I'M BACK

As you can tell I have not posted in quite awhile. I was very ashamed that I could not follow through with the original diet. Since that time I had made a few efforts with the same diet. Unfortunately in the few cases that I started I quickly fizzled. I couldn't stay on track more than a couple days. The longest was a week.

However, back in December, I was laid off from my job. I knew I couldn't stay on unemployment forever and getting back in the workforce meant I had to get back into some semblance of shape. Losing my job also meant that I needed to have a strict budget. I decided to prepare most of my meals at home. I also decided to limit the amount of food I was taking in.

I suppose at some point I was probably taking in about 5,000 to 10,000 calories per day. I was also going through allot of carbonated, caffeinated, soft drinks. My health was probably the worst it has ever been. Going to the bathroom was a struggle and a chore. Even walking extremely short distances became a challenge.

Around the same time period, my brother in law had been contracted to do photography for a cruise line. He was going to a photography class in central America and after a few weeks he would be sent out to cruise the world. He had been overweight the last time I had seen him. He had told me he lost close to 80 lbs and was fitter than he had been in awhile.

My sister told me that I could come along with him, but he felt that I probably wouldn't want to go because of my weight. He knew that I couldn't sleep on my back and I had a hard time just standing. He knew it would be hard on me if I went in my condition. He was right. But I was inspired.

I had already felt that I lost a little weight since limiting my daily consumption. I decided that I was going to take advantage of my treadmill. I started out by doing 15 minutes at 1.5 miles an hour. I gradually increased the time by thirty seconds a day.

I wanted to feel better by Christmas because me, my Mom, and my Brother were going to visit our family down south. Every time I go down south I always want to go to Savannah Georgia. It's one of my favorite cities. The last time I had gone I had trouble navigating my way around because of my weight. I wanted to walk around without getting winded this time.

By Christmas I was feeling allot healthier. My food intake was still less than desirable, but it was certainly reduced from before. I was now taking in between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day. I was also walking about 25 minutes daily Monday through Friday.

On the way back from visiting family we stopped in Chattanooga to gas up the car. At the gas stop I found an electronic scale in the bathroom, the ones that require a quarter to operate. I had not been weighed since the last time I was at the VA Hospital. In January 2008 I was at 444 lbs. In February 2008, before I left for Amsterdam, I was 416 lbs. I recall going to the VA sometime around late 2008 or possible early 2009 and I think I was 437 lbs. But my memory of that weigh in is foggy. Anyway, I put my quarter in and to my shock I was 393 lbs.

That means in about a years time I had lost about 50 lbs. More than likely I had lost allot of that during the month of December 2009. I also have to take into account that the scale at the gas station might have been off. It gave me a renewed sense of hope and a great outlook on my future weight loss.

As soon as I got back home, I decided to go on a stricter portion control. I have yet weighed in on a proper scale at a doctors office. I decide not to live on the scale, so until I get under 350 lbs, I plan on going to the doctors office once a month to weigh in. Why 350 lbs you say? Because most (if not all) scales that you can buy over the counter do not go past 350 lbs. My first weigh in will be next week on 1/29/10.

I changed my eating habits. I now have a week where I eat a very strict diet and the next week (so far) I eat pretty much whatever I want. I do limit the calories to about 3,000 to 3,500 though. I have also decided that my strength and limberness is to a point where I can now workout besides walking. Starting February 1st I will be doing 30 minutes of working out on top of my 45 minutes of walking. I will also be reducing my calories on my off days.

Why do I need "off days?" All the diets I have tried and failed were do to the fact that "in my head" I longed for the foods that I couldn't eat. I knew that until I had lost the weight I wasn't going to enjoy them. Every time I slid or cheated, it was because I caved into these foods. This time I decided to incorporate them in that way I would not be tempted. When I am tempted, I know that I only have one week before I can have that "temptation," so it is easier on me mentally. So far, it has worked out perfectly. I'm going on over a month now and have only had cravings a few times, but quickly realized that by the end of the week, I can give way to those cravings. By the end of the week I've started on my "off days" and have no need for the intense cravings.

It has actually got to the point that I miss the feeling of the days when I am on a strict diet because of the feeling I get when I can tell I'm losing weight so fast. I'll let you know what my diet consists of through the course of my blog. I am also dedicating myself to short term goals that are within reach and making them milestones to my overall achievement.

My first milestone was to break 30 minutes on the treadmill. My next was to break a mile on the treadmill. Both were done in quick succession. My next goal is to have dropped 20 lbs by weigh in. It's going to be hard to tell since I do not know if the scale in the gas station was calibrated or not. I'm hoping I'll be 373 lbs as of 1/29/10. The next milestone after that is to finish a week with both treadmill and DVD cardio/strength training workouts.

I hope to be 350 lbs by the end of March. Just in time for me to visit my old friends in Iowa. They have not seen me at that weight since about 2004. I want to be down to 300 lbs for my birthday. I want to be in the 200's for the first time since 2002. At that weight I can much more easily manage sleeping on my back, standing on my feet for long periods of time, and I can get that job with my brother in-law on the cruise line.