Weight just a moment! in Weight just a moment!
- Dec. 12, 2014, 6:13 p.m.
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- Public
I’ve gained and lost a lot of weight over the years, and been some variety of “fat” (“overweight,” “obese,” or “morbidly obese”) most of them.
In high school and early college, I ran around 270 lbs. I was super-enthused when I got back from my study-abroad in Belgium to discover I’d dropped to only 240 lbs. – all the walking, I suppose. But it wasn’t because I was eating well, and I quickly returned to my “normal” weight.
My last semester of undergrad, I ballooned up to 290 lbs. and stayed that way through graduate school:
I blame the stress of trying to get into various graduate schools. I’d actually made some progress on the eating-healthy front, but that kind of smashed it. That state persisted through the next several years, including our wedding. While this is one of Emilie’s favorite wedding pictures and remains in our living room for that reason, I don’t have words to express how unflattering I feel this picture is:
Ultimately, I crossed 300 lbs. before I decided enough was enough.
In 2009, I started losing some weight, and in 2010, I enrolled in a weight loss program through work and my gym. Insurance paid for a portion of it, in the hopes of reducing my future health-care expenses, but we paid a good deal as well. My lowest weight, quite possibly from the day this picture was taken, was 193 lbs.:
I’m very proud of that. Unfortunately, over the last two years, I’ve regained a portion of that. While my current weight (222.4 lbs. this morning) is still among the best of my adult life, I don’t like that I’ve regained over a quarter of the weight I lost. I’m in the ironic position where people look at me and say I look fine (even doctors), when I know that my healthy best is truly so much better. Here’s what I look like these days:
I joked at one point that Emilie’s goal was to weigh less than me for her entire pregnancy, and my goal would be to weigh less than her at some point before the baby’s born. I think she’s going to win this one – if I were still at my 2010 weight, I could guarantee I’d win by the time the baby comes. And it’s a little galling.
So call it an early New Year’s resolution. Along with switching from gym to having an elliptical and a few other things at home, I’m going to try to get back into tracking what I eat. Most especially, I’ve had a hard time going without soda for more than a couple days, and I’m taking another stab at kicking that habit.
One of the things that helped before was the online accountability of posting how that effort was going. If it worked in 2010, maybe it’ll work in 2015.
Starting point: 222.4
Flame is Love ⋅ December 12, 2014
I've only managed to kick the soda habit by switching to unsweetened iced tea. (I weaned from sweet iced tea making it less and less sweet.) I do drink a lot of water but I have to drink something flavored regularly.
KMARTIN527 ⋅ December 12, 2014
You can do it! The soda will help tremendously, although I know how hard it is to give up. I use my fitness pal to track my food and exercise and it works pretty well for me. (Saw you on the frontage)
precious butterflies ⋅ December 12, 2014
Very inspiring! If you lose a significant amount of weight once, that's proof you can do it again! Good luck!
It is hard to get into a new routine. I recently switched from going to the gym, to adjusting to an elliptical and free-weights at home. You certainly CAN do it though! :)
pull the past behind you ⋅ December 12, 2014
I had to quit the soda habit cold turkey bc I just kept going back. The only exception I ever make is drinking ginger ale when I'm sick. I switched to unsweetened tea as well, though I made it a priority to drink water as much as possible. That alone helped me lose a butt ton of weight!
Deleted user ⋅ December 12, 2014
Good luck! It's my goal for 2015 too. Maybe visit Marksdailyapple.com? Go to the Success Stories section. He has great blog postings about health and wellness from a perspective I really like (for the most part).
You can do it!
Katie Kizzle ⋅ December 12, 2014
You are very inspiring and I have no doubt you will do it again. Funny, towards the end of my pregnancy I ended up weighing more than my husband for the first time. But he is ridiculous and only weighs like 160 and is over 6 feet tall. I, too have gone up and down with my weight throughout the years and know how it feels. At my highest I was 200 and am now at my lowest and toggle between 110 and 115. Never thought I'd be at this weight but it has been relatively easy to maintain even after I gained so much after I got pregnant. I really think it is more of a mental struggle than a physical one for the majority of people. Good luck and have fun with it!
Deleted user ⋅ December 12, 2014
Good luck! X
Deleted user ⋅ December 13, 2014
I have no doubt that you can do this! One thing that has helped us over the years is to cut back on carbs and try to keep them between 50 and 100 g per day. That allows for some of the things you love, but in smaller quantities so it is easier to maintain long term. Good luck!