We just had our annual biometric screening here at work, a volunteer health thing that, for those that do participate, gets you $50 off of your medical insurance a month, so I do it.

I am officially over 200 lbs, 203 to be exact, that is without shoes, so I am fat.

The rest of the stuff, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc... was all good, I eat well and moderately without tracking anything, but do not get enough exercise and am slowly gaining weight, and ya stress is part of it.

I gotta get out of this cycle.

10 years ago I got down to 170, which is about where I should be, then I let myself gain it back to about 195, then I got back down to 170 about 3 years ago, now I've let myself get over 200. That sucks. I need something I can stay with. The other times I lost weight was from cutting calories, down to under 2000 a day, but keeping over 1700 a day, and eating well, and exercising a lot. Beach Body Insanity, T25, running, etc... I need to be smarter about it this time, with something that I can keep with even after I've gotten to where I want to be.

I'm just thinking out loud.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

You've pretty much just described where I've been at the last couple of years. About five years ago I was at 240 and decided to do Weight Watchers since it worked for my wife. I got down to 210 and was excited to try to get to my ideal weight which is 185. I got tired of tracking points so I tried a couple of other things like The 4 Hour Body. I stopped running, started diving more and because one really can't replace the other, I started putting back on weight. Cut to last year when I got pneumonia. I was close to 250 pounds. I lost weight in the hospital but put it back on before Christmas. I figured this running thing would help me get back on track and it has. I'm down to 230.

Even without the marathon training, I'll continue to run because my head is always in a better place when I'm done. I just wish I wasn't 46 so I could run more often.

As for weight though, I'm back on Weight Watchers but they have an app now that makes everything from figuring your points to tracking them amazingly easy. The only thing I don't like is that under their old system they had activity points set up so that if you exercised, you could eat more. Under the new program they separated them so there's no direction about how many activity points equal one food point. It took me a few months to figure out the ratio I could use and not be gaining again.

Overall though, this is something I can easily maintain. I take a week off here and there (vacation for instance) but I'm good enough about not overdoing it that it hasn't really hindered my weight loss at all.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

My weight loss has slowed down as I've gotten closer to where I should be, but I'm still losing weight. Down to 205, which is a place I honestly never thought I'd get to again. When you're well over 300 - and I peaked at 362 - anything below 250 seems like wishful thinking. But I've put the hard work in and it's paying off for me. I'm 6'2" so 205 isn't a terrible weight for me, but I do want to lose some more. I really, really want to get below 200, just to prove to myself that I can do it.

Best thing about what I've done is that I've done it with lifestyle changes rather than a set diet. I've never found diets to be something that could work and be maintained. But by changing how I live, being more active, and just being a little smarter about what I eat, and especially how much I eat, I've had succcess, and it feels like something I can maintain without putting too much pressure on myself. I still eat foods I enjoy eating, and that's really important to me. I cut back on foods that are really bad for me, but I still reward myself from time to time, and I've been able to remain satisfied by increasing the intake of foods I know are better for me. There really are plenty of options out there for food that's both enjoyable and relatively healthy.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

About 160lbs, that's a whole person, and a significant accomplishment. Respect.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Well done, Red. Seriously, that's a huge accomplishment. You look like a completely different person than the guy I sat all day with in an Irish bar in New Jersey.

And what you said about the diet thing is the same with me, only you worked it out on your own. Weight Watchers basically has taught me portion control but I eat what I like and drink what I like. That's the only way I can maintain a decent diet. My sister and stepfather can do Atkins and all these other things with no problem. I enjoy eating and drinking too much for that.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Thanks, guys. It feels good and I really appreciate the kind words.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

Finally ran my half-marathon on Sunday. Finished in 2:25:55 and felt good at the end. I've got a 10K next week and then I'm done with races for the year. I really enjoyed the race but to be fair, they had a ton going on along the route. There were high school bands playing every half-mile or so, lots of people cheering and plenty of people running in costume to take your mind off the fact that you're running non-stop for over 2 hours.

My new goal now is to complete the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge at next year's Super-Hero Race Weekend. That would be running the 10K on Saturday morning and the Half-Marathon on Sunday morning. I have a year to get ready for it so I'm not worried on that front. I've got my wife and daughter talked into doing the 10K with me but they also have a year to change their minds. I predict they'll pass.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

That's awesome, Cary. Congrats! That's a time I'd be very proud of if I were you.

I hit my goal of getting under 200 pounds on October 1st. I've gradually increased what I've been eating as I adjust into a mode of not really trying to lose weight. I am still losing weight, just quite a bit slower. Was actually at 192.0 this morning, a new low weight, and one that officially puts my BMI into the "healthy" range. No longer does the government consider me overweight, much less obese. Pretty cool. Could probably still lose a few pounds, but I'm totally off lose weight mode and into live smart mode and it doesn't seem too difficult. I think I'll be able to maintain the weight loss a lot easier than people who crash diet because I've done it through lifestyle change rather than crazy diet change.

Hard to believe I've lost 170 pounds. Never, ever would have thought that possible before I did it. But a little determination, a lot of effort, and words of encouragement along the way really got it done for me a lot easier than I could have imagined. I feel pretty great.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

Congrats again, Red, and even more respect for doing it the smart way.

One thing though, as you probably know, BMI is mostly useless. It does not take into account muscle, which is a very good thing and should never be discouraged. BMI numbers discourage muscle growth. Remember, according to BMI The Rock is obese, as is Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, any NFL running back, etc etc etc... and muscle burns fat.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Right, right, there is a such think as "skinny fat," and it's as unhealthy as just being fat.

That said, my hats off to both Red and Cary for their amazing accomplishments. Truly impressive stuff, and quite inspiring to this lazy couch jockey.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

Oh, no question about it. Mike Tyson in his prime was probably considered morbidly obese. Haha. I've just been using it as a motivating tool to get where I want to be. Bigger thing has actually been reducing my body fat percentage. Was well over 30%, but now I'm at about 19%. Would like to get to about 15% before I'm really happy with where I'm at.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

Outstanding, Red! That's incredible progress.

And thanks to everyone for the encouragement!

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Marathon runners always strike me as living in a different universe. I can walk far. And when I'm in shape, I can run. Though never have I wanted to run far. 3 miles? Sounds like a fine place to stop. Kudos to all you who have something in them that I don't.

I'm pretty out of shape. And went for a run today. I hope to keep it going and carry me into my hike in January - just need to get that cardio to a good spot.

I walked over 20 miles on Sunday.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

That's pretty awesome.

Crazy thing is that there used to be a time where if I walked more than ten miles in a day, I' really feel it the next day, but I've been doing it so much this year that even 20 miles in one day had me feeling no worse the next day.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey

I think for most people, walking 10 miles a day is a feat. 20 is impressive.

From the apartment to the train station, and then from the station to the movie theater (and back) is probably a little under three miles, and I feel winded after that.

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Wiggle your big toe.
Wiggle your big toe.
Wiggle your big toe.

Woop. I got 10 in yesterday, it felt good.

Excellent. Keep it up.

I'm planning on going for another all-time high step count today, to bookend my week with what I did on Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

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"You're totally cute and seem like a nice dude." --crikey