Halfway Point

Almost halfway:

That sounds crazy. Almost halfway through losing a whole person (I guess losing 160 pounds could be considered a whole person).

I was just tracking some food in MFP and I realize that having lost 78 pounds from my highest weight of 340 pounds last September I am two pounds away from hitting my halfway point. My goal is to weigh 180 pounds which I know is going to take a long time. Realizing that I am halfway there is....

See the rest of this post at Shrinking Dr. B.

Faith in the Journey

One of the psychological problems in trying to lose a lot of weight is that you eventually find yourself in what feels like no man’s land.  It is like you have lost sight of the shore and while you have faith that there is land across the ocean, right now all you see is water all around you and it’s disconcerting.

At this point I am down almost 60 pounds since starting a ketogenic diet (Keto). In another 10 pounds I will actually be down 80 from my highest of 340. 80 pounds is halfway between 340 and my goal of 180. I thought getting halfway would be mind blowing, but it is...

See the rest of this post at Shrinking Dr. B.

Sometimes a Long Journey...

They say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. After you have taken those first steps you need to keep doing it, even when you do not seem to have made much progress towards your destination.

For me, 340 pounds was the start of that journey, with the eventual destination being 180-190 pounds. That is a lot of weight to lose, and it is a long journey.

Carrying 150 pounds of excess weight is like having a person on your back the entire day. You are more tired, and everything hurts. You hate how you look, you hate how you feel, and you pretty much hate yourself.

On a journey of this length it helps to have intermediate goals; little things to celebrate along the way to help you stay motivated.

So I am excited to be able to say that I have finally broken through the 50 pound weight loss goal. When I weighed in this morning I was 286.4, which is over 50 pounds lost from my highest weight in September last year. While I can tell I am losing weight (clothes are looser and I had to put another notch in my belt) reaching that 50 pounds lost is huge for me psychologically. The last 3-5 weeks have been incredibly stressful both professionally and personally, but somehow I have found the strength and the discipline to keep losing weight.

So now it is on to the next goal. Christmas Day is 22 weeks from today. My goal is to be at 240 pounds by then, which will be 100 pounds lost overall. I need to lose about 2 pounds a week for that to happen. While I am doing well with my food and nutrition goals, I need to start building in some exercise to help work on my strength and stamina.

Today, I am just going to be grateful for where I am at. I still have a long way to go, but I am about a third of the way there, and for today, that is enough.

First Milestone...Accomplished

First milestone accomplished.

So after eight weeks on a ketogenic diet, I am happy to say that I am finally under 300 pounds for the first time in probably three years.

At this point, I am down about 30 pounds in around eight weeks. It is a little more than I expected I would be losing, and I have to play with my food intake a little bit to try and bring that down to around 3 pounds a week, but so far I am really happy with the progress.

I will need to go clothes shopping in a couple of weeks, because without a belt now most of the pants I am wearing will not stay up at all. I have even had to go back to using a belt that I gave up on about a year ago.

I have also managed to fit back into my largest wedding ring (I have four, because I was 168 when Holly and I got married almost 20 years ago). It is nice to be able to wear it without worrying about being able to remove it if necessary.

So I am trying to work out what I should do to reward myself for the first 30 pounds, and also trying to set a reward for the next goal, which is 250 by Christmas.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

The Courage to Start Again

Most people who know me know that I have struggled with my weight all my life. 

There have been times that I have been successful in losing weight, only to fail and put it all back on again.

In 2012, I did the 60 day juice fast and went from 294 pounds down to 217 pounds.  I thought I had found the answer to my problems.  I ended up putting it all back on and more, eventually weighing my highest at 340 pounds.

So why try again? Why try when multiple times in my life I have lost a significant amount of weight only to put it back on again?  Each time costing me more of my self-esteem as the failures mount one after another.

I think part of it is the realization that I only really fail if I stop trying.  I live with the hope that someday I can find a way through this problem and be happy where I am at.

I have learned recently that sometimes you have to take a long hard look at yourself and be brutally honest about what you find, even though it is painful.

So why start again? Because if I do not, nothing changes.

So I have started the keto diet, also known as ketogenic diet.  Mainly it is a balance of fats and proteins, and very little carbs. I have cut out milk, soda, bread, pasta, cookies, pizza and anything else that contains carbohydrates. I watch my macro intake (protein/fat/carbohydrates) and my calorie intake at My Fitness Pal (an online tracking program).

So far I am down to around 24 pounds in about six weeks, averaging out at about 4 pounds a week. A little higher than I probably ought to, but right now there is some balance there so I am going to work with it.

Because if I do not, nothing changes. Time passes, frustration mounts, regret builds and dreams die.

That is unacceptable to me, so I start again.

Wish me luck.

Welcome to 21st Century Chiropractic

My belief is that when you come to my office, you are "hiring me" to be your expert. That means I work for you, I do not "tell you what to do". I strongly believe that everybody has a right to make a choice about their own health care. The job you that you are "hiring me" to do is to use all of my experience and expertise to try to find out what is going on with your body, and then help you understand that as clearly as possible, and give you options. Your part is then to tell me what you want to do about it. I do not make people's "life choices" for them, that is their responsibility, not mine. My goal is to accurately find out what you want, and then do my best to explain to you what I can do for you.

Call us at (208) 323-1313 to make an appointment.  Let us make your life better.

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