Archives for November 2014

Come a Little Closer….

November 28, 2014 By franco Leave a Comment

I wasn’t going to write anything this week since it’s a holiday and I didn’t want to get on the scale this morning after Thanksgiving. A few days ago when I did weigh myself I was about the same so we are still about 10 pounds form goal weight for 2014. I am not getting on a scale till mid-week. Too much standing for shows and eating. But I am starting to get that under control today. I have been slacking on my protein intake and even calorie counting. It’s Thanksgiving. I have been doing the best that I can. I’ll pull myself together by Monday for sure.

Went to see Bleachers (it’s a band) at the TLA on Sunday and I stood the whole time. It wasn’t bad. I was very happy to be able to do it and experience minimal discomfort or pain. Much different than when I went to see Butch Walker last spring. I did not buy my 2nd concert shirt ever because they really didn’t have anything that I liked. The concert rocked and the band was freaking awesome.

I have been hitting the gym and doing boot camps every day including Thanksgiving. Trying to stay active as it gets colder is very hard. I just want to sit on my couch under a blanket.

I tried on an old pair of 44 jeans. The last size I’ve bought have been 50’s. They fit. They were snug but they fit. So maybe I’ve lost some inches and not so much weight. I definitely am not in an XL t-shirt yet for sure. The jeans are a little out dated I think but I’ll still be wearing them soon. Because I can.

December is coming. It will be go time. I am going to do this. I can do this. I have felt depressed about it lately. I’ve been trying to keep the 88-91lbs that I’ve already lost in perspective but it’s hard. This is where I have to rally myself. This is where I have to push harder than I’ve pushed all year long.

I am mental.

Bought the vest and it was tight. Not so much now.

Come Pick Me Up

November 20, 2014 By franco Leave a Comment

I guess in the end the most important thing to tell you is that I lost about 2 pounds since last Friday. Just about 93 pounds total loss. That’s the healthy, right way to lose weight. My cleanse lasted 8 1/2 days and then I just had to have some coffee and sopresatta. I was miserable and the weight wasn’t coming off like it did in May. I have worked too damn hard to be miserable. So I abandoned ship. I am just going to stick with the Lose-it App and keep logging everything that goes into my mouth and make the best decisions that I can.

I have been pretty much going non-stop since last week gym wise. On training day I even did a double, boot camp and training. It doesn’t really bother me and I like the structure of having somewhere to go and something healthy to do everyday. It works for me and it keeps me in check. I know you need a day off so I am taking one today before I go back at it on the weekend. I like going to boot camp no matter how tired I am on the weekends because it keeps my weekends in check. The puppy doesn’t really let anyone sleep so you might as well get up and move.

This 2XL Butch Walker T-shirt means a lot to me.

I went to the Ryan Adam’s and Butch Walker concert last night at the Tower. Something that I wouldn’t have done last spring let alone last year. I would be and still am so afraid of fitting in the seats. And if I don’t fit then what? I’ve had it happen to me in the past and it’s one of the scariest and most humiliating thing I have ever had to deal with. I missed almost the first act of Les Miserables in the past because of it. And that was at a decent weight range. So after I climbed to the very top of the Tower Theater and slid into my aisle seat and I fit, you could have heard the angel’s singing Alleluia. Now I am just about 6″3 and my legs no matter what I weight are long so they are always poking the person in front of my seat a little. Luckily the woman in front of me kinda had the same problem so I never got a dirty look like I have in the past. The show was great though and I am very glad that I pulled the trigger.

It was a early Christmas present to my brother who flew in for 19 hours to see the show. It was pretty much all the family I’ll see for Christmas this year. Another non-scale victory to add to fitting in the seat is being able to walk up to the merch booth and buy whatever the hell I wanted because they had 2xl t-shirts. I haven’t bought a concert shirt in over 20 years. I was pretty stoked to buy the Butch Walker Baseball shirt. I can’t wait for people to ask me who Butch Walker is. But I don’ care. The name of my website comes from one of his songs. This is a big deal to me that might not be such a big deal to most people.

I will talk about #teamfranco soon enough but I wanted to acknowledge my bands saxophone player and friend Aram. I had used the Lose it app and other iPhone apps and given up on them in past. But he starting taking control of his weight and habits about 6 months or so before me and has done amazing. Watching him transform, turning down booze, trying to eat more healthy and trust me it’s really hard in our business. He’s been an inspiration to me and he found this site and twitter before anyone and he’s definitely someone that I knew reads this weekend. He’s leaving the band at the end of January and it’s going to break my heart. It was nice to have one of my #1 supporters and cheerleaders with me all the time on the weekends and I know it’s selfish of me,. But it sucks. I wish he wasn’t going anywhere. He conducts himself with my (the bands) clients in a manner that I pride myself on. I only want the best for him.

So I have about 10 pounds to goal. I am preparing myself mentally to get there, eating healthy. Having fun and enjoying life. I am too serious for my own good sometimes.

Well keep watching my Twitter for daily updates. Thank you for the love.

Franco

My niece and one of my favorite peope in the whole world

So excited that this Nike shirt fit so nicely

Wish I could grip the big one but I am always afraid to hurt my wrist.

I Wish You Would

November 14, 2014 By franco Leave a Comment

www.thealbumcafe.com — 90 lbs lost as of 11/14/14

I saw this quote today that really hit home. One of the MTV Challenge stars, Diem passed away after 3 rounds of fighting and beating cancer. One of her best friends said this. “Your health is the most important thing in the world,”. “If you have it… You have everything. Don’t take it for granted. Be thankful… Count your blessings. Don’t sweat the small stuff. And send love to those who need it.” – Cara Brown

That kinda hits it home for me and in a weird kinda way makes 2014 one of the best years of my adult life. Cameras, Xbox’s, Cars, toys, houses don’t mean anything in the end if you aren’t healthy enough to live and enjoy the life you have. That is the greatest gift and just like anything else when you are gone, you can’t take the stuff that everyone seems to work so hard to get. This year it’s really been about working hard to make me better. It’s a hard struggle honestly. But as some people on my Facebook think it’s all the gym etc. They don’t seem to get that it is a major life change. That no matter how hard you work in the gym, if you don’t work hard in the kitchen, that your gym efforts will not be rewarded. And let’s face it, I think I am working much harder in the kitchen than I am at the gym or boot camps.

My muscle tone and body is no where near what I had hoped it would be in March when I started

Home made meal Sunday before I re-committed and kicked this weeks ass.

working out. I am hoping to bump my personal training to 2x a week. You kinda cut other things out of your life and use that money on yourself. So many people tell me they wish they had the time…. There are classes at 5:30 Am and 6:30pm and in between. There are gyms open 24/7 all week long. Money wise.. the money I don’t spend almost daily on Wawa goes to my fitness and nutrition. It’s not freaking cheap to try and live a healthier life. I eat to live at this point. I know I that I have to fuel the furnace to burn the fat. What you put in your body is really in the end what matters the most. You can eat 2000 calories of healthy stuff or you can eat 2000 calories of Wawa and KFC. Your body is going to use one of them a lot better to fuel the furnace to burn the fat. But Wawa and KFC are cheaper and easier so you get left in a quandary. It’s hard to weed through all the bullshit that also comes with weight loss and nutrition. Sometimes I don’t know what to do. I did go to a nutritionist at the beginning and she just wanted me to do the food pyramid and honestly, that just wasn’t for me.

So where does that put me this week? 5.6 pounds lighter than last week. I am at 320.9lbs today. The biggest jump since May and the best weekend loss to date. Not drinking and keeping my activity level high plus a lot of walking for photo shoots made this one rock. I have been eating every 3 hours, keeping the carbs low and protein high. Drinking AT LEAST A GALLON of water a day and working out 6 in some fashion 6 days a week. I have been killing it this week. NO SNACKS. NO JUNK. NO CHEAT MEAL. NO REWARD MEAL. Just focus. I am so close to my goal.

When I launched this site and twitter I wanted to get to 100 lbs in a year. That date is January 6th. So even if the goal comes early.. I am going balls to the wall through the holidays and seeing how much further I can push this and push myself. I think the best is yet to come. I will let myself have a good holiday, I am not a total idiot. But moderation and restraint will need to be key.

I’ve had a good week. I can’t complain. Thank you for reading. If you have any ideas. Let me know.

Let’s Go Crazy (Let’s Get Nuts)

November 7, 2014 By franco Leave a Comment

Okay. Just so I don’t start writing this and getting down on myself let me just get the basic facts out there. I lost .7 pounds since last week. And honestly my eating was good, my training was good. I am doing all the right things. If you look to the left you’ll see that I am 15.5 lbs. from my weight loss goal for 2014. I think a lot of my success has been accountability. I do realize that in the end I am only accountable to myself and no one else.. but creating this blog.. my twitter... sharing it with only a select few and anyone else who happen to be a creeper and just find it…. That has helped and made a difference. I will share this with everyone when I hit 100 pounds. That has always been the goal. To motivate – To inspire. But to do that. I had to do something first. I’ve fallen flat on my face plenty of times before so I didn’t want to set myself up for a failure either. So did I hope to have taken at least 2 pounds off this past week. YES! Am I bummed that I didn’t? YES! Is that going to stop me? HELL NO! I have a freaking awesome New Years Eve outfit in the closet. I have to rock the shit out of this. I have never wanted anything so bad in my life. So you best believe that I am going to do this for me, my family and the haters can keep hating. I already know that I am special. But having haters 🙂 Love that.

So let’s talk a little bit about my workouts. I have been doing something every day. I don’t think I do anything all that crazy so if I don’t get a complete rest day I don’t really go crazy. I didn’t take a rest day this week and went to boot camp 6 days and trained with my trainer on the 7th. You might remember that I joke that she’s a girl. Well she is. And she really challenges me during our hour together. I wish I didn’t have so much money tied into all my fitness stuff because I would do it twice a week for sure. It’s pushing me to try things that I am afraid of in boot camp. I will list them in a few minutes But see those boxes to the right? Well don’t look at the big one cause that shits crazy. But look at the 16 inch one. I finally after almost 7 months at boot camp, did the step up. That is a big deal to me.

So a weight loss motivator friend of mine, Charlie who runs the ManEater Me Bloglikes to talk about Non Scale Victories. So you probably have noticed me writing about them more and more. So here are a bunch more for this week.

Today marked 300 days in a row hitting my Nike Fuel fitness goal. It’s set at the average level for men my age. Some days I crush it completely and some days I just get over it but either way for over 300 days I’ve beaten it. Definitely faster and stronger than I was 300 days ago.
Did you read the above? I freaking did steps ups on the 16 inch box. I mean come on already.
I also did Jumping Jacks with my legs banded. Decent assisted push ups and get read for this. I PLANKED! Yup. You read that right. I planked. 30 seconds at a time but I have done it and have been doing them in boot camp since Tuesday.
I think I am almost in an XL shirt. They fit. They feel a little short at the stomach but they fit. I was in a 4xl in January.
Wearing 2xl underwear comfortable with the boys all nestled nicely.
Legs and feet don’t hurt much anymore either.

So that’s what I can remember for this week. I’ll try and keep better track of it over the next few days.

I might try and knock this out of the park with a cleanse. It worked well for me in May and seeing as the Advocare girl wants me to sell it or at least offer it to my clients, I figured I should do a round of it to see if it works and I like it. Who knows. I don’t want to talk about something or distribute something if I don’t believe in it. Not to mention I’d most likely end up like my friend Superman Bill Showell and just let all my friends get it at my cost so everyone can afford to be healthy together.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Franco

P.S. I still whip my hair back and forth.