Brian Douglas

Hard post to write...

This is a hard post for me to write in a way. This may sound crazy but I don't like talking about myself...crazy in that I never want to come off as "oh poor me" or come off as ungrateful. Over the past two months or so I have been struggling with a few things....

• According to the government and its healthy weight guidelines I am supposed to weigh between 165 and 205 pounds. I am nearly 6'4" tall and I don't want to even weigh at the high end of the range. In order for me to go on maintenance (free) at ww I need to be within the guideline or get a note from my doctor saying that I have reached a healthy weight for my frame.
• I have never revealed how much I weigh here for a variety of reasons lol. But I am feeling brave and here ya go...when I started WW I weighed 340 pounds and I have now lost 123.2 pounds so I now weigh 216 pounds. I want to maintain a weight of 215 to 220 pounds. I know that this is going to be just as much of a challenge or even harder than losing the weight has been.
• One of the things that I am struggling with a lot ...is people saying not only "You really need to stop losing weight" or "You have lost too much." I don't see myself as anywhere near looking unhealthy or sick. Here are photos of when I started and what I look like now.

  

• Over the past two months I have been adding points every week to try and figure out how my body would react and then I could know exactly what I needed to do to maintain my happy weight. I had my weigh in this morning and I gained 3 ounces :-) I think at least for this week I have a clue on what I need to do points and activity wise to maintain.
• The scale...In the past I have been a total freak about the scale and it was unhealthy. Over the past couple of months I have gotten past being addicted to the scale I am no longer basing my success or failure 5x a day on what the read out says. I will check it occasionally but I am good with not obsessing over it. 

Sorry for the long post but I have just had a lot on my mind and some of the things I honestly dont know how to deal with. So I thought I would throw it out there, I have always been honest here about what is going on in my life as far as my weight loss journey.

2008 has been an amazing year and I look forward to a healthy 2009 not only for me but you as well!

Happy New Year!

Fit from within...

When I am on the treadmill, I always find that if I am reading a magazine, a book or whatever the time goes by a lot faster. So I am always looking for the next thing to read.

"Fit from Within" is the title of a book I just finished reading and I really enjoyed it. No matter where we all are on our weight loss journey there are many things that we can relate to and learn from.

Here are just a few things that leaped out at me from the book:

* Get plenty of sleep - "sleepy people tend to be hungry people" It goes on to explain just how important the role sleep plays into weight loss. I know that the weeks that I get enough rest I tend to lose more weight. I know sleep isnt the only factor that contributes to my better weeks but it is something that I need to do more of. I am a night owl and an early riser. Not a good combo :-)

 * Stay Centered in Today - I recently had a friend tell me the same thing and it really resonated with me. We have to stay away from living in the past or saying I will start after... We need to live in the now. The book says "today is it, and what you do today is all that matters. Staying centered in the now keeps us aware of what we are doing. We will be less likely to eat absentmindedly. It also goes on to say "When you stay focused you will fully experience the day - its events, its sensations, its nuances. Life will become richer and more gratifying."

There are many other subjects in this quick read most chapters are only 2 or 3 pages long and I really enjoyed it and learned from it. Other chapter titles include: Wear clothes that fit in your current size, Do whatever it takes, Shop the produce section first, Let your body determine its right size and shape and many others.

 I personally needed to read about self image and living in the now. I really struggle with self image I still see myself as the guy 123 pounds ago. I know in time my mind will catch up with the changes my body has gone through but for now I am reading everything i can find about the subject.

The book is called "Fit from Within" and it is written by Victoria Moran.

Hope you are having a great week so far!

Brian

Merry Christmas, Santa and my WI

First and foremost I want to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas!!! I hope that Santa hooked you up this morning :-) I had an awesome Christmas morning with the kids. They amaze me everyday and I am blessed to have them. We celebrated with my Mom and other family members last night. My mom is unfortunately an amazing cook lol.

I am glad I did my weigh in yesterday morning before I visited my mom :-)  It was a day earlier than normal due to the Christmas holiday. I lost 2.0 pounds and now I have lost a total of 123.4.

Again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I hope today is a very special day for you and the ones you love.

Brian

Hinder, weight training, a rockin weekend and more...

As usual a million thoughts running through my mind here are a few... Some of you asked me to blog about my trip this past weekend to Cleveland. I left Saturday morning for the four hour drive to see and interview one of my favorite bands Hinder. I had a GREAT time probably a little too good of a time if you know what I mean lol.

The guys from Hinder were amazing on stage , in the afternoon before the show They played a prvate acoustic show in the House of Blues Foundation room that I was invited to. There were about 20 people there and they rocked! I then went back and interviewed the guys.

Aside from being one of my favorite bands and they are just a great bunch of guys. it had been a year since I had seen them in person. I have known them since they first started touring and they made my day when I walked in backstage ...Austin the lead singer and the others said "they wouldn't have recognized me if the record rep hadn't told them who was getting ready to interview them."

Isn't that one of the best feelings...when you run into someone you havent seen in a while and they notice your weight loss?

 
I started weight training about 3 weeks ago and I wished I could say I LOVED it lol. I do feel great after I do it. I am weight training 3 days a week with a great trainer here in Cincinnati named Terry Bryan.

Since I started my weight loss journey I have done cardio 5-6 times a week and I just wanted to firm up so I added the weight training.

Oh I almost forgot, I have had some of you email me and asked if I ever just go off the rails with food??? YES I do :-) We all do at times. This past weekend was one of those times. While out of town I had a couple of meals that tasted great.

Do I regret it??....NO. I normally eat very clean with the WW plan. In the past one or two meals would send me off on a food bender that would last a week ...a month or longer. Now I just start right back up and I know I will have to work a little bit harder to not show a gain. Because of Christmas falling on my normal wi day, I am going a day early (tomrrow/wednesday) I    am pretty sure my weekend will probably show up on the scale.lol

One of the things I have discovered through WW this year is that when in the past I have put myself in a diet box and denied myself any type of cheat meal what so ever I failed in my attempts at losing weight.

Weight Watchers and the support that we all share with each other has been a lifesaver for me. 

This week's Wi and other fun...

I love the holidays not so much for all the gifty things (as a friend of mine calls it) but because the of the reaction on my kids faces , spending time with those I love and remembering the reason for the season. The holidays also mean we are usually in hyper mode and everybody is so BUSY. Make sure you take a deep breath (I am telling myself this too) and take in all the fun that can be experienced aside form the hustle and bustle.

My weigh in went well this week, I lost 1.2 and I have now lost a total of 121.4 pounds. I have been adding points and trying to find that magic number that will keep me maintaining. I really believe that the next phase (maintenance) is going to be as challenging as losing has been.

Had a fun day earlier , the radio station where I work hosted a lunch for winners with the band Saving Able. We had an awesome time, the band sounded great and the guys couldn't have been any nicer! If you are not familiar with Saving Able they have 2 current hits "Addicted" and "18 Days." Here is a pic from this afternoon with the guys and my good buddy Grover who is on before my show on the radio.

 

I hope you have had a great week and enjoy your weekend! I am headed to Cleveland tomorrow morning to hang out with the guys from "Hinder" they are playing the House of Blues in Cleveland tomorrow night. :-)

Brian

The Biggest Loser and even Oprah struggles...

Just finished watching the biggest loser and I was THRILLED with the winner. I wont spoil it here just in case you haven't watched it yet. The show is so inspirational!!! The transformations were incredible. I almost cant wait to get in the gym in the morning :-)

I was also thrilled to see that a brand new season of the Biggest Loser begins January 6th on NBC! If you recorded the show tonight be sure to watch it, I think you will be blown away with what they have accomplished.

I have always admired and respected Oprah Winfrey. She is one of a kind, She helps others , She is an   amazing TV host, She owns an entertainment empire AND she like you and I ...struggles with her weight.

I had heard reports about the January cover of her "O" magazine and that she posed on the cover when she was thinner and that she had gained weight and was going to address it in the magazine.

The magazine cover was both honest and inspiring at the same time. When the magazine came into the radio station today... I grabbed it and brought it home to read. I would highly recommend picking up a copy when you see it on the news stand. 

Here is just a small quote from Oprah and one that I think we can all relate to and apply to our lives in the new year.

"If you are looking for an excuse to fall off the wagon the universe will provide one. Thats what I have learned. Its not enough to simply claim to care about yourself,when you believe you are worthy of the space you occupy on the planet.

You demonstrate that by insisting that every last one of your choices - from the food you put in your mouth to the commitments you put on your calendar - moves you toward the life you want. 

This past year , I completely took myself of my own priority list. I wasn't just low on my list, I wasn't even on my list. What I have realized is that no self care means no self love. We all need to make 2009 the year we give ourselves as much love and support as we give others."

There is a lot more to the article and again I would recommend picking up a copy of the new "O" magazine!

I hope you are having a great week and thank you for checking out my blog :-)

Brian

Its been a while...

"It's been a while" is a great song from a band called Staind...it also describes how long its been since I updated my blog lol.

Life has been a lot crazy in the past five days but life has also been VERY good. SO... here are a few random things I wanted to share...

Treating yourself  When we have a great week on the scale or more importantly a non scale victory we need to reward ourselves. For me it reminds me of where I came from on my weight loss journey and where I am headed. When I lost 100 pounds a lot of people told me I should do something to celebrate the milestone. It may not seem like a big thing but I wrestled with what to do or get. I finally decided to get myself a new pair of shoes for my workouts.  Its funny I just feel better with them on my feet while working out. I know it is a mental trick but it works for me ;-) Here are the Under Armour cross trainers I just bought and I love them ...they are very comfortable and supportive :-)

 

Weigh in this morning...I was excited about going and seeing everybody at the Blue Ash weight watcher meeting this morning. We were are all anxious to hear about the new program. Sue (our amazing leader) explained everything and I brought everything home to really read it tonight too. It doesn't seem that different from what I am already doing but I need to finish reading all the material.

I love what WW has done in my life...I honestly think that WW has been a lifesaver for me and I am thankful.  Before the meeting, I reached a personal goal that I had set a while back and I was excited to meet that goal of losing 120 pounds total. I lost 1.4 lbs this week and now have lost a total of 120.2 lbs.
 

Weight Training Since I started WW I have only done cardio, I knew I needed to start weight training at some point just to firm up. I recently reached out to one of my WW heroes "Shrunk" and asked her about weight training and how it played into her amazing success.

She gave me some great advice and so this week I started working out at Terry Bryan's training center here in Ohio. Terry is a friend and is amazing at what he does. Kind of funny i see similarities in the atmosphere at WW and at Terry's. Both places have a ton of of people who are so supportive and trying to improve their health. Wish me luck because my butt, Hamstrings, Quads and every other muscle on my body hurts as I write this lol.

New Music for the Holidays ... I have mentioned in other posts that I love my job at the radio station I work at. I am the music director and I also do the afternoon show at an awesome station. I also appear on the Fox TV affiliate and talk about new music. 

Tomorrow morning (fri) I will be reviewing a bunch of new Christmas . Holiday cd's. Here are a few of my new Favs this year:

"Winter Songs" has a bunch of great female artists on it including Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, Lenka, Katy Perry and Fiona Apple.

"Harry Connick Jr. What a Night"  If you like Connick you will LOVE this one.

"This Warm December" A VERY cool new take on holiday classics by Jack Johnson, G Love and others.

"Melissa Etheridge : a new thought for Christmas"

Brian Setzer "Christmas Rocks" One of my favorites!!!

Faith Hill "Joy to the World"

I hope you are doing well and everything is great in your world!!!!
Brian

What I do for a living...

You may or may not know, I work as the music director and afternoon dj on Q102 Cincinnati. We do a lot of artist interviews...here is one I did yesterday with one of my favorite bands and a bunch of great guys ...Hinder

Keeping a journal and more...

Keeping a food journal is so important, I know we have been told that from the beginning of WW but I have come up with another important reason to keep one. I am a creature of habit when it comes to the foods I eat. Do you ever get bored with the foods you eat? I do and I am always looking for new things to eat.

Well I keep all my food journals and I recently went back and looked at some old ones to see what I used to eat early on in the program. I had forgotten about a bunch of foods that I really like :-)

If you haven't heard about the new WW Momentum plan yet and you are a WW online subscriber log on to weightwatchers.com and you will see the plan unveiled.

I always look forward to my Thursday morning ww meeting with the amazing group at Blue Ash. I wasn't so sure I was looking forward to it this week after having Thanksgiving and a couple of dinners out lol.

However the workouts paid off and I lost 2.2 pounds this week and now have lost a total of 118.8.

New Weight Watchers plan unveiled...online

Quick short post...The new "WW Momentum" plan has been unveiled online at weightwatchers.com. If you are a WW online subscriber it is all laid out for you online at the WW site.

In fear of being sued...I cannot reprint it here :-)

I have just glanced at it and it looks easy and exciting combining elements of both flex and core.