SharkysWorld

I’m not a fan of wedding anniversaries and I’ve posted about it before on my personal Facebook- I don’t think it’s fair because I’ve been with my amazing wife for almost 14 years. Why do I have to lose 3 incredible years when someone asks us – “how long have you been married?” Well…technically, we’ve been married for 11 years and I STEEL choose her…hahaha….I’m fucking hilarious!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I would have married her the night we met and I mean that with everything in me; it was truly love at first sight; that is the day I truly feel need to be celebrated.

I was a single guy, had my awesome bachelor pad and was talking to a few girls at the time….the moment she left my apartment, on the first night we met, I stopped talking to anyone else- there was no doubt in my head that I loved her.

We moved in together about a month later and we’ve been with each other every single day since October 20^th, 2003. There wasn’t really a rush to get married but I would have at any moment. She got pregnant and we got better jobs and marriage was perfect to start our family and get a nice little tax break. I mean, that is really all marriage is.

She had a Jolly Ranger in her mouth, pretty pregnant and we got married at the court house- we aren’t religious people. We had a big get together afterwards with fried chicken, friends and family.

It has been an amazing (almost) 14 years and while we celebrate 11 years of tax breaks today…I will always consider October 20^th, 2003 the greatest day of my life….that is the day my life took a huge change and made me who I am today…I don’t even want to think about where I would be if she hadn’t come along.

There is one thing that is sad about today, when we got married back in 2006, I was A LOT smaller! When we met, I was huge…then, in 2005 I dropped 117lbs! I had started to gain some of it back thanks to pregnant Taco Bell runs and me just slacking, but when I look at the pictures…it amazes me. I was probably around 300-305lbs and I looked pretty awesome.

So today is a big day- I get to remember how lucky I am to have the most amazing wife in the world and I hit 395lbs. – I’m 100lbs away from my lowest, back in early 2006 and I have something to look forward too…getting back to my wedding day weight!

Tonight, we have a babysitter for our son and we are heading out to Buffalo Wild Wings….not even awedding anniversary is enough to take a cheat day….not yet. (June 17^th is just around the corner!)

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

…but I’m trying to stay positive- still 43 lbs. down from where I started so that can’t be a bad thing.

We know I failed at not weighing myself and, since then, I’ve been weighing daily and it’s doing what I knew it would- driving me nuts! This morning, I was basically exactly where I was last Tuesday which is annoying because I haven’t had a cheat day, haven’t screwed up and I’ve added a ton of exercise this week. I’m doing the bike for limited cardio, some kettlebell, boxing, weights and tons of basketball with my son and still…the same weight. I think it’s too early for a plateau but who knows…I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing until June 17^th….then eat Raising Canes and start all over.

On a more personal note, the wife and I will be celebrating our 11^th wedding anniversary this Friday but it’s not as big to me as it is to other people…my wife and I have been together for almost 14 years and I’m not losing those 3 years simply because we weren’t married; I literally would have married her the day we met…with no doubt.

The day I feel is more important is the day we met, October 20^th and that is when we do the special stuff…this Saturday, we are going to hit up Jason’s Deli and have some amazing salads and then do some shopping around Louisville.

So…even though I’m a bit annoyed, I had some delicious burgers with bacon last night and I’m having my amazing lettuce wrap sandwiches for lunch, so I can’t complain too much…that’s why the Sharketo lifestyle is so amazing.

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

That whole “weighing once a month” thing lasted about 3 days…I just can’t do it.

We always say that the number on the scale shouldn’t really mean that much because you could still be losing inches or making other changes, or you could be gaining some muscle or retaining some water weight…but, truth is, I’ve been focused on that damn number my entire life and just “not worrying” about it seems impossible.

But it’s not all bad.

Last week, the scale showed that I had gained a couple pounds and I was a bit disappointed but expected it due to the amount I had already lost…this week, I’m down 8 lbs.!! Now, I’m probably not actually down 8 lbs….it’s showing that because last week’s gain wasn’t legitimate due to water weight or just normal fluctuation. However, I am going with whatever I weigh on Monday mornings so that is that.

I’m probably still going to obsess over that number and weigh myself every day or two but only really focus on what it says once a week- it is enough to drive a person crazy but it can also help motivate when you realize that what you are doing is working.

If you are following my journey, then you will know that this is what I also weighed on Wednesday, which was exactly 1 month from starting…but I’m still happy with it.

The family went out on Saturday to donate some trading cards (see Commons4Kids in the menu), to visit my mom in the hospital and then on to Lexington to get groceries. We also stopped a few places for some shopping and then hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant.

We sort of take the weekends off- we still stay below 20g carbs but usually eat some more calories and do more snacking with some sugar free candy/desserts as well. It still feels like a cheat day without really cheating.

I did amazing at the restaurant- I didn’t touch the chips, tortillas or rice and had the chicken fajitas with grilled shrimp and that amazing white cheese they use. After eating it, I was literally sick…which was AWESOME!

Normally, I would have helped eat 2 bowls of chips, most of the rice, the tortillas and all of the fajita stuff and still wouldn’t be as full as I was…so that is a good thing.

Yesterday, the wife made some amazing quiche muffins with eggs, cheese and ham and then she made some chicken chili type stuff without the beans and we threw some sour cream and cheese on there and it was amazing….and we finished it off with some keto friendly cheesecake with blackberries.

All that amazing food plus some sugar free candy and still where I was on Tuesday…so I couldn’t be happier- on other diets, “cheat days” usually meant adding about 6 lbs. and then you would have to spent most of the week trying to get that off before you actually got back to where you were.

Great weekend…but now back to schedule. Fasting until 12:30pm and having some lettuce wraps for lunch. Then my keto coffee…maybe a snack and dinner. Keep it under 1500 calories and HOPEFULLY finally get on track with the exercise.

I have weekly goals set up and, so far, I’m 13 lbs. ahead of schedule. I would like to lose 75 lbs. the first 6 months…150 the first year.

Last thought…we have planned to hit up Raising Canes on June 17^th (our 2 months on keto) and enjoy the chicken, fries and bread and…yes….knock ourselves out of ketosis. By that time, we should be fat adapted and it shouldn’t take more than a few days to get back into ketosis. Some people don’t agree with doing this type of stuff but a big part of enjoying life is relaxing and doing something “bad” every now and then. I figure, if we eat over our carb limit 6 days a year and hit our target 359 days…we are doing pretty damn good.

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

I had official weigh in’s on Mondays….so this Monday was the 4 week mark…but I started on April 17^thand todays is May 17^th….so which should be considered “a month”? Is 4 weeks a month or is it from date to date?

On my 4^th week weigh in, I was up 2 lbs.- I didn’t agree with it but I figured it’s because I had gone over my calorie goal and fat goal on Saturday and Sunday with a ton of snacking and I just didn’t feel like I could stop eating.

Then, yesterday, I was back to 403.8…which is exactly where I was last week….so that 2 lbs gained was gone.

Last night…I was STILL at 403.8? All the food and water from the day hadn’t added a single ounce. I mowed last night which is the most exercise I’ve gotten all month- it about killed me but I got it done and I was wore out!

My calories yesterday were perfect and my MACROS were perfect….I woke up this morning and BOOM!!! Under 400 lbs for the first time in a while…BUT….

…there was a problem- the scale said anything from 390 to 401. I usually weight 3 times and take the 2 that match because there is always a small difference but this morning, I just couldn’t get the scale to decide. After several attempts, there was one number that it landed one twice…so I’m going with that one. We just put a new battery in not too long ago so I’m not sure what was going on…however, I’m going with the number I got twice!

I started Sharketo on April 17^th and it’s been a month (or has it?) I was weighing daily for the first month but only counting my weights on Mondays. Now that I’ve had a huge weight loss the first month…which was expected, I’ve decided to not weight again until June 17^th…which will be really hard on me but I need to do it for my mental stability.

 I know that the 2^nd month, the weight loss will drop drastically and it will fluctuate up and down by huge numbers and I just can’t go through that roller coaster…that is what always leads me to give up.

Today’s number may be a few lbs. of because I’m not sure what to believe…however, I’m going with it…ending the month on a high note and going into the 2^nd month with some motivation!

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

That’s simple….it’s keto with Shar in front of it…but it’s so much more than that.

I started the keto lifestyle on April 17^th, 2017 with the hopes of losing a few pounds and I went all out- I started watching YouTube videos and doing research and trying to figure out what I could eat and what I needed to do.

I joined Facebook groups to get valuable information from people doing keto and that is where Sharketo was born- I got so many conflicted opinions that it almost made me just give up and go back to killing myself slowly…then I decided to take keto and make it MINE.

Everyone is different and the exact plan usually won’t work for the same two people and I understand that…I got tired of people telling others what THEY could eat and what they couldn’t and if you didn’t agree with specific people 100%, then they would be snobbish and try to tell you that you weren’t doing keto…but that is their opinion.

Keto is pretty simple – the ketogenic diet is a high fat, adequate protein, low carbohydrate diet that forces your body to burn fat instead for energy.

With that said, it can also get really, really complicated and that could scare people away…throw the rude know it all’s in there and some people may give up…well, those people can come over and do Sharketo with me! You don’t have to do keto perfectly to do Sharketo…you just have to make better changes through research and adapting to what works well for you until you eventually find that sweet spot.

Sharketo is basically keto….only with a learning curve! You don’t have to be perfect when you start Sharketo and you can screw up and make mistakes and even eat the wrong thing and no one is going to yell at you.

My wife and I made huge changes and we still needed some things that “keto elitists” describe as “no-nos” or “chemical shitstorms” and that is because these folks don’t understand that if you do a complete change, overnight, it’s probably not going to stick. I am NOT telling you to go out and eat all the sugar alcohols or eating process food is good for you….I’m saying that if you need that stuff to make the change easier…to slow into it and make long last changes- then go for it!

So…we cut our carbs way down but we still eat some Atkins bars that may contain specific alternative sugars that cause your insulin to spike and YES…that may stall your weight loss but, at first, it’s fine and you adapt and change as you learn more and figure out what works best for you.

Sharketo is keto…without the assholes.

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