6 months in

Six months ago today, DH and I joined the local gym, kind of on a whim. Our first visit was that night and I managed to do 40 minutes on the treadmill and burned 200ish calories. It was a struggle and my heartrate skyrocketed and took forever to come down. I decided to go on my own the next morning. Somehow, without much planning, I've gone twice a day, except Sunday when I take the morning off, without skipping a single visit. I now alternate an hour endurance ride on the bike with a half hour of HIIT training in the mornings. In the evenings, DH and I do strength training. I now burn 800ish calories on my long rides and my heartrate comes down astoundingly quickly. My strength is increasing and just last night, I was showing the gym manager a new shoulder exercise and he mentioned how nicely my back muscles are coming along.

I discovered MFP a couple of months in and now track my food. Although I made a conscious decision to not deny myself anything, it's helped me make better choices. I still have an occasional piece of chocolate and enjoyed some Christmas cookies but they fit within my calorie limit.

My starting weight was 247 lbs and have lost 79.4 lbs. I am about 13 lbs from the top end of my healthy weight range, which I find unbelievable. I have lost 14 inches from my waist, 8.5 inches from my hips and 8 inches from my chest. I actually enjoy shopping for clothes. I even bought a formal dress for a black tie event this weekend - we haven't gotten that dressed up since our wedding almost 22 years ago. I'm not sure I'll get to wear it due to the expected storm though. It's wonderful shopping in the normal sizes rather than the plus sizes.

I am 51 years old and have never been athletic. I can't say I love working out but I do enjoy the improvements I see and get fidgety if we work out late. I have no idea why this stuck this time. I had no health issues, no doctor tried to scare me into this. There was nothing specific that happened.

I still have 32 pounds to go (I can't believe how small that number seems compared to the 112 I had to lose when I started) and I'm certain it can be done. I know the last pounds will be harder than the first ones but, thankfully, the habits are now well-established so I'm optimistic that I will make it through the slower loss rate without getting too frustrated.

If you're just starting out, take beginning photos. I didn't and it's frustrating not to have a before photo to compare against. Also, take measurements. I didn't until about 3 weeks in so I don't know my true size decrease. Consider an activity tracker. DH got me a Fitbit about two months after I started this - I love having the record of my workouts. The challenges encourage me to keep moving - I guess I can be competitive!

Anyway, good luck to all and keep sharing the success stories, they are so inspiring.