Long Bones

This feature will be more impressive and educational once I can upload pictures to Long-Bones — I’m hoping that will start tomorrow.

A friend of mine asked me for this recipe recently after I made it for book club.

1 or 2 bunches baby bok choy
1/2 tbs sesame oil
1/2 tbs vegetable oil
sriracha to taste
salt

Chop up baby bok choy removing the thick stems from the leaves. Heat both oils in a sautee pan, toss in the thick stems and stir fry until tender. Add thin leaves and once they’re wilted season with sriracha.

You don’t want to put a lot of sriracha in a hot pan because the peppers will steam up and get in your face.

I walked to work and back both yesterday and today. Upped my calories a bit because of it – I don’t want to start exercising and forget to eat more and then go into “starvation mode.” I also did a bit of strength training on the Wii Fit today – I say a bit and I mean a very small bit. I am not strong!! That’s okay, I’m going to change that.

I did my first papers for my second job tonight. It was fun enough, just driving around and knocking on doors. It did snow while I was out, nothing sticking to the ground. But there is something to be said for the first snow of the year.

So you want to lose some weight? Found yourself on the wrong side of the scale? Your old “fat jeans” have become your “every day jeans” and even those are getting tight. You don’t have the endurance or energy to go out hiking or play very long with your friend’s kids and you’ve pretty much stopped having sex because that involves being naked. With another person.

I’m here to help. I’ve been pretty successful so far in my weight loss journey and honestly the things that have worked are not necessarily the things that they say will work.

So my first tip for you: Start today. Start right now. Do not wait for the right time, tomorrow isn’t the right time. Neither is next week. I don’t care if you have half a cake at home waiting to be eaten. Stick it in the freezer and forget about it. Or if you can’t (I couldn’t when this first started) stick it in the trash. And then cover it with used kitty litter. If you are meeting friends for lunch today get a sane option and skip the soda. Eat half and write down the calories. Take a walk after work. Start this moment.

The weather says we might get snow tonight. Last year we had snow in late September too. Not quite sure how I feel about this…

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Or the next twelve weeks. Which ever comes sooner.

Orientation for the fitness challenge was intimidating and overwhelming. The trainer went through a series of exercises really quickly that seemed to be far beyond my skill level. I didn’t try them while I was there. I am going to attempt the fitness regime on Wednesday but I would really really like to go over it with my mother first. She’s actually taking lessons to be a personal trainer – it would be really handy if she didn’t live in Mexico.

I did do 30 minutes on the treadmill, mostly at 3.0 and 3.5 but I did get up to 4.0 a couple of times. 15 minutes at 3% incline, 10 minutes at 5% incline. That was pretty nice.

Starting Weight: 280
Current Weight: 207.2
Pounds Lost: 72.8

Bust – 44
Waist – 38
Hips – 44

BMI – 28.1 (overweight)
Hip to Waist – .82

It all starts tomorrow.

It all actually started April before last when I went to the doctor for my woman’s exam and discovered that I weighed 280 lbs. Two Hundred and Eighty Pounds. Two. Eight. Zero.

What can you do with that kind of number? I managed, barely, not to break down in tears right in the doctor’s office. Two Hundred Eighty. I mean, I knew I was heavy, obese even. I’d seen pictures, you can’t avoid mirrors. My jeans were size 22 and kinda tight and all but…280?!

I resolved right then and there to lose it. Lose the weight. It would happen this time.

And to my utter amazement it did.

Since then I have lost over 70 pounds, completely changed my life-style, gained so much more confidence and energy, and have been diagnosed with a fairly significant disorder (more on that later). It was just a couple weeks ago that I announced I had lost one quarter of my body weight and I’m nowhere near done.

Tomorrow starts the next step of my journey. Tomorrow is the first day of my gym’s Fitness Challenge (which I’m going to win). Tomorrow is my first official weigh-in here on Long-Bones. Tomorrow I renew my commitment to my own health and wellness, both mental and physical.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, it’s only a day away!

Why does the world need a new blog? So many thousands of people stand up and say “Listen to me, I have something to say.” Why do I think I’m unique?

Because I am unique and I think I can help people in my situation. This is going to be a blog about weight loss, primarily. But there are so many other factors in my life that set me apart from others on the same journey. I am six feet tall. I live in Interior Alaska. I have suffered great loss and found great strength. In the past two years I have lost 70 lbs.

This blog still needs a lot of work. I intend to spend the next few days putting together the design and aesthetics of Long Bones. I am going to start tomorrow doing weekly weigh-ins and posting about my weight-loss tips and strategies. I’ll post recipes that I love that are also healthy and stories of living in the far north. The most exciting thing is starting tomorrow I’m joining a “Biggest Loser” style competition at my gym, so I’m going to be writing about that as well.