July 1st Report

It's the start of another month, must mean another report. I am currently at 268.4lbs. Started the month of June at 274.8. Lost 6.4lbs this month, about 3.2lbs short of my goal. My goal had been 10lbs a month. Midpoint, my weight was 271.6, so basically, first half of month, lost 3.2lbs, second half 3.2lbs (consistent weight loss). Well, lets see if i can achieve my 10lbs/month goal in July. June was marked by anniversary celebration, Fathers day celeration, wife birthday so maybe July with one celebration (July 4th) wouldn't be so bad. Expect another report July 15th. Target weight: 268.4 - 5lbs = 263.4.

Mid-month update

Hi, Last update was June 1st. Currently sitting at 271.6lbs. I am 1.6lbs behind my goal. My goal was to be 270lbs by today's date and 265lbs at end of the month. I've been cheating a bit and also taking something that helps me lose weight faster. I have been taking Leptopril. On the downside, i have had a few days of cheating.. example, last night at 1am, i ate two servings of a cereal that had 28grams of fibre per serving.. do you know what 56 grams of fibre does to you?.. lets just say a full description would be TMI. Anyway, this weight loss is different from the isagenix weight loss.. last year, when i was taking isagenix, i went all the way to 260lbs before i could wear size 42 waist jeans. I am currently a little over 271lbs and can wear size 42 waist jeans. How is this possible?. Muscle building. When on isagenix, all i was doing was losing fat and water, i was not replacing the fat with muscle. Now, i am replacing the fat with muscle so even though i weigh more than 260lbs, i can wear size 42 pants because i have actually lost as much fat as i did when i was on isagenix and weighed 260lbs. How am i building muscle?.. am i going to the gym and doing serious weight training? NO!! (i do go to the gym and weight train a bit but not much).. most of the muscle comes from riding my bike. I think that my bike has been a godsend.. My neighborhood is hilly so to build muscle, i ride my bike around the neighborhood. I try to ride in 21st gear as much as possible (some pavement is too steep for me to do that).. the goal is to eventually be able to ride anywhere in my neighborhood in 21st gear. At first, i could only ride uphill in 10th gear, then i increased it to 12 and now, i can ride uphill (depending on how steep the hill is) in 21st gear. That is building my thigh muscle and also works out the midsection. Then i use the gym at work to build my upper body (i also do weight training for my leg so as to get them stronger so i can ride uphill in higher gear). For anyone looking for a musclular workout without going to a gym, i recommend going to a hilly neighborhood and riding. It's fun and beneficial at the same time. It combines aerobic with muscle building (thighs and midsection).

Anyway, I obviously will not be updating this blog everyday. However, at the end of the month, i'll let you know if i am even close to 265lbs or even worse than the 271lbs i am now. One thing i know, if i did not cheat a bit, i would have quit trying to lose weight. I've learned that every once in a while, it's ok to fall off the wagon.. but it's just as important to get back on the wagon.

Currently at 274.8lbs, down from 275lbs on Saturday. Making decent progress. Slower than Ithought. Did not work out yesterday at all... was too busy. Ate a little more than I would have liked to but that was because I stayed up very late and got hungry. Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you.

Slow progress

After a fast start, it has been very slow. Currently, only have lost 10lbs. I had anticipated 15lbs total weight loss at this point. Slightly disappointed. With memorial holiday, i took a few steps backwards. It is always difficult to lose weight during the holidays. One bright spot. When i first started, i was wearing size 46 waist. Now, I can wear size 42 (although it is a bit tight)... Maybe by the end of June, I'll be wearing size 42 comfortably and size 40 a little bit tight.

Just went riding. I did some weight training on Thursday. Want to get stronger so i can ride longer. My ultimate goal is to be able to ride 10 miles or more. Right now, I think i am at 3 miles (if i pushed myself to the limit)... that is not impressive at all.

Starting the blog to track my weight loss progress

Please, I need all the motivation I can get. It's been almost two weeks since I started to try to lose weight and I've almost lost 10lbs.  Let me tell you what I've been doing. 

Replacing two meals a day with slim fast shake, snacking on fruits during meal intervals (also on slim fast snack bars).  Then I eat a regular meal. Sometimes it's 500 calories, sometimes 800, sometimes it's home cooked meal and I have no idea. Regardless of what home cooked food I eat, I try to eat a resonable portion. Yesterday, I deviated somewhat. I did not have a slim fast shake in the morning (i ran out), I had fruits instead. Then I went to my mom's house in Baltimore (on the way, I bought some shakes), worked in her yard and had skake for lunch and then when I got home later that evening, had dinner that was cooked at around 7pm. I was very hungry so I ate two plates (instead of the normal 1). On Sunday morning, I had weighed myself to be 276.8lbs,  This morning, I was 275.8lbs so I lost 1 lb. I did not get to ride my bike. I've been doing very good riding the bike. At first, I just rode around the patch of grass outside my house (and by patch, i mean, my house faces a divided rode.. divided by grass area, i just rode around in circles). Then I started to ride about 2 miles a day, then approx 2.5 and now I can do 3 miles a day. Very significant portion of the path I ride is uphill (at one point, very steep uphill)... at first, i could only ride uphill in lower gears (try riding uphill in 21st gear, espicially when you haven't ridden in a while).. now, i can ride uphill in 21st gear.. (well, except for the very steep uphill portion of my ride, where i still gear down).  My ultimate goal is to be able to ride 10 miles a day. I hope within the next month to be riding at least 5 miles a day. Anyway, here is how I measure my myself.

1. In the morning.

2. Naked (trying to find my absolute weight without anything on).

3. Approx the same time (ie, before i go to work, between 6-8 in the morning).
4. The same scale everytime. 

Other than my weight, have I noticed anything else?.. yes!!!.. before my current attempt at losing weight, My waist size was 46. I could no longer wear size 44 waist pants. Now, not only am I wearing size 44 waist, my jeans that is size 44 waist is starting to get very slack. 

What are my goals?.

To lost 85 pounds from my starting weight (ie, get to 200lbs). 

To do this, I hope to maintain a pace of at least 2lbs a week (ie, a weight loss of 2lbs a week).

Currently, even though i have lost almost 10 pounds in 2 weeks (today is Monday, by Wednesday, I am sure it will be over 10lbs). I lost more in the first week than in the second week. My current trend is approx 4lbs a week. 

So, today I am 275.8lbs.

by end of month, I hope to be at 269lbs. 

If you too are trying to lose weight, please let me know and we can encourage each other through this blog. I hope anyone that read this blog keeps me honest. I really need to lose the weight. Even at 200lbs (which is 85lbs less than 285lbs), according to the standard measure (BMI), I will still be overweight. I've decided that the BMI does not apply to me. I cannot imagine myself less than 200lbs and not being sick. 200lbs is a good enough target for me.. perhaps when I get there, I will reasses my goals and readjust.