Update 03/12/2012

I'm seeing a lot of results with Nutrisystem. I started it on January 1st and since then I have lost 31.6lbs. I started at 293.6 and I am currently at 262. I am very pleased with the results. I stuck to their program pretty strictly for the first month or so. After that I ate out once in awhile. But I adjusted my caloric intake for the day and ate smaller portions when I did and still lost weight. I've done almost no exercising so far. This weight loss has been a straight diet change.

Personal Progress 12/27/09 & Weigh-In #5

This past week was the week of Christmas. It was more hectic, so not as much time to post. Of course there were all the treats that you eat throughout the holidays. Because of this, I truly expected the worst when I weighed in this morning. Color me surprised when I found myself weighing in at 262.2lbs. That was a loss of 3.4lbs. My biggest loss yet. The thing is, I don't feel like I've lost weight like I have in weeks past.

I've decided that come the first of the year, I'm going to really start incorporating exercise into my regiment as well. The diet is going well, but I really need to start developing some muscle and working off more of this fat.

Also I find this blog is harder to maintain when no one is reading it. It's like I'm writing to myself.lol

Hate loss - Taking Care of Myself

Why did I decide it was time to lose weight? I hated the way I looked and felt. It got to the point that I was no longer fitting into my clothes. And I simply don't have the disposable income to go buy new clothes because I got fat. I have so many items, shirts and pants, that I can't wear because of my weight. I prefer to wear my baggier shirts so that my stomach is not as noticeable. I have to wear my shirts un-tucked. And worst of all, I've had to wear my pants with the button undone. It is a horrible feeling realizing that you can't fit into your clothes. That you no longer look good in them. I was/am tired of feeling like that.

I've become much more self-conscious of my appearance because of my weight. I recently spent a lot of time going to job interviews. And I wondered what kind of impression my weight made. I'm certain my ill-fitting suits only accentuated my weight. Ever noticed how our bodies compact when we sit down? I'm well aware that my fat becomes more evident every time I sit down. When I am at work, I can feel my gut pressing against my desk. The worst is when someone is trying to squeeze past a tight area behind you, and you can't get any closer to the table because of your stomach.

I've found I've lost a lot of the confidence I once had. I no longer am comfortable flirting with girls because of my appearance. I have some good personality traits. I'm a funny guy. And that's how I want to be known. As the funny guy, not the funny fat guy. In some ways I've become a walking cliche. Lacking confidence has a negative impact on self-esteem. This has lead to me sheltering myself more. I've left my home a lot less than I used to. And being at home, I've gotten more inactive and eaten more. And that only added to the problem and then it became a vicious cycle. And the time came to break that cycle.

I hate who I am. I hate the way I look. I hate the way I feel. I am consumed by this hate. And now is the time for hate loss.I even toyed around with that as the title for my blog, but someone is using something similar already. Through weight loss, I can achieve hate loss. I can start to feel better about myself. I can look better. I can like who I am again. And I'll be healthier. I wish I could say the health aspects are a larger part of why I am doing this, but they aren't. It's really more about looking better and thus feeling better. The health ramifications are important as I get older. And I do want to be one of those healthy old people. But as a single guy, I want to get my looks back. And then find that special someone. And I don't want to be with someone that would take someone that looks like me. They should want someone that takes care of themselves. And I need to take care of myself. And that is what I am doing now, taking care of myself.

You're Fat and It's NOT OK!!!

Did the title catch your attention? Did it make you nod your head in agreement or make you a little angry? Whichever it did, it accomplished its goal, which was to get you to stop and think about your own weight and your own perception of weight. I know this phrase is something I have said many times, both to myself and about others. And this phrase is one of the motivating factors that has helped push me to start this journey to lose weight.

We seem to live in a time when fat is becoming more widely accepted in our country. People are justifying their weight issues by bandying around the phrase "it's what is inside that counts". And that phrase is 100% right. But notice that no where does it say that it the ONLY thing that counts. Looks do matter. More importantly, health matters. And both are good motivators to do something about your fat.

They are the reasons I have started down this path and started this blog. I want to lose weight. I want to look better. I want to feel better. And I want to feel healthier. And this blog will allow you, the reader, to follow along the journey with me. This blog will chronicle my day-to-day effort to lose my waist, hence the title "Waist No More". Along with my daily journal entries on my personal progress, I will also post articles I write regarding the issue of being fat and losing weight. My goal is to do at least one article a week along with my daily personal progress reports.

Now I have mentioned myself a few times in this blog already. But who am I? Well, for the time being my actual identity shall remain anonymous. This is for my own benefit as I start this and work on being more comfortable with who I am. Who I am right now is a 33yo male. And these are my starting health stats:

Height: 6'
Weight: ~272.6lbs
Waist: ~52.5"
Systolic Blood Pressure(should be under 120): 124
Diastolic Blood Pressure(should be under 80): 99
Total Cholesterol(should be under 200): 138
HDL Cholesterol(should be over 40): 23

And for the looks portion, here are some beginning pics:




My goals are to get my weight, waist, blood pressure down and to get my HDL cholesterol up. What are my target goals? I want to get below 200lbs and get my waist down to 36" and get my health stats within their healthy ranges.

Now all of this is much easier said than done. I am well aware of the obstacles that stand in my way. Those include:

-I'm lazy. I admit it. I sit around all the time. I am a computer person and spend all my time on a computer. At work I am sitting at a computer. At school I am sitting at a computer. When I go home, I spend my time at my desktop playing games, or sitting on my couch with my laptop. The plus side to being so sedentary is that it won't take much to make a drastic improvement.

-I have no car. How does that affect my health? It has an impact on my diet. Getting to actual stores to get real groceries is more difficult. So I have been going across the street to Dollar Tree and Big Lots and getting my groceries there. And while convenient, I can only get canned or microwaveable goods there. Can't get fresh meat or fruits and vegetables. So a lot of the stuff I eat is high in preservatives. Speaking of food...

-I love to eat. I truly love the taste of food. So when I find something I enjoy, I tend to gorge on it.

-Papa John's BBQ pizza is delicious. This stuff is like crack to me. :)

-I'm busy. I work full time and go to school. So that makes it more difficult to eat healthy and find time to work out.

Being aware of the obstacles has helped me to make a game plan of how and what I am going to do:

-I got a ride to the store yesterday and bought food for the next two weeks. I planned out every snack and meal for the next two weeks and bought it.

- Drink more water. And I've cut out soda completely.

- I will walk on the treadmill every day I don't have school for 30 minutes.

- I'll use this blog to help motivate me past the laziness. My readers shall help keep my accountable.

I think this gets me off to a good start. I am also aware and accept that I might have days where I go off diet. Especially with this being the holiday season. If I do, I just pick up the next day and continue forward. No fretting about it and using it as an excuse to quit. And today was my first day on eating properly. I shall document that in a different post since I have gone on long enough in this one.

I welcome any comments and emails that you want to submit. I hope everyone gets something positive out of this blog. I know I fully expect to. I will warn up front that I plan to take a very blunt and forward approach with this. I don't think coddling offers the right encouragement in today's society when it comes to being fat. So I do expect some hate mail with my approach to the subject. But at the same time, I hope it is that extra push that others need.