45 pounds and counting.....

Let's see how brief I can make this success story....

About two years ago I was hired to run the website for a TV station, and do a little sportswriting. Prior to that, I had always been employed by companies that had me on the move and therefore getting plenty of exercise. But now I found myself in front of a computer all the time...sometimes I'd work from home (because I could), and I would end up eating just about anytime I wanted.

In early January, I had to go to the doctor. As the nurse was checking my vitals, I was having fun guessing my blood pressure, height and weight. Nailed the BP, and the height....but I guessed that I was 235 pounds, which I thought was too heavy anyway.

She slid that large black weight to 200, and then moved the smaller weight to 35. No movement from the balance bar on the scale. So she slid it further...240, 245, 250. No movement. When she reached for the larger weight and moved it to 250, my heart sank. I stopped paying attention at 260, I was crushed.

The appointment suddenly became more about questions involving my weight, and the doctor eventually dropped the words that terrified me..."at risk of diabetes".

Two days later, I joined MyFitnessPal because someone I am close to was a member.

The calorie-counting wasn't so bad. I was able to keep track and keep my eating down. I had inspiration (not dying or having to inject myself daily). The problem was the food in my kitchen.

The morning of my appointment, I had been to the grocery store. My normal eating habits had a LOT of calories, and I needed to change some of the food I was eating. So I went through the food I bought and just ate less often. The high-calorie stuff would disappear soon enough (I couldn't afford to throw it away and shop again so easily). But I refused to eat all of it....for example, I had bought a box of Twinkies and a box of Suzy-Qs.

I fired up my Wii Fit Plus and started slow with some running in place. Eventually that turned into walks around the block, which evolved to runs around the neighborhood.

The food in my fridge is now entirely different. I buy Healthy Choice frozen dinners and Weight Watchers stuff instead of Hungry Man. Cheerios and Raisin Bran for breakfast. I eat granola bars and Fiber One snacks instead of potato chips and chip dip. I discovered that my vegetable drawer actually can be used to hold vegetables, and I no longer buy cookies.

Yesterday morning, I ran my first official 5K in downtown Cincinnati. 30:22 was my time, good enough for 42nd place in my age group. As I reached the 3rd mile marker, I actually debated continuing on and doing the 10k, but I had family waiting at the finish line for me.

I've lost more than 45 pounds in under 5 months.

And those Twinkies and Suzy-Qs are still in my kitchen, untouched by my hands. They stand as a physical memory of what I used to eat, and it feels good every time I reach past them and grab something low-calorie.