Howdy From Tx!

Hello everyone! I guess a little about me, I have an absolutely gorgeous wife and 4 awesome (but a lot of work, but well worth it) children! I have been big pretty much all of my life and I have always just told myself "that's the way I am". I'm a very active person; I am either out running or in the gym 5+ days a week. Despite my high activity level, I still have never really lost any appreciable amount of weight. I would go up or down a few lbs, but I pretty much have stayed the same weight for the past 15+ years.

I used to feel since I was so active, my weight didn't matter and I could keep on doing what I was doing. A few weeks ago though I started really taking a harder look at myself and my life. I always "thought" that I didn't eat that bad, I thought I just had a bad metabolism, etc, etc. I started using the app on my phone and documenting how many calories I was eating in a day. I "thought" it would be around 2,000 or so. I was absolutely shocked after the first few days when my calorie count was running around 3,500 - 4,000 calories (Vast majority of those calories were carbs)! I realized how much absolute garbage I was shoveling into my body. I also realized all of these years I have been working out and never really getting better at running, lifting, etc. It was at that point that I realized now is the time to get my eating habits in check before it was too late.

I tried for a while eating the stuff I liked to eat, but just eating less. I soon found that wasn't working because I would want more of it and I wasn't doing a good job of telling myself NO. I decided last week to do something drastic (for me at least) and cut out fully garbage food and only eat foods that actually did things for my body, not just would taste good.

The main thing I have found so far is getting used to actually being hungry. I can't really remember the last time I felt real hunger before last week! For me so far, that has been the hardest thing to adjust to, is feeling hungry. I am not starving myself (I average about 1,700 calories a day) but my body sure thinks it is sometimes! Although I have found that a meal I used to think as bland and nasty (whole wheat bread, chicken breast and a bowl of veggies) tastes really darn good when you are hungry!

I find the myfitnesspal is an absolute God send for me because it lets me see in black and white just how many calories I consume in a day. My diet right now is a mix of protein shakes, vegetable juice, whole wheat breads, grilled chicken breast and popcorn for a snack (Oh, and a few Miller 64 calorie beers once in a while, hey gotta treat yourself a little bit!) I am keeping up my exercise routine (Running 2 days a week, cardio & circuit training 2 days a week and Body Combat 1 day a week). The only thing I have noticed so far is after about 3 straight days of working out I start to feel run down and I need to take the next day off. So far in the pas week I have dropped 4 lbs. I "know" that will start slowing once my body adjusts to the diet, but I am enjoying the extra loss while I have it!