Dropped 50 before I turned 40, another 50 to go

Hi.

I've always struggled with being heavy and it wasn't until recently that I did something about it. At 320 pounds and almost 40 it had to happen now or never. No real secret to my success. I bought an elliptical, dumbbell set and an exercise ball. Workout for around 45 minutes at a time. Start out with a 5km run (elliptical) and then do a strength routine targeting all muscle groups. I keep the pace up when lifting, do high reps and try not to rest between exercises. It was a 1km run before and 1 cycle of strength exercises, a couple weeks ago I bumped it up significantly.

On the eating side I've gotten the best results from quitting Coca Cola. Because I never drank coffee I found caffeinated soda pop irresistible. I've cut out most carbs and portions are much smaller. Portion control wasn't as hard as I expected, it was hard to eat a lot when I'm working out so much. For me it's all about baby steps, get comfortable with a change then make another change. Had to give up beer recently, it wasn't too hard as I knew down deep it was time.

At up to 5 workouts a week I found my body was so sore all the time. FitnessPal showed me that I was low on protein. A small protein shake in the morning and another after working out has done wonders. Problem now is Sucralose! It's in everything I now switched to. Removing all artificial sweeteners from my diet won't be too difficult, just takes some research. Soon as this tub of protein powder is done I will switch to an all natural powder and start making fruit smoothies.

I'm very excited about our local ski hill opening up soon. I was 290 when it closed last spring and I'm pushing very to be 260 when it reopens. That has to be a noticeable difference. If anyone would like to add me I'd love the support.

Keep Working Hard, that's all it takes.