No more excuses-- want to be fit before 40!

maroonandwhite

First of all, thanks to all of the posters here-- I've been lurking for a couple of months, and the information I've read here has been really, really helpful.

2014 is my last year in my 30's, so in January I decided to make an effort to get healthy before the big 4-0 hits next year. I've always thought of myself as reasonably athletic, but took it for granted. I hadn't been inside a gym since high school! But the years of the all too typical adult lifestyle (desk job, eating too much good food, limited time for exercise due to job, raising kids, etc.) caught up with me over time. For a while, I tried to rationalize being in the "obese" BMI range as nonsense due to being "big boned". This year, I finally accepted the fact that I was/am significantly overweight, and that there is no legitimate excuse for it.

To get started, I bought a FitBit Force, and a FitBit Aria scale. I began tracking my meals-- at first via FitBit directly, and eventually via MFP once I discovered the expanded food database here. Since I began in mid January, I have seen a steady, consistent weight loss-- from 217 lbs then, to 200 lbs today, with a BF% drop from 27% to 24% (via the Aria scale, which I know offers dubious BF accuracy, but at least I'm hoping the trend is helpful).

While these improvements were primarily accomplished through pretty modest calorie restriction, I began to feel so much better along the way that my activity level picked up significantly. In addition to making lots of small adjustments to increase my daily steps count (it's fun to hit that 10,000 step goal!), I have also begun going to the gym a few times a week to lift weights. As of today, I feel better and stronger than I have in years, and people are noticing!

While I am pleased with my progress so far, I feel like I've hit a little bit of a plateau. So, I figured I would introduce myself here as an encouragement to "up my game" and successfully attack this next phase of my fitness goal. If any of you have any advice, feedback on my food log, or any other helpful info to help me push forward, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks all!