Per @Bri_getsfit invitation to talk about my journey
Mark Twain said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." That's how I feel when it comes to weight loss. My current journey has had more staying power than previous voyages and since my lifetime maximum weight I have lost 51 pounds. I've got another 90 or so to go but my habits are finally changing. My clothes fit differently, I have more energy, and I'm more positive. My end goal weight is also flexible as I want to build a good base of muscle mass. As long as my body composition is healthy and fit (hoping for around 175 lbs and 20 BMI), I will give some wiggle room to the scale. But not too much!
I've got three main motivations for my journey. The first is my wife. I want to have as much time with her as possible and for us to be able to do the things we chose without being restricted by our bodies or health. Secondly, Type II diabetes is common on my dad's side of the family and dementia is common on my mom's side. I want to change myself to have the best possible chance to avoid developing either of these debilitating conditions (among others). And lastly, I like fashion and really want to be able to buy the clothes I fall in love with and not the ones in the Big and Tall section. And I want to feel confident in them.
One big interrelated perk of becoming more healthy is I have learned that I love to cook, especially something I've never cooked before. For example, my wife and I recently started baking our own bread and making our own corn tortillas and it is just so much fun. I never would have done something like that before.
Unfortunately I don't really have any good "Before" pictures of myself other than my DietBet pictures. But even in those you can see that my clothes fit more loosely, there is more of a gap between my muffin top and my resting arms, my posture is better, my skin is clearer, and I'm more positive.
I still have work to do. But I have made some good progress in the past year and, with the help of my wife who is on the same journey, I will change the man I see in the mirror into the man I see in my future. Confident, smart, kind, hard working, and sexy.