"No fair -- you terminally skinny guys don't get to weigh in with us fat and formerly fat guys...."

Hey buddy, I was only terminally skinny 'til I got married. image

I admire and applaud you guys who know that you are overweight and are doing something about it.

Through genes, awareness and lifestyle, I managed to avoid getting really fat. Even so, I'm about 10 - 15 pounds overweight.

My exercise regiment consists of going up and down the stairs 50 times a day to find a stupid piece of paper, and working in the yard once or twice a week so it doesn't look like the freakin' mess that the neighbors have. (There, I feel better already. Think I'll have a bowl of ice cream.) I have a hard time resisting lasagna, spaghetti, ribeye, beef stroganoff, baby back ribs, burritos, pizza, hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, fajitas with refried beans and rice, ice cream, strawberry-rhubarb pie, ... you get the idea. Actually, I don't have a hard time resisting them... I rarely even try. image But not slamming down a 2 liter of Diet Coke and a couple of candy bars every day has probably helped, too.

Oddly, when I reduced the heavy eating to about 3 times a week instead of 5, and moved the evening meal to an earlier time whenever possible, and reduced the chips and pop as snacks during the day, and reduced my alcoholic beverage intake, I started to drop some poundage. That took me from 183 to 174 in short order. My goal is 172. Unfortunately, I've relapsed, and I'm back to about 183. (In my defense, my wife makes excellent lasagna and pizza, and I grill excellent steaks and ribs, all of which requires either a good wine or a beer.) But, I've gotten back on track recently. Hopefully, the results will show up soon.

I might just add this...

Set near-term goals. Going from 300 to 200 in 2 years is a major task. Going from 300 to 280 in 6 months is much less formidable and much more achievable. Then, going from 280 to 260 in another 6 months will be another achievable goal. In other words, don't set yourself up to fail, set yourself up to succeed.

To use a trumpet analogy, if your range is solid up to a C above the staff, and you want to be solid up to the A above that... your goal for now isn't the A, it's the C#.