I've lost it

Reckoner said:

I've been inspired by Kevin's weight loss advice and encouragement thread and the results are very positive. The first few weeks have been dramatic and now I'm tapering off to a more sensible loss. I'm taking pictures of myself as I lose (I'll post them as I get closer to goal), but in the meantime here are pictures of objects in my life equivalent to what I've lost.

I've lost it Week 1
6.4 pounds: Holy trinity of laptop, tablet and phone
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Reckoner said:

I've lost it Week 4
-16 pounds: Backpacking base weight

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lowjax said:

Great work, Reckoner. I've been tempted to jump into Kevin's thread as I'm also working on getting myself back in shape again. I'm glad to see more people who are doing this. I'm down 25 pounds so far this year.

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kevdogg329 said:

That in itself is incredible. put on the backpack when you are feeling tempted and remember what it was like to be carrying that weight around ALL the time. It's good motivation to keep going.

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Reckoner said:

Kevin, you need a fan club! You got me working, which got my wife working, which got two people from her office working, which got another person from one of their churches working, not to mention the other B&B guys who you've inspired. You're the man!


I put it on for one of my evening walks and my average heart rate shot up ~20 BPM and my MPH shot down considerably. And I carried that extra weight for years! Crazy.

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Kooze said:

Well done and may you have continued success! What are you doing to lose weight? Threads like these are extremely beneficial and motivational for others, and always put a smile on my face.

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Reckoner said:

No scale progress this week, so no new pic. I'm hovering around the same weight give or take a pound, but in the non-scale victory department I'm down another inch off my gut, had to size down my compression shorts/workout underwear, and am hurting for a new hole in my belt.


Thanks for the encouragement. I'm counting every single calorie I can with MyFitnessPal and shooting for 45 minutes of varied cardio at least 4-5 days a week. My heart rate monitor tells me I have hit the point where I need to mix it up from just walking, so I've started trail and beach walking, walking with a loaded pack, bicycle intervals (nice days), and spinning intervals or elliptical trainer (rainy days).

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Reckoner said:

I've lost it Week 6/Easter Update
-18.6 pounds, equal to a Costco-sized bag of charcoal, give-or-take. "Holy crap," exclaimed the bride. Down an inch and a half from neck, 5-inches from gut, and 5-inches from chest.

30, 5'11", 265 starting weight, 246.4 current weight, shooting for 220 and then I'll reassess my goals from there.

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I started tracking calories in/out on MyFitnessPal on Ash Wednesday and here we are at Easter. I've never been a very good Catholic and wouldn't consider myself religious, but I've taken great inspiration from Pope Francis. Something about his homily on Ash Wednesday spoke to me. He said: "Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." It "reminds us that conversion can't be reduced to exterior forms or vague resolutions, but involves and transforms one's entire existence, starting with the center of the person, the conscience."

I see this weight loss so far as a reawakening and transformation. It's incredibly rewarding to see the results, but at the same time disappointing that I let myself go for so long. I'm not proud of these "I've lost it!" pictures--quite the opposite. I'm not ashamed necessarily, just disappointed that I was (a) carrying around so much weight to begin with and (b) didn't start this years ago. Posting is like a penance--acknowledge the old weight, let it go, and move on to the next milestone.

Onward!

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