Three years ago, I hit my then lifetime maximum weight of 323lbs. My life was so much different then than it is today. I was still single, and my lifestyle was to work all day behind a desk, then come home and spend the evening in front of the television. Three years ago, I decided to make a change in my life: eat healthier, start exercising, become a better individual. Over the course of 6 months, I lost over 40 pounds, before the holidays came and the diet fell by the wayside. I vowed to pick up after the new year, but it just never seemed to happen. Month after month came and went, and slowly and steadily the weight returned.
In April of last year, I hit the scale again – 332lbs – nine pounds heavier than my previous all-time high. In fact, I weighed so much, my scale at home would just error out. The clothes that I once fit into at my heaviest were now starting to stretch to their capacity, and I was starting to have to consider upgrading to an addition X. I wasn’t about to let my weight get the best of me, and I once again put up the good fight. Less than 2 months later, I met Megan, the love of my life. Her journey had taken her much further – losing over 80lbs in just a few years. She inspired me to keep up the fight, and by August, I once again found myself below 290lbs.
I’m really not sure when things changed, but eventually my new eating habits slowly started creeping back on me. I’m not sure if it was stress from work, or stress from other outside sources, but slowly my eating habits got worse and worse. I tried several times to start the diet back up, but it just never worked. Within days, I was going back to my old ways, scarfing down burgers like there was no tomorrow. Once again, my weight slowly crept up. My clothes began to tighten, I began to get more and more tired, and I just didn’t have the energy I once had only a year ago. This morning, I weighed in at 329.8lbs. Not my heaviest, but damn close to it.
Two weeks ago, I decided something needed to change. I needed to pull my health out of the gutter, get smart, and just lose the weight. Over the last few months, I kept thinking what was my point of failure? What worked for me in the past? How can I improve on my success in the past, and this time, stick with it for months, years, and the lifetime to follow?
I then thought back to the original success I had. When I was posting daily logs of what I ate, and sharing it with the world, it held me to a slightly higher level of accountability. When I was posting daily, I was doing great. But why did I stop? In the end, it was a matter of time, and effort, both of which I was finding a massive lack of. Each post would take at least 30 minutes to write up, build a table, and calculate all of the totals. What if I could simplify that process, allowing for quick entries and a running total each day? I then built a system to allow for just that!
Welcome to Fat Guy on a Diet, 3.0! Pardon my dust, I was hoping to have the place finished by the time this all launched, but I just completely ran out of time to do so. Nonetheless, the journey begins again today – not tomorrow, not next week, not next year! The time for procrastination and self destruction has passed, and it’s time to finally take my journey to the next level, and get myself to a level of healthy living that I can maintain for the rest of my life.
Daily Goals:
My daily goal is purely caloric, at least for the time being. That’s the way the original diet was, that’s what I’m aiming for with this version. My calorie range will be 1500 – 1800 calories per day. I will try to vary that from day to day so that I don’t get my body too used to just a single level. I will also have ONE day per week that will allow for up to 2100 calories. This will be me treat day – and will allow for a special meal, dessert, or something along those lines. Exercise will come, but at this point, everything is purely calorie-centric.
Posting – at least one post per day. This will most likely be a journal post, which will detail everything I ate over the course of the day. Sometimes posts will include recipes that I’ve cooked, news articles on dieting that I’ve read, or just my thoughts on my progress.
Lifetime Goals:
I have a lifetime goal in mind – 160lbs and/or less than 12% body fat. Both are years away – and I can’t target that without smaller intermediate goals. Previously, I’ve treated myself to food when certain goals were met, but this time, I’m going to try and aim for something less unhealthy. I will post up my “Goal Page” shortly, but it will break the diet into 10 and 25 lb milestones. The goals aren’t a “hit it, and I get a present” either – I will have to meet or exceed each one for 2 weeks in order to claim the goal as being met. 10lbs goals will be met with smaller rewards, 25lb goals will be much bigger. I will also have goals at 300, 250, and 200lbs respectively. Each of those will vary. Finally, once I hit my lifetime goal, I plan to find some way to memorialize my journey, so that I will never forget the struggle to lose the weight I took a lifetime to put on.
So, here we are. Once again, pardon the mess. I’ll have the place cleaned up soon! Wish me luck, and come back each day to follow along on my journey!
We then each had a peach, and all was well in the world….