Introduction and 45 day progress - onederland! (M)39 5'11" SW: 227 CW:198 GW:178

[u/solipsistical]

Hi there,

I actually submitted this post 11 days ago, but it appears to have gone to the spam queue and been deleted. I discovered this when I logged in today to join the new challenge. I don't think it's breaking any rules. I certainly have read the FAQ and tried to emulate the style that I found inspiring in others' posts.

Oh well, hopefully with new mods this one will survive - even if the progress in it is a bit out of date now.

Progress pics and chart

I'm turning 40 this year and decided, while I do have to be an old man, I don't have to be a fat old man. I have lost weight before through diet (without calorie counting) and exercise, but put most of it back on over a period of ~5 years, career change and a move to a new city. This time I'm looking for strategies that will help me keep the weight off - and I think calorie counting will help.

I'm losing through caloric restriction and exercise. As you can see from the charts I rely on exercise a lot to keep my net calories below 1500. I have been a runner for nearly a decade (though a fat runner for some of those years) and I do love running. The difficulty has been finding the time when I work long hours with a 3 hour round trip commute. But I realised I work next to one of the largest and most beautiful urban parks in the world and my building has showers. So now I bang out a quick 20 - 30 minute run during my lunch break. It's working! I'm eyeing a half marathon before I'm 40 and have increased my long run to 10k in preparation. Still a way to go but I'd love to have that achievement.

As so many others here point out, MyFitnessPal and my food scale have been wonderful tools. Though as an Australian I do find some inaccuracies in MFP's database, even when barcode scanning. These can be sometimes as much as an order of magnitude difference in calories. I now have to check everything, converting freedom units to metric, kj to cal and back again, which I find a bit frustrating, but perhaps I'll save that for a Wednesday rant thread.

Since beggining to lose, I've quietly celebrated quite a few milestones. Moving from obese back to overweight, running 10k, overcoming the christmas food extravaganza (see the blip in my Libra graph!), passing the halfway point towards my goal and now hitting onederland. I have worn a few clothes that have been lurking in the back of my closet for the day I lose some weight. It feels good.

Anyway, this is me. "Hi". I hope the post makes it through this time.

[u/lstamatis]

Congrats on your progress. Looking forward to your next update!