OK. It's for serious!
I have a story that no doubt sounds familiar to many. I was chubby as a kid, and grew to genuinely fat by the time I graduated from High School. And it didn't get better from there. I had always been reasonably active and that didn't change in college. My problem is always been that I like to eat. A lot. Once I graduated college, I took on a sedentary job and my activity dropped substantially, and the weight piled on. then my wife got a job out of state and I talked my company into letting me work remotely. SO... now I have a job where I never have to walk more than 30-40 steps at a time, and it's a busy job, so it's always hard to find the time to exercise. And the weight piled on. Somewhere in the last 10 years, the bottom just fell out. I had a herniated disk first, which made me basically never want to move. That was resolved (surgery), but then I just never got back into actively moving.
In the last 3-4 years, my situation has just become impossible. I was 5' 11" and 360 lbs. My knees are a mess (difficult to stand for more than 30 minutes). I am SO out of shape that I sweat from the least exertion. Worst for me, it is impacting my life with my family and the activities we like to do, for example, I want to be able to actually ride a roller coaster with my daughter. I guess the very final straw is when my blood pressure decided to sky rocket and the doc says I'm a borderline diabetic.
ENOUGH ALREADY!
This is my moment to change. And not just a "diet." In fact, I do not consider myself as being on a diet. I could never sustain such a thing, though I've tried many times. THis must be about changing life-long habits and expectations.
SO, I started in April at 360 pounds (I'm guessing), my scale only went to 350 so I don't really know). Here at the beginning of Sept., I am at 331 lbs, so 29 down. I haven't set an end goal, because if I think about it, it just seems to far... too hard. But I have set a goal of being less than 300 lbs. by the end of the year, and less than 275 (less than I've weighed since college) by next summer. I hope to keep going after that. But with nearly 30 lbs under my belt (so to speak), I think I can do it.
The strategy is to eat a bit less, and healthier. I won't say no to anything I want, but I am mindful of how often and how much. I also want to exercise when I can. I am very out of shape, but I am walking a 1/2 mile a day right now. I think I can up that to 3/4 mile soon.
I'm a mess. But I determined to make that change NOW.
FWIW, I am doing this in "secret." It's not REALLY a secret, but I am not announcing a "diet" to anyone. I am simply making the changes and letting it run from there.
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