Frank's Diary (aka The Last 50 is the Toughest)

Frank M

Frank M

New member
Hey all - thought I'd get in the diary game, at least sporadically... as it would give me a place to vent a bit which is always useful!

For those I haven't met yet, hello! I'm Frank, 53 years old from Massachusetts. I weighed 400 lbs on the dot two years ago when I decided I was finally sick of the yo-yo diet game with losing and "finding" weight and got scared it was going to become too late to mount a serious charge towards healthy eating and getting my weight under control.

Now just two years and a few months later, I'm weighing in at 245 lbs and still going... with the ultimate goal to see if, at some point, I can see the fabled "199" on the scale at some point. I'm fine if that never happens, by the way, but it's the goal now.

About 4-5 months ago I decided to start a blog to share the tips and tricks I'd learned through my process so far... mostly because I felt that if I'd been able to do this all without the aid of a so-called diet after the age of 50, and I kept what I'd learned to myself, that was being impolite. Need to pay it forward.

I post recipes, and essays that I hope will help people pull together their own plan that works for them. I'm certainly not about telling someone how exactly they should do anything... more about recommending what tools are helpful helping you build your own program.

I actually just posted something about how to deal with eating during the holidays. I shared it with my friends on facebook and the like and got a lot of nice feedback, so if you're struggling this time of year, maybe it's worth a few moments of your time.

SEASON'S EATINGS: WEIGHT LOSS & THE HOLIDAY TABLE - Lighten Up!

But I don't plan on using THIS blog just to talk about THAT blog. No I was thinking this could be the place where I could talk about the day to day little struggles that I face in trying to knock off these final 50 lbs... and these shared struggles with resonate with some of you folks here. If so, I'd love to hear your feedback.

I'll return the next time something gets under my skin...which, believe me, will probably be sooner than we both think!

Thanks!
Frank

P.S. While I'm hoping to vent and get a some shoulders to lean on from time to time, it certainly goes both ways. So if/when anyone has any question for me... they can ask them here in the blog or via message and I'm happy to respond.
 
Hi Frank and welcome to the diaries! I've been reading your blog on and off since it was pinned somewhere a while back but hadn't realized you've lost SO much weight. Congratulations on finding a workable strategy! I look forward to seeing your musings here.
 
Hi, Frank & welcome to the diary section of WLF. I really like that article. I'm glad you have joined us :)
 
Hi Frank congrats on a super weight loss so far . I have just read your lovely blog about the festive season and it was just what I needed . Thanks for sharing
 
My wife and caught a late morning showing of "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" today... wonderful little movie. Tom Hanks was great (shocker).

It got me thinking, though. I talk and write a lot about "the 3 R's of weight loss"... Remove, Replace, Reduce... meaning when you examine a "trouble" food for you, you put it through those filters to see what you can do about it. Can you just remove it outright from your diet? If not, can you replace it with something else? If not, how about eating less of it? Any of those will move you in the direction you want to be going.

The toughest of the three is obviously "remove"... as taking something and simply no longer eating it is a tough task. Especially since I'm not talking about saying "ok, I can do without it for a while"... THAT is deprivation, which is what diets do. No, it has to be a change you can be happy with and live with. So its a rare you actually find a real "remove."

So again, it brought me back to the movie theater today... when I realized I had a perfect example of "remove" staring me in the face. The movie snack. For my whole life, it was crazy to think that you'd go to a movie and NOT get a big soda and a popcorn, or a box of candy... or bring in a bag of candy. I mean, watching movies and chowing down on 3,000 calories is what we do right?

Well it's been at about two years since I last brought a snack into a movie, and I can't say I miss it in the least. I mean, I do remember the first few movies being a bit odd... not feeling hungry or anything, just like something was missing. But once I got passed that I never noticed it again. Now I bring in a few mints or life savers some times, and I'll steal a few sips of my wife's drink (which is why only ONE of use needs to run to the rest room when it's over by the way LOL).

But it does amaze me to think how much that has all changed in two years.

Just thought I'd share.

Happy Saturday everybody!
Frank
 
:) There's a thing I'm glad I never got started on, almost as much as smoking. When I was a kid movie tickets were expensive enough without having snacks as well so it just never became a habit and now when I go watch a movie and see what people load up on I'm just baffled.
 
Hello, there, Frank! Good to meet you. :)
I'm like LaMaria - never got into the habit of popcorn at the movies - I think it wasn't so much a thing in Australia when I was growing up? A choc-top, now... that's a different matter! And my husband definitely has to have a choc-top when we go to see a film. (But then he's of more slender build and faster metabolism - he can afford it!)
 
I wasn't much into popcorn myself... although during the heavy summer blockbuster seasons of my youth, I think I used to single-handedly keep the jelly bean industry afloat. That was my movie snack of choice most times.
 
Hey Frank, good to see you posting here. You may not remember me, but when I first started here you were one of the first to welcome me. And you sent me a link to your blog, I found it very inspirational. Looking forward to reading your posts.
Frank M said:
think I used to single-handedly keep the jelly bean industry afloat.
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Not single-handedly, you had a lot of help here. Not something I miss too much anymore.
 
I liked an icecream at the movies . Or the pick n mix selection. Not much movies worth watching anymore though . It’s horrendously expensive here to actually go to the movies and the snacks are very expensive too .
 
So today I posted a recipe on my blog for Maple Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Trust me, it's really good, whether you're normally a fan of Brussels sprouts or not. I'll cut and paste the link at the end of this... but that's not why I'm writing this.

The reason is that when I shared it with my friends on Facebook, a good friend of mine noted that he only likes Brussels sprouts recipes that have bacon in them.

It made me laugh, and I sent him a note in response... something like "actually, all that means is you like bacon, that sometimes has a few pieces of sprouts in it for color." But in all seriousness it brought up a larger issue that torpedoes so many weight loss programs, and so many honest-to-goodness attempts at eating healthy - the hidden (or not-so-hidden) ingredient which ruins all the health benefits of a dish.

Bacon is the too-obvious example of that, but more insidious is the liberal use of butter or oils in things... that people simply don't notice.

I mean, the genesis of the recipe I posted today came from an idea a friend of ours shared with us. She said she had a really "healthy" Brussels sprouts recipe we might enjoy. It started with 1/2 cup of olive oil. I didn't have the heart to tell her, that she was basically giving me a vegetable side dish recipe that was BEGINNING with 250 calories per each of its four serving... just from the oil!

Anyway, it was just something that made me think it was worth posting here... something I know I feel like being aware of has served me very well so far. Being alert for those obvious/hidden calorie bombs in seemingly healthy dishes that completely derail them. Because often, with a little thought and effort, you can reconfigure the dish to remove the offending item and reclaim its statis as a healthy item on your weight loss menu.

Frank

Oh yeah, here's the recipe. Seriously, give it a go. It's super easy and really tasty.

Maple Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts - Lighten Up!
 
Oh I've noticed that people often post their meals here.... I keep track of mine with MyFitnessPal, but in case folks are curious, here's today's menu:

Breakfast - Blueberry Cheesecake overnight oats
Lunch - homemade turkey meatballs and marinara over roasted zucchini boats
(slice the zucchini into three longways, roast one side, and turn over and put one sliced meatball on each and put back in the oven for another few minutes with a bit more sauce)
Dinner - Roasted halibut with "the stuff"* and roasted green beans

*I'll explain "the stuff" later. It's not really a marinade, not really a sauce... it's just ... "the stuff" we put on white fish or chicken when we roast it some times. It's yummy. And no, I haven't put it up on my blog. It's in the queue. LOL
 
15-16 inches of snow here between yesterday and today... and the Directv dish was therefore temporarily impaired this morning when I woke up. So that took away some watching options for my normal treadmill time.

Luckily I found that a new show dropped on Netflix. If anyone has seen "The Toys That Made Us".. a nostalgic look back at the impact of classic toys from the 70's, 80's and 90's... well those same folks now have produced "The Films That Made Us".

This morning I watched the Die Hard and Ghostbusters episodes while I did my 75 minutes on the treadmill. A perfect distraction! I think Home Alone and Dirty Dancing were two of the remaining episodes... and there might be one more but I don't recall what it was.

The question now is... what to start watching as my "go-to walking show" next?

I could go back and do West Wing again, I love that show. But I've seen it all the way through at least five times. I've also done multiple viewings of Breaking Bad, the Sopranos and Larry Sanders show... and a few others, and I think this time I'm up for something I've not seen before.

I've got access to Netflix, HBO and Disney+. Oh and I think Showtime as well right now, as our son signed up for some deal with Hulu. I don't count Hulu as it has commercials and it's maddening!

I've had a few friends try to get me to watch GOT, but I know so many people who were disappointed in the ending... that makes me not want to invest my time. It's the same reason I haven't gone in on Mad Men. I heard that sort of died a slow death too.

So if you have suggestions, please fire away!!! Certain shows I do have to save to watch with my wife... but other than that, I'd like to find something new to watch!!

Frank
 
LaMaria said:
:p Star Trek's always a good bet. Hundreds of hours to watch, too!
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I’m an OG trekker... so I’ve seen all the series multiple times. Although I have been thinking of watching DS9 again. That’s the one that you really have to watch as a whole, it’s not something you can pick out individual episodes of.

I will admit, finding something new that I haven’t seen.... ain’t easy. I didn’t originally get to be 400 lbs by NOT watching tons of TV and sitting on my butt, you know? :D

It’s just now I’m trying to WALK while I watch, so that makes it better!
 
DS9 is amazing - except for the part where Jadzia is killed off senselessly. Oh, and the slapstick episodes. Those were even worse. But Garak making doe eyes at Bashir? Life :rotflmao:
 
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Something kind of cool today, if a bit on a PG-13 side of thing... for the first time in this weight loss journey I cracked into the 230’s on the scale... as I saw 239.6. Although it WAS, admittedly, only BNW (buck naked weight) so I doesn’t really count in that I don’t record that in my tracking app. Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen it!
Not sure how you all deal with scales... but I don’t sweat it. I don’t mind stepping on there multiple times a day, I know weight fluctuates.... but I ONLY use weight from the doctor’s office as an “official” weight, so I guess that’s why I don’t really care too much about weighing in at home. I do know that my home scale is 1 lb 8 oz higher than the dr office scale (meaning I’d actually be 237.8, BNW!) but I don’t get worried when I go up or down a lb or 2 ... it’s more looking at trend week to week.
That all being said? Still happy anytime I crack into the next 10 lb barrier... whether in my birthday suit, or not!

Oh and as apology for forcing people to contemplate thinking about... well... the whole scene above, here’s something visually more enjoyable. I just finished making tomorrow’s breakfast for me the wife (and Friday’s too). Blueberry Mango Parfait Overnight Oats. Aren’t they nice to look at?

Frank

358FD3E4-96E1-4719-B6D4-24297DB3A772.jpeg
 
Congratulations! At WW we used to call it the EMFN (early morning fasting naked) weight. Nothing PG13 about inhabiting a human body. Those breakfast pots do look very nice though.
 
I like your breakfast oats too . I do lots of my food prep in clear tubs. Makes me feel good seeing them in the fridge .
i weigh officially once a week at my slimming class and then maybe 4 morns a week . I love seeing a new number flash up even if it’s momentary ( so long as it down by the way ) .
Do you like crime drama or British drama? There are lots of good British drama on Netflix that I have watched . Let me know and I can see what I can find .
 
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