I started this journey on March 27, 2008. The excess weight has been more than excess baggage for me, and is preventing me from reaching many of my personal goals. For better or for worse, society views overweight individuals as people who are poor performers - at work and in their personal lives. Sadly, in today's world, perception is everything. As a health care professional, being overweight makes one's own credibility suspect. How can one advise patients to lose weight and take control ...

I started this journey on March 27, 2008. The excess weight has been more than excess baggage for me, and is preventing me from reaching many of my personal goals. For better or for worse, society views overweight individuals as people who are poor performers - at work and in their personal lives. Sadly, in today's world, perception is everything. As a health care professional, being overweight makes one's own credibility suspect. How can one advise patients to lose weight and take control of their own lives when their own physician cannot?

So here we go. This beginning is a lifechanging one on so many levels. I deserve it and I'm ready to start.

UPDATE - November 22, 2010:

Something just clicked these last several weeks. I think it helps a lot having someone at work join me this month to get a "rack of gold stars" for calorie intake well done! I'm not getting as many stars as I set out to get by Thanksgiving, but there is definite forward progress: The calories, when over, are not over by much, which is a vast improvement.

I'm definitely heading in the right direction, and I've ramped up my exercise a lot. Of course the insurance refund is a huge motivator. But whatever keeps you on track. It's all good.

The hard part will be maintenance. I see that I'm going to be on SP a long, long time after the weight is lost. There is NO WAY I'm going back to the way things were. And it appears that the only way to do that is to stay here, on course, as I lose, as well as when I maintain.

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WEIGHT LOSS TICKER (yes, there have been stumbles, but it will get done. I've tweaked what I need to do, to make this a lifetime event not a goal for the short term.):

12-3-11: Putting the weight loss ticker here, so I'm more accountable:

Weight Loss Ticker:

BSP (Before SparkPeople): 15 pounds lost

ROUND ONE: (1-27-10 - new battery for scale bought today -lotsa funky readings lately)

....10 pounds
already done on SP (totaling 25 pounds gone FOR GOOD!).

SP Losses:

**15 pounds lost
Goal met: 6/19/10
Reward:
Movie Night with dear friends

**20 pounds lost
Goal met: 11/13/10
Reward:
Dinner out with a friend (this will have to be rethought later on - food and reward should not be linked)

**25 pounds lost
Goal met: 11/27/10
Reward:
Kindle and just in time for Chanukah! Happy Chanukah!

**30 pounds lost
Goal met: 12/18/10
Reward:
Evening with my best friend. What greater reward is there in life, but to celebrate with those close to us?

12-4-11 Editor's Note: Like many who are on this journey, there has been some slippage. Old habits die very hard, since they have had such a strong toehold for so long. I was down already 46.6 pounds, at 208.4 pounds by last Thanksgiving. I hate when I get too cocky, and I paid for it. But I stopped the slide before it became totally monstrous, and held on to the 30 pounds lost for dear life. Yes, that means I gained back about 17 pounds. No "plateau", just ugly eating (especially around Passover, my "license" to eat all those carbs -- the holiday, by its nature, is very heavy in carbohydrates, and I paid the price for not figuring it out ahead of time). But this past November, I was very mindful of Thanksgiving and tried hard to plan for it for the month before the holiday. It worked, seemingly. I lost one pound right after Thanksgiving. So I am abundantly thankful.

Moral of the story: There isn't just one "Ah hah!" moment. There are many, if one is serious about this being a lifelong quest. And I am. I may be Sparking till my 80s just to keep maintenance under control.

ROUND TWO: (Climbin' that mountain)

^^40 pounds lost



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FULL DISCLOSURE TIME! (updated 12-31-12)

Aim: Lose 145 pounds in this lifetime

Starting weight (before SP) : 255 pounds (Note: This is for my own accountability, and it's good for me to be mindful of this)

In five pound increments:

1st five pounds - 250 pounds - DONE!
2nd five pounds - 245 pounds - DONE!
3rd five pounds - 240 pounds - DONE!
4th five pounds - 235 pounds - DONE!
5th five pounds - 230 pounds - DONE!
6th five pounds - 225 pounds - DONE!
7th five pounds - 220 pounds - DONE!
8th five pounds - 215 pounds - DONE!
9th five pounds - 210 pounds
10th five pounds - 205 pounds
11th five pounds - 200 pounds

ONEderLAND! Hello, old friend! Nice to see you again!

12th five pounds - 195 pounds
13th five pounds - 190 pounds
14th five pounds - 185 pounds
15th five pounds - 180 pounds
16th five pounds - 175 pounds
17th five pounds - 170 pounds
18th five pounds - 165 pounds
19th five pounds - 160 pounds
20th five pounds - 155 pounds
21st five pounds - 150 pounds
22nd five pounds - 145 pounds
23rd five pounds - 140 pounds
24th five pounds - 135 pounds
25th five pounds - 130 pounds
26th five pounds - 125 pounds
27th five pounds - 120 pounds
28th five pounds - 115 pounds
29th five pounds - 110 pounds [goal reached]

25 % lost - 218.75 pounds - DONE!
50 % lost - 182.50 pounds
75 % lost - 146.25 pounds
100 % lost - 110 pounds [goal met]

And now the REAL work begins!

Read More About NUMD97 (Updated May 23)

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