Weight loss update

Long post tonight, this way I can get all my health craze stuff out of my system in one big ass post. If you can't tell by now, I've been working very hard at losing weight lately. I've tried not to overload my blog with weight loss/fitness type posts mainly because it's a more personal thing for me. But every once and awhile, it feels good to share.


The weight just seems to keep dropping off at a consistent rate of 10 pounds a month. At this rate, I'll be around 240 by the end of the year! That would be amazing if I'm able to reach that, but I'm prepared to see it start slowing down. Obviously the fast weight loss is motivating, but I can't let it get to my head and get discouraged once it starts to slow down. (which it will)

If I had to say what my specific goals are, it is to get in the absolute highest range of the "normal" scale on the BMI chart. That would be a 24.9 BMI, which for my height would be a weight of 189. Now, considering the fact that the one time I felt like I was the healthiest I've ever been in my entire life I was at 195, I'm seeing 189 as a damn hard goal. I started out this summer with a 40 BMI score, which is extremely obese. I'll be excited to just get into the overweight scores, which would be a weight of 227. Maybe I'll throw a party or something. "Congratulations Shawn! You're now officially just Overweight!"

But seriously, I'm still surprised at how simple weight loss really is. Breaking it down to basic math helped me a lot. More calories out then calories in equals weight loss. The other main thing was completely cutting out fast food, aside from the occasional 6 inch turkey sub from subway. (with no cheese or mayo!) I have decided Fast Food is Hell on Earth. I spent some time browsing various nutritional information for a lot of chains and was stunned at what I found. I would add up a typical fast food meal I'd eat and find it to be anywhere from 1200 to 1700+ calories. That's more calories then I'm eating in an entire day now! Just crazy...

Speaking of fast food, there is something else I've been wanting to post about. Obviously, as part of this weight loss I've completely changed my eating habits, and reading a lot of information about eating healthy. One thing a lot of these books say is that after changing your habits you "retrain" your body to crave healthy foods and that you find yourself looking for fruits and veggies when you get hungry and want a snack. I would just like to state for the record, that is complete and total bullshit. Every single lunch hour at work, I see someone with greasy pizza or tacos or a nice juicy cheeseburger with fries. And you bet your ass I want some. I bike past a long strip of fast food restaurants and the smell alone is enough to make me crave the stuff. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason I don't stop and buy some food right then and there is because I don't bring cash with me on my bike rides.

I'm 99% sure I will always crave unhealthy foods. You know why? BECAUSE THEY TASTE GOOD. And if you try to tell me otherwise, you are lying to yourself. Pizza tastes good. Sandwiches with mayo taste better, potatoes smothered in cheese and sour cream taste better. Deep fried anything... just tastes BETTER! Therein lies the power of choice. Now lets just hope I can continue with the choices I'm making for the long term.

And don't try to pull some "enjoy unhealthy foods in moderation" crap on me, because it won't work. Not for my all or nothing personality, it just doesn't fly. I don't do things in moderation and so in order to eat healthy, those are the choices I have to make. I can just hope that after making the same choices over and over enough, they will get easier and easier.