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.