40 Lbs + in 4 months

I started with MFP Feb 2, with a starting weight of 368 lbs. My Dr. has been giving me a hard time about my weight and I have my 25th wedding anniversary coming up next year. We want to go on a European river cruise. So that means I have to fit my butt into those skinny airplane seats. After a few flights to Phoenix and Miami for my 50th birthday in 2011, I know a long flight across the ocean would not be all that much fun. So I decided to do something about it.

I started by watching what I ate and a friend suggested MFP as a useful app for helping out. I downloaded and started using the app and website. Also went to my Dr. and had him set me up with a dietician. We discussed appropriate portion size and good substitutions for those “really bad for me” things I love. Danielle, the dietician recommended a step counter and we agreed 10,000 steps a day is a good target. They both recommended walking daily as a good exercise and I have been doing so pretty much every day. My yellow Lab has enjoyed the daily exercise as well and she is a great motivator to get up and go. She gets really annoying about 3-4 pm daily with her demands to go for her walk.

Since I have been walking, I decided to walk faster and see how far and fast I was actually walking. I looked into a couple apps for my phone, and found Endomondo and Runtastic. I actually use both at the same time. Runtastic is more accurate with GPS but I like Endo’s features and lower price for the pro version. I have been keeping record of my times and distances since the first of May.

In early April, I injured my left thumb. It is called Skiers thumb, which I managed to do while walking my dog. It is a total tear/separation of the UCL ligament at the base of the thumb. I had it surgically repaired, but have been off work for the past 7 weeks now. I do return to work after another week, but the 8 weeks of vacation has really helped my 5 km times.
I see my Dr. once a month and get weighed then. I do not own a scale and really try to avoid thinking about my weight. I have been following MFP’s calorie limits and have been under pretty consistently, sometimes by over 800 calories. I have increased my speed and distance with the dog walks. We started with walks of about 2.5 km in 45 min, to actually managing 5 km run/jogs/walks. The first 5 km time I have recorded is 56:30 min, Yesterday I did 6 km total with a 5 km in 47:38. That’s almost a 10 min reduction in less than a month!!!

Before I hurt my hand, I had got to the point that I was going to need to order new uniform for work as my belts have been adjusted as small as they could be and my pants were almost falling off. I ordered new pants on Friday. I have gone from a 50 waist to a 46 waist now. I am going to need to order new shirts too, but will need to order a new Kevlar vest too, so I will wait a little while longer for that.

And the scale victory has me down 40 lbs. since I started keeping track of my weight, and I know I have lost probably another 10 lbs. since my last weigh in too. I may have to start taking pictures of myself again just to see for myself the loss.

Anyway, apologies for the rambling post, if you managed to read through this far, thanks for the interest. I still have a long ways to go, but it is a good start. I have learned that as long as I am aware of what I eat, I can pretty much eat anything, even those “really bad for me” things and not feel deprived. I have learned I actually can run 5 km, and even more, and even enjoy it. Never thought I would say that!

This is my story so far. 1/4 of the way there, but well on my way. Keep believing and it will happen.

Ken