I did it! I lost it all

Today my scale gave me the good news:  I've hit my goal and lost all the weight I set out to lose.  I'm a happy guy.

I had noticed over the past summer how heavy I'd gotten in recent years, but it never hit me hard until I saw a video of me walking in a parade.  It was at that very second I decided enough was enough, and I was going to change.  I sat down at the computer and Googled "fitness calculators", intending to find something I could use to track my daily calories, and I hit this website.  After checking out a few more, I came back and signed up for an account.  Never looked back.

My starting weight was 204, I entered my goal weight as 180.  CC+ told me I should consume 1920 calories per day, and I told myself I'd try to average 1500.  In the end, my average was closer to 1800, but I managed to stay within the goal (for the most part.)  Of course, I had cheat meals (more on that in a second), but I'm quite happy with my level of discipline throughout.

Here's the thing that's likely going to set many people off, and I will explain my theories presently.  I started this program on July 11, 2008.  I've gone from 204 to 180, a total of 24 pounds, in slightly under three months.  I've done it in a healthy way, without sacrificing horribly, using a combination of diet and exercise.  I know this seems a little fast, but there are a couple of factors in this that I want to elaborate on.

First, the "bad" factors:

1.  My age.  I'm 36.  Not terribly old, but not young either.  I'm at the age where my body doesn't heal or respond to things quite like it used to.  Making a drastic change is more of a shock at 36 than it would be at 26, trust me.

2.  My eating habits.  I'm the world's pickiest eater by far.  I don't like to eat my vegetables, I'm not keen on fruit, and I LOVE pizza like nothing else.  I had to change my perspective on eating quite a bit.

Next, the "good" factors.

1.  Where I live.  I live in Utah, and I love the outdoors.  Exercise for me is riding my bike and hiking, and hiking in Utah means hikes of several miles up mountains.  I'm fortunate to live where a good workout requires nothing more than sunblock and good shoes.

2.  Motivation.  Seeing my beer gut flop out over my pants was embarrassing to say the least, and I hated it.  My primary motivation was to kill that beast.  I see too many guys my age (and younger) with big fat disgusting beer guts, and I vowed not to be one of them any more.  I fully intend, on the day that I turn 40, to be in better shape than I was at 20.  This is my long-term goal and motivating factor.

By far the biggest advantage that I have though, is this:  I'm a former fitness trainer.  I worked in a gym for several years, and I have good knowledge of how to lose weight and get fit.  More importantly, I have a good, solid muscle base.  In my days at the gym, I had a pretty decent body-builder's look, and despite age and neglect, I've managed to hang on to a good bit of that muscle.  I think that was the biggest factor.

My muscle base allowed my metabolism to super-charge when I started limiting my caloric intake.  Couple that with the fact that I was pretty diligent in my diet, as well as burning (on average) 1000 calories OVER what I consumed every day, I was able to lose the weight very quickly.  A lot of people are going to say that it was too fast, and unhealthy to lose it so quickly, but to be honest, I feel better now than I have in ten years. 

Oh, and yes, I cheated on my diet.  In the last few weeks especially, it's been two or three times a week.  The trick to cheating is still trying to stay within (or near) your daily calorie goal.  I'm a believer in eating whatever the hell you want (within reason), as long as you're able to use it or burn it.

And one other factor:  I'm blessed with a non-habit forming personality.  I was able to give up or severely moderate things I like without much effort.  In addition, I gave up sweets (never was a candy person anyway), and things like cake and brownies and all other manner of "desert" type things completely.  No cravings.  I'm lucky in that.

Now it's time for phase two.  I'm going to put that 24 pounds RIGHT BACK ON, only this time, it will be quality, sexy-as-hell muscle mass.  I will get my six-pack back, only this time it won't be beer and cheeseburgers, it will be strips of sexy muscle.  I'm done being fat, and ready to start being slim and muscular again. 

Phase two starts TODAY.

AWESOME!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! How does it feel? Are you as excited as you thought you'd be??? How will you celebrate?? I cant wait to reach my ultimate goal...

Hmm, 24lbs in 3 months is less than 8-lbs per month.  The first 4-5 were probably water weight and waste so it's closer to 6-7 lbs per month which is less than 2 lbs per week.  This is slightly above average and perfectly healthy and reasonable, especially for men.  Your weight loss wasnt that fast so I do not think you have a "super charged metabolism," just a normal one.

congrats!! I feel great and feel better each day knowing I eat healthy foods, I roughly eat now 1850 calories a day with a 40/40/20 split, before at first I was about 1600 calories and doing the same walking, jogging/ biking, but now I am weight training some as well.

I started on July 18 at 229 I had a horrible diet of regular soda, candy, fast foods, and partying on the weekends thur.-sat. the pounds were packing on and the amount of water weight was alot as well (very high sodium diet).

My initial goal was 20 pounds at first, lost that around August 19.

then I made another goal of 189 and just broke that about 11 days ago.

now I am shooting for 175 by mid Oct.

2008-09-23 184.00  
2008-09-19 185.20  
2008-09-13 188.00  
2008-09-12 190.00  
2008-09-09 191.20  
2008-09-04 192.00  
2008-08-29 196.00  
2008-08-05 211.00  
2008-07-23 225.00  

Wow, great job! Make sure you post some photos when you get those sexy as hell muscles back

Don't worry you didn't lose that weight fast , like marneedear said it was most likely water weight and fecal waste. Good job,keep it up:-)

CONGRATS!!!!! Thats so rewarding :)

yay! Congrats! Glad to see someone so motivated. Around how long do you think it will take you to get those "sexy-as-hell muscles"?

Congratulations!  It is always excellent to hear a success story.  Good luck with toning those muscles and keep up the good work!!!

YAY! ** HIGH 5*** Cheers to meeting your goal!