Husband, Dad, Vet, 40+ looking for a nudge here and there

Well after staring at this site for over a week I have decided to post my Intro. My 15 year old daughter actually introduced me to the site back in December, but I was wrapped up in Spark People. It was not until I got my Jawbone Up activity tracker, that I decided it was time to link the two, and make a switch.

A little about me; I am a USN Submarine Service veteran, that served 10 years before getting out in 2000 for a great civilian opportunity. Not only did I leave the service with fond memories, and great shipmates, I left with a cigarette habit that was hard to kick (about a pack and a half a day). For 10 years, I quit probably about twice a year, and every time I quit, I gained weight, and every time I started up again, I kept the weight. Culminating to a weight gain of 120 pounds, and I was staring 350 pounds down a bag of McDonald's fries. When I turned 39 in May of 2011, I was at my worst, 348-350 pounds, smoking, and eating a rough diet of 4000-5000 calories a day, and an unhealthy soda habit to boot. I was a train wreck folks. My 39th birthday, I was completely beside myself with depression, self loathing, and grief. So I had heard about Spark People in an article, and joined. Got me on my feet, but even still, everything was a compromise, a half effort. Made some changes, including quitting smoking, but more of the changes surrounded pseudo dieting, and not actual lifestyle changes. You wouldn't know it to look at me then, but I rarely ate all day, and then would gorge in to the night.

So I yo-yo'd with my weigh until I turned 40 last year, but never coming below the 315-330 weight. By then we had joined the Lifetime franchise of gyms but was so inconsistent on going. I decided to make 40 better than 39, and hit the gym the day of my birthday, and in fact every day that week, sometimes twice a day. Besides the holiday season set back (hit a hard plateau), I have been consistently eating better, and going to the gym 4-6 times a week. I hit my 41st birthday over a month ago, and I am happy to say that I am in the 270s now. Which leaves me around 50 pounds left to lose before my 42nd.

My mantra is that I WILL live life better in my 40's than I ever did in my 30's. I have two wonderful kids, one in college, and one getting ready to go in a couple of years, and I want to have this amazing active life with my wife of 22 years. I want to live life like a freaking Subaru commercial, and just never stop being active and experiencing life like we were meant to.

So if you want to add me, feel free to. I have had many successes, and many failures over the past few years, and I will admit there is so much more for me to learn, so I am not afraid to ask.