My Journey on Weight Loss

Weight loss and healthy living is something every person desires, yet only a few can achieve.  As short as three years ago, I was 6'4" tall, 215 lbs, and very low body fat.  In just 3 years through work, stress, and home I have gained 55lbs to ring in at a resounding 270lbs.  I have the start of thryoid problems, kidney and pancreas problems, high cholestral and the other things that come with being overweight.

My Dr advised me to lose some weight, so I am sharing the struggle to do so here.  The first step was to identify wasted or empty calories.  Such as soft drinks, candy and sweets, and fast food.  Suprisingly those make up a large part of my diet.

I looked at my excercise level.  Aside from walking to the snack bar to get a snack, or too and from my car it was relatively nill.  Oh sure I worked out with some weights for around 5 to 10 minutes but no where near the lifting level I was at.

So, I have to have a diet and a lifestyle change.  Be sure to consult your Dr before beginning any dietary or excercise changes.  I know my body and what my limit is, yours may be higher or lower and attempting to duplicate what I do may cause discomfort. 

These changes all went into place on Saturday, August the 14th, 2010.  My weight was 270, my waist was 42 inches.  For all of Saturday and Sunday I ate only veggies, fruit, wheat toast and a couple eggs(for the protein).  For excercise I went out in the heat of the day to really crank out a sweat(to help with the body purification purpose) and did push ups, jumping jacks, and crunches.  30 minutes of workout with plenty of water for hydration.

Monday I began my excercise routine.  Beginning at 7 I walked 2 miles on a track.  I went to the gym and did supersets with weights.  The idea behind supersets is to get your heart rate up as in cardio, while doing resistance training to build lean muscles.  I'll worry about bulk and definition at a later date.  Also since I am at work at a desk, every two hours I shut the door and crank out 10 pushups, and 10 crunches. 

Tuesday morning came the dreaded scale time.  I was pleased to see I have dropped 2 lbs.  I expect to see weight fluctuations as muscle comes on and fat leaves, so clothes fitting and waist size will be my ultimate goal.  My Dr wants me to shed 10 lbs by my next visit, or 2 lbs a week.  I believe I can do better then that. 

In summary, here is a listing of some of the things I dropped that are empty calories.  The values are approximate as my eating habits did vary, but a good representation.

• Soda-290 Cal/bottle, 3 bottles a day for a total of 870 Calories
• Fast food- Approximately 370 for breakfast 600 for lunch for 970/day
• Snack-Varies between 100 and 300 calories depending on what I chose

So in junk food I am bringing in over 2k of calories.  And thats not counting supper, which could be another 1000 in itself depending on what I had.

This has all been replaced by water, fruits and veggies, boneless skinless chicken, and protein shakes. 

So, next update will be in a couple days, to show progress.  I am not doing this to toot my horn, but hopefully to motivate others.