If you think about names, they are kind of interesting. A Name is this word that symbolizes who you are. When you say your name aloud, does that really wrap up everything that you are. I find that I can use someone else’s name and it seems to describe them pretty well, but my own name just doesn’t fit all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I like my name and I won’t respond to anything else…but there’s just something weird about how we take something as complex as a human being and try and give him/her an identifier.

So my full name is Brandon Scott Wiggins. My first name, Brandon, means “broom, gorse hill” or a “hill of broom”. If you ask me, that’s a lame meaning to the name. I guess if I picture a broom and those hairs on the end of it, if there was a hill of those, then that would be called a Brandon. That meaning is lost on me, but it’s more fun to find out why I was named it. I asked my mom one time, and she told me she named me Brandon because she had met this attractive guy once (maybe he was a friend) and she liked Brandon as a name. So I guess having the name Brandon would ensure that I was attractive (anyways, at least my freckles are!). So after me, my sister was named Carmen after an attractive girl that my parents knew. I wonder if that was a little war? haha, doubtful.

I don’t really know why my middle name is Scott. I remember when I was little I convinced myself that I was the one who had picked it out, but that’s obviously not the case. But at least that means that I liked it. The meaning to this name is kind of obvious, “one who is from Scotland”. Well, I know for a fact that my mom’s side of the family is from Scotland, so I guess that is a true statement. Maybe I should visit Scotland to gain some heritage of my middle name.

And then Wiggins means some stuff. I find this pretty amusing. Here’s what I found:

This Olde English name has two possible derivations, the first being from the Breton personal name “Wincon” or “Uuicon” which was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The name means “worthy” and “high“, or “noble“.

The second origin is from another personal name, this time of Germanic origin and also introduced by the Normans, “Wigant”, meaning “Warrior“, from the verb “Wigan”, to fight. The personal name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Wighen” and in 1163 as “Wigein”. The surname development has included “Wygen” (1297, Cornwall) and “Wiggans” or “Wiggins (1752, Yorkshire). “Woiggins” is the patronymic form of the name, meaning “son of” and the name can also be found as “Wigan”, “Wigand”, “Wigin” and “Wiggin”. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Wygeyn, which was dated 1275, in the Norfolk Hundred Rolls, during the reign of King Edward l, known as “The Hammer of the Scots”, 1272 – 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

So there you go, that’s the history of my last name. So I figure my dad’s side is definately derived from England or Scotland. So there you go. Do you feel like you know me better now that you know my full name and where they were derived from? What does your name mean?

Then I was just kind of moody. I hate being overweight. I hate looking down and seeing an alien growing in my stomach. I don’t like feeling like people are staring at me. I don’t want to have a heart attack at age 32. I JUST WANT TO LOSE THIS STINKIN’ WEIGHT…

So, I’m turning to something easier and more regimented…The Special K Challenge. It’s pretty much a bunch of cereal eating, smoothie/shake drinking, cereal bar snacking going on. You get a plan with 2 planned Special K meals and two planned snacks. The last meal is up to you. This could be very dangerous, so I’m coupling it with another helpful (I’m feeling lazy product), Lean Cuisine.

So I will have Special K for two of my meals and a Lean Cuisine for my third. I’m allowed to have additional fruits and vegetables throughout the day. I’m going to do a better job of writing down everything that comes into my mouth and tracking it. Lean Cuisine has a free service that recommends what your calorie limit should be for healthy weight loss. I am currently a STEP under being obese. Like, really freaking close. My BMI is 29.98, and 30 is when you are considered Obese. So I have to run from that number.

So this is a cop-out, but I’m going to start this on October 1. That gives me some time to buy the stuff I’ll need, and to save up a little since I’m BROKE right now. I’m hoping this will work out better. So the whole push for Monday is off. I know, I’m a loser and I’m letting you all down. But, here’s to a hopeful future!

I understand that part of this weight could possibly be muscle gain, but I’m not convinced that I gained a pound of muscle by working out for two days. So, I guess now my overall goal is even higher. So I’m going to have to tighten my regimen and hopefully by Monday I will be back on track.

For lunch my mom had made some soup. She brought some at lunch and it was a vegetable soup with meat bits in it. It was pretty good. I ate a Lean Cuisine dinner, but my body was really pissed off because I was so hungry from working out. Oh! Speaking of working out…

I liked the gym better this time. I did a 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill, and then I headed to the weight machines to start some lifting. I found some of my favorite machines that I used to use the last time I worked out. I started pretty easy because I didn’t know what my limits would be at. It’s also hard because last time I worked out it was overseas, and it was on machines that used kilograms. Changing that to pounds was really hard and I didn’t do such a great job. But I had a really great workout, and then I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

I don’t feel like I got as many stares today, but there are some Gym Rats. Do you know what those are…

There are definately some regulars in there and they’re a little annoying. There was this group of 3 guys, and they had the talker, the screamer, and the show-off. So it was like…get away! But I made eye contact and nods with a few of the other guys in there. I’ve only been twice, but I could count off 10 people that I recognized from the first time. So I might end up seeing that crowd a lot if they always go in at the same time.

Well, I’ve decided tomorrow is the big day. I’m going to weigh-in, and I’m hoping I’ve lost at least one pound by now. I know, my eating hasn’t been going well, but I have gone to the gym twice, I’m walking as far as I can from the car to the building, and I’ve even started walking up the 3 flights of stairs at work. So it’s a change. And believe it or not, my eating is better somewhat than it was. I probably drank more sodas since this is so hard. I definitely have had a lot more water these past few day than normal.

So here’s the deal. Tomorrow is my weigh-in. If I’ve lost a pound or more, I’m on track. Yay! If I haven’t lost a pound, then I’m going on diet sodas until Monday’s weigh in. If I’ve GAINED weight, then I’m going on water until Monday. So that’s my plan. If I am on track, I’m still going to think of ways to cut-down some of my calories, and will continue to try healthy options.

Anyway, it’s late and I have to get up early. Weigh in is coming in the next post.

I left my work shoes at the gym yesterday. It was such a stress this morning when I couldn’t find them. I ended up driving to the gym and grabbing them, and ended up at work 3 minutes late. My job can get tiring at times (can’t everyone’s?). Today I just felt like doing something else, and I really don’t want to go back there tomorrow, but I desperately need the money.

So now I’m watching the new fall line-up for CBS Tuesdays. I’m watching NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and the Good Wife. I also have to prepare for Bible Study tomorrow because I have to lead it. I haven’t even looked at the chapter, so I’m totally not prepared to lead it. I’ll go through it quickly before I go to bed. Other than that, a pretty un-spectacular day. I’m just tired and ready to go to bed, but really want to see this.

So I did wake up early and prepare some stuff for today. I packed my gym bag, put some carrots in a baggie with some ranch to the side. I ate some whole oat cereal with skim milk. I grabbed a Coke as I left and this was supposed to serve as one of my two sodas for the day.

I got to work and parked really far from the building. Got up to my cubicle, and realized I had left my phone. So I went back all the way to my car, got my phone, and went all the way back. I have a nalgene bottle that I love, so I filled it with water with the goal of drinking 32 ounces of water before lunch.

I had my carrots with dressing around 9:00. It was a nice pick-me up and I did feel more energized than normal. Went for lunch with my mom. She made Bar-B-Que, and brought me a bun to eat it in. Then i ate the left over Bar-B-Que There was an orange, and some sun chips. Still a decent lunch and didn’t seem that bad. I was so full that I missed my snack that I had planned to eat before I left for work. I ended up drinking 64 ounces of water at work. Ohh, I had half a pepsi bottle at lunch that mom had brought me.

I went straight to the gym from work because I was scared I wouldn’t go if I went home first. I did the treadmill for 20 minutes and I picked the first course. It was kind of slow and I felt like everyone was staring at the fat guy who was walking slow. I didn’t succomb to pressure, and just kept it there. I did 10 minutes on the eliptical and lost 100 calories on that in those 10 minutes alone. So that was good! I like the gym, but I felt like everyone was staring and judging. I didn’t want everyone sizing me up and deciding that I wouldn’t last. I’m going to go back on Wednesday to try and hit some of the weights.

Well, I was bad after that. I got home and was starving and didn’t feel like making anything. I talked myself into thinking that I missed my snack and I worked out…so I ended up at Hardees and pretty much ate the most fattening thing on their menu (The Monster) with Soda and fries. Then ended up drinking another soda here at the house. So that didn’t work out at all. So I need to hide my card when I get home and just man up and cook something healthy.

So any ideas for EASY and QUICK meals to make that I can convince myself to do before I run out and eat unhealthy fast food. I still have until Monday to lose the two pounds. I did slip up today, but I also made some changes. Eating at Hardees is something I would always do. So I should see the positive steps I took, such as parking far away and choosing to drink as much water as I did. So tomorrow I head to work and I’m preparing my lunch. Hopefully I’ll be more disciplined than I was today. Good night!!

So today is my first day on this program. I have to leave for work in about an hour. I’m taking some low-calorie snacks with me and I’m going to try and eat 5 small meals today. The first one I will eat when I get out of the shower. I’m going to eat some oat cereal with skim milk. Then a snack of baby carrots and low-fat ranch dressing. I’m eating lunch with my mom which will be Bar-B-Que, baked chips, and an orange. Then a rice-cake treat with chocolate drizzle for another snack (90 calories), and for dinner I’m thinking a piece of skinless boneless chicken, with a side of peas or corn. So hopefully that’s a good plan for the first day.

Well, let me go take my shower and stuff so I’m not late for work. I have to put the carrots together, and also pack a gym bag since I will be going to the gym today after work. So weird. I hope it sticks. I think I’m just going to try 30 mins of cardio at the gym today. Start off a little easy. So, see you later!

I don’t want to be Obese. I want to live a healthy life! So I’m going to start some new trends, and hope that I can become more healthy. Right now I love to eat fast-food, drink sodas all day long, haven’t been very active, and generally have been unhealthy. So I want to break these habits and begin to become healthy again. I could post a Before picture, but without an after picture that would just be embarressing. I will go ahead and take one and keep it within my private stash.

So some beginning plans. I’m going to park my car in the very back of the parking lot, so I have to walk all the way to the building. I’m going to take the stairs down (I work on the 4th floor). I will one day start taking the stairs up, but I don’t want to jump into that yet because I don’t want to be embarressed when I walk into work panting everyday. I’m going to limit myself to two sodas a day. I know I need to get rid of these completely, but that’s hard at the moment. So I’m taking baby steps.

I’m getting a membership to a gym. There’s a gym close by that is only $32 a month, and the first week is free for a trial. So I’m going to start my first free day tomorrow. I’m also going to try a new method of eating. I’m going to try and eat 5 times a day. I have read that this keeps your metabolism active and helps your body burn more calories throughout the day. I will try and limit the portions of these, and we’ll talk about that a little bit tomorrow.

So this is the beginning. I will weigh-in for the first time tomorrow morning. My overall goal is to get into a healthy weight for my height. That will take some time. So therefore, I’m setting my sights closer. I’m giving myself one week to lose two pounds. So whatever I weigh tomorrow, I need to be two pounds lighter than that next week.

So please help encourage me, challenge me, and push me on. I’m excited because taking charge is fun, but once I’m in this I will probably hate it. Try and send me recipes of easy-to-make things that are healthy, and creative ideas on how to lose weight and keep fit. I’ll post here tomorrow. It’ll probably be at the end of the day, unless I post one in the morning letting you know what my start weight is. So hopefully my next post will be me explaining my first workout routine at the gym.