What a difference a year makes!

This time last year, I was meeting with a knee specialist to review my x-rays and MRI scans. After years of being overweight, a few injuries, and one minor surgery, it wasn't looking good. I had arthritis in the knee, and little remaining soft tissue to cushion the space between the bones. My knees looked something like the one on the left, where there was bone-on-bone contact on one side:



I was given a choice … lose 40+ lbs, or lose the knee, it that simple … keeping in mind that even if I did lose the weight, I might still knee partial knee replacement anyway (which would look like the right side of the picture above) but at least if I were 40 lbs lighter, my recovery stood a better chance.

We talked through it, and agreed to set up physio sessions, again figuring that even if I did still need surgery in 6 months, at least we would have strengthened up the leg a bit.

Unfortunately, physios were not available until Jan, so I had to wait.

Then, life threw a curve ball.

At the end of Nov, my company announced it was bankrupt, and closing its doors with immediate effect. I spent the first 3 weeks of Dec at home, updating my CV/resume, applying for jobs, and of course, eating poorly and not exercising. Instead of losing weight, I had added at least another 10.

Just before Christmas, I was out to dinner, and this photo was taken:



It shocked me. I didn't realise I was that big. Of course, Christmas came, along with all the parties, and food, and I put on even more weight. On Jan 1 I weighed myself … 279 lbs (to save you the conversion, that's 126.5 kg, or 19 stone, 13 lbs) on my 5'10” frame. I looked in the mirror and said to myself:

“Hello, my name is < … >, and I have an eating and weight problem!!!”

From that point, every changed. I started with a properly nutritious meal (oatmeal plus fruit, rather than a jumbo bagel with massive amounts of peanut butter). After breakfast, I sat down and worked out a targeted plan. My wedding weight was 175, and for my height the BMI cross-over point from Overweight to Normal was 174.4 … so I set my target at 174 lbs. I built a spreadsheet with a target of getting that down over time – 2-3 lbs per week at first, tapering down to ½ lb per week as I got closer to my target. It worked out to 2 years! That seemed like forever, but given that those pounds built up over 24 years, I accepted it.

Then I went for a walk. I would have liked to have gone for a run, but with my knee, that was not an option. I walked a mile, it took me about 25 mins, and it was hard! My knee was tender, my legs were tired, and I was all sweaty. It wasn't pretty. But, I did it again in the early afternoon, and again after dinner.

After a week of that, plus eating better, and a stunning/unexpected drop of 10 lbs (!!!), I was feeling better, and feeling very motivated. The more I moved, the more I wanted to move. The better I ate, the better I felt, and the better I wanted to continue to eat. At this point, I was focusing on eating whole foods, and watching my portions. Whereas in the past I would have had 3 heaping servings, I had instead 1 normal serving. In the past, I would have eaten a tube/sleeve of cookies; now I had an apple or a pear.

About 3 weeks into the year, pleased with myself, a friend introduced me to MFP. In no time, I got hooked on calorie tracking, macro adjustments, net calories, etc. My focus became even greater.

Due to a few delays, my first physio session didn't happen until mid-Feb. I talked through the details with the physio, what I had been doing, and noted that since Jan 1 I had dropped nearly 40 lbs! (I didn't mention the 20 lbs I had put on from mid-Nov to end-Dec). I'm not sure she believed me, but we set up a program. Each week my leg was getting stronger, I was getting lighter, and she was now believing me. We finished up at the end of Mar, with my knee being much better (though nowhere near 100% yet), and me down 62 lbs since the beginning of the year. She said “you don't need me anymore. I wish all my patients were as dedicated and focused as you!”

In early March, down 50 lbs, I looked like this:



The next challenge I faced was (finally!) going back to work on Apr 1, and staying on track with the food intake and the exercise. I should note that by this point I had gone from three 1-mile walks per day to a 4-5 mile walk in the morning, and a 2-3 mile walk in the evening.

I did keep my focus at work after all (which you figured out, or else I wouldn't be telling my story), and went beyond. I was able to get in 2-3 miles in the morning, and 2-3 miles in the evening, and keep check on the intake. If I hadn't been tracking on MFP, I'm certain the food part would have gone off program.

Eventually, walking was not enough. I started with some bodyweight exercises at home, but I still wanted more. I joined a gym, and I was getting 2-3 days on the elliptical, 2 days on weights, and 1 day at home with bodyweight and/or dumbbells.

Progress continued. In June, I was down 80 lbs:



and the CEO of the company stopped me in the hallway to ask me my secret, saying my transition was nothing short of amazing.

In July, the Mrs and I went on holiday to a Greek island. With my weight down to 185 lbs, for the first time in years (decades?) I was not embarrassed to take off my shirt at the beach or pool. I kept very active during that trip, watched my eating but also enjoyed myself, and came back only 1 lb heavier, which I dropped quickly.

When I came back, I decided to up my strength work. I changed things around, and now it's 3 days on weights, 2 days on the elliptical, and one day with a long hike (7-10 miles).

I hit 174 in mid-Sep, just ahead of our 25th anniversary – a double celebration! Not only was I 105 lbs down, but I had dropped 8 inches from my waist.

Here's a photo of me on Oct 1, at 173 lbs:




At that point, I went into maintenance, and have been there now for 2 months. In that time, while holding weight, I've lost a further inch from my waist, while gaining a bunch of muscle definition. The chest, arms and shoulders are starting to look good, I can walk up and down stairs without needing to hold the railing, and I'm starting to see the upper abs. There's still a band of fat around the lower abs, so that's more work to be done.

I should note that back in Jan, I was taking 400 mg Ibuprofen, 3-4x per day, due to knee pain. By the end of Feb, it was 200 mg, 1-2x per day, and in June, I think I took a single 400 mg dose, mainly because I had overdone it on a long walk. Since then, the Ibuprofen bottle has been gathering dust.
My blood pressure has dropped from 145/95 to 115/75.
My resting pulse has gone from 70+ to 50.
Unfortunately, I've not had any comparative blood work done.
My waist has dropped from 44” to 35”. (I hope to get down to 34”)

The plan now is to maintain weight through to the end of the year, continuing to enhance my fitness level, and hopefully burn down a bit more fat off the lower abdomen. In Jan, I'll start cutting again. My next goal is to get down to ~165 lbs, which is where I was during my university years.
From there, I plan to go through a series of bulk/cut cycles, to get my body fat down, so that I'm not only at university-era weight, but university-era physique, by the end of my original 2 year target.

It's been a great journey, which I don't think I would have done without the data tracking on MFP, as well as the support from some fantastic MFP friends.

My diary is open, and I'll do my best to field any questions you might have.

Thank you for taking time to read through my long story. I look forward to reading all about your successes one day!

ETA: Fixed some typos, added a key missing word ... "BMI".