As we walked out of the magical Ollivander’s wand ceremony and into the main store I was still trying to figure out what wand that I would pick. One of the assistants told me that by my birthday that the wand would be Rowan. The wood is revered for its powers of protection. Rowan people are full of healing energy and they delight in helping others. Rowan people should use their powerful imagination and resourceful nature to make their dreams come true. It had a massive skull on it and I just didn’t think that it was me. So we left the store and walked around some more and I ended up on their the next day again. This time I just walked around and then pulled a box off the shelf. It was Hazel. Hazel wood is associated with wisdom, protection and magical skills. Hazel people are often wise beyond their years. They make inspiring teachers, combining creative talent and practical knowledge. Hazel people should be sure they take the time to share their gifts with others. After reading that I knew that although both would more or less be fitting, that the hazel wand was more my calling. I share. I share a lot. Some would say even having this website, I share too much. But that’s just me I guess. I also have hazel eyes, just saying.
I tried really hard to not flood everyone’s news feeds while we were in Orlando. It was hard to hide 
my excitement though. The trip started with the anxiety of being a big guy and flying but I quickly slid into the seat and all was well. The cheap seats on the way there was actually better than the more expensive seats on the way back. But we got there with no problems, checked into the Hard Rock and then decided to head to the parks and get a good look around. Amber (the Mr’s in case you are new here, I also call her the CEO of the team in some references) and I haven’t been on a vacation other than the shore since 2004 so I was excited. I also know that this was more for me than anything. And if you ask her, I am sure she’ll tell you that it’s always about me. Whatever. It’s gotta be about someone I guess. We were just going to go take a look around but then the lines weren’t long and before we know it, we were in the park for 5 hours, rode Spiderman, Minions, Shrek, and a bunch of other rides. The kicker and the main anxiety was coming from fitting in the seats at Harry Potter and the two signature rides there. So as we walked into Hogsmeade and my eyes saw Hogwarts, I got chills. I am sure I looked like a goofball with a mega smile on my face. But there they were. The seats. The panic. I went over. Slid in and with a push or two from a nice Slytherin, I was given the green light and told the end seats have a little more room.
Every new ride at Universal is 3D and crazy anymore and the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is no different. We rode is 5 times while we were there. I don’t think I had my eyes open very much the first time for sure and by the last time they were opened wider than ever. It was amazing and one of my greatest non-scale victories to date. Honestly. The whole trip might as well been 1 big non scale victory. We had a few decent dinners but pretty much grazed off and on when we needed to through out the day. I had about 10 Butterbeers and even got a Simpson’s Big Pink Donut. It was a great trip and I was in bed by 9:30pm 3 of the 4 nights. We averaged about 10 miles on foot per day. Came home Friday around 3pm. By 6pm I was on my way to AC to work. Did 3 photo shoots on Saturday and went to dinner at the FOP. Weighed myself on Sunday morning. FUCK!
313.6lbs. FUCK. Okay. Don’t panic Franco. Remember you started at 411lbs. You got this! Now what? Okay.
I woke up Monday. Oatmeal was ready. Water was ready. I decided that I didn’t want to starve and than I probably wasn’t eating enough before my vacation and was going to use the vacation weight gain as a catalyst for the next step. I got on the scale on Monday morning and just with drinking water and making sure I was taking my water pills and supplements on Sunday, I was at 310.7. Okay. That makes a little more sense and was probably what I was before vacation. Okay, that’s over the 100lbs lost again. I can breathe again. I pulled out the body fat meter and then plugged my numbers into the IIFYM calculator. So it was basically telling me to lose weight I would need to hit 175g of Protein, 252g of carbs and 88g of fat per day. I’d have to increase my fiber and pull if all off for under 2500 calories. Okay, so that means I have to eat because when I’ve been careful and logging I usually don’t like to go over 1600 calories so this is going to be hard. It’s almost like while eating HEALTHY it’s hard. I can do it by junking but that won’t get me where I want to be for sure. On Monday I kinda failed miserably. I only got about 1200 calories in and just didn’t get to where I need. I was short 128P, 139C and 42f. I tweeted that I’d try again tomorrow. I promised myself that I’d give this a go for the next 2 months. I had a photo shoot in the morning so I only got 1 workout in and just felt like I half assed it. I have to do better. No more feeling sorry for myself.
Tuesday came and I was on a mission. My weight was 308.9. Okay. That’s 4.7 pounds down from Sunday. I’ll take it. I know my body is in turmoil right now. I went to OTF and got my butt kicked in a tornado. Then went to Campos and did the iDominate nooner and then went back for another 1/2 hour bullet boot camp. It took a lot of work to hit my macros or get them close. I ate 2321 calories. I was short P30, 6C, and 2F – not bad for day 2 of the whole shabang. I was eating turkey at 9pm though but I nailed it. Better than a bag of chips I guess.
Wednesday morning came and I jumped on the scale and found it to get me to 307lbs. Down 6.6 pounds since Sunday morning. I have been getting my water in so I know that is a big part of all of this. You can take me off suicide watch now. Guess what. Dieting is hard. Calorie counting is hard. Flexible dieting is hard too. Everything comes with a cost. I don’t believe in depriving yourself. I also think that in the end you always pay for those cheat days, cheat meals etc. What are you cheating? Yourself? Why cheat yourself? You want pizza? Eat the damn pizza. Just don’t freak if you get on the scale and it’s not what you thought. I am gonna get to another mini plateau in a few days. I can feel it. And this time I think I’ll handle it a little better.
I tried to schedule my OTF visit for this week and the class for this morning was full so I ended up in a 90 minute OTF class in Willow Grove. THAT KILLED ME!!!!! But I did burn over 1300 calories. And then I went to weight lift Wednesday last night. Needless to say my legs are in hell. I think I did better eating yesterday too. I could have used a little more protein but was only shy P30, C16, F3 – That’s pretty damn good when you are flex eating. I could have hit that with one protein shake but I just didn’t think I could get it down.
Today’s blogging weight in is 304.3lbs. I will be so excited to get back under 300lbs. Hopefully next week at some point. This week has taken off a little over 9 pounds as my body bounces back from vacation. I also am down 3 pounds from my last blog on November 5th so that’s where we are. I’ll check in on Wednesday next week since the last thing anyone will want to do on Thanksgiving is look for my blog.
Thank you for reading. I know I am all over the place this week. I just wanted to catch everyone up.
Here are a few links for you in case I threw anyone for a loop.
Bootcamps – Dan Campos Fitness
OTF – Orange Theory FitnessIIFYM- If It Fits Your Macros
Flex Dieting – Flex Eating
I hope everyone has a great day!.
Franco
