You would not normally associate taking a Segway tour with losing wieght, but the advertised weight limit is precisely the trigger I needed to lose some weight after a lifetime of slowly gaining.  We were going on a trip to DC and I wanted to take the tour, but was 5 lbs over the limit of 250lbs. I am only 5'9", so as you can imagine, I was a bit "round".

I was also thinking about what our daughter *(then 3yrs old) would grow up thinking was normal and/or acceptable.  I studied the various fad diets and chose instead to adopt a balanced lower calorie / fat / carb approach to daily eating instead.  Just doing that allowed me to lose 10lbs in time for that trip. 

A few months later, my wife's work started a "Biggest Loser".  I started watching that show and reading about the pros and cons of the various weight loss strategies.  My wife started looking for ways to reduce carbs.  

One thing that stuck in my head was that weight loss is almost always temporary, because people return to their bad habits.  The stats:

  • 80% of people who lose weight gain it back within 2 years
  • 95% of people who lose weight gain it back within 5 years

 

I learned about how many calories are burned doing what (including sleeping) so that I knew what my baseline was.  I learned to look closely at what I was putting in my mouth, because there are so many unnecessary calories added to prepared food that it is easy to injest more than you burn.

What I found annoying was that I was labeled "obese".  I hated that term and that it applied to me.  I had to lose weight in order to be overweight!   Enough is enough.  Once I lost enough weight that I had to replace my clothes a couple of times, I decided to go full-on with a weight loss diet.  After familiaring myself with various strategies and dangers of those strategies (including the one I chose), I went with a super low calorie / lean protein approach.  

My target was no less that 750 calories and no more than 1,000 daily.   I was shocked at the results.  In quickly found myself at 190lbs within 3 months.  Fearing that I'd go too far with this, my wife and doctor both told me to stop!  I liked the way I looked at that weight; I still had enough "bulk" so as to not appear as a wimpy nerd, so it became my "target" to maintain in a range of 185 to 195, which I did by returning to my NEW normal way of eating.  This was a little over 4 years ago.  I later adjusted my range to 190-200 on purpose, as I like my appearance and the fit of my clothes better in that range.

Two significant changes I adopted that I encourage others to adopt:

  • Stopped using food as entertainment or as a reward.  I found options for those.
  • Indulgences are now rare instead of every meal.  That makes them even more special!!!  

 

I have also made it cost-prohibitive to change sizes.  I gave away all of my clothes from other sizes and have built an impressive wardrobe at my current size.  I can't afford to gain weight!! ;)