My Weight Loss Plan/Blog (7 Weeks Deep)

As few of you know, I've been intensely trying to lose weight recently. After topping out at my lifetime heaviest weight of 188 pounds, I found I was pretty much considered morbidly obese, given my age (23.5) and short height (5'5"). Needless to say, after countless jokes, trouble breathing, sleeping, and fitting into clothes, I decided I really should take better care of myself.

I know diets don't work. I know the best thing to do is eat right and the key is exercise. Two things that are hard for me - I love crap food and I never have time or motivation to work out. It really just took me a ton of willpower to accomplish both.

So starting in Mid-May (about 7 Weeks ago) I changed my lifestyle. My previous diet consisted of:

Breakfast: Maybe a yogurt or poptart. Maybe.
Lunch: Turkey/Roast Beef Sandwich on white bread with two slices of cheese and mayo (or take out - pizza or hoagie) with a soda and potato chips.
After work snack - countless cheese sticks, chocolate puddings, potato chips
Dinner: At least two helpings of whatever my mom made with a coke
Dessert: Pie, cake, ice cream, whatever was available
Bedtime snack: Toasted turkey sandwich on white bread with cheese and mayo with chips inside and a coke. Oreos to follow.

First thing I did was revise this diet to be much healthier:
Breakfast: Bowl of Raisin Bran and OJ (or Oatmeal) and a fat-free Yogurt
Lunch: Salad with light dressing and a little turkey or chicken, and fruit (with water) - alternate: half turkey sandwich on light whole wheat bread with mustard and lettuce.
Dinner: Small portion of whatever mom made, always with Salad and diet soda.

And that's it. I allow myself to indulge in Chinese no more than once a week - however I switched that from Shrimp Fried Rice, Crab Rangoon, Hot & Spicy Dumblings, and General Tso's Chicken, to any non-tempura Sushi. More expensive, but at least 75% less fat and crap.

My current diet is significantly higher in fiber and lower in fats. The high fiber diet allows me stay fuller longer and eat smaller portions without feeling like I'm starving myself.

Second part of my plan is the exercise. Now, sitting behind a desk for at least 8 hours a day is poor exercise. Typically, I would come home from work and eat while I watched TV, showered, and then watched a movie before bed. So I barely had any physcial activity. I really stepped that up for my plan.

My plan is to workout 5 days a week, for about an hour. If I can do more, I will. I start with 5-10 minutes of stretching, then do moderate lifting (upperbody and core) and very little leg exercises. I'll box with the Slamman for about 5-10 minutes, and then go for a run, which I'm currently up to 3 miles in about 40 minutes. Since I hurt my foot, I've been substituting a bike ride or swim for the run.

I try sticking to that as much as possible - I hurt my foot running and was on crutches for two weeks, so I cut it down to just light lifting that I could do without putting any weight on my foot, etc.

I was thinking of doing a weekly progress - but after 7 weeks this is my first post. But my progress is:

Total Loss: 18 Pounds
Avg Loss: 2.57 pounds per week (2-3 is healthy, so yay)
Belt: I went from being on the last notch on my belt to the third, so I probably lost about 2 inches from my waist
level of Jackedness: Moderate
General Health: Feeling much better, breathe and sleep easier, longer endurance
Looks: Everyone tells me I noticely lost weight in my face and arms

So I'm down to 170, which is still heavy for my height, but a lot better than 188. For some reason, I set my goal to 155, so I'm slightly more than halfway there. If I find I start to look sickly skinny, I'll adjust that, but for now, that's my goal, and I'm certainly working at it!