OK, it looks like ETS stands to make a few hundred bucks if I get my weight down to 165, and a few others are going to join in.

To make it easier for you to keep me and the others on track, here's a spreadsheet where you can monitor my progress.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tx8L0wgcLIGfPqsAqQHZ7Vw&output=html

I'll be posting pix of my progress, and anyone else who's joining in can keep this thread bumped for the year.

Awesome

22 march 2010 196 lbs / first week drop is often large

Good start, and congratulations!

Keep it going. I cannot wait to give money to ETS at the end. Aw, shucks!! I'll just give the forty now and make up the difference when you finish. That way you are on the hook. Anyone else want to join the "so far it's MoBOB's one-man dogpile" to add some pressure?

29 March 2010 - 195 Lbs. As expected, a slower drop. Slowly ramping up exercise routine. Got the bicycle ready to roll for the season.

Keep it up! You're inspiring me to get off the couch!

April 5th 2010 - 195 lbs. Leveling off as expected. Exercise needs to increase.

Keep pluggin' along Marty.

I had to stop running until I can see what happened to my knee. I am using my Arc Trainer as a substitute. It not the same as pounding the pavement, but it is good for the heart. Hopefully I will be able to do the marathon this year.

Actually at 192 mid-week, on target for 194-193 range by next check-in. Will experience the muscle-mass "weight gain" for a little while, expect to hold in the 190-195 range until at least mid-may. Sugar cravings are passing. Really liking my new breakfast routines (Yogurt with Meusli, which is, to me at least, a real treat). Saturdays are "free" in that I can - and do - enjoy a sweet treat or two. Whole family has joined my "no refined sugar" shift. It's harder on them than me. Saving a LOT of spending cash by noy picking up a bagel, a candy bar, an iced tea. In NYC, a Snapple Iced tea is $1.85 to $2.25, and a bagel with cream cheese is about the same. A candy bar is $1.30 at the bus terminal. Cut all that out and I'm finding an extra $20+ a week in my pocket.

Whow, glad to hear

Even without weight loss your body will thank you.

Corn syrup products should be added to the "banned food" list, IMO. Particular in the U.S. there are TONS of fast food and snacks where corn syrup is used because it's dirt cheap, easily available and easy to use in mass production. Just as bad as refined sugar, maybe even a little worse. Fortunately, most of those products will have loads of refined sugar in them as well, so they're banned already.

Good to hear about the diet modification. One of the biggest tricks is having tons of veggies and fruits at the house. Frozen peas seem to be a kid favorite. Shifting the sugar expense/intake to fruits and veggies is nice. I know it is very difficult to get off the sugar. Keep plugging along. You are doing great. I am looking forward to sending more money to ETS when you complete this.

I have not been as diligent, but after mis-reading the Wendy's nutrition information on a Sprite, I stopped drinking sodas. I read the 600 weight as the calories! Turns out it's "only" 200 calories for a "medium" (this is the 1980's large)

Good on you Martin!

Money is better than fat any day. Keep it up...er, down!

-Blast

Monday, April 12 2010: 192 Lbs. Biked a little (with kids, so it's not a long ride, maybe 6 miles total) Chopped a LOT of wood this weekend, 50% Ash (easy!) and 50% Hickory (NOT easy) all at ~28" lengths. Hickory FIGHTS the maul. Gained some upper body size for sure. Ate crap food at the movies Saturday ("Date Night" with Tina Fay and Steve Carell - lots of fun) order and they bring you pizza to your seats! Still well ahead of target, waiting for "leveling" effect to kick in as muscle vs. fat weights start to do battle. People are starting to notice loss. Pants starting to feel droopy.

Chart

Excellent! I guess leveling will happen at about 15-17 lbs. You are doing great. you almost make me feel guilty; almost.

April 19 2010 - 190 Lbs. Chart
Just barely made it.
Muscle mass is - slowly - starting to build.
Just found out that I have 10 unexpected days off due to an accounting error (on my part) for the last 4 years, and I need to use them up, so I'm taking Fridays off for the summer and plan to do some serious biking...much easier on my knees and hips than jogging.

26 April 2010 - 189 lbs. Kid's birthday party this weekend and WAAAY too much yummy pizza...but was able to work it off on Sunday.

Legs getting MUCH stronger now, went biking with my 11yo son who normally beats me handily up the hills - now HE was telling me to slow down!

Next: Mid Body/Abs need to get into the mix a little more, need to get that fat gut moving along.

Good for you, Martin!

Regarding abs: A trainer told me, years ago, that abs work should be balanced with lower-back work. Anyone know if that's true, and if so, why?

Bravo Martin

I think this tells a better story than the graph.
Left: 205 Lbs (at the start of this project)
Right: 189 Lbs (today - 1/2 way to new normal)

It's all one system, back and abs. Think of it as bands around a barrel - it has to be strong all around.

Thanks, Martin. That makes sense.

Congratulations, you look great!!

Really Showing progress!! Congrats man! Unfortunately, my sister saw your picture and had to say her usual comments... shes 18 so every guy is "H*T" I seriously am not going to post it here but im pretty sure its obvious! You do look alot younger though, keep it up!

MID WEEK FLASH

I know that this is supposed to be a weekly bump for my progress, however, I'd like to give an update that is related.

The rest of my family is joining in with me and working out on a daily basis now.

Admittedly, my littlest ones don't need it -

My daughter at age 6 on a full-sized circus trapeze : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq9XiDLUSAs

My son, same place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OscWE4QITbg

But my wife is on board and doing yoga daily (yes, she did the trapeze too, and I'll be up there next month, it's right down the road from my house).

I'm feeling so much better - stronger - faster than I was....last year I was too fat to get up there...this year I plan to train as a catcher on the trapeze rig.

I hope some of you are taking control of things too.

Very awesome. Make sure to get yur wife some flowers!

-Blast

He reminds me of Buddy AKA Cake Boss!

Monday May 2 187 lbs - muscle mass increasing, moving from Basic calisthenics to free weights now, looking to deal with the belly and love handles more, still not enough aerobic stuff, but getting there. Hope you're all ready to commit those pledge dollars, I'll be at goal by end of summer - and I plan to stay there.

MAY 10 2010 - 185 - 20 LBS GONE! 20 TO GO!

Despite this weekend's indulgent beyond indulgent Sunday Mother's Day brunch (Bacon, Sausage, Waffles, Omelettes, Hashbrowns and sweet snacks , plus a recital and potluck at my son's school, managed to get down to 185. All sugar cravings are gone, apparently I'm snoring less now, and the workouts are - just barely - starting to find a place in my nightly routines. Still trying to get 30 minutes a day in, not always succeeding.
Wood chopping has been an intense upper-body muscle-building process, at this point I've ax-split (well a maul, really) just under 3 cords of ash, maple and hickory.

Martin, youre doing great! that is alot of weight to kill so i'm proud of you... very determined!

Way to go Martin! The once-in-a-while indulgence does not seem to affect the diet; at least that has been my experience. I have found that the body just is confused by all the stuff and literally flushes it out. I am not trying to sound gross, but that has been my experience. Of course, that does not give us license to go nuts. And that, my friend, is where I always messed up. I have always struggled with moderation. anyway, enough of my confessions about personal shortcomings.

Keep going.

This week I'm moving to an alternate days plan. Yesterday I did 40 minutes on the treadmill (watching Jamie Olver's Food Revolution on the iPad!) and today I'll be doing simple calisthenics and "free weights" (I don't own any, so I have some cinder blocks and pieces of metal pipe rigged up).

That is an excellent move....

Don't forget the basics. Less diet and more lifestyle change. And walking is really good exercise that also helps you stay aware and engaged in the surrounding neighborhood:

http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2010/05/walking_and_obesity_the_city_l.php

A friend of mine took up walking and was surprised to find out he had a small hobo jungle set up on the far side of his property. Easy to overlook such details if you stay in a vehicle.

He is pretty cool with the homeless there but had to run off the ones that were loud, drugged out, destructive, or potentially violent. He is okay with homeless there as long as they are higher class hobos who are well behaved.

I walk at least 2.4 miles a day normally, more when i hit the treadmill

May 17 - 185 - Muscle Mass is in a battle for total weight, making the fat vs. muscle battle a draw this week. Kind of a bummer, but I expected the last 20 lbs to be much harder than the first 20.

However, I'm in size 36 pants now - my wife claims I was up to 40", but I don't want to believe her. Yesterday, I did a tiny bit of ground training for my upcoming flight on the trapeze school down the road from me.

Just starting to burn aerobic on the treadmill without the fighting the prolonged anaerobic "wall" that keeps you from hitting a good stride. Still hard for me to run/jog for long, I hope to get back to 3-5 miles a run and hold it there, it's too bad biking is out of the question in my area, I prefer it.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tx8L0wgcLIGfPqsAqQHZ7Vw&output=html

Well done in deed!

Take care of the knees. Probably the #1 fitness morale killer is having knee troubles. Stretch the tendons and muscles that bend and extend the knee. PAY ATTENTION to your body signals.


Give your body time to rest between hard workouts. If you push yourself really hard you need a couple of days rest. You can still be doing workouts during rest periods, but do different parts of the body or do low intensity stuff.


Right now you're highly motivated due to your progress and all the positive effects of becoming more fit. There is a very real risk of overloading specific vulnerable parts of your body, such as knee joints. Muscles can grow stronger a lot quicker than tendons and joints. Joints and tendons needs time to grow stronger, more agile and more robust. To do that, they need periods of rests between periods of being stressed and abused - the what does not kill you makes you stronger-philosophy only works if you allow your body to recover in between the battles. I have no scientific basis on which to make qualified statements about the balance between rest and activity, but your body will tell you all you need to know. Just listen to it... and take those signals seriously. Give yourself TIME.

[applause] Bravo!

Go ahead and believe your wife about the pants size. Would you rather say:

"I lost two inches off my waist",

or

"I lost four inches off my waist"?

Yeah, I picked up on that, and I only do the high aerobic stuff on alternate days, I do really basic strength-building (abs/back, arms/chest) on the other days.



My key point of vulnerability is the lumbar vertebrae. I am in serious need of making sure I don't blow a disc there, especially when I'm wood chopping - its not the chop, it's the lift onto the block that gets me. I stopped classic sit-ups and moved to a crunch/leg lift for upper and lower abs and a yoga thing called Cobra pose for the back.

Thanks for the reminder.

Marty,

Find a strength/bodybuilder type person and investigate "Russian Twists". While they do twist your torso, I have found the lower back only gets tired. The core and upper legs really get a great workout. If you feel they are safe for you, make sure you get proper instruction on how to them. There is little benefit to doing them wrong; outstanding benefit for doing them right.

Stay motivated and most importantly, stay safe in the workouts.

My $.02

24 May 2010: 182 Lbs.

Was still at 185 on Friday Night. Grrr.....

In case you're wondering, apparently it takes exactly 3lbs of fat to supply the energy needed to:

- ax-split 1 cord of ash logs (26" lengths, 10" to 20" in diameter)
- clear out a 25x25 area of your basement to prep the floor for painting (this includes about 5,673,455 trips up and down the stairs to the attic).
- jog/fast walk on an inclined treadmill for 40 minutes.
- do 100 crunches, 100 pushups and 100 leg-lifts

Today:


November 2009:


Progress Chart:


Anyone have any tips for jogging/running? I just can't keep a steady pace up...I need to drop back to a fast walk after only a few minutes of a fair pace.

Marty, you might want to check out sites such as this: C25K for help. DD1, who never exercised until she turned 30, is using this pattern to get in shape. There are a variety sites that use the concept of going from the couch to a 5K race in six weeks. There are also podcasts you can put on your music player that announce the interval times so you don't have to keep looking at your watch. She laid that track over some music just to make it less boring.

Its working for her as she's now up to jogging 2.5 miles without stopping in just a couple of months after starting from zero.

Looking great Marty. Much applause from Upstate New York!!!!

That link Andy gave you is an outstanding program. Nice and balanced. Just remember that as long as you are moving you are getting benefit.

My $.02

Oh wow, this program looks great.
Thanks!

That could be due to limitations in the capacity of your cardio system, your leg muscles aren't strong enough / does not have the endurace capacity, or both.

The quickest and most effective way of raising your cardio capacity is doing intervals: Doing close-to-max intensity for a short period, then a period of low intensity (not rest), then repeat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_training. It does not have to be running - you can alternate with cycling or whatever, cardio training is cardio training.


Training your leg muscles to take the abuse of jogging is something that takes time. As discussed earlier, be careful and listen to your body signals. You want to stress the muscles, joints and tendons enough to grow them stronger, then let them have the time to recover. Too much stress or too little rest and you have an injury that potentially takes a long time to recoup from.


You could also target specifically exercises for the spring in your step (jumping rope, jumping up and down from low benches and so on). Stronger muscles equals more spring equals better running. That may or may not be one limiting factor for you, hard to tell from where I am sitting...

Good work, Martin. This is the way to go - doing the actual work instead of just talking about it (as some people tend to do). Anyway, as someone here said - rest a lot between the workouts. Do not rush the progress.



I am not an expert but I would advise you to just keep at what you are doing now - jogging + fast walking. Gradually your endurance will get better. I would take it slowly. There is no need for any shortcuts that may work for a short amount of time but can wreck your health in the long term. I have read a story about one runner where rapid training from zero took its toll (not exactly a small one).

June 1 (Missed the May 31 Report, took a break from the computer)

181 - was actually down to 180 for a few days last week, but the weekend was a little to decadent with all the party food - had to really work it off on Sunday night and Monday.
Strength training is still a slow go, cardio workouts are tough, definitely on a plateau there, the couch to 5K program is in effect for the summer.

Midweek jump in here...

179 lbs! YEAH!

This is a HUGE milestone for me - dropping through the 180 barrier has been a big effort...now 165 is really in sight for where I'll stay.

Worked my fat ass off after eating garbage all weekend....learned just how easy it is to slide back...not gonna let that happen! Definitely finding the balance between loss and maintenance and gain...eating habits still need to be adjusted, but it's all coming together.

Martin, congratulations!

Great news Martin!! Remember, one or two pounds flux in the week is normal. If possible, just weigh yourself on report day. I found it helped take some of the stress out of the situation. Believe me,I have compulsive tendencies which could drive those around me crazy. I finally disciplined myself to weigh-in just the once a week. It was nice. In any event, just "wasting away"!! We are all pulling for you. ETS and you will be the better off for all of this at the end.

My $.02

I didn't mean to weigh in - I do check only on Mondays for this site, but my 2 yo daughter was jumping on the scale and I wanted to confirm if, in fact I've lost the equivalent of carrying a toddler around all day, every day, so I picked her up stepped on the scale and put her down to get her weight...and of course, mine.

I guess it is the safest way to confirm you have indeed "lost" a toddler.

7 June 2010 - 181 Lbs.

Not too bad!
Will have a hard time dropping this week, as I'm changing jobs and having a long series of farewell lunches.

But it's all working out - and so am I

Double report.

14 June 180 (estimated, was on vacation, didn't actually use a scale)

21 June 179 (actual). 26 lbs gone.

That's a day-pack plus a bit of weight off my knees.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ah8T9M6SpLjudHg4TDB3Z2NMSUdmUHFzQXFRSFo3Vnc&hl=en

28 June 2010 - 178 Lbs. Target new weight is very, very close. Don't feel that I have to do much more than I'm doing now to make - and maintain - the 165 range.

At this point, it's no longer "dieting" it's just how I eat and live. A bunch of other stuff I hadn't thought about coming from being stronger and thinner - no more dandruff (turns out it's sugar-craving yeast) and I'm sleeping so much better (not snoring anymore) so I'm thinking more clearly.

My wife should get a note here too, she's dropped 15 lbs, starting after me, and it's much harder for women to drop weight.

July 5th 2010: 176

Holy cow, these last 10 lbs DO NOT want to go...

Getting there, getting there.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=...amp;output=html


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6336290&l=773a8bf595&id=661512845

This may be your plateau phase. You still have plenty of time to meet the target weight. You can do it. You are doing an awesome job!!!

The last ten pounds are the toughest. Consistency is even more important now.

I personallly don't think this is a plateau. Your weight is still dropping, just not as fast, and that is absolutely normal.

You're doing great, keep it up!

Probably the best target now is to shift your focus from enjoying weight loss to really enjoy the new style of life and all the benefits of your improved health and fitness.

Another option is to set some new targets in terms of physical capacity (hike, bike or run this fast/long/high/hard). Slightly out of reach from your current fitness, but not too hard or it becomes totally unrealistic. Those 10 pounds will take care of themselves.

I think that's going to work for me...the new job is a huge time investment, that's been an adjustment, and I've lost the use of my basement (and treadmill) while I deal with a prolonged painting the floor section by section process. I'd like to get out on the bike more, I agree that the challenge approach will work. Ultimately, I'd like to ride my bike around the block. This is far harder than it sounds - huge hills around here!

12 July 2010: 177 - OH NO! First "backslide" of this entire trip...

But I know why - had a few beers this weekend and didn't get as much activity as I needed. Now I have to do TWO TIMES the work...

But it's only 1 lb up, as my wife pointed out a good poop and I could be back on track

Easy to slip back into bad habits...not gonna happen.

A pound is as good as a plateau event. Keep looking for the physical challenges mentioned earlier. You will be successful in this. Just relax and let nature take its course.

Don't play the game of missing a day and then doubling down. Facing a double dose you are more likely to skip, short change what you do, find that you enjoy the exercise less, or injure yourself. All of which undermine your long term goal of consistent and dedicated effort.

Instead of doubling down just return to the same process as if you have not missed a day. It also helps to avoid beating yourself up or feeling guilt when you miss a day. It is counter-intuitive but people who don't feel guilty over a slack day, accepting that they are human and prone to missing a day once in a while, tend to be better about resuming programs and show better long term compliance.

People who place a lot of blame on themselves when they slip tend to get into shame cycles, often sabotaging their previous progress (slamming down a half-dozen triple cheeseburgers to make themselves feel better), and have a hard time getting back into the swing of things because they see a slip as a failure. The mental framing of a day off as failure makes resuming more difficult.

Nah...I just learned that I actually can't skip my every-other-day jog on the treadmill or 3 mile run outside. That's all that happened here - added intake (all in all over the weekend I had like 3 beers, an apple muffin, some berry pie and a few other treats when I know darn well that I can have treats - in moderation. And beer - wow does beer stick with me. Fortunately, I'm a very light drinker, so it's not like it's some big hardship to cut back on beer or wine.

And, of course, I did weigh in this AM, and sure enough...175...but I'm not going to check again until next Monday.

It's all good, feeling great.

I have to say :Good start, and congratulations!

Forgot to post yesterday...
176, back on track.
That's all for now.

26 July: 176...but muscular!

Woo-hoo!

Whoops. Forgot to check in yesterday.
175...
holding, holding holding....

Yeah, but as long as you're still doing all your fitness stuff, you're still improving, just in ways that don't show on the scale.

Keep it up!

Yippee!

I'm able to run 5K now! And, since Monday, I've gotten super-aggressive with the workouts, I've learned how to eat to MAINTAIN a weight, now I need to work off another 10 lbs...and it's working. This week is really, really low carb eating, that works for me.

On the 9th, another week, another stall at 175.
But man, you should see my leg muscles.

August 16 - FINALLY after a 4 week plateau at 175, I'm back on the loss track.
172 Lbs.

Found some recent pix from Xmas 2008, will post them here vs. today if I have a chance.

See? When you hit a plateau, just keep plugging away. It may take a couple of weeks or so, but it WILL break!

Good job, Martin!

Bouncing around....174

But I see a pattern emerging, and it's all good. I'm at my heaviest on Mondays, lightest on Wednesday...I'm bouncing +/- 2-3 lbs. with a generally downward trend.

I'm also realizing that I can - aggressively - get to the 165 lb goal with a minor adjustment to my routines - but I'm not going to do that, as I think I would just rebound.

As it stands, I'm already ahead of schedule, so I'm going to relax and keep up with the program as it's been working to date.

31 lbs gone feels incredible...

Martin: that "bouncing" is why they usually recommend you don't weigh yourself more than once a week.

And yes, stick with the program you're already doing until you're sure it's done all it can for you.

THEN decide if you want to change it, or if you're satisfied with where you're at.

You've already identified the most important thing about any health improvement plan: sustainability. That's where I tripped up every time.

Whoops...missed a week... 175 (still...sigh)

OY! So far behind on posting here....

Down to 172...holding at 172 now...slowly slowly getting there...

Exercise is all that's moving the needle now.

Progress Update - with pictures.

So, as we get near the end of the year, my defatting progress is starting to converge on my chart - the blue line was the "optimal path" and the red line is my actual progress:



The person behind the chart:



I've been asked "how did you do it" so many times it's almost exhausting. And the answer is hardly what many people want to hear:

Eat better. Get some exercise.

That's it. That's the plan. I'm not starving - I have eggs and toast and hamburgers and pizza and burritos and more. BUT I don't have candy, cakes, snacks or anything like that save for on saturdays or at parties, and even then, I just take it easy.

I don't run every day, only a few (maybe 3) times a week. If I get that up to 4, I'll be in great shape. I do non-aerobic stuff too - old school pushups, situps.

Anyway, that's the update.

Great! Shows lots of dicipline and good sense. Very impressive.

1-7-0 Baby!

Yeah, that's only 5 to go then hold it there.

170. so close so close. running is doing it

My goodness...I've not been updating this thread.
I'm at a plateau at 172 lbs, been there for a few weeks. Now I'm 1 pound above target - Going "aggressive" to pull down the next 7 lbs, I suspect that 170 +/- 3 is going to be where I end up stabilizing after I bottom out at 165, it seems to be the place where I feel "sustainable" and it's a good weight for me.

Some numbers:

My actual peak weight was 221 lbs, as determined by consulting with my medical records. I was peak heavy in the winter of 2008/2009.

I was 205 lbs on March 5th 2010 when I decided I needed to get things under control.

From peak heavy (221) to now (172) is 49 lbs. Just making it to 170 and staying there is a loss of 50 lbs, and I think that's darn good.

Latest Image:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7755177&l=c815f95a40&id=661512845

29 November 170 lbs.
5 to go. Gonna hit the mark. 4 weeks to go.

Okay Marty..You are in the final stretch. I cannot wait to see what I am going to owe extra to ETS.

Get ready...at 170/168 ish and will be on track for last 3 lbs by next week...working out aerobics every morning now...

And the final tally is......


175.....I almost made it.

I made 168 for a while, and was on track for 165 at the beginning of December, but the holiday festivities were just too much, and I bounced up to 175 as of this morning. Cookies and egg nog and parties and so on.

But here's the good news - all in, from my peak weight, I've dropped over 50 lbs - and more importantly, I've kept it off (within a narrow range of 170-175 for while now, and I've permanently changed my eating habits. I'll get to the 165-170 range and I'll stay there. For good.

By the numbers:

Miles I could run in March 2010: Less than 1
Mile I can run today: At least 5, maybe more, I haven't tried.

Pants size in March: 40 waist
Pants size today: 34 waist.

Number of situps I could do in March: 25
Number of situps I can do today: 250+ in sets of 50 (I don't push it)

Blood pressure, on average, in March: 145/100
Blood Pressure, on average, today: 130/90 (I love salty stuff...gotta be careful)

Key changes I made that worked for me:

- Cut the sweets out except for Saturday, and even then, I take it easy.

- Avoid soda. Of any kind. Ever. Not even Saturday. Avoid fruit juice too. It's pure sugar.

- Don't EVER eat anything with any of the following ingredients:
- Partially Hydrogenated Oils
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Mono and Di Glycerides

Just doing this is often enough to trigger good results.

- Eat a much larger breakfast, smaller lunch and smallest dinner.

- Snack on nuts and seeds and (incredible as it may seem) Spicy Kale! (Mmmm, love that spicy Kale)

- Don't eat anything after dinner unless it's a vegetable

- DRAMATICALLY lowered my caffeine intake, and method of intake. I still have some coffee now and then, but it's almost always tea now.

- Exercise. Really, this was the single most effective thing of all of them. Not much, 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity 4 days a week was crucial for me. If I could find more time, I would have lost more weight. Which ties into...

- Turn off the screens. My laptop/iPad combination is bad news. They suck my time and had me passively snacking. I bought a television this year - we haven't had one in the house since 1999 - but it's only hooked up to a computer, we don't have any cable/satellite or antenna service - and I can see that I watch MUCH more stuff on the screen than when I only had computer monitors or laptops to watch DVDs. I am seriously considering banishing the TV to the basement or just getting rid of it, as I don't like how it affects the appearance of my home, my waistline and my brain.

Feel great, look great and happier now.

Thanks for following along, sorry I didn't quite hit the final goal, but I have no regrets about the progress I made and the results I got.

Congratulations for a hard job well done. I can't put a number on it, but you also greatly lowered your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Keep up the good work in 2011!

Well done Martin!! Remember, you haven't just accomplished making this new you for you, it's also for your family!

-Blast

I'm very impressed and happy for you, Martin!

Marty,

Congratulations on your outstanding achievement!!

MoBOB

SO...based on the commitments, anyone still up for a donation to ETS? I lost 30+ lbs based on my target... A Buck a pound? Two bucks a kilogram?

I gave at the beginning to give you incentive. Again, great job.

I'll do a buck a pound.

-Blast

This project is a success, and I am happy to donate whatever I said way-back-when.

Congratulations Martin - I am sure you enjoy your new looks and fitness level

I agree Marty. Well done.

Martin:

Missed your updated thread from a few days ago,

I am in for the $50.00 that I originally committed for Jan 01, 2011. If you are still in the weight loss mode, the next donation of $50.00 if you are at 165 lbs on April 01, 2011 still stands...


Question for Doug Ritter: Is JustGive.org still the donation route to take for ETS?

great

Still at 175-180, if anyone cares...things are holding up well.

yeah.

Congrads on he losses! Just keep at it and you'll get there. Good luck!