Last year after a vacation in Orlando I looked at a pic of me poolside and realized the 180ish my scale had been telling me I weighed was true.

My diet was always pretty good. Did not tend to eat junk.

Started having a protein shake for breakfast, kept my calorie count down throughout the rest of the day and knocked off the nightly goblet of vino.

Down +20lbs with no real change in my daily routine other than being sensible.

Working on dumping another 3-5 lbs which would put me in the sweet spot for my height and age.

Target is 5-7 to give me some cushion.

I'm operating on the theory that it's just an arithmetic problem. Calories out minus calories in = weight loss. I track all my intake and expenditures and make adjustments as needed. It is true that it's usually easier not to eat something than it is to work it off, but I like giving myself the freedom to make the choice. Knowing it's going to take an hour on the rowing machine to work off that piece of pie makes the pie less appetizing, but I'll sometimes compromise and eat a bite or two of pie and add 10 minutes to my rowing regimen.
I am able to eat the foods I like, but in smaller amounts, and I've found I don't like a lot of bad stuff so much that I'll row an hour to enjoy it.
I hate weight training. I do it a little but find it boring because I can never get an endorphin rush out of it.

I a a very active DIY kind of guy, but I don't excersise other than walking alot during the day, and occasional 5 mile bike ride.

I can't imagine worrying about every bite that goes in my mouth, and counting calories. I know that I need to (and actually do) drink alot of water, eat some yogurt now and then, take reletively small portions, eat slowly, enjoy each bite, and stay away from pop, and processed food. This doesn't always happen, and I weigh 10 more pounds than I really want to, but i'm not going to artificially work out to get my calorie count down.

I often tell my wife, I would rather die younger enjoying every bite, than to practice flinty self denial with the foods I love....Oh well, it's my choice.

@marv evans- I read this yesterday, and found it very inspiring. 70 years old and competing in full triathalon. I think there would be few of us here who could complete a tri no matter what our age. Australia's oldest female ironman competitor Karla McKinlay heading back to world championships - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

ckelly- I agree counting calories is a PITA, I don't do it. But I did do it, and what it did was educate me. I learnt a lot. Its all about making educated choices and 'opportunity cost'. If you want to eat that boardroom muffin, you cant have a beer. Would you rather get your calories from a Snickers bar, or a portion of Roquerfort cheese? You choose.

We live in a society where high calorie food is constantly available. If you did honestly, religiously, monitor your calorie intake for say, a month, you would soon see what that left over boardroom muffin, or a second serve of pasta, actually means. IMO- Its not about being a Nazi, just about being informed in order to make better choices.

Re-reading this, don't meant to sound "preachy", but the basic 'calories in, calories out' rule holds and counting is just a tool to help understand this. YMMV and all that.

Seems a good thread to post this.

A few weeks back, a long time friend of my wife had stomach sleeve surgery which reduced her stomach size to, apparently, a ¼ of cup. She weighed 142kg (312pds). We have watched over the last 10 years as her weight ballooned. Interestingly, she is a vegetarian. Her vices seem to be carbs. Fried food, pasta, bread soft drinks and sweets.

This woman, obviously, has a dysfunctional relationship with food, and now needs to develop another dysfunctional relationship with food which will allow her only 500 calories per day. She was explaining this to me over breakfast a few weeks back, that 500m cals is how she will lose weight, and I wanted to say...."why dont you not have the invasive, dangerous (everything is dangerous when you're obese) expensive surgery, and just do the 500 cals per day, you dosey mare?" but my wife had put me on notice.....

We are stopping people from killing themselves from over eating by surgically removing most of their stomachs. Its radical surgery and creates digestive and 'system' issues for the rest of the persons life. All because someone cant stop eating donuts. This is a quintessential first world problem.

I'm not in full agreement for two reasons. I also think the BMI charts are not true telltales.

Its not how much one eats, its what you eat. Metabolism varies among small people and just as with large folks. Some big people can really eat and yet burn it off pretty fast. They're healthy. I've seen them run and cycle. Workhorses. At the end of an event, they seem more relaxed and then replenishing. A good friend of mine is this way. Amazes me. He's not a muscle appearing, six pack ab revealer either. He's been this way for long as I can remember. So what if one has some flab? His kicker is not stressing the heart. Pretty religious about that and eats lots but healthy foods.

The other reason one needs regular exercise is to keep flexible and those joints free and mostly cardio conditioning. Many small people who don't exercise are gasping in swift walk. I see them swim at the pool and can hardly make a lap. So just because they 'look' fit and maybe eat healthy, they really are in bad shape.

Lastly, I consider myself fairly avid swimmer and cyclist. Gave up running a bit while ago. Getting tougher on the joints. Cycling alleviated some of those issues caused by running.

But I do know and cycle with other guys. Some are big dudes. All have lost significant weight since cycling and you can even see their personality and change with positive attitude. 80 - 150 lbs, etc.. Really a cool observation that I'm in awe. Each one of them has a different story but ALL decided on their own to lose weight and with strong will. Getting the mind 'in-gear' and act upon is number one.

+1
I don't want to count and log for the rest of my life, but for now it is helping me develop better habits. And it makes me more aware of what I eat. I was at a Mexican restaurant yesterday and looked at a #2 lunch special - enchilada with beans and rice. I thought, "How much do I really like beans and rice?" I ordered a single enchilada ala carte instead - half the calories and half the cost. I took ten corn chips out of the bowl and sent the rest back. It's about being aware of what you eat and making choices.

Most people don't realize muscle fitness and cardio fitness are two separate things.

July 2014 235lbs
january 2015 175lbs
May 2015 160lbs

Now May 2016 172 lbs (+12 being muscle, which is a hard thing to go over 7-8lbs muscle a year at this age)

80% diet 20% exercise.

Cardio maybe once a month if I feel guilty of what i eat.

All weight training and in the beginning hiit.

I was a drinker, smoker. Took a lot to change everything, but would not change it for anything.

Current age: 38

Can you elaborate on why the stomach band is so dangerous for people?

One comment about working out. You need to break out of the last few decades of "Mr. Olympia" and jogging brainwashing that implies hours of fitness each day.
On the contrary, you can do a very challenging workout in under 5 minutes. Hell, I can have you laid out on your back in under 4 minutes. That's it.

So true. HIIT!!!!!

Do that a few times a day. Maybe rip some good form squats with a plate a whole bunch of times. It really doesn't take as much as people think

I don't have any expertise, my only knowledge of this comes from the experience of my wifes friend. So I may well be speaking tripe.

This was 'stomach sleeving', removing a large portion of the stomach permanently, rather than gastric band surgery, which as I understand it, restricts the size of the stomach and is at some point later removed.

One of the ongoing complications as I understand it is called "dumping" where undigested sugars are passed too quickly through the stomach and into the intestinal tract, with unpleasant and dangerous results. Post operation, after discharge, she was re-admitted to hospital for five days with serious dehydration. Couldn't get water down.

But my comment about "dangerous" was really inasmuch as all major surgery is dangerous, and according to an Anaesthetist friend of mine, the risks are magnified when the individual is obese. This individual has already has gall bladder surgery (removed if IIRC correctly) after issues caused by her diet and her weight.

My problem with this is that what we have here is a psychological issue. There were no fat guys on the Burma Railway. Cutting out your stomach as elective surgery, to stop you eating, seems insane to me. Wife says I don't understand, and as usual shes right.

Yep, is the shiz.

I'm 45 and pretty lucky to have a high metabolism rate but my exercise regimen recently went to pretty much all body weight exercises (pull ups, sit up/crunch,push up, forward lunge, wall squats) I toss in curls and tricep extensions to help with pull ups, I ride a stationary bike and run on my elliptical and I toss in a bit of Pilates.

Check out all the Pilates and Yoga routines. There are a lot of low impact exercises you can do that are highly effective.

Yup, I don't count anything and I feel like I eat well. My wife and I still go out to nice dinners with friends, have some drinks, etc. If it doesn't come up in conversation, you'd never know that we were making a concerted effort to be smarter with food choices. You don't have to suffer to eat healthy.

I'm an endomorph https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/body-types-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph.html.
Obese according to the Body Mass Index (BMI) Chart chart.

Goals:
1). Keep feeling good throughout the day: If stiff in the morning, then stretch until muscles are usable. If kinked up in the afternoon, then take a break and snap everything back into place. Pace myself and keep moving.
2). Don't over-eat, especially on the fats. Eat only when hungry and not out of anxiety or habit. Save leftovers for a snack later.
3). Get decent sleep. If I'm too tired to function at 100% then I'm not being productive. No use staring at a project for hours because it doesn't fix itself.
4). Drink grapefruit juice instead of orange juice. Same Vitamin C but with a metabolism booster. Try it. Drink more water and try to piss regularly.
5). Cut out the empty alcohol calories. Three weeks without a drink now and have more time to get things done. Brain feels a bit clearer on a daily basis.
6). I'm using an excercize ball instead of a chair to stay limber while on the internet. Stretch out the aching back/legs and muti-task.

good work OP.

Every time I complain about some pain or issue to my doc it's the same thing; you're fat.

Excellent list...

Reexamine your assumption about overeating fats.
Grapefruit juice is loaded with sugar. Go 100% water.
Keep up the mindfulness of staying limber.

Boring... I love grapefruit juice and have 3 oz mixed with 3 oz of water almost every morning - 30 calories and it tastes a lot better than water. Like the whipped puppy said, you don't have to suffer to eat healthy.