy this time, so I can meet him on that trip.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

14-day weight loss weigh-in

There's the magic scales photo. As of this morning I have lost a total of 9.6 pounds since I started 14 days ago — that's 4.8% of my original body weight. My starting weight was 199.8 and the first week I lost 6.1 pounds, weighing in at 193.7. This morning's weigh-in at 190.2 equals a second week loss of another 3.5 pounds.

I confess: I was hoping for just 1/4 pound more loss to take me into the 180s (even 189.9) but I am still pleased with the progress as I enter Phase 2 of the program and introduce a little more variety into the diet. It will be nice to have a taste of fruit and some whole grains now and then. If I can continue to lose a pound or two each week in Phase 2 I can achieve my goal range of between 175-180 pounds over the next 6 weeks. The end of March, beginning of April would be a great time to fit back into my skinny clothes!

Posted via email from Formerly Fat

14-day weight loss weigh-in

There's the magic scales photo. As of this morning I have lost a total of 9.6 pounds since I started 14 days ago — that's 4.8% of my original body weight. My starting weight was 199.8 and the first week I lost 6.1 pounds, weighing in at 193.7. This morning's weigh-in at 190.2 equals a second week loss of another 3.5 pounds.

I confess: I was hoping for just 1/4 pound more loss to take me into the 180s (even 189.9) but I am still pleased with the progress as I enter Phase 2 of the program and introduce a little more variety into the diet. It will be nice to have a taste of fruit and some whole grains now and then. If I can continue to lose a pound or two each week in Phase 2 I can achieve my goal range of between 175-180 pounds over the next 6 weeks. The end of March, beginning of April would be a great time to fit back into my skinny clothes!

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Getting a little greener

I have never been much of an environmentalist, frankly. I don't toss rubbish out the car window or pour motor oil in the storm drains, but I have never been very proactively green. But I'm trying.

I just took notice of how many plastic bottles we go through in a week at our home, and it started bothering me. We are not a large family but between the water, juice and soda we discard dozens weekly.

"The most reliable statistics from the 

Pacific Institute put America’s love affair with water bottles at 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006. Due to negative press on the possible health effects of the use, most people are aware water bottles are sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. In order to manufacture these bottles over 900,000 tons of plastic is needed. The mainstream manufacturing process that produces PET bottles requires a combination of natural gas and petroleum. The petroleum requirement is where the statistics show that America’s obsession could be hurting their wallets at the gas pump.

Bottom line, the production of 31.2 billion liters of water for the U.S. bottled water market took roughly 17.6 million barrels of oil. The calculation is explained in more detail at the Pacific Institute’s information page under the energy requirements for plastic bottles. The simple break down is 3.4 megajoules of energy to produce a water bottle, cap and packaging with a barrel of oil producing about 6 thousand megajoules. Taking those numbers into account you arrive at 17.6 million barrels of oil, enough oil to run 1.5 million cars on U.S. roadways for an entire year." 

Source: http://i.treehugger.com

It adds up, and adds up fast.

So I am taking one small personal step toward reducing my use and disposal of plastic bottles. I went out to Costco and bought a 3-pack of Contigo 24-ounce reusable water bottle and use my black one constantly instead of grabbing a bottled water and disposing of the bottle. It's not that inconvenient, holds more water (increasing my water consumption) and is spill-proof, had a handle that hooks onto a backpack and is dishwasher safe. 

If more people would take that simple step...

 

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Week 1 weigh-in

Total weight-loss on for the first week: 6.1 pounds.

SIX POINT ONE POUNDS in one week. Not "Biggest-Loser" loss, but a great start.

Posted via email from Formerly Fat

Week 1 weigh-in

Total weight-loss on for the first week: 6.1 pounds.

SIX POINT ONE POUNDS in one week. Not "Biggest-Loser" loss, but a great start.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous