Join Me And Lose Weight With Me!

Hello and welcome! I set up this blog as a document of my journey in losing the weight I have put on the past few years. I also would like others who are trying to lose weight to join me so we can encourage each other in our journey.

Losing weight won't always be easy. There are years of bad habits to break that have become ingrained into our personalities and ways of life. But it is possible to lose the weight and I will show you how I am doing it.

How did I get fat?

I got fat the way most people get fat: junk food, poor eating habits, and lack of regular exercise.

My diet of junk food started when I was in college. I was young, always on the go, and either at school, working, or studying. I needed something to keep me awake, so I relied on soda pop. Mountain Dew was my preference. As I was always pressed for time, I relied on fast food to sustain me. There were times when I would eat at McDonald's three times a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As of this writing I haven't eaten at McDonald's for months.

When I was 21 years old I was still rail thin. I had almost no body fat. Just so you know, I am a male. I could fit into a 28 inch waist pair of Levi jeans. They were skin tight, but I could fit into them without any fat rolls hanging over the waistband. When I was 20 years old I weighed only 130 pounds at 5 feet 10 inches tall. That was when I started putting on weight.

Unfortunately, my poor eating habits and lack of exercise stuck with me after college. I still relied on soda pop to get me through the day, switching to Coca-Cola from Mountain Dew. I still ate fast food almost every day. I rarely exercised because I was always tired from work at the office.

In March of 2008 my weight topped out at 225 lbs. In ten years I went from 130 lbs. to 225 lbs., a weight gain of 95 lbs! I had a generous-sized belly, my face looked bloated, I looked like crap and I felt like crap.

That month I made a conscious decision: I was going to lose weight. And not only lose weight and ugly fat, but I vowed to keep it off.

My progress so far

When I decided to diet in mid-March 2008, I weighed 225 lbs. As of this morning (July 10th) I weigh 192 lbs. I have lost 33 pounds of fat and four inches off my waistline in four months.

Nothing encourages you to lose more weight than losing weight. That is why the first few weeks of any weight-loss program are so difficult. You don't see immediate results and you get discouraged.

One other thing I've learned is to not weigh myself every day. Losing fat and inches is the real benchmark, not the number on the scale. When you consume food and water, your weight will rise. Seeing the number on the scale two or three pounds higher than the day before does nothing but discourage me. Weighing myself once or twice a week is all I need to verify the progress I am making.

My goal

The goal I started with was to end the year 2008 weighing 160 lbs. An important thing in weight loss is to not set unrealistic goals. A goal of losing 10 lbs. a month is achievable by me and everyone else. A goal of losing 25 lbs. a month is not realistic and will only discourage you.

I think 160 lbs. would be a suitable weight given my height of 5 feet 10 inches. But if I go lower than that, say to 150 lbs., I will not be complaining.

So I set a realistic, attainable goal of losing 10 lbs. per month and I am very close to it having lost 33 lbs. in just under four months.

Losing fat, not muscle

As most people know, the goal of weight loss is not to lose muscle, but to lose fat. As such, it is important to exercise regularly, but not to the point of overdoing it or wearing yourself out.

I do a brisk, one-hour, four-mile walk no less than three times a week, usually five times a week. I do this in the morning before work, rain or shine. As long as it isn't raining too hard or there is lightning, I will grab an umbrella and walk even in the rain. I actually enjoy walking in the rain.

A walk is less strenuous than jogging or an aggressive bike ride. If you exercise early in the day, you don't want to drain yourself of the energy you need to make it through the day. A brisk walk will give you the exercise you need to burn calories and raise your metabolism so you continue to burn calories during the day while not expending all of your energy.

Right now I don't do a whole lot of weight training. Why? Because being a male, I put on muscle rather easily. I don't want lots of muscle under the fat making me look fatter. I'm not out to be Mr. Universe, anyway, but I do want to be lean with good muscle tone. The muscle tone will come later, after I lose the fat.

Once a week I do abdominal crunches, buttock exercises, push-ups, and arm curls with dumbbells. My muscles are a little bigger than they were when I started my weight-loss program and I can feel the firmness under the fat. But I do not want to go overboard on the muscle-building because more muscle does burn more calories--which is a good thing--but too much muscle gain too fast can push your appetite into overdrive. That's the last thing I want at this time.

My eating: not depriving myself

When I eat, I don't deprive myself of the things I crave. I don't eat horrible diet food, either. I eat sensibly and not more than it takes to satisfy my hunger. I consider food to be fuel for my body, not for recreation. I try to eat good foods when I can: fresh vegetables, whole grain cereals, meat, 2% milk, granola bars, fruits, etc.

Instead of eating six cookies like I used to do, I eat two. Instead of two giant bowls of cereal, I'll eat one normal-sized bowl. I don't waste time worrying about cutting every single calorie I can out of my meals. If I want a little full-fat mayonnaise, I'll have a little. If I want to sprinkle a little sugar on my Cheerios, I do that.

I don't eat tofu, rice cakes, or anything else unsatisfying. When you are trying to lose weight, you don't want to make yourself miserable in the process. Your body craves fats, sugar, and junk food. Having a little bit of that--as long as it is a little--is not a bad thing. You will satisfy your craving and your mind will be focused elsewhere than your growling stomach.

Sensible eating combined with regular exercise is a proven, sure-fire way to lose weight for anyone, male, female, extremely over-weight, or just a little over-weight.

I used to drink between one and two 2-liter bottles of Coca-Cola a day, every day. I would sip Coke all day long. Now I hardly touch the stuff. I might buy one 2-liter bottle of Coke at the end of a week to enjoy with my weekend meals. Other than that I don't touch that fattening soda. One 2-liter bottle of Coke contains 800 calories. Cutting out the Coke was probably the most important thing I did to lose weight. I also ate a lot of junk food, but there is no arguing that 800 - 1,600 calories of soda pop per day is way too much.

Instead of drinking Coke, I drink tea and water. I sip water all day long now, not that caloric sugar water. It took a little getting used to not having that delicious tasting Coke in my mouth all day. After a week or two I no longer craved Coke. Water suits me just fine.

Thank you for joining me!

I hope you will stop back regularly to check on my progress. I will be updating this every day or every other day. I will document my weight-loss, my exercise regimen, and the foods I eat. You will see how I lose weight without depriving myself and making myself miserable.

You can do it, too. We can do it together. Posts are open for comments, so please feel free to leave a message of encouragement, or criticism, should you be so inclined.

Thank you for joining me on my weight-loss journey!