Our lives are full of sequels, especially those that weren't as good as, or didn't live up to the original. Yeah we can say "There can be only one!" for the Highlander series, and rightfully, there should have been, but the world demanded more, and we got sequels. Today, I learned that a "Highlander" reboot is again in the works, and unlike most of the world, I'm okay with this idea. There's a lot more that can be done with that idea and concept, and as long as it's done right, a reboot could in fact work.
A little over a decade ago, I had my life falling apart around me. I found myself divorced, and slowly starting to rebuild my career after a long term bout of unemployment after the dotCom bubble burst. I was starting to rebuild my life, living with friends, and actually had a decent well paying job again. I found myself with the time, energy and willpower to actually focus on getting my health back up to par. Now, I've had my fair share of diets before then, toying with Weight Watchers, Atkins, and many others that in the long term, just didn't seem to work out for me. I'd have some decent initial weight loss, and I'd either plateau, get bored, or some other excuse to fall off the wagon. This time, was going to be different.
I originally started out with a simple concept - make better choices, and use the power of the internet to keep me accountable. At first, the idea was just to "eat better" rather than focusing on numbers such as calories, fat, carbs or other nutritional goals. Rather than a burger, I'd get a wrap, Rather than pizza, I'd get a salad. At the same time, I put together a quick and simple Wordpress site that I called "Fat Guy on a Diet". I did some limited branding, and started writing posts and taking pictures of each and evey thing I put into my body. Was the site ever a success? By no means. But it did give me something to use to keep myself accountable.
After a few weeks, I noticed that while I was eating better - I was not by any means eating healthier. A 1500 calorie salad was just about as bad as that cheeseburger and fries that I'd given up - at least as far as weight-loss was concerned. I made the decision to go with the simplest, most effective diet possible: set a calorie goal, and don't go over that number. It was slow and steady, but for the first time in a long time, I found a combination that actually worked for me. Over the course of a few months, I'd lost nearly 50lbs, an was looking to actually move back to 2XL from 3XL, and pant sizes that were actually regularly found on the shelf. Close to that point in time, I hit the biggest roadblock I could face... holidays. I went home and spent time with the family. I got off the bandwagon with the full intent of jumping back on right after the new year. I jumped, and flopped. Jumped... and flopped. Regardless of what I did, I could never regain the momentum I originally had.
I tried going back on the old standbys: Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, even trying out HCG on the recommendation of a friend, all with minor or limited success, and I could never fully get back into the swing of dieting.
A few years later, I met the love of my life. She was also a dieter, and had seen a lot more success in her endeavours than I had in mine. Re-inspired, we dieted together, both hitting all time lows once again.
But again - life got in the way. The job that I enjoyed and allowed me to start my life again had slowly started draining me of all I had, and stress began to pile on top of me. My now fiance had gotten some health issues that set her back, and she had been slowly regaining her losses as well. We would reboot the diets every few months, but the scales continued to rise, and our health and well-being began to suffer the consequences.
So, today, I'm once again starting this journey again, and hopefully starting again for the last time. Rather than low carbing, going with a specific diet plan, or any specific fad, I'm going with what worked to begin with. I'm going to post each meal, list out my calories, and show a picture of what I ate. This could be a full meal, or it could be a granola bar. If it goes in my mouth, it goes onto the site. My official start date for all of this is July 13, 2020. Until that date, I'm hoping to get this site back together, and get the technology in place to get this thing running. I might also start posting a few meals ahead of that so you'll know where I'm originally coming from. Stay tuned - and I see amazing things coming ahead!