How to lose 5 pounds a week.

As some of you may have seen in a previous topic, the 5 pound a week weight loss topic is a rather heated one. It seems to be the major consensus that 5 pounds/week is an unhealthy weight loss. I want to post this, not to cause controversy or arguments, but to point out that a good majority of us on MFP are not nutritionists/doctors and should not automattically give advice (even if we think it's in the posters best interest).

On January 2, 2011 I weighed 304.8 pounds. I made a choice- that my weight would ultimately lead to my deteriating health. And seeing as how I have an absolutley beautiful and incredible wife, whom with I have 4 of the most incredible children in the world...I want to make sure that I am around and healthy for all of them for many years to come. So I made a decision...a decision I had made numerous times. Sometimes with sucess...sometimes with failure. But I was determined that it was time. In my mind, it was absolutley the time to lose weight. So on January 2, I completely changed my diet. I went from eating whatever/whenever I wanted, to being regimented. I cut out processed sugar (almost entirely, but it's in a few "healthy" items I consume). I eat breakfast everyday, something I rarely ever did. I began making lunch to bring to work, rather than buying a hot dog, or pizza or whatever fast food everyone else was ordering. I snacked on healthy items throughout the day to keep my metabolism up, and my hunger down.

Those forst 3 weeks were painful. i felt hungry all the time, as my bnody and mind adjusted to not eating sugar snacks at 10 pm. But with just a change of diet I lost 5 pounds a week for 3 weeks straight. A good friend of mine introduced me to MFP and I began even more closely tracking what I was eating. I started using portion control...not eating half a London Broil, just eating my 4 oz. serving. I would get up from dinner and clean all the dishes. Not because I wanted to, but because I knew if I sat at the table, i would keep eating.

After 3 weeks, I started adding in some exercise. Instead of just eating my meals and snacks on my breaks at work, I decided to go walk. 3 times around my building is a mile, and the first time I tried it, it took me 15 minutes to walk that mile. I kept at it, added in a little Zumba here and there (yes, I know...go ahead...guy...doing Zumba...I know the wise cracks are coming...lol). Then my wife introduced me to Jillian "My real job is a Dominatrix" Michaels. I am now on Day 10 (Day 3 of Workout 2).

The beginning of this week was the End of Week 8 since I started my journey. I am down 40 pounds. Yes an average of 5 pounds a week for 2 months straight. I just so happened to have my annual checkup today. I talked to my Doctor, told her what I have been doing. Went over my diet, my exercise, and my 5 pounds/week weight loss for 8 weeks straight. There was no shock, no despair, no horrible news from her. In my situation, I have alot to lose. I would love to get to 220 (we'll see). But, I was way overweight, eating horribly, and not exercising at all (unless you consider running after 4 kids exercise). It's not unhealthy for me to lose 5 pounds/week.

Now I am not saying by any stretch of the imagination that everyone out there should go lose 5 pounds a week. For some people, it would be unhealthy. I myself, have already slowed down...as of right now, I will be lucky to lose 1-2 pounds this week. I know this was rather long and I apologize (but also thank you for reading all of it). My point is this...we are all here to get healthy. And we all want to help each other out. But we all have to remember that sometimes the best advice is..."sorry, I can't help you. You really should talk to your Doctor and get a medical opinion on that."

Thanks for reading everyone...and keep up all your great work. I know I probably wouldn't be where I'm at if it wasn't for my family, and MFP.