Ben’s Profile Journey: Week 1
Hi, Ben here, and I’m embarking on a mission. A mission to not be fat when I turn 42 years-old in February of 2018. To do that I've partnered with Profile by Sanford to go through the program, and I want to take you with me. I want you to experience my journey through the blog here, in videos and on the radio at Hot 104.7. I'm going to be as open a possible with my struggles and what I'm doing. I believe in Profile, I know it works; the rest is up to me. I think this will be an interesting time and I hope you enjoy it with me.
Week 1
Here I am at the start of my journey. This is my first week with Profile. To start I had my first meeting with my Profile Coach Erica. She is my point person, the person who is lucky enough to hear me complain about how everybody else gets to have pizza but me. Then she get to reassure me that it's OK, remind me of what's important and that pizza will still exist in the future. They aren't going to run out of pizza.
Anyways, I spent about an hour talking with Erica. She laid out the program that I will be working on based on my goals, current health and medical history.
Let's look at where I'm starting from:
- Weight: 331 lbs
- Waist: 51 in
- Chest: 54 in
- Neck: 20 in
My goal weight is 200 lbs. To get there I am starting with the Reboot Reduce Phase of the program. This a low calorie, low carbohydrate, high protein meal plan. The focus of this part is to see results quickly with a state of ketosis, slimier to other low carb diets. This is important, especially for me, as a form of encouragement. If I can see results quickly, I'll not lose motivation. The meal plan that I'm using to start is heavy on the Profile meal replacements and vegetables, with a little bit of fats and protein. All together just under 1000 calories a day.
This is part of what I like about Profile, being told what to eat. I am eating six times a day and I have a list of what I can eat. I'm having a meal replacement shake for breakfast, as a mid-morning snack, with lunch and in the evening. In the afternoons I have a Profile protein bar and a fiber drink. At lunch I'm to eat some vegetables and a bit of fat, like some cheese. For dinner more vegetables and fats with some meat. I have a list of foods and the amounts that I need to eat.
This is great, because despite my parents' best efforts when I was a kid, I have a hard time feeding myself. Not the getting the food into my mouth part. Clearly I have that aspect of the process down pat. No, I never seemed to pick up the idea of eating like a person and not a perpetual collage freshman.
I have either been a person that eats a little bit of junk constantly all day. Or I would not eat all morning, crash in the afternoon and then eat like I was preparing to hibernate for the winter. So, having a specific, written out, guide of what and when takes so much pressure off my shoulders.
So I'm off. I have my Profile food and my plan and am ready to go. I'm glad that in a way I don't have to think about eating now, but all of a sudden I'm seeing food everywhere. Even as I start this, I'm coming across all the time I just grab something and eat it. "Oh one of the kids left a granola bar on the table, I better eat it." I don't know, maybe I was afraid that raccoons would get it. Or making my kids' lunches and taking a spoonful of peanut butter. But the worst is I'm noticing how often I thinking, "Hey, I'm board. What's to eat." I don't want to be a fidget-spinner guy, but maybe I need one to keep my hands busy and out the chip bag.
I'm already noticing the little habits that have got me to where I am. This is going to take focus. Focus like I've not had before. The tools are here. The support is here. Now it's on me to make it happen.
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