August Update

So, it's been two months or so since I last updated my blog.  I wanted to assure everyone that I am still chugging along.  I broke two important psychological barriers this last month.  I have now lost > 50 lbs, and I also weigh less than 300 lbs.  I couldn't tell you when I last weighed under 300 lbs, but I am guessing it was some time in high school (so ~15 years ago).  I've definitely noticed a difference in my size, but it's not too much of a drastic change.  My pants are getting to the point that I'm going to need to replace some of them.  I bought a pair of jeans, and I have gone down 4-6 inches in waist size.  It seems like adding more holes to my belt has become a monthly routine.  Every day I get more excited, and I hope these last 49lbs are more dramatic in my appearance.

Weight: 299 lbs
To Goal: 49 lbs
Lost: 56.5 lbs.

Update

It's been a couple weeks, and I wanted to make sure I gave an update.  Vacation went well. I did go backwards a couple pounds over the ten days. Not to bad though. I got back to where I was by the end of the next week. This week, I broke through the 40lb barrier, and I'm plowing towards 310 with a vengeance. Everything is continuing along. I'm really starting to see the weight fall off. Every day I find myself squeezing my stomach to gauge how much is left. I still don't feel too different, but my clothes are getting bigger. I'm almost forty percent of the way to my goal!

Weight: 314 lbs
To Goal: 64 lbs
Lost: 41 lbs.

Week 11 Update

May 29nd, 2013
Day 77
Weigh In:   318lbs

To goal:        68lbs

After another week, I've lost another 3.5 lbs or so.  I decided to do just two fast days this week because of Memorial day.  I fasted Tuesday and I'll fast Thursday.  I'm going to do my best to take it easy on eating.  Next week is my 9 day out of town trip.  I'm going to struggle to keep caloric intake low.  I don't want to stress out about it too much.  I'm sure that even if I do nothing, the worst case is that it puts me back a week.  Nothing I can't handle.

On a side note, I have reached a kind of big virtual accomplishment.  I entered my weight in to a calculator and have found that I am no longer morbidly obese.  At a BMI of 39, I have crossed the threshold.  I've also lost over 10% of my starting body weight.  Not to bad of a start to my diet.  Now I just have to keep it up.

Weekly updates:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 5
Week 10
Week 11

Week 10 Update

May 22nd, 2013
Day 70
Weigh In:   321.5lbs

To goal:        71.5lbs

So, it's been a couple weeks since I've written an update.  If you feared I had fallen off the wagon, you can sleep soundly.  I've just been busy with life.  I've now lost 34 lbs.  Yes, that's 34lbs in just over two months.  I have to say that it gets me excited for the future.  I still can't tell a ton of difference when I look in the mirror, but, I know I've been getting smaller.  I'm pretty shocked that it's as unnoticeable as it is thus far.  I think the next 35lbs will be much more noticeable.  I have only had one random person ask me about my weight loss.  I've told my family, but I didn't want to broadcast anything, because I fear judgement if I fail.  I don't anticipate that as an issue now.

I did get a kick out of a conversation with one of my relatives.  When I told them what my goal was to lose another 75lbs, they were shocked.  They thought I'd be a twig.  I explained that my target was 250, which is still 50lbs above "Normal" for my height and build.  They didn't believe it.  The sad thing is, according to this calculator, I'd still be extremely overweight at 250lbs.  :-(  I hope they were just being kind, because it's clear as day to me that I still have a far way to go.


I have a trip coming up soon, and I don't know if I'll be able to continue with ADF for that week.  I'll play it by ear, but my guess is that it will be unrealistic.  I'll try to squeeze one or two fasting days in, and I'm sure I can at least get a couple middle ground days squeezed in.  I just don't want to have to explain my diet to my in-laws.

Weekly updates:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 5
Week 10
Week 11

Day 48

Wanted to check-in.  It's been a week since I last updated my progress.  Nothing new to report, other than my new weight of 331.5.  That's 24lbs down from my start weight.  Only 1 more lb to go till I reach 25lbs.  I think I'm going to have to go to Sams and lift a 25lb bag of flour.  Or I could lift three gallons of water.  I think that will help put my progress in perspective.

Pants are still getting bigger.  I'm going to need to add another hole to my belt in a few more days.  I'm hoping that I'll break below 330 this week.  That's a pretty doable result.  Of course, if I don't, there is always next week.  :-)  I'm not going to stress out about it.

Yesterday was a fast day.  I skipped breakfast and lunch again.  I've been doing that pretty consistent for the last two weeks now.  For dinner, I just had a 280 calorie healthy choice dinner.  I cooked up 8oz of mushrooms (just plain mushrooms and a tiny bit of Pam to keep them from sticking) and threw them in with the meal.  That really helps make the meal seem more substantial.  I LOVE mushrooms, and they are so low in calories.  I rounded out the day with a big bowl of popcorn.  I've been eating too much popcorn.  I just like to snack, and it's a pretty filling low calorie snack.  It's just a shame to fill half of my caloric intake for the day with such fluff.  I have a book from the library filled with 100 calorie snacks.  I should take a look through it for ideas tonight.

Day 41

Yesterday was a fast day.  It went very well.  I was busy at work, so I ended up skipping lunch.  My first meal of the day was dinner.  I had a Health Choice top chef steamer dinner.  They're pretty good for what they are.  The quantities are low, but they taste alright and are much closer to a balanced meal than anything I would be able to cook quickly.  When I get home, I'm typically pretty beat from work, and I don't want to stand around cooking too much.  The meal was 280 calories.  I rounded the day off with a half cup (before being popped) of popcorn (air popped).  That got me close enough to 600 for the day.  My wife and I went for a walk in the neighborhood since it was so warm out.  We were walking for about an hour.  I get a good laugh sometimes looking at my phones pedometer, because I often burn more calories walking than I ate for the day on my fast days.  I know some people will allow increases of calorie allotment based on calories burned on fast days, but that seems like a slippery slope to me.  I'd rather just loose more weight.

Today was a regular day.  It was a little more difficult.  I was considering skipping breakfast, since I wasn't too hungry, but I decided to compromise with myself and eat a banana.  I made it to lunch without too much hassle, but I ended up going out for lunch.  The only place that's close to my office is a Wendy's.  They've got a nice coupon/promotion going on for a free chicken flat bread sandwich if you buy a small fry and drink.  Unfortunately, they wont let me trade the fry in for a baked potato.  I was pretty hungry, so I went with a large fry and a small diet coke.  I had them ditch the honey mustard that they normally put on the sandwich and replace it with regular mustard.  That alone saved at least 100 calories from my meal.  After the fries, ketchup, and sandwich I figure I ate 800 calories.  It left me feeling full, so I can't complain too much.  For dinner, my wife had been planning an outing with my Grandma.  They wanted to go to Red Lobster.  I'm sure I'll never know exactly how I did, but let me just say that those biscuits are not diet friendly.  I figured my meal should have been around 1000 calories if they made it properly.  I think I had 4 biscuits, which would equal about 600 calories.  All in all, not too bad, but I never know what to think, because most restaurants undervalue their calories.  Either way, at an estimated 2500 calories for the day, I should be all right.  With my weight, I can eat 3500 calories and break even.  For the most part, I think I'll do really well if I can just stay away from the big five C's, (Chocolate, Cookies, Candy, Cake, and ice Cream).

I weighed in this morning at 335.  That puts me over the 20 lbs lost mark.  Still not seeing too much of a difference in the mirror myself, but I know it takes time.

Week 5 Update

April 18th
Day 36
Weigh In:   337.5lbs

To goal:        87.5lbs

I'm roughly one month in to my diet plan.  I've lost a total of 18 pounds.  I know I've got a lot more to go, but I'm trying to be optimistic.  I haven't told many people that I'm dieting, because I really don't want my attempt to lose weight judged by others.  I'd prefer people notice I've lost weight themselves instead of pretending to notice I look slimmer after I tell them I've been dieting. 

I was pretty skeptical about being able to get over hunger when I started ADF.  I've fasted before for different reasons, and it wasn't a pretty sight.  The first few days were pretty difficult, but it really did get easier.  I do find it hard some days, and I have to be careful not to focus too much on all of the good things I can eat the next day.  I've had a couple occasions where I almost had a checklist of the foods I wanted to eat the next day.  I found that if I do that, I will most certainly over-eat.  The sad thing is, I can honestly say that even my worst normal days on the diet have been more or less typical of how I lived pre-diet.

I feel like things have slowed down a little bit, but in the grand scheme of things, they really haven't.  I've been dieting for just over a month, and I've lost 18 lbs.  I mean, that's a half pound per day.  I figure that I lose about 1 lb every fast day.  That's just crazy to me.  My only regret so far is that I didn't start this years ago.  I wonder how much my life would have changed if I wasn't as overweight as I currently am...That's a scary though.  I'm pretty happy with how much I've lost, but I find myself being impatient.  I know that I didn't gain the weight in a day, and it's going to take a long time to lose it.  Only 89 pounds to go!

Weekly updates:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 5
Week 10
Week 11