Successful so far

TomDaley

In December of 2007 I was 45, 282 on a 6'1" frame. Work was extremely stressful including breaking in a new boss. Life had taken over with three kids, two grandchildren and on top of all that, I started school again. I smoked and drank but not to excess. My blood pressure was up 10-15 pts on both sides of the scale. My eating habits from working on the road were abominable. My blood pressure all my life was 120/72. It had risen to 135/90. My cholesterol was hitting negative plateaus on blood tests. I decided to change my life. I was aiming for a lifestyle change, not total weight loss. Having been a weight lifter up until my early twenties or so, I new the feeling of regular exercise on your mental state too.

I decided to start exercising regularly but lightly and I set my goals low at one pound per month of loss. I soon discovered my abilities had degraded severely, maybe five push up and certainly not more than that in sit-ups. I started out only being able to walk briskly for about 10 minutes, honest! I purchased a used treadmill and my wife already had an Ablounger. I struggled for about 2 years but was seeing some results in general overall happiness and well-being. I worked slowly up to 100 sit-ups and 50 laterals each side on the Ablounger. My clothes fit better but I needed something to put me over the edge or break through a barrier. I think some people say they have hit a wall. Then a colleague suggested this website.


It has been three years total and today; I rarely drink and only smoke up to 7-8 cigs per week. I exercise every other day with weight lifting and actually can run a mile or so without issue. I have gone from a 44" to at 38” waist. I must be upfront and say that when I graduated high school I weighed a strong and healthy 225, all muscle so the BMI from the AMA is not something I take to heart. I am not sure of my weight because I do not weigh myself except at the Dr. every six months.

The biggest single effect on my success was my introduction to myfitnesspal.com. It has allowed me to train myself to eat properly. I feel full more quickly without giving it a thought. Once I had my food intake under control I then weaned myself down from 4000 calories and probably 7000 grams of salt to >2500 and 3000 per day respectively.

It is more habit than anything is now to feel full on 500 calories for breakfast, the same or a little more for lunch and up to 1200 for dinner. I eat regularly and pretty much what I want. I stick to a three meal a day schedule with a few snacks at night. See sample daily intake pasted in below. I will admit that I could still eat a whole garlic white pizza (sans ricotta) by myself if I wanted too.


This all sounds like a commercial but it is just how it happened.

Thanks Tom

Breakfast, Oatmeal, Nestle Breakfast Essentials, Fat free (not skimmed) Milk. A couple fish oil pills and ofcourse a piece of fruit. Water

Lunch, A single slice of bread with a few slices of meat in it and mustard. A half serving of my favorite chips or baby carrots. Water

Dinner, Baked chicken breast up to 3/4 pound, Veggies a small pudding. Water

Snack, The other half of the chips or an orange. More Water.

I heard that you should drink half your weight in ounces of water per day. For me, not really knowing my weight, I estimate at about three to three and 1/2 quarts. I track calories, protein, cholesterol, fat and one I cannot remember.