Looking for MFPers who have lost 10-30 pounds...

38 year old, 5ft 8 here in Australia who had a stern talking to from my family doctor at the beginning of October 2022 (by this time, I was approx 230lbs).

Was diagnosed pre-diabetic in 2017 shortly after our son was born (at that time was around 240lbs). One year later, that had bloomed into full type 2 diabetes (HbA1c in 2018 around 7.5%). I made some changes to diet and lifestyle, but they lasted for all of two to three weeks. Thought that taking medication would be enough to get me over the line (with no other changes to diet and lifestyle).

Then COVID hit at the end of 2019 and the binge eating, lack of sleep, no exercise routine hit me hard. A trip to the GP in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 saw me come back with worse HbA1c numbers than the first one, up to 8.8%. My medication was increased to the maximum dose and my GP at the time said to me that I needed to be active more (where I could) and watch my diet.

I didn't listen to him again and my next set of blood work came back in September 2022 which prompted that stern talking to from my GP. Said to me that I was on a continually higher trending set of numbers (my fasting HbA1c numbers continued to increase up to 9.9%, but based on my blood glucose testing, I was seeing estimated HbA1c numbers of 11-13%). The way I was going, I would need to start insulin injections within the next year or two and that if I wasn't careful, I could have issues with eyesight and with my limbs in the future too. Then came the kicker, did I want to be around for my son in a decade and be healthy too? My answer was yes.

My liver was approximately 175% the size of a normal man's liver so he said that I had a severely engorged liver that was likely full of fat. Did I want to be on even more medication? Hell no.

So I started on my journey cold turkey that very night. At the time, I didn't think about re-activating my MFP account which I had created back in 2015 when I had my first health kick (which failed after a knee injury 6 months into it). But I started weighing the food on my plate that night and reducing my portions. A couple of weeks later, a work colleague suggested that I use MFP again to really kick start me back into achieving my health and fitness goals. It's worked.

What else did I pick up in these last two months? A set of Withings smart scales and a Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire along with incorporating home cardio/resistance workouts and resistance training at the gym with a personal trainer along with tracking my food intake again on MFP since late October 2022.

I've gone from 230+lbs down to 198lbs and the weight has stayed off. My body fat percentage has gone from over 30% down to around 20% in two months. While I've lost muscle and fat mass in the process, I've lost way more fat over the last two months than muscle. My blood sugar is now back to being at the threshold between normal and pre-diabetic again and my goal over the next year is to entirely reverse my Type 2 diabetes completely such that I am off medication for good.

While I'd ultimately like to get down to around 175lbs, if I can keep adding to my muscle mass and continue with additional fat loss, I'd be happy to settle for somewhere around 185lbs and remain there for the rest of my natural life. Other side benefits, I'm no longer Grade 1 hypertensive first thing in the morning anymore (150/100). Instead I'm now regularly at 120/80 or lower first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

After suffering a heart attack on July 9th,
<iframe src='https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/9172883903' title='Heart Attack Hill (Literally)' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'></iframe>
, despite regular exercise and a fairly healthy diet, I was forced to adopt a low sodium, low fat, low cholesterol, plant-based diet. As MFP syncs with all of my fitness apps (Samsung Health, Garmin, Strava, etc.) it is crucial to not only track my nutritional needs for exercise, but it's now critical in general. Since July, I have gone from 227 lbs to 200 lbs and I have no plans to stop. A few tips, replace your table salt with potassium choride (Mortons, Frenchs, NuSalt, etc.) It tastes a lot like regular salt, but will greatly reduce your sodium intake. One word of caution however, is some blood pressure medications can cause you to retain potassium, so if you are on one of these, check with your physician as too much potassium can also be dangerous. MFP is a great way to monitor your food intake to ensure you get the correct nutrition before you put it in your mouth.

psxgaming402 wrote: »

Lost 150 lbs, and have maintained a consistent weight of approx 165-170 lbs largely in part of this app. It's has made me much more food smart and I use it daily for every meal.

WOW! DUDE!