It's for real this time.

[dreamof220]

Hello, I have been looking at the before and after pics and reading the stories for some time now. I was an athlete in high school. I did football, track, wrestling, basketball, and softball. I was 226 through most of high school. That was some 17 years ago now. I was 215 in July 1995. I worked out alot and I rode my bike every where. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, he's 11 now, I put on some weight. I ate when she ate. She lost weight at the delivery, but, I didn't. I kept putting weigt on through College. I injured both knees and had surgery on one. I have really slowed down. I don't exercise very much any more. But, I had a really tough year last year. I am going through a career change. I am also working on getting out of debt the "Dave Ramsey" way. I decided to change some other things in my life too. I want to be healthy. My wife baught me a book, "The non-runners guide to running a marathon." I decided I want to run a marathon and I know that I can't do that at this weight. I have tried this diet before, but I have never been able to stick to it for long. I am more motivated this time. I really want to do this marathon. I am considering a sprint triathalon with my brother in June too. My goal with these is to finish. I have to loose this weight. Diabetes is in my family along with the other weight related diseases. I am starting to have some of the symptoms. I am ready to change this life to a better one. I just can't decide what my final weight should be. The height weight charts say 189 tops. I was thinking 220 when I signed up. I guess I'll have to see what I feel like once I reach 220. I have been on the diet 6 days now. I have lost 5 pounds and I feel great. I have more energy, I am happier and more optomistic. I did have the headache that I was told I would have on day 2 or 3. But, I am feeling great. My appetite is about half of what it was. My whole family is changing the way they eat too. I have had a lot of salads and beef. I tried to keep my carbs to 20, but, on Sunday I got up to 30 and I had 5 grams of carbs in a small pastry snack which caused a two pound gain on monday. I was down 4 pounds on Saturday and I had to drop those 2 pounds again this week. I won't be cheating with carbs again. Even if it is still within the 20 carb limit. Bread or pastry just reverses my progress. However, one orange slice a day seems to speed it up, or so it seemed. I had one orange slice on the first and one on the second. I lost weight faster then. I may try that again. I am taking a multi-vitamin, but no omega-3's yet. But, I will get some fish oil or something soon. I have an image in my mind of who I want to be and what I want to look like. I am on the path to achieving that goal. There is a song by Swithfoot that says "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" I play it for motivation when I am walking, soon to be jogging. I will be a healthy marathoner, with financial peace, in a career I love this summer. Those are my goals for the new year.

[Jeremy]

Well, we are kind of starting this thing at the same time. Hopefully we will be around in a year to congratulate one another on our progress. My max is 189 too, but 200-220 is my current goal. I feel just like you, I'll see if I want to go down more once I get there. I have not weighed anything close to that since I was a young teenager, so I have no idea how I will look at that weight.

[dreamof220]

Well, it's Jan 21 now. I have 21 days on the diet. I tried not to cheat. But, even when I keep my carbs below 20, if I have ANY sugar I have a set back. It takes a few days to start loosing again. I have also noticed that I can go 5 days with out losing a pound then I'll drop 5 over the next 2 days. Its like going down stairs for me. I hit a weight and stay there a week until I suddenly drop to the next step and drop weight. I am on the extended induction. 15 pounds done already. It's a pretty good start for only 15 days. I am still adjusting to all of this new energy and feeling good. It is odd to not have to fight depression. Stress of life still gets to me but not like before. I flew to Baltimore last week for two days for a job interview. I maintained the diet. It was hard not to feel like I had to eat those fries with dinner just so I didn't feel like I was waisting money. I decided my health was worth the cost. I learned to enjoy Sprite Zero. I don't drink a lot of soda pop. But a 0 carb 0 calorie drink when I get tired of water is awesome. I am enjoying the extended induction and I feel great. I realized that processed meat like ham or hot dogs or sausage have a lot of sugar and nitrates and DO NOT let me loose weight. I really have to avoid them. I have a hard time falling asleep at night now since I have so much energy. But, I just have to exercise more. It doesn't help that I am unemployed now and finding work is difficult. Yet, because of this WOL and WOE I am able to keep a positive attitude. I can face my stressors head on. It's a good feeling. I need to cut the stress and the cortisol levels. So, I am going to start a daily exercise program. I hope I find work soon so I can cut out the stress. Good luck to all and happy eating.