Brian and Brenda's space

Brian here, back with another post for you!

So today kind of stood out, made me want to add a Blog post. Woke up this morning for my usual 6am run/workout in the gym before class. On a side note, class doesn't start til 10 on Tuesdays but I like to keep my schedule as is, so I do a 6am workout every week day with one rest day. In any case, today was a normal day, but as I was walking between classes with friends, I saw a table run by some club at school, passing out free slices of pie to anyone who took a piece of paper with a description of the club. What more could a college student ask for? Free pie, no questions asked. It didn't hit me until I was walking past it, that I hadn't grabbed a slice, I wasn't hungry for it. A couple months back or so, I would have been all over that table, probably with different disguises, trying to get more than one piece, but I didn't and I was fine. Then temptation struck again on the way back from class, heading to another class. The table in the cafeteria had a new club running it, this time, passing out free snack cakes and honey buns. As much as I wanted that little piece of chocolate cake, or the small honey bun, there was no way I was cancelling out my morning workout buy unwrapping a snack smaller than my hand. So again, I refused, and felt good about it.

20 minutes before righting this I had a couple of cookies my mom had made for me and my friends. Made me think about what happened today. I had a choice to take a piece of pie or snack cake, because I was in motion, walking by it. But here I was eating a couple cookies because I was sitting at my computer. It is definitely ok to have a cookie or two if you are honest with your workouts, but I felt I would just dig in for more if the bag was right in front of me. Mom, I'm sorry, I crunched up the rest of the cookies, and threw them away. As awesome as they were, it wasn't helping me that I could have them whenever I want. My self control is stronger, but when it comes to mom's snicker doodle cookies, I crumble (pun intended)!

Just a quick story on how temptation tried to grab me by the neck today, and I survived, with a few cookies, but it shows the progress I have made in the past years.

All for now, keep up the good work everyone!

-Brian

I try to keep a journal, but I am not consistent. My running log is the one place I keep my daily notes. I do have a journal that I started keeping in the first few months of my weight loss journey. My first entry on 7-13-03 brought tears to my eyes. I wrote Rick, Andrea and Brian short notes. I wanted each of them to know how my weight had effected not only me but my life with them. I believe now I can share my note to Brian with everyone.

  "Dear Brian, All of your friends have healthy mothers. You will be graduating in less then a year and I want to get healthy. More importantly I worry about you and your weight. I know it bothers you and makes you sad. I need to get this house cleaned out of all the bad stuff. I need to set a good example for you so you can see that it is possible to get in shape. We can do this together!!!"

As you can see by our commitment to this blog, we are continuing to work hard. Most importantly we are role models for each other. My Mother in-law once told me that Brian's battle with weight was my fault because of all the baking I do. She said once he was away from home he was able to take control of his life, like I have done. As mad as I was at her...she was right. I am so proud of what Brian has accomplished. Too hear him talk about what he wants to do, like run a 10k with me, shows me that he is now living a happy life. One I wished for him 3 1/2 years ago. Team Aldrich is doing it.

From September to December, I was in the UK for an internship. Putting aside the fact I was alone with no friends or family in sight, it was indeed one of the greatest experiences of my life. When I moved into a permanent place, where I would stay until December, my mom sent me a package consisting of 2 Books, and Chocolate Chip cookies. Ironically for this story, the cookies were taken and probably eaten, by Customs, due to the fact you can't send food to the UK. About a month and a half go by, and I finally take to one of the books, "Along Came a Spider" by James Patterson. I quickly flip through the pages, just or the heck of it, but I notice my mom had put something in the book. I flip to a page to find a photo taken of me and my 2 friends at a marching band performance during my Junior year in high school. I was thrown back. This picture was taken in 2002, 3 years before I believe I had hit my peak weight, but I still could not recognize myself. Looking at what I had gotten myself into made me scared. Why didn't anyone tell me I looked like this? But then I realized, I had and still have the perfect friends. Judging me by my inner qualities rather than how I look. But the picture made me so happy at how I came so far, and 5 years later, am looking and feeling 1000 times better than I did in that very picture. I brought the picture to work with me, and none of my coworkers could tell I was even in the picture, they were thinking I just had a picture of a couple friends that I took around. They begged me to tell them the secret of how I lost all of the weight and look like a totally different person. Lots and lots of patience and work, I said. I believe this picture would be worth 1000 pounds, meaning if I share my story about the picture to others, it will encourage people to take the same steps I did to come so far, and to continue working for their personal goals, it isn't hard, it just takes time! Every time I feel like I may be slacking off on the workouts, I look at this picture.

My mom showed me the picture that makes her work even harder to keep herself feeling better and fit. It is a great source of motivation, keeping a past picture of yourself. A picture from where you weren't necessarily at rock bottom, but a picture that reminds you of how far you have come and how hard you have worked. Try it!

I was very excited when I saw that The Biggest Loser was having a contest. I am a huge fan of the show (No pun intended!). My story is simple yet still on going. You see on 7/13/03 I weighed 271 pounds. It was my Dad's 65th birthday and that day I knew I need to get my life under control. I joined Weight Watchers and started running (actually first walking) with the help of my daughter Andrea. It took me exactly 1 year to hit my WW goal of 164 pounds. That day my son Brian gave me flowers and I knew at that point I had helped not only myself but my family.

You must understand also that I always worried about Brian. As you can see in his blog he weighed 300 pounds and he was just 18! If I could be a role model then God please let me. Brian needed help. He tells me that I am his inspiration BUT he is mine. I am so proud of all he has accomplished AND all the things he is looking forward to achieving. Our lives have changed in these last 4 years. My husband and I live in China and Brian is a senior in college. The 3 of us did a 4 mile run together yesterday and that will always be one of my proudest moments.

I am home now and Brian and I have more goals to reach. Over the past 3 years I have gained back 16 pounds and I want to now lose 30. Brian is looking at loosing another 40. We are going to do it together. We have set our sights on road races. The Holyoke St. Patrick Day race is coming up and we will be running.

Brian and I are inviting all of you to follow our journey. 2008 is going to be an incredible year. I am going to become a grandmother for the first time. I can't wait until by grandchildren meet me at the finish line of my races.

Well, here I am, watching the second episode of the couples season of the Biggest Loser. But let me introduce myself first. My name is Brian and I am 21 years old. I am a college student in Boston. My exercise history goes back 2 years to September of 2005. I  always watched my weight, but never reacted to it. I was always an obese kid throughout my years, into my college years. I told myself I couldn't let myself get to 300 lbs, figured it was a number shocking enough to kick myself into gear. Well one day I had stepped on the evil scale, and sure as I am standing here today, it read 300lbs on the nose. I couldn't let myself get any bigger. I never knew I was big, they say you never really know, until a big reality check hits you, and the scale sent the message to me. I was a big soda drinker, at least 2 cans a day, and more on most days. I knew it wasn't healthy for me or my future. I cut out soda cold turkey, not even a thought of what temptation would do to me. I never looked back, and after a month I had lost about 10 pounds. I knew cutting soda would do the trick. I heard about marathon weight loss, as opposed to the quick fix weight loss. Being a college student, I wanted to keep my mind on the books, while keeping fit, so a long distance goal of some weight loss is what i reached for. I wanted to lose anything, just so I would feel better about myself. Through eating healthy and exercising I am typing today at 215lbs, 4 pants sizes lower, from a 44 to a 36, fitting into large clothes as opposed to XXL, and am running regularly. I will add little tidbits of my previous journey as I continue what has been a long but fun journey.

This is kind of a milestone day or myself. Today was the first day I ran outside wih my mom and my dad. We ran a 4 mile loop around town. As in my excersise log, it was my mothers usual route, she always stops at the manger scene in the center of town to say a prayer for the family, or whatever was on her mind, her moment of peace. All three of us stopped there and it made me feel a big sense of accomplishment. After running 5 miles outside for my first time in my life the previous day, being able to easily run 4 miles with my parents was indeed a great moment for me. More entries to come!