Back at the beginning of the year, I made, like lots of Americans, a resolution to lose weight and get in shape. I started the year at 177.8 lbs, and by Jan 26th had gotten down to 172.2 lbs. I had been making the effort to use the gym facility at work too, and was slowly building up some strength. Then we went that weekend to visit my youngest son in Vegas and that was that. By the time I got back on monday morning, I was 175. I tried gamely for a few weeks to not eat “so much”, but that only works to a point.
The way I HAVE to do it, is to count calories. Only when I count the actual calories, do I keep track and start to cut back. But having stopped actually counting calories, by the end of February, I was stuck at 175 still. By the end of March it had edged up to 177, and by April 23rd, I had reached 178.2.
That day I went to the beach though. Going to the beach is a bit awkward for me, because I know what I used to look like, and that I didn’t look like that anymore. So I was struggling with taking my shirt off publicly. Now I know there are lots of guys, even those in their 20’s, that don’t look any better than I do. While I’m also horribly white, I knew the only way to start getting the tan going again was to get out there and get some sun, so…. that trip to the beach became the impetus to do something about my looks. The next day I started counting calories again and by the end of April, I was down a bit to 176.4.
The next Sunday I started a 3-day fast and by the end of the fast, I was down to 171. This morning I was down to 166.8 lbs. I had started off the month hoping I could get below 170 by June 1st. I’m now wondering if it would be possible to get below 165 by June 1st. That means I’ve dropped, to date, a little over 11 lbs since I’ve started. If this rate were to keep up, I’d drop another 10 by the end of June to get me under 160, maybe close to 155. My target weight is 150 lbs, which I think is feasible to hit by at least the end of July… as long as I keep on the path. But it has meant staying in the 1300-1400 calories per day range, and going on daily walks to burn enough calories- I’m trying to burn 1000 or over what I take in every day.
I already posted a pic of the difference between what I looked like at the beginning of April and a few weeks ago, and it’s a noticeable improvement. I’m starting to notice that if I hold my stomach in, it’s almost flat. A month and half ago, I couldn’t suck it in flat if I tried. I’ve also been to the beach 3 times, which is helping to add a little healthy color to my skin. The LA weather is NOT helping me though as it’s been largely ucky days. My guess is it will probably stay that way until towards the end of June, and THEN, we’ll hit the beach more often. We even bought a year pass so we don’t have to pay the $15 parking charge every time we go.
Anyway, the ugly update is: less ugly! And looking better.