DAY 365 | BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS

Today is December 24th, 2015.  It was a mere 365 days ago, December 24, 2014 that a snap decision was made by me during a routine annual checkup with my doctor that it was time for a change in my lifestyle. Only two days after that decision was made shortly before lunch on December 24, 2014, I got the idea of launching a blog to document my progress. Over the course of the year, people have been incredulous: "You started a diet on Christmas Eve?"  My answer, was always the same.  I am Jewish, it was a Wednesday.  On that specific Wednesday, I 'discovered' that I weighed 309 lbs.  I was not just heavy.  I was not just overweight.  I was not just obese.  No, not me, I had the whole package...I was morbidly obese! (Morbidly obese is the technical word for very fat and very unfit.) I could not climb three flights of stairs without getting winded. (Before this year ended, I successfully ascended nearly 5000 feet to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite Park.) One year ago I 'enjoyed' doing nothing far more than I enjoyed doing 'anything.' I certainly did not enjoy seeing my reflection in the mirror.  And I was not too fond of a camera lens either.  My clothes shopping for pants, jeans, sleepwear and underwear were relegated to an online experience only. Any shirt, sweater, jacket I purchased needed to be XXL - and even that was no guarantee that it would fit.  There was however, always a guarantee that I would not (as I could not) look good wearing anything.  It is very difficult to 'hide' 309 lbs. Actually, I guess I was lucky. During the course of the year, people found it hard to believe that my weight had been 309 lbs when I started.  Yes, God blessed me.  People always commented that I carried my weight well - sure, it apparently appeared to folks that I was only 290 lbs!

My very first blog post on December 26, 2014 was titled:
Before/(no after) Pictures 

Since those initial photos were taken and posted one year ago, I made a point to save the size 50" waist 'stretch expandable' cargo shorts that I wore that day and my XXL golden yellow t-shirt. I also saved my 50" waist black belt that I had owned for more than 10 years.

May I now present to you some BEFORE and AFTER pictures.  As I originally warned last year, these photos are not for the squeamish as they include 'topless' shots! Although, I have traditionally weighed myself on Saturday morning, I did jump on the scale yesterday prior to these new photos being snapped.  The imaginary needle on my digital scale pointed to 211 lbs. That would mean that the difference in weight between the man in these photographs is 98 lbs.

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I admit it... I really like this photo of myself

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Who says that I am not a sentimental guy?  Today is Thursday December 24th, 2015.  It is the first anniversary of that fateful yearly checkup with my doctor.  And do you know what I am doing today?  I have a doctors appointment at 10:00AM - for my annual checkup!  See you tomorrow...

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
steel cut oatmeal - steel cut oat meal, 1 cup	600	108	10	20	0	4
	600	108	10	20	0	4
L U N C H
Salmon Filet 7oz, 1 filet	340	0	20	37	318	0
Red Quinoa Salad, 10 ounce	429	52	22	9	751	10
Alfredo Fettuccini, 1.25 cup prepared	388	56	2	10	913	3
	1,157	108	44	56	1,981	13
D I N N E R
Libby's - Sweet Corn, 1.75 cup	210	32	5	7	700	25
WHOLE FOODS. 8497 - CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 93.5 g (3/4 cup)	408	68	12	9	102	26
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI GREEN PEAS, 3/5 cup (30 grams)	216	34	5	7	432	4
	834	134	23	23	1,234	54
S N A C K S
WHOLE FOODS 7700 - ORGANIC DATE PIECES w/OAT FLOWER, 96.0 g (2 TBSP)	288	72	0	2	24	53
	288	72	0	2	24	53
Totals	2,879	421	76	101	3,239	123
Your Daily Goal	3,736	467	124	187	2,300	140
Remaining	857	45	47	85	-939	16
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,806 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	62	1,372
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	434
Daily Total / Goal	63 / 30	1,806 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	736 / 210	10,697 / 4,130

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I had planned on taking a day off from exercise after my marathon 31 mile walking expeditions on Tuesday.  When the day was over, I was having difficult standing... I am pretty sure that I was having difficulty walking too. But something happened while I slept. My body repaired itself and I felt absolultely great in the morning. Recently, I had been using my elliptical machine for 92 minutes workouts at a 'resistance' level of only '10'.  Yesterday I ratcheted down the time to 62 minutes and I ratcheted up the 'resistance' to '20.' It is interesting that the calories burned with a workout that was a full 33% shorter, resulted in a calorie burn that was only 11% less productive. 

RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE. 
In fact, RESISTANCE IS FRUITFUL!

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total calories consumed 2879 calories

total calories burned (62 minutes elliptical) 1372 calories

total net calories 1507 calories

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fitbit day 112

20005 steps
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While at the mall yesterday, I was experimenting with a new look for myself... A new hat may be in my future... but none was purchased yesterday.

Among the things that I am also not in the market for is a long camel color winter coat... I prefer to wear layers to keep warm... Nevertheless, just for the heck of it, I tried on this size MEDIUM long coat while my daughter was shopping at Forever 21.  Forever 21 is not a shop that I can ever remember shopping at... My wife says that their men's department is a somewhat new addition...

...and finally... I had some fun at the Apple Store setting four of their iPhone 6S display models to the Marc Jacobs Weight Loss Journal... A completely pointless endeavor... but something about it amused me.