Thanks, MyFitnessPal! Confirmed health benefit...

I'm 5'10" and I've been on MFP religiously committed for 9 months now and have gone from 205 to 155 at 25% bodyfat to 8% respectively. Blood pressure historically was 120/80 with resting heart rate ~65. Without cutting sodium at all (in fact, I'm at 4,500 mg on any given day) the blood pressure is down to 117/77 with a resting heart rate of 57...low intensity elliptical is my only source of cardio usually in 100-200 calorie chunks to squeak under a calorie limit for the day along with 15-20 minutes of boxing every other week. Initially I was on the 2 lb/wk trajectory and that was tough being a bigger guy on 1250 calories but I made it work. As I got to the goal I worked the weight loss rate to 1.5 and then 1.0 lbs/wk. I hit my goal body fat level of 8% about 2 months ago and have maintained since. I finally got to see what my blood labs settled out at though! From my mid-20's on my total cholesterol has always been low...120-150 with LDL usually about 80-100, triglycerides 70-100 and HDL, the good stuff has always been quite low at 35-40 as measured once a year with a fasting blood draw. This year, the first with the new body composition my total cholesterol is down to 100 with lifetime lows for LDL at 50 and tryglcyerides at 42 while my HDL is at my life's highest of 44. And, thanks to MFP I can see my fat intake is actually making up 40-50% of my calorie intake, protein is 15-20% and carbs are 35-45%. So, while the policy wonks and health terrorists continue to push drugs and low-fat/high-carb diets it seems at least in my case, I don't have to give up anything but a considerable chunk of what used to be a normal portion size. Still have a beer/drink daily, don't regulate sugar, and focus passionately on high-flavor, fatty foods now, thanks to the fact that I only have ~1900 calories to work with every one of them should taste great.

It was clear the plan to regulate caloric intake was working on the fat as I got leaner and leaner, but besides feeling more energetic, suffering less chronic back/foot pain and generally feeling the best I had in my life the only proof that this was a good change was evidenced by smaller clothes...down 6" in the waist (36 to 30" pants) and wearing small shirts for the first time since Jr high. So seeing the results of the blood test serve as the last proof that this approach is a winner for me and combined with HIT (High Intensity Training) I've leaned down but stayed strong which I consider a miracle given my busy work/family life and history of back pain--MRI showed last year I have a significant herniated disc at L5-S1.

I'm excited to live the rest of my life this way in my new body, and I am almost certain I wouldn't have gotten here without the help of My Fitness Pal (for free!!!) and their tremendous database of food and their awesome barcode scanner...I can't thank you enough! So, while I fee great in my success, I want to make sure I'm not trying to brag, I didn't get here alone, and I know this can work for others. It was also great to see my wife come home actually beaming happy after clothes shopping one day after hitting her goal...for the husbands out there you know what I'm talking about...to see her happy and not frustrated after shopping is priceless...she used MFP, too, BTW.

I have tried many diets before: Atkins...worked a little, for a little while but was sacrificing too much tasty food under its ridiculous rules. I've tried low fat and that just didn't work, nor did the food taste that good. I tried the big breakfast, med lunch, small dinner approach which started out OK but ended up being too hard to keep dinners small. I tried the 5 small meal approach and that didn't work for me. It appears to come down to simple calorie counting...and this app makes that easy, much like online access and a calculator help with balancing the family budget.

SO, MFP: THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart...I have the outlook of being able to ski and golf more and play with my kids whenever THEY want to, not when my back allows for it. I've been telling anyone who asks about my story to give MFP a try and so far I've seen a couple folks jump on and start their own success stories...in America, we're surrounded by too much cheap food...it's about time we had a great tool to make sure we're putting ONLY what the ol' tank needs...and who would have guessed it'd be free?!? Again, THANKS MFP!

To everyone else, thanks for sharing your stories and support along the way! And one last thing, good luck to those just starting, you can do it, too!