SharkysWorld

​My wife and I are bad parents….more parents should admit that.

Last night was another wake up call; our 9 year old son has to wear adult 1xl shirts now. He’s over 5 ft tall and weighs way more than a kid his age should- there is no reason to post his weight because we know it but it’s way, way over where it should be; and that is 100% our fault.

I remember growing up as a fat kid- I got bullied daily, I couldn’t do the stuff other kids did like pull ups and running that stupid mile. My mom couldn’t find clothes that fit me so I dressed like an idiot and it was just a shitty time for me all around and I remember thinking “this is my mom’s fault.” And honestly, it was.

My dad left when I was just a baby and I was an only child so it was always just me and my mom and she spoiled me and gave me everything I wanted…even if that wasn’t good for me. I don’t remember eating veggies but I remember homemade fried chicken, fried pork chops, tons of mac and cheese and just tons of food in general. Our special days were going to Giovanni’s and eating the pizza buffet and since we were poor, we always looked for the “value”- why pay $6 for a salad when you can pay $5 and eat all the pizza and garlic bread you can stuff in your chubby little body; that stuck with me.

You see it all the time- you can pay this much for one thing but just add a little more and we’ll give you TWO…what a great deal and, I mean, since you bought both…you have to eat both.

Our son is already obese and it’s 100% our fault- we didn’t teach him the right way to eat (mostly because we are just learning ourselves), we have let him set on his laptop or watch TV and get almost no exercise and we have stuff McDonald’s down his throat for 9 years because it made him happy, he got a toy and it was quick and easy.

I had focused the last 3-4 months or trying to get him to eat better and just maintain his weight, hoping he would hit a spurt and “grow into it” and that mostly worked but we slacked and he’s gained 5 lbs in a couple of weeks and after measuring him and seeing that he’s already over 5 ft, there isn’t much room to grow into anything at this point.

So, what’s the plan….

I’m going to start tracking (and try to teach him) what he eats through the day and how to understand calories, carbs, fats and proteins and why certain things are good and why they are bad. When we hit the grocery store- no more Little Debbies, cans o’ chili or cookies. We are going to start only having fruits and veggies and healthy snacks- he can eat the healthy stuff or not- either way, it should help keep his calories down.

As for exercise, we each have a kettlebell so I’m going to start getting him to do some stuff with me, then we are going to throw the “heavy ball” and make a game out of it and then we are going to use the punching bag- one of us on each side and just punch stuff. We may even throw on some hip hop cardio stuff and just dance around. Then, we are going to either walk at the park each night or, if it’s raining, just go to Wal-Mart and walk up and down…whatever it takes.

Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~~shArky~~~~~

Yesterday was the 4 month mark of really trying to focus on weight loss and getting healthy and the best way to describe where I’m at is- aggravated, annoyed, stressed, doubtful….pick any of those.

Since April 8th- I’ve dropped 41 lbs. which is an average of 10.25 lbs. per month; if I did that for a year, then I would drop around 123 lbs. which is great…but then again, I should have lost 15-20lbs just the first week from water weight, etc.

I keep getting to 399 and then screwing up the weekend…going back up a few pounds, working it back down to 399 by Thur/Fri and then repeating it all over again. I’ve been around 399 for over two weeks now and it’s not due to a plateau, it’s due to just flat out screwing up.

I hit spots where I truly just don’t give a shit and then I hit spots, like this morning, where I evaluate where I was and where I am and where I could be and get motivated again.

The only good thing is that I haven’t let the weekend screw ups overflow into the week and I’ve been able to get back on track and at least maintain…I’m basically exercising to just maintain my weight at this point and that has to stop.

Tomorrow, my son starts 5th grade and while we have greatly slowed his weight gain down over the last 4 months, he is still one of the bigger kids in school and I realize that I need to do better for myself and for him.

Not only to I realize I need to do better but I understand that I could BE doing better…I’m honestly not even putting 50% into the effort and I don’t have a damn clue why. I need to step up and force myself to do what needs to be done and stop slacking. If I can drop 41 lbs. slacking then there is no telling what I could do if I put in 110%.

I have to find a way around weekends and start moving forward- this a few steps forward and a few steps back isn’t getting me anywhere. 

Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~shArky~~~~~

It’s been a rough week and I knew it would be- I hit 399 on Friday and I knew the “me” still in there was going to try to screw it up- I still don’t understand why but it just happens.

HOWEVER….I’ve fought back.

I gave in to fast food with McDonalds AND Taco Bell this week, however, I’m still right around where I was due to exercising my ass off on both days. Just based on calories, I basically exercised off the same amount I ate so there wasn’t much gain weight- I know the other stuff such as carbs, fats, sodium was really bad but, as far as the weight, I’m still around the same and I still have two days left to not make the week a total loss.

This is the one thing I’m learning, that I never did before…even if you eat something bad, just keep exercising and try to recover the next day and keep going for it because that one little, minor setback really won’t do much damage but if you let it turn into more then it will destroy all the hard work.

I need to refocus, look where I was and where I am and I need to get re-inspired and re-motivated. My wife had a healthy meal planned but we had to donate trading cards (for our charity) which just killed it and I couldn’t eat Subway again so I just gave in to Taco Bell….it was 100% my fault due to lack of planning and I gotta work on that.

Walking and bike today and keeping the food in check; this is a lifestyle change and a lifelong battle.

Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~~shArky~~~~~

It’s been a long time coming but I’m under 400 lbs for the first time in along time.

I got down to 295 lbs back in 2005 but quickly gained it so back and then remained over 400 lbs for years.

I’m doing things different this time and I’m truly trying to make habit changes that stick but I realize that this is going to be a day to day battle for the rest of my life.

Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~~shArky~~~~~

​Thank you Pokemon Go!

And I seriously mean that…

I realize there are some idiots out there taking the game way too serious or not watching what they are doing or doing other ignorant stuff like trying to play it while driving; but there are some of us who aren’t. 

There are some of us who are responsible adults and we are playing as families and with our kids and it’s a great thing.

There are some downfalls-like I work in a big new office building and since the game is based on GPS and older Google maps information, this new building doesn’t exist AND, on top of that, the GPS signal can’t get through so I can’t set here all day and collect Pokemon, which is a good thing. There is a bad side though, the GPS doesn’t pick up the couple of miles I walk on our inside “track” so I can’t incubate eggs even though I’m getting a ton of exercise. I could do all of my walking outside but it’s really hot and I sweat a lot and I don’t need to set here stinking all day.

With those small complaints out of the way- it’s amazing that I live in a very small town in Kentucky, yet my family saw several other families out hunting Pokemon like we were. They were obese kids actually walking! There were dads out catching Pokemon with the kids…it was just really cool to see.

We hadn’t planned on walking last night but the game got us out of our house/car and out on the sidewalks of our little down; it took us to the park and even places we’ve never been to and it was fun and FREE! I know you can buy items to help with the hunt but those aren’t required.

I know I’ll never be a Pokemon Master and I’ll never overthrow other players to take over gym turf but I will get up off my ass and get some walking and so will my overweight son and that is an amazing thing…even if we just get up and walk around our yard or neighborhood, it’s getting us moving!

If they can keep the game relevant and updated, then this could put a huge dent in childhood (and adulthood) obesity! This game makes exercise fun and you don’t even realize it and it makes you want to exercise more because there are ALWAYS Pokemon out there to catch- either new ones or duplicates to use to level up.

We need more games like this; the Wii tried to get us up and moving but a lot of folks just sat on the couch swinging Wiimotes and not even trying, but this game gets you up and out the door!

Get moving and catch them all! (but be safe!)

– this little guy was out back, knocking over trash cans! 

Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~~shArky~~~~~