lose 100 pounds

So after 5 pounds lost in each of the first two weeks, the last two weeks have seen my losses drop to 2 pounds per week. My body fat percentage is going down quicker than I expected, which means I must be putting on muscle again, a surprise since I haven’t started working with weights yet, and have only been focused on the walking.

Anyway, work is calling me again, so I must be off. I’ll be back at some point…

WEIGHT TRACKER 2009
Weight On Jan. 12: 281.0 lbs
Weight On Jan. 19: 276.2 lbs
Weight On Jan. 26: 271.0 lbs
Weight On Feb. 02: 269.0 lbs
Weight On Feb. 09: 266.6 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘09: 14.4 lbs

Well I must admit, I’m in a bit of shock here as I return from the scale and see that I’ve already managed to lose 10 pounds. 5.2 pounds lost this week, which tops the first week (though not by much). In a bit of irony, two years ago on this date I was at the weight I started at this year (281).

Physically, I think I ended up doing less this week than last, but when I did get to walking, I was able to do more of it, so it must have evened out. The eating habits are sliding back into place as well, which helps a great deal. I wanted to be in the 260’s by the time February started, and now it looks like that will be easy to hit.

More next week…

WEIGHT TRACKER 2009
Weight On Jan. 12: 281.0 lbs
Weight On Jan. 19: 276.2 lbs
Weight On Jan. 26: 271.0 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘09: 10.0 lbs

The first week when you’re doing something like this is both the easiest and toughest week of the whole process. The easy part is looking at the scale and seeing results. Of course, that easy part is only possible by going through the hell that is the first week of change.

I’m honestly a little disappointed by the end results. 4.8 pounds in the first week is half of what I lost in week one the first time around. And most of the loss was in the first two days. The rest of the week was spent in a lull.

Of course, I have to keep in mind that I’m lighter this time around, and that I didn’t see this weight in ‘07 until February. I also have not lost all of the stamina and endurance I built up from the walking I did in ‘07. As a result, the workout doesn’t quite have the same effectiveness, at least not at the levels I’m at right now.

Work has been getting in my way a bit, as has my poor sleep patterns. right now I just don’t have the time to spend 3-4 hours on my long walks, but in the coming weeks and months I will. I finally get a day off tomorrow, so I can do it then if I feel up to it.

Anyway, it’s time to get back out there, and then to work. I’ll have more next week.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2009
Weight On Jan. 12: 281.0 lbs
Weight On Jan. 19: 276.2 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘09: 4.8 lbs

This post is a little strange, as I never really thought I’d be back here again. Two years ago I discovered this place as I was beginning my journey of losing 100 pounds, and I posted here on a regular basis over the course of 8 months.

During that time, I went from over 300 pounds to just over 200 (201 to be more precise). But a funny thing happened after my last post here…I got sick.

It started off innocent enough, I was tired in the mornings. I figured it was just my body adjusting to it’s slimmer confines, and 8 months of hard work and sweat finally catching up to me. My workouts went from daily to every other day, and as time went by, the sluggishness just wouldn’t go away. so I took time off, I mean, I did reach my goal, right?

My weight started slowly creeping back up, While my workouts were gone, my eating habits returned to what they were before…almost. and by January my fatigue was still bothering me. That’s when I learned what had happened. For the last six months, I had been breathing in toxic mold. And while it didn’t hit me immediately, once it did hit, the mold took its toll on my body. It infested my bedroom walls, and in the end forced me to find a new place to live.

So by June of ‘08, I was out of the mold farm, and slowly but surely my energy returned to a level I was more used to. But the move took time, and caused a financial burden on myself, tacked on with the fact that my job was nearly non-existent for months, it made getting back out on the trail a bit less important.

But now things have finally started to turn back in the right direction. Work is back to being work, I’m fully settled in my new place, and the small physical ailments that have been bugging me the last month or so have gone away (achy joints, bad back, bruised leg), so after a 10 day delay, I am finally starting this again.

I lost 102 pounds in 8 months the first time around. In the 16 months following, I gained 80. So I write this at 281 pounds, with a goal of getting down to 180. My one regret the first time around was that I couldn’t get under 200, which would would have been a great moral victory. This time, I will make it, and no mold is going to stand in my way.

Time to get my 6000-10000 steps in. I’ll be back every Monday with an update.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2009
Weight On Jan. 12: 281.0 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘09: 0.0 lbs

Well, just because I’ve completed this “thing,” it doesn’t mean I’m done posting here. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’m done losing weight. So I’m here as usual on Tuesday with another update on my progress.

My first week since hitting the century mark has been rather tough, as I’ve bounced up and down (mostly up) for most of the week. But as usual, I’ve found a way to lose from Tuesday to Tuesday, and I’m down another 1.6 pounds. I was hoping to slip below the 200 pound mark, but I guess that will have to wait until September…at least officially.

I really don’t have much to say this week, so I guess I’ll end it here. Back next week with more.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007
Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On Aug. 07: 209.0 lbs
Weight On Aug. 14: 207.0 lbs
Weight On Aug. 21: 202.6 lbs
Weight On Aug. 28: 201.0 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 102.2 lbs

The dark clouds of last week are mostly behind me. A 16 mile walk on Monday, coupled with a week of staying on track food wise combined to finally push my weight below the number I had been chasing since January 2nd. That’s right, I have now officially lost 100 pounds. It took me exactly 231 days to do it.

But instead of the fanfare and celebration, I really don’t know what’s ahead of me. By next week I should hit an even bigger milestone when I drop below 200 pounds for the first time since I was probably 15. But with this goal accomplished, as I said in the title, Phase Two is complete. Now comes Phase Three.

Phase One was me following my strict numbers. Tracking calories, food, and my exercise routine. It was going as far as I could on my own until my methods stopped working. I lost the first 70 pounds that way…though I was losing the dedication and focus to it by the end, more signs that I needed a change.

Phase Two was bringing in outside assistance, in this case the gym. For two months, I regularly hit the gym, using machines and weights to jump start my weight loss again and knock off the next 30 pounds. Even though I left the gym two weeks ago, this was still Phase Two, with the bike I bought also providing me with an
option I didn’t have in the early stages. The last 10 weeks did exactly what they were designed to do, but not without consequences.

The bike purchase has really been a drag on my finances, both through the actual bike purchase and the maintenance to keep it up and running. My work hours slowing down hasn’t helped this issue either. It’s the reason I couldn’t afford to pay for the gym after my free trial ended.

I’ve also found that the gym and bike have hampered my walking speed a bit. I had built up my walking so much before the gym, but once there, I kind of slacked off on it. Yesterday I couldn’t really kick it into as high of a gear as I would have liked, barely able to maintain a 16 minute mile average. Blisters didn’t help my speed much for the last 3 miles or so. Still, while the speed isn’t quite there, the distance sure is.

Phase Three is the combination of everything I did right in the last 231 days. It’s the focus and determination I had back in January, combined with the stamina and endurance I have now. It’s running harder, biking faster, pushing my body beyond the limits. Or at least that’s how I envision it. I still have somewhere between 20 and 40 pounds to lose, and while that doesn’t sound like much compared to what I’ve already done, I know it’s going to be much harder to get there.

Right now I’m in limbo. I’m not mentally ready for this next level. Last week’s post should make that quite obvious. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy I managed to hit the century mark today. But it’s not over yet…

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007
Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On Aug. 07: 209.0 lbs
Weight On Aug. 14: 207.0 lbs
Weight On Aug. 21: 202.6 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 100.6 lbs

I’ve really begun to lose interest in all of this. Here I am, 96 pounds down, and I really just don’t care anymore. Right now, I still feel like I’ve accomplished nothing.

My times of enjoyment have been few and far between this year. Most of them involve me reverting back to how I used to live, how I used to eat, not concerned with what it might do to me. The whole reason behind losing this weight was to find enjoyment that was missing from my life, but in the pursuit of it I’ve lost what little joy I had before.

I sometimes enjoy the exercise, I’m quite fond of the bike riding, when my bike isn’t in need of another repair (yet another flat in the back tire hit me today). I actually managed to trek across half of Orange County, 19 miles, on Sunday, and 18 miles back on Monday. But still, there’s something missing.

Losing weight for the sake of losing weight was never my goal. I was happy with myself at 300+ pounds. It was always everyone else that seemed to have a problem with me being who I was. And while it didn’t really bother me to be on the outside looking in, the thing that made it difficult was that I was alone out there.

Part of me feels like I’ve betrayed myself and my beliefs by doing this. I sold out to the general population in order to be accepted into their society. But the truth is, I’m still on the outside, and I’m still alone.

Those of you that have found people to accept you for who you are, flaws and all, I envy you. I have never had that experience, in fact I’ve pretty much had the opposite. “You’re great…except for that one thing” could be the story of my life. And even if I managed to finally find some company, I’d always have that morsel of doubt, that question of how she would have felt about me before this change. Unless I invest in a fat suit, I’ll never know the answer.

I thought I could make it through all of this without dwelling on this. But it’s become the focus of my life once again. I’m reminded of why I lost all this weight in the first place, and why I feel like its been a wasted effort so far. At least when I was 300 pounds I wasn’t angry and frustrated half the time. If the weight loss doesn’t get me what I need, what else do I have to do? What else do I have to change in order to get what I need?

For now, I keep going forward, not because it’s bringing me happiness, but because I don’t know what else to do. I’m basically a machine at this point, one that’s on auto-pilot.

Maybe I just need to hit the century mark…but I have a feeling that it won’t change much.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007
Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On Aug. 07: 209.0 lbs
Weight On Aug. 14: 207.0 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 96.2 lbs

For the second week in a row, I was in danger of having my weight head back up the scale for the first time. In fact, there was the real possibility of gaining back two weeks worth of losses. However, after a early morning bike ride to Target to pick up the Tenth Season of The Simpsons, I came home to discover that I had dropped below last Tuesday’s total, though just barely.

I had managed to get down to 207 a few days ago, but 3 days of eating out and couple of high calorie home cooked meals managed to wipe that out. The lesson I’m learning from all of this is that I can go out and enjoy myself, and maintain my weight. So even though I had Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Red Robin, 2 home cooked steaks, home made burritos, a gallon of regular soda, a gallon of regular Powerade, and a beer, I still managed to drop for the week.

The other comfort I can take is that while the pounds are about the same, my body fat percentage is sliding down. Last week at virtually the same weight my percentage was about 28. Today, it’s 25.4. In the last week I’ve added about a pound of muscle, which of course would help explain the lack of scale movement.

If the numbers are accurate, I have 53 pounds of fat left. I had about 127.5 when I first got a body fat scale on Feb. 7th (I was 275.4 pounds at that point). I’ve lost 74.5 pounds of fat, but only 66.4 pounds overall. There’s no way I could make it down to what BMI says is a healthy weight for me without losing muscle mass. I’d have 5% body fat if I lost the 45 pounds it says I still need to lose to get there.

I’m about 22 pounds away from being at 17% body fat, which is considered healthy. I’m able to fit into size 34 jeans, something I don’t think I’ve ever fit in before (I think as a kid I went from kids clothes straight to 36’s), and I’m still less than 2 weeks away from hitting the 100 pound mark. And I still have almost 5 months…

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007
Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On Aug. 07: 209.0 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 94.2 lbs

Things have not been easy for me the last few weeks. From bus strikes and finicky bikes to random pains and cuts and scrapes, the month of July has been a hodge-podge of crappy moments somehow building upon each other into a crescendo of low-rent misery and frustration. That would be the best way to describe the days since my last posting.

The week began with a bad omen, as I had my first real crash on my bike. I hit a bad piece of asphalt shortly after I finished my last entry here, and took a tumble, scraping up my arm pretty good in the process. But I couldn’t let a little thing like bleeding get in the way, so I pressed on and headed to the gym. When I arrived, I found out my membership had not yet expired, a small beacon of hope at this point. As I went to the locker room however, that light was quickly diffused as I realized that I had forgotten to put my lock in my new backpack, and I wouldn’t be able to get in my workout that day. Since my arm was starting to throb, it was probably a good idea anyway.

Avoiding discouragement, I decided to get my workout in on the bike, running errands and taking a ride through the neighborhood I grew up in. It was a fun trek down memory lane, and I eventually made it home. But then I decided to go back out to dinner and had KFC, which was really good. But it was on the way back home from there that my bike was introduced to a big nail in the road, ironically enough just a few feet from my earlier crash. And of course it had to be in the back tire, making it that much tougher to replace the tube. So that was Tuesday.

My bike was out of commission on Wednesday, but other than that , the day went well. I hit the gym, made it to work, and for the most part had a good day. Then came Thursday, and a seemingly innocent trip to Tommy’s became a recipe for disaster. I decided to order a chili dog, which I had never had from them, and as the afternoon headed into the evening, it was obvious that something wasn’t right. My stomach was churning, body starting to ache, and it was only getting worse. Then the back pain started, and I spent half the night on the bathroom floor, praying to the porcelain god, and throwing gas pills and Alka-Seltzer at my war zone to no avail. Friday and Saturday would be spent in a state of nagging pain, not as bad as Thursday, but still an obvious issue. No exercise, not much physical activity, and not much eating.

By Sunday I was well enough to get back on the bike. I headed to Wal-Mart and bought a last resort for my stomach, antacid. Fortunately for me, either the problem worked its way out of my system, or the last resort worked, and by Monday I was back at 100%. Yesterday I hit the gym, and the bike, and work. I’ll do the same today.

So you can see that this probably took a toll on my weight. Until this morning I had actually gone up for the week. Fortunately, when the numbers came back today, I had actually managed to lose 2 pounds, despite the lack of exercise for 3 days and no gym for 4. Even 3 trips to fast food outlets didn’t stop me in the end, though I will probably avoid Tommy’s chili dogs for a long, long time.

I’m now into the single digits, just over 6 pounds away from the century mark, and less than 10 away from being under 200. I fell just short of my March numbers, but still beat April, May, and June. Two weeks away…wow.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007

Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On July 10: 219.0 lbs
Weight On July 17: 216.0 lbs
Weight On July 24: 211.4 lbs
Weight On July 31: 209.4 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 93.8 lbs

There’s a good reason to stick with a specific weigh-in day, and not get too enthused or depressed with daily changes: sometimes, your body is a yo-yo!

As I reported on Thursday, my scale had informed me I was down to 212 pounds. Now I didn’t celebrate, or party, or put excess food and drink in me, but by Saturday, I was back up to 216, the weight I had been on Tuesday. I worked Thursday and Friday, and I’m beginning to notice a pattern in my weight loss lately. When I work, I tend to go up. I tend to drink more when I work, and that’s really been playing with my weight. It’s important to keep hydrated and everything, but perhaps I need to cut back a bit at work. Either that or accept the yo-yo.

In the end, I’m now below where I was on Thursday. I tip the scale today at 211.4, a drop of 4.6 for the week, my highest week since February. For the month, I’ve already passed my June total of 11 pounds, and with a week left in the month, I’ve got a shot at passing my March total of 13.8 (April and May were already passed). Not bad at all for what was a really awful week.

I had to deal with my phone company going out of business, stresses at work, the possible end of my gym trail membership, and on Friday I busted one of my bike pedals. I couldn’t get a replacement until Monday, but thankfully I found what I was looking for, and everything is back to normal.

So far, this week is looking much better. My new phone company finally sent me my new number and information (hopefully I get my old number ported soon), and I didn’t have to get a cell phone so I can afford to start paying for the gym if I feel so inclined. And I have the day off so my weight should go down even more.

WEIGHT TRACKER 2007

Weight On Jan. 02: 303.2 lbs
Weight On Feb. 06: 275.5 lbs
Weight On Mar. 06: 260.2 lbs
Weight On Apr. 03: 251.2 lbs
Weight On May 01: 240.2 lbs
Weight On June 05: 232.0 lbs
Weight On July 03: 222.2 lbs
Weight On July 10: 219.0 lbs
Weight On July 17: 216.0 lbs
Weight On July 24: 211.4 lbs
Weight Lost In ‘07: 91.8 lbs