Weight Loss milestone

I weighed in the other day at 256lbs.  I officially lost over 150lbs and got another ribbon.  I am 16lbs away from goal of 240lbs.  I started this process on June 11th 2012.

I am only a few weeks away from starting to introduce food back into my diet.  The transition phase takes 4 weeks.  Then I will be eating a balanced low calorie diet the rest of my life.  Reducing the amount I eat by consuming less and choosing foods that are healthier and lower in calories.

I'll continue to loose weight during the transition and plan to stick to a lower calorie diet throughout the year to maintain the weight loss.  I have a couple of areas I want to focus on as part of my life long goal of keeping the weight off.

1.  Eat less.  No matter what the food (no such thing as bad or taboo food).  The less healthy the food the less I should eat of it.   Don't eat more calories a day that I need to maintain.

2.  Change the proportions of what I eat.  Mostly vegetables and fruits with protein based foods and very little carbs or sugars.  I've been a vegetarian for over 26 years its about time I eat like one.

3.   Stay active.  Walk mostly at least 4 to 5 times a week.  Do things that get me moving.

Another Weight Loss update and thoughts.

I weighed in the other day at my weekly doctor checkup.  It has officially been 6 months since I started.   I began this adventure at 408lbs and just weighed in at 263lbs.   I set my goal at 240lbs so I only have 23lbs more to loose.  Another 5lbs and I will have lost 150lbs.  But more exiting is that my body fat percentage was 38% and now it is 21% (normal range is 22-11%).   My hydration level was 46% and is now 57% (desirable value is anything above 60%).   I'm really pleased with my progress so far.  I'm a little behind where I thought I'd be right now but the body does what it wants and all you can do is deal with it.    I have a self imposed deadline to be eating normally by the 3rd week in February so when I take my Disneyland trip I  a can just eat what I want during the trip and not have to pack shakes or have special food choices (I do enough of that being vegetarian).  I'll probably be fasting for another 4-6 weeks.  Then I transition to eating food during the next 4 weeks and then maintain a daily calorie level and exercise  program that I can maintain the rest of my life.  In fact my goal for 2013 is to loose more weight so I am down to 225lbs by 2014 and then keep to that weight the rest of my life.

As I look back on this adventure I put myself on over the 6 months I think about how long it took me to get to 410lbs and how quickly and easily it was to loose it all.  I am also amazed each day of this process how much I have missed the qualities of life that being a normal healthy weight brings you and how you forget them and don't value them enough when you are heavy.   Things like...

Being able to tie your shoes easily.
Bending over with ease.
Walking up stairs or carrying something without being out of breath.
Sleeping soundly without snoring and waking up throughout the night.
Having more energy than you know what to do with.
Fitting into clothes that you just buy at any store.
Being able to sit in booths at restaurants.
Being able to fit comfortably in an airplane seat without asking for a seat belt extension.
Theater seats that feel comfortable and chairs with arms that don't cut into my legs.
Having plenty of room in the car to put the armrest down.
Realizing that 2-3 miles of a walk is no trouble at all.
Wanting to walk to the store to buy one item instead of driving less than a mile.
Walking the neighborhood and exploring where I live.

If anyone out there wants to add this list to the things they want out of life I am living proof that it can happen.  I'm not a health nut and can't stand going to the gym or lifting weights.  I don't eat well (although I did made a choice a LONG time ago to be vegetarian).   This process isn't complicated and it works.   If you need to loose a lot of weight and want to change your life and you can spend 4-7 months not eating and doing little travel it is worth the results.