Blogging about it has generally been the kiss of death for my weight loss effort—have a look at the related posts below for several stones along the road to hell—but I think this time is different.
No, really different. No, really really really.
- I’m up to 10,000 steps per workday. Got there increasing 1,000 steps per workday per week, starting from my baseline of 3,000.
- I have made generally sensible changes to my diet—lower fat, higher fiber, complex over simple carbs, and so forth.
- I’ve cut alcoholic beverages to 10 per week, with no more than 4 in one day. (That’s mostly to accommodate football. Heh.)
- I didn’t relapse on smoking while doing any of this.
- I’m 26 lbs. off my all-time high as I type, and will probably see the 260s next week for the first time in I don’t know when (four years or so, at least).
- I have officially gone down a waist size this morning. Now I’m in the fattest normally-sized jeans, not the slimmest fat-guy jeans.
- XL polo shirts are still months away, but I’m reliably getting into almost every manufacturer’s XXL now.
I have a long way to go, but I certainly do feel good when I turn around to see how far I’ve come. Thanks to all who have encouraged me. I really appreciate it. Follow along to the right if you like.
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Rock on Bo! You’re counting steps so the next logical progression is to fire up the spreadsheet and start tracking calories. Doing so will seriously change the way you think about food.
Congrats!
Thanks, guys! Lee, I’m counting informally already, but I don’t want to formalize it unnecessarily (i.e. while what I’m doing is working, the hell with precision). 🙂 That is, however, a frontier I’m saving for a plateau!
It’s inevitable Bo. There aren’t enough hours in the day to out-exercise over-eating, and to maintain 185 lbs, even with a reasonable amount of daily exercize, only requires ~2500 calories. Calories are just too cheap and too readily available. Once you start formally tracking, you’ll be shocked and amazed at how many you casually ingest.
Lee, thanks for the word. I do count carefully enough to say with confidence that such (2500) would be on the upper side of customary for me right now. I am keenly aware of everything I eat – to the point of adding breath mints and ketchup packets to my running tally. 🙂 I think I’m probably already past the casual ingestion epiphany. Still, I’ll hold a physical journal back as an extra reserve measure.
Congrats!!!
I know how hard it is to get on track and stay there. I’ve started back journaling everything I eat/drink and working on exercising every day. After many years of taking care of everyone else…it’s time to take care of me, especially if I want to be there when my kids have kids.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks, AZn8tive! And I understand exactly what you mean re: grandchildren.
Nice job Bo! I think the whole concept of slowing increasing your steps is a great way to get more calories burned without burning yourself out on exercise. Just keep doing what you’re doing, you’ve lost almost 10% of your body and that’s awesome!
Thank you, Mirth! I really appreciate the encouragement.
Good for you! One day I may attempt to follow in your footsteps. I admit I do get tired of smaller fat women getting pulled into orbit around me.