One Decision at a Time: What The Fitness 400 Project Taught Me About Change

Years ago I started a blog called The Fitness 400 Project. The goal was simple. I never wanted to weigh more than 400 pounds again.

At the time I weighed about 460 pounds. Looking back, it's hard to believe how quickly things had gotten out of control. The funny thing is that I wasn't trying to lose 200 pounds. I wasn't thinking about becoming a hiker or transforming my life. I just knew I was headed in the wrong direction and wanted to turn things around before it got any worse.

The name itself tells you everything you need to know about where my head was at the time. I wasn't trying to become an athlete. I wasn't trying to get abs. I wasn't trying to impress anybody. I simply wanted to get under 400 pounds and stay there. That felt achievable. It felt possible. More importantly, it felt necessary.

Before I joined Nutrisystem, I had already lost about 40 pounds on my own. That was important because it proved to me that change was possible. But Nutrisystem gave me something I didn't have before. It gave me support. It gave me accountability. It gave me coaching. It also taught me things about nutrition, hunger, habits, and decision-making that I still carry with me today.

The Fitness 400 Project became my way of documenting that journey. If people were reading about my progress, I had another reason to stay engaged. I didn't want to keep explaining why I wasn't making progress. I wanted to make progress. Looking back, I realize the blog wasn't really about sharing my life with the world. It was about creating accountability for myself. I knew that if I kept writing, I would keep paying attention. And if I kept paying attention, I would keep making better decisions.

What happened next changed my life.

The weight started coming off. Not overnight, but steadily. Along the way, I learned something that frustrated me at first. When I made bad choices, the consequences didn't always show up immediately. When I made good choices, the rewards didn't always show up immediately either. Sometimes the scale would continue moving in the wrong direction even after I had started making better decisions. Over time I learned patience. I learned that today's choices don't always show up today. Eventually they do, but not always right away.

That lesson has stayed with me for years because it applies to much more than weight loss. Our lives are often the result of decisions we made weeks, months, or even years ago. The same is true of our health. We don't always see the impact of our choices immediately, but eventually those choices show up somewhere.

In my case, they showed up everywhere.

They showed up in my energy level. They showed up in the way I moved through the world. They showed up in the way my clothes fit. They showed up in my confidence. They showed up in my health.

Most importantly, they showed up in opportunities.

For years I had been focused on what I couldn't do. Then, little by little, I started noticing what I could do. Walking became easier. Everyday life became easier. I wasn't carrying as much weight, and my body was responding.

That's when hiking entered my life.

What started as a way to be more active became something much bigger. I found places like Middlesex Fells and Cat Rock in Massachusetts. I loved being in the woods. I loved the history. I loved the feeling of standing on an overlook and realizing that my body had carried me there.

Those experiences didn't happen because of one good decision. They happened because of hundreds of good decisions made over time. They happened because I trusted the process long enough to see the results.

Eventually I got all the way down to 255 pounds.

Around that time, The Fitness 400 Project evolved into MyFitLife2Day. The focus was no longer getting under 400 pounds. The focus was on maintaining a healthier life and continuing to grow.

For a while, things were going well.

Then life happened.

Looking back, I can see that some of the biggest changes in my weight were connected to major traumatic events in my life. I'm not a psychologist, and I'm not interested in pretending to be one. I can only speak from my own experience. In my case, major trauma influenced my choices, and those choices influenced my health.

Food became comfort.

Comfort influenced my choices.

Those choices became habits.

And over time, those habits became hundreds of extra pounds.

One of the biggest turning points came when my mother became ill and later passed away. During that period I slowly stopped doing some of the things that had brought me the most joy and peace. Hiking was one of them. I didn't stop all at once. I just stopped going. Then one day I realized it had been a long time since I had been on a trail.

The weight came back the same way it had left. Not overnight. One decision at a time.

Years passed.

Eventually I found myself back at 460 pounds.

That was a difficult realization because I had already done the work once. I had already learned the lessons. I had already proven that I could lose the weight. But knowing how to do something and consistently doing it are two different things.

The difference this time is that I understand myself better.

I understand the role accountability plays in my life.

I understand the role coaching plays in my life.

I understand that self-respect and health are connected.

And I understand that every decision matters, even when the results aren't immediately visible.

Today I'm moving in the right direction again. I've lost weight from my highest point. I've been diagnosed and treated for severe sleep apnea. I've learned that some of the health issues I was experiencing may have been connected in ways I didn't understand at the time. I've joined another coaching program because I still believe in accountability and support.

Recently I found myself thinking about The Fitness 400 Project and what it meant to me all those years ago.

At 460 pounds I was living the life of an 80-year-old. At 400 pounds I'm living the life of a 65-year-old. When I lose the weight, I'll be happy to just be 54.

That statement isn't really about age. It's about capability. It's about being able to move through the world the way I want to move through it. It's about hiking trails, exploring new places, fitting comfortably into seats, sleeping better, having more energy, and feeling at home in my own body.

How to eat a healthy lunch-on-the-go for less than 6 bucks

There are plethora of reasons that I love living in South Florida, not the least of which is the ubiquitous best grocery store in America, Publix, where shopping is literally a pleasure!

Today I stopped into the Publix in lake Worth Beach and was able to get a delicious lunch for less than $6. The trick to doing this is not ordering the pre-made sandwiches and salads, which are very good. But I do build your own type of lunch. 

First, I stop at the deli. I typically get a quarter pound of some boar's Head turkey or chicken breast. But sometimes I'll venture into the Publix brand if it's on sale. Today I got a quarter pound of ham, which brought me a nice amount of protein and low-fat at a cost of about $2.25.

Then I went over to the bakery. They had rolls in packs of eight. But you asked the person behind the counter to sell you one of them, and they are happy to repackage it as a single item for you. This was just $0.62!

I also got two bananas, and I zipped open a huge package of grapes and placed the amount I wanted in one of the available plastic bags. This was about two dollars for fruit.

Finally, I was able to get a special price on Fage plain, 2% Greek yogurt. 

I could have gone to a fast food restaurant and gotten a "deal" soda with some nuggets and a burger and fries for about the same amount. And right now I would feel disgusting. Not to mention, tomorrow my, forgive my frankness, bowel movement, would be greasy. 

Instead I feel satisfied and healthy, and tomorrow going to have a smooth and beautiful movement as a result.

Yay, Publix! My pursuit of a healthy weight is right on track!

This is what I ate in December to lose 30 pounds

I'm currently living in South Florida living in motels and sometimes sleeping in my car, so it makes shopping and planning meals a bit difficult. But I manage. And this is what I ate in December to lose nearly 30 pounds. All this food totals around 2,200 calories and is protein-centric, but I don't cut single food type or macro nutrient totally out of my diet. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I eat six meals per day over the course of 12 hours. While this isn't what I eat every day, it's a sample of what I typically at all last month:

1) I have a snack at 7 a.m. to break my fast. This is usually a banana and a yogurt.

2) Just before starting work I have a meal, usually a breakfast sandwich for convenience.

McDonald's breakfast sandwiches are a weakness that works for me

3) Then there's a snack at 11 a.m. This is almost a vegan protein shake. I'm not vegan, but my wellness coach friend Angela put me on to pea protein and while it's gross at first but I convince myself that they taste like health, and that works to trick my brain just fine.

4) My lunch meal at 1 p.m. is usually a hardy bean and vegetable soup with a packet of water-packed tuna or some ritz crackers and a can of sardines in oil

5) My afternoon snack is another protein shake and maybe a couple pistachios or carrots or fruit.

6) Unfortunately, my last meal of the day is almost always some kind of convenience food, capped at 400 calories. Maybe a McChicken sandwich with pickles and mustard instead of mayo or a ham and Swiss croissant at Starbucks. On the weekends when I have more time I'll go to Publix and get a quarter pound of Boar's Head turkey, fresh fruit, another carrot, and a small roll.

These seven simple habits helped me lose 30 pounds in 30 days

Moderation in everything, including moderation! That's my mantra these days. So with that in mind, I skipped the "dieting" and simply made these seven changes in December to lose nearly 30 pounds in 30 days in December.

1. Drinking my coffee black

Cream and sugar are banished! No explanation needed. It's just a smart idea, and we all know it.

2. Drinking more water

Based on my weight I should be drinking five liters of water daily. Well, that's not happening! But I'm up to drinking two 1.5 liter bottles and a cup here and there with meals. It helps flush toxins from my body. I feel the difference.

I like my water cold and my coffee black

3. Eating one plain Greek yogurt daily

It's got protein to help me maintain muscle while losing fat, probiotics for gut health, and a bit of satiating fiber, Plus, I feel better about this mid-morning snack when I skip the added sugar and hidden weird ingredients in yogurts processed with sugar-laden fruits (or "natural" fruit flavors and colors).

4. Fasting for 12 hours per night.

They call this intermittent fasting, and lots of people recommend eating all your food within an eight hour block during the day. Well, I guess that's a good idea. But I do for 12 hours at night because that's what I feel like doing. The key is not to be hard on yourself. So I take a good idea and tweak so I can have some success without suffering.

 5. Making sure I get at least 2,500 steps in

This is not a lot. "They" recommend getting 10,000 steps daily for general health. Well, I'm not there yet. And 2,500 is as good as it gets. For now I do what I can. Besides, it's a heck of a lot more than what I was doing before. Sadly, since the pandemic started and I began working and intermittently sleeping in my car, I had barely been getting 300 steps a day. Yikes, I know. But now I'm getting a mile in over the course of my day. Yay me.

6. Limiting myself to 2,200 calories per day

Lots of diets tell men to reduce their caloric intake to between 1,500 and 1,800 calories per day. Well, that's great for some people. Cutting myself down to 2,200 per day still gets me into a calorie deficit because of my size. And weight loss is as simple as that - burn more calories from your system than you put in. So there.

7. Eat six times per day.

Spreading out my calories  throughout the day keeps me satiated enough before "feedings". As I mentioned, I fast 12 hours, and I eat during the other 12 hours. Twelve divided by six is 2, so I eat every two hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

I guess I'll just have to inspire myself this time

Fifteen years ago I lost nearly 200 pounds in less than two years. It was hard, I'm not gonna lie. It took 100 percent focus and dedication. Every waking hour was filled for those two years with the realization that I alone held the key to changing my body and improving my health. I was convinced of it. I lived in the realization of it. I had a community of support, driven by my mother who bought me new clothes ever time I dropped a size, from 6XL all the way down to XL. 

Back then, I made a deal with my future self that I was going to be the man the child in me would have been had he not been forced to deal with decades of unchecked trauma. So I did it. I lost the weight. And I kept the weight of for about six years.

Then my mom died.

After that, my selfishness broke loose. I was like, FUCK YOU WORLD! I was hurting so badly on the inside that I just wanted my outside to match the ugly that I felt deep down in the core of my being. I was FUCKING PISSED! And I just ate and ate and ate and ate until I had reached the goal of destroying my body and my health so I didn't have to live so long in this world without the love that had just been ripped from my heart. 

So anyway, here I am nearly a decade later sitting in the morbidly obese shell of misery that I alone am responsible for creating. Fifteen years is a long time. I'm no longer a 30-something whipper snapper but rather a mid-50s fatty with a plethora of health issues that make every step I take 10 times harder than the steps I took the first time I hit this road a decade and a half ago.

The forecast is not all bleak, though. Fortunately, I left breadcrumbs to find my way back home to me. So this time around I have myself to inspire myself. I have a super successful journey into fitness and fabulosity to look back on. I know what works, and what doesn't. I know progress, its ups and downs and twists and turns. It's that experience that has made me the most resilient mofo I know!

I am 100 percent certain that I will be successful losing weight once again. I will do it slowly and surely, and like that turtle beating the hare, I will cross that finish line a winner.

I ain't getting any younger. It's now or never. It's go time!

By the way, I should mention that this time just like the last I am doing this without weight loss medications, without surgery, and without any money to pay trainers and coaches. Although I believe strongly that life is better when you have a coach, I cannot afford one right now so I will be my own. 

If resilience is in our nature, it is up to us to create the spark of change

Why is it so hard to start a new habit? All the intellectualizing in the world, the preparing of your physical environment, and everything else we do to set us up for success when we take on new objectives add up to a bunch of nothing until we are ready to take action. We must be more than fed up with the results of our current actions. What is it that ultimately motivates us to act? How can the intellectual recognition of our future self convert itself into action, especially when we draw so much satisfaction from inertia and status quo? 

We are all resilient, but but change remains a challenge

I have been trying to figure this out my entire life, and even though I've experienced enormous success from changing my mindset, I find myself in times of discouragement unable to act on my own best intentions. Do you ever feel this way? It's a real challenge to the human's nature which I believe is intrinsically fueled by a resilient spirit.

Tapping into that resilient spirit is the key. For some they achieve the change they desire through small incremental changes over time. And of course, this is necessary for all of us regardless of our own unique process. For me, though, it takes big changes in my environment to spark the change I see inside. 

We are all different. But never forget your natural inclination is resilience. So continue to seek your motivators while always remembering that you have the ability and all the wisdom you will ever need to guide your own life in the direction you will it to go.

Get a sleep study and treat your sleep apnea today!

If you think you may have sleep apnea, drop everything you are doing right now and schedule a sleep study for yourself. You will be glad you did. Your future self will thank you for giving them a much healthier existence and for increasing the probability that you will live a longer, happier life.

This is not an overstatement. In fact, I feel it would be appropriate to be even more hyperbolic about the benefits of treating your sleep apnea. Let me share my recent story to highlight the many immediate benefits you may experience when you take this important, proactive approach to managing your health.

Treating my complex sleep apnea with that ResMed AirCurve 11 ASV

I had been told for decades by anyone I shared a bed with that my snoring was out of control. One person even said they saw me stop breathing multiple times throughout the night. Even with several people sounding the alarm, my philosophy was always, “That which does not kill me makes me stronger”. In this instance, though, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Fast forward to 2016, when I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. My cardiologist said a sleep study was urgent, as my condition may be the result of or at least exacerbated due to chronic sleep apnea. I knew he was right, but I didn’t have insurance that would cover the entire procedure at the time, and the co-pay was beyond my current means.

Hindsight is 20/20

Looking back, I should have financed the sleep study, because instead I waited another 10 years before addressing my problem, and during that time my a-fib worsened, and my weight began to balloon.

Feeling guilty for my weight gain, I knew my mobility was lessened because of the a-fib but for some reason I blamed my lack of exercise on laziness. Then I began to shame eat any time I thought about the predicament I found myself in. My weight soon reached an all-time high.

By January of this year, my weight gain added insult to injury, and I was barely able to walk to do my everyday chores. In fact, I was unable to shower in my own bathroom because it was not built for someone my size. So, I began to wash myself the best I could without stepping in the shower. This made me feel even worse, because I never felt as clean as I would from standing in a shower.

The shame compounded when every week my ability to walk worsened. Plus, I was unable to work a regular job, so I began driving for Lyft to pay my bills. But existing in a constant state of sleep deprivation because of the unchecked apnea made working more than a few hours per day impossible.

Paying for the study

The loss in income turned out to be a blessing, as I was forced to apply for public assistance and found out that I qualified for Medicaid. My new health plan meant I would be able to methodically address my mounting health issues without breaking the bank. There was no longer any reason to avoid taking a more active approach to my health.

I scheduled a new patient appointment with a primary doctor in April, and he put me on medication for my a-fib that made an immediate positive impact on the way I felt. All year long, my arms and legs had felt they were coated in a blanket of lead. With the addition of this medication, I felt that blank lift overnight.

My doctor said my reaction to the medication was not physiological but rather I was experiencing a placebo effect, that the medication would not have that powerful of an effect on me. “What does he know,” I thought. Everything he knows about the med he learned from a book. I know through experience that the medication increased my energy level by at least 20 percent. I felt like a new man.

Of course, my mobility was still impeded by my weight, which at the time of my doctor’s visit was 455 pounds, but with my newfound confidence in the healthcare system, I booked my appointment for a sleep study and began to eat a more balanced diet, immediately cutting out fast food and candy.

A month later, I had lost about 30 pounds through my efforts. My sleep study revealed I had an extreme case of complex apnea, where I would stop breathing nearly 80 times per hour without support. So they fitted me with an assisted breathing machine, and on that very first time using my ResMed AirCloud 11 ASV I experienced an immediate change in my daytime energy levels.

The brain fog lifted

I also noticed the brain cloud I’d become accustomed to for years had lifted. Achieving REM sleep for the first time in probably many years, my brain was now processing my complicated throughout the night leaving me feeling refreshed and with increased mental clarity and acuity. From one day to the next I was able to work as many as 12 hours at a time.

That’s right, I went from having enough energy to work three hours at a time to 12 hours literally overnight! That is the incredible power of sleep therapy in a nutshell.

I still have a few issues to deal with. I have some arthritis in my hip and knees, which also contributes to limited and painful mobility. And I’m in the process of testing cardiovascular health to see if I am healthy enough for surgery to deal with my a-fib. Once these things are under control, I imagine I will feel even better than I already do.

Don't be afraid to change

Through lifestyle changes and watching what I eat, I have now lost a total of 45 pounds in less than two and a half months. Next for me is increasing my daytime activity, getting my steps up. Currently I average only 1,500 steps on my good days. My goal is to slowly work up to 5,000 steps. Then, I will work on getting back up to the recommended 10,000 steps per day.

I hope by sharing my story you might be encouraged to treat your own sleep apnea or perhaps encourage a family member or friend to get themselves the treatment they need and deserve. If so, please subscribe to my blog, follow me – “Brianopolis” on social media and YouTube – and leave a comment with your experience below.

QUICK CHECK IN - Fit Foods, Gym Body, and Weight Loss Goals

Here's a quick update on my progress. I'm still doing well on my caloric intake, keeping at around 2,200 calories per day and focusing on macros. I try to stick to a plan of getting 30% of my daily calories fat, 30% from protein, and 40% from carbs. I tend to eat more carbs in the morning, for energy, more fat in the mid-day, to keep me satiated, and more protein toward the end of the day, to help my muscles recover from activity and keep my metabolism going through the night.

FOOD NEWS

I prepare all of my meals at home and avoid eating out as much as possible - one meal a week is okay, but no more than that. Due to my being a novice home cook, I am finding that keeping my protein intake up while keeping my carb intake down is a struggle. Still, I am pretty much able to do it fairly consistently. 

Turmeric and garlic seasoned egg with avocado on whole grain rye

GYM BODY

I went to the gym today - joined Crunch in York - and met with a personal trainer for an orientation session. He gave me a body scan. I weighed in at 395 (Yay! I was 420 less than a month ago, so I'm doing something right.) Fortunately my muscle mass from working out and rigorous hiking in my younger days is still under all my blubber. Overall, my body composition is about 37 percent fat, which is better than expected given my weight. Apparently 247 pounds is non-fat and less than 150 pounds is fat. My BMI is about 52.

Given my current condition, I set an initial goal with the help of Crunch fitness trainer, Andrew, to get down to 50 pounds by April 20. Fittingly, since it will be 4/20, I will celebrate with a big spliff when I make it to my weight goal by that date! (I am pretty much straight edge these days, using no alcohol, marijuana, or an stimulants other than coffee, so this will be a nice celebratory treat!)

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS

Realistically, I think I'll be able to lose 60 by my April goal date, but 50 is definitely well within reach. It is going to feel amazing to be down to 345 again. I'll be able to fit into all my nice sports coats in time for Easter, and I will be feeling like a million bucks for sure! (I already feel like half a million now, just having started to see these early results from my decision to get fit.) The ultimate goal of course is to feel like a billion dollars when I get to 295 by Thanksgiving.

I would probably be able to reach 295 sooner, but in April I hope to be in the position to more aggressively increase my muscle mass as I continue to lose fat, so my actual loss of pounds will likely slow. I don't want to do things too fast, and I want to re-asses everything at 295. Eventually I would like to be under 250 - this would be healthier in the long run and also would allow me to not be held back by things like weight restrictions at water parks and such, and it would certainly give me the widest range of fashion possibilities, as I'd be at 1XL at that size. (I am currently 4X).

But, we shall see. When I lost nearly 200 pounds 10 years ago, I really did not feel like myself once I reached 255. I felt skinny, if you can believe it, and I really felt like a different person - and not in a good way. When I got back up to about 280 or 290, I felt a bit bad about gaining some weight back, but honestly I felt more like myself. So this time I will pause there to get used to things before continuing on with weight loss, if I so choose.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG MY JOURNEY!

YouTube: Brianopolis

5 Meal Prep Tools You Cannot Live Without

Prepping your meals in advance and taking them with you on-the-go makes for easy weight loss compared to eating out. Here is a list of five meal-prep tools you cannot live without.

1. A food flask is a leak proof vacuum insulated portable food bowl that can be used for storage for meals on the go. Soups and foods heated up at home in the morning will stay warm until you are ready to eat them when you use a double-walled thermo canteen.

This food flask is perfect for prepping hot foods to go!

2. Small meal prep bowls are a great way to control your portions sizes. Often times reusable or disposable BPA free plastic meal prep containers are too big and one of two things happens, you either overfill it or you fill it with an appropriate portion size but the size looks too small in the container making you feel like you are missing out. Small containers at the ready help you stay on track.

These multi-compartment bento box containers help portion control.

3. Three compartment portion control bento box containers remind you not to load up on just one thing. With single compartment containers it is easy to take too much pasta or other main dish without taking the two servings of veggies you know you need to stay on track with weight loss. These bento box containers ensure you have a place to put all of the food varieties you need to maintain your weight loss plan. 

4. Sometimes all you need is a zip to lock plastic bag, but these can be a costly solution over time. These extra thick and leak proof BPA-free reusable freezer-safe lunch bags for food are a great solution. 

Reusable freezer safe BPA free lunch bags are great on the go.

5. This is a no-brainer, yet people do not drink enough water in general, let alone when on a weight loss program. Your body needs water to digest foods properly and the quickest way to derail weight loss is to dehydrate the body. That is why a reusable portable water bottle with filter is a necessity. Seriously, do not leave home without it! Ensure you always have fresh healthy water anywhere at any time.

Who says hydration can't be easy AND fun?

So as you can see, prepping your meals in advance and taking them with you on-to-go for easy weight loss does not have to be a difficult chore. You just need the right tools! So shop the links here and discover for yourself why these are five meal-prep tools you cannot live without.

I spent $402 on a box of Optavia

I spent $402 on a box of Optavia that will last for 30 days, and I’m beginning to have buyer’s remorse. I’m sure when I follow the plan for 30 days I will indeed lose weight - maybe even a pound a day. But the cost seems to be more expensive than I’d first perceived, especially considering this price buys just one third of my daily calories. The rest I have to add in myself.

Here’s the breakdown. For $402, I am receiving 22 boxes with seven "fuelings" in each box, for a total of 154 fuelings. Each fueling has about 110 calories and is to be consumed at a rate of five per day spaced out between two and three hours apart. I'll still have to grocery shop to prepare an additional 1,300 calories of "lean and green" meals and snacks.

Optavia works for tons of people, but cost is a huge factor.

This initial package apparently includes five free boxes, or 35 additional fuelings. To continue the program into a second 30 days, I would have to buy the total of 22 boxes monthly. Since each box costs about $21, my next order would cost approximately $60 more. And then, of course, there’s the cost of shipping, which brings the cost for a 30-day supply of fuelings to around $500.

Given the convenience factor, I get that the food might be a bit more expensive. But I can save hundreds of dollars and still be successful in my weight loss by sourcing on-the-go bars and shakes elsewhere and prepping all meals and snacks on my own.

Regardless of my methods, it’s all up to me to make the right choices in my life. Knowing this going in, I’m going to make the most of this Optavia trial to kick start and hone my portion control and meal prep skills. It’s an expensive kick in the pants. But it's just the kick in the pants I need right now.

Stalled weight loss progress can be so frustrating

The most frustrating part of trying to lose weight is questioning every little thing you do (and don't do), especially when you hit plateaus that never seem to end. That's where I am right now. Totally frustrated. I have tried every tip in the book, from cutting out all added sugars and the obvious reducing calories to increasing calories, having a cheat day, and exercising regularly. I'm still at 396 pounds, stuck after losing 30 pounds directly following a big lifestyle change - cutting out fast food entirely from my diet.

Today I go to the doctor, and within a week or so I'll have some stats come back from bloodwork. We'll see if there's some hidden info there. My endocrinologist wants to order some tests, too, so I'll give that a go. But I have a feeling I'm missing something. And I think what I'm missing is I'm not getting 10,000 steps a day. I'm stalling out at around 6,500. I have a gut feeling that getting my steps up to the 10,000-step recommended daily allowance will get my weight loss started again.

So that is my goal today. To get stepping. It's hard to do, especially on my day off when I try to Uber as much as I can and just chill out for the rest of the time watching random crap on Amazon Prime or YouTube. But I'm going to do it today, for sure. That's my goal and I'm sticking to it. What will tomorrow bring? I don't know. I'm doing this one step at a time.

5 Star Nutrition Body Composition Analysis - July 13, 2018

On the recommendation of a couple of online fitness vloggers, I checked out my local 5 Star Nutrition here at Stonefield Commons in Charlottesville. Justin was extremely helpful. The first thing he did was check my body composition with complete muscle-fat analysis, obesity analysis, and segmental lean analysis. Then he helped me pick out some supplements and a meal replacement to help me achieve my weight loss and muscle building goals.

Here are my stats as of today, July 13, 2018:

Basic Body Composition with Muscle-Fat and Obesity Analysis

Weight: 396 lbs

Percent Body Fat (PBF)" 48.2%

Total Body Water: 151.2 lbs

Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM): 117.3 lbs

Dry Lean Mass: 54.2 lbs

Body Fat Mass: 191.2 lbs

Lean Body Mass 205.5

Body Mass Index (BMI) 52.3

Percent Body Fat: 48.2%

As for calorie intake, the analysis recommends that I eat 3100 calories per day in order to lose weight. My Basal Metabolic Rate (the rate at which my body burns calories while at rest) is 2383 calories. My Base calorie intake would then be 3600 calories per day. The recommendation is to have a 500-calorie deficit per day, which is how the recommended calorie intake was figured.

This being said, I'm not comfortable eating so many calories per day, as I worry it will delay weight loss. So I am going to aim for about 2500 calories per day with a 300-calorie increase on days I do a complete workout at the gym.

In order to achieve this goal, I'm also going to increase the amount of green vegetables, eat a healthy balance of complex carbohydrates, especially prior to a workout, and focus on eating more lean proteins while limiting my intake of high fat proteins.

Overall, I had a great first visit at 5 Star Nutrition at Stonefield Commons in Charlottesville. I'll post more about my progress as I get into my new routines. I will be doing a follow up analysis at 5 Star Nutrition in two weeks. Check back in with me then! 

Grief may not be a choice, but bouncing back from it is!

Last year, I posted something about wanting to lose weight so I could "be healthy and capable for my parents as they grow older". The week after I wrote those words, my mother's four-year-long battle with cancer would take its terminal turn; She was diagnosed with a brain lesion, and a single radiation treatment would speed up her demise to take her from us much too suddenly; in less than two months she was gone.

Rock-hopping Strickler Knob (Even at 350 pounds, I'm still hiking!)

Her sickness led to a deep sadness I was unable to shake. In my grief, I stopped doing anything that gave me pleasure. I stopped hiking altogether, and hiking at that point was the only remaining vestige of my fitlife days, the days of clean eating, medball workouts and 6-day-a-week gym visits that led to my 165-pound weight loss only a few years prior.

My mother's death did threw me for a loop. My mantra of decisions controlling my destiny, not my conditions, went out the window. My choices were once again not only influenced but dictated by my emotions. I had completely reverted to the hopelessness I'd lived in for nearly a decade in the wake of my experience during 9/11.

I'm back to hiking - having gone on my first hike a few days after my mother passed away. It's been seven months and I've done more than 30 hikes, averaging around three per month. This summer I plan to up the days hiking, and I also plan on bringing back my medball and planking routine. The gym is not a priority now, although it's only because I haven't found a gym that suits me in the small town to which I've recently relocated.

For those of you who still subscribe to my blog even though I'm not the living inspiration I may have been to you when you first found me, during my "amazing transformation", I thank you. This is, after all, a journey. I've said that from the beginning, and so I'll say it again. Every day I wake up the decisions I make point me toward my future. And I continue to hold myself accountable.

My weight gain, which had been out of control throughout this winter, has been stabilized. Now is the time to begin to move in more intentional ways that will once again excite my metabolism and fuel my body in ways that promote that movement. I know muscle memory will kick in once I get started, but that's where I am now - setting a goal, making a decision, and acting on it.

I'll keep you posted...more to come.

Unlike trails I hike, my fit life journey's map is but outlined in my dreams

Yesterday, as I was transferring files from one computer to another, I spent about seven hours going through old photos and videos recounting my fit life journey. I hadn't looked at many of these in a few years, and I was a bit shocked at what I looked like when I was at my low weight of 255 pounds.

Before my fit life journey began at 420+ pounds, August 2009

After 18 months and 165-pound weight loss, at 255 pounds

I looked like a different person! The round face and body curves were all but gone. And even more, when I watched myself talk in vlogs (that were never posted) I remembered instantly what I was thinking and feeling (and not saying) in them. I was saying these happy things with my mouth, but as I would catch a glimpse of myself on the screen while recording a sort of sad wash would come over my demeanor, if only for a moment, as I realized I really wasn't connecting with the image my thinner self was projecting.

After nearly 165 pounds of weight loss, with mom and dad, August 2011

Healthy. Hopeful. But lost.

When I gained back 65 of the 165 pounds I'd fought so hard to lose, I once again recognized myself. And while I found comfort in this familiarity, the joy I'd felt when I was becoming that healthy and hopeful self faded as my round face and curvy body returned.

Over the past two years since the re-gain, I've struggled to get started with a new round of weight loss. I want to get down to 255 pounds again - and in fact I want to achieve my original goal of getting down to 225 pounds to completely overcome obesity once and for all - and I know how to do it. Getting started I can do. But sticking to a new regime for more than a month is proving incredibly difficult.

Tomorrow is my 44th birthday, and birthdays for me are always a good time to become motivated to make change. So here it is again. I'm setting a goal for myself to lose 65 pounds over the course of the next year. When I turn 45 I will celebrate my accomplishment. And when I am 50 I will celebrate five years of having kept the weight off.

To get started, I need to put a framework to my goals, reasons why accomplishing this weight loss is important to me. So here goes, these are the 10 things I want to result from losing weight and regaining the fitness I'd fought so hard to achieve a few years ago:

1. I want to extend my probable years of mobility and stave off preventable disease by being kinder to my body.
2. I want to wear clothes again - regular sized clothes, like XL, not 2XL or 3XL - without feeling like I'm pushing their limits.
3. I want to go to the waterpark and not be turned away from the best waterslides because of my weight.
4. I want to feel light on my feet and reduce the strain on my ankles, knees and hips.
5. I want to be able to hike the highest mountains without having to slow down just to catch my breath.
6. I want to ride my bike for miles and miles.
7. I want to kayak without fear.
8. I want to speed through the forest canopy on zip-lines with my friends.
9. I want to be healthy and capable for my parents as they grow older
10. I want to live a life that is not obsessed with filling my body but instead one that is happy because I'm fueling it.

Unlike the trails I hike, my fit life journey's map is but outlined in my dreams

Self image is a powerful contributor to motivation for anyone, and for me especially I think. Honestly, I don't like the way I look when I get under about 280 pounds. But I need to do it for reasons that transcend self image. Just as before, I will be blogging about my journey. I do this not only as a journal to myself so that I can keep track of my progress but also because I find I am energized spurred on toward my goals by the collective support weight loss and fit life community. This is crucial. As such, I want to thank any of you in advance for reading and encouraging me along the way. THANK YOU!!! 

NOTE: Hey #fitfam! Please follow me on Instagram @fitlifechronicles and Twitter @myfitlife2day. 

Tracking my way to success: This is why I use MyFitnessPal

Weight loss and healthy weight management can feel like such a chore if you're one of those, like me, who seeks out food whenever the going gets tough. My mantra throughout my 165-pound weight loss a few years ago was simple: Food is food, not your friend! So that's why I'm glad there's a tool like MyFitnessPal - it is THE quintessential food-is-fuel tool!

For me, MyFitnessPal is perfect, because I have four things I like to track as I'm working toward achieving weight loss success, and MyFitnessPal helps me track them all - for free!

First and foremost, I track my water intake. Hydration is the keystone to staying on track. I drink the typical eight glasses of water a day, but I drink five extra - one glass for every twenty pounds I need to lose. My goal is to lose 100 pounds in 2014, so I log 13 glasses of water every day.

Tracking portion size and calories can be a chore - not with MyFitnessPal!

Second, I track my portion size and calories. Portion size is tricky, but tracking healthy portions on MyFitnessPal is a snap. All the foods I eat are easily searchable, so I can log my food intake immediately and not have to worry about forgetting to do it later. I use the website as well as the app on my smartphone, and they sync my info so I don't have to!

Third, I track my exercise. My goal is 60 minutes of cardio per day and four days of strength training. Sometimes I conveniently forget whether yesterday was a workout day or not, but with MyFitnessPal I have a constant reminder and proof of what I did.

Tracking my exercise helps me make sure I give myself credit for hard work!

Finally, I track my measurements. Sure, I weigh myself and log that. But sometimes pounds don't come off as quickly as I'd like, but maybe I have a success in waist size. That's a win, too, and I want to be aware of how far I've come as I make my way toward my fitness goals.

If you're on a weight loss and fitness journey as I am, please feel free to friend me on MyFitnessPal so we co-motivate each other. I'm Fitness400. On Instagram I'm fitlifechronicles. And on Twitter I'm myfitlife2day.

"Those who forget their history...": Looking back on my fitness journey

Snowed in like much of the Northeast today, I'm sitting here at my HP TouchSmart 9100 watching Project Runway on Hulu and looking through a file of pictures called "going down", progress pics I took of my dramatic weight loss a couple of years ago. If you read yesterday's post, you know I've gained back 70 pounds of the 165 pounds I had lost. As of the New Year, I have become once again focused on fitness and healthy living.

Today, as I go through these pics seeking some inspiration, I am amazed at how different I look at my various plateau weights, from 420 to 255 and everywhere in between. And honestly, I am taken aback at myself that I actually prefer the way I look at the heavier weights, between 270 and 290.

Looking back at my low weight of 255, I feel I looked good, more healthy in fact. But my face seems unfamiliar to me now, and I remember it did at the time the pics were taken, too. This means I have a preference for my heavier image, which could be why psychologically it is easy for me to put on weight. Fortunately, since I know the true root of this preference, I believe I will be able to remain conscious of it throughout my weight loss this time around. This is not about image, after all, its about health and fitness.

So, without further ado, here are a few of the plateau progress pics as well as a current pic. A brief description of the moment of time each pic was taken is included. Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think of the images as well as the concept of weight preference as it relates to self image and prescriptive weight loss.

Reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", Hollywood, FL, September 2009

420 lbs.: The above pic shows me as I was reaching my max weight. Can you tell I wore a 6XL shirt? People always told me I "carried the weight well", but shirt size doesn't lie. The fall of 2009 was difficult for me. I lost my job in Philadelphia and moved back to South Florida, about a hundred pounds heavier than when I'd left. While looking for work, I was working from home as a translator. I remember trying to go for walks, and I would barely get to the end of my block before feeling I needed to sit down. I was unable to find work in my field, so in a bold move in January of 2010 I convinced a local pub manager to hire me as a waiter. I'd been a waiter before, and I convinced him I'd be able to handle the work despite the apparent limitations of my size. This forced me to get up every day and walk. I did this all while starting a new healthier diet, which proved to me I had will-power, as I was able to turn away their discounted food even though it was all my favorite fare: meatloaf, bangers and mash, burgers and fries, etc.

Walking the dogs, the exercise that got me started, March 2010

345 lbs.: This me walking the dogs three months into my weight loss journey. Walking my dogs was part of my healthy lifestyle, and I'd lost more than 60 pounds. I was down three shirt sizes, to a 3XL. Until this point, my exercise regime consisted mainly of taking my dogs for walks. I was up to about 10 miles per week, done in two-mile increments five times a week at my local dog park. This is also just around the time I started working out at Island City Fitness in Fort Lauderdale.

Feeling fly in my first non-big-and-tall outfit in many years, May 2010

325 lbs.: Pictured above is me, down 95 pounds from my starting weight and 100 pounds from my goal weight. (This is also the weight I am at currently - see The Truth about 2013). I remember when I reached it going down. I felt amazing. I had just begun shopping at regular stores that carried 2XL. And I had garnered the confidence to go out and interview for better jobs - that's when I was hired as a teacher and coordinator at Miami Dade College. In addition to the walking, I had started biking from my house to the beach and back several times a week and was starting to go to the gym regularly. This is the look of momentum.

Time to hit the gym! Fort Lauderdale, FL, June 2010

310 lbs.: I dropped a lot of weight at the beginning of summer - probably because I upped my exercise just at the height of the South Florida heat. By the time the above pic was taken, in addition to the biking and the walking, I was rollerblading on Sundays and lifting weights at the gym six days per week. I had met a guy at the gym who was impressed by my progress and we started working out together four days per week. Until then I was mostly doing medicine ball exercises various machines in the gym, timid to hit the free weights. He gave me a routine that I pretty much used for the rest of the summer. I was doing four days of resistance training plus core work, and two days that focused on core alone.

Experimenting with fashion, Hollywood, FL, July 2010

300 lbs.: By this time the above pic was taken, I was on auto-pilot. My entire life was enveloped in fitness. I was active six days a week at this point, doing at least two fitness activities daily and three on Sundays. I forced myself to take a day off, and I was good about rotating my exercises to allow muscle groups to rest. I was starting to squeeze into XL clothing and didn't mind if my clothes fit tight. I felt unstoppable.

On the beach one year into my weight loss journey, Hollywood, FL, 2010

270 lbs.: The pic above was my first "after" pic - I had begun my weight loss journey in January of 2010, and this is me at the end of the same year, after losing 150 pounds. To say the least, the results were dramatic. Even the shot above at just 30 pounds heavier shows a marked difference in my face. I was happy with my results, but I remember at this time worrying about looking like someone who "used to be super obese". I couldn't stop talking about my weight loss to everyone I met, so that probably fed into my fears that you could just look at me and tell. 

Showing strength at Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach, FL, May 2011

255 lbs.: By May of 2011 I had reached the pinnacle of my weight loss. I celebrated with a trip to the water park, here I confidently shucked my shirt and wandered around the park with just my flip flops. I had so much fun doing anything that required strength - at that time I looked for an opportunity to work out wherever I went. I went on several water slides, but I became frustrated when I had to opt out of some of the more exciting rides because the weight cut off was 250 pounds. At just five pounds over the limit I probably would have been okay, but I feared some catastrophe would happen if I were to attempt it, so I abstained from some of the fun. 

Eating out at a Greek restaurant, on a date, Miami, FL, June 2011

260 lbs.: I can't put my finger on the exact moment I made the decision, but after a year and a half of strict adherence to diet, I decided it was time to let go of the reigns a bit. I told myself that a little weight gain was okay - probably because I thought I was starting to look funny, like I had Al Roker face or something. But I remained committed to maintaining my weight loss and kept my weight gain below 275 for more than a year.

Over the course of the next two years a lot changed in my life. I moved from Miami to Boston to Albuquerque to Palm Springs all in search of amazing trails. I was hiking 20+ miles per week, but this was my only exercise during these times of transition. Eventually, the trail led me home to Pennsylvania, and to Philadelphia, where I currently live. I have struggle to find a gym that inspires me like Island City did, and while I am still hiking it's been reduced to about five miles per week. And until two days ago, I had been eating like a pig, which has led me to re-gain 70 pounds that I had worked so hard to take of just two and three years ago.

This guy's committed to fitness in 2014! Catoctin Mountains, MD, Dec. 2013

 To read more about my three-year (to date) fitness journey and what's going on now in my weight loss progress, check out yesterday's post - The Truth about 2013 - and follow me Google+ and Twitter (MyFitLife2Day) and Instagram (FitLifeChronicles).

The truth about 2013 - I've let life lead to weight gain

I began 2013 struggling to maintain the 165-pound weight lost I’d achieved following New Year’s resolution I’d made back in 2010. For the two years prior to 2010, when I weighed in at more than 420 pounds, I had been struggling lose weight. In 2010 it finally clicked. I did it by working out at the gym six days a week and following a calorie-restricted daily diet of between 1,800 and 2,200 calories. On the day I reached 270 pounds – or 150 pounds lost – I met the person who I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. Happy in this new relationship, I lost another 15 pounds before reaching my low weight of 255 pounds.
 

Hiking Neversink Mountain at 300+ pounds, December 2013

But then the changes started. My partner and I moved to Boston, where I fell in love with hiking. Then within six months we moved to Albuquerque, NM. With the hiking, my caloric needs changed, and I began letting some post-hike junk foods seep into my otherwise still healthy diet. Ice cream was where it started. It began as a once-in-a-while treat, but it soon became more frequent. I began noticing that I was sometimes eating emotionally as I had done so many times before. It was sabotaging my stellar weight loss, but just a bit, I rationalized. I believed whole heartedly that I had everything under control.

Eventually, my partner and I broke up – apparently I hadn’t found the love of my life, but only a reasonable and temporary facsimile. I moved in with a stoner roommate, and I began smoking pot. Often. Being stoned led to the munchies, of course, but I kept up a rigorous hiking schedule that had me logging 20-plus miles a week hoofing as many trails as I could access in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness. So this kept the weight gain to a minimum, and I made it a point not to go over 275 pounds.

That was until this year. 2013 was the year of permission – I gave myself permission to grieve the loss of love and finally deal with the cold hard facts of middle age. I continued to hike regularly, but when I moved to Philadelphia in April, the distances I’d hike were not as great, and the frequency was reduced to once a week. That means just five miles a week of walking – and I didn’t step into a gym at all.

My food choices were challenged by the fact that my new living situation did not allow me to cook at home or to store frozen vegetables and such in the fridge. I began eating out for nearly every meal. And I once again began to pack on the pounds. It was inevitable. The whole crux of my weight loss was preparing my meals, knowing what was in them, and treating my food as fuel, and not my friend. 

By the end of October, I weighed 295. After that, I began to slip into a slight depression about it, so I stopped measuring my weight on a regular basis. I knew I was chunking up – clothes weren’t fitting that well and one or two people brave enough to say something mentioned they noticed I wasn’t my old self physically. The ankle I'd twisted in September began to make it difficult for me to do my daily two-mile round trip walk to work. I became bound by my conditions, and I continued to make unhealthy decisions about food, and I gave myself even greater permission to splurge over the holidays.

Now it’s 2014, and I began the New Year with a hike in the nearby Blue Mountains. It was a fairly strenuous hike and I could feel the pounds weighing me down. In fact, at one point after I had hiked and scrambled my way a quarter mile down a geological feature called Devil’s Pulpit, I sat down on the precipice and got the feeling that I was going to fall. I just felt so damn heavy. Perhaps it was psychological, and it felt a bit like a mild anxiety or panic attack, but it passed as I made my way back up to the summit and finished the hike in style.

However, this morning I woke up with new resolve about my situation. I know that if I don’t curb my poor choices now I could end up gaining all of the weight I’d worked so hard to lose – and then some! So I made a few resolutions to change the things I can change – like stop smoking pot. But for things I can’t change – like my current living situation that bars me from healthy cooking at home – I have decided that I still can control where, what and how much I eat, so I am currently working out a plan for calorie control once again. Also, while I don’t feel joining a gym is the right choice for me at the moment, I have dug out my dusty medicine balls and dumbbells and starting today am committing myself to working out at least 20 minutes a day, four times per week.

Oh, and one last thing. I weighed myself this morning. I was scared because being over 300 pounds again seemed inevitable. I figured I would be at 305 or even 310. But when I stepped on the scale I was horrified when it read 325 pounds! Really?!?!?! It took me two years to gain 40 pounds, and in just two months I’d gained 30 more. I am shocked. The last time I weighed 325 pounds I was on my way down, having achieved a 95 pound weight loss, heading for 100. Well, let me tell you, this stops now! Depression be damned! This is all in my mind and I need to get it straight! My decisions have shaped my current destiny, and new decisions will create my future. So that’s what I’m going to do – begin again making healthy food and exercise choices so that by summer I can feel good about my fitness level once again.

My goal: Lose 40 pounds by the end of April.

My weight loss (and fitness) motivation (revisited)

I want to hike the highest mountains. I want my body not to lumber along, but to move through the world with grace. I want to ride my bike great distances without tiring. I want to swim oceans and rivers and not be taken by the currents. I want to climb great rocks. I want to camp on mountaintops.

I want my body to create energy, not only consume it. I want to be fit enough that I may help others in case of emergency. I want to be able to run if I must run. I want to be able to carry those who cannot run to safety on my shoulders. I want my body to be strong well into old age.

I want my feet, my knees, my back and my joints to be happy. I want my cells to be friendly, not fight me. I want not to be a slave to pills and medical procedures. I want health to radiate from within. And most of all, I want my parents to know I value the life I've been given.

Follow on Twitter @MyFitLife2Day and on Instagram @fitlifechronicles

Thanks for reading MyFitLife2Day. For more about what I am doing NOW to overcome obesity once and for all, check out this post. The orginal post - My weight loss motivation - was written in January 2010 when my weight topped 400 pounds. 

Follow me on Twitter @MyFitLife2Day and on Instagram @fitlifechronicles.

Answering "Why I choose weight loss" and "Why I choose Nutrisystem"

I started Nutrisystem for the first time in early January 2010. At that time, one of the counselors I spoke to recommended I write a brief statement about why I was losing weight so that as I achieved incremental goals I would be able to look back on my statement and be edified. Today, after two years of being in a more-or-less maintenance mode (give or take 40 pounds - ugh!), I thought I'd look back on that statement and see what encouragement it could give me. Here is what I wrote:

I want to be able to ride rollercoasters again, feel more comfortable in airplane seats, be able to sit in those tiny chairs on the patios of cafes, not cause the tires in my tiny compact car to wear unevenly, start my 40s in a year and a half with the same healthful optimism with which I started my 20s, let my parents grow older without having to worry about my health, be able to shop for clothes at the mall again, rollerblade without pain again, and dance the night away again without having to sit the next one out! 

Breaking apart the statement goal by goal today, I see that I pretty much achieved every one of them. So why am I re-starting Nutrisystem again now? Well, it's complicated. To make it more comprehensible (to me and to anyone who might be reading this blog for inspiration or sheer curiosity), I should break this question down into its component parts. Why am I choosing to "diet" again? And why have I chosen to go back on Nutrisystem when it's obvious that I am able to lose weight on my own?

First, I'll address reasons why I'm "dieting". Well, to be more precise, I'm not "dieting" but rather "modifying my diet" (but that's for another conversation). And the reason for this is clear. I am currently at a weight that is unhealthy. It's not unhealthy because I say so or because society says so (or even because I am currently experiencing any health problems, as was most definitely the case when I was 420 pounds). But according to the medical community, I have a disease - obesity - and this disease is a precursor to a slew of other chronic and acute disease that I personally would like to avoid.

No one believes me when I tell them, but I am pushing 300 pounds. At 296 pounds, I may "carry it well", but I would rather not have to carry it at all. This weight is hard on my body and limits me in many ways, not the least of which it makes it more difficult for me to pursue my hiking passion, keeping me from doing longer and more strenuous hikes. It also hurts my joints and keeps me from recovering as quickly from injury. I recently twisted my ankle while traversing a rock-strewn trail at the top of Mount Tammany in Northern New Jersey. I was lucky to make it back down. If I had experienced a greater injury, it would've take five or six big guys to carry me down.

For more on why I want to lose weight, check out the related blog post: My weight loss (and fitness) motivation (revisited). For now, though, I'll get to why I'm kickstarting this next phase of my weight loss journey with Nutrisystem. See, the first time around I lost around 80 pounds on Nutrisystem and another 85 pounds on my own; Having learned from Nutrisystem's portion and calorie control I was able to piece together a plan using regular grocery store foods that worked quite well for me (until I decided after 18 months of rigorous attention to my diet to ease up a bit and began enjoying ice cream and other treats again in a less than moderate manner). But now that I'm out of practice, Nutrisystem will help me relearn healthy portions and develop a more regulated eating pattern.

On Nutrisystem I will eat six times per day - three meals per day and snacks about two hours after each meal. The plan is based on science, creating by nutritionists. It is balanced and does not keep me from eating the kinds of foods I truly enjoy. In fact, some of their meals are quite tasty. The cost is about $260 per month (for the men's plan that I'm on), and this includes five prepackaged foods - each meal plus two snacks daily  (one of the snacks is on your own, such as yogurt or nuts) - as well as access to amazing tools that track your food and water intake and allow you to log your exercise. There is also a very active online community where you can get inspiration from others who are likewise on a weight loss and fitness journey of their own.

At that price, you have to eat what they send you. For $20 more, you get to choose what you want. It's worth it for some, but since saving money is another objective of mine, I just choose to enjoy what I get. After all, "It's your decisions, not the conditions of your life, that determine your destiny", as the great motivational communicator Anthony Robbins would say.

Today is the first day of being on the Nutrisystem plan, and I have to tell you I am pumped. I know Nutrisystem works for me, and I know that even though I will begin to feel hunger between eating events, I know that's a good thing. My stomach will begin shrinking and I'll begin to shed weight, probably quite quickly the first week and more steadily after that. I can take comfort that even though I'm feeling hunger, it's a good thing, and it will only bother me for a couple of weeks.


So that's really why I'm doing this. Hunger is a way of my body telling me it's time to eat. In our society we tend to eat simply because there is an abundance of food. But in a few weeks my new habits will take hold and my eating habits will carry me on auto pilot to finally achieving my goal of overcoming obesity once and for all.



Thanks for reading MyFitLife2Day. Follow me on Twitter @MyFitLife2Day and on Instagram @fitlifechronicles.