Lose Weight

It is official... 67.4 pounds lost in 84 days!
See photo below.

My goal is still to lose 84 pounds.

I will continue on this journey. Once there I plan on toning up, remaining healthy and enjoying life!

These weight lost contests that I entered increased my motivation. The financial incentives (payouts) was just enough to encourage me to keep pushing forward. While the small fee to join them was low enough to be affordable, but high enough to make me push myself!

The HealthyLoser contest fee was $100 with $8,000 given out to those who place. On their pre-registration page, please tell them that you heard about them here; on 84lbs84days.blogspot

"All participants who lose at least 15% of their Body Weight will win Cash."
Only 300 people are allowed in each group and then another one can start forming.

The HealthyWage website has three different incentives for losing weight.
They give each person a referral ID number if they share their site: My ID number is: 1011207644

Within HealthyWage they have:
A free BMI challenge that pays you $100.00 for lowering your BMI to a healthy one.
A 10% weight loss challenge that pays $150, up to $300.
A 5 person team challenge called "The Matchup" that pays $10,000, $5000 and $2,000

These links to other posts that I made throughout this journey. I'm hoping they will help first time readers with any questions they have.

Inspiration:
http://84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/02/inspiration.html

Down 21 pounds in 8 1/2 days!
http://84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-calorie-is-calorie.html

The 14th day of my efforts. I am down 25 pounds in 14 days!
http://84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/01/todays-breakfast.html

What about the fiber? Humans need a few grams of fiber a day, not pounds of it.
http://84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/03/3-pounds-72-ounces.html

Tips:
http://84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/02/tips-as-promised.html

I desired to lose weight for my own health. Entering a weight loss contest gave me additional motivation as the financial commitment added an extra push. It was only $50 to join the contest, but the incentive of a winner take all contest helped me along the way. At one point I fell into second place... which was actually probably a HUGE blessing. Going from being chased to chasing someone really turned my mentality around as well!

The contest was brutal... as I knew that two of my competitors were actively losing weight. Being that the three of us are part of a five member team going for a $10,000 prize, I knew that at least two members of the individual contest on facebook would be pushing themselves hard too! In reality the incentive was great, but more importantly, the pounds I had hanging around my body got shed, and that is the biggest reward! I posted the photo above on facebook as well, now since the individual competition is completed, I'm okay with my teammates seeing these results.

I'm surprised at how much a percentage contest really makes a difference versus looking at just pounds lost. Losing 67.4 pounds, a 26.75 percent loss was only 2.05 percent more than my closest competitor! She lost 24.7% during the 12 week contest! 

Going from 252 pounds on January 12th, 2013 to weighing out at 184.6 pounds (on the same scale) on April 8th, 2013 is awesome! I feel lighter (obviously), more fit, happier, I have more energy, etc... 

The last twelve weeks have educated me about the power of choice and what having knowledge really means. I've said it before on here and I'll say it again. Having knowledge is one thing, implementing that is another. You can know everything about something and never actually use it or apply it in your life and it will not benefit you. When it comes to weight loss and eating well, no one can do those things for you. I can't do an Insanity workout and you benefit from it. Likewise, a salad consumed by you gives me no nutrients.

It has been nearly 90 days since I started "juicing" my meals. People ask me if I am going to juice forever. This is the best way to answer that question. I can easily see myself making one large juice a day and sticking that in mason jars or some form of a bottle and placing it in the fridge for consumption throughout the day. I used to make several juices a day. The time it took to clean the juicer every time, was a lot. Now, I simply decide what I want for the day and make it. If, as the day progresses I want an apple juice or I want something more, I can fire up the juicer and make something. For now though a juice can be made in just a few minutes in the morning. It yields between 50 to 80 ounces. About 16 to 30 are enjoyed for breakfast and the rest is divided into jars and placed in the fridge. I love variety, so at times I will make a 40 to 60 ounce juice and then another 40+ ounce with different ingredients. Maybe make a sweet one and a vegetable based one.

Do I feel full... and what about calories? I get this question a lot too. When the 400+ pound man in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead said he felt "full" I turned to my wife and said, if he can feel full. This fat man (who was about 1/2 his size) can feel full too! If you are on a "diet" or trying this "juice" lifestyle for a little while or making a change that could involve at least one juice a day, forever. The question about feeling satisfied or better yet, NOT feeling hungry always comes up. The best thing about juicing is you can literally control your calories better (in my opinion) and feel fuller than you ever can while consuming processed foods. Why? Well a 100 calorie snack pack is just that. A snack, with 100 calories in it and it is gone... gone in just a few minutes when most people open it. Take a 100 calories and put it into a juice. Simply said, I can juice 100 calories of vegetables and get several ounces of "juice" and then that can be divided into jars/bottles and consumed throughout the day. Now, I know 100 calories ins't much. That was just an easy number to use. Imagine if your goal was to consume 1,200 calories a day. Well, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is nearly 400 calories (closer to 360). Eat that 3 or 4 times in a day and you're at your threshold. Unless you slice the sandwiches down into pieces and ration them out so you get portion of it every few hours, most people eat their sandwich within a few minutes of making it. Now... the juice. A 1,200 calorie juice. WoW! I don't think I've ever made that caloric of a juice. I'm guessing a bunch of apples would do it. In reality though, most juices, even the best tasting ones will yield around 40 ounces of juice and only maybe give you 400 calories... and that is if it is fruit based. You can hit 1,200 calories if you really wanted to do so, but that would be intentional. Most of the juices I've posted on this blog or any juice from my friend's website; www.makeitvegan.com/juice-recipes would hold you over and keep you feeling full. If you get hungry, you're human. Grab an apple, an orange, a tangerine, some celery, a carrot. People say they want to "feel full." Honestly, a burger versus a 16 ounce juice. Both will feel your stomach up. One is going to be more healthier for you than the other.

A little disclaimer for first time readers. I grew up eating steaks, chicken, fish, having miracle whip, butter, cookies, you name it, jello, etc... I'm not a nutty "vegan" that has no sense of what taste good or that has a warped sense of reality. Instead, I'm an educated person who doesn't have room for all the junk, fillers, antibiotics, salt, chemicals, etc... that are pumped into, injected, fed to or put on or in animals and their processed products. If food was what we all thought it was, I'd be more okay with consuming it. However, a burger in 2013 isn't the same as a burger in 1913. The animals are fed things and given antibiotics to help them be "healthy" enough to be consumed by humans. Finding range (grass) fed meat, in my opinion, is worth the extra cost. If I was going to have a burger, I would pay the higher cost to find meat that wasn't packed full of all of the chemicals, dyes, fillers and other things. I want to be healthier and to have clean arteries. Having a life that is filled with fun times and memories, includes living a long and full life. As much as I love good food. As much as I have always enjoyed beef, fish, sushi, chicken, turkey, exotic and creative meals, I don't have room for those things in my life, not when what we think we are consuming and what we actually are consuming is so different.  I understand that not everything I consume is organic. At least though, I can attempt to limit my intake of all the chemicals and enjoy a healthy life and this lifestyle is giving me just that.

Fruits and vegetables provide more than most people think and know. I read something the other day that said once an item is heated up than only 1/2 of the protein contained within it is actually usable by the human bodies. I'm still researching this. However, if this is true then this example is a real eyeopener.
Imagine a piece of chicken having 30 grams of protein.
Cook it: Only 15 grams are now usable by the body
Eat it: Only about 40 to 60% of the protein is actually absorbed by the body: <-- I'll use 50%
Yield: Our body just received 7.5 grams of protein.

A head of romaine lettuce has 8 grams of protein in it: http://cronometer.com/food.html?food=5520 Place that in your juicer or consume it in a salad and viola! More protein than a piece of chicken.
A 250 gram head of Kale (I prefer purple kale): http://cronometer.com/food.html?food=52694 also has 8 grams of protein.  But check out all the other nutrients, vitamins, and benefits that something like this has in it! This beats a chicken breast any day! Especially if it was a cheap one on sale, with a "solution" added to it, fillers, water and sodium... why not just chicken? Anyways... the point is, vegetables and fruits have more to offer than most people know. And when it comes down to it, I'm getting the protein levels I need. Here are my lab results... I'm healthy and I feel full. I'm getting all the fiber and even more nutrients than a piece of beef or chicken is going to offer.

My Progress: I "officially" lost 67.4 pounds!