4 Months ~ 25 Pounds

paddydaddyo

I started this most recent weight loss effort in mid-December of last year, when my wife got me a gym membership as an early Christmas present. As part of signing up, a physical assessment was required. So, I showed up on December 17th, not exactly sure what was in store for me, but imagining the worst. I was right.

First came all the measurements. Height of 5'10.5" (which remains unchanged from age 14), weight of 216 pounds … which is nowhere NEAR the heaviest I have ever been. Back in 1999, I was a double-bacon cheeseburger away from 300 pounds. Actually, I think that the exact weight was 293, if memory serves me correctly. Over the course of the next decade I whittled away at that amount, eventually getting down to 190 pounds in the summer of 2009. That same month, I injured my neck seriously and had to have surgery on my C4 & C5 discs to relieve pressure on the nerves. The surgery was successful, but my workouts stopped and some weight came back.

Flash back to last December and me being sick of feeling fat and tired. The other measurements included a "normal" resting heart rate (75), and blood pressure (120/80), a caliper body fat reading of 26% (yuck), neck measurement of 17.5", waist of 40" (at the naval), and a few others that I don't recall off the top of my head. What really stuck out was the 216 pounds and the 26% body fat. Yikes.

Next came the physical assessment portion. How many _____ can I do in a minute? First off, sit-ups. I did 20. Pushups? I could only manage 10. Pullups? Even worse at 4. The stress test was acceptable—I ran on a treadmill to get my heart rate up to 180 before stopping and counting the time until it got back to my resting rate of 75. All in all though, I was not happy with the results.

I started using MFP that day, and going to the gym at least three times a week from that point on. I dedicated myself to a caloric limit between1,500 and 1,800, and eating as nutritious a diet as I could manage. There have been a few days where I went over the limit—a couple in particular when I just forsook it completely—but it isn't the occasional overage day I that puts on the pounds. By keeping track of calories religiously and exercising regularly the fat started melting off. I started adding muscle as well, and so I found myself feeling not only lighter, but far fitter as well.

Today, just before writing this post, I tipped the scales at 191 pounds, 25 pounds less than I weighed four months ago. My digital scale is also an electical-resistance body fat monitor, and the other good news is that it shows I have lowered that reading by over 5%. Though I have serious questions about the accuracy of the resistance monitors in general, I am certain that I have burned off a fair amount of fat, as I can see much more muscular definition over my entire body, AND my pants and shirts fit completely differently than they did last December. I am going to have a 5-point caliper test done at the gym again to mark my 6 month point, but until then the scale will have to do.

Overall I feel GREAT, look much better, and am feeling confident that the weight I have lost will not be piling back on. My original 6 month goal was to be at or below 185 pounds. With 2 months to go I am certain that will be the case! I also had wanted to lower my body fat percentage to 20% by that time, but I am not sure if that will be in the offing. I am pretty certain that I can eventually—though perhaps maybe at the one, or even two year mark—get my body fat down to my long-range goal of 17%. This represents an amount that I think will be über-healthy AND sustainable, with continued good eating habits and regular exercise. This would put my target weight (given my current amount of lean body mass, which is roughly 150 pounds) at 175 pounds … which I think I last weighed in Junior High!

So, thanks creators of MFP, for this excellent FREE tool that has been such a help to me! With its continued use, I am positive that I will reach—and perhaps even exceed—my goals!

motivatedmartha

Congratulations - well done on a good job - here's to the future. It is good to hear that you are feeling so much better for that 25 lbs loss.

:happy: