Never Can Say Goodbye....

There are some foods that I just can't say no to. For example, I love cheese. Whenever I get a sandwich, I HAVE to have extra cheese on it. Even on vegetables I like to sprinkle a bit of cheese on everything. Also, I LOVE bread. I remember at one point I was anti-bread. I'd only allow myself to eat bread just two days out of the week. Let me tell ya: that didn't last too long. I need my morning bagel, and my sandwiches during the day, I just do. This last one may sound a bit weird, but I cannot resist eating the skin off of the chicken. I know that most of the fat is on the skin, but I honestly have to eat the skin or else the chicken-eating experience just won't be the same. Sad but true. I'm willing to do the extra laps and extra crunches if I have to, as long as I get to eat my cheese, bread, and chicken skin. Don't judge me, just love me!!

Before/After Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkeUsQLhUhM

Thanks again to Mr. Ahmad Baari for making this video, very appreciative leave comments =).

Time For Some Honesty

Ok, let's be real, now I've been doing the healthy eating for over two years now. In all seriousness, I HATE it. There's been so many times when I've said "why the fuck am I eating rice cakes"? or "Where's the macaroni & cheese"? It sucks so hard not being able to eat what I want, when I want anymore. I'm not one of those people who can eat whatever and not gain any weight. I have to monitor what I eat everyday and every single meal. It's very important for me to be healthy and set a great example for everyone reading this blog. But I'm only human and food is my kryptonite. Last night I went to cheesecake factory. I had me some fried macaroni & cheese, and some red velvet cheesecake. Let me tell you, it was glorious. And my top choice for cheating is a big cookie. I would kill for some double-stuf oreos any day of the week. But alas, I keep myself in check and 8 out of 10 times I can resist temptation. I'm finally getting to the place where I can allow myself to have some freedom with food and have things that aren't the healthiest for me every once in awhile. But I make sure that I keep up with the working out six days a week, definately not putting on those size 46 jeans ever again, I'm just saying. This is all a process. You're gonna slip up occasionally. The trick is to not beat yourself up over everything. If you're craving that cookie, then have a cookie and get back on track. Just don't let your slip ups be an everyday occasion. I may have to pull a Kanye and interrupt your cookie time.

Some Healthy Alternatives

Ok, so you proabably hate me for telling you what foods to leave alone. Now you get to hear some of the alternatives (just bare wth me please):
For fried chicken - grilled or baked chicken is just as good, plus its healthier! You can even go the extra mile and take the skin off the chicken (most of the fat is located in the skin.)
Eggs - boiled eggs are healthier than fried or scrambled eggs for breakfast. Egg whites as well.
Bread - If you need your bread fix, I suggest whole wheat (not enriched honey wheat)  and multi-grain bread. Limit your intake to about 3-4 days a week.
Fruit - avoid the fruits drenched in syrup and concentrate. Apples and bananas would be my top choices for fruits. Others are fine, just in moderation
Cheese - If you're a cheese lover as I am, can't just give it up so easily. I suggest provolone and low skim-milk mozzarella cheese, none of that cheddar cheese.
Rice and pasta - brown rice is the best alternative. It may not be as flavorful as say some Goya red beans and rice (that be hittin the spot) but much healthier in moderation. For pasta, whole wheat pasta is healthier as opposed to pasta made with white flour. Once again, in moderation.
Snacks - little debbie, ben & jerry's everything delicious and tasty just nope. Instead, nature valley granola bars are a great alternative. Nutri-grain bars on occasion as well. Honey graham crackers, string cheese sticks, multi-grain crakers. Wheat thins and wheatables as well (wheatables are amazing). Rice cakes with a little bit of peanut spread on it is tasty enough.
Butter - Margarine, that is all!
Milk - Gotta let go of the whole milk. It may have the necessary calcium, but still high in fats. Gotta take this on a gradual course. Start with 2% milk, then ease on to 1%, then right down to skim milk. The color will turn you off at first but it grows on you.
Beverages - No sodas or other sugary drinks. OJ is ok every once in awhile. WATER WATER WATER!!!! Water will help you lose weight for sure, it helps to rid the body of salts that lead to weight gain in the stomach. Crystal light is a great alterantive to kool-aid and hawaiian punch. There's different flavors and only 10 calories (we like this).
Cereals - Almost any box of cereal with a colorful animal on it, you may wanna avoid them. Except for corn flakes (corn not frosted). Other healthier breakfast cereals include: total, raisin bran, smart start, and special K (My favorite)
Fast food - HELLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOO!!!! It's just not going down, if you frequent these places, then you're doing yourself and your body a disservice, that is all!!!
Once again, these are alternatives that have worked for me. If you have any other ideas email me: vanxmar10@aol.com. With some will-power and an open mind, you'll have no problem adjusting to this healthy eating.

Sacrifices Must Be Made PT.2

Hello people, it's time that I continue with the foods to stay away from. Other foods you should cut out/limit are cheese, fruits, and bread bread bread!!!!! A lot of cheeses are full of high saturated fat. Don't try to justify eating all that cheese as just "getting calcium". I've done it many times. You're probably surprised about fruits too. Yes, fruits of course are a healthier snack and nutritious, but they're also full of sugar. I'm not saying ban fruits forever, but eat a little less and take it day-by-day. I have to put muc attention on the whole bread deal. All bread (white, wheat, rye, whatever) are carbs. If you want to lose weight, there has to be a cut down on carbs. Bread is one of those major carbs. It's something you just have to do, no ifs ands or buts about it. Another food that needs to be cut down are eggs. It's a well-known fact that eggs cause a significant increase in cholesterol and that is DEFINATELY not a good thing. Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, just nope. Chicken: NO KFC FOR YOUUUUUU!!!! Fried chicken is just meat wrapped around in grease, flour, oil and fat. If you love it, I'm sorry but its gotta go. Cholesterol, sodium, fat, everything that's bad for you basically is in fried chicken. Same can be said for any fried fish. You're losing all the nutrients and the good stuff that is associated with fish. All in all, DONT FRY YOU'RE MEATS!!!!!!!! I'm not a nutritionist nor a doctor, but I'm just saying that certain foods are not gonna aid you in your weight-loss journey. Sacrifices must be made.

L.O.V.E.

I know I said that I'd get to the nutrition stuff, but I wanted to write this post to reiterate some key concepts on the journey to weight-loss. Self-love is the most important thing you can have in this life. You really have to love yourself and have a positive attitude if you're going to tackle your issues head-on. If you're screwed up emotionally and mentally, the physical won't mean a damn thing. Like Lauryn Hill once sang "How you gonna win if you ain't right within"? Those lyrics randomly popped into my head last night when I was talking to good friends about this same topic (Gabby and Melissa). Real beauty and confidence truly does come from within. So before any of the healthy eating or exercising, take some time out to appreciate the person you are on an emotional level. It makes the process just a bit easier.

Sacrifices Must Be Made

 

       Hello my readers, I've finally got some time to write, so let's do this. At this point, I think its time for me to get into the nutritional aspect of the Slim & Sexy Campaign. This is my least favorite part but here it goes. Ok, so let's start with what you shouldn't eat at all: fried foods, greasy foods, sweets, pastries, cakes, pies, cookies, chips, ice cream, soda, sugary drinks, alcohol, and everything with any real great taste to it. I'm just saying, its gonna be hard at first. You're gonna go through withdrawals and relapses galore, but you gotta try and stay focused. Umm what else? Ohh yeah, cut down on the pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes. Those four are carbohydrates made with white flour, which leads to excess fat around the midsection a problem area for most fluffy and recovering fluffy people. No pork or processed meats either for obvious reasons: sodium levels, high fat, and for my black people it could lead to high blood pressure which many of us are struggling with. When I first started out, it was such hell. Not eating the things that I knew and loved for most of my life. I remember slipping up the first day (no type of willpower). But anywho, I got into the swing of things and the weight start flying off literally. These changes are crucial for those who are trying to lose weight. Give it a try and see the results. Sacrifices must be made =).

What's your favorite?

Hello people, I've been slacking on the posts lately, just trying to do the college thing. Anywho, I've been thinking and I wanna hear from you guys. What has been your favorite blog post of mine and why? It can be for any reason, I just wanna see the feedback. So you can email me: vanxmar10@aol.com or even message me on facebook: Vaughn Martin. Appreciate and love you guys, and I'll be back at it pretty soon =).

haha

I was cleaning out my closet and found a bunch of old clothes. I laughed at myself cuz damnnn i was hugee! That is a XXXXXL shirt and size 46 jeans. Talk about fluffy.

I'm Only One Person

So, as an unofficial fitness guru, plenty of people have asked me to go with them to the gym and teach them some new moves. That's fine, but there's been a few that have given me attitude for not staying on top of them and making them go to the gym. WHOAAAA!!!!!! One time, this girl really gave me an attitude. She told me that she had burgers and fries and ice cream over the week. She said "oh vaughn, you're supposed to tell me what to do, its your fault that I ate that shit" Correction: It's your fault for being a fatty not me. Secondly, did I tie you to a chair and force-feed you burger king fries? NOOOOO (p.s. I LOVVEEEEE burger king fries). But anywho, no I should not be held accountable for your actions. I give the tools for people to use, what you do with said tools is all up to you. Like I said, I'm only one person. Another thing, I take people to the gym, I tell them to do a workout and they end up hating me. To a certain extent, I understand where it comes from. When I go with people to the gym, I automatically put them onto my typical routines. Now I've been doing this for two years now and some people just aren't at that level yet. I need to be a little less strict on people. But personally, I feel that me being aggressive on new people will enhance their chances of weight-loss success. If you go with me to the gym, be prepared to the work. I have no time for foolishness, cell phones, chit chats, all business. If someone can't deal with it, then maybe I'm not the right person to train them. Once again, I'm only one person and I'm here to help people who want to help themselves.

You Know What Sucks???

Ok, so as you go further into your weight-loss journey, you come to realize that your body is not always going to cooperate with you. Meaning, that no matter how hard you work, you can't decide which body parts lose weight and which do. It's like your body's cruel little inside joke for you. Even when you do lose weight in the areas you want, sometimes you end up with sagging skin or stretchmarks, or that jiggle jaggle of cellulite around your ass (jiggle jaggle is my copyrighted phrase). Its extemely frustrating and hard to treat, you can only do so much. Take me for example. After all of the exercise and healthy eating it took for me to lose 100 pounds, there were long-term effects. I still have some jiggle around my stomach, my little gut if you will. And not only that, but those butt-ugly stretch marks. EWWWWWW I hate it I hate it I HATE IT!!!! It's like "okay you can lose all the weight, but its a constant reminder of just how much of a fatass you really were". Honestly, it gets me a little frustrated that I don't see certain areas tightening up but I just have to deal. I do my running and my crunches and hopefully I'll get the six-pack of my dreams (no seriously I REALLY want a six-pack). I mean the shape is there, it's just hiding at this point in time. But don't worry it's a-coming!!!!! Just don't let it deter you away from your goals. It's better to complain and still workout than to sit on the couch grubbing and complaining. Don't punk out *George Lopez Voice* You got this!!!!

Slim & Sexy Pics

Get Out & Play!!

Hello my wonderful readers, this next post was inspired by my amigo Phreddy (P.S. you're the man)! But anywho,  I know I have a few fans from different countries and I'm hoping some of you are kids because this post is for you guys. Even though I put Fatass in the title of my blog, I would never call a heavy kid a fatass. I've been where you are and I know how much words can crush a spirit. I'm on your side. As we all know, childhood and adolescent obesity is at an all-time high. This is mostly due to kids being inactive and eating mass amounts of junk food. A few years ago, that was me. Once I moved away from my old house and from my friends, I became the laziest dude around. I didn't wanna go anywhere or do anything. All I did was eat and eat and eat. And the weight just kept coming and coming. It took me years to fix this problem for myself, I don't want the same for you guys. Hopefully you're reading this blog and learning from my mistakes.  Just get off the couch and put the junk down and go play!!! Just walking around with friends, joining a club, playing sports, riding a bike, go to the park, you catch my drift. Any little thing makes a difference. I really want you guys to be happy AND healthy. And maybe one of these days, one of you guys can teach me how to ride a bike =).

Gotta Make Time and Stay Motivated

So I was talking to my friend Danny a few days ago. He was telling me that sometimes he gets lazy with working out and isn't really consistent. After hearing this, I told him that he has to find a way to make time for himself to get a quality workout in. Hope you enjoyed that shoutout D. Now anywho, I know its hard to stay focused and consistent with exercise. We all lead busy lives and there's not enough hours in the day. But trust me when I say, that there's ways to make time to workout. My health psychology professor told my class that a 30 minute workout is the minimum to achieve physical fitness. You could even break that up throughout the day. You could do a minute of pushups, then maybe two minutes of jumping jacks, a minute of squats, and so on and so fort. Working out in the morning works for me. I can get it out of the way and go on with my day. So there is definately a way to make time. Also, a little half joke/ half serious comment I make when people say its hard to stay on track. I show everyone my old ID picture and tell them "You don't wanna wake up one day 331 pounds, just saying". It usually gets the right result, and people get the job done. So guys, just find what works for you and stick with it.

You REALLY do not wanna wake 331 pounds, just saying.

A Little Thank You!!!

Im baaaaack! Just wanted to say thank to all of my amazing followers and supporters over the past few months. Also, I made a little video on my facebook page, feel free to check it out. "Vaughn Martin". It really means a lot to me that everyone supports my work and enjoys what I do, truly means a lot to me. and dont worry I will have some more posts to come, just been pretty busy. I'm coming!!!

Change Is A Process

Now I may be the guy that lost 100 pounds in a year without any type of surgery. But let's face it: not everyone has that capability to lose weight so quickly. People will come up to me and tell that they've been doing this and that and everything under the sun to try and lose weight quickly and it doesn't work for them. I honestly don't know what to say to them. All I know is what worked for me, and I can just try to impart my wisdom on the subject. It also depends upon the way your body works, metabolism and body type, muscle mass, etc. Some explanation I can give as to how my body was able to shed the weight so quickly is my actual body type. I would be described as having a overall mesomorphic body type. This means that it's easy for me to lose and maintain weight, in the same token, its very easy for me to put it all back on. I'm naturally built to be a muscular guy, just got a little sidetracked with my first love little debbie and all that good stuff. But anywho, I advise everyone to look up the three body types and see what characteristics you can relate to. The three types are: mesomorph, endomorph, and ectomorph. Anywho, if you don't lose 15 pounds in three months, don't stress it. You're not gonna become slim & sexy overnight. It takes a lot of work. Some changes will be noticeable, other changes won't be. You're best bet is to keep on working as hard as you can to reach your hopefully realistic goals.  Change is a process.

My Weight-Loss Guru =)

    

 

So yeah, my weight-loss guru would have to be Janet Jackson. And it's not only because I'm madly in love with the woman, but I respect her discipline and work ethic for getting into shape. I also admire her honesty when she gains weight and that she undestands her triggers that can set her back a bit. All you have to do is tell her it's time to release an album or put on a concert, then bam she's back with the super six-pack. It also makes me feel better to know that even people that I look up to deal with the same issues that I do. Goes to show me that everyone has insecurities. Yeah yeah, sounds pretty cheesy, but that's how I honestly feel. I'll be definately buying her book when it comes out and get some more tips and advice from my weight-loss guru. Just wanted to take some time out and give Ms. Jackson some shine, as if she didn't already have her own.

*P.S. Will you marry me? =)*

Don't Go By the Numbers!

THEY WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY!!!!
Don't feel like you need to stay fixated on the number you weigh or what you want to lose, because it doesn't really matter. Unless you're like morbidly obese, i'm talking jumbo JACK size then maybe the numbers matter. Health officials and doctors are always telling us we need to weigh this number, that number to be considered healthy. All that BMI stuff and whatnot, I stopped focusing on that a longggg time ago. Even after 100 pound weight loss, from 331 to 230 I'm still considered obese: What the deuce?? Bust my ass in gym everyday and eat right (mostly) and i'm still fat? Wasn't adding up to me. All those websites and articles don't take into account individuals and their diets, muscle mass, etc. It's all generalized for the mass public. This is something that could hinder weight loss success. Instead of weighing yourself every day, try once or twice a week. Also, you should start looking for little signs that make you feel comortable with your size. For example, I know when I'm on the right path when a shirt or pair of pants fits me better. I do a little victory dance as well and I sing this "woo woo, my gut is gone!!! woo woo my gut is gone!!!" Not even joking, I do this alone of course. If that same shirt starts to feel a little more snug than usual, I know I need to add some time on the treadmill and cut down on the bread (P.S. I LOVE bread). I like to see if I can fit into smaller corners around the house or my job occasionally. These little tricks and tips can go a long way, trust me. And give yourself a reasonable goal that you can meet, there's no use in being slim and sexy if you're on a stretcher headed to the hospital. A pound a week is good enough to start with. I dont remember exactly what my goal was, but I damn sure surpassed it. But not everyone is like me. Lookingback, I honestly don't get how I lost so much weight that fast.  Everybody's body is different. Take the time to understand the human body and what works or doesn't work for you on your weight loss journey.

Fluffy Relapse

(Don't wanna get back to that size over there) ----->

Getting a fatty day is one thing, having a fluffy relapse is entirely different situation. There've been more than a few occasions where I went overboard on the snacks and may have fluctuated a pound or two in weight. You may say oh big deal, but it is to me. Temptation is tooooooo strong sometimes. At school, there are so many choices for junk food. Cookies, brownies, mozzarella sticks, pie, waffles, you name it, its there. I'm a recovering snacker, so its hard to make the right choices every single day. Moderation is still a problem for me. If I do anything in my life, I tend to go overboard and snacks are no exception. On one weekend, I had about three slices of red velvet cheesecake from cheesecake factory. If anyone's had their slices, they're pretty enormous. Other times I finished cartons of Ben & Jerry's on my own. It's very easy to slip back into my old habits and I can't afford that.  I know I wouldn't let myself get to that point, but its still a concern of mines. All of these people reading my blog and telling me how amazing I am, there's a certain pressure. My boss is a personal trainer and he tells his clients all about my story and in turn they get inspired. So I gotta take care of this issue asap. When I feel the urge to munch away at some cookies, I literally have talks with myself to keep things in check. "You're gonna get fluffy again", "Not gonna fit in those clothes", and most recently I told myself to put down the cookies fatass! I'm slowly but surely getting a handle on the eating thing. No problemo, I got this!!!!!

Gotta Have a Fatty Day!

Ok, so I've been talking about cutting down on all the junk food and eating healthy. That's all good and well, but you occasionally want that sugary fix. When I began my weight loss journey, I went cold turkey on all the snacks. This isn't always neccessarily a good thing because changing your eating should be a gradual process. Along the way, I decided that I should be able to treat myself every so often. Thus, I created the "Fatty Day". You can eat whatever you want on that day, and resume your healthy living the rest of the week. One of my favorite things to snack on is cookies. It's pretty much my kryptonite. Give me some oreos and I'm a happy camper. Now my buddy Danny works at a bakery and hooks me up with cookies on the regular now. He got THAT DOUGH!!!! Also, I LOVE REESE'S anything!!!!! And I kinda have this thing for Nutella. It's just too delicious for its own damn good. My friends used to jump down my throat for bringing it up.  OOOh and ice cream too. Ben & Jerry's Dulce Delish got that good stuff man. Strawberries and caramel hmmmmmm. I'm having a bit of a snack attack writing this out so I'm gonna take care of that...

Thin Is NOT In.

                                                                                      (oh yeah she's baddddddddd -____-)
    Hello people, so this following post was inspired by one of those lose-weight quick pills. I won't say which one cuz I don't wanna get sued. Anywho, their catchphrase was the beautiful gem: "Thin is in". I watched with the -_________-  expression on my face. No seriously, it made my face that long. If we didn't have enough people throwing up and starving themselves, that will definately get a few more to doing so. I think that the whole being thin thing is more than played out. It warps people's perceptions of themselves. Makes you feel like there's something wrong with you or that you'll never look good enough to be on tv. Here's a shocker: It's not real!!!! You are fine the way you are, not everyone is meant to be stick thin. It's ok to be a little bit on the healthier side. I had to make peace with this myself. At one point, I wanted to be on that Usher/Trey Songz level with the six-pack and whatnot. But that may not happen for me. I'm genetically predisposed to be on the fluffy side. The fact that I lost as much weight as I did goes against everything. Somewhere down the road, I realized that I might not get the six pack and may have to live with my little chubby chub belly. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try my hardest to work it off, but I can live with it and have the 50 cent fat abs. Slowly but surely, everyone will come to accept and love their body image. If you honestly believe whole heartedly that you need to change that, then do it the natural and healthy way with exercise and smart eating. Diet pills and all those fat burners are not a good look, too many side effects: diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, may cause death or heart attack. OR DEATH???? Death is not a side effect, its death. Cut the crap please. Self-love is hard to achieve, but once u do, your outlook on life will be a happier one. I know from personal experience.

Under Pressure

Being the founder and captain of the Slim & Sexy Campaign is no easy task to take on. I'm always feeling pressure to remain the size that I am. I feel that if I gained some weight, people would give me that look like "damn what happened to you"? "You letting yourself go huh"? These are everyday thoughts that are swirling around in my head. I workout in fear of getting fat again. I honestly, sincerely do NOT wanna go back to the way I used to be two years ago. There was a point in time where I was completely obsessed with whatever food I was putting in my mouth. I lived off of special k bars and water for a few weeks. Staying slim & sexy was that important to me. I knew it was stupid to put myself in that kind of risk but at the time I could care less as long as I would be skinny. I would go to to the gym and routinely get dizzy and I'd have to leave and get myself together. Stupidity at its finest (and that's not a good thing at all). I still have those moments to this day, where I feel like that fat kid that everyone made fun of. The years of being teased still screw with my mind. It's pretty safe to say that I'm the shyest conceited dude around.  Sometimes, I call my normal sized friends fat or make fun of their bodies. Definately projecting my insecurities onto others. I don't even wear certain shirts in public anymore because I feel that they make me look bigger than my actual size or they don't fit me too well. I can be in complete and absolute pain and still force myself to go to the gym for a crazy workout. It's a constant battle. People are probably thinking that I'm just spicing this up to get more readers but its the absolute truth. As a matter of fact, that's where my problem lies: I give too much attention to what I think other people are thinking about me. That sentence doesn't even sound right but you all understand what I'm getting at. Slowly but surely, I'm winning this battle. Right now, I'm at the point where I can say that I like myself and who I am and what I look like. Hopefully one day, I can get to a place where I can say that I love myself and truly believe in that statement. Until then, I'm gonna keep fighting these head games and build up some of that self-esteem. After finishing this post, I really feel that people are getting a little piece of the real Vaughn. I'm always the loud, outgoing, chill dude. When in actuality, I have issues just like everyone else and I'm ready to confront my demons head-on.

No I'm Not A Crackhead!!! but....

Ok this is something that really annoys me about losing weight: People just wanna assume that I'm taking drugs to slim down. Seriously????? You can ACTUALLY lose weight by eating healthy and exercise *GASP* what a frightening concept!!!! I have not once nor will I ever smoke crack in my life. Whitney said it best: "Crack Is Wack". So let's just get that out of our heads right now. I'll admit though at one point, I did look a little crack-ish. The problem was that I lost so much in such a relatively short period of time, my body needed to adjust to this smaller shape. My friend Phreddy is going through the same dilemma now. He lost a noticeable amount of weight and now we all call him a crackhead. I think it's mostly a black thing. I've noticed that when black people lose weight, it automatically goes to the crack smh. Let's get smart people. But I will be honest, I have used different pills I'm gonna say about five months ago. I tried Force Factor and some green tea fat burners. This is longgg after my initial 100 pound weight-loss, so I don't want anyone thinking i've been popping pills for the past two years. I said I was gonna be honest in this blog, and that's part of the story. Neither of those products did not work for me and was a complete waste of money. That further reinforced the fact that all you truly need is healthy eating and exercise, and that's what I'll continue to do for the rest of my life.

I Got A Big Ego, Such A Huge Ego...... and I Can Back It UP!!!

So um yeah, ever since I got on board with the Slim & Sexy Campaign, I guess u could kinda sorta say that I joined the conceited side of laugh. I mean just because I like to take pictures of myself and look into mirrors constantly do I HAVE to be considered conceited and self-absorbed? Ok yeah pretty much, I like myself and have no problem showing it. Not to get all dramatic, but in high school, I was very shy and self-esteem was nonexistant. Didn't think too highly of myself. All the jokes and comments about the way I looked, I really took it to heart. I'm a sensitive guy, there's no denying that fact so I let all the little things play with my head. So once I started to lose weight and see the physical changes, I gradually began comfortable in my own skin. Somewhere along the way I lost the humbleness of my fluffy days and this new guy came into the picture.  Taking new pictures of myself everyday to make sure people knew how good I looked, always looking into mirrors to make sure everything was looking good. I became obsessed with my appearance and it began to annoy some of my friends. Looking back at the way I behaved last year, I don't know how all my friends put up with me. Whenever someone said I looked good, I'd reply with "Yeah I know". WHAT A JACKASS MOVE. My friend Eben would regularly call me Mr. Conceited. But I'm glad I got those reality checks every once in a while, especially from my mom. She told me that what I've accomplished was definately something to be confident about but I didn't have to say how good I looked every moment of the day. Rather I just needed to act like I got some damn sense and humility. Losing weight and looking good is a great thing but you don't need to flaunt it and act like your hot shit when you're not really all that. Just carrying yourself  with confidence and humility and the swagger will come naturally, no need to force it. I still have my moments where I say "damn I look good" but moreso I just roll with the flow and let the humility do the talking for me. The ego will always be there, but no need to have to back it up.

Buying A New Wardrobe SUCKKKKKKSSS!!!!!

This post is pretty self-explanatory. Having been at one end of the weight spectrum, then dramatically dropping to the slimmer side is insane. Now add the factor of having to buy new clothes every few weeks or so to try and keep up. It was tough, I was going down pants sizes with the quickness. My friend Gabby began calling them fluffy jeans because they never sat completely on my butt. I'll never forget the day when I went to Macy's to try on some shirts. I'm used to going for XXXL section, which was few and far in between in that store. Then I said to myself "hey you lost some weight, let's try out the XXL stuff". Even that was too big on me. Then I went down to the XL and still wasn't fitting right. I put on a large rocawear shirt and I knew I really lost some weight. I would never dream of trying on a size large shirt and it fitting around my gut, pretty awesome I must say. But buying clothes still sucks. I have the same problem from two years ago. The fluffy jeans are coming back with a vengeance, so I gotta regroup and pony up some dough for clothes. Everything is just too damn expensive, it's all that economy's fault and they're "recovery" system my ass smh. Well whatever it takes to get me looking as good as possible, I'm soooo down!!!!!!

OMG, is that YOU??!!

So a whole year passes by, I lose 100 pounds and the whole world around you takes notice. When I got down maybe 15-20 pounds, it was mostly "hey you look different...." It kinda felt like those erectile dysfunction commercials when they say what's new with Jim. A weird comparison yes, but accurate nonetheless. Lost 50 more pounds down the road and it became "Whoooaaaaaaaaaa Vaughn what happened to you"? "You lost a lot of weight", "You look great". My friends were always in support of me getting healthy and kept me motivated. But of course, all these new "friends" came out the woodwork trying to be all comfy cozy with a brotha (we'll get to the haters in a later post). The response that I received from my family was crazy as well, esepecially from my grandmother. Her big concern was that I looked sick and I should stop losing weight. I always found that funny because there was a point in time when she thought I was too big and needed to lose weight. It's like geez I can't win with everyone. My mom was always encouraging me to get better and healthier. So whenever she saw me, she would just say how amazing I looked and how proud she was of  her son. Now being the mama's boy that I am, my heart melted a little bit when she said these things. There's NOOOO better feeling then feeling the happiness and pride your mom has in you.  I love that lady to the fullest. Anywho, I also had to deal with the backhanded compliments from everyone as well.  Foolishness like "whoa I had no idea how fat you were", "What kind of drugs are u on"?, "Your head even lost some weight too"!!! Just because I lost a huge amount of weight within in a year,    people shouldn't assume that it was due to diet pills or starvation. I simply quit junk food cold turkey and orked my black ass off!!!! Anyone who thinks otherwise, they shouldn't read this blog. No matter what happens, people are bound to form an opinion no matter how ill-informed they may be.

VICTORY!!!!

I will never forget this day as long as I live. It's the last day of the spring semester. I just finished a crazy sweaty workout. Then, I head to the scale to weigh myself. The scale was exactly at 231 pounds, which meant that I reached my goal and I lost 100 pounds in almost a whole year. In all honesty, I shed a few tears. As you can already tell I'm a gentle giant who has no problems showing his emotions. Such a joyous moment in my life. It cemented in my mind that if I really put my mind to use show dedication and discipline, ignore all of the negativity and believe in myself that I can accomplish anything that I desire. This one lesson took me 19 years to learn, but I'm glad I did

some pics from different timepoints.

Slim & Sexy Campaign in Full Effect!

(04/2008) (04/2009)

So week after week, I started noticing immediate changes in my body. Clothes were fitting a little looser on me, and my face was thinning out. My workouts started to get more intense, and added weight lifting to the regiment (I'll get to actual workout plan in a later post). I was losing about 10-15 pounds a month. That's a pretty big number for a monthly basis, but I was dedicated and focused on losing weight. I soon put the goal in my head to lose 100 pounds. There was no time limit, I just knew that I wanted to lose that much weight. Soon after, I then dubbed this entire experience the Slim & Sexy Campaign. Pretty bold title seeing as how I wasn't close to slim and didn't think of myself as being sexy but I went with it!

Get Your Mind Right!!!

For anyone just starting out in trying to lose weight, one major component needs to occur before anything can get accomplished. YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE RIGHT MINDSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  As you can see from the bold/italic/underline emphasis that I take this quite seriously. A lot of people may want to lose weight but the head games start playing immediately, I know this all too well. "Can I do this"? "you can't lose weight", "You're gonna be fat and die". Those are just a few examples of what was going on in my head when I started my weight-loss journey. Had no clue what to do, didn't know if it was possible. You always see those before/after commercials and weight-loss shows and think "man I could never be like that" It's all bullshit!!! Eliminate "can't" and "don't" from your vocabulary asap. Weight-loss is possible, you the individual just needs a positive outlook and drag your ass to the gym, even when you really really really don't wanna go. Tell you the truth I hate working out in general. I could be sleeping or eating, anything sounds better than going to the gym. But I know that if i want to maintain my weight and be healthy, it's just something I have to do, it's in the daily routine I call my life. So suck it up and get your mind right!!

Hell Has A New Name. . . . . The GYM!!!!!!

Ok so once I got to school, I made sure that I made some time to start hitting the gym. I had no type of plan, no type of routine. I just went in there and hoped for the best. The first day was complete torture. For one thing, I almost broke every bone in my body. It took me a while to get the hang of the stairmaster, I looked like a damn fool on this machine and yup people were laughing at me *cough* douchebags *cough*. But anywho, after a few tries I finally the thing to working. Then it was on to pushups and..... yeah it was shaking my head kind of moment. That first day, I did about five, in total. I put it in my head that I couldn't anymore than that, so I went back to my dorm. The next morning, my entire body ached, I honestly never felt that way before in my life. But as the saying says "no pain, no gain" and I kept it moving. The new plan was to step my cardio game up, then worry about the lifting weights part later. There was no set goal, I just wanted to lose as much weight as I possibly could so I wouldn't die. Of course I wanted to be healthy, but the fear of dying really put things into perspective for me. So I kept it moving...

Now What?

After that fateful trip to the doctors, I proclaimed to myself that I was going to lose weight and get healthy. I wanted to be around for quite some time, and I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. Once I put my mind onto the concept of eating healthy, the next thing was to follow through. There was no definite diet plan or anything, I just quit the junk food cold turkey which proved to be easier said than done. Food was truly a drug to me and kicking old habits was a tough task. My mom was there to help me all the way. She had lost some weight a year or two before my ordeal, so knew how hard it would be for me to change. A lot of our family members are overweight and have the same medical issues that I was close to getting. We started out simple at first. She stopped making rice and potatoes with every meal. Grilled chicken and whatever vegetables that were in the freezer were my lunch and dinner that month. She also put me onto crystal light and drinking more water in general. With these subtle changes, I lost about ten pounds before returning to school. Once i did get back, I knew I had ro make myself useful and just start going to the gym. *sigh this is my favorite part*

The Wake-Up Call

So fast forward to summer 2008. I just finished the TD program at URI and I knew for sure that I gained some weight. All I ate really were cheeseburgers and fries for lunch and dinner and then cookies and juice and whatever I had in my dorm room. When I got home, my mom scheduled for me to get a physical. I wasn’t overly concerned with anything regarding my health. Like I knew I was overweight and I wasn’t the perfect picture of health, but no problemo (or so I thought). After the doctor ran her tests and all that blahh blah blah, she came into the room to tell me and my mom what the situation was. As she went down the list, my heart sank deeper and deeper. I honestly never felt so bad before in my life. She told me that I weighed 331 pounds. All through high school people looked at me and said I had to weigh like 250 at most. I never weighed myself so I just went along with it. But to be 80 pounds OVER that prediction?? Absolutely insane. She said that I was on the fast track to getting diabetes, high cholesterol, heart issues, etc. You name it, and I probably had it. This completely threw me off. I didn’t know where to go from there. The nutritionist came in to talk to me as well and offer some healthy eating alternatives. I could hardly pay any attention to her because I was that distraught. On the way home, it was the only time that my mother and I never talked in the car, not a single word uttered. Safe to say we were both thrown a curveball of bad news that day. I remember just running into my room, and starting digging into my stash of little debbie’s. the more bites I took, the less tasty things seemed to me. Then the tears just started falling and didn’t stop for quite some time. I kept to myself for a week or two after that visit. This story is a prime example of hitting rock bottom in order to make changes in your life regarding your health. My mom had been wanting me to lose weight for years and I didn’t wanna out the effort in. It took a doctor telling that basically if I keep going at the rate that I was, an early death pretty much inevitable. You can tell someone until you’re blue in the face to change their ways, but they need to be the one to take charge and make some changes for the better. That’s exactly what I set out to do, and what a journey it’s turned out to be.

Little Debbie: My First Love

Talking about my old snacking habits got me thinking about how much I really loved little debbie snacks. Not trying to glorify junk food, but man they had some great and cheap stuf!! Let’s see we had oatmeal cream pies, fudge rounds, star crunch, zebra cakes, swiss cake rolls, nutty bars, honey buns, cosmic brownies. I used to go through these bad boys like it was nothing. I went to the store recently and saw that oatmeal cream pies were 50 cents now like what the hell is that about? Like damn debbie you’re hurting a man’s wallet nowadays, good thing I quit you when I did. But we did have some good times. Just wanted to reflect for a moment.

How'd I Get To Be So Fat??

I wish I could give some elaborate and extreme story about me getting so heavy. Some people claim to be emotional eaters: When they’re stressed they eat constantly, or not at all. This isn’t me, not in the least bit. The reason I got to 331 pounds is that I’d like to eat, plain and simple. You put some cookies in my face, you could’ve pretty much consider them gone. I was an OD snacker like nobody’s business. I remember the good ol days when I ate at least two entire packages of Double stuffed Oreo’s A DAY! Man cookies were like my crack, real talk. I was the real-life version of the cookie monster. You couldn’t stop me from getting my fix. That’s probably why I had so many cavities all that damn chocolate but it was hmm hmm good. Before I got on my health kick, I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted. In high school my daily lunch was three slices of pepperoni pizza, three sugar cookies, and a orange pineapple twister (five days a week mind you). Then I’d go home and have some fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and cornbread and of course wash it down with my sprite remix aruba jam (that sounds like a stereotype but I’m just saying). My mom tried to get me to eat healthier, so I pretended to go along with her little plan. So we would eat the grilled chicken and veggies at the table, then I would rush to my room, check under my bed, and hit up my stash of little debbies snacks. Sad but true. This kind of foolishness would go on for a few years too many……

My Purpose

Ok I’m new to this whole blogging thing so bare with a brotha. After such positive feedback from my articles on Shapefit and MSN, I decided to go more in-depth with my journey on weight loss and the benefits and burdens that come with. Whenever you see those weight loss commercials, the companies only give you the before/after shot and “how happy” life has become for these formerly overweight people (cut the crap). What they don’t talk about are the in-between struggles: The self-doubt (self-hatred even), frustration, and all the psychological bullshit that comes with being a fatass. I’m probably gonna say fatass quite a few times in my blog because I want to be as truthful as possible. I didn’t get to 331 pounds without being lazy and eating every cookie, cake, pie under the sun. I truly believe that my purpose in life is to motivate others with my stories and anecdotes on weight loss and motivate them to make the neccessary changes in their lives. So put down the cookies fatass cuz from here on out, we’re gonna get real. So stay tuned….