Tuesday, February 16, 2016

80 pounds lost in 8 months (PCT d - 92)

324.8 lbs, a new low,
the app on my phone says
It was on June 16th, 2015, exactly eight months ago, that I signed the lease on my current apartment. I had mixed emotions about it at the time (it's a long story that some of my supporters know). Since then, I've chosen to follow a very low carb diet, and I've been walking increasingly further distances. Last Friday I walked 10 miles in one go, something I hadn't done in the previous 10 years. In May of this year, I'm going to be walking 100 miles in seven days, down by Crater Lake in southern Oregon together with my daughter. It's a huge adventure, involving months of planning and preparation. I'm feeling really good right now about our prospects for success.

When I first moved in to the new place, I weighed 405 lbs. I had a hard time walking up the hill from work to meet the landlord and get the keys to the apartment. These days, the ¾ mile walk is much easier. As we look forward to the spring/summer and the warmer weather, things will only get easier and better from here. At this morning's weigh-in, I tipped the scales at 324.8 lbs (147.3 kg), 80 lbs less than eight months ago.

There's still a long way to go - probably another 17 months - but I'm going to do it! I will succeed!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Well done Chris. It's a hard struggle, but every day gets you closer to your goal and when you get there it will all be worth it. Proud of you bro.

Chris said...

Thanks. Depending on how soon you get to move stateside, I might actually be much closer to 200 lbs by the time we meet again. Woohoo!

Unknown said...

Not sure now if we wil be stateside by end of 2016. Depends on whether we feel Meg is ready to cope on her own, but if we're still in Asia I'll come visit you anyway when you get to 200lbs.

Deborah said...

Great job, Chris! 80 pounds is no small accomplishment! Keep up the awesome effort!

Chris said...

The great thing is that IF I CAN DO IT, ANYONE CAN DO IT. For the 2/3 of the American population who are overweight, YOU can do it too. What I hope is that, by the end of this part of my journey, in 16 more months or so, I will have learned enough and made enough mistakes (learning opportunities) that I can distill my knowledge into something that others can follow. I think the blog title "Eat Right, Get Out Of Breath" captures a lot of it, but the details are what people want to know. Lesson #1: cut back on carbohydrates! Cut out all added sugar (granulated table sugar). Throw it out - don't buy it again. Lesson #2: Don't EVER buy sugary soda (pop) drinks. Totally empty calories. Lesson #3: (remembering that I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice) dietary cholesterol and dietary fat =/= does not equal blood cholesterol or blood lipids. In my lay opinion, it's okay to eat eggs and butter. It's some of the OTHER fats that will kill you.

Unknown said...

Have you seen these http://www.mealmeasure.com ?
And are you taking regular pictures of yourself, for you before and after shots?

Chris said...

The Meal Measure looks really interesting. For $13, I'll have to give it a go.
I did take "before" photos. My plan was to get a 5 foot cardboard cut-out made of myself, and use it as a teaching aid (to frighten kids with) to encourage them to be more active.