Hello, new to MFP

Hi to everyone on the MFP board. My name is Dave and I signed up here about 3 weeks ago after reading about one of our local weatherman's success using the site. I am 41 and weighed 363 this morning ( 6'4" tall). I've lost 17 pounds in the last three weeks. I am not sure what my heaviest weight was. I weighed 465 in November 2008 but must have been heavier than that as I had been walking to work most days for about 4 months by then and my pants were getting a little loose. In March 2009 I had a friend who was out of work move in to my place and he started cooking to do what he could to contribute. I got down to 415 by July when he moved out. On my 39th birthday (in December 2009) I weighed 438 lbs and decided I needed to get serious about losing weight. I knew my diet was the main problem and started eating a lot more vegetables and a lot less fast food. I also knew that I would exercise more if I had some sort of goal. I decided I wanted to run a marathon by my 40th birthday (it didn't happen but I did run a half marathon in October 2010.) I started walking 15 minutes as fast as I could at first and soon was up to an hour. Around May I started running and by October I finished the half marathon. I got my weight down to 335 and was feeling good enough about myself to start asking women out on dates again. The dating lead to dining out more often and a stagnation on the weight loss. After getting out of the routine, my weight eventually went back up to 380. It has yo yoed from 360 - 380 for about a year now.

I hope MFP will help me with this. So far it is keeping me honest and is letting me know just how bad some items are. I logged my food for the day I started in the evening after I had finished eating. I figured I would be a little over what I should eat but was shocked (appalled and disappointed too) to find out I consumed nearly 5800 Calories for the day. Hell, I felt hungry and was fighting myself not to eat more. Since then, I am back to eating more veggies, chicken, fish, and turkey. I am rarely hungry and I am usually close to my goal Calories (but haven't been over yet) and often have some sherbet or fruit bars in the evening to get my Calories up. I am walking one direction to/from work and taking the bus home most days of the week. (the trip is about 3.5 miles. Earlier discussion of walking to work was about 1/2 mile. I moved since then.) I also hired a personal trainer to provide me a weight lifting routine. I plan to see him every two weeks and work out on my own in the interim. I can already feel a difference in my arms, chest, and legs after just 4 work outs. Putting some of the weight back on was a big disappointment but I had a little NSV at the gym earlier this week. I was walking on the treadmill at 4.2 mph and realized that when I tried to use it in 2008 I was so wide that I had to hold the sides. Otherwise I would have to raise my arms up to an unnatural position to use the thing. It really made me feel good to realize I had come a long way even if I still have a lot of work to do.

I plan to post pictures some time soon. I have a new computer and all my old pictures and photo storage software is on the old one. I could use support and would be happy to offer it to others if anyone wants to add me as a friend. Thanks for taking the time to read this. It is longer than I intended when I sat down.