199 this morning. Goal reached, 41 pounds lost since January 12th. I feel great and went shopping the other day and purchased 34 waist pants. I was up to a 40" so this was a great feeling. Last time I was in 34's, I was 25 years old (nearly 9 years ago). I'll go to 190 and then I'll be great! This thread has been a great motivator, thank you Andy for starting it. I found myself wanting to hold myself accountable not only to myself but to you guys here that are doing great with your weight loss goals.
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Incredible work, Scott. Congratulations!!! :-)
I was totally stoked when I bought 36's. I was squeezing into 38's before I lost all the weight. Never went up to 40's, although I should have.
I'm sure I could get into 34's at this point, but I'm not buying pants again till I get to 32's. :-)
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My 34's were getting a bit tight on me, and reading this thread helped me realize I needed action! I typically work out 3-4 days a week, but it was my diet that was killing me. Simple substitution of healthier foods for the crap I was eating has helped me to shed nearly 10 lbs in a little under a month.
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Shawn, great job in going back and finding where you went wrong. That's why journals are a useful tool.

Scott, congrats on hitting your goal! Now to mainain it.

Scott (Shilala), I've been eating nothing but carbs on this road trip which sucks. It's hard to eat healthy when the family wants to stop at BK, White Castle, and Taco Bell and all I can't eat meat right now. That means pretty much french fries.:-)

JR, Good luck to you!:-)
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Well three days back on appropriate dietary intake (both caloric and nutrition balance) and I feel better and I am back on pace.

Unbelievable really but I guess there is more to the power of the subconscious than I am willing to admit.
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Don't sweat it, Andy. Shawn's recent discovery is a lot of what I use to manage. I just listen to my body.
Problem with that is that the meds I take screw that all up. One of them has a common side effect that it makes a person crave sweets, especially candy.
Until I get smoothed out, I just try to eat what's good for me. Lots of good cereal and wheatgrass juice (that I grow and juice myself).
Aside from that, I just try to avoid crap. But I do have a whopper now and again cause I love them. :-)
If anyone saw what I eat, they'd probably never believe I'm not 500 pounds, but I'm careful and conscious. The whole thing even confuses me, so I'll shut up there. :-)
I guess what I was trying to say is that what I eat doesn't appear to be nearly as important as how much I eat. My stomach has shrunk and I can't eat nearly as much at a sitting, and I stop eating when I'm full. That's very important stuff. I even throw food away instead of eating the last five spoonfuls. Honest. Even if it's macaroni and cheese. :-)
Oh yeah, got two hot dogs with nacho cheese and onions and sauce at Sheetz the other day. Ate one, put the other one in the fridge. Then I threw it out.
I just can't eat like I used to. :-)
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243 lbs this morning. not too happy but better than nothing. i have two weeks easter holidays and plan on working out a lot. goal is to dropp 10 pounds
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I need to refocus on physical activity. I'm gonna start running/walking again tomorrow. Maybe get back in the gym too.
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passover = forget it
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I know the feeling.
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Raining hard today. Maybe it'll clear this afternoon so I can run before baseball practice. If not I'll hit the gym.
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I'm really struggling at this for some time as I have major motivation issues. After a couple of weeks, I virtually give up. Depression really sucks and I don't know if medication is a good way to go as I think the side effects of a few of them
are weight gain.
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Hey Shawn,

TC came over for dinner last Wednesday for dinner and cigars...

I almost didn't recognize him at 1st ( down 54 lbs ! )... He is ecstatic about how he looks.

He told me how you and him are motivating each other...

I can't wait to see you in May, Bro'... Keep up the great work!!
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Thanks Amigo...........yup he is in awesome shape. He is now seeing the same guy I am using.

Gets tougher as you get close to your goal but worth every pain and drop of sweat.
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I think battling your depression through the physical challenge of getting in shape and attaining weight loss goals might be up your alley. I was struggling with a touch of depression as I work all the time, don't see my family enough and on top of it I was getting so out of shape that I wouldn't take my shirt off in front of myself. Tell you what, getting in shape helps me sleep better at night, wake up with no issues in the morning. The wife comments on how much she enjoys looking at me now and I have more energy to truly enjoy those limited times with the kids.

People do not change when we tell them they should; they change when their context tells them they must.

I think you need a change.
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I'm up around 205 now. I'm gonna go look for the "Gaining weight with Andysutherland" thread. :-)
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I agree 100% with the above. I wasn't initially going to respond as each persons issues are there own and to assume what works for some will work for others is something I try not to do.

However, I have been medication free for over 6 months, and over the last 4 have felt even better than when on meds due to exercise. I like being in control of my own well being rather than relying on meds. Don't get me wrong I do not recommend doing anything without discussion with your doc but my personal experience is that changing my physical health and well being has had a direct correlation to my mental health and well being.

There are also some very good physiological reasons to lose weight and exercise.

Researchers have found that although antidepressants facilitate a more rabid therapeutic response than exercise; exercise was equally effective in reducing depression over periods of 16 weeks or more. Exercise helps the brain to build up a resistance to serotonin so the that the body doesn't tire as easily.

Some of the major benefits are

• People have reported that, when they exercise, can think more clearly, feel happy, feel better about themselves, lose weight, develop strength, and enjoy a sense of well-being.
• Exercise increased positive mood
• they sleep better
• have less nervousness and anxiety,
• Exercise decreased negative mood
• Exercise improved vigour
• Exercise is effective in reducing stress, anger, fatigue
• Many evidence proved that exercise plays a vital role in uplifting depression
• Exercise improved the motivation and self-esteem in the person
• Many people even report that they look and feel younger when they exercise regularly.
• Exercise may help in increasing the feelings of coherence
• Exercise increased the feelings of social integration
• An exercise and depression study in which participants walked daily for even weeks found that the decrease in depressive mood and the improvement in vigour continued after five months.
• Another exercise and depression study which compared exercise alone, medication alone, and exercise plus medication found lasting improvements after six months in participants who had exercised without medication.
• When the participants continued to exercise the on going improvement was even greater. This study concluded that medication may produce quicker relief but exercise yields more long term benefit.

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If I was depressed over nothing more than my physical appearance, this is obviously a great thing for me. In my situation, I still haven't really moved on from the loss of both parents, 2 grandmothers, and my job in the span of January 2008 and August 2009. My problem lies in very low motivation to stick with it after more than 7-10 days at a time. I feel like Peter from Office Space at times after being on the plan. I'm just hoping there's something that can light a fire under my ass once again.
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PM sent Duane.
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I wasn't implying that you were depressed over your physical appearance and I apologize if that is what you thought. I am talking about suffering from clinical depression. This is a serious mental issue.
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