Just as an update, scale said 259.5 this morning. Wanting to make sure that I really cracked 260, I hopped on again and i said 258.5. I will take the 259.5.

That is down from 306.0 in January. This has been mostly diet as work has kept me from the gym for the last month or so.

thats great to hear continued progress!

Congratulations!!! Just keep plugging away!

Well, I went through the Summer at or around 255 lbs, down from 304 lbs in January, got all of my suits resized, bought a bunch of new clothes, and I am creeping back up. Since October, the 255 became 260...then 265, 270...I have totally gone out of control The scale said someplace between 275 and 280 and so here I am, back again. Why does logging to complete strangers give me some sort of need to be accountable when doing it for myself can allow myself to become lazy and resort back to my old ways?

The answer, after much consideration, is I dont give a crap. I will figure out the psychological part later, maybe after I get back into the 260 range.

I appreciate the help last time and am reaching out again. I am not a bodybuilder. I was a clean slate that got really good results when my mind was focused, and now that clean slate has got itself a bit of dirt, graffiti, and a few cracks. What worked last time was diet and quite honestly, what I considered minimal cardio. It was 2 - 3 miles on a treadmill and some light lifting. I have been golfing and where I could play multiple days in the summer, one round of cart path only had me popping Aleve.

That said, I look forward to reconnecting with many of the folks that provided the motivation previously and while I am embarassed to be coming to the well again, please know that I never felt better than I did this past Spring and Summer and quite honestly don't even know where I fell off the wagon back in September, but am looking to hop back on before it gets any more out of control.

First I have to go outside and tie down my **** as apparently there is a hurricane coming this way.

Hey im glad to hear your back here i gave you some advice earlier on i believe and all i can say is your right logging to complete strangers in some way drives you its true we all feel it thats why were here but were also here for help. From what ive read you managed to get your diet down pretty good a few months ago so try to get back on that diet as best as possible. Excerise is key i know its hard to find time sometimes but if your serious about losing the weight there is always a time.

I find Cardio early in the morning is nice if you can manage to motivate yourself to wakeup earlier and do that, then try it if not try to find a place or time to lift run jog something even just here.

I realize im the first to post since you reached back here 3 days ago so take my words with a grain of salt but really find that spark and motivate yourself to just get that diet down and excerise whenever you can. And as you saw earlier you will shed the weight.

Mind if i join your journey FA? I am in the same boat as you. I started 315lbs at age 18. Ive never known what its like to be in great shape. Im down to 240 now. Ive fallen off the wagon a few times myself. Tonight i saw a kid from highschool i havent seen in a couple years. He didnt even recognize me at first. That was an awsome feeling. Keep up the good work man. Ill be in this with you. Heres to getting lean and mean! <---diet rootbeer lol

Everyone is invited. My main disappointment was that I don't remember really missing what I had cut out of the diet. I just got lazy and fell back into it. I would sneak something here or there and not feel the penalty from it and then wham, in a month, it exploded. I am really hoping I can get back to 255 by Christmas.

The am cardio doesnt happen b/c I commute 90 minutes, but we are looking at getting some cardio equipment for X-mas that having it at home might be beneficial vs driving to work to use the facility there.

Thanks for checking back in. I never should have left.

you may want to hold off till february/march on equipment, craigs list is usually chock full of failed new years resolutions then

I agree, but I think I kind of need to strike while the iron is hot. I think there are plenty of last years resolutions still out there.

wow, awesome. i just found this post and i wish i saw it earlier. i think its AWESOME that you are making a lifestyle change. alot of people cant or wont do it because its hard. most dont even attempt. im glad you're doing it for YOU. thats very important. you're getting alot of good info for free so i hope you are taking advantage of it. it seems you are and thats great. stories like this just put a smile on my face. making a decision to change your life because you are sick of the current situation is a powerful thing. you are the only thing that can stop you from suceeding. and you will succeed if you keep it up.

about he cardio, i didnt see anyone mention this but as far as your knee joints go, riding a bike would be better than a treadmill for the fact that you arent pounding your ankles and knees with every step. for heavier people that can lead to alot of problems. if you screw up your ankle or knee your life will CHANGE drastically. most people overlook that but its very important to keep your lower body free from all that stress. im not saying to stop using the treadmill, just giving you other options. so if you think your ankles or knees are starting to hurt or something doesnt feel right, use something other than a treadmill. something that is low impact.

also, as far as diet goes, try this. i eat these all the time all day long. take some raw sweet potatoes which are VERY good for you btw. they burn nice and slow. i think they are the BEST carbohydrate out there personally. anyway, and this is for EVERYONE, this snack is awesome:

take however many RAW sweet potatoes and peel them. then cut them into strips the long way. cut them as skinny as you like. i find the skinnier the better cause they are easier to eat. anyway, cut them the long way in strips and put em in a bowl and snack on em all day long. or put em in a bag and take em with you. if you cant finish em. put em in the fridge and if they dry up sprinkle some water on em. these are GREAT. trust me, try it everyone. its very simple. just cut some raw sweet potatoes in long strips and thatsyour snack. and i think they taste very very good too. so its not like you have to tortute yourself. eat these early in the day to give you energy later on. since you are trying to burn fat, i wouldnt eat them at night or any dry carbs at night for that matter.

about the sauna. saunas are alot like exericse in that you BURN CALORIES. the heat revs up your metabolism and you burn calories just by sitting there. 15 minutes in a sauna is equal to 50 minutes of jogging or burning 500 calories. also, it helps alot with circulation and flexibility and helps loosen your joints. basically makes your whole body feel nice n loose. also, very good for your skin. scratch your arm or some part of your body next time you're in the sauna and youll get alot of gunk. its gross but its good to get that stuff out. there are lots of health benefits to using a sauna. just be careful, too much of anything can hurt you. you dont want to pass out or dehydrate yourself.

i hope you've read this whole post, i know sometimes i dont read posts that are too long. keep us updated on your progress. i for one am VERy intersted and VERY proud of you and im cheering for you man. its awesome that you changed your life. consistency is KEY. results are cumilitive meaning the more results you get the better it is, like stacking something on another. just gets better and better.

anyway, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, you're doing AWESOME!!!!!

I agree with most of the points above me other then the fact that i feel sauna burns more of water weight then weight in general its good to drop a few pounds quick for a contest or something but will come right back usually.

As far as running i didnt realize you commuted 90 minutes to work in that case i would reccomend just continuing running at your facility and once you get the equipment at home if your motivated you'll be surprise how much they help.

Im not sure if you have or wish to take any supplements im not going to suggest anything extreme like others just stuff like Green Tea or Rasberry Ketones or something just not sure if you have taken any basic ones like that as they can help. Not pushing you to use them if you dont want though.

ahhh green tea, didnt think about that. i drink green tea every single day and i def notice it. it gives me energy and i feel it rev up my metabolism for about 2 hours depending on how much i drink. everyday around 11 or noon, i always make tea with 2 green tea bags. then later on when im done, i add another one and put in cold water this time and sip it throughout the day. also, i use this really good natural honey that my mom gets from her business. its white and gooey. 100% natural. really really good stuff. i also used to take green tea extract in capsules. it had green tea extracts, white, black and i think 1 more thing. it worked good for giving me energy and its alot better than coffee IMO. tea is good stuff. =-]

I dont really like green tea, but I have got quite a thing for coffee. I will drink a pot of coffee a day on my commute, maybe more if I make any at work. I only drink Jamaican Blue Mountain as I have become a bit of a coffee snob. If adding some additional sweetener to the tea like a honey would make it more palatable, then it would be a nice substitute to the water I have been pounding mercilessly.

I still never really went back to soda. I think I have had 3 or 4 since January and 2 were the same day.

I have been playing golf a lot and walking the course on weekends. It is still in the 70's temperature wise so it is pretty nice out. I play Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings before church, but that might move to after church as a few folks are interested in playing. It would have been rude to say no, but I like going and getting paired up with folks and I treat it like a sales call. I am not in sales, but I work for the hotel chain that is on the golf course and everybody sells, plus I like doing the fun stuff that Sales does, but I hate cold calls.

I personally love green tea but ive gone with the green tea caps its something to look into 100 caps goes for 8.99$ and you take 3 a day. It truely is a staple in my diet you mentioned you didnt like green tea hence the caps (insert smiley face) It has a good deal of benefits from speeding up the metabolism, to even help fighting the flu (no H1N1 for me) Im only mentioning these if your interested in all natural basic supplements that are proven to aid in fat loss but just overall all around health. Omega-3 Fish oil is another good one which has essential fatty acids which supports a healthy heart and aids in fat loss.

Again im not pushing anything on you just mentioning a few cheap staples i have in my diet to aid in your marvelous journey.

And man i wish i could still play golf right now its Pretty cold up here in new england gold is a great game i just wish i was better at it lol.

Originally Posted by jumpshot903

I personally love green tea but ive gone with the green tea caps its something to look into 100 caps goes for 8.99$ and you take 3 a day. It truely is a staple in my diet you mentioned you didnt like green tea hence the caps (insert smiley face) It has a good deal of benefits from speeding up the metabolism, to even help fighting the flu (no H1N1 for me) Im only mentioning these if your interested in all natural basic supplements that are proven to aid in fat loss but just overall all around health. Omega-3 Fish oil is another good one which has essential fatty acids which supports a healthy heart and aids in fat loss.

Again im not pushing anything on you just mentioning a few cheap staples i have in my diet to aid in your marvelous journey.

And man i wish i could still play golf right now its Pretty cold up here in new england gold is a great game i just wish i was better at it lol.

I am not very good, but it is good exercise when you walk it and I am really trying to get better and then come springtime, sandbag a bit at the beginning of the season and then beat the snot out of some co-workers. I will look into what you mentioned.

Appreciate the help. Where in NE? I lived on the Cape for a few years after college.

More specifically Connecticut Just was giving a wider range which refers to the areas of like New york, maine,Massachusets,New Hampshire, Vermont etc.