Some progress made, more planned

Since everyone is being brave and posting their successes and goals, here goes.

On 1/1/2004 I weighed 414 lbs.

This morning I weighed 363 lbs.

So in 10 months, 6 days I've lost 51 lbs.

I'm 5'7" and 39 years old.

I'm at the YMCA 3 times a week swimming laps for 30 minutes and 30 minutes of water resistance, in addition to controlling my diet. Per my doctor, I'm not on a crash diet. I'm reducing my caloric budget gradually as I lose weight.

My goal for May 1 is 300 lbs and swimming/water resistance 5 days per week.

With a little luck, I'll be stronger and lighter in the water next year.

tachyon

Tachyon,

Congratulations on your progress! That rate of weight loss is textbook optimal for maximizing the chances you will keep it off.

Keep us posted!

Cameron

Congratulations indeed! And don't fool yourself that luck has, or will, have anything to do with it. It's the EFFORT and DEDICATION on YOUR part to change YOUR life for the better. Keep up the good work.

-Frank

Well, it's after May 1, and I didn't quite make my goals. I'm at 342, but there's a story...

I was out of work for most of 2004 (like all but 8 days) and I had time to go to the YMCA to swim. In January, I took a contract job in Nashville, TN and haven't had access to an indoor pool.

The contract job has just gone permanent, and one of the 'perks' is a discounted, payroll deducted membership in the YMCA here. enguin2:

I haven't fallen off the wagon, but things have slowed down on the weight loss.

Hope everyone else has met their goals!

Tachyon

Congratulations on the progress you have made. It's quite an achievement to lose the amount you have lost, and certainly a reason to be proud. Don't be discouraged because the rate of loss has slowed down, it's very normal to hit plateaus. The thing to remember is that it's just that, a plateau, and not the end. Failure doesn't come from not reaching your goals, it comes when you stop trying. Keep your goal in sight, and you WILL get there. Sometimes life gets in the way of our goals, and we can't meet our self imposed deadlines. That's when we just adjust the deadlines, but keep the same goals in sight.

As my username implies, I'm a firefighter. I go out every shift and have to help transport people who have let themselves go and have basically eaten themselves to death. It makes my day to see someone with your determination to make their lives better. This not only impacts you, but everyone around you, and especially the folks who love you. They've GOT to be happy that you're doing what you're doing, and to know that the odds are that you'll be with them longer.

God Bless and keep up the great work!!

Tachyon,

To face such a big change in routine and still manage to lose another 21 pounds is incredible. The vast majority of people would be back where they started if they were in your shoes. Keep up the great work!


Thomas,
Very nice post!


Cameron

Working for a healthcare company certainly has its advantages. A couple of weeks ago I learned that the company's CEO provides, at his expense, an on-site Weight Watchers program for employees who are more than 25 pounds overweight.

I signed up for the program and was told that they were full, but they'd put me on the waiting list. Last Wednesday I was asked if I could make it on Friday, and it seems I'm in the program.

The only other man in the group was very happy to see me! The ladies all made it a point to introduce themselves and I got several calls after the meeting welcoming me to the group.

I converted my food for the last week into WW points and found that I'm not going to be giving up much if anything in the food area, and I'm already earning a lot of 'exercise' points.

It looks like it could very well work for me.

I'm mentioning this, and I'll continue to post on this subject because for many years I've been skeptical of 'commercial' weight loss systems; especially since my problem has never been losing the weight, but keeping motivation to lose the weight and keep it off once I'd done so. As a newbie to the program, it looks like they've got that part covered.

Now, a commercial program may not be for everyone, and there are a lot of 'fly by night' operations that promise incredible results in return for your hard earned money. If you're considering something like this and you don't have a company who seems to be really interested in the health and wellbeing of their employees; be careful, check references, and talk to any friends who've tried it.

BTW, 339 and falling...

Tachyon

Way to go!!! You're an inspiration to all of us who are trying to better our lives.

I've hit a snag for the last couple of months myself and have decided to meet with a nutritionist, my first meeting is on 6/21 and hopefully she'll be able to give me some better direction.

WW is an option I've been considering so I'll be watching this thread to read your impressions.

Just a quick update. After the holidays, I'm up to 346 from a low of 335, partially due to working every weekend since November except Christmas weekend, as well as not getting out of the office early enough to get to the YMCA. We moved our office from a building that was too small to an interim office until our new building is complete. The in-office weight watcher's program has been 'down' since the end of November and will restart in a couple of weeks from now. Food hasn't been the problem so much as it has been getting the exercise. I took yesterday off and I've been reviewing my priorities, as I need to do from time to time.

I've also had a medical scare that turned out to be a thyroid goiter, thank goodness. I now have a medical reason to lose some more weight. My endocrinologist doesn't want to operate until I lose about 2" in the neck and he won't be cutting through as much adipose tissue (fat). It's quite scary to have your doctor tell you that you have a 5-6cm tumor in your neck.

It looks like there hasn't been a lot of traffic here lately, so there's my two cents worth.

Tachyon