GOT MY MOJO BACK AND LOST THAT FUNK THAT WAS HOLDING ME BACK

Last week I found myself falling back into bad habits and basically being in a funk after gaining some weight. After my last blog (Last Tuesday), I did a lot of thinking, soul searching along with getting over 30 e-mails/test from Team "Monk" helping me find that determination with nothing but love and support. Its nice to have such a wonderful support system, nothing like blowing off steam to a fellow brother/sister fighting the same battle as you. Over this past week Ive had several people come to me for help, I love the thought that I'm helping others while helping myself (Lead By Example). With that being said I'm still trying to figure everything out myself, but I will never ignore anyone that takes the time and ask me for help or advice. I will do my best and give them the much needed support and hope or even give them that push we all need to start kicking ass. Just remember, take one day at a time and just take a small walk and keep going further each time.

I know it's easier said then done, but finally take that time for YOU .... if you don't, your not going to be here long enough to keep giving your time to your love ones. That's exactly what I'm doing, I have always put the firehouse and everyone else first and never took the time for ME. Well them days are over, if I don't worry about ME then I'm not going to be around long enough to watch my best friend reach High School, I will be dam if my son won't have his father around for many many more years.

Since last Tuesday, took one day at a time and just worried about having one good day until it was time to start all over the following day. I am feeling great this week and have fallen right back on track with everything but I decided this morning that I wasn't going to weigh in this week, wanted to stop concentrating so much on the numbers. I'm going to just worry about what I put in my body, drink my water along with staying active/walking. The results are going to show and the numbers will pay off over time, so we will see how this works next Tuesday when I face that scale.

One thing I'm happy about is Ive started walking again each day and won't let my knee become my excuse. Don't get me wrong, I'm defiantly going to get it looked at and taken care of but not going to let it hold me back from reaching my goals. This past weekend was a Holiday weekend and everyone was cooking out and having plenty of drinks. I still had a great time but was smart about my choices and grilled nothing but healthy food. I will be 35 this June, it's now or never to get this weight off for once and for all because it doesn't get any easier as we get older. Trust me, this is the 2nd go around for me and this time the difference is night and day on how hard it is to loose my weight. With this being said, I was just shy of 600 pounds and now in the 300 club so it can be done. You have to want it and put the work and dedication into yourself to live a healthy lifestyle. Before Christmas of this year, I will be in the 200 club and you can write that down.

Until next Tuesday, everyone have a wonderful week and start moving !!!! Like always, I'm here for support or you can shoot me a message and I will do my best to help you out.

Below are two pics I found before this all started, I have two more that i'm going to post next week after i scan them, but you can see a few before and after to this point.

You can also check out www.monkwells.bodybyvi.com for great shakes that helped me loose my weight which Ive started to drink daily again.

                                            ONE ABOVE AND BELOW WAS BEFORE !!!!

I'M STILL HERE .....HELP ME GET OUT OF THIS FUNK !!!!!

Good evening "Team Monk" !!!!! If you noticed I missed last Tuesday for the first time in Months because I was frustrated with myself. I guess you can say me not doing my blog was away of me trying to hide from the truth. This Tuesday was even worse, so I'm going to blog about my past two weeks and hope this helps me find that determination that Ive lost. Like my cousin told me, hard work pays off and if it was easy we would all be skinny. That's the truth, Ive got so many e-mails and text about everyone being so inspired with me for the work and success Ive had, but the truth is I still struggle and have hard times myself. We are all human and have our ups and downs and over the past two weeks Ive been in a major funk and need to figure how to get myself out of it.

Whats crazy is Ive worked so hard and ate so good for a Month to see only a few pounds lost, but since Saturday at 6pm I gained over 12 pounds, this is crazy !!!! The first week I got on the scale on Saturday and noticed I lost 7 pounds and then that Tuesday gained it all back with a extra pound. Then this week I weigh myself Saturday and lost 0.4 pounds and got on the scale this morning to see over 12 pounds gained. It takes so much to drop the weight but a blink of an eye to pack it on. I'm not going to lie to myself, after the way Ive been eating the past two weeks I probably deserve to gain this weight. It's been out of control the past two weeks with me falling back into a lot of my bad habits that made me hit that over 550 pound mark that Ive worked so hard to loose. Not sure whats going on in my mind, but Ive been in a major emotionally and physically funk the past two weeks. I can tell you that I'm not going to give up, tomorrow is a new day and it's another fresh start for me to get myself back on the right track because as you can see it doesn't take long for weight to creep back on you. Ive lost over 160 pounds and I will be dam if all the hard work, sweet, and tears i put forth goes down the drain. One thing Ive noticed is that Ive been out of contact with the wonderful people Ive surrounded myself with called a support group. Another big issue is that Ive skipped meals and have become over Hungary and then my mind tells me to eat anything i can get my hands on, unfortunately Ive noticed this food hasn't been healthy over the past two weeks. Ive caught myself eating just to eat .....it's been crazy the way Ive been eating over the past two weeks. I am not going to sit here and make excuses because that's BS ....their is NO EXCUSE the way Ive been acting over the past few weeks. My new goal is to just take it day by day .... I'm just worried about having one good day then another and the results will follow. My goal was to drop another 50 pounds, but Ive learned that my goal now is to just get myself under control again and get my head back on the main goal here, that's to live a healthy lifestyle.

My knee ... not sure what is going on, but my left knee has been hurting me more now then when I was at the resort, been holding me back from working out the way I have. However, that's still not an excuse and I can still do something to stay active. One thing Ive done is drink nothing but water, but I have had a few cock tails since being home. The Summer is here which doesn't make it easy when you have vacations, weekend get aways, cookouts or just a night out on the town. I'm not going to stop doing any of the following, but I defiantly will start making better choices because their is no reason I can't be successful and still enjoy the summer days/nights. Until next Tuesday, please continue to support me as I work through this funk I'm having. Like I told you guys before, you all inspire me just as much as you say I inspire you ....now is the time I need that wonderful support system Ive surrounded myself with to give me a good kick in the ass.

It was nice talking with my boy Dan today, glad to hear he is going back to finsih what he started with an additional 5 weeks at the resort. I must say it's very hard when you get home, it's so easy too fall off the wagon at home. Like Ive said before .....it's not how you fall but how you get back up. We are going to see just how strong I am as Ive hit rock bottom again this past two weeks. Until my next blog, everyone stay focused and keep working hard.

ONE MONTH IN THE BOOKS AT HOME

Welcome too another Tuesday Blog, I'm in a better mood about everything tonight !!!!! Over the past few weeks Ive had a very hard time dropping weight but really been kicking ass in the gym. Spent this past week asking a lot of questions, doing lots of research, and just trying a few things different with my body. I'm not going to lie, really didn't feel good about this week because I added more calories to my daily intake. Not to mention it's been over three Months since Ive actually had something bad to eat, this past Friday i used my 10% as we learned at the resort on some pizza. Then on Saturday we had a family event which I had a few drinks and caught myself having pizza which was from the night before when I got home. So on Sunday at work I was a little upset at myself about the pizza from the night before. Then I was a little worried because of cutting down and only working out two days this week because of my knee. On a positive note I'm very active and work for the Fire Department so I'm still burning a good amount of calories a day. So this morning after work, I got home and jumped on the scale to see I lost 4.8 pounds this week. This made my day, for one I only needed 2 pounds to reach another goal I had set along with just the fact Ive lost weight after two weeks of really being frustrated. I must say Ive learned a lot though this past week doing research about how crazy our body works.

If you read my last blog, you also noticed I contacted Skylar from the Biggest Loser Resort which I received some helpful advice from him as well (Thanks). Now that Ive reached this goal, my next one is set and it's time to continue working hard to reach it. Like Ive said before ....this takes determination, hard work, sweat, and sometimes even tears through this emotional journey. I totally understand that I'm not going to have huge numbers at home like at the Resort, but slow and steady will win you the race every time. That's my goal, just to work hard each day and keep going in the right direction and the results will show and pay off in the long run. Until next Tuesday, everyone keep moving and remember " NO EXCUSES" !!!!!

WEEK 3 IN THE BOOKS AT HOME

It's Tuesday, the day I look forward too now because this is the day I face the scale. This week was like know other, I was very excited to jump on the scale this morning after another ass kicking week. For the second Tuesday in a row, I got off the scale "SMH" in frustration about my results. This week I gained 0.4 which put me in a very blah mood, once again I kept my cool and in my heart new I'm busting my ass. With that being said, I must be doing something wrong and I will figure this out because their is NO quit in me. That guy who always gave up on himself is gone, each of us are Worth so much more and deserve everything in life we want. Not only do you have to work hard getting things in life, you must work hard to get your body the results you want and to stay living a healthy life. The easy thing here would be to quit, but that's not an option anymore so I'm going to figure this out and stay focused on the main prize. So I didn't loose but 2 pounds in two weeks, let's make something positive out of this situation. I didn't gain which is a plus, and Ive Hiked over 50 miles in two weeks with spending countless hours in the gym. Not to mention I am off all my medications and just now take vitamins so that's WINNING. Once I got off the scale I immediately e-mailed the nutrition at the Biggest Loser Resort (Skylar) and asked for help, what a great feeling to have such an amazing support group built around us so we can continue to be successful on our journey. It has to be my daily intake, Ive been really trying to stay around 12/1300 calories a day which I think my body just needs more.

On another note, a lot of people have been asking about my knee?? Them Blankety Blanks have been really bothering me each day after I'm done working out. Thanks for all the support from everyone telling me to slow down or take time off. However I just can't do that, Ive learned at the resort it takes 66 days to create a habit so I'm going to push through this pain. Just like anything else in life, nothing comes easy and my knee's are just another road block that won't stop me from reaching my goals. Today I did 5 miles and about an hour in the gym and my knee's ace but not hurt like normal. Only bad thing about being back at home is not having that beautiful pool at the resort to take the pressure off my knee's and still get my work in. It's been great having all the people offer to Hike with me and my little buddy even did 2.5 miles with me this past week.

People are always asking me for advice, I'm still trying to figure this all out myself. I will give this advice to everyone, your worth it .... stop making excuses and fight for what you want. Yes, I was that guy over 160 pounds ago saying that's easy for you to say, but now I'm that guy who followed that advice and lost over 160 pounds. I did all of this with not making excuses anymore and just pushing through the pain. I will not lie and tell you it's going to be easy, but I will tell you that if you put your mind to it, you can do this. People loose weight in various ways, I'm really proud of myself doing it the way of hard work. Not taking anything from anyone that's had surgery because I was thinking about it myself, but deep down inside I new that I'm one bad "MF" and have the heart to get this done.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read my blog and continue to support me on a journey that will continue for the rest of my life. What's been great is all the people in the public who approach me and say your that guy, keep up the great work, you look wonderful. All of you make me wanna push that much harder each day, everyone says I'm motivating them but you all don't realize how much your doing the same for me.

Congratulations to Lyndee for a great Month at the resort, now my fellow brother (Firefighter) Chuck is starting his journey at the resort.

Until next Tuesday, wish me luck trying to figure out what's going on with my body and too another great week !!!